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7. Long Story Short

And he's passing by

Rare as the glimmer of a comet in the sky

And he feels like home

- long story short, Taylor Swift

"Are you sure you don't need us to bring anything?" Leah asked. It was Tuesday afternoon, a few days before Thanksgiving and we were ironing out the details for the big day. They were planning on making the drive from Cary to Fontana early in the morning. In a matter of hours, they were going to be here and I couldn't wait.

"Yes, I'm sure." I walked up the stairs, carrying a cup of hot tea. It was a cold day, and it didn't seem to matter that the heat was on and a fire was going in the fireplace, there was still a chill. A cold front was moving through and it was going to be a cold few days. I'd been bundled in the flannel pajamas I'd purchased from a local shop, a cardigan and slipper socks all day. "I got everything that was on your list." Leah had messaged me a list that rivaled War & Peace with it's length.

She sighed on the other end of the phone, "I'm sorry. I just… I can't wait to see you." We'd never gone this long without seeing each other. Even when we'd all gone to college, it had been close to home.

"I can't wait to see you, either." I came to a stop at my bedroom door, looking in at the sleeping man whose head was half hidden beneath the pillow, his bare back, that I now knew better than my own, on display. He'd worked a night shift and had been passed since he'd shown up at my place a few hours before. He'd been working some crazy hours recently, changing shifts with some of his coworkers so he could have Thanksgiving off. "There's someone I can't wait for you to meet."

We talked for a few more minutes before hanging up, and I walked into my room, placing my tea on the nightstand. I'd gotten my word count in the for the day, I was allowed to have a lazy afternoon every once in a while, and he looked so comfortable, I just couldn't help myself. I crawled onto the bed beside him, placing a kiss on the mole on his shoulder. Once I was settled on my side, I felt his arm come around my waist, pulling me into him, and I smiled, feeling him place a kiss on the back of my neck.

-IS-

It's early afternoon when I saw my mom's SUV make the turn onto the road in front of the cabin.

"They're here!" I squeal like I'm five years old, bursting through the front door before the cars even come to a complete stop. I'm in such a hurry to get to them, that I don't even grab a coat despite the fact that its in the thirties.

"Bee!" Leah squeals, jumping out of the backseat. She's still wearing pajamas, her hair in a side braid. When she get me, enveloping me in a hug, I feel tears come to my eyes at finally seeing them for the first time in nearly three months. "I missed you." She squeezes me tighter and I don't care that it hurts. She can squeeze me as tightly as she wants.

"I missed you." I tell her, my voice thick with emotion. The smell of her rose perfume so familiar that its like a balm to my soul. "I missed you so much."

She pulls back, her eyes misty and nose red. "I don't why I'm crying."

"I don't either." I tell her, wiping my face.

"Jesus, you two are a mess." Jessica teases as she walks over, giving us a hard time, but when I look at her, I can see the same emotion in her eyes. She's always been the more stoic of the three of us.

"Hey." I take her into a hug.

"Hi."She tells me back, her voice cracking slightly, revealing a break in that brave front she's trying to put on. "You really came to the middle of fucking nowhere, didn't you?" she teases, lightening the mood.

I laugh despite myself, shoving her on the shoulder when she pulls back. "Don't shit on my town."

"I think it's beautiful," Leah defends, looking out at the lake and mountains beyond.

"You've always been a suck up." Jessica says breezily, causing Leah to wrinkle her nose like she would when we were kids and I find it endearing.

I roll my eyes at their antics, my eyes landing on mom where she's standing a few feet away, looking up at the cabin. There's a familiar pain on her face as she takes in her surroundings and I know that she sees everything that I do, that Dad is everywhere here.

I make my way over to her, taking her into a hug. We don't say anything, she just clings to me, giving me one of her signature mom hugs that always somehow make everything feel like everything's okay.

"Hey," Jessica walks over, voice low, looking over to the cabin. "Is that the guy?"

I breakaway from mom, looking in the direction that Jessica is to find Edward standing on the front porch. He'd stayed back, giving us our time to reconnect.

When I look at him, I can't keep the smile off my face.

"You know I was only kidding when I told you to tap that."

"Shut up." I tell her as he makes his way over to us.

When he gets to me, he puts his arm around my waist and I burrow into his side because I'm finally realizing how cold it is, starting to shiver.

"Mom, Jessica, Leah, this is Edward." I motion to the man standing next to. "Edward, these are my sisters Leah and Jessica, and my mom, Renee."

"It's nice to meet you." He shakes hands with each of them, giving them his signature smile, dimples on full display, and I think my sisters swoon.

"It's nice to meet you, Edward." Mom shakes his hand, giving him a smile. "Bella's told us so much about you."

"Likewise." He tells her, giving my waist a squeeze.

"Well, why don't you guys come inside," I motion toward the cabin. "Lunch is almost ready."

"You cooked?" Jessica asks skeptically. "Is it edible?"

"Ha ha." I roll my eyes at her, even though I know what she says is true. I can't cook many things, really only grilled cheese and macaroni. "You don't have to worry, though. Edward made it."

"You cook?" Leah looks at him like she's already half in love. Then to me: "Can I have him?"

"I'm flattered, but I'm all Bella's." Edward meets my eyes and I see everything he's not saying.

-IS-

After lunch, Leah spends the afternoon down by the water with her camera, and I join her, watching her take an endless amount of pictures.

"I see why you love this place." She says, taking in the area that's taken on a magical quality as the sun sets, casting colors of orange and purple across the lake. A gaggle of Canada Geese flies overhead, their calls the only sound in the in the otherwise quiet space.

"I keep waiting for it to get old, but it just doesn't." I look at the water, still feeling all the same things that I did the first morning here.

We stand in silence for a few moments, Leah taking a few more photos. I love watching her work, the look of concentration on her face as she does what she loves is captivating. She's always been good at photography, even when we were kids, always had a talent that was so natural and organically a part of her. The fact that she'd been able to make this her career and is doing so well, made so proud to be her big sister.

"Edward seems like a great guy." She finally says, putting her camera strap on her shoulder. "It's so clear how in love with you is. The way he looks at you, gives me goosebumps."

I bite my lip to try to contain my smile. "I'm in love with him, too." It's the first time I've said the words out loud and they feel so right. "As cliche as it sounds, I've never felt like this before. Even the night we met, it felt like something was there, that we were supposed to meet. Like there's been this string that's tied us together."

"I've never seen you smile so much."

"I don't think I've ever been this happy, and it's not just him. It's this place, the people and the friends that I've made here… I'm living again. I have a life now."

"I'm so happy for you. You glow now." She looks back out at the water before she continues. "You're not coming back to Cary are you?"

I look at the side of my sister's face, knowing what the answer is, but not wanting to disappoint her. "I don't know." While I loved Cary and the melting pot cultures there, Fontana had my heart. The thought of leaving this place and people behind, made my stomach clench.

"When I talked to you on the phone a few weeks ago, mom and I knew then." She looks at me with a sad, but happy look on her face. "The life you've built here… it's beautiful, Bee. You deserve it." She wipes a tear from my cheek. "That wasn't supposed to make you cry."

"I know," I fan my face to help get myself together. "Its just bittersweet. Saying goodbye to one life to embrace another. I'm also going to miss you guys so much it isn't even funny."

"Oh, don't you worry. We're going to be calling and video chatting you so much, you'll get sick of us."

My laugh echoes off the trees as we make our way back to the cabin.

-IS-

Leah and my mom took care of the cooking duties, only letting me chop onions and carrots for the stuffing. While it still felt like someone was missing from the table when the five of us sat down to eat, it wasn't as gut wrenching as the year before.

That evening Angela, Ben, Claire, and Jake stop by, bringing with them pumpkin cheesecake. Jessica spends a good amount of the evening regaling them with all with embarrassing stories about me, including the time that I was dancing in the aisle at church during the annual Christmas pageant that resulting in me landing butt first into a poinsettia.

I help my mom and Leah clean up the kitchen. Afterward, I grab two beers from the fridge, going out onto the front porch where Ben and Edward have been talking. As I walk through the living room, I see Claire, Angela, and Jessica sitting on the couch talking about Tanya Denali's new book. They each give me a wave as I walk by.

"Hey, Bella." Ben says, pushing off the railing as I come out the door. "I'm going to go get another beer."

"I thought that you might want this." I hand him one of the beers I'm carrying, talking the top off mine.

"Thank you, baby." He reaches his hand out for me, and I take it, letting him pull me into his lap.

"Did you enjoy today?" I ask, playing with the hair on the back of his neck.

"I did," he kisses my cheek. "Your mom and sister can cook."

"That they can." I look at his face, the look of total contentment I find there making my heart sing.

"What's on your mind?" he smooths furrow between my brows.

"I was just thinking about what happens when I go back to Cary." I tell him. It had been on my mind since my conversation with Leah the day before.

He pushes some hair behind my ear, his finger tracing the shape. "Then we would figure it out. I wouldn't let you go that easily."

I play with the collar of his shirt, "And if I don't go back to Cary?"

The fingers that had been running through my hair stop, his body freezing. "That's a big decision. Your life is in Cary, not mention your family. I would never ask you to give any of that up."

"I know you wouldn't," I cup his jaw in my hand. "Its something I've been thinking about a lot. Staying in Fontana. About how right it feels." I bite my lip. "And you're wrong. I don't have a life back in Cary, I had an existence. Yes, my family is there, but that's it. Here, I have you and our friends and Billy's. I have Friday night karaoke nights and weekly book club meetings. Cary isn't my home anymore. Fontana is… you are. You feel like home."

Edward grips my hip tightly in his free hand, a myriad of emotions playing across his face. Disbelief, excitement, joy. Love. "You're sure about this?"

"I've never been more sure of anything."

He kisses me, his lips an overwhelming force against my own as he pours all of his feelings into the kiss.

"Bella," he presses his forehead against mine, his eyes a deep forest green. "I love you. God, I love you so much."

My heart feels like it explodes, the string humming between us. "I love you, too. So much." He'd been there for me through so much as I worked on healing, inspired me in ways I didn't think I could be anymore. This man was so special that it was hard to believe that he was mine.

The rest of the days with my family in town were low key. My sisters and I went into town and I showed them around to all my favorite places. After getting coffee at Two Beans in a Pod, we spent a few hours exploring Book Nook, Jessica gushing over the medical volumes that were in the back of the store. We finished the day off at the cafe before heading back to the cabin.

When they left Sunday morning, it was bittersweet.

"We'll see you at Christmas." My mom rubbed my back as she rocked me back and forth, like she wasn't ready to let go.

"Absolutely."

She smiled at me, taking my face in her hands. "I'm so proud of you. You've become such a strong, courageous woman. You deserve all the happiness you've found."

"Thank you, Mom." I hug her again, giving her one good final squeeze before I let her go.

"We'll call you when we get in." Jessica gives me a one armed hug, her suitcase in the other.

"You better." I tell her, giving her a stern look that only serves to make her laugh.

"I love you, Bee." Leah whispers to me as we hug.

"I love you, too."

"We'll see you in less than a month!" she calls, walking backward toward mom's car.

"You can count on it." That month was going to feel like an eternity.

I blow them kisses as they start to drive away. When mom gives a honk before pulling out onto the main road, a pair of arms wrap around my shoulders as tears prick my eyes. Edward brushes a kiss against my hair.

"I got you." He tells me, placing another kiss to my hair.

I release a shuttering breath. "I know." I bring of his hands to my lips and kiss his knuckles.

While I was going to miss my family, I was confident in my decision.

This place, like this man, was my home now.

A/N: I hope you liked it.

One more chapter, which I will have posted in a few days.