I'd say at this point a schedule ain't happening. This is my last banked chapter but never fear, every other weekend I am at work and I have time to write if it's not busy. So I will be back posting another chapter around the first of July.

Thank you to Team Harpy.

Chapter 22

Bella

"What are you doing here?" I ask as I look around at all the people milling about on this beach, wondering who would sell us out with us both being here. But I soon remember that this is our community, and no one is paying us a bit of attention, so I relax.

He looks uncertain, which isn't unusual for him, but I'm about done being sympathetic. It's been too much back and forth. I liken the opening and closing of his mouth to a fish floundering when it's dragged unceremoniously out of the water.

"I'm not getting any younger here, Cullen." The sharpness of my tone seems to snap him out of it.

Suddenly, he relaxes, and a slow smile spreads across his handsome face. He just looks at me in a way that takes my breath away … like he's been drowning for so long, and he's just come up for air. But still, he doesn't say anything.

I turn away in frustration.

"Wait. Please wait. I'm trying to find the words …"

I whirl back around to face him. "You couldn't have figured them out in the past few months, or week, or I don't know, the four hours it took you to drive here and crash my father's wedding? I'm not interested in being chased or tossed aside or whatever it is you've been doing. I'm just over it. I deserve better."

He's silent still.

"Like I said." I roll my eyes and start to walk away again.

"You do deserve better," he blurts. I stop but keep my back to him. "And it's not about tossing you aside. If I would've been able to do that, we wouldn't be in this mess. Wait, that came out wrong. It always comes out wrong." He sighs. "Will you please look at me?"

I take a deep breath and turn back toward him, trying to patiently wait out this word vomit. I know this is freaking huge and potentially life changing, and I even acknowledge my own fallacies in this situation, but the suspense is killing me. Obviously, he's here to tell me he left Jess, but what does that mean for us in the long run?

"It's not the chase. You and me. It's not the thrill of the chase. It's not a game. It's … it's the way you make me feel when I look at you. It's your smile and the way you move. It's the way you look at me."

"How do I look at you?" I ask with just a hint of a smile.

He laughs. "Like I'm the stupidest man on Earth." I just shrug 'cause I mean … yeah. "And I do know what I want to say; I just don't know how to say it."

"Just say it," I tell him.

"I wanted to come here today to tell you … But now, all I want to tell you is that I'm in love with you." He grins at me sheepishly. "I've been in love with you forever. I love the way you bite your lip when you're anxious. I love the way you roll your eyes at anything you deem idiotic. I love how dramatic you can be. I love how generous you are with the people you love. I love that we share a history. I love that we have all these memories together that no one else has, and I want to make new memories. So, now you have a choice to make. I want you to take all the time you need. I don't want to rush you, but I love you. Just take your time. Because when I had to make a choice … I chose wrong."

I'm too stunned to speak. I mean, I had an idea, but to hear it out loud is something else entirely.

His shoulders sag under the weight of his spoken revelation, and he starts to back away from me.

"Wait, where are you going?" I ask, alarmed. He can't just drop that on me and leave.

"I'm giving you space?"

"Well, stop doing that. And for what?"

"So you can make a choice," he says slowly.

"What choice?" I pinch the bridge of my nose in frustration. "Look, I didn't go into dentistry, so can I stop pulling teeth. Spit it out, Edward."

"Between me and Paul."

"I ended that days ago," I reply softly.

"You did?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"He's not the one I'm in love with. He's not you," I admit to him.

"You love me?" The smile that spreads across his face is everything.

I roll my eyes. "Duh."

He steps closer now until he's right there. "So, now what?" he asks.

That question douses me with a myriad of emotions: hope, joy, love, and uncertainty, with the latter being the most pressing.

"Where's your wife?"

"My soon-to-be ex wife is meeting with lawyers and conspiring to take all my money."

"I can't help but feel as if I'm to blame," I admit. He could lose everything because of me, all because I made the wrong choice so many years ago.

As if he knows what I'm thinking, he reaches out and tentatively brushes his hand against my cheek. "Bella, my home was ruined long before you came back into the picture, and I'm done trying to save it."

"You're done." He's done. I feel like I've been waiting to hear those words for years instead of the seven months it had actually been. So much has happened in that little bit of time, and this felt monumental in the best of ways. I knew we didn't have a smooth sail coming up, but I was ready to brave those rocky waters, if he was. And it appears he was.

"I'm done. Let her take my money, my reputation, my home. I don't care. As long as I have you, I have everything. I'm more concerned about what it will cost you."

I hum as his hand continues caressing my cheek, leaning into it. "I don't care either."

"Bella, this could cost you your job." I think about that for a long pause. I have worked so hard to get where I am now but at what cost? I left the best thing that ever happened to me behind, and I have another chance to make it right, to make it last this time.

"There will be other jobs, and quite frankly, I have enough money to live on comfortably for years if I have to. I've invested well, and I live well below my means. And like you said, you could still be a doctor, and I can still be an actress, just not on Olympic Med. You'd have to relocate. If we're serious about doing this."

"Where you go, I go," he vows.

"It's not going to be easy," I warn him. "It would be best to keep a low profile. Maybe keep this secret until you're divorced."

"Absolutely not," he says, his voice gentle but firm. "She will drag this out for years if she can, and I'm not waiting a second longer to be with you, in whatever capacity you are willing to have me."

I consider whether I'm willing to be with a still-entangled man and decide I am, with one very large caveat.

"No sex, at least not yet. I want the chance to get to know you again before we add that type of intimacy to the mix. I won't make you wait forever, and this is not a punishment—"

"I'll wait for as long as I have to until you're comfortable. I'm not in it for that; though when we do, I might not let you out of the bed for days." His voice is husky as he holds my gaze.

I swallow hard and step back. "Down, boy," I tease shakily. "Okay, so we're gonna do this thing."

"Yeah, we are." He hesitates then says, "Can I just do one thing? Just hold still, I wanna see something."

He comes closer and closer until I can feel his breath upon my face. My eyes flutter closed, and I don't breathe until I feel his lips on mine. It's soft, quick, like we'd do it again every day until the end of time. Like we'd be together forever. Then it's over, but I feel as dazed as I did the first time we ever kissed and every time since then. He simply takes my breath away.

"Um, Bella?"

"Yeah," I say, dreamily.

"We have an audience," he says, his voice tense. I snap out of it quickly and turn to my left where we have the attention of pretty much every attendant there, save the little kids, who are running about.

So, me being me, I exaggeratedly curtsy to my audience, then turn back to grin at Edward. "Let's give them something to really talk about," I whisper as I pull him to me and kiss him passionately. And as I expected, we're treated to a round of applause, whoops, and hollering.

We were safe here.

We spend the rest of the night enjoying the festivities. Edward is hesitant at first as it's been a while since he's been here, but he loosens up as more people welcome him wholeheartedly into the fold. I pull him along with me to tear up the dance floor with Jake and Sam as we switch between classic rock, contemporary country, and new pop favorites. The DJ I hired is on fire.

We're dancing along to "All I Need" by Matt Kearney when Edward halts.

"May I cut in?" Charlie asks.

Edward immediately hands me over and almost flees the scene. It might have something to do with the way Charlie looks at him.

"Be nice," I chide as we fall into a more awkward rhythm than I had with Edward.

"He's still here, isn't he?"

"You like Edward."

"Most dads dread the day a boy comes for his daughter, and I was no different. I am no different. There's a lot of water under the bridge, a lot of pain that man has caused you, and my memory is long. Do you know what you're doing?"

"No," I admit. "But it's been so long since I've felt so lighthearted, and for once, I just want to stop thinking and just concentrate on feeling. He loves me, Dad. I know he does."

"He broke you."

"I broke him first," I remind him. "We have a second chance, and I'm not going to let it slip through my fingers. Be as happy for me as I am for you."

He looks at me for a long moment, then nods over my head, shaking Edward's hand when he approaches. "There won't be a third time, Edward. Don't mess this up." And with that, he goes to join his new wife.

"He hates me," Edward whispers.

"No, he doesn't. Now if you tell him where I lost my virginity, he might."

"Oh, God."

"Lighten up, Dr. Cullen, and spin me around the beach some more before I turn into a pumpkin."

Later that night, close friends and family help clean up after we see Dad and Sue off to their honeymoon.

I slip off my shoes again and groan as I rub the soreness out of them.

Leah falls into a chair beside me. "Do me a favor and wait a couple years before your wedding. Or let us go barefoot."

"Wedding?"

"Bitch, please. I see the way you look at each other. Soulmates, remember? He left his wife for you."

"Correction, he left his wife because she sold us out to the tabloids."

"That may have been the catalyst but definitely not the reason. Y'all have been the endgame since the beginning. Your relationship is legendary around here. Peak high school romance between the geek and drama queen. And now that it's been rekindled? Girl …"

"Even though I know it will go public that we're in a relationship, this needs to remain as quiet as possible."

"We close ranks. I know how it works. We've been doing it for you for years. I'm just glad that as your new sister, I have a front-row seat and a guaranteed bridesmaid position. Ooh, and I'll be the best aunt to your children."

"You're getting way ahead of yourself, and I'm leaving you to your dreamscape now," I tease as I politely excuse myself. I look around for Edward and find him with Seth, Jake, and Sam as they finish loading up the tables and chairs to go back to the rec center. I grab the leftover food and stack it up to put in my rental so I can take it to the house, and we can eat off it for a couple days. Sam sees me struggling and helps me place it strategically in the car so it won't spill.

"Thanks." I smile.

"Thank you for inviting us. It's been a blast. We don't get invitations out this way much."

"That's because Billy is an asshole." I lean up to kiss him on the cheek. "You're always welcome wherever I am."

"Hey now, hands off my man, you harlot," Jake says dramatically. "Do I have to watch you around my spouse now?" At my expression and Edward's, he asks, "Too soon?"

"Just a little." I pinch my thumb and forefinger together. "But in all seriousness, thank you for coming, and thank you for your support. It means so much to me." I hug them both, and Edward shakes their hands as they depart for Port Angeles and their nicer hotel room.

"Looks like it's Forks Inn for me tonight," Edward says as he stretches and yawns.

"I don't think so," I object.

"Bella, it's been a long few months and a longer week. I'm not driving back to my parent's this late."

I grab his shirt and pull him closer. "You can stay with me."

He raises his eyebrows. "At your father's house?"

"Yeah, why not? He's not there. It'll be like old times. You can sneak through my window and watch me sleep like some sort of creep."

"That was one time! One. I tried waking you. It's not my fault you sleep like the dead. Besides, you said we were taking it slow, and I want to respect that."

"I meant more like we would wait on the NC17 rating. I said nothing about PG-13," I whisper in his ear.

"I'll follow you there," he says quickly, shooting me a happy grin as he backs away toward where his car is parked.

I wait until he's in his car before I get into my own.

I don't know if I can trust this feeling I have, but I'm damn well gonna enjoy it while it lasts.

If nothing is safe then I don't understand

You call me a boy, but I'm trying to be the man

One more day and it's all slipping with the sand

You touch my lips and grab the back of my hand

The back of my hand- All I Need, Mat Kearney