Sorry for the hold up Been pretty busy with school and stuff. Hope you guys like it! I'm working on the next chapter atm! Will be updating soon.
Xoxo
ESME POV
I passed by Edward's bedroom, carrying a basket of clean laundry, and almost gasped. Boxes of stuff were everywhere, 1labeled and ready to go, each with his name written on them. The room was unusually tidy, what wasn't going to New York was respectfully in its place. I set down the basket I was carrying and stood in the doorframe, putting a hand to my chest. It was all so overwhelming. My little boy was going to college, in just two days now. I moved into the middle of the room and just stood there, remembering it as a tiny baby's nursery. I heard Edward come in the front door, and smiled as I looked out his window and saw Bella honk and drive away. He walked into the room, running a hand through his hair.
"Hey mom." He greeted me, putting his hands on my shoulders. I was struck again my how much he had grown. He was taller than me by a long shot, and his arms were more muscular than his father's had been in years. "What's wrong?" He asked as he saw my watery eyes.
"You're just so grown up. I mean it seems like yesterday you were a year old." I sniffed. He wrapped his arms around me and I did the same.
"I'm going to miss you, mom." He said.
"I'll miss you too, sweetheart." I said, patting him on the cheek, and then picking up the laundry basket again. Edward rolled his eyes.
"Here, let me do it." He smiled, taking it from me and walking it down the stairs.
EDWARD POV
I woke up and rolled over in my bed, bringing my quilts with me. I didn't want to get up yet. I didn't want this to be my last full day at my house, my last morning in my own bed. I sighed and closed my eyes again, trying to fall back asleep. But I failed miserably as a familiar voice floated into my room, followed by the very faintest smell of strawberry shampoo and freesia perfume.
"Wakey wakey, sleepy head." Bella said, her voice sounding too loud in the morning sleepiness.
"Oh no! It's you again. Who let you in?" I faked being annoyed at her presence. She frowned and threw open the blinds. I groaned. She moved over to stand in front of me, her hands on her hips. She was dressed in plain cotton t-shirt and tattered jean cut-offs. Her brown hair was gathered into a messy ponytail, and I smiled at her before pouting again. I was looking down at her faded yellow canvas slip-ons; a couple of those friendship bracelets girls loved to make tied around her ankle.
"Come on, college boy." She chuckled as I threw an arm over my eyes and pretended to snore.
"No." I protested stubbornly. She tried unsuccessfully to tug on my ankles, and yank my arm. I sighed and caught her around the waist as she was doing this, pulling her down onto the bed with me.
"Damn, now I'm going to be stuck here. Your bed is so comfy." She said, relaxing into my arms.
"Mmm." I agreed, closing my eyes again. We lay like that for just a minute before Bella decided she wasn't going to succumb to that. She hopped up again and tugged the blankets off of me. I yelped and sat up straight, grumbling as she laughed. She threw me a shirt and I changed out of my pajama bottoms into jean shorts. I stretched my arms above my head, yawning. "Why am I up again?" I asked her.
"The world waits for no one." She giggled.
"Just tell me." I said.
"Fine. Look what I have..." She said teasingly, flashing a shiny credit card in my face. "It's your dad's. We're going shopping for your new apartment." She beamed. I shook my head while laughing. "I told your parents about the letter and they immediately threw their money at me, literally." She explained. "They say they want you to be comfortable." I rolled my eyes. She smiled at that, and moved closer, standing on her tiptoes. She kissed me smoothly on the lips.
"Mmm. Good morning." I chuckled.
"Well now that I've found a way of waking you up, let's go." She giggled.
BELLA POV
Edward looked so cute when he was sleeping. He always used the whole bed, splayed out like a starfish, with limbs going in every direction. His face was always squished up against a pillow or his arm, and he never snored. I stopped in the doorway and admired his muscular back, which was bare because of the summer warmth, before walking into the room.
"Wakey wakey, sleepy head." I said in a singsong voice.
"Oh no! It's you again. Who let you in?" He said, his voice crackly and sleepy. I threw open the blinds in revenge for his greeting. He groaned loudly. I then moved over to stand in front of him, my hands on my hips. He smiled at me briefly before his mouth turned buck down into an unhappy frown. He threw an arm over his face, pretending to snore.
"Come on, college boy." I chuckled.
"No." He protested. I tugged on his ankles and then on his arm, but was unsuccessfully. He sighed and wrapped an arm around my waist, startling me and pulling me with ease onto the bed.
"Damn, now I'm going to be stuck here. Your bed is so comfy." I said, relaxing into his warm embrace, letting his heavenly smell engulf me.
"Mmm." He murmured. We lay like that for just a minute before I decided that he wasn't going to win. I hopped up again and tugged the blankets off of him mercilessly. He yelped and sat up straight, grumbling as I laughed at the expression on his face. I threw him a yellow shirt and he changed out of his pajama bottoms into jean shorts. He stretched his arms above his head, exposing his stomach, yawning. "Why am I up again?" He asked.
"The world waits for no one." I said.
"Just tell me." He said in a tired voice.
"Fine. Look what I have..." I said teasingly, flashing the shiny credit card I had obtained minutes earlier in his face. "It's your dad's. We're going shopping for your new apartment." I beamed. He shook his head while laughing. "I told your parents about the letter and they immediately threw their money at me, literally." I explained. It was true. I had arrived this morning and told Carlisle and Esme, who were eating breakfast at the table, all about the letter from my mother. It was their idea that we go shopping. "They say they want you to be comfortable." I said. He rolled my eyes. I smiled at that, and moved closer, standing on my tiptoes to reach his face. I kissed his velvet lips softly.
"Mmm. Good morning." He chuckled, sounding less grumpy.
"Well now that I've found a way of waking you up, let's go." I giggled. He ran a hand through his hair and followed me back down the stairs. He gave Esme a hug, ate a quick bowl of cereal, and with renewed energy, bounced out the door and into his car.
"Can you believe it's tomorrow?" He asked as he pulled out of the driveway. He was of course talking about Julliard. I sighed.
"No." I said in a forlorn way. His hand squeezed my thigh. Just then, my phone buzzed and I flipped it open. It was a text from Rosalie.
All clear? It said. I texted her back and said yes. Tonight was Edward's surprise going away party, and Rose and Emmett were heading over to his house now to get it set up. My job was to keep him out of the house until 6, when it would be starting. This shopping trip had worked out quite well in my opinion, and I smiled happily as we drove to Port Angeles, where the nearest mall would be. We had invited some people from school, but nothing too busy, just a calm goodbye gathering thing.
Edward parked the car carefully as always and we got out, heading into the mall. It had just opened, so it wasn't very busy, and we strolled leisurely around.
"So, what do you want for your new place?" I asked as his fingers intertwined with mine mindlessly.
"I don't know. Nothing really..." He muttered, swinging our arms.
"Oh come on." I said, rolling my eyes. I teased him into the linens shop and persuaded him to let me help him choose new sheets, pillowcases, and a quilt cover.
"But I like my old ones." He complained half-heartedly.
"You need new ones, Masen." I said truthfully. The old ones were falling apart. He loved them so much though. They were flannel, a blueish colour. I had grown used to the feel of them over the years, the cozy, comforting smell and texture, so I caved in and agreed that he keep the pillow cases to take to Julliard. We bought a nice set of soft, white sheets and an olive green quilt cover. Happy with our purchases so far, I led the way back into the mall, Edward sulking behind me. I smiled and reached back to grab his hand. He took it and chuckled despite himself, yanking me closer and wrapping a long arm around me. I sighed, leaning into him, thinking of everything I would miss about him. Unable to sum it all up, I pulled him into another store. There wasn't much to buy, because my mother had said the apartment was fully furnished. But we bought plates and cups and stuff like that, and just some doodads here and there. He even let me take him into clothing stores and buy him a new jacket for fall, some new shirts, and new jeans.
About two and a half hours later we were seated at one of the tables in the food court, Edward renewing the energy he had wasted shopping by scarfing down Chinese food. I stole bites here and there, but mostly just sipped my smoothie while we chatted.
The thing I loved the most about our relationship was that we were still best friends forever. Nothing had changed in that department. We still did all those weird things and laughed at the same old inside jokes. We still had a competitive nature in us that compelled us to race down the stairs. I still felt so protective of him, it was like my life depended on it. It was just a slight shift in the way we were seeing things, and it was now no big deal to be holding his hands or kissing his lips. It was almost natural. I looked up and stared at him. His bronze hair swept back out of his eyes by his fingers, leaning well back in his chair, contemplating the rest of his Chow-Mein.
"Bella? Is that you?" I heard a familiar voice call me out of my thoughts. I looked up and saw two faces I knew vaguely well staring back at me. I searched my memory and came up with names for the faces. The pretty, very freckly girl with red hair on the left was Emily, and the gorgeous, dark skinned girl beside her was Devon. I knew the two of them from the all girls camp I had been sent too with Rose and Alice almost every summer since I was 10. I had stopped going when I was 15.
"Hey! Woah!" I exclaimed. They both looked so different. I stood up and gave them both tentative embraces. We had always been close in the summers at camp, but when you haven't seen somebody for a couple years, you always wonder how to greet them. They grinned back.
"You look amazing!" Emily exclaimed. I blushed, and could see them trying not to make it obvious that they were eye-ing my faint scar.
"How have you guys been? Why are you here?" I asked. They usually lived up in Seattle.
"Great." Devon beamed, her extra white teeth gleaming.
"Yeah, fantastic." Emily nodded fervently. "We're just down for a little shopping with Devon's mum."
"That's nice. I haven't seen you both in so long." I said, remembering camp. I could see Emily looking behind me at Edward, who was smiling at them. He cleared his throat.
"Are you going to introduce me to your friends, beautiful?" He asked, chuckling. I fluttered my hands around, I had completely forgotten.
"Right!" I exclaimed. "Edward, this is Emily and Devon, some very good friends from camp. Emily, Dev, this is Edward Masen." I said.
"The best friend." They both said, and then giggled.
"That's me. Nice to meet you too." He smiled. "Why don't you two sit down?" He asked, always the gentleman. They nodded and dragged over two more chairs to our table. I sat back down and rolled my eyes as Edward gave me an amused sort of eyebrow wiggle.
"Bella's told us all about you." Emily said simply. She had never been afraid to say exactly what was inside her head. "And we read your letters, too." Edward chuckled.
"Of course." He said.
"Bella, I hope you don't mind, but umm, what happened to your cheek?" Devon asked quietly. Edward's hand squeezed my knee under the table. I hated knowing my scar was still so noticeable.
"Uhh. Had an accident at a party." I said.
"What?" Emily looked concerned.
"Some guy left her in the forest alone." Edward said, his fist on the table clenching.
"And pretty piss drunk." I added quietly. There was a short silence.
"I had to come to her rescue." Edward smiled and teased, trying to bring a lighter mood to the conversation. He flexed his muscles jokingly. I poked him in the stomach. We all chatted for a while more, before Emily and Devon invited me to come with them to the shop across the way from the food court, because apparently they had seen a "really cute sweater" that would look great on me. Hah. I didn't believe them for a second. Edward assured me he would be fine on his own for 15 minutes or so while we looked in the store, and I kissed him quickly on the forehead before hurrying after Em and Dev.
"Holy shit Bella." Emily said as I caught up with them.
"Ya, Jesus. You've mentioned Edward before of course but you never bothered to tell us he's a complete babe." Devon looked back at Edward quickly. I laughed.
"Sorry, must have slipped my mind. I've been stuck with him too long, I start to not notice." I told them. But that wasn't true. Edward's humbly gorgeous eyes, face, hair and body never ceased to amaze me.
"I mean, come on. He's gorgeous, Bells." Emily said as we flipped through racks in the store.
"I know." I admitted, blushing.
"So...you guys are just best friends?" Devon asked, biting her lip.
"First and foremost. It only recently moved on to something else. And I mean very recently." I told them. Emily nearly shrieked.
"I knew it. You could totally notice." She said, holding up a shirt in the mirror, before frowning and putting it back. I chuckled. We looked around for another couple minutes before a very stressed out looking, middle aged woman who looked very much like Devon walked into the store.
"Dev honey. There you are. We really need to leave!" She said, hurrying over. "Bella! What a coincidence. So nice to see you, dear!" She exclaimed, patting my cheek sort of absentmindedly.
"Mom, do we have to leave now?" Devon whined. Her mother rolled her eyes.
"Yes, love. Come on Emily." She said. I hugged both of them and exchanged numbers, before uttering rushed goodbyes. I watched them go, sort of sad I couldn't spend more time with them, before turning again to the racks in front of me. I needed a new pair of jeans. I hummed very quietly to myself as I searched through different styles, and was startled by a pair of warm arms wrapping around me from behind. Edward rested his chin on my shoulder.
"Hey." He said. I reached up behind me and patted his faintly stubbly cheek.
"Hey. I'm almost done here." I assured him. I bought a pair of medium wash jeans quickly and we headed back out to Edward's car, hand in hand.
Merci ;)