Chapter 3

Friday night was the best night’s sleep I’d had in quite a while. I don’t think I moved at all after my head hit the pillow. Unfortunately, the rest of the weekend was not as restful. I continued to take the sedatives my father prescribed, but the dreams started back up on Saturday. The medication just allowed me a few extra hours of sleep before the nightmares started up.

We spent all day Saturday cramming for finals. Sunday we packed up the dorm room. Emmett and Jasper agreed to load up Bella’s truck and move everything to our house on Wednesday. Bella agreed that she did not want to return to this dorm for the spring semester. She still didn’t feel comfortable being alone anywhere in the building. She loved the idea of us getting an apartment. I couldn’t wait to meet with Mr. Weston, the head of housing, tomorrow.

Bella and I both had finals all day Monday. I was only able to walk her to her first class. It made me anxious to think I wouldn’t be able to see her until six that evening. We stopped just outside her class and I pulled her into a tight embrace and gave her a gentle kiss before she walked into the classroom. I sighed as I turned to leave the building. I couldn’t believe the conversation I heard as I approached the doors.

“Yeah, she’s the reason all those people were killed. I honestly don’t see what is so special about her. Someone said that guy was her psycho ex, and he went crazy when she screwed him and left him. Apparently all she wanted was sex, and the minute she got it she lost interest in him.” I didn’t recognize the two girls who were huddled in the corner talking about my angel.

“Wow, what a slut,” the other girl replied.

I was furious and couldn’t stop myself from jumping into their conversation. “Where the hell did you hear that load of shit?” I yelled.

The girls both jumped and stared at me frightened. “Everyone is talking about it,” the first girl whispered.

“I suggest you don’t listen to bullshit gossip. That guy was not her ex, and she never had sex with him. He was just a crazy stalker obsessed with her. She has to live with the guilt every day that those people died because she came to this school and he followed her. I would appreciate it if you would not spread anymore false information about my girlfriend.” I turned and headed toward my class, not giving them a chance to say anything. I vaguely heard both girls apologize before I turned the corner.

Finals were brutal. I was exhausted and having a hard time concentrating on the questions. I suffered through it and was relieved to turn in my last test for the day. I had one more final to face on Tuesday, and then I would be done for the semester. I hoped Bella was having an easier time with her tests than I was. I took longer than expected on my last test and had to run across campus to make it to my housing appointment on time.

I ran through the door with two minutes to spare. I informed the secretary who I was and sat down to wait. I laid my head back against the wall and slowly slid my eyes closed. I was so tired, and it felt wonderful just to close my eyes. I was starting to drift off to sleep when a whiny, high pitched voice startled me.

“Mr. Weston will see you now,” the secretary said.

I thanked her and walked into Mr. Weston’s office. I closed the door behind me and sat in one of the chairs in front of his desk.

“Mr. Cullen, how can I help you today?” Mr. Weston was a short, portly man. His brown hair was thinning to the point he had a terrible comb-over.

“Sir, I understand there will be an apartment open in Birchwood next semester, and I would like to obtain that apartment with Ms. Isabella Swan.”

“Is there a problem with your current dorms?” Was this guy serious? Did he have no clue what happened with James?

“So many of our friends were killed this past semester in and around that dorm. James stalked Bella in that dorm and there are bad memories around every corner for her.” I tried my best to sound forlorn.

“I didn’t think of it that way. I’m sure we could work something out to change Ms. Swan to another dorm.” Mr. Weston started searching through the housing database. “We have had several requests for housing changes out of the Old Dorm Block, but with Sitka House being delayed we have been denying most of them. Due to Ms. Swan’s circumstances, I believe we can fit her into a different room.”

“Ms. Swan and I can easily move into the open apartment, and you can have the spot in the other dorm for someone else.” I flashed Mr. Weston my best smile.

“Mr. Cullen, university policy strictly prohibits the cohabitation of male and female students in the same room or apartment.” Mr. Weston looked at me disapprovingly.

“I’m aware of the university’s policies. Ms. Swan and I are engaged to be married. If you cannot aid us in an apartment on campus, my family and the Hales will find housing off campus. Of course the expense of that would dramatically decrease the amount of money our families are able to contribute to the alumni fund. I know that we are more than generous with our donations.” I couldn’t help the smug smile that appeared.

“There is no need to go to extreme measures. Please give me a moment to check something out.” Mr. Weston dug further through the database. Three minutes later he smiled victoriously. “I have some good news for you, Mr. Cullen. There appears to be three open apartments in Birchwood. We can easily set you and Mr. Hale up in one; Ms. Swan, Ms. Cullen, and Ms. Hale in one; and your brother can have the one bedroom that is available. What arrangements you make from there are between the six of you.”

I stood and shook Mr. Weston’s hand. “Thank you, sir. I appreciate all that you have done for me today. I’m sure my father along with Mr. Hale would like to extend their thanks as well.”

Bella was so excited when I told her we would be moving into the Birchwood Apartments next semester. I think her favorite part was that Alice and Jasper and Rose and Emmett would all have apartments there as well. Bella was always happier and stronger when surrounded by the people she loved. We told Alice, Jasper, Rose, and Em about their new apartments. They were happy they could remain on campus and that we could all still be so close together.

We both breezed through our final on Tuesday morning and met back at the dorm by eleven. We finished with the last-minute packing. I left everything neatly stacked in the corner so Emmett and Jasper could easily load the truck up tomorrow. We grabbed a quick bite to eat in the dining hall and then left for Forks. Bella was excited to go home and see her family. I couldn’t help but push my car well above the speed limits.

We pulled up to her father’s house at four. I couldn’t believe I drove that fast. Bella jumped out of the car and ran into the house. I grabbed our bags out of the back and found Bella standing in the middle of the kitchen with her eyes closed and inhaling deeply. Seeing her like that was truly breathtaking.

I quietly stepped behind her and wrapped my arms around her waist. “What are you doing, beautiful?”

“I’m just taking in all of the wonderful smells of home. I forgot how much I missed it.”

I gave her a quick squeeze. “Why don’t we go upstairs and get ready for dinner?”

Bella grabbed my hand and pulled me upstairs. I placed our bags on the bed and began rummaging through them for my clothes for dinner. Bella wrapped her arms around my waist and started place open-mouthed kisses along my neck.

“Bella, you’re killing me here.” I turned in her arms and she pulled me into a passionate kiss. I reluctantly pulled away and stroked her cheek with my thumb. “I would love nothing more than to make love to you right now, but we have to meet Tommy and Drew in Port Angeles at seven. We don’t have time.”

“I guess you’re right,” Bella pouted.

I only needed a quick shower and shave. I wasn’t sure how long Bella needed, so I decided to use the bathroom first. I hurried through my shower and was back in Bella’s room in fifteen minutes.

“You know, Mr. Cullen, that is cruel and unusual punishment,” Bella purred.

“What am I doing that is so cruel?” I questioned.

“Leaving me here to sort through my fantasies of you naked, wet, and soapy. I’m already aching with desire for you, then I had to hear you in the shower and my imagination went wild.” Bella ran her finger down my chest and wrapped her arms around my waist.

I gave Bella a tight squeeze, gently kissed her lips, and removed her arms from around my waist. “Love, I really wish we had time but we don’t. Please get ready. I promise to make it up to you later.”

“You better,” she said as she walked into the bathroom.

I sighed and tried to calm my body down. I finished getting ready and went downstairs to wait for Bella to finish. I pulled one of her yearbooks off the shelf and flipped through the pages. It was from her senior year. There were only three pictures of her in it. Of course there was the usual picture of her in the senior section. There was a picture of her and Tommy sitting in the cafeteria. She was huddled in her chair attempting to hide behind her book. It looked like Tommy was trying to tickle her. I couldn’t help but smile. It was such a wonderful picture of both of them. The last picture was of her in the library. She had a ton of books scattered on her table, and she had a look of intense concentration on her face. She was so beautiful. I was so lost in the picture that it startled me when I heard the front door close.

“It’s nice to see you again, Edward.” Charlie walked into the living room and settled into his recliner. He had already removed his boots and gun belt. I was thankful for the absence of the gun. Bella wasn’t anywhere near being done getting ready, so I decided to take this time to talk with Charlie about proposing to Bella.

“Thanks, Charlie. Um, I'm really glad Bella is upstairs cause I really need to talk with you alone.” I was so nervous that I was wringing my hands in my lap.

“There’s no need to be nervous, son. My guns are all put away,” he smirked.

I gulped loudly and attempted to continue. “Well, I really love Bella. I can’t imagine life without her. My heart aches when she’s away from me. I want nothing more than to protect and take care of her. I would like to propose to her during the Christmas holidays. May I have your blessing to ask for Bella’s hand in marriage?”

“Edward, if anyone would have told me in August that my baby girl would find a man who was worthy enough to marry her, I would have laughed in their face. I never thought she would go on a date, let alone have a boyfriend. She was always so reserved after what happened with James. I was extremely shocked when she brought you home in October. The thing that surprised me most was you. I could see then how much you cared for her. I knew then you would die for her. You proved your love for my daughter a little over a week ago. I saw the love and devotion you have for her in the hospital. I don’t think I could’ve found a better man to care for my daughter. Edward, I would be proud to call you son one day.” Charlie pulled me into a hug. I was shocked. I never expected this discussion to go in this direction.

“Thank you so much, Charlie. I promise Bella is my top priority. My only goal in life is to keep her safe and happy.”

“It better be. Remember, I will not hesitate to use you for target practice if you hurt my baby girl,” Charlie said with a glint in his eye.

“Yes, sir.” That look in Charlie’s eye terrified me. There was no way in hell I wanted to cross this man.

“What are you two babbling about down here?” I turned to see Bella step off the last stair. My jaw dropped. She was breathtaking. She wore a simple midnight blue wrap around dress. The sleeves came to her elbow, and the hem fell to just above her knees. It hugged her waist and showed off just enough cleavage to tease. I grabbed her hand and brought it to my lips for a soft kiss.

“You look amazing.” She blushed at my compliment.

“Hi, Dad. Are you going to dinner with us?”

“Nope. You kids have fun. I’ll probably be asleep when you get back. I have an early shift at the station tomorrow.” Bella gave Charlie a hug, and I shook his hand before we left to meet Tommy and Drew.

The drive to Port Angeles was very quiet. Bella seemed lost in thought, and I didn’t want to disturb her. My mind wandered as I drove. I was nervous thinking about asking Bella to marry me. I had Charlie’s blessing and my mother’s ring. All I needed was to come up with the perfect proposal. I wanted everything to be perfect. I wanted it to be something she would never forget.

We arrived at the restaurant and quickly made our way inside. Tommy and Drew had not yet arrived. The hostess seated us and informed us of the night’s specials before leaving us to wait for our waiter. Bella was looking at the menu when Tommy walked up.


He pulled a chair out for a gorgeous woman. She was definitely a woman. She was a few inches taller than Bella with brown wavy hair that fell just below her shoulders. Her eyes were dark brown, almost black. She had a narrow face with full, pouty lips and high cheek bones. She looked like she stepped off the page of a magazine. She wore a tiny black dress that left very little to the imagination. After meeting Bitt, I had a hard time seeing Tommy with this woman. She was the complete opposite of Bitt.

Tommy gave Bella a hug before he sat next to Drew. “Bella, Edward, this is my girlfriend Drew.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” I answered politely and looked at Bella. Bella seemed uncomfortable. She hunched her shoulders a bit and looked down at the table. I had a feeling she was feeling self conscious next to Drew. She had absolutely no reason to. No one could ever be as beautiful as my Bella.

“It’s so good to finally meet the famous Bella,” Drew said. She let a little venom leak through her words. I don’t think anyone else caught it.

Bella slowly looked up to Drew and offered her hand. They quickly shook hands, and Bella looked back at the table. I wrapped my arm around her waist and leaned into her ear. “What’s wrong, love?”

She turned to my ear and whispered, “Nothing.”

I pulled her chin up and looked into her eyes and could see the pain there. Why was she hurting? “Something is wrong. Please talk to me, beautiful.”

“Something just doesn’t feel right. I can’t figure it out,” she shrugged.

I placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. “Don’t worry about it. We’ll figure it out later. Let’s just enjoy our dinner with Tommy and his new girlfriend.” She nodded and placed her head on my shoulder.

“So, sis, how did finals go?” Tommy finally joined the conversation.

“They were fine. I’m glad we’re done and have a month away from school. I needed a break.” I slowly saw Bella coming out of her shell and back to the wonderful woman I love.

“I bet. Will you be in the same dorm next semester?” Tommy had his arm around Drew’s shoulders and was stroking the back of her hand. He seemed to be completely infatuated with the vixen at his side.

“No. Edward and I will be getting an apartment together. Em and Rose and Alice and Jasper will be in apartments next to us. I’m so glad. I couldn’t have spent another night in that awful place. Enough about me. I want to hear all about the two of you. How did you meet?” Bella leaned in, not wanting to miss any details.

“Actually, Bitt introduced us. She met Drew at the mall in September. They hit it off as friends. When Bitt and I decided to just be friends, she thought Drew and I would be a perfect match. She set us up on a date and we have been together since then.” Tommy placed a kiss on Drew’s cheek. It almost looked like she flinched. I was obviously tired and over-stressed. My eyes were seeing things that didn’t happen.

“Baby, I’ll be back in minute. Could you please order my usual?” Drew placed her hand on Tommy’s chest as she spoke.

Tommy placed his hand over hers. “Of course I will.” Drew sauntered away toward the bathroom.

“Wow. I can’t believe you’re dating a sex kitten,” Bella teased.

“Bella,” Tommy said sternly. “She is not like that. Yes, she is gorgeous and has an awesome body, but there’s more to her. She is so intelligent. I’ve been blown away by the things we talk about. You wouldn’t think she was only eighteen. She seems so much older.”

“I thought she was at least twenty six. I’m sorry I jumped to conclusions. It’s just hard when she dresses and acts like that.” Bella lowered her head again.

“Don’t worry about it, sis. I hope you two can get along. She is pretty amazing.” Tommy was a goner. He had that look in his eye I got when I talk about Bella. I agreed with Bella, though, that something wasn’t quite right. I was starting to get that bad feeling. I hoped Tommy knew what he was getting into with this Drew.

Drew returned from the rest room, and we had a pleasant dinner. We learned that she was from California. Her parents moved to Port Angeles last year. She was attending Peninsula College to get through her basic subjects. She was undecided on a major and what university she would transfer to once she received her associate’s degree.

I still couldn’t wrap my mind around the idea that she was only eighteen. Everything about this woman screamed late twenties. It was easy to see why Tommy was so entranced by her. I just had this sick feeling that she wasn’t who she was letting everyone see. I needed to keep up with Tommy and make sure how things go in their relationship. I considered Tommy a brother and didn’t want to see him get hurt or taken advantage of.

Bella seemed distant throughout dinner. Drew truly made her nervous. I hadn’t seen her this edgy since she received the first note from James. We would definitely talk about this on the way back to Portland.

Tommy rode back to the house with us. Drew had picked him up after school today and brought him to dinner. Bella started in with the third degree when we were safely on the highway.

“So, how do you really feel about Drew?”

“B, I can’t put into words how I feel. She is amazing,” he said, dreamily.

“Please tell me you two have not had sex.” Bella’s face scrunched up in a disgusted look.

“No. We’ve only been dating for a few weeks. We started going out after Thanksgiving. Do you think I’m some kind of man whore or something?” Tommy teased.

“Of course not,” Bella said horrified.

“I was just teasing, B. Lighten up. Look, I really like Drew. I would like for you two to get along. I don’t think I could handle it if my sister couldn’t stand my girlfriend.”

“Don’t worry, T. I promise not to be ugly. Something feels off, but I won’t say or do anything to make your relationship with Drew tense. I love you and only want you to be happy. If Drew makes you happy, then I won’t make it difficult.” Bella reached into the back seat and squeezed Tommy’s hand.

“Thanks, sis. Give her a little time. She will open up to you, and you will see how awesome she truly is.”

Tommy spent the rest of the drive home telling us all about school and what the guys were up to. He got detention because he helped Bill and Harvey hijack the PA system and broadcasted part of the movie Serenity during lunch. Bella laughed but also reminded him that he needed to not let those two get him involved in their schemes.

I was extremely nervous going up to Bella’s room that night. The last time we were here we had just started our relationship and hadn’t gone beyond kissing. There was no doubt that we would only sleep during our last visit. I had no clue what we would be doing when we traveled up the stairs.

Bella looked beyond amazing in that dress tonight. My body was reacting to her all night. I was going out of my head with want for her. She turned and looked seductively at me as she closed the door to her room.

“I couldn’t wait to get through dinner so we could get home and finish what we started earlier,” she purred. She accused Drew of being a sex kitten, but Drew had nothing on my Bella. She was sex personified.

I pulled her into a passionate kiss. Our lips parted when we needed to breathe, but I continued to attack her neck with my lips. She moaned when my lips reached the spot just behind her ear. I was pulled out of my lusty haze by a knock on the door.

“Hey, B, I think you need to keep it down. I can hear you all the way in my room. I don’t think you want Charlie rushing into your room with a gun drawn.” Tommy laughed as he spoke.

“Thanks, Tommy. Go away,” she said, frustrated.

“What am I going to do with you? Do you think you can keep quiet?” I teased while placing feather light kisses all over her neck.

“I’ll put a pillow over my head if needed. Either way, you better not stop. I won’t be held responsible for my actions if you do.”

Bella threw me onto her bed and proceeded to attack my body. I don’t know how we did it, but I made love to my beautiful Bella and didn’t wake up Charlie or disturb Tommy. I was so thankful Charlie didn’t come crashing through the door with a shot gun pointed at me. That was more terrifying than facing James again.

My dreams were weird that night. James wasn’t in any of my dreams. I was dancing in a meadow with Bella, and we were laughing and kissing. I couldn’t remember the last time I felt that happy and free. It was amazing. I was shocked when Drew came dancing into the meadow with Tommy. It was strange, but I couldn’t place what was wrong. Tommy twirled her out and back into his arms. Tommy turned and his back was to me. I saw Drew lift a hunting knife in the air and started to plunge it into Tommy’s back.

I jumped up and screamed. I was drenched with sweat. Bella was still sleeping peacefully by my side. I must not have actually screamed. I slowly slid out of bed and into the bathroom. I splashed cold water on my face and decided to take a quick shower. I couldn’t believe how vivid that dream was. It started out so wonderful. Why would Drew try to kill Tommy? I knew I wasn’t getting good feelings from her, but why would my subconscious think she would want to kill him?

I was thankful that I only had one more day before I would see Dr. Young. She was a great therapist. She helped me overcome my fear of driving. I just hoped she would be able to help me figure out why I was having nightmares. I couldn’t continue with little sleep. I could feel the effects more and more every day. I wanted to be the man Bella deserved, and the nightmares kept that from happening.

My life was falling into place. I was doing well in school, composing music again, and in love with the best woman in the world. I couldn’t wait to get rid of these dreams. I had a feeling Bella would be the key to helping me overcome my demons. I felt like I could do anything as long as she was by my side.