Here it is, as promised! It's a little fluffy and a little steamy and a little bit… I don't know what. I'm tired now LOL

Anyways I want you all to enjoy this! I have another chapter idea already so don't expect a very long wait for the next one…

PLEASE read Stripped by punkfarie and don't forget that nominations for the Eddie and Bellie awards are open :)

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing except Nat, Jace, Chrissy and EMMA!


BPOV

The water really was freezing. It bit at my skin like a thousand tiny pinpricks and I sucked in a sharp breath as I waded further, determined not to look like a chicken – especially when I'd accused Edward of being one.

"You're not cold?" he asked, his voice straining as he waded beside me.

"No," I lied, sucking in another breath.

"Liar," he accused. "You know it's a lot easier to get over the cold if you just dive in."

"Really?" I asked, having heard that particular piece of advice numerous times but playing dumb for the sake of the idea now swirling around in my mind.

"That's what I've heard," he smirked.

"Huh." I tapped at the water lightly with my hands. He mimicked my actions with a joyful smile, and I giggled, doing it once more.

"You're so cute," he laughed, flicking me with some water. It landed on my collarbone, making a chill course through my body. We were almost at the end of the sandbank now, where the ground would drop from beneath our feet and there would be no choice but to fully submerge in the ice-cold liquid. "Having second thoughts?" Edward queried, watching as I looked wistfully back at our waiting towels. I started to head back. He stayed where he was, which was just perfect for me, hands on his hips.

"You sure about this diving thing?" I asked him, stalling while I tried to think of the perfect way to achieve my goal.

"Pretty sure," he nodded, suppressing a grin.

"So if I dive in, will you dive in after me?"

"Sure."

"You promise?" I asked, still trying to formulate the best plan.

"Yeah, I promise I'll be right in after you Bella," he insisted. That was when the plan occurred to me. I'd always had the urge to do this, and I felt like Edward was the only person who wouldn't think it was weird.

"Turn around," I commanded. He raised an eyebrow suspiciously. I quickly stole a line from a friend from back home. "I don't want you to watch my fat jiggle when I run!" I squeaked self-consciously, covering my torso to complete the act.

"You're not fat, Bella," he drawled, but turned around obediently.

"Just stay there. Don't move. Count me down."

Edward counted backwards from ten, giving me plenty of time to get into position. I waded back a little further, till the water was just below my knees and I was right behind him. A smaller, more childish Bella took over my body and pushed me down into a crouching position – like a lioness going for the kill.

"… three, two, one!"

I let out a playful growl and sprang forth, pouncing right onto Edward's back and knocking both of us into the chilly depths of the ocean. We both came up for air laughing, and he yanked me over, kissing my forehead and leaving me momentarily stunned before he pushed my head under the water. I thrashed about, my laughter coming out in gurgles before he let me up again and I was on him, using all of my strength to shove his head down as well. I pushed him so far down that he reached for my ankles and twisted me around. When he came up I was on his shoulders.

"Okay let me down!" I gasped, the wind chilling me to the bone. It was now much warmer in the water than out.

"Not a chance," he laughed, fluttering his fingers under my feet. I was intensely ticklish and I couldn't help it when I toppled back into the water in the midst of hysterical giggles. Edward helped me out this time, tugging me closer more gently and wrapping his arms securely around me. "I can't believe you pounced me," he sighed. His tone was reverent, like I'd granted him some great honour – like he'd been waiting for that special someone to come along and pounce him.

"Did I just fulfil some kind of weird Edward Cullen fantasy of yours?" I asked, lifting my arms from the water to wrap around his neck. He didn't answer; he only lifted one of his own hands and caressed my cheek softly. My breath hitched in my throat and I was all of a sudden very nervous. The way that he looked at me was so intensely adoring – full of admiration and fervour – that it should have scared me. It didn't. It felt right, but I had never felt this way before. How could either of us feel like this about each other when we'd only met less than twenty-four hours ago? That, right there, the prospect of feeling this intensely for someone I barely knew, was what made me nervous.

"Beautiful," he murmured, rendering me helpless in his arms. His emerald eyes shone, the water glittering off his copper-tinted hair, trailing down his porcelain skin and the delicious planes of his chest. And he thought I was the beautiful one.

"You can't say those things to me," I blushed, the weight of the entire situation crashing down on me. I was leaving in a few short weeks, and I was going to fall for Edward in the meantime. Then what? What would happen when I left for home and he stayed behind? Distance didn't make for a practical relationship – in my experience and the experience of my friends, it never worked out. And he deserved so much better than that, anyway.

"Why not?" His eyes bore into mine, begging for an answer. He guided us back to the sandbank to save us treading water, but kept his arms around me. I rested my head in the crook of his neck, and his hands were like velvet on my back. I shivered again.

"Because I'm going to fall in love with you," I whispered, squeezing my eyes shut and hoping it wouldn't scare him away. He swallowed and pressed me closer until I was moulded against him completely.

"That's not a bad thing, Bella," he replied, burying his nose in my hair and breathing in deeply. I did the same. He smelled like a man should smell – like cigarettes, leather and cheap aftershave mixed with sea salt.

"You don't think it's weird?" I asked, shifting a little to look up at him. He lightly kissed the tip of my nose.

"I think you're the most real person I've ever met," he told me sincerely. "Not weird at all." I sighed with relief. "Completely sweet and adorable, but not weird," he added with a light chuckle.

"I'm kinda scared of this." I gestured between the two of us, silently accepting whatever it was we were about to dive into. Edward sighed, frowning and nodding in an understanding way.

"Well… I do have a fool-proof way to cure your fear," he joked, the corners of his mouth twitching.

"Is that a fact?"

"Stand here," he instructed, turning me around. His lips were at my ear, his hands resting on my hips. "Shut your eyes."

"'Kay…"

He swept my hair back and let it fall over one of my shoulders. I felt the rough stubble of his chin on the newly exposed flesh. His touch left my hips and found my hands, his fingers entwining with my own. Water from his hair was dripping onto my shoulder, but I didn't care. It felt nice. Everything he did felt nice. I drew in a deep breath, keeping my eyes closed as instructed. Joke or not, I wasn't scared when he wrapped our arms around my torso. I wasn't thinking about how much this could hurt us in the end – I wasn't thinking about anything but the fact that no matter where I was, this would feel like home. Here, wherever his arms were around me.

"Are you afraid?" he murmured against my skin, his lips brushing across my shoulder blade. A fire began smouldering in the depths of my consciousness, the more adolescent part of me begging for more contact. I was feeling anything but scared.

"No," I uttered, my fingers tightening over his. I brought one of our entwined hands up to my chest – a reflex response to my hammering heart.

"Butterflies," Edward whispered. I felt his smile on my neck. I very nearly groaned.

"You're going to kill me," I grinned, not minding at all if my death certificate read Death by Edward Cullen. He snickered, kissing a path from my ear to my shoulder. "You should be outlawed from doing this to girls, you know."

"My fear-destroying techniques must be revered, not regarded with contempt." He kissed his way back up, then down again. My breathing became more laboured with each gentle brush of his lips.

"I totally agree. Zero contempt," I swallowed, leaning into his touch.

"Uh-huh," he glowed, turning me in his arms and transferring his attention to my collarbone.

"But the thing is," I whimpered, finding it increasingly harder to form a single thought. "You can't just do this to a girl, because… um… you know it means that…" I trailed off, unable to ignore the way his mouth felt on my throat. "Outlawed," I exhaled, freeing my hands and tangling them in his hair. My eyes were still shut when I blindly tugged upwards and captured his lips with mine.

***

EPOV

I knew I was going too far. I knew I shouldn't even be alone with her let alone be so close to her. I knew I definitely shouldn't be kissing her. I knew all of these things, but unlike the first time I kissed her and I felt like it was wrong, I kissed her and it not only felt right but it also felt good.

Standing with her in the water, my mind had become very quickly hazy with my deep affection for her. I couldn't help but hold her hand as we waded, or to guide her by the small of her back, to tickle her feet or take her face in my hands – it had been four entire years since I'd been near her and I was going to take advantage of every little bit of contact that I could weasel my way into. If she'd shown any sign of discomfort, I would have stopped myself, but she didn't. So I kept letting myself get a little closer each time. Before I knew it, her little frame was contoured against my own and she was whispering that she was going to fall for me. How else was I supposed to react to that? How else was I supposed to feel, knowing that even now – even though she'd been given the opportunity to be away from me and grow into a normal young woman – the attraction between us was still so magnetic that she wanted to be with me despite the fact that we were strangers?

So I let my pretences slip – if only just for one day – and I treated her with the love, adoration, affection and worship that I felt for her still after such a long separation. If there were any change in my feelings it would have been that I loved her more now. She had been given every chance to be with whomever she wanted to be with – I knew the boys in Phoenix must have been falling at their feet – but she still chose me. I let my lips trail against her skin, now salty just like the corn chips she still mysteriously held in her scent. I felt every tremble – every goose-bump – and I etched it into my brain where they would be vaulted away in case anything ever separated us again. But I also promised her, with every connection of our urgent lips, that I would never let that day of separation catch up with us no matter how inevitable it seemed.

Drunk on the taste of gummi bears and seawater, we finally parted to find that we had slowly made our way back to the towels. With a startled squeak, Bella dropped to her knees and began rummaging through her bag. She retrieved Natalie's cell – now with about a thousand missed calls – and dialled frantically.

"I'm okay!" was her apologetic greeting. I could hear Natalie freaking out on the other end. "I'm really sorry, bumhead I got… distracted…" she blushed, glancing embarrassedly up at me. I felt like a kid who'd been busted making out under the bleachers as I flopped onto my towel, I goofy smile on my face. Bella drew her knees to her chest as Natalie kept talking, Bella interrupting now and then to insist that she was fine and apologise again. I hung my jacket over her shoulders when she shivered and pulled her against me. The sun was beginning to go down. "Yeah we're just about to head back to the inn. Edward has to work at the club tonight, anyway."

We stood then and I helped Bella balance as she tried to dress, pack up and talk on the cell all at the same time. She was still reassuring Natalie as I started the car and pulled out onto the winding road that would take us home.

"Well if you'd have come looking for us you would have seen that I was completely safe. What's cliff diving? Well Jacob wasn't there! I don't know… okay we were alone! Stop it! I'm fine! I had the cell! Bumhead, relax! Ugh!" she threw her face into her hands once she'd dropped the phone back into her bag with disdain.

"She doesn't like me."

"She doesn't trust you, Edward. It isn't the same. Natalie's seen some… not-so-nice things in her lifetime. And she's saved me from plenty of situations that could have ended a lot more tragically than they did," she explained, leaning back in her seat and swinging her head around to send me a sympathetic smile. "She'll warm up, it just takes her a little while."

"At least I know Chrissy likes me," I laughed, remembering what Bella had told me about her not-so-pure intentions.

"Don't tell her I told you," she pleaded as we stilled in the driveway of the inn. I realised when I checked my watch that I was going to be late for work, but I knew I'd be forgiven seeing as my reason for lateness was spending time with Bella.

"I don't think I ever want to bring up the subject with her, anyway," I admitted. "There's only one girl around here I want to hit on me."

"Emma, right?" Bella joked, hauling her bag onto her shoulder. I tugged her closer by her waist and buried my face in her neck. She giggled when I bit down, the sound of her joy making my own swell. "Edward, it tickles!" she squealed.

"Come to the club tonight," I beseeched her, moving my lips to her ear.

"I don't think I'll be able to get away," she whispered, pressing her forehead to mine. We both saw Natalie and Esme standing on the front porch waiting for Bella to join them but we ignored them.

"Maybe I'll call in sick," I pondered between kisses, her hair silky as it fell through my fingers.

"That's the best idea you've had all day," she purred, toying with the hairs on the back of my neck. Just like she used to.

"Let me make the call…"

"No, not yet," she protested, pulling my face back to hers and taking my upper lip in another searing kiss. I couldn't back away from her even if my life had depended on it. The way her lips moved against mine, the way her tongue teased and tantalized me… it was heavenly and sinful all at the same time.

"Aren't you supposed to be somewhere?" boomed Emmett from his Jeep. I hadn't even noticed it pulling up beside us.

"Edward's too sick to work," Bella informed him, leaning against me and smirking up at him.

"I can see that. He's looking real ill," he droned sarcastically, folding his arms over his chest. "I need you there, bro."

"Just one night, Em," Edward implored, tightening his hold on me. "I've never taken a night off before." Emmett's eyes darted between the two pleading sets before him.

"I'll ask Jasper to cover for you," he acquiesced. Bella beamed and threw her arms around him.

"Thanks, Emmett!"

"You're welcome, Bella," he choked, hugging her back with a little more emotion than the situation called for.

***

We spent the rest of the night just lazing around the inn with her friends. I noticed, by the third musical movie that I didn't complain about, that Nat's expression was softer and friendlier when she looked at me. Most of that, I was sure, was due to Bella's uninhibited happiness. Chrissy made comments throughout the night that her giddiness had been noticeably lacking in recent times, and I was guessing that they were all so glad to see her back to her normal self that they couldn't stay mad. I was more grateful for that than any of them would ever know – especially if they all ended up finding out the truth about all of us.

At some point during Mamma Mia, Bella fell asleep. She snored lightly against my chest and I ignored the movie, more interested in her facial expressions as she dreamed. Absently, I brushed her hair back from her forehead in rhythmic strokes and just watched her sleep.

"We'll show you her room," Natalie whispered, helping me hoist her up once the movie was done. She grumbled softly and nuzzled into my chest. I didn't bother to tell Nat that I already knew where her room was – I wanted to stay on her good side. Both she and Jason flanked me on either side as we trudged to her room. "Where are you staying?" Nat asked, pulling door shut behind us after tucking Bella in nice and snug.

"I'll just take a couch," I shrugged, running a weary hand over my face. I was beat and ready to wake up to a fresh day to spend with Bella tomorrow. "Do you mind if I steal her again tomorrow?"

"No motorcycle," was her only request.

"I'll take the Volvo."

"Where?"

"Not sure yet."

"No deal."

"Maybe we'll just hang here."

"That sounds nice. You take care of my girl."

"Otherwise we'll kill you," Jason piped up. "Bella means the world to us."

"She means the world to me, too," I confessed. Jason rolled his eyes and headed into his room. Natalie looked wary as she followed him, bidding me goodnight. If only they knew just how much…


I think I can still manage to pump out another one tomorrow night! Fingers crossed that inspiration stays fresh!

Leave a review! Let me know what you think!