Dear readers and reviewers! Finally. I am sorry this took so long but as many of you may know i submitted a one shot to the Very Cullen Christmas contest held by Withthevampsofcourse and Jandco. My Collab partner in crime is none other than my Bizarro World Soul Mate JDSK. Go read it and send me a review and guess who wrote which part??? I'm not gonna tell. You have to guess. Also, thanks to BB who is my masterbeta all the time. Thanks for all your help!

Now, I am going to point out that Emmet in this chapter is lacking one T. HE is missing ONE T. If you read Angst Goddess003's Wide Awake (which all of you do I'm sure) it is in honor of her. She made Bella and Edward do naughty things in the last chapter and I am dropping a T to show my love.

AND FINALLY, I am helping out with a new blog that is in conjunction with Twilighted, the awesome FF site we all know and love. I will post a link on my page so you can go enjoy. It is going to be a great place to find some new fics, and what we call underapprecitated fics. I will be posting some blog thoughts of my own (watch out for incoherent ramblings) so check it out. Smellyia is spear heading this train and if you dont read her stuff SHAME ON YOU.

I am going to pimp out the best Twilighted fic i have read recently and it is by one of my readers. It is complete and it does have a good number of reviews but I love it hard so go check out Once Upon a Time, in Therapy by AllyR. It is awesome.

Cake- Let Me Go

EPOV

The last week had been different.

I won the race and earned eternal bragging rites over James.

Emmet and Rose were back together and happy.

Rose was well, happy, which was, well, just different.

And Bella.

I wasn't sure what was going on with Bella but the steel cold hatred and pain I had seen in her eyes a week ago was gone.

It had simply vanished after the race.

But, she still wasn't speaking to me.

Not really.

I caught her looking at me a couple of times which made her blush. And seeing her blush made me smile. Which made her smile and sometimes we would just sit, across from one another in the cafeteria, or wherever we all were, smiling.

Which was different and totally like fourth grade but it was better than nothing.

I didn't push, because, I was serious before when I decided I was no longer chasing Bella Swan. She had to be ready to accept me for me.

But I still wanted her. More than ever. In fact, she had become quite an obsession for me and I found myself watching her and thinking about her all the time. The fact she was sitting across from me at school or passing me in the hallway and I couldn't reach out and touch her was driving me insane.

But she wasn't ready yet and she might never be, and for once in my life I was willing to wait around for a while and see what happened. Her terms, not mine.

So here I was, driving Emmet and Jasper down to the beach, so they could hang out with their girlfriends over spring break.

My parents had a beach house, the same one where I met Bella this past summer, which coincidentally was next door to the Hales' summer house. When Emmett and Jasper heard the girls were going down, it was a given we would go too.

I might be alone but I wasn't a cockblocker.

I had a feeling though, that Bella was not privy to our plans as everyone was keeping our participation in the trip on the down low. Which was okay with me for now. I wasn't sure how I wanted to handle all of this.

The guys were in the car, giving me a play by play of the race, for the gazillionth time. Emmet was on cloud nine since he'd gotten back with Rosalie, even though I was pretty sure the dynamic of their relationship had changed significantly at this point.

And Jasper and Alice blissfully happy. They really were some kind of match. She put up with all his shit and he reveled in her mania.

They fit.

It looked like I wasn't the only one who had changed this year, which was cool.

Even if I didn't get the girl in the end.

BPOV

I was in shock.

I looking out of a huge wall of glass, towards the ocean, watching the waves coming in and out.

It was beautiful.

And serene.

And oddly familiar.

I walked out on the porch and looked to the right and then to the left.

It only took a moment before I realized exactly where we were.

I would recognize that gazebo anywhere. I still had dreams about it. I could still feel the rough wood under my body from when I was last there.

I walked back inside and sat on the white sofa next to Alice.

Who has a white sofa at the beach?

I gave Rosalie and Alice each a hard look before saying, "Exactly when were you going to tell me your beach house is next to Edward's?"

I felt Alice shift next to me, trying to figure out what to say.

She was lucky, Rosalie spoke first. "You never asked," she smirked as though it was the best comeback ever.

I rolled my eyes at her and leaned back into the soft cushion sighing.

Although I had decided I still loved Edward, I hadn't told him yet. I wanted to make sure I was really doing the right thing. It wasn't fair to take him back just to get upset and leave again. I decided that after spring break I would talk to him and we could work it out then.

I had been nicer to him all week and I'd gotten rid of the attitude. I think he'd noticed the change and was relieved I was no longer furious at him. I caught him staring at me a lot and it was hard not to just go to him and make things right.

I focused my attention back on Alice and Rose as they began talking about our plans for the evening. I half listened, knowing I would just get dragged into whatever it was they had in mind.

"So first we are going down the boardwalk, you know, do a little shopping, maybe eat some dinner and just hang out." Alice chatted getting more excited by the second.

"Bella come on, let's go upstairs," Rosalie said as she stood up stretching. She glared towards Alice, "You know she brought us clothes to wear."

I let Rosalie pull me off the couch and we climbed the stairs together, up to the huge loft we were all sharing.

Alice began pulling piles of clothing out of her bag. Shirts, shoes, belts, sweaters, pants...it was never ending.

She was like Mary Poppins, with her magic bag.

Apparently there was a method to her madness as she gathered several things and shoved them into my hands and in Rose's. "Put these on," she directed.

I walked over to my bed and spread them out. I turned around and found Alice watching me so I cocked an eyebrow at her and asked, "Really? This is what you think I should wear?"

She laughed and said, "Definitely. Just what a girl needs to forget her troubles. Leather pants."

I glanced at Rose and she was nodding and smiling at me holding up her own pair of tight, low rise jeans and a sparkly, black tube top. "God Alice. Are we going out as hookers tonight or what?" she said but was laughing while she peeled off her clothes.

I smiled back and slid on my pants, pitch black, complete with a royal blue halter top.

After waiting on the other girls to get dressed and a round of make up and hair by Alice we were finally ready to go. Settled in Rosalie's car, in the back seat, I asked her, "So you and Edward grew up together right?"

She nodded and said, "Yeah, we spent our summers here and our parents are very close. Edward is like that obnoxious brother you never want to have. Spoiled. Demanding. And frustratingly right most of the time."

Alice and I laughed because it was so true.

She looked at me in the rearview mirror, "I know I was a bitch about Edward when you first started dating but, Bella, I'd never seen him like that before. I wasn't used to him being close to a girl before that wasn't me. I was a little jealous and threatened. I really am sorry I misjudged you."

I was shocked. Did Rosalie Hale just say she was jealous of me?

I snorted.

Out loud.

Which made us all laughed until tears were falling down our faces and Alice was shouting at us to stop and not mess up our makeup.

I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket and pulled it out thinking it was probably my dad checking on me.

It was Edward.

I think we're being set up

I quietly typed back

When?

I muffled the phone so they wouldn't hear it over their chatter or the radio.

Tonight

I gaped at the screen for a second before snapping it shut and put it away, the girls unaware I had even received a message.

"Alice, what did you say Jasper was doing for the break?" I asked in the steadiest voice I could muster. Again, feeling the desire to play Nancy Drew.

I watched as Alice glanced at Rose before saying, "Oh I think he and the guys are staying home, no major plans. You know how they are, probably fixing the car from where it was banged up in the race, or tearing up one of the other ones, you know, something like that."

I noticed Rose was nodding along, with the same grin she had on her face when she was encouraging me to wear these black leather pants.

I was being set up.

I rode in silence in the back seat thinking about the situation. I wasn't really mad, because I didn't blame them for wanting to see the guys. But I hadn't told them about my change of heart with Edward but this could have been a disaster if I was still angry.

I wasn't angry.

I was actually…giddy. I realized I really wanted to see him. I missed him and it was time to work this out.

As Rose pulled into a parking space near the boardwalk I could feel my heart banging around my chest. I took some deep breaths and followed the girls out of the car and onto the street.

It was a beautiful night, cool but clear. The waves were pounding on the shore and people were wandering around window shopping and going out to dinner. Kids were racing down the street to the carnival rides that were scattered through out the tourist area.

Alice suddenly began vibrating and pointing down the way. I thought it would be the boys, and my heart surged a bit but I realized she was focused on a building across the street.

"Oh no Alice. I can't do that!" I whined, my heart racing still but now with apprehension, not joy.

"Bella, it will be so fun! I'll hold your hand and it won't be scary at all I promise, I bet it is just silly and funny. You know, campy." I saw the look in her eye and was reminded of the night she gave me my belly ring. There was no way I was winning this one.

"Fine, but if I pee in these leather pants, it's your fault," I grumbled and allowed myself to be dragged away.

I forced myself to look at the sign above the door. It was a huge creepy clown face with the words 'Fun House' across the bottom. Yeah right. Fun.

We paid for our tickets and walked through the front door to an area that was draped in deep red fabric and lit by a huge chandelier. The room had no windows and there was only a single door leading down a dark hallway.

I was literally about to start freaking out. I had a big mouth but was a total baby when it came to scary stuff. As a child I would lie awake at night thinking about how all the monsters in scary movies were going to come and get me. Jason, Freddy, Chucky. All of them at one time or another occupied my nightmares. And don't even get me started on Norman Bates. I felt myself shudder as I took some deep breaths to control myself.

A woman came out dressed in a long lacy black dress and gave us instructions. Basically enter at your own risk, you cant come out once you go in and don't touch anything. Oh yeah, and have fun.

As we crossed out of the room into the hallway I squeezed Alice's hand and said, "Do. Not. Leave. Me." And she smiled and nodded. I didn't trust her at all.

I groaned. There was no way I was getting out of this without completely embarrassing myself. Alice dragged me down the hall and we turn a corner and it was completely dark. There wasn't much scary around other than the darkness so I started to calm down and thought maybe Alice was right, it was just going to be fun and cheesy.

There were small lights here and there, often black lights and there was a cool breeze that fluttered by. The walls were draped in dark cloth and it was hard to know which direction to go in. We stopped for a moment and felt around the walls looking for the right way when in the soft glimmer of light I saw it.

Two feet away was a monster, or a man in mask just standing in the corner watching us.

I screamed, "Holy Fuck!" and we all ran, scattering down the hall until fell into a room of mirrors. I could see multiples of Alice and Rose all over the place. This room had more light but only because it reflected off of the mirrors and it ricocheted throughout. Alice let go of my hand and we wandered around looking for the exit of this room as well. It was difficult to figure out where the room began and ended.

After a moment I realized Rose was gone. "Alice, where's Rose?" I called out as I roamed about.

"I don't know. I guess she went ahead," she answered.

Getting frustrated I leaned back against a mirror and was startled as it pushed back easily and deposited me in another room.

"Oh no. No, no, no. This is not good," I muttered aloud. I tried to go back through the mirror but it seemed to go only one way. It was dark and I was alone and I could feel the panic building in my chest. I waited a moment or two for Alice but she never appeared through the wall.

I had my back to the wall and was trying to figure out what to do. Clearly, I couldn't go back through the mirror because they already said you have to keep going forward to get out but I was terrified of being alone and continuing on.

As I was gathering the courage to move forward the wall pushed forward and I gasped, "Alice finally! I was freaking out in here…"

I stopped short because the two very long legs that came into the darkness could not belong to tiny Alice.

Two very familiar legs.

I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw Edward come though the wall. He was perfect of course, hair flopping in his eyes, and a smile on his lips, "Thank god it's you." And I ran over and broke our standoff, giving him a huge hug.

Edward started laughing at me and picked me up, so my feet left the ground, hugging me tighter. "Are you okay? Where are the other girls?" he asked.

I felt my face turn red but it was dark enough there was no way he could see me, "Gah. I don't know. Alice made me come in here and I really hate shit like this, there was this guy in a mask and I started screaming, and then I got separated. I was really close to losing it and was plotting my escape when you came in and…" I trailed off, distracted by his breath on my neck.

We were both silent for a moment, just breathing in one another and getting used to the feeling of being back in on one another's arms. As far as I was concerned it felt wonderful. Edward was warm and strong and as usual he smelled like heaven. For a moment I literally couldn't remember why I had left him.

"Bella?" he asked me quietly, his voice near my ear.

I froze in his arms waiting for him to speak. We had to talk about this thing at some point and I wasn't sure in the middle of a fun house was the right place but I answered anyway, "Yes?"

I heard a small laugh in his throat which confused me. "Are you wearing leather pants?"

Relief washed over me as a smile tugged on my lips. "Yeah, I am."

Edward groaned and let my body slide down the front of his and set my feet on the ground. After a moment he said, "I think we need to get out of here, because if I stay back here with you and those pants I'm going to cross a line you may not be ready for us to cross yet."

He didn't know it but I was more than ready for him to take me across any line he wanted. But I was also still a big chicken and I needed to get out of this stupid fun house of hell.

"Let's go. But please, don't leave me. Or let go of my hand," I directed more than asked.

His hand clasped around mine and he started walking us down the hallway. As we made it down the hallway, passing several ghouls and silent ghosts, who weren't nearly as scary with Edward next to me I asked, "What are you doing here anyway?"

He chuckled softly and said, "We were going to meet you guys at the restaurant, you know, they were planning on acting like it was a big surprise, not like it had been planned for weeks. But we saw you come in here and Emmet and Jasper wanted to prank Rose and Alice. They paid off the guy to go in the back door while I went in the front to keep track of you. I lost the three of you when you ran off screaming and only found you by accident."

I stopped him by a wall of gargoyles and pushed into his chest with my palms. My voice was tight as I told him, "I am very glad you found me when you did but I am happier you found me before Emmet and Jasper did because I probably would have been scarred for life. And I don't think I would have given you such a positive welcome either like I did before."

Edward closed the little distance between us and wrapped his arms around me and said, "I'm glad it worked out that way too. And I was surprised. I didn't expect you to be so happy to see me." I could see his face in the flickering light and there was small hint of a smirk on his face.

Typical.

I rolled my eyes at him and pulled away walking with him through the rest of the building. I was still completely terrified and as I exited the fun house, out the back door I had Edward's arm around my shoulders and was using his hand to cover my face. I had finally just closed my eyes and let him lead me through the maze of hallways.

The others were waiting for us outside all smiles and happiness when I stumbled out, wrapped up in Edward's arms. Their expressions turned amused when they finally laid eyes on us.

"Bella! Look who we ran into! Isn't this great? I see you ran into Edward as well," Alice giggled, playing her part in the charade.

I rolled my eyes and said, "Drop it. I know you've known about this the whole time." I laughed when Alice and Rose plastered innocent looks across their faces. "Don't play dumb with me. I know you invited your little boyfriends up here for the week."

Rose gave Edward a cold glare, "Couldn't keep your mouth shut? Tool."

Edward's eyes narrowed towards Rosalie and feeling the tension between the two I jumped in, "It's okay. Really. I'm glad you are all here, we'll have more fun with everyone." I smiled at everyone to let them know I meant it.

Emmet returned my grin and gave me a big hug, "Great! Let's go eat! All that screaming in the Fun House made me hungry."

As everyone turned and walked towards the main street in search for a restaurant, I felt a sharp tug on the back of my pants.

Edward leaned into my ear and murmured, "Hey, do you want to get out of here?" I could feel his fingers still on the back of my pants, his fingers warm on my back.

Still looking ahead I swallowed, and nodded my head.

He let go and signaled for me to wait before running after the others and telling them we would see them later.

He jogged back over to me and smiled. The crooked one. The one that melts my heart and makes my legs quiver.

Edward said, "Do you mind if we walk home? Maybe down on the beach?"

I thought it was a nice idea and followed him across the street and down a path to the sandy beach. It was past twilight and night was gaining on us.

Trudging though the soft sand towards the harder, more manageable ground near the water, I took a deep breath and reached for his hand, threading my fingers through his. It was a small gesture but part of me was afraid he would reject me.

I waited and finally exhaled when he squeezed my hand back in acceptance. We fell into a normal pattern of conversation, about the ride down, Emmet and Jasper fighting over who was riding shotgun, more fighting over the iPod and what playlist to listen to and other trivial subjects. We didn't talk about us although I could feel the issue swirling over our heads and although we were holding hands it felt tense, stilted. We were mending but still broken.

I knew where we were headed and with every step I grew more apprehensive. It was the scene of our own crime. We were coming full circle. It would be here that we would make decisions about our future.

All the houses looked the same to me in the dark but eventually Edward nudged me away from the water, toward the dunes in the direction of the houses with glowing yellow windows.

At the bottom of the steps I stopped, still clinging to his hand, afraid to go any further. This was my moment. Edward had his in the tree when he told me how he felt and he made his intentions clear.

Now it was time for me to do the same.

EPOV

We were standing at the bottom of the steps, mere feet away from the gazebo where we shared an intense night last summer.

Her tiny hand was wrapped in mine and in the semidarkness I could see the conflict on her face. I had no idea what she was thinking. She was so happy to see me in the Fun House but she was scared shitless so I wasn't sure what that was about. But then she came with me here willingly and I had to get this shit out in the open.

So we waited. For what seemed like forever holding hands, standing at the bottom of those fucking steps, listening to the waves pounding on the sand. While she gathered her courage to tell me whatever the hell it was she had on her mind.

After an eternity she tugged my hand and I followed her up the steps over to one of the benches. It was not the same bench we had defiled the summer before but that was understandable.

Bella tapped my chest and motioned for me to sit down and I did never letting go of your hand. I wasn't going to let go until she made me. It was my lifeline that everything may be okay.

She pushed my knees together and straddled me, face to face, eye to eye.

Over the waves I heard her take one last deep breath, and I braced myself, lowering my eyes in fear.

But instead of words coming out of her mouth, I felt her mouth on my throat and jaw, tiny kisses. Her fingers wove through my hair and stroked the back of my neck.

This was the way Bella showed her love.

My heart swelled. It did. I know I'm a guy and I shouldn't be into shit like that but at that moment, in the gazebo, where it all started, that's exactly what happened.

Bella's lips grazed mine and I reached my hands up to hold her mouth in place and I kissed her back.

Hard.

Because that was how I showed my love.

So we sat on the bench for hours kissing and groping, making up for lost time. I couldn't keep my hands off those drop dead sexy pants, cupping her ass and pulling her into my body.

She couldn't stop running her hands up my shirt, raking her nails down my chest, leaving me a quivering mess at her touch.

While we did this she told me her thoughts.

About me.

About her.

And us.

She told me she forgave me for being an idiot with a sordid past and bad taste in women.

She also apologized for not trusting me and jumping to conclusions and not talking it out.

And between kisses and groans I told her that I loved her and that I wanted her more than any other girl I'd met. And I wanted all of her. Something I'd never desired before.

While we made out on that bench I also told her that this was one place she and I always had for ourselves, untainted or marred by the past. And I promised her I would keep it sacred for the two of us, forever, no matter what happened in the future.

As the stars came out and it got colder our kisses faded and she settled into my chest, where we sat breathing in one another. We heard the others drive up and settle into the house, turning off the lights one by one leaving us in total darkness.

Knowing she was cold and tired, I stood up, keeping her legs wrapped around my waist, and I carried her into the house, up the stairs and rolled us into bed. Together and mended I drifted to sleep to the sound of the waves outside and the warm breaths of Bella next to me.

Awwww....sigh. Such a cheese head. Anyway, I am giving you what you really want next chapter so stay tuned. I will post soon but dont rush me it is pretty much the last chapter. Boo Freaking Hoo. I know. I may cry. But Ive got some tricks up my sleeve so keep any eye out. Now, I need your review like Edward needs to rip off those leather pants and have his way with Bella. That's right. BAD.