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Playlist: Spinning-Jack's Mannequin

Forget December-Something Corporate

Strawberry Swing-Coldplay

Even the high-n-mighty Edward Cullen can be humbled. (Think I didn't notice the red in your face this time?)

He glanced at me and leaned over just enough to whisper in my ear. "What can I say, sometimes all it takes is a beautiful girl."

I didn't know what to say so I stayed silent and opened my notebook to a new page. I began to draw. I wasn't sure what, at first, but after I had spent a good ten minutes on shading a sharp jaw and perfecting two big dark eyes I paused and almost laughed at how ridiculous this was getting. For the last half hour I hadn't even been aware I'd been thinking about him.

"Can I see?"

I jumped, startled out of my thoughts. "Um, well, no, it's not…" but I wasn't fast enough; he was already pulling the notebook out of my hands. I held my breath, waiting for the laugh, or the what-a-freak look, but when I tentatively looked up neither was there. His eyes were wide but with…surprise?

He looked at me with the same expression he'd had the second day I'd spoken to him: searching for something he couldn't quite find. "Where did you learn to do this?"

I bit my lip, a little embarrassed. He did know he'd caught me sketching his profile like an obsessive stalker, right? "Um, before I met you, my mom, Renee, she made me take art classes with her. She was always doing something like that, art classes, dance, piano lessons, painting, sculpting, interior design, gardening. She was a creative soul, I guess. She quit after a couple of weeks, but I kind of kept at it."

"You're talented." He smiled as I blushed, and this wasn't the same arrogant smirk that seemed to always grace his lips lately.

"Thanks," I said as the bell marked the end of the day. I gathered my books slowly, wishing, and not admitting that I was, for an excuse to stay just a few seconds longer. Mike had never found my drawing interesting. He didn't dislike it, but he never commented on it. Oh God, Mike.

"Bella, you coming?" he called from the door, shaking Jessica, who pulled at him playfully, off his arm.

"Yeah," I called over my shoulder, "hold on." I turned to Edward who'd gathered his books as well and stood up. We stared at each other in silence for a moment.

"Did you think I forgot I drove you here today?" he smiled, making me smile back.

"Well, I wondered. Mike has to work today and he starts his shift in like half an hour so…"

Edward laughed. "Meet me by the library," he said more quietly and walked out of the room.

I followed and met Mike at the front of the school. "Hey, Mike," I said, painfully conscious of the unenthusiastic tone of my words, and of the fact that Mike didn't seem to notice how I stared after Edward.

"Hey, Bells," he leaned in and gave me a one-armed hug. "I noticed your truck wasn't here today. What happened?"

"Something's wrong with it, so I got a ride with…a friend," I cleared my throat to cover the hesitation at the last two words.

"Oh, do you need a ride then? I could drive you home…"

"No, it's fine, I'm supposed to meet my friend in the library and we're gonna book search anyway. I'll get a ride." The words rushed out but he didn't seem to notice. He shrugged and kissed me swiftly, but not before I noticed I hadn't reacted to it.

He began heading off to his jeep and then stopped. "I can come look at your car if you want. Just call."

"I'll probably have Charlie look at it, don't worry about it," I assured, already turning towards the library. "Have fun at work," I added lightly. He laughed and rolled his eyes sarcastically, and left. Poor Mike, I thought, he doesn't know his girlfriend is actually a monster. He's so innocent. He doesn't deserve this. He didn't deserve this at all, and I didn't deserve him. But did I deserve to be unhappy? I sighed in frustration. I'd figure it out later. For now, Edward was, hopefully, waiting for me by the library.

As I neared, I took in his form leaning against the pillar by the library doors, and he reminded me of a Greek statue, perfect and perfectly still. He looked up and I saw his bright green eyes light up but he held back the smile. "Ready?" he asked.

I nodded and fell into step beside him towards his car.

"So," I said, smirking a little; I felt victorious that I had escaped Mike and would sit in the car with Edward, if only for twenty minutes. I hated that part of me right now but I couldn't bring myself to care, particularly as Edward presently turned his head to look at me with a funny expression of adorable confusion.

I giggled and he nudged me playfully. "What?" he asked, on the verge of chuckling himself.

I didn't really know what I was laughing at, because his expression wasn't as funny as I thought. And still, the silly smile wouldn't leave my face. "I guess…I guess I'm just in a good mood today."

Edward laughed, and I silently vowed to find what would make him produce that thick honey-like sound again. "That's good, I guess," he laughed as he opened the passenger door for me, shutting it after I stepped in.

From my seat (still a little damp from this morning; I'd have to pay him for that), I watched his graceful stride to his side of the car. Was he always this smooth? This attractive? I hadn't been attracted to him before. Right?

"So I'll take a look at that piece of the cretaceous period of yours when we get to your house," he said with a laugh as he pulled out of the parking lot onto the main road.

I swatted his arm playfully. "Hey, have respect for the senior citizen, okay? I'm kind of liking him more than you right now."

"So you like me?"

My breath got caught in my throat. I looked out the window at the trees rushing by. "What do you mean, like you?"

I heard him sigh. "You know what I mean, Bella."

I didn't respond, figuring it'd be safer. If I tried to speak, I'd say something very, very stupid. But I was wrong, because he chuckled darkly. "You do, don't you? I knew it."

I was getting more agitated with every word he said. I wouldn't admit they were correct. "What, did you read my mind?"

He smiled. "Vampire, remember?"

I huffed. "That doesn't entitle you to other powers."

"This vampire does have other powers," he said haughtily, "you know, besides being incredibly sexy."

I narrowed my eyes in his direction, but wouldn't meet his eyes. He was starting to know me a little too much and if I wasn't careful, I'd do the very, very stupid thing I was thinking. "Of course, I like you, Edward, we lived together for three years. I learned to."

He seemed to let it go, so I risked a glance at his face. He didn't look at me but a smug smile played on his lips. I wanted to growl in frustration at his arrogance. Why couldn't I just stop staring at him? Why did he have to be so smart and…and funny and gorgeous and have such deep green eyes and…oh this isn't helping. I chewed on my bottom lip and stared back out my window.

Not soon enough, he pulled into my driveway next to my traitorous Chevy and I was out of the car before he'd turned it off. His mere presence had me hot and bothered and I wasn't sure how long I'd last now.

I ran up the porch and opened the door, dropping my stuff inside and heading back out. Edward was already bent over under the open hood of my car, looking for the problem. He'd rolled the long sleeves of his green sweater to his elbows, revealing the strong muscles of his forearms. I was nearly mesmerized at the way his long elegant fingers moved over the black cords near the battery, and his eyebrows furrowed in concentration over his perfect eyes. I sighed and descended down the steps. This was why I wouldn't last.

"Have you figured out what's wrong with it?"

He saw me and straightened up, brushing off his hands on his jeans. "I have a couple of ideas but see if you can figure it out."

My mouth fell open a little. "What? The reason I'm letting you do this is because I can't, Edward. Otherwise I would have done it this morning."

"Try it now, while you're not frustrated." He smiled the lopsided smile he seemed to save for me. I hadn't seen it on his face when he spoke to other people. I was frustrated; just not in the way he thought.

I gave him a last weak glare and looked under the hood. "All I see are chords and big stuff and the battery."

"Think about it, Bella." I liked how my name rolled off his tongue. Too much. "You know what this should look like under normal circumstances. Look for what's not quite right."

"I know that, idiot," I muttered under my breath. I was sure he'd heard me but he chose to ignore the comment. As I looked over everything carefully I couldn't find anything different than what I remember it all looked like the last time I'd looked under here, which for the record was quite a while ago. Nothing, nothing…nothing. I stood up and looked around, thinking. Wait.

"Wait." I noticed the gas cap on the side of the car and I knew something felt off. "Does it have to do with the gas cap at all?"

"Why would you think it had to do with the gas cap?" he asked with a smirk, confirming I was right.

"I'm not sure," I admitted, "I just…I was thinking maybe it had something to do with the fuel line or something near it."

He shrugged. "Let's see." He took my hand and pulled me to the side of the car. He pulled open the cover on the cap. "Open it."

I was sure I looked a little confused, but I quickly did what he said. A stream of air whooshed out of the cap and I jumped a little. Edward's hand tightened in mine reassuringly. "It's okay," he said, "It was a vapor lock. Incidentally that only happens with older cars. There was a vacuum in the fuel line and the fuel wasn't reaching the engine, so you were right. It had a lot to do with the fuel line. Go start the car."

Again, I felt a little confused, but I trusted him, in more than just the car situation, and probably more than I should. Reluctantly, I let go of his hand and pulled the keys out of my back pocket. The key slid into the ignition and as I turned it, the truck roared to life. The sound startled me and I laughed.

"You fixed it." Edward leaned against the doorframe and smiled.

"Thanks," I breathed, holding his burning gaze.

He shrugged a little and his grin widened. "You figured it out. I only stood back and looked pretty."

I giggled involuntarily and tried to chastise myself, but at the moment, breathing in his scent and feeling the warmth his body's proximity produced in my own body, I could hardly think. Suddenly the world seemed to come to a halt, silence, stillness, and it was just Edward and I. All I could see was him, his bright eyes flecked with gold, his ever-so-slightly bent nose, the slight imperfection of a chipped canine next to his otherwise straight teeth, the graceful curve of his lips into the mesmerizing smile that revealed those teeth. Without another thought I leaned forward and captured that smile with my lips.

A voice began screaming in my head to stop, but it was so insignificant to the way my heart jumped and fell into a fast rhythm, finally relieved to see that his lips were in fact as soft as I'd secretly imagined. I should have pulled away immediately. I should have shoved him away when his lips moved so in sync with mine. I should have let go of his hand that rested on my neck. There were a lot of things I should have done.

The kiss lasted longer than I should have liked, but I didn't care. When he pulled away, we were both breathing harder. "Bella, I…"

"I'm sorry," I apologized quickly, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have…"

"Bella." His voice stopped me and forced me to look up. He seemed at a loss for words, mouth open as if to say something. Instead, he laughed nervously. "Bella, it's my fault."

"It's both of us then." He smiled apologetically and I held his face between my hands; he leaned into my touch and I felt my heart flutter. "Edward, I…I don't know that I should have done that."

His face fell and I quickly added, "You're too…I have a boyfriend, Edward. Kissing you is…probably not acceptable, and I…"

"I should go," he said quietly, and I felt rather than heard the disappointment in his voice.

I hesitated but I dropped my hands and watched him drive away. The feelings that had flooded my veins and into my heart when I'd felt his lips move so effortlessly with me told me I needed him, like fire needs oxygen, to survive. They reminded me that I didn't feel like doing cartwheels the few times Mike's lips had touched me. They laughed at me now when I tried to convince myself it would never happen again.

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