**Normal Disclaimer Applies: Twilight does not belong to us. But the plot and this Sweetward sure do! **

A/N: Damn… our couple sure knows how to heat things up! Can you imagine what's going to happen when we finally get these two back in the same city together?

Chapter 8 – BPOV

Senior year. I was actually looking forward to this year. It meant that only 10 months were standing in between Edward and I. Alice sympathized with me; she missed her brother almost as much as I did.

My 21st Birthday was right around the corner, but I didn't feel like celebrating. With Edward across the country and my other best friend not even 20 yet, there was no point. Alice of course tried to talk me into doing something anyway, but once I explained to her my reasons for not wanting to do anything other than a dinner and maybe some cake, she relented. So, I settled with going to Forks. Since classes didn't start until the 25th I decided to spend the week surrounding my birthday at home with my parents. My mom was ecstatic; I hadn't been home for longer than a few days since Christmas the year before.

The afternoon of my birthday, Alice and Jasper showed up in Forks to take me to Port Angeles for dinner and some drinks.

"You can't let your 21st go by without having at least one drink." Alice explained as we drove up the 101.

"I guess so Alice. I just don't feel right celebrating without Edward here."

"God, you two are perfect for each other. He said almost the exact same thing when I was there for his birthday! He let us take him out for dinner, but he wouldn't even let Emmett take him out for a beer cause his Bella wasn't there with him."

I smiled brightly at her. "Did he really?"

It was a good thing that Jasper was driving, cause Alice turned her head so I could see her obvious eye roll.

"Yes he did. Has he called you yet today?"

"No call yet, but that's okay, I know he had classes today and he had to work for a few hours this afternoon. But I did have a text from him this morning wishing me a Happy Birthday and then another around 9, which I'm going to assume was his lunch break."

"Most likely. Chicago is 3 hours ahead of us." She turned in her seat again and gave me a smile that almost looked devious.

"What's that grin for Alice?" She grinned wider, and Jasper side eyed her with a snicker.

"Well I may or may not have something for you from my dear brother."

I felt the grin spread across my face. "Alice, are you holding out on me? What did Edward send?" I asked as I bounced in my seat.

"I don't know, but that bag sitting beside you could answer that question."

I squealed when I noticed the small bag sitting across from me in the back seat. "Can I open it? Or did he want to call me first?"

Just as I finished the question, my cell phone chimed with Edward's ring tone and Alice giggled from the front seat.

"Hi Baby." I said with a huge smile.

"Happy Birthday Bell. How's your day been so far?" He asked, and, as usual, his voice immediately sent shivers down my spine.

"Not too bad, it was quiet until about an hour ago when your sister and Jasper decided to show up on my parents door step and kidnap me for the rest of the afternoon."

He chuckled a bit. "Did she give you something to open?"

"She did actually. Just a minute before you called."

"Yeah, that was sort of planned. I sent her a text about 15 minutes ago to see if she had picked you up yet. So go ahead and open it."

"Okay, let me put you on speaker so I can use both hands."

"Sounds good baby." I smiled again even though he couldn't see me, put the phone on speaker and set it down on the seat beside me. I grabbed the bag and pulled out a crudely wrapped package.

"Lovely wrapping job here baby." I said with a snicker

He let out a loud bark of laughter. "Yeah, gift wrapping is not my strong point and I couldn't find Rose to help me out with it. Is it that bad?"

"No, I'm just messing with you. But I will tell ya, don't try to get a job as a gift wrapper, you wouldn't last a day!"

"Yeah, yeah. Just open the damn gift woman." He said sarcastically with a laugh.

I giggled as I ripped into the gift. Wrapped up in a large sealed bag was a grey Chicago Bears hoodie.

"Oh this is great! Thank you baby. But why did you seal it up?"

"Cause I wore it around the house for a couple of days. You always said you like how my cologne smells and I didn't want to spray it, so I just wore it for a bit."

I sighed and pulled it out of the bag as fast as I could. I held it up to my face and took a deep breath in. It smelled exactly like I remembered him. I sighed again.

"Thank you baby." I said, unable to stop the tears that had started. "I miss you so much."

"Oh baby, I miss you too." I was sniffling as I slipped the way too big hoodie over my head. When I had my head pulled through, Alice handed me a tissue. I smiled gratefully at her.

"Are you okay Bell? I'm sorry if I upset you."

"You didn't upset me. I just miss you so much."

"Babe, take me off speaker."

I pulled my phone off the seat and clicked off the speaker.

"K. It's just me now."

"Oh Bell, I miss you too so much. You know how much I love you and how much I want to be there with you right?"

I felt a few more tears fall. "I know. I can't wait until this year is over and you're back here with me."

"I can't wait either baby. It will fly by. You'll see. Now you go enjoy dinner with Alice and text me when you get home. I know it will be late for me, but that's okay. I just want to know you got home safe."

"Okay. I will."

"Happy Birthday my Bell. I love you so much."

"I love you too Edward."

"Bye baby,"

We hung up and I wallowed for a few minutes, but Alice pulled me out quickly and we gushed about the sweatshirt he had sent. It was extra large and dark grey with Chicago across the chest in blue and a red C on the left arm. It was huge on me, which was fine cause I knew it had been on Edward just a few days ago.

We had a casual dinner that night with me having three Jasper recommended drinks. I didn't like the beer or the wine very much, but the pina colada was definitely a drink I would have again.

When I got back to my parents at 8 that night, I sent a text to Edward as promised. He sent one back right away thanking me for letting him know I was home. He wished me Happy Birthday one more time and then said he was turning in for the night.

Senior year started without any fanfare, which was okay with me. But what pissed me off was that I actually had a class with Jessica Stanley. She had still not gotten over the fact that I broke Mike's nose and would make her digs every chance she got. I made sure to sit across the large room from her and tried to ignore her as much as I could. But when Mike Newton sauntered in looking for her at the end of class during our 2nd week, I almost lost it. It was because of that douche bag that I didn't have Edward with me. If it wasn't for his incessant teasing and tormenting, he would never have left Seattle. I took a deep breath and left the room. I was shocked when I walked out and saw my parents sitting on a bench just outside of the building. Before I had a chance to react, Newton and Jessica walked up behind me.

"Well if it isn't Maggie Fitzgerald." Mike sneered behind me.

"Leave me alone Mike."

"Why should I? I had to sit out two basketball games because of you and your fucking right hook. I don't care if you're a chick, I should knock you out and see how you ..." He didn't quite finish his sentence when he cut himself off with what sounded like a garbled yelp. His eyes had gone wide and he looked terrified.

I heard my dad's voice from behind me. "Young man, do you want to repeat what you just said to this young lady?" I got a triumphant smile on my face as I turned to face my dad, who I noticed had on his full uniform.

"Nnnoo, Sir." Mike stuttered out.

"I think you do son. I think you need to tell me why you were just threatening bodily harm to Miss Swan."

"Uhh uh, um." Was all he could say as he looked around wildly for Jessica, but she had taken off. I could just make out the back of her as she rounded the corner of the building.

"Cat got your tongue there boy?" My dad asked in his standard cop voice. He looked over to me and I saw his eyes brighten a bit, Dad knew exactly who this douche was and he was obviously trying to scare the shit out of him.

"I'm sorry sir. I didn't mean any harm. But Bella broke my nose in January and.." Dad raised his hand and shook his head.

"And why did Miss Swan break your nose? And does that give you the right to threaten her with bodily harm?"

"Uh. I may have called her and her friend some names and then grabbed her arm. And Um, no. I should not have threatened her." Mike said still looking like he was going to pee his pants.

"So Miss Swan defended herself against you and you still feel the need to verbally attack her? Son, I think you need to think before you speak and you need to stay away from Miss Swan. If I find out that you even sneeze in her vicinity, I will make sure to slap you with a charge for uttering threats. Do you hear me?"

"Y..yes s..sir"

"Now you need to apologize to Miss Swan and then get yourself out of my sight."

That I protested. "No, I don't want his apology. His apology will not bring Edward back, nor will it be sincere. I just want him to leave me alone and stay out of my sight for good."

Mike nodded, looked back at my Dad and took off running.

By the time I turned back to face my dad, he was laughing.

"Oh my god. Did you see the look on that boys face when I stepped up behind you? I thought the kid was going to shit himself."

"Charles, language." Mom half-heartedly chastised with a grin of her own.

I was giggling as I asked what they were doing in Seattle.

"Well your father had his yearly physical scheduled with the state doctor and completely forgot. So when I reminded him about it this morning, he still had to go in to the station for a bit and didn't have time to change before we headed here. And we thought since we were here, we would surprise you and take you to dinner."

I smiled and hugged my mom. "I'm glad you did."

Dad snorted a bit beside us. "Me too. I've wanted do something to that kid since your run in with him. Now let's go to dinner. I'm starving."

Mom and I laughed and we followed as Dad started walking towards their car.

Before I knew it, it was time for mid terms and Alice was trying to convince me to go to the Halloween Party that she and Jasper were throwing at his place. I emailed Edward to try and convince him to talk to her. I didn't want to go to a party like that without him.

From: Isabella Swan

Sent: Tuesday October 29, 2013 4:19pm

To: Edward Cullen

Subject: Your sister is going to kill me!

Edward!

Before I get into what your sister is trying to do to me, I thought I would fill you in on everything else. I saw Mike Newton today. The first time since Dad threatened him last month. As soon as he noticed me, his face went ashen and he turned on his heel and took off! It was fucking fantastic to see! Jessica hasn't said two words to me either. So Mike must have told her what happened. I have never been more proud to have a cop for a Dad

Please help me; you know how I feel about parties. Well, your sister is driving me bonkers trying to convince me to go to the one she and Jasper are throwing. Baby, I don't want to go. That is something that we would do together. I don't want to do that without you. Please call her or something, convince her that I don't need to go.

Plus, I don't think you would want me wearing the costume she is trying to force on me. You know your sister, the skimpier the better. She told that me that since I'm an English major and I will most likely be a teacher, I should dress up as a sexy teacher. She has an extra short, tight black skirt, a too small, sheer, white button down blouse and a pink bra to go underneath. Plus she said I would have to do my hair in a loose bun with a pencil stuck through and I would have to wear my glasses too.

Do you really want me wearing that kind of outfit without you to see it in person? Without you being able to take it off of me after the party? If you convince her to let me stay home, I could still take the costume and wear it for you when you come home, or even before, I did just buy a new laptop this week. It has a built in webcam and Skype installed. I could be persuaded to call a certain green eyed guy I know… ya know, if he wanted me to, and if he did, I could also be persuaded to wear that costume or something from one of the pictures I sent him. What do you think baby?

All my love,

Your Bella

A couple of hours after I sent my email to Edward about the Halloween party, Alice called relenting a bit about my costume. She still wanted me to go to the party, but would let me wear what I wanted. I was willing to compromise, so I agreed. But I didn't stay long. Parties were never my thing, and without Edward there, it was even less my thing.

The weeks leading up to Thanksgiving were busy for both Edward and I. He had classes, work and enjoyed hanging out with some friends he had made. We still stayed in touch as much as possible, but arranging that Skype date I wanted was getting hard. Our schedules never seemed to match up long enough for both of us to get on the computer. I was starting to get frustrated; I hadn't seen him in almost a year.

I spent Thanksgiving in Forks with my parents. My Grandma Swan actually made the trip up from Arizona to spend it with us as well. The entire time I was there, she drilled me with questions about Edward.

"So Isabella, what does your young man look like?"

"He is 6'2" with reddish brown hair, amazing green eyes and a sweet crooked smile. His eyes light up when he smiles."

She nodded her approval. "And what is he planning on doing with his life once he is out of school?"

"He wants to be a journalist. So he is hoping to get a job at one of the newspapers in Seattle. But for the last 6 months, he has had been an intern at a publishing house in Chicago. So he may go that route too."

"Is he smart?"

"He is. His GPA is fantastic"

Then she went in for the kill. "Do you love him?"

"I do Nan. So much. And he says he loves me too. His being in Chicago has been so hard, but we talk in some way, every day."

"What ways are there to talk other than on the phone?"

I giggled at that. Nan didn't even have a computer, so she didn't really understand email and texting. "Well, we email each other on the computer every day, we send text messages to each other too. Just some way to stay in contact all of the time."

"You damn kids. Don't know the true art of communication anymore. When I was your age, if someone moved away, we would talk on the telephone and send letters."

"Well email is kind of like that. It's just a lot faster than sending it through the post office. I can send him an email and he will get it within minutes."

She nodded her head thoughtfully. "Maybe I should get one of those computer things that can send emails. I could email you and your father."

"You do that nan. And when we come down over Christmas, I will help you set it up."

"You're a good girl Isabella." Nan said patting my hand before she went into the kitchen to help Mom with dinner.

Edward spent Thanksgiving with his cousin Emmett and that part of his family. Alice and her parents were staying in Seattle. Esme was a bit upset that both of her children were not able to be with her for Thanksgiving, but she understood why Edward couldn't fly out. He made sure to call me before he went to bed that night and we talked for an hour. I told him about all the questions my Nan had asked.

"Did you tell her that I feel the exact same way about you?" He asked with a smile in his voice.

"She didn't ask, but how would you have answered that question?'

"I would have said I love you like I've never loved anyone or anything. You are the best thing that ever happened to me Bella and I can't wait to be back in Seattle so that I can show you just how much I love you."

I may have swooned a little bit when he said that.

"I love you too Edward."

We talked a bit longer, but when he started to yawn I let him get to bed. I knew we would be talking again soon.

A/N: Time is moving along. Mike got his ass handed to him again, but this time by the Chief. I giggled writing that part. I almost felt sorry for Mike, but then thought Nah….. he deserved it!

Next up is Christmas and Edward falls off the wagon a little bit.