BPOV

The lights were turned off, and everything was utterly still on this tropical island.

Edward and I were in bed, and our clothes were lying in a ragged heap on the floor…somewhere on the floor. He was pulling me to him as tightly as he could, and my mouth was on his. We had been like that for a while, and I had absolutely no problem with that.

He felt so warm…so soft…so different. I still couldn't get used to that. In a good way, though. His scent was as strong as ever, especially when my head was nestled against his bare chest like it was now.

"Bella?" His voice was soft and smooth as he leaned over to my ear.

"Hmm?"

"What are you planning to do now?"

I was perplexed. I frowned at him, his face perfectly clear in the darkness.

"What do you mean?"

He grabbed me and pulled me closer to him. "I know you are perfectly content to spend the rest of eternity like this – "

"I am," I interrupted.

His finger was over my lips as he hushed me. "But you know, you can't spend the rest of time like this. There's so much you need to see…so much you don't know yet…."

I sighed as this familiar topic came up. "I don't need to go to college, Edward. I'm perfectly fine the way I am right now."

"I know that, love. But you are going to want to see, to know more, and that time will come soon, thanks to your incredible self-control. Instead of taking decades, you took days. To overcome your thirst and be close to humans. I think you can handle that."

I exhaled; how was I going to explain this to him? "Edward," I began. "I don't think that I'm following you. Let me get this straight: you want me to go back to school…either high school or college."

He smiled his perfect smile. "Yes," he agreed.

"Well…I don't think I really need that."

"No," he murmured. "Of course not. But you should. You'll know more, you'll have seen more…please don't tell me that you've never dreamt of going to Harvard before."

"I haven't!" I cringed a little as the lie came out anyways.

He shook his head in mock disbelief. "Do you really think that I would have bought that? Bella, you're a horrible liar."

"I know," I sighed in defeat. "But if I do go to college…well…I won't be able to be with you all the time, like now."

"Ah," he whispered, understanding. "But Bella, you haven't considered the fact that you won't have to sleep anymore, have you? You think of a limited…oh…sixteen hours, seventeen or eighteen, maybe. But now…you'll be awake twenty-four seven, and you'll be with me more than you think you will. There's always an option when it comes to class schedules."

"I know," I sighed again.

He was winning; he could feel that. I thought about my two choices: one, to be like a human and go to college – Dartmouth or University of Alaska or wherever – with the rest of my family, or two, to spend all the time with Edward.

His eyes decided for me. He held my face close to his, and when he opened his eyes, they were a beautiful honey gold that burned into mine. I lost my argument, as I always did, when he unleashed his sometimes-frightening power on me.

"Please?" he whispered.

I sighed; there was no way I could win this. "Fine," I conceded.

"Thank you, Bella." He pulled my face to his again, and our bodies twisted together slowly.