A/N: So, here's the new chapter. Sorry it took me so long to update. This was sort of difficult to write. Hope you enjoy it!

So, it seems like most of you like either pancakes or blueberry muffins or toasts for your breakfast. Coffee seems to be the common favourite too!

Hello to new readers. Thanks to the following for the favourites, alerts and reviews: AshAllred, stumblegina, asnandara, ElvenQueenOfMirkwood, bliss14, jediahsokaroxx, Amyytje, skinnercube, Luereetwilitejunki, evelinapalm, Lily, shira01, Sam, Navygirl14, Valenid.

Chapter 31:

Edward

I had never in my life, been so much frustrated, relieved and aroused, all at the same time, within the span of mere twelve hours. I was frustrated because of the mixed signals that Bella had been giving me. For instance, when I showed up at her house to pick her up for work, I expected her to show at least some sort of enthusiasm. Instead, she had narrowed her eyes and said I shouldn't have bothered.

I had been relieved when she had actually accepted the ride to work. Spending the thirty-minute long ride from her house to her workplace, within a confined space with her was gradually becoming a favourite of mine.

And then the first glance I had of Bella this morning involved her wearing a bathrobe, of all things, which did nothing to tame my less-than noble thoughts that had been circulating my mind for some time now. The robe was nothing scandalous, no. It came up to her knees and the sleeves were short. However, for some reason, her pale white legs sticking out from beneath her bathrobe was more tantalizing than when they were exposed by the usual skirts she wore at work. The way her long, wavy hair fell over her shoulders; the way her hair colour seemed darker than usual as a result of being wet from the shower; the way the bathrobe clung her slim hips – all these acute observations were causing blood to rush to my… nether regions.

Then, while we were at traffic, her little attempt at dazzling me, for lack of a better word, was causing more tightening of my pants. I had a sick and scary feeling that she was aware of that fact.

Finally, the little stunt she pulled outside her house was frustrating enough to make me spontaneously combust. When she leaned in closer, I was assaulted with the smell of her strawberry shampoo and something that was entirely Bella. My palms were slick with sweat from grabbing the steering wheel so hard that I barely noticed them gliding down silently until they landed on my legs noisily. I could tell that the noise had startled her because she pulled back immediately, leaving my cheek blazing from the touch of her lips.

I drove off of her neighbourhood, with a small smile gracing the corner of my lips.

As I neared my apartment in Brooklyn, I noticed one of those moving vans parked outside that transported furniture and other household objects when people shifted houses. Hmm, so a new tenant was moving in.

As I walked up the stairs and reached my floor, I saw a few carton boxes lined up in front of the flat across from mine. Great, I thought dryly. That probably meant the crazy cat lady living next door had finally moved out. I wondered who was taking her place.

I got my answer the next morning when I was locking my apartment door before heading out for work. I heard movement behind me and turned to see a young girl standing there in the hallway. She looked no more than twenty, had strawberry blonde hair that was pulled into a ponytail that sat atop her golden head. Her white shorts and pale pink tank-top were the skimpiest of workout gear I had ever seen a woman wear. Clearly, she was back from her morning jog. She had her pink iPod fitted in an armband on her bare arm and she had the earphones on.

As she approached me, she took off her earphones and put on a big smile. I mentally rolled my eyes.

"Hey, there. I am your new neighbour. I just moved in last night," she offered, while checking me out from head to toe. As her eyes finally rested on my face again, I swear I saw her batting her eyelashes at me. Please. Could she be more obvious?

I nodded curtly, gave her a fake tight-lipped smile and finished locking my door. As I was about to walk past her, she tried again to engage me in some sort of conversation. "I'm Tanya, by the way. And you are?" she asked, cocking her head to one side in a gesture that was supposedly meant to be endearing.

I sighed and decided this poor girl didn't have to endure my wrath just because she was inept at flirting. I forced another smile and said, "Nice to meet you, Tanya. I'm Edward." This time, I successfully managed to walk past her and down the stairs. I have had too many of these similar encounters with women to get pissed off anymore.

As I started my car, I could literally feel my skin buzzing in excitement for seeing Bella again. It was then that I suddenly came to the conclusion that I relied so much on her company nowadays, that I couldn't imagine not having her by my side. I felt like my sanity, my attempts on re-living my life again would crumple into dust if she ever decided to walk out from my life. That thought caused me to shudder momentarily.

After munching on one of Renee's (she insisted I stop calling her Mrs. Swan) homemade pancakes, Bella and I headed off for work.

"So, what's new?" she asked as we stopped at traffic.

I shrugged once nonchalantly and decided to tell her the truth, just to gauge her reaction. "My old neighbour, the crazy cat lady, moved out and a new one moved in next door."

"Oh," she said, in a politely interested tone. "So, have you met the new neighbour yet?"

"Actually, I did. Just this morning," I said.

"Oh, really? So, what's he like?" she pressed on.

"It's a girl. Her name is Tanya," I said, feeling my lips twitch as a smile threatened to break across my face. I waited impatiently for her to react in some way.

Bella sucked in a breath of air and I glanced her way once to see something flash across her eyes. Her cheeks turned pale pink and she gasped once more before recovering herself. It all happened within a few seconds. Soon, she was back to her normal self, but I could see that she was trying way too hard to maintain a neutral expression on her face and a cool composure.

"Okay," she replied in meek voice, as she inspected her chipped fingernails. "That's….um, nice. I suppose she will be a lot more fun than the crazy cat lady, huh?" She put on a plastic smile that didn't reach her eyes.

I couldn't help it anymore. I burst out laughing. In between my fits of laughter, I registered a look of complete shock, which was followed by one of annoyance, on Bella's pale features. That made me chortle more.

Narrowing her confused eyes and creasing her forehead, she asked, "What's so funny?"

I shook my head and continued paying attention to the road ahead of me. She seemed to get more irritated by my lack of response. "Let me guess. You remembered some joke your hot new neighbour girl shared with you?"

This time, I turned my eyes towards her and let them linger for more than a few seconds. "You look adorable when you're jealous, has anyone ever told you that?"

Bella turned her gaze towards the window on her side, while running her hands through her hair. "Honestly? No. I have never had any reason to be jealous of anyone else before."

Her voice was so quiet and sounded so much unlike her usual, cheerful self that I got instantly worried that I had somehow made her upset. "I was just messing with you, Bella. Actually, you being jealous was a huge turn-on…"

I clamped my mouth shut before I said something else that would cause me further humiliation.

I counted up to thirty in my head, let out a deep breath before speaking again. "Let's just forget I said that."

Now it was her turn to shrug. With her cheeks burning bright red this time, she said, "If you say so."

---------------------------------------------x------------------------------------------------

After work, I enthusiastically drove to the orphanage as I sensed the now familiar excitement build up inside me. I got there by three o'clock and the kids started the game within ten minutes. I tried to pay attention to every single player and the goalkeeper as well as kept an eye on the ball as the energetic kids kicked the poor thing back and forth. Like always, I, being the coach, also acted as the referee. I had divided up the teams A and B, containing both strong and weak players. The game went smoothly, since it was being played by eleven-year olds, but it did a get a little rough at certain points. The team B captain, Tim, committed a penalty foul by tripping a team A striker. So team A were awarded a direct free kick. Team B won with 3 goals.

After having a quick chat with little Tim, where I explained him that injuring an opponent player does not make one a stronger player, I headed to the supply room where I was stowing in the football. That's when I felt little hands tug mine and I turned to find Paige, the goalkeeper of team B. She reached out her other hand, in which she was holding a loose sheet of paper.

"Coach Cullen? I was asked to give you this."

I smiled at her in thanks. While she sauntered off, I opened the folded piece of paper.

The game went well, I suppose? The kids look pleased.

And yes, I am aware that we are in fact, in the 21st century, and I could easily text you. But where's the fun in that?

Busy teaching your soccer players factorizations,

Bella.

P.S The truth is I have never passed a note like this, ever, in my life. I just wanted to know what it feels like.

I laughed out loud at her sweet and charming gesture. After locking up the supply room, I headed off towards Bella's classroom, hoping I wouldn't run into Sister Charlotte now.

As I neared her classroom, I saw that all the students had changed their soccer uniforms for their regular school clothes. They sat at their desks, listening patiently to their teacher, or at least pretending to. Bella had her back towards the door I was standing at and she was scrawling continuously on the blackboard hung in front of her.

As I looked properly, I realized she was writing down some mathematical problems for the students to solve. Before she finished writing, I turned towards the students who were all gaping at me, their math problems clearly forgotten. I placed my index finger on my lips and gestured them to remain quiet. I entered the classroom noiselessly, walked towards the back of the room and sat down on one of the last row seats. My long legs felt cramped beneath the desks but somehow I managed to remain still.

Finally, Bella turned to face the classroom and her eyes turned as big as saucers when she finally noticed my presence. The children giggled at her reaction.

Her expression changed from shock, to that of amusement as I noted how her lips twitched at the ridiculous sight of a grown man occupying seats meant for eleven-year-olds. Then her face settled with an annoyed look as the students continued to disrupt the quietness of the classroom.

"Now, quiet everyone! You have twenty minutes to finish this task," she said, pointing her thumb behind her towards the blackboard. I bit the insides of my cheeks to keep myself from laughing. She was delightful when she was all stern and authoritative like that.

The students went to work on their math problems, but they continued sparing me fleeting glances full of curiosity. I just grinned at them and motioned them to keep working. During that time, I noticed Bella intentionally avoided meeting my eyes.

After all of them had submitted their notebooks to Miss Swan, Tim, the little devil on whom I had imparted some wisdom a short while ago, decided to it was my turn to be grilled by a teacher.

"Miss Swan? Don't you think Coach Cullen should solve some problems, since he's here in class, with all of us?" Tim began.

I saw a slow smile creeping upon Bella's face. Of course she would enjoy this. "Yes. Absolutely. Coach Cullen, would you mind getting up please?" She snorted once at my title.

I tried to remove my limbs from the confinements of the wooden desk. It was a rather awkward task. When I finally stood, my knees hit the top of the desk and I had to hold on the corner of that very desk to remain steady. The entire class erupted into a fit of laughter. Bella tried very hard to keep a straight face. I felt ridiculous.

Thankfully, that was when the bell rang and all the children rushed towards the door to celebrate the end of yet another school day. It seemed that I was saved by the bell. How clichéd.

Bella stood there awkwardly, wringing her hands, still trying hard not to meet my gaze. I stood between the desk and the bench, my knees aching in the cramped space but I ignored it. I began, "So, am I off the hook? Or do I need to answer some math questions?" I raised an eyebrow quizzically.

She finally locked her eyes with mine for a second before looking away. "Sorry about that note," she said and cleared her throat once. "It was childish and impulsive," she said with her eyes fixed on her hands.

I sighed once audibly and walked towards where she stood. I stopped a few inches from her and lifted her chin with my thumb and forefinger so that she could meet my eyes.

"I thought the gesture was rather endearing," I said.

Just as I had expected, a blush began creeping up on her neck as she ducked her head in embarrassment.

Taking a deep breath, I closed in the distance between us but not touching completely. Bella instinctively looked up and took a step backward. "No, really. It was a very immature move to make and I…" she began babbling. I kept walking towards her, while she, consciously or not, kept retreating backwards until her back hit the blackboard.

"Sshh," I whispered while moving a stray lock of hair from her temple. As expected, her eyes fluttered close at my first touch. I leaned in closer until my nose nuzzled against her cheek. She turned her head slightly and whimpered. That noise encouraged to continue. With my hands placed gently but firmly on her slim hips, I tilted my head to one side and kept leaning towards her…..

"Someone might walk-in on us," she whispered, her voice sounding breathless like she had been panting. She gulped loudly and her breathing grew erratic as I delayed my actions. Finally, I dipped my head and lightly grazed my lips against hers.

I remained still, while my heart pounded away like crazy. My lips lingered on hers, not moving. Slowly, gently, I moved my lips against hers and she followed my lead. Her hands, that had been limp on her side moved up on their own accord and tangled themselves in my hair. As her lips moved at a painstakingly slow pace against mine, her hands tugged and pulled the strands of my hair. I was mortified when I noticed the noises that were coming out from the back of my throat.

After what seemed like hours, I leisurely raised one of my hands and placed it on her chin. Gently, holding her chin, I urged her to open her mouth. She realized what I was trying to do and complied. My knees nearly gave away when she reached out her tongue tentatively to collide with mine. I kissed her with newfound fervour and was rewarded when she responded with a breathy moan. Then, to give both of the chance to breathe, I reluctantly moved my mouth from hers and began kissing my way down to her jaw and along her cheekbone. Bella kept whimpering and tightened her grip on my hair in response.

I lifted my head and was surprised, yet secretly pleased to see that her hair was a tangled mess, her cheeks were flushed and she was gasping for air. Yet again, she was trying her best to avoid my gaze. I was having none of that.

I leaned in and touched my forehead with hers. I, too was out of breath. I could see the depthless pools of her eyes. But something seemed different. Her eyes now held a spark that I had never seen before.

"No one comes in here after class is over," I replied. My voice trembled embarrassingly.

"Huh?" she asked as she raised her eyes to meet mine. It didn't escape my notice that her hands were still wound around my shoulders.

"You asked someone might walk-in. I said that there's no chance of that happening since the supervisors don't come in until after sunset to clean the rooms and lock them up for the night." I marvelled at how coherent my words sounded. I was astonished that my brain had the ability to conjure up that much information after such a mind-numbing make-out session.

"Oh, that." I felt rather than saw the familiar blush on her cheeks. I could feel the heat from where I stood.

"So," I began, in hopes of making her comfortable, well, as comfortable as possible with her arms around me and my hands on her hips, "Will I be quizzed by Miss Swan now? I am afraid my math isn't that polished." I chuckled nervously to add to that effect.

With a smile that almost blinded me, she replied, "That won't be necessary. Your other, uh, skills are impressive enough."

Have you passed notes at school/college?

Keep the reviews coming, people! You know they are always appreciated. Even if you think this story sucks and I should do something else to occupy my time, please tell me so!

Fic recommendation: "Awake In The Infinite Cold" by quothme and "How To Save A Life" by .

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