SM owns everything. This is my first ever fiction story. Also, EN is my second language, so be gentle with me please. Hope to make it a 10 chapter-max story.

Chapter One

After he came back, it seemed that everything picked up right where it stopped last September. Our nights in my bedroom. A charade of a morning, where he pretends to come pick me up. Don't get me wrong; I still had terrible anxiety whenever he left me alone for too long, yet just one look at him could remind me that our love was the most real, strong, and fulfilling connection there has ever been.

This morning, just mere weeks before graduation, was blissful in its repetitiveness. Since Charlie has been in a rather sour mood (and rightfully so), I did what I knew was best—cooked and cooked and cooked. This morning the Chief of Police will have homemade cinnamon rolls and coffee. I have already packed his lunch—my signature lasagna—and I will be here to cook him dinner. I'll do what I can to apologize, because there is no way I could explain why I have disappeared for three days and come back with Edward. The same one who left me in the woods, the same one who made me a living zombie, the same one I was going to run away with again, right after graduation.

I know it seems silly. Some home-cooked meals will not ease his grief. But can anything ease the grief of burying your only child? Sometimes I thought that it would have been better if I had distanced myself from Charlie, but I was too selfish. I've missed having a dad for a bigger part of my 18 years, so for my final weeks, I am spending as much time with him as possible.

I have decided not to think about Renee. We have grown apart. And I have had my share of life with her. Chaotic, unpredictable, never really shaking the feeling that if she hadn't gotten pregnant with me, she would have ended up somewhere in beachy Thailand teaching yoga and taking care of sheltered animals. I was like an anchor for her, the one she never intended to launch.

Actually, ever since Edward came back, I have felt like I could hear the clock ticking. Every class I went to seemed to finish faster than usual. Nights seemed shorter; I had trouble keeping up with this fast pace.

I've zipped up my school bag and stepped outside in a rush, eager to reconnect.

"Good morning, my" love"—even though these are the words I've longed to hear all those months, I still was a simple human girl, and naturally I've slightly jumped. Here he was, right beside me, where mere seconds ago was only my front yard and my old Chevy truck. "Did I scare you? Oh, Bella, you are so endearing, you know. Facing thousand-year-old vampires seems easier for you than having a boyfriend, he chuckled, took my backpack, and led me to his Volvo.

"Morning to you too. Glad I am making your day brighter. I've smiled, yet wished I could be the one driving to school for a change. Or to be the one jump-scaring him. I might just be lucky that my clumsiness he sees as endearing and not lame. Or revolting. He looked perfect, as ever. Alice dressed him as if he was shooting a Ralph Lauren ad this morning, not on his way to Biology at Forks High School. We must have looked like the most contrasting couple in the history of Washington state. A very plain me, and an inhumanly handsome creation, what the hell—an angel named Edward Cullen. I smiled and took a deep breath.

"You know, I'd kill for a chance to hear what you are thinking. In my long life I've never found anything as frustrating and as liberating as your impenetrable mind. Sometimes, I hope that this means that God has shown me some grace and created you for me." He reached out and cradled my hand in his ever-cold, perfect palm.

"If you had the grace of God, maybe he would have created someone more attractive; now I think he has cursed you with me," I said jokingly and closed my eyes. Soon I will be like him. Immortal.

After this we fell into our usual comfortable silence. His car smelled like him, and it made me dizzy with the best emotions. The need to have him in my life, the love, the attraction.

School went by even faster than yesterday. Funny thing is, whenever I was with Edward, I could not wait for the day to come. I was not afraid of the pain. Alice told me that usually it only took up to three days. I can endure three days of unimaginable pain; I am sure of it. But whenever I was in the kitchen cooking or eating with Charlie, it felt like, for the briefest of moments, I was actually foolishly hoping that time could just stay still forever. If I could sit in that chair, with TV blasting Mariners and rain pouring outside. My heart would start beating really fast, and tears threatened to pool in the corners of my eyes. It was so strange. I could not understand what my body was doing.

"Hey Bells, are you OK?" Charlie seemed to sense my change of mood.

"Yeah, Dad, just stressing about my exams, you know, the usual." It was great timing; teens all around America were stressing about their finals; this was just one more white lie.

"I think you need to have some time away from books, clear your head. I am going to visit Billy tomorrow; maybe you could join me, visit the First Beach, and catch up with Jacob, huh?" I know Charlie meant well, and even though I initially should have said no, knowing how uncomfortable I will make Edward with me being around werewolves, something about tonight's mood made me want to go to La Push.

"You know, that might be a great idea. And I think I have in the fridge everything I need for a good old barbecue. Do you think the Black would mind roasting some meat?" It actually made my heart beat faster. I have always loved Billy; he was like my second dad, and I felt like this chance to at least cook for them and have a sort of farewell evening with their family might be what my mind was looking for. I just needed to reason with Edward. And marinate the meat.