"Wouldn't it be nice if we were older

Then we wouldn't have to wait so long."

-

"Yeah-I-had-a-nice-time-okay-night," I quickly muttered, my words blurring together, as I swiftly shut the door in Mike Newton's face.

Okay, it was rude, but completely necessary, especially since I'd repeatedly told him that he didn't need to walk me to my door and no, I did not want to prolong our date.

I sighed, leaning my head back against the shut door. My date with Mike was, well, not what I'd expected. It was more like bringing my new dog to a restaurant. Seriously. The guy kept staring at me like I was a treat or something. I swear I saw him with his tongue hanging out like a puppy at one point.

Though Mike wasn't my cup of tea, our date had been a thousand times better than the one I'd had with Eric Yorkie the night before. The man was bad news. His seemingly naivete was actually a complete farce, as I found out halfway through the appetizer as he checked out every single girl that passed our table, including the waitresses. After we paid the bill (and Eric tried to smoothly slide our waitress his number), he had the nerve to ask me if I wanted to spend the night at his place. Needless to say, I didn't accept the invitation.

I dropped my keys on the kitchen table and was about to head to my room when I heard papers ruffling outside. I turned towards the sound, which was coming from the balcony, surprised. I wouldn't have expected anyone to be home so early on a Saturday night.

I opened the sliding glass door to see Edward lounging on a chair with a book in his hand. His head popped up and he smiled when he saw me. "Hello."

"Hi," I answered quietly.

"How was your date?" He asked. Edward and Emmett had answered the door for Mike when he'd come to pick me up. To my utter embarrassment at the time, Emmett had half-jokingly interrogated Mike on his 'intentions' with me. Even Edward had done the whole big brother charade with his murderous glares towards my date.

"Er, no comment," I grumbled. He raised an eyebrow. "It was pretty horrible. Just like the one last night and probably every date I have from now on." I silently cursed Alice for convincing me that I should go out with Mike and Eric.

Edward chuckled, shaking his head. "Don't be ridiculous. I have confidence that you'll meet someone you like one of these days." He winked and I couldn't help the blush that crept up my neck.

For the past week and a half or so, things had been going fairly well with Edward and I. It had been a bit awkward at first, but I was beginning to feel comfortable talking to him alone and I was sure that we would be good friends soon enough.

At least, as long as I stopped ogling him every time I caught him walking around in the apartment without his shirt on. Gah, bad thoughts, Bella.

"What're you reading?" I nodded at the book in his hands as I leapt up to sit on the edge of the balcony.

Edward rubbed the back of his neck, looking sheepish. "It's yours actually. I found it lying around." He flipped it over so I could see that he was reading Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.

I couldn't help my look of shock. "You know, most guys don't sit at home reading Romeo and Juliet on a Saturday night," I teased.

Edward grimaced. "Yeah, well, how about we keep that between us...I think it might freak Emmett out," he replied, laughing.

I grinned. He was right. Emmett would be unrelenting in taunting Edward if he found out about his interest in Shakespeare. "I can't keep any promises," I joked. "So, how do you like it?"

Edward made a face. "I'm not sure. I can't really say I'm a big fan of Romeo."

I frowned. "What do you mean? What's wrong with Romeo?"

He shrugged. "He just seems quite fickle. Not exactly Prince Charming."

I gaped at him. "You do realize that you're talking about one of the most famous characters in literature, right? Romeo is the kind of a guy any girl would want." I couldn't help but feel offended by his dislike of Romeo. He was one of my favorite literary characters and as a teenager, I'd even had a tiny crush on him.

Edward chuckled. "I'm not impressed."

For the next few hours, we argued about the Shakespearean character, as I strongly tried to defend him, Edward laughing at me the whole time. We talked about other things too, almost everything, actually. Movies, books, our interests. It seemed that we had a lot in common, which was happily surprising. I asked him why he had moved in with Emmett and he told me about breaking up with his girlfriend and how she had kicked him out, which I quickly remembered from the night we had first met. He told me that things had ended because he wouldn't marry her, "the opposite situation of yours", he'd joked. We talked about our dreams, our fears, our families. It reminded me of the night we'd spent together and how easy it had been to like Edward, at least from what I remembered. I didn't know what had come over me, why I was so comfortable talking to someone who I hardly knew.

I yawned as Edward finished telling me a story about going fishing with his father, Edward Sr.

He laughed. "You must be exhausted." He looked down at his watch. "It's almost three in the morning."

"No, no, I'm fine. Keep going," I mumbled drowsily, rubbing my eyes.

Edward smiled and stood up, putting the book under one arm and grabbing my wrist to pull me inside. "C'mon, sleepy-head. Time for bed."

I followed, too tired to argue, as he led me to our rooms.

We reached my door first and I turned the knob as Edward continued down to his room.

I stood awkwardly at my door, wondering what to say to him. He turned around to look at me questioningly.

"Well, um," I started lamely. "It was nice, uh, talking to you."

He smiled. "I enjoyed it as well. We'll have to do it again sometime."

I scratched my arm, thinking about how 'date-like' this all sounded.

"Yeah, I'd like that. Well, g'night." I sighed, pushing my door all the way open.

"Goodnight, Bella," he replied in his velvety voice.

Maybe this whole friends thing was working out just like I'd wanted...

Edward flashed me a crooked grin and my stomach fluttered with butterflies.

Or not.

-

"You know it's gonna make it that much better

When we can say goodnight and stay together."

-

A/N: Song is "Wouldn't It Be Nice" - Beach Boys