The next few days were hard. Charlie desperately wanted to go back to work, or fishing. Sue and I were allowing neither. Sue had practically moved into the little house. I was suddenly glad that it had never been more than just Charlie and I living in the house when I was in high school. With three people in the house, there was no room for privacy. And it was worse without my truck or Charlie's cruiser to make a quick escape. Edward was always on call in case Sue and Charlie started giving each other 'that look'.

This was one of those moments. I was on the porch, waiting for the Volvo to pull up in front of the driveway. When I finally saw it, I flew down the driveway and into the car before Edward had a chance to get out of it. I was glad my klutziness held off long enough not to trip. I didn't want to be near the house a moment longer.

Edward was chuckling as I closed the door and buckled my seat belt. "That bad?"

I glared at him. "Charlie's not even bothering to try to get off the couch anymore, not that Sue would let him. It's like having a broken leg has brought his libido back to life."

He continued to chuckle. "Well it's just you and me now. What do you want to do?"

I could think of plenty of things that I wanted to do, but that would involve privacy, something that was hard for us to get, ever, especially now that Charlie was always at the house. I sighed, "Wanna go hiking?"

He pulled the car to a stop, nearly flinging me into the dashboard. "I think I need my hearing checked. Did you just ask me if I wanted to go hiking?" I nodded and he continued to stare at me. "Okay, who are you and what have you done with my girlfriend."

I smiled and shook my head. "Jake and I starting hiking during my senior year of high school. I might still fall, but it's better than being stuck in the house with Charlie and Sue."

He continued to stare at me, unsure if I was trying to play a joke on him. "Okay, where's the trail?"

I smiled conspiratorially as I gave him directions to the trail head. It only took half an hour to get there. It usually took me three times that long, but with the Chief of Police out of commission, Edward felt no need to follow the speed limits.

He got out and opened the door for me, holding his hand out to support me. When I was out of the car, I held onto his hand and pulled him in the direction I wanted to go. He pulled back, not budging. "Bella, the trail is that way."

I tugged on his hand some more. "I know that."

He tugged me back, and there was no way that I could fight his strength. "Then why are you heading in the opposite direction?"

I smiled up at him, "Because we're not going to be using the trail. You asked where the trail was, and it's right there. We, on the other hand, are going that way."

He eyed me dubiously, "Have you completely lost it? You can barely stand upright when walking across a perfectly tiled floor. You can't expect me to let you walk into the woods without a trail."

I kissed his jaw, hoping to distract him long enough to get us into the woods. "I've done this a hundred times, Edward. I want to show you something, and this is the only way to get to it. Besides," I said as I stood on my tiptoes to place a kiss on his lips, "I trust you to catch me if I fall."

He did look slightly dazed by my ability to take control of the situation. I began to pull him toward the forest, and this time, he followed. We were several yards into the forest before he shook the daze off. "You little witch," he teased. "You dazzled me into coming in here."

I shrugged, "It always works so well for you, I thought I would see if I could use your own tricks against you." After all, he dazzled me quite constantly.

He shook his head and chuckled. "Alright. I'm going to trust that you can find your way in and out of here."

I nodded with a grin probably about to split my face. "Absolutely. I told you, I've done this a hundred times."

He kept his hand in mine, and allowed me to lead him further into the forest. "Okay, Bella. How is it possible that you tripped over a crack in the pavement at school, but you've totally missed every low hanging branch, and above ground root?"

I shrugged as I ducked under another branch. "I guess not being in heels helps." I laughed as I thought about my earlier ventures through this exact forest. "It wasn't always this easy for me. When Jake and I first started doing this, I tripped over thin air."

He squeezed my hand, "I can imagine that."

I turned around to look at him. Sure enough, his grin was just as prominent on his face as it was in his voice. Turning around was something I shouldn't have done. My toe found a root, and I immediately was propelled forward. Edward used the hand that he was holding to pull me back. He was laughing. "There's my girl. I thought I had lost you and you'd been replaced by this overtly graceful wood nymph."

I stuck my tongue out at him. "If you keep distracting me, we'll never get there."

He leaned down and touched his lips to mine, "I don't think I would mind that much."

I pushed at his chest playfully. "Let's get going. You're going to want to see this."

He pouted, but let me go. I turned back toward my destination. It only took another thirty minutes, and I didn't make another blunder by letting him distract me from my footing.

I saw the light up ahead, and was nearly running to get to the spot that was like my sanctuary. I had come here to think, read, and get away from the small minded town of Forks. I pulled Edward through the last of the trees to my meadow.

I turned to smile at him, "Well, what do you think?"

He didn't answer. Instead, he gaped at what he saw. He walked out to the middle of the perfect meadow, and turned in a full 360. He looked back at me in wonder. "How did you find this place?"

I shrugged. "When Jake had to start spending less time with me because of his tribal responsibilities, I threw myself into hiking. I've never shown him this place."

He reached out for me, and I walked right into his arms. He kissed the top of my head, "It's amazing. It's so perfect, yet natural." He caught my chin, and lifted it so he could look into my eyes. "Thank you for sharing it with me."

I stood on my tiptoes, and he obliged me by leaning down and pressing his lips to mine. After a few moments, I pulled back. "You're the only person I've wanted to share it with."

We finally settled into the meadow. We laid down in the grass, completely absorbed in each other. Edward brushed a strand of hair from my face, looking deeply into my eyes. "You are incredible. You know that right?"

"That's what you keep telling me." I caught his hand and pulled him toward me. He obliged and pressed his lips tenderly to mine. He tangled his fingers in my hair and held me close as we used our lips to communicate in a way that had nothing to do with words.

Our lips moved in perfect synchronization. The movements were slow and passionate. For the first time, there was no need to hurry. No one was going to find us out here. We could finally take the time to enjoy being with each other. And that is exactly what I planned to do.