A/N: Yeah… so it's been ages since I updated this fic yet again. I apologise. I've had writer's block issues and things. Blah, you don't wanna hear it. Anyway, so I'm not completely happy with this one, but I'm posting it, because it's been far too long. Ugh, I need a beta for this story. And so… onwards...

Chapter 4 - Toxicodendron rydbergii

The forecasters were surprisingly correct – the next morning I was awoken by the bright light of the sun streaming through my bedroom window.

Edward, true to his word, arrived at promptly 9 o'clock, wearing a smile as warm and bright as the sunshine. He looked amazing in his plain white t-shirt and dark grey shorts, and he had the most adorable feet I'd ever seen peeking out of a pair of flip-flops.

"I hope you've got a swimsuit on under that," he said, before looking sheepish. "Because there are warm pools near the waterfall, really great for swimming…"

I smirked.

"Er… it's supposed to be really warm today," he continued uncomfortably.

"Let's not waste it then," I said with a grin, and pulled Edward out to his car.

We followed the same route we had taken the day before, ending up in front of the Cullens' house.

"I thought we were going to the waterfall?"

"We are," he said simply, and jumped out of the car, running around to open my door. "Wait here, I'll be right back."

He ran into the house and returned a moment later, speaking with Esme, who had followed him to the front door. She gave me a wide smile and a wave, then handed a backpack to Edward and disappeared inside the house.

He walked towards me, pulling the bag onto his back. "Okay, all set. To the forest."

Forest? I panicked slightly. "We're not, um, hiking, are we?"

Edward chuckled. "Yeah, a bit. It's not too far, and the path is pretty beat down. I go there a lot." He studied my face for a second before adding, "don't worry, Bella, I won't let you hurt yourself."

I almost told him that I didn't intend to hurt myself, though I expected angry tree roots and loose boulders were well up to the job, but I bit my tongue and followed after him without complaint.

He led the way behind the house and into the back yard, if it could be called such. It was too beautiful to be a yard, with rose bushes and benches and enormous trees everywhere. It looked more like an enchanted garden from a fairytale.

Edward smiled at my awed expression. "Esme again."

"She is a very talented woman."

He nodded his head. "Indeed she is."

"Do you ever just hang out back here, in amongst the flowers? I would love to write out here."

"What do you write?"

I blushed. That was something I'd never confided in anyone, and it had just slipped out so easily with Edward. "Short stories, poetry, things like that."

"I'd love to read something sometime."

I nodded stupidly, and then bit my lip. Would I be comfortable allowing that? No one had ever read any of my writing before.

We passed through Esme's garden and crossed a small wooden bridge over a roaring river. There was a path worn through the trees, but it was faint. I could see many large roots erupting from the ground, and I steadied myself in preparation. I would have to carefully watch my feet the entire way. I hoped the distance was short as Edward had said, or I was in for one hell of a stiff neck.

"So, what else do you do in your spare time?" Edward asked, exiting the bridge and coming to walk beside me.

"Read mostly. Not a lot of bad things can happen to us clumsy people reading books – paper cuts are about the worst of it."

He chuckled and ran a hand through his hair, sending the smell of sandalwood wafting towards me. I breathed deeply, my eyes nearly falling closed. And then I stumbled, catching my toe on a root.

"Fuck!" I growled. Edward's right hand shot out and grabbed my arm before I made contact with the ground.

"Careful there," he said. I could hear the grin in his voice without looking up at him.

"Hmph," I muttered. "Thanks."

"You really are clumsy, huh?"

I looked over and rolled my eyes at him, then quickly snapped them back to the "path". Fucking trees, they were obviously out to get me.

"What's the worst injury your clumsiness has ever incurred?"

"Er – when I cracked my left femur." That had been hell; it had taken forever to heal.

Edward looked aghast. "How the hell did you do that? Were you in a car accident?"

I felt my face colour. "I fell out of a tree," I mumbled, embarrassed.

"Why would you even be in a tree?"

"I dunno, it seemed like a good idea at the time. I was in northern California with Charlie. It was a big tree. It suffices to say, I've never been in a tree since."

"I should think not," he was shaking his head at me, but wearing a wide grin.

"If you could visit any one place in the world, where would it be?"

"Um… that's a difficult one. England, I guess. Most of my favourite authors are English."

"Who are your favourites?"

"Jane Austen, Shakespeare, John Keats, Robert Browning, Mary Shelley… I could go on and on."

"You like the classics." It was a statement this time, instead of a question.

I nodded my head without looking his way, not wanting to get caught up in his face and trip again.

"What's you favourite food?"

"Twizzlers."

"Twizzlers aren't food," he said in disgust. "They're sugar, and possibly even partly plastic, but they definitely aren't food."

I shrugged my shoulders and grinned. "What can I say, I love sugar."

"Yes, I do remember your God-awful cereal choices. A dietician would be appalled."

I stuck my tongue out maturely.

"What's your favourite colour?"

At this question, I blushed. I'd nearly blurted out "green", though my favourite colour had always been indigo. Somehow, since meeting Edward, green appealed to me more than any other colour. I found myself pulling anything made of green fabric off the racks when shopping, making spinach pasta instead of regular, hell, I'd even bought myself a green toothbrush.

He seemed confused by my pause. "What?" he questioned.

"Um… green," I finally answered in a quiet voice.

"Why are you blushing? That's the simplest question I've even asked."

I chewed on my bottom lip, wondering if I should answer him truthfully, or try to come up with some plausible lie. But that would take too long and he was already regarding me strangely.

I motioned to his eyes and quickly turned mine back towards the ground.

"What?" he asked again.

I sighed. "Your eyes," I almost whispered. "It's the colour of your eyes."

"Oh," was his only reply.

I was worried that my obvious attachment to him had made him uncomfortable when he didn't say anything for a moment, but then he fired off another question as if nothing odd had occurred.

"What's your favourite movie?"

"Are you writing a book?" I teased him.

"Well," he said, throwing me a quick grin, "I do plan on writing my autobiography one day, and I expect that you will figure prominently within its pages."

I laughed, shaking my head. "Even when you're being an absolute smartass you manage to say the perfect things."

"It's a gift."

Edward continued his game of 20 questions throughout our walk. When he informed me that our destination was right around the next bend, I had only admitted to two slightly embarrassing things, and had only tripped on three evil tree roots and one large rock.

I heard the waterfall before we'd arrived at the clearing. I rushed ahead of Edward, anxious to see it.

He laughed at me and yelled from behind, warning me not to trip. I was only half paying attention to him by this time, for I had come out of the trees into a large clearing, surrounded on two sides by what appeared to be a rock wall, but what I assumed was actually a hill. There was a small waterfall rushing down an opening in the rock, pouring its foaming water into a crystal clear pool, which was about 20 feet in diameter.

There were several other small pools near this one, but not interconnected. They must have been fed from beneath the ground.

The entire clearing just screamed "green": from the brilliant grass, to the moss covered rock, to the vines that clung to the trees and the hill, cloaking the waterfall from the outside world. It was beautiful – like a miniature of the mermaid's lagoon in Neverland.

The water looked deliciously inviting, and I was sweaty from trudging through the woods, so I immediately began to peel off my outer clothes, ready to jump in.

I turned around to find Edward and caught him staring at me, open-mouthed. He looked uncomfortable at having been discovered mid-ogle. I felt the heat rise beneath the surface of my skin, but I willed it away. I would make light of the situation, joke about it. I didn't want him to think I was mad. I was flattered by the look on his face.

"Were you just staring at my ass?" I teased, throwing my jeans onto the grass and removing my t-shirt. "I mean, it's okay if you were."

I glanced over at Edward; he still looked mortified. Crap. "I do it, too," I reassured him. You're not the only pervert in this forest. "I check you out, like, Grocery Granny style." I widened my eyes and waggled my eyebrows playfully.

He laughed a little and ran his hands through his hair, shaking his head. "You are never going to let me live that down, are you?"

"Nope," I said, popping the "p". I threw him a quick wink and ran haphazardly into the waterfall pool.

And I immediately shrieked. It was fucking cold.

"Er… that one is cold," Edward informed me.

I glared in his direction. "Thanks for the warning."

"Well, to be fair, you didn't really give me a chance. And also, I wanted to see the look on your face."

"Get your ass in here," I said between the chattering of my teeth. "I don't want to be the only idiot standing in freezing cold water."

He stood grinning at me for a moment; I thought he was seriously going to ignore my request, but then he pulled his shirt off and flung it in the grass and stepped out of his sandals. I forgot to be cold the moment I saw his chest -- until he spoke of course, and I remembered where and who I was.

"I can't believe I'm letting you talk me into this. I've been in there before, and it's frigid. Really, the other pools are much more pleasant."

"Get in here. Now."

He heaved a sigh and walked to the edge of the water. He gingerly stuck his big toe in, and then pulled it back with a hiss. "How are you standing it?"

"It's not so bad once you're in," I lied.

"Then why are you holding on to yourself like that?"

I peeled my arms from around my torso and swam closer to Edward. "See, not so bad." I fought with myself to keep from shivering.

"Fine." He ran into the water as I had done, sucking in an enormous breath and nearly choking on it once the water level rose towards his nether regions. I cringed for him; that part had been unpleasant indeed.

"Fu-uck."

"Pretty much," I agreed. "Once under the fall then into a warmer pool?"

Edward nodded, rubbing his hands over his arms to try and warm himself.

I giggled at his goose bumps, then turned tail and headed for the cascading water. It was even colder than the pool, which at least had the sun warming it for the past several hours. Wherever the waterfall was coming from, it was freezing cold.

I stuck my head under it first, and then plunged forward with the rest of my body. When the hard stream of water hit my chest I jumped out of the way with a loud shriek. "Ah, that's cold on the nips!"

Edward chuckled from close behind me. "On the nips, huh?"

I was suddenly no longer cold. Blood rushed to the surface of my skin. Where the hell was my internal filter when I needed it? I turned around and tried to smile, hoping it looked better than it felt. I caught Edward's eyes flickering towards my chest, and shot a hand out to cover my protruding nipples. His Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed.

"Er… my turn I guess," he said quietly. He swam in the direction of the waterfall and plunged underwater, coming up beneath the steady stream.

I stood watching him, mesmerised. He was so beautiful. The water was cascading over his shoulders as he moved his head from side to side, as if he were taking a shower. He pulled himself out of the rushing water, wiping his hair out of his eyes.

"You were right," he said with a shiver. "Cold on the nips."

I snorted a laugh and Edward grinned at me. "Let's get out of here," he said between chattering teeth.

We climbed out of the waterfall pool and into another smaller one, which was far warmer. We swam around and splashed each other childishly; it was great fun. When I complained that I was starting to get all pruney, Edward asked if I was hungry. He jumped out of the water and grabbed the backpack Esme had given him, and got to work setting up a picnic, complete with blanket.

"Did your mom make this for us?"

Edward nodded, keeping his eyes on the Tupperware containers he was pulling out of the bag. When a drip of water from my hair splattered on the top of his head, he turned and glanced at me. "Here," he said with a grin, and handed me a towel.

I wrapped it around myself and sat down beside him on the blanket. He handed me a plastic plate and a bottle of water, then began removing the lids off of several containers, which he offered to me in turn. I took half of a chicken sandwich, some carrots and cheese, and settled back to eat.

"What's in this one?" I asked, picking up the only container that was still closed. Something rattled around inside.

"My favourite cookies. They're oatmeal chocolate chip with macadamia nuts. Esme's secret recipe."

I pulled on the container's lid with all my might. I felt it finally let up, but it came off too quickly, and the cookies went flying onto the ground and into the water.

"Oops."

Edward looked unbelievably sad, like I'd knocked his kitten into the pond as opposed to his favourite cookies.

"They were the last ones," he sighed.

I tried to suppress my grin, but I just couldn't. "I'm sure Mommy will bake you some new ones."

"Hmph." He took a violent bite of his sandwich and glared at the ground.

After lunch, I helped Edward pack everything back into Esme's magic bag, then headed into the trees to change out of my bathing suit. I hadn't thought to bring underwear with me, but going commando would be better than being chafed by the wet lycra, which was happening right at that moment. I peeled the soaking material from my body and pulled on my shorts and t-shirt. While attempting to put my leg into my shorts, I stumbled. I was saved from falling by a prickly bush – I didn't know whether to curse at it or thank it. As it turned out, I was grateful for its presence, as it was full of plump, delicious looking raspberries. A snagged a handful and headed back towards Edward with a smile on my face.

I walked back through the trees to find him lounging by one of the warm pools, intent in his study of a green bush. A horribly familiar green bush. One that I had encountered during my early torturous fishing experiences with Charlie.

"Edward, don't touch that!" I hollered, running towards him and waving my hands frantically, effectively dropping all of the raspberries that I'd picked.

I tripped over my own feet and lay sprawled on the ground for a moment, before regaining my faculties and pulling myself up. I crawled the rest of the way to Edward on my hands and knees.

He sat frozen in place, staring at me strangely, his eyes wide, not saying a word.

"Poison Ivy," I gasped. "Don't touch."

His eyes widened further and he pulled his hand away from the leaves he had just been fingering. "Oops," he said.

"Oops?" I shook my head incredulously. I pulled myself closer to him, brushing the dirt from my clothes and straightening my ponytail. "Your dad is a doctor and you live here, how can you not know what poison ivy looks like?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "I've never actually come across it before now."

"And why in the world did you touch it? Most people brush up against it accidentally, not reach out and stroke it."

"It's pretty. It called to me."

"It's poisonous."

He studied me for a moment before looking down at his hands. "Sometimes we're drawn to the things we should stay away from," he said quietly.

Stay away from? Was he talking about me? Was I something that he thought he should stay away from? I swallowed, and forced myself to use a light tone. "And what exactly is that supposed to mean, Tales from the Cryptic?"

He shrugged again and looked sadly back at his hands. "My hand itches." He sounded like a little boy.

"Crap, already? How long were you being intimate with the poison ivy before I banshee shrieked at you?" That got me a smile.

"Minute or two? How ever long it took you to change in the bushes."

I sighed in annoyance. "Where is a spring of calamine lotion when you need one." Another little smile, that was good. "We'll just have to improvise, won't we? Come here."

I strode over to the side of the pond, kicking under the water with my toe to dredge up some good mud.

I motioned for him to sit down and hold his hands out in front of him so I could see how bad the damage was. Small red welts were erupting all over both palms and even between his fingers.

"It's pretty bad," I mumbled. "Rinse your hands and I'll see if I can help with the itching."

I sunk my hand under the water and got a fistful of mud and began painting both of Edward's hands in a thick coat.

"This will help?" He looked unconvinced.

I shrugged. "Works on bee stings."

"But those aren't really itchy, though, are they?"

I glared up at him and didn't answer.

"Hairy vine, no friend of mine," I sing-songed.

"What?"

"Haven't you ever heard the little rhymes before?"

"Um… no. Poison ivy rhymes?"

"Yeah, they teach them to kids. 'Leaves of three, let it be. Leaves of four… roll around in it if you want to'."

That earned me a full-blown laugh. "I don't think you're remembering that properly for some reason."

"Don't think so, huh? Well, I only memorised the part that tells me to STAY AWAY FROM THE FREAKIN' POISON IVY!"

He grinned crookedly. Thank God, moody Edward seemed to have vacated the premises for the time being. "Touché."

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot, what with your groping poisonous shrubbery and all, but I found us some dessert in the bushes. I dropped them; I'll go get more."

I leaned down and rinsed the mud off my hands, pretending not to notice the confused expression on Edward's face.

He didn't ask me what I was talking about, so I scampered off into the trees without saying another word. I found the raspberry bushes and picked as many as I could reach, using my t-shirt as a makeshift bowl to hold them all.

Edward had settled himself in the shade of a large spruce tree, as far from the poison ivy as the clearing would allow. He was stretched out with his head resting against its trunk, studying his mud-coated hands with a deep frown. I wandered over and sat down next to him, holding my shirt out, careful not to squish the berries.

"How are they?" I asked, motioning towards his hands with my head, since my own hands were occupied.

"The itching is nearly gone, actually, but they're burning a bit."

"Do you want to head back?" I was being selfish with talk of dessert; of course he wouldn't want to stay here in the middle of nowhere when he was so uncomfortable. I just didn't want our day to be over, but what he needed was to see his father. All I had done was coat the poor thing's hands in mud, how long could that possibly help?

"Nah, it's not that bad." He sat up and looked down into my berry filled lap. "What was this you said about dessert?"

"Well, it was the least I could do after I ruined your mommy cookies."

"Shut up," he deadpanned. "Tell me about these little berries you've got here."

"I found a bunch of bushes when I was changing. Want some?"

"Hmmm… are you sure they're not poisonous?"

"Edward, they're raspberries."

"Raspberries you say? I thought you could only buy those at the supermarket in those little plastic tubs. Silly me, you think living here I would know."

"Smart ass."

He grinned and reached out a hand to take some berries.

I pulled my shirt away abruptly. "No way! Keep your poison ivy hands to yourself!"

"Then how am I supposed to…?" He reached out a hand again and I turned at the waist to keep him away.

I picked up a berry and held it up between my thumb and index finger. "Open wide," I told him.

He rolled his eyes but did as he was told. I plopped the berry into his mouth and grabbed another. "Good?"

"Mmm… yeah, thanks Mommy."

I fed him another and he chewed it theatrically. "I think I can handle more than one at a time."

I plopped a couple into my own mouth as I regarded him. I shrugged my shoulders and gathered a handful, then pushed them into his face. Only about a third of them made it into his mouth, the others were crushed into his cheek, chin and some fell to the ground.

He sat staring at me dumbly for a moment before stuttering, "What was that for?"

I shrugged again, plopping a few more raspberries into my mouth. "I dunno. Felt like it." I looked away to try and hide the grin that was threatening to break over my face, only to feel Edward's weight come crashing into me, toppling me over onto the grass.

My eyes had snapped closed automatically; it was instinct with me, having fallen so much in my life -- I found that it was better not to see what was about to happen most of the time. When I opened them his face was only inches from mine and he was wearing a shit-eating grin. It faded quickly, however, and he pulled himself off of me, his attention focusing on his hands.

"They're starting to hurt more," he said. "I should probably get back to see Carlisle."

I nodded and forced myself back into a sitting position, my head a little woozy. He was looking towards the waterfall, chewing on his bottom lip. He seemed upset again. "You squished the berries," I muttered jokingly, trying to lighten his mood for the zillionth time that day. "They're all over both of us."

He looked down at his shirt, brushing the back of his hand over the large maroon stain. He shrugged his shoulders and forced a smile. "Come on," he said, and stood up. He reached out a hand to help me, but withdrew it quickly with an apologetic look.

"No worries, I can manage," I said. I wanted to eat my words a second later when I stumbled.

He smirked at me and motioned to the backpack on the ground. "Help me get that on my back, would you?"

I lifted up the bag containing the remnants of our picnic lunch, and held the straps out for Edward to slip his arms through. When it was settled on his back and I had my bundle of wet clothes, we set off towards the path.

We walked in silence most of the way home. Once in awhile he would ask me another of his random questions that he hadn't gotten to on our way in to the waterfall, but otherwise conversation was at a minimum. For the most part our silence was companionable, but I would occasionally catch his eyes flicker towards me and a worried expression would cross his face. I wasn't sure if I wanted to know what was going on in that pretty little head of his one moment, and was tempted to come right out and ask him the next. His bizarre mood swings were driving me crazy.

We crossed the bridge in no time; it was funny how the way back always seemed to take much less time. We walked through Esme's garden where we came across Dr. Hotsy Totsy, who sitting on a bench reading a book.

"Carlisle, I had a little accident," Edward said; he sounded extremely embarrassed. I hoped he hadn't taken what I had said about the poison ivy to heart.

Dr. Cullen jumped from his seat and began looking over Edward worriedly. "Are you hurt?"

Edward was shaking his head, looking confused at Carlisle's seeming panic. "Not really. Um… it's just…"

"Is that blood?" He reached up and brushed a thumb over Edward's chin.

"Er… that's just berry juice," I offered. I grinned sheepishly at Edward's glare.

Edward held his hands up in front of him. "I…. er…"

"Edward learned all about poison ivy. The hard way." He threw another irritated glare my way.

Dr. Cullen's ashen eyebrows rose towards his hairline. "Oh. Well, let's get inside and have a look then," he mumbled, before turning and leading the way to the back door.

We followed Dr. Cullen into the kitchen, where he stopped in front of the large sink and reached for Edward's hands. "Only here?" he asked.

Edward nodded his head and stared at his hands resting on his father's.

"Good thinking with the mud," Dr. Cullen was muttering. He twisted Edward's hands one way and then the other, before turning on the tap and pushing them under the stream of water. Edward hissed at the sensation.

"Bella got the idea from treating bee stings or something," he said between clenched teeth. His hands beneath the layer of mud were red and raw looking.

"Different problem, sure, but it's soothing, so basically the same principle. Good job, Bella." He turned his sharp eyes away from Edward's tortured hands and smiled at me.

I felt my face flush as I attempted to return his smile. I wrenched my eyes away from Dr. Cullen's gaze and rested them on Edward; his brow was furrowed, but he wasn't looking at me.

"This is the worst case of contact dermatitis I've ever seen from poison ivy. What were you doing, Edward?"

"I…umm… Well, I didn't know it was poison ivy. I was kind of picking at the flowers and little berries when Bella noticed." His face was nearly as red as mine. I would have felt bad if it wasn't so hilarious.

"And now you're going to have to give back your hazardous plants Boy Scout badge," I told him with a grin.

My grin widened when he shot me yet another glare. Dr. Cullen's back was to me as he searched through a drawer, but I noticed his shoulders shaking with silent laughter. He turned back towards us and began to pat Edward's hands dry with a small towel. He was trying, and failing, to suppress a smile. "I'll just go and find some calamine lotion."

"Nice face," Edward muttered once his father had left the room.

"You like that? It's my 'Told Ya So' face."

He studied me intently for a moment, pretending to contemplate my expression. "Perfect mixture of smug and smart-alecky; it looks a lot like your Mastermind face."

"Your face looks kinda like your 'I-lost-at-Mastermiind-50-times-in-a-row-Oh-The-Humanity' face, too, now that you mention it."

"Hmm, so you think you can best me in a battle of wits now, do you?"

"Oh, Edward, I've got to take my victories where I can, haven't I? Cause there is no way I could ever beat you in a physical contest, like, say, a foot race… or a beauty pageant."

He rolled his eyes. "Oh yes, don't you dare try and steal my tiara," he deadpanned.

I poked him playfully in the side and he jumped and squealed. Squealed? I cackled internally. He was ticklish.

"Come on, Miss America, let's clean the raspberry juice off your face."

"I think I can handle that myself…" he started.

I raised my eyebrows.

His eyes fell to his blotchy hands and he bit the side of his lip. "Guess not."

"Now, now, come and let Nurse Bella work her magic." I winked at him and grasped his elbow. Looking into his face, I immediately regretted my teasing. He looked flushed and the annoying little crease was between his eyes again.

I dropped his arm and looked away from him, sighing.

I was one part relieved, one part frustrated when Dr. Cullen came back into the kitchen at that moment, carrying several little bottles. He immediately set to work rubbing Edward's hands down with alcohol, before rinsing them yet again. I winced with Edward throughout the entire process – I'd had enough experiences with raw skin and rubbing alcohol to know exactly how badly it stung.

"I'll put the calamine on for now, but let me know if it isn't helping and I'll go into town and get you some hydrocortisone, okay?"

The rest of the afternoon was quiet; we sat around watching TV, waiting to see if the calamine lotion would be enough to combat the itching of Edward's hands. It was comfortable, however, and I was sad to have to leave when the time came.

Carlisle – as he insisted I call him -- drove me home after giving Edward's hands another calamine lotion bath. After my initial misgivings and discomfort, I began to feel at ease in his presence, and we fell into easy conversation.

Charlie's cruiser was parked in the driveway when we arrived at the house. Shit. He was peeking through the front window; he'd likely been freaking out over my unknown whereabouts.

I said a quick goodbye to Carlisle and rushed inside to placate my father. He assaulted me with his fussing before I had even shut the door behind me.

"Why did Dr. Cullen drop you off? Are you all right? Were you hurt? Where have you been?"

"Dad –" I tried to cut him off between questions, but he just wouldn't be stopped. "Dad, I'm fine. I was hanging out at the Cullens' today for a while, and Dr. Cullen drove me home after Edward sorta fell into some poison ivy and couldn't. No big deal."

"Edward? How do you know him?" he asked in a suspicious tone. I was suddenly well aware of how it felt to be questioned by the Chief of Police; all Charlie needed was a spotlight to shine in my eyes.

"We met at the hospital the other day. He's really nice."

"Uh huh."

"Dad, he's my friend. Aren't you glad I made a friend here?"

"Of course, Bells. I've got nothing against the kid; he's never caused me a lick of trouble. But there are girls here in town you could be friends with."

I rolled my eyes and headed in the direction of the stairs. "Okay, Dad. I'm just going to go change and I'll be right down to make dinner."

~*~

Edward and I were lying in a field of wildflowers. He was shirtless, wearing only his grey shorts and a pair of flip-flops. He had the mud on his hands, and I was feeding him raspberries.

As I held out a berry for him, he leaned forward and took it with his teeth, only to place it on my breastbone and lick it off. I shuddered and felt the low rumble of his laughter against my shoulder. He lifted his head and opened his mouth for another; this time he placed it in the hollow of my throat. He sucked it from my skin and I whimpered, the fingers of my left hand clutching at the grass.

I placed another raspberry between his teeth. He hooked his arms around my waist and, careful not to touch me with his hands, he dragged me on top of him with his elbows and forearms. I dropped the remaining berries and helped him along, pulling myself over his body. He grinned up at me, partially squishing the raspberry with his teeth, its juice running in a single stream down his chin. He leaned forward until his lips were level with mine and pushed the berry into my mouth with his tongue. I wrapped my own tongue around it, the bittersweet flavour flooding my mouth, and then bridged the remaining distance between us, capturing his lips with mine.

I slid my lips up over his jaw and down to his throat, the salty taste of his skin mingling with the juice. He tried to draw me closer, his elbows digging into my hips. He gave up after a moment and huffed quietly against my hair, frustrated by his incapacitated hands. I felt him shift beneath me, then his bare foot slid slowly up my calf and over my thigh. He slung his leg over my hip, resting its weight on my butt, pushing my body flush against his. I moaned loudly and sank my teeth into the skin of his neck that I had just been kissing. His hips bucked against mine as he hissed. He placed his hands on either side of my face and pulled my mouth back to his.

Wait, his hands? The mud was gone; where had the mud gone?

"Bells?"

Fuck, Charlie. I rolled off of Edward and frantically searched the small meadow for my father.

"Bells, are you all right? You were moaning in your sleep."

It was dark all of a sudden; when had it gotten dark? The flowers were different -- flat and colourless. Oh.

I pulled my face out of my balled up floral sheets and grunted at my father. I was grateful that the sky had clouded over again so there was no bright moon shining in the window to give away my flushed appearance. "Sorry, nightmare."

"All right?" he asked again.

"Uh huh."

He nodded his head and left the room. I heard him shuffling back to his own room down the hall.

How fucking embarrassing. I only hoped that my moans hadn't been obviously sexual. Had Charlie expected to find Edward there in the room with me? He couldn't have, otherwise he would have looked around, wouldn't he?

If Renée had walked in on me having a dirty dream, sure I would have been horrified, but we would have laughed about it and it would have been quickly forgotten, but Charlie?

Fuck.

I burrowed under my blankets, waiting for the heat in my face and the pounding of my heart to subside so I could make an attempt at going back to sleep. I somehow doubted it was a real possibility.

How in the hell was I going to face my father in the morning?

Feedback of any sort would be much appreciated. I'm really unsure about this chapter. Many thanks. :)