Disclaimer: As much as I wish it was, it's not mine. Well, it's partially mine. But you know, everything Twilight related, is not. Everything else is, though.

AN: Whew! Don't even get me started! lol I know it's been forever. It's not my intention to update once a month, but it just turns out that way, unfortunately. I have to say, I FOUGHT to get this chapter done tonight. I'm so tired...but I wouldn't let myself go to sleep until I finished this chapter. Not that I expect a pat on the back or anything... I know it's been a while. I'm bad. Bad fanfic writer!

The biggest reason why this chapter took so long was because I had four or five different options as to what I wanted to do with this chapter and couldn't decide. Just know that's how seriously I take my writing. Maybe it was totally lame for me to admit that lol.

Thanks for all of the awesome reviews! I love you all for loving my stories and for loving me. For those of you who have yet to read my other fic, Volterra Rocks...um do it. hehe.

This chapter is dedicated to ahhelga for her awesomeness and for being my first fanfic fangirl! Haha.

I know some of you are annoyed by how long this AN is turning into, but I feel like a zombie from this lack of sleep, so at least let me have this paragraph of glory!

P.S. For those of you who aren't aware of what a Seven Eleven is (7-11), it's a convenience store, known for it's slurpees. Or, if you're familiar with the Simpsons, think "Kwik-E-Mart" and "Squishies."

Okay, I'll stop rambling now. Read and REVIEW!!

CHAPTER 4

BPOV

I had to cover my mouth to keep myself from screaming in surprise and waking up my parents when I heard the familiar ring tone and Edward's name appear on the screen of my cell phone the next morning.

I held the phone in front of me, making sure to take a few deep breaths before I answered. Pressing the green button on the top right corner of the keypad, I pressed the phone to my ear. "Hello!" I immediately cringed at the over-enthusiastic timbre in my voice.

I heard him chuckling softly on the other end. "Someone's a morning person."

I meekly tried to match his teasing tone. "Yeah, well…" I had nothing except a nervous laugh to follow the trailing statement.

This only seemed to amuse him further, much to my own embarrassment, as I heard him begin to laugh softly again. Luckily, he didn't dwell on my flustered state. "Did your dad enjoy the cranberry sauce?" I could hear the smile in his voice, and I only wished I could have seen it in person.

"Yes, he did." I smiled. "In fact, I told him about our encounter, and I he wanted me to thank you for your generosity."

There was that beautiful laugh again. "Well, you beat me to it fair and square, what can I say?"

There was a small pause before he spoke again.

"So, are you still up for that coffee today, or did you find something better or more important to do than hang out with a loser like me?" He joked.

I couldn't help but burst out into laughter at the thought. Like I had something better to do than spend time with the man of my dreams. "And miss my chance to spend time with the Edward Cullen?" I heard him chuckle on the other end. "I'm still game…. Unless you found something better or more important to do than hang out with me." I bit my lip nervously, immediately resenting the open window I gave Edward to escape our time together.

"Like I have something more important to do than spend time with the Bella Swan?"

I rolled my eyes, but slowly breathed a sigh of relief. He still wanted to see me.

Nine Years Ago- Second Day of School

"Hello….Bella?" Edward gave me a wide smile as he sat down next to me at our table. Unlike the day before, Edward had managed to make it to class before it started.

I returned the smile generously, before I pulled out the materials I needed for another day of note-taking. "Yeah, Edward, right?"

"Right."

It was a bit of a relief to have someone to talk to this time, during the few spare minutes we had before the bell rang, so I didn't feel quite so left out of the myriad of conversations going on between students around me. Edward asked if I had brought the piece of paper that had all of the drawings we made the previous day and I nodded as I pushed myself from the desk to get the paper out of my backpack. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Edward's legs swinging beneath him, under his chair, his feet not quite able to set themselves flat on the floor.

As I brought my torso back up and placed the sheet of paper in front of me, Edward hoisted one leg up and under him on top of the chair, as he used the leverage to lean in closer, with his elbows propped up on the table. A slight breeze blew from his movement, and I breathed in the smell of fresh laundry. It was pleasant.

He laughed as he observed the drawings. "Oh yeah, I remember what I wanted to do to this one…" he motioned towards one of the "frog" figures with his pencil and proceeded to draw a top hat and a laser gun to further accessorize our creations. I smiled as I watched his pencil glide onto the paper and looked up to see his eyes were already resting on mine. He smiled before looking away, asking me how the rest of my first day of school went, while proceeding with his drawings.

"It was okay."

"Just okay?" Edward prodded.

I shrugged. "Yeah, I don't know. I mean, I guess it wasn't any worse or better than I expected, you know? No one stuffed me in a locker and I was only a couple minutes late to one of my classes. It could have been a lot worse. With my luck, I would have tripped down the stairs in my new skirt. To be honest, I'm really surprised it didn't happen," I remarked, dryly.

Edward laughed.

"What about you?" I asked. "How was your first day?"

Edward shrugged as he turned his head to give me a response. "It could have been worse." He turned his attention back to the paper, a small smile playing on his lips. Before I could ask him to elaborate, he spoke again. "We aren't in any other classes together."

It wasn't a question, so I didn't know how to respond. "Yeah…"

"What grade are you in?"

"Uhhh….9th." I was confused. Wasn't he a freshman, too? "Why?"

"I don't know…you seem older, I guess. I thought maybe that was why we didn't have any classes together. Most of the other kids in here are in my other classes too." He shrugged his shoulders, propping his head up by one arm, while using the other arm to continue drawing.

"Oh…that makes sense." Then I thought of something. "So you thought I flunked 9th grade science or something?" The idea was a little humorous to me, especially considering the fact that science was actually one of my strongest subjects.

"No, that's not what I meant." Edward sat up straight as he looked at me with apologetic eyes. "I just—"

I rolled my eyes, putting up one hand to stop him. "It's cool. I wasn't offended or anything." I giggled.

He sighed in relief and gave me a sheepish grin. "Sorry."

I shook my head to dismiss his apology. I looked at the clock and saw that we had at least a minute to go before the bell and our teacher was nowhere in sight. I decided to seize the opportunity to ask him the question I didn't get a chance to the day before. "How long have you lived in Forks?"

"I just moved here. You?"

"I just moved here, too."

Edward's eyes grew wide and he smiled upon this new discovery. "Oh cool! I didn't know you were a new student! Man, I feel like everyone here knows everyone else but me. Where did you move from?"

"Pheonix."

"Oh, so you just basically moved from Venus straight to Mars, didn't you?"

I laughed at his analogy. "Exactly. Where did you move from?"

"Alaska. Not quite a drastic difference, but still an adjustment." He set his pencil down and leaned back in his chair. "So—"

"Bella!" A foreign voice shouted out my name and I grimaced as I observed the entire classroom averting their attention to me. I looked up and saw Mike Newton close the distance from the door to the table in front of mine in quick strides as the final bell rang, signaling the beginning of class.

I met Mike the day before in my history class. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that he had taken the entire period to work up the nerve to talk to me, as I observed him constantly shifting his body to face me in the desk next to mine. I was tempted to start keeping track of how many times I saw him open his mouth out of the corner of my eye, only to see him close it and face the board out of my peripheral vision. Finally, as we all got up at the end of the class, he was a mere two inches from my face when I stood up, with his arm extended and a big smile plastered on his face, introducing himself. Truth be told, he was definitely nice, but his obvious affection came off too strongly in a way that made me feel a little uncomfortable.

I waved my fingers at him and mustered a smile. I didn't even notice at first how quiet Edward had become as Mike stepped closer. He plopped his backpack down on his table with a bang, giving his lab partner quite a fright, making her jump slightly out of her chair. He ignored the glare she gave him and gave me another small wave as he sat down in front of me.

"Hey, Mr. Banner's not here yet," Mike observed, swinging his chair out so that he could face me from where he was sitting. "Sweet. Hey, ever heard of the five minute rule?"

I shook my head, not knowing what he was getting at. I looked at Edward, who suddenly seemed consumed by the paper full of our drawings again, his head practically buried in the desk as he scribbled feverishly away.

"Well, the five minute rule is if the teacher is still not here five minutes past the bell, then the whole class can ditch and we won't get in trouble for it."

"Really?" I looked at him skeptically.

"That's what one of the seniors told me, anyway. We've got three and a half minutes and we're out of here. You want to go down the street to the Seven Eleven or something? And get a slurpee? My treat."

"Yeah, that sounds romantic." The sarcastic statement slipped out of my mouth before I had a chance to realize I already said it. I could have sworn I heard a snort come from Edward, but when I looked over at him, he was still drawing away as though nothing had happened. When my gaze shifted back at Mike, I couldn't help but feel guilty over his face that was now slightly crestfallen. "Sorry, I was just joking." I couldn't think of a better excuse, and I cursed myself for it. "But, I don't think I'll ditch even if Mr. Banner doesn't come back. I don't want to risk getting in trouble, just in case the whole five-minute rule thing isn't legit. It's not because I don't want to go get a slurpee with you," I assured him.

That seemed to appease him and the smile returned to his face. "What about after school then? Do you have anything going on after school?"

I was suddenly very aware of everything around me at that moment. Edward's pencil stilled, and it seemed as though the entire class was listening for my response now. I couldn't have been more mortified. Was he seriously asking me out on a date? I had barely even gotten through a full conversation with him, and on the second day of school, he was asking me out? To a Seven Eleven nonetheless. I had never been on a date before, never anything remotely close. My palms were sweating. "Umm… well, my parents are picking me up today and I think we're going to go look at some furniture for my room, but maybe another—"

"What about tomorrow?" Mike interrupted, eagerly.

"Tomorrow?" I searched my brain for an excuse. Any excuse. I had a feeling that no matter what I said, he would keep pressing until he found a day I was available. I decided to leave it open ended. "Maybe. I'll have to ask my parents."

Mike nodded. He seemed satisfied. He looked at the clock again and just as I knew he was about to say we only had one minute left in the five-minute rule, Mr. Banner stormed into the room, much to the dismay of the class.

"Sorry, the copier broke this morning… I'm running late, obviously. Open your notebooks. I've got some more handouts to give you. Don't forget, tomorrow is our first lab…" The room settled into a routine of monotony pretty easily as if we had been doing this for years.

I picked up my pencil and started to copy my notes from the overhead projector. It took a few minutes to realize that Edward still had not spoken to me since class had started, or since my interaction with Mike. When I looked over, his eyes were trained on the front of the room. Either it was just my imagination, or he was refusing to look at me. I didn't understand. I was too shy to ask him what was wrong… I wasn't sure if I knew him well enough yet to know if that was okay. Maybe he was just focused on taking notes, and I didn't want to bother him if that was the case.

The period dragged on, and I was wrought with an unsettled feeling. Unsure if it was due to my impending unwanted date with Mike, or if it was a result of the cold shoulder I was experiencing from Edward, but I couldn't help but be distracted by the pestering feeling up until the bell rang. I woke from my slight daze and started to gather my things. I could already see Mike turning around to face me, and my stomach flipped unpleasant butterflies as I readied myself for whatever he would say to me.

At the same moment I saw Mike open his mouth, I felt a light touch on my arm and turned my attention to bright green eyes staring intently at me. "What class do you have next?" Edward asked.

"Algebra." I groaned at the thought.

"On the second floor?"

I nodded, slinging my backpack over my shoulder.

"I'll walk you." Edward stated with a smile.

"Okay." I was glad that whatever funk he seemed to be in was over and done with and the unsettling feeling went away as though it never existed. I was almost afraid that I already lost the only friend I had made at Forks High School.

Present Day

Edward held the door open for me as we entered the coffee shop. Always the gentleman. No surprise there. He would do that for anyone. That didn't mean anything. Non-date.

He didn't pick me up from my house. We met at the shop. So… non-date.

He paid for my drink. Date? Or friendly gesture. Non-date.

Stop it, Bella, just stop it.

I let out a small "thank you" as Edward handed me my mug. We scanned the crowded room and agreed on a small table surrounded by two arm chairs. The area was tucked away in a corner that was set off from the rest of the shop. We got there just as a couple of teenage girls got up from the table, and we managed to snag it before anyone else could.

"This looks good," Edward noted as he shrugged himself out of his leather jacket.

Yes, it looks very good. I couldn't help but stare at his perfect features as they were so well displayed before me, his thin white sweater outlining every perfect line of his torso. I caught several whiffs of the leather smell from his jacket, mixed with the intoxicating smell of his cologne. He still wore the same cologne he did in high school. My heart panged against my ribcage in protest against the rest of my body that was still trying to unsuccessfully forget what an effect he had over me.

Trying to distract myself, I focused on unbuttoning my long trench coat. Stuffing my gloves inside my pockets, and un-raveling the scarf from around my neck, I somehow managed to knock over the small table that stood as a platform for both of our drinks. "Shit! I did not just do that!"

Edward's laughter rang in my ears, and my face turned beet red in embarrassment as I scrambled to the nearest table with napkins and pulled out a pile that was two inches thick. I spread them out on the floor, stomping on the wet napkins with my black leather boots. The mugs were shattered to pieces and I bent down to pick the pieces up in my hand, not caring when my knees touched the wet floor, soaking my jeans in those spots.

"Hey! You're going to hurt yourself," Edward's hand gently brought me back up by my arm.

"What else is new," I replied. I glared at the expression on Edward's face, which was laced with utter amusement at the situation. "You think this is funny, don't you?"

Edward shrugged. "It's amazing how even in designer jeans and your name on best-seller lists, you're still the same old Bella Swan."

"You say that like it's a good thing."

"Isn't it, though?" Edward looked at me, confused.

I shrugged. I didn't want to elaborate on my disappointment. Edward wasn't in love with the old Bella Swan. If he still thought of me as the old Bella Swan…well, this was definitely a non-date.

I walked over to the trash can and dumped the broken pieces of ceramic inside. I told the barista about the little incident and she brought a mop over to clean up the mess I made. I ordered two more drinks to replace the ones I destroyed and started to walk over with the new drinks.

I almost had a heart attack when I turned the corner. "Woah!" I lifted the drinks in the air to avoid the collision with the person I almost ran into. I saw that it was Edward.

"Aww…you beat me to it." Edward nodded, referring to the drinks in my hands.

"Are you kidding me? I'm the one who spilled your drink. The least I could do is replace it for you."

"Well, if you insist." Edward smiled. "And the least I can do is take those out of your hands, if for no other reason than to avoid another accident."

I was about to open my mouth in protest, but nodded my head in agreement instead. "Yeah, you're probably right. I need to go to the bathroom anyway to wash my hands. My hands are all sticky from the coffee."

I handed off the drinks and veered the opposite direction of where Edward was heading, into the ladies restroom. I was grateful for a minute to myself. "Stupid, stupid girl." I said under my breath. I ran the warm water and stuck my hands underneath the faucet. "Just breathe."

When I finished washing my hands and dried them off with a paper towel, I walked back to the arm chairs with as much confidence as I could muster. "Okay, where were we?" I sighed as I plopped down into the chair across from Edward, picking up my cup of coffee and welcoming the warmth it gave me as it went down my throat.

Edward chuckled. "You mean, before or after you knocked over the table?"

I rolled my eyes. "Or we can just pretend that never happened and talk about something completely different. That sounds good to me."

Edward smiled comfortingly. "That's fine. I don't think we were really talking about anything anyway."

Oh yes we were, I contradicted, in my head. Old Bella, remember?

We sat in short silence while we both searched for something to say. Edward finally broke the silence.

"Tell me about college."

Hmmm. Broad request. How do you fit four years into a light conversation? "What do you want to know exactly?"

"Everything." A smile played on his lips. He knew he was being difficult.

"Wow."

"Wow what?"

I rolled my eyes. "It's amazing that even in designer jeans and a star on the Walk of Fame that you're still the same old Edward Cullen," I teased.

He smirked, fully accepting the comment I threw at him as a response to the one he made about me earlier, but his smile receded into a thin line, something I didn't quite understand. "You still need to answer. Tell me about college. Considering the fact that I never finished… what did I miss out on?"

"Not much," I assured. I filled him in on all of the mundane details. Everything from my crappy dorms to crappy roommates to meeting Alice during the bowling class I took to get rid of my physical education requirement. He found it quite humorous that Alice insisted on buying and wearing her own bowling shoes and bowling ball, both matching in pink glitter, complete with a pink and black plaid bag, to avoid having to use the school's rented equipment from the bowling alley.

I found myself talking more than I had in years. However he managed to do that, I didn't know. But, by the end of our time together, I was thoroughly enjoying myself, not caring if this was a date or non-date anymore. It was fun to hear about Edward's experiences on set and to hear his opinions of actors and directors he's come across in his career; people who I've only dreamed about meeting were people he interacted with on a daily basis.

The only topic I distinctly avoided was my writing. For obvious reasons.

I watched Edward pull out his cell phone to check the time. "Do you have any other plans today, Bella?"

I shook my head. I couldn't ignore the disappointment I felt, and the desperate yearning for this moment to never end.

"I mentioned to my mother that I was going to see you today. She would be really upset if we didn't stop by. Would you mind?"

"Oh! Of course not! I'd love to see Esme. It's been so long."

"Oh good," Edward replied, as we both got up and started bundling up to face the bitter weather outside. "We can take my car and I'll just take you back here afterwards."

"That sounds good," I nodded as I flipped my hair over the collar of my coat.

"Oh! And I was talking to my mom before I left earlier today. She was just on the phone with one of her friends this morning, and apparently she's like obsessed with your books."

Uh-oh.

"Yeah, they have little discussion groups online and stuff. Isn't that crazy? Well, I'm sure you know all about that anyway. What I was going to say is, so my mom's friend is really into this one book… she didn't say what it was called, otherwise I probably would have remembered. But my mom remembered that you were an author and mentioned your name. Her friend was freaking out and really wants to meet you. I guess she even sent a copy of your book to my mom as a Christmas present. Mom's probably going to open it up early and read it so her friend will get off her case already. Isn't that crazy though? What a coincidence."

"Yeah." I numbly opened the door on the passenger side of Edward's car and slid in. I didn't even have to guess what book his mom would be reading. I knew.

Insert evil laugh here Well, you can guess what the next chapter's going to be about. Let me know what you think! REVIEW!! :) You make me happy. Reviews show me how much my stories make YOU happy ;)