When We Were Young (Twilight)

Chapter 22

The days pass quicker than I would like them to.

I'm at the gallery more than I'm at Rose and Em's apartment. The key to Edward's place sits on a chain next to my heart. I haven't been back; it doesn't feel like a place I want to be without him.

Garrett jokes and says it's a good thing, that Rose is in rare form.

"Those hormones." He shakes his head, letting out a breath.

Edward and I talk every day. Sometimes it's just to say hi, and sometimes we talk until one of us falls asleep. We Facetime, text- I tell him about the exhibit and about the way Kate has transformed the space and how it feels like me. She's captured my personality.

We're down to less than a month until opening night.

"Lighter."

"Too light."

"Jesus, Gar. Are you trying to blind us?" Kate says next to me, feet up just like Rose who sits on the other side of me. One of them has a swollen belly; the other one has a bump so small it looks like she just had a big lunch.

"I think our kids might have seen that," Rose says, rubbing her stomach while Kate just nods her head.

"Would you like to do it, then?" he asks under his breath, but I still hear it.

I throw a Twizzler at him and he catches it, popping the end of it in his mouth, tinkering with the back lights. I roll my eyes but watch him work.

The picture he's working with lighting is one of my favorites. I captured it one morning while we were in the African savanna.

It was a particularly bad night, and all I wanted to do was talk to Charlie. I ended up staying awake all night with Jake, someone else who came on the trip with us. He became a fast friend, someone I could lean on.

Before we knew it, the sun was starting to rise and I watched as a giraffe and her calf became impossibly too close. As always, my camera was glued to my hands while I captured them.

And it was one of those moments when I let myself think of Edward.

The print of the result sits in front of us.

Now the picture makes me smile because I think of Charlie, knowing he is with me, no matter what.

As if he can read my mind from across a country, Edward's name pops up on my phone as it rings.

Kate grabs it, impossibly too quick.

"Isabella's phone." She smiles when I throw a Twizzler at her, too. She hands me my phone after a minute of asking obscene questions.

"Hi," I say, walking away to my office.

"I still think she doesn't like me." I hear the smile in his voice, knowing that he is fond of her and Kate really does love him. The first time she answered my phone when he called, she was a little bitchy to him. He admitted that maybe he deserved it.

"Impossible," I reply, shaking my head.

"How's your night going?" I ask, after a moment of silence.

"Busy," he replies, sounding distracted.

"Are you okay?" I ask, because this feels strained, like it did in the beginning.

"Yeah, I just... someone asked about significant others today. It was offhanded and... I just miss you and I don't even know if I can say stuff like this. I hate this in-between."

I look at the picture on my desk. It's us on our wedding day. Kate said it belonged there. I don't even know how she got it.

"I should go..." I say, taken aback by his words, my heart singing.

"Oh...okay. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

I laugh. "No, I mean... I'll come to Spain. Garrett can handle everything here... I miss you, too."

He lets out a laugh. "I'm glad we're getting this communication thing down."

"Yeah." I wait for him to say something about me traveling to Spain.

"Bella, you can't give up your life to come here. Years ago, I should have said the same thing. It's totally different now, too. You're about to be an aunt."

"Okay."

There's a knock at the door.

"Bella, I don't want to interrupt, but Garrett's making all of the lights piss green," Kate says through the door, and Edward laughs.

"I'll call you later?" I say, utterly tired of the phone calls and sad that we didn't get enough time to talk.

"Yeah, baby."

I smile, "Okay."

"Fuck."

"Nice. Try not to say that to anyone tonight," Gar says from beside me.

"I don't want to do this. I feel like it's a raunchy ad about myself and I hate it." I pace the office, and suddenly my dress is too tight, and my feet hurt.

"So, Edward couldn't make it tonight?" I shoot a glare at him. "Wrong question. Got it." He blows out a breath.

"Okay, fine here it goes: snap out of it. Everything you've displayed here tonight? It belongs there. I will never forget the scared girl who showed up at my workshop and blew me away. You have continued to blow me away, astonish me and make me feel like a really proud big brother. You got this."

I hug him, overwhelmed but happy, and thank him.

"Also, there's a really important buyer interested in you tonight." He shrugs, grabbing my hand.

"Let's go get 'em," he says, pulling me along.

I hear Kate talk and then, "She's one of my best friends and she's the talent behind everything you see here tonight. Isabella Cullen."

The name almost knocks me off my feet, but I'm still glad I used it. It means a lot. Having a piece of Edward here when he couldn't make it because of his schedule.

I send a wave- a thanks for being there- and I'm completely ready to get out of the spotlight.

Rose finds me, hand on her stomach. It'll be any day now.

Em hugs me, lifting me off the ground. We take pictures and I get lost in the people who have come to see my work.

"Bell. Someone needs to see you by the Savanna showcase," Garrett whispers in my ear.

I try to get more details but he tells me to go.

I don't know who I was expecting when I round the corner, there's someone with his back to me.

My steps falter, and he must hear the deep breath I take because he turns around.

Crooked smile. Bright green eyes. Tuxedo.

Edward.

"Hi, Mrs. Cullen." He quirks an eyebrow, and I wonder how he feels about it, for only a second.

I'm in front of him before I know it, my arms around his neck as he hugs me.

"What are you doing here?" It's muffled, but I feel him chuckle.

"I wouldn't have missed it for the world, Bella," he says when I pull back to look at him.

I give him the biggest smile, and having him here means everything to me.

"How long are you here for?" I wonder. We have so much to work on, to sort out.

"We have time." He shrugs, eyes dancing.

"Do we?" My mind and heart racing.

"Let's start with forever."