Disclaimer: I don't own it. I do have four tattoos and hundreds of books.

A/N: Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed! It always makes me happy to see those wonderful emails alerting me that someone responded to my story. This week has been hectic, and I'm transitioning to my full-time job this weekend, so I'm not positive when I'll get the next chapter up. Should be no later than say, next Wed. But I make no promises. Once again, this is un-beta's so I apologize for any and all mistakes.

Design For Life

There is no friend as loyal as a book.~ Ernest Hemingway

EPOV

I was a mess after watching Bella board the plane. It was stupid. Couples spent time apart. It wasn't the end of the world, but it sure felt like it. The fact that she was going to be gone for a week weighed heavily on me, and I felt myself brooding. Her plane hadn't even left yet, and I was already missing her something terribly. I was a lovesick fool. There was no doubt about it. I hung around the airport until her plane left, then I slowly walked to my car. The drive home was quiet and lonely, and it seemed to take forever. I pulled into my drive and gave her empty house a sad look. Lord, I was pathetic.

I killed several hours watching Doctor Who and reading, but my mind wasn't really focused. Finally, finally my phone rang. I grabbed it and was elated to hear Bella's voice on the other end. She told me that she'd made it to Phoenix safely, her mom had picked her up, and that they were heading to her mom's place. We spent a while talking, but I noticed that she sounded tired so reluctantly we hung up.

I woke up the next day in a bad mood. My dreams had been dark and disturbing. I had dreamed that Laurent came back and killed Bella and nothing I did saved her. Running a hand over my face, I climbed out of bed and headed toward my shower.

As I stepped outside, I was hit with a gust of wind and rain. Big surprise there. I trudged over to my car and headed off to work. What would normally be a simple, easy drive had turned into a freaking nightmare. The road I normally took was closed, so I had to take a detour that took me a few extra minutes, and I managed to hit every red light along the way. By the time I made it to the library, I was running late, and I'd never gotten around to replacing the umbrella that had been destroyed back when I first met Bella. Soaking wet and pissed off, I stomped into the library to find our little band of employees sitting around a table in the back.

"You're late," Mrs. Cope said, sounding irritated.

Barely containing myself from rolling my eyes, I apologized for my tardiness wondering if perhaps, I wasn't the only one who had gotten up on the wrong side of the bed. After putting my stuff away at my desk, I sat down at the table and waited for Mrs. Cope to continue.

"Now that we're all here," she began, looking at me. "I have some bad news. The mayor has cut the funding for the library by half. We're going to be looking at some big changes in the next few months."

"What kind of changes? What does that mean for us? For me?" Jasper asked.

Mrs. Cope folded her hands in front of her on the table and barely met his gaze.

"We'll be keeping the local history room, but the hours will be cut drastically. Everyone's hours will be cut drastically. As a matter of fact, the library will only be open half the time it is now. We won't be open on the weekends at all. We'll be open Monday through Thursday from noon to six."

I think we were all in shock. What kind of moron closes the library on the weekends and cuts the hours back? Anger and outrage poured through me. How the hell were we supposed to live if our hours were being cut like that?

"We're only going to be working twenty-four hours a week?" Angela asked furiously.

Mrs. Cope nodded.

"What about our benefits?" I asked.

Mrs. Cope took a deep breath before she began to speak. "You'll still have benefits if you want them, but since you will no longer be considered full time, the benefits are going to cost you more."

"This is such fucking bullshit!" Jasper yelled, smacking his hand down on the table. "How the fuck are we supposed to live? We're going to all have to get second jobs in order to make our rent or pay our bills."

"Jasper. The local history room will only be open two hours a day," Mrs. Cope told him tentatively.

"So I might as well just quit," he said, anger lacing his voice.

Mrs. Cope talked to us a bit more before telling us that the changes were going into effect within a month. Needless to say, the rest of the day was quiet and tense. It's not like Forks was teeming with jobs, especially for a guy with nothing but a Bachelor's degree in English. At least Jasper had a teaching degree. He could get a job teaching history if any of the area schools were hiring. I, on the other hand, had no idea what I as going to do. I suppose I could get a job working at the grocery store or something. I hoped that perhaps Bella would have an idea as to what I could do.

After work, I headed home doing my best not to dwell on how things had suddenly gone from good to bad. They say bad things come in threes, so I was afraid to find out what else was left. Laurent got murdered, my job basically got murdered, what was next?

I spent the next few days trying to figure out what to do with my life. I'd talked to Bella a few times, but hadn't mentioned what was going at the library. She was dealing with enough as it was at the moment. I was sitting at my desk at work when a thought occurred to me. I had plenty of vacation time, sick time, and personal leave. I should go be with Bella in Phoenix. Technically, I was supposed to give a two week notice for vacation, but I was at the point where I just didn't care anymore. If Mrs. Cope had a problem with it or denied it, I'd just call in sick for a weekend.

Getting up, I went to Mrs. Cope's office and knocked on her door. After a few minutes of talking, she approved my vacation time. The minute I was back at my desk, I looked up tickets to Phoenix and Googled her mother's address. Thankfully, her mom was listed in the white pages.

"What'cha doing?" Jasper asked, sitting down next to me.

"Booking a flight to Phoenix."

"Nice. When do you leave?"

"Tomorrow morning. I need to get away from this place and just be with Bella."

"I hear that. I'm so tempted to just say fuck it and walk out. Hell, maybe I should."

Turning to face him, I asked, "What are you going to do when you do leave?"

He shrugged. "Guess I'll see if I can't put that teaching degree to use. I've got to help pay for this big ass wedding that your sister is going to want. Not to mention, that I've been saving up to buy a house, and I can't do that if I ain't got any money. What about you?"

"No clue," I told him as I confirmed my ticket purchase. "I, honestly, have no idea what I'm going to do. Maybe I can get a job in Port Angeles and carpool with Bella."

"There you go. You can learn to draw and then become a tattoo artist."

I snorted. "Yeah, I think not. Nobody wants tattoos of stick people on their arms."

Once the day was over, I headed home and started packing. I was very excited to be going to see my girl. My Bella. I awoke the next day to the alarm blaring in my ear. It was way to early to be up, but the drive to Seattle was a three hour trip, plus they always warn you to arrive early. Thankfully, there wasn't a lot of traffic along the way, and I made it safely to the airport. I parked in the long term parking, then caught a shuttle.

Two hours later, I was in the air, heading to Phoenix. I was excited. Not just to see Bella, but to be going to Phoenix. I'd never been to Arizona before, and it would be a welcome change from the chilly and wet. After I landed in Phoenix, I caught a cab that took me to Renee Swan's house. At least I hoped it was her house. What if she'd moved? I quickly stopped that train of thought. Thirty minutes later, I pulled up in front of a nice looking, two-story house. I paid the cab driver, grabbed my bag, and headed up the walk, hoping that I hadn't made a huge mistake in going there.

Taking a deep breath to steady myself, I reached out and knocked on the door. I heard a woman's voice telling me to wait a moment before the door opened.

"May I help you?" she politely asked.

Crap. I couldn't think of what to say. I finally blurted out, "I'm Edward. Is Bella here? Is this the right house?"

The small woman in front of me gave a giggle. There was a sparkle in her eye and when she smiled at me, I saw Bella.

"Well, hello Edward. It's nice to meet you. I've heard so much about you from Bella. She's here. Most likely out in the back enjoying the sun. She didn't mention that you were coming for a visit," Bella's mother said as she gestured me inside.

"That's because she didn't know. I wasn't sure if I'd be able to get the time off, but I was able to, and I wanted to be here for her."

"Aren't you just the sweetest thing? Oh, Bella's going to be so thrilled that you're here," she told me before bellowing out Bella's name.

A few moments later, I saw her. She looked annoyed that her afternoon had been interrupted. Then she saw me. Her face lit up, and I knew mine did too. Before I could blink, she was hollering my name and throwing herself into my arms. I held onto her tightly as she pressed kisses all over my face before drawing me into a deep kiss. I was so caught up in being with her that I'd forgotten that her mother was standing there until I heard her clear her throat.

"Are you going to introduce us?" she asked with a smirk on her face.

I felt my face catch on fire, and I noticed that Bella's face was a bit pink as well. Bella let out a giggle and grabbed my hand, formally introducing me to her mother.

"Mom, as I'm sure you know this is Edward. Edward, this is my mom."

"It's wonderful to meet you, Mrs. Swan," I began but was quickly interrupted.

"Renee. Just call me Renee. And it's wonderful to meet the young man my daughter's in love with," Renee said, giving me a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

Holding my hand tightly, Bella dragged me into the living room and sat down on the couch with me. Immediately, she snuggled up next to me and asked what I was doing there.

"I got the weekend off so that I could be with you. It's hard being away from you for so long," I shyly admitted to her.

Renee informed me that I would be staying with them and could share Bella's room. I felt a thrill go through me at the thought of getting to hold my girl again. It had only been a few days, but it had felt like forever. We chatted for a bit more before Bella took my hand, and we headed up the stairs to her old room. I took a good look around it after she opened the door. It was a mess. I'd come to expect that from her. There were clothes and books everywhere. I shook my head at the mess and dropped my bag on an overstuffed chair before flopping down on her bed.

"Thank you for coming down here," she said softly as she curled up next to me.

"I couldn't stand being away from you any longer. Besides, I needed a change from the cold, dreary weather. Maybe you can show me around while we're here."

"Of course. We'll soak up as much sun as we can," she told me.

I reached out and took her hand, pressing a kiss to it before rolling onto my side. She looked so beautiful but there was a sadness in her eyes they made my heart hurt. Brushing a lock of hair out of the way, I leaned down and pressed my lips to hers. We spent the next few minutes kissing before I pulled away, nipping her bottom lip before pressing my lips to hers again. It was so easy to get lost in her kisses, but we were interrupted by her mother hollering for us.

After straightening ourselves up, we headed downstairs where we were met by Renee. She informed us that we would be meeting up with her husband, Charlie, for dinner at some steakhouse. We crammed into Renee's tiny car and took off. I was extremely nervous about meeting Mr. Swan. I knew he was a cop and that Bella thought of him as her dad. All I could picture was the man interrogating me about my intentions toward his daughter. I wiped my sweaty palms off on my pants as we pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant. Taking a deep breath, I prepared myself to meet Bella's step-dad.

She spotted him waiting and ran over to him, giving him a huge hug before introducing me. I stepped forward and held out a hand, telling him it was nice to meet him. I hoped like heck he wouldn't notice how terrified I was.

"Nice to meet you, too. Bella's told us a quite a bit about you," he replied, shaking my hand.

Surprisingly, dinner went really well. It seemed that Charlie and I had a bit in common and we spent dinner talking about our various interest in books and whatnot. After dinner, we headed back to the house and Bella told me that she was going to show me around Phoenix. I was excited to see where she had spent the past few years of her life.

Later that night we were snuggled up close to one another, and I was enjoying every minute of it. I wanted to make love to her, but I felt a bit odd about doing that in her parents' house, especially with them right down the hallway. I was so caught up in thinking that I was a bit startled when she straddled me. Looking into her face, I saw a mischievous smile. She was up to something.

"What do you think you're doing?" I asked her quietly.

"Well, I've come to the conclusion that you only swear during or after the throws of passion, so I'm making it my goal to get you to swear while we're here."

I felt my face flush and my eyes grew wide. "I ... uh—is it okay to do that in your parents' house? It just feels wrong."

"That's part of the fun," she said. "You'll have to be quiet so we don't get caught."

"I'll have to be quiet? What about you? You're the screamer," I said with a smirk.

She gave me a smirk back and informed me that she could be quiet. We'd see about that. I was about to speak up when she leaned down, pressed her lips to mine. Our tongues began a slow, sensual duel as she pressed her body to mine. My hips jerked up on their own accord, and I let out a throaty moan. She was a wicked temptress. She quickly shushed me, and I was once again reminded of where we were.

A long while later, I was laying on my back trying to get air back into my lungs. Bella left to get cleaned up, but was back quickly and curled up against me.

"I've missed that," I told her. "Well, not just sex. I missed you as well."

She let out a giggle. "I knew what you meant. I've missed you and sex with you. I'm so happy to have you here."

"I'm very glad to be here. I love you, Bella Swan."

"I love you, Edward Cullen. Get some sleep because tomorrow we're going to be busy," she whispered.

I woke up the next day with my face nestled in tons of silky brown hair. I'd been afraid it was all dream and that I'd wake up in my bed in Forks. Bella let out a mumble and curled up closer to me. There were moments where I could still hardly believe that she was mine. I reached over and ran my hand up and down her side before slowly moving up her torso to cup her breast in my hand. I loved the way she felt, the way she fit perfectly in my hand. She let out a low moan as I continued to play with her. My fingers found her nipple and plucked it gently.

Thirty minutes later we were dressed, fed, and on our way out the door. Half an hour later we pulled up outside of New Moon. Bella's old stomping grounds. Her face was lit up, and I could tell she was positively giddy at seeing some old colleagues and friends. Taking my hand, we walked into the shop.

There was an older Native American guy sitting behind the counter.

"Can I help—Bella!"

"Billy!" she cried before she was wrapped up in a hug by the older guy.

I knew that Billy was Jake's dad and looking at him it was easy to see the resemblance. Leaving them to catch up, I wondered around the waiting area, taking in all the designs on the walls. The place had a nice feel to it, and I found myself drawn to several designs on one of the walls. As I got closer I realized that they weren't designs, but quotes taken from different books and poems. I don't know how long I stood there staring at them. I had never really thought about getting a tattoo. That wasn't who I was. Or was it? The longer I stood there staring at them, the more I realized that I kind of wanted one.

"This is Edward. My boyfriend." Bella said, placing a hand on my arm, pulling me away from the quotes on the wall. "Edward, this is Billy Black, Jake's dad."

I stuck my hand and shook his. We stood around talking for a bit, and I was introduced to countless people who's names I would never remember. But the whole time my gaze kept being drawn back to the quotes.

"Are you interested in getting a literary tattoo?" Billy asked me.

I answered yes before I even realized it. Bella turned to look at me with a slightly stunned expression on her face.

"Really? You want a tattoo?" she asked, incredulously.

"I—uh, apparently. I really like the way they look," I told her suddenly unsure of myself.

"If you want one, there's no one better than to tattoo you, than Billy. But baby. You don't have to do this if you don't want to," Bella told me, her hand on my arm, her eyes piercing mine.

I nodded. I knew that. It just felt right. Like I was supposed to get one.

"Can I use a quote different from those on the wall?" I asked.

Billy grinned. "Of course. You got something in mind?"

I nodded. "There's a quote from Mark Twain's Life on the Mississippi that I really like. It's not very long. One lives to find out."

Billy nodded. "I like it. We could easily do that. Now you just need to decide what kind of font you want us to use and where you want it."

I had no idea they could use different fonts. I turned to Bella seeking her guidance.

"You're on your own. It's your tattoo. Get what you want, however you want, where ever you want," she said with a smile.

"Fine. Fine. Can you do a typewriter kind of font? I think that would look cool," I said, almost unable to believe that was contemplating the fonts of a tattoo.

"We sure can," Billy said.

"Okay. I think maybe on the inside of my wrist would be a good place. Or maybe my forearm? Or—oh, I thought of a different quote! To thine own self be true. That's a good one too. Crap. How the heck am I supposed to just pick one?" I grumbled.

Bella and Billy started to laugh.

"You don't have to pick just one. You can always get another tattoo later. It's not a one-time only deal," Bella said, teasing me a bit.

I stuck my tongue out at her. She wasn't being much help. I turned to Billy and found him grinning at us.

"Alright. I'm ready. I think. No, I am. Let's do this before I change my mind about what quote I want," I said.

"Are you sure?" Billy asked.

"Yeah, I am."

Billy, Bella, and I walked to the back where Billy had me sit down on a chair.

"Okay kid. What quote are you getting?"

"One lives to find out. I want it with typewriter font, on the inside of my left wrist," I told him.

He left to go draw it up, and Bella turned to me.

"Are you really sure you want to do this? Don't get me wrong. I think it's completely fuck-hot that you're getting a tat, but I want to make sure that you're getting it for you."

I couldn't help but smile at how sweet my girl was. I reached over and traced my finger across her cheek.

"If you had told me a few months ago that I'd be getting a tattoo, I would've laughed at you. But, today, it just—it seems like the right thing to do. My life has changed so much since you came into it. And for the better. I promise you, getting this tattoo is something I want to do."

She stared at me before placing a kiss upon my lips.

"Okay," she said, then snorted. "Emmett's gonna freak out when he finds out you got a tat!"

I hadn't even thought about that.

"Heck, he won't be the only one. I'm sure Jasper will have something to say as well."

A few minutes later, Billy came back with the design. It looked awesome. He put the stencil on my wrist and asked if it looked good. I thought so as did Bella. I watched as Billy prepared everything and then reached out and grasped Bella's hand. The nerves had begun to kick in. I didn't do well with pain and was terrified that I was gonna cry like a baby.

"It'll be okay. I promise. Just remember to breath," Bella told me, placing a kiss on my cheek.

I let out a hiss of pain as Billy began. It hurt, but it wasn't unbearable. I did everything I could not to focus on the sting of the needle, instead focusing on Bella as she and Billy told me stories about their time together at New Moon. Finally, the tattoo was done. I looked down at it and was pleased at what I saw. It looked good. Like, really good. I could scarcely believe it. I, Edward Cullen, nerd-extraordinare, had a tattoo.

"Holy shit. That looks fucking hot on you," Bella said.

The look in her eye made me wish we were somewhere private. She licked her lips, and I stifled back a groan. She was trying to kill me! I partially listened to Billy as he went over the aftercare with me.

"If you have any questions, you can ask Bella. She'll know," he told me after putting a protective cover on my new tattoo.

I went to pay him, but he waved it off. Knowing that he wouldn't take a payment, I left a large tip in the tip jar on the counter. We left the shop and the minute we got into her mom's car, she attacked me. Warm lips met mine in a frenzied kiss. Tongues and teeth fought for dominance. Eventually, we broke the kiss for some much needed air.

"Okay," I said, after I caught my breath. "Where to next?"

She gave me a beautiful smile. "Some place I think you'll enjoy very much."

We drove for about fifteen minutes before pulled up to a rather large building. A sign outside the building said that it was the Burton Barr Central Library. We got out of the car and walked into the library, and I was in awe. It was amazing. There was a reflecting pool, comfy couches, glass elevators. I was in heaven.

"C'mon. I want to show you something," Bella said, dragging me with her to the elevator.

We rode up to the fifth floor and got out. She explained that this was the Great Reading Room. There were skylights and a floating ceiling. I never wanted to leave. Seriously. I could easily spend the rest of my life in that library. Bella lead us over to one of the couches and we sat down on it, looking out at the amazing view that was presented. Sitting there in the library reminded me of the issues going on at home, and I let out a sigh.

"What's wrong?" she asked, leaning her head against my shoulder.

"I need to find a new job."

"What? Why?"

"The mayor has cut funding for the library. Starting next month they've got our hours by more than half. I'll only be working twenty-four hours a week. I can't survive on that. I don't know what I'm going to do," I told her quietly.

"Oh, Edward. I'm so sorry. I know how much you love the library."

"Yeah. It totally sucks. Jasper has a teaching degree so he can possibly get a teaching job, but me? I just have a degree in English. There's nothing in Forks, but I guess I'll look into jobs in Port Angeles."

"You'll find something. I have faith in you. What skills do you have?"

"Uh. Well. I'm a fast learner, I'm pretty computer savvy for the most part, and I'm certified in all the Microsoft Office stuff."

"There you go. Maybe we can find you a job doing something with computers," she suggested.

"Probably not. They want you to have an IT degree usually. I guess I'll just have to look and see what's out there. I don't imagine there's a whole lot."

After our talk, we went down to the library cafe and had a quick lunch. I was interested to see where she would take me next.

"Okay, so I'm giving you a choice on where we go next. We can either go to Castles N' Coasters which is an amusement park or we can to the Arizona Science Center."

I wasn't a huge fan of amusement parks, so I hoped she wouldn't be too upset when I told her I'd rather go to the science center.

"I'm cool with it. I love the science center. They have a planetarium."

We spent four hours at the science center having a blast. They'd had a program on pirates which was immensely fascinating as well as seeing the Van Gogh exhibit that they had. It was a complete blast. The best part was the planetarium and stealing kisses in the dark. By the time we left the science center it was twilight. The sky was a beautiful, the air was warm, and I was with the love of my life. Suddenly, things didn't seem so bad.

The ride back to the Swan house was quiet. We were each lost in our own thoughts. It had been so nice spending time with Bella away from everyone. I was almost sad to be leaving Phoenix in the morning. Looking over, I noticed that Bella looked a bit sad too. She'd had a trying week to say the least.

"Are you okay?" I asked her.

She turned her head and gave me a slight smile. "Yes. Just a bit sad to be leaving. I'd forgotten how much I missed Phoenix and my mom and Charlie."

The weather that greeted us upon leaving the airport was dismal at best. It didn't matter that it was March. It was still chilly and windy. The rain began once we got closer to Port Angeles. As we were driving Bella asked if we could stop in La Push. She had some stuff to give Jake that Billy had given her. I'd never really been to La Push before. I'd been to First Beach once or twice as a kid, but for the most part I had stuck to Forks. I pulled into the driveway of a small red house. We climbed out and were greeted by Jake as he opened the door.

"Hey, hey! How was Phoenix, Bells?" he asked after giving her a hug and me a clap on the back.

"Good. Edward showed up on Friday so I got to show him around. Oh, guess what?"

"What?" Jake asked as he lead us into the small living room where Seth was sitting on a couch. We exchanged hellos before Bella began speaking again.

"Your dad gave Edward a tat!" she crowed.

Jake and Seth had stunned expressions on their faces.

"No fucking way! Little Cullen has a tat! Show me!" Jake demanded.

I took off my jacket and rolled up the sleeve of my shirt. I hadn't told Bella, but I got a little thrill every time I looked at it. I was sure she would understand though.

"Nice. Dad did a good job. What's the quote from?"

"It's from Life on the Mississippi by Mark Twain. It's a quote that always stuck with me," I explained.

"I like it. So are there going to be more tats in your future?" Seth asked from behind Jake.

I gave a shrug. "Possibly. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be."

"They're addictive. Just ask any one of us," Seth warned.

We spent some time hanging out with Jake and Seth, and it made me realize that we never hung out with them. We would hang out with each other, or go to my parents' house, but we never just hung out with her friends. And I felt that they were my friends as well. I'd met Jake and Seth a handful of times over the years, but we'd never really gotten to know one another. I liked both of them and it warmed my heart to know that Bella had such good friends in them.

"We should do this more often," Jake said as we were getting ready to leave.

"We totally should," Bella said. "Perhaps we can have a couples get together once a week. What do you think, Edward?"

"Sounds good to me. It's been great getting to know the two of you better."

"Excellent. Do we want to do it on Sundays?" Jake asked.

"We usually do Sunday brunch at my folks house every week, but—"

"How about during the week then? Like on Wednesday nights? We could alternate hanging out here and in Forks," Seth interrupted.

We all agreed, then Bella and I said our goodbyes. It had been a long day for both of us, and I was extremely happy to be home. I pulled into my drive, and we got out.

"Want to sleep at my place?" Bella asked.

"Sure."

After dropping off my bag, we headed to her house. I could tell that Bella was exhausted as I was. Slowly, we undressed and climbed into her bed. We had gotten into the habit of sleeping naked together, and I loved the feel of her skin against mine. As I wrapped myself around her, she pressed a gentle kiss to my tattoo.

"I love you," she whispered, her voice thick with sleep.

"I love you, too. Sweet dreams, my sweet girl," I told her.

a/n: tada! Chapter 17 completed. Again, I didn't plan on Edward getting a tat, but the boy wanted one so he got one. So, I need some help from you all. Edward will be leaving his job at the library. Sadly, most libraries are having their funding cut. I know mine did. Hence, one of the many reasons I'm leaving mine and going to work for an Internet company. Now, what I need is a good job for our nerdy Edward. I'd prefer a nerdy type job. Suggestions are welcome! He could end up at a library in Port Angeles, he could end up working at a bakery or even McD's. So leave me a review with your ideas, and I'll use one of them.