DISCLAIMER: The story doesn't belong to me; the characters are property of S. Meyer, and the plot belongs to Annalau Thank you so much for letting me share your story in English!

Gracias Laura, por darme esta oportunidad!

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Chapter 17

"You said you would go with us. It was like a promise and promises aren't broken, Bella."

I smile at Pat's stubbornness.

My honey-eyed teenager has been kneeling in front of my bed for over half an hour, holding my hand and occasionally combing my hair so tenderly.

"I'm not the best company right now."

He furrows his brow without taking his eyes off me and thoughtfully purses his lips.

"We know you're not good at sports or camping in the snow, but you amuse me a lot. Your gestures are always very funny, as well as now," he verbalizes, running a finger between my eyebrows. "Come on, let's go."

Edward exhales noisily walks with short steps sitting on the edge of the bed. He hasn't said much since they arrived, he's just kept watching from the door of my room.

"I won't take no for an answer, miss," he rubs my feet on the sheets that cover me. "You know damn well I can throw you over my shoulder and kidnap you for the whole weekend."

"You wouldn't."

"Is that a fucking dare?" he asks.

"No, I just don't feel like anything."

He stands up assessing my posture. Without saying anything he bends down and grabs me in his arms making me start to jump, screaming and kicking for him to release me.

"Put me down!" I shout, hitting him a couple of times in the chest. "Put me down, now!"

"Pat, take the suitcase and throw it in the van," he orders, carrying me in his arms. In the room we meet Jessica who opens her mouth in amusement when she sees us together. "We'll take your friend with us this weekend," he explains. "I'll deliver her in a piece on Sunday night."

"Okay, have fun," Jess the traitor wishes us, closing the door of the apartment after Edward leaves with me in his arms.

"Can you put me down? It's embarrassing to be in your arms."

"I don't want to," he denies with a silly smile making me angry.

We calmly ride down the elevator and then walk down the hallway and out of the building, he leaves me in the passenger seat, taking the time to put my seatbelt on himself.

"It's going to be a long trip," he comments.

I ignore him; I pick up my legs and hug them during the journey.

I admit that sharing an hour with them can be seconds and twelve hours is an hour. It is impossible to get bored or angry in their company. Everything is always so perfect with them.

For this very reason when we arrived in North Carolina I could only marvel at the deserted sea. And my impression is great to see Pat get off his ATV and speed along the shore of the beach and trace figures with the beastly four-wheeler. That kid is not afraid of anything.

"Wow, you're smiling," says Edward as he reaches my side. "After seeing you so miserable hours ago, I'm glad to see you in better spirits. What happened to make you so miserable?"

I cross my arms, hugging myself as I feel the cool wind.

"It doesn't matter," I refuse to speak.

"If it made you cry and your eyes still look sad it's important, don't underestimate your emotions.

I tilt my head.

"I told Tyler the truth," I bite my lip trying not to cry. "I'm sure it's over between us."

Edward is quiet for a moment, perhaps pondering, and then he interjects:

"When you say the word truth…" he makes quotation marks in the air. "You mean the day we met, right?"

Embarrassed, I nod, and he becomes thoughtful again.

He puts his hands in his pockets and fiddles with his bare feet in the sand.

"If you knew of the likelihood of a rift between the two of you, why did you tell him?"

"I'm not a liar, Edward," I replied. "Tyler and I had plans. I was going to move in with him this spring. I wasn't going to start a life with him by hiding things."

"Okay, I believe you," his tone of voice is peaceful which seems strange to me, but I don't have time to think about his gentle reaction because one of his arms wraps around my shoulders. "If what you want is to cry, do it, and once your discomfort passes you have to go on. You shouldn't give up on a guy who doesn't deserve you."

My lip trembles.

I begin to cry on his chest, unburdening with my tears all the emotions stuck inside me.

"I'm the worst." I mumble through my tears, "I deserve everything that happens to me."

Edward starts rubbing my back as we sway against the gusts of the strong wind that threatens to blow us over.

"Don't say that" he whispers. "You're a great woman, Isabella. Never doubt that."

"I'm being a blubbering idiot," I whine.

He hugs me tighter, holds me to his chest.

"You're just heartbroken..., at your age it's normal."

"Did the same thing happen to you?" I ask, feeling silly for crying in his arms.

Breathe in.

"I don't remember anymore. Maybe it did."

"I'm ruining your weekend," I say.

"I won't leave you alone, Isabella. And you're not ruining anything, you're our friend and we're here to help make your sorrows less painful. That's what friends do, right?"

"Thank you."

"We didn't come all this way for you to still be there, cuddling." Pat pulls us apart with her hands. She smiles at us as she narrows her eyes, looking at us with extreme curiosity. "Are we going to play races or not?"

Edward walks to the back where the other ATV is waiting for him.

"Do you like my dad?" Pat asks.

"No," I lie, lowering my face to the sand. "Why do you ask?"

"I can't tell you, I promised my dad," he pulls my hand, taking me with him. "Get on," he points to the back of his bike. "We'll go for a ride."

I let out a deafening scream as Pat speeds off, clinging tightly to his waist and hiding my face behind his back. I regret agreeing to ride with him, as the boy doesn't seem afraid of anything.

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It was exciting to pay special attention as winter was bidding farewell to the city and the layers of clothing were exchanged for lighter garments that invited us to welcome the colorful spring.

Over the course of that time I was trying many times to talk to Tyler and getting nothing but his rejection.

Then acceptance began to invade my reasoning. Little by little the regrets began to dissipate; the sadness and tears that had plagued me for weeks were transformed into joy and renewed hope. Although I must be honest, accepting that Edward and Pat were behind my new illusions.

Especially Edward that every time I get distracted thinking about him and his beautiful smile, his big hands, his athletic legs, his broad back and also his biceps that became my favorite part not forgetting his wild hair and beard. I couldn't fool myself; I like the whole thing.

But everything that begins one day tends to end; I finished teaching Pat and sought a new job in a law firm, now I was the one who attended reception and answered phones most of my afternoons. This didn't mean that the Cullen men and I looked at each other any less, no, quite the contrary. We had now become a little pack as Pat often nicknamed us.

There isn't a weekend that goes by that I didn't spend together with them.

I should also mention the slight approach that Edward's mother had with me, it wasn't much, a simple greeting without making faces of displeasure was enough to make me feel good. Maybe, we were not friends, nor was there the possibility that one day we would be, but at least we were in peace.

If I must mention a strange fact, apart from the slight rapprochement with Esme, it was Carlisle Cullen's hermeticism. In the course of the weeks I didn't hear from him, not that I minded, it was just strange that he had left me alone since Edward helped me transfer the exact amount his father gave me.

With no further relevance so the spring went by.

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I look at the calendar once again; we are in the second week of June. Jessica is enthusiastically packing her bags to go back home; she will spend the summer with her parents. I, on the other hand, will stay at work to continue saving.

"What a miracle to see you here on the weekend," she says teasingly, entering my room and sniffing through the stuffed animals on the bed. "You're not going out with your boys?"

I take a stuffed pug Edward gave me out of her hands and hug it to my chest.

"They'll be busy. Pat went with Charlotte and will spend the weekend with her, and Edward didn't say anything to me. I guess he'll have things to do."

"Ah," she murmurs, sitting down next to me. "What happened between you two? I thought you would be boyfriend and girlfriend by now and nothing. Do you think Edward isn't interested in you anymore?"

I exhale noisily without removing my smile.

"We both like each other very much. I can feel it in his looks, in the way he treats me and even when we argue over something silly. I don't understand why he can't bring himself to ask me to go out with him," I sigh. "So many times we've been on the verge of kissing, and it never happens. I'm dying for a kiss from him, Jess. I assure you that if Edward's intention was to drive me crazy for him, he succeeded."

Jessica whips a stuffed animal across my face several times. She's so completely thrilled that her face has reddened from holding back her screams.

"What are you waiting for to go get him? Arrive unexpectedly at his house, be the one to make the first move," she encourages.

"You know very well that I would never dare."

My friend jumps to her feet and the first thing she does is to open the closet and go into the small confinement, she starts to throw piles of clothes on me.

"What are you doing?" I kneel on the bed, dodging the blouses that are about to crash into my face.

"Looking for something indecent to seduce Edward Cullen." She pouts at the garment in her hands, it's my favorite dress. "I think this might come in handy."

"I've already used it with that intention, and it doesn't work," I reveal, contemplating the yellow fabric.

"Let's try it again." She throws it to my hands. "Go and change."

Ten minutes later I am ready. Dressed in a rather short, low-cut yellow dress.

Jess watches me from head to toe and her brow furrows in disapproval.

"Bella, I don't understand why you keep accessorizing with Tyler's name on it."

I furrow my eyebrows looking at my bracelets and tantalizing my pendant with my fingertips. I had forgotten to take them off.

"We should get rid of that," Jess says coming up to me.

I just shrug my shoulders without saying anything as she takes off the first bracelet and so each thing.

"Now you're talking," she looks at me again and this time smiles knowingly. "Good luck, Bella. It's time to go get your boy," she gives me a wink.

The uber leaves me in front of my boys' house. I know Edward is inside because his truck is parked in his place, I ring the doorbell insistently and with a bit of nerves thinking about the pretext I must invent.

"Isabella..." Edward greets me with a big smile while he is having a conversation on his cell phone, he makes a sign inviting me to come in. "It's okay, if no one is available I'll take care of it." I know he's still in his conversation because he points to his cell phone.

Feeling nervous I sit on the edge of the couch; meanwhile Edward paces around the living room, dining room and kitchen concentrating on his conversation.

He sighs turning to me.

"I'm sorry. This day was stressful, I have to go out because of my work."

Disappointed I decide it's better to leave before I get kicked out.

"Don't worry, I'll come back another day."

"No," he takes my hand and stops me from leaving. "Do you need anything? Tell me, what's wrong?"

He cradles my face with his big hands.

And like every time he touches me I can feel myself hyperventilating with his closeness.

"It's nothing." My brain can't think clearly what lie to tell, so I decide for the truth. "I just wanted to see you."

"Me too," he acknowledges without letting go of my face. "I was just about to come looking for you. I have to go out because of some small problems in one of the hotels. Would you like to come with me?"

I bite my lip, hesitantly staring into his wild green eyes.

"I need to be in Hawaii tonight. Come with me," he asks.

"Hawaii?"

He nods.

"You and me, alone?" I ask.

"It will be an express trip. What do you say, shall we go?"

I hold my breath.

I'm excited to go with him, alone.

Ok, now let's get to the chapter. As you have read, time passed and Bella has a job, also it seems that Tyler is forgotten matter, do you think Bella will go with Edward? I recommend you not to miss the next chapter because I know you are going to love it. I look forward to reading all your guesses as to what will happen, remember Tyler lives in Hawaii and it's a small world. The Carlisle thing will be later if you want to know when he will show up, maybe I'll let you know before.

A special thanks to those who commented: Pattsy1994, Ale Stewart, , acw1, tas62, cocoa blizzard, cbmorefie, Dulce Carolina, EdibleArt, dazzlego, Rosemarie28,

PS: Don't forget to check out Mocking the Bounds for a different kind of drama

THANK YOU FOR READING!