Author Note: Thank you so much for your response on the first chapter. I loved every review, message and alert I received! So here it is… chapter two. I'm excited! I've been playing this scene over and over in my head and I can't wait to find out what you guys think.

A few things before we begin.

First, a disclaimer (which applies to all following chapters as well): I don't own Twilight, someone else came up with that. I just use some parts of it to create something different.

Second, this chapter was beta'd by Project Team Beta (as was the first one). So thank you to Trilby97 and Jennrosee for making this chapter a whole lot better than it was!

Lastly, it turns out that Bella talks a lot to herself. She is kind of a chaotic mess ;) Anyway, the things she says to herself in her head (oh God, she's coming across as a total nut now, right?) are in italics. Hopefully this will make her chaotic thinking a little less undecipherable.

Enjoy!


Give me one reason to stay here

And I'll turn right back around

Give me one reason to stay here

And I'll turn right back around

Said I don't want to leave you lonely

You got to make me change my mind

Tracy Chapman – Give me one reason


Chapter Two

"I shouldn't?" He looked a bit taken aback.

"No. Really, I'm just saying this for your own good. I know it seems ungrateful or something, and I'm sure that most women out there would love to go on this date with you. In fact maybe you should ask one of them. I mean yeah, you'll probably need a hearing aid by the time you're 30. But hey, everyone needs to make sacrifices for love, right? And I'm sure whichever one you'll pick will be very sweet and maybe in the end that is what counts and..." Okay, yes I was rambling. And I was very much doubting that last statement. She wouldn't be sweet; she would be creepy. But maybe he was into that sort of thing, you never know.

He was looking at me with a kind of amused expression. I was used to that expression; I got it a lot when I opened my mouth and, you know, words came out. It's just that I often felt like I didn't really have any control over what fell off my lips and people didn't tend to follow my weird train of thought. Anyway, he looked amused.

"Why?"

"I'm sorry?"

"Why shouldn't I go on this date with you? You must have some reasons, right? I want to hear them, you know, for my own good." He smirked.

Okay, he wanted to be convinced? Hell, I could do that.

"Well, for starters, you are the – what was it again – super-hot, super-sexiest man in the universe? I'm not hot, let alone super-hot, and I don't even know how to be sexy. You're this very famous movie star kind of guy, and you can have any famous, sexy, movie star chick alive. She'll probably suit you much better than I ever will. Let's see, what else? Oh, I'm a very impatient person, and I say weird stuff at the most inconvenient times. I have practically no money and the only reason I can still survive is because my friend insists that I pay less rent than she does, which makes me a kind of parasite, I guess. That can't be attractive, right? I work in a restaurant, but I'm not very good at it since I drop at least one plate a day. They call me Droppy, and no, I'm not kidding."

Why was I telling him this stuff again?

But before I gave it some more thought, even more words formed in my head and rushed out of my mouth. "I have no idea what I want to do with my life, and you really don't want to associate with the mess I am. We live really far away from each other since you live in LA and I live here. Oh and to be really honest, I only came out here today because I desperately wanted to see the Black Keys." I breathed out.

Yes, that was one hell of a list. There was no way he was going to go on this date.

I smiled at him, letting him know he could blow me off easily. No hard feelings whatsoever.

"Ok. This isn't working." It was weird. It was the answer I wanted, but I still felt a little pang of hurt in my stomach.

Stop being such a baby, Bella.

"Yes, ok. Good, we agree. I'll get out of your way and you—," While I walked towards the door, trying to finish the sentence without having any idea what I wanted to say, he grabbed my arm. It felt weird, —him touching me. The good kind of weird though. As the rational person I am, I ignored that feeling completely.

"No, I mean you trying to convince me not to go on this date isn't working."

"It isn't?"

"Nope. I can easily refute almost all of your so-called reasons. Let's see. You are hot, having the whole big, brown eyes thing and long, brown, curly hair to accompany them. Besides you are very sexy, but you don't know it, which is, let me tell you, the best kind of sexy." He was smirking again, and still holding my arm.

Oh ,all gods of the world, help me.

"The movie star chicks you were referring to are almost always very boring and way too much into their own looks. Plus, they don't eat and I hate eating alone. So I'll pass on that suggestion if you don't mind. You being impatient is not a problem. I'm super patient, so we'll just complete each other in that area. I have enough money for the both of us and then some. You may not know what you want to do in life, but you don't strike me as a girl without any ambition, so no, it's not a turn-off. The distance is actually your only valid point, but come on, we're talking about one date and we'll see from there, Droppy." He grinned while he let go of my arm and put his fingers under his chin. Posing much like Rodin's Thinker, he was obviously trying to remember if there were any other reasons I had given him.

"Oh and that last thing about the Black Keys, well, me too."

"What?"

"I came on the show today because they were going to play. I've been wanting to see them play for years. My manager was trying to convince me to go to Tanya Talks. I'm not a big fan of these talk shows; they put you on the spot, and the crowd is fucking crazy most of the time. But he knows me well, so he arranged for them to play during the show, knowing it would get me to say yes."

"Really? Wow."

"Yes, really. So are you having dinner with me tonight, or do I have to convince you that it will in fact be for your own good?"

"Well, I don't know. Do you think they'll serve any vegetarian meals? Cause you know, in those fancy restaurants they almost never serve anything without meat or fish. And why is it that people always think vegetarians eat fish? They're animals too, you know?"

"Bella." Oh God, the way he said my name. It should be forbidden.

"Hmm?"

"You are being very random again. I'm sure we can get you a veggie burger or something. But the rambling probably means you're still having doubts, so you leave me no choice but to play my last card." He sighed very dramatically, which made me laugh.

"I have tickets to the concert tonight. Have dinner with me, and I will give you the extra ticket."

"Now, if you would have started by saying that, we could have saved ourselves these last 10 minutes."

"And miss that great speech you gave about all your inabilities? Where's the fun in that?"

I glared at him, but then realized what he said just moments ago. He had tickets. To the Black Keys. And I could see them, tonight. He was looking at me, smiling expectantly. I felt my face break out into a smile and before I could think about what I was doing, I lunged forward. Throwing my arms around his neck, I yelled "Hell, yes I'll go out with you tonight!"

He laughed as he wrapped an arm around me to keep me from falling down. I was still making happy noises when I realized who I was pushing my chest against and whose chest I was feeling. And what a nice chest it was. His, I mean. Although I couldn't say that I was unsatisfied with my own.

Not the point, Bella. Okay, letting go now.

I slowly untangled my arms from behind his neck and took a step back. Blushing slightly over my actions, I looked up to see him smirking at me.

"You know, I'm kind of offended. I feel like the only reason we're going to dinner is so that you can go to a concert. It hurts— I have to be honest with you," he joked. "I mean, what would happen if I told you that I actually talked to them earlier and got them to sign one of my shirts?"

"What?" I shrieked. "Do you think they're still here? Are they close to your dressing room? You think they will sign my boobs? Eehh, I mean my shirt?" Great, I was blushing again.

Think about your words, Bella, think!

Turned out, I wasn't the only one blushing. Edward's eyes kept flickering down to where my tiny top ended and the swell of my breasts clearly showed.

"Aw, does the big movie star get embarrassed when a girl talks about her boobs?"

He glared at me. "No, of course not. I was thinking about something else, something that has nothing to do with you… ehm... I can't talk my way out of this one, huh?"

"Nope, you cannot mister." The movie star was speechless because of me. I tried to keep the smug look from my face, I really did. Oh well, good thing I wasn't afraid to fail.

"I have to disappoint you though; they're already gone. Who knows, maybe you could catch them tonight after the concert. And in case you can't get them to sign your boobs, if you ask really nicely, maybe I will." Ah the cocky attitude was back. I decided to ignore his last comment. I also decided to ignore the way it made my body tingle.

"Ok, we can go. But you need to lend me a shirt or something because there is no way I'm going to the finest restaurant in Chicago wearing a shirt that I bought around ten years ago. It's too small!"

He looked me right in the eyes and then let his eyes travel down—slowly and purposefully. I felt his gaze upon me everywhere, and it even made me shiver. That was weird. Normally people didn't have that effect on me.

"I agree. It is too small. But you look hot as hell in it."

I couldn't look him in the eyes. Taking compliments had never been easy for me.

"Well, I don't know, that's not really the point. It's all Alice's fault anyway. She claimed I couldn't meet you in my perfectly fine and not at all oversized band t-shirt. I'm never listening to her again."

"Bella," he interrupted me, "I didn't want to make you feel uncomfortable. Just don't think that the shirt looks stupid on you, because it doesn't. At all. But if you want, you can maybe put this shirt over it?" He gave me a blue and green checkered shirt, and I put it on but left the buttons open. While I rolled up the sleeves, I thanked him.

"No worries. You kind of look like a cute lumberjack."

"Yes, just give me an axe to complete the look."

"Not gonna happen, Droppy."

"So how does this work? Are we going to the restaurant on our own? Or is there a car? I take it we won't be taking a bus right? Oh shit, I'll have to pick up my bike tomorrow probably."

"You came to the studios by bike?"

"Duh."

He didn't dare to question this any further. Shaking his head, he began to collect his stuff. Mumbling something about the danger of bikes, he grabbed his clothes, a book and a few pictures, put them in a backpack and looked at me.

"Ready to go?"

"How much money do you make?"

He blinked. Clearly confused he asked, "I beg your pardon?"

"You said that you have a lot of money right? I'm just wondering why on earth you carry a backpack around that looks like it's older than you and has survived numerous wars."

"Oh that. Well, it's my backpack that I use for camping and hiking with Jazz and our friends. We used to go a lot, but I don't really have the time anymore. I try to go at least once a year though. The backpack is kind of a reminder of who I am outside this whole Hollywood business. That probably sounds very dramatic or something." He laughed a little nervously. How he could go from the cocky, hot guy to this shy boy so fast was beyond me.

"No, it sounds really nice actually. I would love to see the big movie star put up a tent."

As soon as the words left my mouth, I knew another Bella-moment had taken place. By the look of amusement in his eyes, I knew he got the double meaning of that as well.

"Can we just go before I blurt out any more stupidities please?"

"Oh, what? Outside of these studios you're only going to speak in very rational and well thought sentences? If that's the case, I'll have to cancel. I was hoping to have a few laughs tonight."

"I can't make any promises, but statistically, you and your laughing should be fine."

"Let's go then."

We walked out of the dressing room where Mark was apparently waiting for us. He explained that there was a limo right outside at the back entrance of the studio. He warned us that there was a lot of press at the front of the building and that I shouldn't be scared—it was all part of it. Nobody was supposed to know where we were going to have dinner, so if everything worked out according to plan, we would have a quiet dinner. I just kept nodding my head, trying to show no sign of emotions on my face. On the inside, however, I was very worried and scared as hell. Mark's speech suddenly reminded me that I was going on a date. If that wasn't nerve wrecking enough, it was a date with somebody who had photographers following him. I started panicking a little and tried really hard to ignore the screaming voice in my head that told me to get the hell out as fast as I could. Instead, I was listening to a voice that, not very surprisingly, sounded a lot like Alice's. It said I should, just this once, not chicken out and go for it.

Oh, chicken—I was in the mood for that. Damn it, why did I have to go and tell him I was a vegetarian?


Let me know what you think! I'd love to hear it. And tell me, how would you react if you got to go on a date with Edward C.? ;)