Hey guys =] Sorry for the wait. I really hate making you wait so long, I always get impatient with the slow updates of the fics I read, but I hope this chapter will make up for it.

Thanks for the reviews and please let me know what you think :)

Chapter 16:

(10.30pm)

Having hung her dress up onto a hanger and placed it in the wardrobe, she climbed into her pyjamas. She later removed her earrings one by one, setting them down on the bed-side table beside the domed lamp, which currently lit up the room with a soft but sultry glow.

All ready to turn in for the night she went to dive into bed, but a scratching sound outside her room caught her attention. It was soon followed by a rattling noise, as if someone was applying pressure to one of the heavy wooden bedroom doors. It wasn't Bella's room they were trying to force their way into though, thankfully. It was a room across the way, and although she was quite aware that it could very well have been a madman trying to brake in, she couldn't prevent her interest, as it niggled at the back of her mind.

Making her way over to the door she slowly opened it.

She poked her head around the gap, observing a male figure standing at the door opposite with his back to her, his hand was wound around the doorknob as he tried to open it, but to no avail. He turned around a second later, sensing someone was behind him.

Bella's mouth went to open as Edward turned around to face her; she should've guessed it was him. In fact subconsciously, she probably knew it was him all along, hence the reason she took a chance and opened the door in the first place.

He looked surprised at first as he saw Bella standing there before him, and after inspecting her nightly ensemble, his mouth began to twitch, curving into a small but visible smile.

"You wouldn't believe it would you" he began, and she remained tight-lipped, her face expressionless. "I can't even find my key" he turned to face the door, "I thought maybe I'd get lucky and it'd just open by itself" he swivelled the handle once again before turning back to face her. "But apparently not" his eyebrows raised as he looked at her.

"Doesn't help that there's no lights down here" his eyes noted the lamps that were attached to the sides of the walls, but were switched off for some reason. The only offered light was from outside the window up ahead, from the lamps that lit up the car park and surrounding gardens.

"Well, I'm pretty sure it's only us up here anyway" Bella responded somewhat passively. "They probably didn't think it was necessary. Save the planet and all that".

He nodded back slowly, his face now mirroring her own as he watched her intently. She was on the defensive, using that 'I can't be bothered attitude' on him, but Edward had a fair idea it was simply a front.

"Do you want to come in?" she asked after a moment. "The light's a little better in here. You might be able to find your key".

"Right … Yeah, thanks" he stuttered a little as he stepped inside, "…You know I was sure I put it in my pocket" he rummaged through his clothes as he followed her in. "Knowing my luck it's probably fallen out somewhere down the hallway" he rolled his eyes, but her meek expression failed to waver.

"How'd you even know I was out there anyway?" he questioned after she'd closed the door behind him.

"Well it wasn't like you were subtle about it. I heard someone banging on the door. It sounded like you were trying to break it down or something" her tone was accusing and her eyebrows twitched with disapproval.

He smirked a little under his breath. "Yeah well, no chance of that happening, have you seen the doors? They're solid blocks of wood. Not even a bulldozer could break that down" he lightly joked, but as her face failed to crack he frowned, turning serious.

"Are you feeling better now?" Edward changed the subject, looking deeply into her eyes.

"I'm fine" she threw her head to one-side.

"Well you didn't look fine earlier. In fact you looked like you were on the verge of passing out".

"I said I'm fine" Bella snapped at him impatiently. And he exhaled an exasperated sigh, running a hand through his already-tousled-hair as he shook his head. He hated it when they argued, particularly over such small irrelevant things.

But as her expression finally changed, her face flashing a look of horror and then sadness, Edward realised what he'd done.

As he'd raked a hand through his hair without thinking, she'd noticed his war wound, his knuckles on the one hand were slightly off-colour, blue almost, and a faint gash split down his middle finger and across the expanse of his knuckles.

"What happened?" she asked softly.

He glanced away, annoyed at his carelessness. "I was having a round with my punch bag, I missed and hit the wall" he told her, but she wasn't entirely sure whether or not she believed him, even so, she nodded back anyway.

"It hurts" she stated as she stared at it, before looking up to his face.

"Its fine" he assured her.

"You're lying".

He shrugged back. "Yeah well, so are you" he answered smartly.

Bella paused for a moment thoughtfully, after a moment or two a small smile crept onto her face, amused by the fact that he would go with the 'well two can play at this game' approach. And truthfully, he was right, she had lied, she wasn't fine at all.

Turning her back to him she walked away, heading towards the mini bar in her room, where she grabbed a glass and filled it with water.

"I don't know what I'm supposed to say to you, Bella …" he spoke out helplessly. "I blame myself, if that means anything" he added, while she busied herself with getting a drink. It was the first time they'd spoken of their affair since the night they'd been caught.

"It doesn't… because it's not your fault. Well, it's not all your fault".

"Yeah, but it was still my idea" he added, and she grasped the cup with her fingers, suddenly noticing how shaky her hand was. "If I'd have known…" his voice trailed off.

Bella frowned as she turned back to him. "If you'd have known? … What?" she questioned him, feeling her emotions starting to re-surface. She feared he was about to say, 'if I'd have known what would happen, then I wouldn't have even bothered in the first place'… Did that mean he really didn't have feelings for her then? That from the start it had been about nothing more than sex, and now, months later, sex was still all it had ever been about?

Without thinking and wound up in her state of confusion, she accidently let the cup slip through her fingers, falling to the floor with a smash. It crumbled in the water into millions of tiny pieces at her feet.

Bella flinched, startled at the sudden abrasive sound, and winced as the prickly broken pieces flicked onto her bare feet, the water producing a spray around where she stood.

"Damit" she swore under her breath, quickly bending down to pick up the shattered glass.

"Bella, don't! Just leave it!" Edward called to her as he made his way towards her.

"It's fine" she snivelled, her nose starting to run as tears pooled in her eyes.

"Don't! You're going to cut yourself!" he stood over her, but as she failed to stop messing he crouched in front of her, catching her on the wrist and forcing her to stop. "Just do as you're told will you!" he ordered, raising his voice. And her face fell at his tone. It was then that he noticed her glistening eyes.

"I'm sorry, I just… don't want you to hurt yourself" he spoke to her calmly. And after a moment he helped her up, assisting her as she stepped away from the glass and to one side.

He watched as a tear made a trace down the side of her cheek. It was torturous for Edward to be a witness to Bella's upset, and knowing there was probably very little he could do about it, only added to his own heartbreak, but he tried to make light of a bad situation. "I know you're jealous of my badass war wound, but you don't need to go competing with me", he gently tried to tease her, as he still held onto her wrists. She smiled sadly as she looked down at his hands, examining the cut through her blurry eyes.

Releasing her one wrist, Edward dried the tear down her cheek with the back of his index finger, and her eyes noticeably fluttered shut.

"I really missed you, you know" his voice hushed to her; husky but with so much longing.

She chanced a look into his eyes as she answered back. "I missed you…"

Her bottom lip fell into a pout as she looked at him, another tear seeping through her tear duct, and swimming down the side of her face.

There was nothing else to do after that, as the gap between them grew smaller and smaller, and they eventually came together in a tender but hesitant kiss.

It was fairly brief as they found themselves pulling away, looking into each others eyes whilst silent unanswered questions lingered between them. But both knew there was no going back now, and although the odds were against them, they didn't surrender to them, they followed their gut and let temptation win out.

A moan caught in the back of Bella's throat as their kiss intensified, and as his hands let go of her wrists, clasping around her waist like he claimed her, she sunk further into his embrace.

...

Bella was laid out on her back on the bed some time later, with Edward hovering above her; skin to skin. He cupped her cheek and kissed her slowly on the lips one final time, before he pulled away from her, and rest in the space by her side.

Edward breathed a heavy breath, his body was drenched and achy, and he pushed the covers down to his waist to get some air.

Running a hand through his dishevelled hair he turned his head to look at her, "Are you ok?" he asked, as she remained frozen in the same position, looking up at the ceiling like a statue. She was lost somewhere. Millions of thoughts flooding her mind over everything that had happened. The events of the past year, their agreement, the fall out, and the fact that once again she'd found herself here. One second it seemed like he was about to say they never should've started this, the next, they were in bed together.

And although she hadn't protested, it was suddenly looking extremely likely that sex was all it had ever been about… for Edward anyway.

When she failed to answer he shuffled over, stroking a finger lightly against her cheek. "Bella?" he called once again, and it was through shivering that she pulled out of her trance.

She soon nodded back, glancing to meet his eyes briefly before facing the ceiling once again.

"Talk to me" he gently persisted, and her expression flittered at that. Calmness turning to agitation. As if she was the one that needed to do the talking!

"And what exactly am I supposed to talk about Edward?" she retorted, as she pulled back to look at him with scolding eyes. "How my dad's in denial and driving me crazy about it? I'd sooner have him shout at me than live like this! You know he's trying to set me up with the porter here! As if that's going to help matters!" her emotion, a mixture of irritation and upset, sounded out, and as her voice cut short, the silence seemed even more deafening than before.

She panted heavily as her emotion exploded into verbal diarrhea.

"Sorry" Edward muttered back pathetically. She'd stumped him with that one, and he suddenly realised how lucky he'd been in having Esme' on his side. She may not have understood, but at least she'd actually acknowledged reality, rather than pushing it aside like Charlie had done these past 4 weeks.

"You know if anyone should talk around here, it's you!" she snapped at him, glaring into his eyes. That too caught him by surprise.

"Excuse me?"

"Edward, you've never talked to me! Not about anything important anyway. So unless you're just completely mindless with no opinion at all, I'm sure you can come up with at least something to say!"

"Actually I have plenty to say, thanks. But I'm not going to fight with you over this!" he huffed in exasperation, sitting up on the bed and turning away from her.

"Why not? Maybe fighting would actually solve this" she too had risen from where she lay. And as Edward was now the one who failed to answer, she shook her head in frustration. Shuffling out of bed she grabbed her night gown, wrapping it around her frame before walking back over to the broken glass.

"What are you doing?" he said as he watched her perch herself in a crouch on the floor. "I thought I told you to leave that!" he ordered her from where he sat on the bed.

"Yeah well, I chose to ignore you. There's a lot of that going around, in case you hadn't already noticed" she mocked at him in a scoff.

"Fine, go ahead and cut yourself. See if I care!"

"Fine, I will" she exaggerated a fake smile. "And maybe I'll go out with Jasper while I'm at it!"

"You go ahead and do that Bella. See if that'll make you feel any better" he drawled back, growing tired of her moods.

"Would it make you feel better?" she turned it back on him.

"What?" he asked bewildered. "Well no of course not!"

"Why!"

He shook his head at her pettiness. "The fact that you just asked me that, clearly proves you know nothing about me".

"Is it because you'd rather keep me to yourself?" she asked as she rose from where she'd crouched. "Have me as your little sex slave?"

"Excuse me!" he burst, disgusted.

"Well is it?" she challenged him.

"Is that what you think this is about? …" he looked her directly in the eye, and she shrugged back conceitedly; pursing her lips together as she folded her arms across her chest. "Well how's this for enlightenment Bella... I have my room key. It's in my back pocket" he said as he picked up his discarded trousers from off the floor, rummaging in the pocket and pulling out the key to show to her, "the same place it's been all day".

Her face frowned as he showed her the key. "What are you talking about? You said you'd lost it".

"I made it up!" he burst in exclamation. "I had my key all along. So I guess that makes me a liar as well as an ignorant bastard!"

"Why would you…"

"Why do you think Bella?" his voice began to soften. "I made it up because I knew that was the only way you'd ever let me in" he explained.

She shook her head. "That's not true" she spoke, almost stuttering the words out sheepishly. "I would've let you in if you'd have knocked".

"No you wouldn't have. I mean just look at you Bella, you're an emotional wreck. You're freaking out over your dad, you can barely even handle your feelings for me, and you're yelling at me like its going to do any good! It's not, it only makes things worse."

She laughed half-heartedly. "You say it like you know all the answers".

He shrugged as if to say, 'well maybe I do for once'. "I may not be an open book, and I can see why that would be frustrating for you, and I'm sorry, but I can certainly read you like one now…

…Bella" he sighed as he walked towards her; cupping her chin to make her look at him. "Don't try and push me away, because it won't work," tears pooled in her eyes at his words. "No matter how much you yell at me, or accuse me of things, I'll still be here… I can't keep being your punch bag though. Arguing won't do anyone any good. We need to stick together in this now".

"I don't understand what you're saying to me." she sobbed; feeling herself growing increasingly emotional through her state of exhaustion and confusion.

But Edward understood exactly what she needed to hear. "I'm saying … that I love you" he finally revealed, and she very nearly choked on her tears at that, she was so happy. "I'm saying that, I've been going out of my mind this past month, insane with worry over you! And no matter how much I tried to forget it, it just made things worse. Hell I even went as far as punching the wall, just because I was so angry with myself for being the cause of all of this! And I'm sorry, but I'm not sorry enough to have ever stopped being with you. Maybe I would've changed some thing's, been more honest and opened my eyes long before this all blew up, but I'd never want to change our time together. Not for anything".

She smiled as she wept, biting on her lip as she listened to him. "You said … you love me" she reiterated after a moment.

And he reaffirmed with a small smile. "I do".

Her hand cupped her mouth as she cried, overwhelmed. And a moment later she'd thrown her arms around his neck, hugging him tight. "I love you… And I'm sorry". She wasn't sure why she was apologising, maybe for yelling at him earlier perhaps? But it didn't matter; he'd just spoken the three words she'd longed to hear. She'd spent so long thinking it was nothing more than a pipe dream to hear him say it back, but apparently not. Her wish had been granted after all.

"Why are you apologising?" he chuckled a little as he rubbed her back.

"Because I've been so horrible to you" she managed to wail, in the process trying not to suffocate herself at the hand of her heightened emotion. "Yelling at you and ignoring you. I don't know how you could even love a person like that," her words murmured in his ear.

Edward took her shoulders in his hands, encouraging Bella to look at him. "It's not hard to love you Bella" he told her. "In fact it's the easiest and most beautiful feeling I've ever felt … I just wasn't sure if you felt the same way".

"I thought that was obvious" she replied sheepishly as she smiled.

"Well, apparently I'm not as observant as I thought" he nodded, pulling an awkward face, "In fact; it was Tanya that literally had to drill it into me. She wasn't wrong when she called me 'hopeless'" he rolled his eyes before snickering softly.

A small lopsided smile crossed Bella's lips. "Good old Tanya hey".

And he mimicked back her expression. "I know you hate her Bella, but if it wasn't for her, we probably wouldn't be here right now".

"I don't hate her Edward… I wish I was more like her actually" she told him honestly.

But he failed to hesitate in his answer. "I don't," and his face turned thoughtful at her words.

"Really?"

"Well if I did, I'd be going out with Tanya right now, not you" he gladly informed her. And she nodded back, cheeks blushing.

"True".

Edward smiled in adoration, resting two fingers beneath her chin to angle her face as he tenderly kissed her. A second later, he swooped her up into his arms when she wasn't expecting it. Bella yelped in delighted surprise, as he whisked her off her feet.

Taking her over to the bed he set her down, lying himself beside her and kissing her on the lips.

"You know, this would be completely perfect, if I wasn't so scared of reality" she hushed to him, as they lay on their sides face to face.

"You mean Charlie?" his smile dimmed a little.

Bella nodded back. "I don't know what he's going to say to this" her eyes once again glistened with threatening tears.

Once again Edward felt deflated, but not over Charlie, over Bella's heartbreak and constant worry. He now made it his mission to solve this. "Me neither… but I'll talk to him. I know you wouldn't think it, but it might be better coming from me".

"What will you say?" she asked cautiously. Not entirely down with the idea of having Edward talk to Charlie. She knew Edward would be gentle about it, given the precariousness of the situation, but still, Edward could be as soft and as gentle as a feather, yet Charlie was still potentially a time bomb waiting to happen… who was to know how Charlie would react after all this time? Dredging up a moment in time he quite clearly wished to avoid.

Only time would tell with that one. But Bella appreciated Edward's willingness and determination to set things straight. She could see it in his eyes.

"The obvious, that I'm crazy in love with his daughter, and if he doesn't give me a chance, I'll … I'll chain myself to you" he joked, trying to make her feel better.

She laughed back at that. "Well I can think of worse things" she smirked softly. And his smile grew broad in amusement.

With heavy eyes she tried to stifle a yawn, but failed miserably as he immediately detected it. "You should get some sleep".

"I'm not tired".

"Again with the lies!" he smartly pointed out; teasing her.

"Fine" she relented with a smile. "So maybe I am… I just don't want to close my eyes".

"Don't fight it Bella. I'm right here" he sensed her insecurities, and wound an arm around her waist, pulling her close. She shuffled into the warmth of his chest. "See, you can still feel me, even if you can't see me with your eyes closed. I'm still here".

She smiled as her eyes fluttered shut.

"Edward?" she spoke drearily. "Will you promise me something?" she opened once again.

"Anything".

"Promise you'll still be here tomorrow, when I wake up ... Every time I've ever woken up you've been gone. Promise that won't happen again".

"I promise" Edward said softly, as he kissed her lightly on the nose. And satisfied with his answer, she let sleep lure her into a bout of peacefulness…