A/N: Happy Holidays! Originally, this was supposed to be the last chapter of Late Night Encounters before the Epilogue, but I really wanted to get an update out for the holidays. As well as it just seemed like too much would be bunched into one chapter. (I underestimated it badly) So the last chapter will now be split in half, and this is the first part. I will endeavor to get the final one out as soon as possible, and I want to thank you all for your never-ending patience with me this year, as it has not been an easy one at all. Hoping for a much better 2011.

Late Night Encounters 20 ~ Resolutions Pt. 1

BPOV

I sighed heavily, gazing at our hands that joined beside my hip. So much had happened over the last several days, I could still feel my head spinning from it. I honestly thought it couldn't possibly get worse than that plane ride back from Chicago, filled with uncertainty and pain at losing the Edward I had come to love so much. I began wondering if that man was even real, or if I had simply built him up that way in my mind from the very first online conversation we had.

However, the instant I was grabbed and pulled into that dark alley, he was all I could think about. I screamed with everything in me, almost feeling as if I were in one of those nightmares that, no matter how afraid you are or how hard you try, your voice won't work and you just can't scream loud enough. Memories I'd been trying to push back began flashing through my mind in blinding succession as I kicked, punched and cried through every moment of my attack until he finally ran away.

Edward's eyes and his smile. The way he would lick his lips just moments before pressing them to mine. The feel of his arms around me and the soft kisses along my neck that had woken me only days before. Then the look on his face when I told him that I was leaving, and the fact that I never told him that I loved him before I walked away.

And in the most terrifying event of my life, it was that fact that gave me the strength to fight, to scream as loud as I could manage to draw as much attention to myself as possible. Through the pain and fear, nothing was stronger than my desire to see Edward again, even if I wasn't enough for him.

However, when he appeared at my bedside in the hospital, I was honestly surprised to see him. Despite my insistence for him before I would willingly let anyone else near me, I hadn't permitted myself to believe that he'd actually come. And once I allowed myself to gaze into his eyes, finding all the guilt and fear resting there, I couldn't help but wonder if I'd made a mistake in asking for him.

I didn't want him there with me because of my attack, or because he was afraid or felt responsible for what happened. I wanted to feel the safety that I only experienced with him, to know that he still loved me and why things had happened the way they did.

Listening to him talk about what happened with Tanya was painful, watching the crease in his forehead deepen as he told me about the day he realized she'd left and how it affected him. I had fooled myself into thinking that there hadn't been any feelings left there, but the look in his eyes made me wonder how wrong I'd been. It broke my heart to think that I'd fallen hopelessly in love with a man who was still trapped in the past with another woman who had broken his.

Even after he adamantly denied that he loved her, impassionately insisting that it was his fear of losing me that made him behave that way, I still couldn't forget how much his actions had hurt me. That all I'd wanted was for him to hold me and tell me he loved me, and instead, he'd pushed me away with his fears and baseless assumptions.

"Edward, come here." I gently tugged his hand for him to sit beside me on the bed, and he rose to do so but wouldn't meet my eyes. I looked to where his fingers still wrapped around mine and drew in a deep breath. "I'm still upset with you. I've never been so hurt, confused, completely humiliated… in my entire life as I have been in the last few days. But…"

I hadn't realized that I was crying until I felt his hand come to my cheek, gathering the moisture there with his thumb. A simple, intimate gesture that it felt as if I'd been waiting an eternity for. And I drowned myself in it for a moment. It wasn't a touch of fear or guilt, but of affection. Everything I wanted from my Edward. I pressed my lips to his palm and took a slow breath.

"That doesn't mean that I don't still love you," I murmured against his skin and brought my eyes back to his. I nearly lost myself in the surprise and relief in his gaze, but managed to collect my thoughts enough to continue. "I just can't live in the shadow of every woman who's come before me. You need to have faith in me before anything can work between us. If you can't do that, then it's best if you just went back to Chicago and let me get over you, and move on with my life. Because I can't live like this."

His breaths halted at my statement and his hand fell from my face. He appeared completely crestfallen and his eyes grew painfully sad, as dozens of emotions passed behind them at once. "Would it be that easy for you to get over me?"

My heart ached at his tone, as well as the shift in his features. His voice cracked as he spoke and the crease reappeared on his forehead, as if my words had caused him physical pain. His thumb resumed its motion on the hand still resting in his and I watched his gaze lower to it as well. I knew that look; I had seen it before – when I'd walked away from him at the airport in Chicago. How badly he'd wanted me to stay, but let me go because it was what I had wanted. I could see that if I told him yes, he'd walk away without question, regardless of what he wanted.

However, the thought of that happening and my life returning to the way it was before he entered it was even more painful to endure. It felt like a dagger, driving straight through my heart, and I closed my eyes against the welling tears. "Of course it wouldn't be easy. But neither has the last few days. And I am not going to spend my life waiting around for the next thing that freaks you out. I want a relationship, not a waiting game of walking around on eggshells with you. That's not any kind of life for anyone."

"That's the last thing I want, Bella," Edward replied, his brow tightening further and eyes focused on our hands.

"You'll have to be a little more specific than that," I said, attempting to keep my breaths slow and my gaze on him.

"I don't want to put you through that," he spoke in a soft voice, finally looking up to me. "I don't want to be the guy that has you waiting for him to break your heart."

"Well, the only way to accomplish that is to not be him," I replied, my fingers tracing lightly on his palm. He drew in a deep breath and nodded, clearing his throat as his hand tightened its hold lightly. "I don't want to lose you, Edward. I have been happier with you than I've been in my entire life. But I need you to be in this as much as I am."

"I don't want to lose you, either," he said, his forehead pulling together and the pained crease returned to his features as his hand gently cupped my jaw. "I really do love you."

My eyes closed and my smile stretched across my lips, tugging painfully at the split in the corner, but that didn't matter. I pulled him closer until his forehead rested against mine, bringing my fingers to run over his cheek. "That's all I've wanted to hear for days."

"What?" he whispered and I opened my eyes to look up at him again.

"That you love me. And not because I'm walking away or because I'm hurt. Just because," I replied with a soft chuckle, but a tear escaped the corner of my eye.

"Of course, I love you, Bella. I love you so damn much," he said breathlessly, his voice cracking slightly as he spoke.

Tilting my chin gently, he pressed his lips softly to mine and my fingers weaved into his hair, holding him against me. The ache I felt throughout my body at the movement held nothing on the one I had felt since Vegas. Wanting to feel him against me, the tension between us gradually dissipating. To have my Edward back. His thumb grazed lightly over my cheek, causing me to wince slightly as it brushed over the bruise, and he began to pull back.

I shook my head, lightly gripping his hair to hold him close to me. "Don't."

"But it's hurting you-"

"It's worth it," I interrupted him, pulling him back against my lips. "You have no idea how much I've missed this. Missed you."

His kiss remained gentle, but there was no doubting the emotion behind it. I allowed myself to soak in every aspect of the moment; the softness of his lips, every strand of his hair between my fingers, the scent of him surrounding me. Every single thing I'd missed so much. I slid my arm around his shoulders to pull him closer to me, and while hesitant to place his weight on me, he draped his body along my side. He continued brushing soft kisses against my lips while his eyes moved over my face. I knew I had to have looked like hell, with all the cuts and bruises that even had me avoiding a mirror. Yet, he still gazed at me with such adoration, touching me gently… but still touching me.

After what had happened, I wasn't sure how he would react if we ever returned to that point. Would he still see me the same way? Or would the fact that another man's hands had been on me, while not in an intimate way, change his view of me? Would he still want me, or see me only as an obligation?

I saw none of that in his eyes. Through all the pain I saw there with every wince and gasp I would utter whenever I would try to move, I still saw my Edward and every ounce of love he had for me. I pressed my lips against his again until the abrupt clearing of a throat in the hallway interrupted us, and I turned my gaze toward it.

There I found my father, glaring sternly at Edward before continuing down the hall to his room and closing the door more roughly than necessary.

Edward chuckled nervously as his forehead pressed against mine before sitting up. "I guess that's my cue to get my ass back downstairs."

My eyes widened and I reached for his hand, gripping it tightly. "No. I don't want you to go. Please, don't leave me alone here."

The fear of the images that had been haunting me every time I closed my eyes shook me to my core. Dark hair and denim jacket, his fist coming toward me. I could still feel and hear everything about that morning in my head, still smell the pungent combination of cigarettes and alcohol, and I couldn't shake it. Not yet.

I felt Edward's lips press against my forehead and then rest on my hair. "Shh. Relax, baby. I won't leave if you don't want me to. Don't think your father will be too happy about that."

"I'll deal with my father in the morning. It's not like we can really do anything that he would object to," I said with a weak smile, attempting to shift on the bed to make room for him, the accompanying sharp intake of breath emphasizing my point.

"I think my mere presence here would be objectionable," he replied with an uncomfortable chuckle as he kicked off his shoes and then carefully lay down beside me.

I slowly lifted my head for him to slide his arm beneath it, and then lowered it back down on his shoulder. I felt his cheek resting against the top of my head and his fingers tracing lightly through my hair, and every muscle in my body began to loosen and relax. My eyes grew heavy as the exhaustion of the previous few days caught up with me and finally closed. "I don't care."

I continued to breathe him in, trailing the backs of my fingers over his chest. I didn't want the moment to end, to fall asleep and take the chance of waking up to everything as it was even just that morning. To have him pull away from me again.

"Get some sleep, Bella."

"No," I replied with a slight smirk, to which he chuckled softly. "How can I possibly sleep when we still have so much to talk about?"

"There's plenty of time to discuss the future," I heard him whisper into my hair and I lifted my eyes to look at him.

"There is?" I asked tentatively.

"Definitely," he replied, gently smoothing my hair back from my face. "Bella, there is no future for me without you in it."

o~O~o

"Isabella Marie Swan, what is going on with you?" my father's voice carried through the kitchen the following morning, his arms waving out on either side of him. I sat silently at the table with my eyes lowered, my fingers picking at the black brace around my wrist. "This isn't like you, young lady. Who is this guy and why haven't you so much as mentioned him to us?"

"Because I didn't want this. The interrogation at the first mention that I had a boyfriend," I stated pointedly as I looked up to my father's reddened face, thankful that Edward was out in the living room with my mother. My dad could be quite intimidating when he was angry, and there was no doubt in my mind of how upset he was. "Edward's a great guy. He's a doctor -"

"From Chicago. What the hell are you thinking, Bella?" he yelled with his fingers pressed to his forehead. "Not to mention way too old for you."

"He's twenty-eight, that's not that much older than—"

"A twenty-eight year old doctor from halfway across the country? This makes no sense. What, aren't there boys your own age in LA? And you're down there to study, not date."

"Dad, my grades are good, I'm keeping up with all my classes. And I'm not running around campus, partying it up and getting drunk, or sleeping around with a bunch of guys. I just started talking to Edward online one night, and—"

"Stop right there. Online? You met this boy online?" my father replied with widened eyes, his shoulders tensing as he clenched his fists. "This is done, young lady. Right now. My daughter is not going to have some sick, twisted internet… thing."

"No, it's not! And by the way, I'm fine, Dad. A little achy and sore, a little scared shitless by everything that's happened, but I'm fine. Thanks for asking," I snapped with angry tears in my eyes, rising up from my seat slowly and standing in front of him. "You can't keep doing this. I have tried all my life to do everything you wanted me to, to be a good kid and get good grades, and make you proud of me. But damn it, I'm not a little kid anymore. I'm twenty-two years old, about to graduate from college, and I think it's time for you to start letting me live my own life. And I'm not going to let you destroy the best thing that's ever happened to me. I love him, Dad."

My father stood dumbfounded at my outburst, rendered speechless for the first time in as long as I could remember. My throat burned slightly from yelling against the restrained cries in my chest, and I watched as his hands slid into his front pockets and his head lowered. "I just don't want to see you hurt, Bella. He lives in Chicago, what kind of future can you have?"

"None," I replied in a softer tone and his eyes rose to mine, and I shook my head. "As long as I stay this far away from him. I'm not moving back to Washington, Dad."

He slowly lowered into the kitchen chair with a look of disbelief, never taking his eyes off me. His chest rose and fell dramatically and his hand rose to rest over his heart.

"Dad?" I said worriedly, stepping toward him to rest my hand on his shoulder. My mother and Edward both appeared in the doorway a moment later and my father shook his head.

"I'm fine. Just—" he paused, his fingers resting gently on my hand and closing around it. "You're not coming home?"

My eyes rose to meet Edward's, which were giving me just as questioning of a gaze. "No, I'm not," I replied shakily and felt my father's hand grip mine more firmly. "I've been starting to look into internships, with graduation so close. I found several in LA, but I have nothing to hold me there with Rose moving with Em, and Alice dropping out and moving to Texas with Jasper. There's some in Seattle, but I need to go where my heart lies. So, I've been looking into a few in Chicago."

My breath stalled in my throat as I watched Edward's eyes widen. I'd been unsure of how to approach the topic with him, since we'd never really discussed any kind of firm future, afraid that he would feel that it was all too sudden. But in the end, it had to be my decision.

"You're going to Chicago?" my father asked in a strained voice, his gaze moving to Edward.

"It's nothing set in stone yet. I haven't accepted anything, and I still have some things to figure out," I said with my eyes lowered, centering myself before looking back up to face him. "But yeah, I'm pretty sure that's what I'm going to be doing. After I go back to LA to finish my degree."

My father looked up to me and began shaking his head. "Baby, you can't go back there. It's far too dangerous for you."

"Bella, he's right. LA is not a good place for you to be right now. There has to be another way for you to finish your degree," Edward said, stepping further into the kitchen toward me.

"I'm not going to live in fear and hide away, so that this guy wins. I can't let him have that power over me," I replied, my eyes moving back and forth between them. "I have less than three months left, and I haven't worked this hard for this long to have him take that away from me. I want to finish out this semester and walk across that stage to get the degree I've busted my ass for."

My father and Edward shared an unnerving glance, both speaking volumes with their eyes. Their mutual worry and fear was evident in their postures, and while I knew it was more than warranted, my determination was stronger.

"I'm well aware of the dangers, but I need to do this."

My eyes remained on my dad, watching his shoulders fall in defeat and he shook his head. He startled me by standing abruptly and stalking across the kitchen, his hand dragging slowly along his mustache and the corners of his mouth before resting on the back of his neck. "Bella, if something ever happened to you again, it would kill me. And this sick bastard could take you away from me, and your mother." He paused, his gaze moving across the room to the man at my side, and he swallowed hard. "And Edward."

His voice was tight and strained, and his jaw clenched as he spoke the words, but the emotion written in his eyes was something I'd never seen. My dad had never been one for displaying an abundance of affection, but one thing I'd never doubted was that in his extreme, overprotective way, he loved me more than anything in the world. And I knew that coming to terms with his little girl growing up and staring in the face of the man with whom he had to share her heart, was difficult for him.

As I began to stand shakily, I felt Edward's hand on my elbow and I looked to him, shaking my head. "I'm fine," I said softly and then walked over to my father. "Dad, you don't have to worry. I'm a cop's daughter, and you taught me how to protect myself. I'll carry mace, even take self-defense classes if I have to. Once I'm healed, obviously."

My dad wrapped his arms around me gently, kissing my forehead as his hand rested on my hair. "Extra deadbolt on your door."

I sighed and nodded, relaxing into his embrace and resting my head on his shoulder. "Yes, Dad."

"And windows closed and locked at night," he continued.

"I'm on the second floor—" I began to protest, but his eyes locked on my face firmly. "Windows closed and locked. I promise."

"And please, call us at night to let us know you're okay. Call collect, if you have to."

"I will," I whispered with a fist full of his flannel shirt in my hand, inhaling the familiar scent of aftershave, beer, and just uniquely "Dad".

I felt his chin brush against my forehead as his head rose, looking across the room to Edward. "I'm going down to the station to grab some pepper spray. I think it might be a good opportunity for you and I to have that little talk."

His arms fell from around me and I glanced over to Edward, watching his Adam's apple dip and rise slowly as he swallowed hard and nodded. "Yes, sir."

Edward's voice shook slightly as he spoke and he appeared truly intimidated as he followed my father out of the kitchen. He turned his head to look back at me one more time and I gave him the best smile I could manage before he stepped out the door with my dad right behind him.

o~O~o

The several hours following their departure were nerve-wracking. Even with the consistent reassurances from my mother that everything would be fine, I couldn't help but worry. I was finally getting a handle on my life and the Edward I loved back; the last thing I needed was for my father sweeping in and messing it up.

My worries only increased about an hour after they left, when I received a phone call from Edward.

"I thought the interrogation rooms in the movies were just Hollywood hype. The two-way mirror is intimidating," he whispered softly and I groaned, covering my eyes with my hand. "Do you think he's watching me?"

"I'm gonna kill him. I swear to God!" I seethed, looking at my mother, who just rolled her eyes as if she instinctively knew what my father was up to. She always swore that he was a teddy bear with a Grizzly exterior, but to me, it felt as if my words had fallen on deaf ears in the kitchen earlier.

I needed to be allowed to grow up, to take control of my life, and make my own decisions. And that included who I decided to date.

"Oh shit, he's coming back with the coffee. I gotta go. Love you, baby."

I growled loudly as the line went dead, grasping my phone tightly in my hand with my jaw clenched slightly. "Dad!"

My mother continued in her attempts at soothing me for the next three hours until we heard the crunching of gravel beneath the tires of my dad's cruiser and the silencing of the engine. My father calmly walked into the house and through the kitchen, grabbing himself a beer from the fridge.

"Dad, where's Edward?" I asked firmly as he leaned against the counter, taking a sip from the can as if he didn't have a single care in the world.

"Oh, he's coming, Relax," my dad replied after a moment. "Seriously, is he always that uptight?"

"What did you do?" I hissed quietly before Edward finally made his way into the kitchen, his face pale and giving me a timid smile.

"Remember, Edward, what happens at the station, stays at the station." My dad had a gleam in his eyes that was completely foreign, and then he turned his gaze to me with a smile and winked.

That must have been some talk.