A/N: Here we go… the reunion you have all been waiting for :) Enjoy :D

Chapter 22 - Love at Long Last

When we reached the parking garage, there were four cars waiting for us. Edward's Volvo, now one of the oldest cars the Cullens owned, stood out prominently among them. I looked at it in surprise. This car was far too old to be of any worth to Edward anymore. I looked at my family for an explanation.

Quietly, Alice said, "He couldn't bear to part with it. It reminded him too strongly of you, and it was the only thing that retained your scent after all these years."

I looked at Alice in shock. He loved me so much that he could not part with a car because of its sentimental value? I really had underestimated him.

Before I could start berating myself in my head, however, Alice said, "Bella, he loves you. You love him. Stop beating yourself up, get in the Volvo and drive to the house. He's there. He has no idea why we all suddenly had to go shopping together. Go tell him you love him."

I looked at Alice and whispered. "You didn't tell him?"

She looked at me sweetly, with powerful emotion and said, "Bella, I could have told him, but I knew that you both needed to do this your way. You needed to take his pain away. Now stop stalling, girl, and go throw your arms around him."

I needed no further prompting. I hugged my family as fast as I could and then jumped into the familiar silver Volvo and sped out of the parking garage towards my Edward at long last.

It took me over an hour to reach the house. I knew it immediately. Every inch of it screamed Cullen. Esme must have designed this herself from scratch. As I walked towards the house, I suddenly heard two voices inside arguing. It was Edward and Tanya. I stormed towards the house. I was not about to let that little strawberry blond succubus get her claws into Edward now. As I reached the door, I froze in my tracks at Tanya's words.

She said, "Edward, she's gone for good. I know you don't love me the way you loved her, but Edward, hasn't it been long enough? We are meant to be together. I was meant to be your mate. I was meant to drive every thought of her from your mind. Edward, won't you finally realize this?"

I looked through the window. I could see them both standing in the living room, facing each other. I knew I would not be able to get the door open fast enough to stop his response.

I sucked in a deep breath as Edward said, "Tanya, I –I love her. I know she loves me still. Someday she will figure that out. If our daughter is unsuccessful, then I will try again. I love her, Tanya. Nothing will ever change that. She is my life, my everything, my reason for existence. Tanya, I will not discuss this with you again. I'm sorry to hurt you, but I love her."

At that, Edward sighed and sunk down into the couch covering his eyes. Tanya glanced towards the door and saw me looking through the window. I threw my shield around her so that Edward would not be alerted to my presence and waited for her to approach me.

Silently, she moved across the room and opened the front door. Tanya put a finger over her lips and then closed the door behind her. She looked at me with agony and I think I saw the moment when her heart shattered. She really did love Edward, despite all her shallowness.

I hugged her and whispered in her ear, "Tanya, he won't hurt anymore. I love him and I always have. Take some peace in the fact that he's finally going to be happy."

She looked at me, nodded, and then ran out into the night. I took a moment to compose myself and then slowly and silently opened the door.

I walked into the house and marveled at how much it reminded me of the home in Forks. Everything seemed so familiar. It felt like home. I moved as silently as I could across the floor, until I was standing opposite from Edward. The pain he was feeling was evident all over his body. His face was in his hands. His body was shaking from the tears that would never leave his eyes. Then, in a broken whisper, he called out my name. I couldn't take it anymore. I had to hold him, comfort him. Silently, I wrapped my arms around him, enveloping him in tight hug.

The grief continued to shake his body and without uncovering his eyes, he said, "Tanya, I'm sorry that I can't- "

He began to take in a breath. Suddenly, he stopped and gasped. Slowly, and with some fear, he lowered his hands from his face, then his head tilted up and his perfect golden eyes burned into mine.

Instantly, I was wrapped in Edward's arms. He held me against him tightly and repeated my name and that he loved me over and over again. After a few moments he calmed down to some extent and he looked up at me with cautious hope evident in his eyes.

As his eyes burned their query into mine, he said, "Bella I-"

I looked at him and put my fingertips over his mouth, cutting him off. At my touch, his eyes looked at me wildly. Without a sound, Edward reverently kissed my fingertips and stared at me with wide questioning eyes.

I took a few breaths to steady myself and finally, with obvious triumph in my voice, said tenderly, "Edward, I love you."

He looked at me without understanding for a moment. Then suddenly his eyes lit up and were shining, as I had never seen before. The intensity of unspoken emotion was astounding. I stopped breathing and stared back into his perfect topaz eyes for the longest time.

Edward finally broke the silence and whispered, "Are you really here saying you love me?"

My face broke out into a huge smile and I said, "Yes, love."

Edward blinked his eyes furiously and then shook his head a few times as if he was trying to wake up from a dream.

I laughed at him and said, "Love, you're a vampire. We don't sleep, you're awake and you're not imagining things. I'm here and I love you."

He looked at me with conflict raging in his eyes for a few moments. Then his face slowly began to blossom into my favorite crooked smile and his eyes burned into mine with more intensity than I could ever remember seeing from him.

He took a few shaky breaths as his smile was gradually replaced with a very serious expression, finally saying, "Bella, my beautiful Bella, I love you. My life hasn't been a life without you, love. I am so sorry for everything I put you through. I know now that it was wrong and my only defense is that I thought it was the best way to truly love you. Bella, I'm- "

I looked at him fiercely and before he went any further, I crushed my lips into his. He sat there unresponsive for a split second and then he was wrapping his arms around me tightly and kissing me back with every ounce of passion and love he could find. I knew that the apologies and conversations would need to happen soon, but in this moment all I wanted was my Edward showing me how much he loved me and the chance for me to do the same.

Without breaking our kiss, suddenly I was in Edward's arms and he was standing up. Then just as quickly, I could feel us moving through the house and up the stairs into a room. I opened my eyes briefly to realize that we were in what could only be his room due to the large amount of music it contained. However, that was only thing that made the room familiar. Everything else was almost opposite of his room in the house in Forks. Edward finally broke the kiss and put his hand on my face, adjusting my head slightly so I was looking directly into his eyes. His eyes were shining and burning all at the same time, overflowing with all the emotion he was feeling.

After a moment, Edward mumbled, "Bella, I love you so much, but after everything I've put you through, how can you still love me?"

I looked at him and saw the pain that was evident on his face. I knew we had to talk. I had to at least tell him that I did not blame him.

Quickly I said, "Edward, there is so much to say. So much we have to talk about. I don't want to spend these first few hours talking through all of that. I know we need to and I want to, but I need a few hours just being with you. That said, I know that you need to know the answer to your question now, because you won't let yourself go until you do."

I smiled sweetly at him as he threw me a slight grin. I really did know him and no amount of time or distance had changed that.

I smiled back at him and continued, "Edward, I know and understand how you felt and why you left. I can see how you could have come to that conclusion. I know that your motives were pure and full of love for me. I know now that it killed you to leave me and now that I have lived as a vampire for some time, I see how easy it can be to make decisions for the humans around you, even if you care for them. If you hadn't left, things would have been much easier for us. You would have had a chance to watch our daughter grow up into the young woman that she is and our lives would have been so much better for a while. However, the Volturi still would have come for us. There would have been no way to stop them and we would have lost our lives or been conscripted into the guard. Now, the Volturi are again a force for good in the world. Aro and Caius are gone forever and the new council is one to respect instead of fear. It cost us over a decade and it is going to take time to rebuild our relationship, however so much good came out of the pain we went through. So many others will benefit from our pain, Edward. Be happy, love. We are together and can finally love each other at long last, for forever."

Edward looked at me with his shining eyes for quite a while, fixed to the spot like a statue.

Then, he slowly said, "I know you are right, love. I just wish I could take all the pain away that I caused you. I never meant to hurt you, love. I'm so sorry, Bella, and if it takes me the rest of eternity to make up for what I've done, I will gladly spend the rest of our existence making it up to you and showing you how much I love you."

I threw my arms around him and said, "Edward, stop blaming yourself and kiss me."

Edward gave me a half smile full of mischief, as he threw his arms around me and pushed his lips against mine.

Slowly, the rest of the world seemed to melt away and we were just Edward and Bella kissing each other and showing each other how much we loved each other. However it was strange that I did not have to stop kissing Edward to breathe or because I got tired. This would make other activities definitely more interesting. With that thought, my mind started to play back the night before my eighteenth birthday and my body started to respond to the feelings that accompanied those memories. Edward pulled back from me with a gasp and I smiled at him with a mischievous grin. All of the sudden all I wanted was Edward. I wasn't a newborn anymore, but this was truly the first time I had experienced love and lust as a vampire. The emotional and physical responses were overwhelming. Edward just looked at me, frozen again in place while I tried to sort out what I was feeling. However, after a quick flash of understanding moved across Edward's face, his lips were abruptly and hungrily on mine. I kissed him back with just as much energy. As I sat in Edward's lap and kissed him, I felt something and it took me a moment to register that Edward was craving me just as much as I needed him. I gasped and with extreme speed adjusted my position on his lap so that I was now straddling him. As my movement registered with Edward, he deepened and intensified the kiss. Then I felt his tongue trace my lower lip and push slightly against it, clearly wanting me to open my mouth for him. Finally, we could kiss the way we were meant to. No breakable body to hold us back. I slowly opened my mouth for him and our tongues began to dance together, which was increasing my desire for him exponentially. The electricity that was being created between our bodies was so intense it was like we were both humming from an electrical current being passed between us.

Somehow, we moved from the couch to the thick plush gray carpet that covered the floor Edward was crushed down on top of me, no longer having to worry about hurting me. My body went into overdrive and I was losing all sense of control or reason. The animalistic nature that came with being a vampire was quickly taking over. Before I lost control completely, I needed to let Edward know that I wanted him just as badly as he wanted me. I did not want him to feel guilt for what I knew was about to happen. I struggled for a moment, trying to break our kiss until Edward realized what I wanted and pushed up and away from me slightly.

Edward frowned, looked down at me quizzically as I hastily said, "Edward, I need you to know something."

Edward looked at me and said with obvious concern, "Yes, love?"

I looked at him with an expression that I knew would be tender but full of desire and said, "Edward, I love you and I need you. Now."

A flash of shock passed across Edward's face before his eyes began to burn and smolder into mine. He simply nodded and broke out with my favorite smile before eagerly capturing my lips with his own again.

Just as our tongues met, a ringing doorbell rudely interrupted us. Edward and I looked into each other's eyes for a moment and I could see that we both wanted to ignore it. However, just as we were ready to blow it off, Edward's phone began to buzz in his pocket. Instinctually he pulled it out and groaned Alice's name before he answered it. I was ready to kill my pixie of a sister. I was so busy getting mad at her that I completely missed the phone call and only refocused on Edward when I heard the phone click shut. Instead of the look of extreme annoyance that I expected to be plastered all over his face, Edward was smiling like a little kid on Christmas morning and I could swear that I heard him faintly giggling before he gently put me on the floor and raced down the stairs at top speed to answer the door. I looked at him with confusion and then pulled myself off the floor to find out what he was so excited about. Just as I reached the bottom of the stairs, two humans walked in carrying a huge mattress. Moving as fast as they could, they took it straight up the stairs and into Edward's room.

Edward moved just slightly faster than human speed and whispered in my ear, "Alice ordered a bed for us. She, umm – saw that we would need one."

I swear if Edward could have blushed, he would have turned bright red. I laughed, threw my arms around Edward and pulled myself into him.

Once my head was right by his ear, I said in the softest voice possible, "Once they are gone, we are so going to break that bed in."

Edward gasped in shock and pulled me far enough away to look into my face.

He looked into my eyes and said softly, "I love you, Bella, but you'll be the death of me."

Then he kissed me sweetly before he turned his attention back to the men who were delivering and setting up our new bed.

Once the men had all the pieces into the room, Edward asked how long the assembly process would take. When they told us three hours, we both groaned so quietly that the humans had no chance of hearing us. Edward took my hand and wordlessly led me downstairs to the huge flat panel TV in the living room. Edward walked over to the ridiculous movie collection that the Cullens had amassed over the years and looked thoughtfully for a moment before removing three movies from various places on the shelves. Then, he moved quickly over to me and held them up for me to choose one. I looked at them and tried to figure out which one Edward wouldn't mind watching. However, I quickly realized that he had picked out three of my favorite movies from before I was turned. I smiled at him sweetly and pointed to one of them. Edward flashed my favorite grin and quickly put the movie in. After he got everything set up, he settled on the couch next to me and we began to watch.

Edward knew what he was doing. There were only a few movies that would have distracted me from the beautiful perfection sitting next to me. Even so, knowing that we would soon be christening our new bed was making it difficult to focus on the Jane Austen work that was playing on the screen in front of us. Finally, just as the film reached its ending, the men came into the living room and finished their business with Edward, who left me on the couch to finish the movie. I had not seen this one since I was changed and so was looking at it with new eyes. Through my perfect vision, the movie lost some of the appeal it held for me since I could see every small flaw. It was still a good film, even though I knew my vampiric imagination could do a better job, it was still very enjoyable. When the movie was about ten minutes from its conclusion, I heard the truck pull away from the house. Edward ran at our speed to the couch and hit the pause button on the movie. Instantly I was ready to jump Edward, although I had a feeling that Esme would not appreciate her couch retaining those kinds of smells.

Edward looked at me with sparkling eyes and said, "Love, I want to get the room put together. Finish your movie and when you are done join me upstairs, but not until your movie is done."

I threw a playful scowl at him and almost instantly restarted my movie. I was not going to wait a second longer for him than I had to. As the movie drew to its conclusion, I became more and more frustrated. The instant the credits began to play I turned off the TV and rushed up the stairs to my Edward.

*Evil laugh*

I know… the most evil cliffie… EVER ;)

I hope this lived up to expectations!

You know there is lemony goodness in the next chapter :D

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