My nerves kick up as I excuse myself to use the bathroom and change for bed. I'm not sure what to expect when I go back out to the living room and the longer that I hide away in here the more the anticipation builds. Putting on my sleep shorts and a tank, I listen to see if I can hear him moving around in the other room but it's silent. One deep breath and I open the door to reveal Edward now sprawled across the futon with the television off. Padding over to the edge, he opens his eyes looking up at me. Perhaps sensing my unease, he breaks the silence first.

"I don't mind sleeping out here if you're more comfortable with that."

"No, I didn't ask you to stay over to spend the night in separate rooms."

He seems to debate for a moment in his head before he gets up.

"Let me just go get ready for bed then and I'll be right there," he states as he walks toward the bathroom. I point out where I keep extra toothbrushes and then retreat to my room to wait for him to return.

My anxiety and excitement increase as I wait. I'm not sure what to expect when he joins me, as we've never really discussed the physical side of the relationship. I know that he's dated quite a few girls and being older I assume he's had more experience in that aspect. As I hear him leaving the bathroom, I fall back on the bed and decide to follow his lead. The lights from the living room shut off and then he appears in the doorway. He runs a hand through his hair before flipping the light off in the room, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

"You can lay down you know," I can't help but tease. "Unless you sleep sitting up."

With a smirk, he pulls his shirt up over his head causing my heart to race. Perhaps I hadn't thought this all the way through. He stretches to place his shirt on the floor beside the bed. Just as I think he's about to finally lay down, he turns his upper body so that he's facing the head of the bed and lets out a sigh. Before I can question this, he's unbuttoning his jeans and quickly drops them to the floor before sliding under the blankets.

Turning on our sides to face each other, our kisses from before heat back up. My hands stop their exploration of his chest and back when I feel his hand sneak underneath the bottom of my tank top. As his hand moves up to graze just under my breast, all worries are wiped from my mind needing to feel him closer. I shift forward as his hand rises, first with a gentle passing touch and then increasing in pressure. I slide my right leg up over his hip as his kisses trail down my neck.

"We need to stop, Bella," he warns yet his body continues.

"No we don't," I argue, pressing our lower halves closer together, but still not close enough.

Just as quickly as it began, Edward pulls back from me and lies down on his back again, catching his breath.

I take a deep breath myself wondering what just happened. He looks over with a smile, pulling me with one arm over to rest my head on his shoulder.

"You're amazing. That…was amazing, but if we don't stop now I won't be able to stop."

"What's wrong with that?" I question.

"You're leaving tomorrow. I don't want our first time together to be right before you leave for a week. I'm going to miss you enough without missing that too," he smirks. "Besides, believe it or not, I actually didn't come prepared for this."

"Prepared? You mean…" I wonder out loud, confused.

"Condoms. I wasn't expecting this tonight so I didn't bring any," he explains.

"Oh, well I'm covered on that end. I mean…I don't have condoms, but I'm on the pill," I inform him, glad that we're at least getting this out in the open now before we go any further.

He smiles, planting a brief kiss to my forehead.

"That's good to know for when you get back. But for tonight, I think we need to get some rest," he replies pulling me further into his side.

"Goodnight Edward," I sigh, slightly disappointed, but understanding his reasoning.

"Night pretty girl."

~AS~

Waking up with Edward the next morning is something I'll look forward to my entire trip home. He dropped me off at the airport with a lingered goodbye before I boarded for my flight home. Putting in my headphones, I zone out thinking back to this morning, last night and my whole time on the island so far. Everything seems so different from the last time that I was home. I feel so different from just a few months ago when I was in Washington. I settle back for the flight, excited to see my dad and Angela for the holidays, but wishing my new island family was with me.

~AS~

Charlie is waiting for me by the baggage claim at the airport. Since I already had my gifts shipped to his house, I only had my carry on to worry about so after a long hug, we're on the road towards home. The next few days I have plans with Angela and some other friends who returned home for the holidays. Today though I plan to spend with Charlie, decorating the tree and filling him in on all the events from the past months.

I've told him about Edward already, but his questions are more direct now then they were when I've mentioned Edward over the phone.

"You seem happy, Bells."

"I am dad. I wish you would come to see this place yourself."

"I'm not a fan of flying, you know that. Besides, someone has to keep this town under control," he chuckles. "Maybe next time you come back to visit your old man you can bring this farmer friend of yours."

"He's a boyfriend, dad, and it's a little soon to be planning my next visit, I just got here."

"I'd like to meet him is all. It's hard with you being so far away," he replies sounding serious. "You spend a lot of time with him, I just don't want you losing sight of why you went out there in the first place. Isn't it hard to spend time finding yourself when you're spending all your time with him?"

"I think you'd really like Edward. And the more time I spend with him and his family, the more I feel comfortable with myself too. Enough with all the serious talk, do we need to stop at the store for groceries before we head home?" I happily change the subject.

The rest of the day is spent as I imagined, restocking the kitchen at home, decorating the tree and wrapping the gifts that I had mailed earlier. I text with Edward a few times throughout the day but make sure to spend my time focused on my dad.