A/N: Thank you to everybody who has reviewed, and to all the lurkers I say; come out, come out wherever you are! Outfit can be found on my profile, and the song that Edward plays is Cherished Moments by Jon Schmidt.

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or its characters, everything belongs to Stephenie Meyer. I do own my own copy of Eclipse which should be arriving in the mail today.

Counting Down the Days

Chapter 3

Friday, December 3rd

I sat on my bed watching Alice getting ready for her date with Jasper. It was their one year anniversary tonight, so they were going to spend the night at a hotel. It was always fascinating to watch Alice get ready for a date. She, who normally was a whirlwind of fast and impulsive decisions, planned everything into the last detail. She put together her outfit days in advance, trying it on with different jewellery to see which looked the best, and I'd even seen her try different hair and make up looks days in advance. When it came to Jasper she was nothing if not thorough.

"What do you think?" Alice spun around, showing off her outfit.

"You look stunning Alice, Jasper's going to be tongue tied when he sees you." She truly looked amazing. She was wearing a purple satin sheath dress with cap sleeves and a scooped neck in the front and back. With it she had on black strappy heels and a black satin clutch.

"Thank you. Can you believe it's already been a year?"

"It feels like 10," I teased, and Alice chuckled. As on cue there was a knock on the door, and Alice went to open it. Jasper stood on the other side, looking very smart in grey dress pants and a white shirt with a black tie. There was no point in saying hi to him, because he only had eyes for Alice. At least he had the common sense to close his mouth. Gaping fish was not a good look for him.

"You look breathtaking,"

"You're perfect," she whispered back, and I almost felt like an intruder while watching their special moment. Sweet as they were, they did have a habit of just standing and staring into each others eyes for an inconsiderable amount of time.

"Okay kids, let's get this show on the road. You have reservations soon and you don't wanna be late." I said, standing up and handing Alice her coat.

Jasper laughed and took the coat from me, holding it up for Alice so that she could put it on. "We're going. Have a nice night, Bella."

"You too. Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"Thanks Bella. I'll see you tomorrow." Alice hugged me tightly, and then they left.

"Have fun!" I called after them and then closed the door, looking around the room. It had been a while since I had a night to myself and as I fired up my laptop I decided that a quiet evening alone was just what I needed. I had just logged on to my e-mail account and was sorting through the hordes of junk mail when there was a knock on the door. I frowned. I wasn't expecting anyone. As I opened the door though I was surprised to see Edward standing on the other side, his left hand tangled in his hair and with a plastic bag in his right hand.

"Edward, hi,"

He smiled, one corner of his mouth rising higher than the other. "You busy?"

"My evening plans consist of me not leaving this room, so not really."

"I'm bored. Wanna do something?"

"Like what?"

He shrugged. "Anything. I was planning on going over to a practice room and play for a bit, but if you'd rather do something else…"

"No! You know I love hearing you play. How about we hang out in a practice room until we're bored, and then order some pizza or something and hang out in your room? We also have another window to open in the calendar."

"True. You ready to go?"

"In a sec." I turned back into the room and turned off my computer before grabbing my wallet and jacket. The door shut behind us, and then we walked towards the elevators.

"What are Emmett and Rose doing tonight?" I asked, and got my answer in the wiggling of Edward's eyebrows. Those two were insatiable, and it was lucky Rose and Jasper had an apartment off campus where they could be, or else they'd probably keep the entire campus up all night long. "It's a wonder those two haven't broken more beds than they already have."

It wasn't a long walk to the cluster of buildings that housed all music and art majors. Edward entered a five number code in the alarm system outside the front door, and the door clicked open. We went inside and continued up towards the third floor, where the music rooms were.

The room I knew Edward preferred to be in was thankfully available, and he grinned triumphantly as he let me in before him. The room was one of the larger ones, and featured a baby grand piano instead of the upright ones which were in the other rooms. I knew Edward preferred the sound of the baby grand. There was a small beige loveseat where I'd spent a lot of nights while Edward played, reading or just listening to him playing.

"Do you have any requests, mademoiselle?" Edward asked, putting on a horrible French accent.

I shook my head, sitting down on the love seat. "Play whatever you feel like."

He sat down at the piano and started to play. Scales at first to warm up, and then he switched to real songs. Some pieces I recognized, others I didn't. He played modern songs, old songs and I even think he played a jazz version of Mary Had A Little Lamb. Then he started playing a piece that from the first notes captivated my heart and soul. It was hopeful, with an underlying strength and a sense of serenity.

By the time he finished I was blinking away tears. "That was beautiful. Is it one of yours?"

Edward nodded, looking up at me. "I wrote it for my parents, and played it when they renewed their vows on their 25th anniversary last year. It's my mother's favourite piece."

"I can see why."

We stayed in the room for another hour, and Edward played through most of my and his favourite songs. He finished off with an amazing cover of Imagine that sent shivers down my spine.

"You want Thai or Chinese food?"

"Thai. I've got a craving for satay sauce." My stomach growled at the very idea of food, and Edward laughed.

"Agreed. Why don't I buy the food and you can get the snacks?"

"Meet you at the dorm in 30?"

Edward agreed, and we parted ways. Luckily the campus store was still open, and I looked around the ice cream section for at least 5 minutes, wondering what flavour to buy. I ended up grabbing a Strawberry Cheesecake because it was my favourite. I also picked up a six pack of cokes and two bags of gummy bears. Oh yeah, we were going all out tonight. The cashier looked a bit funny at me when I went to pay, but I paid him no mind.

One of the other dorms was having a party, and I passed a lot of drunken frat boys on my way back to my dorm. I chuckled to myself as I saw a dark haired guy walk straight into the closed door. It was a huge difference to my dorm, which on the outside looked practically deserted. I knew though that inside people was up to all sorts of things. I took the stairs instead of the elevator; I needed to burn of some calories before the Thai food and ice cream fest. When I came to my floor I saw that Edward's door was partially open, and took it as a sign he had arrived before me. True enough, when I entered I saw him standing by the desk, taking out our food from the bag. Edward lived in one of the two single rooms on our floor, and it really came in handy in times like these.

"I bought a shitload of snacks, so I hope you're hungry," I announced, putting the bag down on the floor by his bed and shutting the door behind me. I had no idea what his parents paid extra for his room, because it was luxury compared with my and Alice's. Besides the standard bed, a desk with chair, a bookcase, a closet and a dresser, had a decent size TV with a DVD player and a small couch.

"I'm starving actually, so that's good. You wanna eat before the movie?"

"Let's open the calendar first, and then eat."

Edward took it out from a drawer in his desk and handed it to me.

I shook my head. "It's your turn to open it." I watched as Edward found the right square. He opened it and then held up the chocolate for me to see. It was a tiny present, complete with a ribbon and a big bow. What he did next both shocked me and made my heart beat so fast I feared it might explode. Ever so gently he raised the chocolate present to his mouth and carefully bit of half, making sure his lips didn't make contact with the candy. When he then handed the candy to me I could only stare at him. Thankfully I was able to shake myself out of my funk pretty quickly and before I could think more about it I put the chocolate in my mouth and chewed it before swallowing.

"Okay, let's eat!" I sat down on the extra chair by the desk. As the food reached my mouth I groaned, it was so good. Both Edward and I devoured our food rather quickly, and when I'd swallowed the last bite I felt like I was going to explode.

"So what are we watching?" I asked Edward, gathering our empty cartons and throwing them away before half collapsing on the couch. "Nothing funny though, I think my food will come back up if I laugh."

"Lord of the Rings?" Edward offered, kneeling down by his DVD's.

"Which one?"

"Return of the King?"

I nodded. "Only if we watch the extended version – the drinking game between Legolas and Gimli is one of the best moments in the entire trilogy."

"I couldn't agree with you more."

I took a minute to observe Edward when he put the DVD in and started to adjust all the settings. We were really similar: had similar tastes in music, movies, humour, food and political views. We hated rap music, loved gummy bears and both agreed that The Beatles were the greatest band ever. As Edward sat down next to me and started the movie he brushed his shoulder against mine before settling down. The couch was a bit too small for two people, especially when one of those two people was over 6 feet tall, so it was a bit cramped. Not that I complained, but that's the way it was.

The movie started, and the familiar sound of Howard Shore's musical score reached my ears. Edward got up and grabbed both bags of gummy bears within the first half hour of the movie, and even though I was still full from dinner I couldn't resist eating the gelatin goodness. About half way into the movie I started feeling my eyelids drop. I yawned and rested my head on Edward's shoulder, bringing my legs up underneath me and curling up against Edward's side. I felt his body stiffen slightly, but then he relaxed again. Much to my dismay I felt my eyes starting to drop, and I could feel myself falling deeper and deeper towards sleep. When I was only seconds away from falling asleep I heard Edward whisper something, and then I felt a soft pressure on the top of my head. I didn't have time to figure out what it was he had whispered, because I fell asleep before I could think more about it.

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