Chapter 8: A Date

I didn't mean for the title to rhyme.

EPOV:

Bella only left for an hour the day before in order to shower. She had stayed here and kept me company. We didn't leave the room once. Alice called and I talked to her for an hour with Bella sleeping on my chest. Emmett showed up around lunch time to change and shower. He wasn't upset about having to sleep in Bella's room. Bella reported that Rosalie seemed to like Emmett. We both laughed about that. We had unintentionally set them up. Bella had finally gone to sleep in her room around midnight. I had naturally walked her there to make sure she made it okay.

I was waiting in my room for Alice and Jasper to arrive. She had called that morning and asked if Bella and I wanted to go to dinner with her and Jasper. Bella had agreed and asked if we could invite Emmett and Rosalie. I could not see why it would be an inconvenience. So Emmett was now in our bathroom, getting out of the shower.

There was a knock at the door. I walked over and opened it to reveal my Alice dressed in nice slacks and a shiny top. Jasper was standing behind her. Emmett walked out of the bathroom just then.

"Hey little bro, are you ready to go?" She said. I looked over at Emmett and he nodded.

"Yeah, looks that way, Alice. There's been an addition to our plans though. Bella's roommate, Rosalie, and my roommate are going to be joining us for dinner as well." I told her as I shut the door behind all of us.

"Great, Rosalie was really nice." She commented. I had not forgotten about the warning she had given Bella. I knew right now was not the right time to bring that up either.

Jasper was holding Alice's hand lightly as we rode the elevator down to Bella's floor. He hadn't been very affectionate in front of our dad and mom. I guess he was just shy about it all.

I knocked on Bella's door and heard a huge thud come from inside. "Bella?" I felt the panic in my chest. I began to bang on the door. Alice was trying to pull me back from tearing the door down.

After what seemed like an eternity, Rosalie opened the door. I could see one of Bella's shoes on the floor. "Where's Bella?" I demanded.

"She's cleaning up in the restroom. She tripped when she went to get the door. Her hair fell a bit out of place. That's all." Rosalie looked very confused.

Bella came out of the bathroom just then. I went to her and pulled her close. I knew that I was overreacting, but I hadn't been able to keep it down. Bella was just as confused as Rosalie had been. Alice cleared her throat and said, "Are we ready to go? I'm starving."

Since we were all going, I knew we wouldn't all fit in one car. "Alice, why don't Rosalie and Emmett ride with me, and I'll follow you." I told her as we approached the parking lot. She nodded. "Where are you parked?"

"Over in visitor's parking," she said to me. After we agreed to meet right outside the visitor garage we headed our separate ways.

Rosalie and Bella were talking to Emmett about a certain teacher they all had in common. I just listened in. Once we reached the car, Bella climbed in the front and Rosalie and Emmett sat in the back. They kept chatting away. Rosalie was a great flirt; she would lean over and place her hand on his thigh. It was boosting Emmett's self esteem. He seemed to be telling more and more jokes.

Bella looked over at me and smiled. I reached over and held onto her hand. It was incredible how much she had captured my heart already.

"What are you thinking?" I asked her, she seemed deep in thought.

She shook her head slowly. "Nothing really, just how happy I am that we are here together."

"That makes me happy, too. How's work going?" I knew she had taken a few days off at the beginning of the week, but I was pretty sure she had been back a few days ago.

"It's the same as always. I was able to get a raise after your dad left. Apparently, he was extremely happy with my service. Mike is still going on about how I'm sleeping with him." I stiffened next to her. I was really growing to detest that boy.

"Why does he do that?" I asked her.

"No idea. I haven't ever given him a chance. Not once, Edward." She told me. I believed her. She didn't seem like the type to lead somebody on. I had met Mike once outside of the hotel. I remember he kept eyeing my hand that held onto Bella's.

"He'll stop, soon." I promised her. I didn't want her to keep worrying about him spreading rumors. He would stop, even if I had to confront him myself.

She eyed me suspiciously, but didn't say anything. Alice was driving fast in front of us, but I had no problem following her. I still was unsure as to where we were going to dinner. She was headed towards the waterfront, I could feel it.

BPOV:

The minute I saw Alice pull into the front driveway, I knew exactly where we were. Wild Ginger's was one of the best Asian dining places in all of Seattle. I often recommended it to our guests. One of the valet men came around to Edward's side and opened his door for him. Edward handed him the keys and came around to open my door. Emmett did the same for Rosalie.

We met up with Alice and Jasper and headed inside. It was so elegant.

"Hi, Reservation for Alice Cullen, and can you please add two?" I could have sworn I saw Alice slip her money right over the podium.

I guess it wasn't a problem because we were seated in less than five minutes. We had our own private booth that sat exactly six. Alice, Rosalie and I sat on one side of the booth and the guys sat on the other. Our waitress came around and handed out our menus.

After much consideration, we all decided to go with the main entry for the night, young mountain lamb. It was the easiest and was most likely to be the fastest to be served.

Alice kept making conversation with Rosalie. I would sometimes catch Emmett staring at her when she wasn't looking.

"Bella, Edward told me he told you." Alice told me. I knew he had. I had been pretending to be asleep on his chest when he told her. "Doesn't that scare you?"

"No," I responded automatically. "It all seems worth it. I'm sure we can handle anything. I know it." I assured her.

She seemed satisfied and I looked up to meet Edward's eyes. He had been listening this entire time. I smiled back and returned it.

"You're so perfect." He mouthed.

I shook my head and he leaned over and kissed me softly. My heart started beating extremely fast in my chest. I was sure he could hear it because he smiled.

"Someday, I know that will stop. It has to stop." I muttered.

"I hope it never does. I hope that every day, for the rest of our lives, you react the same to my kissing you as you do now." He told me.

Jasper spoke. "There's a guy that know how to woo a girl."

I froze. I hadn't thought about the fact that he might have said the same thing to a million and two girls before me. I knew Edward had sensed the change in me. He held on tighter to my hand.

Jasper seemed to notice he mentioned something out of line, but couldn't figure out what. Alice placed her hand on his shoulder and the worry over what was said disappeared.

Our food arrived just then and a lot of the chatter stopped.

Emmett was the first to begin eating. Rosalie watched for his reaction before she would even touch her food. He smiled at her and she took a bit.

Jasper and Alice were really something else. They didn't do much more than stare at each other and hold hands, but somehow it seemed like it was so much more than that. It caused you to want to look away.

Edward was watching me eat again. I was going to have to break that habit of his soon. When he saw that I knew he was watching he looked away and began to eat again. He was making me feel incredible even thought I knew I didn't deserve it. I was so plain and every time I looked at him or went out with him, he proved how much more than ordinary he truly was.

I finished most of my food. Edward took my plate and placed it over his when he saw that I was done. Alice took those and placed them over her and Jasper's. Rosalie was watching Emmett finish her meal off before handing both plates to Alice. Alice called for our waitress and asked for the check.

We began to head out to the front of the restaurant to retrieve our vehicles. Alice asked Rosalie and Emmett to ride with her, so that left Edward and I in his silver Volvo.

Once inside the car, I reached into my purse to check my phone for any missed calls or messages. I always avoided checking it when Edward was there. Usually when I went back to my dorm and checked it, it was just my mom or Charlie.

I flipped it open and saw that I had over two dozen messages from some unknown number. I froze and looked over at Edward. He looked down at my phone and even without seeing anything; he knew something wrong had happened.


A/N: Here it is. With a nice little"dun dun dun" moment at the end. Wild Ginger is a fantastic restaurnt, I would recommend it to everyone. I'm going to try and update every day this week because on friday I get to visit my family and friend back at home. And it's very unlikely I'll get anything up for five days of so. Any suggestions? How fast should Edward and Bella go with their relationship?

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