Chapter 11: Finding Bella

Disclaimer: I never have and never will own Twilight.

Edward POV

The next week was spent doing countless amounts of research trying to find Bella. I left most of the work up to my friends; it was too hard for me to do it. I let my hopes go up too easily and it came crashing down every time I didn't find her. I now just gave everyone the information they needed to find her.

Most of my days now we're spent pacing around my house or trying to compose a new song, but that always ended in me playing Bella's lullaby or our son's.

I had also unpacked everything quickly trying to get my mind off of Bella but I had done it so fast that I now had nothing to do.

I knew it was probably safe to leave my house since no one knew I was here, but I had nowhere to go. So I was stuck to the house waiting to hear some good news.

I didn't think we had gotten any closer to finding Bella then we were when I told Rosalie and Emmett, but Esme and Rosalie were convinced that we would find her and I don't think they were ever going to give up.

At the moment I was sitting in my study with a cup of coffee staring at the picture of Bell and I. I wondered if she still had that picture too.

I heard a loud bang followed by running. I didn't bother looking up, I knew it was Emmett.

"Lakeside School." Emmett said breathlessly.

"What?" I asked looking up at him.

"Lakeside School is where Isabella Swan works as a high school English teacher." He explained.

I jumped up from my seat and stared at Emmett, I was in shock.

"You found her?" I asked.

"Yeah we did, now why don't you go put your best clothes on while I print out directions for you."

"Right." I said and ran out of the room.

I ran straight into my closet and stared at all of my clothes. I didn't know what to wear. If Bella was the same then she could still like me even if I wore my pajamas, but at the same time I wanted to impress her and show her that I was doing all right.

I ended up wearing a dark green button down and dark colored jeans. Bella had always loved it when I wore green; she said it brought out the color in my eyes.

I ran a comb through my hair just so it would be less frightening.

Finally I looked myself over in the mirror. This was as good as it was going to get, hopefully Bella wouldn't mind.

I headed back downstairs to see Emmett standing at the bottom of the stairs with directions.

"Thanks man." I said taking the directions from him.

"No problem, just make sure to call Rosalie and Esme once you find her. They are dying to know how she reacts to seeing you." Emmett told me.

"Will do." I laughed pulling on my gray jacket and grabbing my car keys.

"Good luck" Emmett called out as I headed towards the garage.

I got into my car and pulled out of my driveway making a left turn at the end towards the high way and to Bella.

Bella POV

"Alright class, get into your groups and start working on describing the different symbols that are in The Scarlet Letter." I told my students.

I stood at the front of the classroom and watched as my sixth period English class moved around their desks to get into their assigned groups.

When I had first gone to college I hadn't planned on becoming a high school teacher. I was just majoring in English and doing whatever I could to keep busy. This led me to being a TA for an English class. I found myself loving teaching and realized that I would do this for the rest of my life. I never regretted any of it either.

I had worked at one other school before Lakeside, and I hoped to be here for a while. I enjoyed the students and the pay. Plus it wasn't a far commute from my apartment in Seattle.

There were only two things missing in my life, but I couldn't dwell on them. Only bad things came when I did that and I didn't want my students to start questioning me on why I was crying.

I tried my hardest not to tell anyone about my past. Only one person knew every detail, but that was to help keep me sane and not fall apart at the seams.

Once my students were working I headed to the back of the classroom where my desk was. I started to work on reading over my AP English class essays.

I heard a knock on the door followed by the sound of excited whispering. I knew someone must be at the door since my student's couldn't be that excited over symbolism.

"You can tell them to come in." I told my class not looking up from the paper; I needed to finish this page.

"Hi…um…is Ms. Swan here?" I heard a voice that I never thought I would hear in person again.

My eyes snapped up from the essay. There he was in all his glory, looking even better than he did the last time I saw him. And it looked like my female students were just as excited to see him as I was.

"Edward?" I asked still having trouble believing that he was really here.

"Hi, Bella." He said giving me my favorite crooked smile.

"What are you doing here?"

"I came to see you. Is this a bad time?"

"No, not at all." I paused for a moment. I knew that I should be in the classroom with my students in case they had a question, but I couldn't say no to Edward. "Class keep working." I told them, but I knew it wasn't going to happen. A famous person had just interrupted their class and knew their English teacher.

I walked towards the front where Edward was standing and led him into the hallway. Luckily my classroom was all the way at the end of the second floor so not many people would see us.

Once we were out of sight and the door way closed I flung my arms around Edward. I still couldn't believe he was here. Edward wrapped his arms around me, pulling me in closer to his body. We still fit perfectly together.

"So how are you Mr. Hot Shot?" I asked laughing.

"Alright, how about you? Wow, a high school English teacher?"

"I know right. Me, back in high school again. But there isn't much you can do with an English major."

"I would love to talk to you more, but I can see that you are busy."

"Yea." I sighed; I didn't want him to leave.

"How about I pick you up after school and we could find some place to go and talk." He suggested.

"Sure, I'd love that." I smiled. "School is over around 2:30 I'll meet you in the side parking lot?"

"Sounds perfect." Edward smiled.

He picked up my hand and gave it a soft kiss before leaving.

I leaned against the wall trying to collect myself. Even after six years he still made my heart melt and my knees go weak.

Once I knew I wasn't going to faint or do something else embarrassing I headed back into the classroom.

"How do you know Edward Masen?" My student Jane asked.

I had forgotten that my class had all seen him so all hopes of going back to work were lost.

"We were friends in high school." I answered hoping it would be enough.

But of course it wasn't. All of them started shouting out questions asking me about Edward. It was going to be a long afternoon.

Edward POV

I walked back to my car in a daze. I couldn't believe I just saw Bella. She was still as beautiful as she was, if not more so.

I sat in the driver seat of my car and wondered what to do. I still had a couple hours to kill before school was over. That was when I remembered I needed to call Esme and Rosalie. They were probably on the edge of their seats waiting to hear from me.

I quickly dialed Esme's house number first.

"Hello." Esme said picking up on the first ring.

"Hi Esme." I said into the phone.

"Finally it's you Edward. Let me put you on speaker phone, we are all here."

I rolled my eyes. Of course they would all be together waiting for my call.

"So how did it go?" Rosalie asked.

"Great." I answered.

"Was she happy to see you?"

"She seemed to be. Her students definitely were." I laughed remembering the class's reaction to me entering the room.

"Is she single?" Emmett asked.

"I didn't ask, but there was no ring on her finger." I smiled to myself.

I was ecstatic when Emmett had told me her last name was still Swan. And when I had kissed her hand I had made sure to pick up the left one. My heart was about to explode when I saw her bare ring finger.

"So why aren't you with her now?" Emmett asked.

"Cause she has to work, but don't worry I'm picking her up at the end of the day so we can talk." I explained.

"That's great Edward; do you know where you are taking her?" Esme asked me.

"No, I'm hoping she knows of a good place to go. Hopefully some place quiet."

"We hope you two have fun. We'll expect a full report tonight."

"Alright guys, bye." I laughed closing my phone.

I couldn't' remember the last time I was this happy. It had been too long.

Since I still had time to kill I decided to drive around and look at the neighborhood. It seemed to be a nice part of Seattle.

I wondered if Bella lived here or someplace else. Most of these houses were rather large and I didn't think Bella would want to live in one if she was single.

I ended up driving through a little shopping area filled with small stores and restaurants. It didn't look too crowded; then again it was the middle of the school day. But this area did seem like a good spot for Bella and me to catch up.

As I drove around I made sure to stay close to the school. I didn't want to risk getting lost and having to ask for directions on how to get back.

When the clock struck 2:30 I headed back towards the school. I didn't want to be there too early and risk getting caught by some parent or student, but I didn't want to be late either and leave Bell waiting for me.

As I pulled into the side parking lot I saw Bella walking in towards me looking over her shoulder. I got a closer look and saw that a man was following after her. I stepped on the gas pedal speeding my car up so I could get to her faster.

I stopped the car right in front of her and she quickly climbed in.

"Drive." Bella ordered and I gladly listened.

"Who was that guy?" I asked.

"Mike Newton. A fellow teacher and one who doesn't get the message that I'm not interested."

I was glad to hear that Bella wasn't interested in this Mike character, but at the same time I couldn't help but wonder if that was because she had another boyfriend.

"So where do you want to go?" Bella asked me.

"I don't really care. Some place quiet." I shrugged.

"You need to hide from all those crazed teenagers?" Bella laughed at me.

"Sort of. I just moved to Seattle and only a few people know of the move. I would like to stay as low key for as long as possible." I explained to her.

"Well I don't know how low key you're going to stay now. My students have big mouths. Almost every student and teacher came up to me after you left."

"I'm sorry." I apologized. I really hadn't thought about how my appearance would affect her.

"It's okay. I think the entire school has already asked me for your autograph so there isn't really any other reason for them to bug me. Turn here; I know the perfect place for us."

I followed Bella's directions, which lead us into the little shopping area I had driven through earlier. She instructed me to park my car in a back lot and together we walking into a coffee shop.

I went up to the register and ordered us two hot chocolates. I wasn't sure if Bella still drank it, but it was something we always used to order anytime we went to some sort of coffee shop.

"How much do I owe you?" Bella asked as she found us a table.

"It's on me." I told her.

I saw her scowl as she took the hot chocolate from me, some things never change.

"So what's been going on in your life?" I asked her taking a sip from my drink.

"Not too much. Went to college, got my teaching degree…oh and my parents finally got a divorce."

"Really?" I asked shocked, but happy for her. I knew how much pain their fighting had caused Bella.

"Yeah in the beginning of my sophomore year of college they finally separated. And then a month later my mom remarried this baseball player named Phil."

"Do you like him?"

"He's alright I guess. He's a lot younger then my mom, but he makes her happy. The two now live in Florida so I don't see them much."

"How about your dad?"

"Still the Chief of Police in Forks. How about your parents?"

"My dad passed away shortly after my first CD came out."

"Oh my gosh I'm so sorry to hear that. Was it sudden?"

"Yeah, he had a heart attack."

"How's your mom?"

"She's fine now. She moved back out to Chicago, I think she is much happier living there. Though she never sold the house in Forks."

"I wish I could have…" but Bella stopped herself

"Yeah, me too." I said quietly

We sat in silence for a moment both lost in our own thoughts of our pasts and our mistakes.

"So how is it being famous?" Bella asked breaking the silence.

"Alright I guess. I made a few close friends; I'll have to introduce you to them some time." I told her.

"Pretty much all the girls in my school are in love with you. You don't know how many times I've almost spilled that Lullaby is my song."

"You knew?" I asked.

"How could I not? I know all those chords so well. And those lyrics."

"You know that you have always been my inspiration."

"Even now?"

"Yes even now."

I smiled at Bella and watched as her cheeks turned bright red. I couldn't stop myself from raising my hand and running my finger down her cheek.

"You don't know how much I've missed this." I told her as our eyes connected.

"I think I may know." She whispered back.

We stayed in the coffee shop for another hour just catching up with one another. We kept most of our topics light and mostly on the present, never once on the past and the important things we should be talking about.

But now wasn't the time for that. We had just found each other again and we would have time for all that deep discussion later.

I drove Bella back to school where her car was. We were both happy to see that the lot was empty so we didn't have to worry about getting caught.

"I would love to see you again; you know maybe go out to dinner or something." I told her just as she was about to get out.

"I would love to do that too." Bella smiled. "Give me your phone."

I reached down into my pocket and pulled out my cell and handed it to her. She programmed her number into it before handing the phone back to me.

"I expect to hear from you soon." Bella smiled. "Bye."

"Bye." I said back.

Bella gave me a quick peck on the cheek before running out of my car and into her own. I watched as she safely managed to turn it on and leave school property before leaving myself.

A/N: I need to thank my amazing beta, luv2beloved, for reading over this chapter for me.

Yay Bella and Edward have found each other! Next chapter will deal with more of their feelings and their past. I felt they needed a happy moment to reconnect before they started going into serious conversations.

Please review too. You guys really are amazing and I love to hear from you.

Next Chapter: Where Does That Leave Us