Chapter 10- Lesson #1

A/N: Hello again! I think you're going to like this!

Thanks to my beta girls, Ninmesarra and Prettyflour! You should thank them too, they fix my punctuation and help the story flow better!

Oh! Almost forgot- I own nothing that is tied to Twilight… unfortunately…

Now, On to the story!

~*C2C*~

Of course, since I was so excited about my date with Eddie, Sunday morning had to drag by. What was really only hours, seemed like days. I had no idea what he had planned- we hadn't discussed it outside of casual wear and the time and place to meet.

I'd had Sunday lunch with my dad. That was such fun. His new wife- my step-mother- was there and Sue makes the mom in Cinderella look tame. The only difference was that I'd had Charlie around the two years I'd lived with him. Sue was always so sugary-sweet when he was around. She had a son Seth, and he was forever apologizing for her behavior; and a daughter, Rachel. Rachel was definitely like the evil step-sisters. Sue always bought her whatever she wanted, Seth too, and made me clean and cook. I didn't mind, though, I liked cooking, I'd have cleaned for Charlie anyway.

Jake, my butt-head brother, called and reneged on his commitment to join the family for dinner. Go figure. He hated Sue too. He was always responsible for cleaning up the yard and fixing cars. He'd much rather have helped me cook.

Dad welcomed me in with a big hug- totally unnatural for him. But I understood what made him so happy really fast. Rachel thrust her hand under my nose and flashed a small diamond ring around.

"I'm married!" she'd said.

"Congratulations?" I really didn't mean it to come out as a question, but I couldn't for the life of me figure out who would marry her. Rachel's conceited and selfish.

Charlie's eyes were huge and he was shaking his head emphatically. Sue's eyes were snapping fire and if looks could kill, I'd have disintegrated right there on the floor.

Then I noticed the tall, super-hot, native man lounging on the couch. His demeanor said he didn't care about anything in the world and he was incredibly bored. I walked over to him and put my hand out, "Hi. I'm Bella. You must be Rachel's new husband?"

The guy just ignored my hand, and after a second of looking me over, he quirked an eyebrow and said, "Yup. I'm Paul. Paul Lahote. I just came with Rach to get her stuff. She's moving out to my trailer on the rez today. You wanna come too?" The slime-ball actually winked at me.

I really wanted to hit him. I could feel my face burning with anger, "No. Not at all. I'll be sure to visit Rach when you're not home."

"Then you won't never see her. I'm there all the time."

"What? You don't work?"

"Nah. I collect my checks every month though. Can't wait to knock her up so we can get some more money every month."

"Wow." I didn't know what else to say.

I'm sure you can imagine how the rest of that lunch went. We sat around the table, passing a bucket of chicken and foam containers of mashed potatoes, gravy, and cole slaw. Thankfully, I was seated across from Rachel and between my dad and Seth.

Charlie had just finished a story about chasing a delinquent kid selling pot on foot when I felt a toe brush my ankle. I looked questioningly at Seth, but he was laughing at Charlie's story, not paying attention to me at all. I looked at Rachel- she was moony-eyed over Paul- and Paul- the douche bag- was grinning a cheesy grin at me.

I glared in response. What the hell was the dude thinking? He'd married my sister for the love of all that was holy.I finished my plate quickly, leaving half the food on it since I had lost my appetite. I stood from the table, kissed Charlie's cheek and made up an excuse about forgetting that Alice was coming over. I waved my good-bye to the rest of the table and fled the house.

I hated that I'd let Paul run me out of Charlie's house. He was my dad and really didn't spend enough time with him. Jake and I were waiting for the day when he'd wake up and realize that he'd married a viper. She seemed to make him happy though, so who were we to judge?

On the bright side, by leaving early, I got a lot of cleaning and writing done. The bed linens and curtains around the house had been laundered, the floors all scrubbed, and I'd even went through the bathroom with a bucket of bleach. The windows were now open, letting the almost-cold wind circulate and dissipate the fumes.

I'd even taken a long, hot, bubble bath and shaved my legs- yes, on a first date. I'm very hopeful that this could go somewhere… Somewhere I haven't been in too long. And who could blame me? Eddie is dreamy! I know you think so too. You're probably jealous right now, thinking, Who does that bitch think she is? Dating my dream guy? And I don't blame you- I wonder the same thing all the time. Even if at this moment it's only dating lessons, a girl can dream of more...

Grabbing my purse, I headed out the door finally. I just hitched the strap over my shoulder when my phone chimed, alerting me that I had a text message. I extracted the small device from my pocket and panicked. It was Eddie. He's probably calling to cancel. He has better offers all the time. Why would- I stopped that line of thought right there and pushed to view the message.

I'm ready to go as soon as you are. Come on! ;) –E

I quickly sent back, I'm heading your way now. :) –B

Hurrying out the door, I took my time with the steps. It would be horrible to have to then call and cancel because I broke a bone falling down them. Reaching the bottom, I looked up and towards my car. My breathing hitched for the second time in a matter of minutes.

Perfection was leaning against my car, smirking his delicious smirk at the surprise on my face. He always looked good. Always. It should be a crime to be that handsome. Just as I was getting ready to call out a greeting, he said, "Hey, Beautiful."

My face split into a huge grin as I replied, "Hey yourself," and tried to send a flirtatious wink his way. He chuckled at my antics and stood straight to lean down and kiss my cheek.

"You look, and smell, amazing," he whispered in my ear. He placed his palm on the small of my back and led me to a silver sports car. I didn't know what it was, but it looked old.

"So do you," I told him, "Nice car. It's pretty."

"Eh, it's pretty old. It's a challenger- was my dad's first car. He let me fix it up again and have it. It gets me where I'm going, that's all I need."

"Well, I like it. It's really awesome if you think about it- It's a part of your heritage."

"It is. That's one of the things I like about you- you're always looking on the positive side of things."

"Oh, no. Not very often at all, really. I just happen to like old things. My mom owned an antique store and she used to take me around to auctions and sales to find new and unique pieces."

After he helped me into the car, he jogged around and slid behind the wheel. The car smelled old- not in a bad way, but like worn leather and I could have sworn a hint of pipe tobacco was laced through it. His hand reached for the radio dial and I was relieved to hear some classics rolling out from the speakers. There is no sound like Ella and Louis. I just adore the quality of their music. It's like good old blue-eyes; who doesn't love Frank Sinatra? I'm sure my jaw came close to scraping the floorboards when the next song was an old Boston song. This was a guy that I could love based on musical taste alone.

I glanced over at him, "What song is next on this playlist? I'm dying to know. I love Ella and Boston. They're rather under-appreciated among our generation."

It's a good thing we were stopped at a stop sign, awaiting our turn. His eyes burned and he looked at me like I was some new and unique creature. "If you can name the next song and artist, I'll marry you today."

I laughed at him, part of me hoping he was kidding and part of me dying to say let's go now! When the strains of the next song started to pour out of the speakers, I hummed along to the melody line and grinned at him, "Not exactly a first date song is it?"

He laughed, "No, I suppose not."

"It's The Grateful Dead's Brokedown Palace." I watched his eyes grow round, "I love music. All genres, pretty much. I have my moments, just like anyone does with certain types." I shrugged, not knowing what else to say.

He continued to stare until the car behind us honked and shocked him out of his stupor. He gunned the engine and we shot off down the road. He pulled into the lot for a little restaurant advertising authentic Italian cuisine. I groaned internally when I realized where we were. A quick glance around confirmed my worst fears. I forced my face to relax and breathing to remain even. The familiar VW rabbit was sitting in the lot, its rusted exterior mocking me.

That was not fantastic. Don't get me wrong, it's my favorite restaurant, and I love the driver of that car, but of all the places to bring me, he had to choose this place.

The hostess, Jane, greeted us and raised an eyebrow at me in question. "So, Bella, we haven't seen you here in a while. Where have you been hiding?"

"Oh, just been busy. I've ordered a lot of take out to be delivered at home lately. Jerry finally got fired, so I had to take his load on too."

She chuckled, "About time they got rid of that jackass. It was a long time coming though, huh?" Her eyes slid to Eddie, "Who's your hunky friend?"

"This is my date, Eddie," I smiled up at him and introduced her, "Eddie this is Jane. She's a friend of mine, and my brother's girlfriend."

He shook her proffered hand, and murmured, "A pleasure to meet you."

Handing us menus, she left us to peruse them, promising to let Jake know we were there.

"So, that's your brother's girlfriend?"

"Yeah, she's really great for him. He used to be a major trouble maker and he has ADHD. Jane has really calmed Jake down."

"It's good to find the person that balances you out, isn't it?"

"For sure. You know-"

My statement was cut off by an exuberant shout of, "Bells!" I looked over to see the tall, muscled man striding my way. He scooped me out of my chair and hugged me tightly. "I haven't seen you in forever! It's been what two months?" Of course, he never waited for me to get a word in. "Whatever it's been, it's too long. You need to get over to my place again. Janie's really worked wonders in it. It's actually clean."

"No way! Clean? Your house?"

"Yeah, no need for all the sarcasm, sis. She's really good for me." His eyes finally landed on Eddie and he frowned. "Who are you?"

Eddie stood up and extended his hand, "I'm Edward Masen. Everyone calls me Eddie, though. I'm the lucky guy that got your sister to go out with me." He said that like he had trouble getting a date, because that's believable.

Jacob looked him up and down, "You look like trouble. You better treat my sister right or you'll have to answer to me. You got that?" Eddie nodded and smiled. "Bells, does Dad know you're seeing someone new?"

"No, Jake, he doesn't. This is only our first real date."

"Oh. I figured since you brought him here to meet me…" he trailed off.

"Actually, I brought Bella here. It's my favorite place to eat in the city. You guys make the best food."

Jake stood tall and proud at the compliment, "Thanks man. What's your favorite?"

"The chicken gnocchi."

"That's my specialty- That's awesome. Hey Bells, I think I like this guy. You should keep him around. At least he knows good food- better than Sam ever did."

"Okay, thanks for that Jake. I promise I'll stop by this week to see you and Jane," I said. Standing on tiptoe, I pulled his face down to kiss his cheek and sat down, watching as Jacob returned to the kitchen.

"Your brother loves you very much. He's a bit protective- like a good brother should be."

"Yeah, he does- is. I think I'll keep him around for a while longer," I smiled at Eddie. "After all, he does make the best gnocchi." I hoped he couldn't tell I was trying to distract him from what I could see he wanted to ask.

It didn't work though. He still asked the dreaded question… "Who's Sam?"

~*C2C*~

A/N: Let me know what you think! :) As always I wanna know! Peeks available for reviewers! Happy Turkey Day! See you next week!

Sorry for not giving you recs- I promise next time I'll include some!