Blind Faith

Disclaimer

Twilight and its characters are the sole property of Stephenie Meyer. No copyright infringement is intended and all creative rights to these characters belong to their original author. No profit is being made from this story.

Based very loosely on a true story, shamelessly extrapolated and mutilated and moved to the other side of the Atlantic.

Chapter 7

The next morning, they both completely forgot about Edward's failed confession. Bella had noticed something.

"Edward," Bella said. "We're… we're nearly out of money."

"Really?" Edward said. He didn't even look up from the magazine he was leafing through as he waited for her to finish getting ready. "I'm not surprised."

"Aren't you? I thought you were budgeting."

"Not really. I thought we could just have fun. We've got money left for what we need, you know. We're not going to starve or have to sleep in the car or anything like that. I just didn't want to have to worry about things like that so much."

"That's really irresponsible."

"We're newlyweds, Bella, on a honeymoon on another continent. There's no better time to be irresponsible."

Bella shook her head.

"Look at it this way - have you had fun?"

She glared at him.

"Just answer the question." He enunciated each word. "Have you had fun?"

"Yes," Bella admitted, rolling her eyes.

"Then it was worth it." He shrugged. "We have enough money to be comfortable, if not extravagant, for the last two days, and then we can head home and carry on with real life, not at all worse off."

"Are you this irresponsible at home?" Bella asked.

"Not really. I don't have a strict budget, but I don't always spend more than I have."

"But you do sometimes?"

"Well, yeah. Who doesn't?" Edward shrugged.

"I don't."

"I'm not surprised. You seem so damn parsimonious anyway. Why?"

"I just don't like wasting money," Bella said.

Edward had noticed. "So spend it on worthwhile things…"

"I want to. That's why I'm saving."

"What are you saving for?"

Bella smiled, despite the situation. "I want to really travel, to see the world, and then settle somewhere that I've fallen in love with."

"So you deny yourself all the fun in the world now, all so you can maybe travel later on?" Edward asked.

"Yeah. It's the only way I'll get to do it."

"It's stupid," Edward said.

Bella flushed red, but not in embarrassment. "It's stupid?" she asked. Edward's brow furrowed. "I live happily with my two best friends, I work hard, and every month I can see I'm getting closer to my goal. Does that seem that stupid?"

"Good for you, but it's not for me."

Bella huffed. "So what do you spend your money on that's so damn important?"

Edward shrugged. "Stuff."

"See? You're a hypocrite; you can't even tell me what you do with your wages. You have two jobs, and yet you still spend your money on crap."

Finally, Bella saw flickers of the temper Rosalie had warned her about. His voice was low and his eyes narrowed. "Don't judge me, Isabella. That's dangerous."

"And don't you judge me. That's dangerous too." She fled into the bathroom with a slam.

*

After several minutes of brisk conversation through the bathroom door – Edward wouldn't apologise for his lifestyle just for an easy life, but she did make him apologise for the "stupid" comment - Bella realised she was being irrational, and they packed up and left.

They checked out of the hotel and took their things down to the car parked under the building, but headed into the city for one last tour, to catch things they'd missed. The markets were first, where Bella picked up a thing or two for Alice and her mother with what she had budgeted for gifts. For lunch, Edward dragged a quietly glowering Bella into McDonalds. She rolled her eyes and smothered a laugh when he joked that it was the best they could afford. Finally, it was the early evening and Edward was opening the passenger door to their car for Bella.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"Remember I said we were going camping?"

"Yeah…" Bella was hesitant. "Now? We don't even have a tent."

"I didn't think we'd bother with that. The weather's nice tonight, and it's set to stay that way, so let's just go be impulsive. You were telling me just two days ago that you wanted to be more spontaneous. So here we are. Being spontaneous."

Bella sighed. "Do we have to?"

"Remember I won that bet, in the hotel near Stratford? Well, this is me claiming my prize. We're going camping."

"Fine."

She sulked in the passenger seat as Edward drove them south.

*

Two hours later, Bella was laughing as she sprinted up the beach from the seafront, clutching a towel around her shoulders like a cape. She fell to her knees in front of Edward, who was poking at their makeshift fire. It wasn't very impressive.

"Having fun, love?" he asked.

She laughed and nodded. "It's so pretty out here, and it's been so long since I've been on a warm beach, even if it is a little damp."

"And it's quiet, and the sun will set soon. Get dried off and come sit with me?"

Bella leaned forward to kiss his cheek, then took off laughing again with her bag of clothes and cape. When she returned, Edward had their other towels spread across the sand, windbreakers erected around them, and was laying with his eyes closed by the fire.

His eyes opened when he heard her feet parting the sand and cracking shells under their weight, and watched through squinting eyes as she crept towards him, all tousled hair and creamy legs. "You're beautiful," he said when she stopped in front of him, and she blushed.

"Stop it."

"You're beautiful," he said again, and Bella sat down, not meeting his eye and red-cheeked.

"What's the plan, Edward?" she asked.

"Plan? We don't need a plan on a night like tonight, Bella. It's beautiful, we have the place all to ourselves, the sky is as clear as you could imagine. We could stay all night if we wanted to." He took the towel she had discarded with her clothes and wrapped it around her shoulders. "I don't imagine the tide will come in much further. So let's just sit and enjoy the sunset, then… I don't know. Something."

"That sounds like a plan."

Edward took her hand. "No, Bella, it's not a plan. It's just us."

*

They did stay for a few hours. The sun had set and they'd watched the sky transform from a blazing orange into its current velvet blue.

"It's getting cold," Edward said. His eyes weren't on the stars. They were on his wife. With the help of the flickering golden light of the fire, he could see goosebumps rising on her skin.

"I know," she said. "But it's not that cold yet."

"Come here," he said, tugging on her hand. They had been lying on their respective towels, just holding hands between them, for half an hour. Edward pulled Bella to roll into the gap between them. "They say that sharing body heat is the best way to conserve it."

Bella giggled and moulded herself into his side. Edward wrapped an arm around her and their fingers intertwined again over his heart. Edward grinned down at Bella.

"Beautiful, no?"

"The sky? Definitely."

"I meant you, Bella."

"Edward, stop being so cheesy, and such a… tease."

"I'm glad that you thinking I'm lying isn't the first thing you say any more. I'm not teasing at all really, but at least you're starting to have a little more faith in me."

"Don't, Edward. If there's one thing you've learned over the last two weeks, it's not to say stuff like this."

"I disagree," Edward said. Bella was worried by his smirk. "The one thing I've definitely learned is that you're beautiful when you're pissed with me."

He laughed, and Bella slapped his chest with her free hand. "Stop it, Edward. This really isn't funny."

"Oh, I hope not. It's not meant in jest, dear Bella."

Bella shook her head, lay down again, and tried to distract herself with the stars. She failed. They relapsed into silence for quite a while. Edward was hesitant to spoil the moment, but it felt like it was his last chance.

"Bella?"

"Mmm?"

"There's something I have to tell you."

"Sure. I'm listening." She had her eyes closed, her attention more on the sound of the waves than his voice.

"This is serious, Bella."

"Oh." She opened her eyes, saw that e meant it, and rolled to face him. "What is it?"

"I… I really should have put this on my application. I should have made it perfectly clear, at least out of fairness, but…"

"But what, Edward? You know you can tell me." She leaned up on her elbow and pressed her other hand to his cheek. Edward couldn't look at her. He closed his eyes and sighed. When he opened them again, he met her gaze. He had to see her reaction.

"I… I can't have kids."

The next silence was long, and far less comfortable than before. It was like their first day again, but sharper, more dangerous. Instead of standing at the edge of a cliff, they were balancing on a knife edge, and Bella was about to let Edward fall alone.

"Oh," Bella said at last. She'd rolled away from Edward and sat up. She was still facing him, but her eyes were on her fingers, twisting together in her lap.

Edward sat up too but didn't reach out to touch her, although a hand involuntarily crept into the space between them. It was there if she wanted to pull him back up while he clawed his way up by his fingernails. "I'm sorry, Bella, I really am. I should have told you before, I should've said in my application, I should-"

"Yes, you should have, Edward," Bella snapped. Edward opened his mouth to keep apologising, but Bella held up a hand to stop him. "Just… shut up a minute, okay?"

Edward didn't even nod. He dropped his eyes too. The night was suddenly too loud; he wanted everything else quiet and still, because if the world was quiet enough, perhaps he could listen for Bella's thoughts.

"That's why you asked me if I wanted children, isn't it? On the first day?"

Edward nodded. Not offering a verbal answer made Bella look up, and he followed suit. Although her face was lifted, she wouldn't meet his gaze.

"And last night, when you wanted to tell me something?"

He nodded again, and this time Bella caught it in the corner of her eye.

"I'm pretty sure this gives away too much about what I expect from, well, this." She waved a hand between them. "But what you just told me… it doesn't bother me. I mean, it's a shock, but… I don't know. This is weird, a weird situation, a weird conversation… I think that, if I loved a man enough, I could settle for not having children, as long as I had him. But this is another situation entirely…"

"I'm sorry, so sorry."

"What are you apologising for?"

"Well, for this."

"This isn't your fault. Leaving it two weeks to tell me in person, and not telling anyone before? That is. It's really kind of crucial, Edward. Did it not even cross your mind that it was really fucking relevant?"

Edward flinched. "I guess… I guess it did. But I never expected to be picked, Bella. I didn't think it would ever really affect anyone, and it's not like I go round telling everyone I can, especially a bunch of psychologists or whatever that I've never met, that for some reason I'm incapable of... of doing what a man should be able to do." Naturally, a hand was tangled in his hair and he relished in the tugging sensation at the roots.

Bella stilled it. "You're a dick for doing this, Edward, but stop torturing yourself. Um… why can't you have kids?"

"I don't know. They couldn't tell me. Just that it was me."

Bella's stomach clenched. There was a tightness in her throat that had been building since the first confession, but now it had reached a crescendo, as if somebody had taken all their tentative steps towards one another and thrust them down her windpipe. But she asked anyway. "You… as opposed to whom?"

"Well… you remember I told you I'd had that one serious relationship before?"

"Yes." She pulled at her lip with her teeth, fighting for words. "Her?"

"Her. Her name was Sasha, and she was a family friend. We went to the same college and stuck together for comfort in the first year when we didn't really know anyone. We dated for a couple of years, and then she told me she wanted kids. I really thought I loved her, and because I'd known her for years, I thought we'd still be together for a long time. So… we tried."

"And failed?"

"Yeah…" He squeezed his eyes shut, pinched the bridge of his nose. "We were young, but I was convinced we were right for one another. I thought I could handle a baby – I was working, we had our own place – and it would make her happy. After a year, she had us both tested. They couldn't tell us what was wrong, just that something was, and… she left me."

Bella took his hand. "I'm sorry…"

Edward shook his head and tugged his hand away. "I was stupid. Young, and stupid. And apparently I'm no more mature now than I was then. I'm so sorry I didn't tell you, Bella…"

"It's okay, Edward. If I loved a man, I could settle."

"But… do you?"

"I think I could love you." She ducked her head to smile at him and pressed the palm of one hand against his cheek.

Edward smiled at first, hearing his words echoed back at him, but then his face fell. "And if you can't?"

"Then the marriage won't last anyway, and it's a redundant question."

"I guess. I want to make this work though."

"Me too. But you can't keep things like that from me ever again, Edward. There's nothing else, is there?"

He shook his head. "No. That's it."

"Then I think I'll sleep now. We can talk more about it tomorrow?"

"If you want to."

"'Night, Edward."

"Goodnight."

*

A long time later, Bella spoke again.

"Edward?"

The sky was near black, speckled with silver pinpricks, and Bella hadn't actually been able to sleep in the end. Between the sand, raging surf and her tempestuous thoughts, it had been a futile attempt. Edward, however, had dozed off hours ago. Three, Bella counted. She tried again, nudging him.

"Edward?"

"Mmmm?" He groaned and rolled over to face her.

"I think the tide's still coming in."

"Oh." His eyes flickered open.

"I can hear it. It's closer. And it's really cold."

"Want to go?"

"Please."

"Alright then."

*

After an awkward night in the car, despite Edward's promise that it wouldn't happen, their last day was spent on the seafront in town and buying souvenirs. After taking their sand-dusted things up to a hotel room and just abandoning them in the corner, Bella dragged Edward by the hand back down to the beach, insisting it was too lovely to use the car, and there was no need for speed. Edward had clammed up since the night before, and Bella felt the need to compensate to fill the silences.

"I suppose you're right," Edward said quietly. "Back home, I drive everywhere."

"That's fair enough, but it's always raining. Here, it's beautiful and sunny and dry." She tugged his hand, moving faster. "So come on."

Eating fish and chips on a bench overlooking the beach, Edward folded his back in the paper and turned to Bella. "Are you really not that bothered?"

"What?"

"I mean, are you really not that bothered by what I told you yesterday? About, you know, um…"

"I know what you meant, Edward. I'm just curious about why you're bringing it up again."

"We didn't exactly deal with the issue."

"There's not a lot to deal with. You can't have kids, I said I'll deal with it. What else is there to say?"

"I just want to be sure that you're sure."

Bella folded her food away too. "Of course I'm not sure, Edward, but it's far too soon for that. I mean, every woman wonders about what it would be like to have a child, but it's not my life ambition or anything to raise a family. So, for now, I'll deal."

"But what about me?" Edward asked. "I've been left by one woman I loved because I couldn't give her this… I just don't want it to happen again."

"Are you trying to scare me away, Edward?" It was meant to be teasing, but the words were heavy in the air.

He sighed, buried his face in his hands. "Kind of, I guess," he mumbled. "I don't want to, but…"

"Stop it. I've stayed for two weeks now, haven't I?"

"But we're five thousand miles from home. How do I know you're not going to end this as soon as we're back?"

Bella wrapped her hands around Edward's wrists and pried them from his face. "I'm not going anywhere, Edward, really. You're going to have to do much better than this to scare me away."

"I really think I could love you, you know," he said, but it was quiet, without the gleaming hope from before.

"You've said." Bella's voice was soft in return, her fingers tracing patterns into his skin.

"I mean it."

"I know. And I think the same of you." She let go with one last squeeze of his hands. "But that might change if these go cold before I get chance to eat them," she said, unwrapping her lunch again. "Don't worry, Edward. We'll be fine."

*

That evening, they found a quiet guest house two roads back from the seafront and settled in for their final night.

Edward ghosted his hands over the curve of Bella's hips, a smile absently playing across his face. He was absorbed by his wife's silky warm skin under the T-shirt. Bella closed her eyes and melted into the pillow, the corners of her mouth slightly raised, her lips silently parted. She spread one hand across Edward's back and laced the other into his hair, drawing his head down. He obliged, pressing his chest against hers, hands still tracing her sides. His face nuzzled into the crook of her neck and brushed soft kisses over her skin. Bella could feel him smile against her shoulder.

She wound and tangled her fingers in his hair, caressing and teasing it, careful to avoid using her nails and keep the motions as tentative as his touch. They continued their carefree strokes for minutes, contemplating that it was their last night together in England, and possibly their last night alone at all for quite some time.

Bella was still mostly leading, and Edward was desperate for comfort in whatever form he could get it, so they had gone to bed together a little earlier than normal.

"Edward?" Bella murmured finally.

"Mmmm?"

"I think… I think I'm ready." She felt slightly stunned by her statement, but she believed it. It had been a long time since she'd felt warm towards a man who wasn't Jasper or her father, and the butterflies were enough to give her a little confidence. She supposed it was his patience, how kind he had been, how playful, despite their cold beginnings. And she realised that for him to admit what he did took courage she hadn't seen in him before, and implied that he trusted her. When she thought about it, maybe she did trust him in return. While Edward hesitated, her belief solidified. She moved her hand through his hair and to his cheek, enjoying the warmth and faint scratch against her palm.

Edward was definitely caught by surprise, although he tried to hide it. She'd been so tense with him almost all the time they'd known each other, and she was asking for this already?

His hands came to a gradual stop on her hips and she felt him exhale deeply on her neck before pulling away to read her face. His eyes were blank except for concentration as he read hers carefully. He nodded.

"Okay."

Bella smiled, but only a little. Edward's lips were forming words without sound as he tried to choose his words carefully. There was more coming.

"Just not tonight."

Bella frowned, not expecting that, and Edward reached one hand up to smooth her hair back and caress her cheek.

"I just want you to think about it a little longer, be absolutely certain. I don't quite believe you. This is not the way to make me feel better, Bella." He sighed. "Anyway, I don't think I'm ready yet."

"Oh." She pushed at Edward's shoulders and he rolled to the side. She twisted in the sheets to face him. Her insides were in knots too, braced for the impact of a rejection. "Um… can I ask why not?"

She trusted him, and she was ready to get it over with. Edward had trusted her with what was probably his greatest secret, and tipped the balance to make her want to offer her a part of herself. Which, apparently, he didn't want.

"It's like you were before – I'm just not ready. And I don't want to risk this yet."

"It's not you, it's me, right?"

"Exactly. Well…. kind of. Not entirely. You know what I mean, right?"

"I think so." She knew what he meant, even if she didn't believe it. Tears stung her eyes, and she tried to battle her insecurities, weigh them against his words, but he had lied to her before. "Look, if you don't like me that way, just say so. You really have to be honest with me, Edward. I've been lied to before, and I'd rather you just came out and said it."

"Said what?"

"Never mind." She rolled free and pulled the covers with her. Given their comfort over the last few days, Bella suggested they only had the one set in this final hotel. Edward wanted to push the discussion, but he thought he knew better.

It was a warm July night, and he fell eventually asleep on his side of the bed without a blanket, facing the other way, not acknowledging her shoulders shaking and occasional sniffing. And he felt like a douche for ignoring it.

*

The next morning, when the alarm went off, Edward groaned and fumbled to switch it off. Bella was already in the bathroom with the door closed behind her before Edward restored the quiet. The click of the lock would have been the first tolerable thing he heard all morning, but it stung.

Yawning, he stumbled to the other side of the room and started grabbing handfuls of his clothes and forcing them into his suitcase. It took the brunt of his rage leftover from being such an ignorant bastard the night before.

He'd worked out exactly what Bella had been upset about when she finally fell asleep. He had heard her, felt her covers shake, tickling his back, and he contemplated exactly what self-torture he could inflict without waking her up. In the end, insomnia reigned and Edward only slept an hour and a half, leaving most of his night occupied with self-flagellation for making her cry.

Bella had made it perfectly clear she didn't think she was attractive, and despite his efforts with her self-esteem she now thought he didn't want her. Edward didn't know how to make it right. He didn't really know what he'd done wrong, just that he had no idea what he was doing.

*

Bella barely spoke two words together all morning. She certainly said nothing unnecessary, spoke only when spoken to and not always then. They were at the airport, checked in and waiting to board, before Edward could even think where to start.

"Bella, about last night…"

"What about it?" Her eyes were still glazed, fixed on a rubber plant in the distance.

"I'm sorry. You jumped to a conclusion, that wasn't what I meant to say at all… I'm just worried about us, you know?"

Bella shrugged, shifting her eyes. She picked at the sandwich in her lap. "Why?"

"Well, it's only been two weeks. And we get like this. We don't talk about the problems we already have, so I don't want to go adding new ones." He sighed. "I don't know what to do."

"Wait. What problems do you think we have?" She was indignant, lifted her chin as she stared at him.

"You know, you're beautiful when you're angry," he said, smiling hopefully. He was deliberately pushing her. She looked away, and he sighed. "See? That's the first. You think I'm lying to you about things like that. You don't seem to have much… I don't know… self-esteem?"

Bella gaped for a moment, unable to form suitable words. Abandoning the attempt, she scrambled to her feet with her bag, preparing to flee, but Edward caught her wrist.

"And that's another. You don't talk to me, you run."

"I warned you I did that, before we even left Washington. Before we were even married."

"I know, but you've got to stop. I'm making an effort here. It might be uncomfortable, but we have to do it." He pulled at her sleeve, trying to get her to sit down. "Please, Bella?"

She sighed and pried his fingers away, slowly sitting back at his side. "Okay. I promise, as long as you don't do anything outlandish, that between now and us getting on the plane, I won't run."

"On the plane, you can't run," he taunted.

Bella didn't even smile. "True, but hopefully we can get this sorted before then." Tucking her sandwich into the front pocket of her rucksack and brushing back her hair with her fingers, she asked, "What are our other problems?"

"Apart from those two, it's where we're going to live, how you don't trust me… Um…"

"No problems with you, then? Just me, and one mutual one?"

"I didn't say that."

"Yes you did. And trust me, there are plenty of problems on your side too."

"Like what?"

"Your self-loathing over the kids thing. It doesn't matter any more, Edward, not for a long time. You took your time telling me, and that's just one reason not to trust you, but-"

"Just one? How many reasons do you have?"

"Just… a few." Bella shook her head and pressed her fingers against her eyes. Her cheeks flushed with something other than chagrin for once. His lips were sealed until she answered. Her eyes burned. "Look, Edward, it's not explicitly you. You're not the only one with a history, and mine goes back twenty years. You lied by omission, yes, but that's it. The rest is baggage. You have yours, I have mine. Okay?"

Edward wasn't used to acidic Bella. "Yeah. Okay. Sorry. It's just an uphill battle, you know?"

"I don't think this was ever meant to be easy, Edward. Do you ever wonder if we were set up this way, to have these points of conflict? Like, the drama's going to keep people involved, interested? It's like a reality show, except it really is our life."

"Possibly, but they didn't know about Sasha – well, not the specifics. I was somewhat vague in the relationship history section."

"They probably read into that a little and guessed there was something there. I don't think we're meant to be a perfect match at all. I think we're meant to have a chance, sure, but with plenty of dramatics getting there."

"I think we have a chance. A good one."

"Do you now?"

"Yes. Really. See? We're talking."

She rolled her eyes. "We're not that bad."

"But we would be, if neither of us changed a little." Edward shuffled so his knees faced her. "What else was there?"

"Kids, parents, what we're doing when we're home. I think."

"Kids… I don't hate myself over that, Bella, I-"

"You certainly made it seem that way. You barely spoke to me yesterday, and then when I admitted something kind of embarrassing in return, you brushed it off as me trying to console you or something."

"You cannot possibly compare what you said to what I did."

"Yes, I can. It was difficult for me to say. What you said must have been near impossible. And we were both worried about the other's reaction."

Edward sighed. "Bella." He clenched and unclenched his fists, fingers stretching as if they could just transmit his thoughts to her. He could barely put them into words, and it was frustrating to lose his eloquence like this. "There is one superlative reason why I said no yesterday: I do not want to ruin this. There were others, yes, but they don't matter." Bella went to speak, inhaling and parting her lips, but Edward halted her with a raised hand. "And the one that you came up with all on your own? The one you cried over? Absolute bullshit. The end."

"You heard me crying?" Bella asked. She fumbled for words now too.

Edward nodded. "I didn't know what to do. I didn't work it out 'til this morning though. It just didn't make sense, how you could think that."

"Think what?"

"That I didn't want you, like that… Have you listened to nothing I've said to you?"

"Obviously not."

"I think you're beautiful." He sighed, tangled a hand in his hair. "Look, I know this might make you really uncomfortable, but remember your promise…" He inhaled. "I do want you, Bella. Stop being so damn… self-conscious. You have absolutely no reason to be." He fixed his eyes on hers. "At all."

Bella was trapped in his web for a moment, but forced herself free with a tear, head moving to the side, cheek pressed against her shoulder. Her eyes burned. She didn't know if it was the staring or the welling tears.

She tried to speak with many false starts. She uttered syllables, sometimes a whole word, but never a sentence. Edward took her hand. "Do you believe me yet?"

She turned back and shrugged. Seeing his narrowed eyes, it turned to a shy nod. When he smiled, she smiled back. Or at least attempted to.

Edward leaned forward to briefly press his lips to her temple, then let go of her hand. "I think we need a recess. I'll get us something to drink. Let's leave the rest until we're on the plane. This'll be a nice distraction from your nerves – and the flight's shorter this time."

A smile broke through on Bella's cloudy face, a grin with teeth and all. She needed to show him… something. "Thank you, Edward."

"No, Bella. Thank you."

*

On the flight home, they were a little more friendly than their first flight together. Edward had offered Bella an earbud and she was cycling through his iPod. Between them, they had equally maintained a conversation for the first hour, but when it naturally fizzled out for the first time, Bella finally bit the bullet and asked.

"So, what do you think we should do when we land?" Bella asked when she finally settled on an album – the singer they'd seen at their festival a week ago.

"Well, once we're out of here, we have to find my car, then we go back to Port Angeles. Then it's up to you. Do you want to go home, or come home with me?"

"Is that an invitation?"

"You have a permanent invitation, Bella, I guess. But I had the feeling you'd like to stay with Alice and Jasper a little while longer…"

"Yeah, if you don't mind…"

"It's not up to me, is it?" He laughed. "I didn't get the impression Alice was ready to give you up yet."

"So what are we going to do when we get home? I'm going to miss this."

Edward grabbed her hand that had been tapping along to the beat on the armrest between them. "Me too." He smoothed her fingers free from the fist they'd formed. "I guess we'd just hang out when I'm not working."

"What about when I'm not?"

"Well, when both of us aren't working. But I work a few evenings too, three or four a week."

"Oh… Weekends?" Bella asked.

"Sometimes, but that's overtime. I can say no."

"Yeah… But what about when we get back? I mean, straight away?"

"Whatever we want. We'll see. I do want you to meet my parents though, as soon as you can."

Bella blanched. Her voice was barely a squeak. "When?"

Edward laughed. "We have dinner on Sundays, so I guess next weekend if you're free…"

"And you haven't told your parents about this yet?"

"No, although I can't guarantee Emmett hasn't. Yours?"

"Not a word. Last time I spoke to Charlie was less than pleasant, and I left Renee two messages… At least we don't have to worry about her in person for a little while. She's in Jacksonville."

"Well, let's start with meeting Charlie then. How bad can it be?"

Bella laughed, nervously. Her free hand started tapping against the other armrest. "Very. My dad has a shotgun and a grudge against almost every body I ever dated. And he's a cop. You have nothing to hide, right?"

Edward shook his head, but something flickered in the back of his mind. "Nothing I haven't already told you, nope. I think you're more nervous than I am."

"I shouldn't be."

*

The flight passed easily enough, and customs surprised them both with how simple it was. No lost luggage, no searches. They found Edward's car quickly and were on the road back to Port Angeles in half the time they'd expected. When they neared the town, Bella pried her drooping eyes open to direct him to the home she shared with Alice and Jasper, and they sat in the dry car outside for a few minutes before getting out.

Edward helped Bella get her bags up the stairs, following a few paces behind her. He'd need to remember where she lived. When they were at the door, Bella refused to meet his eye. She had her keys in hand, and Edward guessed it was time for them to say goodbye.

"So… I'll call you?"

"Yeah," Bella said. Her eyes were still on her untied laces. She fidgeted, but didn't turn to unlock the door. Edward rolled his eyes.

"Bella?"

"Mmm?"

"Look at me." She did. Edward smiled. "The last two weeks have been… fun." When Bella's face fell slightly, Edward rapidly backtracked. "Well, not just fun. I mean, they've been completely incredible. I just wanted to say thank you, for giving me a chance." He kissed her cheek. "How about you call me whenever you're ready?"

Bella smiled. "Okay." She dropped the bag that had been slung over her shoulder and reached up to hug him, smiling. With her arms around his neck, she spoke into his shoulder. "Best vacation ever."

"Oh, I know."

"Thank you." She stretched up to kiss him properly. And while they were still tangled, the door opened.

Notes

And that's the precise moment where the real world rears its ugly head again… well, its gremlin head, as it happens. We are officially 25% of the way through in terms of chapters, as my soon-to-be-largely-scrapped outline dictates.

Kyrene's my soulmate across the Atlantic, southerngirl915's the mate to my ma'am, and Beckie was four-year-old me's best mate. Kyrene made a Twilighted thread. The Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Cullen contest has its first entry and is gagging for more; I'll soon be posting a one-shot as an example. All are/will be linked on my profile, but have the tentative summary:

Example for the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Cullen contest, in which a young housemaid finds herself caught between the genial Dr. Masen and his licentious assistant Mr. Cullen.

The chapters from here should be a little shorter, for two reasons: first, there was a lot to cram into a few chapters to get the story and characters established; second, they should come a bit faster. I wonder how long I can keep the weekly updates up for.

If you liked my words – or if you didn't – feel free to leave your own, and you can have some more in return. I like words. A lot.