Chapter 27

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Songs:

"I'll Be Your Shelter" Taylor Dayne

"Invincible" Tinie Tempah feat. Kelly Rowland

EPOV

Before she left for class this morning, Bella gave me a key just in case she stayed at the newspaper and yearbook offices longer than she planned.

I offered to drive her to class, but she insisted that she wanted to walk while the weather was still nice enough. I could tell that the weather was going to change soon. I had no idea that my knee was going to predict the weather. I took extra care when I did my exercises because the last thing I needed was to hurt it again.

As I looked at the clock, I still had two hours before my first class started. I looked at the key for Bella's placed and decided to go and see if there was anything I could do for her there.

When I opened the door to her place, I remembered the first time I came over here to watch her drool over the Kings of Leon documentary. I shook my head and snickered at the memory of her jaw almost dropping to the floor when she saw one of the band member's bare ass. It seemed liked it was months ago, even though it had merely been days.

An odor assaulted me as soon as I closed the door behind me. I walked to the kitchen and noticed the almost overflowing trash. The trash was so full the bag wouldn't even close. I found the extra bags under the counter and put the overflow trash in it. I opened the fridge and emptied out all of the food that needed to be trashed. I checked all the bathrooms and then took the trash to the curb. It wasn't much but I at least I felt like I had accomplished something this morning.

I looked around the house. It was so much bigger than I'd thought it was. I knew there was absolutely no way Bella could live here on her own without the support of her parents. I knew that she had a scholarship to pay for books, tuition and fees, but the utilities on this house had to be insanely high. I wished she would swallow her pride and let me or even my mom help her out so she could stay here.

I felt a tightness welling up in my chest. At first I couldn't put my finger on the cause. Suddenly, I realized that I didn't want Bella to go anywhere. I loved going to sleep with her and waking up with Bella wrapped in my arms each morning. I loved the smile on her face as she watched me inhale the meals she made me from scratch. I loved that my condo even smelled like her. I loved how when she smiled at me from across the room when she was doing her homework and I was exercising. Bella's smile always made my heart swell in my chest. How did I ever get so lucky to have her? I would never know what I did to deserve her, but I knew one thing with certainty. I wanted Bella with me each and every day for the rest of my life. I had to find a way to make her see that with her staying with me gave me so much more than her helping out financially ever would.

As my last class drew to a close, I glanced at my watch. Only a few more minutes until I would head over to Bella's to pick her up. As I pulled into the driveway, I saw the lights on in the house. Instead of using the key, I knocked on the door. I got nervous when after a minute she didn't answer the door.

I twisted the knob and found it unlocked. "Bella?" I asked with worry in my voice. I saw her sitting on the couch staring into space with a look of shock on her space. My heart skipped a beat, and I rushed to her side.

I stroked my thumb across the apple of her cheek to get her attention. "Bella, are you hurt? What's wrong, Love?"

She shook her head as if to clear it and handed me a piece of paper. I looked down and blinked my eyes a few times to make sure I wasn't seeing things.

"What is this?" I asked. "Is this real? $284,479.52?" She nodded and looked at me.

"It's from the insurance company for my car. I didn't even think about it. Emily and Jake had been my number one concern, not the damn car."

I looked at the check again. It had her name on it, not her mom's. This meant that she could stay in this house comfortably and without any help from anyone.

"So, what are you going to do now, Bella?" I started to silently pray. I wasn't sure if I was prepared to hear her answer.

BPOV

Edward was as surprised as I was by my unexpected windfall. What was I going to do? I asked myself.

"Edward, I honestly don't know what I'm going to do. I'm still in shock about this. I knew that the car was expensive, but I had absolutely no idea it was that expensive."

"Oh, Love," Edward laughed. "You obviously do not speak Car and Driver." I swatted playfully at his arm. He looked at the check again and handed it to me. I sat it down on the table, tucked my legs under me and lifted Edward's arm so I could snuggle into his side. I placed my hand on his thigh as his fingers ghosted gently up and down my arm. I loved that we could just sit like this and just be. I loved the moments that we had like this every day since I had been staying with him. I couldn't imagine not having these moments with him. I could afford to stay in this house now on my own, but did I want to stay here?

Edward said that I could stay with him as long as I wanted. I wanted to stay with him forever. Was he as ready as I was to start forever today?

"What's going on in that head of yours, Bella? I can hear the wheels turning a thousand miles an hour." I looked up at him and he smiled, but his smile didn't reach his eyes.

"I'm trying to decide what to do about everything. At least I know that I won't have to look for another job. This check has taken care of that for me." He kissed my temple and I buried myself closer into him. It was now or never. I told myself.

"I don't think I could ever live in this house again, Edward," I said quickly. "It was always Jake, Emily and me here together. We were happy here, but she's never walking through that door again. Jake isn't going bring Emily and I to tears from laughter while he is being a goofball acting out the weather forecast while it's being broadcast on the news. The laughter and happiness was shattered when that drunk bastard decided to get behind the wheel of a car that killed my best friend and broke the heart of the other."

"I understand completely, Love. I know how much they both mean to you. Any thoughts about where you do want to live?" Edward's question was almost a whisper.

"I could get a little one bedroom apartment that wouldn't feel so empty with just me in it." I thought I heard Edward's gasp. "Are you okay, E?" I turned so I was facing him, and he looked a little pale. He even looked nervous. Edward reached up, took my hand in his and kissed my palm. He then placed my palm over his beating heart.

"This check doesn't change anything," Edward said. "If you want to, and I don't want you to feel any pressure at all, you can live with me." I looked in his eyes, and they were filled with sincerity. I moved my hand from his chest to the side of his face. His face leaned into my palm and my palm moved his face close to mine as I kissed him tenderly on the lips. I felt his entire body relax into mine.

"Are you sure we are ready for this, Edward? Once I say I'm going to live with you, you are never going to be able to get rid of me."

We were now both sitting sideways on the couch. Our knees were touching as Edward reached to take both of my hands in his.

"Bella, I told you that you are my future. It's you and me against the world," Edward said as he kissed me. I brushed my hands over the fine hairs behind his ears. He loved this simple gesture so much that I expected him to purr at any moment.

"Forever," I told him. "But now that I have the money, I am helping out with the expenses at the condo."

"Bella, you don't have..." I stopped him by putting my finger over his mouth.

"I don't have to do anything, Baby. I need to do this. Please, it's important to me," I said.

"Whatever you want, Love." We got comfortable and cuddled into each other again. "So, now that you hit the lottery, what are you going to do with the rest of the money?"

I looked at the clock on the wall and saw that it was too late to go to the bank now.

"First thing tomorrow morning I am putting that baby in the bank," I said as I pointed to the check on the table. "I also can't ask you to keep playing my chauffeur. Although, you would look fucking hot in a uniform and a hat."

"You think so, B?"

"Oh, I know you would," I said seductively as I kissed him again. "Do you have any plans for the rest of the evening?"

"Nothing that can't wait," Edward told me. "What did you have in mind?"

"A new car," I smiled and he smiled back.

I knew it was my car as soon as I sat my eyes on it. While I had loved the Aston, it wasn't me. That was my mother being ostentatious. It was a program car that had 20,000 miles on it with a black leather interior and quite a nice sound system, which Edward decided to blare as we took it on multiple test drives. It was a car that was sex personified, a 2010 Ford Mustang in grabber blue. Since the money wasn't in my account yet, I really couldn't argue with Edward when he wrote a check for the car. I knew that he would have the money back the next day.

I felt like a rock star as I drove into Edward's parking garage behind him. As I pulled my car into his second assigned spot next to him, I knew that this was right. I was finally home.

O_O_O_O_O_O_O_O_O_O

The next few days I packed up everything that I wanted and needed from the house. Edward packed up all of Jake's belongings and had them shipped to him. Jake just didn't feel comfortable in that house either. I was amazed to see the bond Edward and Jake now had with each other. I was beginning to think they had a true bromance brewing. It made me happy that they considered each other friends.

I did replace most of Edward's kitchen supplies with mine. Once I had everything that I wanted out of the house and Jake's stuff gone, there was an almost entirely still furnished house that remained. Since Renée paid for everything, I didn't want it, but I was still pissed off at her enough that I didn't want her to have it either.

Edward and I decided to have a moving sale the next weekend. Despite the fact that he had a TV the same size as mine, which I didn't want any more, he refused to let me sell it. He mounted it on the guest bedroom wall. I guess it was true about what they said about men and their toys, they could never have enough of them.

I marked the stuff priced to sell quickly because I was ready to be done with anything related to my mother until she realized that I had a right to make my own decisions and live my own life. When everything was totaled up I'd made almost $3,000 from my little sale.

Sunday night as I looked at the empty house, I closed my eyes. I remembered all of the good times that happened under this roof. I knew that those memories would stay with me the rest of my life.

All of the utilities were scheduled to be turned off on Monday. The house was no longer my problem. It was Renée's problem.

I hadn't talked to her since she walked out on me in the hotel room, but I was going to be the grown-up here and let her know what was happening.

I dialed the number with shaking fingers. I honestly wasn't even sure if she was going to pick up the phone when she saw who was calling her.

After four rings, she answered.

"Yes, Isabella." I couldn't say it surprised me that she didn't even say hello to me when she picked up the phone.

"Hello, Mother."

"Did you finally realize the error of your ways and decide that you wanted my help with things? You will be so much better now that you've cut that damn Edward Cullen out of your life for good."

I had to bite my tongue to not start screaming at the audacity of her remarks.

"No, that's not why I am calling at all. Things are better than ever with Edward."

I heard her growl.

"I will not take care of you if you are with that boy. I will not sit back and watch him destroy you like he did before."

"I don't need you to take care of me. I am an adult who is more than capable of taking care of herself."

"If you don't need anything from me, why are you calling me?"

"Your house is now empty. I've moved out and all the utilities have been turned off. Oklahoma winters can come early and I would hate to see your house damaged because you didn't look after it."

"If you aren't living in my house, where are you living?"

"Don't ask questions that you don't really want the answers to, Renée. I have a roof over my head and I am happier than I have ever been in a long time. As a parent, I would think you would be happy for me too, but I know that you don't and I can accept that."

"That boy will break you like you've never been broken before. I can't wait until that time I can look you in the eyes and say I told you so," Mom told me in a fierce voice.

"Don't hold your breath because that is never going to happen." I was going to lose it and I was going to lose it fast. "When you think you can accept the fact that I am an adult capable of making decisions that are right for me, call me. Until then, I don't want to hear from you again."

I hung up the phone. Instead of sadness that I should have felt. I felt relief. In the past my life had so much negativity, I didn't have room for that in my life again. I was happy, and I wasn't going to let anyone ruin that for me.

My phone rang again and I answered without looking at the number. Renée did always like to have the last word.

"Calling to ask for my forgiveness already, huh?" I asked sarcastically.

"Uh, yes, I actually am, Bella." That wasn't my mom's voice. It was Alice's.

A/N: Can I just say that I REALLY want Bella's new car *sighs*. Uh, oh, is Bella ready to talk to Alice? What will they say to each other?

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Fic Recs:

Why and What If by walkingwithgiants

Blind Date From Hell by bebe86