Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight...

A/N: Huuuuge apologies! I'm finding it so hard to get time to write, that it's becoming a very rare occasion. Most of this chapter was already written when I put up chapter 2, but there was a bit of editing needed and I got really stuck with how to finish the chapter! I hope it isn't too much of a let down after your extremely long wait.

Can I also say thankyou to those of you (if you're reading this!) who reviewed, alerted or favourited. It really is appreciated to know that someone is reading what you have written. I am now officially free for the summer, so hopefully I should have some more time to write after my exams!

She only had a light tan, but her skin was flawless. Her eyes were wide, and a deep brown, with long, full lashes, fluttering beneath perfectly shaped brows. Bella's lips were pink and full, the bottom lip jutting out below the top, and she had hair as long as Rosalie's, only it was wavier, and brown. She too wore her bikini, although she was wearing a pair of navy cotton Hollister shorts, and a loose, semi see-through white t-shirt. The shorts showed off a pair of sensational legs, and I had to force myself to not ogle. Suddenly, I wasn't so annoyed at Emmett for inviting the girls over.

"Hey Emmett," she beamed, the smile lighting up her face, showing perfectly white teeth.

"Hi Bella," Emmett grinned lazily, Rosalie still running her hand along his leg. "Bell this is my cousin, Edward, remember I told you he was moving down?"

Bella turned to look at me, and a fierce blush instantly spread across her cheeks as our eyes connected. It was damn adorable.

"Uh, hi," she sounded breathless, and I couldn't resist flashing her my crooked smile.

"Nice to meet you Bella."

She nodded, as Emmett shifted in his chair out of the corner of my eye. Deciding I shouldn't just stare at the poor girl, I turned to see Emmett stand up, Rosalie's hand falling to her side as he offered her a smug smile.

"We should get going, we already paid, I think they're closing soon."

"Oh, where are we going?" I turned to look at the voice of perfection, as Bella stood there, her eyebrows creased in confusion.

"Emmett has a free house," Rosalie smiled, also standing up, her hair falling over her shoulder as she ran a hand through the long strands.

Bella nodded, her eyes darting to me again. She looked away immediately as she saw I was watching her.

"Well, seeing as we're with you, one of you boys can carry this," she held up a bag, two bottles of spirit clanking against each other. I'm guessing we're walking?" She asked, eyeing the bottles of beer on the table.

"Sure thing," Emmett nodded, picking his beer up and downing the rest. I mimicked him, also standing up as we simultaneously moved away from the bar, and out on to the wooden decking along the sea front. Rosalie immediately went for the bag of liquor, pulling out a bottle of vodka and untwisting the cap. She took a long drink, screwing up her face as she pulled the bottle from her mouth.

Emmett looked at her expectantly, expecting to receive the bottle from her next, but instead, she turned to me.

"Edward," she smiled playfully, offering the bottle up to my mouth.

"Uh, not for me thanks. It never gets me anywhere good." I sighed, pulling up the hood of my maroon zip up hoodie as I felt a drop of rain on my cheek.

Rosalie shook her head. "There's always a first. Besides, you're in for a pretty tedious night if you're the only one sober."

I chuckled. "Well, if you put it like that..." I took the bottle from her, taking a drag, enjoying the burn that spread down my throat. Pulling the bottle away from my mouth, I made to hand the bottle back to Rosalie.

She shook her head again. "Uh uh, one more drink, for good luck."

I raised an eyebrow. "Are you trying to get me drunk?"

A smug look crossed her face. "Of course."

Rolling my eyes, I took another drink, before passing the bottle back to her. She passed the bottle on to Bella as we set off walking, Emmett leading the way as I followed, not really knowing where we were going, especially in the dark. The sound of the waves lapping the shore was loud, and from the descent we were taking, I was guessing that it was leading us down to the beach. I turned to watch as Bella took a drink from the bottle, her perfect lips wrapping around the bottle top as she took a gulp, her eyes scrunching as she did so. She too made to hand the bottle back to Rosalie, but I intervened.

"Hey, if I have to take two drinks, so does Bella," I grinned, as Rosalie smirked too, pushing the bottle back in Bella's direction.

"Good point Edward."

Bella rolled her eyes, taking another drink before passing it back to Rosalie.

"God that's disgusting." She managed, as Rosalie skipped forward to Emmett.

I raised an eyebrow. "Why drink it?"

She shrugged. "Why drink when you know you'll probably have a God awful hangover the next day?"

I smirked at her. "Touché."

Rosalie came back with the bottle, explaining that Emmett had begun to help himself to the other bottle in the bag he was carrying.

Bella and I walked in silence for a few minutes, as we eventually reached the beach, sand spilling in to my shoes. I was hyper aware of her presence beside me. This was the Bella that I had heard about all day. The one that 'everybody loved', according to Tanya, the one that I had been curious about all day- and just like that, here she was.

"Why did you move?"

The question startled me. I hadn't been expecting Bella to speak, after we had both been walking in an awkward silence.

"Sorry?" It was a reflex. I knew what she had said, but I had been surprised by her question, and my first thought was to question her in return.

I could just make out her bowing her head slightly in the dark. Was she embarrassed?

"Well, I can sort of understand why you wouldn't want to be in the city all the time, but we we're speaking about it the other night." She took a breath. "Rose, Alice and I. Alice thinks you're crazy, she can't understand why anyone would want to be away from New York, but then again, she's fashion crazy, so it would be the best place for her to be..."

She was rambling. I let out a low chuckle. She was nervous. Did I make her nervous?

"You were speaking about me?" I cut in, curious. The intensity of the rain increased, and the temperature had certainly dropped. The sound of waves lashing the shore was much louder, and I was thinking maybe we had drifted accidently towards the sea. Rosalie and Emmett were still visible in front of us.

Bella let out a soft groan. "That sounds really bad, we really don't just sit and gossip about people all the time," she defended. "Rose brought you up the other day, when she was speaking about Emmett, we just wondered what you would be like, seeing as Emmett's... well... Emmett."

I let out a laugh at that. "Let me guess, you were expecting a big, brawny guy, with huge muscles who wore considerably better clothes than Emmett?"

Bella giggled. "Kinda."

I snorted. "Sorry to disappoint."

She laughed again- it was like music, she sounded so carefree.

We had been passing the bottle of vodka back and forth throughout our conversation, and I was starting to feel the familiar numbness of my lips, a warmth in my ears and a pleasant floating sensation.

Then, out of nowhere, there was a blinding flash of light, just a hundred metres away over the sea. Lightning.

It was followed immediately by the deafening clap of thunder.

The rain suddenly reached torrential level, firing down hard, the wind whipping it against my exposed skin.

"Oh shit..." I started, as I heard Bella's gasp of surprise next to me.

Instinctively, we had moved closer together, and I could hear Bella breathing shallowly in panic besides me. "How far from your house are we?" She winced.

I shrugged, even though she probably couldn't see me in the dark. "I have no idea, let's catch up with Emmett and Rosalie."

She took a deep breath, before agreeing. "Okay."

Despite the sound of rain lashing the sea, and the whistling of the wind, that seemed ice cold on skin, the sound of panting breath as Bella and I hurried across the beach and feet kicking sand seemed to be the sole sound reaching my ears. I didn't want to admit that I was slightly freaked to have a storm right on top of us, but Bella, it seemed, was far worse.

I had grabbed her hand, in an attempt to get her to keep up with me. It was as cold as ice, yet it seemed to send a shot of adrenaline through my body. However, I could practically feel her entire body shaking. She must have been freezing.

We caught up with Emmett and Rosalie eventually. They were headed in the direction of the dunes (and what must have been the path leading up to the house) with Rosalie on Emmett's back, her chin resting on his shoulder. I could only just make them out when there was another flash of lightning, this time striking the shoreline. The rain pounded down harder than ever, and sand whipped exposed skin as the wind blasted it across the beach.

Another loud clap of thunder, just as the beach started to incline, and suddenly, the wind seemed to cut out slightly. We were surrounded by dunes, and although there was nothing to shelter us from the rain, the sand dunes seemed to block out the harsh sea air.

Another ten seconds, and a warm, yellow glow appeared ahead, in what I assumed was Emmett arriving at the house. Several long bounds, and we were under the shelter of the back patio, both of us panting hard.

"Mother... fuck..." I gasped, running a hand through my sopping hair as I released Bella's hand.

I heard a chuckle and looked up to see Emmett leaning on the back door frame leading in to the kitchen. "We were wondering how far behind you two were, you better come in, it's freezing, Rose is making a fire."

I nodded, turning to look at Bella. Her long, mahogany hair was plastered to her skin, her face pale and her lips almost blue. Droplets of rain were dripping from her eyelashes and her lips, and that semi-transparent t-shirt she had on was clinging to her torso.

I began to remove my shoes, and Bella, who looked completely shell shocked, mimicked me once she observed my actions.

She was still shaking, so I moved aside and gestured for her to go inside first, as Emmett stepped back, rubbing her shoulders as she slipped through the door, past him in to the kitchen and out of sight.

I followed her in as Emmett locked the back door behind me, and was greeted with the beautiful warmth of the Cullen home.

"I think the girls are in the living room," Emmett nodded in the direction where the low murmur of conversation could be heard. "Man that shit me up!"

I grinned at Emmett, shivering slightly. "Me too. Can we continue this conversation by the fire though? I'm fucking freezing."

Emmett chuckled. "Sure thing."

We both made our way in to the living area, where there were two huge cream couches, complete with the squishiest cushions you could get. They were positioned at a right angle to one another, facing the large fire place, with a flat-screen television to the right of the fire place. There were three tall windows with square panes, although Rosalie was currently pulling the drapes on them to insulate the room. There was also a plush carpet under foot that felt like heaven on my cold, bare feet.

Bella was sat on the floor by the fire, and, dear god, she had removed the white t-shirt, leaving her in her bikini top and mini shorts. The t-shirt was drying in front of the fire, and I had to try very hard not to stare at Bella's toned stomach, not to mention what was almost visible underneath her bikini top- well, it was cold. I awkwardly averted my gaze.

Rosalie had also removed her flannel shirt, along with her denim shorts. Maybe it was better I keep my eyes on the floor?

"Errm..." begun Emmett apprehensively. Clearly, he felt the same. "Do you two want to borrow some clothes?"

Bella turned around at the sound of his voice, as did Rosalie, who simply smirked.

"Would you rather I did Emmett? Only that's not what you were saying-"

"Some clothes would be lovely, Em." Bella cut in, rolling her eyes at her friend jokingly, although she was still pale and trembling. I could see straight through the false bravado, and her eyes still reflected terror, as well as something unidentifiable.

Rosalie bit her lip devilishly, eyeing Bella, before looking at me, then Emmett. "I would have thought you would be changing too, your clothes are soaking."

Emmett rolled his eyes, before winking in Rosalie's direction and removing his t-shirt, tossing it in the direction where the other clothes were drying. "I'll go and get you some clothes now."

Deciding it was probably for the best, seeing as it wouldn't get me any warmer, I tugged my shirt off nonchalantly, before turning towards the hall. "Yeah, I think I'm gonna' go and get changed too..."

I could feel eyes on my back as I followed Emmett out of the room, although I chose to ignore them. I found it quite amusing how Rosalie seemed to play games with Emmett.

'Once Rosalie gets her claws in to someone, I doubt they could get away if they wanted to'. Tanya's words echoed in my head, and by the looks of things, she was probably right.

I trudged up the staircase, reaching my bedroom in no time, and grabbing a pair of old grey sweat pants and a t-shirt. Digging out a pair of socks, I ran my fingers through my hair several times in the mirror, before heading back down.

What on earth had just happened? I now felt completely sober due to the complete shock of the thunderstorm, yet I was never usually shook up from those kinds of storms. Bella, on the other hand, was like a wreck. I would have thought that she would be used to those types of storms, yet she was the worst here, and had still not settled. She seemed disturbed.

These thoughts playing on my mind, I set off down the staircase, reaching the second floor, where I found Emmett with a pile of clothes in his arms.

"Em, what are you-?" But before I could finish my question, Emmett put a finger up to his lips, shushing me. He had been hovering at the top of the stairs, eavesdropping.

I strained my ears, listening. The unmistakable sound of sobbing could be heard, emitting from the living room.

"Is that-?" I begun, alarmed, looking at Emmett. He nodded quickly to cut me off.

"Come in my room a minute..." I nodded, following him back up the stairs to where his bedroom was.

Emmett's room was roughly the same as mine, although there were more pictures and posters adorning the walls in here, and one wall was a dark red colour to match the comforter on his bed. There was also a faint smell of whatever after shave Emmett used, and several items of clothing were slung carelessly over the back of his desk chair, which Emmett had just thrown himself into, spinning it round on its wheels to face me.

"What's going on?" I asked, unsure, placing myself on the end of Emmett's bed.

Emmett hesitated, his eyes on the desk window. He spun the chair he sat in side to side a few times, before answering.

"Bella... well, she... gets a bit... freaked... when she gets stuck out like that on the beach. It's happened before, I think, but I was never there. Apparently the same thing happened last summer when there was a beach party, but I was in Phuket, so..."

I raised an eyebrow. "What are you saying, Emmett? She doesn't like thunderstorms?"

He rolled his eyes. "No. I don't really like telling people this, I mean, Bella hates people talking about it, but" he paused, his eyes moving to an ESA competition poster on the wall to his right to avoid my gaze. "Her brother died two years ago on a smaller beach further down the coast."

I felt like a brick wall had just slammed in to me. Guilt, riddled with curiosity took over my body with the explanation to Bella's tears downstairs. Having had a relevant enough encounter with close family fatalities, I was not one to go snooping around for gossip on the how, when and where of other peoples misfortunes.

However, Emmett had not finished speaking. "Him and some of his friends had gotten too drunk at a party further South, and decided to go surfing at like 1 am. Obviously, there wasn't much thought in to how safe it was. It was a pretty bad beach to surf on, apparently there's rocks everywhere, but there was a massive storm, and, well... it's pretty obvious, isn't it?"

I felt a shiver pass through me that had nothing to do with the temperature of the room. What a horrible way to go... Was the thought racing through my mind. I tried not to picture it. The rocks, the sheer force of the waves, the rain and the wind.

"Edward?" Emmett asked warily.

"That's... shit, that's awful..." were my only words. My eyes were now trained on my feet, and I felt terrible for knowing the truth.

"Just, please, don't say anything will you? I mean, I know you wouldn't, but..." he trailed off.

I nodded. "I wouldn't dream of it."

A/N: I know it isn't super long or anything, but this (at the end of the chapter) is going to be a big part to the story and the relationship that Edward and Bella have. Does anyone think a BPOV would be worth reading? It wouldn't be her POV in this chapter, but it would explain some of the things going on in her mind!

Your thoughts in reviews would be so appreciated, and I promise promise promise that the next chapter will be up in 2 weeks maximum.

If you have just read this, then you read the chapter too(I hope), so thankyou!

Anna

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