CHAPTER FIVE

Planes of the Universe

Hello everyone! So I rarely do authors notes, but I wanted to acknowledge and thank all my reviewers. Every last one of you! You guys are the ones that are pushing me to keep writing and finish this story and I read and appreciate every single review you guys leave! Life has been super busy and way too stressful this semester, but it's finally slowing down and I'm crossing my fingers that I'll have time to finish this story sometime soon!

On a side note- I wanted to acknowledge some of the concern I've been receiving about this story turning into a playboy Edward wins over a shy, pining, Bella story and to all those readers, please hang on and have faith! Bella is going to have a strong backbone and self confidence, but it'll take a while to get there! I think like all of us, it's going to take Bella a little while to figure out how important she really is and how to not settle for anything less than she deserves. And in the future I'm hoping to turn some hearts into some love for Edward. He's not a bad guy, he's just confused and doesn't know how to treat Bella like she deserves.

Thanks for hanging in there, and here we go for another installment of Bella and Edward!

EPOV

Edward pulled up to Bella's house and peered out his window. He saw Bella peeking frantically out her curtains and laughed, honking lightly on the horn.

She came running out a couple seconds later, droplets flying out of her wet hair, clinging around her head like a wet mop, in leggings and a thin t-shirt. Her backpack was stuffed to the brim and flung over her shoulder and she was cradling a water bottle, notebook and jacket in her arms. She tumbled into the car, stuffing it full with herself, and he looked over at her and laughed.

"What?" She asked, staring back at him, her eyes glowing from her short run out the door.

"Nothing." He said, smirking, staring at her out of the corner of his eye.

"I mean, do you think you have enough stuff in your bag?" He asked her teasingly, watching her reaction.

She blushed hard, smiling widely. "I need all of this stuff you asshole! We have three different classes today!" She exclaimed.

"I don't know how you do it. How do you manage to carry so much shit with you?" He was lucky if he remembered to bring the right notebooks with him to his classes.

"It's just my different binders and a lunch! And I'm not managing." She said laughing. "You know my neck is still completely messed up right now from that soccer game. I had to book in a couple chiropractor appointments with Emmett's dad just to stop the headaches."

That's right. He had forgotten that her neck was giving her so much pain. She had gone from being bubbly and happy to sullen and irritable for about a week after it happened. He had done everything he could to avoid her for that short while.

Bella sighed and he looked over. She was rubbing her neck with her small fingers, as if trying to ease the tension and he resisted the urge to reach over and place a comforting hand on her neck.

"You okay?" He asked?

"Yeah I'm fine." She said, with a soft sigh. "Hey Ed? Did you get your neck checked?"

"Bugger off!" He said laughing.

He had been an idiot and slammed his head into the doorframe a couple weeks prior, hard enough to black out for a couple seconds. Ever since he had had really bad neck and back pain, just like her. But unlike Bells, he hadn't done anything about it except pretend it wasn't there.

"You're going to hurt it more!" She chastised him softly.

He smiled sheepishly, flicking his turning signal on to turn into the highway.

"I'll be okay Bells, you know me."

"I do know you! Which is why I know you won't go to the doctor!" She reprimanded him. But he didn't even have to look at her to know she was smiling. He could feel it in her voice.

Emmett was right, he had been in love with her since he met her. But she was brightness, and he was, well, he liked to think he was a particular shade of grey. He wasn't dumb, he knew that he didn't deserve her but he wanted to. But she was good, almost pure, and he was constantly pulling her into situations that she didn't want to be in, and every time he saw that apprehensive look on her face, he knew it.

Picking her up though, was something he could do for her and it was starting to become one of his favourite past times. He lived for those twenty minutes in the car when they debated life, caught each other up with what was happening, and when he had twenty minutes of her undivided attention. For twenty minutes, she was the only thing in the entire world.

"Are you ready for the English quiz today?" He asked.

"Aghhh." She sank back into the sleep, closing her eyes. "Not even close to being ready!"

"But I thought you studied all night?"

He glanced over at here at a stop sign, and her face was staring sheepishly back.

"Yeah, I fell asleep on my study couch last night."

He threw his head back laughing. "Classic! What a Bella move."

She smiled. "I'm here to serve."

And with that, she reached over and turned the music up. She smiled at him, before turning and gazing out her open window, the wind blowing her hair all over, and sunlight dancing across her face.

And all he could do was stare. And marvel at how they ended up in the same plane of the universe.