Bella stepped off the plane behind Carlisle, Esme, and Alice. She only half listened as Alice went on and on about the dresses that she had found for Bella to wear to some gala that they were attending in a few weeks.

"I definitely think that you should wear the green one that I found at that vintage shop! We'll do the whole smoky eye bit. Of course we're going to have to find you some shoes," Alice droned on. Bella merely responded with a, "Hmm…"

At this point Alice realized that Bella wasn't even listening and she smiled a bit, "You haven't heard a word I've said since the pilot announced we were beginning our descent, did you?"

Bella blushed and shrugged, smiling sheepishly, "Sorry, Alice. I guess my mind is on other things."

Alice hooked her arm through Bella's as they walked behind her parents to the waiting limo. "And, would your mind happen to be on the very handsome, not so wee, Mr. Cullen?"

"Alice!" Bella admonished, but she couldn't help but blush and giggle.

Alice just giggled in response and squeezed Bella's arm. "It's good to see you happy, Bella. Now, are you coming with me to our place or are we dropping you off at his?" Bella worried her lower lip, not sure of what to do. It was late in the evening and she figured that Edward would be home, but she also didn't want to impose and show up without fair warning.

"Well, it wouldn't look good if anyone caught wind of the fact that Senator Cullen, presidential candidate, was seen coming and going from a potential rival's chief-of-staff's home," Bella replied. Alice opened her mouth to say something, but Bella stopped her and continued, "I know he wouldn't care, but I do. Things are a bit different now that he's officially running."

It was something that Bella had thought about a lot in the last week. Sure, they had been preparing for a presidential campaign for a while, but now that it was official and things were kicking into high gear, things were definitely a lot different. As Carlisle's press secretary, the media was inundating her with requests, and it wasn't just about the Senator, they wanted to know about the staff too. It also wasn't lost on her that since they interacted with her so often added to the fact that they knew about her and Edward dating, that they were very interested in her personal life. If it was of interest to the press now, it would only garner more attention whenever Senator Volturi decided to throw his hat into the ring, and rumor had it that that would happen any day now.

She wasn't naïve enough to think that this whole situation wouldn't affect her relationship with Edward, she only hoped that they could weather the storm. As she slipped into the waiting car behind Alice she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket and taking it out she smiled as she saw it was a message from Edward asking if she had arrived yet.

She sent him a quick message back and it wasn't two seconds later before the phone rang. Alice was glancing at her and smiling while the Senator and Esme sat across from them talking.

"Hello?"

Bella couldn't help but smile as Edward's voice answered her. "Hello, darling. So you're back in the wonderful DC area?"

"Yes, well, we're actually pulling out of the airport now," she replied.

Edward was silent for a moment and then he asked, "Can I see you tonight? I've missed you."

His words warmed her heart. She had been very busy while in California, but they had still found the time to talk, but not once had he said that he missed her.

"I'm actually going to be dropped off with Alice at our place," she replied. She heard him sigh on the other end of the line and quickly added, "But, I'd love to see you."

"Do you want me to pick you up?" he replied quickly.

"That'd be nice. I should be home in about a half hour or so," Bella said, a smile evident in her voice.

"I'll be there in 45 minutes. See you soon," and with that he hung up the phone.

)( )( )( )(

He was actually there sooner.

Edward had considered simply driving around for a while so he wouldn't seem overly anxious and they wouldn't see him there waiting by his car when they arrived, but the truth of the matter was that he was overly anxious. He hadn't liked spending this past week without Bella.

Despite the fact that he had been run ragged at work preparing for Senator Volutri's announcement regarding his running for the party's ticket for president, as well as dealing with the fallout from Senator Cullen having announced his candidacy for president first, he had thought about Bella a lot, though he had made sure not to bring up her name at the office.

That hadn't stopped the Senator from asking about her though. It bothered Edward that Aro was pushing for him to stay in the relationship. He had hinted at the fact that Edward could use their relationship to get insider information that might give them a leg up during the campaign. This bothered Edward to no end and left him with an unsettling feeling in his chest.

He was pondering on this feeling, not being able to shake the fact that something would go wrong, when Senator Cullen's car pulled to the front of the apartment building right behind Edward's car. Pushing away from the car Edward walked over just as Alice was getting out, followed by Bella and the Senator, who was insisting on helping the girls with their luggage.

"Edward!" Bella exclaimed, obviously happy and surprised. She launched herself at him and hugged him tightly as he chuckled and wrapped his arms back around her and kissed her softly. "Hello, dearest."

"Hi," Bella whispered back against his lips, smiling. Though, she did start blushing when she heard Alice giggle and the Senator clear his throat.

"Hello, Edward, good to see you again," said Carlisle.

Edward just smiled and reached out to shake his hand. "Hello, sir."

Alice giggled and waved. "Hey, Alice," Edward said, wrapping his arms around Bella.

At this point Esme peeked out of the car. "What's taking so long…Oh! Hello, Edward! Should have expected to see you here. I'm sure you've been as anxious to see Bella as she has been to see you." She chuckled as Bella blushed an even deeper shade of red. "You really must come over to dinner again sometime soon." Edward smiled and nodded right before Esme turned to look at Carlisle. "We're going to be late if you don't hurry."

Carlisle looked confused for a moment then said, "Right! The luggage!" He turned to the car only to almost trip over the very same luggage he had been about to unload and then noticed the drive closing the trunk. "Oh, thank you, good man!"

Esme chuckled and ducked back into the car after waving to Bella and Alice and Carlisle gave Alice a kiss on the cheek and popped back into the car with a promise to see Bella on Monday.

Edward gave Bella another kiss and then whispered, "Let me help you and Alice get your things upstairs." He moved away from Bella and blinked at the number of bags he saw on the sidewalk and he looked at both women with a look of confusion. "You were only gone a week!"

Bella just shrugged and Alice responded, "There was shopping to be done! Come, let's get this all upstairs and then you two can…do whatever it is you need to do."

Edward laughed as Bella groaned and covered her blushing cheeks. "Really, Alice?" she asked, shaking her head.

"Just remember the house rules," Alice said as she grabbed a couple of garment bags and a smaller piece of luggage, "clothing in common areas at all times!"

Now it was Edward's turn to blush.

A/N: I would like to start off by apologizing for being away from my story for so long. A lot of things have happened in my life and much of it has led to a loss of my muse to write, but hopefully this will be the start of my comeback. I hope to post again in the next few days!