To: Edward (eacullen(a)mymailman. com)

From: Garrett (swimswithsharks(a)mymailman. com)

Subject: RE: Hey

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Hey Edward! It's good to hear from you, man. And yeah, I'd be happy to help in any way I can. I'm usually off in the evenings, so your best bet is to call after 6 or so.

Kate's doing well and sends her love. I'm curious to see what you're planning and look forward to your call.

Garrett

***

To: Edward (eacullen(a)mymailman. com)

From: Emmett (ladiesman2000(a)mymailman. com)

Subject: That's cold, man.

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Real cold. I have to hear from DAD that you're planning a big date?

That's not cool.

-Emmett

***

To: Dad (drcarlislecullen(a)mymailman. com)

From: Edward (eacullen(a)mymailman. com)

Subject: I think there was a miscommunication

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When I said not to tell Mom, I meant Emmett, too. How did that even come up, anyway?

Regardless, things are set up with Garrett.

I'm sure I'll be hearing from Mom any moment now, so I'll keep this short.

-Edward

***

To: Edward (eacullen(a)mymailman. com)

From: Dad (drcarlislecullen(a)mymailman. com)

Subject: It's not my fault

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I simply asked Emmett if he knew what you were planning. I figured if you were doing anything I needed to worry about, you'd take advantage of that knack for trouble he's developed.

Now I can rest easy. I'm sure you'll do great impressing this girl Emmett was talking about. And as far as I know, your mother still hasn't heard. I don't know why Emmett hasn't told her, so I would talk to your brother soon.

Good luck!

-Dad

***

REPLY TO THE POST:

That_boy posted:

Alright, everything seems to be set up. All that's left is to pick out and pick up the flowers. Any suggestions?

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REPLY TO YOUR POST:

Squishy posted:

Roses are always classic. I don't think anyone would say no to those.

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REPLY TO YOUR POST:

Burningcherubim posted:

Maybe you could try to find something with a meaning? You know how every flower means something different? I bet you could find something really special.

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REPLY TO YOUR POST:

Sparklemotion posted:

Oh that's so sweet! I think this one guy tried that with me once? But he gave me a bunch of white and yellow carnations, so I don't think they meant what he thought they did. : (

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REPLY TO YOUR POST:

Death_and_taxes

Do you know her birthday? You could do whatever her birth month flower is.

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REPLY TO YOUR POST:

Lollipop58 posted:

Oh I like the birthday flower idea! Mine's Lily of the Valley. And those smell soooo good!

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REPLY TO YOUR POST:

SmoothCriminal posted:

Tulips! So you can work in "If I had a garden I'd put your tulips and my tulips together."

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REPLY TO THE POST:

That_boy posted:

Tulips are actually not a bad suggestion. I think I found what I needed.

Thank you and wish me luck!

-

REPLY TO YOUR POST

SmoothCriminal posted:

So the aquarium is a go, right? I've got one more for you then:

"The body is made up of 90% water and I'm thirsty."

Good luck!

***

To: Garrett (swimswithsharks(a)mymailman. com)

From: Emmett (ladiesman2000(a)mymailman. com)

Subject: Edward's Date

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Hey Garrett

So my brother is being ridiculously secretive with this girl, and I know he came to you for help. Now, it is my brotherly duty to find out as much as possible about what is going on. Can you help me out here?

-Emmett

***

To: Emmett (ladiesman2000(a)mymailman. com)

From: Garrett (swimswithsharks(a)mymailman. com)

Subject: RE: Edward's Date

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Hey Emmett

I just got back from work. Edward wanted me to help out, and I did get to meet this girl of his. I can understand why he's keeping her close, he probably doesn't want you to scare her off! As far as I could tell, though, things seemed to be going really well. I'm sure you'll meet her soon enough.

And he made me swear not to tell anyone in the family anything more until he gave me the all clear. Sorry.

-Garrett

***

To: Emmett (ladiesman2000(a)mymailman. com)

From: Edward (eacullen(a)mymailman. com)

Subject: Stop calling me

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I'm not going to tell you anything, so you might as well give up now.

And if you tell Mom anything, I'm telling Rose about that time you wanted to prank her using her wardrobe. And I won't let you crash on my couch again when she refuses to let you in.

-Edward

***

To: Alice (fortunexcookie(a)mymailman. com)

From: Bella (ciaobella(a)mymailman. com)

Subject: I'll try not to gush but…

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ALICE. I just got home and it's like 2 am. If that doesn't tell you how amazing this date was, I don't know what will. For a guy to keep me out that late when I have that stupid morning class tomorrow, you know he has to be beyond amazing, right?

Here's the story, because I'm still too wired to sleep tonight. I'll hate myself in the morning, but I don't even care at this point. And I'll try to sound more like the English major I am than a 13 year old girl.

Disclaimer: Dialogue is not exact, but is close enough and may have been altered for the sake of my story.

Let's start at the beginning. He arrived promptly at 7, just as he said he would. I opened the door to see him standing there, clutching a bouquet of beautiful tulips. I'd never seen any like them before, he said they were called Variegated Tulips, because they have patches and streaks of different colors.

He also said, "I googled flower meanings. These mean beautiful eyes, and I thought of you."

Alice, I just about died and we weren't even five minutes into the date.

I thanked him and I'm sure I had that goofy grin on my face again as I put the flowers in water and we were off.

He was a perfect gentleman, opening my door for me and everything. And he just looked so happy, I couldn't help but smile, too.

"So where are you taking me?" I managed to ask.

"You'll see when we get there."

I groaned. "You don't know this about me yet, but I'm not the biggest fan of surprises."

He laughed, but I think I worried him a bit. He said, "Well, I think you'll like this one."

And not five minutes later, guess where we ended up! Seattle Aquarium! I've never been there, and he looked really pleased when I told him.

Except I noticed one thing – "Edward, it closed at 5. We can't go in now." I'm sure my face looked like someone killed my puppy, because I'd already gotten really excited about it, but he just grinned and told me not to worry.

"I have connections," he said, and then he led me to a side entrance to meet his cousin, Garrett. (And by the way, good looks must run in his family because holy crow.) Garrett works with the Sixgill Shark researching there at the aquarium. Did you know there are these huge sharks right in the Sound? Remind me never to go in the water again!

But back to my story. Edward arranged with Garrett to give us an after-hours tour! Just for the two of us! Edward said he wanted to come here, but didn't want to reschedule our date because he couldn't come earlier and didn't want to postpone the whole thing. How sweet is that?

The tour was just amazing. The lights were low since it was after hours, and that just made it all the more romantic. I still got to do everything we would have if the place had been opened, and some extra things. The sea otters were absolutely adorable!

But the best part was the Dome. It was at the end of the tour, so Garrett left us alone, saying he had to go, but we were welcome to stay as long we wanted, because he trusted Edward.

So we're standing in the Dome. I don't know if you've ever been there, but to stand there, in the dim lights with the water throwing reflections and all these sea creatures swimming around, and Edward standing there next to me… For a while we really did just watch the animals, but then I tried to sneak a peak at him and caught him staring at me.

I blushed, of course, and he just sort of smiled and turned to face me. My heart started racing a million miles an hour as he stepped closer to me and lightly touched the side of my face. I could see his eyes searching mine, but couldn't tell what exactly he was looking for. Then he spoke.

"I'd really like to kiss you right now," he whispered.

I could feel my cheeks burning as I replied, "I'd really like you to kiss me right now, too."

I know.

He sort of laughed nervously, and gently kissed my forehead.

"That's not what I meant," I whispered. I don't know what it was about that place, but it felt like any sound louder than a whisper would break the moment.

"It's not what I meant either."

And then he kissed me for real. His lips were hesitant at first, but as soon as he touched me, my heart just about exploded and I kissed him back with all I had.

I'll spare you the details, but let's just say we stayed in that Dome for longer than I thought we would have.

And the date didn't end there. Oh no. But it really is almost 3am right now and I need to try to sleep. I'll finish the story during class. Or I'll give up on sleeping altogether tonight and send another email. Either way, don't worry, you'll get the rest of it.

So much love,

Bella

***

REPLY TO THE POST

That_boy posted:

I think it worked. I know it's really late and there's probably no one online, but I just can't sleep.

It went better than I could have ever imagined.

I can't thank you all enough for all your help. I couldn't have done it without you.

-

REPLY TO YOUR POST:

Burningcherubim posted:

I'm so excited for you! And really, you did a lot of that on your own. You made all the big decisions, we just sort of helped you along.

-

REPLY TO YOUR POST

SmoothCriminal posted:

Hey I just got in. Did you get lucky? Did you use those lines?

-

REPLY TO THE POST

That_boy posted:

Of course I didn't use those lines. Did you honestly think I would?

-

REPLY TO YOUR POST

SmoothCriminal posted:

But you did get lucky??? Awesome!

-

REPLY TO THE POST

That_boy posted:

Yeah, I'm not dignifying that with a real response.

***

To: Alice (fortunexcookie(a)mymailman. com)

From: Bella (ciaobella(a)mymailman. com)

Subject: Ok, so I give up on sleep

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Really, I've been staring at the wall for the past hour and I give up. I'll grab an extra-large coffee in the morning and call it good.

So let's continue. After the aquarium, we walked along the pier, window-shopping and people-watching and just talking until it got dark. And he held my hand the entire time. This sounds so junior high of me, but it was really cute. We were just sort of walking and he kept looking down at my hands like he was prepping himself for at least five minutes before he finally just threaded his fingers through mine. And I mentioned before how nice his hands are, right? I really enjoyed that part.

He led us to Waterfront Park and we just sort of kept walking and talking. We watched the sunset and the harbor lights. It was just…perfect. I really don't have the right words at 4am, but really. Alice, I couldn't have asked for anything better.

We didn't talk about when we'd go out again, but I'll see him on the bus, and we've been texting a lot. Speaking of which, I think I might actually go over my text limit this month. I'll have to get his email or something. Maybe I'll finally get a Twitter? I'll keep you updated.

I'm starting to get drowsy, so maybe I'll give the whole sleeping thing another shot. Please don't call me as soon as you get this, I know how early you get up. Let me try to sleep for as long as possible, I'm begging you.

Ok. Sleeping now.

-Bella

***


TO: You the Reader (freakingawesome (a) mymailman. com)
FROM: Me (unicornhime (a) mymailman. com)
SUBJECT: Notes from Me

----------

Thanks go to penelope rose and bublichka and Amethyst Jackson for looking this chapter over for me! And loads of thanks to moradae for her insider information on the aquarium.

My notes are at the end this time because of a couple things I wanted to mention about the chapter.

First, Flower Meanings!

White carnations – disdain

Yellow carnations - You have disappointed me; Rejection; disdain

Variegated (striped, splotchy) tulips – beautiful eyes

Second, a question for those of you who never know what to say in reviews: How do you feel about Twitter? And how do you feel about interactive fanfic twitters?

And of course, much love and thanks to everyone who reviews!

Hearts and Love,
unicornhime

PS - Standard Disclaimer: Characters to SMeyer, I'm just hacking their computers and phones.