One Shot: Just A Kiss Goodnight

FicAwesome Gift Exchange- 3some

Title: Just a Kiss Goodnight

Written for: BeegurlThirteen

Written By: Lady Ali

Rating: T

Prompt used:

Edward or Bella is a single parent, the other is a teacher/instructor for their child. (Possible Accompanying Photo Prompt attached - Mom and Little Boy Kiss)

I want to thank Mavvy for betaing this for me at the last min. Thanks so much!

Banner done by Melissa Conder, link will be on my profile page as soon as its finished, the teaser banner is up though in the group on facebook. This story is major AH!

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Twilight Saga Characters I just like to play with them ;) I do however own Ayden, he is my own character.

A/N: I will let you all know now this in the future might very well become a full fic, just not sure when! Thanks so much for reading. Also I hope BeegurlThirteen enjoys this story!

Enjoy!

Just a Kiss Goodnight…(One Shot for Fage)

Walking back into this school building brought back memories of a childhood that I hadn't thought of in quite awhile. Shaking my head to clear the thoughts of the one over whom I had cried many nights as a child after I left this place, I continued through the front doors of Forks Elementary.

"Mommy, my class is right down here...Come on! I can't wait for you to meet my teacher; he is so cool!" Ayden yelled back at me as he ran down the hall.

Laughing at my little man, I trudged on down the hall, fighting the memories that were trying to suffocate me.

I had just moved back to Forks about a month ago. I had to return; my father Charlie had had a heart attack and was deathly ill. I came back to take care of him, leaving everything I had built behind in California. I was scared to come back here; I had been pulled away from Forks when I was ten years old. My mom and dad had gotten a divorce, and of course I went with my mom. I didn't want to leave though; I had friends here whom I wouldn't have traded for the world.

"You all have to slow down; I can't keep up with you!" I yelled through my giggles as I chased 

Jasper, Alice, and Edward around the playground. 

"Oh, come on, B! You can run faster than that; we all know it!" Jasper stopped for a split second to tease me, then took off again at full speed.

Smiling and shaking my head at them, I tried to catch up. Ali was the easy one to catch unless she hid; then I never caught her. Edward… well, there was no possibility of my catching Edward. He was way too fast for me, and I knew it. The four of us were always inseparable. The Four amigos that's what our parents called us.

"Gotcha, Ali!" I said, trying to catch my breath.

The feeling of my little man tugging on my shirt pulled me out of my haze of memories. Looking down at him, I couldn't help but smile. He didn't look a thing like me, except he had my eyes. He did, however, look exactly like his father although I really couldn't call him Ayden's father. He really had been just my sperm donor. Yes, I'm guilty of having had a one night stand with a guy I meet in a bar a guy who never came back, even though I contacted him about being pregnant He didn't give a shit. Yeah, I know totally cliché. I had been nineteen and all alone, pregnant, with no one around to help me.

"Come on, Mom; what are you doing?" He sounded so annoyed that I wasn't walking fast enough that I had to laugh at him. Rumpling his hair a bit, I stooped down to my little kindergartener's level.

"Sorry, baby, Mom was lost in memories. Remember how I told you all about Mommy going to school here and about my friends? Well, being here is making Mommy think about them. It's okay, though; Mommy is ready to meet this cool teacher of yours. You ready?" I asked, reaching out my hand for him to take.

I winked at him as he grabbed my hand and squeezed it. I let him lead me down the hall to the very end and watched him get more and more excited as we got closer to his classroom. I had never seen him so excited in his whole life. This teacher must be amazing, because Ayden didn't usually take to men. I'm not really sure why, but this teacher… he absolutely adores. As soon as Ayden had gotten off the bus after his first day of school in Forks, he hadn't shut up about this teacher. I couldn't' get him to stop talking about how cool he was and how much fun his class was. That night when I tried to get him to go to bed, he was still all worked up about it.

"Ayden, please! It's time for you to go to bed; you have school in the morning."

"But, Mommy, I can't sleep I'm wide awake! Oh, I didn't tell you that my teach..." I cut him off mid-sentence and made him simmer down a bit.

"The sooner you go to bed, the sooner you wake up and get to go to school," I tried to explain, but it didn't work.

"But, Mommy, he's…"

"Ayden Anthony Swan! That is enough. Time for bed now. Chill out, give me a kiss goodnight, then close those brown eyes and go to sleep."

I waited until he reached up to give me a kiss on the cheek and told him goodnight, making sure his fire truck nightlight was turned on and leaving his room slowly. 

Oddly enough, despite all his talking about his cool teacher, Ayden never told me his name. I hadn't even thought about it, really until now. I was already standing right in front of the classroom door before it occurred to me that I had no clue what this man's...I stopped mid-thought as a voice came to me a voice I knew, but I didn't know. It was deeper now, but I still recognized it; I just couldn't place it.

Taking the final two steps into the class room, I saw that my little man was already seated at what I guessed was his table. He was talking animatedly to a young man who was standing slightly behind him, watching him draw. Ayden must have said something to bring the man's attention to the door, because he looked up; actually, he looked right at me. As soon as our eyes connected, I was taken back-taken back to another time in my life.

"I have to go," I told them as I stood there letting the rain mingle with the tears streaming down my cheeks. "I'm moving to Phoenix with my mom. I…" I couldn't make the words come through my trembling lips. I wanted to tell them that I didn't want to go, that I wanted to stay with them. My best friends. I was leaving my best friends. 

"What do you mean, you're moving?" Ali asked me, her eyes begging for me to explain.

"Alice, my mom is leaving my dad. I'm going with her. I have to. Please, Ali-I don't want to leave, I swear I don't, but she is a mess right now and I have to help her."

"Who cares about your mom, Bella? Damn it! What about you? What do you want? For once in your life, chose something for yourself!" Edward screamed at me, moving his arms around all over the place.

I had never seen him so angry in our lives and he'd definitely never yelled at me, ever.

"Edward, please? You don't understand."

"Yes, I do. I understand that you're leaving me. You know what? I hate you. I never want to see you again. I'm done caring about you." I couldn't believe the words coming out of his mouth and the last few words stunned me even more. "I'm done loving you."

He had whispered the last part, and I wasn't sure if I had heard him right. I looked over at Alice, and she wouldn't look at me. Jasper was standing there holding Alice in his arms, rubbing her arms softly, and even he wasn't looking at me. 

I looked away. The tears that had been just streaming a few seconds before were now a torrential downpour. I watched as my mom came down the driveway in her car to pick me up from the Cullen's house before we headed to the airport. I didn't know what to say anymore. How do you say goodbye to your three best friends? A ten year old shouldn't have to tell her best friends goodbye.

"There's my mom. I love you all; you know that. I'll write and call you all the time, I promise," I said as I walked over to Alice slowly, trying my best to put off what I was doing. Wrapping my arms around her tiny body, I whispered my goodbye in her ear as she broke down and almost fell to the ground. Looking at Jasper as he caught her, I mouthed the words love you and goodbye.

Then I walked over to Edward, but he turned on me and went to walk into the house, which made me cry even harder. "Edward, please," I stuttered out between sobs.

I watched as he slowly turned around, the tears streaking down his cheeks. Staring into his eyes-the eyes that I loved to look into, eyes the color of my emerald ring-I saw all the hurt I was causing him. Taking a step toward him, I whispered the hardest goodbye yet.

"Edward, I love you, too." I slowly kissed him on his cheek, shrugging my shoulders as I uttered the words that were like a knife to my ten-year old heart. "Just a kiss goodbye"

Slowly, he leaned in and gave me a very light kiss, barely even brushing his lips against mine before pulling away and running into his house. I stood there for a second, then ran to my mom's car, opening the door and flinging myself into the passenger seat. I stared out the window at my two best friends, who were still on the porch crying, as my mom drove away from them forever. I watched them till I couldn't see them any longer. They were gone!

Those green eyes I had said goodbye to all those years ago, the ones that matched the ring on my finger, were now staring back at me in shock. Letting out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding and closing my eyes, I whispered his name so lightly I couldn't even be sure he heard it.

"Edward..." Then everything went black.

"Bella... Bella? Can you hear me?"

That voice - his voice. I could hear it, but I must have been dreaming, because there was no way that Edward Cullen could be here. Opening my eyes slowly, I looked up into those green eyes once more and realized I wasn't dreaming. He was here.

"Edward?" I asked, trying to get up off the floor of the classroom.

I watched as a smile crept across his glorious face, but he didn't say another word. He just nodded.

"Mommy, are you okay?" my little man frantically asked as he knelt down by my head, looking down at me with frightened eyes.

"Sure, baby. I'm okay. Just a bit startled, is all. Why didn't you tell me your teacher's name was Mr. Cullen?"

"I don't know; you never asked me."

Smiling, I knew he was right. I had been so busy with moving back here, unpacking, taking care of Charlie, and getting my new shop all set up that I hadn't even taken the time to sit down and ask my little man his teacher's name. Great; now I felt terrible.

I watched as Edward stood up and reached his hand out, offering to help me up. He hadn't said another word to me since I opened my eyes. I slowly reached out and took his hand, instantly relaxing as soon as my skin touched his. Very gently, he helped me to my feet, and all three of us stood there looking at each other. I wanted to talk to him, but I had no idea what to say. So we all stood there in silence... awkward silence.

"Mommy, come over and see! Hurry!" my little man called to me as he walked back over to his table. He was so excited that I just had to see what he was talking about. As I went to walk toward him, I felt a tug on my arm. Edward hadn't let go of my hand, and it seemed he wasn't going to.

It took him a few seconds to realize what he was doing. Once he did, he behaved as if he had been shocked, pulling his hand back from mine faster than I had ever seen someone move. I felt the loss of his warm, gentle touch right away.

I walked over to where my Ayden sat. He showed me his drawing; it was of the two of us on our recent trip to the beach, but the other person in the picture had me puzzled.

"Ayden, who is that?" I asked, pointing at the man in the picture.

"Duh, Mommy. That is Mr. Edward." He said it as if it was the most thing in the world.

Looking up at Edward, I noticed how shocked he was as well; but Edward recovered faster than I did, motioning for me to come over and talk to him away from Ayden.

I did what he asked and walked over to his desk, where a chair was waiting for me. I couldn't help but stare at Edward as I slowly took my seat.

"Wow, Bella! I can't believe it's really you. It's been so long. With that being said, let's get this parent-teacher stuff over with, and then we can talk about other things afterward if you have time."

"Sure, I have time... How... Um...Well, how is Ayden doing in class? I was worried with us moving in the middle of the year and him going to a new school and all. Is he doing okay?"

I was having a hard time getting the words to come out of my mouth. Staring right into Edward's emerald eyes was choking my word supply to my brain.

"He's doing really well. He's reading the first grade level, so that's great. His penmanship needs a little help, but I know you can help him with that; you always had beautiful hand writing."

I couldn't' believe he remembered that, but he used to tell me that all the time. I had thought it was weird; we had been so young, but he always noticed that kind of stuff. My face must have been bright red because I could feel the heat of it.

"Edward, I want to know something. Did you not know he was my son?"

"No, I didn't. I probably should have with the last name, but it didn't click until you walked in here tonight. Is it as weird for you as it is for me?"

I could only nod my head. My brain was telling me to do something that I was totally not even ready for yet.

"Bella, he's doing great, honestly." He looked over at Ayden and then back at me, staring me down so intensely I had to look away. It was as if he was trying to convey a message to me through his eyes. I used to be able to know exactly what he was thinking, but that had been years ago. I couldn't do it anymore. "Bella…"

"We've got to go, Edward... or, I mean, Mr. Cullen. Thanks for your time. Come on, Ayden. It's time to go home." Standing up as fast as I could manage, I tugged Ayden out of the classroom and back down the hall. I had to get out of there; I just couldn't handle the looks I was getting from Edward. I could tell he was already wanting things to go back to the way they had been before I left, but they. I wasn't the same person anymore- nowhere near! I wasn't that ten-year-old, shy, clumsy girl who only hung out with her three best friends.

"Bella..." Edward's voice stopped me in my tracks at the front door of the school. " Please, Bella, don't run away again."

His words took my breath away. What was he saying?

"Mommy, what's going on?"

"It's okay, honey. Remember how Mommy told you about my friends that I had when I used to live here? Well, Mr. Cullen was one of them. Mr. Cullen is Edward."

"Oh, you mean the one you loved."

Of course that was the part he would remember. I had told him about how I had loved Edward one night sitting in his bed when he just wouldn't go to sleep. I was dog tired and dozing off, and the words slipped right out of my mouth. I thought he had been asleep, too, but I guess not.

"We've got to go." Smiling, I led Ayden to my car. I could feel another pair of eyes on my back, as I left Edward standing there at the school's front door.

That night, I sat in my bed thinking about Edward and the words he had said. I hadn't run away; I had been dragged out of Forks. It hadn't been my choice! Thoughts of the past made me wonder something, so I got up out of my bed quietly enough to not wake up Ayden and ran down the stairs to talk to Charlie.

"Hey, Dad. Do the Cullen's still live next door?"

With a smile on his face, he nodded his head. He knew what I was really asking did Edward still live next door?

"Yes, one of the Cullen's still lives next door. Edward lives in the Cullen house. Esme and Carlisle moved away to their island last year. Who in the world has their own island?" he said with a soft laugh, coughing in the middle of it.

"Dad, are you okay?"

"Yep, fine and dandy," he said, noticing that I was a bit freaked out. I was always worried he would have another heart attack. I hadn't been here during the last one, and I regretted it so much.

"What about Alice?"

"Oh, she lives next door, too, but not with Edward. She lives with Jasper. They got married, you know."

Wow. I really hadn't known that. I felt like such a bad friend. I hadn't talked to any of them in years. I had sort of kept to myself since I had Ayden. I mean, I didn't regret having him, but I'd felt like I had let so many people down when I had gotten pregnant.

"Are you alright, Bella? You shouldn't be worried about me; you're the one who's too pale."

" What? Oh, yeah. I'm fine, Dad. I think I'm going to go out for a walk. Do you mind? Ayden is asleep and shouldn't wake up. I just need some air. "

"No, you go ahead. I got it covered if he does wake up."

"Thanks."

I had no idea what I was doing; I just knew I needed out of the house to think. So Alice and Jasper lived on one side of me and Edward on the other. Heading out my back door, I wondered if our old tree house was still there. Walking toward the woods, I walked absentmindedly toward it. It didn't seem to take me as long as it used to reach it. Before I knew it, I was standing right in front of it, but I wasn't the only one there.

"Edward? What are you doing here?"

I watched as he slowly turned around, his whole body spinning to face me. My eyes traveled on their own accord all the way up his body until I meet his eyes with my own. He must have caught me ogling him because he had an amused look on his face.

"I was on my way to see you, actually. You left in such a hurry earlier that you left your jacket in my classroom," he said, handing over my jacket.

I hadn't even realized I had left it.

"Thanks. I didn't even realize I wasn't wearing it. Edward, I…"

"I know, Bella. It's okay; I've missed you, too," he said, smiling at me with that smirk only he could ever pull off. I knew I had to explain what Ayden had said and why he had said it.

"Edward, listen. I want to explain what Ayden said earlier."

"No need. Bella, why did you stop writing all of us?" He totally caught me off guard by changing the subject with his question. I had no idea how to answer it at first, but I was saved for a few seconds because he kept on talking. "I know I've missed you like crazy, and so has Alice. What did we do, Bella?"

"You didn't do anything; none of you did. Is that what you think? That I stopped writing to you all because you did something wrong? No, Edward. I did. I was the one who did something. I made a mistake, and I felt like I'd let everyone down. I felt like I let you down. I…"

By this time, the tears were gushing out of my eyes and down my cheeks. Covering my eyes with my hands, I fell to the ground as gracefully as I could. I was never the graceful one, but I tried my best. I couldn't stand the crushing weight of him knowing how badly I had let him down.

"Bella… you could never let me down. If you're talking about having Ayden, then you don't know me as well as I thought you did. Ayden is your son, and he's perfect. He has your eyes, and no one with those eyes could ever let me down. That includes you. Bella, look at me."

I couldn't do what he asked. I knew I probably looked like crap with the tears streaming down my face, makeup all smeared, sitting there on the cold ground. I waited for him to continue talking, but he didn't. It was too quiet. What if he had left me here? That thought made me slightly lift my chin, to be confronted with the most beautiful eyes I had ever seen.

"You could never let me down. No matter what you think, Bella, I've missed you so much. You were my best friend, and I loved you. Really, I still do love you. I don't really know you that well anymore, but you have always been in my heart. Please give me a chance to get to know you again. Give me a chance to love you again."

I was shocked. I had no clue how to reply to his confession, but the words somehow just slipped out with out me having to really try.

"Edward, I didn't run away. You said I ran away, but I never did. I didn't have a choice. I loved you, too; I still do. I couldn't believe my eyes today when I saw you standing there in that classroom. I can't believe you're a teacher. I'm a nobody, Edward. I didn't do what I set out to do. I didn't go to college and become a teacher; instead, you did. I didn't wait to fall in love to have a kid; no, instead I had a one night stand. I don't even know where Ayden's father is. I am a hair stylist and a tattoo artist. That's all I am."

"NO! You're a mom and, from what Ayden has told me, you're the best mom in the world, which I don't doubt one bit. You're more than what you make yourself out to be. You never saw yourself very clearly. One of these days, I'm going to make you see just how much you truly are how important and loved you are! You have to see it! You aren't a nobody,! No, you're Isabella Marie Swan, and you have a beautiful son named Ayden Swan. You're a fighter, a very strong-willed person; you're so much and you have no clue."

Leaning down and reaching out to grab my hand, Edward helped me off the ground.

"Speaking of Ayden Anthony Swan, I'd better get back. I left him with Charlie, and he still can't do certain things after his heart attack, even though he tries." I watched Edwards face light up as I mentioned Ayden's middle name.

"Bella, don't run away," he whispered. "Can I ask for something from you before you go?"

"Sure," I answered softly.

"Can I have… just a kiss goodnight?"

Posted in: Fage, Just A Kiss Goodnight, One Shot