Yikes. I just realized how long it's been since I updated. I hope that doesn't make you too mad at lil old me. But anyway, real life has kicked my ass up and down lately and I just didn't have the energy to write and on top of that I had a huge, HUGE case of writer's block.

Let me know what you think of this update, huh? It seems that the number of reviews I get has a direct correlation to how fast I seem to get another update out. Funny how that works! :)

As always thanks to those who reviewed Chap 14: Xx Babii Angel xX, PsychWardSiren(Missed you too, doll!), lyndons angel of light, i-heart-music-is-life, kairikh2, blou97, candyquakenbush, dreamngo4it9, and winternow.

My dear friends Maiya and Adriana for always having something positive and sweet to say to me. Go read their stories, they are awesome! You can find them on the profile Maiya9182.

And to my loverface AmeryMarie, I miss you! Ever since you went to Kansas, Toto, we haven't talked much! Hope all is well! :)

Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns it all, yada yada yada.

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EPOV

The clock in Bella's room was beginning to drive me mad.

Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock.

It was mocking me, telling me I was running out of time. I'd been sitting here for the better part of an hour wondering just what in the hell I was going to do next. Sixty short minutes ago I was on cloud-nine. Bella and I were doing great. Things were finally beginning to fall back into place with us.

That was until the second I walked into her room to get our project.

Immediately, my eyes were upon an envelope with my name on it, written in her cute little handwriting. The sight of her child-like scrawl made me realize that she'd only just left for the airport and I already missed her as if she'd been gone a month.

I knew I wouldn't be able to wait until I was home to open the envelope, so I ripped it open greedily. I had no idea that the contents of it would change my life forever.

Everything I had ever wanted to hear from Bella was in that letter. She didn't hold back on anything. As I read that she was in love with me, that she loved reading books together in my hammock during our summers, that she only slept with her Bellabear because it reminded her of me, I felt something swell up inside of me and swallow me whole.

My love for Bella literally consumed me the second I read the words 'I love you' at the bottom of her letter. I felt supernaturally strong and invincible, like I could run a marathon or lift a car or some shit.

But along with that unbelievable feeling, I also felt an enormous amount of guilt. Guilt because I knew that I would never be able to live up to what Bella needed in a lover. Don't get me wrong, I'm more than capable of being what she needs in the physical sense, not that I would be okay with taking her innocence, but can I live up to what she needs with everything else?

I couldn't stomach if I ever broke her heart. It would literally tear me to pieces. If my mother left me, how would I be able to ensure that Bella wouldn't get tired of me and leave as well?

I already knew that I would mess this up somehow. And knowing that she was in love with me, this broken shell of a person, made me feel as though I've already done just that. I don't want to hurt her. Ever.

I didn't know what to do.

On one hand, I wanted to call her and tell her that I loved her, too. I wanted to buy a ticket to Florida and hunt down the Dwyer residence in Jacksonville to kiss Bella senseless and tell her everything she deserved to hear.

On the other hand though, I wanted to pretend as if I never read her letter to me so that nothing would have to change between the two of us. My friendship with Bella was the single most important thing in my life. If I messed up being her boyfriend, we'd never be able to go back to how we were.

Sighing, I ripped the hair out of my head before I carefully tucked the letter into my back pocket and grabbed Bella's part of the project. I took one last look of her room before switching the light off and shutting the door.

Charlie was seated in his usual spot in the living room when I made it down the steps. I waved to him before heading for the door but I didn't make it out before he called me back in.

"Edward, come here a minute, will you?"

I sat down on the couch wondering just what the hell the Chief would want to talk to me about. "What's up, Charlie?"

His expression told me that he knew something was up with me, "Everything alright with you, son?"

Shit.

Damn Charlie Swan and his police senses.

"Er, yeah. I'm fine, why do you ask?" Did my voice just squeak? Something about talking to Charlie made me revert back to thirteen years old again.

He looked at me suspiciously, shaking his head. "I noticed you were up in Bells' room for an awful long time."

I smiled involuntarily when I thought about my reason for being up there so long. "Oh. Yeah, Bell left me a note and uh, I guess I spaced out after reading it."

He nodded, using his official police officer voice as he said, "You love her don't you?"

"Holy sh-crap," I corrected.

Charlie continued on, calm and collected. "I'm right, aren't I?"

I threw my head in my hands. "Am I that obvious?" I sputtered.

Charlie's face broke into a grin and he chuckled, "It's easy to recognize a fool in love. And really, why wouldn't you be? She's a special one, that girl. After all, I should know."

I agreed, smiling once again as I thought of Bella. "She is. She's...," I paused as I thought of the word that encapsulated the enigma that is Bella, "She's perfect."

"I wholeheartedly agree, but I'm also a little partial. But for someone who knows he's in love, can I ask why you look as if the weight of the world is on your shoulders?"

I sighed, remembering why I couldn't just be with Bella the way my heart ached to be.

"It's because she's so perfect."

Charlie looked at me like I wasn't making sense so I went on. "I'm not perfect. Not even close and because of that, I feel like I can't give her what she needs. I mean if my birth mom didn't want me when I was just a baby, who's to say Bella will stick around and deal with all my crap now?" I questioned, hoping that Charlie could shed a new light on my predicament.

Charlie leaned forward a bit. "It's unfortunate that something like that happened to you at such a young age, Edward. But for all intents and purposes, your mother is in the house next door," he said as he pointed in the direction of my house where Esme was probably busy cooking dinner.

He went on, "The woman who birthed you isn't your mother. And as far as Bella leaving you is concerned, how long have you two been friends?"

"You know how long. Since diapers...probably longer," I started to say before Charlie cut me off.

"Which means since diapers she's stuck around and dealt with all of your self-proclaimed crap, am I right?"

I nodded, dumbfounded that I had never though about it in that way. "Yeah, I guess she has."

Charlie smiled again. "Listen, Edward, I've watched the two of you growing up. And hopefully you never have to know this firsthand, but being the single father of a teenage girl is downright terrifying, believe me. But if you haven't noticed, I've never been hard on you about staying here when I'm not. I trust you. I know that you have the best of intentions for my Isabella. I know you'll always do the right thing when it comes to her. You'll keep her safe."

I exhaled sharply, feeling as though a weight lifted from my chest at the sound of Charlie's admission of trust. "I do have her best interest at heart, but I don't know how to approach the topic of a relationship with her. I don't know. I guess I'm just a chicken shit."

Charlie laughed loudly reaching over to pat me on the back, "When it comes to women, son, we all are."

----

BPOV

"Oh, what about this one, Bells?"

Looking down at the pink seashell Rose deposited in the bucket in my hands, I realized she was talking to me.

"What? Oh yeah, that one's pretty."

She huffed, snatching the bucket from me, "What is with you? You're on spring break! Act like it!"

She emphasized her point by shaking her butt and sticking out her tongue.

I laughed at her lame attempt at dancing. "It's not that simple, Britney. Edward most definitely read that letter. It's been almost two whole days since we left and he hasn't called or anything. Do you know how embarassing this is? He wasn't supposed to see it!"

"Well who's fault is that, Bella? You should have moved it before telling the boy to go to your room!" She said as she smirked like the evil wench she truly was.

I shoved her playfully causing her to stumble a bit. "Thanks for that sound advice, Rose. But I wasn't thinking when I left it there!"

She shrugged her shoulders as we continued down the beach by Renee and Phil's house. "I don't know what to tell you. Maybe you did it subconsciously, you know? You were too scared to tell him to his face so maybe you left the letter there for him to find while you were away because it would be easier that way."

I shook my head. "No. I didn't want him to read it. At least not now. I mean, I literally just broke up with Jasper and a couple of days later I'm writing a love letter to Edward. God, what in the hell is wrong with me?"

"Nothing is wrong with you!" Rose defended.

I quirked an eyebrow at her as she went on. "Listen, Bells, you know that I love my brother with all I have and I was most definitely all Team Jasper before, but he wronged you. And while it's true I'm not exactly Edward's biggest fan right now either, in the end I just want you to be happy, baby girl. And If Edward is the one that makes you happy, then that's all that matters, isn't it?"

If only that was the only problem.

I sighed, "He does make me happy. But that's never been the problem. The problem is and always has been that what I feel for him isn't the same as what he feels for me. I mean we just got our friendship back to normal, Rose. And now? Now I've gone and made it even more uncomfortable than it was before by professing my love on paper for him to read over and over whenever he feels like having a good laugh." I cringed at the thought. Would he let Emmett read it? I would never hear the end of it if that were the case.

How could I have been so careless with that letter? I should have ripped it to shreds the second I was done writing it. As therapeutic as it was at the time, it certainly wasn't helping me now. If anything it only made things a thousand times worse.

I felt dizzy thinking about my situation so I sat down near the water, looking out at the ocean. Rose sat down next to me and put her arm around me. We sat like that for a long time, until the sound of my cell phone brought us out of our thoughts. I almost threw up as I pulled the phone out of my pocket.

Was Edward calling to tell me what an idiot I was?

I rolled my eyes as I read the caller I.D. I thrust the phone into Rosalie's chest with a resounding thud and said, "Ugh, it's Emmett. Why is he calling my phone?"

Rose smiled, "I left mine at the house. I guess he misses me."

I mocked her in a high pitched, immature tone, "I guess he misses me. Seriously, you two make me want to vomit."

She smacked my arm whispering the word 'jealous' before purring into the phone, "Hey baby."

I heard a muffled sound coming from Emmett's end of the phone as I threw myself backwards into the sand. Closing my eyes, I tried to think back to when my life had become the ultimate clusterfuck of emotions it currently was.

Oh right, just about the time that I confessed my undying love for Edward Cullen in a note that I convienently left for him to read while I was away on Spring Break.

Perfect.

"You're where?! What the hell are you talking about? Why?! Oh...ohhhhhhh. Okay, okay. Uhhh, I think I'm going to drag Bells out tonight," Rose exclaimed to Emmett. "She's been a moody bitch since we landed so I'm going to try to expel the stick that's seems to be permanently lodged in her ass."

I flipped her off and barely listened to her conversation after that. My mind was in Forks with Edward and that embarassing display of unrequited love.

As the clouds merged overtop of me, I imagined possibly staying in Florida to avoid ever having to face Edward after this. Renee would like it, I guess, but Charlie would hate it. I could transfer to whatever the hell the high school is here and in turn go to college here. My pale ass could definitely use a tan for a change.

Oh come off it, Bella. You're being a dramatic harpy.

God, even my self scolding sounds like Edward.

But even so, I'm not going to stay in Florida because of this. Yes, it will be incredibly embarassing to face Edward after all this but I couldn't be away from Charlie. Or Rose for that matter. They needed me and I needed them. And even if when I get home Edward makes fun of me relentlessly for the letter, I still wouldn't want to be away from him either. I'll take him any way I can get him.

Resigning myself to having to go home at the end of our vacation, I sat up and brushed the sand off of my hands. Dragging one clean hand through my hair to free any sand that may have stuck to it, I looked over to Rosalie to see if she planned on continuing her conversation. I could only take so much lovey-dovey garbage before losing my lunch.

I stood up, causing Rose to jump a bit next to me and then I heard her say, "Edward's being a moody bitch, too, huh?"

Something was off...Rose was acting weird. Wait, what? Edward was being moody?

I suddenly had a huge interest in their conversation. I plopped down next to Rose and signaled for her to share the phone so I could hear what Emmett was saying.

"Em say that one more time, I didn't hear you," Rose replied as I made myself comfy next to her and she pushed 'speakerphone'.

Emmett sighed before repeating what he had said to Rose earlier, "I said, Edward has been acting like a little girl for the past two days. He's been locked in his room since Bella left playing that God awful emo shit he always listens to whenever those two get into fights."

Emmett started asking Rose if she missed him like he missed his naughty little Rosebud and Rose quickly turned the speakerphone off, turning a shade of pink I'd never thought I'd see which in turn made me laugh.

"Yes, I have you sexy stud muffin," she whispered as she turned her head away from me. I fought the urge to vomit from their pet names yet again and thought about what Emmett had said. Why would Edward be depressed? I mean yes, I admitted my undying love for him in a letter but that was hardly a reason to be locked away in his room being sad. Flattered and confused, sure, maybe even angry, but depressed? I mean who gets depressed when they find out someone is in love with them?

Apparently assholes like Edward Cullen, that's who.

I tried signaling to Rose to tell her let's go back to the house but she shooed me away, telling me she'd meet me back at my mom's. I worried for a moment but she flipped me off, mouthing that she'd be fine. I mouthed back that she had ten minutes to get off the phone or else. I tried looking intimidating when I said 'or else' but I knew without having to see myself that I was anything but scary.

She rolled her eyes and waved bye.

As I walked I thought maybe I should take Rose up on her offer to go out tonight. I mean obviously Edward wasn't going to call anytime soon and I am in Florida. How often am I in a place that has a climate the complete opposite of Forks? I stumbled my way over to the stairs that went up to Renee's house deep in thought.

In the time it took me to make it to the bottom step, I had decided that I would be carefree Bella tonight. Hell, I might even wear a skirt. Or maybe Rose and I will find some random beach party and I'll find myself a Floridian to flirt with.

I chuckled to myself at the thought. I climbed up the stairs, stopping dead in my tracks when I heard a very familiar booming laugh coming from what sounded like inside.

My heart started pounding in my chest when I recognized it as Emmett's laugh. But how in the hell could Emmett be here if he was on the phone with Rose?

I turned back around to look towards where Rose was sitting and couldn't see her anymore at all. I heard the laugh again and when I whipped back around to charge into my mom's house to find out what was going on, I was met with the most beautiful green eyes I had ever seen in my life.

----

EPOV

"Edward, if you don't get your mopey ass out of your room in the next two seconds I swear to all that's holy to you in this world that I will knock down this door and smash that godforsaken radio to bits!" Emmett shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Can it, Em! I'm not coming out so shove off!" I yelled back.

"That's it! I warned you, pretty boy!"

He wouldn't break the door down. Esme would kill him. And while Emmett was well over 200 pounds and full of muscle, he was terrified of the wrath of our tiny mother. I shuffled to my feet for the third time today to turn up the music I'd been listening to and then deposited my ass right back into my bed, my delightful shelter from the outside world for the past twenty-four hours.

"You have until the count of three and then I'm breaking it down, Eddie-boy!"

"Fuck off, Emmett! I'm not coming out!"

"Have it your way, asshat! I'm coming in then! Here I go...One...two...three!"

I heard a smash against the door and noticed that the frame of the door had actually bent a bit because of his big ass. I had no choice but to let him in.

I sighed as I got up again, unlocking the deadbolt on the door and ripping it open. I must have looked like a complete and total tool. I had run my hands through my hair more times than I cared to count, making it even more messy than normal and I had even delved into my emergency weed stash to try to calm my frazzled nerves, so my eyes must have been bloodshot to hell.

I hadn't even touched any alcohol, which in and of itself was quite an accomplishment to say the least. I could fog up my mind with a joint without making rash decisions, but tequila always made me make the worst decision possible when it came to Bella and right now that was the last thing I needed.

After my talk with Charlie, I had thought everything was so clear. I pondered calling Bella and telling her how I felt, but that seemed too impersonal to me. Instead I had decided I was going to wait for her to get back into Forks and then I was going to tell her exactly how I felt about her. I was going to admit that I hated when she was with Jasper, that every single time I saw them touch or kiss I had wanted to strangle him with my bare hands.

I had even thought up this elaborate plan where I would lead her to the meadow out in the woods that we found when we were fourteen and tell her there that I loved her. She always loved going there, especially on days where she was really stressed out or worried. It was our secret place to escape our troubles.

But, once again, my own brain got in the way. I went through every possible outcome in my mind and eventually I thought that if I waited until she got back from vacation that maybe she would have met someone else while she was there and would have pulled another Jasper on me.

I had known from the get-go of her relationship with Jasper that she, whether she knew it consciously or not, was trying to get back at me for Tanya. And if she thought that I was here in Forks not giving a shit about her letter, she might try to do something drastic to get back at me.

So after that thought I figured a trip to Florida couldn't hurt but I chickened out before even going to the airline's website. Wouldn't she get mad at me for just barging into her vacation? The longer I went without calling her though, the more grim the outlook was destined to be for me.

"What the hell is so god damn urgent, Emmett? I'm fucking busy in here," I yelled.

He scoffed, "Busy? Doing what? Being a whiny bitch yet again about Bella?"

"And if I am?"

His face lightened as he said sheepishly, "If you are I'm going to tell you to get your ass up and get us two tickets to Florida, bro."

What the hell? Is this big oaf a mind reader now?

"Why would I do that, Em?"

"Uh, maybe because our girls are there and we're both fucking miserable here without them."

"Tell me what makes you think that Bella would want me to just barge into her vacation like some Neanderthal?"

"Well, I just got off the phone with Rose and she said ever since they landed that Bella's been acting like a zombie worried about what you thought about her letter. She's upset you haven't called and now she thinks you're blowing her off, again, I might add."

That was the farthest thing from the truth. I just wanted to make sure that I knew exactly how to handle this whole thing before I went and did something to mess it all up again.

"I'm not blowing her off. I'm just... trapped in my own head, I guess. I know that I'm not any good for her but at the same time, I know I can't live without her and it's fucking killing me inside trying to figure out what to do."

Emmett whacked me upside the head before saying, "Well, don't you think it's up to Bella to decide if she wants you in her life or not? Isn't that a decision she needed to make on her own? A decision that she's very clearly already made by writing you that letter?"

Well, I certainly hadn't thought of it that way before.

"But...I can't just show up in Florida to tell her I love her, Em," I sputtered. "Can I?"

He laughed, "Why the fuck not? It's like the grandest of grand romantic gestures if you ask me. She'll be like putty in your hands."

And after hearing how incredibly feminine he just sounded, he quickly added, "Plus, it'll definitely get you in her pants!"

He cracked up as I threw my pillow at him and stomped towards my laptop. After hearing Emmett and Charlie's encouragment to go for it with Bella, I wasn't about to allow myself to change my own mind again. I was doing this. And there was no turning back.

Bella was going to be mine.

----

Three very long, very grueling hours later, Emmett and I had convinced Esme and Carlisle to let us fly to Florida for three glorious days. After another very long, very large guilt trip to my mom, I had her call Renee and tell her when we were arriving in Florida and to make sure her scatterbrained ass didn't tell Bella that we were coming to see her.

Getting my mom to call Renee? That was a huge accomplishment. Esme hadn't really talked to Renee since the day she left Forks and in turn, Bella, all those years ago. She wasn't very happy about the idea of talking to her again as she still held quite a bit of anger towards Renee for what she considered abandoning Bella in her time of need.

Luckily for me all I had to do was pull out the puppy dog eyes and tell her I was doing this so that she got her ultimate wish, her baby and her Bellissima together, for her to start dialing.

Before I knew it, all was set. Emmett and I were leaving really early the next morning and landing sometime in the very late afternoon. We had a non-stop flight, something I thanked my lucky stars for, because it meant I got to Bella faster than if I had some lame ass layover somewhere in the middle of the country.

I forced myself to go to bed that night by telling myself that the faster I went to sleep, the faster it would be morning and I'd be on my way to see my Bella. Just like I used to tell myself on Christmas eve when I was a child, the faster I went to bed, the faster Santa would be here with my presents.

Only this time, I was receiving the best present of them all- Bella. Gift wrapped and beautiful in all her blue bikini glory.

I was jolted awake around four in the morning by Emmett's monstrous hands and we were well on our way to seeing our girls.

On the plane, Emmett thought it was a good idea to come up with a game plan for what I was going to do to when I found Bella but nothing concrete came to me, so I decided I'd wing it. He figured that he would call Rose once we got into Jacksonville to see where they were and then we would go from there, too. I felt like I was going to be sick, I was so nervous and it only got worse as we descended into Florida.

Once we landed in Jacksonville and got a cab to take us towards Renee's house, was when I really started to panic. What if she'd changed her mind since the last time we talked? Had she really even meant for me to see the note? Would she freak out when I just barged in on her vacation?

What if she met someone else already? I mean shit, her and Jasper took no time at all getting together. And that asshole hadn't even seen her in a bikini before.

Holy mother of God, is it fucking hot in Florida. My hair stuck to my head like glue and I felt like I could wring it out like a sponge. I rolled down the window in the cab, hoping to both cool myself off and rid the cab of some of it's stale air. I watched as we passed palm trees and cars with surfboards on the roof.

And then all too soon, Em and I were on Renee's front porch looking at each other like assholes.

"Um, dude. You're the one here to defile her only daughter. You should knock." Emmett started nervously.

"What? I'm not here to defile Bella, asshole!"

"Psh, like if she wants to you'll say no."

I scoffed, "That's hardly here nor there. Right now I'm here to make sure she knows I love her."

Emmett raised his eyebrows, "So knock, dickhole."

I sighed, knowing I wasn't going to win the argument and knowing if we kept bickering Bella's mom or step-dad, who I'm sure owned several bats, would hear us talking about Bella's virtue and my willingness to take said virtue and bash our heads in.

I raised my fist to the door before letting out a long, deep breath. "Here goes nothing."

I knocked hesitantly and not two seconds later, a face I hadn't seen in years was revealed. Her hair was shorter than the last time I had seen her and her face was way more tanned, but it was most definitely Bella's mom. "Edward! Emmett! Still just as handsome as ever I see!"

"Yeah, well I don't know about Eddie-boy here but I'm damn fine!" Emmett boomed as he scooped Renee up in a hug.

"How are you, Mrs. Dwyer?" I began politely.

"Edward Anthony Cullen, don't you dare Mrs. Dwyer me. You call me Renee and that's final!"

I sulked, "Yes, ma'am."

She moved on to pull me into a hug and I sighed, realizing then just how much Bella resembled her mother physically. They had the same hair color and face shape, heart-shaped and delicate, and they were exactly the same height. The only real difference was their eye color. Renee's were a dark blue while Bella's were the most beautiful chesnut color I'd ever seen. Yeah, I was definitely turning into a girl.

I looked around for any sign of Bella but she was nowhere to be found.

Renee spoke up, answering my unasked question. "She's taking a walk on the beach with Rose right now."

I nodded my head unenthusiastically and looked around for someway of entertaining myself until Bella got back. Unfortunately for me, Renee had some more to talk to me about.

"So, are you going to tell me what all this is about? Esme wasn't very helpful with the reasoning behind this impromptu trip." She said with curiousity.

I blanched, "Um, uh, I'm not- I don't know if...is it hot in here?" I tugged on my collar, praying that somehow it would magically transport me to anywhere but here.

"Well, Bella called me not too long ago in absolute hysterics which is why I asked her to visit. This trip wouldn't have anything to do with that, would it?"

"Bella called you...crying?" I asked in disbelief.

Renee bit her lip, "You know what? Nevermind that. I've probably said too much as it is. She'll be back soon so why don't we figure out what you plan on doing to surprise our girl, huh."

Emmett looked around and noticed Rose's phone sitting on the table. "Shit."

"Emmett!" Renee chided.

"Sorry, it's just, Rose left her phone here. Do you know if Bella has hers on her?"

Renee nodded, "I told them that at least one of them had to take a phone in case of an emergency."

Internally I scoffed at her, thinking that was probably the most parental piece of advice she'd given Bella in years. But I wouldn't dare voice that. Right now, she was my one and only link to Bella.

Emmett interrupted my thoughts by saying, "I'm going to have to call Rose on Bella's phone and tell her what's going on."

"What are you going to say to her?" I asked him curiously.

Emmett nodded, "I'm going to tell her to play along like we're talking normally just so she can get Bella here faster and you two can start whatever the hell it is you're going to start because quite frankly, I'm sick of you both being mopey bitc-" he looked to Renee before correcting himself, "I mean, uh, mopey blowholes."

I rolled my eyes at him. "Just get her here, Em," I snapped.

He saluted me like a dick and called Bella's phone. I barely listened as he yammered away to Rose.

I vaguely heard him tell Rosalie that he was indeed in Florida along with myself and to play along with whatever he said.

The one part my ears did pick up on was the part of the conversation where Emmett said, "Edward has been acting like a little girl for the past two days. He's been locked in his room since Bella left playing that God awful emo shit he always listens to whenever those two get into fights."

I had not been locked in there for two days. Just... a day and a half.

Finally he wrapped up his talk with Rose, mouthing that Bella was on her way here and I hurried up and stood by the back door of Renee's house looking out at the beach.

I could see a faint silhouette of a girl walking that could have been Bella. I wasn't completely sure it was Bella until I saw the girl stumble over absolutely nothing but her own two feet. And as soon as I knew it was her, my heart began to pound a mile a minute.

I stepped away from the window for some reason, maybe to let her get up the steps before seeing me and deciding she wanted to run away. I heard her footsteps coming up the stair well and my heart felt like it was in my throat.

Emmett laughed loudly at something Rose must have said on the phone and I noticed Bella freeze in her tracks. Of course she would recognize his loud ass laugh. She'd heard it her whole life.

I saw Bella turn around to look back at something and decided that was the time to show myself. Now or never.

I opened up the back door quietly and stepped out, watching as Bella looked frantically out at the beach. Emmett laughed again and Bella's head whipped back around, leaving us standing face to face to one another.

"Edward? What in the...how in the hell...what are you doing here?!" She stuttered before throwing herself in my arms.

I drank in her smell greedily, not even caring if I sounded like a weirdo sniffing her. I squeezed her in my arms tightly before pushing back a lock of her hair behind her ear and whispering, "I missed you."

She pulled back a bit looking in my eyes, "You missed me so you came all the way to Florida?"

Now or never, Cullen. Now or never.

"Well, that's only part of the reason."

She quirked an eyebrow before a wave of some emotion crossed her face...anxiety? Horror?

"You're here about the note, aren't you?"

I nodded and she tried to pull away. She started talking really fast as she continued trying to pull away from my grasp.

"Listen, Edward. I know that you probably read that letter and you don't feel the same way but I don't think that it has to change our friendship-"

I cut her off by putting a finger to her lips. "Bella, shh."

"Edward, please just-"

"Isabella Marie Swan! Shut it for two seconds will you?"

She pouted but did as she was asked.

I smiled before going on, "Now, I am here about the note but not for the reason you probably think. I'm not here to yell at you or make you feel bad or whatever other negative idea you've managed to concoct in your pretty little head. I'm here...I'm here to tell you that I'd be a total fool not to feel the same way about you."

She tried to talk again but I kept my finger to her lips for a minute longer, "Not done yet, love."

I went on, wiping a single tear that had escaped her eye.

"I'm here to tell you that I am so utterly, ridiculously, unbelievably in love with you, Bell and I'm going to kiss you right now."

And then I took her little face in my hands and crushed her perfect lips to my own.

----