Welcome back! Anyone want to get to know E and B a little better? :) Well today we will.

The first few chapters are short and sweet, later on they will get longer...much longer. :)

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: SM owns Twilight. I own all the football knowledge. :)

BPOV

By lunchtime everyone in school was talking about Edward Cullen like he was some kind of God. I had never seen Mike so angry. My Dad had benched him for being late and told him he wouldn't start Friday's game. I secretly guessed he wanted to start Edward so this gave him the perfect excuse.

I normally avoided the deafening crowd in the cafeteria but today I headed that way to grab a bottle of water from the vending machine. Our school had five vending machines jammed in a tiny corner of the cafeteria that everyone always seemed to be crowding around.

I patiently waited my turn jingling the quarters in my jacket pocket. Some of the football players blasted past the doors their loud voices mixing in with the chaos of the students that were already eating.

"Whitlock! Toss it here!" Jones was yelling walking backwards his hands in the air. He stopped only inches away from me.

"Go far man!" Jasper began to bounce a bit on his toes. He let the ball fly through the air.

Suddenly Jones lost his footing, he fell backwards landing on his backside with a loud thump.

I turned slightly trying to get out of the way of Jones' feet before he ended up kicking me in the stomach. I didn't notice the football heading right toward me until I saw one of the girls across from me gasp and grimace slightly. My eyes focused on the flying ball in front of me. The world slowed down as I raised my arm, my eyes scrunching shut, to shield my face from the impact that I knew was coming.

Before I could scream two large arms were suddenly around my waist spinning me around. With a loud OMPH! I lost my footing and felt my head snap back. The sensation of falling made me reach out wildly for something to grip onto and my fingers closed around the muscular limbs that were holding me. I felt the wind being knocked out of me and I gasped for air.

My back was pressed up against the vending machine and I couldn't see anything but the darkness of the figure who had grabbed me. I took two big shaky breaths as my focus cleared. I became aware of a hard muscular body pressed against mine. I breathed in again this time my senses alert to my savior's warm sun kissed smell. I felt his panting breath on my cheek as he loosened his grip slightly and I slowly raised my head.

"Are you alright?" his deep velvety voice filtered through my clouded brain. I found myself once again looking into those chocolate brown eyes. I could still feel his arms wrapped around me and my heart began to race. Edward Cullen was holding me in his arms.

"Are you hurt?" he asked again his eyes searching mine. I shook my head indicating nothing was hurt except for my pride. I shifted slightly and again felt his arms lessen their grip around me yet he still didn't let me go.

"I'm okay," I finally managed to squeak out. The realization that my nails were digging into his arms hit me and I jerked my hands away as if I had touched fire. The crowd that was around us slowly began to lose interest. Whitlock and the rest of the players had hightailed it out of the cafeteria to avoid getting in trouble.

Without warning Edward suddenly released me from his hold his gaze never leaving mine. He leaned one hand against the vending machine behind me; his forehead only inches away from mine. I had to remind myself to breathe.

"I'm glad you're okay," his eyes burned into mine, he reached up with his free hand and moved my bangs out of my eyes and tucked them behind my ear. My skin tingled at his touch and my waist, suddenly empty of his arms, ached.

"Thank you." My voice was no louder than a whisper. I broke my gaze from his and looked down at my hands.

"You're welcome." Edward stepped away from me; he ran his fingers through that gorgeous messy hair of his and sighed. I stole another glance at him as the distance between us increased, the look in his eyes tugged at my heart. There was a hint of sadness there that I hadn't noticed before. Something was missing and I felt a sudden surge of panic as he slowly turned to walk away from me.

"Wait!" my voice sounded shaky to my own ears, I pushed away from the vending machine and took a step towards him.

Edward paused tilting his head slightly in my direction. I drew in a nervous breath and raised my eyes to meet his, his big brown eyes locked onto mine. I felt myself getting lost in them and struggled with myself to regain my composure. With all the courage I could muster I held out my hand to him shyly and smiled.

"Thank you for rescuing me." I said warmly, "My name is Bella."

His face lit up and he smiled back at me. The dimples in his cheeks were ever so striking and I hoped that the heat I felt in my face wasn't showing.

"I know," his voice was so smooth, so warm, "I'm Edward."

I felt his hand envelope mine and like his voice his hand was so soft, I felt warm and safe standing there. Then he did something no other man had ever done with me before. He raised my hand to his lips and I felt the tiniest whisper of a kiss brush across the back of my hand. Before my brain could register what had just happened he was gone and the vending machines began to get crowded again.

EPOV

There was no way I was going to let the football hit Bella in the face. I was already annoyed at Whitlock and Jones for acting like stuck up jerks in every single one of my classes that by lunchtime my head was pounding. I had just walked in the cafeteria and headed to the vending machines when some girl next to me gasped and raised her hand to cover her mouth. I turned my head to see what had made her looked so shocked and my heart sank.

All I could see was Bella's long black hair, the frightened look on her face, and her arm being raised as she tried to protect herself. The idiot Whitlock had thrown the ball hard and I knew it was going to hurt badly if it struck her.

My instincts took over and I sprinted over to her. I grabbed her around her waist and twisted both of us around into the vending machines away from the football's path. I could feel Bella's hands gripping my forearms tightly her mouth forming a silent scream. Her head snapped back and she gasped. I was pressed against her sandwiching her between myself and the vending machine behind her. Her face was in my chest and I could feel her breathing heavily. I tightened my arms around her even though I already knew she was safe, my body suddenly becoming very aware that it could feel every inch of her against me. My breathing mirrored hers but for different reasons, reasons I couldn't yet begin to figure out. I felt her gasp once again and I loosened my grip reluctant to let her go. I looked down at the top of her head, her hair smelled heavenly a mixture of flowers and candy. I closed my eyes and breathed in her scent.

I felt her head move back away from my chest as she raised her chin up to look at me.

"Are you alright?" I managed to ask before getting lost inside those amazing black eyes. My heart thudded in my chest, she didn't answer.

"Are you hurt?" I was suddenly overcome with worry when she just stared at me not answering; she just blinked and looked frightened. I searched her face quickly for any signs that she might be hurt. I loosened my grip around her waist further afraid that I was hurting her. Finally she spoke,

"I'm okay."

Then something flashed in her eyes, I couldn't read it, and she jerked her hands off my arms so fast as if touching me repulsed her. I immediately let her go feeling rejected but not wanting to leave her. I leaned my hand against the vending machine behind her head hating the space that was already between us. My eyes wandered over her taking in every inch of her features. She was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. Her eyes were jet black making them stand out from any girl I had ever met. Her lips were full, her black hair hung down almost to her waist in soft waves. My hand itched to reach up and stroke her cheek; I knew I couldn't do that without being slapped so I did the next best thing. I reached out and pushed her hair off of her face and tucked it behind her ear. I let my fingers brush her cheek on purpose, her skin was amazingly soft.

"I'm glad you're okay." I stared into her eyes willing her to look at me.

"Thank you." Her voice was a soft whisper. She blinked at me then tore her eyes away looking down.

Defeated I backed away, she didn't like me at all, she couldn't even look at me. I dragged my hand through my hair and sighed. I was angry at myself, angry that I was letting a girl get to me that way she was. I wasn't going to let this happen, I was Edward Cullen, girls threw themselves at me every day. I didn't need this.

"You're welcome." I turned away from her trying to force my brain to forget about this girl, forget that my heart felt as if it was being squeezed inside my chest. Willing the anger to take control I took a step towards the doors when I heard her voice again.

"Wait!"

I paused, every inch of my body wanting to turn to her. I tilted my head and slowly letting my eyes rest on hers.

Then she was suddenly holding out her hand to me thanking me, telling me her name, smiling at me. Her smile sent a wave of electricity coursing through me. It was contagious and I lost my train of thought, and I knew I was grinning back at her like a damm fool.

"I know," I reached out for her hand, "I'm Edward."

Her hand was so dainty and soft. My hand was able to wrap around hers easily and suddenly I was acting on impulse, not thinking, not being cautious, I brought her hand up pressing my lips ever so slightly to the back of her hand. Her skin felt warm and soft against my mouth, I felt my brain go fuzzy and I knew I had better get the hell out of there before she threw me on my ass. Without another word I left.

I was still grinning when I reached the football field later that afternoon. Flowers and candy, that's what she smelled like and it was still lingering in my mind as I put my helmet on and headed for the rest of the players that we surrounding Coach Swan. I scanned the field quickly looking for her as I jogged towards Coach. I finally spotted her ten yards away looking down at her clipboard. She was concentrating scribbling something down onto her paper. Her hoodie drawn up over her head again, my fingers flexed with the same urge I had gotten the other day, wanting to pull that hood down and let her hair free.

As if she could sense my stare she looked up, her eyes locking into mine. I didn't turn away; I couldn't make myself turn away even if I had wanted to. Then I saw it, just a glimmer of a smile making those gorgeous lips of her turn up ever so slightly, the air escaped my lungs with a soft whoosh. I knew she couldn't see my face behind my helmet so I raised my hand a little just to let her know I had seen her, thankful that she couldn't see my goofy grin that had taken over my face. Her smile widened a bit and she brought up her right hand quickly in greeting.

The shrill sound of Coach Swan's whistle jerked me back to attention and I finally focused on my teammates. Coach Swan began discussing with us a new offensive strategy that he and Coach Gibson had come up with. His words captured my interest and for the next few hours my world consisted of running plays, getting good coverage, and hitting all my targets. Before dismissing us for the day Coach Swan complemented our center, Ricky Holden, for keeping the defensive line away from me. I noticed that Holden and I had some sort of unspoken communication thing going on and he was able to snap the ball and block for me with ease.

When practice was over I jogged over to the benches, Bella was sitting down on the far end going over her papers. The rest of team goofed off at table that held our water bottles, no one acknowledged her. Curious to what she did with her time on the field and feeling confident after a good practice and her greeting earlier, I removed my helmet and sat down a few feet away from her.

"Hey." I smiled at her.

She looked up at me from her clipboard; she had been lost in thought, her pen resting on her bottom lip. I stared at her lips they were so full and moist, my throat tightened, and I felt myself losing some of my aplomb.

"Great practice," she suddenly broke into a smile, "you have excellent handling skills, your release is quick and you can step up in the pocket and deliver the ball on time"

I stared at her dumbfounded. Bella kept talking.

"You hit Whitlock 85% of the time, you know if you delay your timing by another second or two and tighten up your stance I bet your numbers will go up to the 90's."

I blinked rapidly. I am sure my mouth was hanging open and I could only nod in response. Bella smirked and I could see she was trying to stifle a laugh.

"You have a quick set up as a drop back passer, and when your feet are set, you can really drive the ball into just about any spot on the field." She added half laughing her eyes crinkling in merriment.

"Ummm…thanks?" I cocked my head to the side and raised an eyebrow. Then finally able to get a handle on my thoughts I added, "How do you know all that?"

"My Dad," she began still smiling at me her face instantly lit up and I could see that she was quite animated and at ease, "loves football, he lives for it. I was born knowing football."

I continued to stare at her, my heart rate increasing with every word she said, I found her football talk sexy as hell and I knew at that moment I was screwed.

So what do you all think so far? I am always happy to hear from you!