I do not own Twilight or any of its' characters

BPOV

Chapter 45

Last Night

I popped out of my seat as soon as the professor dismissed us, booking it out of that classroom so fast my sneakers practically left skid marks on the floor. Danielle hurried out behind me.

"I'm sorry" I said when she had caught up to me in the hallway, "I just, couldn't sit there any longer; I'm so glad it's over."

"That's okay, I know how you feel. I can't wait to go home." She replied.

"When are you leaving?" I asked as we walked toward the parking lot.

"Tomorrow afternoon. I've got to finish packing tonight. When are you going home?"

"I'm not sure," I said fishing around in my bag for my keys, "Edward and I haven't discussed it yet, but we're in no rush I don't think."

"Well, why would you be? You guys have your own house and all that privacy. It'll probably seem weird to go back to living under your parent's roof." She said leaning up against her car.

"Yeah, I'm definitely not looking forward to having a curfew and living under lock and key. And I'm so used to him being there with me all of the time; I don't think I want it to go back to how it was when we were in high school." I confessed in a disappointed tone.

"Why don't you guys get an apartment together or something in Forks?" She suggested.

"For three months?"

"Well, that might not fly with a private owner, but maybe you could find an apartment complex that does leasing on a month by month basis."

"I don't think Edward would go for that." I said doubtfully.

"Why not?"

"Well, he's kind of…spoiled. I don't know if he would want to live in such a temporary residence." I said sheepishly.

Danielle started to laugh her lovely, hearty, contagious laugh. I was going to miss her over the summer. Maybe I could visit her or vice versa.

"I can't wait to get home to my dogs and my bed and normal food. None of this microwaveable garbage and fast food. I might actually be able to save up some money this summer if I can get my old job back." Danielle went on, changing the subject.

"I can't wait to see my dad and my friend Jacob. I suppose seeing Edward's family will be nice too." I smiled to myself as I thought of all the stupid things Alice would make me do over the summer and all the smarmy comments I got to look forward to hearing from Emmett. I thought about Jacob and the countless number of times he would fly off the handle this summer about me being with Edward and all of the awkward moments I would have with Charlie that were strangely comforting to me. I was anxious to see my family, but not to be separated from my domestic life with Edward.

"Well Creepy, I need to get going if I'm going to make my flight tomorrow with all of my stuff in hand," Danielle started.

"Oh my God, it's five thirty! How'd it get so late?" I asked looking at my watch.

"Sociology exam," she informed me, rolling her eyes.

"Right," I said rocking back on my heels. Now came the quiet between us as we prepared to say goodbye for the summer. I stared down at my sneakers shyly and then looked up at my new friend, "Danielle, I'm really going to miss you this summer."

"I'm going to miss you too Bella. We should try to get together at least once this summer. I'll start saving up; maybe I'll be able to visit you."

"Or I could come visit you; I could pawn the money off of Charlie. He'd probably be happy to see me hanging out with someone other than the Cullens."

We both laughed a little, and I went over to Danielle and wrapped my arms around her broad shoulders. "Have a safe flight. Call me when you arrive okay?"

"Okay mom," she teased, embracing me back. "You make sure you do the same when you get home too, alright?"

"It's a deal." I answered.

By the time I got home it was six o'clock, I felt bad getting home so late from school, but I knew Edward wouldn't mind. I expected to pull into the garage and immediately smell food cooking. Something involving garlic, because everything Edward cooked had piles of garlic in it. How ironic, the ex-vampire loving garlic so much. But when I arrived, I didn't smell anything. I shrugged my shoulders and walked into the house. The kitchen was spotlessly clean, the coffee pot washed and all the rings on the counter that I was notorious for leaving wiped away. There wasn't a dish in the sink or a pot on the stove, the whole place looked like an ad for Mr. Clean.

I heard music playing lowly in the living room, was that, the Postal Service? No, it was Iron and Wine's remake of their song. Topaz sat in the corner near his dish crunching happily on his dry food. I hung up my coat and bag and set my keys down. Edward appeared in the doorway leading into the living room looking as handsome as the day was long.

"Hello love," he said warmly, brimming with smiles and ease.

"Oh, hello," I said grinning and walking toward him.

He was leaning nonchalantly against the doorframe in different clothes from this morning. He looked like he had just showered because his hair was damp and spiky and he smelled incredible. He looked down at me playfully as I wrapped my arms around his waist and kissed the bottom of his jaw sweetly.

"What's for dinner?" I asked.

"Is that it? Am I just a house wife to you?" He asked innocently.

"Of course not, you're also my whore." I teased.

He snorted a laugh, "well in that case," he hoisted me up on his hip and turned and brought me into the living room setting me down on the floor. "You know that's fantastic language for a lady." He murmured into my ear, smiling and kissing my cheek.

"Who told you I was a lady?" I called as he disappeared into the dining room for a moment.

"Happy last day of school," he said returning with two glasses of merlot, handing one to me.

"Ugh, I know." I said gratefully accepting his offering, "happy last day to you as well." I said raising my glass and clinking it with his.

Apparently, Edward and I were becoming quite the pair of wine connoisseurs; we had gotten into the habit of sharing a different bottle every Friday night. Either we were becoming quite the pair of connoisseurs or quite the pair of drunks, I hadn't decided yet. But Edward struck me as too dignified to classify as a drunk, and let's face it; I was too serious to be thrown into that category.

"I ordered Thai food. It should be here in a few minutes." He said, swallowing a sip of his wine.

"Really?" I asked happily. We rarely ordered out, but Thai food was becoming a favorite of ours.

He flashed me his crooked smile and said smoothly, "neither one of us should have to cook tonight." He held his hand out to me and nudged his head toward the couch. I eagerly grabbed it and followed him over to sit down. He sat and threw his feet up onto the enormous ottoman, leaned back and sighed contently as he slipped his arm around me. I let my head fall back on his shoulder and took a sip of my drink. It felt cool in the room, even though it was May; there was still a damp chill in the air. I glanced over at the electric fireplace longingly. I made the decision in my mind and reached for the remote and hit the button, there was a whooshing sound and within seconds, there was a roaring fire going.

"That's perfect." Edward said shutting his eyes for a moment. He turned his head in my direction and gazed at me intently with his liquid green eyes.

"What?" I asked smirking a little bit.

"Nothing, just looking at you."

"Why?"

"Because I can, you're lovely." He said dreamily.

"Edward," I said blushing and averting my eyes away from him shyly.

"I'm sorry," he chuckled, "I forgot, you can't take a compliment." He looked away from me, still smiling to himself.

"Neither can you," I joked looking over at him. He smiled more widely and peered up at me through his thick, black eyelashes.

"Well, then I take it back, you're hideous, repulsive actually."

"That's more like it."

"So what do you want to do tonight? We can do anything you want." He said cheerfully sipping the last of his wine and setting down his glass.

I thought about that for a minute? What did I want to do tonight? I'm sure there would be a lot going on at all the local campus hang outs and bars, but really, all I wanted to do was stay home and be with Edward alone.

"Would you mind terribly if we just stayed home together, please?" I asked him, falling into the trance of his presence near me.

"Nothing would make me happier love." He said softly, touching my face lightly with his fingertips. I felt chills of happiness dance up my spine. It didn't matter what form he was in or how long I knew him, Edward was always able to send my heart racing and keep my mind enthralled with him.

"You know that's very distracting." I said smiling as he moved his hand down my neck.

"I'm sorry, were you writing an essay in your head or composing some kind of important document?" He asked with his crooked smile. He was throwing the charm on mighty thick tonight, it was fantastic.

My head swam slightly from the wine and the lack of food in my stomach. "Not that I know of." I answered breathlessly; shutting my eyes as he slowly ran a finger across my collar bone.

"Then let me distract you," he whispered, lazily dropping his eyes across my face.

"Okay." I agreed dreamily.

He smiled and leaned in and kissed the edge of my jaw slowly, moving his mouth over my neck and resting his face against the indent in my clavicle. He kissed me sweetly and said almost so quietly that I couldn't hear him, "you don't know how much I love you, Bella Swan."

Just when I was about to respond to him, the moment was ruined by my stomach growling loudly. I quickly clapped my hands over it in embarrassment. Edward chuckled softly against my shoulder, his warm breath tickling against my skin. He kissed me again and sat up straight. "And that is exactly why." He said, still laughing quietly.

"Sorry," I said, blushing slightly. "I haven't eaten anything since noon."

"Food should be here soon." He informed me. "Actually," he said becoming very still for a moment, I saw his eyes look around and he turned to the front door, "it's here now." Sure enough, the doorbell rang.

We finished the bottle of wine and glutted ourselves on Thai food. You would have never believed that we were only two people with the amount of food he had ordered, and what was even more disturbing was that we finished most of it.

We sat side by side on the couch, drinking the last of the wine, our stocking feet up on the coffee table. The fire was still burning steadily and the stereo played a mixed CD lowly in the background.

"I love eating junk food with you." I said happily, turning to him.

"Me too love." He replied with a smile.

"Gym tomorrow?" I asked.

I saw a look of concern cross his face for a split second and then he quickly said, "Sure."

"Is something wrong?" I asked.

"No love," he said turning to me, "everything's fine."

"When do you want to go back to Forks?" I asked, changing the subject.

"I'm not sure." He said furrowing his brow.

"It's going to be strange not living together," I said uneasily.

"I know." He agreed.

"Maybe we don't have to be separated." I started, wringing my hands in my lap nervously.

"What are you suggesting?" He asked, looking over at me.

"Well, I mean, what if we get…an apartment together, like a studio or something. Something small since it'll only be for a couple months."

"That's quite an undertaking for such a temporary residence." He said seriously. I knew he wouldn't go for this.

"Yeah, you're probably right." I said, defeated.

He turned to me and took my hands in his, "Bella, it'll only be for a few months; I'll still see you every day, who knows? Charlie might even let you stay over on the weekends or let me stay over. It'll be alright."

"I know, but it won't be the same." I sounded like a whining child.

Edward looked sad for a moment, "I know it won't be the same. I don't like the idea of going back to us living separately either. We don't really have much of a choice though."

"Well," I said, "we did it for Christmas break, I suppose another month or two is tolerable."

"We'll have a home closer to our families soon enough love. We'll just take it one day at a time."

I nodded my head and rolled my eyes at him. "Fine, fine, one day at a time." I thought about the idea of going back to Forks. It seemed so foreign to me. I liked Forks, I missed our family, I missed the familiarity of La Push, and the woods Edward and I spent time in, but I felt like my life was different now. Everything about it, my life was here in Alaska, with my human Edward, it was like all the time we had spent in Washington was a dream. I had grown so used to him now, his warm skin, his green eyes, his ridiculous eating habits and caffeine addiction. I was finding it harder and harder to remember him as he was when I first met him; his gold eyes and glacial body, the fact that he was in actuality the biggest threat in creation to me. I don't think I could go back to not being able to touch him or he being able to touch me.

"Tell me about the first time we met." I said suddenly.

"What?" He laughed, "Why?"

"I just want to remember." I said turning my shoulder to the back of the couch and focusing all of my attention on him.

"Bella, the first time we met, the first time I saw you wasn't exactly the most heartwarming moment if you recall."

"I know, but tell me anyways."

"No. I don't want to talk about that." He said shaking his head disapprovingly.

"Well, then tell me a different story." I just wanted to hear his voice and his point of view.

He rested his chin in his hand and looked at me questioningly, his silence was deafening. He studied me as if I were some great enigma to him and smiled at me. "Shortly after you arrived in Forks, I struggled a lot about what I should do. The only thing that was drawing me to you was your scent." He explained, trying to be very pc. "Once I got your scent, then your thoughts and the fact that I couldn't hear them started to become a challenge to distract me. I made countless efforts to hear what you were thinking, and every time I failed I became frustrated and even more drawn to you."

"Yes?" I said sitting up straighter in interest.

Edward seemed a little taken aback by my curiosity and chuckled nervously, "well…then I decided again that I was leaving, for good, that I would do the right thing and leave Forks and come back once you had graduated and gone off to college somewhere. But, I didn't want to leave without seeing you again."

"So?" I pressed.

"So, I found myself in your bedroom, watching you sleep. I watched you for hours, just listening, and watching. I wanted to see what books you read, and what kind of music you listened to, but I knew I shouldn't because I didn't want to become even more attached to you than I had already become, somehow. I got up to leave, and then you spoke, in your sleep that is."

"What did I say?" I asked dreamily, knowing that it could have been any number of things.

He dropped his eyes down to the floor for a moment and then looked up at me shyly through his dark eyelashes, "you said, 'please don't leave Edward' and then you said that you loved me."

I smiled warmly at him, he had mentioned this to me once before, but to see him say it again; to reminisce about it, he looked like the proudest person in the world. Like me loving him was some kind of enormous honor, when really, I felt that his love for me was an honor.

"Kind of a creepy story isn't it?" He joked lightly.

"Why would you say that?" I asked, alarmed.

"Bella, what if you woke up and saw me? Come on, your lab partner in your bedroom watching you? And a vampire none the less, that seems a bit stalkerish doesn't it?"

"I think it's romantic."

"You've got a seriously flawed idea of what romance is."

"From the day I met you, I never felt like I was alone." I confessed, "Even if it did take you a month to finally talk to me and act like a human being."

He laughed gently and brushed a piece of hair out of my face, "I do apologize for that. It's very awkward being a teenager." He let his hand trail down my face to my shoulder, "you never were alone you know, since the first day I saw you."

"I know." I said calmly, smiling at him.