Disclaimer: Not mine.

Chapter 4 – New York to California

"No mountains to high, no stone is too small
I'll build a bridge through the fire, for you I would crawl
From New York to California"

-Matt Kearney

As soon as I got home I began throwing clothes around, trying to decide what to take with me. I was nearly halfway through stuffing my entire wardrobe into a Louis Vuitton duffel bag (thank you, Alice) when it hit me.

"FUCK!" I cried loudly, causing EJ to bolt out of the room. He had been sitting wide-eyed on the dresser watching me, no doubt wondering what the hell was going on. I groaned. EJ. Not only had I forgotten who was going to take care of my only child, I also didn't have a plane ticket. I'd gotten so wrapped up in what I thought might be happening that as soon as I got home, I started throwing shit into bags without a thought about how I would actually be getting there.

I sat on the bed and rubbed my hands through my hair, and my reflection made me laugh. The whole situation made me laugh. I couldn't help it: what started as a small chuckle turned quickly to hysterics, complete with tears streaming down my face. Anyone who saw would've thought I was fucking insane… they wouldn't have been too far off. Bella had always made me crazy, even when we were kids. I lay back on my bed and smiled at the thought…

"You'll never catch me!" she cried, her brown eyes shining as she darted between trees. Our parents had taken us camping one summer. It wasa few months after Renee left; I was eight and she was nearly seven. I lost sight of her between two big trunks then heard a light 'thud' following by her sniffling. When I came around the corner of the trunk she was sitting up, hugging her knees to her chest, fresh tears rolling down her face.

"Izzy?" I rushed to her and sat down. "You okay?"

"Stupid tree," she whispered and buried her face in her knees. I laughed softly and she raised her head, glaring at me.

"It just came out of nowhere, huh?" I teased trying to make her laugh. She stood up, hands on her hips, and stared down at me.

"You're not funny, Edward Cullen," she looked away pointedly and I rolled my eyes.

"Whatever, Iz, you loved that joke I told earlier." I poked the top of her sneakers and she giggled at the memory.

"Fine!" She stamped her foot, trying to look angry, the small grin still playing on her lips. "But… you still can't catch me!" Without a backward glance, she was gone. And I chased her. I always chased her.

I lay there for a while longer before deciding to actually call the airlines and book my flight. Needless to say, I almost died when I scheduled my payment.

"Alright Mr. Cullen, I just need to get your card number and we'll get you all set up," the service rep's perky voice came through the receiver. I rambled off my card number and she repeated it back to me. "Okay, so I'm just going to confirm that a total of $7,071.91 will be charged to your Mastercard. Do you accept these charges?" It was at this point I choked on the air I was breathing and almost keeled over. "Mr. Cullen?"

"Fine," I managed to gasp before falling in a heap onto the sofa. Thanks for the trust fund, Daddy. I grimaced as I thought about the huge amount of money that had just gone flying out of my bank account. I ran my hand over my face, knowing that the only reason it really bothered me was because I still had no idea why I was going back to Washington in the first place. Well… besides the fact that I would crawl to the ends of the earth to make things right with Bella.

~*~

The next dawned bright, a contrast the Forks, Washington weather I would soon be experiencing. I had called Bella the day before to let her know when I would be leaving and to set up a meeting place. Getting ready to leave, I set my bags by the door and went to search for EJ. I had been on short business trips before, always leaving him with enough food to last him a couple of days. I had to think harder about it this time, however. Two weeks was a long time and I couldn't even imagine the trouble he would get into being alone. I had briefly considered having Lindsey come over and check on him, but that kind of got me thinking… I mean, did I really want her to know where I lived? Or to have her in my house and shit? No. Plus, I had the feeling that if I actually did ask her to take care of my cat she would junk-punch me. So instead, I settled for the little old lady down the hall.

"I really appreciate this, Mrs. Kelsoe. He'll be good," I said almost an hour later after I finally found EJ hiding under the bed. He squirmed in my arms until he finally jumped down and ran inside her apartment.

When I finally made it to the airport I had over an hour before my plane took off and I was nervous as hell. I sat down at a small restaurant and bar in the airport, but apparently it was too early to serve hard liquor.

"Short stack and a mimosa then," I decided, and handed the menu back to my waitress. I checked my watch five mimosas later and decided to set out to my boarding gate. After throwing some cash on the table I made my way there. I checked my ticket and settled into one of the chairs and let my mind wander again.

"Flight 715 to Seattle is now boarding," a voice overhead said.

Now or never, I thought.

A/N: Thanks again for your love... hang in there, it's coming ;)

And thanks to Becca Graymoor for being an awesome beta and for MessyNachos for just being awesome... I think it's in your DNA.