Better Things

Chapter 19

A/N: Sorry for the delay! RL sometimes gets in the way. Anyway, here's the last regular chapter. Epilogue will be up next week.

Huge thanks to all of you for reviewing, favoriting, and just reading this story! Also, a huge thanks to Heather for her mad beta skills.

Remember, to read the more mature version please be 18 and head over to FF.

"Oh, thank God! I can't wait to get out of here!" Edward exclaimed right after his doctor told him he was being released. He'd been in the hospital for over a week, and he'd been going stir crazy. I didn't blame him. It had been a long week for all of us, not to mention that there'd been very little alone time for the two of us. Edward wasn't up to much more than making out, but I still craved some one-on-one time with him.

"I've got your room all made up," Esme said to him after the doctor left, and a look of surprise flashed over Edward's face.

"Oh, I was planning on going back to the dorms," he said.

Esme gave a little sigh. "I had a feeling you'd say that. I was hoping I could convince you to stay with us for a bit while you're recovering."

Edward fiddled with his shirt before finally meeting his mother's gaze. "It will be easier for me to attend classes if I'm already on campus instead of having to drive there every day."

He did have a valid point, and Esme obviously saw that.

"All right, but I expect you to call me once a day for an update," she told him, leaning over to kiss his cheek.

"Seriously?" he whined but quickly shut up when Esme shot him the mother of all mother looks. The ones that shut you up when they're thrown your way.

"Okay," he mumbled in agreement, shooting a nasty glare at a snickering Emmett.

An hour later, Dr. Cullen, who asked me to call him Carlisle, was pulling his Mercedes into the dorm parking lot, and the four of us got out. Emmett, Rose, Jasper, and Alice had all ridden back ahead of us in Emmett's Hummer. They were waiting at the entrance of the dorms for us, and we slowly made our way up the walk.

Together, we all walked into the dormitory. I was hoping because it was close to dinner time that there would be less people around, but I was wrong. We made our way toward the elevator, noticing all of the people staring at us. Alice had informed Edward and me that the whole school was talking about what had happened and that speculations and rumors were running rampant. I honestly didn't care what they thought, but the stares were very annoying.

Once we were in Edward's room and he was settled in, his mother sat down next to him and smothered Edward with kisses, much to his embarrassment, and had the rest of us dying with laughter at how red his face got. Eventually, Carlisle pulled her off of him.

"Esme, he's fine. We'll talk to him tomorrow," he assured her. "Edward, if you start to hurt worse or think something's wrong, you call me. Understood?"

"Got it," he told his dad before hugging both his parents goodbye.

As soon as they left, he gingerly laid down on his bed, and I sat down next to him. He looked so tired, and he was still too pale for my liking.

"Get some rest," I told him, leaning down and placing a gentle kiss on his lips.

"Stay," he told me, and I agreed.

His dreams were rough that night, and neither one of us got much sleep. Edward felt awful and kept apologizing, but I told him it wasn't his fault. I'd had some pretty rough dreams myself, and Jasper had told us that Alice had been having nightmares as well.