A/N: Okay this is a short chapter… I am actually happy with it the way that it is… and no.. it's not the end….

Chapter 24 - Forgiveness and Love

I ran up to the house, not stopping to take in its beauty, headed only for Edward, not caring about anything else. I quickly ran up the stairs to Edward's room and paused at the door to hear voices shouting animatedly. I threw the door open to find Edward and Tanya screaming at each other. Tanya looked at me with anger and ran from the room.

I looked at Edward and he said slowly, "Tanya does not take rejection well."

I nodded and turned from the room.

I heard Edward gasp behind me and I said without turning, "I will be right back, love. I need to take care of this once and for all. I love you, Edward Cullen."

Running down the stairs, I finally caught up with her, pushed her roughly to the ground, and started screaming at her, "How could you come here and continue to pursue him? He does not love you or want you like that, Tanya. Stop torturing him. He does not like to hurt people. You need to move on. Hasn't he been through enough? Haven't I been through enough?"

I looked at her with fury plain on my face.

She looked at me with a blank mask on her face and woodenly said, "I'll leave him alone Bella."

Then she turned and ran from the house. As soon as the door closed, I felt two arms wrap themselves around me and turn me gently.

I whipped around to find myself looking into the loving face of my Edward. With a slight chuckle he said, "Does this mean you forgive me, Bella?"

I laughed and said, "Edward, in all honestly, if you had really lost me, I would have wanted you to move on. I would have wanted you to be happy and have a life. I am glad you were honest with me. I just needed some time to deal with it. I am sorry I was gone for so long. By the way, Jasper told me the whole story. I really don't blame you with that idiot messing with your emotions. It wasn't fair to you or to Tanya, but I understand why he did it."

Edward tried to stop me so he could speak, a look of pain and guilt evident on his face.

Before he could say anything, however, I hurriedly stated, "And don't you dare blame yourself, Edward Anthony Masen Cullen."

Then I threw my arms around him and started kissing him with as much energy as I could muster, cutting off whatever words of guilt he was trying to say.

Hours later, after allowing ourselves to get carried away again, Edward and I sat cuddling in bed together just enjoying the feel of our bodies against each other when I knew it was time to pick up our honest conversation where we had left off.

I took a deep breath and said as jokingly as possible, "Edward, any other girlfriends I need to know about?"

Edward looked at me and then laughed for a moment before saying with extreme seriousness, "No, Bella, you are the one for me. Before Tanya, I went on a few dates, but never more than once. After the whole Tanya thing, I learned my lesson. There was never going to be anyone for me but you. I think my heart would not allow me to move on because something deep inside of me knew you were still alive and would not allow me to give up hope that someday I would find you love."

I snuggled into him and we continued to tell each other everything that had remained unsaid for so many years. There were laughs and tears and pain and heartache for both of us but it was all bearable because we were finally together, we truly loved each other and we knew nothing was going to separate us again. We were finally at the beginning of our happily forever after.

Okay… just so everyone knows… there are still 9 more chapters to go :) However, posting is going to move a little slower for the next 3-4 weeks. I am a music teacher and concert season starts this week so I am not going to have as much time to spend on this. I plan to still get a chapter out a week just not 2 or 3.

Let me know what you think!

Reviews are my favorite things next to two week old peeps (I like it when they are chewy… any other weird people like me out there?)