"How much will it cost you?"

"The guy quoted around thirteen hundred."

Jasper hissed between his teeth. "Damn. For mold in the ceiling?"

"He thinks the air conditioning is busted and is the likely cause of the mold," Edward picked up his napkin, folding it over. "Says he needs to adjust the indoor unit, reseal drain connections-"

"Right," Jasper interjected, his eyes on Edwards' hands folding the napkin over and over. "That does sound pretty busted. Are you okay to cover the cost?"

"Yeah, I'm good."

"You sure? Because you have also mentioned the faulty lock on the back door, the busted window in the upstairs bathroom, the cracked mirror in the downstairs toilet-"

"I said I'm good so i'm good," Edward snapped, placing the now folded crane on his empty plate. However, in his frustration in putting down the crane, its wings unfurled and it slumped over. Jasper put some food into his mouth and shrugged, with a 'suit yourself' expression.

It was a sunny Thursday in the city and as the two brothers had no afternoon appointments, they decided to grab lunch together. Edward had just finished telling Jasper about some of the repair works that needed to be done at his house.

Edward's phone suddenly chimed with a new message. He glanced at it briefly. "I'll need to head off soon. That was Tanya - she's at Bella's place with John."

Jasper downed his juice and then asked, "Hey, can I come with you? I have time to kill before I need to pick up Pete from Alice's."

"You can if you pay for lunch."

"Deal," Jasper said, getting out his wallet.

They made their way towards his car and Edward added, "Just don't be annoying when we get to Bella's place."

"Jokes on you because I'm always annoying."

"I know. It's why you're everyone's least favorite," Edward retorted and Jasper rolled his eyes in response.

As they got into Edward's car and buckled their seat belts, Jasper asked, "Bella's coming back in time for our birthday, right? Your birthday?"

Edward made a left turn, concentrating harder necessary so Jasper couldn't see his face. "She won't be able to make it. She has to work."

"But…it's on a Sunday," Jasper pointed out. "Can't she fly in for the weekend, then fly back first thing Monday morning or something?"

Edward sighed. When Bella told him that she was going to Edmonton for work, with the dates clashing with his birthday, she assured Edward that she'd be able to make it back - flying in for the weekend to be with him, just as Jasper had suggested. However, two days ago, she called to say the project had gone over budget and all team members had to work the next few weekends to steer the project back on course. Bella insisted that she had tried to talk her manager into giving her Edward's birthday weekend off but the manager declined her leave request and also asked for more hands on deck. Hence why Tanya was flying out to join the team to assist.

"Her boss is making her work that weekend and won't let her have time off," Edward explained bitterly.

"That sucks," Jasper replied sympathetically. "Did you get a chance to talk to her about what happened at the dinner before she left?"

Edward gave him a puzzled glance. "What happened at what dinner?"

"Y'know, the family dinner where Bella stole my wallet and then had a panic attack about it?"

"She didn't steal your wallet," Edward replied immediately. "That was a magic trick."

"Bro," Jasper said in emphasis. "She totally stole my wallet. That was some sleight of hand shit. But like, next level sleight of hand-"

"What? No - that wasn't…?" Edward sputtered out, then added. "Wait, what panic attack? When did you see her having a panic attack?"

"When the dessert arrived, she excused herself and I found her outside basically hyperventilating. Not literally but she seemed kind of freaked and I talked her down," Jasper answered and then cocked his head at Edward. "She didn't tell you that?"

"No," Edward murmured.

"When did she start with the magic slash stealing?" Jasper asked, making a cutting motion in the air with his hands.

"Bella doesn't steal," Edward said warily and then shrugged. "The tricks started when she was, I dunno, younger. In high school, I think? She doesn't talk about her past much."

"Does she freeze you out when you ask?"

"I haven't, um," Edward began to say, then cut himself off, realizing something. "I haven't asked her about it."

Jasper laughed once, incredulous. "Dude-"

"What?" Edward prompted, indignant. "I know it's what you do for a living, but not everyone talks about their feelings twenty four seven-"

"Does she have any siblings?" Jasper cut in.

"Yes. A sister," Edward answered immediately, then frowned trying to remember her name. "Um, yeah, one sister…Roselene," he lied, forgetting her name but vaguely remembered it starting with an 'R.'

"Older or younger?"

Edward squinted, trying to visualize the picture frame of Bella and the sister in her apartment. "Uh, older."

Out of the corner of his eye, Edward could see Jasper scrutinizing him in the passenger seat. "I think you're full of shit. I think you actually have no idea about the sister so you're just guessing-"

"No, you're full of shit and should shut the fuck up," Edward retorted lamely, and pressed some buttons on the centre console, turning the radio on.

Jasper laughed. "Don't get mad at me just because you don't talk to your girlfriend-"

"Shut up," Edward muttered distractedly, and Jasper rolled his mouth inward while Edward mulled over their conversation.

Did his girlfriend really try to steal his brother's wallet? She couldn't have. Jasper was wrong. It was just a trick - a joke. But he was right about one thing: he really should ask Bella more questions about her past. She had said things here and there, telling Edward little tidbits of information but nothing substantial.

Edward turned those thoughts over in his mind, running on autopilot the entire time to Bella's apartment. When he and Jasper stepped out of her elevator, straight into her living room, Edward suddenly realized he should have given him a heads up about the vastness of it.

"Holy shi-"

"I said, don't be annoying," Edward remarked, exasperated. Jasper spun slowly on the spot, taking everything in with an awed expression.

He spotted Tanya and John out on the balcony. Tanya had her back to them, staring out over the railing whilst on the phone and John was sitting at her feet. Edward walked to the nearest window, and tapped lightly so he wouldn't startle them. Tanya jerked, turning around and John leapt to his feet straight away. She waved and mouthed 'two minutes' still on the phone and John rushed inside to Edward.

"Hey buddy," he greeted, crouching down to pat John vigorously on the head. John returned the gesture eagerly and nudged his head into Edwards' hands, his tail swishing side to side happily.

"John, this is Jasper," Edward introduced. John cocked his head, seemingly sizing Jasper up. "He's an idiot, but harmless," Edward assured him in a mock whisper. "A harmless idiot."

Jasper scoffed and John held out his paw. "Whoa, okay," Jasper remarked with a laugh, shaking John's paw.

"Check it out -" Edward walked around a little, John trailing behind him at his heels. "Cool, right? He's like, obsessed with me."

"That is cool," Jasper commented and then smacked Edwards shoulder. "But not as cool as your girlfriend's freaking penthouse!" He walked over to the staircase, craning his head up. "There's like, three floors to this place."

"The top floor is the master bedroom. As in, it's completely open and takes up the entire floor."

"Bro."

"I know."

"Hey." Tanya walked inside, now off the phone. "Sorry about that."

"No problem. Tanya, this is my brother, Jasper," Edward said and Jasper gave a little wave from where he was standing.

"Nice to meet you," Tanya said politely and glanced down at John, who was still at Edwards' side. "Thank you so much for looking after John."

"No problem-"

"So, Tanya -" Jasper interrupted, his voice smooth. "You work pretty closely with Bella, right?"

"Uh yea. I'm her assistant." Tanya glanced between Edward and Jasper, with a slightly puzzled look. "Didn't Edward mention..?"

"Yes, he did. He did," Jasper said, nodding. Edward shot his brother a death glare but Jasper pointedly ignored him. "But what I meant was - you've worked with Bella long enough to meet her friends? And family?"

"Well, my sisters and I are her friends. As for family…" Tanya trailed off with a shrug. "There isn't any. Not really. Her dad passed away and she's not on speaking terms with her mom. Then there's that whole thing with her sister, Rosalie-"

"Rosalie!" Edward blurted out. Jasper and Tanya both looked at him. Tanya with surprise, Jasper with raised eyebrows. Edward cleared his throat and mumbled, "sorry, never mind."

"That's sad to hear about Bella's parents," Jasper remarked gently. "And Rosalie, the sister, she and Bella aren't close?"

"They were but not anymore. Not since she got out of jail," Tanya added breezily.

Jasper's eyes went wide and Edwards' mouth dropped open.

"Bella was in jail?"

"Rosalie was in jail. Not Bella," Tanya corrected and then held her hands up. "Not for anything major. She's not a serial killer or anything. It was only for like, a year or two and not even in one of those maximum security places. I think it was for breaking and entering? And theft?"

"Theft," Jasper repeated with a pointed glance at Edward.

Edwards' mouth was still open and he snapped it shut when Tanya glanced between them both again.

"I think I've said too much." Tanya let out an awkward laugh and said to Edward, "You should probably talk to Bella about it. She'd be able to give you more detail."

But the chance to talk to Bella never came as her schedule became busier and busier. Their texts were no more than one or two sentences each and they chatted only once over the phone for less than ten minutes. It continued like that for weeks and then it was the day before his birthday and Edward was in bed.

He glanced at the time on his phone: 10:48pm it read. Which meant it was just before 9pm where Bella was. He dialed her number, however it rang out - which was now the new norm between them. He texted her a goodnight message but it didn't seem to go through. An exclamation mark immediately appeared next to it, along with a 'Message delivery failed' prompt on his screen.

Edward frowned but didn't think anything of it, placing the phone on his nightstand. He rolled onto his side and mumbled to himself, "Goodnight, Bella."

Somewhere in the room, John woofed softly.

Edward smiled to himself, closing his eyes. "Goodnight, John."

Edward opened his eyes halfway, confused as to what woke him. It was still dark out and he suddenly heard it - something shuffling around.

"John?" he said sleepily and sat up slightly, glancing at John's bed on the floor. But it was empty and the shuffling started again - it was coming from downstairs. It was a shuffling, rattling sound as if someone was trying to get through a door.

Edward suddenly jerked upright in his bed, now fully awake: There was someone trying to break into his house.

"Oh shit." Edward kicked off the covers and snatched up his glasses from his nightstand. He called out to John again, quietly, "John! Where are you?!"

The dog didn't answer and Edward's mind felt both numb and too full, crowded with a thousand different competing thoughts, none of them helpful.

Should I call the police?

Barricade myself in the bedroom?

What if the intruders didn't find anything of use downstairs and came upstairs?

What do I have up here that I can use as a weapon?

What if I went downstairs and it was like that scene in John Wick where they killed the dog?!

"John!" he whispered loudly, but again, no response - just more shuffling sounds from downstairs. "Fuck!"

Edward inched outside his bedroom as quiet as he could, to the top of the stairs. The shuffling and rattling started again but this time he could tell where it was coming from - the back door. The back door with the faulty lock. The back door with the faulty lock that he hadn't gotten fixed yet.

"Fuuuck," he muttered again. His heartbeat thudded furiously in his ears and he thought he might throw up. Or start crying. If anything had happened to John, he was definitely going to start crying.

He made his way downstairs slowly, the entire house in darkness. He crouched down low, creeping slowly toward the back door, only to realize he didn't have a plan and had also left his phone back upstairs on his nightstand.

"Fuckfuckfuck."

Kicking himself inwardly, he glanced as carefully as he could around the corner toward the back door. John stood there at the back door, the moonlight shining against his jet black fur. Relief flooded through Edwards' veins like morphine, dulling the edges of his panic.

"John!" Edward called out softly and then winced when the shuffling started again, louder this time and just outside the door. However, John ignored him and Edward frowned, taking in the dogs' stance.

He was standing, ears pricked all the way up, his tag wagging furiously. Which meant he was happy. And John was only happy for a handful of people, which included-

The door suddenly sprang open and Edward fell back in surprise, yelling out.

"Ah!"

"Ahh!" Bella yelled out, equally surprised.

"Holy shit." Edward pressed a hand to his chest, trying to slow his violently pounding heartbeat. "You scared me!"

"I scared you? You scared me!"

Edward gaped up at Bella, still in shock. Was he dreaming? He had to be. There was no way she was here. He was still upstairs, in his bed and this was just a dream.

John trotted over to Bella's feet and she put her purse and a white box on the kitchen counter before reaching down to greet John. Edward's heart crashed and picked up again at a thousand miles a minute. She was here. She really was here and -

"Edward?" Bella gazed down at him. In the moonlight, he could see her lashes shadowing her cheeks, eyes almost black with concern. She was really here and she had never looked so beautiful and if John saw her too, then that meant he wasn't dreaming.

Edward sprung up from the ground and wrapped his arms around her in a fierce hug. They wobbled slightly on impact but Edward regained his balance. Bella let out a low shriek in surprise again, caught off guard but then it morphed into a laugh.

Edward pressed his lips to hers, kissing her long and slow. He pulled back and rested his forehead against hers. "Hi."

"Hi."

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw John slip out the room."You're here."

"I'm here." Bella cupped his face with both hands and traced a gentle line across his cheek. "Hap-"

Edward leaned in again, cutting her off and this time the kiss was wilder, urgent and desperate. Bella's hands went straight to his hair and he twined his arms tightly around her waist, spinning them around so he could bracket her against the wall next to them. He kept her pinned there, and her hands roamed over his chest and up his arms as he kissed her jaw, her neck and beneath her ear. Edward ran his teeth over her clavicle, shifting Bella to line their bodies up. He moved his way back up to his lips and rocked his hips against hers because the pressure felt amazing and the moan that Bella let out sounded pretty amazing too.

Their hands turned anxious and needy, pulling away to help the other hurriedly pull down and lift layers of clothes between them. Edward whipped his glasses off, throwing them on the counter nearest to them as Bella snatched up her purse, retrieving a condom. He took it from her, putting it on and their mouths clashed together again, all teeth and tongue.

Edward moved his mouth between her breasts, kissing her everywhere he could reach and then brought a hand down behind Bella's knee, hitching her leg up around his waist. Because of the position they were in and how fast they were rocking against each other - paired with the fact that this was the most action he had gotten in weeks and he had really missed her - in an embarrassingly short time, Edward let out a groan, shuddering against her.

Bella let out a quiet laugh but abruptly cut off with a sharp inhale when Edward's hand shifted from her hips to in between her thighs. He found a rhythm until she gasped out a 'Fuck! Yes' and dug her nails into his shoulders.

Edward pulled back to rest his forehead against hers, still holding her by the waist as they tried to catch their breath. Bella's eyes were heavy lidded, face flushed and Edward was sure his face looked the same way.

They kissed but this time it was softer. Sweeter. Brushing their noses together lightly, Bella managed to finish her sentence from earlier: "Happy birthday, handsome."

An hour later, Edward woke up again to the sound of his phone chiming with a new text. He rolled over to find himself alone in his bed and his phone chimed again, twice this time.

Wake up.

I purposely put the volume up on your phone so you'd hear my texts.

I brought cake :D It's downstairs

Edward smiled into his pillow before getting out of bed. He pulled his pajama pants on and his glasses, searching for his shirt but gave up when he couldnt find it. He padded downstairs and it was still dark outside like it was earlier when he thought there was an intruder. Except this time, the lights were all on and the 'intruder' was standing in his kitchen wearing his missing shirt.

"Great! You're up," Bella said happily when she spotted him in the doorway. She was at the counter with a small, white box in front of her. She tapped it and said, "Come open your cake. I had it specially made."

Edward moved to stand behind Bella, wrapping his arms around her and laced his fingers together over her stomach. Bella opened the box to reveal a small cake. So small, Edward noticed, that when cut, would probably provide no more than 4 slices. It was covered in white frosting with small, red frosted roses that also included the words, HBD HANDSOME.

"Cute, right?" Bella prompted.

"Totally cute," Edward echoed teasingly and Bella shifted her elbow back sharply into Edward's stomach. He winced, then nosed her hair out the way to kiss a spot beneath her ear.

"I'm going to take a photo for the girls," Bella stated and picked up her phone that was lying next to her.

She went on, talking about the cake store she got it from and getting it on the plane without being jostled too much, all the while lining up the cake to be at the perfect angle for the photo. Next to the cake, Edward noticed that Bella had laid out two forks and a small knife.

Edward waited until Bella opened her camera app, her finger hovering over the 'shoot' button before quickly snatching up a fork and bringing it down on the cake. In quick, rapid movements, he smooshed part of the cake, effectively ruining Bella's perfect shot.

Bella gasped and shoved a laughing Edward away from her, harder this time. "Damn it!" she smacked his shoulder angrily. "Edward! Every time!"

"I know!" Edward remarked, still laughing. "You would think you'd learn your lesson by now."

Before Bella had left for her project and they would go out for something to eat and the meal was aesthetically pleasing or got a coffee with impressive foam art or were at a bar with a fancy cocktail - Bella would snap a photo before they could eat or drink. At least, she attempted to because Edward would always mess with the food or drink at the last second.

Bella cut the cake in half, pointedly giving Edward the part he ruined. They stood side by side, eating the cake out of the box and Edward asked how long they had together before she had to go back to Edmonton.

"My flight is at seven," she answered and then put a forkful of cake in her mouth, mumbling, "a.m."

Edward glanced at the clock on his microwave and frowned. 2:05am it read.

Bella put more cake in her mouth too quickly, some of the frosting on the fork hitting the corner of her mouth. She lifted a hand to wipe it away but Edward got there first, swiping it off with his thumb. Since she had arrived, this was the first time he had managed to look at her face closely, with the lights on.

They had been dating for over a year now, long enough for Edward to pick up on how much sleep Bella was getting. Because of her lack of sleep, her eyes were almost always bloodshot - but Edward learned that it was how intense the red lines reached that clued him in on how much sleep she'd had. The thicker the lines, the less sleep she'd gotten. And right now, the lines were the boldest he'd ever seen…

"You're not sleeping," he murmured. "Like, at all, Bella."

"I'm sleeping a little," she responded breezily and Edward gave her a look. "I am," she insisted. His hand was still on her face and she reached up, wrapping her fingers around his wrist and moving it away. "It's just the project. It's stressing me out - stressing all of us out. No one in the team is getting more than four hours a day."

"And how much sleep are you getting?"

Bella glanced away from him. "One, sometimes two hours."

"Jesus, Bella." Edward threw his fork down and it clattered against the counter loudly. "That's not normal. I wish you'd-"

Bella talked over him. "- get help and talk to someone about it. I know."

"Look, I'm just saying - if you would let me, I could help you look into, um…"

He trailed off as Bella hopped up onto the kitchen counter, her t-shirt riding up distractingly high. She grabbed the waistband of Edward's pants, moving him to stand between her legs.

"Don't change the subject," Edward said sternly but his hands were on top of her bare thighs, his thumbs sweeping an arc against her skin.

"I didn't say anything," Bella replied innocently, her hands on his chest.

"Don't use your nakedness to change the subject."

"How about this:" Bella picked up more cake but instead of feeding herself, she fed it to Edward. "After the project is finished, I promise to get help with my sleeping. Deal?"

Edward nodded, swallowing his mouthful of cake. "Deal."

She grinned, leaning in for a kiss and he deepened it, because she tasted sugary sweet from the cake's frosting. Edward moved her knees apart further, bringing her forward towards his hips at the same time.

"I was thinking," she said, in between kisses and moved her lips to his jaw. "Since i don't need to be at the airport for a few hours, that maybe we could talk -"

"Uh, sure," Edward replied and glanced pointedly down at himself. "except talking is definitely what I don't feel like doing right now-"

"And I definitely wanted a good photo of your cake." Bella kissed him sweetly but nipped at his bottom lip with her teeth. "Except you had to go and ruin it so we're gonna talk first and have sex later."

She pulled back, and Edward reluctantly moved his hands off legs and onto the counter. He let out a long exhale and tried to think of anything else that would make the blood go back up to his brain.

"I'll talk quick, I promise," Bella assured him and then giggled. "But not as quick as you were earlier!"

"Wow. Thanks for that-"

"I'm sorry. That was mean," Bella apologized, but her eyes were sparkling with amusement. She ran a hand through his hair and added, "you made up for it though - straight after, once we reached the bedroom."

"I was just happy to see you," Edward mumbled defensively.

"Anyway." Bella's hands were still in his hair and she started fiddling with it as she talked. "I was thinking, maybe after the project finishes that we should take a trip. Some place warm-"

"Definifetly." Edward interjected, smiling widely at her. "Someplace warm means you'll be in as little clothing as possible."

"Uh huh." Bella cleared her throat and noticed that her stance had shifted. Her gaze was concentrated on her fingers in his hair, and she seemed almost nervous. "We could go to Europe. Italy, maybe? Or Bali? I've heard Bali is nice in July."

"Bali?" Edward repeated in surprise but then shrugged. "Sure, I guess. But July isn't until next year…"

He trailed off in realization, processing her words and Bella visibly winced, swallowing hard.

"July. July?!" Edward repeated loudly. He took a few steps away from the counter, staring at Bella in disbelief. "Your project doesn't finish until July next year? You said it was going to be six to eight weeks. Three months, at the most!"

"I know, and I meant it! The project will wrap up soon," Bella explained, her face strained. "It's just - the company has picked up more contracts nationwide: Vancouver, Kelowna, Victoria Island, and Toronto. They'll need me for at least three months each location-"

"Why do all those places need you?"

"I'm the one with the most project experience."

He looked at her sharply. "What about the fact that you aren't sleeping-"

He cut off when Bella let out a strangled sound. "I've always been a terrible sleeper, you know that already-"

"You don't sleep terribly, you have serious sleep issues, Bella," Edward retorted. "And it's become worse since this project started!" Edward was practically shouting now. "One or two hours of sleep a night?! For God's sake, that isn't healthy! If you continue like this, taking up more projects, taking up more work-"

"I'll be fine," Bella snapped at him. "I said that I would get help and I will!"

Edward shoved a hand through his hair roughly, grinding his teeth. "It's been two months since this project started - I haven't seen you and I count on one hand how many times we've talked - talked properly - in that time. How will this work?" he gestured between them. "Will we have less than twelve hours together every three months and only between the hours of 7pm to 7am!?"

"I dont know!" Bella jumped down from the counter. It was as if his words flipped a switch in her - her eyes flashed and her voice rose higher, and more frustrated as talked. "I haven't accepted their offer yet. They're the ones that need me! The company said they are willing to give in to any conditions I have to make the time away work for me and I thought to myself, 'Hey,'" she emphasized the word with a hard jab to Edward's chest, glaring up at him. He mumbled 'Ow' but she kept going, ignoring him. "'It's not like you need the ridiculous amount of money they're willing to pay you but it also sounds like an opportunity you shouldn't turn down and I'm sure Edward would agree but we should discuss it first, because that's what you do when you're in love with someone and have a relationship with them!'"

She shoved his chest at the end of her rant and Edward rocked back on his heels but it was more from being thrown at her words than being shoved.

"You love me?"

"Yes!" Bella let out a strangled, frustrated sound and smacked his upper arm. "I'm in love with you, you idiot!"

"Why are you hitting me and why am I an idiot?"

"Because that's what I do when I'm mad!" She shoved him again. "I get violent and call people names!"

She huffed, moving away from him. Edward took off his glasses and rubbed his hand over his mouth, massaging the tension out of his jaw.

"I'm sorry." He put his glasses back on and held his hand out toward Bella. "Come here."

"No," Bella said sharply and Edward let his arm drop to his side. "You can't just raise your voice at me and then want to hug me and think that will make everything better-"

"You also yelled," Edward pointed out and Bella scowled at him. "Look, I'm sorry," he repeated sincerely. "I just…really fucking missed you these past few weeks and the thought of not seeing you for a whole year-"

"We'll still see each other," Bella looked at him like she was frustrated and confused and also completely into him in spite of herself. Then her face softened. "Properly. Not just a few hours here and there. And I really fucking missed you too."

She moved towards him, wrapping her arms around his waist - but not before she thumped his shoulder one more time and muttered 'stupid' under her breath.

Edward hugged her back, resting his chin on top of her head. "You could have started the conversation with the fact that it's just an offer…"

"I know," she mumbled into his chest. "I realize that now. Sorry."

"Tell me more about it."

For the next few minutes, Bella went into detail about the offer her company had made to her. She told him that it would be a significantly higher position then what she was currently doing, moving to a different and larger equities team. She'd be leading a group of investment analysts at each location who were in charge of financial modeling and also did research and valuations for other investment opportunities for the company.

Edward remained quiet as she talked, letting her words sink in. While he didn't fully understand what the details of this new position was (in truth, he still wasn't sure what Bella currently did for work) he knew that this was a big deal for her.

"By the end of the projects, I could be looking at having a chair on the company board in five years instead of ten," Bella said with finality but then she cleared her throat and added with what Edward knew was fake breeziness. "Or I could, y'know, completely fail and crash and burn these projects spectacularly."

"That's not going to happen," Edward remarked lightly, running his hands up and down her lower back. "You're good at everything."

"Except sleeping," Bella joked.

"Except sleeping," Edward echoed. He pulled back a little so they were face to face and said, "you should accept the offer."

"Really?"

"Yes," Edward said firmly and then sighed. "I just lost my shit earlier because I was being selfish. When we don't talk or see each other, it drives me insane."

"Insane?"

"Crazy insane," Edward remarked with emphasis. He laughed lightly, surprised by how emotional he suddenly felt. "I think it's because I'm so in love with you. You're the best thing that's happened to me. Maybe something will happen in the next ten years or twenty years that will change that - but I know, as of right now, you are without a doubt, the best thing that has happened to me."

Bella smiled and it grew and grew as he talked. "I'll talk to work about getting time off. I could ask them for four weeks on and five days off or something. And i promise I'll get help about not sleeping-"

"Good. Because I meant it when I said it isn't healthy." Edward brought his hands up and cradled her face. "I know you think it's fine but if you keep this up, it could turn serious-"

Bella brought her hands up to his face as well but squeezed his cheeks together to get him to stop talking. "You worry too much. But I love you anyway."

"I dont think I'll ever get tired of hearing that."

"I love you," Bella said, her tone earnest. "I think I've been in love with you for a long time. It just took my brain a while to catch up with my heart."

Edward pressed his lips to hers, feeling her smile against his mouth. Her body leaned into his and ran her hands down his chest, to just above the waistband of his pants.

"Do you want to have sex now?"