"Dad! You should get lunch now. Edward and Emmett are going to come get me in less than an hour." I had spent the morning packing, so this was going to be my only chance to say goodbye to Charlie.

He grumbled and came down the stairs to sit down at the table. "What are we having?" He seemed oddly tired.

"I decided to fry up sone if the fish in the back of the freezer." The mention of the meal brightened his expression just a bit. "I also made a few things that I put in the freezer. All you have to do is heat them up."

Charlie smiled up at me from his seat, "Thanks, Bells. The food does tend to suck when you're gone."

"Oh, really?" I sat down and folded my hands on the table in front of me. "So, what time did Sue leave this morning?"

Charlie spewed water across the table. "What do you mean?"

"Dad, I heard her last night when I woke you up." He was looking at me like he was trying to decide whether or not to tell me the truth. "Dad," I reached over and touched his hand, "I'm okay with the idea of you dating. I don't want you to be alone."

Charlie chuckled nervously, "We got close when I helped her with Harry's arrangements. We started dating over the summer, and I guess things have just kind of progressed.

"Dad, you shouldn't hide these things from me. I've always loved Sue and her kids. You know that."

"I guess it's a relief you know. I don't like sneaking around." He scratched the back of his head and took a bite of the fish. "So are you going to tell me about Edmund?" Is he your boyfriend?"

"Edward, dad. And, yeah, I guess you could say he's my boyfriend. It's still new, though."

"Is he driving you back to school?"

"Yes, he and his brother will be here to pick me up in a little bit."

Charlie looked thoughtful, "I want to meet him."

I had been afraid of this. "Do you promise to be my dad and not Chief Swan. Edward's done nothing wrong and I don't need you to scare him away."

Charlie made a halo sign about his head, "I'll be good."

For the next thirty minutes, Charlie and I talked about my classes. He seemed more open and talkative than the Charlie that I knew in high school. I found him more interested and observant of my life.

The doorbell rang and Charlie was out of his seat and to the door. I brought my dish to the sink and went to the living room. My dad, Edward, and Jasper were sitting down having a discussion.

"Jasper, what are you doing here? Where's Emmett?"

"I'm hurt," Jasper feigned heartbreak. "I thought you'd want to see me."

"Oh, Jasper, you know I'm always happy to see you. I'm just surprised."

"He and Rose decided to drive back together. They haven't seen each other all weekend."

I laughed, "And how are you holding up without Alice?

He looked at the phone in his hand. I was curious how many times he'd done that this weekend. "I've been better," he answered honestly.

"Well hang in there, Jazz. It won't be much longer. She misses you too." He smiled and me. I turned my attention to Edward. He looked too good to be sitting in my living room and he had more confidence than one meeting his girlfriend's father should have. Especially when that father had the keys to the town jail.

He smiled and stood up to approach me. My breath caught in my throat as I watched him approach. He kissed me on the cheek and whispered in my ear, "Is your stuff ready to go, cause your Dad's starting to scare me."

I giggled and pointed to the duffle by the door. "Just waiting for the interrogation to be over."

He pushed his fingers through his hair and pulled me back to sit between him and Jasper.

Charlie launched into a full questioning, but was stopped by the story of our meeting. "So you really fell on the guy, Bells?" Charlie was trying to hold back the laughter.

I groaned, "It was Alice's fault, Dad. She made us late and then she made me wear heels. It wasn't a good combination."

The guys around me continued to laugh and joke about my equilibrium. "Okay, enough fun at my expense. We need to get on the road if we're going to get across the country."

Everyone started to get up off the couch and move toward the door. Edward and Jasper shook hands with my dad as they headed out the door. I noticed Edward grabbing my duffel on the way out, leaving me to say goodbye to Charlie.

Charlie surprised me by pulling me into his arms. "Be safe Bells. I'll be waiting to see you again."

I kissed his cheek, "I'll be back in a month, Dad. Keep me updated on how things go with Sue." I squeezed him tighter for a moment and turned for the Volvo.

I slipped in and waved to Charlie from the front seat as we backed away. "I think he liked you."

Edward took my hand and brought it to his lips. "I'm not gonna lie. Your father can be a scary man."

I smiled and relaxed back into my seat. I hadn't gotten much sleep last night, and the warmth Edward was radiating as well as the purr of the engine were very relaxing.

I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I knew, Jasper was shaking my seat to wake me up. I groaned and looked back at him. "Thank God, I thought you'd never stop snoring."

I looked around, we were parked in front of a small diner. "It's your girlfriend's fault. She called me at 2 o'clock in the morning. I had a hard time getting back to sleep."

I heard Edward chuckle beside me. I turned to glare at him, but got lost in his eyes. He moved his thumb, bringing to my attention that he still had my hand. "Hungry?"

"A little," but I didn't think I wanted food. I let my gaze fall to his lips. My own bottom lip sucked between my teeth.

Sensing the mood, Jasper slipped from the car and went into the diner. I was thankful to him for that, because I wasn't sure that his presence would prevent me from giving in to Edward's eyes.

As soon as Jasper was away, Edward's lips crushed mine. His hands went to my hair. It slid to the nape of my neck and held me against his lips.

After a few minutes, his lips gentled against mine. "Jasper's gonna come out to get us soon if we don't go in." He said the words against my lips. His breath swept across my face. He kissed my forehead. Lips lingering as if tasting my skin.

When his lips left my skin, he also let go of my hand. The loss of all physical contact was almost heartbreaking. Before I had time to truly miss him, he was opening my door for me. Always the gentleman.

He wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me into the diner. He held me closer than he usually did, and I reveled in it. I had hated the physical distance that existed between us.

"Guys, over here." Jasper was waving at us from a table in the corner. I noticed his uplifted expression and the phone at his ear.

"How's Alice?"

Jasper's only response was a smile. It was hard to miss how Alice affected Jasper. "Alice, they're here. I've got to go." He seemed reluctant to say it. I knew Alice wouldn't be happy. "I'll see you as soon as you land. Don't forget to tell me when you get on your plane." He fidgeted with his menu and didn't look back up at us. "I love you too, Alice. Bye"

He waited another moment before looking back up at our open mouthed stares. "WHAT?!"

"Are you sure you really want to be throwing around the word love so early in a relationship?" Edward flinched as I spoke. That didn't make any sense.

"It's not early. When you know that you love someone, you should tell them. I do love Alice, and I want her to know that."

Edward nodded and clapped Jasper on the back, "I understand. When you know, you know."

The waiter came over and brought us three glasses of water. "My name is Eric. How may I help you today?"

I looked up at him to see him smiling directly at me. "Just a burger and fries for me." I looked over at Edward who was glaring at Eric.

He pulled me closer. By this point, I was almost directly in his lap. I wasn't complaining, but he had no reason to be so jealous. What's-his-name could never hold my attention. "I'll have the same and two cokes." He knew me so well.

Jasper ordered and Eric finally went to get our orders. The boys slipped into a conversation about Emmett's next party. They were trying to decide if they wanted to be present or not.

"Bella, what do you thing?' Jasper looked at me intently as if I held the final decision.

"I think you should ask Alice." Truthfully, I wanted to go to the party, thought I wouldn't be spending any of that time in public. Edward and I always hid out in is room.

Eric came back with our drinks. He smiled at me but didn't linger. The attention was flattering, but the kid had no hope.

My phone rang, and I knew who it was before I looked at it. "Alice, why are you calling me?" Jasper's head popped up and kept his attention trained on me.

"I need to talk to you about something" She was almost whispering.

"Couldn't it wait till later, Alice? We could talk about it in person tomorrow."

"Be-e-e-ella-a-a-a" ugh, she resorted to whining.

"Fine, Alice. What is it?"

"I need you to get away from the boys."

I would have glared at her if she had been there. I didn't not want to leave the warmth of Edward's embrace. I did what she said, though. I slid from the booth and walked outside. "Okay, Alice. I'm outside. What's going on?"

"Tomorrow's Jasper's birthday."

"It is? He hasn't mentioned that to me."

"Well, I want to surprise him. I'm planning on making it back before you guys, but I need your help."

"Shouldn't you be talking about this with Edward? He's the one behind the wheel."

I heard Alice giggle, "But you're the only one who can distract him."

"ALICE!" four guys who were gathered around a nearby car looked up at me. "I will do no such thing. You should know better than to even suggest it." I noticed the guys moving closer to me so I back up to the window of the diner so that I was visible to the people inside.

"Please, Bella. I want to be in their apartment before they get back." I could almost hear her pouting.

"Alice, I'll try, but I'm not distracting the driver in that way. It's not safe."

"Yay! Thank you, Bella. Have fun" The innuendo was impossible to miss. She hung up and I noticed the men were closer. I turned to go inside, but they had fanned out to surround me.

"Hey, shugah. You aren't going to leave us now are you? That would be impolite." They backed me against the building and I slammed my back against the window praying someone would hear me.

"Yeah, darling." It was the man to my right, but I didn't want to look at him. "You wouldn't want to hurt out feelings, now would you?"

"Stay away from me." I wasn't surprised that it didn't come out as strongly as I'd hoped.

Just as the one who'd called me shugah was reaching for me, he dropped to the ground. Standing right behind him was Edward. The look on his face frightened me. "Get in the car." The words were said through his teeth. I ran for the Volvo and could hear him close behind me. Once we were in the car, he slammed it into reverse and fishtailed on to the road.

I tried to relax, but the look on his face kept me alert. "Are you alright?"

"No," his answer was curt and rough, "Are you?"

"I'm fine," my voice was still shaky from the experience, but I was feeling better with him there. "Edward, pull over."

He shook his head. "I want to get you as far away from them as possible."

"Edward, slow down. They're not going to come after us, and we still have to go back and get Jasper." I watched as the speedometer decreased and relaxed as he pulled off the road.

He turned the car off and leaned his head against the head rest. Pinching the bridge of his nose, I could see that he was concentrating on breathing. "Distract me, please."

I couldn't hold back the giggle that escaped my lips when he said those words.

He turned to me with shocked eyes. I was glad to see the anger was gone. "What's so funny?"

"That's exactly what Alice wanted me to do. She wanted me to distract you so that she would be able to get to your apartment and surprise Jasper for his birthday." He continued to stare at me. He didn't seem amused as the story should have made him. "What?"

He ran his fingers through my hair. "You don't even look shaken. Don't you feel sick or tired?"

I rolled my eyes, "No, Dr. Cullen. I feel fine." He was still surveying my face, looking for some sign of distress. "I'm fine, I promise." I pushed some of the hair from his forehead.

He kissed gently on the lips before looking deeply into my eyes. "We're going to rest for the night. We'll get a room and you're going to sleep."

I could have slept in the car, but there was no arguing with the determination in his eyes. I simply nodded and leaned back in the seat as he started the car and headed back to get Jasper.