Sorry thats its been so long. Finals took over my life.

Disclaimer: I've borrowed these toys and its time that I give them back.

Chapter 13

Ever After

"Bella, wake up." Alice's voice was much gentler and non-demanding than when she usually woke me up. At first I wondered at her sudden kindness, and then I remembered.

I reluctantly peeled my eyelids apart. Alice was sitting on my bed; one had placed gently on my shoulder. She was already dressed.

"I'm leaving in ten minuets," she informed me.

I had forgotten. Rose and Alice had made plans to go to Seattle on our last day of break before heading back to school. Edward and I had opted out, saying that we had better things to do than follow Alice and Rose around clothing stores. This, of course, meant that I would be riding back home with Edward. A situation that, previous to the night before, I would have been excited about.

For a brief moment I wondered if Alice had decided that I was coming to Seattle as well, a way for me to avoid any more embarrassment with Edward, but I knew that I could never be ready to leave in ten minuets, so she must have just been informing me of her departure.

"Have fun," I sighed, thinking about the inevitably awkward car ride that I would be facing the next day.

Alice stood. "You need to get up."

I rolled onto my side and glanced at my alarm clock. It was nearly nine-thirty. "Why do I have to get up all of a sudden?"

Alice gave me a look filled with so many emotions that it was difficult to separate them. Pity. Worry. Empathy. "You and Edward have plans today."

"What?" I shrieked at her. In the back of my mind I vaguely remembered Edward and I saying that we were going to do something today. Edward had said that he wanted to show me something, but he had never said what. "Alice, I'm not going."

Alice sighed. "That's what I told Edward last night, but he was adamant. He said that he'd be here at ten-thirty and he didn't care if you were ready for him or not."

I leaned back in my bed, crossing my arms over my chest and pouting.

"Bella," Alice chewed on her bottom lip, her eyes wrinkled with concern. "I don't know why Edward wants this. To be honest, last night I was so upset with him that I didn't even bother to ask. Bella, from what I can tell, Edward is giving you a chance to make things normal. It seems like he is willing to forget the whole thing and go on with just being friends."

I sniffed back the tears that were threatening to spill over again at her words. I could keep Edward as a friend; I just had to admit that I could never have anything else.

Alice grabbed her duffle bag and slung it over her shoulder. "I have to go. Look, it's your decision, but Edward is planning on being here in a hour." She kissed me on the forehead. "I'll see you tomorrow." Alice walked to the door and glanced back at me. "I'll give you a call from the hotel to."

I could tell that she felt guilty about leaving me like this, but I didn't really care. "Bye," I said. Thanks for abandoning me in my time of need.

Alice glanced at the floor. "Bye," she almost whispered.

I didn't move or even think until I heard the front door close and Rosalie's car pull away from the curb.

After a good fifteen minuets of deliberation I dragged myself out of bed and into the shower. I knew it would be no use arguing with Edward. If he was determined to forget this whole thing then I guess that I should be thankful.

Noticing that Alice hadn't laid out any clothes for me I guessed that Edward hadn't let her in on his plans anymore than he had me. I tugged the pair of jeans that I had not gone to sleep in and the first t-shirt that I laid my hands on. I pulled my hair back into a ponytail and grabbed my converse. I was just pulling on my shoes when I saw the silver Volvo park in front of my house.

I looked down at Edward. He seemed unsure of whether he should go ring the doorbell or wait for me to come out on my own. He chose to wait in the car, which was fine with me. I was in no hurry to face the music.

I wandered downstairs at my own pace. It wasn't even quite ten-thirty yet so I could take my time. I pulled a granola bar out of the cabinet and took my time methodically chewing each bite until it was pulverized into a fine power. At ten thirty-five I pulled on my jacket and opened the door.

Edward was leaning against the passenger door, waiting for me. He gave me a cheerful smile that I did not have the heart to return. Upon taking in my appearance, Edward gave a slight wince before he managed to cover up his reactions. I must have looked worse than I thought.

I had made a point to avoid any mirrors that morning. I knew that I had managed to wash the tear stains off of my face, but my eyes still felt a little dry and sore from the previous night's crying bout. I wondered if they were still red. Or maybe he was wincing at the dark circles under my eyes. I didn't bother to find out. I just slid into the seat and stared out the window.

The car ride was silent. A few times Edward took a deep breath and opened his mouth as if to say something, but always cut himself off with a sigh.

We took roads out of Forks that I did not recognize. It was a while before I realized that we were heading up the mountain towards the woods. It should have bothered me that I didn't have the faintest idea where Edward was taking me, but it didn't. For all I knew he was planning on murdering me and dumping the body in the forest. I really didn't care if he did. I doubt that I would have struggled.

We parked along six or seven other cars. Most were SUVs that people bought to attempt to convince other people that they were outdoorsy. Edward snorted at the one we parked next to. Upon close inspection it was easy to see that the bike rack installed on the roof of the car had never even been used. If it had been any other day I might have joined in the laughter, but I didn't.

Edward guided me to the dirt trail. It was a nice path. The trees were pretty and occasionally we saw a few birds or a rabbit, but it was never enough to strike up a conversation. Due to my disabilities we walked slowly, so as to prevent me from tripping over the occasional root that jutted its way into the path.

We met people on the path. They were usually elderly couples, out for a hike. They would be wearing matching jogging outfits or occasionally hiking boots. Sometimes they would smile at us and say something casual about the weather. Edward always responded politely, I never said anything.

When we had started off on the path a sign had told me that this trail was named something point. I couldn't remember what the something was, but it led me to believe that we would come out on some sort of cliff or something like that. After a while I'm sure that the people we crossed paths with assumed that I planned on throwing myself off of said cliff and that Edward was there to assist me or something. It didn't really sound like a bad idea. I was upset which meant that I tended to be a bit melodramatic.

After an hour another couple came upon us. Instead of just heading on Edward stopped to examine something in the path. Once the couple was past us Edward's attention did not leave the tree that he was so closely examining. As they moved out of sight Edward suddenly moved right off the path and into the forest.

I watched him go a few paces before he turned to me and beckoned me forward with his hand. A few steps out I realized that we were on a path that was usually only used by small animals. You would have had to know about it in order to find it.

This path was much more treacherous than the earlier one. There were no volunteers who came through to clear this path of roots, rock and other things. Bushes stuck out everywhere. There were fallen trees that had to be climbed over. If Edward and I had been talking I would have complained.

Edward was always close. Every time I so much as wobbled his hands would be ready to catch me. I took extra care to make sure that such an occasion would not arise. If I felt Edward's hands on me I would fall apart.

After yet another hour of trekking through the uncharted woods I saw Edward look up and smile. He must have recognized something because my eyes saw nothing to smile at. Another ten minuets later and we came upon a clearing.

The clearing was how I would have imagined heaven. It was a perfect circle lined by trees and boulders with a strong patch of sunlight in the middle. But the most amazing part was the wild flowers. From a distance it looked carpeted with purple lupines. I couldn't help but gasp.

I ran out to the center of the clearing, simply feeling the sun on my face. I closed my eyes and inhaled the sweet scent of the flowers (Alice had always claimed that lupines smelled terrible. I thought she was crazy). For a moment I felt completely at peace.

Then I remembered Edward. He was probably watching me. I opened my eyes and almost fell over backwards. Edward was standing right in front of me. Not a foot in front of me, but right in front of me, close enough to touch.

I opened my mouth to say something but was silenced my Edward's intense look. The next thing I knew, he was kissing me.

When I had kissed Edward the night before I had done so with great caution, not wanting to overstep any boundaries. Edward was not so cautious. He practically jumped on me, pulling me up against his chest.

For a moment I just stood there and pondered my situation. By the way, it is very hard to ponder when someone is fiercely attacking your lips with theirs. I wondered why Edward was kissing me. After last night he had made it clear that he wasn't interested. My brain managed to come up with a solution. Edward was giving me what I wanted. He wanted to make me happy, so he was letting me have my moment.

Now I had two options. I could either spare myself the later heartbreak and push him off, or I could make the best of a bad situation and get what I wanted.

I chose option two.

The moment I made my decision my brain clicked off. All that mattered was getting Edward as close to me as possible as quickly as possible before he decided that I had had enough. I threaded my fingers through his soft hair and pulled him down closer to me. Much to my surprise, Edward's hands wrapped around my waist, pulling our bodies against each other's. He clung to me like a life preserver.

I knew that neither of us had ever been this close to another person before and for the first time I really understood what we had been missing.

Edward's soft warm mouth opened and begged mine to do the same. I could never say no to him.

My head was spinning. I felt as though I was slowly falling. It wasn't until my knees hit the ground that I realized that I had been falling. Edward still held me close, both of us kneeling on the ground. The kiss would break for brief seconds to gasp for air, but that was it.

After countless minuets I felt Edward try to pull away. I couldn't let that happen. If we stopped then this would be the last time that I ever kissed him. Now that I had him I couldn't let him go.

As Edward sat back I followed him, straddling his hips in order to keep all possible contact. I really did expect him to stop me at some point, but Edward continued to surprise me by wrapping one arm around my waist to secure me and placing the other hand on the back of my head.

Aside from that disaster that I had caused the night before, this was the first time either Edward or I had ever kissed anyone. It was obvious that Edward was very good at what he was doing. This didn't surprise me much. Edward was naturally good at everything, why would kissing be any different?

"Bella," Edward managed to say around my attacking lips. "Do you—think we could—talk?"

I pulled back to look at him. Edward's face was set. He wanted to talk. I wasn't going to get out of this.

"No," I shook my head and started kissing him again.

Edward gave in for about a minuet before peeling his lips away to ask me, "Why?"

"Because," my voice sounded as thought I was about to cry, "if we stop then you are not going to let me kiss you anymore."

I watched the emotions that played across Edward's face in a manner of seconds. Confusion. Understanding. Distress, or maybe sadness. Then I saw him briefly smile before he pulled my lips back down to his.

He pulled me closer and I tightened my own hold on him as I felt him shift forward. As he pressed me back into the cool grass I attempted to pull him even closer to me, but Edward placed both hands on my shoulders and pushed himself away from me. Tricky.

"How about if we talk and I promise to let you kiss me again later?" He was smiling playfully down at me.

I considered this for a moment. I would have to face the ultimate rejection sooner or later, but Edward was still going to let me have him for a little while. I guessed that this would never leave the meadow. In the back of my mind I began to wonder how long Edward and I could reasonably live here before someone found us or we ran out of food. No one knew where we were. I somehow doubted that Edward was ever in boy scouts.

I sighed and nodded. Edward moved off of me and I sat up. Edward tried to meet my eyes but I found them more drawn to the purple flowers springing out of the ground beneath us.

Edward sighed. "Bella, I am so sorry about last night."

"You don't have to be," I muttered. "It was all my fault."

"No, Bella, don't you understand?" Edward placed his hands on my shoulders again and forced me to look in his eyes. "It was my fault."

I thought that over for a second. I didn't remember Edward jumping on me and kissing me. Why was this all suddenly his fault?

"No, I'm pretty sure that was all me."

Edward's eyes looked hurt. "No, Bella let me explain. You have to see that—you startled me last night! I was not expecting you to do that. And I was so shocked that—I froze. I'm sorry." His eyes were pleading now.

"It was a legitimate reaction, Edward." I shrugged. "If someone that I didn't have those kinds of feeling about tried to kiss me—"

"What?" Edward cut me off, his face incredulous. "You think that I don't have feelings for you?"

"We're just friends, Edward. You've said so yourself a million times."

Edward closed his eyes and swore. Then he started to laugh and shake his head. He leaned his head back and opened his eyes to stare up at the clear sky. "Oh my god," he laughed again.

"What?" I was even more confused than I had been earlier.

Edward lowered his head back to my eye level and smiled at me. "Nothing. I'm just laughing at myself."

"Care to fill me in on the joke?"

"We seem to be misinterpreting each other Bella. Although how you managed to convince yourself that I didn't have feelings for you is mindboggling. In the last week I must have said it more times than I can count. I felt like I was screaming it at you. And you honestly had no idea?" Edward was looking at me as though there was some question of my sanity. I looked back at him with a similar expression.

"You have feelings for me? More than platonic feelings? Since when?" I asked incredulously. It was all too much. There had to be a punch line somewhere. I was waiting for him to laugh at me and tell me that it was all just some joke that Emmett had asked him to do.

"Since the first time you snapped at me for being rude to you in class." Edward smiled at the distant memory. "You were the first girl besides Rose who didn't put up with my crap. It shocked me, and I liked it. It shocked me that I liked it."

"It didn't stop you from being a jerk," I commented.

"Of course it didn't. It meant that I had to put my guard up even more. I told you, I wanted you to be different, but I couldn't convince myself that you were. I was just waiting for you to turn into one of those horrible shallow girls. If I let myself like you then I would end up worse off than ever."

"But I wasn't like the other girls," I prompted him. I really needed to see where this story was going.

"No, you weren't. Every time I saw you you became more and more frustrating. Smarter, kinder, sweeter. You were tearing my life apart and part of me hated you for that. You have to understand, Bella, before you came along I had never so much as glanced at another girl. You became all that I could think about. And then that night at the movies." Edward's eyes became distant. "The very fact that you were there made me want you. I'd never wanted anyone before. It's very confusing the first time around."

"Tell me about it," I mumbled. "Especially when the person that you want is being a distant jerk."

Edward smiled at me. He raised a hand to tuck a lose strand of hair behind my ear. His warm hand ran down the side of my face, cupping my jaw. "I told you that I was sorry for that."

I leaned my cheek into his warm hand. "I know."

Edward languidly ran his thumb across my cheekbone. "You are so beautiful."

I blushed.

Edward chuckled. "Even more so when you do that." His face changed and become more serious. "I am so sorry for making you upset last night. I felt like a complete ass."

"Yes you were," I teased.

Edward laughed. "So now do you believe that I have feelings for you?"

"No," I shook my head. "Now I'm convinced that I am asleep. I have to be dreaming this."

Edward pulled me closer. "Well, then I guess it's my job to awaken the fair princess."

His lips fluttered across mine like butterfly wings. So sweet and gentle, unlike our earlier clash of emotions.

"Are you awake yet?" he whispered against my lips.

"No," I giggled back.

I clutched him to me and kissed him hard. I had obviously miscalculated and the force I used to pull him forward sent both of us tipping backwards onto the grass.

"God I love you," Edward laughed when we broke apart again.

"What?" I asked. I'm pretty sure that my eyes managed to pop out of my head when he said this. It was hard enough for me to take in that Edward might like me. But love?

Edward leaned down to kiss me. "I love you," he repeated an inch away from my lips. The intensity of his closeness made me shake.

"Since when?" I asked, trying my best to be casual, and failing miserably.

Edward thought for a moment. "Since that night first night at my apartment. You said my name in your sleep."

I flushed with embarrassment. Of course that was the moment that Edward had to pick. When I was not only talking in my sleep, but also drunk. Fun.

"You had to pick one of the more embarrassing moments of my life?" I asked. I guessed that the night before was no longer embarrassing, just a hiccup.

Edward smiled and looked deeply into my eyes. "It was the one of the best moments of my life." He stroked the side of my face again, making it very hard for me to concentrate on what he was saying. "Hearing you say my name, knowing that you were dreaming about me, it forced me to admit that I had feelings for you. If you hadn't I may have gone on ignoring how I felt."

"Well, we couldn't have that, now could we?" I giggled. This was unreal. Edward was sitting here saying that he loved me. It was like something out of a storybook. It was over, the prince loved me. Onto the happily ever after.

"Well, just so you don't feel left out, I love you to," I said like I was referring to the weather.

Edward rolled his eyes at my utter lack of emotion when I said this. "Glad to hear it."

To prove to him that I wasn't just saying it, I pulled him down on me and kissed him more passionately than I had thought possible.

The End

There you go, standard , fluffy happy ending. The whole time I was writing this I had no idea how they were going to get together, then Edward had this great idea, but he was very obstinate about it not happening until a certain time, which frustrated me. He explains it all in his version which I am almost done with. Any way, Edward's side of this story will be coming soon to a computer near you, now that I'm done with school and have some time to actually sit down and write something. Stupid ten page anthropology essays.

Thanks for reading, and thanks for sticking with me for so long! Its been fun. :)