Chapter 1

EPOV

"And just what seems to be the problem?" I asked, already bored out of my mind and I wasn't
even half-way through my shift.

Normally I loved being on-call for the university's tech support, which was located in the
basement of the library, or the "dungeon" as many people in called it. Being surrounded by
computers, random technical parts, and bookshelves lined with "How To" guides wasn't
everyone's ideal working environment, but I felt at home down here. Especially on days like
this, when I was alone. But today was not a normal day.

"It just won't work! I did everything the instructions said to do, but nothing is working!" the
girl on the phone whined. Loudly.

Why do all freshman girls sound the same when whining? Is it something they're taught
before they leave high school?

"Okay, just calm down and we'll go over it step by step," I said in a, hopefully, soothing tone.
"Did you install the program onto your computer?"

There was silence on the other end, and then a small voice asked, "What program?"

And we have a winner!

At least this one was solved after a minute. Most of these "help me set up my internet" calls
usually lasted 10 to 15 minutes.

"The program found on the installation disc that comes with the instructions and Ethernet
cord," I explained.

"Oh… well, let me try that and see what happens. Thanks!" she said before hanging up.

Seriously, how hard was it to install a simple Resident Internet program and set up the
university's internet access? A monkey could do that, in his sleep.

I wasn't normally so hard on the fairer sex, but being stuck behind a desk, answering phone
calls similar to that one for the past three hours would eventually get to anyone. It's not like
I'm a saint.

Pushing the thin, black, wire-framed glasses I had worn since sixth grade higher up on my
nose, I got back to the chatroom discussion I had been involved in before answering that call,
which, last time I looked, we had been discussing the pros and cons of using Javascript over
Flash. Someone had brought up Python in my absence and all hell had broken loose.

I signed off and sat back in my chair right before I heard a voice float down the corridor.

The nice thing about being in the basement was the advantage you had when someone
entered. People didn't just randomly wander down here. If someone came down, it was for a

reason. And it usually gave me, or whoever was down here, enough time to look like we were
working on something important, instead of goofing off. Which is what we did about 90
percent of the time.

"And these are the tech support offices," a guy whose voice I recognized said. It was Mike
Newton, the head of student workers in the library. He must be showing someone around.
"Usually they're full," he continued, "but since move-in at the dorms isn't officially until
tomorrow, there's only one person on-call to answer phones and such."

Even though Mike was in charge of all the student workers in this library, he only ever chose
the girls to show around. But not just any girls. No, he chose the pretty ones. The ones he
thought he had a chance with, even though he wasn't supposed to develop a relationship with
a student worker.

Not that you could call what he did with the willing ones a "relationship".

Poor thing probably had no idea what was about to hit her. Or hit on her.

I saw them once they rounded the corner of the corridor, heading my way. Mike was pointing
out various things and the girl beside him feigned interest. I say feigned because you could
tell she didn't really care.

Well, most people could tell. Obviously Mike didn't notice, otherwise he wouldn't be so
happy to explain every little thing.

I took a second to look the girl over. She was hot from afar. I could see why Mike picked her.
Petite, thin, but not unhealthy looking, curves in all the right places, dark brown hair up in a
messy bun, and a heart-shaped face. Very girl-next-door meets sexy-librarian.

Turning back to the computer screen, I logged in the last caller I had, trying to appear like I
had been working the entire time.

"And this is Edward, our go-to guy for all things technical, and the supervisor of all the other
tech student workers down here," I heard Mike say, which was my cue to turn around.

I pasted a smile on my face and looked up to the most beautiful girl I had ever seen in my life.
Words couldn't begin to describe her.

Had I really thought of her as hot from afar? Because up close, it was a completely different
story. She wasn't just hot, she was beautiful. Beyond beautiful. A goddess. How did I miss
that before? No one could really be this beautiful… could they? I thought girls like this only
existed in fantasies, comics, and those porn videos Emmett loved to watch.

I felt my jaw drop as she smiled at me and waved politely. The smallest little crinkles in the
corners of her eyes appeared when she smiled and I had the strangest urge to kiss them.

"Hi, I'm Bella," she said, her chocolate brown eyes pulling me in like a siren's call. I lost
myself in them, swimming happily along in their depths.

I don't know how long we stared at each other, but it was long enough to make Mike clear his
throat impatiently.

Dragging my eyes away from her and running a hand through my hair, I managed to stammer
out, "Sorry. Hi."

"Hi," she repeated, blushing a little.

Oh, god. That blush only added to her beauty, if that was possible. And her voice. Did I
mention her voice before now? It was soft and musical, washing over me and setting off a
ringing noise in my head. Not an annoying ringing noise, but rather one that said to me,
"Wake up. Pay attention. Make her speak again."

"Anyway," Mike began, dragging out the word to get Bella's attention. I could tell he was
eager to be off; he never liked staying down here too long. "Let's get you back upstairs and
finish that paperwork so you can start tomorrow."

The goddess turned her head and gave Mike a half-smile. "Okay."

I did nothing but stare as they walked out, leaving me alone once again.

Did that really just happen? It seemed more surreal than anything else had before in my life.
Not even that time when I got to meet Joss Whedon at the ComiCon two years ago was as
surreal as that had been. Fucking Joss Whedon just got topped by that girl.

Bella. That was her name. Bella. It means beautiful in… Italian, I think, which fit her
perfectly. Her parents really knew what they were doing when they named her Bella.

But it wasn't like I stood a chance with her. I was just some full-on geek, glasses included.
She probably had a jock boyfriend who could knock me out with a single punch. I couldn't
compete with someone like that, for someone like her. It wasn't even a competition.

So I pushed her out of my mind. There was no point dwelling on her, especially if I couldn't
do anything about it. I would just chalk the last five minutes up as a dream and only pull out
her image when I needed to be reminded that angels did walk the earth.

My cell phone rang then and I picked it up to look at the caller ID screen.

Emmett.

"Hello?" I said, answering the call.

"Dude. You have to come to this epic party we're having tomorrow night to kick off the new
school year," Emmett yelled over the phone. He always yelled at me. The guy only had two
volumes: normal-loud and party-loud. Party-loud was a deeper, more booming kind of loud.
Plus his words were always a little slurred in party-loud.

"Ugh, Emmett. You know I hate going to those SAE parties."

"Don't sweat it, man. You're a junior now. Upperclassman. You're golden when it comes to
these freshmen girls."

"I don't know. I'll think about it," I promised, hoping he would forget about it by tomorrow.

Emmett was a great guy, whom I had known since junior high, but sometimes he could be a
little too much. Too much of a party animal. Too much of an aggressor. Just too much.

We lived next door to each other all through junior high and high school, and became friends
before the cliques of high school demanded we not hang out with each other. But Emmett had
been the exception and ignored the closely respected rule. It was like some sort of John
Hughes movie – the king of campus and the lowly nerd becoming friends, even though they
really had nothing in common.

He was one year older than me, but that one year could easily be mistaken for ten. While he
had developed a body that every woman in a five-mile radius drooled over, I had stayed on
the gangly side. Not exactly lean with muscles, but not stick-crazy thin. Somewhere in the
middle. No girl had really been interested in me before, not when Emmett was around to
distract them with his muscles and golden-boy good looks.

And to top it off, he was the President of Sigma Alpha Epsilon, or SAE, the most notorious
fraternity on campus. Everyone knew who he was. He boosted something like 800 friends on
Facebook. It was insane how popular the guy was.

I was lucky to have enough friends from my classes and from work to break into the high 50s
on Facebook. But I was fine with that. Most guys I befriended couldn't believe I knew
Emmett because it was too bizarre for them to comprehend how we were friends. I never
knew how to answer their incomprehensiveness because I didn't know how Emmett and I
remained friends either.

I guess he was just too stubborn to not be my friend.

"I'm not going to take that 'I don't know' crap, Eddie," Emmett demanded, bringing me out of
my thoughts. I hated when he called me Eddie, but I didn't have the nerve to tell him that.
"You're coming. That's final. You need a girl too much. I mean, good god man, you're 21 and
still a virgin!"

I grimaced as he laughed his ass off from his last statement. He thought it was a big joke that I
remained a virgin until I met the right girl. Why did he have to say that sort of stuff out loud?
It was one thing for him to know, but that didn't mean I wanted everyone to know my personal
shit.

"Emmett, you know that's a personal choice for me, and I would really like it if you stopped
saying that I'm a… virgin… out loud," I spat out, hissing 'virgin' like someone was going to
hear me. "But if it'll shut you up, I'll come to your stupid party."

"Yes! You're not gonna regret it, bro. KD is our sister sorority this year and they're co-hosting
this little shindig with us," he explained, getting louder with each sentence. "They've got some
serious hotties in that sorority, and I'm sure I can set something up for you."

"Good to know," I grumbled, already knowing whatever he 'set up' for me would fall through
once the girl got a good look at me. No pretty girl really goes for the geek, unless said geek is
rolling in the money, like Bill Gates. For the rest of us, it didn't happen. That was something
that only happened in the movies. "I'll see you tomorrow then. I need to get off the phone and
go back to work."

"Sure, sure. See ya tomorrow!"

I hit the 'end' button and let out a disgruntled sign. Stupid, overbearing jock. I knew he only
had my best interests at heart, but who's to say that going to a party was in my best interest?

For a split second I wondered if I might see Bella there, but then I quickly dismissed it. It
would do me no good if I started thinking about her again.

Ugh, I hated parties more than anything. Well, Emmett's type of parties, with the dirty
dancing, alcohol and general debauchery. I loved going to my kind of parties, which involved
Red Bull, LAN-ing, and Unreal World Tournament.

The hotline phone rang and I picked it up, resigning myself to yet another clueless freshman
girl's inability to correctly follow instructions.

It was going to be a long 5 hours until my shift ended.

Chapter 2

EPOV

Thank God that's over, I rejoiced as I walked to my apartment, only a stone's throw away
from the library, after my shift ended. All I wanted to do for the next 24 hours was sign on to
my WoW account and play my main, a level 70 Undead Priest.

But alas, I had to work tomorrow.

It was going to be a monumentally hectic day, what with all the new freshmen descending
upon the campus like the swarm of locusts they were. I felt myself get tired just thinking
about all the phone calls I would have to answer and the people I would have to listen to,
which might lead me to bang my head against a wall later.

And then, horror of horrors, I had to go to a freakin' frat party after work.

I knew there was no chance of getting out of it, as much as I wanted to, because no one said
'no' to Emmett once you had already said 'yes'. It just wasn't done. And I sure as hell wasn't
going to be the one to rock the boat.

But that doesn't mean I have to show up alone, I thought, a plan already forming in my mind.

I unlocked my apartment door and stepped inside. "Hey Ben, you here?"

It was a pointless question because I could hear the loud, thumping beats of his ever-present
techno music emanating from his room. It had been like this all month. I don't think he

listened to anything else, which made me sad for his eardrums and the eventual hearing
problems he would have in the future.

I walked over to his bedroom door and knocked loudly to be heard over the music. A couple
seconds later, it was turned down and Ben cracked open the door.

"Hey Edward, what's up?" he asked, looking slightly groggy.

Did he sleep with that horrible music on now? Not that I would classify what he listened to as
music. It was just noise to me.

"Hey, I was just wondering if you had plans for tomorrow night," I said very nonchalantly.

"Yeah, Ang is dragging me to this party her sorority is hosting," he mumbled, rubbing one of
his eyes with a fist.

That's what I was hoping his answer would be.

Ang was Angela, Ben's girlfriend of the last two years, and coincidentally, a member of the
Kappa Delta sorority. The same sorority that was co-hosting the party I had been harassed
into attending by Emmett.

Yes, my world was a small one after all.

Sometimes too small, I thought, narrowing my eyes. Which is probably why I escape to outer
space and fantasy worlds in my spare time.

Gah, enough psychobabble. I knew taking that psychology class last year was a mistake. Back
to my now foolproof plan, since I knew Ben would be attending said party.

"Is that the one at the SAE house?" I asked, not letting on to any of the giddiness that was
happening below the surface at leading him down the path I had chosen for him.

I felt very god-like in that moment.

"Sure is. SAE is apparently their brother fraternity this year, which Ang isn't particularly
happy about, but whatever." A second later, he inquired, "Why do you ask?"

I shrugged, still playing the cool card. "Emmett called me earlier and wanted me to go to that
same party. And since I know you're going now, what if we went together?"

And then I suddenly realized if taken the wrong way, those words could imply I was asking
Ben out on a date. Which I wasn't. Because I don't swing that way. So I hastily added, "I mean
you, me, and Angela could go together."

"Yeah, sure. Whatever. I'm gonna pick her up at the KD house around 9. That cool with you?"

"That's perfect. Thanks Ben," I gushed, momentarily forgetting I was supposed to be playing
it cool. I was just grateful to not be subjected to arriving to a party by myself, at least for one
night. "I'll let you get back to whatever you were doing."

"Oh, hey!" he exclaimed, as if suddenly recalling something. "The guys want to play D&D
this weekend. You in?"

"You know it. But only if Eric isn't the game master again." I frowned, recalling the last time
we had played. Eric thought it was hilarious to keep killing us off for stupid things, like
shooting off an arrow, only to have it snap a huge tree in half and crush us. Stupid, pointless
stuff like that.

"Agreed. I don't think anyone wants that again," he said enthusiastically.

There was a small, uncomfortable moment that occurred as we looked at each other, unsure of
what to say next. I had only been rooming with Ben for the past month, and even though we
had been in several of the same classes since freshman year because we were both computer
science majors, there were still moments like these that held that weird "I don't really know
you well enough to just walk away without saying something first" vibe.

"Okay," I interjected into the silence, a little awkwardly. "I'm gonna get something to eat."

"Sounds good. Later," Ben said before stepping back and closing the door.

"Yeah," I muttered, making my way to the kitchen.

Ben and I had hit it off one day in class our first semester here, after I mentioned in passing
that I had a rather large collection of X-Men comics. Our mutual love of all things X-Men
also led us to discover other similar interests in just about everything else. So when the time
came last year to figure out who I wanted to share an apartment with, the choice had been
easy, even if he did play incredibly loud techno music at all hours of the day… and night.

Upon reaching the kitchen, I zapped a Hot Pocket and grabbed a Dr. Pepper from the fridge.
Then I holed up in my room for the night, pwning on the battlegrounds of Arathi Basin.

Work passed by quicker than I thought it would the next day. I had hoped I would see Bella at
some point between my constant runnings around the library, but I had no such luck.

Maybe it was better that way, though. I didn't like getting my hopes up with wishing and
looking for her like I had done all day. It wasn't fair to my heart since it would start beating
erratically whenever I spotted a girl with dark, brown hair from the corner of my eye, only to
turn and see it wasn't her. If I didn't see her for a long enough period of time, I was positive I
would get over my infatuation.

My plan for tonight was to just go to the party, put in an appearance so Emmett couldn't say I
had bailed, and then split for some quality time with my Orc Hunter. He needed to level up
once more before I could run the Wailing Caverns. The only downside to that plan was then I
would have to put up with the Barrens chat. And nobody wanted that, if they could help it.

Ben and I set off for the KD house at 8:45 pm and before I knew it, I was following behind
them to the SAE house, which was just off Greek row. I could hear the music coming from
the party in the night air, even though we were still a good 200 yards away.

Oh, good. Some rap crap to kill my brain cells.

As we neared the house, I saw people outside in the yard, huddled around in a circle, cheering
on whatever was going on in the middle. It wasn't until I got closer that I saw two girls in
string bikinis, wrestling each other in a kiddie pool full of… lubricant gel, if I had to venture a
guess. Very classy.

Looks like Emmett's been watching too much of 'Old School' again.

People were shoulder-to-shoulder in the foray as we entered the house. And as I looked
around, I noticed the entire student body had turned out for this party.

Okay, maybe not the entire student body. But enough people, that we were packed in here like
sheep heading to our slaughter. There would be no way Emmett could find me in this
madhouse, so I seriously contemplated ditching right then and there.

Angela and Ben indicated to me in hand gestures, since it was far too loud to hear anything
anyone said unless you were two inches from their ear, that they were going to get something
to drink. I nodded in understanding and went off on my own, managing to find a spot along
the wall where there weren't that many people.

I ran over my options as I stood there, watching people drink from plastic cups and fawn over
each other in an attempt to flirt and socialize. One, I could ditch, call Emmett in the morning
and then go on and on about how awesome the party was, even though in truth, I hadn't stayed
that long. Two, I could stay, find Emmett, and then ditch, thus forgoing the phone call in the
morning. Or three, I could stay, wander around forever and not find Emmett, only to waste
hours at a party I didn't want to be at in the first place.

Option one was fast becoming my favorite.

That was, until I saw Emmett from across the room. And he saw me.

Crap.

Option two it was.

He made a gesture for me to join him and as I started toward him, I felt a light pressure on my
arm, as if someone had placed their hand there, and then a blast of hot breath on my ear, just
before hearing a soft, lilting voice ask, "Don't I know you?"

Chapter 3

BPOV

"Don't I know you?" I asked as quietly as I could over the roar of the music and party
atmosphere, right before breathing in his scent along with some much needed air. Oh, god. He
smelled as good as he looked. I didn't think that was possible.

I also would not have thought it was possible that I was about to do what I planned on doing,
so in light of that, I guess anything was possible.

I pulled back a little as his face swung around to mine so our heads wouldn't knock together,
and his beautiful green eyes widened behind those cute, nerdy glasses he wore as he looked at
me.

God, he was gorgeous. If he would let me, I would seriously just stare at him all day.

What was it about glasses that intensified the hotness a guy already possessed?

This seemed to be a very strange occurrence in nature because glasses were supposed to dull
down the effect a person's eyes had on you. And to 'geek' them out, if you will. But it actually
was like adding fuel to a fire. At least it was like that for me.

My fascination with eyeglass wearing men could probably be traced back to "Lois & Clark:
The New Adventures of Superman". Dean Cain was a total hottie in real life, but when you
put a pair of specks on the guy, it instantly doubled his sex appeal. Of course, I had been a
preteen when the show ran, so I didn't fully appreciate his hotness until later in life. But just
because I had been young at the time didn't make it any less true.

I could still remember thinking as I watched that first season, 'Why is Lois going for
Superman? Clark is ten times hotter than him and willing to be with her.'

Yes, I knew Clark and Superman were the same person. But one was accessible, adorable, and
a tad nerdy, while the other was standoffish, flighty, and annoyingly gave off mixed signals
all the time. It didn't seem like much of a contest in my book.

Maybe the problem had been Lois's inability to see past the tight spandex that was perfectly
wrapped around Superman's muscled body. So she couldn't be bothered with looking him in
the face and seeing all of this for herself.

Frankly, the muscled look didn't really do it for me. My friend Rosalie loved a good-looking,
muscled guy, but I liked my men a little leaner and wiry.

Like Edward.

There was something more to him than just his looks, though, or the untidy auburn hair that
looked so soft I wanted to run my fingers through it and then latch on, never letting go.

No, there was something about Edward himself that drew me to him. Something that had
made me interested that first time we saw each other yesterday. Like a ringing sound in the
back of my mind that had switched on when I met him, making me fully note his presence in
the room and think about nothing but him all day.

This was the same ringing sound I heard right now, which had been on since he had walked
into this house and I had spotted him, in all his geeky glory. He hadn't looked very
comfortable here and I don't know what made him decide to come. But I was very glad he did.

And, before fully thinking my plan out and what would happen if he refused, I had walked up
to him, leaned in really close, and said the dumbest line ever.

But I was already here. Might was well go for it, right?

"If I asked you to do something, would you do it?" I inquired, praying he would say yes. I
didn't really know any other guys here, not that I wanted to ask anyone else. There was just
something about Edward in particular that made me feel safe. Like he wouldn't let anything
hurt me.

Our faces were inches apart so I saw every emotion that passed through him as he processed
my question – amazement, dismay, uncertainty, and then determination. He nodded and I
leaned in so our cheeks were almost touching, while my hand crept up his arm.

His surprisingly toned arm.

"Would you pretend to be my boyfriend for the next five minutes?"

I had planned on continuing with an explanation, but my brain stopped functioning and I
ended up gasping slightly as I felt his hand rest upon my hip. The warmth was delicious. And
that was with a layer of clothes on.

Imagine what it would be like without them, said a stray thought, and involuntarily, my
breathing picked up in response to the images that were now running through my head.

"What do you need me to do?" I heard him say, his breath brushing against my cheek. His
velvety voice turned my insides to goo before relief washed through me at his words. He was
going to go along with my plan.

Thank God for small miracles.

"Kiss me," I breathed before pulling back and looking straight into his eyes. Edward's eyes
were already gorgeous behind those lenses and I had a feeling if he removed his glasses, the
total effect would leave me incoherent.

He appeared momentarily stunned and I lost hope for a second that I had gone too far, but
then ever so slowly, he leaned in closer until his lips brushed lightly against mine.

In that second I felt a streak of electricity travel from my mouth down to my toes, curling
them inside my shoes. After that, I was lost.

He made no move to deepen the kiss, but this slight contact was still enough for me to feel a
crackle of sexual heat in the air around me, making me unbearably hot. I hoped he was feeling
the same thing because that would suck if this was one-sided.

I was unable to stop myself from reaching up with my free hand to run my fingers through his
hair. It was so silky and soft. Far more than it appeared to be to an outside observer. This hair
was meant to be touched.

I had never felt anything like this before, even though it was a very chaste kiss. Time stopped
for me as we stood there in the middle of a raging party.

I wanted more from him. I wanted so much more it kind of scared me because I had never felt
this way about a guy before. Plus I didn't want to freak him out any more than I had with this
one request.

So I reluctantly pulled back and dropped my hand from his hair.

Edward looked at me with heat in his eyes and was breathing just as hard as I was. It thrilled
me beyond words that I had affected him as well. It gave me hope that maybe that 'more' my
head was screaming about would occur. If I played my cards right.

But right now, I needed to stick to the plan.

"Is there a large, tanned guy with straight black hair behind me looking at us right now?" I
asked, a little more breathlessly than I had hoped to be.

He raised one eyebrow in question, but flicked his eyes over my shoulder and then nodded
ever so slightly in confirmation.

"Does he look angry?"

I had to know. If there was going to be a confrontation, I needed to get Edward out of here as
fast as possible.

"No. He left," Edward said, resting his gaze back on me.

I smiled at him, a smile full of my gratitude for him helping me out and of my delight at
having the courage to step out of my norm and ask him to kiss me. Not only did he make me
feel safe, but also he somehow boosted my level of boldness and self-esteem.

Alice would be so proud of me.

"Was that your boyfriend?" he asked, something sounding like nervousness lacing his words.

"No. Just an unwanted admirer," I replied, trying to figure out the best way to get out of here
with Edward in tow. It was far too loud to talk properly and too crowded to maintain a
comfortable distance between yourself and the person you were talking to.

Not that I minded being this close to him while we talked. If I had it my way, I would stand
this close to him all the time.

"So…," he started, obviously uncomfortable. Or maybe he just didn't know what to say? I
doubted this type of thing happened to him everyday, even though I'm sure a number of girls I
knew would love nothing more than to copy my idea and try it out on him.

Oh, god. Thinking about other girls made me wonder… Did he have a girlfriend?

My stomach churned at the thought and my face must have reflected my sudden nausea
because he asked, "Are you okay?"

Breathe, Bella, I reminded myself. Just take a couple deep breaths and you'll be fine.

"Yeah, I'm good. But this music is really loud. Do you wanna get out of here?" I asked,
praying once again that he would say yes.

He bit down on his bottom lip in the most adorable way ever, contemplating his answer. I
wanted to kiss him again. Not just any kiss, though. I wanted to attack him, slam him up
against a wall somewhere, and never come up for air.

Please say yes, please say yes, please say yes.

Chapter 4

EPOV

There was no way this was happening. I was still reeling from that kiss and now she wants to
go somewhere. With just her.

Maybe I had slipped on something and was actually unconscious on the ground somewhere.
And this was all in my mind. Kind of like "Life On Mars" but without the going back in time
bit.

My dream girl was not only at the stupid party I had been dreading to attend, but also
approached me and then asked me to kiss her. Granted it was to trick a guy she didn't want,
but still. She picked me to ask, from all the guys here.

What surprised me the most was that I actually did it. I kissed her! It was the single best
moment of my life and I had never wanted it to end.

Thank God it was so crowded in here so that nobody was really paying attention to the very
obvious increased bulge in my pants. I sent another thanks up to God that Bella was leaning
against my side and not in front of me. Because that would be beyond embarrassing if she
knew how much she had affected me with such a chaste kiss.

Coma or not, I needed to answer her question before she lost interest.

"Yes. I would love to go somewhere with you," I heard myself reply, slightly proud of getting
that out without my voice trembling.

She grinned, which made her entire face light up and her beauty shine through in full force.
She was so beautiful in that moment, it was almost painful to look at her. I felt myself grin
back, giddiness spreading through my body at her response.

I love being in a coma.

She took my hand and started leading me out of the room, but before we moved a single step I
remembered what I had been doing before Bella showed up at my side.

Emmett. I had been walking toward Emmett.

I spun my head around to find him in the sea of people and finally spotted him on a couch,
talking (loudly) to a stacked blond. He must have felt my stare because he turned his head and
gave me the biggest shit-eating grin I have ever seen from him. And a not so subtle double
thumbs up.

Bella tugged on my hand, so I had no choice but to turn away from Emmett and follow her.
Because there was no way I was going to lose her now. Coma or no coma.

We finally broke free of the stifling crowd of bodies and burst out of the front door together,
each of us instantly inhaling the crisp night air. Bella turned to me and smiled again. Our
hands were still intertwined, but I had no intention of letting go anytime soon. If she didn't
want me to, that was.

Honestly, I had no idea why she was talking to me, let alone allowing me to touch her. It was
too good to be true. There had to be a catch, because the geek never gets the girl. Duckie loses
out to Blane in the end. Every time.

"So what year are you?" Bella asked once the noise level dropped low enough to hear each
other without yelling. She gave me a sideways glance as we walked away from the SAE
house, which I saw because I was doing the same thing to her.

"I'm a junior. You?"

"Sophomore."

"Hmm," I responded quietly, unsure of what to say next. She didn't ask a follow-up question
so we fell into silence.

Will you fucking think of something to say? I shouted at myself. You finally have the girl
you've been thinking about non-stop for the past 32 hours alone and you're not doing
anything!

But the harder I tried to come up with something, the more nervous I became. It was a vicious
cycle.

What did I know about talking to girls? I had never had a girlfriend before or any friends that
were girls. And while that kiss with Bella hadn't been my first one, it still fell into a single
digit spot on my count.

Basically, I was pathetic when it came to girls. With the social skills of a two-year old.

It was then that I noticed Bella was leading me somewhere specific while I had been lost in
my thoughts, so I asked, "Where are we going?"

"Oh. I thought we could hang out at my place since there's nobody there and it's so close," she
answered, biting her bottom lip. "Is that alright?"

Was she nervous? Because I did the same thing when I was nervous or unsure about
something. Could she possibly be nervous about spending time with me?

Guh…

"Okay," I finally sputtered out, falling back on the most overused word ever created.

Original, Cullen. Ask her something already! Anything! I didn't think before I spoke, just let
whatever my mind came up with out into the quiet.

"So, do you go up to a lot of guys and ask them to kiss you like that?"

The second I said it, I regretted it, wanting to hit my hand against my forehead and say 'Du-
oh'. A look of horror twisted Bella's facial features and her mouth fell open, making me
scramble to fix my completely thoughtless and heinous act.

"Oh my god! I was completely just joking around. I didn't really mean that. In fact, it was
kind of sexy. I wouldn't blame you for doing that… uh, that's not what I meant. I know I
would never be able to do something like that because I don't have the balls to ask someone
out of the blue to kiss me, but…" I stopped short because I was rambling. Horribly. And it
was not helping the situation. "Sorry. I'm sorry."

"No. It's okay," she said barely above a whisper. "I swear that was the first time I have ever
done something like that and I'm so sorry I used you like I did."

"You didn't use me. I promise," I assured her, giving her hand a squeeze. Thankfully she
hadn't let go when I insulted her.

Bella gave me a small smile, but still looked upset. So I hastily changed the subject.

"Where do you live?"

"The KD house."

The KD house? So that made her…

"You're a KD?" I demanded a little more forcefully than I had intended to. My voice broke on
'KD', which was rather embarrassing, but I didn't care. Her words had triggered my
conversation with Emmett yesterday. About him 'setting something up' with a KD member.

Was Bella a set up?

My mind roared in disbelief.

"Yeesss… I joined last semester," she replied slowly. "Is that okay?"

I ignored her question and asked one of my own because I had to know. "Are you only talking
to me because Emmett asked you to?"

My heart started ripping apart at the thought that the last fifteen minutes, the minutes that
were forever seared into my mind as the greatest of my life, had been a sham.

"Emmett?" she repeated, confused. "The president of SAE? No, I've never spoken to him
before. I started talking to you tonight, and I'm talking to you now, because I want to."

"Truly?" I asked, coming to a stop in front of the KD house.

"Yes, truly," she said firmly and with such conviction that I had no choice but to believe her.
The ripping stopped and my heart swelled with utter happiness. And then the very next
second my stomach dropped and I started panicking.

What the hell was I doing here? I can't talk to this girl! This perfect, angelic, goddess! She's at
least three leagues above mine! I don't know what to do! Why does she want to talk to me?
She's a beautiful, admired sorority girl, for christ's sake! Who the hell am I?

I was a nobody. A nerd that worked in the dungeon.

I couldn't do this. I was so far out of my league it wasn't even funny.

"Edward?" I heard her say through the fog of my panic attack. She sounded concerned and let
go of my hand to place hers on my arm, shaking me to get my attention.

And then I realized that was the first time she had ever said my name.

I never wanted anyone else to ever say my name again so as not to tarnish the memory of her
voice wrapping around it. Caressing it.

I needed her to say it again.

Maybe if I didn't respond, she'd say it again…

"Edward, are you alright?"

My eyes involuntarily drifted close as I replayed her voice saying my name over and over.
Engraining it into my long-term memory. When I was sure I would never forget it, I opened
my eyes and apologized.

"Sorry. I freaked out a little and needed a moment."

"Why? Are you okay now?" Her brow furrowed. Somehow, knowing that she was concerned
for me put me more at ease around her and allowed me to speak without stuttering or saying
'um' a lot.

"Yeah, I guess. I just…" – I paused, breathing in deeply and letting it out – "It's hard for me to
believe you really want to hang out with me," I explained, shoving my hands into my pants'
pockets and staring at the sidewalk.

"Why is that hard?"

I shrugged, embarrassed to bring it up. "I'm not exactly the most interesting guy."

Bella stepped closer to me and ducked her head until it was in my line of sight. I looked up
and she smiled. "I think you're very interesting and I want to hang out with you. Please
believe me."

I gave her a tentative smile. "Okay."

"Good. Now… do you want to come inside?"

I nodded and followed her up the stairs of the front porch to the inside the house. It was the
first time I had ever been inside a sorority house.

Taking a look around, I compared it to the ones I had seen in movies and on television over
the span of my life. It seemed similar. There were even those large sorority group pictures
hanging all over the walls.

I climbed the stairs, trailing behind Bella. She would randomly point out something that she
liked as we walked down a long hallway, before stopping at the second to last door on the left.

"This is me," she said hesitantly. I gave her a hopefully reassuring smile and she opened the
door, allowing me to walk over the threshold first. My first thought upon entering her room
was that it was very neat. Far more than my own room.

"That's my side," she clarified, pointing to the left side. "And that side is my roommates's,
Alice."

I nodded and started wandering around the room, noting the large collection of books spilling
out of a bookcase located along the left wall.

"Are all of these yours?" I asked, motioning to the bookcase, slightly impressed with the
variety and scope of books it held. It showed she wasn't a vapid girl. She had other interests
than being in a sorority and making out with boys. I loved a girl with a brain.

"Yeah, they are," she replied, a slight blush tinting her cheeks the prettiest color of pink. "I'm
an avid reader, in case you can't tell."

"Me too." I tilted my head to the side to better read some of the titles. "Though I tend to stick
to more science fiction and fantasy than the classics you seem to favor."

"Oh, like Star Wars type stuff?" Her nose scrunched up in the cutest way when she asked that
question. It was beyond adorable.

"Yeah," I chuckled. "Stuff like that." If she had any clue as to the extent of my love for all
things Star Wars, she would be laughing too. My room alone screamed 'Star Wars Nerd' with
the life-size R2D2 I had in one corner and the light saber holder, with the special edition
fully-extended green and blue light sabers it held, in another corner.

I looked at the pictures she had lined on her desk, trying my best not to comment on the
offending piece of hardware she used as a computer. It looked like a relic from a museum. If
she became a part of my life, like I hoped she would, in whatever capacity she wanted, I
would be changing that out as soon as she'd let me.

Bella surprised me by coming up beside me to point and explain each picture. "That's my
mom with me on the left, and this one is my father. That one is from last year's inductee
ceremony. The pixie girl standing next to me is Alice, my roommate. She's also my best
friend."

I tried to pay attention as she spoke. I really did, but her overwhelmingly tantalizing aroma
sent me into a haze. All I could do was watch her.

She used her hands a lot. One was always in motion, be it pushing a strand of hair back from
her face, or waving it around to emphasize something she was saying, or fidgeting with
something on her person or near her vicinity.

Bella turned her head and caught me staring at her. We both looked away in embarrassment. I
don't know about her, but it made me blush.

Just being in a girl's room, without coming in to fix something for work, was a huge deal for
me. I wondered if she invited a lot of guys up here. There was no way I could ask her that,
especially after my little slip of the tongue earlier, but I wondered nevertheless, and hoped
fervently that it wasn't true.

I liked thinking this was a big deal for her too. It made her seem more approachable in my
mind and my heart calmed down considerably from the constant pounding state it had been in
since when I had first heard her voice.

Turning my attention back to finding out more about Bella, I moved on from the desk to a
rather tall dresser. On top were various hair accessories that I didn't know the proper names
for, a rather beat up CD player, and a small stack of CDs. I craned my neck to catch a glimpse
of what the top CD was, and recognized it immediately.

"You have the She & Him CD?" I exclaimed, utterly surprised. I would have pegged her for a
pop music kind of girl, or maybe country. But never something so indie as She & Him.

"Yeah. I love her voice. Do you like them?" she asked, walking over to her bed and sitting
down.

Oh, god. Her bed…

My mind drifted away to lovely images of her sleeping in that bed, curled up to one side. Her
getting so hot during the middle of the night that she kicked the covers off, exposing her body,
which was only covered by a thin camisole and pair of boy shorts, to the cold air, making
her…

Shit.

I was hard.

Turning quickly, on the pretense of examining a Monet print poster hanging on the wall, I
shoved a hand into one of my pockets, trying to hide the fact I had a hard-on.

God, this was embarrassing.

Think about anything other than Bella! Now!

I searched my mind frantically for something to focus on.

The CD.

We had been talking about a band. Okay, music…playing the piano… good. A picture of sheet
music appeared in my mind's eye and I quickly went through a Mozart piece I knew by heart.

By that time, my heart rate had dropped significantly and my 'problem' had also gone down. I
let out a sigh of relief and finally got around to answering Bella's question.

"Yeah," I choked out. Clearing my throat, I tried again. "Yes. I really like Zooey Deschanel."

"Hmm… Do you want to sit down?" she suggested innocently, even though there was nothing
innocent about that question. The only places to sit were next to her on the bed or on the chair
pushed underneath her desk.

Which one do I choose? Would I offend her if I didn't sit next to her?

Bella patted the space beside her, giving me the universally known signal for 'sit here', which
saved me from freaking out anymore. If she wanted me near her, I would comply without
hesitation. I walked over and sat down, silently thanking whoever was listening for the best
night of my young adult life.

We sat on her bed in silence, exchanging glances at each other for what felt like forever. My
brain was incapable of producing any thoughts beyond the obvious ones of 'You're sitting on
her bed! She sleeps here! Her head lies on that pillow!'

I'll admit it. I was a little ashamed of myself for being reduced to a mindless Neanderthal in
Bella's presence.

Finally, Bella cleared her throat, breaking the increasingly awkward silence between us. "So
tell me about yourself, Edward."

I reflexively smiled at my name tumbling from her lips and wondered where to start. Her
encouraging smile helped me get past some of the insecurities I usually had about talking
about myself, which made me open up more than I normally would around a girl like Bella.

"Well, I'm a computer science major and a junior, but you knew that part. I like working on
computers and things of that nature. I couldn't help seeing your computer over there and I was
hoping you would let me take a look at it to see if I can upgrade it a little because I'm sure it's
not anywhere near the performance peak it could be at. And, um, I also like many different
forms of science fiction and fantasy, not just books about them. So, basically, I'm a huge
nerd."

I ended my little spiel with a slight frown, staring down at her green comforter. Well, now she
knows what a loser I am and she's probably regretting inviting me here.

"That's cool. Would you really want to update my computer for me?"

"Yeah," I breathed, surprised she even had to ask.

"Thanks. That would be beyond generous of you."

"It's no problem," I answered, picking at a spring I had found on her comforter. It was my job,
after all. People asked me to look at or fix their stuff all the time, so it really was no problem
for me.

"So, what did you mean by 'different forms'?" Bella asked.

My eyes shot up to her face. I was skeptical that she was truly interested in my hobbies, but
she looked genuinely intrigued and was even smiling at me.

Okay. Deep breath. Don't reveal how big a geek you actually are. And whatever you do, don't
mention playing D&D because girls are never impressed with that, I reminded myself.

"Um, movies, television shows, games… that sort of thing," I muttered in purposefully vague
terms. "What about you? Tell me about yourself, Bella."

She smiled quickly, then bit her lip and averted her face, a blush spreading across her cheeks.
It was charming and made me want to kiss her again. Not that I hadn't been thinking about a
repeat performance all night, but I had no clue if she wanted me to kiss her again.

"What?" I asked, certain she was embarrassed about something. She had no reason to ever be
embarrassed about anything though, so it must have been something I said or did to warrant
such a reaction.

"Nothing," she replied, shaking her head. "That was just the first time you've said my name."

"Oh." I paused a second to analyze her answer. "So you were embarrassed because I said your
name?"

"No! I liked it," she assured me hastily. "A lot, which is why I got embarrassed."

Intense happiness spread throughout me and I smiled to myself. She had the same response to
me saying her name as I did to her doing the same, which made my smile grow even wider.

"So tell me about yourself, Bella," I restated, putting special emphasis on 'Bella'.

She grinned back at me. "I'm a literature major and a sophomore, but you already knew that
part. I know next to nothing about computers or how most technology works. On occasion I
like to write stuff for fun, but nothing good ever comes from it. And I love to read, of course."

"What do you write about?" I asked, hoping she might allow me to read some of her work at
some point. I would love nothing more than to see how her mind worked and what better way
than to read something that came 100 percent from her?

"Different things," she replied, shrugging. "I've tried my hand at historical romance,
contemporary romance, thrillers, and mystery, but nothing has ever felt right."

"You should try fantasy. I bet you would be great at that." I had no idea what possessed me to
say that, but the second I did, it seemed right for her.

"Why fantasy?"

"Just a feeling I have," I replied, smiling coyly. I was about to ask her if I could read anything
she had written when there was a noise outside her door.

Then a girl I recognized from Bella's picture as her roommate, Alice, ran into the room. She
stopped short when she saw us on Bella's bed.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt," she apologized, smiling brightly at Bella. "Who's your
friend, Bella?"

"Alice, this is Edward. Edward, Alice. Why are you back so soon, Alice? The last time I saw
you, you were wrapped around some blond guy."

"Oh, Jasper? Yeah, I would have loved to stay that way all night, but the party got broken up
by the campus police when they called in the real police because there was some underage
drinking taking place," Alice explained, hopping up on the balls of her feet and back down
again a couple times while she spoke, making her seem impatient about something.

"Really? That sucks," Bella said slowly, frowning.

I frowned also, sad that my time with Bella had been cut shorter than I would have liked. But
I knew I had to leave, now that Alice was back and the party was over. Even though I really
didn't want to.

I turned to Bella and smiled sadly. "I guess I should get going."

"Yeah… let me walk you down," she suggested, giving Alice a very pointed look before
standing up. I had no idea what it was about, but I had a feeling it might have something to do
with me.

"It was nice to meet you, Alice," I said politely before rising from the bed as well.

"You too, Edward. I hope I get to see you again," she said in an almost sing-song manner,
making me wonder if she was a little tipsy.

I followed Bella out of the room and down the hallway. We walked side by side as we slowly
descended the stairs. I very much wanted to grab her hand, which was dangling only inches
from mine, but I suppressed my urge. Downstairs was quickly filling up with more girls, in
various states of drunkenness, and I didn't want to embarrass myself, or Bella, if she happened
to refuse my advances.

Before I knew it, we were outside and facing each other to say goodbye.

"Thank you again for helping me out earlier," she said earnestly. "And for hanging out with
me, even though our time together wasn't nearly as long as I would have liked."

"It was my pleasure," I assured her, smiling hesitantly. Should I ask her if I can see her again?
I really wanted to. Did she want me to? Or was this a one time thing? If I went by what she
had said, it had sounded like she wanted to hang out more. Or she might have just been trying
to be polite.

"What are you thinking about?" Bella asked, her eyebrows knitted together with a slight
crease appearing where one hadn't been before.

"I, uh… I want to see you again," I managed to get out in a rush.

She smiled and rocked up on her toes quickly, kind of like a tiny jump in the air. It reminded
me of what Alice had done moments ago in their bedroom. "Really?"

"Yes," I said, nodding.

"I want that too. Very much."

A smile slowly spread across my lips. "Good. I'm glad. Are you, um, working tomorrow?"

"No. Are you?" she asked hopefully.

"Only until 2. Would you maybe want to do something tomorrow? With me?"

"Yes," she answered without hesitation.

That single word elated me like none other had before. I could float home now because, as
cliché as it was, I was on cloud nine.

"Great," I gushed. "I'll pick you up here? At 3 pm?"

"That sounds perfect. I'll be here."

"Okay. Good." I laughed a little out of pure joy at my luck. I was going to see her again!
"So… I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow, Edward," she said, biting her lip.

"See you tomorrow, Bella," I echoed, doing the same.

We stood there, staring at each other and smiling, in the most perfect moment ever created. I
might have dropped my eyes down to her mouth a couple of times, and I think she did the
same to me, but I wasn't sure. God, I wanted to kiss her again.

But every moment must come to an end, no matter how perfect it is.

"Okay. Goodnight, Edward," Bella said softly, ducking her head and stepping back toward the
house behind her.

"Goodnight, Bella," I said, mirroring her actions as I walked backwards so I could watch her
until she disappeared into the house. She turned and ran up to the front door, opened it, and
right before going inside, she looked back at me and gave me a small wave.

When the door closed behind her, I started back to my apartment, practically skipping. Images
of tonight replayed in my mind, with the kiss Bella and I had shared at the forefront of my
thoughts. Our perfect first kiss.

At least, I hoped it was our first kiss, and not our only kiss. I wanted another kiss.
Desperately. But I had no idea how to go about finding out if she wanted me to kiss her again.
There was no way I could just come out and ask her. What if she rejected me? What if she
didn't want to hang out with me anymore after I asked her, knowing I thought about her like
that?

I couldn't risk it.

What I needed was some advice. But who could I ask?

Emmett was out of the question. He would just tell me to 'go for it' and damn the
consequences. But I couldn't do that to Bella.

I could ask Ben. He had a girlfriend. And maybe he could ask Angela to talk to Bella about
me and see if she liked me like I liked her.

Yeah, that's what I would do.

Tomorrow.

Because tonight I had some serious blogging to do.

I finally had something interesting happen to me and I was damn sure going to record this
night so future me could come back and read about it years from now. I would, of course,
withhold using Bella's name and some facts that would identify her since there were people
that actually read my blog periodically, but I was still going to write about it. I had kissed a
girl, damn it. And not just any girl, but a goddess of a woman.

That alone meant it had to be written about. Or rather, blogged about.

God, tonight had been a great night. I hoped tomorrow would be just as good, if not better, as
I walked down the quiet street, grinning like a fool.

Chapter 5

BPOV

I woke up the next morning eager for the new day, somehow managing to wake before my
alarm clock went off. I jumped out of bed without needing any incentive or a pep talk, which
was more than unusual for me.

Most mornings were like my own mini-hell because I hated waking up with such a passion, so
I was just as surprised as Alice was when I smiled upon seeing her and said enthusiastically,
"Morning!"

"Morning," she repeated suspiciously, perplexed at my cheeriness. "What's gotten into you?"

I shrugged. "I don't know, but I'm gonna take a shower."

"Okay," she mumbled as I walked past her to the bathroom.

Thank god we didn't have to share a bathroom with anyone else. I had dreaded taking showers
last year in the dorm's community bathroom. You never knew what lovely surprise might
await you in those overused, and hardly ever cleaned, stalls.

I shuddered at the painful memories and quickly erased them from the forefront of my mind
by recalling last night's adventures.

Mmmm… Edward…

It didn't seem right that one guy could be that good-looking. And the best part was I was
seeing him later. A thought which made me squeal like a school girl and do a little happy
dance in the shower.

Okay. Regressing back to junior high now, Bella. Get a grip.

Finishing up with my shower and drying off, I wrapped a towel around me and went back into
my room, only to find Alice perched on her bed, her hands folded in her lap.

"Hey," I threw out there, not knowing what else to say. She appeared to have something on
her mind, or was just really bored and had nothing better to do than wait for me to finish my
shower. "What's up?"

"You know what's up, Bella Swan."

Uh-oh. She used the last name. This was serious. I had known I couldn't get away with it
forever. Alice always found out.

Don't panic. Just offer to get it fixed… and apologize. Profusely apologize.

"I am so sorry, Alice. I swear I'll get it fixed and you won't have to worry about a thing," I
pleaded with her, trying to use my pout and puppy dog eyes for my advantage as much as
possible.

"What are you talking about? Fix what?" Alice demanded.

"Uh… what are you talking about?" I sure as hell wasn't going to reveal anything more if we
weren't talking about the same thing.

"I was referring to your little rendezvous last night with Geeky McHottie. What were you
talking about?" she asked, raising one perfectly sculpted eyebrow at me.

I knew that look. She wasn't going to back down.

Crap.

Okay, deep breath, then just tell her. She's small. What harm could she possibly do? Besides
tearing me limb from limb.

"I sort of broke a heel on your blue Jimmy Choos two nights ago when I went out with
Jessica," I confessed in a rush with my hands clasped behind my back, staring down at the rug
in the middle of the floor.

I tensed for the wrath of Alice and as each second passed in silence I knew she was building
up a storm, just for me.

"Isabella Marie Swan! I cannot believe how careless you could be with my Jimmy Choos!
MY JIMMY CHOOS!" she shrieked at full volume. I swear the walls trembled a little at her
thundering.

I kept my head down in shame as I quickly proceeded to the 'apologize profusely' part of my
plan. "I'm so sorry, Alice. Truly I am. I'll buy you some new ones, if you want. Just please tell
me how to make this alright."

She didn't make a sound after my apology, so I risked glancing up at her. Alice was giving me
a narrow, calculated look, most likely trying to figure out how much she could get out of me
this time around.

"Four shopping trips where I have complete control and two outfit decisions, to be chosen at
my discretion," she stated firmly after some time had passed.

Four? Could I do four trips with her? How much could those shoes be worth anyway?

"Three trips and you've got yourself a deal," I countered.

"Done," Alice agreed, already gloating in victory. I think I had just been bamboozled, but
when it came down to it, I didn't care. Just as long as Alice didn't yell at me anymore.

I sighed in relief, glad to be rid of the guilt that had been eating away at me for the past two
days, and made my way over to my closet. While I was pondering on what to wear for my day
with Edward, Alice worked her charm on me.

"Are you going to tell me about your Karl or not?" she asked, pouting.

"Karl? Who's Karl?" I questioned.

Alice sighed. "Don't you ever pay attention when we're watching movies? Karl from 'Love
Actually', which is only my favorite movie of all time? He's the extremely hot guy that wears
glasses in the movie."

I vaguely remembered such a movie, but didn't want this conversation to last any longer than
it had to. I had already caught on to the fact that she was asking about Edward again.

"I distinctly remember introducing you last night. And I met him two days ago at the library,"
I explained, finally deciding to wear a pair of khaki shorts and a brown tank top. Simple and
comfortable, with just a hint of femininity.

"And you decided to bring him back to our room because…?"

"The party was too crowded. He helped me out of a sticky situation with that Jake guy, who I
think is finally going to leave me alone, and I wanted to thank him."

"Thank him how?" Alice screeched.

"By saying thank you," I said calmly, as if speaking to a slow person. "Seriously, Alice. Like I
would have a random hook-up."

"Just making sure. You've never brought a guy up here, so I was –"

"Being nosy?" I interjected.

"Concerned for you," she retorted haughtily. "I love you like my own sister and I don't want
you to end up hurt like you were last year."

Oh, yeah… last year. That had been as much fun as tying two venomous snakes together.

I turned to face her and smiled, thankful that she was my friend. "I know and I love you too,
but Edward's… different. I honestly don't think he would intentionally hurt me."

Alice jumped off her bed and walked over to give me a hug. "Just be careful, 'kay? And if that
Jake ever bugs you again, come find me. I'll make sure he steers clear of you from then on
out."

"I'll do that, Alice," I said, suppressing the urge to roll my eyes at her. The guy had to be over
a foot taller than her and at least double her weight, but somehow, I think Alice could take
him if she really wanted to.

She was scary like that.

"Good. I'm gonna head out now. I'm meeting up with Rosalie to go over to the SAE house for
clean-up duty."

"Oh… clean-up duty? Really?" I teased. "It has nothing to do with maybe seeing that guy you
were sucking face with last night?"

Alice grinned impishly. "He might have something to do with it."

"Well, okay then. Have fun." I swatted at her butt as she walked by, which Alice responded to
by sticking her tongue out at me before exiting the room.

Throwing on the clothes I had picked out earlier, I finished getting ready. After I was done, I
quickly realized I had nothing to do for the next four hours before Edward picked me up.

I was really quite anxious about this afternoon, so I decided to do something that would take
my mind off it, but not require so much brain power that I would quickly burn out.

Picking up my heavily read copy of 'Pride & Prejudice', I laid out on my bed and proceeded to
escape into the world of Elizabeth Bennett and her Mr. Darcy.

Two hours later, a knock sounded on the door. Looking up from my book, I called out, "Come
in."

The door was pushed forward and in walked Angela, my 'big' sister in KD. She had actually
been the one to talk me into pledging KD last year, and since then she had become a great
friend and kind of like my mentor since she was a year older than me and knew a lot more of
the ins and outs of college and sorority life than I did.

"Hey Angela, what's up?" I asked, placing the book on my nightstand and swinging my legs
over the side of my bed so that I was now sitting up.

"Hey Bella, can I talk to you for a minute?"

She seemed to be nervous about whatever it was she wanted to talk to me about, so I rushed to
assure her, "Absolutely. I always have a minute for you."

Maybe something happened between her and Ben? Or maybe I'm going to be reprimanded for
leaving the party early last night?

Angela walked over to my desk chair and sat down sideways, so she faced me. She cleared
her throat and opened her mouth to say something, but then closed it and started wringing her
hands.

"Just say it, Ang. Whatever it is," I urged impatiently.

"Okay. I don't want you to think I'm invading your personal space because that's just not me,
but Ben called me this morning and told me something that I thought I should relate to you."

That made no sense to me whatsoever, but I had picked up the part about it involving her
boyfriend.

"Ben?" I repeated, completely confused. What 'something' did Angela think she should tell
me in regards to Ben? I had only met him a handful of times, and even then the last time had
been last semester before school ended for the summer.

"Yeahhh… The guy you were hanging out with last night? Edward? He's Ben's roommate."

"Oh," I said, stunned. "I… did not know that."

Was Angela here to tell me that Edward was canceling on me? Was it something bad about
him?

Oh, god. He has a girlfriend, doesn't he?

I had wondered last night, but never got around to asking. Why the hell hadn't I asked about
that crucial bit of information?

Through my daze, I registered that Angela had started speaking again.

"It's not bad. The stuff I have to say it not bad news, so please don't freak out," she assured
me.

"What?" I asked, not sure I had heard her right.

"It's not bad news. So don't freak out," she said slowly.

Does that mean he doesn't have a girlfriend?

I let out a deep breath. "Okay."

"So, Ben called me this morning, as I told you, and I went back and forth about talking to you
about this. Finally, I figured it would be best if you knew. Because I wish I had known," she
said cryptically. She stopped there and looked at me expectantly, like she wanted me to give
her permission to go behind Edward's back and tell me whatever it is she wanted to.

What the hell did 'because I wish I had known' mean? Did I want to know? It was almost like
she was trying to warn me about something, and that's never a good thing. But she had just
said it wasn't bad news.

So, did I want to know what it was?

Something that wasn't bad and regarded Edward... yes, I wanted to know.

Nodding my consent to Angela, I braced myself for the worst kind of 'not bad news' there
could be, because really, everyone's opinion of good versus bad was weighted differently.

"How well do you know Edward?" she asked.

Here it comes…

"We met two days ago, but last night was the first time I talked to him."

"Okay," she said, nodding. "Do you like him?"

That stumped me for a minute.

Do I like him? I liked hanging out with him. I liked, no, I loved kissing him. And I wanted to
repeat that action again and again. And I was excited about seeing him later. So, yes, I guess I
did.

"I do like him. Well, as much as one can from the short time we spent together," I answered.

"Good. I'm glad you do because he told Ben that he likes you too."

That elicited a smile from me, and a little surge of happiness ran through my body. He liked
me too!

I felt very junior high at that moment, for the second time that day. Next thing you know she'll
hand me a piece of paper from Edward that says 'Will you go out with me?' and a box for yes,
no, and maybe.

Like you wouldn't check the 'yes' box, if she did.

I ignored that thought and asked, "Was that what you wanted to tell me?"

"No, that's not all of it. In the time that you spent with him, did you happen to notice his
demeanor?"

"Uh… kind of shy?" I guessed.

"Yes. Shy is an accurate way to describe him. I've hung out with Edward a couple of times
now and have had the pleasure of getting to know him, as much as one can get to know him.
He tends to stick to himself, but I didn't get the impression it was because he particularly likes
being alone. More like it just became natural for him because of his place in the social outcast
club."

"Social outcast club?" I echoed, skeptical that she was talking about Edward. Did she not see
that boy could be the poster boy for hot nerd?

Angela laughed. "Yeah, it may seem unbelievable now just by looking at him, but at one time,
at least from what Ben has told me, Edward wasn't the good-looking guy you know. He had
some bad acne and top that off with playing D&D on a weekly basis… let's just say, he wasn't
very popular in high school."

It took me a second to process this new information. Hottie Edward used to be an acne-ridden
teen? Who played D&D?

Does he still play? I wondered absently.

Not that I cared if he did. It was just I had never actually known somebody that played it.

"And he's not exactly the most experienced guy out there, if you catch my drift," Angela
continued.

"You mean, he hasn't dated a lot?" I asked, guessing again.

"Um… try barely. I think he's had three dates in as many years."

Three dates in three years? Was he really that shy? How could girls not be all over him?

"Why?" I inquired, hoping I wasn't being too nosy. I reconciled my guilt at digging into
Edward's psyche and past by telling myself Angela had offered up this information freely, so
really I wasn't doing anything wrong. Right?

"If he's anything like Ben was in the beginning of our relationship, he probably thinks girls
don't like him, so he doesn't even try to get their attention. I know I had to be the aggressor
with Ben at first because his self-esteem wasn't anywhere where it should have been."

"So, is that what I'm going to have to do with Edward? Be the 'aggressor'?" I asked,
wondering if I could do that.

"Yep," she said.

"What did you have to do with Ben?"

"I asked him out. And made the first move. Anndd the second move."

Okay… Edward and I are going out. Check. I made the first move. Check.

Surely I could make the second move. At least I think I could.

"And how long did you have to be the 'aggressor'?" I asked, thinking it couldn't possibly take
more than another day or two until Edward was convinced I liked him.

"Three weeks," she stated.

"Three weeks?" I sputtered in disbelief.

That was unacceptable. I couldn't wait three weeks for Edward to come around and kiss me of
his own volition.

"Yes, three weeks. Of course, I didn't have someone that told me what was going on when I
went through it. I had to figure all of this out for myself, so I doubt it'll take that long for
you."

"Oh, good," I said, sighing in relief.

"So, do you understand what you need to do?" she asked.

"I think so… let him know I like him. And don't play the little mind games girls sometimes
play," I answered.

"Exactly. And I'm really happy for you guys. Edward is a great guy and he could not have
picked a better girl than you, Bella."

I blushed and ducked my head, something I commonly did when faced with a compliment.
"Thanks."

"Okay. I think my work here is done. I'll see ya around," Angela said, getting up and pushing
the chair under my desk.

"Later, Ang," I replied, giving her a small wave. "And thanks."

"You're welcome, Bella. Anytime." She walked out of the room, closing the door behind her.

I sat on my bed for a few minutes, running back through the conversation I had just had. I
could totally be the instigator… couldn't I?

While I did have problems with compliments and generally being pretty shy, I had my
moments of confidence. Like last night.

I think just being around Edward helped me more than anything. So, I wouldn't worry about it
now. If I felt I couldn't make another move on him, the least I could do was tell him how I
felt.

Sure, take the coward's way out. Like you don't want to press him against you on this very bed
and kiss him senseless. Maybe his glasses would steam up from all the heavy breathing we
would be doing…

I groaned, feeling a familiar ache between my legs. Glancing at the clock, I noted that I had a
good hour and a half before Edward came by.

And I was hungry, as well as horny, damn it.

Okay, food first. Maybe some play time after.

I hopped off my bed and wandered downstairs, searching for something edible in the mess of
a room we called a kitchen.

Two minutes…

Two minutes until it was 3 o'clock. Would he be late? On time? He seemed like an 'on time'
kind of guy.

God, I was nervous about seeing him again. The stupid butterflies wouldn't settle in my
stomach, no matter how often I went to the bathroom to 'release' my anxiety and pent-up
sexual frustration, which involved imagining Edward in various states of undress.

Or in the shower, naked, with water running down his body, which had become my favorite
image, by far.

I glanced at the clock again and saw it was exactly 3 o'clock, so I figured it would be perfectly
fine if I went downstairs to wait. I raced down the stairs and flew to the door, looking through
the spy glass to see if he was coming up the walkway.

No such luck.

So I started pacing in the foyer. Four turns around the small area later, I heard a knock on the
door.

Almost running to it, I wrenched it open. Edward stood on the porch, looking delectable in a
pair of worn jeans and a simple black t-shirt. I could lick him, he looked so good.

His hair was sticking up even worse than it had last night, almost as if he had been running his
fingers through it a lot today. And he was smiling.

Life was good.

"Hey," I said softly, smiling back at him.

"Hey," he replied. "You ready to go?"

"Yes." I stepped over the threshold, shutting the door behind me. "Where are we going?"

"Uh… I thought I'd share something with you, if that's okay," he said hesitantly.

Angela's words from earlier came back to me. Be the aggressor.

I placed my hand on his arm and smiled encouragingly. "That's more than okay. What did you
want to share with me?"

"Have you ever played laser tag?"

Chapter 6

EPOV

Farewell suckas! I thought cheerfully with a huge grin plastered on my face as I left the
"dungeon". It was strange for me to feel this happy. I was pretty sure at some point this
morning I had whistled. Something I never did voluntarily.

I felt like one of those people in an allergy commercial, skipping through a field of flowers
while 'Walking on Sunshine' played in the background.

The strange thing was this happiness wouldn't go away. It was a little disconcerting. I mean,
can you imagine feeling like the king of the world for fifteen hours straight?

Neither could I before today.

Walking out of the library, I breathed in the fresh air and fought to restrain myself from
running the short distance to my apartment. There would be no point in getting all sweaty and
out of breath when I had plenty of time before I had to pick Bella up.

I had a whole hour, in fact. An entire hour to fill with time-wasting, pointless activities so I
didn't appear on her front step early, like the desperately eager loser I was.

God, I was pathetic sometimes.

After unlocking and opening my apartment door, I stumbled upon Ben and Angela more than
making out on the couch. They actually seemed to be approaching third base.

Awesome. And there goes the happy feeling.

I grimaced at the sight in front of me and thought seriously about slowly backing out of the
room so they could have some alone time, but Angela had heard my arrival. She quickly
pushed Ben off her and turned her back to me, straightening her clothes.

Ben looked around in confusion, until his eyes landed on mine. I tried to look guilty at ending
their game early, but couldn't quite pull it off. Seriously, that shit needed to be done behind
closed doors.

I know Ben did me a solid this morning by answering my asinine questions about girls and
how they think, but this was pushing the boundaries of the 'unspoken roommate agreement'.
An agreement that said you respect the general living areas, like the living room, and do all
"private things" in the bedroom.

Angela finally turned around, having put herself together as best she could without a mirror,
and smiled. "Hey, Edward."

"Hey," I replied, walking cautiously toward them. I had to, if I wanted to go to my bedroom.
Which I did. More than anything.

Wow, this was awkward.

"You ready for your date with Bella this afternoon?" Angela asked, genuinely interested. Ben
shot her a pointed look. Huh. Like I hadn't already assumed he would tell her everything.

"The truth? No, not really," I answered, those pesky butterflies making another appearance.
They banged around in my stomach a little harder with each passing minute.

"Why not? Here, sit down and tell me everything," she suggested, patting the cushion next to
her, her disheveled state now totally forgotten. I looked to Ben for guidance on what to do
with this new development, but all he did was shrug and get up, heading for the sanctuary of
his bedroom.

Way to abandon your roommate when he's in need! Stupid supposed friend.

Angela looked at me expectantly and I couldn't knowingly disappoint her, so I sat down. Even
though I was uncomfortable as hell.

Is this how Ben had felt this morning when I approached him to talk about girls?

"Now. Tell me what's wrong," Angela prompted, giving me a motherly concerned look.

Should I talk to her? She was a girl, so that was a plus. And she was a friend of Bella's, I
assumed, since she had asked about our date and all. Double plus. I couldn't see a down side
to it.

"Well, to start, I'm not completely sure where to take Bella. I don't want to do something too
cheesy, like have a picnic, or something that demands our total attention, like the movies."

"Hmm. That is a problem. The first date is always a hard one to plan, especially if you're not
going to eat right away," she said sympathetically.

"Exactly. Any suggestions?"

"I always find it helps if you go or do something you enjoy. Something that puts you in your
element, because you want to be yourself as much as possible. And when you're in your
element, you exude more confidence, which is always sexy."

"Something I enjoy," I repeated thoughtfully. Would Bella enjoy doing the same things I did?

"Yes. Like… I bet she'd love to go to that paintball park you and Ben frequent."

I winced at the thought of shooting Bella with paintballs. Those little fuckers hurt. And I think
man law decreed that you should avoid bruising the girl you wanted to kiss at some point in
the future. So that one was out.

"Uh, maybe not paintball," I said slowly, hoping dismissing her idea was okay.

"Understandable. But you get the idea, right?"

"Yes, I do. Thanks Angela."

"No problem." She made a move to get up, but stopped and looked at me, adding, "Bella's a
really good friend of mine. And she's been through a lot. So be careful with her, okay? I don't
wanna have to hurt you if you hurt her."

I blinked in confusion. "I'll be careful. I promise. And if I hurt her, you have my permission to
hurt me."

"Good," she said, smiling and finally getting up from the couch. "I expect to hear a glowing
report about you from Bella later."

With that she walked out of the room, following Ben's earlier escape path. For such a short
talk, she had left me with more questions than she had helped answer. What exactly had Bella
been through? She seemed pretty together last night. Did it have anything to do with that large
guy she needed help with? And where the hell was I going to take the girl?

It had to be perfect. I was sure I only had one shot at this. I felt like there was a mile long line
of guys behind me, all vying for Bella's attention. If I screwed this up, I had no doubt one of
them would happily fill in.

The image of the large, surly guy from last night flashed in my mind. He would probably be
more than happy to take care of Bella if I failed this afternoon. The thought made me growl,
which in turn doubled my determination to take Bella to the perfect place.

I looked at the VCR's clock. Crap. Only 40 minutes until I picked her up. Think, Cullen, think.

No movies. No paintball. I couldn't very well take her back here and play video games all day.
Nothing corny or cheesy.

It needed to be original. Something she would remember.

And then it hit me. And it was perfect.

Sometimes my brilliance astounded me.

I hurried into my room and took a good, long look at myself in the mirror hanging over the
chest of drawers. Nothing I could do about the hair. It had a mind of its own. The glasses…
were necessary if I wanted to drive anywhere.

Maybe it was finally time to get some contacts. Mom always told me it was a shame to hide
such beautiful eyes behind glasses. But do comments made by your mother really count?
Aren't they contractually obligated to say shit like that?

Would Bella like me without glasses?

Moving on. The shirt… needed to be changed. Somehow I doubted she would appreciate the
subtle humor of the difference between men and women written out in command form, as
depicted on the front of this shirt.

I pulled it off and went over to my closet, riffling through my meager shirt collection and
quickly noticing I had more dorky 'insider' shirts than 'serious' shirts. Maybe it was time to
retire a lot of these, like I had retired my high school letterman jacket before coming here. I
mean, I was in college now. Where was the grown-up stuff?

Finally, I found a plain black shirt among the mix and put it on, readjusting my glasses so
they were straight. If I got contacts that would be one less thing I would have to deal with on a
daily basis. Maybe it was time to get some.

But could I really stick my finger in my eye every day? Eeww…

Best to drop the internal argument for now and wait until I went back to the optometrist. He
always brought up the subject when I saw him anyway.

Okay, what's the time? I looked across the room at my alarm clock. 30 minutes.

What could I do for 30 minutes?

My eyes darted sideways to my computer.

No! You'll get sucked in!

But… just one little check? my inner nerd whimpered, pleading with me.

Arrh! I paused in the middle of my room, arguing with myself. But it wasn't a long argument
before I quickly relented. Fine. One check.

Gleefully, my inner nerd jumped for joy. I sat down at my desk and logged onto my Facebook
account, automatically searching for Bella's profile.

I admit it. I was becoming a stalker.

I had found her page last night when I got home and already had spent hours staring at her
pictures, reading and re-reading all of her favorite things, trying to decipher her relationships

to the various people who wrote on her wall multiple times, and wondering how anyone so
wonderful and beautiful could want to spend a minute with me, much less agree to an entire
afternoon.

I clicked on her pictures again and sighed. 540 pieces of evidence that she was popular,
beautiful, and always appeared to be surrounded by boys.

What the hell was I getting myself into? It was inevitable that I would wind up hurt. There
was no chance I could keep her interested in me.

But damn if I wasn't gonna try.

Glancing down at the time on my screen's taskbar, I realized I was going to be late if I didn't
get a move on. Crap.

I turned off the screen and rushed out of the apartment, almost sprinting down to my car. I
yanked open the door, slid in, and started it, the purr of its engine relaxing me immediately.

I loved this car. It was easily the least geeky thing about me. I had to admit, having a Lexus IS
F upped my street cred considerably. Even Emmett had been envious when I got it last year
from the parents, saying it was a shame such a dork like me would be driving such
'prestigeness.'

Stepping on the gas a little harder than I normally did around campus, I sped toward Greek
Row. Then it hit me, and I started to panic.

Was I really going to take Bella to where I wanted to take her? Would she laugh at me when I
told her? She didn't seem like the type that would laugh in someone's face, but people had
surprised me in the past.

I came to a sudden halt in a parking spot as close to Greek Row as I could get, and started
jogging down the street until I was in front of the KD house.

Breathe, Cullen, I reminded myself, slowing down to a walk as I made my way up to the
door. I knocked three short raps and the door opened almost immediately, which made me
smile.

Someone was just as impatient as me…

And there she was. Bella. Looking absolutely, breathtakingly gorgeous in a brown tank top
and khaki shorts. My heart skipped a beat as she smiled up at me.

"Hey," she said softly.

"Hey," was my novel reply. I saw two girls over Bella's shoulder who were giving me a 'look',
like they couldn't believe I would dare knock on their door, so I quickly added, "You ready to
go?"

"Yes," she said, stepping onto the porch and closing the door, cutting the two girls off from
view. "Where are we going?"

My smile faltered as I answered. "Uh… I thought I'd share something with you, if that's
okay."

Bella's smile widened and she placed her hand on my arm. My entire body lit up like a
Christmas tree at her simple touch. "That's more than okay. What did you want to share with
me?"

Gaa…

Oh, for heaven's sake, just spit it out.

"Have you ever played laser tag?" I asked, holding my breath as I waited for her to either
laugh or stare at me like I was insane.

Doing nothing, she instead crinkled up her nose in the cutest way, giving me a thoughtful
look.

"Laser tag," she repeated. "Is that anything like 'Tron'?"

My mind exploded. Holy hell. I never would have expected that from someone like her.
"You've seen 'Tron'?"

"Yeah. My mom was dating this guy who was really into it and made us all watch it one
night. I don't remember a lot about it – just some moving lights and they shot lasers."

"Oh. Well, it's not really like 'Tron'. At all. We get these sensor vests that track how many
times we're hit and the guns, of course. But you don't see the actual laser come out of the gun.
And the room is rather dark. No lights running all over the place," I explained as we walked
down the street back to my car.

"Sounds… interesting," Bella said unconvincingly. "I like the dark part."

I half smiled, half blushed at her last statement. "We don't have to go, if you don't want to. It
was just one of the many options I had thought up."

"No! I want to go," she insisted. We reached the car and I walked around to the passenger
side. Looking back, I noticed Bella had stopped in front of the car and was giving me an
incredulous look.

"This is yours?" she asked, pointing at my baby.

"Yeah. Why? Is it… is it too much?" I asked nervously, running a hand through my hair for
the millionth time that day.

"No, it's not too much. Just not what I was expecting," she answered, smiling apologetically
and walking toward me. I opened the door and Bella paused on the other side of it, pursing
her lips and giving me a sly look. "You know, you kept me waiting for two minutes."

"Oh," I exhaled, my stomach dropping. "I'm sorry. I didn't want to be too early so –"

Bella cut me off by placing two of her fingers over my lips.

"It's okay. Just promise not to do it again. I hate to be kept waiting," she said softly,
amusement dancing in her eyes.

"I won't do it again, I promise," I mumbled around her fingers.

"Good," she smirked, lowering her hand. The tingling sensation I had felt when her skin
touched mine still lingered.

"So… am I forgiven?" I asked, hopeful she didn't keep grudges over small things.

Bella studied me with a faint smile. "Not yet."

Her gaze was teasing, almost flirtatious, and I realized with a sudden rush of delight that she
enjoyed having the upper hand over me. She was so pert and adorable that it took all my
willpower not to snatch her in my arms and kiss her senseless.

Well, my willpower and the fact that I was gripping the metal frame of the door so hard that
my fingers were in jeopardy of snapping off.

Flirt with the girl, my mind shouted, mentally nudging me back to reality.

"Then what will you have me do?" I asked softly and, for the most delicious moment of my
life, we stood smiling at each other.

"I'll let you know when I think of something," she said, looking up at me shyly from
underneath her lashes. My mouth went dry and I stared stupidly back at her.

Must. Not. Get. Aroused.

Haaaaa...

Bella was already sitting, smiling innocently at me, by the time I snapped out of the lust haze.
I carefully shut the door and walked around the car, reciting the long list of upgrades I wanted
for my main on WoW to help myself stay in control so that the next time I looked at Bella, I
wouldn't attack her like a crazed monkey.

Feeling more confident than before, I lowered myself into the driver's seat and turned on the
ignition. I snuck a glance at Bella as she watched me back out of the parking space. She
looked perfect in my car. Like it was designed just for her.

God, she was beautiful.

But I didn't let myself get too distracted by her. I needed to focus on the road. It would not be
a good thing to end up at the hospital our first time out. And with my luck, she'd probably end
up being treated by some hot intern or resident, whom she would run off and have little doctor
babies with.

Yeah. That definitely wouldn't be happening on my watch.

"So...," I began awkwardly. "Where are you from, Bella?"

I already knew the answer, having seen the name of the high school she graduated from on
her Facebook profile and Google Earthed its location last night. I just needed an excuse to get
her to speak again, because sadly, I already missed the sound of her voice.

"I grew up in Phoenix, Arizona with my mother, but moved to a small town in Washington
during high school to live with my father."

This was new information…

"So your parents are divorced?" I asked, kicking myself the moment after I said it because of
course her parents were divorced. Bill Engvall's voice popped into my head, saying his
patented, 'Hereee's your sign.' That's how stupid I felt.

"Yes, they separated when I was very young," Bella said quietly, gazing out the passenger
side window.

And now I felt like a jerk because I had brought up a sensitive subject. Way to make her relive
painful and/or sad memories. Change the subject, moron. You're losing her.

"So why did you pledge KD?" I asked hastily, turning the corner a little too quickly. Bella
threw out her arm so her shoulder wouldn't slam against the car door.

"Sorry," I muttered apologetically.

She gave me a quick smile. "It's okay. I pledged KD because I felt at home there. Ultimately it
was because of my friendship with Alice and the older sister-slash-mentorship I got from
Angela that made me decide to pledge. You know Angela, right?"

"Yeah. Angela. She's my roommate's girlfriend. We've met a couple of times." I hadn't been
aware of how close Angela and Bella were before now, so I wasn't really sure how much I
should reveal, especially if Angela had already talked to her about me.

"Small world, huh? One of my best friends winding up to be your roommate's girlfriend."

"Yes, it's a small world indeed."

There was a small lag in conversation before Bella spoke up again. "Where are you from,
Edward?"

"Chicago."

"Ahh, the windy city… You know, every time I think about Chicago, it reminds me of this
comedian I love, Demetri Martin? Because he has this thing he does…" she trailed off, staring
at the astonished expression on my face. "What?"

I didn't even answer, just reached up to the CD holder on my visor and pulled out a CD.
Handing it to her, I said, "I love Demetri Martin too."

"No way! Then you know the bit I'm talking about. The one about the vests?" Bella asked
excitedly.

"I do know that one." I had to laugh at the perfection that was this girl sitting next to me. Who
knew we would have something in common? And the same comedian, no less.

I had always believed that people who had similar senses of humor were compatible, which
was why friends found the same things funny. And apparently Bella and I had similar senses
of humor. So I might have an actual shot with this girl.

"Can I put it in? I could use some Demetri Martin hilarity," she said, gesturing to the car
stereo with the CD she still held in her hand.

"Okay." I flipped down the stereo's face plate so she could put the CD in, feeling a little
disappointed that our conversation was over so soon. Bella flipped up to track number two,
which featured the bit she had mentioned.

I laughed as she spoke along with Demetri, word for word, using the same inflections and
tone that he did. But as an added bonus, I got to see her hand gestures out of the corner of my
eye, which were all spot on.

When it got to the part about the vests, she bounced a little in her seat impatiently, making
something else of hers bounce too.

Guh…

Road! my mind screamed.

"'I think vests are all about protection. Like a life vest protects you from drowning… and
bulletproof vests protect you from getting shot… and the sweater vest protects you from
pretty girls. 'Leave me alone. Can't you see I'm cold just right here?'… There's a narrow cold
front sweeping through Chicago. Dress appropriately,'" she quoted perfectly, adding her own
comment afterwards. "It's so true about the sweater vests."

"Heh, yeah," I laughed uneasily, promptly making a mental note to throw out the sweater
vests that were hanging in my closet. If I kept this up, I would have nothing to wear in a week.

I pulled into the laser tag place and went around to Bella's side, opening the door for her.
Because my mom had raised me right.

It was technically a school day for the under-18 population, so we didn't have to wait long
before we were shown to our own staging room. It was connected to a playing room that was
smaller than the main arena, but that was fine since there were only two of us.

Bella was bursting with questions about everything, from the way the equipment worked, to
my past experiences playing. I tried to answer every question the best I could, but some of
them demanded more knowledge than I possessed.

Finally, the guy that would run the room for us showed up, busting into the staging area with
an apology and his arms full of equipment. "Sorry 'bout that, guys. The other group I was
handling was all five year olds, who all needed help getting their vests off."

"It's no big," Bella assured him, smiling sweetly. Because she was kind like that.

He gave her an appraising up/down look and smiled back. Well, it was more like a leer. I
narrowed my eyes at his reaction to Bella. Who did he think he was? The Don Juan of laser
tag?

Back off, buddy. She's mine, growled my inner caveman.

"Hiii… I'm James, and you are…?" he said, laying it on think and focusing solely on Bella.
The cocky bastard.

"I'm Bella. Anndd this is Edward," she replied, placing her hand on my arm when she said my
name. The warmth did little to comfort me as I scowled at James.

He didn't stop leering at her, which pissed me off. And he had that surfer boy look going for
him, which pissed me off even more. Because of course he had to be better looking than me.

"Okay, Bella, Edward, a couple of things before you can start. First, these are not toys. So
please don't bang the guns around. If you break it, you have to buy it…"

James droned on about the rules, but nothing he said registered with me. Because Bella's hand
was slowly moving down the underside of my arm, leaving a trail of electrical sparks in her
wake. My stomach clenched as she made her way down, until she reached my wrist and very
casually slipped her hand into mine.

Everything stopped for me, and her hand in mine became my entire world.

All I could focus on was the smoothness of her skin against mine, the weight of her small
hand, and the pressure of her fingers.

Then she squeezed my hand, popping the bubble I had enclosed myself in. I was brought back
to the harsh world, where a surfer impersonator was still in the room and leering at the girl
holding my hand.

Fuckin' douchebag.

"Edward?" Bella whispered. "Are you paying attention?"

"What? Uh, no, sorry. But I've played before, so it's okay," I whispered back, glancing over to
James, who was untangling the guns' wires from around each other.

He straightened back up and handed each of us a vest and a gun. "I'm gonna go set up the
room, but I'll be right back."

"Okay," I replied brusquely, wishing he would go away forever. Bella said nothing, mainly
because she was too involved with trying to figure out how to put the vest on. Newbies
always put it on backwards. They just couldn't help it.

"You need some assistance?" I offered gently, having already snapped on my vest and
attached the gun to the back, like the expert I was.

"Uhhh… yeah, I think I do," she admitted in defeat, holding out the contraption that was
giving her such a hard time. I turned it around and guided the vest over her head. Bella turned
to one side and then the other, allowing me better access to snap the buckles into place. I
tightened the straps until the vest was molded to her body the best it could, then I plugged the
gun's wire into the back.

"There ya go," I said, handing her the gun. "You're all set."

"Thanks," she said and smiled. I noticed a strand of her hair had fallen out of her ponytail and
was aghast when my hand reached up with a mind of its own, placing it behind her ear. Then
my hand refused to move from its new location. I stared at it, slack jawed and unable to
believe it had cried 'mutiny,' wondering what it would do next.

I figured this must have been what Devon Sawa's character felt like in 'Idle Hands'.

One of my fingers softly outlined her ear, and then continued down to her jawline. It passed
over the soft spot where I felt her heart beating. Strange… it seemed to be beating faster than
it should.

Was that typical for her? Did she have some sort of heart problem that caused it to beat faster
than normal?

My hand paused in its movement and, as I was wondering if it had finally seen reason, Bella
did the strangest thing. She closed her eyes and tilted her head back, sighing softly. That soft
sigh went straight to my… uh, 'lightsaber', making it 'glow' just for Bella.

Ever so slowly, I placed my entire hand against her throat and stroked my thumb across her
jawline, feeling, rather than hearing, the deep breath she took. Unconsciously I had been
leaning my body closer to hers and was completely taken aback, almost falling on my face,
when she pulled away from me abruptly.

What the hell?

Bella's eyes snapped open wide and she whipped her head around. I followed her movement
with my eyes and saw James, or stupid surfer wannabe, leerer at MY Bella, douchebag James,
as I liked to call him in my head. He was standing in the doorway. I hadn't even heard him
come back in the room, but that didn't stop me from glowering at him, extremely irate that he
had horrible timing.

"You guys read to play?" James asked, clearing his throat purposefully.

"Yeah," Bella replied, looking over her shoulder and giving me a quick smile.

I didn't say anything, but I stopped glowering the moment I saw Bella's smiling face because,
truthfully, I could be on the brink of enraged-beyond-reason and one glance of Bella's smile
would instantly calm me down.

"Okay," James said in mock excitement, even clapping his hands to punctuate his point. "Let's
get this party started."

"Whoo," I said under my breath, rolling my eyes and wanting it to be two minutes ago. Only
this time, James wouldn't interrupt us and I would get to kiss the girl of my dreams.

Bella let out a very unladylike snort that she quickly tried to cover up by coughing, but I
wasn't fooled. She had heard me. I smirked as James threw us a confused look and beckoned
us to follow him into the playing room. He pointed Bella to the far side of the room since she
was wearing the red vest and I got the privilege of staying near the front with him.

Things could be worse, I told myself. Bella could be with him instead of you. I shuddered at
that thought. Over my dead body would James ever be alone with Bella.

"Your half hour starts when the lights turn off," James yelled so Bella could hear. He turned
to me and winked. "Have fun."

I turned my back to him so he wouldn't see the face I made at his parting words. A minute
later, the lights switched off and a thrill of anticipation ran down my spine. Every time I
played I liked to imagine that I was a member of the Black Ops, working stealthily through an
enemy's hideout. Kind of like Sam Fisher in 'Splinter Cell'.

Or I liked to be James Bond. Because he always got the girl and the bad guy, even if the girl
was the bad guy.

Crouching down a little, I made my way to the outer perimeter of the room and hid behind a
strategically positioned wall, which had a nicely placed rectangular slit in the middle of it, so I
could shoot whoever was in sight without having to be out in the open.

Sure it was a little like cheating, but that's the name of the game. I only felt slightly bad for
doing it this way, but the joy I felt at beating Bella so easily eclipsed it.

It wasn't my fault I was so much more experienced in this than she was… and that I knew all
the good hiding places.

A minute or three went by – it was hard to judge without a watch – and I grew bored waiting
for her, so I decided to go on the offense. Keeping a vigilant lookout, I slowly made my way
to the other side of the room, but I didn't spot her once.

Either she was having great beginner's luck, or she was hidden away somewhere. I felt the
urge to call out her name to make sure she was still in the room, but that would give away my
position.

Nice try, Bella. But you won't get me that easily.

Once I knew where she was, however, the taunting could begin, which was my favorite part.

Skirting around the middle of the room, I was almost to my original starting position when I
heard a soft scraping sound to my right, almost like someone had rubbed their plastic gun
against the plastic vest.

I grinned and quickly ducked behind a large, round obstacle near where the sound had come
from. She was close by. I knew it.

Inching around the obstacle and making sure to keep it to my back, I continually checked my
surroundings for signs of movement. Bella was hiding nearby… and I was going to find her.
She had taken to this game more readily than I had expected.

Would she ever cease to surprise and amaze me?

Something flashed in the corner of my eye and I quickly turned my head and gun at the same
time, shooting into the dark.

She wasn't there. Damn.

Just then I felt the end of a laser gun pressed into my back.

"Don't move if you want to live," a sweet, yet menacing voice said from behind me.

I mentally kicked myself for exposing my back to an attack. Raising my hands in defeat, I
said nothing, not wanting my voice to crack. Because this side of Bella was a complete turn
on. I was uncomfortably straining against my jeans, hoping she didn't ask me to turn around.

"Turn around slowly," she demanded.

Of course.

I rapidly ran through all the moves I had seen actors and video game characters perform in
situations like this one. Deciding on a classic, I dropped to the ground while twisting around
in order to shoot Bella. Her vest lit up almost immediately, giving me the first hit of the game.

My fast movements took her momentarily by surprise, but she speedily recovered, ducking
behind the obstacle I had been using, as I scrambled behind a random wall two feet away.

This was more like it. Gotta keep 'em on their toes.

I snuck a peek around the corner and saw Bella do the same, which made me smile. She was
too adorable that I just had to mess with her.

"'Your feeble skills are no match for the power of the Dark Side,'" I quoted, dropping my
voice an octave to achieve a decent Emperor Palpatine impersonation.

Bella laughed. "That's how you plan to get me? By quoting Star Wars?"

Ahh… so she could recognize Star Wars when she heard it. Excellent.

Looking around the corner again, I saw the coast was clear and ran to an obstacle two feet to
my right, which briefly gave me the advantage. I managed to get off a couple shots before one
hit and Bella's vest lit up again.

"Hey!" she screeched, moving to her left until I could no longer see her.

"'You are unwise to lower your defenses,'" I quoted smugly, this time switching to Vader.

She mumbled something in response, but I couldn't make it out.

"What was that?" I asked.

"I said you're a stupid head," she cried indignantly.

I whooped in laughter. "A stupid head? How old are you? Seven?"

"Oh shut it, Star Wars boy," she replied, the sneer in her voice obvious. She was really getting
into this. Either that or she wouldn't ever speak to me once we were done.

"There's no need to call me names," I scoffed playfully, crouching down and peeking around
the corner. I didn't see her anywhere, so I waited for her response to know where to move
next.

But no response came. Where was she?

"Bella… Belllaaa…" I sang out. "Come out, come out, wherever you are."

Hearing a noise behind me, I spun around only to see Bella's grin a second after it was too
late.

She had gotten me.

My vest lit up and Bella laughed triumphantly, doing a little jump/dance thing.

My eyes narrowed. How dare she use my own move against me!

That's it. This girl was going down.

Bella caught on to my sudden mood switch a second after it shifted. "You wouldn't…"

My only response was a predator's smile. Her eyes widened and she turned on her heel,
heading as far away from me as possible. I took off after her, shooting wildly in her direction.
She managed to evade my shots by doing a zig-zag pattern around the room.

But I wasn't so easily deterred.

"Edward! Stop!" she shrieked, narrowly missing the corner of an obstacle as she swung
around it to avoid hitting the wall on the other side.

"'Never give up, never surrender!'"

"What happened to quoting Star Wars?" she asked breathlessly, doubling back through the
obstacles in a zag.

One of my shots finally hit and her vest glowed. "I like other movies besides Star Wars."

Reaching a dead end, she quickly spun around and held out her hands in front of her. "Okay,
you got your revenge. There's no need to continue this."

"What do you mean? I see every need to continue this. You're right where I want you." I
stalked toward her, and she hit the wall with her back, trapped with no where to go.

Instinct took over and I pinned her there, placing my free hand and the one holding the gun on
either side of her head. Leaning in close, I whispered into her ear, "Do you concede?"

Her breathing picked up, but she remained silent. Dropping one hand from the wall, I brushed
my fingertips down her arm. She shivered, and goosebumps popped up on her arm.

"Do you?" I asked, a part of me unable to fathom that I was actually doing this. Angela had
been right. I felt a lot more confident when I was in my element.

Bella shook her head 'no' and suddenly grinned. Before I could retort, my vest lit up, marking
another hit for her.

"You little sneak," I snapped, lunging for her gun, but she dropped down low and shot out
from underneath my arm.

Unbelievable.

I turned on a dime and ran after her; her elated giggle still lingering in the air. I was almost
upon her when she turned her head to look at me over her shoulder and lost her footing. I
watched in horror as time slowed and Bella went down, sprawling across the floor on her
back. A loud crack sounded when her vest hit the concrete.

"Bella!" I yelled, sprinting toward her and dropping to my knees by her head. "Are you
okay?"

"Owww," she groaned, trying to sit up.

I let go of my gun and pushed her shoulders down. "Don't move until I'm sure you're okay."

"But this vest is uncomfortable," she whined, her eyes pleading with me.

I sighed and slipped a hand under her neck for support. "Okay, but only sit up. Don't try to
stand."

"Yes, doctor."

I helped Bella into a sitting position and moved my legs around, so I was sitting on the floor
next to her, instead of kneeling.

"What hurts? Did you hit your head?" I asked anxiously, running my hands through her hair,
feeling her scalp for any soft spots.

"No, I'm fine. Just clumsy," she assured me, faintly smiling.

A wave of self-contempt hit me and I started unsnapping her vest apart. "I'm so sorry. I
shouldn't have chased you like that."

"Edward, don't beat yourself up. It was fun, up until I fell. I felt like a kid again."

That made me smile. "It was pretty fun."

"See? So, no feeling bad, okay?"

"Okay," I replied, caving. "C'mon, let's get you out of this and inspect the damage."

Bella slipped the vest over her head and handed it to me. "Does this mean we're done?"

I turned the vest around and saw the confirmation to my theory.

"I think this means we're done," I answered, pointing to the large crack in the vest's plastic.

Her hands shot up to her mouth and her eyes went wide in shock.

"Don't worry about it, Bella. It happens more than you think."

"But now I have to pay for it," she said softly, dropping her hands to her lap.

I immediately shook my head. "No, I'll pay for it. It was my fault you fell."

"Edward…" she began protesting, but I cut her off.

"Let me or I'm going to feel horrible about it," I countered, playing dirty and going straight for
the guilt.

"Fine," she accepted unwillingly, scowling. "But I'm not happy about it."

I chuckled, unable to stop it. She was just too cute for words. "I suspect you'll rebound back
quickly."

She made a face and stuck out her tongue like a five year old, making me laugh harder. The
lights came back on then, surprising us both.

"Guess our time is over," I mumbled, standing up and reaching down to help Bella onto her
feet. James appeared in the doorway and raised his eyebrows in question at me carrying
Bella's equipment.

"She took a small spill and the vest cracked. But I'll pay for it," I explained.

He shrugged. "Whatever. Is she okay?"

"I'm fine," Bella said curtly, probably perturbed we were talking about her like she wasn't
standing right there. We went back to the staging room and I handed over all our equipment to
James.

"Tell the guy at the front desk what happened," he said before we left. I nodded, so he knew I
had heard him.

Bella breathed a huge sigh of relief once the door closed behind us. "That guy was super
creepy. I hope I never see him again."

"You and me both," I agreed. "So… does this mean you don't want to go another round?"

"No, not really. Although I would like to come back with more people next time. I'm betting
Alice would love this."

"Sure, we can do that." Outwardly I remained cool, but inwardly I was giddy at the thought of
having a vague hang out session with Bella tentatively scheduled for some time in the future.
Even if I had to share her with a couple of people.

At the front desk we got our scores and I told the guy what had happened. Bella frowned at
the numbers. "You won."

"Haha! Victory is mine!" I cried in triumph, raising my arms above my head.

"Alright Stewie," Bella said, rolling her eyes. "Let's get you home before you go on a power
rampage and feel the need to make an eight year old cry for his mommy."

I laughed. "You're silly."

"And you're cute," she retorted, smiling.

Blushing a little, I paid the guy for the broken equipment and the game, shielding the total
from Bella's prying eyes. "Buck up, kid. You'll get better. And who knows… maybe one day
you'll beat me."

"I guess." She handed the sheet over and we walked out into the bright sunshine, both of us
squinting at the sudden change in light. "So… what's next?"

I stared ahead in stunned silence.

Next? It took me forever to think of one thing to do. And she wanted more?

"Uhh…" I stalled, trying to think of something to suggest.

"Would it be okay if we just went back to your place?" Bella asked innocently.

My place? The testosterone-filled, trashed place I call my apartment? Sure! Come on over
and then run away screaming. Sounds like a great plan.

"Umm…" I really needed to work on this stalling thing.

"Please?" she pleaded, pouting and looking up at me through her lashes with sad puppy-dog
eyes.

Oh, that was completely unfair. And it worked like a charm.

"Okay," I consented, transfixed on her pouting lip.

Bella smiled and did the little heel to toe jump thing that was quickly growing on me. "Yeah!
Let's go!"

With that she grabbed my hand and basically dragged me to my car.

Someone was eager… I didn't know why, especially since the place was nothing special. Just
a gigantic pig-sty.

I mean, what could she possibly want to do over there that warranted such excitement?

Chapter 7

EPOV

The drive to my apartment was not as conversation-filled as it had been on the way to the
laser tag place. We listened to more Demetri Martin, but I was unable to focus on Bella's
amusing antics because I was too busy trying to remember if Ben had thrown out that pizza
from four days ago. And if I had any of my underwear lying on my bedroom or bathroom
floor. And if Angela and Ben would still be there.

If Angela was still there, she could distract Bella while I cleaned up my room… and the
kitchen… and the living room… just to make sure everything looked okay.

I parked in the usual spot outside my apartment building and twisted in the seat to look at
Bella. "Are you sure you want to come up? I haven't really had a chance to clean up…"

"Pssh. I'm sure it's fine," she said brightly, dismissing my weak argument. Her hand hovered
over the door handle for a split second and then was pulled back. "Unless you don't want me
to come up. Then we could do something else."

The flash of uncertainty in her eyes and the undertone of disappointment in her voice steeled
my resolve. "No. I want you to come up."

She smiled brilliantly at me and opened the door. I got out of my side and met her in front of
the car.

"Shall we?" I asked, holding out my arm for her hand. It was a completely dorky and old-
fashioned gesture, but Bella laughed and took my arm. I led her up the stairs to my second-
story apartment, nervous about what I would find on the other side.

Unlocking and opening the door a crack, I did a quick sweep to make sure nothing
embarrassing or gross was visible.

"This is it," I said with a flourish, swinging the door open and stepping aside so Bella could
enter first. "Casa de Cullen y Cheney."

I followed her in and shut the door as she took a look around. There was something about
Bella seeing this place for the first time that unnerved me. With everyone else I brought over,
I was fine. But she was different.

I wanted her to like what she saw. I wanted her to accept the pretty bare white walls, the
oversized, used furniture, and the small messes scattered through-out the apartment. Those
were usually the things my mother harped about whenever she came here for a visit.

We walked into the living room and she immediately commented on the prominent piece in
the room. "Whoa… How big is that screen?"

"Uh, 62 inches."

Her eyes widened and she whistled low in appreciation. "My dad would love that."

"Yeah, most guys do." I'll admit it was a tad big for the normal college student. My dad may
have gone a little overboard when I mentioned I needed a bigger television to see what was
going on when playing in four-person split screen mode on my PS2 or Xbox 360.

Bella wandered over to Ben and mine's extensive video and game collection and she ran down
the tower, noting several of the titles.

"So basically… if it's action, horror, or kung-fu, you've got it," she pointed out.

"Yeah. But the kung-fu's all Ben."

"Ahh. That makes sense. You don't really look like a kung-fu kind of guy."

I wanted to ask her what she meant by that, but she had already moved on to my TV series
sets.

"Got a thing for vampires?" she asked casually. I blushed a little. She had apparently noticed I
had every season of 'Buffy' and 'Angel.'

"Not vampires, per se. I have a thing for Joss Whedon," I corrected.

"Oh. Yeah, he's cool." She paused in her browsing and turned around to look at me. "He did
that 'Firefly' show, right?"

I swear to God, if I thought I had a chance in hell of her saying 'yes', I would go out tomorrow
and buy a ring.

"Yes," I gasped. "He did that."

"Huh." She turned around and started back up where she had left off. I watched her silently
take in the rest of the living room and then come over to where I was standing.

"So… can I see your room?" she asked, one corner of her mouth turned up in a hopeful, but
shy smile.

"Sure," I replied hesitantly. "Let me just check that there's nothing, um, embarrassing lying
out."

"Okay."

I hurried over to my bedroom and took a quick inventory. Nothing lying on the floor – check.
No obscene pictures of girls in sight – check. Nothing visible that can be taken offensively –
check.

"Okay, you can come in," I called from my door. Bella half-skipped, half-walked toward me.
She stepped around me and turned 360 degrees.

"You really like Star Wars," she pointed out lightly. The way she said that, I wasn't sure if it
was a good or bad thing.

"Yeah. What tipped you off?"

"Oh, you know… the poster, the life-sized R2D2, the light sabers, the action figures in their
original boxes… I'm a smart girl. I can put the pieces together," she teased.

"What can I say? I feel a connection with Luke Skywalker that many people don't
understand."

"Luke, huh? Han was always my favorite." Bella smiled, amusement lighting up her eyes.

"He was a ladies man." Which is why I identified more with Luke than Han.

She nodded absently, walking over to my desk. "Don't hate me, but I've only seen the movies
once."

I gasped in shock and horror. Once? How was that even possible?

"How did you catch the references then?" I asked, confused. Maybe she had photographic
memory.

"I have a lot of guy friends. They tend to quote their favorite movies when slightly
hammered," she said, shrugging as if that explained it. "Seriously. I could probably
regurgitate every single thing Will Ferrell has ever said, even though I've only seen a handful
of his movies."

"That's okay." I moved away from the door and stood beside her. "Is it like you'd thought it
would be?" I asked, referring to my room and not the quoting of Will Ferrell.

"It's…" Her eyebrows rose and she paused, looking for the right word. "No. No, it's not. But I
like it," she hastily added. "Especially the Darth Vader poster."

We both looked at the poster, which hung on the wall above my bed. It showed Darth Vader
on half of it, and then had 'A guy can be called Annie only so many times' in big white
lettering on the other half. It was a promo poster for Spike TV's first showing of all six
episodes of Star Wars.

"I've never seen anything like it. Where did you get it?" She went over to my bed and sat
down. Seeing her on my bed strangely made me salivate and I swallowed loudly, trying to
clear my mouth so I wouldn't drool when I talked.

"I, uh, randomly won a contest from this website I frequent. Have you ever heard of
geeksofdoom(dot)com?"

She shook her head. "Nope."

"Well, it has reviews for a lot of things that I like and other things. And occasionally they do
contests. I just happened to be the lucky guy who won."

"That's cool."

We fell into silence. Bella continued to look around her, and then she unexpectedly turned to
the side to lie down on my bed.

"Comfy," she said softly, curling up on her side to face me.

Oh. My. God.

She was on my bed. She was lying on my bed.

It would be nothing for me to lie down next to her. Natural even.

But I couldn't do that. She didn't want me to creepily climb into bed with her.

But now my bed was going to smell like Bella. I was going to be breathing Bella's fruity,
intoxicating smell all night long.

Oh, god.

Why was she torturing me like this? Did she hate me?

Maybe this was just one of her things. A quirk. Maybe she went around to random guys'
rooms and tested out their beds.

I fiercely hoped I was wrong about that.

What I needed was something to distract me from the beautiful sight of Bella curled up in my
bed. Something I could involve her in that might get her off it.

"Have you ever seen 'Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog?" I blurted out, relief washing over me
at my quick thinking of our earlier exchange of Joss Whedon shows. She shook her head 'no',

so I explained what it was, getting kind of excited at the chance to share something I really
enjoyed with Bella, who might actually appreciate it.

She sat up, an interested expression on her face. I pulled out my computer desk chair and sat
down, winding up my explanation. "And I have all of them on my external hard drive, if you
want to watch them."

"Yeah, it sounds funny. I love Neil Patrick Harris on 'How I Met Your Mother'," Bella
admitted, standing up and walking over to me. I quickly realized I had no other chair for her
to use, and since I'm sure she wouldn't want to sit in my lap (no matter how much I wanted
that), I told her to sit in my chair while I got one from the dining room.

Awkwardly carrying a chair back to my room, I made a mental note to buy another, smaller
chair. At least a fold-out one. Because damn, it was hard to carry this chair. My mother had
great taste, but to buy high-back heavy wooden chairs for a college guy's apartment points
toward some level of gayness. It just was not right.

Maneuvering the chair through the doorframe, I looked up to make some crack about needing
a bigger door, only to find Bella staring at my computer screen, mouth agape.

I realized what was on the screen and narrowly missed my toe when I dropped the chair.

Shit.

Her damn Facebook profile was still on the screen. And now she knew I was a crazy-stalker
boy.

Bella turned around and we started talking at the same time.

"I – I just turned it on –"

"I can explain, see –"

We both stopped and looked at each other. I cleared my throat and tried again. "I was looking
at your profile before I picked you up, just to see what you liked to do. I figured I would get
some talking points off of it if the conversation ever lagged between us."

That was lame. But it kind of made sense, in a twisted way.

Of course, my alternative was saying something even more retarded, like 'I like looking at
you. You're pretty.'

Bella cracked a small smile. "You were doing research."

"Yeah, research." That sounded much nicer than stalking. I needed to remember that in the
future.

"Well, in that case… I think it's only fair I see your profile." She smirked playfully and I
quickly agreed, dragging the cumbersome chair over to her and sitting down. I clicked on my
profile and let her peruse it.

"Not a lot to it," she observed, scrolling down to the bottom.

I shrugged. "I don't really get on a lot."

She smiled sweetly. "All done."

"Okay…" I closed the web page and opened the external hard drive folder, clicking on the
first part of DHSAB. "Brace yourself for awesomeness."

She laughed softly and settled back into the chair. I followed suit and soon we were laughing
at Neil Patrick Harris and Nathan Fillion as they sang and fought each other.

Ahhh… the genius that is Joss Whedon.

"That's the saddest thing I've ever seen," she said forlornly after the last image of DHSAB
faded.

"Yeah, it's pretty heartbreaking at the end," I agreed, turning off the screen. Bella gave me a
watery smile and we kind of looked at each other for a moment. I wanted to give her a hug, or
pat her shoulder, or something, but talked myself out of it.

"Hey, Edward?" she said tentatively.

"Yes?"

"Thanks for hanging out with me. I'm having a lot of fun with you."

"Me too." Which was the truth. Every minute was like a new adventure with this girl and I
was reluctant for it to end. Her eyes sucked me back in, transfixing me with their hidden
depths.

Bella started slowly leaning toward me, placing a hand on my knee for support, and I watched
her come closer, inch by inch, my eyes flickering between her gaze and her luscious lips.

Oh my god. She's going to kiss me.

Okay, keep it together Edward. Don't just sit here like a statue.

I hesitantly reached up and cupped her cheek, my thumb caressing her cheekbone. Her skin
was smooth and a light pink bloomed underneath my hand and across her face. She never
looked lovelier.

What if she uses her tongue? I've never done that before. Do I use my tongue?

Gah! I wish I had more experience with this.

I felt her hot breath against my lips. She was so close… I could smell her enthralling perfume
pulling me under her siren's spell, the promise of deeper pleasure than anything I had ever
dreamed before calling out to me.

And then –

"Hey Edward! You in there?"

Bella and I speedily broke apart as Ben yelled from the other room like we'd just been caught
doing something dirty. Taking a deep breath and unsure of what to say to Bella, I took the
coward's way out and got up from my chair.

"Yeah, I'm here," I answered Ben, going over to the door and opening it to find Ben and
Angela on the other side. "What's up?"

Angela looked over my shoulder and asked, "Is Bella in there?"

"Yeah, hold up." I moved out of the way and opened the door wider for them to come in. I
mean, it wasn't like they hadn't already killed the mood. They might as well kill my date…
er… hang out.

Angela looked relieved when she saw Bella stand up. "I've been trying to reach you for the
last half hour. Why are you ignoring my calls?"

"Sorry," Bella apologized quickly, throwing her hands up in front of her. "I forgot my phone
back at the house. What's so urgent that you tracked me down?"

Angela laughed. "I didn't 'track you down'. We saw Edward's car outside and I figured you
were here with him. Alice wanted me to tell you that we're having a dinner get together in
about an hour at the usual place, if you want to come. She's pretty enamored with her new boy
toy, so I guess this is her showing him off to everyone."

Ben and I exchanged a look. Boy toy? Who talks like that?

"Oohh… is it Jasper?" Bella asked, her voice dropping to a hushed conspiracy whisper.
Angela nodded. "The girl works fast, I'll give her that."

Bella caught my eye. "So, what do you think? You wanna go?"

I blinked in surprise. Did she just invite me along? "Uh… yeah, sure. I could do that."

A million questions ran through my mind, but there was only one I chanced getting an
immediate answer to. I shot a nervous look over to Ben, silently asking him if he was going
too. He nodded and shrugged nonchalantly, like this was just another day, another thing to
attend.

Well, it was to him. He probably went to a ton of these things with Angela.

Such was the price of dating a sorority girl, I guess.

"We're in," Bella told Angela, flashing me a quick smile. I liked that. We. Like we were a
couple already.

I found myself agreeing to pick up Bella at the same time that Ben went to get Angela at the
KD house in half an hour, so the girls could change before the 'dinner thing'. Whatever a
dinner thing was. I watched Bella leave with Angela, a small piece of my heart leaving with
her. No kiss, no hug, not even a handshake exchanged before she left. Just a hint of a smile
and a small wave.

Once they were gone, I pounced on Ben for information. "So what does 'dinner thing' mean?"

He smirked. "You'll see."

Confused, I waited for him to clarify, but he just shook his head and walked away, smirking
the entire time. So much for my insider information source.

Sometimes I wished I lived alone.

Chapter 8

EPOV

I opted to drive my own car to pick Bella up, because one, I wasn't sure how long she'd want
to stay and two, I didn't want to depend on Ben and Angela for a ride. So half an hour after
she left with Angela, I found myself driving back to the KD house behind Ben's ancient
Oldsmobile Cutlass. I pulled up next to him and we both got out at the same time. Wordlessly
we went down the path, one I had walked not three hours earlier.

Ben knocked on the door while I stood idly by. It opened a moment later and the girls stepped
out, as if they had been waiting just behind the door for us. Bella looked ravishing in a dark
blue blouse and a pair of rather tight jeans, with her hair down and in soft waves framing her
face. She smiled up at me before taking my hand and leading me down the stairs. We walked
in silence for a ways until I could no longer hold in my questions.

"So what usually happens at these things?" I asked, glancing over at Bella. Her hair lightly
bounced as she walked. It was tempting to just reach out and touch it, maybe even run my
fingers through the waves.

She shrugged. "Nothing much. We eat, talk, drink a little. Normal dinner stuff."

Yeah... that answered the question. It wasn't vague at all.

"How many people are going to be there?" I was conflicted on what I wanted to hear. With a
lot of people, the attention wouldn't be all on me, the new kid. However, I tended to shy away
from a large number of people, which is why I disliked parties so much. But with only a few
people, more attention would be focused on me being there with Bella. Which was probably
worse.

Grr. A rock and a hard place seemed better to me than the next couple of hours.

"Normally around twenty people show up. We make sure to always reserve the back room, so
there's plenty of space for everyone, but we're still separate from the rest of the restaurant."

She glanced back, which made me look back too. Ben and Angela were in their own little
world, lost to everything but each other.

Bella flashed me a sparkling smile and squeezed my hand. "I've never taken someone to these
before."

That shocked me and I let it show on my face. She laughed quietly and shook her head as if
incredulous to my reaction. "It's not as if I haven't dated before, but I met them there," she
clarified. "I meant what I said, I've never taken someone to these before. Because in the past,
they were already a part of the group."

"Oh." That was all I could say. Because I was trying hard not to ask a vital question to my
sanity: Are they still part of the group?

Did I volunteer for a dinner heavily attended by Bella's exs?

Now I felt very insecure. Almost like a lamb being led to its slaughter.

Bella stopped beside my car, which stopped me as well since I had been on autopilot for the
last few minutes. She smiled up at me again, which made her eyes light up. She was
absolutely breathtaking.

And in that moment, it was all worth it. Simply because she looked at me like I had a shot in
hell of meaning something to her. Maybe not today, or tomorrow, but some time in the future,
I could become someone to her. And that knowledge made it worth this and anything else she
wanted to put me through. Just slap on the cuffs; I was her willing slave.

Damn. One day with her and I was completely enthralled.

I had called it on that first meeting - she was a siren, leading me to the sharp and treacherous
rocks ahead, and ultimately to my death.

"Are you okay?" she asked gently, her smile fading around the edges.

I rushed to assure her, not wanting that smile to go anywhere. "I'm fine."

Besides, there was no point in bringing her into my screwed up thoughts.

I unlocked and opened the passenger door, shutting it when she was seated. Ben and Angela
were already pulling out of the parking lot when I slid into my seat.

"Where to?" I asked, forcing a smile onto my lips and trying to soften my eyes.

"Do you know where Papa Rollo's is?"

"Yeah. I've always wanted to go there, but never had a reason to."

"Well, now you do," she teased lightly.

"Now I do," I echoed, no longer forcing the smile. We drove in a comfortable silence for a
few minutes, which surprised me because only minutes before I had been brimming with
questions. Amazing how quickly she calmed me. I glanced over at her and caught the side
profile of her face as she turned away from the window.

Yep, completely calming effect.

It wasn't a far drive to the restaurant, so a short time later I parked and got out, making sure to
go around and open Bella's door before she had a chance to do it for herself. Bella reached for
my hand and I gave it freely as we walked up to the entrance.

"Ready?" she asked, a twinge of nervousness apparent from the slight higher than normal
uplift at the end of the word.

"Yeah," I laughed hesitantly. "Ready as I'll ever be, I guess."

"You'll be great," she said with certainty. "But now that we're here, I wish we didn't have to
go in." She sighed and looked through the glass door entrance. "I'd much rather have stayed in
and watched a movie with you."

That seemed like a great idea to me.

"We can still do that," I replied quickly, already planning out the night in my head. First we
would do a Star Wars marathon – the original three only, of course, order in some pizza, and
then if Bella happened to fall asleep on the couch, no harm done. She could use…

"No," Bella said briskly, interrupting my daydream. "I said we were coming and we're already
here. We can do the stay in thing another time."

As much as that 'another time' thrilled me, I halfheartedly went along with her and her
reasoning, considering I had no idea where the back room was. She led me through the main
seating area and down a short hallway with no visible exit. I was about to point out we had hit
a dead end when she pushed open the wall.

Huh. Wasn't expecting that…

A hidden door. Cool.

It opened into another, smaller dining area with only a few people in it. Bella didn't even slow
down as she approached what looked like a bank vault door. I figured it was going to be
heavy, so I reached out to open it, but Bella got to it first. She swung it open with ease and
stepped into yet another room. Loud sports commentary assaulted my ears as I stepped over
the threshold. Then I turned and saw what I assumed to be the back room, a large (bigger than
mine, at least) TV screen turned to some baseball game that no one was watching, a couple of
old school arcade games up against the wall, and a few people sitting around a table in the
center of the room. Ben and Angela were off to one side, talking to Alice and a tall, blond guy
I presumed to be the infamous Jasper.

Alice squealed the second she saw Bella and flat out ran toward her. There was a split second
as she was running where I feared for Bella's life and safety, but Bella braced herself
appropriately and dropped my hand in preparation for impact.

"Omigod, I'm so glad you're here. You have to meet Jasper, he's amazing. I'm going to marry
him and have tons of kids. And he's gorgeous, right? Completely Brad Pitt worthy, if you ask
me –" Alice ran through all of that in one breath, still talking while dragging Bella off with
her to meet good ol' Jasper. Bella looked over her shoulder at me, mouthing an apology. I
shrugged, because really, what could I do? Demand Alice unhand Bella and not leave me
alone in a strange room with strange people?

Ben witnessed my plight and came over to my aid, rescuing me from awkwardly standing on
my own. We talked in length about the new expansion of WoW because he was a fellow
gamer, gradually walking over and sitting down at one of the smaller tables lining one of the
walls. We were opposite from where the girls were standing with Jasper, so I could watch
Bella have a grand time with him.

The stupid, blonde-headed model wannabe.

Yeah, that's right, laugh. Laugh with my maybe girlfriend. Everything's a big, fucking joke.
Ha ha ha.

I hated him.

Well, maybe not hated him. But I did intensely dislike him and his easy-going manner,
especially when it was focused on MY Bella.

More people showed up, one or two I vaguely recognized from around campus. One guy had
been in one of my classes last year… health, I think.

At seven o'clock on the dot (and I know this because I had taken up glancing down covertly at
my watch every couple of minutes in hopes that time would suddenly jump forward two
hours), Alice clapped loudly and called everyone's attention to her.

"Can everyone please sit? I'd like to call this meeting to order," she said loudly.

Meeting?

What meeting?

I thought this was a dinner.

Shooting a questioning look at Ben proved fruitless because he just grinned cheekily and got
up to find Angela. I followed suit, finding and sitting beside Bella at one of the long tables in
the middle of the room. Alice took the head of the table and remained standing while
everyone else took a seat. No one seemed surprised or put out by Alice's remarks.

Apparently I was the only one out of the loop, which was great. Because there's nothing like
being the odd man out to boost one's spirits.

"Everyone here?" Alice asked, looking around the room. She didn't wait for an answer before
forging on. "Great. I see some new people, but we'll get to that in a moment." – my eyebrows
shot up at that – "First, we need to vote on the matter at hand."

I was dying with curiosity at this point. Vote? Where was I? And who were these people?

Was this some cult group I had stumbled upon? A secret co-ed fraternity that only a few
special 'chosen' knew about?

I felt like I was being set up for 'Scare Tactics'. Next thing you know, they'd punish one of
their members for failing to do something menial like use the handshake properly. And by
'punish', I mean cut off the offender's hand or something equally drastic.

But no. No such luck. This looked legit.

I didn't see any cameras anywhere, at any rate.

"As most of you know," Alice continued, oblivious to my internal raving. "Jasper and I have
decided to start dating. We want to be exclusive." She paused purposefully, allowing that
information to sink in. "So, as caller of this meeting, I put forth a vote. By show of hands,
who is okay with this decision?"

I looked around the room, watching several hands shoot up in the air. Turning back to Bella, I
wondered briefly if I was allowed to vote, even though I was a 'new person'.

Alice nodded her head slightly as she counted the hands, and then smiled brightly. "Fourteen
to seven – the vote passes." She jumped enthusiastically in place and did a little happy
clapping dance before Jasper reached over and visibly calmed her with a single touch. "Sorry
about that," she apologized. "Moving on, I recognize Bella Swan, who now has the floor."

Bella paled a little, but she stood up and faced the intrigued people. "Hey guys," she began
tentatively. I wanted to comfort her or, at the very least, let her know she wasn't alone, so I
did something completely uncharacteristic of me. I gently laid my hand over hers. She flipped
her hand around and gripped mine to the point of painful.

Whatever this was, she didn't want to do it. Her statements before we walked into the
restaurant became a little clearer to me.

"So, as you've probably noticed, I brought someone with me tonight. His name is Edward and
we met at the SAE party last night." Everyone's attention zeroed in on me. Exactly where I
did not want it. I waved and jerked my lips up, hopefully forming a smile and not a grimace.

I really hated being the center of attention.

Bella continued to speak. "I realize that's not very long, but I feel we can trust him."

My mind was reeling. Why was she doing this? Why was she justifying bringing me here
tonight? It made no sense.

Alice took over and Bella sat down gratefully, sinking down in her chair.

"Does anyone else know Edward?"

Ben and Angela raised their hands from down the table. Alice focused on them and asked,
"And do you vouch for him?"

"Yes," they both answered in unison.

"Okay then. Does anything else need to be brought to the table?"

Was that it? Was my induction over?

I couldn't stop myself. As someone else stood up and addressed the group, I leaned over to
Bella and whispered, "What was that?"

She inclined her head toward mine. "You have to be recommended and vouched for before
you can sit in on one of our meetings. Alice kind of broke protocol by voting for her thing
first, but I guess she was too anxious to wait."

"I thought this was just dinner with some people. What's going on?"

She smiled apologetically. "We're not supposed to talk about this to people outside the group,
which is why I couldn't tell you. I am sorry about that. It just started out as a silly way to bring
things to people's attention last year, but now it's this huge thing. …it's stupid really."

"It's definitely not what I was expecting," I replied, wanting to full out agree, but knowing it
wouldn't be good to call Bella's friends 'stupid', even if she had been the one to call them that
first. I couldn't believe Ben had kept this from me. We were going to have a serious talk about
roommate etiquette and not leaving your friends out to dry when we were back at the
apartment, alone.

"So, do you guys meet often?" I asked, making sure to keep my voice low so no one else
could overhear our conversation.

"Only when someone calls one." She looked over my shoulder thoughtfully. "Which tends to
be once a month, or so."

"Do you have to come to each one?"

"No," she answered promptly, shaking her head. "We're not a club. We don't pay dues or have
fines. We just… oh, I don't even know how to describe it. I guess its more tribunal than
anything else. Like we take into account everyone's opinion. But it's not necessarily law.
What we vote on and talk about doesn't have to be followed to the letter." She sighed and
focused on the carpeted floor between our two chairs. "I don't know if that makes sense, but
it's what we do. You don't have to be a part of it, if you don't want to. But I figured since
Ben's here almost every time with Angela, you would like to be included too."

Presented with her way of thinking, I couldn't fault her for taking into account my feelings
and not wanting to leave me out. But on the other hand… it was weird. Right? Voting on who
someone is allowed to date, or who can come to these things, or even, as I heard being

discussed right now, how one should solve a roommate dispute… it was like a town meeting
that belonged in the Twilight Zone.

Tribunal had been a good way to describe it, but it was still weird.

I didn't know what to say to Bella because I was still processing everything that was going on,
so I ended up saying nothing at all. We listened to the rest of the issues presented and then
Alice ended the meeting with 'Okay, let's eat!'

As if cued, two waitresses came in, each carrying a large pizza and a pitcher of cola. They set
them down on the tables and went back through the door. I waited with everyone else as they
came back, this time bearing plates, napkins, and more pizza.

The toppings were insane. You could hardly see the cheese underneath all the hamburger and
sausage on top. I didn't see any pepperoni though, but I figured they hadn't brought it out yet.
So I waited some more. But the third and last pizza deposited looked like cheese.

"Is there going to be any pepperoni?" I asked Bella quietly.

She pointed to the cheese one. "They put a second cheese layer over the pepperoni, so it's hard
to tell sometimes."

Having secured a couple of slices, everyone dug in and talked over the forgotten TV chatter.
The volume in the room picked up, but not so much that it was uncomfortable.

Bella randomly took to whispering the names of people who started talking to me, and little
bits of information about them. Like the girl Jessica sitting across from us. She once got so
drunk at a KD party last year that she streaked down Greek row on a bet. Her nickname after
that night became 'lumpy' for reasons I can only speculate about. But it's safe to say I would
never call her that, to her face or otherwise. Bella confessed to me that she hated the nickname
as well, one she had fought to rid Jessica of, but to no avail.

Every time Bella leaned in, I felt her hot breath brush against my cheek and ear. I fought to
suppress each shiver that ran through me. My eager, and continuous, reaction to her made me
loath my lack of will power. My inexperience with the fairer sex had to be the reason I was
reacting so violently to every slight touch or glance from her.

Dinner passed by quicker than I thought it would. Every once in a while someone would bring
up a story that I didn't get because it was one where I 'had to be there', which made me feel
very much like the outsider I was. Especially when Bella laughed at each one in
remembrance.

She tried to explain them to me, but it didn't really help much. She was sweet for trying to
include me, though.

Toward the end of dinner, I caught a guy near the end of our table flicking his eyes over at
Bella, trying to be stealthy about it. I watched him out of the corner of my eye, noting that
whenever Bella laughed or someone called out her name, he would look at her.

I didn't know who he was, having never seen him before tonight, but I was almost positive
this was one of those guys Bella had dated. One that had been 'already part of the group'.

I wanted to openly glare at him and give him my best 'she's mine' look, but I had no real claim
to Bella in that way. And it wasn't as though I could take him. He was at least thirty pounds
heavier than me, most of which appeared to be muscle.

Damn hard to intimidate someone who could kick your ass with both arms tied behind his
back.

The only good thing was that Bella didn't seem to notice his vigilance. That and she had
started touching my arm whenever she turned to me. It was completely innocent, but
nevertheless left my skin tingling from her brief touch.

The one time her hand lingered a little and she lightly squeezed my arm, I lit up.

Literally.

I could feel my smile grow insanely wider, my insides glowed, heat spread throughout my
entire body. I was such a freakin' girl, it made me sick.

How Bella could ever be drawn to me the way I was to her seemed, well, hopeless. A lost
cause.

What was I doing here again?

Oh, right. The look.

The 'I could be someone' look.

Remember the look, I told myself. Burn it into your brain and pull it out during instances like
this.

She's worth it. She's worth every single awkward moment. Remember that.

I was more than happy, elated I would say, when Bella told me she was ready to leave. My
level of anxiety had escalated with every passing minute. I wanted her all to myself again. I
didn't like sharing her with this many people. Enough that I had to fight my self-control,
because all I wanted to do was throw her over my shoulder and cart her back to my room to
finish what we had started before being interrupted by Ben.

Bella told everyone 'bye', while I did the 'it was nice to meet you' thing. And then we were out
of there.

I controlled myself enough that I didn't skip back to my car. Instead, I walked next to Bella
and opened the door for her, giving her every impression that I was a respectful gentleman,
and not checking out her pert ass, which was right in front of me for at least eight seconds,
moving oh so slightly side to side, while she wiped off the seat.

Even though I knew my car was spotless.

I silently thanked God for those eight seconds, having filed them away for perusal at my own
leisure later in bed.

Shut the god damn door already, you big doofus, I reprimanded myself, realizing I had been
staring down at Bella for quite some time with the door gaping open. Stop making a fool out
of yourself.

I scrambled around the car as quick as I could and tried to smoothly slide into my seat, giving
Bella a smile that hopefully conveyed that I knew exactly what I was doing.

Yeah. I meant to pause for that long at her door, looking like a befuddled buffoon.

I indulged myself for a full two seconds that we were going back to my place, and not Bella's,
as I backed out of the parking spot. Sadly, I knew I had reached the end of Bella time for the
day. She needed to go back to her house.

Dammit.

One day, I thought wistfully, exiting the parking lot and making my way back to campus. One
day I'll never reach the end of Bella time and she'll be with me forever.

... But not in the creepy 'I'm going to keep her as my prisoner' way.

Bella sighed, turning my attention to her.

"You okay?" I asked, automatically reaching for her hand.

She clutched my hand between both of hers and angled her body sideways in the seat. "Is it
desperately pathetic that I don't want to go home yet?"

My heart kicked up a notch. "No," I croaked, then cleared my throat and tried again. "No, it's
not. I don't want you to go home either."

"Really?" She smiled and scooted inches closer, playing with my hand.

"Yes, really. If you go home, then this day is over and I don't want it to end." Wherever this
new level of confidence and honesty was coming from, I prayed it would hold out for just a
little longer. I loved not being the stuttering, awkward boy I normally was around Bella. In
fact, I felt comfortable around her.

Maybe even comfortable enough to kiss her good-night.

Maybe.

"Edward?" Bella broke through my contemplating.

"I'm sorry, what were you saying?"

She laughed softly and shook her head, her hair swinging around her face. "It doesn't matter. I
am tired, though, so you probably should take me back to KD."

"Okay," I sighed, trying quite unsuccessfully to keep the disappointment out of my voice. I
don't know why I was disappointed this much. I had already resigned myself to taking her
home. Just some latent wishful thinking, I guess.

I reached our destination sooner than I had wanted to. Bella seemed to feel the same way
because she didn't let go of my hand as I killed the engine and the lights turned off, leaving us
in the dark.

"You don't have to walk me back," she suddenly whispered.

I was hurt she thought that, but I didn't want to rock the boat. "If you're sure. Although, I don't
like the idea of you walking alone in the dark."

The dim light from the overhead lamps outlined her in the darkness just enough that I could
see it when she shrugged. "The sidewalks are lighted. Besides, I've done this walk numerous
times before."

"Okay..." I gave in reluctantly, not allowing myself to envision all the harm that could befall
Bella on the brief walk to the KD house.

"Well," she sighed. "I guess I'd better go."

I swallowed hard, forcing down all of my reasons that she should stay with my forever, or at
least, for another hour or two. She let go of my hand and stared at me expectantly.

This was the moment. The good-bye moment. I should kiss her. It would be so easy to just
lean over and close the short distance between us.

My eyes dropped down to her lips. Her plumb, luscious, tempting pink lips.

To have those pressed against mine... the mere thought made my blood boil.

She's waiting for me to kiss her, I reasoned. So I should kiss her.

But something held me back. Be it my fear of inexperience, or just the simple fact that I felt I
wasn't good enough to know the feel of her lips moving against mine, no matter how much I
wanted it.

My mind screamed at me to act before it was too late. Before I lost this golden opportunity.

But I didn't. I couldn't.

Instead I brought my eyes back up to hers and said in a very small voice, "Good night."

Bella blinked in surprise and drew away from me quickly like I had just struck her. "Yeah.
Good night."

My face fell, as did my heart, when she exited my car without another word, only looking
back once to give me a small wave.

Shit.

I should have kissed her, I thought dejectedly, banging my head against the steering wheel.

What have I done?

Have I just messed this up before it even started?

Chapter 9

BPOV

Why didn't I kiss him?

That was the only thing I thought of. It haunted me as I talked to Alice about my epic failure
when I arrived home, as I tried to fall asleep that night, the first thought I had when I awoke
the next morning, and it lingered in the back of my mind as I got dressed for work and walked
to the library for my shift.

Why didn't I kiss him?

He had been right there, staring intently at my mouth, and I had frozen.

There was something about him, an aura (if I believed in such things), that screamed
'Innocent'. Who was I to take that away from him? To drag him down to the gutter with my
filth and dirty thoughts?

Damn it all to hell. I cared too much about him to sully his virtue in good faith. Because,
although the body said 'man', the eyes said 'boy'. I had seen it clear as day in his room
yesterday afternoon. That child-like wonder. As if I was the answer to all of life's questions.

So what if I couldn't stop imagining myself grabbing onto that unruly hair and kissing him for
all I was worth? And if his glasses happened to be knocked askew, so much the better. And I
didn't even want to start to delve into the dream I had last night about Edward, chained to the
ceiling, and me using him like a stripper pole, grinding up and down him while twirling
around.

Yeah.

Not even going there.

I just couldn't be the one to spoil him like that.

I sighed heavily, lost to the number of looks I received from overzealous students who were
already hanging out there, all of whom I had disrupted with that sigh.

Thankfully my job didn't demand a lot of mind power, and since the school year hadn't
officially started, I was left to my own thoughts for long stretches of time. Which was perfect
because I needed to figure out a way to fix this. To let him know that I wanted him around.

I loaded up my cart full of books to reshelf and started the menial task of circulating through
the rather large first floor, placing the books back where they belonged. And as I was about
half-way through, the most horrifying thought crossed my mind, stopping my heart and
turning my blood cold.

What if I had pushed him away by introducing him to my weird friends?

The cart continued on without me, careening out of control as I stood still in the middle of an
aisle. All of a sudden, a loud 'OW' broke me out of my trance. I ran around the corner and saw
a man hopping about, clutching his knee in both hands close to his chest, as if in extreme pain.
When I realized who it was, I couldn't help but crack a smile.

Mike Newton.

My 'boss' and a major horndog.

"Fuuuuck!" he screamed. "That hurt. Owwww, that hurt."

I snickered behind my hand and looked around to see if anyone else was watching this.
Thankfully this part of the library seemed to be deserted. Then came the moment where I
realized that he hadn't seen me yet. I could just sneak back behind the stacks and he would
never know who had injured him.

But I couldn't do that. …could I?

Yes, I could, I decided as I continued to watch his face grow redder and redder. Shuffling
backward as quietly as I could, I escaped the coming storm known as Mike's Temper and let
my mind wander back to the thought that had started this.

I know I had left the decision of going to dinner up to Edward, but he hadn't known what he
would be getting into. I was thankful that he hadn't run out of the room screaming last night,
never wanting to speak to me again. But what if, after having the night to think about it, he'd
decided I wasn't worth it? That my life and my friends were too much for him to handle?

Damn it.

Now I had to make this right.

But how?

I stood behind the checkout counter, contemplating my problem for what seemed like hours.
And then it was as if God suddenly parted the clouds and gave me a glimpse into heaven…

I knew exactly what to do, thanks to a little advice Alice gave me last night.

I set my plan into motion immediately.

EPOV

There was something wrong with me.

That had to be it.

Maybe I had a switch in my head that was still stuck on 'girls have cooties', so that I was
physically incapable of getting close to them. Or maybe I needed to admit that I should have
ran after Bella last night and explained how I was a complete loser with zero experience when
it came to girls, and then kissed her until we were both breathless.

Because that would have been much better than what I did, which was go home and stare at
the ceiling for most of the night, seeing Bella smiling, laughing, flirting… all the things that I
would probably never see again.

Trudging to work, I kept my head down in shame the entire way. I had no desire to look or
talk to anyone. Hopefully I would be able to keep this up for the next couple of weeks,
because I figured that would be about the right length of time needed to adequately mourn my
loss in silence and solitude.

Someone greeted me as I stepped off the elevator and made my way over to my desk, but I
didn't look up or acknowledge whoever it was. There was no point to pretend civility today.
Not when I was feeling this terrible.

Eric hurried over to me and grabbed a chair, slamming himself down in it before rushing into
some story. I half-heartedly paid attention, occasionally nodding where he broke off for
breath, and then he abruptly stopped and stared at me. I stared back, waiting for him to
continue.

"Did you even hear what I said, dude?" he asked in an exasperated tone.

"Yeah, I heard," I replied shortly, my anger flaring up. Why couldn't everyone see I just
wanted to be left alone?

"Mike. Was hit. With a cart. Come on, that's classic. And the best part is, he doesn't know
who did it!"

Eric's elation over Mike's pain did nothing to rouse me, or my attention. "Uh-huh."

Eric sighed. "Forget it, man." He left in a huff, getting up so fast the chair spun around in his
wake. I shrugged him off, turning to my computer screen and clicking on the IT department's
site. I needed to focus on something else right now, and work seemed to be the only answer
available to me. So work it was.

Quickly, I scanned the reports of problems listed on the screen. Hmm, not much to do. I could
go across campus and help a guy in one of the dorms link up to the campus internet. Or I
could stay here and assign it to someone else. It took me two seconds to make my decision.

"Eric!" I yelled, turning around to locate him. He popped his head up from his desk and
looked at me. "You're covering number one seventeen," I commanded. "And don't forget to
wear your name tag this time." His face fell and he grumbled something under his breath as he
collected his things and left. Inwardly I smiled at his displeasure. It brightened my day a little.

The phone rang, but thankfully someone answered it before I could bring myself to lift the
handle. I stared listlessly at the computer screen, hoping something would pop up so I could
make someone else miserable.

Misery does love company, after all.

"Edward!" someone suddenly shouted from across the room. Slowly spinning around, I saw
Terrance making his way over to me. He stuck a piece of paper in my face and started talking
as I reached up and took the paper from him. "You were requested for a job upstairs.
Apparently a computer froze up and rebooting doesn't help because it just freezes again."

I snarled at him, but got up, making sure to grab my computer kit. Glancing down at the
paper, I noticed the computer was located upstairs in Bella's department. My heart dropped
and then started pounding in my chest. I didn't know whether to dread or welcome seeing her
so soon without having some sort of a plan. On one hand, I could explain my behavior last
night, but on the other hand, I could end up making a complete fool of myself again.

Feeling a bit nauseous, I made my way upstairs, opened one of the heavy glass doors that
separated the library's main hall from the rows of book stacks, and stepped across the
threshold. Bella stood behind the counter and she looked up, seeing me at the same moment
that I saw her.

Gaahhh.

I'm gonna throw up.

Bella smiled at me and my stomach felt like it had been drop kicked.

Yep. There was a definite possibility chunks would be spewed in the next minute.

I looked frantically around for some cover, something to hide behind in order to allow myself
time to get under control before speaking to Bella, but there was nothing. Nothing that stood
between me and her. My only options were to either swallow down my nervousness, or make
a run for it.

My mind screamed 'run away! run away!' and I figured, going full speed, I could hit the aisles
in four seconds flat and get out of the library the back way. Then double back, wait until my
breathing was normal, wipe the sweat off my forehead, and try this whole thing again.

Or, I thought with a sigh, I could man up and put on my 'big boy' pants because if I ran away
now, I could kiss whatever slim chance I had with Bella good-bye. And that outcome wasn't
one I was willing to live with.

So I took a deep breath and started walking toward Bella. She perked up when she saw I was
heading her way and gave me a little wave. I attempted smiling back, but had to drop
whatever expression did cross my face because the large lump forming in my throat took
precedence. Quickly clearing my throat, I stopped in front of the counter and breathed
(Breathed! Like a girl! Like a flirty, teeny-bopping, 'I have a crush on you' girl!), "Hey Bella."

I immediately wanted to slam my face down onto the countertop the second the words left my
mouth.

Way to assert your manhood, Edward.

Bella didn't even blink at my awe-inspiring opening line, though. "Hey, Edward," she replied,
tilting her head down a little so her hair covered the sides of her face like blinders. She
nervously fiddled with a pen as I worked up to speaking again.

"So… Bella," I began awkwardly. "I have to fix a computer up here, but when I'm done, I was
wondering if, maybe, we could… um, talk?"

She looked up and smiled a little. "You don't have anything to fix. I was the person who
called downstairs."

"Oh." My mind went utterly blank as I struggled to find something else to say. "Cool."

Cool? Where did that come from?

"I wanted to see you," Bella said, lifting one shoulder in a half-shrug. She cleared her throat,
straightened her shoulders, and quickly scanned the area around us. "Actually, I'd hoped you
would want to talk as well."

"Yeah," I blurted out. "I do."

But did she want to talk about the same thing that I did? What did she have to say? That she
had a good time last night, but she thinks it would be better if we were just friends?

God, I'd heard that line so much that I should just tattoo it on my forehead backwards so the
next girl could just read it off there without having to come up with her own variation.

"Great," she said, smiling brightly and looking very relieved. "Do you trust me?"

"Yes," I responded without hesitation. Bella motioned for me to come around the counter and
once I had, she held out her hand for me to take. Gripping it tightly, I was pulled along the
hallway directly behind the counter, coming suddenly to halt when Bella did in front of the
first door without a plaque designating whose office is it. Then she opened the door quickly,
shoving me inside hard enough to make me to stumble a bit. When I found my footing, I
managed to look around and figure out we were in a broom closet – a rather large broom
closet, but still a broom closet, nonetheless – before Bella slammed the door behind me. The
noise made me jump and spin around to try to figure out what was going on.

But Bella beat me to speaking first. "Sorry. I needed someplace where we wouldn't be
interrupted."

I frowned in confusion. "For –"

'What' was going to be the next word, but it was cut off as I was completely caught off guard
when Bella placed her petite hands on my shoulders, lifted herself up so that she was just
about level with my chin, and then lightly brushed her lips against mine.

Her soft mouth burned me, warmed my entire body down to my toes. I could no more control
my response than I could stop the earth from turning. My head dove down, and I caught her
mouth with mine, kissing her with undiluted passion.

This kiss, with this woman – because Bella was a woman and no longer a girl – should have
been breathless nerves and clumsiness, but it wasn't. Never in my life had I wanted someone
in quite the manner I wanted Bella.

Never had I wanted quite so much to get it all right.

And somehow, miraculously, I did.

At least, I think I did.

Bella moaned, which had to be the single greatest sound in the universe, and she wrapped her
arms around my neck, pressing her body flush against mine. I lifted my hands and gripped her
slim hips, holding her firm against me, trying to get her somehow closer and eliminate every
millimeter of space between us. Her mouth grew more insistent against mine, and then her
tongue swept the seam of my closed lips. I opened up to her and tentatively touched her
tongue with my own. This was all so new to me that I couldn't afford to mess it up.

I wanted to taste her. I wanted to devour her. I wanted to drink in whatever it was that made
her her, and see if it would transform me into the man I sometimes thought I ought to be –
suave, sophisticated, charming.

Mimicking her movements, I slid my tongue back and forth, exploring her small mouth and
tasting her. Tasting her. And sweet heavens, what a taste. Remnants of mint, most likely from
her toothpaste, a light hint of peaches, and just… her. The essence that made up Bella.

My lungs screamed for air, but I couldn't bring myself to pull away. I couldn't get enough.
Couldn't get enough of her, of this blissful moment, of… life! My lungs could wait another
minute or two. Air wasn't that important.

But I didn't have much longer to wait because Bella broke off, turning her head so her
forehead rested against my cheek, breathing hard enough for me to feel the rush of air coming
in and out of her mouth. We held each other as we regained control of our breathing and my
mind went into a tailspin, trying to reconcile what had just happened and how I felt about it.

I felt… I was… great. Elated. Bursting with joy. Not just joy, but JOY.

She had kissed me.

Voluntarily, with no action required on my part, kissed me!

And then I had kissed her back.

Who knew I had it in me?

Bella half laughed, half cleared her throat, and pulled back to gauge my expression. "Are you
okay?" she asked quietly.

Hah. Was I okay?

How could I sufficiently put into words my feelings without jumping up and down while
shouting 'Hallelujah' at the top of my lungs?

"Uh-huh."

Bella softly laughed and smiled. "Would you want to try that again?"

"Uh-huh," I uttered again, throwing in some slow head nods, just to mix things up.

She grinned and started pushing herself back up, but I leaned down to meet her half-way so
she wouldn't have to go up on her toes again. At the last second, Bella tilted her head to the
left so that our noses wouldn't smash into each other. Then her lips were pressed against mine
again and I was back in heaven.

Being a pro at this now, I took over, nipping and sucking on her bottom lip until I got a soft
sigh out of her. Then, thinking I had it completely under control, I stepped forward, trying to
drag Bella backward. I wanted to press her against the door, to feel her along every limb and
inch of my body. What I failed to realize was that I wasn't Gene Kelly. One great, earth-
shattering kiss didn't instantly turn me into Cary Grant.

Because I, somehow, managed to trip over my own foot and consequently, we both fell to the
floor.

Luckily, my hand-eye coordination is stellar, thanks to the numerous hours spent playing
video games, and I was able to shield Bella's head from hitting the carpeted floor with one
hand while bracing most of my weight on the other.

Bella blinked up at me in shock, but before I could ask if she was alright, she burst into
laughter. I was so happy, so incredibly giddy, that I started laughing too. And so we laughed,
on the floor of a broom closet… just because.

When our laughter died down, I scrambled up and helped Bella onto her feet. "Are you
okay?" I asked, swiping some wayward tendrils of hair out of her face.

"Yeah, I'm great," she replied with a huge smile. "Are you okay?"

"More than okay," I said quietly, my eyes locking onto her enticing lips like they were a
beacon on a dark, stormy night.

One corner of her mouth lifted into a half smirk. "No…" she softly reproached. "We really do
need to talk." She paused and I reluctantly raised my gaze to her eyes. "Do you want to go
first, or should I?"

"You go."

"Okay… well, first I wanted to apologize for last night. I should have warned you before
springing my crazy friends on you like that." I started shaking my head to indicate she didn't
need to do that, but she held up one of her hands to stop me. "No, an apology is needed

because I placed you in a rather uncomfortable position without giving you any notice
beforehand. It was poor form, on my part, and I'm sorry."

Seeing the guilt and anguish in her eyes, I accepted her apology readily, if only to erase those
atrocious, unneeded feelings forever.

"Is it my turn?" I asked shyly, shoving my hands in the front pockets of my cargo pants and
hunching my shoulders. She nodded her head 'yes'. I took a deep breath and focused on the
dull beige carpet below us before launching into my own apology.

"I'm sorry I didn't kiss you last night… I wanted to," I admitted, and then softly said it again.
"God, did I want to, but I didn't." Darting a glance up, I stopped. Bella's mouth was hanging
open and she looked… stunned.

"What's wrong?" I asked, confused and a little anxious about her reaction.

"Uhhh… nothing," she replied, rapidly shaking her head from side to side two times. "I just
wasn't expecting that."

I shrugged in response, unable to come up with anything else to say. Bella smiled tenderly
and took a step toward me, wrapping her arms around my waist. She rested her cheek on my
chest and sighed. "So… you wanted to kiss me last night?"

"Yes," I laughed, the sound coming out in spurts, which helped loosen me up. The tension
slowly left my body and I was able to relax, putting my arms around Bella's slender body and
loosely clasping my hands behind her back. We stayed like that for another minute. I reveled
in her touch, her warmth, and the comfort it bought me.

Suddenly I felt the intense need to ask her something. Something that was so junior high and
juvenile, that it was embarrassing.

But I had to ask her.

Because I had to know the answer, regardless of how embarrassing it was.

"Bella?" I began tentatively.

"Hmm?" she answered, making the inquiry sound more like a contented sigh.

"Umm… this is stupid because I know we haven't known each other very long, but… I was
wondering if you would want to be my, uh, girlfriend?" Unconsciously I held my breath,
waiting for her answer. Waiting for her to either re-start or end my life.

Bella snuggled into my chest and squeezed my waist. "Yes," she giggled, pulling away just
enough to look up at my face. Her eyes searched mine and she grew very solemn. "Yes," she
whispered, cupping the side of my face and going up on her tiptoes. She lightly kissed me and
whispered it again.

"Yes."

Then another kiss and another whisper.

"Yes."

She did that again and again, until I couldn't stand the light kisses anymore and I held her
head still so I could really kiss her. Another minute or two passed in happy bliss before she
abruptly pulled back.

"I need to get back to work," she said in way of explanation. My face fell as I remembered
that I, too, needed to finish out my shift. Bella stepped back, fixing her ponytail, and
grudgingly, I let go of her. She dusted off her clothes and straightened them, flashing me a
grin.

"You look like you stuck your finger in an outlet," she laughed. I ran my fingers through my
hair, feeling the unruliness of it and grimacing when the strands didn't comply with my wish
for them to stay down.

Eh. Don't care enough, I decided, immediately dismissing it from my mind.

Bella crept to the door and leaned her ear against it, listening intently for any noise outside.
Her hand rested lightly on the handle, ready to turn it at the first opportunity.

"Hey," I whispered, coming up behind her.

"Hmm," she answered still listening for noises outside.

"What are you doing tonight?"

She turned her head to look at me. "Nothing. Why?"

"Do you want to come over? We could watch a movie and order some food."

"Yeah, I'd like that," she said with a smile.

"Great," I replied, returning her smile. She went back to listening at the door and then very
slowly opened it. Sticking her head out into the hallway, she motioned to me that it was all
clear. We stepped out of the closet and I quietly shut the door behind us. Bella grabbed my
hand and we took our time walking back to the front counter.

"I'll call you when I get off work?" Bella asked.

"Sounds good."

"Okay, then I'll see you tonight."

"See you tonight," I echoed. Not wanting to turn away from Bella, but knowing that I had to
leave now or I never would, I walked backwards until I reached the glass doors. Giving Bella
one last wave, I pulled open a door and went on with my day.

As I stepped off the elevator and went back to my desk, I had a spring in my step that hadn't
been there before. When I had left here, I had been so unsure of what would happen between
me and Bella. But now… now she was my girlfriend.

And we'd kissed. Couldn't forget that part.

Not that I could. Those few moments were so ingrained in me now; they were a part of me.

Bella was my girlfriend.

Hah.

Life was funny sometimes. Two days was all it had taken for her to completely turn my world
on its head. Two days… and now I had a girlfriend. A beautiful, funny, smart, beautiful
girlfriend, who seemed by some miracle, to like me.

I had a sudden desire to tell someone of my great fortune. So, impulsively, I dialed the one
number that I always dialed in times like this.

"Hello?"

"Hey," I responded. "Wanna hear something funny, Emmett?"

Chapter 10

BPOV

I adjusted the top and looked at it critically in the mirror.

"How do you feel about this one?" I asked my trustworthy fashion consultant, aka Alice. She
tilted her head to one side and pursed her lips.

"Why do you even own that? That shade of green makes you look ill and nauseated." She
danced over to my closet and grabbed a pink short-sleeve blouse without taking more than a
second to look everything in my closet over. I narrowed my eyes in suspicion. It was almost
like she planned that.

Hmph.

I took the offered top and put it on, spun left and then right to see myself from every angle.
Alice smiled at me like she was amused.

"What?" I huffed, turning around to face her.

"I've never seen you like this before," she explained, waving her arm up and down at me.
"You care what you look like! Finally." She muttered that last word under her breath, perhaps
hoping that I wouldn't hear it.

But I did.

Frowning, I glanced back over my shoulder at my reflection in the mirror. Alice was right. I'd
never really put thought into what I wore before. Usually I just went with whatever I came
upon first, even when I was dating and going out. There was just something about Edward
that made me want to look my best. Not necessarily flaunt my body, but look good... for him.

"You really like him, you want to kiss him, you want to hug him, you want to love him,"
Alice sang teasingly.

I rolled my eyes at her and flipped my hair back behind my shoulder. "You need to stop
watching that movie so much. It's rotting your brain and making you crazy."

"Whatever," she replied, dismissing my warning. "You'll be glad I've seen it as much as I
have when I'm a FBI agent slash Miss America. Plus, you love me, crazy and all." Then she
made the strangest face, sucking in her upper lip and crossing her eyes, so she looked like an
insane chipmunk, but still managing to look cute. I laughed, unable to help myself and Alice
smiled in triumph.

"Okay, I'm leaving," I told her, grabbing my phone and keys off the top of my dresser. "Don't
waiiiit uuup."

"Bye! Have fun," Alice snickered, winking like she had just made the naughtiest innuendo
known to mankind. I really needed to get her away from those romantic comedies. They were
turning her brain to mush.

Thinking about movies turned my mind to Edward and tonight. Climbing up into my truck, I
wondered which movie he planned for us to watch tonight... and how long we would actually
watch it. I felt a fast build up of unbridled joy tense my entire body, but suppressed it before it
could burst out of me in squeal form. Maybe later. When there weren't people in cars next to
me.

It was a short drive over to Edward's place and an even shorter walk up to his apartment, since
I practically bounded up the stairs. Pressing the doorbell, I breathed in deeply and exhaled,
giving one last tug on my shirt and smoothing down my hair. The door opened and there he
was – hair standing almost on end, glasses tilted just so, wearing a gray shirt that read 'The
Dice Are Trying To Kill Me', a pair of green, baggy cargo pants, and sneakers. If I had sat
down one day and tried to list out what I would want my perfect guy to look like, trust me
when I say this would not be it.

But for whatever reason, it was exactly what I wanted.

Because I wanted him. Period.

"Hey," Edward said, smiling his lust-inducing crooked smile. Naughty things ran through my
mind when he smiled like that.

"Hey," I replied, stepping inside when he moved to the side to make room for me. He
followed behind me into the living room where I came to a halt in the middle of the room,
since I had no idea where or what he had planned. Edward came up beside me and I turned
toward him, waiting for him to make the first move.

"So..." he began, his eyes flickering between my eyes and my mouth like he couldn't decide
where to look. I couldn't help but smirk. He was too adorable.

"Yes?" I asked, trying to help him along.

"Um." He shot a look around us and then settled his gaze on my eyes. "Is Chinese alright? I
figured since we had pizza last night, you wouldn't want it again."

I was a little disappointed that he hadn't kissed me, but let it go for the moment. "Chinese is
fine. I'm not picky."

He made a move toward the kitchen, stopped, and then spun around. "Why don't you pick
something out for us to watch?"

"Okay." I walked over to the tower of DVDs and scanned the titles, remembering haven seen
a couple of movies that had intrigued me yesterday. I settled on one I kind of wanted to
watch, but not enough that I would mind missing it if things... progressed between Edward
and I.

"Do you like Dr. Pepper?" Edward suddenly yelled from the kitchen, dispelling the images of
he and I entangled on the couch from my mind.

"Love it," I answered, dropping the DVD case on the coffee table and making my way over to
him. I surprised him when he turned away from the refrigerator with a can of Dr. Pepper in
each hand, causing him to jump a little. He laughed a little as he closed the fridge door with
his foot.

"Didn't see you there."

I shrugged, not caring that I'd scared him. I had bigger things on my mind.

"Don't worry about it," I assured him, taking two steps forward, which brought me right in
front of him so that my eyes were now level with his collar bone. I always forgot how tall he
was until I was standing right next to him. He stepped back nervously and bumped into the
refrigerator.

"Hey," I said softly, reaching up and lightly resting my hands on his forearms. "There's no
need to be scared of me."

"I'm not, uh, I'm not scared of you," he protested sheepishly.

"You seem to be scared of me... you look like a deer caught in headlights."

Edward's breathing became more erratic and I started to grow concerned. "Just relax. Breathe
in and out." I moved my hands from his arms to his chest and slowly ran them up and down
his shirt, in a hopefully calming manner. "That's it – in and out. Now... tell me what's wrong,"
I murmured soothingly.

"I don't know what to do," he admitted after several deep breaths.

"About what?"

"About... how to act... around you."

"Oh." An unfortunate bubble of laughter started up my throat, but I valiantly fought it to the
death. I never understood why I felt like laughing at inappropriate moments. It never ended
well.

"You should act like yourself," I said adamantly, leaning ever so slightly into him and the heat
he was radiating.

"I wish I knew who that was."

I couldn't help but smile because, deep down, isn't that how we all feel?

"Okay then," I sighed. "I'll be me and you just follow my lead."

His eyebrows arched above the frame of his glasses as I took the last step forward that closed
the space between us, rose up onto my toes, and lightly nipped his bottom lip. Edward
grunted, which was a surprising noise to hear from him. But not nearly as surprising, or as
hot, as the next thing he did.

Which was wrapping his arms around my waist and spinning me around so that I was the one
against the refrigerator. Then he crushed his lips to mine and I was lost. Lost to the feeling of
him pressed against me, lost to the heat racing through my blood, lost to the rightness of it all.

Until I heard a thump, thump, and then a hisssssss right as I felt a spray of something cold and
filmy across my neck and arms. Edward and I both jumped away from the refrigerator with
cries of shock. I craned my neck around Edward to see what had happened as he grabbed a
towel from the sink and tossed it in my direction. My eyes fell to a spinning can of Dr. Pepper
on the floor right underneath the refrigerator, spewing forth its contents and covering every
inch of the kitchen it could reach in sticky brown soda.

"What happened?" I asked, not even caring that half of my shirt was covered in brown soda.
Only that Alice was going to kill me for ruining it.

"Ugh. I dropped the cans. It was stupid, I know, but I forgot I was holding them and –"

"Edward," I interrupted. "It's okay."

He ducked his head and ran a hand through his hair, which probably wasn't the smartest idea,
since it only transferred the Dr. Pepper on his hand to his hair.

"I'm such a dork sometimes."

"No, you're not," I started arguing, but he stared at me like I was a moron and I reevaluated
my answer. "Okay, sometimes you're a dork. But in this instance, you weren't. It could have
happened to anyone."

He made a protesting noise in the back of his throat that sounded like 'mmph'.

"Seriously, it's fine. Now. Do you have a shirt I can borrow? Because I think I can feel the Dr.
Pepper drying and it's not a... pleasant sensation."

Edward gave me a once over and chuckled. He brushed away a few strands of hair that were
sticking to my neck as he answered, "Yeah, I have a shirt you can borrow."

Then he turned and walked toward his room, giving the dissipated can a wide berth, and I
followed, frankly because I didn't want to just stand in the kitchen and wait for him to return.
He crossed his bedroom floor until he reached the dresser and then he pulled out the second
drawer.

"Most of my shirts are going to be huge on you, but I've had this one" - he pulled out a worn,
gray shirt with a flourish – "since I was in junior high, so it might fit you."

"Thanks," I said as he handed it over.

"Go ahead and get cleaned up first. I'll go mop up the mess in the kitchen."

I wanted to tell him that I would be more than happy to help with the cleaning, but Edward
was already kicking himself over the entire thing, so I figured it would be easier to just go
along with it. But I vowed to get unsticky as quickly as possible to assist with the swamp in
the kitchen as Edward pointed me in the direction of the bathroom that connected his and
Ben's rooms.

I was concentrating on not getting any soda droplets on my jeans or shoes so it was only when
I had flung the dripping shirt into the sink that I saw Ben and Edward's choice of bathroom
decorations and laughed out loud.

Oh. My. God.

It had to be one of the nerdiest things I've ever seen, but I was slightly in awe of it as well.

Decorating three walls, from top to bottom, was... what appeared to be a continuous scene
from Super Mario Brothers, the original Nintendo one. On one wall, Mario was jumping over
a flower, which was coming out of a green tube above the toilet, so he could hit a gold colored
block. Another wall had short mushroom things with eyes walking along the towel rack.
There were some gold coins above more bricks and then a couple of turtles on the third wall.

I only recognized the game because I used to watch some friends play it when I was younger.
I was never one to play video games because my hand-eye coordination was shit, but that
didn't stop me from appreciating those people who could play well. I bet Edward could play
well. I would bet anything that his hand-eye coordination was great, especially after catching
himself and me so impressively this afternoon.

And those long fingers... moving back and forth rapidly on a game controller...

Oh, lord.

Did it just get hot in here?

Stay focused, Bella, I reminded myself. Stop daydreaming about Edward's fingers. Especially
about those fingers running up and down your bare back, moving around to your stomach,
and playing with your belly button. And then, just when you think you're going to go out of
your mind with lust, he slowly moves them lower to sweep across your clit and -

Jesus!

I needed to stop doing that or I would never leave this bathroom.

Oh, god. His bathroom. The place where he stripped down, got naked, and took showers,
getting all wet and steamy and -

No.

Stop that. Right. Now.

Get cleaned up and get back to the kitchen. That is the mission.

Stick to the fucking mission.

Ten minutes later, wearing a shirt that was two sizes too big on me, I stepped out of the
bathroom. Edward was sitting on his bed, now wearing a greenish shirt that read 'Blue Sun'
and had some Japanese symbol underneath it.

"Hey, are you already done? Because I was going to help..." I trailed off and self-consciously
gathered the extra shirt material in one hand, then released it. I liked wearing baggy clothes
every once in awhile, but this was kind of pushing it. I had wanted to look nice for him, not
like I was homeless.

"Yeah, it didn't take very long. And the food came while you were in there."

"Oh." Apparently I had missed a lot while I was daydreaming in the bathroom.

"You hungry?" he asked, getting up from the bed. I walked over to him and grabbed his hand,
giving it a little squeeze.

"Yes, I am."

We walked hand in hand to the dining room where all the food he had ordered was laid out
buffet style. My stomach rumbled in response, which was rather embarrassing, but what can
you do? We made our plates and I scrambled for a topic to talk about before my brain could
take the opportunity to dream up another naked Edward situation.

"So, what did your other shirt mean? The one with the dice."

Edward blushed, actually blushed, which was the cutest thing in the world and swallowed the
food he had just shoved in his mouth. "It's supposed to be funny. In Dungeons and Dragons,
everything you do depends on the roll of dice you have, so when you have a few bad rolls in a
row, you have no choice but to think that the dice are trying to kill you."

"Dungeons and Dragons?" Hadn't Angela mentioned something about that the other day?

"Yep, D&D. I play every once in while with a group of guys. Actually, we're playing
tomorrow."

"Oh, yeah?" My interest was definitely piqued now.

"Yeah... would you... um, would you want to play with us?" I smirked at his question and he
flushed when he figured out the reason for it. "I mean, would you want to join... not
necessarily join, but watch us, if you want." He rubbed the back of his head vigorously and
sighed dejectedly.

I smiled sympathetically for causing him so much distress and, to make up for it, sweetly
answered, "I'd love to play with you, Edward."

He turned beet red at that and I grinned, loving that I could get such a reaction from him. We
quickly finished our meal and moved into the living room to finally start the movie I had
picked out, 'Weird Science'. One hour and six minutes later, neither one of us was paying
attention to the screen.

Chapter 11

BPOV

Saturday night, I found myself in exactly the same position I had been in the night before -
standing in front of my mirror, trying to assess if my outfit was good enough to walk out of
the room wearing. But with one major difference.

"Alice, for the last time, I'm NOT going to dress up like a fairy!"

"Bella! You have to. This is a big deal for them. I read all about it this morning."

"No. And that's final."

She gave me a pleading look, holding up the sparkly green wings again, but I shook my head
firmly 'no' and tried to appear stern and unrelenting. Alice finally backed down (no small feat,
I might add) and stomped over to her side of the room, dramatically flinging herself on the
bed.

I rolled my eyes, but said nothing. If I broke my concentration, I would smile and ruin what I
had worked so hard for these last twenty minutes. Glancing at the mirror one last time, I
wiped away a smudge of makeup from under my eye and grabbed my purse off its hook on
the wall.

"Alright, I'm out. Don't sulk all night," I told Alice. I turned back just in time to see her stick
her tongue out at me.

"Very mature, Ali," I muttered under my breath as I headed downstairs.

Driving over to Edward's for the second time in as many nights, I was incredibly nervous. It
was one thing to hang out with him by ourselves, but quite another to hang out with his
friends. I didn't want to do anything to ruin the group dynamic or embarrass Edward.

Although, I knew the chances of not embarrassing him were slim since I had never played
Dungeons and Dragons before. I didn't have a clue what it had even entailed until I did a bit of
research this morning. Most of the articles on Wikipedia had been so technical and confusing
that my brain hurt as if I had just completed the SAT.

Edward greeted me with a huge smile at the door and led me into the dining room where Ben
was setting up for the night. A couple of large in width, but not very thick books were on top
of the table and behind them, a buffet of assorted snacks were lined up on a sideboard table.

The fact that two college-aged guys even owned a sideboard table seemed odd to me. My
guess was one of their mothers had something to do with it.

"Okay," Edward began, pulling my attention to him. "I told you to come early because I
wanted Ben and me to help you by covering the basics before the other guys showed up."

He motioned for me to take a seat at the table and he sat down beside me, with Ben taking the
seat on my other side.

"Hey, Ben," I said, giving him a little wave.

"Hey," he replied.

"So, here's what I did this afternoon." Edward slid two pieces of paper across the tabletop for
me to look at. The top one looked like a filled out survey with numbers and writing all over it.

"What is it?" I asked, staring down at the paper in confusion.

"It's your character," he stated, pointing at the top where it clearly read 'Character Sheet'.

Duh, Bella.

"I filled out what I could without completely taking over the character." He went on to explain
what each section on the papers meant and what I could change, if I wanted to. Truthfully, I
was shocked at the amount of work he had put in for me. And I wouldn't dream of changing
anything, even if I knew how to change it.

The only spaces not filled in were the character name, age, height, weight, personality traits,
mannerisms, and background. Edward and Ben advised me on what to put down and, after
looking at the most common female names for elves and humans, I settled on Cassi.

"So, as a half-elf, you have a distinct advantage because you can learn an encounter power
from any class you want, which is great because as a paladin, you cause more damage
with…" Edward continued on about the different merits of the encounter power he had picked
out for me and I just nodded along like I understood what was going on.

Not in the least confused out of my mind. Because who doesn't understand the first time
around what the phrase 'radiant delirium' means.

Seriously, this game made my head ache, and we hadn't even started playing yet. I mentally
kicked myself for agreeing to play, when I should have said I'd just watch this first time.

"Now, that's your character. I play an elf ranger named Lucan; Ben's a human cleric named
Thorn; and there are two other guys who play with us – Eric and Tyler. Eric's an eladrin
wizard named Aramil and Tyler's a dragonborn fighter named Torinn." He was going to keep
talking, but I stopped him by placing one hand on his forearm and holding the other one up in
front of his face. "Whoa. None of that made sense to me."

Edward cocked his head to one side, thoughtful. "Umm… what if I just wrote it down?"

"That'd be great," I sighed in relief. I was at my breaking point as it was, intellectually
speaking. Nothing else could be crammed into my head without it having serious
repercussions to my GPA.

"The important thing to remember is, once game play starts, you should try to address us by
our character's name because we're supposed to 'become' our character, which is the whole
point behind role-playing games," Edward explained as he wrote down the things I needed to
know or remember.

Okay… become your character. I can do that.

I think.

No time like the present to find out, I guess.

After a few last minute instructions, mainly dealing with how you 'adventured' in the game
and what happened during a combat encounter, most of which they handled as a group, my
head was spinning. I had newfound respect for people who undertook the difficult feat of
learning and playing this game, which, in turn, gave me a deeper respect for Edward.

The doorbell rang, signaling my salvation from trying to comprehend anymore of what
Edward and Ben were telling me. At least for the moment. Ben went to answer the door,
leaving me alone with Edward for a few, precious seconds.

"Thanks for doing this," Edward said, turning to look at me.

I smiled. "Anytime."

I was going to say more, but was interrupted by a loud yell that came from the front door.

"Wolverines!"

What?

I heard Ben answer the mysterious male voice in the same manner, shouting the word
'Wolverines' at the top of his lungs. Startled and very confused, I shot a look at Edward. He

just shook his head and shrugged. I couldn't blame him for being a bit embarrassed, but if this
was the weirdest thing his friends did, they were still leagues closer to normal than my
friends.

A guy who had shaggy hair a similar brown color to mine walked into the room, followed
closely by Ben. His eyes lit up when he spotted me. He did a pretty good presentation of a
sweeping bow, and then extended his hand out toward me. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to
take it, so I opted to not.

"It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, my lady. When Edward informed us that a
woman of your stature would be joining us tonight, I could scarcely believe my ears."

It was a miracle I didn't laugh in his face.

Don't get me wrong, I wanted to. But I held it in. For Edward.

"Thanks?" I replied, not sure what the protocol was for responding to something like that.

Beside me, Edward sighed and introduced us. "Bella, this is Tyler. Tyler, Bella." He turned to
me and added, "Please excuse him. He's a little too into renaissance fairs."

I smiled, finally feeling like I was in on the joke instead of part of it. "Ahh. That makes
sense."

"I know you speak ill of me, sir, but I am, first and foremost, a gentleman. And gentlemen
never belittle themselves by seeking revenge." Tyler scowled, clearing upset with Edward of
downplaying his… hobby, if you will, and sat down across from us. He swung his backpack
onto the table and unzipped it.

"Did you bring the grids?" Edward asked as Tyler started pulling out various books.

"Yeah, they're in here somewhere," Tyler replied, abruptly dropping the 'Medieval' speak.
"And I was able to modify some level one quests for Bella from the ones we did nine months
ago."

"Awesome. Thanks for doing that."

Tyler shrugged. "Eh, no big."

The doorbell rang again and Ben went off once more to answer it. Edward and Tyler started
talking about Joss Whedon's new show 'Dollhouse' and the rumors floating around concerning
reshoots and the network pushing back the premiere date. Tyler mentioned how hot he
thought the lead actress Eliza Dushku was, which made Edward shift uncomfortably in his
chair while sneaking a sideways glance at me.

Interesting, I thought, amused that he would react like I would be automatically upset or
jealous if he found another woman attractive. Did he really think my self-esteem was so poor?

I cut in, voicing my own opinion on the matter so I could show Edward that I was secure
enough to handle the hotness of other women. "Yeah, she's ridiculously pretty. I'd kill for her

six-pack." Edward's eyes widened a bit as I continued. "Did you see the swimsuit montage she
did in 'The New Guy'?"

"See it?" Tyler exclaimed, his eyes sparkling. "I have it on my iPod!" He then bent down and
proceeded to look for it in his backpack and, I'm positive about this, fully intended to show us
the scene, but Ben and another guy I didn't know walked in and ruined his moment.

"Hey, Eric," Edward said in a rush, clearly wanting to change the subject. "Eric, Bella. Bella,
this is Eric."

Eric nodded in my direction and we shook hands. Very mundane compared to Tyler's
entrance. Ben sat down in the chair next to mine again and Eric took up residence in the
remaining open chair.

"So, where did we leave off last time?" Ben asked, looking around the table. "Tyler, as acting
DM this game, would you mind recapping?"

"Sure," he replied, dropping the now empty backpack onto the carpet next to his chair. "So,
when last we left our adventurers, we had just completed the dungeon and escaped to the
Hamlet of Nad. Ben, you were getting your armor repaired. Eric, you were at the market
haggling for supplies and trying to sell of some of your treasure. I was sleeping in a bed at the
inn, which is also where you are, Edward, having your wounds tended to by the inn keeper's
buxom brown-eyed, brown-haired daughter –"

Edward suddenly interrupted Tyler's speech with a loud, hacking cough. Conveniently right
when it had been getting good, too. Ben guffawed next to me and Edward shot him a piercing
look, which shut him up quickly.

"That's not exactly how we ended things and you know it, Tyler," Edward chided, stressing
Tyler's name in a rather threatening manner. It was certainly a different side to Edward than I
was used to seeing.

Tyler flashed him a cheeky grin and shrugged. "I know, but I couldn't resist. Sorry, Bella," he
said, focusing his attention on me. "I meant Edward's wounds were being treated by the
innkeeper himself, a burly, thick-chested man, who had an eye for pretty elf rangers –"

"Tyler!" Edward shouted as Ben, Eric, and I burst out in laughter. Edward's face was classic
red, most likely a combination of anger and mortification.

"Oh, lighten up, Edward. He's just having a spot of fun in front of your lady friend," Eric
pointed out.

"Yeah, lighten up," I echoed, bumping Edward's shoulder with mine. He looked at me
uneasily, but couldn't keep the frown on his lips once he saw my smile.

"Whatever," he sighed, hunching over the table in defeat. I slipped my hand into his and gave
him a reassuring smile. He really did need to loosen up and relax if this was going to be any
fun.

"Okay. Now that that's squared away, is everyone ready to begin?" Ben asked the group. We
all nodded our consent and the guys rustled through their stuff, getting their character sheets
out, while Ben grabbed the set of special dice used in the game and placed them in the middle
of the table.

"Do your thing, DM," Ben said, settling back into his chair. I got the impression that he was
the unofficial leader and moderator of the group.

Tyler flipped open the first book on his pile to a bookmarked page and then turned his
attention on us. "So, as the newb, should Bella go first?"

That question certainly shocked me. I had been expecting to observe the others playing before
I was thrown to the wolves.

"Bella? Do you wanna take a stab at it?" Edward asked gently, rubbing his thumb over the
knuckles of my hand, which was still enclosed in his.

I took a deep breath. "Sure, why not?"

What's the worst that could happen?

"Awesome," Tyler exclaimed, rubbing his hands together villain-style. "What's your
character's name again?"

"Cassi."

"Alright, Cassi. A boy you know from your village runs up to you with a message from the
area's elected leader. It appears a valuable elixir containing the only known cure for a spell
cast on the boy's mother has been stolen. Someone saw the thief run into a cave that goes
underground where a patch of Shriekers and Violet Fungi is known to live. Your quest is to
enter the cave, find the elixir, and bring it back before the boy's mother dies. Do you accept
this campaign?"

I immediately turned to Edward with a beseeching look to explain what the hell Tyler had
said and what I was supposed to do.

"Shriekers are level one minions that are easiest to kill when you have a ranged encounter
power, which you do. The same thing goes for Violet Fungi, which are level two lurkers," he
clarified.

"They've got nothing on you, Cassi," Ben chimed in.

"Yeah, paladins kiss ass," Eric added vehemently.

I smiled warily at them and squeezed Edward's hand. "Can you do the quest with me?" I
asked, giving him my wide-eyed, damsel in distress look. I could see him warring with
himself in his mind, wavering on what to tell me. Finally he shook his head back and forth
slowly.

"No, I shouldn't because I'm high enough above you that I might attract higher level monsters.
You'd die a lot quicker that way."

"Oh. Okay, what do I do?"

Once I started playing and actually went through the motions, it wasn't as bad as I thought it'd
be. It was still confusing as hell, but the guys, especially Edward, were great and quick to
suggest moves and tactics that I wouldn't have known otherwise.

And Eric was right, paladins did kick ass. Mine did, anyway, because I completed the quest,
only finding a bit of trouble with the first Violet Fungus I came across, and received 300
experience points in the process.

Hell, yeah!

The guys were really selfless when it came to letting me play through until my quest was
complete since Edward had told me earlier that usually they took turns so one person didn't
manipulate the game too much. Once I was done, I chose to sit out for a while and Tyler
started them on a group campaign, one involving ogres and a deserted castle.

I watched in fascination whenever it was Edward's turn in a combat encounter as he worked
through the different moves he could do in his head before he committed to one. It should
have been boring, like observing a chess game, but strangely, it wasn't. And I knew he was
smart, but knowing and seeing are two very different things. The swift and efficient manner in
which he calculated all of those rolls and modifiers, even going so far as to know what to add
up for other characters... It was kind of a turn on.

Which made me do a mental double-take because I was getting turned on... by math.

Math.

There were no words to explain how deeply this troubled me. Maybe I could see it as, what
turned me on was Edward doing math. Because that seemed better. And saner.

The guys stayed on task for most of the quest, only going really off-topic once, which quickly
escalated into a shouting match. It all started when Tyler told Eric that an ogre had come
around behind him from a secret room he had missed during his exploration of the room.

"What? Will you stop being such a fucking Naratard! Why is there a secret room? I explored
the room!" Eric erupted from out of nowhere, making me jump.

"Look, it's not my fault you failed the stealth check and missed the hidden lever next to the
statue! And don't call me a Narutard! Naruto is a great anime and if you would take your head
out of your ass, you might see that!" Tyler yelled back.

Ben jumped up and had to physically break them apart because they had both gotten up from
their chairs and were dangerously close in each other's personal space. I was kind of scared
they were going to start throwing punches when Edward got up too and partially shielded me
from view as he tried to calm them down. I tilted my head to one side to see around him,
unable to look away for long, much like a car crash on the side of a highway.

"You both like Utawarerumono and Fullmetal Alchemist. Why don't you focus on that instead
of always going at each other's throats over differing opinions on one anime?" Edward tried to
reason with them.

"Uta is pretty cool," Eric admitted, losing some of his stream.

"Yeah. And so is FMA," Tyler consented, following suit and backing down.

The guys came to a sort of truce and began playing again after taking a short break to calm
down. After they came back, within ten minutes they were laughing and kidding around like
nothing had happened. Edward tried to explain to me what had taken place during the break,
but I honestly didn't know enough about anime to understand.

Miraculously, I made it through the night without my brain exploding from information
overload.

"Bella, it was a pleasure questing with you," Tyler informed me as he stuffed the books he'd
brought back into his bag.

"I quite concur," Eric agreed.

"Well, thanks It was rather fun to play, once I caught on," I replied, stifling a yawn from a
sudden bout of tiredness. I covertly glanced at the clock, realizing I hadn't checked the time in
a while.

Wow, one a.m. Strange that we'd played for almost six hours, when it felt like we'd just
started. I could see how this could become addicting because I had this weird urge to go on
another quest, and another, until I leveled up. It was an unearthly itch I needed to scratch.

Ben told Edward and me that he would clean up, so we wound up heading to Edward's
bedroom because I didn't want to leave yet. Edward sat down in his computer chair, leaving
me the bed... or his lap. I stood in front of him, shifting from one foot to the other, trying to
work up the nerve to act on the scenario that had just formed in my mind.

He looked up at me, the picture of sweetness, with a questioning expression. "Did you have
fun?"

One corner of my mouth quirked up and I decided to go for it. "Yeah, I did. But I think I
should tell you about this quest that recently came to my attention."

"What quest?" he asked, two frown lines appearing between his eyebrows.

"This one." I smiled slyly, took a step forward, and then straddled his lap, resting my hands on
his shoulders. His eyes looked like they were going to pop out of his head.

"Kind sir, I request aid. An evil warlock cursed me for refusing his kiss. Now I am doomed to
seek out a willing man to kiss me every day for the rest of my life, or I will surely die. Would
you help me?" Dropping my voice to a whisper, I added, "Are you willing?"

"Who could resist such an offer?" Edward replied, lifting his hands to curl them around my
hips. I ran my hands down the sides of his face before leaning forward and brushing my
mouth over his in a light, warm, barely there kiss.

"Come now," he said softly when I pulled away. "That's not a kiss."

With more confidence than I expected from him, he gripped the back of my head with one
hand and brought my mouth to his once again. My lips parted in a breathy, needy moan I'd
been teased all night by his closeness, but had received little physical contact from him. This
was exactly what I needed after hours of being a good girl.

His teeth caught gently on my bottom lip, nibbling and sucking it before his tongue stroked
along its edge, soothing away the slight sting from his bite. I leaned forward, chasing his
mouth to deepen the kiss. My body burned for his touch, for his large hands to outline my
curves, to claim them as his own. I craved the hard, solid weight of him against my chest,
stomach, and thighs.

After what seemed like forever, his tongue finally sought mine. I moaned in gratitude, sliding
down his lap until our chests lightly touched. He groaned deep in his throat, his mouth eating
at mine in deep, drugging kisses, as he slipped the hand that had been digging into my hip
around to the small of my back and crushed me against him. I felt the hard bulge of his
erection nudging against me exactly where I needed it, but his body remained still and tense
underneath mine.

I wasn't so disciplined.

Without further thought to how he would react or how we barely knew each other, I rubbed
rhythmically against him, letting the pressure gather, reveling in the friction of denim and wet
silk sliding erotically along my slick, aroused flesh.

My hands roamed around and down his sides to his back, then moved up to twist themselves
into his hair. I clenched my thighs and rode him faster as we continued to kiss, Edward's
fingers creating divots in my skin from pressing so hard. Occasionally a soft moan would
escape one of our mouths, only to be swallowed by the other. My mind flooded me with
images of Edward penetrating me, thrusting hard and filling that achy emptiness deep inside
me.

My orgasm hit hard and fast and more intense than any I could ever remember experiencing
before. Our lips broke apart and Edward buried his face in the side of my neck, grunting and
bucking. Realization slipped in, making my breath catch, that we had climaxed together.

I floated back down to earth, unconsciously running my fingers through his hair. His arms
wrapped around my waist and he held me tightly to his chest.

"I think I love you," he rasped hotly against my neck.

My jaw dropped and an overwhelming panic and sense of bewilderment filled me.

"I..." I struggled to say another word, to quantify how I felt into something resembling a
sentence, but I couldn't. I didn't know how I felt about him, beyond that I liked him and lusted
after his body like no one else.

But that's not what you tell someone when they say "I think I love you." A reply like that
would be right up there with saying "thank you" in response. It just wasn't done.

Edward lifted his head and stared into my eyes. My mouth opened and closed several times,
each time opening because I wanted to verbally acknowledge his confession, but then would
close when nothing came out. Pressure built behind my eyes the longer the silence between us
lasted. I grew frantic, wondering how I could possibly rectify the situation.

Shit. I was going to ruin everything between us because I couldn't tell him that I felt the same
way without lying.

But Edward surprised me. He gently cupped the side of my face and brushed away the lone
tear that had streaked down my cheek.

"Shh, it's okay," he whispered. "I know it's still early for us, but I had to tell you. I needed you
to know."

I bent my head willingly, following the light pressure of his hand to rest my head on the curve
of his shoulder. We held each other until my knees protested their bent position. Sniffling, I
climbed off his lap, sweeping my hands over my cheeks to wipe away the moisture.

"I should probably go," I mumbled, wanting to leave, but still reluctant to walk away before I
knew for certain that he was okay with my non-response.

He nodded and stood up, grimacing when he straightened out "Um... I'd see you out, but" - he
pointed down vaguely in the direction of his lap - "I'm finding it uncomfortable to stand here,
much less walk anywhere."

I gave him a watery smile. "Sorry."

"Don't apologize," he countered firmly. "It was worth this and so much more to experience
that with you."

Could he be any more perfect? I took his answer as reassurance that we were alright.

"Okay, I take it back," I relented.

"Good."

We stared at each other for a couple more seconds before I made a move to leave. "Okay, I'll,
uh, I guess I'll talk to you later?"

"Definitely," he said with a smile.

I rose up onto my toes to kiss him good-bye and then turned to go. My mind sped off at a mile
a minute the moment I walked out of his room, trying to process the events that had transpired
in the last hour.

He thinks he loves me?

We had known each other for less than a week – five days to be exact. How could he suspect
something so monumental as love in that short amount of time?

And while it was sweet for him to want me to know his feelings, it still made me uneasy.
What was I supposed to do with this information? If he reached the conclusion that he did
love me, would I be able to respond in kind when that time came?

And if I couldn't then, when would we reach the point where he got so fed up with my lack of
response that he ended up resenting me for it?

There were too many questions, too many unknowns, and way too much pressure.

I needed someone to talk to. Alice was my best friend, but she was kind of flighty when it
came to things like this. She'd see it as fate and would try to convince me that I was in love
with Edward and we were going to get married and live next to each other after we graduated.

I couldn't talk to Alice about this.

I needed someone who would listen without bias. Who knew when to shut up and let me to
talk, and when to shut me up before I talked myself out of something I wanted.

Angela… I needed Angela.

Chapter 12

EPOV

I opened my eyes to the birds singing, the sun shining, and... something was wrong with my
boxers. Why were they...? I reached down under the covers to adjust them and encountered
damp, sticky cotton. Oooh, that's why.

I must have been a little too active during my dream after erotic dream of Bella's soft, naked
body writhing under mine last night. No bother. I slid the boxers off and threw them across
the room in the direction of my dirty laundry pile.

There, I thought with a sigh of relief. Much better.

Now where was I...

Bella rested her cheek on her hand and stared at me. She was supposed to be studying. I
could feel her eyes while I finished typing the java script required for my programming class
on my laptop. Glancing at her underneath my eyelashes, I marveled at how truly beautiful she
was. Natural beauty was rare and always breathtaking.

"Are you finished reading?" I asked, startling her out of her thoughts.

"What? Oh, no, I'm not. Just got distracted," she replied, looking back down at her book as
light pink streaked across her cheeks. Like I said, breathtaking. And now I was distracted.

Bella lifted her eyes to mine and smirked. "Are you finished typing?"

"Yes, actually I am," I said, catching her off-guard.

"Really? What are you going to do now?" she asked, licking her bottom lip with the tip of her
tongue. That small gesture shot straight down to my groin.

This was my fantasy, right? Didn't that mean I could do whatever I wanted?

Yes, I decided. It did.

Sweeping the computer off the table, I didn't even flinch as it hit the floor, though somewhere
in the back of my mind I wondered if it was alright. But that didn't matter because this wasn't
real.

I climbed onto the table and pulled Bella into a rough kiss, sucking on that bottom lip that
had teased me so with its glistening pink softness only seconds before. She moaned and
pressed herself closer, but it wasn't enough. Gripping her hips, I lifted her up onto the table
and then pushed her down until she was laid out beneath me.

"Is this table sturdy enough to hold us?" she asked breathlessly.

"I hope so," I said wickedly.

She glanced nervously toward the hallway. "How do you know Ben won't come back soon?"

"Does it matter?" I shot back, leaning down to capture her lips once again. Kissing along her
jawline, making my way to the sensitive spot behind her ear that always made her moan, I
heard her sigh 'no,' even though the question had been rhetorical. As I nuzzled her throat and
trailed open mouth kisses down to the curve of her collarbone, my hands made quick work of
her blouse and bra.

I sat back on my heels and took my fill of Bella in a passionate, half-lidded state of desire.
Her pale white skin glowed a little from the stark glare of the fluorescent lights overhead,
which only highlighted her pink, beaded nipples. My eyes found those like beacons in the
black darkness of night.

Bella squirmed under my scrutiny and raised her arms as if to cover herself in her shyness. I
grabbed them firmly and shook my head at her. "Never hide yourself from me," I demanded as
I bent down and flicked one of her nipples with my tongue. She arched her back and moaned
my name throatily. I smiled at her reaction, pleased that she was so willing and eager.

Letting go of her arms, I laid down beside her, holding myself up on one elbow and stretching
out until my body touched the length of hers. Her hands fisted into my hair, dragging my head
down for another searing kiss. My tongue was sucked into her mouth repeatedly in deep pulls

until I found myself moving my lower body along with the steady rhythm, seeking the
stimulation that would bring my release.

My free hand cupped one of her exposed breasts, kneading it while occasionally catching her
taut nipple between my pointer and middle fingers and lightly tugging it. Bella gasped under
me after I did it two more times and I removed my hand, rolling over her to rest my weight on
my forearms so I hovered right above her chest. With a quick dip of my head, I fastened my
mouth over her areola and pulled. Her back arched and she moaned, burying her hands in my
hair again to hold me in place.

I lazily circled the tip of my tongue around her nipple until she whimpered with need, and
then switched to her other breast, only to do the same thing. Bella's knees lifted under me,
hitting my chest, and I held myself up so she could spread them. I settled down again into the
cradle of her hips, which was my favorite place to be, and glanced up the line of her body,
growing rock hard and throbbing when I saw Bella's eyes were full of desire and... love.

Enough with foreplay. I couldn't wait another second.

I quickly unsnapped the top button of her jeans and drew the zipper down as her hands slid
under my shirt and bunched it up under my arms. Going up on my knees, I grabbed the collar
of my shirt and roughly pulled it over my head, throwing it aside. Then I was back at Bella's
waist, dragging her jeans and underwear down over her hips and legs. I got them off one leg
and then the other, throwing them on the floor as well.

Bella gasped my name and gripped my shoulders, tugging me back to her mouth. I crawled up
her naked body and hovered an inch above her lips. My hand slid over her jaw, around to the
back of her neck. I plunged my fingers into her hair and pulled her up to meet my mouth in a
slow, hot, and thorough kiss. Bella's hands fluttered down my back and then moved to the
waist of my pants. She fumbled with the button and hurriedly unzipped my jeans before
pushing them and my boxers down my hips. Then she used her feet to take them the rest of the
way off.

I fought with getting them off completely and when they finally hit the ground below, Bella
wrapped one of her hot, little hands around my pulsing erection and the world quickly
narrowed to her ministrations. I groaned as she stroked me in quick movements, twisting her
wrist when she neared the tip of my head.

It was too much, too fast. I needed to be in her, but I wouldn't last much longer if I let her
keep this up.

"Stop," I rasped, gripping her wrist and pulling her hand away. Bella pouted prettily, but then
gasped as I spread her legs with my knees and positioned myself above her. God, I could feel
the heat coming from her... it was all I could do not to plunge forward and just take her.

"Edward," she whimpered, lifting her hips and seeking me out.

"What do you want, Bella?" I asked, staring deep into her eyes. She panted, her eyes
unfocused, but she didn't answer so I tried again. "Do you want my cock inside you?"

Her eyelids fluttered wildly and she shakily nodded. "Yes," she said in a strained voice.

That was all I needed to hear. With a grunt of satisfaction, I gripped her hips to hold her still
as I drove forward and slid inside her in one firm thrust. Bella cried out, closing her eyes and
throwing her head back.

And that's when I felt a sharp tug on my balls and came, hard, with one final stroke. I actually
groaned, instead of just thinking about groaning, because I thought I could hold out longer. If
that had been real, it would have been embarrassing to be so premature.

To be just another overly-excitable virgin.

I definitely needed to work on lasting longer because if the real thing happened, if Bella one
day let me anywhere near her while she was naked or even partially unclothed, I doubted I
would be able to stop myself from coming at the thought of feeling her wet heat around me.
Much less actually doing it.

...well, that is if she didn't avoid me after my humiliating confession last night.

What had I been thinking?

Ugh, that's not the right question. I hadn't been thinking, which was part of the problem. The
right question would be – Why had I said it out loud?

I flipped the covers off me, jammed my glasses on so I could see, and made my way to the
bathroom, flipping on the light and automatically squinting until my eyes had adjusted to the
brightness.

If I had just held it in, all of this would be inconsequential and I would be able to comfortably
hang out with Bella again, without having to worry about scaring her off with anymore too
soon, emotionally charged announcements from the inner workings of my mind.

Frustrated and completely disgusted with myself, I turned on the sink faucet and cleaned my
stomach off with a hand towel.

If I called her right now, would she even pick up? Or would she pass me off to voice mail and
then send me a text hours later about how she was 'busy' and would call me later?

I threw the towel on the ground when I was done and stared at myself in the mirror above the
sink.

What if I lost her?

Would I be able to live with that? Or would I fight?

I gripped the sides of the sink countertop and leaned forward, glaring into my own eyes until
they filled my vision.

I would fight, I decided. I would force her to acknowledge me. To at least let me have the
chance to convince her that maybe she felt the same way because deep down I knew, even
though it had only been a short time, she was important to me. I didn't know if I loved her, not

really. I didn't know what love felt like, but I knew that she was my last thought before I fell
asleep at night, and my first thought when I woke up the next morning.

Now I just need to get some clothes on, I thought, looking down at my very bare body. My
eyes went to my deflated penis, red from overuse and still slightly chaffed from last night's
events. Poor guy... No more dry humping sessions for you for a while…

Shower? I shifted my eyes sideways to the shower stall, but then looked ahead again.

No, no time! I was on a mission, a mission from God.

Alright, maybe not from God. Granted, this wasn't a 'find the holy grail' or 'get the band back
together' kind of mission, but it was imperative to me and that's the only thing that mattered.

I sighed and rolled my head and shoulders around, stretching. Okay, game plan. I'm going to
get dressed, purchase that damn $120 book for my 'Reasoning Methods in AI' class, and then
call Bella and see what's what with her. And if she ignores my call, I'll just try again.

But if she ignores that one, I reasoned as I walked back into my room and headed for my
dresser, I won't call a third time because three calls in a row is bordering on pathetic, and I
want to avoid being pathetic and an idiot.

Game plan finalized, I opened the top drawer with a determined air about me and set to work.

BPOV

"I'm perplexed," I called out as a greeting, closing the door behind me without so much as a
warning. I had just spent the last three hours pacing in my room, thankfully Alice-free
because she had decided that she needed to spend the last day before classes began with the
new 'love of her life'.

"Well, hello to you, too," Angela said flatly, one eyebrow arching in question at my total
disregard of common courtesy in the way of knocking before entering a room unannounced.
But she didn't know yet that my problem went beyond simple courtesy.

"Help," I whined, falling backwards across her bed next to where she was lounging.

"What's wrong now, B?"

I made a face at her nickname for me. "You know I hate it when you call me 'B'."

Angela just grinned. "I know, but I needed something to distract you so you could tell me why
you barged into my room and then proceeded to make yourself at home on my comforter."

My eyes narrowed. "Fine," I said tersely. "Just don't let it happen again or I'm going to start
calling you 'Angie'."

She made a face this time and I laughed, momentarily forgetting my worries.

"So what's up?" she asked, making them all crash back down on me.

I took a deep breath and launched into my tale of woe, telling her everything that had
happened, but glossing over the more intimate details that had transpired between me and
Edward. Just thinking about it again made me flush. I'd imagined something 'intimate'
happening between me and Edward extensively in my fantasies and dreams, but the real thing
was so much better than anything I could have imagined. If not for the after-delight
confession, I would probably be over at his apartment right now, trying to coax him into bed.

When I got to the part after Edward had basically declared his love for me, Angela made me
stop.

"Okay, I get it now," she simply said, leaning back against the wall and mound of pillows that
helped prop her up.

"See why I'm perplexed now? I have no idea what to do," I sighed, glad to cast my problem
unto someone else and just do whatever they told me to do.

"He definitely said 'think'?" She stressed the last word.

"Yes, just like the song by that 'Partridge Family' guy."

She looked off into the distance and I stared at her, trying to guess what she was thinking
about. "How do you feel about him?" she finally asked.

"I... don't know. I like him. I, uh, God this is embarrassing to say, but I think he's the Clark to
my Lois," I admitted in a hushed tone.

Angela just smirked a little and stared at me analytically. "But you don't think you love him?"
she prodded.

"No," I said with a shake of my head. "Not yet, anyway."

"Okay, then it's simple. Don't do anything," she suggested with a shrug.

I sat up and gaped at her. "Don't do anything? That's your advice?"

"Sure. It wasn't an all out confession of undying love. Most likely it was just a side effect
from... your 'activity'. Just because you don't reciprocate his feelings doesn't mean there's
something wrong with you. AND he seemed to take your silence in stride, not letting it get to
him. I don't see why you actually have to do anything," she explained matter-of-factly.

Unbelievable.

Don't do anything...

I hadn't even realized that was an option.

I sat there, looking down at the bed without really seeing it, trying to wrap my mind around
such a simple, yet amazing concept.

Don't do anything.

And she was right. It probably was a side effect from what we had done. Angela had made it
seem like Edward never had a girlfriend before, so it probably stood to reason that he never
fooled around with anyone either. Declarations made under those circumstances weren't
always true. I mean, I should know better than most people they weren't true.

"I like it," I said, lifting my head to smile at my own Dr. Phil, only mine was much prettier
and she gave way better advice.

She returned my smile. "I knew you would."

But then a thought struck me. "What if he brings it up?" I asked nervously, frowning.

"Well, in that case, you should talk to him about it."

My frown turned into a grimace. Talking about feelings… hmph. Not exactly my forte, but I
could do it. If push came to shove and Edward brought last night up, I could talk to him.

"Thanks, Angela. You really saved me from stressing out about this and losing more sleep
than I need to the night before classes start."

"Don't worry about it," she replied. I stood up and made a move to leave when she said
something else, something that chilled me to the bone.

"You really should tell him." We both knew what she was referring to.

I shook my head. "No, I can't. It happened and I dealt with it. I don't see why I need to drudge
up the past."

"Bella," she sighed, exasperated because we had been through this so many times before. "I
think it would be good for you to talk about it. Besides, he has a right to know."

Has a right? No one had that right, not until I said so.

"Not yet he doesn't," I said firmly, walking out of her room before she could respond.

I was printing out my class schedule later that afternoon when my phone rang, vibrating and
wriggling on top of my desk. I glanced at the caller ID screen and bit my lip in indecision.

Edward

I had to answer. It was like peeling off a band-aid, the quicker I got it over with, the better it
would be. Sighing, I punched the 'accept' button and held the phone up to my ear. "Hello?"

"Bella?" he questioned unnecessarily. Of course it was me. Who else would be answering my
phone? "Hey," he said, his tone brightening.

"Hey, Edward. What's up?" I glanced down at my desk and drummed my nails of my free
hand against the fake wood, working off some of the nervousness humming throughout my
body.

Don't bring up last night, don't bring up last night, don't bring up last night…

"Nothing." I could hear the shrug in his voice. "What are you doing?"

"Getting ready for tomorrow."

"Oh, right… I never asked what classes you're taking this semester," he hinted, giving me a
great opening for a safe, neutral conversation. I gladly took it and we talked about our classes
and how the first day was always nerve-racking because you never really knew how your
professors would act, but how it was also great because there was a 99 percent chance you
would get out early and without homework for next time.

From there, we discussed what we had going on this week and I off-handedly mentioned the
KD 'Back to School' party taking place Friday night.

"Sounds like it'll be fun," he said earnestly.

"Do you want to go?" I asked after a second of silence. He hesitated and I smiled, adding,
"With me. Do you want to go with me?"

"Yeah… I could do that." He sounded so conflicted and nervous, but was trying to play it
cool. I had to grin, imagining how cute he looked right now with his forehead scrunched up,
running one of his hands through his hair.

"Cool," I said, matching his casual tone. Looking at the clock on the wall, I sighed, "Well, I
should probably get some dinner. I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Okay, Bella. Good night."

"Night, Edward."

We hung up and I set my phone down gingerly on my desk. That hadn't been so hard. This
'doing nothing' thing was going to work, it seemed.

Thank you, Angela. I silently sent that up to wherever silent 'thank you's go and stood up,
grabbing the schedule print out off my printer.

Ugh. School, I thought with disgust, looking at the early morning class I had tomorrow. I
hated waking up early.

Chapter 13

EPOV

The week passed quickly. Classes started, notes were taken, lectures ignored, and information
in chapters that magically remained in short-term memory for exactly as long as needed in
order to later regurgitate it on tests was assigned and read.

Bella and I didn't find any time to spend together face-to-face Monday through Wednesday,
but we did talk at least once a day and text even more about trivial things, like how our day
was going and what we were doing at that moment. Every day I was grateful when the subject
of last Saturday didn't come up. It seemed to me like she was willing to overlook my slip, and
I wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth, so I didn't bring it up either.

But my limited contact with her after having the greatest weekend of my young adult life was
frustrating, at best. Somehow I strove on, seeking the occasional tryst with my hand in the
shower or when I woke up after a particularly hardening dream, always imagining her.

In the throes of passion, moaning my name.

In a scorching red lace lingerie set.

In my bed.

That was the dream. The one I kept coming back to time and again. The one I was determined
to make a reality, if I didn't screw things up any more than I had already.

I drummed my fingers on the small, faux wooden desk in front of me, impatient for Dr.
Speegle to finish explaining the difference between a relational database and an object
database – both which we would be covering the entire semester. I could have easily learned
all of this by reading the chapter he assigned us in half the time he used to explain it and I was
adamantly cursing the day he was born when he finally wrapped up the class with a half-
hearted apology for keeping us behind.

I had found a mere thirty minutes in Bella's and my schedules where we were both free for
lunch today and now thanks to Professor 'Hold Us Over Five Minutes,' I was going to be late.

I grabbed my bag and raced out of the room, crashing through the doors leading outside and
barely managing to avoid the crowd of students coming inside. I shouted 'sorry' to whomever
it was that I hit with my backpack, but didn't pause as I hauled butt to the Student Union
building, otherwise known as the SUB.

Nearing the closest entrance, I slowed down to catch my breath and wipe off my forehead
with the sleeve of my shirt. My glasses refused to stay in place with the thin layer of
perspiration that had collected on the bridge of my nose, making the eye pieces slippery, so I
whipped them off and bent over, using the bottom hem of my shirt to clean off the sweat.
Replacing my glasses, I blinked a couple times to refocus my eyes and then headed inside.

It didn't take me long to spot Bella, who was talking to a petite, cute girl with light brown hair
close to where I entered the main part of the SUB – the part with the tables, school computers,
couches and LCD TVs arranged in the open space. She glanced over to the entryway when I
started toward her and then she did a double-take when she realized it was me. I smiled at her
and she returned it.

I felt relieved to finally see her again, like a giant weight lifting from my chest, but also
nervous since it was the first time we were going to share the same space since… that night,
aka the night my mouth revolted against common sense. And I prayed hard that we would
continue mutually ignoring what I had blurted out in a moment of post-coital bliss. It was
better this way, at least that's how I rationalized it, because if we never talked about it, then
maybe it would go away.

Bella turned to her companion as I reached them. "I'll talk to you more about the French
assignment tonight, alright Jen?"

Jen glanced at me and then back at Bella, grinning like the Cheshire Cat. "Sure, Bella. See ya
tonight."

I barely caught Jen's meaningful parting look aimed at Bella before the girl in question
directed her attention to me. "Edward…" Bella greeted, a slow, but glowing smile appearing,
which lit up her face.

"Bella…" I replied, her infectious happiness making me almost giddy.

Then, without a single glance around the room or a thought to the proper etiquette when
showing public affection, she reached up, gripped my shoulders, and kissed me in front of
everyone. The feel of her soft lips pushed all thought aside and when I wrapped my arms
around her small waist, she melted into me. I tightened my arms, enjoying her supple curves
and warmth against my body, and moaned against her lips, the sound reverberating inside my
mouth.

Thankfully she had the presence of mind to pull back before things heated up between us, but
I instantly missed her in my arms. Bella's eyes shined as she bit her lip and grabbed my hand,
guiding me through the crowded tables toward the food court.

We decided on pizza since it was quick and we had limited time together. I paid for our
lunches, ignoring Bella's insistence that she could pay for herself, and we lucked out by
finding a small table in a relatively quiet corner.

"How was class?" she asked as we dug into our food.

I shrugged, trying to buy time so I could swallow and not answer with my mouth full of
chewed up pizza. "The usual. Code this, debug that. And sorry I was late. My prof decided to
hold us over today, which does not set a good precedent for the semester. I'm hoping it doesn't
become a habit. How is your day going?"

Bella made a disgruntled sound. "I don't know why I decided to take French for my foreign
language requirement." She frowned and paused for a moment. "Okay, I know why I did it,
but wanting to read 'Les Miserables' in its original language doesn't seem like a good enough
reason anymore."

I laughed at her cute, pouting expression. "What made you dislike French so much in one
day? Weren't you just telling me yesterday how you wanted to live in France for a year after
graduating and how glad you were that you would be able to communicate in their native
tongue?"

"Yes," she agreed reluctantly. "But that was before class today when my teacher decided to
pick on me."

"What did she do?" I probed when Bella didn't offer up specifics.

"Well, we're supposed to converse exclusively in French during class and she called on me to
answer a question, but I couldn't remember what a word meant, so I had to look it up. While I
was doing that, she starts hassling me about how I will never be able to fully understand
French if I don't practice everyday and she just kept harping on it for like, ten minutes, turning
it into this huge lecture about the importance of being disciplined about practicing French
every day, even during summer break."

She took a deep breath while I covered her hand with mine to stop her from picking at her
napkin. "It's bad enough that I didn't get the question right away, but she didn't have to lecture
me about it."

"I'm so sorry, Bella. It sounds like she's a real bitch," I said sympathetically like the good
boyfriend that I was.

Bella chuckled warily. "Yeah… she's pretty uptight. But, eh" – she shrugged – "what can you
do?"

"Still, I'm sorry it happened."

"Thanks," she replied with a grateful smile. I squeezed her hand in a show of support and we
quickly finished off the rest of our lunch in silence. Once we had thrown away our trash, I
pulled out my cell and glanced at the time.

"Crap," I said. "I need to go. My shift starts in ten minutes."

"Okay," Bella sighed. She interlaced her hand in mine and we walked outside, lingering for a
minute before we went our separate ways.

"Oh! I almost forgot," she announced suddenly, swinging her backpack around under her arm.
She released my hand to unzip her bag and pulled out something pink. I had a horrible
suspicion I knew what she was going to say next.

"Here's your shirt for the party tomorrow," she said, thrusting the offensive pink thing in my
hands. I just knew she was going to say that. I shook it out and grimaced at the overall
pinkness of it.

Bella laughed at my expression. "Everyone has to wear that color. It's not a personal affront to
you."

"But why did it have to be pink?" I whined.

"You don't have to wear it to the actual party, just during the day."

"Oh, like that helps my street rep," I shot back.

She laughed. "I think your street rep will be okay… and just think, Ben has to wear the same
shirt," she said, smiling smugly because she knew she'd won me over with that fact. Just
imagining Ben having to suffer along with me was enough to accept the shirt without any
more complaints.

With a quick kiss on my cheek and a wave, she bounded away to her next class, her ponytail
swinging in time with her hips. I sighed and hurried to the library, shoving the shirt in my bag
while wondering how I had become involved with a sorority that forced guys to wear pink.

The next morning, I stepped out of my room, giving myself a self-esteem boost by saying
there would be other guys wearing the same shirt because I knew, knew I was going to be
maligned for wearing preppy pink when I was supposed to be rocking geek chic. I was just
glad I didn't have to work today because those guys were absolutely merciless.

I was exiting the kitchen with a breakfast bar in hand when Ben came out of his room,
swinging his messenger bag over his chest. My jaw dropped in astonishment, followed
quickly by outrage.

"What the FUCK is that?" I exclaimed, pointing at his chest.

He looked down and then back at me, a smug ass smirk on his face. "Not a gay colored shirt?"

I stormed toward him, indignation radiating off me at the sight of his identical shirt, except
that it was black. "No! You do NOT get to wear that shirt while I have to wear this one!"

The bastard had the nerve to shrug nonchalantly in my face. "What can I say? My woman
knows better than to force feed me pink."

I glared at him, my free hand curling into a fist while my pissed off side screamed at me to
punch that smirk off his face. Taking a couple deep breaths, my initial outrage cooled enough
for me to unfurl my fist.

"Whatever," I retorted vehemently, spinning around and grabbing my bag off the couch where
I had thrown it last night. I left the apartment in a worse mood than I had started the day with,
trying to condense the rant that was running through my mind into text message form to send
to Bella. I couldn't believe she'd made me wear pink while Ben was kicking back with a black
shirt.

I ripped the crinkly aluminum wrapper off the breakfast bar and tore off a mouthful as I
stormed down the street toward campus.

Sure, to an outsider this would appear to be a peccadillo, but I had standards, damn it! And
one of those standards was never letting the color pink touch this body unless it was wrapped
around a girl.

But, my rational side countered, Bella didn't know Ben's shirt was black, did she?

That made me pause. Because she hadn't known.

Double damn it.

My anger dissipated with each step I took toward my first class until I felt guilty for being
mad at Bella. It wasn't her fault whoever was in charge of making the shirts chose the color
pink. But I could always hunt that person down and make her pay.

Thoughts of revenge flickered through my mind, making me smile as each one became more
creative. I finally settled on creating a giant cotton candy machine, wrapping her, whoever she
was, in pink cotton candy, and then making her walk around like that all day.

This was ridiculous. After spending all day in degrading pink, you would think I'd jump at the
chance to pick out my own shirt to wear to the party tonight. Yet here I was, standing in front
of my closet, staring at the clothes hanging in some semblance of order blankly. Not only that,
but I was starting to get cold standing around shirtless for so long.

Okay, need to go with something nice, but not dressy. Maybe a plaid button-up?

I looked over the two plaid button-up shirts I owned critically.

No. What about a plain color shirt?

I moved the line of shirts down one by one and glanced at each one. Crap. I sucked at this.
Whatever happened to letting my mother pick out my clothing? I never had to worry about
looking stupid because she always knew what looked good on me.

I briefly thought about calling her… but then quickly decided that was retarded. I was a big
boy now. I just needed to put on my big boy pants and pick something.

I snorted at that thought because I was already wearing pants. It was a shirt I needed to put on.

Laughing at myself, I grabbed a short sleeved, dark blue striped button down and pulled that
on, buttoning it up as I walked into my bathroom. My hair was a hopeless cause, as always,
but that never stopped me from playing with it to see if maybe today would be the day it did
what I wanted.

Unfortunately, today wasn't that day so, with a last ruffle of my hair, I left my bathroom,
grabbed my wallet and keys off the desk and exited the bedroom.

Ben and I had decided to walk to the party since parking would be a headache to deal with on
a Friday night. I had tentatively forgiven him for this morning, but it was still a quiet stroll
through the campus. I think he could feel how nervous I was and for once was giving me a
break.

Nearing the KD house, we came upon a scene of chaos. College students spilled out of the
front door, every one of them holding a Blue Solo plastic cup in his or her hands, thrashing
around in time with the heavy beating of bass and drums emitting through the open door.

I rolled my eyes at the blue cups, wondering if that was little detail was chosen by the same
person who was in charge of the shirt color.

Ben looked at me before we turned onto the walkway leading up to the house and, adopting a
poor Dr. McCoy accent, asked, "My God, Jim, where are we?"

I smirked and answered with my best Captain Kirk impersonation, "Out of control and blind
as a bat."

We smiled knowingly at each other and with a look that asked 'shall we?', we headed inside,
pushing our way past the people milling around the entrance. Our heads swiveled in opposite
directions once we hit the main room, seeking out the girls.

"Do you see them?" I yelled in Ben's direction once my searching was deemed futile.

"No!" Ben shouted over his shoulder at me. "Wait! …Bella's over there!" He pointed at a
cluster of bodies on the opposite side of the room. I craned my neck over the gyrating people
in the open space in front of us and caught a glimpse of perfection, known to others as Bella.

I smiled broadly and pushed my way toward her, not even waiting for Ben to spot Angela
before I abandoned him. All my thoughts were focused on reaching Bella. On seeing her
smiling face again.

God, I was so whipped.

But somehow, I didn't care. If it meant being graced by her presence and kisses and smiles,
then I would gladly be 'whipped' and do her bidding. Hell, I'd worn pink for her, hadn't I?

I think that said it all right there.

"Bella," I shouted to catch her attention, finally breaking through the last line of people who
were between her and me. Turning around to see who had called out her name, she smiled
when she saw me. She reached out and I grabbed her hand, pulling her close and encircling
her waist. She reciprocated by wrapping her arms around my waist and relaxing against me.

Suddenly the music, the crowd, the feeling of being pressed inside an enclosed space, and my
anxiety from that was gone. All because she was in my arms again. I leaned forward and
rested my forehead against hers.

"I'm glad you're here," she said over the noise. I smiled and hugged her, burying my face in
the side of her neck and breathing in deeply.

"Me too," I replied after lifting my head so I was close enough to see her face, but not far
enough away where I had to shout for her to hear me over the music and the other people
yelling at each other. She reached up to run her fingers softly across my cheek and then
chastely kissed me.

"I want you to meet some friends of mine," she said after pulling away. She grabbed my hand
and tugged it in the direction of the group of people she had been talking to before I showed
up.

I followed along and stood by her side awkwardly as she shouted to them that I was Edward
and then proceeded to point to each person and introduce us. First up was the girl she had
been talking to in the SUB yesterday. "This is Jen. She's in French class with me."

Jen and I shook hands and exchanged 'Hi's. Then there was a pretty, straight brown haired girl
standing beside Jen. "This is Annie. She's the sweetest person you'll ever meet." Annie
laughed like she couldn't believe Bella had said that and shook my hand.

Standing next to Annie was Alice and Jasper. Alice and I nodded at each other and Bella
looked at me with an inquisitive expression. "Have you met Jasper yet?"

I shook my head 'no' and was then formally introduced to surfer-slash-model boy. I was
surprised to hear a slight twang in his voice rather than the young, Californian Keanu Reeves
tone I'd imagined he would have. Taking his hand in a firm shake with my right hand, I slid
my left hand around Bella's waist in a show of possession. Just to let him know what was
what. He raised his eyebrows slightly in response, but appeared amused more than put off that
I would stake my claim where Bella was concerned. Once introductions were over, Bella
asked me if I wanted something to drink.

"I can get it," I insisted, glancing around for the entrance to the kitchen.

She placed a hand on my chest and rose up on her toes to speak at a normal volume into my
ear. "Don't be silly. I'm one of the hostesses of this party so it's my job to make sure every
guest here is well supplied with alcohol and salty snacks. Now, what do you want?"

"Um, a beer would be alright, I guess."

"Be right back," she replied, giving me a quick peck on the cheek before walking away. I was
left by myself with a group of people I didn't know, a situation I usually tried to avoid.

Annie smiled sympathetically, probably seeing my distress, and asked me the usual five
questions you ask when you meet another college student, much like name, rank and serial
number for any soldier. I answered them quickly, on the lookout for Bella's reassuring
presence more than thinking about my answers. Annie drifted into the main conversation
taking place between everyone else once I didn't try to engage her in the same questions
because I was too antsy for Bella to get back. Crowded rooms and new people invoked the
flight response in me. I needed Bella around to stop that from happening.

Turning to Jen, who was closest to me, I asked her where the kitchen was and she pointed to
my left. I excused myself and went in search of Bella because if she wasn't coming to me,
then I was going to her.

I made it through the bodies of people and rounded the corner into a hallway, thankful that the
music was a little muffled in this part of the house. The kitchen was right in front of me but
there was no sign of Bella, so I turned left down the hallway, keeping an eye out for her. It
was crowded here as well, but it was mostly couples chatting it up without the blasting music
impeding their 'getting to know you' conversations.

I made slow progress down the hallway, then the couple to my right shifted and I saw Bella.
She was leaning back on the wall with a tall, muscular, tan guy hovering over her, his right

arm holding his weight against the wall next to her head, hiding her face from me. It felt like a
shift kick in the gut when I saw them all cozy in a dark corner of the hallway.

What the hell was she playing at, inviting me here only to drop me the second I show up for
this guy? This guy who looked strangely familiar with his black hair...

The heavy weight of betrayal hit me, making me stagger under its weight. I became blindingly
angry at being played for a fool. I may be a nerd, but I wasn't someone's play thing. Seething
now, I pushed past two guys who were walking the opposite way and had momentarily
blocked my view of Bella and my new arch-nemesis. They came back into view and I paused,
the air whooshing out of me and taking all my feelings of injustice with it.

Because Bella wasn't canoodling with this guy, she was struggling. His arm had moved so I
could see her face as he stroked her hair. Her teeth were clenched as she said something to
him that I couldn't hear and she looked like she would bring fire and brimstone down on his
head if she could. He whispered something in her ear, forcing her to turn her head in my
direction, but she didn't see me because her eyes were closed tight and she was grimacing at
whatever he said.

My anger abruptly switched its target to the guy touching my girlfriend against her will. I
knew he was going to kick my ass, but that wasn't going to stop me. I had to defend my lady,
even if it meant certain harm. So without letting myself think about what I was doing, I strode
forward and grabbed his arm, yelling out, "Hey!"

He spun around and I instantly recognized him from the party a week and a half ago, the one
where Bella and I had met. It was for this guy's benefit that Bella had pretended I was her
boyfriend. When he turned I saw that his right hand was gripping Bella's wrist. Her hand was
fisted like she had been trying to pull away, but couldn't.

"Get your hands off her!" I shouted in righteous rage.

He snorted like I wasn't worth his time. "Scram, dork. I know you're not her boyfriend. I
asked around."

I glanced briefly at Bella's fearful face and grabbed her other wrist, hoping this would show
Goliath that I meant business. "Well, your information's wrong, asshole, because I am her
boyfriend. Now let go of her."

He sneered, dropping Bella's wrist, and looked at her. "You sure get around, don't you?"

Bella's face became a thing of livid, raging beauty, so much so that I was a little afraid for my
life for about a split second. I quickly let go of her hand, seeing her intention before the jerk
taunting her did. She gritted her teeth and drew her fist back, then punched him square against
the jaw.

He appeared stunned that she would strike him, which was probably why he didn't protect
himself when she kneed him with so much force behind it that I felt it.

I sucked in air through clenched teeth, empathically feeling the guy's pain because what guy
didn't know what it was like to get kneed in the balls? It hurt. Like a mother.

But that didn't mean I couldn't derive some pleasure from his face twisting in agony as he
grabbed his balls and fell to his knees. Bella leaned in really close to his face after he fell and
spat out, "Don't ever come near me again or you won't walk for a week. You got me, Jake?"

He nodded grimly, probably too out of it to fully understand what she had said. I glanced
around us in surprise as applause broke out. It seemed we had attracted quite the crowd,
giving the people some soap opera entertainment to liven up the party.

Grabbing Bella's hand, I led her away from the crowd and the moaning Jake, who was still
kneeling on the floor. Some people clapped Bella on the back as we walked by and offered
their opinions on how 'awesome' that was. Bella grimaced, but otherwise took the praise well
as we made our way to the kitchen.

It was less crowded in here and Bella propped herself against the center island, farthest away
from the short line of people who were waiting for their chance at the keg. The noise and
everyone around us faded into the background as I focused on inspecting her knuckles and
wrist for any bruising or cuts. Checking each finger, I pressed here and there, quietly asking if
it hurt. She shook her head 'no' each time, but I caught the slight frown she made when I
extended her middle finger out.

"Stay here," I commanded before walking over to where the non-alcoholic drinks were lined
up and wrapped some ice in a couple napkins. I placed the wrapped ice on top of her knuckles
when I reached her side again and told her to hold it there for a little while to help with the
swelling.

She gave me a small smile. "When did you become pre-med?" she joked lightly.

Pushing the hair away from her face, I cupped her cheek and stared into her eyes, letting all of
my concern for her show. "Are you okay? Really okay? Because if that dipshit touched you-"

Bella shook her head. "I'm fine, Edward. Please stop fussing over me. But… thank you for
showing up. I wasn't sure how I was going to get away from him."

I snorted in disgust. "Fat lot of good I did. You're the one who brought him down."

She smiled sadly and tilted her head until it rested against my shoulder. I wrapped my arms
around her shoulders and hugged her close, slowly letting the adrenaline that had been
pumping through me since I first saw Bella and my mortal enemy number one, aka Jake, run
through me. I hoped his balls turned black and blue and fell off. That'd teach him to mess with
Bella.

Bella shifted around, placing her right hand with the ice on it on top of the island counter, and
then hooked her left arm around my back, pressing us together tightly while she clutched the
back of my shirt. I held her against me, occasionally rubbing her back as I let her ride out her
own adrenaline rush. Coming down from that kind of high could lead to shaking, incoherent
babbling, and hyperventilation, all of which wouldn't help right now.

A thought cropped up, nudging aside my concern for Bella a little bit.

What had they said to each other before I interrupted? And why hadn't she mentioned that this
Jake guy was more of a threat then she'd let on? All she had said was that he was 'an
unwanted admirer'. Had he tried shit like this before? And what had he meant when he said
'you sure get around'?

This whole thing was a blaring 'you don't know this girl as well as you thought you did' sign.
Just when I thought I was moving ahead one space, something like this knocks me back three
and I find myself farther back than where I had started.

So many questions... ones that only Bella could answer. But could I burden her with them
right now?

Her grip on me loosened and she released my shirt. Her arm slid down my back until it
reached the top of my jeans, then she pulled back and sighed.

"We should probably get back in there. I want to know what happened... after," Bella said,
raising her right hand up, the one she had punched Jake with, to look at it.

"Bella-" I started to ask my most pressing question – What did he say to you before I
interrupted? - but we were interrupted ourselves. Coincidence, meet irony.

"Bella!"

Bella and I both turned in the direction her name was shouted from and saw Alice, wide-eyed
and bearing down on us with Jasper in tow. She slid to a stop in front of Bella and grabbed her
arm.

"What the hell happened? I heard you kicked the shit out of Jake! Is that true?" Her head
swiveled back and forth to look between Bella and me.

"Alice, it wasn't as dramatic as that. I just reminded him that I'm not the pushover he thinks I
am," Bella explained, stepping away from me and focusing fully on Alice. I left her to
reassure Alice, giving them some alone time, but really I wanted some information. Walking
the short distance to where Jasper was standing, we nodded at each other in the universal guy
language that said 'hey, man'.

I stuck my hands in the back pockets of my pants and took a deep breath before plunging in.
"Is he still here?"

I didn't have to clarify who 'he' was.

"No, a few guys who are friends of Bella's heard what happened and took him outside to
finish off the job that she started." He chuckled and added, "I heard she made him cry."

I shook my head. "I wish. She kneed him hard enough that I probably would have wept like a
baby."

"Man, that's harsh. But that's Bella for ya."

"What does that mean?" I asked, confused that this guy who, as far as I knew, met Bella two
days after I did would have more insight into her personality than me.

Jasper shrugged. "Ya know, she doesn't take crap from people. Like what happened last year...
you never would have guessed it went down like it did because she never seemed affected by
it."

"What are you talking about? What happened last year?"

"Shoot... I thought you knew." He glanced over at Alice and Bella nervously. "I should let her
tell you. It's her story anyway. I only know what I heard from other people and you know how
unreliable that can be."

We fell into silence, watching the girls talk while I brimmed with excess energy, bursting to
ask more questions about this mysterious event that surrounded Bella's past.

Bella smiled brightly, shook her head at something Alice said, and then motioned to the other
side of the kitchen. Alice shrugged and then walked over to us, while Bella went over to the
line of people waiting for beer, throwing away the napkins now dripping from melted ice
without breaking stride.

"What's she doing?" I asked Alice, keeping my eyes on Bella.

"She said she needed something to drink."

"Huh. I'll see you guys later," I said distractedly, walking away before they responded. Or if
they did respond, I didn't hear them. Stopping behind Bella, I placed my hands on her hips
and bent my head down until my mouth was even with her ear. "Do you want to get out of
here? Just go somewhere quieter?"

She shook her head, gripping my hands and pulling my arms around her like a blanket. "Alice
said John, Bryce and Chris took care of Jacob," she said quietly.

Those names vaguely registered from last week at the pizza place and I felt a twinge of pity
for Jacob because the guys who went with those names were by no means scrawny.

Bella retrieved a plastic cup full of beer from the guy handing them out while I removed my
arms from around her. She quaffed the beer down, seemingly in one gulp. Holding the cup
out, she had it refilled and then started to walk away. I followed behind her, not really sure
what to do.

Was it wise to watch her drink herself into a superficial stupor? Because at the rate she was
going, it wouldn't take long.

We headed back to the main room and through the tumultuous swell of bodies, I saw Angela
and Ben at the same time they saw us. They must have been waiting for us because they
wasted no time making their way over.

"Bella! Are you okay?" Angela asked, concern written all over her face. Bella grimaced and
waved her hand in front of her face while she raised her cup with the other and took a drink. I
guess that was her way of avoiding answering.

Angela's eyebrows rose in question and she looked at me, silently asking what was going on
with Bella. I shrugged because I wasn't sure. Was this normal party behavior for her or was it
something else?

I had to guess it wasn't normal party behavior if Angela was wondering what was going on, so
that left coping mechanism. And drinking as a coping mechanism never ended well, for
anyone.

"Bella, baby, why don't you slow down on the beer?" I suggested lightly.

She stared at me for a couple beats and then slowly nodded. "Okay…"

I breathed a sigh of relief when she went back to the kitchen to switch out drinks. Angela
practically tackled me for details about the encounter with Jacob once Bella was out of sight. I
told her everything I had seen and when I relayed Jacob's parting words before Bella went
Chuck Norris on him, she grew very quiet and introspective.

I really needed to learn what happened last year because my nescience on the subject was
becoming irritating. Everyone but me seemed to know about it.

Bella came back with what looked like red kool-aid in her cup and we switched topics to
something safe, like how the first week of classes had gone. We ran out of things to say and
Angela and Ben drifted away. Bella went back to get a refill and I tagged along to grab
something as well.

We talked to mostly people that Bella knew for another hour or so, running only into a few
people I was acquainted with, either from class or helping them with an IT problem. Mainly
Bella talked. I nodded, sipped my drink, and tried not to feel too uncomfortable meeting so
many new people in one night. I even caught sight of Emmett at one point, but he was too
engrossed in some blonde to take notice of me.

And it was all going fine, that is until some pop song started pumping through the speakers
and Bella pulled me out into the middle of the room – the designated 'dance floor' – claiming
this was one of her favorite songs. I went along with it, even though I hated dancing. I was
horrible at it. I knew this, I accepted it and I even told Bella as much, but she waved me off,
saying I would be fine.

It was one of those fast, upbeat songs and the girl was singing about how this guy was first
hot and then cold toward her. It sounded to me like he was bipolar and she should get him
some sort of psychiatric help, but Bella seemed to enjoy the song. And damn did I love
watching her enjoy the song.

Her arms were raised over her head and she swayed in time with the music, her hips making
little figure eights. So fucking delectable… I wanted to just grab her, drag her against me and
never let go.

I wasn't really paying attention to my erratic movements. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if I was
just standing still, staring at Bella's hips. But suddenly I was jarred out of fantasy land when
Bella jumped in the air and then wrapped her arms around my neck, almost falling in the
process. I held her steady with my hands on her hips, just where they had been itching to be
only seconds before. It was a gratifying feeling that she literally fell into my hands like she
had.

Until I noticed she was drunk. Slap happy drunk, by the looks of it.

Bella smiled sloppily up at me, entwining her fingers in my hair. "God, you're gorgeous," she
said loudly, probably thinking she was being quiet.

Shit.

I leaned in and smelled her breath, which reeked of alcohol. I thought back to the last few
hours. Had she been sneaking drinks?

No. I had been with her the entire time… except for the first time she went to the kitchen.

Crap. And the third time. She had offered to refill our drinks so I could finish explaining to
Brian, this guy who had been in one of my classes last year, why Simon Pegg in the upcoming
Star Trek movie was a brilliant casting decision.

It must have been the punch. She had been steadily drinking it for the past hour or so. It must
have been spiked.

Of course it had. This was a party. The punch is always spiked at parties.

Stupid! Stupid, stupid, stupid! I should have figured that out before now.

I sighed, frowning down at drunk Bella and trying to ignore how cute she looked when she
was completely out of it. Because it was wrong to entertain sexual fantasies of drunk girls.

There were rules about that.

I looked around for Alice or Angela, wondering what the procedure was for handling an
intoxicated person who was underage. But I didn't see either of them.

And Bella's hands were suddenly inside my shirt.

I backed away, gently extracting her hands from underneath my shirt, much to my body's
disgust because damn, her hands on my skin had felt heavenly.

Focus, Cullen.

I needed to get her out of here before she did something she'd later regret. Hauling her off the
dance floor, almost supporting her as she was unwilling to leave, I found a relatively quieter
and less crowded spot against a wall in another room.

"Bella," I said, trying to get her attention. She was too busy running her hands through my
hair to concentrate.

"Bella," I tried again, forcing her hands away from my hair. She pouted and looked at me
from underneath her lashes prettily. My heart contracted at the sight, but I refused to be
distracted. At least she was paying attention now. "I'm going to take you to your room now,
okay? You need to lie down."

She looked at me quizzically. "Are you going to lie down too?"

"Umm…" I wasn't really sure how to answer that. "If you want me to…"

She nodded enthusiastically, biting her lip, and then giggled. I have no idea why she giggled,
but it was very cute and very distracting. I found myself grinning at her, involuntarily
catching her playful mood.

Gaaaah! Focus, man!

Shaking it off, I hoisted Bella to an upright position and we somehow made it up to her room
with her stumbling a lot and me trying to keep us from falling. I deposited Bella on her bed
and went back to shut the door, making sure it was locked so no party-goers could interrupt
Bella while she slept the alcohol out of her system.

Turning around, I watched as Bella tried to get her sneakers off. She tugged one off but the
other one appeared to give her some trouble. Grabbing the bottom with both hands, she pulled
as hard as she could and ended up falling over on the bed, laughing.

I rolled my eyes at her silliness, which was fucking adorable, and proceeded to kneel on the
floor by the bed to remove the troublesome shoe for her.

"Thank you, Clark," she sighed, running a hand down my face. "I always liked you better than
Superman…" Then she rolled over on the bed and curled into a ball.

Well… crap. Should I stay? Should I go?

And know I had The Clash song playing in my head.

Perfect.

I stood up and stared down at her, hoping she'd give me some sort of hint to help me with my
decision. She looked so peaceful that I didn't want to disturb her, but damn if I didn't feel like
I was owed some answers.

"Bella," I said softly, shaking her shoulder.

She stirred and rolled onto her back, rubbing her eyes. "Mmm… Edward? Hey…" She smiled
sleepily and reached for me.

I allowed myself to be pulled onto the bed and sat down next to her. "Can I ask you
something?"

"Only if you lie down," she insisted, scooting over to make room for me.

With a sigh of defeat, although I was secretly jumping around like a little boy at a monster
truck rally inside, I kicked my shoes off and stretched out beside Bella. She curled into me,
snuggling her head into the crook of my shoulder.

"Much better," she said, sighing contently. I smiled and wrapped my arms around her,
agreeing with her that this was indeed much better.

I tried to ease into my question, softening the blow by rubbing her side with my left hand and
covering the hand she had on my chest with my right. "Bella… was this the first time Jacob
tried something with you?"

She shook her head. "He asked me out before, but never got rough." She propped herself up
on one elbow and studied my face. "Has anyone ever told you you have greateyes? They're
so… green."

Bella reached for my glasses and I let her slide them off my face, my vision instantly blurring.
She placed them on the bedside table and then leaned in closer, sweeping a thumb under my
eye and across my cheekbone. "How did you get to be so cute?" she asked, grinning slyly.

"I don't know about 'cute', but really it was just a matter of the dominant genes surfacing
while I was in my mother's womb from the combination of hers and my father's DNA," I
answered, not really understanding the question.

"You're silly," she giggled. Then she bent her head down until her lips were millimeters from
mine and breathed, "I want you."

There was that swift kick in the gut again, but this time it came with a surge of breathless lust,
causing me to harden almost instantly. I sputtered, clawing my way up to a sitting position.
Bella advanced again, climbing onto my lap and burrowing her hands in my hair.

"Do you not want me?" she gently asked, running one hand down to finger the topmost button
on my shirt.

"Yes. Oh, god, yes. I do. It's just that you're drunk and I can't do…this while you're
intoxicated. It's wrong, Bella. Wrong, wrong, wrong."

She pulled back abruptly and blinked several times in quick succession. "It's because I'm a
whore, isn't it?"

"What?" I exclaimed, my eyes going wide with shock. Where the hell had that come from?

Bella actually started to tear up, which frightened the shit out of me. Here was this strong,
brave girl who had taken down a guy twice her size only hours before, something I would
never be able to do, and now she was crying because she thought I was rejecting her for being
a whore.

I officially didn't understand girls.

"Bella, you're not a whore. Sshh, sshhh, it's okay," I said soothingly, drawing her back into
my arms. She collapsed against my chest and hugged me tightly. "You're not a whore. That
statement has no veracity to it."

Bella let out a little sob and my arms contracted around her, holding her closer. "Oh, god,
Bella. Is this because of last week? I know we moved a little fast, hell, I moved a little fast
with what I said, but in no way does that mean you're a whore."

"Did you mean it?" she asked.

"Did I mean what? That you're not a…" I couldn't say the word. Because words have power
and by saying it again, I felt like I was giving that word unneeded power and subconsciously
implanting it in Bella's drunken mind. So I skipped over it. "Yes, I meant it."

"No," she sighed. "Did you mean what you said after we… about loving me?"

Heh.

Wasn't expecting her to turn the questioning around like that.

"Umm… yes, I mean, I think I do," I said quietly. "But I never meant to disclose it so soon."

She nodded slowly and then became really serious. "Make sure you mean it. Because you can
never take it back. Once you say it…" Her head dropped down and then she swiped the palms
of her hands across her eyes, lifting her head back up. "Once you say it, it belongs to that
person," she fiercely whispered.

She grabbed my face, squishing it together, and stared intently into my eyes. "You have to
trust them with your heart. Do you understand? Because you can't take it back!"

I felt like I was on the verge of discovering something important about Bella. This was
pertinent to whatever was going on inside her and maybe if I asked the right questions, she
would talk about it more.

Encircling her wrists with my hands, I pulled them away from my face and wiped away the
tears that were threatening to spill over onto her cheeks. "Did you tell someone you loved
them?"

Bella nodded 'yes' slowly, frowning.

It hurt to know that, but I strove on, wanting to get to the heart of the problem too much. "Did
they not say it back?"

She shook her head 'no'. "I trusted him."

"I know, sweetie. It was wrong of him to abuse your trust." I was so close to getting all of the
clues. The hum of anticipation ran through me as I asked the next question, "Did this occur
last year?"

Her face scrunched up and she started crying again. "I just… I just…" A small sob escaped
her lips. "I want it to be over."

My forehead furrowed in confusion and my mouth started forming another question, but Bella
continued on, her face smoothing out as if she had just realized something.

"But you... You're different. Different from all of them." She looked thoughtful as she softly
added, "Maybe that's why I want you so much. Sometimes I feel like I'm going to go insane if
I don't touch you all the time."

I blushed against my will, knowing this wasn't the time to get flustered from Bella's admission
that she wanted me the same way I wanted her, but it happened anyway.

"Especially when you blush," she said, which made me blush even more.

"I want you too, Bella."

"Even though I'm a whore?"

Damn it. I thought we were past this.

I tried once more to convince her. "You're not a whore. No one thinks you're a whore."

She tilted her head to one side and smiled sadly. "But he did."

Who did? Jake? Did Jake say that? Was that what passed between them before I arrived?

"Who thought that? Jake? I'm going to kill him," I muttered, my vision narrowing to wiping
the floor with that asshole's face.

"No," she whispered. "Paul."

Paul? I didn't know a Paul, nor had I been introduced to one recently.

"Who's Paul? Is he involved with this thing that happened to you last year?" I asked
impatiently, because I had to know. I had to know who he was, what happened to her. But
most of all, I wanted her to be okay.

Bella shook her head and sighed into my neck. "Tired… Tomorrow…"

I swallowed my anger and complied, holding her while she fell asleep, plotting this Paul's
demise and wishing I could protect her from harm forever.

Chapter 14

EPOV

I yawned silently again and glanced at the clock. It was late… or early morning, depending on
how you looked at it. The party had weaned down enough that I barely heard the people
downstairs.

I was so tired and needed to leave, but I didn't want to let go of Bella.

Just a quick nap to boost my strength, I promised myself as my eyelids slid shut. Then I'll go
home.

The next thing I knew I was slowly coming back into consciousness. I stretched out and found
resistance in front of me. Rubbing my morning erection against it without thinking, I
tightened my arms around the soft thing I was holding and hummed in contentment.

Then it moved.

That's unusual, I groggily thought. Most pillows don't move.

Memories from last night slipped in haphazardly and I realized where I was… and what I was
doing.

I was rubbing myself against Bella.

Snapping awake, I stifled a groan when I saw Bella lying innocently in my arms while I was
blatantly taking advantage of her unconscious state.

I hadn't gone home like I'd planned. I must have fallen asleep during my 'quick nap'.

Sometime during the night we had changed positions because I was curled around Bella like
she was my security blanket, her back pressed against my chest. She shifted again and I froze,
not sure what I should do. My right arm was under her and very much asleep, but I couldn't
move it without jarring Bella awake.

I needed a toothbrush, stat. And a shower. But first, I needed to get off this bed without Bella
waking up to find I had turned into an octopus overnight.

Then it hit me.

I had spent the night with Bella. My first night with a girl! Granted it could have occurred
under better circumstances, but it was still monumental.

I didn't have time to do my happy dance though, because I still needed to extract myself from
the bed. Both of her legs were between mine and easier to get loose than my arms. The
mattress jiggled a little with my movements, but Bella didn't wake, so I counted it a win.

Now that my legs were free, I could use them as leverage to pull myself away from Bella and
hopefully, that would bring about the release of my arm. I watched the side of her face as I
carefully removed my arm out from under her, trying desperately to ignore the sensation of
my skin rubbing along the bottom of her breast.

A problem formed when all that was left was my hand.

I didn't want my first real boob graze to happen while the other party was asleep. It didn't
seem right.

I thought briefly about fisting my hand, but that was pointless.

I didn't know what to do. And there were two reasons for that. One, I had just woken up, so all
the gears weren't cranking at full speed yet, and two, I was starting to think maybe it wouldn't
be so bad to cope a feel while Bella was asleep.

It's not like she'll know, argued the newly discovered perverted side of my brain.

But it appeared all my arguing was for naught because Bella made the decision for me. She
rolled over onto her stomach and the movement was so sudden that I didn't have time to react
as her warm, oh-so-squeezable breast fit perfectly into my open, waiting palm. My fingers
curled instinctively around it and I grew rock hard, stretching the fabric of the front of my
pants even more than I usually did in the morning.

My eyes closed and I flexed my fingers, enjoying everything about the moment.

Oooh… Bella's breast was in my hand… I was touching it…

Wait.

What the hell was I doing? Groping a sleeping girl?

I jumped back and pulled my arm toward me with more force than before. The momentum of
pulling my arm back, combined with tensing my body from the jump, caused me to start
rolling onto my back. And I hadn't realized how close I was to the edge of the bed because I
felt a moment of weightlessness as I scrambled to hold onto something before uttering a
panicked, "Shit!"

Then I fell hard onto the floor with a thud.

"Hmm," Bella moaned from the top of the bed and her head appeared above mine. I could
only see the shape of her head because everything was blurry without my glasses on.

"Edward?" she asked with a rasp.

"Yeah," I breathed, rolling onto my back with an 'ooph'.

Her hands went to the sides of her head and she disappeared from view. I sat up when I heard
more moaning and reached behind me, fumbling for my glasses on the nightstand, which I
had miraculously avoided hitting.

Putting them on, I crossed my arms on top of the mattress and rested my chin on them. Bella
was curled up in a ball with her eyes squeezed shut and her hands pressed against her temples.

I reached out to push her hair off of her forehead, hooking it behind her ear, but it didn't really
work with her hand in the way. She looked so miserable that I felt compelled to help her.

Bella cracked her eyes open and frowned. "It hurts," she whispered.

"I know. Do you have any aspirin around here?" I asked quietly.

"Bathroom," she said, closing her eyes again.

I got up and quickly located the bottle of aspirin in the medicine cabinet. Looking around, I
didn't see any cups for water, so I checked the small refrigerator that was on Alice's side of
the room. I grabbed a bottle of water, doubting she would mind, and walked back to Bella.
Sitting down on the bed, I softly instructed, "Sit up so you can take these."

Bella groaned, but obeyed. I scooted closer to keep one hand on her back while she
swallowed the little white pills and drank half of the bottle.

I put the water aside when she was done and she crawled into my lap, laying her head in the
crook of my neck. Thankfully my morning erection had dissipated, so I held Bella close and
enjoyed the moment, putting off the conversation I knew we needed to have for just a few
more seconds.

But it was inevitable that the time would come and I sighed, giving in to the nagging part of
myself that demanded answers.

"Bella?" I began, rousing her from her half-asleep state.

"Hmm?" she replied, stirring in my arms.

"Do you remember what happened last night?"

She tensed at my words. "Yes," she said, her voice strained.

"We don't have to talk about it, if you don't want to," I suggested, giving her an out if she
wanted it. She already felt like crap. I didn't want to make it worse.

"No, it's okay." She curled herself closer to me and laughed once sardonically. "I'm very
philosophical when I've had a couple drinks."

"Yeah, you are," I agreed, remembering her 'lecture' on loving someone.

"So… what do you want to know?"

"What happened last year?" I ran a hand down her hair and back and waited for her to start
when she was ready.

"I wish I could say I was wise when it came to boys last year, but sadly, I wasn't," Bella
began. "I went to a small high school and most of the guys there were a bit annoying at times,
but overall good guys." She took a deep breath and pulled away, looking up at me. "I don't
think I'm starting out well. I'm trying to reason away my behavior."

"You're killing me, Smalls," I sighed, dropping my head so that my forehead rested on top of
hers. "Just tell me what this Paul did so I can go kick his ass and be done with it."

Bella shook her head and climbed out of my lap, turning around to face me. "He graduated. I
don't know where he is, even if I did want you to 'kick his ass'." She rubbed her temple and
frowned. "This is useless. I feel nauseous and have a pounding headache. I'm in no shape to

talk about this right now. Can I take a shower, brush my teeth, and change before we
continue?"

"Yeah, that sounds good," I replied, suddenly in a very foul mood. "Do you want to meet up
for lunch?"

Bella glanced at the clock too quickly and winced, clutching the side of her head again.
"Sure," she said slowly. "How about the cafeteria at one?"

"Okay." I located my shoes and forced my feet into them, not bothering to untie them.
Standing up, I straightened my shirt and pushed a hand through my hair. With a glance over to
Bella, I hesitated as sympathy dominated all other feelings that were running through me.
"Are you going to be able to handle all that noise?"

She shrugged carefully. "If it's too bad, we'll take it to go."

"Okay. I'll give you a call when I get there." The sympathy lessened, letting the unexplained
anger take over again, and I started for the door after checking my pockets to make sure I had
everything.

"Bye," I heard Bella say quietly behind me.

I didn't look back.

I couldn't explain why I was so angry, just that I was.

Maybe it had something to do with how I had finally found a girl who I could talk to without
coming off as a loser; who knew I was a massive geek, but didn't seem to care; who actually
enjoyed doing the same stuff that I did. And then to discover that she had emotional
baggage… maybe that was my breaking point?

Did I really want to know what happened to her?

Would it change anything?

And where was all this hostility coming from?

I wasn't this kind of guy. This was more Emmett's style than mine.

I made it home and quickly showered, changed and brushed my teeth. I didn't think it was
wise to handle a razor in my current frame of mind, so I didn't shave away the scruff.

With half an hour to waste before it was time to leave, I paced in my bedroom, trying to figure
out what had happened to Bella.

The 'whore' comments from last night led me to think it was something bad. Something that
would require therapy, if she wasn't in it already.

I didn't know what I would be able to handle. If it was truly bad, would I see Bella the same
way? Was that why she was so reluctant to tell me?

Was that why a part of me didn't want to know?

I had so many questions and my current mood wasn't helping. I needed to remain open to
whatever Bella told me and be patient with her. I did want to know, but I didn't want it to
change anything between us.

I knew I was falling in love with her, but I needed to know exactly who it was I was falling in
love with.

It all circled back on itself. All my feelings, questions, and intentions all centered on what had
taken place between Bella and Paul.

So to the cafeteria I went.

Most colleges have student cafeterias inside certain dormitories, but our school was a little
different. We still had cafeterias in dorms, but they were small and rarely used by students
who didn't live there. Instead, everyone tended to go to the main cafeteria, which was a
separate building in the middle of campus and referred to by the majority of students as 'the
cafeteria'.

I made my way there, jogging whenever my impatience got the best of me, and took out my
cell phone once I spotted the main entrance. Bella answered and told me she was already in
line for a salad, so I went in to try to find her.

It was crowded, but nowhere near the level it was during lunch time on a school day, which
made locating Bella easier.

She looked a lot better than she had an hour and a half ago. More awake and aware.

She was wearing sunglasses inside, but florescent lighting could be harsh to someone who
wasn't recovering from a hangover so it made sense.

"Hey," I said, laying a hand on her shoulder.

She jumped and then slowly turned. "Hey," she answered.

I removed my hand, now feeling a bit awkward, and looked around. "I'm going to get a
burger. Do you want to eat outside?"

"Yes, that would be… better," she answered with a slight grimace, which was fine with me
because I would rather hash this out in a more private setting anyway.

Grabbing a burger, fries and a drink, I paid for my meal and met Bella outside the front
entrance. She steered us toward the small park area some yards away and we spread our food
out between us on a wooden bench, sitting Indian style across from each other.

I'd never liked eating while someone sat across from me in silence, but somehow I got
through it without dropping or spilling anything.

"Are you feeling any better?" I asked after I had scarfed down my burger.

Bella nodded. "Yeah. I took some more Tylenol, or Advil… or whatever it was that I had and
I think it kicked in because my headache's not as bad."

"That's good," I said, picking up two fries and dipping them in the mountain of ketchup I'd
made. We ate in silence for a little longer. I cleared my throat, feeling a bit uncomfortable
when I was done eating, and started gathering up all my trash.

"You done?" I asked Bella, pointing at her picked-at salad.

"Yeah," she replied, making a face. I cleared everything away and threw it in the nearest trash
can before sitting back down, this time the way you're supposed to sit on a bench, which put
me sideways to Bella.

Cradling my drink in my lap, I bowed my head and waited for Bella to begin. I saw her
squirm beside me in the corner of my eye and then she sighed, moving her sunglasses to the
top of her head.

"I'm not going to get out of this, am I?"

I laughed, even though it wasn't funny. I just needed to relieve some of the tension.

"Okay," Bella said slowly. "I'm going to go at this like a band-aid. Just pull it off quickly and
see what happens." She took a deep breath and launched into it. "I met Paul last semester at
one of the first sorority mixers I attended. I was immediately taken with him because he was
cool, hot and a senior. He exuded charm and confidence, which made people flock to him, me
included."

She paused while I sank into a pit of despair.

Charm and confidence?

So, the opposite of me, I thought with a deprecating tone as Bella continued talking.

"Amazingly enough – at least I thought so at the time – he seemed to be into me too and we
started dating. I heard rumors about him from some of the other girls in KD, but when I
confronted him about it, he said they were just jealous. And I believed him, even though I
should have known better. I don't know why I believed him… God, I was so stupid."

"What kind of rumors?" I interrupted, studying the slightly raised grain of the cup I held in
my hands.

"Things like he was a player and went through girls like they were Kleenex. Variations of
that, really," she replied. "I should have listened. Especially when Angela got on the
bandwagon and started warning me against him, but I thought I was in love. So I ignored
them all and continued seeing Paul."

Things slowly began to fall into place as she talked. Bella's comments from last night were
making a little more sense now.

"It was just before Valentine's Day when I decided to… um, sleep with him. I thought it
would be special, you know? We'd been together for only a couple weeks and I don't normally
move that fast, but I thought he was the 'one'."

A little piece of my heart ripped at hearing Bella mention sleeping with someone. I had
wanted her all to myself.

Pushing that aside to deal with later, I resumed listening.

"I was so delusional," she laughed bitterly. "It turned out that those 'rumors' were true because
the moment after we had sex, he became a completely different person. He started seeing
other girls right away and wouldn't even talk to me without acting like a complete bastard."
Bella let out an unsteady breath and then sniffed. I looked at her then and felt an immediate
rush of sympathy for the second time that day.

Reaching out timidly, I covered one of her hands. A corner of Bella's mouth lifted and she
flipped her hand over to intertwine her fingers with mine.

"Anyway," she said, starting up again after getting herself under control. "I was really hurt by
his actions because like I said, I thought I was in love with him. But it wasn't really him, was
it? It was my idea of him that I loved. The guy he pretended to be to get into my pants."

"I'm so sorry, Bella."

She shook her head. "It's okay. I'm over it. Last night was just unexpected, so I had a minor
relapse."

"Am I being too nosy if I ask what Jake said to you before I came over?"

"Heh. He told me that he'd heard from Paul I was an easy lay and would give it up to anyone
with a large dick. Then I asked him why he thought he would be included in that category.
It… took him a second to get it." She shook her head with a rueful smile. "He didn't really like
what I'd implied."

I chuckled despite myself because I had just replayed his reaction in my mind. Hesitant to
address it, but needing to know regardless, I ventured a question I normally wouldn't ask. "So,
that's why you thought you were a whore?"

Bella winced. "I felt like one," she whispered. "I felt dirty and used after what Jacob said."

I was at a loss of what to say to that. Personal confessions had never been my forte.

I went for the reassuring tactic, hoping it would be enough. "You know I would never think
that about you, right?"

"Really?" Bella looked up at me, all vulnerable and broken. It made me ache to look at her.

"Yes, really. Never in a billion years would I think that about you. Bella, to me… you're
perfect," I replied, my heart in my throat.

"Thank you," she said quietly with a small smile. I nodded and we sat in silence for a little
while, just holding hands and mulling over what had been said.

"Anything else you want to know?" she asked.

"Yeah… last week, did you freak out because of what happened with that guy?"

"Kind of," she said, frowning. "It spooked me more than anything because it was sooo soon."

"Right. That was my bad."

Bella rolled her eyes. "No, it was mine. I should have known it was too fast for us to do
anything like that."

"Hey, that's not fair. You weren't alone," I countered.

She lightly pushed against my shoulder with her hand, but didn't say anything. I felt horrible
for her, and sad that she had gone through all of that, and angry that someone would mistreat
her to the point where she questioned everything she did, and useless because the person I
blamed was gone and I couldn't do anything about it.

Well, that wasn't true, I realized, watching Bella as she picked at the sole of her sneaker. I
could be exactly the kind of guy she needed. Someone who cherished her and didn't pressure
her into doing something she didn't want to do. Basically, someone who didn't remind her of
Paul, although I doubted I was even in the same league as him if Bella's description was
anything to go off of.

Bella must have felt me staring at her because she looked up straight into my eyes. "Do you
want nothing to do with me now?" she joked half-heartedly.

"No, quite the contrary," I protested immediately. "I find you a mystery that I want to
uncover."

Bella smirked, a gleam in her eye that hadn't been there before. "Should I change my name to
Carmen Sandiego and start leaving behind clues for you to follow?"

"You know what I mean," I said wryly, blushing.

Bella laughed. "I do, but it's so fun to tease you."

"Haha," I mock laughed.

She shook her head, a smile playing across her lips, and just like that I wanted to kiss her. But
I resisted because I had one more thing I wanted to address.

"Bella," I said seriously, making her look at me. "I don't want to hurt you."

"I know- " she started to say, but I cut her off.

"Wait, let me say this." She nodded and I continued, "I think we should take this slow because
this is all new for me." I paused, taking a deep breath. "I've never had a girlfriend so I don't
really know what to do, but I want this to work. So we'll go at whatever speed you're
comfortable with."

"That's really sweet of you," Bella said earnestly. "Thank you."

I shrugged. "I like you, Bella."

"I like you too, Edward," she replied, smiling. Bella scooted closer to me, laying her head
against my shoulder, and I curved my arm around her back, lightly holding onto her waist.

Whatever had happened was in the past, which is where it could stay because all I wanted was
Bella's future. And more days where she smiled like she was happy to be with me.

We people-watched for a while, making each other laugh by trying to guess what someone
was thinking or about to do, and just enjoyed each other's company.

For starting out so crappy, it ended up being a rather great day.

It felt like we had cleared the air and could start really getting to know each other. And I
couldn't wait to spend every day with the girl in my arms, learning all of her quirks and the
things that made her Bella.

Chapter 15

BPOV

It had been seven weeks since I'd spilled my guts out to Edward and told him about my less
than pleasant past. Seven weeks of spending time together, of having fun and doing new
things while we got to know each other.

Well, usually the things we did were fun.

This wasn't.

"Okay, Bella, let's try it again," Edward said for what had to be the thousandth time that
afternoon. He was helping me study for a math test I had two days from now, which I
desperately needed help with. All the numbers and letters needed for the formulas tended to
run together in my mind, and getting anything below a B in the class was not an option.

I sighed and rattled off, "Negative b plus or minus the square root of b squared minus 4-a-c,
all over 2-a."

"Excellent!" he exclaimed, sounding very relieved. Probably because it had taken me close to
an hour to get down the quadratic formula. "Now let's try working some problems."

"But… why?" I whined. "In fact, why do English majors even need to learn math? The only
math related thing we do is count syllables in haikus."

"I don't know. Because you do," he said, shrugging. "It's not like this is even hard math," he
mumbled under his breath as he turned to grab some papers.

"What did you say?"

Edward flushed, knowing he had been caught. "Um… it's just that… this is easy stuff.
Possibly the easiest math class I've ever seen designed for college students."

I glared at him. Was he calling me stupid!

Edward swallowed and looked uncomfortable. "That was the wrong thing to say, wasn't it?"

I nodded slowly and he sighed, dropping his head into his hands.

"I'm sorry," he said earnestly. "I should have listened to Alice."

That caught my attention. "What did Alice say?"

"That you were sensitive about your intelligence when it came to math," he confessed.

Oh.

I let go of my anger with a deep breath because honestly, I kind of was sensitive.

Edward eyed me for a minute and then put a piece of paper in front of me with handwritten
problems on it. I started reaching for my notes, but Edward intercepted me, sliding them out
of reach. "No. You have to do this from memory because that's what it's going to be like on
the test."

"But…" I weakly protested, pouting.

"No buts," he said sternly, and then softened. "I know you can do this, Bella. You're smarter
than you think."

I grumbled under my breath about skewed perceptions, but couldn't help the small smile that
came from Edward's encouraging words. They gave me the little boost of confidence I needed
to start tackling the problems he had made up.

I felt his eyes watching me as I fumbled through the simple steps, writing out everything
longhand. I tried to ignore it, but my cheeks grew hot regardless.

"You're staring," I pointed out quietly.

Edward ducked his head and mumbled, "Sorry."

Smiling, because he was still so adorable when he became embarrassed or bashful over
something as trivial as staring at me, I went back to working the problems as Edward opened
one of his textbooks. I slowly lost myself in the steady rhythm of writing out the same
numbers and letters repeatedly, making my way down the page.

With a brilliant grin, I wrote the last answer down a half hour later and victoriously declared
that I was done. Edward took the papers from me and then placed them next to his graphing
calculator in front of him. Holding a pencil in his right hand and using his left to punch
numbers into the calculator, he went through to check each of the steps I had written out.

I watched his fingers fly over the calculator, transfixed by their rapid movements across the
number pad. Edward was the only person I knew who could make math sexy, and somehow
he was making computations on a calculator sexy as well.

My vision narrowed as I imagined those same fingers running across my bare skin, cupping
my breasts, pinching my nipples, gripping and digging into my hips, and – with a shudder that
ran down my spine – pumping in and out of me, drawing me closer to the highest ecstasy I've
ever known.

Warmth spread throughout my body and I felt myself grow wet as my dream-like fantasy
turned into Edward kneeling me over the kitchen table where we were sitting and pounding
into me from behind.

I was so into my daydream that I didn't notice Edward trying to get my attention until he
yelled my name and shook me. I came back into myself and my eyes refocused on his
confused face.

"Where did you go?" he asked.

"Sorry." I shook my head, trying to clear it of all those dirty images, and swallowed. "I just…
zoned out."

"Yeah? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." I smiled and quickly thought of something to distract him. "Hey, I heard a funny
thing today. Thought you'd appreciate it."

"What's that?" he inquired warily.

Leaning forward, I placed my hand on his arm and huskily said, "I wish I was your derivative
so I could lie tangent to your curves."

Edward stared at me for a second and then threw his head back, laughing loudly.

"Happy to know that pick-up line works," I mumbled, withdrawing from him and slumping
back in my chair. I watched Edward laugh with an amused smile on my face and then giggled
when he snorted. He scowled in my direction, but I knew he wasn't really angry that I was
laughing at him, just embarrassed.

"You're such a dork sometimes," I sighed. "But you're my dork."

Edward smiled, ducking his head. He still wasn't good with compliments – any kind of
compliment, really – but one of these days I was going to break him of his shy nature.

"So, where were we?" I asked, nodding in the direction of the math problems. Edward picked
up where he'd left off and I inwardly sighed in relief, having successfully diverted his
attention from asking anymore questions.

It was getting harder with each passing day to hide my X-rated thoughts from him.

I just… wanted him. In the darkest, dirtiest way possible.

Usually the guys I dated were assertive enough that when it came to the subject of sex I knew
exactly where they stood – they wanted to do it. And the sooner it happened, the better.

I had rules though. I never had one night stands and I cared about the guy before any clothes
came off, at the time anyway. But regardless, I wasn't an innocent after three relationships.
Especially since one of them had been with Paul.

Edward was something entirely different though. I had no clues to go off of. I had no way of
knowing if he wanted to move forward and I think it was largely due to him being so…
verdant.

He was actually sticking to the statement he'd made seven weeks ago. He was letting me set
the pace.

And as much as I wanted to jump him, for some unknown reason, I kept holding myself back.

Edward prattled on about how I had forgotten to square a number and looked up at me to
make sure I was listening. I nodded my head accordingly, and then went back to my thoughts
when he finished.

Why was I holding back?

I wanted him.

I loved spending time with him. In fact, the hours that we weren't together were torture
because all I thought about was seeing him again, which was quickly becoming troublesome
to me because it was almost like living with ADD where Edward was concerned.

I loved kissing him, to the point where I would sometimes tackle him if it had been more than
a few hours since I had last seen him.

I knew we were still in the 'honeymoon' period. This level of infatuation and giddiness
couldn't last for much longer. I was about to go crazy as it was, so knowing one day, I would
be able to focus on something other than what Edward was doing at that moment, made me
feel a little better.

But was I ready for the next step?

Was he ready for the next step?

Maybe that was it. Maybe I was afraid of being rejected.

The night I'd gotten drunk, I could still remember the agony, embarrassment, and shame I had
felt after he said 'no' to my advances. I did not want to relive that experience over again,
especially if I didn't have alcohol in my system to soften the blow.

What to do? What to do?

The simple fact of the matter was that I didn't know. The guy letting me set the boundaries
was a new experience and I didn't know how to move forward.

Should I talk to him about it, or just start reaching for his boy parts and hope that he catches
on?

I looked at Edward, bent over the papers with his pencil as he marked stuff out and scribbled
away in the margins.

I could try talking to him.

What was the harm in trying?

"Please, no more! I need to stop before my brain bleeds out of my ears," I insisted, tossing the
pencil I had been holding onto the open math book in front of me.

"Okay, fine. But promise me you'll study more tomorrow," Edward said. "At least four
hours," he interjected before I could agree to his condition just so I could escape.

I considered his amendment before answering. Four hours? Of math?

"Done," I consented, knowing I needed to do it anyway.

"So, what do you want to do?" he asked, following my lead as I walked into the living room.

"What about a movie?"

"I just finished downloading a DVD rip of 'The Incredible Hulk'," he suggested.

"Uh, the new one or the old one?" I asked.

"The new one. It's supposed to be a lot better," he replied. "So… do you want to?"

More than you know, Edward, I purred in my mind.

"Sure," I said, sitting down on the comfy sofa.

"Okay. Let me set it up." Edward walked into his room and then came back out a minute later
holding a black cord in his hand.

"What's with the cord?" I asked, leaning forward.

"It's an S-video cord. It connects my computer to the TV screen so I can play movies and
shows that are saved on my hard drives," he explained, scooting the TV forward so he could
reach behind it.

"That's… cool," I said absently, watching his jeans stretch over his butt as he leaned over the
TV screen.

Damn… Must remember to watch movies off his computer more.

I snapped my gaping mouth shut when he straightened up, swallowing the drool that had
accumulated.

Was it possible to be too horny? I think I was stretching the acceptable limits of normal
horniness as of right now.

If I'd had the slightest doubt about talking to Edward, it was gone now. Because if I didn't do
something fast, I knew I would soon crack and end up mauling the boy, possibly even taking
his virginity by force.

Edward went back into his room and the TV screen flickered. A picture appeared where there
had only been blackness before.

It was a picture of Edward and me at the skating rink we'd gone to last week. It was a
completely dorky and junior high thing to do, but it had been so much fun. And my constant
klutziness had guaranteed Edward's arms around me almost the entire time, which had been
my favorite part.

Toward the end of our time there, I had pulled Edward into the corner and forced him to take
a picture with me. He protested of course, but one little pout from me quelled him into
submission.

I had sent the picture to his phone after, but seeing it as his desktop background was a
pleasant surprise. A video frame popped up and then expanded into full screen, covering our
cute picture. The opening credits started as Edward joined me on the couch after turning off
the overhead lights.

"Hey," I said, scooting over to where he sat.

"Hey," he replied, lifting his arm so I could snuggle into his side. I sighed in contentment as
we watched the montage of scenes that set up the movie, breathing in Edward's unique scent.

Forty minutes later, I couldn't take it anymore. I turned and knelt beside him, staring until he
looked at me with his eyebrows raised in question.

"I hate to break it to you, but this movie is boring," I confessed quietly.

He smirked and tilted his head. "It is rather boring… you wouldn't happen to have something
else in mind for us to do, would you?"

I knew that look. I had used that look on him before. The half-lidded, darkened eyes as they
stared at the other person's mouth look.

But seeing it on Edward made me feel suddenly weak. Unconsciously, I leaned forward, my
hands landing on his thigh to support my weight.

"I… just… might," I whispered before we met halfway, our lips softly touching in a gentle
caress.

His lips slowly parted and then he sucked my bottom lip into his mouth quite unexpectedly. I
moaned, moving my hands to fist them in his hair as I instigated a more impassioned kiss.
Edward pulled me forward as he twisted around on the couch and I spread my knees so I
could straddle him.

Strong hands pushed me into his chest as our kissing quickly escalated to a frenzied level.

I couldn't get close enough to him in this position, and evidently he felt the same way because
I soon found myself lying back on the sofa's cushions, Edward pleasantly pressing down on
me.

Wrapping my legs around his thighs, I let myself go for the first time since we had cleared the
air. No hang-ups or worries. Just Edward.

My hands found themselves under his shirt and spread out on his back's tight muscles. They
were making their way up his soft, warm skin when Edward pulled back.

"Wait," he said as I stared at him, confused. I tried pulling him back down.

"We should stop," he continued, starting to push himself off me.

"No," I protested, tightening my arms and legs around him. "I think…" I shook my head and
firmly said, "I know I want to go… further with you."

He breathed heavily through his nose as he took that in. Looking down at me, he asked,
"What does that mean?"

I smirked. This was something I could do. I had been friends with guys long enough to know
how to put it into terms he'd understand. "You know how sometimes we start rounding first
base and then we decide the ball we hit was just a single, so we double back and stay on
first?"

Edward frowned, but nodded slowly.

"Well," I continued. "This hit should be a double, at the very least."

"So you're saying…"

Propping myself up on my elbows, I made sure he heard me clearly. "I want you to touch me,
Edward."

His eyes closed as he let out a shaky intake of breath and I bit my lip, wondering if I had
stepped over the line.

A tortured anguish look was etched into his features as his eyes opened again. My eyebrows
came together as I tried to figure out why he was in pain.

"What's wrong?" I asked, searching his face for any clues as to what was going on in his head.
Was it too soon for him?

Oh, god. He was going to reject me, wasn't he?

He was trying to work up the courage to reject me.

I felt a sudden pressure behind my eyes and the stab in the gut that seemed so familiar to me,
even though it had been almost two months since I felt it last. Flopping back down on the
couch, I tried to calm myself enough so I wouldn't burst out into tears the moment he opened
his mouth.

I. Would. Not. Cry.

I managed to completely freak out in just a matter of seconds while Edward hovered above
me, forming his mouth around the words that would make me feel the sharper sting of
rejection.

"Where?" he finally said.

I was too busy working out how long I had to get to Wal-Mart to grab a carton of chocolate
ice cream and lots of syrup before I broke down in tears to hear what he said. "What?" I
asked, focusing my attention back on him.

"Where?" he croaked.

"Where what?"

"Where do you… want me to, um, touch you?" he asked, his eyes darting everywhere but my
face.

My jaw slowly dropped as what he said made sense to me. "Ooohhh," I breathed and then
smiled widely. "Everywhere. Anywhere."

A corner of Edward's mouth lifted and he tentatively met my eyes. "Anywhere?"

"Over the bra, under the blouse… over the panties, no bra, blouse unbuttoned… anywhere
you want."

Edward's breathing turned shallow as he slowly looked up and down my body, like he
couldn't decide where to begin.

"How about we start out slow, okay? Just do whatever comes naturally," I suggested. Edward
nodded, swallowing nervously. I brushed the hair off his forehead. "Relax," I whispered.

I trailed my hands up his arms as our lips met. I let Edward set the pace, and slowly our desire
began to grow. He groaned when my tongue ran over his and I buried my fingers into his hair
as his arms tightened around me.

My hands found their way under his shirt once more and I delighted in the roll of his muscles
as he moved his arms, one coming up so a hand could cup my cheek while the other went
down to the hem of my shirt.

His hand shook as it inched up my stomach. Edward pulled back to stare down at me when his
fingers came into contact with the bottom of my bra.

He licked his lips and asked, "Are you sure?"

"Yes," I breathed, grasping his wrist and moving his hand higher.

Edward shuddered as his fingers slowly cupped my covered breast and he swallowed. "I
don't… I don't know what to do," he admitted.

"Like this," I instructed, covering his hand with mine on top of my shirt and applying pressure
so that he gently squeezed me. I removed my hand and he did it on his own, watching me.
Honestly, I couldn't really feel anything since I was wearing one of those padded bras, but it
was all about small steps.

"Is that okay?" he asked nervously.

"Perfect," I commended him. "Now kiss me."

He complied without hesitation, leaning down, which changed the angle of his hand. The tips
of his fingers pressed down into the swell of my breast and I moaned, wrapping my legs
around his.

Edward slid his hand under the padding of my bra and I gasped, arching my back. My nipple
tightened the moment his palm came into contact with it. He looked so astonished that it was
almost heartbreaking.

"Wait," I said, reaching behind me. He moved his hand and pushed himself up to give me
room as I wiggled out of my bra.

"Okay," I breathed. Edward swallowed and then slowly placed his hand back on my now bare
breast. He watched me as he tried out different things, like plumping it one way and then the
other. Or brushing his fingertips along the underside. Everything felt amazing, and warm, and
he looked so cute biting his lip with his forehead all scrunched up in concentration, but none
of that hid the fact that he was still shaking.

His ministrations caused me start squirming underneath him and when he finally pinched my
nipple, I shuddered and moaned.

"Edward, take off your shirt," I begged, wanting to feel his warm skin under my hands. He
did, lightning fast, and then settled himself over me again, but I had other plans.

"Sit up," I commanded, struggling to push myself up against the squishiness of the couch
cushion. Edward was confused, but comprehension settled in when I straddled his lap.

"You were shaking," I explained.

"Oh, that? I guess I was," he said softly, his hands resting on my hips. I ran my hands down
the front of his chest, seeing it for the first time. His muscles weren't defined, not like some of
those ripped guys who ran around without shirts once things started getting crazy at parties,
but I didn't mind in the least. Besides, it was more fascinating catching sight of their outlines
whenever he moved.

I wanted nothing more than to cover every inch of his skin with my lips… and tongue,
memorizing every indention and curve I could find.

"So…" Edward breathed, his eyes settling on my braless breasts underneath my shirt.

"What are you waiting for?" I asked in a hushed tone, leaning forward to brush my lips
against his. In a flash both of his hands dove under my shirt, making it ride up to the middle
of my stomach.

Running my hands all over his chest, back, shoulders – wherever I could reach – I became this
writhing, impatient mess that needed to get closer to him the more he teased me.

"Please," I panted, rubbing myself against his erection.

"Bella," he groaned, his eyes dark and half-closed. Then he closed his eyes and removed his
hands, pushing me forward to rest his head against my chest. "I can't. Not yet."

I pouted and made this little whiny noise, which was pathetic and so unlike me, but eventually
I calmed down enough to realize it was for the best. To go from first base to home plate in one
day was too fast for both of us.

We stayed like that for some time and I somehow ended up telling him about the thought
process that had brought me to my conclusion of fast-tracking our physical relationship.

I could tell he was amazed that I would want him to actually touch me, based on how many
times he asked me if I was sure I wanted to obliterate all restrictions on our physical
relationship. Which was ludicrous, because if he didn't know I desired him by now, then
clearly I was falling down on the job. I assured him multiple times that I wasn't pulling a fast
one over on him before I became fed up and grabbed his head forcefully to kiss him into
silence.

"I want you. I want this. Stop questioning it and give in to the inevitable," I said.

"We were inevitably going to end up like this?" Edward asked, a cute little smirk on his lips.

"Yes. Now shut up and kiss me," I demanded.

He did.

It was some minutes before he pulled back and cast his eyes down demurely. "Bella…" he
started hesitantly, moving his gaze up. "Could I touch you again?"

"Edward, you can touch me whenever you want," I promised.

He grinned and dove under my shirt again, his hands covering my breasts in seconds. "I think
I could stay like this forever," he said quietly, slowly leaning forward to rest against my chest.

Running my hands through his hair, I smiled contently. "I don't suggest that since eventually
we'll have to move, but you're welcome to try."

His eyes closed languidly as he smiled. "I could be your bra from now on."

"What? You'll just follow me around, holding the girls up?" I asked, laughing.

"Yep."

"What about if I have to go to the bathroom?"

"Um…" He lifted his head to rest his chin on my chest. "Maybe not then. But the rest of the
time, I'll be diligent. I won't shirk my responsibility, no matter what obstacles I may come
across. Be it going into a locker room… or a sleepover…"

"Oh, I see how it is. You just want a 'get out of jail free' card so you can enter girl-only
zones," I teased him, ruffling his hair.

Edward grinned. "Darn, you figured out my risible, ill-conceived plan."

"Well, I do have the quadratic formula memorized now…" I trailed off, sticking my tongue
out of him.

"That's right. You're a math genius."

"Hey," I shot back in mock anger. "Don't make me fire you before you've even been hired,
Mr. Wonder Bra."

Edward snorted and buried his face in my shirt, his hands lightly shaking from laughter
against my skin. Reaching down as far as I could, I ran my nails up his back and he wiggled
underneath me.

"So, do we have a deal?" he asked.

"Hmm… what do I get out of this?"

"My constant presence and attention, of course. Which is so valuable that you should be
paying me to offer this service."

"Oh, really? My, how highly we think of ourselves once a pair of breasts come into the
picture," I replied, loving this new level of badinage we had somehow achieved.

"Didn't anyone ever tell you that boobs make everything better?" Edward said jokingly.

"I must have missed out on that day of school."

"What a shame," he sighed. "Then I guess you also missed out on the day we were taught the
art of tickling."

"Wha-" Edward attacked me before I could finish the word, tickling my sides right between
the ribs where it was most sensitive. I shrieked, trying to squirm away, but he kept me pinned
against him. With tears in my eyes, I cried 'uncle' and breathed a sigh of relief when he
stopped, lying us down on the suddenly cramped couch. Edward slipped his arm around my
back and I turned into him, resting my head on his chest.

We stayed like that for a while, trying to stretch out the perfect moment we'd found ourselves
in. But it was only a matter of time before Edward's hand crept back under my shirt. I looked
at him and he smirked. "What? I can't be falling down on the job on the first day."

I snorted and shook my head, letting him have his moment. I knew mine would come soon
enough as my eyes settled on the bulge in his jeans. Very soon indeed, I thought, licking my
lips.

Chapter 16

EPOV

Boobs.

Boobs, boobs, boobies, boobs.

I had touched them.

Held them in my hands.

Bella's boobs…

I drifted off into another fantasy, completely ignoring everyone around me, including the
professor at the front of the class who was droning on about the upcoming project that was
due before Thanksgiving break in a month.

Movement and scuffling of feet jolted me away from fantasizing about the feel of Bella's
boobs in my hands. I gathered my stuff up and raced back to my apartment, precariously
throwing my books all over my desk in my haste to freshen up and change my shirt before I
saw Bella in an hour.

It was uncommon for us to go out on a weekday, especially when we both had classes the next
morning, but Bella had wanted to go see a movie so she could relax and "get away" after the
math test she'd taken today. She said she didn't care what we saw so I had chosen Max Payne,
even though I didn't particularly care to see it. It was just the only movie showing that
sounded anywhere close to being interesting.

Opening the door to my closet to get a new shirt, I spotted my Halloween costume hanging
prominently in the middle of the bar. It was completely different from what I usually chose to
dress as, but I had it on good authority that Bella would love it. I didn't know what her
costume was however, since she was keeping it under lock and key and refused to give me a
hint. So I had no choice but to wait until Friday night when we went to a party in honor of the
ghouls and ghosts that roamed the earth on All Hallow's Day.

I wanted to point out to Bella that it seemed like all we did was go to parties. We rarely stayed
in, just her and me, but then that would negate the other night when we did in fact stay in and
I touched her boobs.

Maybe I'd get to touch them again tonight…

After going twenty-one years without them – well, twenty years if you counted breast-feeding
– you'd think I would be able to survive two days. But apparently I couldn't.

They were a part of me now. I needed to touch them frequently. Hourly, even.

How much longer until I saw Bella?

Glancing at the clock on my bedside table, I noted I had forty minutes. What was I doing
again?

Oh, right. A shirt.

I grabbed one at random, not really caring what it looked like, just as long as it didn't have
anything offensive in the writing or was wrinkled, and slipped it on. I went back into the
bathroom to spray deodorant all over me again… just in case, and then ran out of things to do.

I hated arriving more than ten minutes early to anything, so I had no choice but to wait
around, wasting time on something else. I slumped down into my computer desk chair and
switched on my computer screen, bringing up a Firefox browser. Since I was OCD
sometimes, I checked the movie time to make sure I had it right and then logged onto
Facebook – because when you needed to waste some time, Facebook was the best invention
since the television to do just that.

Noticing that Bella had added new pictures of her and other people from this summer to her
profile, I clicked through them, smiling whenever I saw Bella genuinely happy and having
fun. She was absolutely stunning when she was happy.

And the one where she was wearing a bikini on the beach… it was only natural for me to want
to save that for later scrutiny. You know, in case she should ever need a 'before' picture for
any reason.

Yeah, I was grasping at straws trying to justify saving that picture. I knew it. I just hated to
admit I was such a… horn dog.

My mom would be so ashamed of me.

But on the flipside, my dad would probably start thanking God that I was indeed straight and
he now had proof. We had a loving relationship, regardless of how often I felt the need to
reiterate that I was heterosexual. He had told me when I was fifteen, and still a kiss virgin,
that he would love me no matter my preference for a "partner".

He had actually said partner.

That remained number one on my "Most Embarrassing Moments" list to this day.

The few girls I'd dated since then did little to win him over, but having told him about Bella a
couple of weeks ago seemed to tip the odds to my favor. It was only a matter of time before
he accepted the fact that his only son was into girls.

Or rather, into a girl. Singular. As in, only Bella.

All other girls had ceased to exist for me, as cliché and pathetic as that sounded.

And of course, thinking about Bella brought me straight back to her soft, supple boobs.

Checking the time once more, I decided my rule was stupid and turned off the screen before
all but running out of my room, collecting my keys and wallet off the dresser.

"What are we seeing again?" Bella asked, tilting her head back against the head rest as she
looked at me.

"Max Payne," I answered, quickly glancing her way.

"And what is it about?"

"It's an alternative universe where a drug named Valkyr has basically destroyed this cop, Max
Payne's life. I don't want to give too much away from the game because I'm not sure how they
are going to present it in the movie, but the game was good. It was one of the few I was
playing at the time that had an actual storyline," I explained.

"Hmm," Bella replied.

"Do you want to see something else?"

"No. No, it's fine. I'm still kind of spacey from that test." She rolled her head forward and
relaxed into the seat.

I reached over to hold her hand. "What if we forgo the movie and just hang out?"

"Has possibilities," she mused. "Anything particular in mind?"

"Bookstore?"

I looked at her just as she began to lazily smile. "Bookstore," she agreed.

I don't know how it happened, but going to the bookstore had become this "thing" for us. We
spent hours discussing our favorite books, arguing over which translation had truly captured
the spirit of the original text better, and recommending must read stories to each other. It was
typical for both of us to leave there with several newly purchased books.

I was trying to turn Bella onto reading Manga, but she refused to yield until I tried romance.
And not the comedy romance stuff either.

No, she wanted me to read erotica. And then discuss it with her after.

The chances of that happening were slim to zero and she knew it, but that never stopped her
from trying.

"Where do you want to start tonight?" Bella asked as we walked into the brightly-lit store.

"Sci-Fi?"

Bella laughed and swung our entwined hands between us. "You always want to start there."

"True… but I feel like you didn't give 'Neuromancer' a fighting chance." I pouted a little and
gave her my sad eyes to back up my begging.

She bit her lip, looking very torn, and then nodded. "Okay. I'll give it another shot."

"Yay! And then 'Foundation'?" I asked excitedly.

"Don't push it," she said with a narrowing of her eyes.

I just smiled, knowing I was only letting her win this one battle and not the war. We made it
to the science fiction section and I once again began telling Bella the good points to reading
'Neuromancer'. About how it started an entire sub-genre of science fiction and coined such
terms as 'cyberspace' and 'ICE' while exploring aspects of science that were before the
author's time.

But Bella wasn't buying it. "I just can't get past the first page. I feel like I need a glossary for
every other word! And what is with the last couple of lines? I don't know if I want to read
something that ends on such a sad note."

"Why are you reading the last page?" I exclaimed. "You're ruining the ending!"

She shrugged. "I like knowing how it turns out."

"Whatever happened to trusting someone? Bella, don't you trust me? Didn't you like the
Tower and the Hive series that I recommended?"

"Yes," she sighed.

"Then trust that I know what I'm doing. Besides, this book will help you understand me
better," I said softly. "And you might even enjoy it."

"Fine," she relented. "But you get to explain to me all the words that I don't understand."

I grinned, ecstatic that I had finally worn her down. "Deal."

"We're going to romance now," she declared, grabbing my hand and pulling me behind her. I
reluctantly stepped into the aisle that was home to half-naked, built men and barely clothed,
large-breasted women.

This was not the aisle for guys who had self-esteem issues when it came to their appearance
and what appeal they held for the opposite sex. Namely, me.

"I know you won't normally look at historical romances, but this one really is great," Bella
told me, placing a rather thick book in my hands.

"Outlander?" I read out loud. "What the hell is an outlander? Is that like Highlander?"

"No, it's someone who isn't Scottish. The book is about this woman who travels back in time
to the eighteenth century and has to learn to live in this… barbaric Scotland."

"And you want me to read this?" I asked in disbelief.

"Yes! It has the science fiction appeal to it, which I thought you'd enjoy. And the author puts
a lot of detail into her writing, something I've noticed is a reoccurring theme in the books you
pick out for me," she explained. "Plus I loved the relationship between Claire and Jamie, who
are the main characters."

"Huh." That was all I could come up with. Bella was walking out on a limb because I had
asked her to, and now she was asking for me to do the same thing.

She was sneaky. I'd give her that.

"Umm." I tried stalling so I could think of a way out of it, but nothing came.

Crap.

This book looked like a bloody saga and Bella expected me to read all of it?

"What did you like about their relationship in particular?" I asked, suddenly inspired.

"Well…" she began, turning shy.

Oh. It was that kind of book, was it?

"I liked how their relationship grew. It actually reminds me of ours a little," she said, looking
down as she played with the ends of her hair.

"Really? In what way?"

"Claire is older than Jamie… and more experienced, so she kind of ends up showing him what
to do," Bella slowly explained, turning a light shade of red.

I hummed in response, wondering how the guy, Jamie, handled it. Did he overthink it too?
Did he stress about making a good impression? About not being too rough or over eager with
such delicacy in his hands?

The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to know. There was a part of me – a part that
was almost ineffable in its potency – that thirsted for such knowledge. And if I was lucky, I
could maybe also figure out what it was about this couple that appealed to Bella so much.

"Okay…" I drew the word out, making it seem like this was a huge burden for me.

Bella's face lit up. "So you'll read it?"

"If it will make you happy, then yes."

Her grin was huge as she hugged me tightly. "Thank you, Edward. This is so exciting! If you
like that one, then you can start on–"

"Whoa, let's not get ahead of ourselves," I interrupted. "I haven't even read the first page yet."

"Sorry," she said, reaching down to clutch my hand. "You ready to checkout?"

"You don't want to hang out anymore?" I asked, startled that this was all the time I was
getting with Bella.

"That's not what I said," she retorted. "I just don't want to be here anymore."

"Um, okay." We went to the front and paid for our books. The cashier glanced at me after
getting a good look at the title of the book, but didn't comment on it. It was enough, however,
to make me wonder what kind of book I was buying.

Bella suggested we go over to my place after getting something to eat since there was always
someone at the KD house, so first to grab a bite of food and then away to my apartment we
went. It didn't take long to eat, since fast food lived up to its name.

I began getting nervous about halfway to my apartment because I had no idea what we were
going to do.

Oh, please let it be more boob touching, I prayed fervently while waiting for a red light to
change.

Breaking out into a cold sweat, I led Bella upstairs and unlocked the door, letting her walk
ahead of me into the apartment. She turned around and began walking backwards, silently
challenging me to follow her, which I did. I placed my new book on top of my desk and
emptied out my pockets before sitting next to Bella on my bed.

"Hi," she said sweetly, leaning toward me.

"Hi," I breathed as our lips touched. Bella's arms circled my neck and she clutched at my hair,
pressing herself against me. My palms skimmed her back and then I gripped her hips, slowly
pushing her down onto the bed.

Lying on our sides, we kissed languorously, moans and hmms the only sounds permeating the
air. Bella's hands on my bare skin caused me to pull her infinitesimally closer to me so her
breasts were crushed into my chest.

It was torture feeling them against me when all I wanted to do was bury my face between
them and never come up for air.

Bella arched her back and my hands slipped under her shirt, pushing it up and out of the way
so I could have unmitigated access to her stomach. She grabbed the bottom hem and flung it
to the side, becoming the first shirtless girl I had ever held in my arms or had in my bed. I
paused, fingers spread and pressing into her back as I glanced down.

Her cleavage was the first thing I saw. Breasts pushed tightly together and up, begging for me
to nuzzle them. The bra she wore was red and lacy, and it somehow made her pale skin
shimmer around it.

My mouth had gone dry from hanging open, which I only noticed when I tried to say how
lovely she was. It came out more as an inarticulate croaking sound. I glanced up at Bella, who
was biting her lip and looking both nervous and amused. Snapping my mouth shut, I
swallowed to wet my throat.

"You're exquisite," I rasped, finding it to be the closest word I had for her beauty. She smiled
and then leaned in for another kiss. I fell into the touch of her soft skin under my hands,
letting her surround my senses until she became the center of my world.

My fingers hit the back of her bra and I hesitated, getting sucked out of my immersion.
Should I undo her bra myself? Wait for her to do it?

I had never undone a bra before. Honestly, I didn't know if I could. If movies and television
shows were anything to go off of, bras were complicated undergarments designed specifically
to frustrate insecure, virginal boys.

Bella pushing up my shirt brought me out of my thoughts. Her tugging on it led me to assume
she wanted it gone, so I ripped it off and threw it down beside hers. She pressed back into me
and the sensation of skin on skin contact made me weak… and unbelievably hot.

I was burning up, but all I wanted was to get closer to Bella.

Our legs entwined as I rolled her onto her back, keeping one hand underneath her to support
my weight while the other touched every bare, enticing inch of skin.

Bella groaned and pulled back. "Can I take off your glasses? They keep hitting me in the
nose," she said softly.

"Wha- yeah, sure," I agreed hastily, tossing the offending glasses onto my bedside table
before she had a chance to remove them. Bella's giggles when I wasted no time getting my
lips back on her turned into soft moans as I traced the delicate vein on the side of her throat
with light touches of my tongue.

She arched her back, scratching her lace bound boobs against my chest. I moved to her
collarbone and then sucked lightly on the pulse point at the base of her throat.

I couldn't... stop. I felt this compulsive need to touch, lick, taste, smell her.

I had no concept of time or my surroundings outside of Bella. There was just this need... to
lose myself in her.

It drove me to do things I had only dreamed about before.

Trailing my mouth down her chest, I stopped at the space between her boobs and turned my
head slowly. My nose grazed the swell of her breast and I breathed in, basking in the gentle
roll of vanilla that came off her.

Reaching up, I slipped a bra strap off her shoulder and then with eyes tight shut, I skimmed
my lips across her breast until I felt the raised bead of her nipple.

All these weeks of touching without feeling, of dreaming without seeing had come down to
this moment. I released the breath I'd been holding and slowly opened my eyes, running them
up to Bella's face to see her half-lidded, passion-filled gaze fixed on me and then her quick
intake of air as I flicked her nipple with my tongue.

Years of repressed desire, years of waiting – of waiting for her – crashed down on me and I
became mindless in my quest to release this tightness inside of me.

My hands ran up and down her sides as I licked, nipped, sucked and kissed every part of her
that I could. My hazy awareness only caught the urgings from Bella as she writhed, moaned,
and grasped my hair by its roots.

I felt so tight inside I was unable to catch my breath. There was this strain in my groin and I
was so hard, aching to be inside her, that it physically hurt.

She removed her bra because I couldn't and my insatiable need to feel all of her had me
fumbling with the button and zipper of her jeans not long after. Kicking them off, she
wrapped her legs around me and kissed me with a savagery that matched mine.

Bella wedged a hand between us and cupped me, which relieved the pressure just enough for
me to take a deep breath before her hand plunged into my pants and ran down the hard length
of my erection.

I shuddered, gasping, as the heat from her hand ignited a fire within me. She tightly gripped
me at the base and then stroked up to the tip, causing me to cry out at the barrage of intense
pleasure that flooded my body as I came so hard I blacked out for a few seconds.

Panting heavily, I buried my head into the crook of her neck. "Dammit," I breathed, already
feeling the tension leaving as I regained control of my body.

"I'm sorry," Bella said quietly.

"Shouldn't I be the one saying that?" I asked, finding enough energy to lift my head.

"I just... had to touch you." She smiled apologetically, but her eyes were still dilated and her
hands restlessly fluttered over my back.

I had gotten my release. She hadn't.

Pushing myself up to lean on a forearm, I trailed my free hand down her side and watched
with rapt attention as her nipples tightened in the cold air.

She truly was beautiful.

The only girl I wanted, for the rest of my life if she would have me.

I had never been in love before, but the level of devotion I had for Bella ran deep within me,
solidified and stronger than any love I had felt. It had nothing to do with her baring her body
to me, but rather how she bared her soul.

I had stood no chance when faced with her. She was a singular person in a sea of repetitions.
And she was mine.

Until she realized I was worthless in bed because I couldn't last a minute.

Determined now to bring her pleasure, I bent down to gently kiss her as my fingers skimmed
the edge of her panties.

I wouldn't screw this up.

Bella turned into me with a soft sigh and wiggled her hips in a circular motion while I lightly
brushed the skin just underneath the seam line.

Should I just go for it? Tease her a little more?

And how the hell was I supposed to know what was what down there? I couldn't very well
poke and prod around until I found the right spot.

Fuck. I should have paid more attention to those pornos Emmett shoved my way during high
school.

I knew the basics, but what if I missed my target?

"You're thinking too much," Bella said suddenly, snapping me out of my inner monologue.

"What?" My head shot up and I stared at her, stricken. "How did you know?"

"You've been tracing the same circle on my hip for the past minute. Either you really like it
there or you're overthinking something that should be guided by touch, not thought."

"I don't –"

"I know, Edward. But there's no need to worry. Just touch me," she pleaded. "I'll let you know
what works and what doesn't."

Taking a deep breath, I braced myself and slipped my hand down to the vee between her
thighs. Slipping one finger under the seam, I pushed it aside and very tenderly pressed against
my last frontier of Bella's body.

It was so wet and warm and my finger slid around as I tried to get my bearings. Bella cried
out and her hips lifted off the bed.

So far, so good.

She reached down and guided my finger to what I quickly assessed was her clitoris, which I
knew what to do with... in theory.

A look of panic in Bella's direction made her show me what she liked. Moving the small nub
in circles, I drank in Bella's gasps and cries of rapture. She suddenly gripped my wrist and
moved my hand down, pushing my finger inside her.

"Another one," she instructed, unfurling my fingers. I inserted my middle finger and Bella
groaned, pressing her pelvis to my palm. The sensation of being in her was different than
anything I've ever felt. It was so warm and inviting. Like I had been searching my entire life
for this level of welcoming heat.

Bella began moving my hand back and forth since I had been so mesmerized that I had failed
to do so. She rode my fingers fast and hard and then grabbed my other hand to place on her
breast, forcing me up on my knees between her legs.

It didn't take long until she threw her head back and cried out from the force of her orgasm.
The walls surrounding my fingers gripped them and I closed my eyes, imagining how it
would feel when it was my cock inside her. It stirred in recognition, impatient to achieve that
goal.

But now wasn't the time.

Spent and more than a little proud that I had helped Bella achieve that glow, I removed my
hands and collapsed next to her. She turned toward me and we stared at each other, marveling
in our new level of intimacy. I didn't want her to leave… ever.

Topless, disheveled, and breathing heavily with her mouth open, she was the picture of
ravished.

I had done that to her.

"Stay with me tonight," I blurted out, putting voice to my deepest wish before I had a chance
to talk myself out of it.

"Okay," she said, smiling softly.

I grinned and nodded toward the bathroom. "Do you want to use it first?"

"Sure. Um, can I borrow one of your shirts again?"

"Of course," I replied. "Take whatever you want."

She collected her clothes and walked to the bathroom as I unabashedly stared at her lithe body
in motion. Stretching out on the bed, I grimaced at the pull of dried semen on my stomach and
boxers, but patiently waited my turn to wash off.

After cleaning up and changing clothes, we settled into my bed, Bella laying her head on my
shoulder and one arm thrown across my chest. I held her close, rubbing her arm soothingly as
we whispered good-night to each other.

She had to get up early for an eight o'clock class, so I knew there would be no play time in the
morning, but I couldn't feel any disappointment. I could touch her and hold her the entire
night. It had a powerful calming effect on me and I fell asleep almost immediately, unaware
that my hand had settled on her breast right before I slipped into unconsciousness.

Chapter 17

EPOV

"You have to fight them!" I yelled at Bella, pointing to the splicers that were coming through
the door.

"No! They scare me!" she yelled back, running the other direction.

"But that's the only way out! Just do what I showed you – use the Electro Blot and then hit
them with the wrench."

"There has to be another way out!" Bella shouted, panning over the wreckage in the lounge.

"There's not. Now hurry and fight them or they're going to… do that," I added lamely as they
swarmed over Bella's character.

"I don't like this game anymore," she whined, weakly handing me the controller.

"You just need to get the hang of it. Here, let me show you again." I started the game back up
and ran through the simple quest, fighting the splicers in quick succession and moving on to
Neptune's Bounty. Bella sat next to me, quietly watching and occasionally sighing.

"Do you want to try it again?" I asked, pausing the game and offering her the controller.

"No, not really," she replied. "I'll just watch for now."

"Okay." I went back to playing, running through the levels I knew so well. Bella had been the
one to show an interest in playing BioShock to begin with so her reaction to it was puzzling.
She'd said she wanted to see what all the hype was about. Now I guess she knew.

The first Little Sister of the game came on-screen and I glanced over at Bella to see her
reaction. It was one thing to hear the creepy little voice and quite another to see the owner of
it. She cringed and scooted closer to me, our knees lightly touching as she angled her body
toward mine.

Then a Big Daddy came on the screen and Bella wrapped her hand around my arm, hiding her
face behind my shoulder as the Big Daddy took care of the remaining splicers down below.
"This game is gruesome," she said, her voice slightly muffled against my shirt as she watched
the scene over my shoulder.

"You're the one that wanted to play," I pointed out.

She sighed. "Let's not bring that up again."

"Alright," I chuckled, saving the game. "I guess you won't be dressing up as a Little Sister for
Halloween then?"

"Hell, no. Sinister creepy little things," she muttered. "Besides, I already have my costume."

"That's right. Are you still refusing to tell me what it is?" I switched the 360 off, tossed the
controller beside me on the couch, and turned toward Bella.

"Yes. I want it to be a surprise."

"But what if we decided to go as the same thing? I think you should tell me, just in case," I
teased, trying one last time to wheedle the closely held information out of her.

She scoffed. "I sincerely doubt that will happen. You'll just have to wait until tomorrow to
find out."

"Fine. I give up," I relented, throwing my hands up. "But in the meantime, I feel I'm owed
some compensation."

"Is that right?" Bella said slowly, lifting her eyebrows at me.

"Yep." I grinned and grabbed her around the waist, pulling her onto my lap. She squealed, but
didn't put up a fight. Not that I thought she would. She seemed to like when I took the
initiative, which I had been doing more of since Monday night.

We hadn't done anything quite so… intense since then, choosing to instead have our fair share
of dalliances without delving into something more before we felt the moment was right. But
we were much freer around each other, touch-wise.

"Much better," I mused, running my hands up and down her back as she leaned on me.

She pushed against my chest until our faces were inches apart. "Is this all you had in mind?"

"No," I replied, suddenly growing quite serious as I stared at her. Tracing the lineament of her
cheekbone, I gazed into her eyes and tried to tell her how much I loved her without actually
saying the words. Her eyes softly closed as I leaned forward, letting this kiss tell her how
much I needed her.

If nothing else, my actions showed how I felt, even if I couldn't say it out loud for fear that
she wasn't ready to hear it.

Getting ready for a Halloween party had never been so nerve-wrecking before. I could feel
my heart pounding in my throat as I styled my hair, slicking it up and back with a large
amount of hair gel.

Angela had ultimately been the one to influence my costume choice. After Bella went
secretive on her costume choice about a month ago, I knew it was because she thought she
was going to win; she would have the better costume and then get to gloat about it all year
long.

I had to one up her. It was my competitive streak coming out, I know, but I just had to. So I
kept my ears and eyes open, trying to find the perfect costume that would knock Bella off her
high horse.

One day Angela and Ben had joined Bella and me for lunch and we were discussing older
films. Ben brought up Monty Python, of course, and we were quoting the Holy Grail back and
forth when out of nowhere Angela, grinning mischievously, interjected, "What about 'Rebel
Without A Cause', Bella?"

Bella stared at Angela as her cheeks grew pink, but she didn't say anything. I was curious so I
asked Bella, "Do you like that movie?"

Personally, I had never seen the attraction for it. It was kind of boring.

She blushed even more and ducked her head. I looked at Angela to explain what just
happened and she started laughing. "Hasn't she told you about her James Dean fascination?"

"No." But Bella's reaction had clinched it for me. She had a huge thing for James Dean, which
anyone could see from the way she was glowering at Angela to shut up.

Thus my Halloween costume was decided. I was definitely going to win.

Slipping the comb into my back pocket, I inspected the end result. The get-up was simple
enough – red jacket with popped collar, white undershirt, and tight jeans rolled up over black
work boots. It was the hair that was hard to copy. It was Flock of Seagulls meets Coiffed
Waves and my hair just didn't want to stay.

Hopefully the gel would hold out for most of the night because I wasn't going to bring any
with me. These jeans were too tight to put anything in the pockets, except for the essentials.

All together, I didn't look too bad. It wasn't a dead-on impersonation, but I could probably
cause a double take or two if I just walked down the street on a day that wasn't Halloween.

It would have to be good enough because I'd just looked at my phone – it was time to pick up
Bella.

The heart-pulsing-in-my-throat sensation started up again and this time the ends of my fingers
tingled. It was pure willpower that propelled me out of the apartment and into my car. I went

into automatic pilot as I drove over to Greek row, worrying about my choice of costume for
the bazillionth time.

Much sooner than I wished, I was standing in front of the KD house door. I took a couple
deep breaths, trying to work up to knocking on the door when it suddenly opened.

"Oh," a blonde girl dressed as a French maid said in surprise when she saw me standing there.
"Hello."

"Uh, hi… Is Bella here?" I asked, shoving my hands into my jacket's pockets.

"I'm sure she's around here somewhere. James Dean, right?" she questioned, pointing at me.

"Yeah."

"Looks good. Lemme see where she is," the blonde said, turning to walk off. She left the door
wide open, however, so I stepped to the side so I wasn't standing in the doorway like a dunce
where everyone could see me, should they choose to walk by.

I guess I had been too good at hiding myself because the door unexpectedly closed, making
me jump. Sighing, I turned back to it, but it swung gently open, leaving my hand suspended in
midair as I began to knock once more.

Bella stood there, alone, wearing next to nothing in an intricate Night Elf costume, but
somehow too much.

I gripped the doorframe with my hand to keep from falling backward as I took in my fantasy
incarnate. My gaze traveled over her, greedily absorbing every detail: the purple glow of her
newly tinted hair… the way her white breasts were pushed together by the violet brassiere
top… the curve of her throat, so enticing that my mouth watered in response… the flat line of
her stomach… the soft curves of her thighs peeking out from strategically placed coverings…
even the purple boots that reached just above her knees seemed sexy. The overwhelming,
startling costume was provocative, displaying more of Bella's pale skin than my sanity could
handle.

I had never seen a more vibrant and unreasonably beautiful woman in my life and I was
instantly filled with a raging inferno of desire. Thoughts of plans and friends fled, and all that
was left was my need to have her. Fully. Completely.

With a start, I realized I'd practically been drooling while staring at Bella and had failed to say
anything yet.

Her dark brown eyes flashed in amusement when I finally raised my eyes to her face.

"You… you look… I…" I swallowed as Bella softly smiled.

"So do you, Edward," she replied, reaching out to tug on the lapel of my jacket. "What
happened to your glasses? Are you wearing contacts?"

I shrugged and made a noise in the back of my throat. I had no idea if it was an agreeing sort
of noise because I was too busy staring at Bella again.

"I take it you like the outfit?" she asked, shifting her hips while crossing her arms, which only
pushed her boobs together even more. I whimpered and nodded, struggling to keep my hands
to myself.

"How… where… how?" It seemed I could only utter one syllable at a time.

"One at a time, Jim," she said with a smirk and a teasing look in her eyes as she gently pushed
me backward so she could step out of the doorframe and close the door behind her.

Her small hand slid into mine, our fingers instinctively interlacing, and Bella pulled me along
to start toward the SigEp house, the frat that was hosting this evening's festivities. My upper
arm bumped into her shoulder pad and then I found I could say more than one syllable.
"Sorry."

"It's okay," Bella murmured. "So, I'm assuming the 'how' you meant as 'how did I find it?'"

"I think that was one of them, yeah."

"Some chick was selling it on Ebay. It was pure dumb luck I found it. I thought I'd have to
make my own."

I didn't even want to think about how much she spent to win that auction. I'd make it up to her
somehow. Maybe at Christmas. "You just happened to have the same measurements?"

"I wish," Bella sighed. "Alice had to make several adjustments."

"Ohh… so, where did you even get the idea to dress up as a night elf?"

I felt her shrug as the curve of her shoulder pad snagged against my jacket. "It wasn't
something I actively sought out. I was trying to find out more about that game, the World of
Warcraft–"

"Just World of Warcraft, no 'the'," I corrected.

"Whatever," she continued. "So I'm looking through their forum and I find a thread about how
much guys fantasize about the female elves. There were pictures and stuff on there as well,
some rather crude, but I got the impression that a lot of it had to do with the lack of clothes
they wear and the dance they do. It didn't take long to figure out that's what I wanted to go as
tonight." She paused and looked at me, which in turn made me look at her. The ears were
difficult to get around, but somehow they looked adorable on her. "I wanted to be your
fantasy… just this once," she added, almost at a whisper.

I stopped walking at the onslaught of instantaneous need that rose out of me to make her
understand that she was always my fantasy. She was my fantasy every single moment of
every single day. She didn't need to put on something so provocative to make me want her. It
was like breathing to me.

She was. I lusted.

It was that simple.

But all of that was a jumble in my head, one that I couldn't put it words, so I chose the next
best alternative.

Giving myself permission to move, I reached out and crushed her to me, finding her lips in the
next second. My hands landed on bare skin. I moved them without thought, seeking out more
of it, loving the feel of her soft warmth under my fingers and palms.

"Always," I breathed as I kissed down her throat, hoping she would understand.

She smiled into my hair and then pushed against my arms. Regretfully, I loosened my hold
and she stepped back, framing my face in her hands.

"Thank you," she said, staring into my eyes.

"For what?" I asked, confused while at the same time trying to combat the screaming voice in
my head that she was too far away.

"For making me feel desired."

"Was there ever a doubt that you weren't?" I blurted out, incredulous and irrationally angry
that she hadn't understood. Her hands slid away from my face as I tried to make her
comprehend how desirable she was to me. "Can you really not see how much I want you?
How sometimes I can't sleep because I'm so hard and… aching for you?" My voice dropped
to a whisper. "How I wanted nothing more than to make love to you when you woke up in my
arms on Tuesday?"

"Edward…" Bella began, tears shimmering at the bottom of her eyes.

"Shit. I didn't mean to make you cry," I said quietly, cupping her cheek.

"Sorry," she replied with a watery smile.

We stood entwined in each other. Bella shivered when a cool breeze blew past us and the
moment was gone. "We should probably head to the party," she said, wiping at her eyes.

"Right, the party…" I repeated and then stopped. "You, looking like that, at a party… with
other guys…" I didn't like it.

Bella stared at me. "It'll be okay. Besides, I told Alice I would meet her there. She hasn't seen
the entire ensemble yet."

"Okay…" I begrudgingly gave in. We continued walking, her smaller hand enclosed in mine.

Nearing the already swinging party, my stomach started twisting into knots. This was wrong. I
shouldn't be allowing Bella anywhere near other males right now.

As if to prove my point a guy wearing one of those copout Halloween shirts that read
'Costume' turned around in a stumble as we started up the walkway and his jaw dropped when
he saw Bella.

"Heyyyyy, bay-ba," he slurred, ogling her boobs.

Bella lifted a disdainful eyebrow at him. "Yeah, right," she muttered under her breath.

I remained silent, focused on that guy. If he so much as took a step toward her, I was ready.

"Come on," she pressed, pulling at my hand. I hadn't even realized I'd stopped walking until I
was jolted forward. We entered the house that was vibrating from the bass of whatever dance
song they were playing, something about 'just live your life', which I found oxymoronic since
by simply being alive, you were in fact living your life.

Bella searched for Alice and I followed her, clutching her hand and staring down any guy that
looked at her. Suppressing the urge to cover her with my hands, my jacket, a blanket – really
anything that would shield her from prying eyes, I gritted my teeth and took a deep breath
through my nose in resignation.

It was going to be a long night.

Finally I heard a familiar squeal and saw Alice barreling down on us in a Pocahontas getup,
grinning. "You look fantastic! I told you those highlights would work," she shouted, even
though she didn't really need to. The music wasn't that loud in this part of the house. Alice
gave me a once over when she looked my way and laughed. "Did Bella put you up to that?"

I shook my head 'no' and flushed, suddenly becoming self-conscious. In all the anxiety and
worrying over Bella, I'd forgotten I was dressed up as well. And that my pants were really
tight.

I spotted Jasper heading our way, dressed as a cowboy. Not one of those dollar store costumes
either, but the real deal. It didn't seem out of character for him and I wondered if he'd just had
that laying around at home or if he'd actually had to put thought into the outfit.

I bet he doesn't feel uncomfortable in his tight pants, I thought bitterly and then sighed. My
frustration wasn't with Jasper. It was with every guy in this place. I could feel their eyes
roaming over Bella's milky-white, smooth skin as they imaged her naked. And possibly
having sex with her, which was an image only I was allowed to have.

It was driving me insane.

Stepping behind her to block her backside from view, I loosely wrapped my arms around her
waist and scanned the room for any lecherous onlookers. A guy leaning against the wall in the
corner wearing a Jack Sparrow outfit, complete with dreadlocks, was taking his time
cataloging every inch of Bella. I burrowed holes into his skull, yelling at him in my head to
stop looking at her, to back the fuck off, to notice me before I let my possessive rage get the
best of me and I killed him.

It wouldn't be that hard. Everyone was absorbed in their own partying. It was loud enough
that no one would hear his screams for help.

He glanced up and I locked eyes with him, threatening to end his existence if he didn't cease
and desist. He flinched and broke eye contact, straightening up before walking out of the
room.

Bella happily chatted away with Alice as I moved on to my next victim, locating a clearly
undergrad boy in scrubs fixated on Bella's boobs, when I felt a hand on my shoulder. Startled,
I looked to my right. Jasper leaned down and spoke directly into my ear. "You're making me
antsy, dude. Why don't you just take her out of here?"

I shook my head as I watched her interact with Alice. She was completely oblivious to all the
attention she was receiving. As much as it pained me, if she wanted to stay, I would stay. That
was all there was to it.

I went back to where the underage doctor wannabe had been, but he wasn't there anymore.
Alice expressed an interest in finding refreshments, but Bella passed. She turned in my arms
as Alice and Jasper walked away and then sighed against my neck.

"Don't think I don't know what you're doing," she said accusingly. Okay… maybe she wasn't
completely oblivious…

Leaning down to talk in her ear, I played dumb. "I don't know what you mean."

"You're wearing the wrong costume, Conan," she quipped. "It's all very unnecessary. You
know that, right?"

"I know no such thing," I scoffed, scaring off another unwanted pair of eyes to our right.

Bella sighed again. "Come on, Tarzan, let's dance. Maybe it'll get your mind off things."

I grumbled in response, but went along because what else was I going to do?

At the last minute I remembered the trance Bella put me in every time we danced together, so
I held her in my arms this time, reasoning this would stop me from zoning out since I
wouldn't be able to see her body. It was weird finding a rhythm that fit with the fast pace
dance music, but eventually we worked it out and I once again started staring down any guy
who had the misfortune of getting caught.

But little by little my brain succumbed to my body's demands, which was that all thought be
redirected to the feel of Bella in my arms… and all blood redirected to my southern
hemisphere.

The outside world disappeared as I looked down and became lost in Bella's eyes, entranced by
the curve of her upper lip, rapt in the freckles that were scattered across the bridge of her
nose. My breathing grew shallower and my arms tightened until we were barely swaying to
the music.

Curling my hands into fists behind her back, I fought the desire to drag her off into a secluded
corner, shove her underwear aside and take her. Savage need gripped me as I stared at Bella.
My lungs couldn't get enough air. My groin literally throbbed. It was agony and I knew the
only thing that would relive me was her.

I felt a lance of pain as my fingernails dug into the skin of my palms, just enough to keep me
lucid.

"Edward?" Bella inquired softly.

"Bella… I don't think… I can't…" I breathed out harshly, unable to say what I wanted. She
needed to know how close I was to snapping.

I stilled as she slid up my chest to stand on her tiptoes. My body tightened that last
infinitesimal amount and I knew I was going to shatter if I didn't have her. Bella leaned in
until her lips ghosted over mine as she whispered the word that would change everything.

"Upstairs."

For one breathless second time froze for me and I knew in that moment what was going to
happen. Then the world snapped back into place and I grabbed Bella, racing for the stairs.

The first door I came to was locked. The second held two occupants already enjoying their
alone time. My frustration reached an all-time high when I found the third door locked and I
think I growled at some point.

The forth door opened for me and a quick scan insured it was empty. Dragging Bella inside, I
slammed the door and flicked the lock. There was just enough light from the street lamps
outside to illuminate her when I turned to her. Bella yelped as I shoved her against the door,
reaching up for her prosthetic ears.

I winced, losing a bit of my impatience in the face of Bella's pain. "Sorry."

She pulled them off and tossed them to the side before giving me a small smile. "It's okay.
Now… where were we?"

I took a deep breath and then let my body reign once more. Bending down, my lips collided
into hers and my tongue pried her mouth open. Bella moaned and curled her arms around my
shoulders, scraping her nails up the back of my neck and into my hair.

Tugging at her shoulder pads, I succeeded in ripping them away simply because they kept me
from touching all of her. I wrapped my arms around her waist and lifted her off the ground as
we continued to kiss. Stumbling over to the unmade bed, we fell onto it, catching myself as I
hit the mattress so I crush her. Bella bounced once, brushing against me as she did and then I
relaxed, dropping down to feel the length of her body against mine.

She shoved my jacket off my shoulders and pulled my shirt from my jeans as I worked on
unhooking her brassiere top. Uttering a curse of frustration, I finally just yanked on the center
strap between her breasts and felt a glowing satisfaction when it tore in half.

Sitting back on my knees, I slid out of my jacket and shirt and then paused as I took in Bella,
spread out and waiting for me. The love I felt for her swelled in my chest until I couldn't catch
my breath. Bella hooked her fingers into my jeans and asked, "You okay?"

I wanted to tell her right there and then. With intense concentration, I willed her to know how
I felt. I love you, I love you, I love you.

Bella smiled softly and pulled me to her. Lowering my head to kiss her, I imagined she'd
heard me.

We went slower after that. In almost a daze, we bared ourselves to each other. I began
mumbling nonsensical words, stinging them together to tell her that I worshiped her, adored
her, wanted her, needed her, couldn't live without her. That I'd been waiting for only her.

Remembering the condom I'd carried around for what seemed like years at the last second, I
somehow managed to sheath myself without much fumbling, recalling long ago sex education
classes.

Settling between her legs, I held myself up by my forearms and looked down at her. Bella
stroked my cheek and reached up to kiss me, but stopped about halfway with a wince.

"You're on my hair," she whispered.

My eyes widened and I moved my arms quickly, mumbling several apologies in a row.

"It's okay," she assured me before lightly kissing my lips. I almost choked on the emotions
building inside as she reached down and positioned me, the tip of my straining erection
sliding inside her.

"Ready?" she asked tentatively.

I nodded and then gulped, fighting past my nerves to make sure this was good for Bella.

I love you, I thought fervently as I thrust forward. Heat the likes of which I've never felt
surrounded me and I buried my face into the curve of Bella's neck, letting out a broken sob.

Bella wrapped her arms and legs around me, urging me forward by lifting her hips to meet
mine. Clinging to her, I withdrew and then slowly sunk back into her, wanting to weep at this
sense of home I felt.

After a couple more slow thrusts, my control broke and they grew wilder and faster as I
strained to reach the edge of the pleasure building in my groin and spreading throughout my
body.

Bella moaned throatily when I moved slightly to the left and I tried to keep hitting whatever
spot I'd found but I couldn't hold on long enough.

I bucked into Bella, crying out as my orgasm took me by surprise with such delectation that
the back of my eyes exploded in white light.

Bella cradled me in her arms as I shuddered in short spasms whenever a latent remnant of
ecstasy shot through me and a few gasps escaped me. This feeling of satiety settled in and my
breathing calmed. I took a deep breath and then lifted my head to stare in wonder at the girl
who had just solidified her place as the center of my world.

Bella smiled, sweeping away the last of my tears with her thumbs. "Was it that bad?" she
asked teasingly.

I barked a laugh and shook my head. "No. It was... it was..." I couldn't put it into words. But
my mind was clear enough to realize that I'd missed something. "Did you... I mean, was it
good for you?"

"Yes," she said. "On both counts."

"Oh." Pride flooded me. It was one of those rare times that I felt like a man.

I'd satisfied my woman.

Grinning, I hugged Bella to me and wanted to laugh at how absurdly happy I was.

"Edward?"

"Yeah?" I answered, pulling back to look at her.

"Whose room is this?" she asked, glancing around.

"I have no idea." But I wanted to find out and then thank them profusely for leaving their door
unlocked.

"Oh, okay. I was just wondering."

"Why?" I asked. Something about Bella's tone sounded off to me.

"Well... there's a lot of naked women staring at me," she replied in a whisper.

"Wha–?" Looking up, I found myself face to naked chest with a centerfold from Playboy.
Giving the walls a quick once over, I noted several posters, cut-outs, and even a few anime
drawings covering every inch of space – all showcasing a naked or almost naked woman.

It was definitely disturbing.

Pulling out of Bella, I rolled us over and tucked her into my side. Having a better view of the
multitude of printed porn, I couldn't help cracking a joke. "Do you think the guy who lives
here would be proud of me for getting an actual girl naked in his bed?"

Bella looked at me in shock and then shoved at my chest before breaking out into giggles.
"You'd definitely get at least a high five."

I snorted as she rested her head on my shoulder and curled around my body. I could stay like
this forever, I decided.

"Hey, Bella?" I called out quietly.

"Yeah?"

"I'm glad it was you."

I felt her smile against my shoulder. "Me too."

Holding her close, I cherished the moment.

I knew we needed to move soon, but right now I just wanted to hold her.

Chapter 18

EPOV

The immediate problem, we soon discovered, was what would Bella wear since I'd torn off
her costume?

"I'm sorry," I said again, fingering the useless scrap of material I'd picked up from the floor
that used to be her top. "I'll pay you back."

Bella sighed and placed her hand over mine. "Edward, don't beat yourself up over it. It's
okay."

"Well... you can wear my jacket," I suggested. "I don't particularly like the idea of you
wearing some strange guy's clothes, plus that'd be considered stealing, wouldn't it? And I
really think we've done enough-"

Bella cut me off by pressing her lips against mine, a habit I didn't mind one bit. My arm
curved around her waist almost at once, pulling her closer.

She drew back and smiled. "Your jacket is fine."

I wrapped the leather jacket around her shoulders and zipped it up before helping her roll the
sleeves. Without thinking, I reached out and ran my fingers through her hair to untangle it.
Bella copied me by lifting her hand and smoothing down my hair. We groomed each other in
silence and then after another quick kiss, decided it was time to leave. Honestly, Bella didn't
look that different than when I'd picked her up. Thankfully she hadn't worn much make-up
and her hair was straight tonight, so it fell back in place almost at once.

I picked up her ruined top from where I'd dropped it on the bed. "Should we leave this as a
souvenir for the guy?"

Bella snorted. "Not a chance in hell."

She held out her hand and stuffed it into the jacket's pocket once I gave it to her. The shoulder
pads were stuffed into the other pocket and the bed was quickly made to cover up our actions.
And as gross as it was, I tied the condom off at the end and shoved it in my empty back

pocket because I couldn't stomach desecrating this poor guy's room anymore than we already
had.

Bella was acting very cool about the entire thing, but truthfully, the more I thought about it,
the more I regretted giving into my baser self and taking Bella into a stranger's room.
Especially one with porn-covered walls. I should have held it together until we went
somewhere I knew was at the very least clean.

For someone who professed to love Bella (even though I hadn't mustered up the courage to
actually say it out loud), I sure wasn't acting like it.

"What's wrong?" Bella asked, her hand reaching up to run across my furrowed brow.

"Nothing," I said with a shake of my head, but quickly thought better of it and voiced my
problem. "It's just... I should have made this more romantic."

"Oh, Edward," Bella sighed. "You did make it romantic. I wouldn't have cared if we did it out
in the shrubs where everyone could see..." She glanced off to the right. "Well, I probably
would have minded that, but simply because I was with you, it was romantic. Although I will
admit that I feel an incredible urge to take a shower right now," she said, wrinkling her nose
as she glanced around the room.

I hung my head. "I'm so sorry."

"Edward, I swear to God if you berate yourself over this anymore, I'm going to smack you
upside the head. If you feel that bad about it, you can do the romantic thing later," she added
with a shrug.

"As in, later tonight?" I asked eagerly, my "second" brain taking over my main one in its
excitement.

Bella laughed. "If you want. Are you ready to go? I need to go back to my room and grab
some stuff before you start the 'romantic' portion of our night."

"Okay, let me just make sure no one's around first." Feeling a faint sense of deja vu, I cracked
open the door and stuck my head out, looking left and then right before declaring it safe to
exit. Miraculously, we only encountered a few people along the hallway and on the stairs, and
they were too involved with their own conversations and drunken attempts at flirting to make
a note of our slightly unkempt appearance.

Bella wrapped her arms across her chest and gave off the impression that she was cold and
tired, which was the excuse she made when we bumped into a girl Bella knew. It had gotten
rather cold outside when we finally left the party so I was glad Bella was already wearing my
jacket.

"So..." Bella began, her arms still wrapped around her. "Are you going to want to join me in
the shower?"

I nearly choked on air from breathing in so sharply and had to stop walking until my lungs
started working again. "What? Seriously?"

She frowned. "Does that mean 'no'?"

"No! No, not at all," I quickly assured her, jogging to catch up with her as she continued
walking. "I was just surprised, that's all." I took a deep breath. "Bella, I would love nothing
more than to take a shower with you."

"That was rather formal," she teased. "Should I send an engraved invitation next time so
you're not taken by surprise?"

"Only if you want me to show up in a tux," I shot back.

"Oooh, you in a tux..." She got this far-off look on her face and then smiled. "That needs to
happen."

"What? Me wear a tux?"

"Yep," she replied with a playful grin. "The sooner, the better."

"Maybe for your birthday," I offered, and then realized I didn't know when her birthday was.

She pouted. "That's no fun. My birthday's next year."

"Okay, I'll figure something else out. Now about this shower..."

Bella laughed, spinning around to walk backwards in front of me. "Yes, we'll both be naked.
And yes," she stopped, making me stop as well, and leaned in close to whisper, "I'm going to
touch you everywhere."

My jaw dropped as I dragged in a ragged breath. Bella stepped back and bit her lip, her eyes
dancing with mirth as she took in my reaction. I honestly couldn't summon the energy to care
what I looked like. I was too busy trying to remember how to move... and breath... and think.

"That wasn't fair," I whispered.

"I know, but it was fun," she replied and then shrieked as she broke into a run when I charged
at her with a growl. She easily beat me to the front door of the KD house. Bella wasn't even
winded, but I had to double over and put my hands on my knees to catch my breath.

She flashed me a smile. "Totally worth it," she said before opening the door. "Wait here for
me?"

"Yeah." I stretched my arms over my head and paced the length of the porch as I waited for
Bella to return. "Man, I need to work out more," I muttered to myself as the pain in my side
subsided.

Bella didn't take long, just long enough for me to cool back down. She had changed out of her
costume to a pair of jeans and shirt, but still wore my jacket. She also had her backpack on,
but it didn't look heavy so I knew she wasn't carrying textbooks in there. Maybe an overnight
bag?

Just the thought of her planning to stay overnight at my apartment, knowing we didn't have
classes or anything else scheduled for the morning, was enough to make my breath catch in
my throat. Holy crap, I had it bad for this girl.

"Can I carry that for you?" I asked, gesturing to the backpack.

Bella shook her head and reached out, lacing our fingers together. "So, where are we going,
Casanova?"

"Ahem. I think you mean James Dean," I corrected, waving my hand at the get-up I still wore.

"Oh, sorry," Bella said with a roll of her eyes. "Where are we going, James Dean?"

"How does a hot-rod race around some sharp curves and then a little jaunt over to my place
sound?" I had trouble smothering a smirk from saying something so cheesy, and finally had to
chuckle once I saw Bella's skeptical expression.

"Okay, but I don't want to end up dead, ya hear?"

"Yes, ma'am," I replied, tipping my invisible hat to her. She snort-laughed, which was
adorable, and shook her head at me. I was too blissed out to care that she thought I was
retarded because we were about to get naked! I resisted breaking out into my happy dance
once I had Bella safely inside my car and I was walking around to the driver's side. A skip
while pumping my fist into the air might have escaped my otherwise perfect control.

I took extra care driving home because this was one night that I did not want to have an
accident.

"Death defying race there," Bella teased as we made our way up the stairs. I winkled my nose
at her, unlocking the front door. I prayed Ben wasn't here. I knew he sometimes snuck into
Angela's room to stay the night, and I hoped that tonight was one of those nights because he
would magically know through our Bro-ESP connection that I needed an empty apartment.

My heart started racing the moment we crossed the threshold and it felt like a dodgeball war
was taking place inside of me. Bella made her way to my bedroom, and I slowly followed her,
throwing out questions in order to prolong the moment before actual nakedness occurred. Yes,
I had been excited about it before, but now I'd had time to think. It was one thing to undress in
the dark, but my bathroom was brightly lit. What if she suddenly decided 'scrawny like a stick'
wasn't the body type that she wanted?

"Are you hungry? I could make us-"

"Not hungry."

"Thirsty? What about something to drink?"

"Nope."

"Want to watch some TV before-"

"No."

"What about a movie?"

"Edward," she said, exasperated, swinging around to look at me. "Is there a reason you're
stalling? Because if you don't want to, it's fine. Just tell me."

Frustrated, I ran a hand through my hair. "No, it's not that."

"Then what is it?" She dropped her bag on the floor beside my bed and sat down on my
mattress.

I took a deep breath and scrubbed my face with my hands. "What if... what if light makes a
difference?"

Bella cocked her head to one side. "What do you mean? What sort of difference does light
make besides making it possible to see around you?"

I stared at her pointedly, willing her to get it without me having to say it. Her eyes widened.
"Oooohh. You think... Look, Edward. I love you, but we really need to work on your self-
esteem issues. Why would you think after all this time I would suddenly realize-"

"Wait. Waitwaitwait. What did you say?" I demanded after being momentarily struck dumb
from her statement. Did she really say what I think she did, or was that all wishful thinking?

"I said that we need to work on your self-esteem issues," she repeated, a sly smile spreading
across her face.

"Noooo... what was the first thing you said?" I took a step closer to the bed, my eyes
narrowing as she grinned.

"Look…?"

Two more steps brought me right in front of her. "Damn it, Bella. Stop playing around."

Her smile disappeared and she leaned back on her hands, staring up at me. "Edward, I love
you."

I dropped to my knees and placed shaking hands on her legs. "You aren't just saying that?"

"What?" she laughed incredulously. "You honestly think I'm telling you this out of pity?"

I shrugged.

"You're unbelievable." Her voice dropped to a whisper as she leaned forward and cupped my
face. "But that doesn't change the fact that I love you."

I repeated that phrase several times in my head, finding it easier to believe after every pause.
She loved me. She loved me. She loved me.

"You love me," I whispered.

"By God, I think the boy gets it," Bella said to the ceiling.

I lightly swatted her knees. "Not funny."

"A little funny." She bit down on her lip, which didn't hide her smile in the least. "So... do you
have anything you want to say back?"

"Hmmm." I looked off to the left, pretending to think, as increasing amounts of endorphins
coursed through my body from Bella's admission.

Bella pushed me this time. "Not funny."

I grinned at her. "A little funny." She glared at me. "Okay, now that you mention it, there
might be something," I finally relented.

"What?" she asked, one of her eyebrows arched.

I held her hands in mine and took a deep breath, staring into her eyes. "Bella, you must allow
me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you."

She smiled. "Would you mind using your own words, please?"

"Okay…" I readjusted my mind setting before starting again. "I love you, Bella. I think I've
loved you since the first time I saw you. And knowing you love me makes me happier than I
ever thought possible."

"Much better," she sighed, briefly closing her eyes.

"I would have thought you'd like the Austen version better," I said.

"Hang Darcy. I'd rather have you any day," she replied, pulling me toward her. Bella fell
backward, half dragging me on top of her. I settled between her legs, happily scattering kisses
across her mouth, face, and neck as I wormed my hands under the jacket and her shirt. She
laughed, squirming underneath me as I tickled her sides. "Okay, okay," she cried breathlessly.
"I give."

"Shower time?" I asked hopefully.

"Sure, just get off of me."

"Funny, that's not what you were saying an hour ago," I teased, crawling backward and
standing.

Bella's eyebrows shot up as I helped her off the bed. "Wow. That was unexpected. What
happened to my insecure nerdy boy?"

"He found out the woman that he loves loves him back and he became irrationally happy."

"Hmm. And does happy boy want to get naked now?" she asked slyly.

"Yes, please."

"Well then, come on," she said, grabbing my hand and pulling toward the bathroom.

Chapter 19

BPOV

"So, what's he like?" Charlie asked as we sat down for dinner. I had been home for
Thanksgiving break for approximately two hours and frankly, I was surprised it had taken him
this long to bring Edward up.

"He's very nice. And good to me," I added quickly. "That's what's important, isn't it?"

I tried to keep it vague because I seriously doubted he wanted the complete list of Edward's
many wonderful traits. First and foremost being the way he would sometimes look at me with
this devilish glint in his eyes, which never failed to make my entire body heat up and I had to
restrain myself from attacking him. He didn't know the consequences of that look because it
was delivered at the worst times – during lunch with friends, sitting outside on a bench, in a
crowded library. If he knew the power of that Look, he might use it for evil.

Better to keep that particular bit of information to myself, really.

Charlie mulled over my answer, chewing thoughtfully. "Do you love him?" he blurted out
before coloring at his forceful tone.

Taking a second to decide how to answer, I inwardly smiled as he sweated it out. I chose
blunt truthfulness, hoping to appeal to his cop side. "Yes, I do."

He nodded slowly, looking a little sad, but didn't initiate any further conversation as we
finished eating dinner, even though I was fully prepared to answer any and all questions
truthfully.

I mean, why not? It wasn't like my mother hadn't been quizzing me relentlessly ever since I
told her I was dating someone, although I hadn't come right out and told her what I thought. It
would have given her a heart attack.

I could just imagine how that conversation would go.

"Is he cute?" my mother would ask breathlessly, like she was just another one of my
girlfriends who loved to gossip.

"Heartbreakingly so," I would say. "Especially when he's wearing his glasses and looks down
at me like I'm the key to his happiness."

"Does he spoil you with gifts and affection?"

"Does giving me numerous orgasms count as gifts? Because if so, yes, yes annnnd... yes."

"So you've slept together?"

"Every chance we can get. And then some." High fives all around accompany this statement,
of course.

"Is he any good?" This would be followed by a sly wink or maybe a nudge.

"That's a rather strange question to ask, Mom-in-my-head, but I'm gonna go with it. It took
some practice, but he's like a pro now. The best I've ever had, anyway."

"Does he love you?"

"Unquestionably."

"That's good, sweetie. But are you two being safe?"

"Of course we're safe, Mom-in-my-head. This is more information than I would ever give you
in real life, but we were tested before we stopped using condoms, just in case. And you know
I've been on birth control since I was sixteen."

"Honey, you know birth control's not enough. It's only 97% effective. What happens if you end
up as one of those 3% of girls and-"

I shook my head to shut up Mom-in-my-head's voice. I didn't enjoy being lectured by myself,
even if that part of me was only trying to dispense sensible advice.

Charlie excused himself from the table to go watch whatever game was on. I quickly washed
the dishes and hurried up to my room, anxious to call Edward after thinking about him all day.
This was the longest we'd been apart since before Halloween and it was making me antsy.

Edward answered on the second ring. "Hello?"

"Hey," I sighed with relief. Just the sound of his voice had a calming effect.

"Hey, Bella. Hold on, let me go to my room."

I heard rustling sounds and muffled voices before he came back on. "Sorry about that."

"It's okay. I can call you later if you want to spend more time with your parents," I suggested,
secretly hoping he wouldn't agree even though it made me feel a tiny bit selfish. I missed him.
Wasn't that a good enough reason to want him for myself?

"No, no. I'd rather talk to you," he assured me and I grinned in triumph. "So, how was your
day? Was the drive okay?"

"Yeah, it was fine. A bit boring, but it went by pretty fast thanks to the mix you gave me.
What about you?" I asked.

"Eh. I guess it helped that I had Emmett to talk to."

"Oh, yeah? And what did you two discuss for three hours?" I teased.

"Um... mostly you," he replied hesitantly.

"Oh. Anything in particular I should know about?" I had a feeling I knew what they had
discussed, but I wasn't going to nag him about it. If he wanted to talk sex with Emmett, then
that was his prerogative.

"Not really. Just Emmett wanting to know every little detail about our relationship," he
replied, confirming my suspicions.

"So, the usual then?

"Yeah," he laughed.

"He really needs to find a girlfriend and stop living vicariously through you."

"I know. It's bordering on pathetic now."

"What happened to Amy? Wasn't there a second date?" I asked.

"Apparently she laughs like a hyena. That's an exact quote." Edward snorted and I rolled my
eyes at Emmett's lame excuse. I'd told him before there was no such thing as a 'perfect' girl,
but he refused to lower his standards. At this point, I was awed by his stubbornness. He
preferred to call it "dedication". I guess it depended on how you looked at it.

"That's the last time I set him up with one of my housemates," I told Edward. "Amy's great,
and Emmett doesn't deserve her."

"I'll tell him."

"Please do," I said. Stretching out on my bed, I settled in for a long conversation about
nothing important. Just the mindless information sharing that happens when two people don't
want to stop talking to one another.

Regardless of how we perceive time, it does in fact continue on at a constant rate, which is
why I found myself saying good-bye to my father a few days later, though it felt like I'd been
home for a month.

"You have your cell phone charged?" Charlie asked in his strict 'I'm a police chief so don't
think you can get away with lying to me' tone.

"Yes, Dad." I fought to keep a straight face. That was the third time I'd answered that question
since breakfast. Strange the roles we slip back into when we're with certain people or in
certain places, no matter how much time lapses between appearances.

"Okay." Charlie looked around like he didn't know what to do.

I sighed and held out my arms. "I'll see you at Christmas, Dad."

"Call me when you get there," he said as we hugged.

"Will do." I climbed inside my truck and waved one last time before pulling away from the
house.

In just a few hours, I would see Edward again. We had talked and texted almost continuously
while apart, but it wasn't the same as seeing him in person. I missed him terribly. Turning the
radio on, I found a station that played somewhat decent music and counted down the miles
until I saw Edward again.

An hour later my cell phone chirped, and I flipped it open to read the text message.

'Can't wait to see you. Come over whenever you want. I'll be here.'

From Edward, of course.

I smiled as I thought about him sitting on his bed, tapping out that message on his iPhone,
which was ridiculously fun to play with - unlike my made-in-the-late-90s brick phone. Then,
after pushing 'send', he would stretch and yawn, and place his phone on the bedside table
before rubbing the ridge of his nose. This would cause his glasses to become tilted just the
slightest bit.

I'd seen him do it a hundred times, but it never failed to make me want to curl up in his lap
and kiss his nose for being so adorable.

God, I was crushing so hard on this boy. It was the longest I'd been infatuated with someone
to the point of oblivion and people were starting to notice. My grades were lower this
semester, for one thing. I barely saw Alice anymore, not that I felt horribly guilty by that since
she was in her own la-la land of oblivion with Jasper. However, what did worry me was that
my Sorority fees were piling up because I kept making excuses to get out of meetings and
sponsored events. I needed to start working that off if I wanted any money left over for
Christmas presents this year.

Crap. Christmas!

What was I going to get Edward for Christmas? And why was I only now thinking of it? Was
he the type of person that likes to be surprised or will he come right out and tell me what he
wants? I hoped it was the latter because I sucked at giving gifts. This is why my father had a
pile of hunting equipment he didn't use (but refused to return) and my mother housed a
bookcase full of craft-related instruction books. I had little to no creativity when it came to the
art of gift-giving.

I blamed my father, who was no great gift-giver himself.

Okay. Now is not the time to panic, I told myself firmly. It's an easy fix. I'll just ask him what
he wants.

But then what if he asks what Iwant for Christmas? What was I going to say? There were a lot
of things I wanted, but not many that were tangible items. The top of my list ran like a Miss
America Q&A session. After that it was things that I would like to happen, but knew weren't
likely to take place. For example, 'spend all my free time with Edward', 'have other people do
my homework', and a personal favorite, 'win the lottery and never worry about money again
so I could read by the side of my indoor pool all day, every day'. Edward would become my
cabana boy, of course.

I wonder if he'd be willing to become a cabana boy for Christmas? Hmmm...

That thought did come with some nice visuals, which kept me busy enough for the last leg of
my journey to stop freaking out. I was back at my sorority house before I knew it, carrying
my bags up to my room.

"Bella!" Alice shouted as soon as I opened the door.

"Alice!" I returned with alacrity. I dropped my bags and we hugged like we hadn't seen each
in years.

"How was your Thanksgiving?" she asked, picking up the smaller of the two bags and tossing
it on my bed.

"Fine. Charlie says 'Hi'. How was yours?"

"Ugh. Don't get me started," she groaned. "I felt like I was in the middle of World War III.
Between my brother, his wife, and my mom, I thought I was going to go insane!"

"Was it about the baby again?" I started putting away my things and throwing dirty clothes in
the hamper Alice and I shared. I had learned early on in life that I tended to procrastinate, so it
was either unpack now or leave it until I ran out of underwear sometime next month.

"It's alwaysabout the baby. The damn thing isn't even born yet and I'm sick to death of it."
Alice flopped face down onto her bed and groaned again. I sat down next to her and petted her
hair.

"You poor thing," I sympathized.

Alice sighed and then turned to look at me with one squinting eye. "Is Edward not back yet?"

"Why would you ask that?" I wondered, lying down beside her so she didn't have to look into
the bright overhead light to see me.

"Because you're always over there. I figured I wouldn't see you until after your classes
tomorrow."

I frowned. "And here I thought you were too absorbed in your own relationship to notice I
was gone so much."

"Oh, honey. I may be absorbed, but that doesn't mean I don't notice how we don't hang out
anymore."

"I know," I sighed, reaching out for her hand. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay. I've been pretty much the same way," she assured me with a little smile.

I made a split-second decision. "We're going out Friday night. Just us. I've decreed it."

Alice laughed. "You've decreed it?"

I mock grimaced. "Okay... I might be spending a little toomuch time with Edward and his
friends."

"No. It's cute. Next you're going to tell me that thou have been delinquent in thine
correspondence," Alice said, giggling.

"Oh. Ha. Ha." I rolled my eyes, but couldn't help grinning at her. "You're hilarious."

"I know," she said, preening. "It's why Jasper loves me so much."

I playfully shoved her. She squealed in surprise and shoved me back. And that's how Angela
found us rolling around on Alice's bed a few minutes later.

"I wish I had a camera with me..." she mused out loud. "I have a feeling both your boyfriends
would be veryinterested in this little scene."

I stuck my tongue out at her and she cracked up.

"Oh! Speaking of boyfriends," Alice cried, jumping off the bed and straightening her clothes.
"I'm supposed to meet mine in a few minutes." She hurriedly fixed her hair in the mirror
before turning to me. "I'll catch up with you tomorrow, okay? We'll talk about Friday then.
Later!" she shouted, waving her hand at both Angela and me before running from the room.

Angela and I shared a look before I stood up. "I guess I should be going, too. Edward's
expecting to see me at some point today."

Angela grinned. "Don't try to pretend like you're not chomping at the bit to see him."

"Chomping at the bit?" I repeated with raised eyebrows. "Did we go to cowgirl school over
Thanksgiving?"

She narrowed her eyes at me before trouncing out of the room as I laughed at her.

As much as I didn't want to admit it to Angela, I was indeed "chomping at the bit" to see
Edward. I had missed him. Sue me. Which is why I practically sprinted across campus to his
apartment building after checking in with my dad. I ran up the stairs two at a time and then
took a minute to catch my breath, wiping the sweat from my forehead. Thankfully I hadn't
worn a jacket in my haste so I wasn't too overheated.

Knocking on the door caused my heart to start pounding all over again, and when Edward
opened the door, it flew. My feet, however, didn't as I searched his face for an iota of the
same eagerness and joy that I felt.

"Hi," I said, smiling shyly.

"Hi," he replied. Then he took a step toward me and whatever had kept me frozen in place
shattered. I shot into his arms, feeling one thousand times better as they encircled me and
squeezed.

"I missed you," he whispered in my ear.

"I missed you, too." We held on to each other for a little longer and then broke apart. "Is Ben
here?" I asked.

"No," he said with a shake of his head. "Why?"

I just grinned, making sure the door was closed and locked before pushing him against the
wall. Then I kissed him, putting all of my longing and need into it. He responded in kind,
nipping at my bottom lip and then soothing it with his tongue as his hands held me firmly
against him. Within seconds we caught on fire, tearing off clothes as we stumbled to the
couch.

"God, I missed you," Edward groaned as he became reacquainted with my breasts. A sharp
tug on one brought a gasp to my lips. I fell onto the couch, hastily kicking off my shoes and
wiggling out of my pants and underwear while he doffed the remainder of his clothes.

Finally we were horizontal and naked, our hands and mouths relearning every dip, curve and
angle.

"Need you," I moaned as Edward licked and then lightly sucked on a sensitive spot behind my
ear. Curling my hands under his butt, I pushed him closer. With an eager thrust, he slid in and
then stilled until I became comfortable.

"Good?" he asked as he pulled out and then back in slowly.

I nodded jerkily, wrapping my legs around him. "Faster," I commanded.

He gripped my hips and slammed into me, making me cry out from sheer pleasure.

Oh, God. Just like that.

He pumped his hips fast and hard, driving me higher and higher. My breathing grew labored
and I hazily heard small sobbing sighs coming from me with every stroke.

So close. So goddamn close.

And then, like a gale, my climax ripped through me, tightening every muscle in my body.
Edward cried out, thrusting twice more before spilling in me. He collapsed, shuddering, and
rolled to the side, hugging me to his chest. Perfect.

"I love you," I murmured, listening to his heart thunder underneath my cheek. Sated and
exactly where I wanted to be, my eyes closed without a fight.

Shivering from a blast of air cooling my arms, I snuggled into the warmth at my back. Slowly
I realized that warmth was Edward, so I turned around and groggily opened my eyes.

"Hey," he said softly, smiling.

"Hey," I croaked, looking around. "How did we get to your bedroom?"

Edward shrugged. "I carried you in here when you zonked out. I assumed you'd mind if Ben
came home and saw you in all your glory."

"Thanks," I laughed. "I didn't think about that."

"That's why I'm here."

We cuddled for a moment longer before I voiced the question that had been rattling around
the back of my mind all day. "How are we going to survive Christmas break?"

"I don't know," Edward sighed, turning onto his back. I curled around him, resting my head
on his shoulder. "You could always come home with me."

I tensed. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah. You know, it could work. You could come with me to my parents for a week and then
after Christmas I could join you at your dad's for a week, that way we wouldn't have to spend
more than a few days apart," he said in a rush. I immediately loved the idea.

"How long have you been thinking about this?" I asked, tickled that he was just as desperate
to spend time together as I was.

"Not long..."

"Hmm. I like the way your mind works, Mister." Grinning, I placed a kiss on his chest.

"Yeah? You want to do it?" he asked eagerly.

Lifting my head, I looked at him. "Absolutely I do. I'll have to check with my dad, but I'm
pretty sure he'll be okay with it. Will your parents mind?"

"No," he said, a smile slowly appearing. "I already asked them."

I shook the bed with my laughter and hugged him tight while he stroked my back. Once I had
calmed, I started worrying. "Do you think they'll like me?"

"Of course they will. How could they not?"

"Hmm, true. I am pretty amazing," I teased, even though the underlying worry was still very
much present.

Edward guffawed. "You have nothing to worry about. Me, however. I'm going to be staying at
the home of my girlfriend's father, who just happens to own a gun and has the law on his side
should he decide to shoot me."

"Oh, he's not nearly that bad now," I jumped to assure him. "You should have seen him with
my first boyfriend. I think Charlie made him pee his pants when they first met." I giggled in
remembrance.

"That's comforting," Edward said sarcastically, sighing loudly.

I swatted his leg and suggested, "I'll hide his guns before you show up."

"Perfect. Get him angry before he even meets me."

"My plan, exactly," I quipped, softening it with a playful smile.

He gave me the stink eye, but I saw the cogs working and knew he'd get me back. Then he
struck, tickling my sides. I fought back, determined not to be the one to abnegate.

"Stop! Stop!" Edward shouted when I started pulling the hairs on his legs. "You win!"

"Mwahahaha! And never forget it!"

"Geez," he said, rubbing the unfortunate calf I had focused on. "You're cutthroat."

"I'm sorry." I pouted, giving him my sad puppy face.

"It's okay," he relented, and I went back to lying on his chest.

"You know, that's the second time today I've had a tickle fight on a bed," I recalled.

"Oh, really? Who was the other person?" Edward asked suspiciously.

"Alice," I said. "And I kicked her ass, too."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

We stared each other down, and then...

"We'll see who the ass-kicker is!"

"Ahhhhhhhh!"

Chapter Twenty

EPOV

Underwear? Check. Toiletries? Check. Bella's Christmas present? … I searched my suitcase
again, but came up empty. Shit. Where had I put it? It was in penguin wrapping paper, for
God's sake, so it shouldn't be hard to find.

After ransacking my bedroom one more time, I found it underneath the bedcovers, right next
to the suitcase. Of course.

Someone knocked on the door as I zipped the suitcase up. "Yeah?" I answered, not looking up
as I set the suitcase on the floor and started searching for my shoes.

"You ready to hit the road? Bella's probably waiting for us to pick her up," Emmett said,
stepping into the mess that was my room.

"All done," I replied, standing up to survey my room one more time. "Why does it always feel
like I'm forgetting something?" I wondered out loud.

"Probably because you are. But no worries. Whatever you've forgotten, I'm sure your mommy
will buy you a replacement." He laughed as he followed me out of the bedroom.

I rolled my eyes, wondering how long it'd take before I started daydreaming about leaving
him at a gas station miles away from his parent's house. Then I could have Bella all to myself
before we descended on my parent's house and were never allowed to be alone again. Pulling
into a parking spot, I glanced down the street just in time to see Bella stepping out of the KD
house.

"Please be nice. And don't bring up anything gross or I'll tell her about that time a certain
body part of yours was frozen to the fence," I threatened Emmett before stepping out of the
car.

"Low blow, Edward. Low. Blow," Emmett mumbled, getting out as well.

"Hey, let me get that," I said, reaching for Bella's bag. I stowed it in the trunk with everything
else while Emmett greeted her. "Bella! I hear we get the privilege of your company for the
next three hours."

"I don't know how much a 'privilege' my company is. I'm still kind of out of it from my
exams," she told him dryly. They briefly hugged, which tore me in two directions. It was nice
to see them getting along, but at the same time, I wanted to rip Bella out of his arms. I was
supposed to be the only person to touch her. Period.

"Pleasedon't talk to me about exams," Emmett groaned. "I'm pretty sure I failed all of them
and won't graduate in May."

Bella looked at me and smiled when I rolled my eyes. I tended to do that a lot around Emmett.

"I'm sure you did fine," she assured him before sliding into the front passenger's side seat.
Emmett climbed into the back as I got into the driver's seat. "But even if you don't graduate in
May," she continued, "you have to think of the bright side of things."

"Not having to get a job?" Emmett guessed.

"No, silly. Freshmen girls."

"Good point." Emmett settled in his seat, a dreamy expression on his face, as he contemplated
another round of fresh meat as his disposal. Bella shook silently with laughter.

"That should make for a quiet car ride," I commented as I glanced over at her.

"Oh, shoot. You figured out my devious plan."

"Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it wasn't that devious."

"Shush you," she shot back. I just grinned and grabbed her hand from her lap. Maybe I
wouldn't be leaving Emmett behind after all.

Three hours and one stop later, I turned onto the street I'd grown up on. Bella's grip on my
hand tightened and she leaned forward in her seat. I guess she was more nervous than she'd let
on.

"Relax, Bella. They're going to love you," I assured her, stroking the back of her hand with
my thumb.

"Yeah, Bella," Emmett piped up from the backseat. "If anything, they'll love you toomuch and
decide they'd rather have you as their kid than Edward."

I frowned. He was probably right. My mom will likely love having another girl around and
my dad will be charmed the moment Bella smiles at him.

"Remind me again what they do," Bella asked.

"My mom's an art teacher at the high school I graduated from and my dad's a physics
professor at the community college," I rattled off.

"But the thing your dad came up with… it didn't have anything to do with physics."

"True. As he puts it, physics is his passion, but puzzles are his curse."

"I wouldn't consider 'Cullen's Maze' a curse," Emmett muttered behind me. "It's more like
what they use to determine if you're Major League material or doomed to be stuck in the
Minors."

"It's that hard?" Bella asked.

I shot Emmett a look. Why did he say that? I didn't want to freak her out more than she
already was. "Tell her," Emmett said.

"Mensa uses it on their preliminary quizzes for potential candidates," I admitted with a sigh.

Bella's mouth dropped open. "Are you kidding me? Your dad's a freakin' genius?"

I shrugged. "He doesn't really advertise it. Honestly, he's very down-to-earth. Don't worry, it's
going to be fine." She didn't look convinced. I turned into the driveway and the next moment,
Emmett was gone.

"What's he so excited about?" she wondered, watching him disappear through the front door.

"He loves my house more than his own," I answered. "I'm sure my mom is feeding him
cookies by now while he spills his heart out about how he'll never find a girl as great as her."

"Seriously?" she asked, eyebrows raised.

"It happens every time he comes over. I don't see why today would be any different." I
smiled. "Ready?"

"Will I get a cookie, too?"

I laughed. "I'm sure you will."

"Then yes, I'm ready." Bella released my hand. I grabbed my bag and Bella's, but left
Emmett's on the driveway. If he wanted it, he'd have to get it himself. Opening the front door,
I glanced back at Bella. "You alright?"

"Yeah, I'm just... a bit overwhelmed? I can't believe you grew up in this house."

Looking behind me at the foyer and grand staircase, decorated simply, but cold, I could see
why she might be feeling that way. "I know it seems like a lot, but most of the antiques you'll
see were inherited and the rooms we use are actually quite normal and warm."

She grimaced. "Last chance to back out, Cullen."

I looked at her in surprise and dropped the bags on the mat, letting the door swing shut behind
me. "Have I ever treated you like I was superior or made you feel even the least bit
uncomfortable because I come from money?"

"No," she sighed.

"So why wouldn't I want to introduce the girl I love to my parents?" I asked her, drawing her
into a hug. Her arms slipped around my waist and she buried her face against my neck.

"I'm sorry. I'm being silly, aren't I?"

"No, you're just nervous, which I get," I said, rubbing her back. "I'm sure I'll be a mess right
before meeting your dad."

"Promise?" she asked, looking at me.

"Yes," I vowed, kissing her lightly. "Now, before Emmett eats all the cookies, we should
probably go inside."

Bella nodded and I picked our bags back up before heading inside. Setting the bags by the
staircase, I called out, "Mom?"

"In here, sweetie," she replied from the kitchen.

We entered to find Emmett huddled over a plate of chocolate chip cookies, shoving them into
his mouth as fast as he could chew, and my mom standing at a counter, spooning cookie
dough on a metal sheet.

"Edward! I know you were just here, but it feels like it's been far too long since I've seen
you," she said, enveloping me in a hug. Pulling away, she focused on my left. "And you must
be Bella."

"Yes, ma'am. It's a pleasure to meet you," Bella replied, smiling nervously.

"Oh, honey," she replied, waving her hand in the air absently. "Call me Esme. You're
practically part of the family anyway. Edward talked almost non-stop about you when he was
here for Thanksgiving."

"He did?" Bella smirked at me as I felt my face heat up. I was sure it had turned a dark shade
of red by now.

"Yeah, he does that at school, too," Emmett interjected between cookies. I knew I should have
left him behind at the gas station.

"I think he's smitten, my dear," Esme loudly whispered.

"Well, it's reciprocated," Bella said, smiling at me. "I'm pretty smitten myself."

"Isn't that the sweetest thing," my mom murmured. "Let me get Carlisle down here and then
we can discuss dinner, okay?" She patted me on the arm like she hadn't just embarrassed me
in front of my girlfriend and then walked briskly out of the kitchen, heading to wherever my
dad was located. Probably holed up in his den, working on his latest puzzle.

"So… you talk about me all the time, huh?" Bella grinned as I turned red again.

"Shut up," I mumbled, bumping my hip against hers. "If you want a cookie, you'll have to risk
having your hand chewed off in the process."

"Mine," Emmett barked, glaring at us as he tucked the plate of cookies closer to his body.

"Oh-kay then." I shrugged. "I guess you'll have to wait until my mom's made more. I
apologize for my friend's piggy-ness."

"No big. I wasn't that hungry anyway. Soooo, when do I see your room?" Bella asked,
swaying back and forth in front of me and grinning. I was just about to give in to my desire to
pull her toward me for a kiss when my parents walked into the kitchen.

"Well, hello! I'm Carlisle, Edward's father." He smiled at Bella and shook her hand. "It's so
nice to put a face to a name. You're all Edward talked about during Thanksgiving."

"Is that right?" She smiled at me again while I pretended to ignore them all by turning to look
at the clock on the wall.

"Gosh, I'm hungry," I interjected. "What's for dinner, Mom?"

"I thought we could go out. Is Chinese alright? Bella?"

"I love Chinese," she replied.

"Um, Emmett?" Carlisle said.

"Yes?" he answered between chews.

"You're more than welcome to come with us, son, but I think your parents are expecting you
at your own house."

"You can take those with you, of course," Esme offered when Emmett started pouting.

"Thanks, Mrs. C! I'll see you guys later, then." Emmett hopped up, cookie platter tucked
under his arm like a football, and waved before disappearing down the hall. We looked at
each other after Emmett's hasty exit before my dad asked, "Shall we go?"

"I told you they would love you," I reminded her for the billionth time in the last hour. We
were sitting in my room watching Ferris Bueller's Day Off after dinner with my folks. I
couldn't help the smug feeling that overcame me every time I glanced over and saw Bella in
the very room that had been the birthplace of more fantasies than I could count. I had a girl in
my room! Yes, it was childish, but I didn't care. I loved this feeling, like I had finally done
everything I'd promised myself while I was in high school.

"I know. They're wonderful. I'll be signing the adoption papers tomorrow," she retorted,
smirking.

"If you think having you as a sister will in any way stop me from dating you, you are sadly
mistaken," I informed her.

"First of all, ewww. Incest is never sexy. Second, if we moved to Arkansas, we'd fit right in.
Yay!" she said sarcastically.

I laughed. "Way to burn everyone in Arkansas."

"You didn't know I was a statist, did you?"

A what? "I don't think that means what you think that means," I replied.

"Whatever," she said, rolling her eyes. "You know what I mean."

"Yes, you don't think highly of the people in Arkansas. Are there any other states you have
prejudices against?"

"Hmmm. No, I think that's it." Bella shifted positions on her gamer chair and sighed. "I
thought these things were outlawed for being forms of cruel and unusual punishment."

"Just because you're not awesome and you don't know how to sit properly in a gamer's chair is
no reason to complain about them."

Bella pouted. "You don't think I'm awesome?"

Faced with such a pout, I crumbled. "I guess you're a little awesome."

She smiled and glanced at the scene playing on the screen, the one where Ferris crashes a
parade and starts a dance riot. "I sometimes wish I could be Ferris Bueller."

"I think that's a common wish," I responded.

"Yes, but does everyone shampoo their hair into a Mohawk in the shower in order to emulate
him?" she asked.

Bella in a Mohawk? I couldn't see it. "You do that?"

"Maybe," she replied cryptically. "Wanna take a shower with me to find out?"

Oh, god, she was trying to kill me. I grimaced, looking at the closed door and envisioning my
parents walking in on us in the shower together. "Youare a tease."

"No." She slipped off the chair and kneeled next to me on the floor. "A tease is someone who
doesn't follow through. I'm not a tease."

"Bella, my parents are home," I stressed, my voice pleading, even though all I wanted to do
was grab her and drag her onto my lap, damn the consequences.

"So?" She leaned in and nipped my bottom lip. I groaned and she went in for the kill,
covering my lips with hers. Hands burrowed in my hair, she straddled me and then we both
yelled when we toppled backwards, spilling onto the floor.

Note to self: gamer chairs are not meant to hold two people.

"Are you okay?" she asked, laughing as she rolled off me. Why did most of our make-out
sessions end in injury?

"Ow. Yeah," I groaned, feeling the back of my head. "I think I might have a slight concussion,
though. You'll probably have to wake me up every hour tonight to make sure I'm alright."

"I don't know… won't your parents wonder why I'm sneaking in and out of your room?"

I sat up slowly. "Not if you just sneak in once and stay," I said, grinning.

"Oh, nowwho's the tease?" Bella started leaning in again, but stopped when we heard
footsteps coming down the hall.

"Edward?" Esme called out, knocking on the bedroom door. "Are you and Bella alright? I
thought I heard something fall."

Bella scrambled back onto her chair as I stood up to let my mom in. "Hey, we're fine. I fell off
my chair and hit my head," I explained, opening the door and pointing at the back of my head,
like that somehow made the cover-up story more believable.

"Oh, dear. I wish you'd be more careful." Mom took this chance to peek in and see what we
were doing. We're just innocently watching television, Mom, I wanted to say. "Bella, sweetie,
would you like some hot chocolate? I was about to make some for myself."

"Why does Bella get hot chocolate and not me?" I complained. Bella was already overtaking
me as the favorite child. It was just a matter of time before I was told to move out
permanently.

"Because you're not a guest and you can make your own cup," my mom quipped back and
then smiled sweetly, patting me on the cheek. "But if you want some, I'll make extra."

"Thanks, Mom, I'd love some. Bella?"

"Yes, please," she answered and then volunteered to help make it. I followed along when I
realized she was abandoning me to spend more time with my mother. And just when it was
getting good. How rude.

"Bella, I know I said this at dinner, but I'm so glad you're here. It's so nice to have another girl
in the house," my mom said as she stirred the milk in the saucepan.

"Thanks, Esme. I'm glad I'm here, too."

I rolled my eyes at the countertop, waiting for them to be finished so I could drag Bella back
into my room to finish what we'd started.

"Now, I don't want you to worry about a thing while you're here. I mean it. You're our guest.
We want to make sure you come back at some point."

Bella laughed. "I'll try to remember that, thanks."

They then picked up a discussion they'd started at dinner about cooking and I zoned out,
throwing my hopes of a Bella-centric night out the window. It had been a long shot anyway. I
consoled myself with hot chocolate and mini-marshmallows.

The next day I planned activities for us to do while my mom taught and my dad bummed
around the house, grading the last of his final papers. I took Bella around town, showing her
places I'd frequented when I was younger, my schools and local historical spots, of which
there were two: the old jailhouse, which was nothing more than a shack behind a rail line, and
the mini-waterfall in the park. That place was very popular during the summers here.

Then I took her to my absolutely favorite place in town - the comic book store.

"So you actually worked here?" she asked as I parked and turned the car off.

"Yeah. How else would I know everything I do about superheroes and comics?"

"I thought you were just nerdy?" she replied, grabbing my hand as we met in front of the car.

"Ouch. Way to cut deep, Swan."

As we approached the front door, which boasted having the newest X-Men: Legacyvolume,
Bella turned to me and said, "I can see why you got all the chicks when you were in high
school, Edward."

"Your jealousy over my cool afterschool job, which was a large part of how I became the man
you see before you today, while you were... what was it again? Working at an outdoor store?
It's just sad."

Bella stuck her tongue out at me and I laughed, holding the door open for her.

"Hey, Edward," Al said from behind the counter when we walked in. Al was the owner of this
fine establishment and a guy I still considered a good friend, even though I only saw him now
when I stopped by during school breaks.

"Hey, Al. I'd like you to meet Bella, my girlfriend. Bella, this is my old boss, Albert, or Al as
he prefers to be called."

Bella smiled. "Hi. It's nice to meet you."

Al's eyebrows rose. "Girlfriend? I thought you were making that up the last time you were in
here."

"As you can see for yourself, I wasn't lying."

"Unless you hired her to play your girlfriend," Al suggested.

I sighed. "Bella, please tell Al you were not hired as a ploy to convince him I have a social
life in college and that you are in fact my girlfriend."

Al pointed his finger at me. "I'm not going to believe her now. You prompted her."

Slapping my hand over my eyes, I shook my head. How did I put up with working for this
guy for two years?

"I assure you, Al, I am his girlfriend and he does have a social life," Bella said earnestly.

"Hmph. I guess I have no choice but to believe you. Sorry for the hazing, Edward, but you
know it's all in good fun, right?"

"Yes, I know," I replied. "Did you get that special order in that I asked for?"

"Yeah, it's right here." Al bent behind the counter and popped back up, placing a sealed plain
brown box on the countertop.

"What did you order?" Bella asked, looking at the box with interest.

"It's your Christmas gift, so no peeking," I told her sternly, knowing how she got around
presents.

"What do you mean? I already saw my gift in your suitcase."

My eyes widened. "Been snooping around in my stuff, have you?"

Bella bit her lip. "I was... looking for something and... thought you had it."

I let it slide since I knew for a fact that although she might have found her gift, she hadn't
opened it yet. If she had, she'd be making a bigger deal over it. "That's your secret between-
us-only gift. This is your public in-front-of-my-parents gift."

"But... I only got you the one," she said sadly.

"Hey, it's okay," I assured her, wrapping my arms around her. "I wanted to get you something
special, but I didn't want you to be embarrassed about opening it in front of my parents so I
decided on a decoy gift."

"Is the 'secret gift' lingerie?" Bella whispered in my ear. If only...

"No, but I'll keep that one in mind for next year."

"I said I believed you about her being your girlfriend, Edward. You don't have to go full PDA
in my store," Al said, interrupting our moment.

"There's no one else here!" I pointed out, flinging an arm out to emphasize my point.

"Regardless," he said, holding a hand out, palm up, "respect the house rules."

I sighed. "Fine. How much do I owe you?"

After paying, Bella and I said good-bye to Al and left.

"Sooo, are you going to tell me what you got?" Bella asked, holding onto one of my hands
with both of hers.

"No, you'll find out when I say you can open it."

"Bossy. I like that." Her eyes gleamed. "What if I got it out of you with kisses?"

"You can certainly try..." She interrupted with a kiss, slanting her mouth over mine and
grabbing the back of my shirt underneath my jacket. "But it's not going to work," I finished
when she pulled away. Pouting, she got into the car without further comment and for the time

being, the subject was closed since there was no way I was going to tell her what was in either
box.

"So, Bella, what would you say is your favorite form of time travel?" my dad asked over
dinner that night, like it was a perfectly normal conversation starter. I'd told him to cool it
with anything concerning sci-fi, physics or something normal people didn't talk about while
Bella was around, but clearly, he'd forgotten. Or he'd chosen to ignore me.

I groaned. "Bella, you don't have to answer that," I said, looking over at her as she sat in
stunned silence.

"No, it's okay. Um... do I have choices, Dr. Cullen?" she responded.

"Carlisle, please. And yes, you can have some choices. There's the Time Machine, made
popular by H.G. Wells but it can be just about anything from a Delorean car from Back to the
Future to a hot tub from Hot Tub Time Machine. There's magical interference or spelled items
like the Time Turner from Harry Potter. Worm holes and black holes, which you've probably
seen referenced in a number of movies, tv shows and books. Traveling faster than the speed of
light. The TARDIS from Doctor Who, which also travels through space. And lastly, there's
the idea that certain people can either become disciplined enough or have a specific DNA
sequence or gene that allows them to travel through time on their own merit or brain power."

Bella looked at me blankly and I shrugged. She'd asked for choices.

"I'll go with magic," she said finally after thinking about it for a minute.

"Interesting choice. Any particular reason why?" my dad replied.

"It's the only choice you offered that made it more fantasy than science, and since I don't
believe time travel is possible, it would make sense that it's only able to take place with
supernatural interference," she answered.

"Fascinating. What do you say to the theory that time travel is possible, but only to the
future?" my dad inquired.

"Dad, can't we talk about something else?" I asked. "Like, anythingelse?"

"It's okay, Edward," Bella said. "You're talking about time dilation, right?"

I swear my jaw dropped. This girl amazed me at every turn. Even my dad looked slightly
impressed. "Exactly right!" Uh-oh. He was starting to get excited, which meant he was
gearing up for a lecture. "Someone was paying attention in their physics class, I see."

Bella shrugged. "I always thought it was an interesting concept. Plus, it's so common in
science fiction that it's hard not to learn about it, to some extent."

"Very true." Dad looked at me. "Edward? You wanted to change the subject?"

"No, it's alright. You guys can keep talking about time travel. So, Mom? What did you do
today?" I asked, angling my body toward her. Bella and my dad continued their conversation
on time travel theory, taking one step closer to irrevocably bonding and forcing me out of the
picture. Literally, forcing me out. I'd probably end up being the person who takes all the
pictures this year. I should have expected this when I invited Bella home. Sometimes she's
just too good to be true.

Chapter 21

EPOV

The next day Emmett pried himself away from the television long enough to come by and bug
us. By us, I mean me. My dad was done grading his papers and had turned the final grades in
for his class, so he'd holed himself up in his den, probably working on something mind-
numbingly boring and science-y.

I was about to throttle Emmett if he didn't leave so I could have some time alone with Bella
when my mom came home from work. After that, I accepted that it wasn't going to happen
and grabbed what time I could with her between Emmett and my parents vying for her
attention.

The day after that was Saturday and both my parents were home all day. It was "fun activity
day" for the entire family. We went into the nearest big town for some last minute Christmas
shopping. Bella picked our brains for something to get her father and we all went off on our
own in the mall for an hour to find stocking stuffers and anything we might have missed for
each other. I was all done with my Christmas shopping, so I ended up wandering around,
wishing I was a little kid again and could fit into those awesome looking battery-powered
trucks. Seriously, where were those when I was a kid?

Sunday was a quiet day, and one I fully intended to spend with Bella. Just the two of us. All
alone. In my room. But before I could pull her away after breakfast, my dad asked to speak to
me. We went into the den, which we all considered his personal room and office.

"I just wanted to take a second to talk with you, son," my dad started, leaning back in his chair
and folding his hands together on his lap. "We haven't spent any real time together since you
got here."

"Anything in particular you wanted to talk about?" I asked, anxious to get back to Bella.

"How's life? You said your finals went well. Have you found out your grades yet? How
serious are you about Bella? Are you looking forward to your classes next semester? Do you
think we should get a dog?" The hands went from folded to steepled against his chin halfway
through. He was such a college professor that at times I forgot I was talking to my father and
not one of my teachers.

Catching on to my father's real reason of asking to speak with me, I decided to play dumb. "A
dog? Is this coming from feeling like an empty nester? Do you feel like you have to replace
me with a canine in order to fill the void I've left in your life?"

My dad gave me a look that I was used to, having grown up seeing it all the time. It said, I
know what you're doing and that you're smarter than this, so stop it.

I sighed. "Fine, we can talk about Bella. I'm very serious about her, Dad. I love her."

"And that's great, son. It really is. I'm glad you've found someone to love, but" - Here we go, I
thought - "she's your first serious girlfriend and your mother and I want to be sure you're not
taking it too fast."

"What do you consider too fast?" I wondered, actually curious. Was I taking it too fast? I
didn't think I was. Had they figured out we were sleeping together? Was that what he was
talking about?

"Well, at first your mom and I wondered if bringing her home for a week and then you going
to stay with her for another week was really the best way to spend your Christmas vacation,
but after talking about it and after meeting Bella, who we just adore by the way, we can see
you're both crazy about each other. I just don't want this to take away from your studies.
You're at college to learn and you'll be in some very serious classes next semester. It's
important to remember to focus on why you're there."

Mulling over his answer, which really wasn't an answer, I had to ask. "You don't consider
Bella important?"

He frowned. "It's not that. Your mother and I are just a little worried about how you get
sometimes."

"What does that mean?"

"You tend to become..." He moved his hand in a circle a couple times, trying to find the right
word. "Overly invested in things that catch your interest. Take Star Wars, for example. How
many times have you seen the original trilogy?"

"As a whole or do you want a by-movie count? Wait... You think I'm obsessed with Bella,
will take things too far too fast and wreck my GPA because of it?" Unbelievable."Do you and
Mom really have so little faith in me?"

His hands tightened around the arms of his chair. "We do have faith in you. Please, never
doubt that. We just wanted to know what your intentions were and how that would affect your
studies. I realize now I should have been more straightforward with you about this. That's my
fault. Sometimes it's hard to see the man you are now versus the little boy I still see in my
mind."

I looked around his office, stalling for time to control my irritation and slight anger before
speaking. "Look, I get that Mom and you haven't seen me like this before, so you don't know
how to respond. But I love Bella. I. Love. Her. This is it for me. My intentions toward her?
I'm going to marry her, if she'll have me." My dad opened his mouth to interrupt, but I kept
going. "As for my studies, you have nothing to worry about. I'm not going to let my grades
slip because I plan to take care of her one day and want to get a great job in order to do that." I
stood up, running a hand through my hair and blowing out a breath in frustration. "Now if
you'll excuse me, I would like to spend what free time I have left today with Bella."

With that, I left the den. Flummoxed about where that conversation had come from, I almost
didn't see Bella as she rounded the corner from the kitchen into the hallway but I stopped
myself from running into her just in time.

"Hey, I was just coming to look for you," Bella said, looping her arm through mine. "How do
you feel about exchanging our gifts today instead of tomorrow?"

It took me a second to switch thought tracks, from my dad's overreaction to my relationship
with Bella to her request. Smiling, I answered teasingly, "You just want to know what you got
a day early because you can't handle the suspense."

"Yeah," she sighed. "You got me. Come on, let's go to your room and watch Back to the
Future."

I nodded and let her lead me up the stairs, the conversation I'd just had with my father still
playing in the back of my mind.

Later that night, as I was getting ready for bed, trying to forget that Bella was right down the
hall, there was a knock on the door. Thinking it was probably my mom, I swung it open, only
to find Bella on the other side.

"Hey," I said quietly, surprised that she'd breach protocol. "What's up?"

"Um... can I talk to you about something?" she asked, nervously glancing down the hall
toward my parent's room.

"Sure." I stepped aside to let her in and then closed the door behind her. She walked over to
my bed and sat down, patting the space next to her in invitation.

"I'm not sure how to say this," she started once I was sitting. "But I feel like you should know,
so I'm just going to say it."

Confused, I stared at her. "Alright..."

"I, uh... heard part of your conversation with your dad this morning. It was completely
accidental, I swear. I just happened to catch some of it when I left the kitchen to go upstairs,"
she said in a rush.

"Oh." I hadn't expected her to say that. "Which part did you hear?"

"The end part?" she answered. "I heard my name. That's what got my attention, and I
backtracked to the kitchen when you opened the door." Bella looked at me pleadingly, and
grabbed my hands. "I'm so sorry. I know you didn't mean for me to hear any of that and I'm
willing to forget all about it if you want me to."

I softly laughed. "You could forget that I want to marry you one day?"

"Yes?" she replied, face scrunched up adorably.

"Come here," I said, laying out on the bed and pulling her toward me. She snuggled in close,
putting her head on my chest. "I know it's early to say such things, and I don't want to scare
you off, but I can't envision my life without you by my side, Bella. I do want to marry you
one day, but there's no rush. You know that, right?"

"Yes," she sighed. "Honestly, it's a little scary, but the more I think about it, the more I seem
to be okay with it."

"Really?" I asked.

"Yeah." She looked up, resting her chin on my chest. "Is that weird? That I'm okay with it?"

"No," I said, smiling. "Not at all." I hugged her to me and she laughed.

"Have I mentioned how much I missed this?"

"Missed what?" I wondered.

"This. Feeling like I'm actually with you." She squirmed, readjusting, and threw an arm over
my stomach. "Do you think I could stay here tonight?"

Squeezing her shoulder, I answered, "You can stay every night, if you want."

I felt her smile against my chest. "Love you."

"Love you, too."

Waking up to light kisses slowly trailing down your chest is wonderful. Like being awoken
with the smell of bacon permeating the air or a soft, warm breeze blowing across your face.
Still half-asleep, I lifted a hand to find the source of the kisses. "Morning," I said, my voice
croaking.

Bella leaned back and smiled. "I think it's still considered night."

"What are you doing awake then?" I asked, resting my hand on her hip.

"I don't know, I just rolled over to snuggle a bit, and then found I couldn't stop. It seems I've
missed you more than I realized," she said, dragging her fingers down my bare chest. At some
point during the night, I'd taken my shirt off. Or maybe she took it off while I was still asleep?
It didn't matter, really, because I was lying in bed with my girlfriend and she was obviously
aroused enough that she was willing to start something while my parents slept down the hall.
How did I ever get so lucky?

"I've missed you, too," I stated, scooting closer. "You know you'll have to be quieter than
usual."

"Yes," she whispered, our lips close enough to softly touch. "But so do you." With that she
leaned forward, sealing our lips together. I groaned, remembering only too late that I

shouldn't. She pulled back, grinning, to taunt me with, "Serves you right," before kissing me
again. Rolling us over, I pressed against her, feeling our bodies align perfectly. This was
heaven.

Her spaghetti strap top disappeared, along with her tiny sleep shorts. My boxers were there
one moment and gone the next, and then all I felt was her. Bella. Surrounding my senses,
covering every inch of my exposed skin. I simultaneously couldn't get enough of her and
couldn't find the point where she ended and I began. So slowly it almost killed me, I sank into
her, biting my lip to stop any noises from leaving me. Bella clapped her hands over her mouth
when I started moving and she squeezed her thighs around my hips, making me gasp.

Leaning down, I kissed her, opening myself up to the desire I only ever felt for her and her
alone. Straining, grinding, we came together in silent euphoria, limbs tangled, skin slick with
sweat and heat.

"I love you," she whispered, her breath heating my shoulder.

I turned my head, burying it against her neck. "I love you."

We separated, letting the air cool our overheated bodies enough so we could come back
together. I couldn't bear to be apart from her for long, not after experiencing such a high.
Chest to back and entangled again, we talked about the silliest of things and confessed things
we'd never spoken of before until light broke over the horizon and filled the room.

Later that morning, after Bella snuck back to her guest room and I'd greeted my parents like I
hadn't just spent the night with a girl in my childhood room, I couldn't stop goofily staring at
her across the table during breakfast. I knew what I was doing and every time I looked down
at my plate or focused on something else, my gaze always came back to her. She wasn't
helping matters by meeting my stare with her own goofy expression.

"You kids ready for presents?" my mom asked, picking up her plate and standing up.

Breaking eye contact, I smiled down at my plate. "Absolutely, Mom."

"Great! As soon as you guys are done with breakfast, put your plates over here and meet me
in the living room," she instructed, rinsing off her plate and setting it to the side of the sink.
She turned and practically skipped out of the kitchen.

"Oh, dear," my dad mumbled, helping himself to more bacon.

"Your mom seems unusually happy about opening presents," Bella pointed out.

"Yeah, she always gets like this," I said.

"It's true. Ever since I've known her, she loves seeing people's faces when they open gifts. It
brings her a crazy amount of satisfaction when they like it," my dad explained. "Prepare
yourself for being interrogated on film about how much you like what she got you."

Bella's eyebrows rose. "I'm going to be filmed? Should I change my clothes?"

"No, she prefers the 'just woke up' look." My dad stood up, saluting us. "Good luck."

After he left, Bella's eyes met mine. "Is it really that bad?"

"Nah. Just smile a lot and thank her profusely and you'll be fine." Standing up, I gathered our
plates. "Ready to face the music?" I asked.

Bella smiled. "As I'll ever be."

"Have I told you how much I like my shirt? Because I do. I really like it," I said, looking
down again at the brightly lit 8-bit hearts. Bella had given me a matching shirt to the one she
currently wore, featuring six 8-bit hearts that lit up when the shirts were within a couple feet
of each other. We'd been wearing them since this morning and had eventually made a game
out of trying to sneak up on the other person before they noticed the hearts lighting up.

Bella laughed. "Yes. I'm glad you do. I was worried you'd think they were too cheesy."

"Never! Just call me Link whenever we wear these and I'll be all kinds of happy." I kissed her,
fighting a smile. "So, I guess this is good night," I said louder than normal, turning to look at
my parent's bedroom door. "I'll see you in the morning, Bella."

Forehead furrowed, she looked at me like I was crazy, but played along. "Okay. Good night,
Edward."

I couldn't come out and say, Hey, as soon as my parents are down for the count, I'm going to
sneak into your room to give you your real present, so hopefully the dramatic exit and wink
would be clue enough for her.

Waiting until I was sure my parents were asleep, I quietly crept down the hallway, silently
humming Mission Impossible's theme song in my head. Slipping into the guest room Bella
was occupying, I came to an abrupt stop. She was asleep! My very pointed loud talking and
wink hadn't tipped her off as I'd hoped. Now I had to figure how to quietly wake her up
without scaring the bejeezus out of her.

Hmm... light kissing? Whisper in the ear with a hand over her mouth, just in case? Gently
shaking her awake? Staring down at her until she senses it?

Wait, what? That last idea probably wasn't the best one. I decided on gentle shaking and
whispering her name, with a hand at the ready to stifle any loud noises. Creeping closer, I
kneelt close to her head and reached out, ready to wake her when she scared meby saying,
"Could you have been any louder?"

I jumped, trying to hold in the yell that wanted to escape. Instead, I sounded like I was being
strangled. Heart still loudly beating, I sucked in several breaths. "How..." - another deep
breath - "How long have you been awake?"

"Long enough to know that stealth is not your forte," she answered, sitting up and switching
on the lamp on the bedside table. "I knew something was up when you acted all weird earlier,
so I've been lightly dozing ever since."

"Good," I said, sitting next to her. "That's good."

She looked down at my hand, which was currently clutching her real present in a death grip.
"I really hope it's gift time because taunting me with it is not cool."

"Yes, sorry." I held it out, smoothing the wrinkled wrapping paper as best as I could.

She smiled. "Thanks. I love the penguins. They're so cute." Sliding her finger under the tape,
she took her time unwrapping the box. "I have a suspicious feeling it's going to be expensive,"
she said, reading the name on top of the box.

"It wasn't, I swear." Granted, her definition of expensive probably wasn't the same as mine,
but she didn't need to know that.

She gave me a guarded look before lifting the top. "Oh, Edward. It's beautiful." She lifted the
sterling silver necklace up to look at in the light. A key pendent hung at the end of the 18 inch
chain, the center of the key held a blue sapphire, her birthstone, surrounded by diamond
accents. "Is this real?" she asked, gingerly tracing the center of the key.

"Does it matter if it is?"

"No," she sighed. "I guess not. Help me put it on?" She twisted around, sweeping her hair
aside. After I clasped it, she turned back. "How does it look?"

"Beautiful." I reached out to touch it, but Bella grabbed my hand, dragging me close for a
kiss.

"Thank you. I love it," she said earnestly. "But you know I would've been happy with the
comics and anime-"

"Manga," I corrected.

"Right, manga."

"I know, but like I told you the other day, I wanted to get you something that was special and
just from me. Something you wouldn't buy yourself." I grinned, squeezing her hand. "Besides,
I like spoiling you with pretty things, so get used to it."

Bella rolled her eyes. "Fine, but only if you stay here tonight."

"That I will gladly do."

"I don't wanna go," Bella whined, pouting. We were standing next to her truck, back on
school property. I'd driven her up here this morning so that she could continue on to her dad's
for Christmas, splitting the difference between my house and hers.

"I don't want you to go either, but we'll see each other in ten days and then you'll never get rid
of me," I reminded her, pulling her in for one last hug. She slipped her arms underneath my
jacket and gripped the back of my shirt.

"I wouldn't want to," she said stubbornly.

I laughed. "Then you have no choice but to leave so we can see each other again that much
sooner. Besides, you know your father will call you soon to see how far out you are and the
guilt will be enough to spur you to action."

She sighed. "You're right. Why are you always right?"

"Because I'm awesome."

"Okay, I'm going. Give me another kiss." I complied, bending down one last time. Bella
climbed into her truck and smiled. "See you in ten days?"

"You can count on it."

Epilogue

Five Years Later

EPOV

"So, how does this work? How do we split into teams?" Emmett asked as he bounded up to
our loosely assembled group outside the laser tag arena.

I shrugged. "I don't know. We can assign team captains, I guess."

"No! We should do girls versus boys," Alice chimed in. Doing a quick sweep of the group,
which consisted of myself, Bella, Emmett, Rosalie, Alice, Jasper, Ben, Angela, Bella's
teaching assistant Jill, and Jasper's business partner Blake, I confirmed that we were indeed
evenly divided between the two sexes.

Rosalie, the only girl who had so far lasted more than a month dating Emmett, gave Alice a
fist bump. "I like that idea." Bella and Alice had been throwing them together ever since
they'd graduated, but it was only recently that they started dating. So far, things were looking
good between the two.

Everyone, including Bella, looked at me like they were awaiting instructions. I knew I was the
one to instigate the laser tag play date, but Bella was really the one to get everyone to come,
so shouldn't they be looking at her? I flushed and shoved my hands into my pockets. "If that's
alright with everyone..." I trailed off, shrugging. Bella slipped a hand around my forearm and
lightly squeezed. She knew I still had trouble being the center of attention, even among our

friends. This is why I liked my job. All I did was sit behind a computer in an office, type code
and listen to music. It was perfectly suited for me.

"We're gonna cream you!" Emmett yelled, slamming his fist into his palm menacingly. Alice
and Rosalie scoffed, drifting closer together as they started talking smack about the guys.

Bella looked worried. "Do you think this is a good idea? You know how Alice gets when she
plays against Jasper."

I did know. Ever since they got married last year, their level of competition reached a new
high. Thank goodness they lived out in the suburbs and we didn't hang out with them more
than once or twice a month. Especially after last year's horseshoe tournament that was held
just after they returned from their extreme honeymoon. You could still see the small scar
above Jasper's eyebrow when it caught the light where Alice's "accidental" wayward
horseshoe had clipped him.

"Hey! No talking to the adversary!" Alice exclaimed, prompting Bella to give me a "See what
I mean?" look.

Pulling a hand out of my pocket, I linked my fingers with hers. "I'm sure it'll be fine. There's
nothing she can throw this time."

Bella snorted, but didn't say anything else as our group of ten went inside. I'd already called
ahead, so they were ready for us. It took almost no time at all for everyone to get vested up
and plugged in before our assigned guide explained the rules to us. I could tell the more he
talked, the more excited and restless the group became because the level of energy started to
make me feel on edge.

Emmett and Jasper whispered furiously in the back, shooting pointed looks at Alice and
Rosalie during the guide's breakdown of the rules while the girls did the same thing in the
opposite corner.

The lines had clearly been drawn.

Bella grabbed me before we were led into the laser tag room, which was one of their two-
level rooms for bigger groups. "I want you to be careful. And if someone tackles you, call
foul," she warned me, completely serious.

"Tackle me? There's no tackling in laser tag."

She shrugged. "I'm just saying, there's a reason we won the intermural flag football
tournament every year."

"Really? Did you tackle a lot of girls during games?" I asked, seeing a completely new side to
Bella. "I don't remember seeing that."

"No, not really... but I wasn't the only one on the team," she replied.

"You didn't throw them on the ground and hold them down as they tried to struggle free?" My
breathing grew shallower the longer my fantasy of Bella wrestling another hot girl went on. I
added mud to the visual and started drooling.

Bella cocked an eyebrow at me and tilted her head. "Oh, it's like that, is it? Does that make
you all hot and bothered, thinking of me with another girl?"

Of course it did. I was a guy. But I didn't know what game Bella was playing at so I didn't
answer; the dramatic gulp said it all.

"I guess I shouldn't tell you about my bachelorette party then?" She ran one hand down the
front of my shirt and then tugged on its hem. "But that night I did learn I can be very...
bendy." Her fingers slid across under my shirt and circled my hip bone. "Come find me and
maybe I'll show you what I mean."

With a saucy smirk, she walked over to the huddle of girls who had already entered the room,
purposefully swinging her hips suggestively.

The minx. I remember her telling me about her bachelorette party and no mention of bending
was ever brought up.

Feeling an intense tightening down below, I took a deep breath and swore that I would find
Bella during this game and make her pay for that. I made my way to the opposite end where
the guys were circled up.

Ben pulled me into the circle as Emmett explained our strategy. "Jasper and I are going
heading straight to cover the north quadrant and be the first line of defense. Edward, I want
you to cover the west quadrant. Ben, the east. Blake, I don't know you, but I hope you're good
because you'll be our back-up. We're going to prevail, gentlemen. Ninja style." Throwing our
hands in the middle, we yelled 'Go team!' before splitting off to wait for the starting beep and
dimming of the lights.

"Do you have any idea what Emmett just said?" I asked Ben.

"Not a clue," he replied.

At least I wasn't alone in my confusion. I planned on just finding Bella and holing up in a dark
corner until someone shed first blood and we were kicked out for roughhousing. That's about
all ninja I could get today. Bella had wound me up too much for anything else. I was
continuously surprised and pleased that we were still so into each other five years after the
fact. Even getting married two years ago hadn't dimmed the spark between us.

I heard the beep, the lights turned out and we were off. Emmett and Jasper shot ahead,
covering each other's backs and holding their laser guns up to their chins Marine-style. Ben
saluted me and wandered off to the right. Blake and I looked at each other, simultaneously
shrugged and found cover on opposite ends of the room.

Darting along the right wall, I searched for a way up to the second floor, figuring Bella would
go for high ground. Off in the distance I heard a yell of surprise and several minutes of intense
firing, randomly punctuated with trash talk and curses. Peeking around the edge of the top of

the stairs only to find it clear, I slipped into a dark shadowed corner and waited. The staircase
was a great tactical point because if anyone was up here, they'd want to go down eventually
since that was where all the action currently was.

It didn't take long before my first victim appeared, crouching low to the ground as she - and it
was a she, I could see her ponytail - slowly made her way to the stairs. I didn't recall Bella
having a ponytail when I last saw her, but she could have put it up. Angela had her hair up
when she arrived, though.

In silence I waited to get a clear shot, and at the first opportunity, I took it.

"Hey!" Angela yelled, ducking behind a pillar.

Once I knew it was Angela, I started backing away from her position, taking cover when I
could. She wasn't my intended target, so there was no need to stick around here after I'd given
my position away.

My drive to find Bella only increased the longer I spent looking and listening for her. I ran
into everyone else at least once before deciding to sweep the second floor again. Making my
way past a cylinder laying on its side, a hand clapped over my mouth and I was yanked
backward, landing on my side.

"Oh, God! Are you okay? I'm so sorry." Bella helped me sit up. "I guess I don't know my own
strength."

"I'm fine, thanks," I groaned, rubbing my hip, which had taken the brunt of my weight when I
fell. "Have you been here the entire time? I've made an entire circuit around this place looking
for you."

"No. It took me a while to find this hideaway. Nearly scared Jasper half to death jumping out
at him when I thought he was you," Bella explained, unclipping and removing my vest. I
watched, amused, as she took off hers as well and then slid them and our guns against the
wall. She curled up against my side and sighed. "Why did we invite all these people to
celebrate our anniversary with us?"

"As I recall, Mrs Cullen, you said you wanted to partake in more gifts because you weren't
content with your take last month for your birthday and apparently couldn't hold out until
Christmas."

"Hmm... I don't remember wording it quite like that… You make me sound like a greedy gift
mongrel." She snuggled closer and I kissed her hair.

"We could just leave," I suggested. "I'm sure everyone would understand if we didn't go to
dinner with them after."

"No, I couldn't do that. We've already made the reservation and I was the one to invite them
all in the first place. It'd be rude. But I don't mind just sitting here while everyone else battles
it out."

"Sounds good to me." We fell into a comfortable silence, Bella lazily tracing a circle on my
thigh as I rubbed her back. Her trailed down my chest and when I grabbed it to stop its
descent, our wedding rings clinked. I smiled, knowing we'd been told to take off all jewelry
before entering the laser tag room. Apparently Bella was as equally hesitant to remove her
ring as I was to remove mine.

I remembered the night I proposed. It hadn't been the most romantic proposal. In fact, it was
probably more spastic than anything, but for some reason, she'd accepted. I'd been carrying
her ring around for a month before I found the courage to show it to her. Just remembering the
look on her face when she opened the box, seeing the gems that matched her necklace, and the
radiant smile that lit up her face made me tighten my arm around her.

A couple minutes later, Bella stirred. "Edward?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you happy that you married me?" There was a hesitant hitch to her voice, making her
sound young and vulnerable. It reminded me of when I'd first met her.

"Of course I am. Aren't you happy?"

"Yes, extremely. I just needed to know because there's something I need to tell you, but I'm
not sure how you'll react."

"Bella." I lifted her chin, looking at her with what little light filtered through the cylinder's
opening. "There's nothing you can say that will make me wish I hadn't married you. I love
you. Whatever it is, you can tell me."

"Okay." She took a deep breath and straightened, folding her legs underneath her Indian-style.
"Here goes." She paused. "Edward, I'm pregnant."

My head imploded.

"What did you say?" I asked, hoping I'd heard wrong.

"I'm pregnant?" she said again, tentatively. "I just found out yesterday. I know we talked
about waiting another couple years but when the doctor told me I was pregnant... Edward, I'm
actually happy about it. And I really hope you can be too because I don't want to go through
this alone and have you resent me for this, and oh my god, I wish you would say something."

"You're... pregnant?"

"Yes," Bella answered, reaching for my hand. "How are you feeling right now? Good? Bad?"

"Stunned," I whispered. "You're pregnant."

"Yes."

"As in, carrying my child and in nine months we'll have a baby to take care who will be a
little of you and a little of me and it'll be ours?"

"Well, seven months, but essentially, yes."

As the idea took root, a grin slowly spread across my face. Throwing myself forward, I
grabbed Bella's face and gave her a smacking kiss.

"Is this good? Are you okay with it?" she asked in confusion.

"I think so, yeah. You're pregnant," I said in wonder. Unable to stay sitting, I jumped out of
the tube and ran to the railing. "Stop the game!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. "Everyone!
Stop!" Taking in a deep breath, I shouted, "Bella's pregnant!"

"What?" Alice shrieked below me.

"My wife is pregnant! We're having a baby!" Arms outstretched - in victory? Triumph? I
wasn't sure - over my head, I felt like hugging the entire world.

Bella appeared next to me, encircling my waist. "This wasn't exactly how I envisioned telling
our friends, but I guess it'll do."

"I don't care," I laughed. "I'm going to tell everyone! You're pregnant!" I couldn't stop saying
it. I kissed her, joy radiating from my body. Our intimate bubble burst as we were swarmed
by our friends and their excitement over our news. Separating, I became overwhelmed as I
was hugged and congratulated multiple times over.

Locking on to Bella as our friends continued talking and asking questions, I could suddenly
see our entire lives stretch out in her eyes. The years together, the kids, the fights and the
make-ups. The parties and the family gatherings and everything in between. I couldn't wait for
all of it and more, as long as she was by my side.

"I love you," she mouthed.

My grin grew wider. "I love you, too."