A/N: Sorry this chapter has taken so long. In the space of two weeks I went to the Olympics (Hmm yummy Australian hockey players!) and had some tight deadlines at work, so I'm really sorry for not getting around to replying to anyone who has reviewed this story or any of my others. Unfortunately I just haven't had the time to update this story sooner, but finally here we have the last chapter. Eeeeekkkk! I hope you like it.

Disclaimer: I'm sure you all know that Stephenie Meyer owns all things Twilight.

~Chapter 8~

"Oh dear God," I muttered astonished as I stared at the familiar figure standing in the doorway.

I'd been so strong and determined to face my fears head on but now with Edward stood in front of me I felt like bursting into tears. For a moment I couldn't speak. I just stood there, looking horrified for a full minute before my mouth started functioning again.
Edward on the other hand appeared completely calm and completely oblivious to the chaos that was running through my mind.

"What are you doing here?" I asked dumbfounded, unable to stand another second of silence.
"Esme asked me to come check on you. She was worried that you were ill but I can see that you are just faking it, " he teased, his usual playful banter back in full force.

I couldn't think straight, and I certainly couldn't find the words to respond. I was so confused. What was he doing here? Was he angry that I'd fled, or worse still was he embarrassed about what had happened that night? I wondered what was going on in his head but I couldn't be sure because his face and tone gave nothing away.

"Well, are you just going to leave me standing here all day or can I come inside?" Edward asked impatiently.
"What are you doing here?" I asked again trying to stall him. I couldn't think straight with him standing so close to me.

"I think its about time you and I sat down and talked," Edward said with a deadpan expression.
"There's nothing to talk about," I replied me a coward but if we didn't have this conversation then I could block it all out and pretend like it never happened. Perhaps I was better off not knowing because I was certain the details would at the very least embarrassing.

This morning I had had a few flashbacks and a few dimmed memories of stolen kisses that I was fairly certain were real. No, it would be too humiliating to hear Edward say that whatever went on was a drunken mistake.

I went to shut door but he reached out to stop me. His hand rested against the door frame and he easily brushed past me. Shocked and if I'm honest a little pissed off at his determination, I struggled to keep up as he walked through the hallway and made himself right at home in my living room.

I didn't realize I was pacing around the room nervously until Edward came over and gently touched my arm. I felt the same thrill rush through my body at his touch and I was to weary to argue when he took my hand in his and guided me towards the couch.

We sat down next to on another, too close for comfort but Edward seemed unwilling to let me escape.

"Look Bella, I know that you don't want to talk about, but I feel we must. You rushed off and there are some things that we really need to discuss," he said nervously.

He looked hesitant, almost remorseful which worried me. Oh God he was embarrassed. It was written all over his face. I knew it; we did have sex and now he was regretting it and trying to find a way of letting me down gently.

As if he could sense my fears, Edward reached out and started rubbing soothing circles on my palm to try and calm me down. It didn't work. If anything the fact that he was trying to comfort me made it worse. I couldn't do this. I wasn't ready to hear his regrets.

Abruptly, I pulled my hand away from his, ignoring his hurt expression. "No really, there's no need for us to talk about it. Its fine, I understand." I told him, hoping that he would leave it at that. I should have known better.

"No, I don't think you do," Edward's voice came out as a snap. I could tell he was getting a little irritated by my reluctance to talk about it but his anger cooled a little as he continued. "Bella, I know you are embarrassed but avoiding me wont change anything."

"Embarrassed," I squeaked. That was an understatement if ever I heard one. "Edward, I'm mortified." I admitted.

"Oh Bella, stop overreacting."

My eyes widened. Overreacting? Was he for real? "We had sex and I cant even remember it! I'd hardly call that over reacting." I snapped.

I looked up and I was beyond angry when he started laughing, as in full on belly laughter.

He was confirming my worst fears and not even bothering to hide it. I felt physically sick, I thought I might actually vomit and then something inside of me snapped and I turned to him accusingly.

"I'm glad you find it so amusing! It might not be a big deal to you but it is to me. I wanted my first time to be special and you think its a joke." My voice broke and I fought the tears that were threatening to fall, but I refused to let him see me cry.

That sobered Edward up straight away. He seemed remorseful, a look of absolute shock and perhaps horror appeared on his face. Shit why did I have to tell him so much? This was awkward enough already without me dropping a bombshell like that on him.

"Bella, is this what you've been worrying about? Do you think we slept together?" Edward's voice broke me from my worrying.
"W We didn't? Y You mean we..." I stuttered. I couldn't even finish my sentence but thankfully he seemed to understand what I couldn't say.

"No, we didn't have sex," he replied firmly.

"Really?" He looked insulted that I had to check, but it wasn't my fault I couldn't remember very much from that night.

"No, of course not. You were wasted Bella. You didn't know what you were doing. I would never take advantage of you like that. I took you home with me because I didn't think you would want Charlie to see you in such a state. Sure, you were a little less inhibited than usual and we kissed, but that's all, I swear," he promised.

Oh, Thank God! A kiss wasn't too bad, I could live with that. At least I didn't sleep with him.

"You don't remember any of this, do you?" Edward asked. He looked genuinely sad and disappointed though I couldn't understand why.
"No, I don't," I admitted shyly. I felt even more guilty now and I was too embarrassed to look at him. Edward had taken care of me and I'd as good as accused him of taking advantage of me.

An uncomfortable silence fell between the two of us and when I finally summoned up the courage to meet Edward's eyes he seemed to be considering something. I had a strong feeling that I didn't want to know what he was thinking but I had to ask. "What is it? What aren't you telling me?" I prompted.

Edward's mood visibly brightened, his crooked smile unstoppable as he stared down at me intently.
"I'm guessing you don't remember telling me that you loved me then." He said it so casually that I was sure I had to have misheard him.

Then I swear all the air left my lungs when I realised he was being serious. I wanted to run away and never come out again. How could I have told him that and not remember? It was the truth but that didn't necessarily mean I wanted Edward to know.

This was worse than I thought. Perhaps sleeping with him would have been better. After all, surely it would have been better to give him my body than my heart when he had no intention of giving his back to me. Maybe I could brush it off as a drunken mistake.

"I didn't mean it. It was the drink talking," I tired to make light if it but Edward smirked back at me.
"Are you seriously trying to take it back?" I sat paralysed as he came closer towards me, his hands reaching up to cup my face. He was so close I could feel his breath on my lips, smell the delicious sent of his aftershave, and his eyes looked so dark and so determined that I couldn't look anywhere else.

"Bella, just stop pretending. I love you and I know you love me too." he declared suddenly and then without hesitation he slid his hands into my hair and brought his mouth down on mine in a hungry demanding kiss that rendered me helpless.
I froze, initially too shocked to respond when I felt his hand slide around my waist and he pulled me hard against him. However, it didn't take long before my initial shock was replaced with joy and excitement when his tongue brushed against my lower lip. Without hesitation I opened my mouth up to him and after a little teasing his tongue finally entered my mouth. Our tongues fought for dominance and I moaned into his mouth when he took control of the kiss. I felt like I was drowning in the feelings and sensations I had never experienced before. I felt myself getting dizzy from his kisses before a lack of oxygen eventually forced us to part.

Edward gave me one last peck on the lips before he pulled away. We were both panting heavily, our hearts beating erratically against each others chest. When I looked up shyly, Edward was smiling my favourite crooked grin, and his eyes sparkled.
"I love you, Bella," he softly said.

"I love you too," I replied honestly. It should have felt weird saying the words aloud for the very first time, (excluding my drunken declaration) yet the words fell from my lips, freely, so naturally, that it was as if they were meant for Edward alone.

I couldn't help myself and I leaned forward, pressing my lips to his again. It started out sweetly but soon grew more desperate and needy in a matter of seconds. Edward was just as willing and it didn't take long for the kiss to get out of control.
When we eventually pulled apart, it could have been minutes, it could have been hours later, Edward started placing light kisses from the side of my face, down my neck, back up to my jaw before settling against my ear.

"There you go again, testing my patients." He said as he pulled me against him so that my cheek rested against his shoulder while his arms held me firmly against him. I closed my eyes and leaned into him. It felt natural like this, just the two of us and I couldn't help the smile that tugged at my lips as Edward looked down at me with such emotion.

"You know it was a good job you passed out on me otherwise I don't know whether I would have been able to stop myself from making love to you. I never been tested as much as you tested me that night," he told me.

I settled back against his chest and we both went quiet for a moment, comfortable simply being together. However, it didn't last long. We spoke of the night I had forgot which by the sounds of it was quite a night. My memories were limited, hazy at best, but Edward helped filled in most of the blanks. According to him I had quite a jealous streak which he found rather amusing. He also told me in great detail how we'd argued and kissed, declared our love before he had took me home, where I'd then tried to seduce him (his words not mine.)

"You broke my fucking heart when I woke up and you weren't there. I thought we were finally getting somewhere and then you were gone. I stayed away as long as I could. I hoped you would come to me when you were ready but then I saw Esme at the store and she told me that you weren't very well. I had to make sure that you were okay" He blushed which I found really adorable. I loved this softer side to him.

"I think Esme has always known that I've like you," he continued.

"Yeah?" I replied smiling. I was so happy I couldn't wipe the stupid grin off my face.

"Yeah, she has been trying to push the two of us together for a while now. She threatened to play matchmaker if I didn't tell you how I felt soon."

"I guess we didn't need her help after all." I smiled, leaning up to kiss him once more.

One kissed quickly turned in to two and so on and so forth, and if I'm being honest, I could have quite happily stayed in Edward's arms forever, but unfortunately all good things have to come to an end. He stayed with me for as long as he could before eventually having to go in to work for a meeting after lunch though not before making plans for our first official date later that evening.

"I'll see you in 6 hours," he told me as we stood on my porch, both equally reluctant to let each other go. "I love you." He smiled that wonderfully crooked smile that made me my heart ache.
"I love you too," I replied. He stroked my cheek one last time and dipped his head down to give me a final sweet kiss on the lips before he turned and started walking down the driveway.

I watched as he pulled out of the driveway thinking about all that had happened to lead us up to this point. All the bickering and misunderstandings seemed irrelevant now that we had finally confessed our love to one another and had our first official date to look forward to. I had a strong feeling that there were many more to come...

~The End~

A/n: There you have it the end. I know it may seem abrupt to end there but I'm seriously struggling with this story and I don't want to drag it out any longer than necessary. I will most likely be adding an epilogue at some point to tie everything up but at the moment I just wanted it finished. It took 2 attempts at this chapter and I'm still not 100% happy with it, so it may be tweaked at some point as well. Either way I hope you like it:) Is one last review too much to ask?

As for whats next- there is a poll on my profile about which story/one shot I should work on next if anyone is interested in voting!

Finally, thank you so much to all the lovely people who have read, reviewed and added this story on alert or to their favourites list. There are so many amazing stories out there on fan fiction so thank you so so much for taking the time to read mine. Your support and encouragement really means the world to me and has kept me writing when I have been so close to giving up! Thank you all again. I cant tell you how much I appreciate each and every one of you:) Until next time...
Me x