Another short one. We'd thank MaggieMay14 (even though we forgot to send it to her) and smmiskimen (for doing this in like an hour)

We don't own Twilight; Risbee doesn't own 'Toots Magic Ride' yet. It's delayed to tomorrow. LOL

Chapter Song: Everybody Hurts by REM

EPOV

It had been a long day and an even longer week. Being apart from Bella was ten times harder than I thought it would be. Sure, we communicated in some way every day, either by phone, email, text or Skype, but it wasn't the same. It wasn't like I could just reach over and touch her soft skin, or curl up with her on the couch, nuzzling my nose into the nape of her neck and kissing her. I missed the constant contact with her, but more than anything, I just missed her.

Being in love was turning me into a sappy shit.

I finished my music history class and made my way to the parking lot so I could head home and get some rest. I hadn't had a good night's sleep since we came back from the coast and I knew it was because of the lack of Bella beside me in bed. She was like my own personal sleeping pill.

When I got to my car, I tossed my bags in the backseat and felt my phone buzzing in my pocket. A huge smile broke out on my face when I saw that the incoming call was from Bella.

"Hey beautiful," I answered as I heard a giggle on the other end of the phone.

"Hey yourself."

"To what do I owe the pleasure?" I asked, somewhat formally, as I threw my head back and hit it on my headrest. I felt like such a doofus when I talked to her on the phone, like I was different than I was at the beach. "Or um...just hi." Ah shit, I could feel a hiccup coming on.

"Hi...again," she said with a small laugh as I pressed my hand against my chest, hoping to tame my hiccups. "I just wanted to know what was going on with you. I'm in between classes today."

"Don't you spend all your time in the studio coming up with brilliant masterpieces of art?"

"Usually yes, though I'm not sure I would call them brilliant these days. I have classes all day on Wednesday and a lot of the rest of my time is studio time."

"I wish I had four days off a week," I replied with a laugh.

"If only it was so easy," Bella replied and I could sense a hint of hesitation in her voice. "I haven't been able to focus since I got back."

"What's wrong?" I was genuinely concerned for her, because even while we had been away, she had been sketching ideas for works and telling me excitedly about things she wanted to get done when she got back to school. Yet, now that she was there, it seemed like everything was at a standstill.

"I did all these sketches and had all these grand plans for some great concepts, but the moment I got myself all prepped to do something, I froze."

"Are you alright?" There was a brief pause and then I could hear sniffling in the background. I dropped my forehead to the steering wheel and let out a quiet sigh. "Please don't cry, baby."

"I miss you sooo much, Edward."

"I miss you too, more than you could ever realize."

"I didn't think it was going to be this hard, ya know?"

"Yeah, I know, baby."

"When can I see you again?" she asked quietly as I let out a groan. I had agreed to help out the school board on the Monday of Labor Day and now I regretted it. There were funding cuts across the district and I was desperate to keep my student teaching position, that's why. There was no way I wanted to go work with some people I barely liked when I could possibly go visit Bella.

"I already have a thing for Labor Day, but let me see if I can get out of it," I replied as I heard Bella sniggle again and my heart literally plummeted in my chest.

"Don't worry about it, Edward. If you have something planned then its fine. We'll figure out something soon, right?"

I spent the next few minutes reassuring Bella as much as I could before she had to head into her next class. I promised that I would call her later in the evening and we would try and review our schedules and find time to get together, and she seemed placated, for the moment. However, I wasn't sure when the hell I would get to see her next. I hated the uncertainty.

As I drove back to the apartment I shared with Peter, I decided the only logical thing to do was to cancel the plans I had on Labor Day and head down to Chapel Hill to see her. I didn't have class on the Friday, and we had the Monday off, so I could literally spend 4 days completely wrapped around her, if she would let me, that is.

When I walked in the door of the apartment, I could see the back of Peter's head as he sat on the couch. Unfortunately for me, he didn't hear me.

"No Char, I promise...no Kleenex. I have a towel to clean up the mess," Peter uttered, as I noticed he sounded a bit nervous. I put my bag on the floor as I walked towards the fridge to grab a drink, I heard him moan.

Oh shit.

"Dude... No..." I shouted out as I accidently let go of the beer I had grabbed and the bottle fell to the floor, shattering into a thousand pieces. Peter jumped up from the couch, shoving his dick back in his pants, which thankfully I didn't see, and promised Charlotte he would call her back. "You have your own bedroom, man."

"I didn't think you would be home."

"So that makes it alright to jerk off in the living room?" Peter shrugged his shoulders and my mouth fell open. "New rule – no jerking off in common areas. No fucking in them either. It's just gross."

"Fine," Peter replied in frustration as he made his way to his room and shut the door. I headed back into the kitchen to clean up the mess I had made when I realized something important - I wanted to have sex with Bella all over the common areas of our apartment.

I was totally breaking that rule whenever she got to visit me.