2 Year Later

BPOV

"Hey Babe," I answered my phone, knowing from the caller ID that it was Edward.

"Hi Love, what are you up to today?" he responded. I don't know why, but he sounded a little nervous.

"Just working on my R&J paper." Edward knew all about the massive paper I had due next week for my English Lit class. "What about you?"

"Well, I actually needed to talk to you about something."

Uh Oh. This did not sound like something good. "Okay . . ."

"I have a couple of classes that I need to take this summer," he started.

I could already feel the tears forming in my eyes. "So . . you . . won't . . . be coming . . . home this . . . summer?" I stuttered out. We were already spending so much time apart. I spent all of my time looking forward to summer and holiday breaks in order to spend time with Edward.

"Bella, Bella, Bella, Calm down Love. I just wanted to talk to you about this." He took a deep breath, then continued, "I actually was going to see if you would be interested in coming out here for the summer."

I sighed, "Edward, you know I can't afford that."

"But I think you can Bella," he argued, "You can stay in the house with us, so you wouldn't have to pay rent anywhere – the utilities are taken care of. See, it won't cost hardly anything," he paused again, "and you know I would pay for anything if it meant spending more time with you."

I shook my head, leave it to Edward to offer to pay for me to spend a summer in New Hampshire. I really was starting to wonder if the trust fund his grandparents left for him was more money than he really knew what to do with.

"I'll think about it," I relented, already knowing I would give in to his request.

"Good, because I really need to stay and take these two classes, but I'm not doing it if I can't be with you."

Edward and I talked a little while longer before he had to get to work. I still didn't understand his insistence that he get a job this year – like I said, he had all of the trust fund money, there was no way he needed a job.

I grabbed the last of my bags and hauled them down to my car. Alice was already standing by my car, carefully rearranging the bags for our drive across the country. She had flown in two days ago and was going to drive with me to New Hampshire and spend a couple of weeks out there to be able to spend some time with me and Edward. If I'd been complaining about the lack of time I'd gotten to spend with Edward, I'd seen my little pixie of a best friend even less.

"You ready?" she asked as I placed the last bag in the back seat.

"Yep." I slid into the driver's seat as Alice pulled out the maps. We were going to take our time driving and didn't have a specific time we were going to reach New Hampshire. I needed a little girl time with Alice.

"Are we there yet?" I whined. Alice was currently driving and according to her, we should've been to Edward's over an hour ago. I was tired of being in the car and desperately needed to see my Edward.

"Just about," Alice replied, turning on an exit where I finally saw the sign for Hanover.

Alice called Edward to tell him we would be there shortly.

"EDWARD!!!" I cried, jumping out of the car before Alice even had it pulled to a complete stop. I ran and jumped into his arms. He was grinning that beautiful crooked grin at my reaction. I kissed all over his beautiful face as he held me tight.

"Hey Ali," he greeted his sister, attempting to give her a one armed hug while still maintaining his hold on me.

Alice grinned and I decided relinquish my hold on Edward so they could greet each other properly. Unfortunately Alice and Edward's spring breaks weren't at the same time, so they hadn't seen each other since Christmas break.

Edward made his way to my car, his arm still securely locked around me as he grabbed a few of our suitcases. Edward led us into the house, giving us a brief tour along the way. He set Alice's first bag in the spare bedroom, giving her a few moments to look around as we continued up the next set of steps.

"Eh," Edward started, "I didn't know if you'd want your own room or if you would want to stay with me."

I grinned at his sudden apparent self-doubt. That was not my normal, self-assured, confident Edward. I don't know why he thought I would be uncomfortable sleeping in the same bed as him. Actually, it sounded pretty nice to me. It wasn't like we hadn't shared a bed before. We had both had a lot of first experiences together, including losing our virginities together the summer after I graduated.

"I want to stay with you," I said confidently.

The grin I got in response told me that was the answer he had hoped for. I was actually a little surprised he hadn't brought this up before in our discussions about this summer.

Edward continued to the third floor and led me into his bedroom. I couldn't help but smile, he had photos of me and us all over his room. There was a large picture of his family above his dresser, with pictures of us on both sides. My cheeks burned slightly red, there was a picture of the two of us that Alice had taken of the two of us at the Halloween party. "Seriously? I didn't think there was photographic evidence of me in that outfit." I said, shaking my head.

Edward walked up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. "You looked so sexy in that outfit, I had to have the picture." He smirked, "Pretty sure I had to give in to numerous shopping trips with Alice to talk her out of a copy of that picture."

I had to giggle at that – it was so Alice to bribe Edward to go shopping with her in exchange for a picture. I moved on, looking at the next picture. It was from my senior year, I had never been a fan of dances, but it was hard not to get caught up in the excitement everyone was radiating about the Winter Formal. Edward had insisted on flying in and taking me. The night had been absolutely magical. I'd gone all out for his visit, actually volunteering for a manicure and pedicure and having my hair and make-up done. Edward had looked absolutely stunning in his black tux. Rosalie had actually called and invited me to go shopping with her and helped me pick out a dark green floor length sparkling gown. I had spent an entire paycheck on getting ready for the dance. In the end though, I was almost sure I could've shown up in sweats and Edward would've still looked at me like I was the most beautiful girl in the room. He always made me feel so special. In the photo, neither of us were looking at the camera. I was in his arms and we were both staring deep into one another's eyes.

I made my way farther into the room, one of my senior pictures was framed next to his bed. There was a large collage frame on the far wall, it was full of pictures of everyone he cared about. There were more pictures of the two of us, pictures of Rosalie and Emmett, Alice and Jasper, even a couple of pictures of Alice and I together, and of course a couple of pictures of his parents. Edward was always so loyal to those he cared about.

Edward tossed my bag on the bed and quickly pulled open a couple of his dresser drawers, showing me that he had already emptied them out making room for my stuff. I smiled and started unloading the bag. "I'll go get the rest of your bags," Edward said, giving me a quick peck on the cheek, then heading back down the stairs.

A few hours later, Alice and I were sitting at the bar in the kitchen, watching Edward prepare dinner. I had tried repeatedly to help, but he had insisted Alice and I relax after our long drive. It was 6:30 and Edward's roommates were due home at 7 so that we could all eat together. Edward had several roommates, most of which had been in the house when Edward had moved in. Steve owned the house and shared the master bedroom suite with his fiancé, Kim. Seth was pre-med, like Edward, but he was a year younger. Unfortunately he was planning on moving out at the end of the summer. He'd gotten an apartment of his own. Victoria and Laurent were brother and sister and both taking classes at the nearby community college. Edward wasn't the biggest fan of either of them and had told me numerous horror stories of Victoria's advances towards him. I was beyond grateful that he felt comfortable enough to tell me about his difficulties with her. He'd always told me he didn't want me to feel like there was anything he was keeping from me. They were gaining two new roommates this fall. Jamie was a law student who was going to be taking over Seth's room after he moved, while Jackson would be taking the spare bedroom that Alice was currently staying in come mid-June.

Edward's roommates slowly trickled in half an hour later. Alice and I set the table while Edward finished dinner. Steve and Kim headed up to their room to freshen up for dinner, while Seth stayed and helped Alice and I. Laurent arrived a short while later, followed by Victoria. They also retreated to their individual rooms.

"So, Bella, I hear you're an English Lit major at U-Dub," Seth started, attempting to make conversation. Seth was Edward's closest friend at Dartmouth and I could quickly see why. He was doing his best to make sure Ali and I were comfortable here.

Dinner went smoothly for the most part, except for the dirty looks Victoria kept sending my way. I was seriously relieved when Edward told me that she and Laurent would be heading back to their parent's home in Alabama for the summer. I swear I almost felt threatened by this strange woman.

Edward had taken a few days off from his job and didn't have to start his summer classes for another week. Edward seemed to sense my discomfort with being around Victoria and suggested we head to New York for a few days. Alice, of course, jumped at the idea of going shopping in New York. At least she'd be entertained. We did all of the touristy things – saw the Statue of Liberty, went to the top of the Empire State Building, wandered around Times Square. Alice excused herself one night to go to some fashion show that she insisted would bore Edward and I to death, not that that would normally stop her, but I think she was doing her best to give Edward and I a little alone time. Edward booked the two of us on a evening dinner cruise along the coast. It was beyond romantic and the lights of the city looked absolutely stunning.

By the time we returned to New Hampshire, Victoria and Laurent had left for Alabama.

Edward's classes started that Monday, so Alice accompanied me on my search to find a summer job. I'd planned on having to fill out numerous applications and spend a lot of time, but was actually able to find a job fairly quickly. I loved my job at 'The Bookworm' that I had back in Seattle, but was looking for something a little different for the summer. I just wanted a little change. Seth set me up with a job at his cousin's newspaper. It was a temporary secretary position, apparently the girl that had previously had the position had been having trouble with school, dropped out and moved away.

The summer was definitely looking up.

"Mmm . . I don't want to have to head home today," I murmured into Edward's shoulder. We had spent the most amazing summer together. Edward had completed taken his last final yesterday and I'd finished my last day at my summer job. Edward was driving back to Forks with me so that we could see our families for the last week and a half of summer break before the fall semester started. I knew part of Edward's insistence of going back to Forks was that he didn't like the idea of me driving by myself. He was always overprotective of me. Edward sighed and stretched, then placed a loving kiss on the top of my head.

"This summer really has been great," he said into my hair. "I love you, B."

I leaned up and planted a quick, sweet kiss on his lips. "I love you too."

Stretching, I pulled myself out of the bed and headed towards Edward's in suite bathroom. An hour later Edward was behind the wheel of my little Nissan and we were on our way back to Forks.

We had been driving for several hours when Edward reached across the seat the rub his thumb over my cheek. "I'm going to marry you one of these days, Isabella Swan," he said, grinning at me.

"Promise?" I replied, returning his grin.

"I promise."

"I don't want you to have to leave," I whined as Edward removed his bags from my car, his plane ticket back to New Hampshire in his hand. He was flying back to Hanover today and I was not happy about it.

"I know, Love, but I have to," he sighed, bringing his arm to wrap around my waist and pull me close.

"Thanksgiving just seems so far away," I continued whining. Edward wouldn't be able to return to Washington until Thanksgiving break, a little over three months away.

"I know, but we both knew what we were getting into when we agreed to this," he sighed and I knew I was making this much harder on him than I had to.

"You'll call me every day?" I asked.

Edward laughed at this, "Numerous times every day. I'm kind of addicted to you, Miss Swan."

I turned my head to place a quick kiss on his shoulder. "I'm a little addicted to you too, Mr. Cullen."