The Learning Curve: Chapter 106

Hanover, New Hampshire

The campus visit was great. I basically followed Esme and Edward along, letting them ask all the questions because they seemed to know just which ones to ask. We saw residence halls, libraries, academic halls, fitness facilities, and ate lunch in one of the campus dining halls.

By the time we finished, we were too exhausted to do much more than eat a light dinner and head up to our rooms. Edward, of course, wasn't too exhausted to creep over to my room and make mischief under my bed covers.

The next morning, Edward left my room so late that I was terrified his mother had noticed him missing from his own room. If she did, however, she didn't say anything when we met in the hotel restaurant for breakfast. Esme was meeting an old friend to catch up, so Edward and I were free to go alone to our potential apartment.

As soon as we walked up to the building, I was squeezing Edward's hand in excitement. It was a nice-looking building on a pleasant street, and we'd passed a lot of great little shops and eateries on our walk over. I couldn't imagine a more perfect place to live.

The landlord let us in to see the apartment and gave us a quick tour with an overview of the amenities. He explained that the only reason the apartment was sitting empty now was that a student had been unable to afford the rent alone any longer and went to live with friends across town. Eventually, he left us alone to look the place over and talk about it and told us where we could find him when we were done.

Hand-in-hand, Edward and I explored the rooms for ourselves.

"What do you think?" Edward asked when we were in the bedroom, looking out the window at the street below.

"It's perfect," I grinned, turning to look at him. His answering smile was a little tight, and I began to worry. "What do you think? Do you not like it?"

He shook his head quickly. "No, I think it's perfect, too. But before we decide anything...Bella, there's something I have to ask you."

I was nervous now, but I nodded for him to continue. He turned to face me fully and grasped both my hands in his.

"Bella...when you first came to me wanting an introduction to sex, I knew I was in trouble. I mean, big trouble. I knew you were just the kind of girl I could really fall for, but I had no idea then that you were the girl. The way I love you...that's just never going to happen for me again. So it seems to me that there's only one thing to do at this point," he concluded, and I watched with wide eyes as he sank down to one knee on the hardwood floor and pulled a black velvet box from his pocket. "Bella, will you marry me?"

I gaped at him. "Are you crazy?" I blurted out.

He winced, but persisted in holding up the little box. I carefully avoided looking at the ring, even though it was harder to look into Edward's now guarded eyes. "Of course I'm crazy. You've known that for a while and for some reason, you still love me."

"We're too young," I swallowed. "My dad will flip."

"Stop it, Bella," Edward said pleadingly. "Forget about the practical considerations. We can work that out. And we don't have to get married tomorrow, or in a year, or in four years. Just say yes if you want to marry me someday – if you want to marry me at all. The rest is just...details."

I wanted to argue, but I had to consider what he was asking of me. Did I see myself married to him? Did I see myself with Edward five, ten, twenty years from now?

The answer was, without a doubt –

"Yes," I whispered.

Edward let out a relieved breath, a half-laugh, and stood. He took my left hand hopefully. "Do you want the ring?"

I swallowed. "I might need a minute, actually."

"Okay," he nodded. I sat down heavily on the window seat and looked up at him.

"That was...really unexpected, Edward."

"I know," he said sheepishly. "I didn't want to spring it on you like that, but...I wanted to do it right, you know?"

My brow furrowed in confusion. "Do what right?"

"Propose," Edward said, sitting down next to me. "When we do get married, I want to be able to tell people how I asked you to marry me, not how we had a rational discussion about the pros and cons. I mean, when you marry someone, it should be first and foremost because you're in love. Whether it's practical or not comes after."

"You're right," I agreed. "I am glad you did it that way. But why now?"

Edward rubbed the back of his neck, a sure sign that he was nervous. "Well, the thing is, I can only find one loophole that would allow us both to live off-campus – and that's if we're married."

I stared at him, too shocked to tell if I was furious or not. "You proposed so we could live together?"

"No," Edward defended vehemently, "I proposed because I want to marry you, period. All it is now is a question of when we get married. And that's totally up to you, Bella. We can be engaged as long as you want. I won't even ask you to tell your dad. We can go and live in the dorms. They're really nice, and if one of us can get a single, which I will be applying for if we go that route, then we'll be able to have plenty of private time together. But if we get married, they can't separate us. We can live here, or in campus apartments, though I think it might be cheaper to live here."

I rubbed my forehead pensively, feeling the beginnings of a headache. "I feel like...like this was a game to you or something. You brought me to see the apartment even though you knew we'd have to be married to live here?"

Edward looked stricken. "I swear it wasn't a game to me. I didn't know how to go about it, Bella. I just...wanted you to see all your options before you came to a decision. And I admit, I was afraid to ask you to marry me before we came to Hanover because I was afraid you might freak out a little, and I didn't want to bring up marriage in the context of living arrangements because I wanted us to do it for the right reasons. I wanted you to want to marry me."

I sat quietly, absorbing what he was saying. "Bella, I can't control the housing policy," he continued gently. "I'm honestly not trying to pressure you into marrying me just so we can live together. I would love it, don't get me wrong – I'm so ready to start a life with you, you have no idea – but I would never want to rush you or take anything from you. If you want to go the traditional route, we will. I'll still be here. I'm yours for as long as you want me."

I turned to him, meeting his earnest, sweet, loving eyes, and any anger I felt melted away. He was still my Edward – my crazy, impulsive, headstrong Edward – and I would love him until my dying breath.

"I think...I think I need to think about the housing thing for a little while, okay?"

He nodded readily, showing no disappointment. "Of course."

I bit my lip. "The ring, though...I might be ready for that now."

His face lit up with a broad smile, and he produced the box that had started this whole thing. When he popped it open, I looked at the ring for the first time and let out a gasp. It was a beautiful, antique-looking design with little diamonds nestled in a pattern of woven gold.

"It was my grandmother's," he explained, lifting it out of its velvet bed and guiding it onto my ring finger. It was a little loose, but not so much that it would fall off. And it was gorgeous.

"Do you like it?" Edward asked tentatively.

I had to laugh. "I love it. It's just like you – over the top and too good to be true."

He grinned and leaned in to brush his lips over my cheek. "And it's yours," he added. "Just like me."

It went without saying that I was his, too.

A/N: So, I didn't plan for this particular chapter to happen on Valentine's Day, but it kind of works out perfectly, don't you think?