A/N: Well aren't I Ms. Mcpost a Lot lately, huh? I've had the time and I've felt inspired so I'm taking advantage of that and I have you guys to thank for it. I'm not even sure there is any way for me to convey how much you all mean to me and how much your words keep me going.

Alliesmom07, Saritadreaming, RubyLou, baynewen, brokentragedy2, Mara. You are all an inspiration and I'm so happy to 'know' you. You make me squee and get teary eyed and inspire me and make me feel connected. Thank you.

A special thank you also goes to Aleea. I know I've said it before but I'm so glad I found you, and your continued support of my work and allowing me to be a part of your work means so much to me.

And welcome to my new reader (and prolific reviewer!) Pamela J. Austin. I'm really glad you are liking the story and I really appreciate your reviews. Thank you.

Also shout-outs to EdwardsCandyCane, cshorte, and yankeerose. You guys have been with me for awhile through various fics of mine and I appreciate it.

So this chapter is a teensy bit longer (I'm trying!) but it's really late right now and I'm starting to fall over so I had to stop. I hope you like it anyway and as always reviews are love and they fuel my fire.

Bella woke as the first rays of morning light seeped in through her window. She could tell it was still very early because the light was merely shades of grey against the blackness of the receding night. She was lying on her back and the only reason she knew that Edward was there beside her was because she could feel the cold stone of his body. He wasn't breathing. Nor did he need to but it was unusual for him to allow himself these small nuances of his natural state in her presence. She liked it.

"Morning love." He reached an arm across her to pull her close and kiss her. The kiss seemed to hold traces of the previous evening just waiting to bloom at her touch but she still wasn't ready for that so she tried to deflect the inevitable path his touches would lead them down.

"So Edward…" She began, "Care to explain why you looked like a wildebeest last night?"

"I've…" he began, sheepishly. "I've been living in the forest." His lips tilted up in a small embarrassed smile.

"And why on Earth would you do that?"

"I wasn't ready to go home. To the house I mean."

Her heart skipped a beat for him and she suddenly felt a great sympathy. It hadn't really occurred to her that anything here might harbor bad memories for him. She reached a hand up and caressed his face.

"So what are you going to do?" She whispered softly.

"I'm going to go there, today. What else can I do? I'm not going to run anymore. I made my bed and I'll lie in it."

"Edward, you don't have a bed." She replied somewhat snarkily, trying to lighten the mood. He got a mischievous glint in his eye and she realized she just opened another of Pandora's doors.

"Well. I'll have to amend that, now won't I?" He said pulling her closer and leaning in for another kiss.

She pulled her lips away as far as her pillow would allow and rushed out a sentence before he could complete the kiss.

"We still have a lot to talk about you know."

He pulled back.

"I know." His face was suddenly grave. "Do you regret last night?"

She felt her face heat up and she looked away.

"No." She said, suddenly fidgety. Her hand toyed with his on top of the covers. "Do you?" She asked.

"Not in the slightest." He replied while nuzzling her neck.

She couldn't help the small smile that flitted across her features.

Edward sighed. Not a happy contented sigh but one that sounded frustrated or disappointed.

"What?" She asked, worried.

"Charlie. He's awake. That means I should go."

She nodded. Her first thought was to ask if she'd see him tonight but then she thought better of it, reminding herself that she needed to learn to stand on her own two feet as she had said. Edward seemed to read her mind.

"I won't be back for a night or two. If that's okay? I want to take care of some things at the house. Make it a bit more livable and talk to my family. I'm sure they'll have lots of questions and a lot of their own preparations to make."

"Don't let them come back yet!" She said in a panic.

"I won't." He said, running his fingers across her cheeks. He looked very sad.

"I'm sorry. I'm just not ready yet. It hasn't even been a week."

"I know."

"I love you Bella."

"I love you too." And this time she was the one who leaned in for a kiss.

The next couple of days were fairly normal, school, homework, housework, dinner, errands. Charlie was a man of few words and Bella was still wracking her brain trying to think of a way to reintroduce Edward into their lives without bloodshed, or at least the attempt of bloodshed on the part of her Father, though realistically she was more concerned about seeing Edward. Sure, his nightly visits were better than nothing but there was only so much they could work on while squirreled away in her room. And, if Edward really did get a bed…well her mind wandered to places it probably shouldn't but at least now she didn't feel like she was teasing herself with these kinds of thoughts. Now she was beginning to believe that they might actually happen.

By the time Saturday rolled around she decided she should visit Jacob again and see how things were going. Charlie was spending a rare weekend home, probably too caught up in his frustration about not being able to find Sam to really enjoy much of anything. Bella drove her beloved red pick-up to La Push, fighting the urge to go to the Cullen's home.

When she pulled onto the patch of dirt that qualified as the Black's driveway Jake rushed out to greet her, a big smile plastered on his face.

"He's back!" He yelled, excitedly.

"Who? Sam?"

"Who else Bella?" He said, rolling his eyes.

She stuttered. "Well…that's great…I mean…is he okay?"

"He's not hurt if that's what you mean but I'm not sure I'd say he's okay." His face turned sour.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"I dunno. It's weird. He's back. He's home. But no one will let us see him."

"What do you mean 'no one'?"

"The Elders have him locked away somewhere. I'm thinking maybe at the Shaman's but I don't know for sure. My Dad has been very strict about the rest of us not trying to see Sam. He knows something. But he doesn't seem worried, just pensive, like he's trying to figure something out."

Bella didn't know what to say so she just looked at him.

"C'mon, let's go inside." He continued. "Maybe a woman's touch will get him to loosen up."

They made their way inside the small cozy house. Billy was in the kitchen attempting to cook and Bella felt bad for him and then felt bad about feeling bad for him. Billy did quite well all things considered and who was she to judge?

"Hey Billy, I heard Sam was back." She said as she plopped down in one of the old vinyl kitchen chairs, plastering a smile across her face and trying to look as innocent as possible. She knew immediately that it didn't work because Billy flashed a scolding look at Jacob.

She continued to try anyway. "So what happened? Where was he?"

Billy pretended to be busy with the food that he was making but she knew full well it was just a charade. Finally he seemed to settle on an answer though he kept his eyes trained on the stove while he spoke.

"Well, it's really not my place to say Bella. But he's fine, I promise you that. In fact, you should probably pass that on to your Dad. It was all just a misunderstanding. There's no need for an investigation and I'm really sorry the police had to get involved. Stupid kids, ya' know…" And he trailed off but something in the way he said it didn't sit right with Bella. She knew there was more to it, that he was trying to divert attention away from the situation. She had a feeling there was much more going on than a simple case of a teen runaway and she was sure she and Jacob could find out what.

Edward stood in the driveway staring at the place he had once called home. It may have been made of wood and paint and glass but it seemed like a dead thing to him, the way a body looks when the soul has departed. He took a deep unneeded breath and continued up the walkway. The extra house key was hidden in its usual place and he used it to unlock the door to his past.

The place was musty something that would only be mildly annoying to a human but to him was like the stench of a swamp. He traveled from room to room opening the windows and letting the cool forest air freshen the place. He grabbed the drop cloths as he went, revealing the long neglected furniture. He saved his room for last and when he entered it seemed like a foreign place to him, like it was a different him that had lived here and he supposed that wasn't actually far from the truth.

He made a mental note of the things he wanted to change, a list that never need be written down because it was relegated to his perfect mind. A bed, he thought, hell all new furniture period. We need a fresh start. I need a fresh start. And I want Bella to have things here too. I want this to be a home for her as well. I'd get a place just for us if I thought I could get away with it.

After mentally cataloguing the changes he wanted to make in his room he made his way down to the kitchen to think about what they'd need for Bella and then realized that he was getting ahead of himself. And that's when he noticed the phone. There was no note. But he didn't need one. He knew who had left it there. Alice. It was time to call her. She picked up on the first ring.

"Hey." She said her voice sympathetic.

"Hi Alice." He was silent after that, suddenly unsure of what to say.

"So…what happened?" She asked.

"Don't you know?"

"I only know what you told me over the weekend. I haven't looked for anything else."

"Thank you Alice. I appreciate that." He paused. "I think things are okay, at least as okay as they can be. I'll be staying here. Permanently."

"Yeah, but what happened…" She asked petulantly as though he were keeping a secret from her.

He could see in her mind that she meant when he had left and he laughed thinking of what had happened.

"I'm not sure you'd believe me if I told you. She's rather tenacious and creative when she puts her mind to it" His voice took on a sad tone. "I don't…"

"Stop right there Edward."

"I thought you weren't going to look at my future?"

"I'm not silly. I just know you well enough to know where that line of thinking was going. You DO deserve to be happy Edward. We all do but you most of all right now."

"So now what?" She asked.

"I was hoping you could tell me."

She began to protest but he cut her off. "I don't mean like that Alice. Just…what do I do? I'm at a loss."

"Well, you lay low. I'll have some stuff shipped to the house for you, ID, credit cards and the like."

This was all practical stuff and not entirely what he meant but before he could redirect her train of thought she jumped gears herself.

"Can we come back Edward? I miss her." Alice's voice was a mere whisper and carried with it the pain of loss. He hadn't just condemned Bella when he'd made his fateful decision he'd condemned his family too, who had all grown to love Bella as their own. Well everyone except Rosalie but Alice's love for the human girl more than made up for whatever Rose was lacking.

He sighed. "Not yet. I'm sorry, but she's not ready yet. It needs to be her decision. It all needs to be her decision from now on."

"I understand. It should have always been like that you know."

"I know." He replied wearily. "I know that now. I didn't know it then. But that's why I'm asking for your help Alice. I don't know how to do this relationship thing. And you do."

She laughed her tinkerbell laugh and for the first time in months she sounded like her old self.

"Well normally I would say flowers and presents and stuff like that but we all know Bella doesn't like that and besides those things are peanuts compared to what you did to her."

He winced.

"You need to be patient with her. You need to show her and not tell her. You need to respect her. She's not as fragile as you think she is."

"I know that Alice. But none of that tells me what to do."

"There's no magic formula Edward."

He laughed at that, a genuine laugh, thinking back on what Bella had done to get him to return to her.

"What? What did I say?"

"Well, apparently there is a magic formula."

"What are you talking about Edward? Have you eaten? Have you gone delirious from eating rodents or something?"

"No." She could hear the smile in his voice. "Bella used magic to get me back."

There was silence for a moment.

"Really?" She asked.

"Really." He replied.

"Like what? She's a witch now?"

"No, no. She used Quileute magic, something her friend Jacob taught her or some such thing."

"Huh. That explains it then."

"Explains what?"

"Well when you first left I did try to see your future. It was all so sudden and I was worried. I could see that you were going to Forks but I couldn't see why. Now I understand."

"Alice, please." He huffed. "In English minus the cryptic comments."

"I can't see the Quileutes. Because of their heritage, their shape-shifting bloodlines; they're a giant blind spot to me and apparently their magic is as well. So what did she do?" She asked excitedly.

"I'm not telling."

"Oh, c'mon, what did she do?"

His thoughts flashed back to that night, to seeing Bella after so long, seeing her anger and her tears and feeling the heat of her and holding her close, and…

"Alice, please. It's private."

"Fine. I'll just ask her when I see her."

"Well don't expect her to run to you with open arms. She's mad at all of us."

"Because we abandoned her." She finished the unspoken thought.

"Yes. Because we abandoned her." I felt a pang of guilt.

"I should never have listened to you." She said defiantly.

"Alice you have my permission to beat me senseless if I ever even think anything like that again, even for a nanosecond."

"Oh, I don't need your permission brother. Believe me, I am never allowing anything like this to happen again. I'm never going to leave her. If it takes a hundred years for her to forgive me, fine, but I'm not leaving her. None of us will."

"Neither will I Alice. I swear it. So long as she'll have me I'll be here. And I'll make sure that she will be around for those hundred years."