Hi! Anyone still there? Remember me? I wish I had some fantastical story to give you guys about why it has been so long since the last update, but all I can say is, writers block is a bitch. Nothing is worse than starring at the doc, wishing for the words to come, and you get nothing. Good news is that seems to have faded and the words are coming again. Just know that no matter what I will finish this.

A GIGANTIC thank you to My-Bella for all her help, I couldn't do this without her!

To refresh your memories…. In the last chapter Edward had taken Bella for a ride on his motorcycle. Taking a detour, they stopped by the train tracks and shared a kiss or two. Let's see what they are up to now….

Your heart got a story with mine
Your heart got me hurting at times
Your heart gave me new kind of highs
Your heart got me feeling so fine
So what to do
Still falling for you

~Still Falling for You~ Ellie Goulding~

~Bella~

After our spur of the moment stop down by the river, Edward had brought me back to the barn with him to hang out for a while. That'd been a few hours ago. We both must have dozed off given it was almost dark out now. The last thing I'd remembered was lying on Edward's futon he used as a couch, watching the end of a movie with him, with my hand softly toying with his hair. Edward hadn't moved from where he'd been sitting on the floor in front of me. His back was leaning against the futon, his head resting on my leg, and he appeared to still be sleeping.

I looked around for a clock to see the time and didn't find one. My phone was on the table and I could check the time on it, but it was just out of reach and I was trying not to move much and jostle Edward. I laid there watching TV until my stomach growled so loud Edward raised his head and gave me a sleepy half smile. It took me back to all the nights we'd snuck and spent the night together in high school. I giggled when my stomach rumbled again, this time causing Dottie's head to pop up. She sat up and looked at me from where she'd been curled up by my feet.

Rubbing his eyes, Edward turned around and asked, "Hungry?"

I laughed at Dottie's reaction. She must have known that word, her ears perked up and she jumped down wagging her tail eagerly.

"Yeah. I guess I should head on up to the house and see what's in the fridge. I'm sure Mae has something I can warm up real quick." I sat up and grabbed my shoes so I could put them on—walking on a gravel road in bare feet was not a good idea.

"You could," he said with a look in his eyes that hinted he was up to something. "But what if I had a better idea?"

"What idea would that be?" I asked wondering what he was up to.

He snatched my shoes and tossed them across the room. I heard them land, but couldn't see where.

"Hey," I called, dragging out the word. "I need my shoes to walk home."

He shrugged, acting like he hadn't done it.

"How 'bout you hang here a bit longer and I rustle up something for the both of us?" he offered, hope burning in his gaze as he held it on me.

"I can't ask you to fix dinner for me, Edward."

He flashed me a grin. That wide toothy grin that used to make all the girls swoon in high school. Myself included.

"You didn't ask, I offered." His smile grew even wider as he stood and held his hand out for mine. "I'll even let you help."

I slid my hand into his and let him pull me up from the couch. "You make an offer that's incredibly hard to pass on, Mr. Cullen."

"Then don't," he encouraged, using the same words I'd said to him down by the river.

I smiled seeing the sparkle in his green eyes, certain he was remembering what'd happened after I'd said them earlier.

That had been one hell of a kiss we'd shared, but then again kissing Edward had always been amazing.

"Well, I guess I don't have much choice since you stole my shoes."

"I didn't steal them."

"Then what would you call it?" I gave him a playful shove, faking being offended.

Playing along he replied, "I just moved them over there." He hiked his thumb in the direction my shoes had gone flying.

"Moved them, huh?" I teased.

"Yeah."

"Well, what are you waiting for? Get cooking or I'm gonna go shoe hunting before my stomach eats itself," I demanded when my stomach made it's emptiness known yet again.

"You really are hungry. But there's just one thing I need to do first."

"And what's that?"

"I think I need just a little more incentive first."

"Really? My starvation isn't enough?"

"It is, but I think you'll like what I have in mind." He took hold of my hand, rubbing his thumb in circles over it.

"Care to share what this thing you need is?" I asked, noticing how his eyes darkened.

"I think I need to kiss you again," he whispered.

"You think you do?"

"No, I know I do," he replied softly as he pulled me closer and wrapped me tightly in his hold, lowering his mouth to mine.

In perfect harmony our lips pushed and moved against one another as we continued to learn what it was like to kiss each other again. When his tongue slid against my bottom lip and he deepened the kiss, I was gone. Being in Edward's arms and kissing him again made the rest of the world fall away. It was as if we'd never been separated over the past few years.

His hands roamed up and down my back, even stopping to cup my ass and pull me closer to him a few times, and as our bodies pressed closer together, I could feel his body reacting to the situation. I'd be lying if I'd said mine wasn't reacting too. I wanted Edward, I wanted more. I wanted to feel what it was like to be so connected to him again that it felt as if we were one. Letting go and giving in would have been so easy. So easy to get lost in the physical way our bodies were responding to each other. However, as Edward's hand started to glide up under my shirt, he must have become aware of the slippery slope we were headed towards and he slowed down our kiss before pulling away.

"Shit," he muttered as he rested his forehead on mine. We were both breathing rapidly as we tried to catch our breaths. "I'm sorry, Bella, I didn't mean for things to get so carried away."

"It's okay," I assured him. "It's not like you're the only one getting carried away."

"No, I wasn't. Being together like that was always very easy for us, wasn't it?" he asked.

"Yes it was, but I think after all that's happened between us we should ease back into things," I told him.

While my brain knew taking things slow was the right thing to do, my heart wanted so badly to just throw caution to the wind and just let our instincts take over, leading us wherever that may be. However, it would be so much harder to let go if we took things to far too fast and Edward ended up not being able to move past how I'd left things before. For me it was easy, I knew what I wanted, Edward, but I still wasn't completely sure what he wanted. I knew he was trying at this point, but that was it.

"I agree," he said, leaning down to give me a soft sweet kiss. "I wasn't insinuating that we should be taking things further, only that we never had trouble connecting in that way."

"I knew what you meant, Edward," I assured him, giving him a quick peck on the lips. "I know you're not that kind of guy. You never have been, and regardless of what happened between us, I'd be shocked if that had changed about you."

Edward wasn't one to jump into things physically. I knew that. We'd been together for months before we'd ever taken things that far the first time we dated. But I was again hit with the fact that I wasn't certain where Edward stood in regards to us being together again. His actions lately said he was in, and we were getting to know each other again. But we weren't kids anymore and deep down hadn't changed who we were. Was it too soon? I wasn't sure and with Edward so quickly saying something like he just had, I had to wonder how much he was still holding back.

"No, that hasn't changed. Now, how about I get cooking that food I promised you?"

"Sounds good. Want some help?" I offered.

"I told you I'd let you help, silly girl."

"Okay, I just need to use your bathroom real quick."

"Could you let Dottie out too?"

"Sure."

After another kiss that threatened to get heated once again, my stomach growled as if in protest of our lack of urgency to feed it. Breaking apart again I squealed when Edward smacked me on the rear and gave me a shove in the direction of the bathroom.

I was convinced taking it slow was going to kill me. We were either going to give in before too long at this pace or go up in flames.

"One minute, Dottie girl. Humans get to potty first," I called to her. She was standing at the top of the stairs excitedly waiting to go out.

A short time later, coming back up the stairs after Dottie did her business, I was hit with the smell of bacon cooking.

"Mmmmmm bacon." I reached up and gave Edward a kiss on the cheek. "My favorite food." I saw a pot of water boiling on the stove and a bowl of eggs on the counter next to where he was grading a block of cheddar cheese. "What are you making? Are you making breakfast for dinner?"

"Yes. If I remember correctly someone I know used to love breakfast for dinner." He had a sly smile on his face as he tapped me on the nose and winked. He dumped the cheese and the small piles of chopped green pepper and onion into the bowl with the eggs.

"Correct you are, and I still do, but what's the boiling water for?" I asked, picking up the remaining piece of pepper he hadn't chopped and popping it in my mouth. I was secretly grinning like a loon inside that he was making me one of my favorite meals. I loved having breakfast for dinner. Probably even more than having it for breakfast.

"I'm going to make our omelets in it. Watch," he instructed. He pulled out a large ziplock bag and asked me to hold it. While I did, he poured half the egg mixture into it. I was completely lost and totally dumbfounded as to how the heck this was going to work. Next, he sealed the bag and then set it in the boiling water, leaning the bag on the side of the tall pot. He then pulled his phone out of his jeans pocket and set a timer on it.

When the timer went off, he pulled the bag out of the pot and opened the bag, sliding a perfect looking omelet onto a plate.

"Wow!" I said shocked. "That was pretty cool. Where'd you come up with that idea?"

After sprinkling some of the grated cheese on top of the finished omelet, he handed me a second bag for the rest of the egg mix. "I saw it on Instagram. The Food Network posted it."

"You follow the Food Network on Instagram?" I asked not really believing him.

"You don't believe me?" he asked, quirking a teasing eyebrow at me.

"Just doesn't sound like you," I replied. "Not that you're on Instagram, I'm sure you have several social media accounts to post stuff for work. But I just can't see you following the Food Network."

"You're right," he admitted. "Actually, Alice saw it and sent it to me. She claims my cooking skills aren't up to par."

I laughed. "Now that doesn't surprise me."

"Okay, smartass, why don't you make us some toast," he ordered playfully. "Butter is in the fridge and bread and toaster are on the counter."

"Yes, chef," I yelped as I narrowly dodged the dish towel he snapped at me.

While eating we talked some more about my job and the ideas I wanted to present to my boss. He told me to talk to Jasper and see if he could help, telling me that with Jasper being involved in the tech development department he had a little bit of pull and a few connections that might be helpful. I thanked him for the suggestion and told him I would.

As we stood to clean up from our dinner, both our phones started blowing up with texts. Edward's were from Emmett. "Hey, is my sister still with you? Do you know where Bella is? Hey, Bella's not home yet, she with you?"

Mine were from Rose. "Hey you still with Edward? Hope you're having fun. Get your man back, girl." All followed by a winkie face.

"Oh my god," I exclaimed. "What are they? Twelve?"

Edward laughed. "I guess we shouldn't be surprised with Emmett."

I sent Rose a quick text, telling her I'd be home soon.

"No, I supposed not. I guess I should be heading up. It's getting late."

Edward just nodded.

After helping me find my shoes, he offered to walk me up.

"You really don't have to."

"I know. But I'm not quite ready to let you go yet."

"Okay," I whispered overwhelmed by the emotion his admitting he didn't want me to go stirred in me. My heart was thumping in my chest with his admission, giving me hope that he wanted the same thing I did. That we could really move past what I'd done and be together again.

We walked hand in hand up to the farmhouse with Dottie leading the way for us. The house was quiet, giving the appearance everyone had gone to bed. Although we I suspected since it'd only been about fifteen minutes since we'd gotten the texts from Em and Rose, I was certain they were still likely awake.

Still holding onto Edward's hand, I stepped up onto the bottom porch step and turned to face him. "I had a great afternoon with you."

"I did too. Maybe we can do it again soon."

"I'd like that. Were you serious about helping over at the house?" I asked, hoping he would be.

"Yes. I've got to head out day after tomorrow, but then I'll have the next few weeks off unless something really big blows up. I covered for one of the other guys whose wife recently had a baby and he'll be back by then."

"Cool," I said, smiling widely, not bothering to hide my eagerness at the prospect of spending more time with him soon. "Just let me know whenever you feel like helping."

"I will."

"Kay," I said through a yawn.

"Time for bed, Kitten. Good night." He stepped closer, leaning in, kissing me easily since I was nearly as tall as him while standing on the step.

"Good night, Edward," I murmured when he broke away.

'Night," he said one last time before letting me go.

Edward watched as I made my way up the stairs and into the house. Once the door was closed, I heard him whistle for Dottie. I turned and watched out the kitchen window seeing him run after his dog playfully and calling after her, sounding happy as he did. When I couldn't see him anymore in the darkened night sky, I grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and headed upstairs with an ear-splitting grin on my face. I knew with almost one hundred percent certainty my dreams would be filled with Edward that night.

~Edward~

"Good morning," I told Aunt Mae and Uncle Carl as I entered the kitchen and made my way over to give my aunt a quick peck on her cheek.

"Good morning," Aunt Mae returned. "You're certainly chipper this morning."

I couldn't help smiling as I snagged a piece of bacon off the platter on the counter.

"Looks a lot like the smile a certain young woman had on her face when she came up the stairs last night," Uncle Carl added. "She was so lost in her own world I don't think she even saw me at the top of the stairs. Can't imagine why they'd both be so happy. Can you, Mae?"

I could see my uncle's lips twitching as he fought the urge to smile. He never did have a good poker face. Alice, Rose, and I had always been able to get him to crack when we were younger and did something that was funny but wrong. No Aunt Mae was the one with the killer straight face, but it was no where to be seen this morning.

"Hmmmm, I wonder," she teased with a bright smile on her face as she finished scrambling the skillet full of eggs on the stove. She plated the eggs and then as she came around the island and sat down at the table she suggested, "Why don't you grab the bacon and toast and come sit down." She poured me a glass of orange juice while asking, "What brings you up here this morning? Bella?"

"Yeah, I was going to see if she wanted to go for a ride?"

"Ride? Horse or bike?" Uncle Carl asked.

"Horse, I had her on the bike yesterday. I don't think she's had a chance to ride Midnight since she's been back so I thought I'd see if she wanted to go down by the river."

"Sounds fun," Aunt Mae said. "I don't think she's awake yet. If she is, she's been awfully quiet up there."

"Guess I'll go see," I told them as I downed the rest of my juice and snatched another piece of bacon.

"Good thing he's taking the horses and not his truck," Uncle Carl commented as I took the stairs two at a time in my hurry to go see Bella.

"Ha ha, real funny," I called back to him. It didn't matter that the reason my old truck had rolled into the river was mechanical failure and not my doing, Uncle Carl still teased me on it all the time.

When I reached her room, I knocked lightly on the door. Not getting an answer I quietly opened the door and peeked in. There was Bella still sleeping soundly. She looked like an angel. The sun was streaming in the window behind her bed causing her to practically glow in her sleep. I made my way over and sat down on the edge of her bed. She stirred slightly but didn't wake up.

"So beautiful," I whispered, gently picking up a lock of her hair that was strewn across her pillow. I sat there just watching her for a minute, taking in the fact that she was really back and I had a second chance with her. It was a little hard to believe. Some part of me was still trying to wrap my head around it and really accept it, but we had only just begun getting to know each other again and I was sure in time my worries would fade. Deciding I needed to wake her up, I briefly considered waking her with a kiss like her favorite fairytale princess, but worried she might freak out. So instead I took the piece of hair I was still toying with and brushed it against her cheek.

I couldn't help laughing when she swatted at her cheek in reaction to the feeling her hair caused. After rubbing her cheek again, she rolled over and fell back asleep. Unable to stop myself I brushed her hair along her face again, this time running it over her eyes, nose and then along her neck. Her reaction was even better as she grunted and scrubbed her hand all over her face in an effort to get whatever was annoying her off it. Laughing much louder this time I achieved my goal of waking her up and was greeted with her sleepy beautiful brown eyes opening and a soft smile.

"Hi," she whispered, her voice still raspy from sleep. "What are you doing here?"

"Isn't that obvious?" I teased, flashing her a smile of my own.

She scooted up in the bed so she was now sitting up. My eyes were instantly drawn to the thin, barely there tank top she was wearing. It made me think back on how carried away we'd gotten in my kitchen last night and had me wanting to do things to her I shouldn't.

Questioning myself I wondered, Am I responding so vigorously to her because it's her and our attraction had always been so strong, or was it because it had been a while since I'd been with anyone? I wanted to believe it was her, it'd always been her since the first time I'd kissed her.

Bella cleared her throat, pulling my gaze back up to hers. "Ok, smartass. Why are you waking me up? You could have let me sleep if you just wanted to ogle me."

I chuckled at her ability to whip out sarcasm so soon after waking up. I leaned forward and kissed her lightly, unable to resist doing so any longer.

"If you must know, Miss Swan, I thought I'd see if you'd like to take Midnight out for a ride?"

"Really?" Her eyes were filled with excitement over the prospect of riding her horse.

"Yeah, neither her or Sundance have been out for a good run in while."

"I'd love to!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around my neck and hugging me tightly. I wrapped her in my arms and relished in the feel of her bare skin where her tank had ridden up, as she held on to me, not letting go.

Maybe we could just stay like this all day, I thought.

We spent the next few minutes kissing before I finally found the strength to extract myself from her arms long enough to let her get dressed. Quickly kissing her one last time as she followed me to the door to her room, I told her, "Hurry, I'll be in the kitchen."

"Okay."

A few minutes later Bella came bounding down the stairs, her long ponytail swinging behind her. She had on jeans that hugged her legs like a second skin, black knee-high riding boots, and a snug fitting olive green t-shirt that said, whiskey business on the front in black lettering. She was incredibly sexy.

Uncle Carl must have noticed my inability to look away from her, he chuckled softly while patting me on the back.

"I'm ready," she declared, pulling me from my Bella induced haze.

"Eat first," Aunt Mae lovingly ordered, pointing to the plate on the table with a BLT sandwich ready to be eaten quickly, and a glass of juice next to it.

I could tell Bella was excited by how fast she ate her food. Once she'd rinsed her dishes and placed them in the dishwasher we were heading out for our ride.

"Here," Aunt Mae said just as we opened the screen door. She handed Bella a small plastic bag with a couple of cut up apples and a few carrots. "It's been a while since you've ridden her, give her a treat to soften her up a little."

"Good idea." Bella smiled at Aunt Mae's thoughtfulness.

"Have fun you two," Uncle Carl called after us.

We made our way down to the newer, much larger barn that replaced the one I currently lived in. As Bella approached Midnight's stall the horse began to whinny and stomp her front hoof. We stopped at the gate so Bella could see how Midnight was going to react to her before we went in the stall.

"Hey, sweet girl. Remember me?" Bella cooed to her horse as she reached out and let the animal sniff her hand. Midnight took a step back, huffing, and shaking her head back and forth at Bella as if to tell her no. Bella sighed, I knew she'd had hoped Midnight would readily accept her return.

"Please, girl." Bella pleaded with her horse. "I'm sorry I've been away for so long. I promise I really did miss you. Even more, I promise I'm not going away again.

Midnight lifted her ears slightly, a small sign that she might let Bella make things up to her.

"Offer her a treat," I suggested.

Retracting her hand from inside the gate, Bella reached into the bag of goodies my aunt had given her and pulled out two of the apple quarters and slid her hand back through the gate, holding out the peace offering to Midnight. "Do bribes still work with you, girl?"

Catching a whiff of the treats Bella had in her hand, Midnight slowly came forward and nudged it with her nose as if to demand Bella give it to her. Bella opened her hand and waited to see what Midnight would do next. Finally, Midnight lowered her head and took the treats from Bella. After she had eaten them, she lowered her head, nudging Bella's hand again, telling Bella she accepted her apology.

Releasing a deep sigh of relief, Bella rubbed Midnight along her neck and gently scratched behind her ears. "I really have missed you, girl," she whispered.

"I'll be right back," I told Bella, before I went to grab a blanket to put under Midnight's saddle.

Once I got the blanket, we opened the gate and entered Midnight's stall. Bella continued to pet and talk to her horse while I got the blanket and saddle situated on her. Then Bella and I worked together to buckle all the straps securely. She gave Midnight the rest of the apple quarters and took the reins, leading the horse out of the barn while I got Sundance ready. Aunt Mae and Uncle Carl had given Sundance to me for my 17th birthday. He was a golden-brown mustang with a white starburst mark on his forehead. And he was fast. It'd been a while since I'd had him out for a good run and I was certain he was ready for one.

After getting Sundance all saddled up and tucking a couple bottles of water I'd grabbed in the house into the saddle bag, I led him out of the barn to where Bella stood talking softly to Midnight. "So, do you remember how to ride?" I asked, stopping next to her across from the barn and taking the bag of goodies she held out for me to feed to Sundance.

"Pretty sure I still know the basics," she retorted.

"Okay then." Bella slipped her foot into the stirrup and grabbled the saddle horn. Unable to resist, placing my hands on her hips, I gave her a helping hoist up onto Midnight. Once she was settled into her saddle, I mounted Sundance. Holding on to the reins, I said, "Stay calm and start out slow, once you are more comfortable being back on a horse we'll decide what to do from there. That okay?"

"Yep."

I could feel the strength of Sundance's muscles as I firmly gripped his sides with my heels and urged him into a slow gallop. Looking over I watched Bella doing the same.

We made our way across the field. I looked over at Bella seeing pure joy on her face. When she looked over at me and caught me watching her, she shot me a bright as sunshine smile. Her face was lit up with happiness, making her even more beautiful. We rode silently for a bit just enjoying the peacefulness of being alone in what felt like the middle of nowhere, even if we knew exactly where we were.

"Hey," I called to Bella, breaking the silence.

"Yeah," she called back.

"Wanna pick up the pace a bit and take her for a run?"

"Yes," was her immediate response. I could see the excitement shinning in her eyes.

I flipped my baseball cap around backwards so the wind didn't catch it and pull it off. Then flashing her a devilish smirk, I yelled, "Let's go," and leaned forward as I gave Sundance a squeeze with me knees, telling him it was time to go. He took off like a bullet. I looked over my shoulder and saw Midnight quickly gaining speed in order to catch up to us. With every click of my heels, Sundance moved a little faster until he was in a full open run. By this time Bella was nearly side by side with me. I could see her gripping the saddle horn, her thighs hugging the horse tightly, and smiling widely.

We shot across the open fields, around the lake and soon came upon the trees flanking river. Slowing down as we neared the banks we eventually came to a stop. I hopped down off of Sundance and walked over to Bella and helped her down off of Midnight.

"Oh my God," she exclaimed. "I'd forgotten how incredible it was to ride like that."

"I'm glad you enjoyed it," I replied, grinning at her sheer enjoyment. This was the Bella I remembered, so full of life and happiness. I grabbed the water bottles from the saddlebag and pulled Bella over to sit in the shade under a tree while the horses wandered over and drank from the river to cool down from their run.

Taking a long swig of her water, Bella closed her eyes and rested her back on the tree as we both enjoyed the cool breeze that was rare on a hot summer day like today. This time of the year the sun was hotter than hell in Oklahoma. I rested my head beside hers and soaked up the scent of her coconut shampoo the breeze was blowing my way.

"Mmmm," I hummed before leaning over and kissing the side of her head.

"What?" she asked leaning her head on my shoulder. The sense of satisfaction and happiness that surged through me from the simple move caught me a little off guard. It felt like old times.

"Just noticing that you still use coconut scented shampoo," I explained.

"Still my favorite," she replied.

"I like it," I admitted, wrapping my arm around her and pulling her closer.

Shutting my eyes, I rested against the tree enjoying the quiet sound of the river with Bella in my arms. We sat there silently for a while, the breeze and the sound of the river relaxing us. I found myself thinking about Bella and the time we'd spent together recently and the sense of contentment and warmth I felt sitting here with her next to me. The more time we spent together the more I found myself glad she'd decided to stay. It was something I'd never let myself consider before her return. It was then it occurred to me I'd never asked her about her life down in Miami.

Do you really want to know?

Apparently, I did.

The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them. "Tell me about Miami."

"Huh?" she asked, barely lifting her head from my shoulder so she could look up at me.

"Miami, what was your life like down there?"

She sat up and turned so she was facing me. "There's not much to tell. You really want to know?"

"Well yeah. I think if we are really going to get to know who we are now, then I need to know about your time away."

"Okay, but then you have to do the same. You have to tell me what you did while I was gone."

I nodded, wondering what I'd gotten myself into.

"You first," I urged.

"Okay, well, like I said, there wasn't much. I went to school and spent a lot of my time studying my ass off."

Bella had always been a bookworm and very diligent about her school work, but surely there was more to her life then that in Miami.

"Did you live on campus?" I asked her. "Friends?"

"I stayed on campus my first year there. That's where I met my roommate and good friend Jessica. After the first year we got an apartment just off the campus since it was so much cheaper. She had a car and we were in a lot of the same classes so I road with her and chipped in for gas."

"Sounds like the perfect set up," I replied.

"It was pretty great. Jess is great."

"What about for fun?"

"Jess was pretty low key like me. So, most of the time we'd just hang at the beach."

"Yeah? No Miami nightclubs, Miss Swan?" I teased.

"Not often. I'm still the same girl I was here, Edward. Going to the local bar for a beer or two held more appeal to me than some big flashy night club."

"I don't know about that," I told her.

"What's that supposed to mean?" She laughed and gave me a playful shove, knocking me over.

I took in her brilliant smile as I sat back up. She was so pretty.

"Just that you've changed. You may not be in to flashy nightclubs, but you're not so shy anymore. I guess you could say you've grown into your own skin so to speak."

She just sat there looking at me as if she was suddenly exactly the opposite of what I'd just said. "Hey," I whispered when she looked towards the river. "It's a good thing."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, it is." I assured her. "You are still you at the heart, but you're also more confident, more sure of yourself than I've ever seen you. And it's amazing, Bella." I paused for a second not certain if I should say the next thought that came to my mind. But in the end I knew I had to and had to be completely honest with her. I took her hand in mine and twined our fingers together. "You know, when you left it killed me. And I know now how much it hurt you too." The small gasp that escaped when I spoke told me how surprised and nervous she was for what I was going to say. I reached up and tucked a few stray hairs that had come loose behind her ear as I continued. "I'd like to think that you would have become who you are if you'd stayed too, but the reality is that the things we go through in life tend to shape us into who we are. And if you'd stayed, who knows what would have happened. I don't know. We'll never know. But maybe you leaving has a bit of a silver lining in it. It's allowed us both to grow and change outside of the relationship we'd had and what I do know is that I very much like who you've become. Getting to know you all over again has been amazing, Bella."

She held my gaze for a few seconds before she said anything, searching for what I didn't know. But then she said, "You really mean that, don't you?"

"I do."

"I really missed you," she whispered. "More than anything." Her free hand reached up brushing across the scruff along my cheek and jaw.

She'd missed me. More than anything.

She'd left, left me behind. She's torn apart all the plans we'd made for college and beyond when she'd left that day and left me standing there in the rain. My heart beat rapidly as I thought about it, but then I realized that while that had happened, she was here now and we were being given a second chance and all I had to do was reach out and grab it.

Was I ready for that? I was pretty sure I was.

"I missed you too, Bella. So fucking much."

Everything inside me was screaming at me to show her just how much I'd missed her. I reached up and gently took her face in my hands, taking in the rosy hue of her cheeks from the sun, and felt the way she shivered slightly. When I swiped my thumb softly over her bottom lip her tongue peeked out catching it before darting back into her mouth. I leaned down, my eyes locked on hers, watching for any sign she didn't want this too. She did. I could see her need to be kissed burning in her eyes. After brushing my nose along hers, I tenderly connected our mouths. She sighed and relaxed against me as we kissed slow and tenderly, trying to communicate our feelings for one another. I savored the taste of her as our mouths moved languidly together. Soon it wasn't enough and I pulled her with me until we were lying on the ground and deepened the kiss. And the longer we kissed, the more certain I was that maybe, just maybe we could do this and put the past behind us and be together again.

We pulled apart at the sound of thunder and feeling of a few rain drops falling on us. We'd gotten so carried away in our kiss that we hadn't even noticed the clouds moving in.

"We best hurry so the horses don't get spooked," she said, snuggling against me.

"We should, but I'd rather stay here with you." Then a thought hit me, "Come back to my place for the afternoon?"

"I'd love to," she replied with a bright smile that could light the darkening sky.

With a smile of my own in place, I got up and helped her up off the ground. I looked up at the sky off to the west of us to gage how long before the storm was upon us. Seeing me do so, Bella looked up too.

"It won't be long," she said, agreeing with my thoughts.

"No, looks to be a good one too, western sky is pretty dark."

"We should go or we'll be soaked."

I glanced at the approaching storm one last time. "We have time for this though," I said softly pulling her to me for one last kiss.

An even louder rumble of thunder echoed across the sky pulling us apart. Sundance was stomping his hoof on the ground and whinnying, signaling he was getting nervous. "Time to go," I said.

"Yep, but don't think this gets you out of your end of the deal, buddy," she declared with a teasing poke to my chest.

"I have no idea what you're referring to, Miss Swan," I teased as I helped her climb onto Midnight.

She looked over at me as I easily mounted Sundance. "You can wipe that shit eating grin off your face, Edward Anthony, it gives away your fib." Then without another word she urged Midnight to go, taking off at a quick pace towards the house.

Doing the same with Sundance I couldn't do anything but smile as I took in her looking back over her shoulder and laughing at me. Somehow, after all this time, after all we'd been through, I found myself still falling for her.

Thanks for sticking with me, I can't wait to see what you thought.

See y'all soon,

~EA