Chapter 34

Bellas POV

When I woke up the following morning I got a bit of a surprise. I don't really know why, but I had somehow expected Edward to still be there in the morning but to my disappointment he was gone when my alarm rang. I sat up in my bed, looking around and somehow expecting him to be sitting in my rocking chair instead. But he was nowhere to be found.

"Are you up, Bells?" Charlie hollered from downstairs and I was instantly pretty happy about Edwards sudden disappearance. I shuddered at the thought of Charlie finding us in bed together. "Yes, I'm up", I hollered back and got out of bed. As I got up I saw a piece of paper lying on top of my dresser. Unable to contain my curiosity I flew across the room and reached for the note. With trembling hands I unfolded it and devoured its content.

Good morning, beautiful! I decided it was best I head out before Charlie got up, even though I would have liked to be the one to wake you up. See you in a bit! E.

As I stood reading the note over and over again I couldn't help being confused about what I was feeling. On the one hand I was sort of relieved that I hadn't had to face him this morning and that he'd just left. I wasn't quite sure how to act in the morning with a "friend with benefits" seeing as I'd never had one before. I wasn't as if I could invite him to have breakfast with me and Charlie and then ask him to give me a lift to school. It would have been awkward to say the very least. But on the other hand I was quite downcast by the fact of not finding him by my side when I woke up in the morning. But maybe this was just me being conservative about the fact that I expected to be waking up next to someone after having hooked up? Maybe I'd be doing myself a favor if I stopped comparing every sexual encounter to the ones I'd had with Dan?

I pondered the fact if I was in fact getting emotional as I proceeded to get dressed or if it was only the fact that I expected a certain amount of courtesy after having slept with someone. Maybe that was the case after all. But that still didn't explain the fact that I was bummed out by the fact that Edward wasn't here when I woke up.

"Bells, it's time to get a move on!" Charlie hollered from downstairs. "Edward is sitting in his car waiting for you!" he added. Instantly I felt my heart sever from my chest and then proceeding to fall straight to my stomach. "What?" I croaked loudly, making sure if I'd heard him correctly.

"Edward is sitting in his car outside waiting for you and school starts in half an hour. Chop chop!"

Trying to collect myself as best I could I hurried to put on a pair of socks, grabbed my schoolbag and then rushed downstairs. "Hey! Don't rush out of here without having something to eat", Charlie said as he was sitting by the kitchen table, drinking his coffee and browsing the news. "We'll grab something on our way to school", I stammered as I threw on my jacket and then proceeded to tie my shoes. "You better stop by Joe's on your way. I'll be sure to ask the waitress if you stopped by or not, so you bette pick up some food", I heard Charlie calling after me as I headed out the door. Once I got outside I shut the door behind me but then froze. Edwards car was parked in the driveway and I could see him sitting in the drivers seat, watching me with an amused look on his face. I felt my stomach rumble and for a swift second I felt like I was about to throw up the breakfast that I hadn't had. Why was I getting nervous about Edward Cullen?

I took a couple of deep breaths and then headed down the porch stairs. As I approached the car he leaned over to the passenger seat and opened the door. Not knowing what to do or say I sat down next to him, placing my schoolbag on the floor between my legs. "Good morning! I hope you slept well?" he said with a playful smile on his face and leaned over to kiss me. "Um, good morning", I answered after we'd parted lips, not quite sure about how I should react. As he watched me his face turned from playful to serious in a swift move. "Too much? I just felt weird ducking out of your place this morning without saying anything and I just felt like making up for it", he said, not sounding so sure of himself anymore. I was still amazed by the fact how Edward could seem so sure of himself and then within seconds he'd turn into the average insecure teenager seeking approval. "No, not at all. It would have been nice if you'd stuck around", I answered, suddenly being more honest than I'd planned to be. "Oh… I would have stayed, it was just that I heard Charlie getting up and I didn't want him to…" "I understand why you left, really", I interrupted him. "I didn't want Charlie to find us like that either", I added, trying to assure him that I hadn't perceived his absence as a personal affront.

"I'm just not used to this kind of situation. I get insecure about how I should act around you. I don't want to things to get weird between us just because…", I started but then got self conscious about how I should name what we'd done the night before. "Just because we had sex?" he asked, looking smug about how I was blushing because of what he'd said. "There's no awkwardness on my part. Really. I thought last night was great. For more than one reason. Things are not gonna get weird between us unless you let them", he said, looking serious again. "Okay then. I was just making sure that last night didn't change anything between us", I replied. "I promise, it didn't. You know I like being around you, but I'm still not asking you for anything that you can't give me. You make me feel good and that's enough for me.", he added, looking earnestly at me with those big, golden eyes. "I like spending time with you too. I'm glad to have you", I answered. For a long while we just sat there, looking at each other, reaching some kind of mutual agreement about what we were to each other. "But I hope you didn't mind that I came climbing up your bedroom window, because I'd kind of like to be able to repeat that act, with your permission of course. There are still some things I've been dying to try out". I could feel myself turning scarlett red by what he'd just said. Who was this guy who spoke to me like this? But at the same time I could also feel a tingling sensation running through my body. "You can climb my window whenever", I chuckled as I shook my head at him. "I'll hold you to that rather sooner than later", he said and winked at me as he started the car.