A/N: This is my entry for the Fic A Pic Contest. For a link to the very inspirational photo and to see other entries in the contest, visit: www . fanfiction . net/~ficapiccontest

Thanks to trusty beta Dinx for a quick turnaround on this one!

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters you recognize. That's Stephenie Meyers' lucky job. I only dream about them. This one-shot is rated T for language.

"The Pact"

6:05 p.m.

She's not coming.

She'll be here...

6:06 p.m.

Shit. I'm such a jackass. Wasting my time sitting up here like a goddamn fool.

She'll be here!

Fourteen years ago

"Does anyone really have birthday parties anymore?" Edward asked Bella as he pushed her in the tire swing in the backyard of her childhood home.

She shrugged. "I dunno. Mom insisted. It's not like I want to have one. She said oh, Bella, you only turn sixteen once!"

Edward chuckled at Bella's dramatic impersonation of Renee. "Well, if she insists. Far be it from us to ruin her fun, huh?"

Bella leaned back, her long auburn hair sweeping the ground as the swing came back toward Edward. He grinned, stepping aside so her head wouldn't collide with his body. She righted herself, and he was back in place, his hands pushing on her back whenever she neared him.

It's now or never, dude, the voice inside his head chimed in.

"Do you remember that dance we went to in sixth grade?" Edward asked, watching his long fingers as they touched her. He wished he had the nerve to touch her more.

"Oh, I don't know. That was sooo long ago," Bella replied teasingly.

"You're cute," he responded. And adorable, and funny, and I think I love you, but...

"Okay, Eduardo. Sixth grade dance," she said, halting the swing. She twisted to look back at him. "What about it? I remember Mrs. Cope never leaving the snack table because she got wind that someone wanted to spike the punch. And I remember Lauren slapped Mike because he accidentally lifted her skirt up during that stupid group dance that no one knew how to do. It was like that African anteater dance they did in Can't Buy Me Love."

Edward snorted. "That was funny."

"It was mortifying. I felt bad for her," Bella replied. She smiled a little, thinking back to that night. It was the first time she'd ever seen Edward Cullen as more than a friend. Though, she'd never tell him that.

Edward moved in front of Bella, causing her to turn forward so she could face him. He wrapped his hands around the rope holding up the swing and looked down at her. "I remember you wore a midnight blue dress, with little flowers sewn into the skirt, and glitter on the top."

"Are you gay?" Bella asked suddenly, trying not to laugh.

Edward's eyes widened. "What?"

"C'mon, Edster. I know you've heard the rumors. We're best friends, aren't we? You can tell me. I wasn't going to push you, but now, I'm dying to know. I won't tell a soul. I promise!"

"Oh my god, Bella! No! I'm not gay. Fuck, what gave you that idea?"

Bella snickered. "Because I don't know any other sixteen-year-old boys who remember every last detail of a dress a girl wore four years ago."

"I remember the shoes, too. And how you wore your hair. I even remember that the zipper on the back of your pretty dress got stuck while you were in the bathroom, and I was the one you came to for help with it. In the hallway. Remember?"

Bella's cheeks turned a faint pink. Okay, totally forgot about that...

"You were the first person I saw," she said with a shrug.

"Uh huh."

"It's true!"

"Whatever."

"Does your little remembrance of things past have a point? 'Cause it's almost nine, and I have to finish my project outline for biology."

"Bella?"

She looked up at him, noting how his bronze hair seemed to shimmer in the moonlight. Oh god, that's so freakin' cheesy... he'd be in hysterics if he knew what I was thinking.

"I'm not gay. I just have a photographic memory," Edward said, dropping his hands to the top of the tire. They were inches from Bella's now, and he itched to move his even lower, to cover hers. They'd held hands many times, in the way that friends do; but this time, he wanted it to mean more.

"Okay, that's good to know," she managed to say, her mouth dry. She began chewing on her lip, casting a nervous glance up at him.

"I just, um..." He paused, his nerves bundling up inside him. "Damnit."

Bella sighed and removed herself from the swing. "Edward, it's late."

Now that she was standing, mere inches from him, he found his level of courage dropping fast. Shit! It's just Bella! You've known her forever!

"Screw it," he suddenly said, willing himself forward. His hands cupped her face and he captured her mouth with his. Her surprise caused them to stumble, but she gripped his shoulders to stabilize them. Once she figured out that he meant business, she quickly dropped her hands to his waist, her lips welcoming his. His hands slowly caressed her cheeks as he kissed her. This is heaven, he thought as his tongue entered her mouth. She tastes just as good as I imagined she would...

She wove her arms around him, unable to get close enough. She'd thought about this moment - her first real kiss - forever. She never thought that it would be with Edward.

He slowly removed his lips from hers and pressed them to her forehead. She sighed, keeping her eyes closed, feeling cherished by this boy she had met in fourth grade; when he was super skinny and wore glasses, and she had yet to lose her tomboy ways.

"I wanted to wait," he said, his voice husky. "I thought it'd be more special if I did that on your sixteenth birthday, but I couldn't help it."

She traced her fingers around his waist and up to his chest, pressing her hands there. "I'm glad you didn't wait."

He looked down at her, a lazy smile on his face. "Yeah?"

She nodded. "That'd just totally be cliche."

He laughed, hugging her to him. "What am I gonna do with you?"

Four days later, two days shy of Bella's sixteenth birthday, Edward's parents delivered a crushing blow to his budding romance with Bella.

"You can't do this to us!" Edward yelled, pacing the floor in his dad's home office.

"Son, calm down," Carlisle said. "This isn't easy for any of us. To just pack up and leave? But you know I have to go where they send me."

"This isn't fair," Edward replied, glaring at Carlisle. "You promised me! You said we'd stay in Forks for good! We've been here six years! I have friends here, and Bella…" Edward punched the air. "I don't want to leave."

"I know, and I'm sorry. But they need me in New York and-"

"We can stay, right, Mom?" Edward looked at his mom for reassurance. "I mean, you and me? We can stay here? At least until I graduate."

Esme gasped. "Edward, that's two years away!"

"Absolutely not," Carlisle replied. "You can finish out this semester, but then you and your mother will join me in New York."

Edward let out a feral growl before turning and storming out of the room. Bella was of little comfort to him when he went to her that evening. She broke down and sobbed as he held her against him on her bed.

"This isn't fair," she said, burying her face in his chest. "New York is like eight thousand miles away!"

Edward chuckled a little, which earned him a glare. He frowned. "It's about three thousand. I checked."

She let out another wail and he sighed. "I'm sorry, Bella. I tried to get him to let me stay. I want to graduate with you, but he said no."

"Promise me, Edward," she whispered, lifting her head. "Promise me you'll wait?"

He knew what she was asking, and the thought of his first time not being with her made his chest constrict. "I'll wait, Bella. Of course I will."

"I can visit, right? And so can you. And when I turn eighteen, I can move to New York," she said matter-of-factly. "And we can be together then. There's lots to do there. I can go to school, and get a job, or two if I have to. We'll make it work."

When you're sixteen, everything seems so simple. The world is at your feet, and your dreams have no boundaries.

Life, on the other hand, tends to make its own plans...

He was twenty-eight when he met Angie Webber at a hospital function his dad had dragged him to. They sneaked away and sat in a stairwell until three a.m., getting to know each other.

Isabella Swan, the girl he loved in high school, was the last thing on his mind. So was the letter he'd received two years ago...

Edward,

I've met someone. He's really nice. I think you'll like him. His name is Peter...

At the time, Edward had laughed, wondering what kind of man he could be with a name like "Peter." He wasn't happy to hear Bella's news, and he wouldn't like him, even if he was nicer than the little old lady who baked cookies for all the neighborhood kids.

Anyway, remember that pact we made a couple years ago? I think we can safely say - this time - that it can become a fond memory. Funny, I always thought you'd be the first to break it...

After Edward had moved to New York, he and Bella managed to keep their relationship going, doing the things that all long-distance couples do, though they never saw each other again. The twenty calls a day began to lessen, and before they knew it, once both went to college - he in New York, her in Washington - they were over. There wasn't any gnashing of teeth, or sobbing phone calls. They amicably agreed to see other people and remain friends.

They kept in touch, albeit sporadically, usually through late-night phone calls (a lot of them made after one or both had had way too much to drink) and the occasional goofy greeting card.

Both regaled the other with their dating tales. Edward had been set up one too many times, as had Bella, and they shared their horror stories with much laughter.

"Tell you what, Belly Bell," Edward said into the phone as he sat on a rooftop overlooking Manhattan. "Let's make a pact."

"A what?" Bella asked on her end, painting her toenails a deep shade of purple. "A pact?"

"Yeah, you know. How about ..." He paused, his eyes sweeping the lit-up cityscape. "I'm only a few months older than you, so I'll be thirty first, but on your thirtieth birthday, if you're still single, and I'm still single, let's give us another go."

Bella laughed, which caused Edward to smile.

"Right, okay. On the night I turn thirty, Edward, in eight years, at precisely six p.m., I'll meet you at the top of the tallest building in New York. How's that?"

Edward chuckled. "The Empire State Building? No." He took a swig of beer and turned, leaning against the rooftop wall and looking down at the street. "Top of my building - wherever it may be, though I have no intention of leaving my current place."

"Um, okay," Bella said, rolling her eyes as she smiled. "It's a date. Maybe. You might take one look at me and run. I've changed, you know."

Edward smiled. "I won't run. I promise."

They sealed their pact in writing via a silly postcard from Washington. It had been hanging on Edward's refrigerator door since the day he received it, though he had removed it on three separate occasions for several months at a time. The first when he had dated Tanya, the law student. Then there was Jess, the Broadway dancer. And finally for Angie, the daughter of the city's vice mayor.

Angie had lasted the longest, at just under a year. They had even discussed moving in together, but she wasn't willing to give up her apartment near Central Park for his apartment in "Midtown nowhere," as she called it.

Two days before his twenty-ninth birthday, Angie left Edward, and he hadn't dated since.

He also hadn't heard from Bella in over two years, not since getting the letter about Peter...

6:20 p.m.

She's not coming. This is ridiculous. I'm leaving...

Just wait! Give her ten more minutes.

Bella was never late for anything. She was voted Most Reliable in high school for a reason…

So, Edward found himself sitting on the ledge of the roof of the same apartment building he had lived in for nearly ten years, waiting for a girl he hadn't laid eyes on in fourteen years.

She's a woman now… the voice reminded him. What if she has changed? What if ... what if she weighs six hundred pounds? Or doesn't have teeth anymore? Or...

I don't care, Edward said to the voice in his head. And he didn't. Because no one had ever understood him the way Bella had, and even though he hadn't seen her in fourteen years, or talked to her in over three, he had no doubt that their connection would still be just as strong.

6:32 p.m.

I'm done...

Yeah, okay. Maybe it's time to throw in the towel...

Edward slipped off the ledge and picked up the half-empty bottle of Jack, his liquid courage. He turned to face the city, watching the skyscrapers' lights come to life as twilight fell.

"Happy birthday, Bella. Wherever you are," he said, sighing.

When he turned, he gasped, nearly letting the bottle slip from his fingers.

"Bella..."

"Edward," she whispered, her hands clasped and pressed against her chest.

Fuck me, she's gorgeous, he thought.

"I'm sorry I'm late. My flight..." Her voice trailed. "Are you mad?"

He let out a laugh. "Mad? Are you crazy? You were worth the wait."

She smiled, taking a step forward. He noted the lovely pink tinge to her cheeks, the way the dark blue dress seemed to make her skin glow, and how she had filled out in all the right places. She had put on some weight, but she was even more beautiful because of it. All of the women he had dated over the years couldn't compare. Not by a thousand miles.

"Blue," he mused out loud, his eyes moving from the hem of her skirt up to her eyes.

"Your favorite," she replied.

They were taking slow and easy steps toward one another, finally stopping when no more than a foot separated them.

"It's my first time to the city," she said shyly. "You'll show me around?"

He nodded, clearing his throat. "Of course. Beginning with dinner tonight. For your birthday."

She bit her lip. "I didn't think you'd be here."

"I didn't think you would, either," he replied.

"Would you be insulted if I said no one better came along?"

His mouth curved into a grin. "Maybe a little. Would you?"

She shook her head. "No, I mean ... there is no one better than you, for me."

He hesitated before lifting a hand to her cheek, lightly brushing her soft skin with his fingers. "You're beautiful."

"So are you," she breathed, closing her eyes and leaning into his touch.

"Bella?"

"Eduardo?"

A lazy grin spread across his face, then diminished as he grew serious. "Remember that night in Forks? The first time I kissed you?"

She nodded. "I'll never forget it."

He pressed forward, close enough that her hands became trapped between them. His lips went to her ear, and she shuddered.

"Tire-swing kisses are nice, but rooftop kisses are the best."

One year later…

"I don't know if you realize this, but it's exactly one year to the minute that I laid eyes on you - again, fell madly in love with you - again, and decided to make you mine forever."

"God, that's sickening," Bella said, nuzzling Edward's jaw with her lips as they lay on their bed, both exhausted from a busy day. "But damn if it doesn't make me go all to jelly inside."

"Hm," he murmured, moving to kiss her. His lips brushed against hers, and she licked his bottom lip, giggling as he moaned. "You're asking for it, Miss Swan-Soon-To-Be-Mrs.-Cullen."

She hummed low in her throat, but then pulled back to look at him. "What?" Surely I didn't hear him right...

"Come upstairs with me," he said, gently removing her body from his before standing.

"Edward, what did you-"

He pressed a finger against her lips. "Just wait. Come to the roof with me."

"Edward-"

"Isabella Marie Swan, so help me…" He grabbed her hand and deftly pulled her from the bed.

She grabbed her parka on the way out the door, clumsily throwing it on as they headed for the stairwell. Edward reached back for her, leading her by the hand up three flights of stairs and onto the roof.

Bella wasn't sure what to expect, but she was surprised when she was greeted with … nothing.

"You don't have to remind me that this is where we met, so to speak," she said as he dropped her hand and walked to the ledge. He glanced over his shoulder, a grin on his face.

Bella folded her arms, taking in the view of the city as she waited for him. She would never, ever tire of this view. She and Edward had spent many a night on this rooftop, eating, talking, fighting, nearly ripping each other's clothes off on more than one occasion.

"Bella," Edward said, breaking her trance. "Come here."

"You're so bossy, Mr. Cullen," she replied. "I don't recall you being this bossy when we were kids."

"Hm, no, you handled that task quite well for the both of us, Miss Do-It-Or-Else."

She smacked his arm, then turned, leaning against the ledge, her back to the city she loved. Given a choice between staring at the city or looking at Edward, she'd choose looking at her beautiful boy any day.

He laid his hands on her waist and she squealed as he easily picked her up and sat her down on the ledge in front of him.

This was indeed her most favorite spot in the city; looking into Edward's eyes. The eyes of the man she had loved since he was a boy.

"Isabella Marie Swan," he said, his voice low.

"Edward Anthony Cullen," she answered, dropping her voice to match his.

He grinned, and laid his hands on her thighs. "Guess what?"

"What?"

"It's your thirty-first birthday."

"Yeah? Rubbing it in, are we?"

"Later," he replied, winking.

"Oh, have we not reached the stage in our relationship where we can fuck on a rooftop for the whole world to see?"

Edward's eyes widened. He could count on one hand the number of times he'd heard Bella said the word "fuck," and every time it turned him on to no end.

"Christ," he mumbled, crashing his lips to hers. She threw her arms around his neck, holding on for dear life.

"Edward!" she gasped, pulling away. She gripped his arms. "You'll make me fall."

"Haven't I?"

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, a million and two times. But who's counting?"

"I am. I'm counting on you, saying yes to me, and then letting me take you back to Forks as my wife where I can kiss you on the tire-swing."

Bella was speechless. Her mouth dropped open, and she searched his face.

"So, what do you say? Make this man happy?" He moved, reaching a foot to her left and picking up a diamond ring from the ledge.

"Edward," she whispered. "Seriously?"

"I knew what I was doing when I made that pact," he said, holding the ring between them. "I was sitting in this very spot, picturing you in a wedding dress, and then beneath me in our bed, and eventually carrying our child, and living out your life with mine."

Tears sprang to Bella's eyes. "Why didn't you just say so then? Why drag it out?"

He lifted his hand and brushed a tear off her cheek. "I wanted to make sure we were ready. It took a lot of wrongs with others to make us right together. Didn't it?"

She nodded a little, her eyes falling to the sparkling diamond. "What if I'd have said no, Edward?"

"Did it cross your mind?"

She shook her head, laughing a little. "Not for a second."

He smiled at her, a smile that still turned her world upside down. "Marry me?"

She nodded vigorously, and he grabbed her left hand, sliding the ring onto her finger.

"Perfect fit. Just like you and me," he said, meeting her gaze.

"Let's make another pact," she replied, cupping his face in her hands.

"Name it."

"Forty-nine years from now, on my eightieth birthday, meet me here, in our spot."

"Oh, I don't know," he said, shaking his head. "That's such a long time from now. I might have other plans."

"Edward Anthony Cullen, you'll meet me, right here, in this very spot, on September thirteenth, 2060. Say it."

"Okay, okay. Bossy woman. I'll meet you, right here, in this very spot, on your eightieth birthday. Tell me you'll wear blue."

"I'll wear blue. Tell me you love me."

"I love you, Bella," he whispered, leaning toward her. "Forever and ever, pact or no pact."

Bella pushed forward, kissing her future husband soundly as Manhattan's city lights twinkled around them, and a full moon rose overhead.

"Forever and ever," he repeated, moving his lips to her ear.

FIN.

Chapter End Notes: I enjoyed writing this, and I hope you liked it! It's obviously different from what I've been writing. ;)

Be sure to check out the other entries! Entries are accepted through Feb. 12. Public vote opens on Feb. 13th and closes Feb. 22nd. A link for voting will be posted on my profile then, and I'm sure on Twitter and various other places.