Chapter Sixteen: Hold Onto Me

Edward's POV

"You sure you're going to be okay?" Mom asked as she zipped her suitcase. It had been two weeks since Jake attacked me, and I was doing a lot better. The bruising on my face was pretty much gone, and only a few cuts needed some time to heal. My concussion was taking the longest to heal, but the doctors said if I gave my brain good time to rest, I'd be back at school soon.

"Yes, Mom." I smiled. "I'm fine. I have plenty of help."

"Bella has a daughter, Edward." She reminded me for some reason. "She can't be here at your beckon call."

"I know that." I laughed. "But, I do have friends. And I am a grown man."

"You are." She sighed. "I just hate leaving you." Ah, the root of the problem. "I don't like living this far away from you."

"Move here then." I laughed. "Take a break from the windy city and come to the place where it never stops raining."

"As nice as that sounds, you know we can't move here." She sighed sadly. I knew she was going to say that, but it still sucked living this far away from my parents. We were close and only seeing them for major holidays wasn't as great as I thought it would be.

"I know," I breathed. "Dad's stupid job." I laughed, knowing that Dad had a great job and so did my mom. I knew the second they were retired they would come live where I was. "You'd better get going or you'll miss your flight." I wanted to drive her to the airport, but I still wasn't allowed to drive.

"Love you, Edward." She whispered as she hugged me tightly. I walked down to the street with her and hailed her a cab. She blew me a kiss like she always did when she left me and I sadly watched as the cab turned onto the next street.

When my mom left, I headed back upstairs to get showered and changed for tonight. Bella and I had finally made things official and we were committed to each other. I was head over heels for her, and all that was left to do was tell Ava. I was almost as nervous to tell Ava I was dating her mom as when I asked for Tanya's father permission to marry her.

Just as I was grabbing my keys, there was a loud knock on my door. I hurried through my living room and looked through the peep hole. I opened the door and cocked my head to the side when I saw Jasper standing there, a big bouquet of flowers in his hands.

"I'm freaking out, Edward!" He screeched as he pushed me out of the way. He put the flowers on the coffee table and began pacing. I shut the door and crossed my arms over my chest, unsure if I should be entertained or concerned.

"Jasper, Maria would..."

"This has nothing to do with Maria!" He cut me off. "I haven't been on a first date with someone since I was in high school!" He yelled. "High school!"

"You're gonna be fine," I sighed. "Just go pick her up."

"What happens if I say something stupid?" He asked, sounding like a fifteen year old. "Or spill something? What if I go into kiss her at the end of the date and she rejects me?"

"First off, you probably will say something stupid. You're Jasper." I laughed, trying to cut the tension. "Second of all, Alice isn't some bitch who would try and make you feel stupid or embarrassed. Third of all...she likes you, man. She won't pull back if you try and kiss her."

"I haven't been on a first date since..." He trailed off. "Since I was fifteen. That was almost ten years ago."

"Damn, we're old." I laughed. "It's just a date. You're gonna be fine."

"You think I'll something stupid?"

"Yes, you always do. But, Maria always put up with it and I think Alice will too." I reassured him. "She'll probably laugh with you. Now, pick up those flowers and go up to her floor to pick her up for your date."

"Okay," He said, taking a deep breath. I thought it was nice that Jasper was so worried about his first date, and not worried about betraying Maria. I walked out with him and gave him a pat on the back as he waited for the elevator. I made my way downstairs and caught a cab.

When we pulled up in front of the pizza place, I paid the cab driver and headed inside to get a table. I was seated and not long after, Bella and Ava walked inside.

"Mr. Masen!" Ava squealed excitedly as she ran over to the table. "This is so cool! I've never had dinner with a teacher before."

"It is cool, Ava." I smiled as Bella walked up to us. Ava sat down at the place with the kids menu and I stood up to greet Bella. She was just so naturally pretty, I fell in love with her every time I was with her. "You look beautiful." I whispered as I helped her with her jacket.

"Thanks," She nudged me as I pulled her chair out for her. I sat back down and our waitress came over to take our drink orders. I watched carefully as Ava attempted to do the small crossword puzzle on her kids menu.

"She's becoming just like her grandpa." Bella laughed, pointing to the crossword.

"I do this with him every Saturday, Mr. Masen!" She told me proudly.

"That's very impressive, Ava." I smiled as Bella looked over at me. By the look on her face, I could tell she was tired of waiting and it was time to tell her daughter that she was dating someone.

"Ava, sweetie?" Bella asked. "Can you put your crayon down for a second?"

"Okay, Mommy." She agreed as she took a sip of her juice.

"There's something I want to tell you," She stopped and took a deep breath. "Ed...Mr. Masen and I are dating now, Ava."

"Like..." Ava trailed off. "Boyfriend and girlfriend?"

"Yeah, we're boyfriend and girlfriend." She said with as straight of a face as she could.

"Cool!" Ava smiled and went back to her coloring page. I looked over at Bella and smiled. I knew Ava wouldn't mind, but it was good to just have told her already. It was getting hard not being able to see Bella on a regular basis because of Ava.

Our pizza came and we dug in. It was nice to talk to Ava outside of the classroom. I wasn't a teacher who picked favorites and I loved all my students, but there was something so special about Ava. She just seemed to always make my day easier because she was such an easy student. And, she was so smart. She was smart in a way most first graders aren't. She got good grades and just seemed to understand more of what was going on.

"I have a question." Ava said as we were boxing up the leftovers.

"Yeah, baby?" Bella asked.

"Do I still have to call you Mr. Masen?" She asked, looking at me.

"When we're in school, yes." I smiled. "When we're not in school, you can call me Edward."

"Okay!" She smiled as she stood up to put her jacket on.

"What do you say to Edward, Ava?" Bella asked as the waitress handed me my credit card back.

"Thank you!"

"You're very welcome." I said as I helped Bella put her coat on. We walked outside and I walked them to their car. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"My Mom told me she'd watch Ava after dinner." Bella told me. "I can drop her off and then we can...do something together?"

"Sure," My voice squeaked nervously. I opened the passenger side for Bella to get in and walked around the car to get in myself. The drive to Bella's house was filled with constant chatter from Ava, which was a good distraction. When we got to Bella's house, she took Ava into the big house and I waited there nervously.

"Ready?" Bella asked as she got back into the car. "You okay?" She asked, grabbing my hand.

"I just...I want to do this right." I told her. "You deserve...you deserve so much more than what you've gotten and I just want to do this relationship right. For you and for Ava."

"The fact that you want this relationship to work out for Ava as well as me," She trailed off. "You are doing it right, Edward." She smiled and I nodded. She turned the key in the ignition and started the car. We drove the short distance to my apartment building and I smiled when I saw Jasper's car parked out front.

"He's either waiting for me or the date went really well and is still going on." I laughed as Bella and I walked up the stairs into the building.

"It probably went well." Bella thought as we stepped into the elevator. We got to my floor and I walked in front of her to unlock the door. Once it was unlocked, I pushed the door open and let her walk past me. I took a deep breath as I shut the door and turned to look at her.

"Do you wanna glass of wine?" I asked as I walked towards the kitchen.

"Sure," She whispered, sitting down on the couch. I poured both of us a glass and went to join her on the couch. "To...new beginnings." She smiled, holding her glass out.

"To new beginnings I agreed and clinked my glass with hers. I took a sip and looked up into her beautiful, brown eyes. I leaned in and brushed my lips against hers. With my free hand, I gently cupped it around her neck, pulling her closer to me. She pulled at the collar of my shirt and moaned into my mouth.

I broke apart to set our glasses on the coffee table and quickly crashed my lips into hers again. She tightly grabbed my neck like I had been doing before as my hands moved down towards her hips. Out of nowhere, she lifted her leg up and threw it over my waist. She pulled herself up and was straddling me.

"Bella," I breathed as she kissed my neck. "If you aren't ready..."

"I am." She told me as she looked at me. "I'm ready to be with you." She smiled and I nodded. I wrapped my arms around her waist. We sat there, making out for a while before I was starting to become painfully hard.

"We can do better than this," I gasped as she bit down on my earlobe. I scooted her off of my lap and stood up. I bent down and kissed her as she stood up and I lifted her into my arms. I walked us to my bedroom and gently sat her down on the bed.

She moved to the edge of the bed and gripped my shirt in her hands, pulling it out from my pants. I began unbuttoning the top buttons as she removed the sweater she was wearing. Once my shirt was on the floor, I caught her staring at my stomach.

"Shit," She breathed, looking up at me. I smiled as I leaned down to kiss her. She moved back on the bed and I followed her. I laid on top of her and began exploring her body with my hands. She began to wiggle beneath me and I reached to the bottom of her shirt. I pulled it up and had her sit up to pull it off. I gulped when I pulled the shirt over her head, exposing her dark red, lacy bra.

"See anything you like?" She teased as she reached for the button on my pants.

"Oh, yeah." I growled, starting to lose patience. I was craving her and I just wanted to be as close as I could. I nudged her back down onto the bed as she pushed my pants down. I got up on my knees and pulled them down, leaving me in just my boxers.

I moved to the button of her jeans and slowly unsnapped them. I slowly pulled them down her long legs and swallowed hard when I noticed her panties and bra matched. Once we were both only in our underwear, my lips found hers again and we began moving with need.

"Edward," She breathed as I kissed her collar bone. "I want you. Please." She begged as I kissed the swell of her breasts. She moved her legs up and began pushing my boxers down my hips, exposing my painfully hard member.

"You think this is fair?" I asked, my voice low with lust. "While you're still all covered up?" I asked as I reached behind her and found the clasp of her bra. I slowly undid it and peeled the straps off her arms. Her bra slowly fell, revealing her perfect breasts. She moved her hands and began taking her own underwear off, lifting her butt in the air to take them off.

This was it. We were both completely exposed.

I kissed her again and began to rock against her. She began writhing under me as she clawed at my shoulders. I began moving my mouth down to her neck, and then her collar bone. I eventually made my way to her nipple and gently bit down, and she bucked her hips in response.

"Fuck," She moaned as I grabbed her other breast with my hand. I continued to tease her until she was bucking so hard I thought she was going to come. "Please, Edward." She panted.

"You sure?" I asked as I cupped her cheek. As turned on as I was, I didn't want her doing anything she wasn't one hundred percent sure about.

"Yes," She panted. I gave her another kiss as I positioned myself at her entrance. I slowly began to push in and her breath hitched.

"Fuck," I whispered as I pushed all the way in. I gave her a second to adjust and started to gently move. She clang to my shoulders and I could feel her nails digging into my skin. After a few minutes, she untangled her legs from around my hips and pushed my chest. She turned us over and having her on top made her even move sexy.

"Edward," She cried as she used my chest as leverage to move. She grabbed my one hand that was dug in her hip and brought it to her sensitive nub and she began to quiver on top of me. Her moving was becoming more erratic and I could feel her walls clamping down.

"Yes! I'm gonna come!" She cried. "Fuck!" She screamed as she stopped moving and started shaking.

"Damn," I whispered as I grabbed her hips again and turned us over again. I leaned down and kissed her as I began moving again. My thrusts were becoming more demanding and I knew I was close.

"Let go, Edward." She whispered in my ear and then gently bit down.

"Fuck!" I cried as I stilled inside of her. I fell lifeless on top of her and smiled as she stroked my hair. After a few seconds, I pulled out and rolled off of her. "That was amazing."

"Yeah," She agreed as she was still trying to catch her breath. "Fucking amazing." She whispered as I pulled her close to me. I barely had enough energy to pull the cover over us, but managed to do so as she placed her head gently on my chest.

"I love you," I whispered, kissing the top of her head.

"I love you." She yawned. "But...I have to go." She said and pushed the covers off of us. I looked at the clock and had to stifle a laugh. We had been going at it for over an hour.

"Stay," I begged.

"I can't." She said as she found her panties on the ground. "I have a little girl waiting for me at home, and parents who have things to do in the morning."

"I wish you could stay." I whispered, sitting up and gently stroking her back. "I understand why you can't, but I still wish you could."

"Me too," She said as she turned to face me and leaned down to gently kiss me. "And I will one day, but Mom only agreed to put Ava to bed and I have to respect that."

"I know," I smiled. "We'll plan for a sleepover."

"Oh boy!" She laughed. "Can we really?" She asked as I sat up and grabbed my boxers off the floor. I waited for her to finis getting dressed and we walked out into the living room.

"Let me know if Jasper's car is still outside." I smiled as I opened the door for her.

"Oh, for sure." She laughed, leaning in and softly pressing her lips to mine. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay," I nodded as she turned to walk to the stairs door. I shut the door and leaned up against it. No one could have told me how perfect this night was going to be.

The night seemed to drag on forever because I just wanted to see Bella again. It was crazy how fast and how hard I fell for her, but I couldn't help it. The way I felt about Bella didn't even compare to how I felt about Tanya.

I got up the next morning, just craving to see Bella again. I quickly showered and got dressed for the day and smiled when I saw a message from her on my phone.

'Can't wait to see you this morning 3'

It felt like we were in some kind of honeymoon stage, and I was loving every second. It was like we were dumb high schoolers again, but I guess thats kind of what love was all about. Just being giddy and excited to see the person you loved. I grabbed my togo coffee cup and my keys before heading out the door.

I usually just took the stairs to go downstairs, but I just didn't have the energy that morning. I pressed the button and took a sip of my coffee. When the door opened, I nearly spit my coffee all over the place when I saw Jasper standing there, his shirt untucked and looking very untidy.

"Morning, Jasper." I said, trying not to spook him. I knew his car was still there when Bella left, but it was still kind of early when she left. I was not expecting this.

"Hi," He greeted, and I could tell he was trying to play it cool.

"Did you have a good date?" I asked.

"We didn't sleep together if that's what you're trying to get out of me." He said and pressed his lips together. "We just couldn't stop talking and we had too much to drink. I slept on her couch."

"Wow, good for you buddy." I laughed as the doors opened.

"How was your night?" He asked as we walked outside. "Stop."

"What?" I asked.

"You two had sex last night, didn't you?" He asked, with a big stupid grin on his face.

"How did you..."

"I know you better than your own mother, Edward." He laughed. "You have the same dumb look on your face that you did when you first slept with...Heidi in high school and the same look you have on your face the first time you hook up with any girl."

"Well, since you're so damn nosy," I laughed. "Yes, Bella and I had sex last night."

"Good for you," He nodded.

"But, seriously, Jazz how did everything go last night?" I asked as he unlocked his car.

"It was amazing." He smiled. "She was really easy to talk to and she let me share my fears of dating again. It was just really good to talk to someone new, someone who didn't know Maria and I."

"That's great, Jasper." I said, patting him on the back.

"We're going out again sometime this week." He told me. "You need a ride to work?"

"Yeah, that would be great actually." I nodded, thankful I wouldn't have to spend anymore money on a cab.