I hope you guys like this chapter. It took a lot of backtracking to get everything all lined up correctly and I don’t even know if I was successful in creating some plausible explanations so you’ll have to let me know. I hope everything is all good and well though.

--

That day, I didn't talk to Edward until I was sure we were alone. Alice had flitted in and out of the apartment for a few hours before announcing she was going to meet Emmett for dinner. Edward and I had both laughed at this news because all three of us knew what was coming. Emmett was going to officially tell Alice he was engaged and she would probably give him hell for it.

When she left, Edward breathed an audible side beside me where he sat on the couch and I turned to him with a curious smile.

“What is it?” I asked, leaning my head on the back of the couch.

“Did you realize that today is the first day of the last week we have together before school starts for you again?” he questioned. His fingers lifted a stray piece of hair from the side of my face and tucked it behind my ear.

“Is it?” I mused thoughtfully. “To be honest, I was trying to forget I ever had to go back.”

He chuckled softly and grabbed my hand in his, squeezing it gently.

“I have something to tell you,” he murmured softly. I looked up expectantly from where I had been looking at my hand in his. “I’ve been offered a chance to play with a very prestigious orchestra. A former professor of mine set it up for me.”

“Edward,” I breathed excitedly. “That’s absolutely wonderful.”

“I don’t know if I’m going to do it,” he confessed and ran a hand through his hair nervously. His eyes searched for mine, lost. “I don’t know if I can do it.”

“Of course you can,” I cried, almost the moment the words left his mouth. I shifted so I could face him more fully and cupped his face in my hands. “Edward, is there honestly anything you can’t do? You’re absolutely amazing.”

He smiled gently at me and removed my hands from his face, holding them in his lap instead.

“Bella,” he sighed. “Bella, Bella, Bella. I haven’t played formally in a long time. Since before…” He faltered. “Since before.”

I took this in silently, my mind grasping for any sort of tenterhooks to hang an argument on.

“You play in public all the time,” I argued hopefully.

“That’s different.”

“I know,” I admitted. “But, you should still do this.”

“I’ll be in rehearsals a lot. Some long days and nights probably,” he argued, looking at me to size up my reaction.

“That’s okay.” I scooted myself over to climb into his lap, straddling him. His arms slid around me comfortably. “I’ll still be here when you’re done rehearsing, no matter how late it is,” I added softly.

He kissed me suddenly, fiercely.

“Thank you,” he whispered against my lips. “I just…needed to hear you say that.”

His eyes were so earnest and filled with emotion as I looked into them that I almost gave into my desire for him right then, but no, now was the time.

“Can I ask you something?” I asked, my fingers tracing along his jawbone and adding a gentle kiss to soften the question I wanted to ask.

“Of course,” he answered.

I bit my lip, gnawing nervously, as I decided how word the question.

“Will you tell me about your therapy sessions?”

His face grew very still as I asked the question and I momentarily mourned the darkness that crept into his eyes to eclipse the happiness that had been there a moment before.

“What do you want to know?” he asked slowly. His brow furrowed and I fought the urge to reach up and smooth it with my fingers.

“Why did you decide to start going to it, I guess?” I shifted in his lap, uncertain of my own questions.

“That’s easy enough,” he replied almost immediately. “You.”

“Me?”

My stomach dropped unceremoniously.

“When you left, I felt as if all the self-loathing and anger I had been suppressing for the past few years suddenly came rushing back and I couldn’t handle it anymore. Luckily, this time around, instead of drowning in my own mind and apparent need for self-destruction, I had someone in my life to anchor me,” he explained carefully and then added softly, “You.”

I intertwined my fingers with his and brought our hands up to my lips to kiss them, too speechless to do much else.

“Anything else you want to know?” he offered, leaning back to sink into the couch.

“What’s he like?” I asked, a sudden curiosity burning.

“Who?” Edward questioned, although it was obvious he knew already.

“Your therapist,” I clarified, giving him a small, playful push.

“He’s quiet,” Edward said. “He doesn’t ask a lot of questions, which is nice. Usually they do. He just let’s me talk and only interrupts when necessary. It’s a nice change of pace. Peaceful, almost.”

I relaxed against him, pulling my legs from the straddle I had been in, to cradle myself against his body. His arms tightened around me and I couldn’t resist smiling in content.

“I’m glad, you need a little peace in your life,” I murmured against his chest as I leaned into him.

“You are my peace,” he said so softly I barely heard him. I looked up to meet his eyes and smiled softly at what I found swirling inside of them. He stroked my hair, running his fingers through it slowly, before kissing me sweetly. It was kisses like this, soft, careful and sweet, not the hot, desperate ones, that told me exactly how much he loved and wanted me. I only hoped they conveyed to him as much as they did to me.

--

“So, how is the married life treating you?” I asked in a buoyant mood later that week as I met up with Angela for lunch to compare schedules for the coming semester.

“Wonderfully,” Angela replied with the secret smile she always wore when thinking of Ben.

“Your chains aren’t chafing yet at all?” I teased.

“Nope,” she shot back, now beaming. “This woman will be happily chained for a long time to come.”

I smiled and shoved a bite of food in my mouth.

“Seriously, Bella, I couldn’t ask for someone better than Ben,” Angela sighed and I smiled at the wistful expression that had seized onto her face.

We fell into a thoughtful rhythm of alternately eating and exchanging information before towards the end of our meal, Angela suddenly interrupted the rhythm to ask me, “Bella, is something on your mind?”

“Not particularly,” I answered automatically.

“You’ve been fidgeting this whole meal. Now, what is it? Is something wrong with you and Edward?” she asked, concerned.

“No! God, no.” I shook my head and then sighed. “I’m just nervous, I guess.”

“Why?”

“I’m going back to classes and he’s starting rehearsals and it’s going to be so crazy and we’ll hardly ever see each other. I just don’t want things to fall apart and I’m so scared they will,” I confessed in a rush. Although I had told Edward the truth when I said I would always be here waiting for him, it was still hard to think of all the time apart we would have to endure.

“Oh, Bella,” Angela sighed. “Of course things won’t fall apart. Edward loves you and you love him. And honestly? I’m pretty sure you two are co-dependent life forms by now.”

I smiled at the terms.

“What if that’s not enough?” My voice sounded small to my ears and I wondered if I had shrunk in my chair at the mere thought.

“It will be. You know that. Think of all the times you’ve told me that you couldn’t imagine life without him anymore and stop worrying about it,” she assured me gently, pushing aside her plate to focus on me. I put down my fork and mirrored her.

“Can I tell you something he told me if you promise not to flip a lid?” I asked, my voice dropping several decibels. She nodded emphatically. “He told me a few nights ago that when he got around to buying a ring for me, he wouldn’t wait around long to ask me to marry him.”

Angela quietly squealed, vainly putting a hand over her mouth to stifle the sound. I threw a cursory glance around the nearly emptied restaurant to see a few curious eyes cast in our direction.

“Bella,” Angela articulated finally, after gathering herself. “That’s…I don’t even have words for how adorably sweet that is.”

“I know,” I sighed, sinking down a little in my chair. “I just hope he means it like I think he means it.”

Angela smirked.

“Oh, I have a pretty good feeling Edward means it exactly like that.”

--

Bolstered by my lunch with Angela, I returned to my apartment with renewed determination to make the busy days ahead me work out for the better. I was greeted almost immediately by the phone ringing.

I rushed to the kitchen to answer it, grabbing it from its cradle just in time.

“Hello?” I answered.

“Bella?” Edward’s voice flowed over the line.

“Hey, Edward,” I relaxed against the door jamb, grateful to hear the sound of his voice. “What’s going on?”

“Does something have to going on for me to call you?” He sounded amused and I could practically see the small half-smile tugging at the corners of lips.

“No, just asking.”

“Well, I actually do have a request,” he said. “What are you doing for dinner tonight?”

“Nothing special that I know of, why?” I answered automatically. I had been planning on having a dinner alone to start reading at least some of my textbooks for the coming semester.

“Would you mind having dinner with my parents?” he asked, sounding tentative. My stomach flipped. Although I had met the Cullens multiple times and I was fairly sure they knew Edward and I were dating, I had never been officially introduced as the girlfriend. Mostly, from lack of chance because it seemed as though every time we came across them, they were in a flurry to get somewhere. It was always just the wrong time.

“I’d love to have dinner with them,” I answered, clearing my throat.

“Good,” he replied, sounding both happy and relieved at the same time. As if I would have said no.

We hung up the phone and I dialed Alice straight away for advice on what to wear. She talked me through my wardrobe rapidly and I had a suitable ensemble for dinner in about thirty minutes. She cheerfully instructed me through makeup and hair and we ended our conversation about an hour later.

Edward picked me up for dinner a few hours later. When I opened the door for him, my breath caught in my throat despite myself. He was dressed simply in black slacks and a dark green oxford, but the sight was absolutely perfect. I felt woefully inadequate in my light gray dress that had felt so cute a few moments before.

“You look stunning,” he commented before I even had the chance to greet him. I felt a hot blush flush my face and I smiled through my embarrassment. “You ready to go?”

“Yes.” I nodded and grabbed my purse before hurrying to get through the door and lock it behind me. He wrapped an arm around my waist as soon as I pulled my keys from the door and guided me to his car. I was grateful for the support. Alice had instructed me to wear tall black heels tonight and it was a very real possible I would break my neck while wearing them. “Where are we going?” I asked curiously as he opened my door for me.

“You’ll see,” he answered simply, a smile playing on his face.

I slid in the car and waited as he jogged around to climb in as well. We were off and on the road in a matter of moments and I inwardly rolled my eyes at the inexplicable need for speed Edward always had. As if he knew exactly what I was thinking, he threw a grin my way and grabbed my hand over the gear shift.

“Relax,” he said lowly. “I’m not going to crash.”

“I am relaxed,” I replied, squeezing his hand in assurance. “Sadly, I think I’ve grown immune to it.”

He snickered at that and his eyes flickered momentarily away from the road to meet mine. I rolled my eyes for emphasis and he turned back to the road, but didn’t release my hand. Needless to say, we arrived at the restaurant in no time and I nervously looked around for the black Mercedes I knew Edward’s parents would be coming in. It wasn’t there yet.

Edward helped me out of the car and let me hang onto his arm as I struggled against gravity in my shoes. The hostess greeted us with a bright, annoying smile at the door. Edward smoothly gave her our reservation and she promptly led us to a more secluded table for four in back, all the while throwing blatantly appreciative glances at Edward. If I had the power to, I would have ripped out her throat.

She left us after simpering at Edward for a moment longer and sauntered away back to the door. A few minutes later, she returned with a regal looking Esme and Carlisle in tow.

Edward stood up from his chair and I followed suit. He pulled out the chair for his mother after she hugged him gently. Esme threw me a smile as she pulled herself into the table and I sat down as gracefully as I could.

“Mom, Dad, I know you’ve already met Bella, but I’d like you to know officially that we’re dating and we have been for several months now,” Edward said as soon as he has sat down. He smiled at me encouragingly and I nodded.

“It’s wonderful to see you again, Bella,” Esme enthused.

“It’s nice to you two again, as well, Mrs. Cullen, Dr. Cullen,” I responded genuinely.

“Please, Bella, you know you can call us by our first names,” Carlisle interceded kindly. I smiled and blushed slightly as I nodded.

“So, tell me – when did you two start dating?” Esme asked, her eyes alight as she took us book in.

I paused uncomfortably, not sure where to begin. Thankfully, Edward launched into the story for me. Esme and Carlisle listened in rapt attention, throwing me the occasional approving glance. Absorbed as I was in Edward’s re-telling, I didn’t miss that Esme sent me a dazzling smile every time Edward so much as cracked a joke.

When he had finished, our conversation naturally tapered off until I found enough words inside me to ask a few questions.

“How did you two meet?” I asked his parents.

Carlisle cleared his throat and wiped his mouth with a napkin, obviously amused at the memory. Esme looked a little embarrassed at the subject, but was nonetheless smiling so I figured it was a fun story at least.

“I was in my residency and working in the E.R. of a local hospital when Esme came in with a broken leg. I put it in a cast for her and while I of course, found her very attractive, didn’t think much of it,” Carlisle started. Esme rested her chin in her hand, listening intently and I warmed inwardly at the obvious love flowing between them. I could only hope that Edward’s and my love was that long-lasting. “She left, but I couldn’t stop thinking about this beautiful brunette with a broken leg. It distracted me even during the most mundane things. Well, one day while I was out with some friends I spotted her and immediately began making a fool out of myself to try to get her attention.”

“Little did he know, he didn’t need to do much,” Esme interjected with a smug expression. “Carlisle never had much trouble attracting the attention of every female in the room. I was painfully aware that he was there long before he noticed me, but was just too shy to approach him.”

I shot Edward a stealthy glance. Obviously his attractiveness and charm had been inherited from his father. From across the table, Esme winked at me as if she knew exactly where my thoughts had gone at her words.

“Anyway,” Carlisle continued, “We both were drawn to each other that night and we ended up ditching our friends and sitting in a nearby park for the rest of night, just getting to know each other.”

“It was a perfect night,” Esme finished.

“Sounds like it,” I marveled. Edward grabbed my hand underneath the table and ran a thumb along my skin. I slid my eyes up his arm until I found his and smiled.

Conversation ebbed and flowed throughout the night. We touched briefly on my upcoming classes and Edward’s engagement with the symphony orchestra, but mostly the evening consisted of Esme and Carlisle insisting on hearing all about our relationship. It was like an impromptu trip down memory lane, of course, we silently agreed to leave out the negative aspects and I was grateful. I wasn’t sure I wanted his parents to know all the drama we’d been through. I just wanted them to know that I had the capability of making Edward happy.

As we were about to leave, I excused myself to go to the bathroom and freshen up before the car ride home. To my surprise, Esme came with me. As soon as we were out of earshot of the men, she began to whisper conspiratorially with me.

“Bella, you have no idea how thankful I am you’ve come into my son’s life,” she said softly.

A lump rose in my throat immediately. Even those simple words of approval from Esme meant so much.

“You have no idea how thankful I am to even have your son in my life,” I responded, my fingers playing the ends of my hair nervously.

We had reached the bathroom by now and the door swung shut behind us to find us alone together.

“I know you’ve had some trouble bringing him about with all his ridiculous ideas that he would never be good enough for anyone to love,” Esme said and I shifted in response but she held up a hand in understanding. “Bella, please, I know how Edward can be when he gets ideas in his head.”

She sighed heavily.

“Lord knows, I found that out the hard way,” she added softly, under her breath.

I couldn’t stop the questions from flooding into my eyes where she could see them even though my mouth made no action to voice them.

“Carlisle blamed himself for a long time after Edward attempted to kill himself,” Esme said softly, swallowing her emotion visibly. She masked her fight with tears valiantly by smoothing her hair in the mirror for a moment until she’d collected herself again. I waited with bated breath. This was the piece that had always been missing from the story, no matter how much Edward and I would hash it out. “You see,” Esme hesitated. “Carlisle had his heart set on Edward pursuing medicine and when Edward went behind his back and auditioned for the conservatory, Carlisle was hurt that he didn’t want the same things. It’s difficult for a father to realize sometimes his son’s dreams are different than his own.

Anyway, Carlisle and Edward’s relationship was tense for all of Edward’s years at the conservatory. Carlisle maintained stubbornly that Edward was just going through a rebellious period and that we would just have to wait him out. He never even considered the fact that Edward could be serious about the music. He just never saw the possibility.”

I nodded in understanding, eager to know more but anxious at the realization we had already been away from them for a few minutes now. They would start to notice our extended absence soon.

“It’s neither one of their faults,” Esme continued forcefully. It was the most determined I’d ever heard her. “Edward felt like he was letting his father down by not going into medicine and Carlisle, as compassionate as he is toward all of his children, just couldn’t see why Edward had gone a different direction than the one he’d always wanted for him. It was just a hard time for all of us and Edward took the hit the hardest, I think, because he was so used to being the star and all of a sudden, he felt alienated from his father who had always been at his side. Of course, from there, everything spiraled out of control. It took almost losing Edward to make us all realize how deep we’d let ourselves get in this silly game of expecting things that will never happen.”

Esme sniffed and grabbed a paper towel to dab at her eyes. I leaned against the sink, trying to absorb everything she’d told me. Of course, I’d heard fragments of it from several different sides, but never like this. Everything seemed to have shifted in perspective all of a sudden.

“All this to say, of course, that I hope you and Edward will be together for as long as you possibly can because you have made him truly, truly happy again and there is no way I could repay you or thank you enough for that.”

“Oh, Esme,” I murmured and threw myself into her waiting embrace. “I love him so much, I can’t even imagine myself away from him anymore so I don’t think you have to worry about that.”

“Good,” she said simply and held me tightly against her. “I thought no one would ever be able to break down the walls he put up, but you have done so wonderfully. He’s always pushed everyone away and then you come along and everything is changed.”

“Oh, don’t worry,” I laughed humorlessly. “He tried to push me away at first too, quite decisively actually.”

“I know, sweetheart,” Esme assured me and tucked a loose strand of hair back into my up-do. “And that’s what makes you two all the more special. You stayed and waited for him to come around instead of running and screaming in the opposite direction like most girls would.”

“No running and screaming here,” I said, this time with a real smile.

“Come on, we’d better go join them again before they break down the door,” Esme said, offering me her hand which I took with another smile. I felt as if Esme had single-handedly pushed every cloud that had even been thinking of hovering on the horizon of Edward and mine’s relationship out of the way in one fell swoop.

“There you two are,” Carlisle’s teasing voice greeted us as we made our way back to the table where father and son were reclining together. “We were beginning to think you had fallen in the sink.”

Esme released my hand with a squeeze and a tender smile before turning back to Carlisle.

“Of course not, dear,” she refuted sweetly. “Are you ready to leave?”

--

On our way home that night, my mind felt as if it was spinning. As I watched Edward’s relaxed profile out of the corner of my eye, it was impossible not to see how far we had come together.

“Edward,” I started, breaking our peaceful silence. “Talking about everything tonight and how our relationship came about…it just made me wonder something.”

He glanced at me, obviously confused at the discourse I was taking. My mind flashed to my conversation with Esme and her revealing that Edward seemed to find reasons to push everyone away and I was the only person to break through that. It made me burningly curious.

“Yes?” he asked slowly.

“When we first met…sometimes you would want to talk to me and then others you treated me like I was the plague. Why?” I asked. He pursed his lips and I waited in the relative silence for his answer, only the soft jazz streaming in from the radio to diffuse it.

“I was stupid,” he answered, his hands gripping the wheel until his knuckles began to turn white. “Almost the moment I saw you for the first time, I wanted so badly to be closer to you,. It was a new feeling, I hadn’t wanted to be close to anyone but occasionally my brother and sister for years, but I felt magnetized toward you. But then every time we were together in even the most casual of places and you would reveal something more to me about yourself, I felt completely helpless because it was so obvious you were too perfect for me. You were so obviously out of my league and I was angry at myself for even considering it.”

I opened my mouth to argue exactly the opposite, but he didn’t let me continue.

“That was my problem with everything concerning you, Bella. You were too perfect. You were so blatantly wonderful that you defied every boundary I had spent the last few years building up. I had promised myself that I wouldn’t inflict my own problems on someone else, but you changed that.” His voice was worshipful and my heart clenched tightly in my chest. I remembered all too clearly the dark looks and sudden, angry silences he had had around me and it was hard to believe this was the reason all along. Me too good for him? In what universe could that possibly be true?

“Is that what was stopping you from talking to me all along?” I asked.

“Yes and no,” he answered cryptically. “Sometimes I would have all the right words to say to you, but certain siblings of mine chose those moments to live up to their reputations of having terrible timing.” He broke off his train of thought as I laughed, remembering all the times either Alice or Emmett had broken a moment between us. I had to agree: the two had absolutely terrible timing. Then he continued, in a much softer tone, “Other times it was the crushing feeling that you’d probably never really honestly want to be with me anyway.”

I swallowed, my emotions shifting very suddenly to the crystal clear adoration I felt for the man sitting beside me. All I wanted to do in that moment was hold him and never let him go. Luckily, I didn’t have long to wait until we reached his apartment.

As soon as the door closed behind us, he pulled me into his arms and kissed me passionately, as if he too felt the overwhelming need to just hold onto one another. The embrace deepened until we were both moving toward his bedroom.

“Edward,” I gasped in between kisses. He paused momentarily at the sound of his name and raised his head to look me in the eyes. I threaded my fingers through his hair lovingly. “I love you more than anything else in the world combined. Is that enough to convince you that I really do honestly want to be with you?”

“Yes, it is enough,” he answered fervently, kissing me with renewed vigor. “Enough for forever.”

It was impossible not to agree completely as he pressed a new kiss on my lips and held me close.

--

So…epilogue and then the end, yes/no?