Chapter 17 (She Went Home)

Chapter 17~(She Went Home)




EPOV

While it was my last week of Christmas vacation, Bella had been working time and a half. The schedule at the Dialysis Center was crazy because of the holidays and in her typical big hearted style, Bella signed up to work extra hours. Instead of working forty hours over five days, she worked forty eight hours in four days. Needless to say, my baby girl was beat when she walked in the door at seven-thirty on Thursday night and I was prepared for her.

It was already plenty cold here this time of year and the news was predicting one to two inches of snow. It was so rare that we ever actually got any snow that the people around town were going nuts. There was not a loaf of bread or a gallon of milk to be found at Publix and I wasn’t stupid enough to try to brave the crazies at Target. Fortunately I had everything I needed to make Mama’s cheesy potato soup.

My woman deserved to be pampered after such a long hard week and I had every intention of doing just that. I had been in the kitchen pulling the bread out of the oven when I heard her groan after shutting the door behind her.

“Edward?” Music to my ears.

“In the kitchen!”

“I think I may be dying,” she moaned as she walked in to meet me.

“Aww…I’m sorry baby girl. You want the good news or the even better news?”

“The good news.”

“Your work week is over and you have a three day weekend to spend with me,” I said, wrapping my arms around her and nuzzling her neck.

“Mmm, that’s just the good news? I can’t imagine what could be better than that,” she giggled. I was sucking on the skin behind her ear and I knew what that did to her…which was all part of my evil plan.

“Well dare to imagine lovin’ because tonight after I feed you a very comforting supper, that I cooked all by myself thank you very much, I am going to massage every inch of your body, starting at your very weary feet and ending with your gorgeous head,” I told her as I ran my fingers through her hair.

She slumped in my arms so that I was supporting most of her weight as I held her against me. “Holy cow, that sounds like the most amazing thing I have ever heard after the week I’ve had, but,” she said as she stood up taller and began to press kisses up my neck and along my jaw, “I’m not sure that’s better than just getting to spend the weekend with you. You are too good for me. I’m sure I don’t deserve you, but I’m way too selfish to care or to let anyone else have you.” Then the little Jezebel slid her hands down my back and pinched my ass!

I chuckled at her silliness. “You didn’t let me finish,” I said softly while tracing the curves of her face. “There is plenty more than that, but now you’ll just have to wait and see. So…while all of these little kisses are definitely doin’ their job in turnin’ me on, how ‘bout you let me welcome you home properly?”

Her bright smile was all the permission I needed. I pulled her hands away from my ass, sadly, and placed them around my neck. She immediately slid her fingers into my hair at the base of my neck and started scratching. I damn near started to purr it felt so good. I glided my hands slowly down her sides and past her hips until I reached the backs of her thighs. I pulled on them slightly, letting her know what I wanted. I lifted her up onto the same counter where we shared our first kiss and moved to stand between her legs. I loved the fact that she immediately wrapped them around me to pull me closer to her.

I took my time tracing the backs of my fingers up her thighs and to her hips, never breaking my stare into her beautiful brown eyes. My hands curled around her hips and I jerked her towards the edge of the bar, making her giggle. That was completely one of my favorite sounds and I loved that we could just be playful with each other.

“I didn’t realize you were so turned on my scrubs,” she whispered into my ear before biting the lobe.

“While you do make scrubs look insanely sexy,” I said, peppering kisses down her neck, “it’s what’s under them and the fact that I have tasted all of it that turns me on,” I growled. She squeezed her locked ankles together behind me, bringing her heated core in direct contact with my erection. I was beyond ready for her. I had planned on making slow, passionate love to her after giving her a massage and relaxing in the tub afterwards but I knew we’d never make it that far. The week had been long and she had been so exhausted by the end of the day that there was little time for anything else other than some kisses and cuddles before she passed out at night. We needed to make up for lost time.

I finally crushed my lips to hers, not able to stand the teasing any longer. We were both eagerly opening our mouths in search of each other’s tongues. For us, touching was great, but tasting was infinitely better. I explored her mouth with need and desire and she wasn’t shy about the hunger she obviously had for me. I felt my shirt begin to ride up as she ghosted her tiny hands over the muscles of my back. I reached behind my neck and grabbed my shirt, pulling it over my head and throwing it on the floor. She leaned back on her elbows on top of the counter, not being shy at all in her appreciation of me. She was biting her lip and it was drawing me to her like a moth to a flame. It worked every time.

I placed both hands on the bar on either side of her and cocked my eyebrow at her, challenging her to make the next move. Because she already knew all of my games, she rolled her eyes at me, but then took off her scrub top. It was my turn to stare at her. She had worn my favorite purple bra today. Maybe she’d had plans of her own for later?

I trailed the pad of my index finger from her collarbone down between her breasts and with one flick opened the clasp that was settled between them. She gasped at the coolness of the air as it crossed her chest and I groaned at the sight before me. So beautiful.

“That’s very kind of you to offer appetizers before supper,” I smirked and then leaned down to take in one nipple. She whimpered as she gripped my hair, pulling me closer to her. I lavished one side and then the other as I began to pull on the tie at the waist of her scrubs. When she realized what I was doing she leaned back again so that she could raise her hips while I slowly pulled her bottoms off along with her panties. She had goose bumps all over her body, from head to toe and I didn’t know if it was from the chill of the granite countertop or from the fire that was burning between us. She was a naked Bella buffet laid out before me and I had every intention of going through that line…twice and to be honest, I was starting with dessert.

I pulled her hips as close to the edge of the counter as I could.

“Shit, Edward!” I loved to hear her cuss because it was so rare, but she could do better than that. I dipped my head, knowing what it did to her when my hair tickled her thighs and gave her a long, languid lick, ending with a swirl around her nub. So wet.

“Fuck, sugar,” she panted. We weren’t screamers, but I was seriously thinking about making her reconsider that tonight. I kissed and licked and touched her until I thought she was going to rip my hair out by the roots when she came.

“Dear Lord, who needs star gazing when you can see them like that?” she giggled.

I quickly unbuttoned and pushed down my jeans, surprising her by being commando. I said I had a plan. “You better find somethin’ to hold on to baby girl because if you think you just saw stars, then you need to prepare to meet your Maker.” And I DO like to keep my promises.

I anchored her to me by resting her legs on my shoulders and curling my arms around her thighs. The time for teasing was over and I plunged into her.

“Oh, fuck!” I hissed as she gasped. I had never been this deep before. I had to be still for a few seconds so that I would last longer than a sixteen year old virgin, it felt so damn good. I could already feel some of her muscles begin to clench because she was still so sensitive from her first orgasm.

I began to move in her, every thrust taking me deeper than the last. I was lost in her; in her body, in her moans and pleas…everything.

“God, I love you so much,” I moaned as she began squeezing me from the inside. “I’m close baby.”

“Mmm, me too. Please, Sugar…I can’t…”

Thank the Lord I wasn’t the only one who was incoherent. I was on sensory overload; the sight of her perfectly rounded, rosy tipped breasts bouncing with each thrust, the scent of our sweat and sex between us, the sounds from her mouth and of our bodies as they thrashed against each other, the taste of her salt still lingering on my tongue and the feel of her orgasm as it crashed through her. It was too much to hold in so I let it all out in a mind blowing release.

“That was…oh my God!” she said, still trying to catch her breath.

I chuckled and nipped the inside of her knee that was still beside my face. “See, I told ya you’d meet your Maker,” I said and gave her my best smirk. To tell you the truth, I was surprised I could make my lips do anything. I think my body was completely numb. “If it makes you feel any better, I’m pretty sure I saw those stars you were talkin’ about.”

“You should know that I’ve wanted you to do that since the moment you licked icing off of my finger,” she said as she sat up and pulled me closer to her by my dog tag. She has been doing that a lot lately. I think she kinda likes it.

“You should know that it wasn’t your finger that I wanted to be lickin’ that icing off of.” She brushed her lips against mine and then sucked on my bottom lip before biting it.

“Ow-wa…rough,” I pouted.

“Didn’t you already know that about me?” she smiled not so innocently.

“Hell yes,” I growled.

She hopped her little naked self down off of the counter and reached down and cupped my boys before giving them a gentle tug. “Race ya!”

I was so stunned that all I saw was her shaking her ass at me while she ran through the house up the stairs.

Supper and pampering were apparently going to have to wait.

-x-X-x-

When I woke up the next morning it was New Year’s Eve and I was surrounded by the scent of warm vanilla and sex and that could only mean one thing; I was wrapped up in a Bella cocoon. My eyelids slowly opened and I realized that I couldn’t see anything but creamy pale skin and silky brown hair. I had apparently been trying to smother myself in Bella’s neck while we slept. As I filled my lungs with her scent and snuggled further down towards her chest, the events of the previous night slowly began to flood my mind.

We must have needed to make up for lost time desperately. I had a feeling that we might both be a little sore today. At least she got a massage to go along with her bath, not that either thing wound up doing her any good. We would get too worked up and one of us would basically attack the other. It was seriously one of the very best nights of my entire life.

I felt her shift below me and I just held on to her tighter, not willing to let her go just yet. She began to rub circles in my hair. Shit…she’s awake and on to me. She’ll call me out on it in three…two…

“I know you’re awake,” she giggled.

I looked up at her, perching my chin on the top swell of her breast. “And just how did you know that?”

“Because while you were lost somewhere in that big head of yours, you were occasionally kissing my nipple.”

“Oh, sorry,” I said, even though I wasn’t sorry at all.

She traced my face with her finger and the look on her face took my breath away. She was happiness and peace personified and it made me want to bow out my chest like a proud gorilla that I helped put that look there; that I made her feel that way.

“Whatcha thinkin’?”

“About us.”

“Could you be more specific? Good things, right?”

She rolled her eyes at me before laughing. “Yes, worry wart. Good things. But you know we’re supposed to have our little talk later, right?”

“I remember.”

“Good. I’m going to get cleaned up while you cook my breakfast. Your caveman tendencies reared their ugly head last night and ruined my supper, so you owe me one,” she said, rolling to sit on top of me.

Lord have mercy, she was gorgeous and I loved her most first thing in the morning.

“I don’t recall you having any problems with my head last night,” I said as I rubbed my morning wood against her backside.

She leaned down to kiss me and her hair fell all around us in a chocolate curtain. “You are a very dirty boy.”

“Does that mean I get to shower with you, since I’m so dirty and all?”

“Nice try, but no.” She bit my nipple and then jumped off of the bed and walked into the bathroom, naked little ass and all.

“Jezebel!” I hollered.

“Go clean the kitchen AND make my breakfast, devil!” is what I heard her yell over the running water of the shower. It was a good thing I loved her damn near to pieces.

-x-X-x-

Rose and Emmett had invited the whole family over to their house for food and fireworks to celebrate the New Year. It was always nice to get together, even though we had spent plenty of family time together over the last two weeks, but that’s how we did things. Being family and being best friends were synonymous. Yes, we got on each other’s nerves and needed some serious time outs from each other, but it was nothing a good twenty four hours apart couldn’t cure.

My Ally girl loved her sparklers and her “Aunt Lella”. I had a feeling that Bella became “Aunt Lella” because she was the one who did in fact buy her some pink, glittery Hello Kitty make up for Christmas. I still owed her for that.

The kids were all tucked away for the night by nine o’clock, leaving only the adults around the kitchen table playing cards. I learned my lesson the last time I played games with Bella and made sure she was on my team when it was called for, the little cheat. We were on our third phase of Phase Ten when she felt her cell phone buzz in her pocket. I assumed it was Angela since it was so late and I knew that she wasn’t on call.

She looked down at the number in confusion before excusing herself from the table. Sassy raised her eyebrows at me in an unasked question and I answered with a shoulder shrug. When Bella wasn’t back a few minutes later, I excused myself and found her in the foyer putting on her coat and looking for her purse.

“Hey…what’s goin’ on? Who was that?” She looked up at me with tears in her eyes.

“I need to go home.”

“Ok, let me tell everyone bye and we’ll go.”

“No…I mean, yeah, that’s fine, but I need to go home…to Washington.”

Those words hit me a lot harder than I expected them to. Home…to Washington. I pulled her into my arms and pressed my lips against her temple. “Please tell me what’s goin’ on. You’re scarin’ me a little bit,” I whispered into her ear. She began to sob and I’d be a damn liar if I said that didn’t kill me. I was absorbing every one of her sobs into my own chest so much so that I couldn’t exactly tell that it was her making those sounds and not me.

“Will you just tell them that I don’t feel well and I’ll meet you in the truck?”

I pulled back a little and looked at her tear stained face and pink nose. My heart was breaking seeing her this way. “Sure. Give me just a second, ‘kay?” She nodded and left through the front door.

I took a deep breath before re-entering the kitchen to speak to my family.

“Edward? Where’s Bella?” Mama asked.

“Um,” I cleared my throat, “we’re gonna head out. She’s not feeling so well after her long week and all.”

“Is everything okay?” my Dad asked, getting up and walking over to me. He placed his arm around my shoulder. “Do I need to take a look at her?”

“No, sir. I’ll call y’all later.” I gave him and Mama a hug and wished everyone else a Happy New Year and went to meet Bella in the truck.

She was staring blankly out the side window and for the life of me I couldn’t figure out what could have happened. I didn’t want to push because I knew that she’d tell me. She just needed a little time to gather her thoughts like she always did.

Our short ride home was quiet, but she allowed me to hold her hand and place kisses on her knuckles which even if it did nothing for her, it calmed me. We discarded our coats and shoes at the door and she led me over to the couch. Just like when I told her about my time in Nashville and just like so many other heart to heart talks, she pushed me down onto the cushions and straddled my lap. She didn’t like to sit across my lap like a baby to be coddled; she wanted to be held closely as only a soul mate or lover would be. Or at least that’s what she told me.

She swallowed hard before she looked up at me and began talking quietly.

“Jake called.”

Who the hell is Jake? I’m sure my expression was written clearly on my face because she smiled slightly while she shook her head.

“Jake is the son of my dad’s best friend, Billy. We grew up together. He was one of my only friends during the summers that I spent with Charlie.” She took a deep breath. “Anyway, I haven’t heard from him in years and it’s why I didn’t recognize his number. I think he said he tracked me down through the nursing agency. Um…he called…,” her tears began to fall again and I wrapped my arms around her and held her against me as tightly as I could. “He called to tell me that Billy died this morning. He thought I’d want to know. Billy was kind of like an uncle to me. He’s the one who helped me so much after Dad died.”

Now I understood. “Oh, baby girl…I’m so sorry. What do you need me to do? You know I’ll do anything.”

She sat back on my lap and looked at me with such sadness it ripped my heart out. “I just need to go. I need to be there. It would mean a lot to Jake and especially to my dad. I need to go to show my respect for him and what a good man he was.”

“Ok. When do we need to leave?”

She blinked a few times like she wasn’t sure what I was asking. “What…what do you mean?”

“I mean, you need to go to Washington to be there for your friend. I need to go and be with you. When do we need to leave? I’ll get the plane tickets.”

“You’re going with me?”

“Of course…unless you don’t want me to and if you don’t, I’ll understand.” Even though it might kill me.

She gave me the first real smile that I had seen since we left the card table at Em’s house. “Yes. I’d like that. Please come with me. It would mean the world to me for you to be there! And I can show you where I’m from. It won’t be as fun without a four-wheeler, but you’ll still be able to get the gist of it.”

“I’ll manage,” I chuckled. I wiped away the last of her tears and she leaned her cheek into the palm of my hand after kissing it. “Are you gonna be okay?”

“Of course. You’ll be with me.”

-x-X-x-

I called Mama and Dad later to let them know what was going on. Dad took care of getting Bella’s schedule covered at work and Mama was going to take care of the pups for us. Our flight to Seattle was long, but at least uneventful. We only had to make one stop in Dallas, but that allowed us to stretch our legs and grab a quick bite to eat before making the last leg of the trip. We decided that since it was already so late, we would get a hotel room for the night because it was still another three hours to Forks from Seattle.

Bella was exhausted both physically and emotionally so I drug her into a hot shower so that I could take care of her. I washed her hair and bathed her tenderly while allowing her tears to fall. For her, this felt more like a family member who had died than a family friend and I understood how she needed to grieve. I wrapped her in a towel and helped dry her hair before we got into bed for the night. She laid her head on my chest while I twirled her hair and it wasn’t long before we both succumbed to the heavy sleep that we both so desperately needed.

We got up early to make the drive over to Forks. The funeral was scheduled for mid-afternoon, so that would give us time to check into the Miller Tree Inn Bed & Breakfast and plunder around town a bit before going over to the Reservation for the service. I was very interested in seeing the only place Bella had ever called home, and to meet her friends from her younger years.

We got our things settled and left to have an early lunch at the diner. We weren’t there long before a woman with dark skin and hair who looked to be about my mom’s age walked over to our booth.

“Bella? Is that you, sweetie?” the woman asked. Bella’s eyes softened with a smile when she looked up at the woman standing next to us.

“Sue! How wonderful to see you!” She stood and gave the woman a hug before turning back to me. “Sue this is Edward, my boyfriend. Edward, this is Sue Clearwater. I was friends with her kids.” I wiped my hands and stood to greet her.

“Hey. It’s nice to meet you, ma’am,” I said, taking her hand and giving her my kindest smile. She looked at me a little funny for a second before she giggled. That’s when it hit me…the accent. “Sorry…I’m not exactly from around here.”

“I can tell. Where are you from, Edward?”

“Cotton Creek, Alabama, ma’am. It’s about two and a half hours south of Nashville. Most people know where that is at least.”

“Well it’s nice to meet you. I hope you are taking care of our Bella.”

“I’m tryin’ my best.”

“I bet. She’s a little bit independent like her mom and a lot stubborn like her dad.” Bella bit her lip at the mention of her dad. Ms. Clearwater turned back to Bella. “Are you here for the funeral?”

“Yeah. Jake called to let me know.”

“Well, Charlie would be proud of you. You’ve certainly grown into a beautiful young woman. I’m sure the boys will be surprised to see you.”

Bella rolled her eyes. “Big pack of mutts,” she mumbled.

“The Quileute boys always treated her like one of their brothers. Well except for…,”

“That’s enough of that,” Bella said, cutting off Sue’s sentence. That is something I’ll definitely have to ask her about later.

“I’m just so glad to see you. I wish it was under better circumstances. You’ll have to come back sometime to visit us. Edward, it was nice to meet you. I’ll see you two this afternoon.” She hugged Bella and even me before picking up her carry out order at the counter and leaving.

Bella and I took our seats again and she told me several stories about Seth and Leah Clearwater while we finished our lunch.

We decided to leave the car at the diner and just walk around town because she said everything worth seeing could be reached on foot anyway. I was thankful that it wasn’t raining. The low clouds looked ominous to me, but Bella said it always looked like that. It was already cold, so I was glad not to add wet to that. A miracle among miracles, or so she said.

We walked over to the elementary school that she attended from kindergarten until fifth grade. Most of those memories were hazy except for a girl named McKenna that she said was her first real friend. Next she showed me the police station where Charlie had worked all of his adult life, starting out as a patrolman and eventually working his way up to being the Chief. She was fairly quiet as we stood there facing the wooden building, holding hands. I stood in front of her to block her view and wrapped my arms around her waist, pulling her into me. I rested my forehead against hers.

“Hey…are you okay?”

She sniffed and then cleared her throat. “Yeah…it’s just a little harder than I thought it would be…old ghosts and all that.”

“What can I do?” I asked, feeling completely helpless in trying to comfort her.

“You’re already doing it just by being here; by being you.” She lifted herself up on her tiptoes to kiss me sweetly. “Come on. I have one more place I want to see before we need to go back to the Inn and get changed.”

She led me down Main Street to a small public park. It was deserted for the most part, I could only assume because of the winter temperatures. We sat down in the swings beside each other; her facing one way and me the opposite.

“My mom used to bring me here when I was a kid. It was one of the few things that we did together on a regular basis; well, this and go to the library. When I would come back to visit my dad, I’d always come here when I needed to just get away and think. Sometimes I’d come out here and just watch the kids and their parents and how they interacted with each other and wonder why my childhood was so different. I eventually just accepted that it wasn’t in the cards that I was dealt. My parents were too young when they had me and my mom never grew up. My dad did what he thought was best and I loved him for that. I’m just glad I got to know him when I was older. He’s the one who helped me to understand a lot of things. He really helped me to become the strong and resilient person that I know I am.”

“Is ‘strong and resilient’ another way of saying ‘independent and stubborn’?” I chuckled, sensing the need to lighten the moment. She giggled and reached out for my hand. I twined our fingers together, loving the way she always squeezed my hand first before relaxing and holding it casually.

“I’ll never admit to that.”

I let go of her hand and pulled her swing over to mine by the chain. I leaned in and gave her a long, tender kiss. I wanted her to know everything that she made me feel with that kiss. I wanted her to know that I loved her; that I’d be her protector and comforter. I wanted her to know that no matter how lonely things may have been for her before, that she would never be alone again. I would always choose her and I’d always be where she belonged.

We slowly broke apart, reluctant as always, and huddled closely as we walked back to the Inn to change into our funeral clothes.

I didn’t know what to expect in a funeral service for an Indian Chief. I didn’t know if there would be tribal ceremonies or what, but it was just your basic service held in a small church in the town of La Push. On the way, Bella pointed out First Beach where she said she and her friends from the Reservation used to spend most of their time swimming during the summers and building bon fires at night when she was visiting home from college. She also told me that the boys used to like to show off by cliff diving. I nearly had a freakin’ heart attack when she said she tried it once from a lower cliff. I told her she that she had better be glad that I wasn’t around back then because I would have had to take her over my knee and whip her ass. Little Jezebel wagged her eyebrows at me. That told me she was beginning to cope with everything that was going on around her and for that, I was thankful.

Billy Black was obviously a well respected man in the community. Several men, not all from the tribe, had kind and reverent words to say about him, his leadership and his family. I held Bella’s hand between both of mine, occasionally raising it to my mouth just to brush my lips across her knuckles in support.

The pall bearers were huge…I mean like linebacker hosses, huge.

“The younger ones are the Quileute boys that I hung out with. That’s Paul, Jared, Quil, Embry, Sam and the one who is a little smaller is Seth, Sue Clearwater’s son.” I nodded in remembrance of the woman we had met earlier.

“I’m glad none of them are your exes. They’d kick my ass,” I whispered playfully. She giggled because I assume she knew it was true.

“Nah, it was never like that with any of them.” I thought about our past conversations for a few minutes, remembering that she said she did have someone that she experimented with. One of them had to have been her first, and that made me want to at least try to kick somebody’s ass, even though it was completely inappropriate. Sometimes manners could wait.

After the burial, Bella and I walked over to greet the family.

“Jake?” The big guy turned around and flashed a beaming smile up at Bella. He stood up and wrapped her in tight hug.

“Bells! It’s so good to see you. Thank you for coming.” He held her by the shoulders and looked her over.

“It’s been good to be back. I just wish it wasn’t for this reason,” she said, pulling away and giving him a tight smile. “Oh, sorry. Jacob Black, this is my boyfriend Edward Cullen. Edward, this is Jake.”

I stuck out my hand to greet him and he shook it firmly. I was immediately grateful that it wasn’t one of those territorial handshakes. I would have hated to give him a beat down at his daddy’s funeral. Who knew I was the jealous type?

“It’s good to meet ya, man. I’m sorry about your dad. Bella really thought a lot of him.”

“Yeah, thanks. The Swan’s were like family to us.” He turned back to Bella. “Are you two staying in town a few days? We could hang out…catch up or something.”

“No. We’re leaving tomorrow. We both need to get back to work. I just wanted to be able to pay my respects.”

“Oh, well thanks. I’m glad you did. That means a lot to me and to my sisters.”

“Sure. I owe half of my sanity to him after Charlie died so…,” she trailed off. He obviously understood what she meant. “Listen, you have lots of people to speak to so I won’t keep you. I think we’re just going to head back into town. We have a long trip tomorrow.” She stepped forward and offered him another hug. “It was good to see you Jake.”

“You too, Bells.”

She wrapped her arm around my waist and I pulled her closer to me around her shoulders and kissed her temple as we walked back to the car.

Once inside I finally asked the question I had been dying to know the answer to. “So which one was he?”

She looked at me in complete confusion. “Which one was who?”

“Which one of them was your first?”

She turned and leaned against the door and smiled at me in amusement. “Seriously, Edward?”

“What? I’m just curious. You work with my first…and no smart ass comments from the peanut gallery about that.” Mmhmm…I could already see that mind of hers working.

She rolled her eyes at me and sighed. “If I tell you, you’re not going to get weird are you?”

“You’re mockin’ me,” I said, narrowing my eyes at her.

“You’re being insane.” We stared at each other impassively. “Fine…it was Jake.”

“Jake? Really?”

“Yes! Can we just drop it? It was purely experimental. We were just kids trying to figure things out without the awkwardness of our first time being with someone we barely knew. Whatever. It was once and it was quick,” she giggled.

We were just arriving back into Forks when she told me to turn into a small neighborhood.

“Pull over in front of the last house on the left.”

It was a simple white two-storied house with green steps that led to the front door and a ‘For Sale’ sign in the front yard.

“What’s this?” I asked as we got out of the car.

Bella stood quietly leaning against the car for a moment before speaking. “This is my house.” She looked over at me and then clarified, “This was Charlie’s house. This is where I spent my childhood…and he left it to me when he died.”

I was quiet because I wasn’t entirely sure what I was supposed to say. I mean, all this time, she had a house…somewhere else that she could always come back to. Right then it occurred to me in a big way that our conversation about whether she was staying or not had never happened before we hopped on a plane to fly out here.

“See those windows above the front door? That was my room. It’s where I did my homework and played dress up. When I was older, it’s where I hid in books and got lost in playing my guitar. Out of all the places that I have shown you, this is the only one that ever meant anything to me; it was the only place that was ever home to me.”

I was confused. If it meant so much to her, why was it for sale? So I asked her just that.

“Well, I’ve allowed it to be rented out for the last three years to people I knew I could trust because I just couldn’t bring myself to let it go. It’s all I had left.” She turned to face me now, holding both of my hands in hers while her big brown eyes stared intently into mine. “My life has been completely and irrevocably changed in the last four months, Edward. I have meant every word that I’ve ever said to you.” She grabbed my dog tag and pulled me closer to her so that she could whisper the sweetest words against my lips. “You are my heart, my home, my more. I love you. This is just a house, and it’s why I put it on the market last month. This is not my home anymore. My home is with you, wherever you are. So please…take me home, Edward.”

I kissed her so hard and so passionately that I knew we’d both have swollen lips if I ever quit kissing her. She had just told me that she was staying with me; that she wasn’t leaving Cotton Creek. She had said the words that I had been dying to hear. My heart swelled as our tongues twirled and tangled and I tasted her until nothing else around us mattered or even existed.

I kissed every inch of her face as I held it tenderly between my hands. I kissed her down her neck and wished like all hell that I could get to more. I needed her. I needed to be with her in the most intimate of ways. I needed to claim her, not as a possession, but as my partner who was going to stay by my side.

“I don’t exactly know what to say to you. ‘Thank you’ doesn’t seem right and ‘I love you’ somehow doesn’t seem like enough. You have always had the power to mend me or break me, but today…today you have gone beyond either of those with mere words and made me completely whole. I love you so much, Bella, and I’ll do everything in my power to make sure you not only know it, but feel it every day for the rest of our lives. That’s my promise, baby girl.” She nodded as I kissed her pouty lips one last time before getting back in the car.

We picked up soup and sandwiches from the diner and took them back to the Inn. After our bellies were full, we warmed up in the shower and then made love slowly and repetitively until the wee hours of the morning.

-x-X-x-

The next day we stopped by the Forks Cemetery on our way out of town to pay our respects to Charlie. I sat cross legged on the cold ground with my arms around Bella as she sat in my lap and talked to the stone that marked her father’s grave. She told him about the last three years of her life, focusing on her time spent in Cotton Creek. She told him about me and my family and how she used to believe that things happened in life because of fate and circumstance but how she had recently come to believe that there must have always been a bigger hand leading her to where she was always meant to be.

I could tell that she no longer carried the burden of guilt as she placed a bouquet of sunflowers on top of the granite marker. Instead, she was the essence of peace as she kissed her fingers before rubbing them across his name. As I held her, I kissed her tears away and said, “Let me take you home.”