Hey all, so sorry again to have "faked" you out last weekend with a chapter update when there wasn't one, but I just wanted to let you know that I didn't forget about you all! I felt guilty every day for not working on my story. Well, now I am posting a new chapter finally to make up for my neglecting you! *slaps wrist* bad Sloopy! Baaaad Sloopy, lol :P

This one almost didn't get done cuz I'm battling a terrible head cold right now, ugh, I can't get a break at all these days!!! *sigh* Anyway, here it is… I hope you enjoy!

I thank my beta-h00r, Jen (angelgirl0910) for lookin' out for me, grammar- and punctuation-wise ;) Although for this chapter I beta'd myself (wow, that sounds dirty, lol) ;) :P

I don't own the characters, they are Stephenie's… I am just taking them on a new ride ;)

Cheers!


Chapter 6: Flowers, Mud and Apple Pies

***BPOV***

I swear, this was the longest day in history.

I felt like a little kid on Christmas morning, waking up at five o'clock to see if Santa had been there, leaving my gifts under the tree. After a night of the best sleep I have gotten in a LONG time, I awoke earlier than I normally would on a day off, checking my email first. I was ecstatic to see I had a message from Tony. All it said was, "Good morning, Marie! Hope you have a beautiful day!" with a rose attached again. Was this Tony guy too good to be true? Maybe, or maybe not… but I was going to make sure to enjoy the attention while it lasted!

I replied back to Tony immediately this morning, thanking him for the beautiful "flowers," telling him to have a great day as well, and that I was looking forward to our big e-date tonight. I then preceded to take a shower to officially get started on my day.

My day was nothing special, really. I ran a few errands… picked up a few groceries, put gasoline in my truck, made a trip to the post office. I then came home, did some laundry and made some preparations for dinner. Like I said, nothing special. However, tedious tasks like this would normally make the time tick away fairly quickly. Today was the exact opposite. I let out a huge sigh of relief when Charlie and I were finished with dinner, and I hurried to clear the table, eager to get everything finished in time for my online excursion.

Unfortunately, my hustle didn't go unnoticed by Charlie.

"Where's the fire, Bells?" he asked, a smirk on his face, obviously amused by the speed of my after-dinner clean-up. "You got another date or something?" he finished, trying to hide the growing grin on his face. While I didn't give him all the details of my dates, he did know that they were all veritable disasters thus far.

I didn't have the energy to explain about Tony. Well, there was nothing to explain, yet. So I made up an excuse to cover. I didn't like lying to Charlie, but I didn't want a lecture about online safety, which he's already given me time and time again.

"Well, not really a date, just taking in one of those free webcasts on UW-Seattle's website. You know me, always wanting to expand my mind and stuff," I replied with a wink.

Charlie laughed, knowing that I was completely BS-ing him, but taking the hint and not pressing me about my plans. Got to love Charlie, he doesn't keep digging for info. "Alright then," he smiled, kissing me on my forehead before turning to walk out of the kitchen. "You have fun, whatever you're up to," he added as he walked out to the living room, leaving me to my dishes.

*********

When I completed my cleaning, I hurried up the stairs to my room. I flipped open my laptop, and found myself pacing the floor, chewing on my bottom lip as I waited for it to power up. It was only a few seconds that went by but it seemed like an eternity. Once it was done, I sat down at my desk and glanced at my clock. "6:52," I said out loud as I opened my browser and clicked on the bookmark for secondtimearound(dot)org.

Entering my sign-in information, I nervously bounced my leg, doing my best to will away the butterflies in my stomach. I don't know why I was so nervous, it's not like Tony and I hadn't spoken before. But there was just something… a feeling I couldn't identify yet, but I knew I was excited. Once I was logged into the site, I clicked on the link for the chat room as I held in a breath.

Once connected, I scanned the chat room participants for his name. Hmm, not here yet. I was content to wait for him since I knew I was a few minutes early, so I began to follow the conversations that were going on in the room. I only read for a few seconds when I heard the familiar PING.

Anappleaday: Well, you certainly are a punctual one, aren't you? :)

I laughed, completely startled by the chat window that opened on my screen. Tony had been there, after all. I began typing my response.

Forwhomthebelltolls: Do you always make a habit of sneaking up on unsuspecting women? :)

Anappleaday: There you go, answering a question with a question again.

Forwhomthebelltolls: And, what's wrong with an inquisitive mind? ;)

Anappleaday: I didn't say there was anything wrong with it, LOL

Forwhomthebelltolls: And yes, I believe in being punctual. So what's your story? LOL

Anappleaday: LOL I logged myself into the chat as invisible.

Hmm, I didn't notice that you could do that… I'd have to pay closer attention next time I log in.

Forwhomthebelltolls: Ahh, I see. Sneaky!! LOL :P

Anappleaday: Sometimes, LOL

Forwhomthebelltolls: Thank you again for the emails, and the "flowers". That was very thoughtful of you. :)

Anappleaday: You're quite welcome. I know it may have been a little cheesy, but…

Forwhomthebelltolls: No, it wasn't cheesy at all, it was nice :)

Anappleaday: :)

Forwhomthebelltolls: So how was your day?

Anappleaday: Ah, it was alright. The day seemed to drag a bit. It wasn't a great day, but it wasn't the worst, either.

Anappleaday: However it started to look up about, oh, 4 or 5 minutes ago when you got here. :)

I blushed when I read that. I felt the same way.

Forwhomthebelltolls: *blush* thank you kindly. :)

Anappleaday: And your day?

Forwhomthebelltolls: About the same. Nothing special, until now ;)

Anappleaday: Thank you as well!

I smiled as I paused to think of what to say next. At least in an internet chat room, if you're quiet for a couple minutes, you can claim you got a phone call, or some other excuse for a distraction. Awkward silences aren't as awkward as they are when you are face to face with someone, that's for certain.

Thankfully, Tony ended our awkward silence first.

Anappleaday: So you mentioned last night that you've just started dating again…

Forwhomthebelltolls: Oh God, don't remind me, LOL *facepalm*

Anappleaday: Some winners, eh? LOL :P

Forwhomthebelltolls: Well, last night's date ended up being married, so…

Anappleaday: Whoa! Are you kidding me?!

Forwhomthebelltolls: The dude's wife showed up at the restaurant where we were.

Forwhomthebelltolls: Believe me, I wish it were a joke… maybe it is a joke, on me!

Anappleaday: Marie, don't say that, I'm 100% positive it wasn't you.

Anappleaday: Men are assholes. Plain and simple.

I laughed.

Forwhomthebelltolls: You're a man. So what does that say about you? LOL :P

Anappleaday: Well I'm the exception, of course! LOL :P

I laughed harder, so hard that my Pepsi I was drinking almost came out of my nose.

Forwhomthebelltolls: What makes you so sure about that, Tiger? LMAO :P

Anappleaday: LOL, because I know we're assholes. Admitting you have a problem is the first step to correcting it!

Forwhomthebelltolls: LOL I guess so!

Anappleaday: Did you just call me "Tiger?" LOL

Forwhomthebelltolls: LMAO I believe I did, yes :P

Anappleaday: LMAO :P

Forwhomthebelltolls: :D

Anappleaday: Seriously, all guys think with their dicks. It's a fact. Some men just have a better handle on things.

Anappleaday: And I didn't mean that to be as dirty as that sounded, LOL :P

Forwhomthebelltolls: ROFLMAO, that did sound kinda dirty :P

Forwhomthebelltolls: But I can forgive you for your crassness, I suppose ;)

Anappleaday: Well thank you very much!

Forwhomthebelltolls: You're welcome LOL

Anappleaday: As I was saying about that jerk, don't take it too personally. Men are animals. We'd do it in the mud if we had to.

I laughed hysterically as I typed my next line…

Forwhomthebelltolls: Or in an apple pie… :P

Anappleaday: "American Pie" LMAO… one of the cinematic epics of our time, for sure!

Anappleaday: Incidentally one of my favorite movies, too!

Forwhomthebelltolls: Mine too! LOL :D

Anappleaday: So you like comedy movies?

Forwhomthebelltolls: I like a little bit of everything, but comedies are my favorite, yes. You?

Anappleaday: Same here. Music?

Forwhomthebelltolls: Again, a little bit of everything. Except for (most) metal. I like something you can sing along with.

Anappleaday: You can't sing along to metal? LOL

Forwhomthebelltolls: No. Scream along, maybe, LOL

Anappleaday: LOL yep, I guess :)

We continued on this path of getting to know each other for a long time. We found out everything from each other's favorite colors, to favorite foods, to favorite beverages. Favorite books. Favorite TV show. Favorite TV commercial. And any other favorites we could think of to talk about and compare. Eerily, I discovered that I had quite a bit in common with Tony.

Before we knew it, nearly three hours had slipped by.

Anappleaday: Wow, I just looked at the clock, I can't believe it's almost midnight!

Forwhomthebelltolls: Oh my God, that's right, you're two hours ahead of me! I should let you go!

Anappleaday: Yes, I suppose so.

Anappleaday: For the record, I don't want to go. I'm having fun chatting it up with you, Marie. ;)

I blushed at Tony's admission. I was having fun too, but unfortunately my body was betraying me by yawning. Damn me for my inability to sleep in this morning, or I wouldn't be so tired now. And, I certainly couldn't blame him for being tired, too, considering the time difference. I guess it was time to wrap this up.

Forwhomthebelltolls: I'm having fun too, Tony, but you need to get to sleep.

Anappleaday: I do, actually, I'm working a double shift tomorrow.

Forwhomthebelltolls: Well then I won't keep you any longer.

Before I could bridge the question of if Tony would like to chat again soon, he answered it.

Anappleaday: The next couple evenings will be quite busy for me due to my work commitments, but I'll email you and we'll schedule another chat before the end of the week.

Anappleaday: Perhaps Thursday night, 8:00, if that works for you.

YES, he wants to do this again!!!

Forwhomthebelltolls: Yes, that works for me. :)

Anappleaday: Great! :) I'll keep you posted if something comes up, but I'm going to do my best to make sure it doesn't, LOL!

Forwhomthebelltolls: That's fine if it does, don't worry about it. It sounds like your schedule is a bit more unpredictable than mine is.

Forwhomthebelltolls: Most of the time, my schedule is 8:00-4:00.

Anappleaday: OK, then I shall see you Thursday!

Forwhomthebelltolls: Until then… ;)

Anappleaday: *hugs* Good night, Marie! Sweet dreams!

Forwhomthebelltolls: *hugs* Good night, Tony! Sweet dreams!

I hung around until I saw the prompt on the screen indicating that Tony had logged off. I sighed as I logged off of the site myself and closed my laptop, plugging it in for a charge.

I got myself into my PJs, all ready for bed, and used the bathroom before turning in. When I saw myself in the mirror, I could have sworn that I was glowing. I smiled at the thought as I returned to my bedroom, seeking the warmth of my comforter. I stared at the ceiling, feeling a smile drift onto my face again.

Grinning ear to ear, I rolled onto my side and drifted off to sleep.

Well there ya go… finally a new chapter!!! YAY :D

I am going to leave their chat names capitalized from now on, it's too tedious to go back and change them all to lowercase letters, even though I did that for the last chapter. It sucked, LOL… so I'm just going to leave it from now on. Just leaving a note about it because I know someone might think about pointing out the difference to me. Now you don't have to, lol….

Reviews are better than doing it in the mud… :P