Chapter 30

Bella was sitting on the edge of her bed, looking around her new bedroom. She felt a bit gloomy. Her father and Paul had just left. The three of them had left early this morning for Seattle for her father's check-up with Dr. Cullen, and after the appointment, they had come to her apartment and helped her carry her stuff and get settled.

Paul had made her food that he had put in the freezer. He was clearly worried about her eating. It was an understatement of the century to say that the quality and taste of her food would decrease dramatically while Paul wasn't with her.

She still felt Paul's lips on hers. She wiped away the tears flooding her cheeks. She hated goodbyes. Although they had already promised to see each other as soon as possible, probably already next weekend, being here without him made her miserable and finally made their situation real. So far, she had only thought about what it might feel like. Well, now she knew it would be like this, at least for the next two years. They would make it, she didn't have a doubt about that, but it wouldn't be easy. She missed him already so much.

But she knew it would probably be even harder for Paul if it was hard for her. She was the one who left and was starting new things, exciting things leaving him to deal with the empty space and shared memories she'd left behind. And there was nothing she could do to make it easier for him. That hurt her the most.

But this wasn't the end, shit no. They just needed to find a new rhythm for their relationship and enjoy the things life had in store. They both had so much, together and separately. She tried to concentrate on that thought.

Bella decided to go out and have a coffee somewhere. Maybe she would go to Book Attic and have a chat with Paula. They had already settled her first work hours; she would start next week. She would also find a place to print out the picture of her and Paul together. She had her favorite one on her phone screen. She would print that one. After coffee, she might go for a run; it always made her feel good.

She left the apartment, and right then, her phone beeped. It was a text from Paul.

Hey beautiful, I hope you'll settle in soon and enjoy your days. Have fun baby, you deserve some fun. Miss you like crazy! xxx

Tears flooded again. Jesus, she loved that man.

She texted back,

Getting there but waiting you to come to me asap. Love you and miss you my handsome! xxx

Shit, this was going to be hard. Letting out a shaky breath, she closed the door behind her.

And her phone beeped again, but it wasn't Paul. It was Edward Cullen.

Are you in town? Would you like to go for a coffee like we talked about in June? - Edward

Bella certainly didn't feel like going for a coffee with Edward Cullen. She replied,

Yeah, just arrived. Maybe some other day, got heaps to do. - Bella.

Her phone beeped again, and now it was Paul.

Love you my beautiful!

She texted him a heart emoji, put her phone in her bag, and left.

She liked the area where her apartment was. It was so close to everything she needed. Her campus was only a five-minute walk away, and Book Attic was another five minutes. There seemed to be quite many restaurants and cafes too. She would need new pair of jeans. She didn't enjoy shopping at all, but she knew what she was looking for, so it wouldn't hopefully last long to find what she needed. She could pop into a few shops on her way to Book Attic.

The semester would start on Wednesday. She had everything ready for school and couldn't wait for her studies to begin.

As she browsed through a few shops, she thought about Megan. She was coming tomorrow. They had kept in contact during the summer, getting to know each other a little. Megan seemed to have a good sense of humor and was a person she could have long and interesting conversations with. She had told her that she was dating some guy named Jack but was most likely dumping him to be able to immerse herself fully into college life. Yeah, she really had used the word immerse. Bella had told her about Paul and how she definitely was not dumping him for any reason.

"Just wait and see when you get to taste those college hunks," Megan had said.

Yeah, right, Bella snorted, remembering their texting. She was starting to feel better. She and Paul would be ok. There would be no other hunks for her, one was more than enough, and she knew Paul would never cheat on her. She just hoped the nightmares didn't return now that she wasn't sleeping next to him.

Eric and Tyler had also texted her earlier in the week and told her they would like to meet. So, she would follow Paul's advice and try to enjoy herself. Hadn't some research just proved right the saying that time flies when you're having fun? She couldn't wait to get Paul here with her, but she should try to enjoy herself while waiting.

Edward Cullen was staring at his phone screen.

Yeah, just arrived. Maybe some other day, got heaps to do. - Bella

He couldn't believe his eyes; Isabella was refusing his invitation. No woman had ever told him no. Well, she hadn't said no, not exactly, but "Maybe some other day" was almost the same, and Edward's patience was wearing thin. He'd waited the whole summer to finally get to meet her properly and get to know her.

Ok, let me know when you are free. Looking forward seeing you. - Edward

Sure – Bella

Was that all the reply she gave him: "Sure"? He didn't like that. He was a man used to getting what he wanted, especially women. Hell, he was one of Seattle's most eligible bachelors. In high school, he had been able to pick any girlfriend he wanted, and he had had loads, and there were always horny college girls ready to share their beds with him and a line of regular hook-ups. So no, he really hadn't expected Isabella Swan to tell him "maybe".

When Edward had met Isabella Swan at his father's surgery in June, he knew she was a woman he had to have. She was kind of a girl men fought for. Gorgeous body, beautiful face with striking eyes which shone miles away, speaking of intelligence and witty sense of humor, and her long wavy hair that reached her ass was like a veil. And her way of being unaware how fucking tempting she was made her exquisitely mouth-watering. She called herself Bella. Nah, that was too ordinary for her, she would always be Isabella for him, and she would be his soon.

Yeah, put in shortly, Edward had never met a woman like Isabella Swan, and he wanted her, he wanted her bad. If she looked like that in a plain t-shirt and jeans, what a sight she would be in heels and a glamorous dress, with some make-up on? Everybody in his Fraternity would envy Edward.

He had sent her two text messages during the summer, another just asking how she was doing and the other reminding her of their plans to meet up. He was a patient man, if anything, and he could wait. But still, September hadn't come soon enough. So, when his father's receptionist had informed him today that Mr. Swan had seen his father for a check-up and his daughter had been with him, he didn't waste any time.

And she had said "maybe".

"Fuck," he spat.

"What's eating you, man?" Jasper asked. They were catching the last rays of the September sun on their roof terrace.

"I got kinda stood up by Isabella Swan," Edward said, rubbing his face.

"You mean that chick you haven't stopped talking about the whole summer?"

"Yeah, her. I asked her for a coffee as we talked about doing when she would move here and, now she said, "maybe some other day".

"Aww, our most eligible bachelor got shunned by a girl," Jasper sneered.

"Fuck you, Whitlock, she'll be mine before Christmas. Wanna bet?"

Paul was feeling angsty and was pissed off. It had been almost three weeks since he last saw Bella. He had started his studies at the Culinary Arts School, and because he had some references that might help him get some courses marked as done, he had to make presentations where they could evaluate his skills, which were arranged on weekends. So, he'd been stuck in Port fucking Angeles for the last two weekends. Fuck he had hated that.

They've called every day and texted multiple times throughout the days, but it wasn't the same. He missed her like crazy. His right hand had been jerking off duty all the time, and still, he was bursting. He had tasted the heaven and wasn't faring well without her, not at all.

One night he had gone to a bar with Sam to get a few drinks but hadn't stayed long. A few chicks had come onto him, and he had hated that shit and left. It had been fucking lousy idea, like getting wasted would make him feel better. It was his old way of reacting to his anxiety, and it had never helped him before.

So, last week he'd gone to do some sparring with Kai and told him that he was ready to start dealing with the abandonment shit. Kai had been over the moon by his decision. So, last week, he had been throwing up the whole night just like Bella had. Fuck, that'd been disgusting, but as Bella had said, the feeling afterward was excellent, well, better at least. Kai had told him that it wasn't going to be an easy way, but starting it was the best thing he could do to himself. Paul decided to believe him.

And after that, he had got into a routine: work, study, running at the beach, and work out with Kai. Rigorous training made him feel good. Well better, as good as he could feel without Bella with him.

The school was boring. Most of the stuff was something he knew by experience, and others were just boring. People in their second year had told that it gets better during the year. Thank fuck for that. But he knew that to work as a chef, he needed to get that fucking paper, so he just had to suck it up and do what was required.

Charlie had come to dinner once, and once, he'd taken what he had made to his place. These moments were nice and comforting. Charlie was the link to Paul's two most important people in his life and was fast becoming one, too, not that Paul was ready to admit it.

Charlie told him about his friendship with mommy Holly. She had become very important to him after Bella's mother, Reneé, left, taking Bella with her. It had broken Charlie's heart, and Holly had helped him mend it somewhat. There wasn't anything romantic about their relationship; both Paul and Charlie knew that Holly loved women, and she had been in a relationship when she'd been younger. Her partner died from cancer, and she hadn't had anybody else after that.

Paul had often thought about why he and Bella hadn't met when they were kids; odds had been quite big that they could have. He had asked about it from Charlie one night.

"Was it because you thought I would be a bad influence?" Paul had asked boldly. His heart had been bounding in his chest while waiting for Charlie to reply.

"No, it wasn't that. And you weren't a bad influence. You were a good kid, are a good kid. You probably don't believe me, but I just didn't want to share her too much. We already were quite often with Billy and Jake and the twins because Jake and Bella were such good friends, and I was jealous of everybody who could spend time with her. And Holly was my comfort when I was feeling bad, and when I had Bella, well, I wasn't," Charlie had said, taking a swig of his beer.

"Know how that feels," Paul had snorted.

Charlie had laughed.

"Yeah, this must be very hard for you. But it is interesting to think what might have happened if you two had met when you were kids, don't you think?"

It sure was. Would they have fallen in love as teenagers? Thought had made him shiver.

The day Bella told him she would go and have coffee with that Edward twerp had been the hardest yet. It wasn't that he didn't trust Bella, but as Bella afterward had told him, this fucker had asked her on a date. And it would be like this; guys asking her for dates until he would get a ring on her finger.

But Paul didn't have the guts to ask her to marry him, not yet. Bella had told him about Bane's obsession with getting married, which freaked her out. He couldn't stand the idea of freaking her out, but he knew he would ask her one day.

After that prick had asked Bella on a date, the conversation hadn't gone so well. He grimaced, thinking about it.

"So, are you going?" He'd asked Bella without thinking. He had been so pissed.

"What are you talking about Paul. Do you want me to go?" Bella had asked, sounding pissed off as well.

"Shit no, sorry baby, of course not."

He had fucked up and had to tell her why he had said something stupid like that. She, of course, already knew why, but so that she knew that he knew that too. Fuck he was so bad at this.

"I just feel so insecure. You know that. There are all those fuckers sniffing you and asking you on dates. This Edward prick won't be the only one. I'm sorry, baby, I'm a fucking idiot."

Bella said she understood, but he shouldn't feel that way. There was no way she would ever want anybody else than him.

It felt damn good to hear her saying things like that, but Paul had been climbing to the walls after the second weekend, not being able to go and see her.

Finally, even his friends couldn't stand him anymore, and Jared had changed his sift with him so he could leave a day earlier.

"I don't want you to kill someone before you can go and see your girl. Fuck man, you got it bad."

"Come talk to me after you haven't seen Kim for three weeks," Paul huffed but thanked Jared. He was a damn good friend.

So here he was, standing at a red light in downtown Chinatown and he couldn't get to her fast enough. He hadn't told Bella he was coming a day earlier; he wanted to surprise her. If she wasn't around her place, he would go to meet the bookshop lady Paula for something to do or just hang around in the lounge area in her building. He had found affordable parking near Bella's apartment where he could leave his truck until Monday morning.

"Move the fuck on," his patience was wearing thin.

Finally, he was in the parking lot where he left his truck.

He found his way quickly to the apartment complex and walked into the arrival courtyard, and he couldn't believe his luck; there she was. She was typing on her laptop and talking to the girl.

She had her glasses on, and she started to laugh about something her friend had said. Paul's heart leaped into his throat, and he was instantly hard. Fuck she was beautiful.

Just then, Bella turned her head and saw him.