Can you believe this is almost done? Tomorrow is the last chapter. Never fear, I will post the next chapter of my new multi chapter, Dancing On My Own, around 12 EST today.

Location: Port Angeles, Washington

Prompt: Classroom

The night of Renee's funeral, Charlie sat Bella down in the kitchen and offered her a bottle of Rainer Beer and a shoulder to cry on. She didn't shed a single tear, but he did manage to talk some sense into her. Charlie looked her straight in the eye and told Bella that she wasn't allowed to run anymore.

"How did you know?" Bella questioned as she played with the label on the bottle.

"Cause no matter what you say, you are more like your mother than you know," Charlie explained. "You are expected at UDub in a week for classes, and I didn't pay your tuition so you could skip out on it. You will be the first Swan to graduate college, Bella." Bella hung her head in shame as her father continued to rail on her for her behavior as of late.

"I really do appreciate the fact that you came home, but you weren't really here, Bells. I mean, physically you were here, but mentally you were anywhere else."

"I came home and did what you wanted of me."

"I wanted you to want it too, Bells. I didn't ask you to come home for me, I asked you to come home so that you could reconcile with your mother and not have any regrets in life. When Grandpa died I wasn't there, and I have regretted it every single day of my adult life. I don't want you to have the same regrets, Bella."

Bella nodded her head softly as her father moved his chair closer to her and wrapped her into a tight hug. "I also think you need to reconsider things with Edward."

Bella's head popped up from her father's chest and she looked at him with concern.

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm not blind, Bells. I know you guys care about each other. In fact, I think he is in love with you, but you are the one pushing him away." Bella began to tear up as Charlie pointed out her mistakes with Edward. "He's a smart man, with a good head on his shoulders, and he loves you. If you feel even a little bit of what he feels, you shouldn't let that slip through your fingers."

"Isn't it too soon for me to love him? I've only really known him for two weeks, daddy."

"Bella, you need to listen to your heart for once in your life." Charlie hugged his daughter once more as she shed a few more tears for what had clearly been her first love. "Oh, and if I ever find him sneaking into your room, I won't look the other way like I did a few days ago."

Bella spent the next week in a haze of uncertainty as she tried to decide what to do about Edward. She packed her boxes for UDub and Charlie co-signed a loan for a reliable, used car for her to travel back and forth from school in. Bella looked into changing her courses when she got to school and determined that since she was taking general classes for the first semester, she still had time to change to a photography and media major. Things were no longer stagnant for Bella and she felt relieved to be moving forward in her life.

The more she thought about it all, the more she was glad she came home and had time, no matter how little, with her mother. Charlie had been right, she didn't need to live with regrets, and as she closed up her last box and loaded it into her small sedan, Bella realized she needed to see Edward.

Whether they reconciled or reached a point of closure, it had to be done. So, after Bella kissed her father goodbye, she promised him that she would call him once she got into Seattle. With a kiss on her forehead and an agreement for her to come home for Labor Day weekend, Bella got in her car and headed into the town. More specifically, she went to the Cullen Hospice to talk to Esme.

Esme was surprised to see Bella arrive, and even more surprised when Bella asked about Edward. She needed to know where she could find him, and Esme, though a bit hesitant that this young girl was about to break her son's heart, gave her the information for the school where he was teaching music.

An hour later, Bella parked her dark blue car in the parking lot at the school and went in to the front office. It took a little finagling to get the office administrator to give her the location of Edward's class, but she appealed to the woman's sense of romance and adventure. Sure enough, she told Bella to head down the hallway and turn right, looking for Room 117.

Edward was twenty minutes into his second class of the day and he was teaching a class of precocious and chatty eight year olds. As he sat in the front of the room, teaching them about scales, there was a sharp knock at his door, which surprised him.

"Evan, can you welcome our visitor," Edward requested, as the young boy closest to the door jumped up and opened the door excitedly.

"It's a really pretty lady," Evan exclaimed as Edward's mouth fell open as he watched as Bella walked through the door, waving shyly at him. "Are you teaching us too?"

"Uh no," Bella replied, her voice cracking slightly. "I was hoping I could talk to your teacher for a minute."

"Uh oh... are you in trouble, Mr. Cullen?" asked Ashley, one of the more chatty girls in his class.

"I hope not. Pull out your notebooks and write down a one page piece about your favorite song. I will collect them at the end of the class. I will be in the hallway with my guest for one moment." All the students reached into the bags for their supplies and set about the assignment Edward had given them. He crossed the classroom and quickly ushered Bella out, shutting the door behind him, as the students began to giggle and whisper incessantly. "What are you doing here, Bella?"

"I came to apologize."

"Well, you have really shitty timing," Edward replied in frustration. He was equal parts surprised and angry that Bella had the nerve to come to his workplace and blindside him.

"Yeah, I know I do, but I couldn't head to school without first telling you something."

"You are actually heading to school?" Edward was even more surprised to hear this revelation. He thought for sure that she would have left Forks after the funeral the week before.

"My dad talked some sense into me last week. I'm also planning to change my major to photography next semester." Edward cracked a small smile, knowing full well that Bella would be a wonderful photographer. He also felt vindicated that she had actually listened to him when he mentioned it to her during their trip. "I also wanted to tell you that I love you. I know, it's quick and probably the last thing you ever expected to hear me say, but it's true. I fell in love with you."

Edward's mouth fell open as he watched Bella be confident and honest with her feelings. It was so unlike her, considering she spent so long driving him away with her ambivalence and avoidance tactics.

"I just... I couldn't go to school without you knowing the truth."

Edward and Bella stood awkwardly in the school hallway, both of them unsure of what to say to the other. When Bella finally determined that she had had enough of the silence, and began to believe that Edward didn't feel the same for her, she hung her head to her chin and began to leave.

"Wait," Edward called out as he rushed towards her, his hand threading through the back of her hair as he pulled her towards him for a searing kiss that literally made her bones shake. "I love you too."

Edward's classroom erupted into loud claps and hollers as they watched from the open doorway. Edward waved them back to the class and turned back to the girl before him, ecstatic that she had finally come to her senses. "What do we do now?"

"Well... I have to go school, but I'd like to keep up... I'd like to be with you, and only you. I'll be home for Labor Day weekend, so maybe we can..."

"Have a date?" Edward offered as Bella nodded softly. "I'd like that."

"Me too, but right now I need to get to Seattle before my roommate steals the good bed in our dorm room." Edward wrapped his arm around Bella and kissed her again before peppering her forehead with light kisses. Edward reached into her pocket and began to enter his cell phone number into her new cell phone, a gift from Charlie. "Call me when you get there, alright? Oh and Bella...no running."

"No running."