If you read Kismet, which you should (:D) You'll know that I am trying out a new updating schedule. I'm not telling you what it is, right now, because I'm still trying to see if I can keep up with it. Even if it is ambitious, it's a lot more than I've had to handle in the past while!

This chapter is both sad and happy, but mostly happy.

You'll finish it happy.

I promise.

P.S. Today is my birthday. I am 20 now.

My feet pounded against the ground as I ran. It was the only thing I could hear aside from my heavy breaths. I didn't know where I was going. I wasn't exactly sure why I was running. But I did. I ran as hard as I could, faster than I ever have before. It wouldn't have seemed so easy in any normal circumstances, but faced with acknowledging that Edward...

Oh.

That's right. I was running from Edward. I was running from my best friend and the most perfect boy I knew. I was running from the fact that he could have anyone, and I'd never be good enough.

It was dark out. So unbelievably dark out. Clouds covered most of the sky and blocked out any light stars had to offer. The moon peeked from between their shadows in brief occasions, but for the most part only a small amount of hazy light was offered from the sky.

I stared ahead of me, feeling hot tears slide down my eyes and burst from my eyes, feeling too thin and too numerous. I stared ahead of me on the path, the various shades of black blue and green my only indicators at turns on the dirt road.

I thought of my friends sitting around the campfire and the words Emmett said that I knew I never wanted to hear, that I pretended wouldn't be true. I choked back a sob and started to slow down—needing to stop to scream or cry or anything. I started to wipe at my eyes and of course this was too much for me. It attempting to avoid a wayward bush I jerked too far to my left and felt my ankle twist painfully, sending me flying to the ground.

I scraped the heels of my hands painfully on the dirt and gravel before falling onto my elbows and then there was a huge clap of thunder—I hadn't even noticed the lightning—and then the sky opened up on top of me. I was completely soaked within seconds and that only made me cry harder.

I sat back on the side of the road, trying to avoid the mud that was forming in the road. I held my ankle and pushed at the skin while sniffling so loudly I was probably scaring away anything in the woods that thought about eating me. I had definitely sprained my ankle- at least.

My efforts to calm down my breathing just made a lump in my throat too painful to hide, so I wound up crying so hard I was nearly screaming. He was my best friend and I was so madly in love with him it hurt me. I knew everything about him; I could tell you anything you wanted to know. I knew the way his hair fell into his eyes, the way his lip curled in the corners differently to make his perfect imperfect smile. I could tell you what foods he hated, what music he refused to listen to, what music made him uncontrollably burst into dance, what foods main him moan in delight and what foods made him looked nearly afraid to eat them.

Most of all I knew the way my heart beat differently when he was around. I knew the heat in my chest at the sight of him, and the fluttering I got when he spoke. I knew the way I felt so much lighter when he laughed, or spoke, or looked at me with his amazing eyes.

I was in love with Edward. Madly. And there was nothing I could do to change it. There was nothing I could do to ignore the fact that in September there would be a school full of girls prettier and more social than I was, and he could have his pick of them all.

This was what made it so hard to stop crying, because I had never felt so strongly about him as I had anyone else in my entire life. I held onto my arms and leaned forward into my knees, pressing into my stomach to keep the sick feeling at bay, trying to ignore the ache in my foot and the cold wetness of rain and mud soaking into my sneakers.

I finally started to take in my surroundings: the middle of the woods in a thunder storm, soaking wet and crying. I let out a shaky sigh and felt like my sobfest might be nearing its end. It was easier to breathe, now. That was, of course, when I heard the tires coming up the path, headlights peeking through trees. I struggled to stand, holding onto a tree trunk and pulling myself up with it, turning to look at Emmett's giant jeep slowing down next to me.

The headlights stayed on, shining bright ahead, and I could hear the motor keep running despite the fact that the door opened and then someone was running around the front of the jeep, breathing heavily. There he was, all messy haired and panicked, staring at me and panting, his entire chest heaving before he launched himself at me and I wrapped my arms around my neck to keep me up.

He held me so tightly against him my body immediately warmed up, unable to breathe. I whimpered slightly when he swayed us from side to side, sighing into my neck. When he heard me he pulled back and looked over me, pushing the hair from my face and wiping away my tears. I managed to sigh out 'my ankle' and he nodded and lifted me by the waist, turning to set me on the hood of the jeep. Despite how high up I was he was still perfectly eye level with me.

"What happened to your ankle?" he asked with concern, his hands on my foot but his eyes still gazing into mine.

"I fell—twisted it," I said quietly after another clap of thunder. I started shaking from both the cold and my silly irrational fear.

"Can you please tell me why you ran away and why you've been crying so much?" he asked softly. His face was lit up with a flash of lightning and it was as though seeing him in such a brief light was enough to make me realise just how concerned he was for me.

"You don't want me," I choked out. I covered my eyes with my hands, not wanting him to see me cry but he pulled them away. "I was the first person you met here, so of course you wanted to be friends. You've always joked around about liking me, but there are so many other girls in Forks, despite how small it is, and once we get back to school they will all be after you because you're beautiful and perfect and just so amazing and how can I ever compete with that? You'll be faced with all these other options and you won't want me anymore. I ran away because I can't deal with the fact that I'm fucking in love with you, and when summer ends, so will this." He was shocked, it was clear by his expression, and of course he would be.

"Bella," he breathed out under the thunder. "How can you—why do you—" he never got out what he wanted to say, curing his stutter by pulling me to him and pressing him lips firmly against mine. And got was it ever a kiss. So much better than every one he had stolen this summer.

His tongue snaked into my mouth immediately and his lips were so feverish and hard against hers she couldn't even kiss him back. His hand knotted in her hair and splayed against her back, pushing her up against him made her flush and her heart race and a knot in her stomach form. She forgot everything she had been thinking and all she could feel was what he felt for her.

"God, Bella," he moaned when he came up for air before kissing her again, more soft and sweet, his full lips against hers in a way that made her shiver. He pulled away just far enough to speak, his hands traced her face and his nose followed their patterns.

"Bella I wanted you because that first day I saw you you were so enveloped in your book, and your face was so full of expression- it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. I got nervous, and acted like an idiot, but every day that went by being just your friend tore through me, and I knew I just had to wait until you realised I wasn't just messing around." He paused to kiss me again and then pulled back, looking me in the eyes. "I've been in love with you for months, Bella. Can't you see that? I've never known anyone the way I know you, I've never cared about anyone as much as I do you. We were made for each other, the odds were always stacked out our favour."

Hearing those words from him, after spending a summer doubting and avoiding made the anxious knot in my chest loosen. I launched myself into his arms, thankful he caught me and held me to him as it probably wasn't my most thought through plan. Landing on my foot would not have been good. He laughed and spun me around, setting me down gently to kiss me, the water pouring over us making our licks slick and fast.

"Can I take you back, now? You'll catch cold," he murmured against my ear, sending shivers down my side. I nodded and smiled as he scooped me up and deposited me in the passenger seat with a quick and chaste kiss.

The lightning flashed outside and was almost immediately followed by thunder, meaning that it was definitely close, but I couldn't find it in me to be afraid. Edward turned up the heat as I started shivering and somehow managed to turn around in the tiny road.

"Edward if we were just friends the whole summer then why did you keep kissing me?" I asked after a moments silence in which he'd grabbed my hand.

"What, did you think I wanted benefits?" He grinned and I tried to hide my smirk. "I love you, Bella. I wanted to wait for you to realise that but sometimes I couldn't help myself. It seemed to best way to get it through to you." My cheeks hurt from smiling so widely at his words so I kissed him the best could, but I was laughing too much.

He set me down in the passenger's seat and flung his coat over me for warmth. The rain had soaked my clothes and my arms were cold. We drove back to the cabin in silence. It had felt like I'd ran forever but in the car it didn't take us long at all to get back. The fire had been put out and there were lights on in almost all the rooms of the cabin—I could see our friends pacing in the living room and sitting nervously in the kitchen.

I managed to get out of the car before Edward reached my side and limped my way towards the porch but he stepped in front of me and glared. I sighed and held on tight as he scooped me up. He bent down slightly so that I could open the door and we slid inside, shaking the rain out of our hair.

"Holy shit, Bella, are you okay?" Rose asked in a rush as she ran over to us. Emmett took me from Edward and laid me down on the couch while Alice grabbed a first aid kit.

"Yeah," I said quietly, starting to feel guilty about how I had reacted. "I'm sorry I worried everyone. I was just being stupid." Jasper nodded at my statement and I rolled my eyes at him, but still felt bad. Edward pushed Alice out of the way and carefully untied my show, pulling my swollen foot from it and peeling off the wet sock. There was a collective grimace and I just looked away as they placed ice on it.

"I can't tell if it's broken or not," Edward said softly. "We should probably back up and head back home—get you to a hospital."

"No, no, no, no, no!" I insisted, jumping up and knocking Edward's hand away from my foot. I pushed myself up into a sitting position, wincing at the sharp pain in my ankle. "I really don't want to cut the trip short for anybody, please. Trust me—I've broken my legs plenty of times to know that this isn't a break, it's only a sprain. If you could wrap it up tightly and put some ice on it it'll be okay until we go home, I promise." He didn't look convinced, so I reached out and smoothed the worry from his eyebrows before cupping his cheek in my hand. "Trust me?"

He smiled weakly at me and turned to pull the bandage from the first aid kit, wrapping my foot almost painfully tight in it. I noticed the few glances given to us and the grins that grew on everyone's faces. They could tell, just from this small display. Edward cleaned up the scrapes on my knees and hands, healing them with light kisses while our friends set up the Super Nintendo and made snacks. He pulled my feet into his lap when he sat down, elevating them further on pillows. At the pauses in video games he'd stroke my legs and warm them with his hands. I laughed and chewed on a veggie plate while watching them play Mario Brothers and various other games. Rose and Alice cheered for the boys before turning back and checking on me.

Despite the way it began the night was a good one. I passed out on the couch and vaguely remembered waking up as I was being carried up the stairs. Edward put me gently on top of the covers and I vaguely remembered pushing my shorts down my legs, letting him pull them the rest of the way off. He covered me up with a blanket, and when I protested at his departure turned around with a smile and climbed into bed next to me.

I hadn't slept so comfortably in a while.

I woke up wrapped up entirely in his arms and let out a deep breath with a smile. I watched Edward's face light up and the corners of his lips smile but he didn't open his eyes, too tired.

"Morning, sleepy," I whispered as I kissed his lips lightly. He let out a tiny groan and turned his face towards me, rubbing and nose his lips against me, though too sleepy to kiss me.

"Come on, let's get our day started," I said with a giggle. I tried to get up but found myself stuck to the bed. The cause, of course, was that Edward's arms were wrapped so tightly around my waist. I turned back around to shoot him a look but he was still smiling widely with his eyes closed.

"Bella?" he whispered to the muted light of the room.

"Yes?" I whispered back.

"I love you." He kissed me sweetly and I smiled against him as I wrapped my arms around him.

Edward helped me limp down the stairs to join our friends after we'd dressed. We ate cereal in relative silence, only speaking to make quick plans for a last trip to the water. Edward carried me down to the beach, set me in one of the canoes and moved me out to the floating wharf.

While my friends and apparent boyfriend frolicked around in the water, I laid down on the wharf and read a Vizzini book, using it to block the sun from my eyes. I could hear their splashes in the water and smiled to myself, taking smalls breaks now and then to watch them.

Just as I had gotten to a crucial part in the book, my eyes were covered by soaking wet hands. I giggled when Edward leaned over to give me sloppy, wet kissed. "I hope I'm not neglecting you too much," he grinned. "I'll have to make up for it." I rolled onto my stomach and smiled.

"You definitely need to pay your dues now, mister." He kissed me with a smile and I barely listened to our friends cheering and whooping as I twisted my hands into his hair.

He stayed with me then, switching from reading to me with his legs in the water, swimming around the wharf, or lying on his back listening to me read. Usually he was trying to cover me with kissed but would stop when we got dangerously close to falling into the water.

When the sky turned orange we hurried back to the cabin. Mostly I sat around feeling useless as everyone cleaned up, packed up our garbage and our clothes, and got ready to leave. I delegated myself the list-checker, if that's even an honourable position. Essentially I told them all what to do and made sure the cabin was clean before we left. Edward carried our bags out to the car, along with the left over perishable food. Emmett and the other got the pleasure of carrying home our garbage.

Edward and I drove with laughter and singing, similar to how we drove in. This time it was different. This time I didn't have to over think anything at all, suppress anything unknowingly— ignore the ache in my heart. This time I let this ridiculously amazing feeling of love pour out of me when I looked at his smiling face and held his hand when he didn't know what to do with it.

When we got home I was happier than I had been all summer, even if my foot ached. My mother overreacted, as usual. I was strapped into her car before I could even get out of Edward's and heading straight for the hospital. I waved at him from the window as we drove away, as if to say 'I told you I'd go once we got back'.

I came home later that night, new crutches and cast intact. Edward's front door opened and slammed shut as he ran across his lawn towards me. My mother grinned at us and winked as she went back inside, feeling calm after hearing from the doctor that we'd been right about my ankle.

"Hey, beautiful," Edward breathed out as he reached me, leaning down for a quick kiss. "How are you feeling?"

"Pretty good," I said with a grin as I hobbled after him to the center of his thick, green lawn. "I'm put on extreme rest for the next two weeks. Sitting on the couch and vacation time from work, here I come."

Edward laughed. "Good thing I quit my job today," he grinned. "Looks like you'll have company in that time." I smiled at him and kissed him as we fell back into the grass. "Will you stargaze with me?"

"I'd love nothing more."