Lesson

"Not that I object or anything love but don't you have a class to teach?"

"Nope. I have Monday's last two periods off. I'm not letting you go just yet."

"Okay then."

He smiled down at me and pecked my lips before stopping outside the door next to my classroom. I looked at him shocked.

"How come you have Mr Wilkinson's room?"

"When you have been in the army you have certain advantages. I wanted to be as close to you as possible all day every day."

"No objections here."

"Come on, I need to meet my new class."

He opened the door with the hand not wrapped around my waist. Cheers could be heard from each student. I blushed and looked down.

"I've missed your blush so much. Don't hide your face love. I've had to go three and a half years without seeing it, don't deprive me of this."

"Fine. If I didn't love you so much I'd say no."

I pecked his lips before pulling back.

"Hello class as you all know I'm your new English teacher Edward Cullen but I want you to call me Edward. Mr Cullen makes me sound really old. Today we won't do any work. I want to get to know you and I think you'd like to know me."

Edward gave me a squeeze before sitting behind his desk. I stood in the corner, leaning against the window just watching. The class became silent as he took the register. I realised that this was one of my best classes on a Friday. This class ended up having three different English teachers throughout the week but that made them work even harder not wanting anything to mess with their exam scores.

"Can everyone move the desks to the edge of the room and make a circle with your seats. I find it easier to talk about ourselves if we can see everyone."

Tables scraped along the floor as they all started moving them. Edward came over to me and wrapped his arms around me.

"Come on Bella. You're joining in."

"I know all these people Edward and they know me. It's you who needs to get to know them."

"As a teacher it's my job to include everybody in activities. That means you too."

"Fine."

Edward dragged me to the circle and pulled up two chairs next to each other.

"Thank you Edward."

"No problem love. It's just what I do."

The rest of the class quieted down as they took their seats in the circle.

"We are going to go round the room and I want you to tell me your name, one thing you enjoy and something you don't like. Bella you go first then we'll go round the circle."

I took a deep breath thinking that this was stupid.

"I'm Bella Swan; I enjoy teaching and don't like sports."

"I'm Alicia Woodford ; I love ballet but don't like shopping."

"I'm Jamie Charlton; I like cooking and hate math."

It carried on in the same fashion round the circle with various answers until it came back to Edward.

"I'm Edward Cullen; I like playing the piano and don't like going shopping with my sister Alice."

I chuckled when he said that because I knew exactly what he was talking about. Alice is a wild child when it comes to shopping.

"Now that I know you a bit better I want to go round the circle again but this time tell me something about your family, a friend and what your dream job would be."

"My parents split up when I was a baby, my best friend is Alice and I would love to be a composer."

"I have three sisters and a brother, my best friend is an amazing artist and I'd love to be a professional dancer."

"My mom's the best cook in the world, my friend Robin moved to Canada last year to go to a specialist swimming school so he can compete in the Olympics in a few years. I'd love to be a five star restaurant owner."

People's jobs ranged from fashion designers to boxers to engineers. One girl- called Eliza, I think- whom has always been top of the class surprised me.

"My dad died when I was four. My best friend is my brother Olly. I'd love to be an English teacher like Bella."

Edward looked down at me with a proud gleam in his eyes.

"My parents abandoned me when I was 3 so was adopted by Carlisle and Esme. Jasper and Emmett are both my best friends. I'd like to have a quiet life with my family and Bella."

I kissed him on the cheek as all the girls awed.

"This time I want you all to say something you've never told anyone before."

I started thinking. There was only one thing I could think of that kept in the forefront of my mind. I wanted to tell them something else but couldn't think of anything else.

"Bella you okay?"

"Yes sorry just thinking."

"You sure?"

I just nodded not trusting my voice.

"You got something?"

"Yeah."

I looked at the rest of the class ready to reveal my secret.

"I had a younger brother."

The class was deadly silent. No one knew about my baby brother Danny. He was less than a year younger than me.

I felt Edward's arms wrap around me tighter.

"Okay. Not what I was expecting."

He leaned down and whispered in my ear.

"We'll talk about this another time love."

"Thank you."

He smiled down at me and kissed me on the forehead.

"Jamie, what about you?"

"I'm related Cameron Diaz."

"I killed my sister's hamster."

I didn't listen to what anyone else had to say. I had finally told someone about my brother.

"I was terrified when I first asked Bella out."

I looked up at Edward shocked. I never knew Edward was scared to ask me out. Edward has never been scared of anything.

"Why?"

The class seemed curious as to what his answer would be.

"Because she was the intelligent, funny, adorable and beautiful girl who had attracted my attention the minute she bumped into me."

All the girls awed again. I leaned up to kiss him as he lowered his lips to mine. Our lips met in a loving kiss.

"I love you."

"I love you too my Bella."

I leaned my head on Edward's shoulder as he continued the lesson.

"This last time I want everyone to tell me something they regret. Whether it's something you did do or something you didn't do."

"I regret not spending as much time with my dad as I could have."

"I regret not paying enough attention in school when I was younger."

"I regret forgetting to feed my sisters hamsters."

Many people regretted things they didn't do and very few regretted something they did.

It got back round to Edward and I couldn't wait to hear what he regretted.

"I regret not asking Bella to marry me sooner."

He said looking into my eyes. Tears ran down my eyes again today as what he said sank in.

Before anyone said anything the bell rang signalling the end of the lesson.

"Right class. I'll see you all tomorrow. I'd like you all to bring your favourite book in, whether it's from when you were five or fifteen. Have a good day."

"Thank you Edward."

"Bye Edward. Happy birthday Bella."

"Thank you everyone."

A few of the girls stayed behind.

"Thank you for coming back Edward. Bella needs you."

They all hugged us close.

"Bella's been miserable without you. She deserves you. She's the best teacher ever."

"Thank you girls. I'm glad you think I'm a good teacher."

"You're not just a good teacher Bella, you're the best there is."

"We'd better get going to our next lesson before we're too late."

"Congratulations Bella, Edward. You two are really cute together."

"Thanks girls. Now go before you get detention."

They ran out the room giggling between them.

"They all really like you love."

"They like you too Edward. Your lesson was really interesting. I never knew you were scared when you asked me out."

"That was the point of the exercise. To tell others something about you and see who you can trust."

"It's a great idea. Where did it come from?"

"As a major I had to have some way of knowing who to trust and who I couldn't."

"You are an amazing Major. You know that?"

"I wasn't an amazing Major. I was a brother looking out for his family."

"That's not true Edward. You wouldn't have gotten this if you weren't the best out there. Do you know what the President said when he gave this to me. He said that you were the best soldier there has ever been. You can't argue with the President Edward so don't."

"Fine love. I won't. By the way I have free period now."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Do you want to do something?"

"Can we go back to ours? It's been a really long day and I want to spend some time with you before we go out tonight."

"That sounds amazing. Let's go tell the others what we're doing and where to meet us later then we can go."