The Twilight Twenty-five
Prompt - vibrant
Pen name - LightStarDusting
Character POV - Bella
Rating - M

Chapter 19 - From Me to You
Nearly 2007

"You want to tell me what the hell is going on?" Edward's deep voice floated toward me from the entryway of the kitchen. "Why am I heading into the New Year without the love of my life by my side?" His soft teasing tugged my heart a little, guilt washing over me for exiling myself to the kitchen. I kept my head down, my eyes tracing the lines of the tile floor while leaning against the smooth countertop. "Hey," he said, softer still.

The utterance of that one word was all it took. His voice soothed me, the frayed nerve-endings relaxing as he walked closer to where I leaned on the counter. His feet entered my line of vision, on top of the lines that my eyes followed. His legs threaded with mine as he stepped closer still. I held back a smirk as his pointer finger found the bottom of my chin and tilted it up.

"Hey," I replied, hiding the smirk that was just below the surface. Our eyes met and we smiled softly at one another.

It was a nod to the first conversation we'd ever had that didn't involve lollipops or a fraternity house basement; an acknowledgment to that day on campus, over six years ago, when the boy with messy hair and vibrant eyes walked into my life and never walked out.

That boy was no longer standing in front of me, having been replaced by the man he'd somehow become when we weren't paying attention. It was easy to forget how much we'd both changed. We'd been together nearly every single day since that meeting and it was only when we looked at pictures from those early days that we really saw what babies we had been.

Our noses touched as his face came toward mine, the butterflies no longer stirring from nervous energy but rather from loved comfort. He pressed a soft kiss to my lips. The kiss was familiar, not passionate, but laced with trust and comfort and a small hint of concern. "What are you doing out here, all by yourself?" He pressed the issue as he pressed his body even closer to mine, his hands coming to rest on the counter behind my lower back.

"Just cleaning a bit," I said as I snuggled further into his arms, my cheek against his chest. "And I'm not by myself, thanks to you. My knight in shining armor, rescuing me from the loneliness of the kitchen."

He frowned and I knew, from that small expression, that he didn't believe my cleaning story. "Ah, Cinderella," he murmured, playing with a lock of my hair. "You're lucky I came along to save you." His lips met mine again and they coaxed my mouth open. This kiss was both familiar and passionate. I could taste the beer on his tongue that he'd been drinking throughout the night; that had changed, too. No longer were we dealing with the restraints of lacking funds so we were able to upgrade from Beast to 'the good stuff.'

The kiss continued, his hands roaming beneath the back of my shirt, stroking my lower back. The low murmur of our friends' voices in the nearby living room rose up into a loud cheer as someone did something on the Wii that was cause for a celebration. The sound finally broke us apart, reminding us that we did, indeed, have company. "Damn it. Why are they here anyway?"

"Because they're our friends and relatives and it was our turn to host?" I smiled. Perhaps he'd forgotten about his earlier observation.

He took a deep breath and exhaled, pulling back from me. "It doesn't take a mind reader to know that something has been distracting you lately." He tapped my temple with his finger. "I can tell you're working at something up there." Or perhaps not.

"We'll talk when it's not so crowded here?" I asked, my eyes darting toward the sound of the noise.

"That's fine," he acquiesced. "But we will talk."

I nodded at his statement. It was a reasonable one and I'd tried really hard to stop running from my problems. I still wasn't perfect at it but as each year passed, I was getting a bit better. Work in progress. "Can you believe it's nearly 2007?"

"Can you believe we've been together for almost seven and a half years?"

"It's six years; the fraternity basement doesn't count in the official length of the relationship." Again, we fell into the same banter we'd say to one another when we got nostalgic. The conversation always started with one of us stating how long we'd been together and Edward always trying to tack on that extra year. It seemed like just yesterday we were saying a year and a half, three years, and onward.

I could believe it. I did believe it.

"I remember seeing you, standing there, pissed because you got a chocolate lollipop."

He always brought up my lack of love for the chocolate lollipop.

I rolled my eyes and brought up the next point in the conversation we'd already had more times than I could remember. "I still don't consider that our first real conversation. You know that. Ten minutes in a fraternity house basement? Not even close. Plus that's not technically when we got together so, I reassert, it doesn't count."

He pulled me to him once more, pressing his nose into my hairline and spoke, his lips against my forehead. "Still, it's a fun story to tell people."

That was the truth. When people asked us how we met, we always told them about the Great Lollipop Exchange of 1999. We did quite well telling the story to those who hadn't heard it before, teasing each other and finishing each other's sentences as we told it. It was our shtick, the story of our first meeting. Co-workers, distant relatives, the neighbors… they ate it up.

But that really only gave me a glimpse of Edward, not the complete package.

The complete first meeting was not as entertaining as the lollipop story. It was definitely less cute (because my pouting over a lollipop is apparently the epitome of cuteness) but much more intimate, much more us.

Lucy had given him our extension on move-in day and as it rang, we stared each other and then at the phone, unable to believe that the person we were just talking about could actually being calling. I finally reached over to answer it, my heart beating ridiculously hard in my chest.

Only… it wasn't him.

And that was my reaction every time the phone rang. A sheer nervous panic mixed with excitement would possess my very being and every time, it wasn't him. People got very tired of hearing me answer the phone with (what I hoped was a nonchalant) hello and quickly followed by a dejected oh.

He did eventually call a few nights later and, as luck would have it, I wasn't home.

Of course, this worked out really well for him because he was able to leave a message on my voicemail and then the ball was in my court. That was truly unfortunate because not only was I still working at the whole flirting game, whether live or on the phone, but I also wasn't very athletic, so I didn't have any good instincts on how to put the ball back in his court.

I didn't call him back immediately. Instead, I replayed the voicemail message again. And again. And again. I played it for Lucy. I played it for Makenna. They urged me to call. They even tried to write a script of possible conversations and had me "practice" with them – complete with deep voices when they pretended to be Edward. I was sure they were hoping to ease my nerves. The actual effect was quite the opposite. I couldn't help but wonder, Am I emotionally ready for this?

I didn't return the call that night, or the next day. My nerves got the best of me.

I always teased him about the stalking incidents. His watching me while I moved my stuff in (I'd since ragged on him that he could have offered to help) and then running into him on campus after the voicemail. It all seemed a bit too convenient. I'd subconsciously hoped that we would find each other on the campus; I was a bound to suck less in person than I did on the phone… I hoped.

Instead of returning Edward's call, I decided to do everything but. A day and a half went by and all I could think of was calling him back and not having enough nerve to do it. Instead I found myself at the campus store, syllabi in hand, searching for the books I needed for my Astronomy and World Literature classes. There were no used books and I found that disappointing because I actually liked used books better than new. Not only were used books a little less expensive, but I actually liked reading what other people had written in the margins and often glommed them.

Oh well, at least I get to crack the binding. That's always fun!

After exiting the store, I leaned against the hip-height brick wall that served as planters for begonias outside of the store. A drunken moment last year with Rosalie and Emmett flashed in my mind from when I attempted to channel my inner Nadia and "balance beamed" my way across the wall. It was a good thing that I was with them because Emmett wound up catching me on "the dismount." Placing the books on the wall next to me (I had foregone the plastic bags in an attempt to be earth-friendly, something I'd learned from Jasper) I leaned back, resting my butt against the wall and tilted my face toward the setting sun.

I felt his presence before I heard his voice say, "Hey," and I immediately scrambled to right myself. I turned away instead of toward him and my hands flailed around me as I tried to straighten myself. And then, in a very classic Bella fashion, I swept the entire pile of books off the wall and onto the ground, scattering them everywhere.

Nothing like breaking them in.

A string of curses flew from my mouth as I bent down to pick up newly purchased and already dented books.

The books gave me a reason not to look up, not to make eye contact. After all, I had to make sure my books were all good and collected, and at the same time I attempted to collect myself. I was able to get all of the World Literature books but the Astronomy one had really launched itself, making impressive distance and moving outside my immediate orbit.

He found the rogue Astronomy textbook and picked it up. "Hey," I said softly. Hey? Good to know I suck both on the phone and in person, equally. I looked up to see his face startlingly close to mine, only a few inches and a pair of sunglasses between us. The sun hung low in the sky behind him, his form backlit, giving him an ethereal glow.

"Bella, I was hoping I'd run into you." We both stood simultaneously and I reached for the book, but he held on to it. He pushed his aviators up onto his head, vibrant green eyes establishing eye contact with mine and immediately I felt my inner butterflies stir in a tizzy.

"Edward, hi. I meant to call back but…" I managed to stutter out, not exactly sure how I would end that statement. Yeah, Lucy and Makenna would be mortified at this failure after all their hard work.

"Eh, no worries. I know the first few days of school can be crazy. It looks like the summer treated you well." His eyes scanned my body quickly before returning to my eyes, and my traitorous blush returned. Well, what do you expect, Bella? He is a guy.

"Can't complain. It was good. I'm happy to be back here though."

He chuckled. "That makes two of us, although I'm pretty sure that most of us are happy to be back. Who would have ever thought when we were in high school that we'd actually want to come back to school?"

It was an astute observation, one that I had never really considered until he said it. I spent a good portion of my grade school years dreading the thought of going to school, but college was different. It was freedom. Living on your own and making your own decisions was liberating. Once it stopped holding the scariness the firsts of freshman year brought along with it, anyway.

We continued to chat for a solid hour, the sun dipping lower into the sky and the lights along the footpaths flickering on. I didn't want to stop, didn't want to say goodbye, but I didn't know how to say that.

"So," he said, looking down shyly, and kicked at a weed coming up through a crack in the sidewalk and I sensed a question was coming. "What are you up to right now?"

I shrugged. "Nothing on the agenda. Probably go back to the room and order a pizza for a late dinner. Lucy said she was going out tonight but I figured I'd just relax."

He pushed off the wall we were leaning on, a grin on his face, and held out my Astronomy text. I reached for it but he pulled it away, holding it behind his back. The butterflies kicked up again as he grinned at me and teased me again by waving it just out of my reach.

"Astronomy, huh? Did you know I'm a science major?"

"I didn't know that, actually."

"I am. Since you don't have any plans, maybe you could come to the science building with me." He held out his free hand to me, still holding my Astronomy book out of reach. "You want to come?"

I didn't know what he planned to do at the science building. I didn't even really know him that well; the hour conversation was enough to find out the basics but nothing too in depth. There was something about him, though. I hadn't wanted to say goodbye because I wanted to know him better.

Emotionally, it was a big step for me. I'd already taken part of the physical aspect of a relationship with Jacob but there was no real connection there. With Edward, I knew it had the potential to be something more. I could feel a magnetic pull toward him, and though I wasn't certain what it was, I had to trust that inner voice that was pushing me to find out. It was a leap of faith. One I was ready to take.

I remembered that afternoon vividly. The butterflies were swarming as he reached for the rest of my books. He tucked them under one arm and reached back for my hand. When I took it, the butterflies actually settled, happy with my choice. By the time we had reached the science building, they were gone.

I shook myself from my reverie and watched as he poured another beer into his beer stein. I leaned on the counter and ran a finger through the frothy head. He made a lewd suggestive comment, as he always did, and we giggled.

"It's a good thing you decided to stalk me, otherwise who would play with your head?" I licked my finger suggestively and his eyes followed. He grabbed his beer, and once again, teasingly muttered something about a houseful of freeloading guests and wishing we could kick them to the curb. I giggled again, tipsy a little bit from the champagne but mostly from him. Together we walked, arm in arm, back to the living room where our friends were still playing on the Wii. Leaning into him, I was hit by a sudden wave of sleepiness. It was getting closer to midnight and I stifled a yawn behind his shoulder. When did I become so lame?

KrisBCullen makes my words infinitely better. She also feeds me, gives me beer, and lets me swim in her pool. Basically, she's awesome.

Heart, Lore, Elle, and Boo – thank you for being nutters with me. Aviators are for you, Heart.

This SUNDAY, July 11th – #readalong with fngrcufs of Here, There and Everywhere. Although, if you are reading this then you've already… read. And there's really not much point… BUT STILL. Right.

Also! Stay tuned to LightHeartLoreli (ah, go on and throw it on your author alerts!). Lore and I are writing two stories for lovely, amazing, and beautiful people who bid on us for the Fandom Gives Back.

Also? Thank you so much for reading and leaving me all your amazing thoughts.

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