CHAPTER NINE

It had been exactly one week since I was released from the hospital. It was August 31, the last day of summer. Things had been tense and uneasy around the Swan household. Charlie never stopped worrying, or looking at me like it was his fault. Emmett and Jasper were at my beck and call when I needed them; they went out of my way for me. Edward was over constantly, which made Emmett and Jasper useless.

It still pained me to see the way Edward would look at me sometimes. He worried over me so much. I knew that seeing me like this was taking some part of him down. There were days when he would look at me as if to say something but he would never say a thing. He would kiss me as if it would make everything all right again.

We were sitting in my room and I had my laptop in my lap, checking out U of W's photography classes and musical classes. It wouldn't be long before I would be applying there. I finished my research and set the laptop down on my bed and looked at Edward. He had been watching me do my work with that same worried expression.

I was still and silent when he reached out and traced the fading bruises on my neck. He traced each fingerprint with a feather light touch. His fingers felt good on my skin. I closed my eyes and tilted my head for him. He cupped my neck and rubbed his thumb across it before letting his hand fall heavily.

When I looked back at him, he was crying. Crying and staring at the marks left on my body that were visible. He lightly traced each one, and with each one he traced, he cried even more. And it pained me. It sent a pang right to my heart. I wanted to reach out and take hold of him. I wanted to hold him against me and tell him that it was all okay, that I was okay now.

"Edward…" My voice was a pained whisper. "Edward… it's okay…"

He took my hand in his and held it to his lips and kissed it. "No, I'm afraid it isn't. It's not okay.

"I let you down. I failed you. I broke my only promise I've made to you. I told you that I would protect you from him, that he would never harm you again. I couldn't keep my promise. He hurt you, right under my nose and I couldn't do a thing about it…"

I sucked in a breath and grabbed onto him. "Don't you dare, Edward Anthony Cullen, don't you dare blame yourself! I will not stand for that!" I was nearly yelling in his face. "You did not cause this! You did not do this to me!"

"I wasn't there for you!" He voice broke with his yell and his tears came harder, and then mine started to fall.

I clung to him and he clung to me. I crawled into his lap and we held each other, sobbing, broken. What hurt me hurt him and vice versa. Whether it was said aloud or not, we were connected like no other.

His tears ended before mine and he ran his fingers through my hair until I was quiet. He lifted my chin and made me look into his eyes. He kissed me, full on and powerful. It was more than I had ever known or felt. It was passion and love, lust and hurt and comfort. It was renewal and understanding, it conveyed the strongest feelings a person could ever be allowed to feel at one time.

When air was a necessity, he pulled back.

"Bella, will you be my girlfriend?"

I kissed him sweetly and whispered against his lips. "I would love to."

"Then join me tonight for dinner. La Bella Italiana." He pressed his face into my neck and smiled against it.

"I would enjoy that."

And as I said that, Alice bounded into the room. "Well, it took you guys long enough."

Not one damn moment of privacy was available.

"Let's get out and get started! We have a lot to do before tonight. Up, up, up, Bella! We have shopping to do!" Alice clapped her hands at me and I groaned.

"Go, love. I'll be here waiting." Edward smiled at me.

I sighed and rolled my eyes as Alice grabbed my wrist gently and proceeded to drag me out of my own home and into her awaiting car.

"Bella, it's about time that you and Edward started dating. You two are wonderful together. You really are." Alice looked at me out of the corner of her eye.

"I just wanted Sean completely out of my life first. I wanted to make sure that nothing would ever ruin it." Alice nodded her head in understanding.

"We all have our hardships, Bella. It's just the matter of overcoming them and getting on with our lives. It's the matter of not letting it bring you down and drag you through the dirt. In the end, everything gets better." She pulled into the shopping mall. " We have a lot to get for you today. Underwear, an outfit, shoes…"

"Alice… Why?" I looked at her like she was crazy.

"Because you need to look your best for my brother. And on the plus, lingerie will come in handy in the future. There is nothing romantic about sex in sweatpants, my dear friend." Alice said, laughing at me.

We made our way around the shopping mall, stopping to eat lunch at about one. Our trip to the lingerie store was incredibly embarrassing. The things that Alice had bought me left very little to the imagination, sometime nothing at all. We made it to a cute dress shop where Alice immediately found the right dress.

It was dark blue with retro type circles on it. It came down to my knees, had a sweetheart neckline and was a halter-top. I had to admit that I looked stunning in it. Blue was quick becoming my signature color.

In the shoe store, I argued with Alice for quite some time about wearing heels. They were complete death traps if they were over an inch tall. After a good twenty minutes, she gave up and found me a pair of kitten-heeled shoes.

We left the mall with about two hours to spare before Edward was going to take me out to dinner. Alice barricaded me in her home for those two hours.

First was the make up. It was simple, sweet and classy. She painted my eyes a darker blue than the dress and lined my lashes. Next, was the hair. She pinned it half way up after teasing the crown, which gave it a slight "poof" effect and curled it generously. The over all effect, I had to admit, was quite stunning. I was getting used to looking this good when it came to Alice.

I was waiting in Alice's living room when Edward showed up to retrieve me. The look on his face when he saw me was enough to make me let Alice have her way with me a lot more often.

"Bella," He brought me into his arms. "You look absolutely divine."

I blushed at his compliment. "Let's go eat, Mr. Cullen."

He offered me his arm and we left the house. The ride to the restaurant was quiet and he played soft music in the background. The silence wasn't awkward it was calming and relaxed. When he pulled onto the interstate he reached over and grabbed my hand in his, resting them on the stick shift. I smiled at him in return.

We arrived at the restaurant and he walked around to open my door for me. He held out his hand and I blushed, taking it in mine. We walked hand in hand to the door, which he once again opened and let me in first.

"Hi! Welcome to La Bella Italiana. Just two?" The host said, mainly to Edward.

"A private table for two, please."

"Right this way!" She grabbed two menus and led us to the back of the restaurant to a quiet table for two. "What can I get you to drink?"

"Coke please." I said, taking the menu from her.

"Coke, too." Edward nodded at her.

I noticed how the waitress would turn her head to look back at Edward as she walked away. It made me incredibly jealous. He was here with me tonight. He had asked me out. She had no right to look at him.

"So, Bella, what are you going to order?" Edward looked at me with a smile on his face.

I looked down at the menu for a minute before I decided. "I think that I'm going to get the ravioli. That sounds really good at the moment." I smiled back at him.

The waitress returned with our drinks and we gave her our orders. He ordered shrimp fettuccini. I glared at the girl as she walked away.

We made small talk about school and our friends. Emmett wanted to have another party and Jasper was acting strange lately.

"I'm not sure what's up with him, but it's quite noticeable. It's like there's something he doesn't want anyone else to know. Alice is taking the biggest toll. His acting weird has her going completely nuts with worry." Edward said when our food arrived.

"If there's anything else I can get you… anything at all, just let me know." She smiled at Edward and winked.

I was appalled. Here she was flirting with my man in front of me!

"No. There isn't anything you can get us. Thank you very much." I all but growled at her. She turned to me and frowned.

"Well, that was unnecessary, Bella. What was that for?" He looked at me worried.

"You didn't see the way she was looking at you? She completely ignored me and started flirting with you!"

"Are you jealous?

"No." I answered a little to quickly.

"You are, too!" He started to laugh at me.

"Well, I think I'm going to eat my meal now, thank you." I said before taking a large bite of ravioli to make my point clear.

We finished our meal peacefully without any unwanted interruptions by the waitress from hell. We laughed and talked about our families and our childhood. It was a very refreshing conversation. It was so easy to be around him and laugh and have fun. I couldn't stop smiling the entire time.

We finished our meals and he paid for our dinner. Edward led us to the car and then opened my door for me before he got into the drivers side. He drove us back to town and somewhere along the way I fell asleep. It was two hours from Forks to Seattle.

I was awoken by someone picking me up bridal style and carrying me into my own home. I looked up and saw Edward's chin. I smiled to myself and buried my face in his shoulder, taking in the wonderful scent. By the time he sat me on my bed, I had completely awoken.

"Stay with me for a little while." I said, propping myself up on some pillows.

"Bella…" He looked at me, as if debating what he wanted to tell me. "I want to tell you something." I nodded at him to continue. He scooted closer to me on the bed and took my hands. "It kills me to know what happened to you. When I first saw you, I thought you were the most amazing girl. You were so beautiful, even when you weren't smiling. The first time I saw your smile, I swear my heart stopped. When you told us about Sean and everything he did to you, I was so angry and upset. Someone like you doesn't deserve something like that. You didn't deserve the things he did, and neither did your unborn child."

He pulled me into his arms when I started to cry, soft tears falling down my cheeks at his sweet, sweet words.

"I promise you, Bella, if we last and we get married, I will give you all the children you want. I will taken perfect care of you, you'll never have to lift a finger if you don't want to."

I started crying harder into his shoulder and he ran his fingers through my hair. "Oh, Edward… No one has ever said anything like that to me. And if we do last, I want that, too." I smiled at him.

He put his hands on either side of my face and placed his forehead on mine. Then he slowly tilted his head until his lips touched mine. I felt the room spin and my breath leave me. Kissing Edward was amazing. It was pure Heaven and bliss. I never wanted to stop, but he slowly pulled away.

"Good night, my Bella. Sleep well." He kissed my forehead and then left my room. I heard his car start and then the noise drown out in the distance.

I immediately called Alice.

"I'm home."

"I'll be there in five minutes. Don't move."

I laughed at her antics as I hung up the phone and waited on her.

It was about five minutes, as she predicted, when she arrived. She quickly made her way up the stairs and into my room. She slung her bag by my closet and then perched herself on the end of my bed with a huge smile.

"So…? How did it go!?" She whisper-yelled at me.

I recounted the night to her in detail. When I recalled everything he had told me, I started to cry again and I laughed at myself.

"Alice, he's so amazing. I can't explain it. I've never been treated like this before. I've never felt so cared for, so free and alive with another person." I shook my head in my own disbelief.

"You deserve this, Bells. You deserve it more than anyone I know. I'm so glad you two got together. You guys are going to last. I know it." Alice smiled at me.

"Yeah, yeah. Let's go to bed. I'm exhausted." I said before going to my dresser to change into my pajamas.

Alice retrieved her from her bag by my closet and we crawled into my bed together. It didn't take long for me to fall asleep, only to dream of Edward.

A/n: Sorry this took so long guys! I had a lot going on. I'm hoping to post Chapter ten soon, though! Thanks to all my reviewers!