A/N: So I've been a bit slow updating again…sorry about that! I'm going to try and finish this story in the next two weeks. My new story is playing more games in my mind and I'm finding it difficult to keep the story lines separate at the moment.

Happy reading!

Chapter 30

EPOV

After a gloriously long shower together we gathered our belongings and headed to the lobby so Bella could check out. I stood off to the side while Bella paid the bill, then carried her bags to her rental car.

"Does it make sense to take your stuff to my place now?" I asked. I was looking forward to seeing Bella in my house, even if it wasn't going to be mine for long.

"I guess so," she replied. "How far is it from here?"

"Given that it's already ten o'clock, traffic should be fairly light so only about fifteen minutes," I told her.

"Ok," she said. "I'll pull in front and wait for you to come past and I'll follow you."

I walked quickly to my Volvo and slid behind the wheel. I drove slowly past the front of the hotel, flashing my headlights at Bella's rental so she knew it was me. I checked my rearview mirror and she pulled out behind me.

Fifteen minutes later we were pulling into my driveway. I grabbed my stuff from my car and went to help Bella with hers.

"It's ok," she said, shooing my hand away. "You need to get the door."

I quickly unlocked the door and turned off the alarm then turned to hold the door open for Bella. I watched her face as she walked in. My place wasn't fancy, but it was nice, and it was home. At least until I met Bella and wanted to leave all this behind just to be with her, I thought.

She smiled at the framed family portrait hanging above the hall table. It had been taken about five years earlier. My mother was dressed in a gorgeous cream sweater and my father in a pale blue shirt, with us three 'kids' wearing similar shirts – mum's idea. They were a blue and cream stripe – Emmett's had quite chunky stripes, mine was blue with cream pinstripes and Alice's was cream with some weird blue geometric pattern all over it.

"That's such a cute photo," she said, leaning in closer. "I love how you all match!"

"That was Esme's idea," I informed her. "Alice, of course, went right along with it. Carlisle and Emmett and I just humoured them both."

"Well I think it's cute," she stated, stretching up and kissing me on the tip of my nose. "Where should I put my stuff?"

"That all depends on where you want to sleep…" I trailed off.

"I was hoping I'd be sharing your bed," she said, looking confused and somewhat disappointed.

"I was hoping that too," I said softly, putting my bags down and wrapping my arms around her. "But I didn't want to be presumptuous."

"Silly boy," she mumbled, shaking her head against my chest. "Now lead the way!"

I snuck in a quick kiss before releasing her and leading the way to my bedroom.

"Wow, this is nice," she said as we walked through the door.

"It's nothing special," I mumbled, all of a sudden feeling shy.

"What's wrong?" Bella asked, placing her bag next to the door and reaching for my hand.

I quickly put my things down and led her over to sit on the end of the bed. "This is kind of lame…"

"You can tell me," she said warmly, turning to face me.

"I've lived here for almost six years, and you're the first woman I've had in my room," I blurted out.

A wide smile crept across Bella's face. "That's not lame Edward," she told me. "It's sweet." She kicked off her shoes and wriggled back until she was leaning against my pillows.

I laughed as I followed suit. "Making yourself comfortable?" I asked as I snuggled in beside her.

"I have a question, you don't have to answer it if you don't want to…" she looked at me to gauge my reaction.

"What do you want to know?" I was curious.

"If you've lived here for six years and never had a woman in your room…" she trailed off.

I let out a mocking laugh at my own expense. "Yes, Bella, I've pretty much lived the life of a monk."

We lay there for the next hour and I filled her in on the whole Stephenie saga. How it wasn't working, how she dumped me that day at the airport, how when I got back her stuff was gone, along with my bed. How I started looking for a new place to live almost straight away. How this place came up and I moved in without a bed.

"So, you've only ever slept in this bed alone?" Bella asked.

"Just me," I answered, kissing her gently.

"How does a guy like you stay single and celibate for six years?" she wondered aloud.

I laughed again and squeezed her tight against me. "I just wasn't interested in getting hurt again."

"But you've taken a chance on me – why aren't you afraid I'll hurt you?" she countered.

"There's just something about you Bella – I trust you. And we've made it work long distance so far. It just feels…right," I finished lamely.

We lay there in silence for a while, just looking at each other, until her phone started playing 'Full Moon' by the Black Ghosts. But she made no move to get up.

"You going to answer that? I might have to kick you out of bed," I teased.

"It's not a call – it's my alarm. Letting me know it's 11:30 and you should be getting ready for work," she replied, snuggling closer.

"I'll be home before you know it…which reminds me, I'd better get you the spare keys so you can go out and come back," I said, squeezing her once more before I stood up. "What?" I asked. Bella was looking at me like she was trying not to laugh.

"You look like a bum – your clothes are all wrinkly!" she teased with a giggle.

"Well that's your fault for making me lay on the bed," I shot back. "I guess I'll just have to get changed," I teased, slowly unbuttoning my shirt.

Bella was off the bed in a flash. "Perhaps you'd like some help?" she suggested, looking up at me through her eyelashes.

I groaned. "Bella, as much as I'd love you to help, I really do need to go in to work soon. You can help when I get home?" I offered.

Too late. My shirt was unbuttoned and my pants were around my ankles. When did she do that? I wondered.

"Sounds like a plan," she said with a smile, sitting back down on the bed. She rolled over onto her stomach and looked out the window. "Looks like there's a storm coming – would you mind if I spent the day here?"

I'd gone into my walk-in robe while Bella was talking to grab a fresh shirt and trousers. "Of course I don't mind if you spend the day here – I want you to feel comfortable," I said as I walked out.

I dressed quickly and grabbed a tie, moving into the ensuite to make sure I didn't look like I'd been sleeping.

Bella was sitting on the end of my bed when I walked back into the bedroom. I pulled her to her feet and hugged her tightly.

"I'll be home before six," I whispered into her hair.

She walked with me to the front door. "Hang on, keys," I said to her, walking back to my computer desk in the living room. I opened the drawer and reached into the cavity, pulling out the spare set of house keys. I walked back to Bella and placed them in her hand. "The alarm code is Alice's birthday backwards," I whispered in her ear.

She reached up and pulled me down for a tender kiss before letting me go and straightening my shirt and tie. "Have a good day at work," she said with a smile.

"I'll call you when I'm leaving the office," I replied, dropping one more small kiss on her lips as I headed out the door.

BPOV

I stood in the doorway and waved to Edward as he left for work. Once he drove off, I stepped back inside and closed the door, making sure I locked it before I walked away.

I moved over to the stereo, hitting the play button on the CD player. 'Revelry' by Kings of Leon came through the speakers and I smiled. He has good taste in music, I thought to myself as I opened the door of the small cabinet under the stereo. I sat on the floor and looked through Edward's CD collection. The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Chopin, Mozart, AC/DC, Aerosmith…his music was nothing short of eclectic.

I stood and stretched and looked out the window. The storm clouds were more dense than before and the wind had picked up. As I watched, the clouds broke open and the rain started falling.

Wandering into the kitchen, I poked through the fridge and cupboards. Edward had said he would cook dinner for me, but I wanted to surprise him with a hot meal when he got home. Am I turning into June Cleaver? I wondered to myself with a snort.

As I closed the fridge I thought I heard my phone ringing from Edward's room. I ran to answer it, recognising the ring tone as Alice's when I got closer.

"Hey you!" I greeted her as I picked up.

"Hey you yourself! How's it all going?" she chirped back at me.

I filled her in on the last day and a bit, from when I told Edward I was in Chicago right up until he left for work.

"It's such a fairy tale!" she squealed. I could just picture her clapping her hands and jumping up and down on the spot.

"There is one other thing…" I started.

"Did he say he loves you?" she asked breathlessly.

"He…what? How did you know that?" I was slightly peeved that Alice had stolen my thunder.

"I could see it on his face when you two were together here in Seattle," she said simply. "And I could also see it on yours…did you say it back?"

I blushed as I told her yes.

"I'm so happy for you guys Bella. I can't wait until Edward moves here and we can all go out together and stuff!" Alice's enthusiasm for little things was one of the things I loved most about her.

I jumped as there was a massive crack of thunder. "Al, I better go," I told her. "There's a massive storm about to hit. I'll call you tomorrow?"

"Okey day! Have fun!" she said as we hung up.

I stuck my phone in the pocket of my jeans and headed back to the kitchen to make myself some lunch. I settled on a ham, cheese and mayo sandwich with a glass of juice and ate at the small breakfast bar. I washed my dishes when I was finished and put them away.

I moved back into the living room where the CD had stopped, and changed it over for Billy Joel. I started dancing around the living room, singing 'Uptown Girl' at the top of my lungs, then stopped abruptly when I realised I was in Edward's house, not mine.

I browsed through his book collection and was delighted and surprised to find all seven of the Harry Potter books on the shelves. I picked one up at random and sat down in the recliner. I reached up to turn on the lamp and buried my nose in the book while the storm raged outside.

I must have dozed off at some point because my phone ringing in my pocket made me jump. It was Edward.

"Herro?" I slurred.

"Did you fall asleep?"? he joked.

"I don't remember it, but I must have," I replied, stretching and then moving the recliner into the upright position.

"Let me guess – you sat in the recliner with a book and dozed off? I've done it a million times," he told me.

"Yeah, that's about right," I admitted.

"Well, I'm just about done here, so I should be home in about forty minutes. I just wanted to let you know so you didn't think someone was breaking in or anything when I get there," he teased.

I looked at the clock on the wall above the TV. It was just after 5. "Ok, so I'll see you around a quarter to six then?"

"I can't wait to come home to you Bella," he said softly.

"I'll be here, I promise," I replied as we hung up.

I jumped up off the recliner and put Harry back on the shelf. I quickly brushed my hair and washed my face to make myself presentable then headed to the kitchen to make dinner.

I pulled a couple of steaks out of the freezer and stuck them in the microwave to defrost. I dug through the cupboards to find a frying pan and ended up settling for the George Foreman grill. I plugged it in and let it warm up while the steaks finished defrosting. The microwave pinged just as the grill clicked to ready, so I quickly laid the steaks on the bottom plate and closed the top, setting the timer for 20 minutes.

I set the table and threw together a salad while the steaks were cooking. At 5:35 the timer on the grill went off and I checked the steaks. Still a little too bloody, I decided, setting the time for a further 10 minutes.

I ran into the living room and put Mozart in the CD player, letting it play while I finished dinner. I heard the automatic garage door open ten minutes later, just as the timer went off for the second time. I checked the steaks again and decided they were done.

I served up two plates with salad on the side, and finished off quickly by smothering the steaks in a hickory sauce I found in the pantry.

"Honey, I'm home!" Edward hollered from the living room. I heard him drop his briefcase and keys. "Something smells good!"

I felt his arms circle my waist from behind as I pulled a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon out of the pantry cupboard and uncorked it.

"What's the occasion?" he whispered in my ear.

"I just wanted to spoil my boyfriend after a hard day at work," I said, smiling as I turned to face him. "Shall we eat?"

We sat and talked about different things while we ate. I complemented Edward on his music collection and he complemented my dinner.

"I'm curious, Bella," he said as he placed his wine glass back on the table. "Which book were you reading when you fell asleep?"

I giggled. "Promise you won't laugh?"

"That's all the answer I need – Harry Potter!" he exclaimed.

"Got it in one," I responded dryly.

"It's nothing to be ashamed of – I own them, after all," he said soothingly.

We finished dinner and washed up together.

"I do have a dishwasher, you know," he said to me as I wiped down the countertop.

"I know – this way we get to spend domestic time together. My mum always said it was important to spend time together while doing the boring stuff. We used to fold the laundry together on a Sunday night," I told him.

He smiled as I threw the sponge into the sink. "Maybe that's a tradition we can carry on once I move?"

I stopped and looked at him. "Edward, what are you saying?"

"Oh God, Bella, no! I'm not asking you to move in, if that's what you think…" he started rambling. A look of disappointment must have crossed my face because he kept going. "I mean, it's not that I don't love you, because I do. And it's not that I don't want to spend as much time as possible with you once I move, because I do…"

I cut him off by placing my finger on his lips. "Shush," I told him.

"All I meant was, maybe we can have 'domestic time' after dinner when you come over or something," he clarified.

"That sounds wonderful," I said with a smile. "And so does soaking in that gigantic bathtub in the main bathroom with you and the rest of that wine!"

"I'll go turn the water on, you bring the wine," he replied, yanking at his tie as he headed for the bathroom.