CHAPTER 10: Oh, snaps!

"You okay, Bella?" Edward looks at me curiously.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I try to brush off the queasy feeling in the pit of my stomach and take a big chug of my lemonade. The cold sensation hurts my throat.

"Sorry about my siblings," he runs a hand through his bronze hair. He looks so damn cute every time he did that. "I can never get a word in sometimes so after a while I just stop trying to say anything at all," he smiles, embarrassed again, which I think is also cute.

"Oh, well then, in that case…I'll just go," I put the drink down. I figure he only went along with what they want to please them. But now that they're gone, there's no need to continue putting up a front. "You probably want some time to yourself since you rarely get it with your busy schedule. I'll see you…tomorrow?" I look hopefully at him.

"No, Bella…stay. I don't mind at all." Again, I think my ears are playing tricks on me—but the genuine smile on his face tells me otherwise. I want to sigh and stare googlie-eyed at him but I have to keep myself composed. He can't know how he makes my pulse race whenever I am around him. I try to keep my breathing as even as possible.

"Um, if you're sure…" I half-smile.

"I have to warn you though," he begins to laugh, "I don't know how to entertain guests very well. That's usually my mother and Alice's department."

"Don't worry, you never need to put in any effort when it comes to making me smile," I say without thinking. Crap! I accidentally let my inner voice escape me. The utter shock on my face is evident from the words I've forgot to filter before they came out of my mouth. I try to recover by laughing it off. "I mean, I'm pretty simple…and easy to please."

"I can tell. It's a good quality to have. I like…simple," Edward gives me another one of his amused smile. It's hard to tell if he's really that entertained by me or if he's discreetly making fun of my embarrassing behavior. Either way, it has me red in the face.

"Thanks," I say quietly, averting my eyes to anywhere but his lovely features.

"So, Signora Bella, what would you like to do? Have you eaten yet? We could order an early dinner."

The mention of food reminds me that no, I hadn't eaten anything since Alice and I started her little shopping expedition. Dinner alone with this man suddenly sounds very appealing. "No, not since lunch," I answer.

"Great," he looks enthused. He quickly scans the hotel menu and frowns. "I've eaten almost everything on here. Let's just go to a small restaurant. I'll be right back. I'm just going to get my jacket."

"Oh, o-okay..." Is this a…date? My heart is thumping again. It wants to make itself known that it beats in my chest for him in case I forget I have a heart that flutters whenever he is a foot of me.

"Ready?" he comes out of his bedroom. He has a light dress jacket on over his cream colored v-neck cotton shirt. No matter how simple he dresses, he still looks very dashing. The jacket adds that little class to his outfit that would pass at a dinner restaurant. I didn't have to worry about my own attire since Alice always makes sure I look acceptable enough to get into a nice restaurant or if I was simply passing by the drive-thru at McDonald's. We're about leave his room when I suddenly remember something and stop. "What is it?" he turns around with a concerned look.

"What about the paparazzi?"

He smiles again, looking a little relieved like I was going to tell him there was a bomb in the hotel. "Don't worry about them. There will be a body guard with us so we should fine. Are you…okay with that? If you prefer to stay here, we can. I don't want to subject you to snoopy media. It's something even I'm not comfortable with."

"No, no, it's fine!" I try to reassure him. "If you want to go out we can. I just don't want you gossiped about if for some reason…a photo or something is taken of us." My face grows hot again. Edward laughs softly at my concern. It's an embarrassing thing to say, the media mistaking me as a love interest of his, which is total fiction, but still…I thought I'd point it out.

"I'm not worried," he replies softly. "The media can think what they want of us. C'mon, I'm hungry." He laughs at himself and gestures for me to exit the room first. I walk out silently, stilling processing his words. I'm surprised he didn't care if the paparazzi see him with me. It makes my heart do double back flips. I just hope I can impress those celebrity stalkers enough to not bash me so harshly in print. I can see the two of us right on the front cover of the newspaper with the headline: Edward Cullen with some random groupie.

I shake my head pathetically.

We get into the car and sit in the back seat while his assigned body guard is in the front with the driver. We drive a little ways, headed almost outside of the city. I have no idea where we are going since I'd never really venture this far from the main city itself. I guess this is where most of the actors go since it's away from the public eye. The path we are on looks very rural. "We're almost here," he smiles beside me as if he can tell what I'm thinking.

The car finally stops to a halt. The body guard walks into the tiny restaurant as we wait in the vehicle. A few minutes later he comes back out and opens our door. "You can go ahead and enter through the front. There aren't a lot of people inside," he tells us.

"Thanks, Lawrence," says Edward. He's always so polite and such a gentleman. He lets me walk in front of him all the time and opens doors for me. When we get to our table he also pulls out my chair for me just like the last few times when we had some sort of meal together with the others.

The owner and the staff are really nice to us and give us the privacy we were looking for. "This is a quaint little place," I comment, looking around at the decor. It reminds me of a more authentic version of the Olive Garden back home. The lights are dim with real candles and fresh flowers on the tables and soft Italian music playing in the background. The atmosphere is romantic, in a way, and this whole thing really feels more or less like a date! At least, that's what I want it to be.

"I saw this earlier today when we drove past it on our way back from Florence. I never noticed it before since it was so well hidden. I just happened to open my eyes from a nap and it was the first thing I saw. Thanks for coming out with me," he smiles appreciatively. "It might be premature to say this but…I'm enjoying my time with you."

I blush. "It's only been like an hour," I chuckle, trying to make light of the situation and hiding my nervousness within it. My heart is also pounding like a marching band in my chest. I really hope he didn't have super human hearing.

"Yeah, I know," he nods, quietly laughing at my remark, "But, I feel different when I'm around you."

"Huh?" I gawk at him. The room is getting very warm, very quickly!

"I don't know," Edward shrugs, still with that adorable grin on his face. "You make me feel…normal. I've been on such a whirlwind adventure ever since I got this part, going from one place to another, photo shoots here, photo shoots there, interviews, awards, banquets—you name it, I've probably been there, done that. But, with you…things just seem to slow down a bit. You tend to remind me that I'm just like any other guy off the streets."

"And how do I do that?" I'm stumped by his words since I have no clue as to how I've done any of the things he mentioned.

Edward places an elbow on the table and rests his chin on top of his palm. He smiles at me for a moment and shrugs again. "By you just being you, I suppose. I guess it also helps that you're my sister's friend," he smiles.

"I see," I nod, frowning inwardly. So, that's how he saw me…as his sister's friend. I knew there could never be anything between us. I was foolish to think that he's taking an interest in me. I'm so stupid. "Yeah…good 'ol, Alice," I hide behind my laughter again. I really need to get this crush on this guy squashed! From here on out, I'm going to try my best to keep myself and my time occupied with other things besides constantly thinking about Edward. "How many years older are you than Alice?" I ask, wanting to change the subject.

"How many years? You mean, don't know?" he eyes me curiously.

"Know…what?" I shake my head. "Alice really hasn't told me a whole lot about your family aside from your professions."

"Alice and I are twins."

"What? You're twins?" Was he serious? I can't believe Alice failed to tell me that!

"Yes," he laughs. "Fraternal, of course. I'm about ten minutes older than her. Our mother ran into some complications when she was being born and the doctors had told her that if everything had gone smoothly, the gap between us should have only been about three minutes or so. Emmett and I like to tease her saying that because she didn't come out sooner, it stunned her growth," he snickers.

"Yeah, that surprised me. You and Emmett are pretty tall. Seeing Alice with you guys, it just seems kind of…off," I chuckle. I take a sip of the wine Edward ordered for us and smile at the thought of my little Hobbit friend.

"It does, doesn't it? Even our mother is taller than her. We don't know why she's the shortest out of all of us. Our father says it probably has to do with his side of the family. He has a few relatives on his mother's side that were short, too, so I guess that's where the mystery lies."

"You have a very interesting family." Interesting and very good looking!

"Nah, I don't think so. We're pretty boring," he grins. "We have our moments where we fight, bicker, not keep in touch, not want see our parents—stuff like that. But, we also have our family bonding time where we try to be home for every holiday and go camping together in the Northwest Peninsula."

"The Northwest? Really? I just recently moved to LA from Forks, Washington," I smile.

"That's right, Alice mentioned you were from the upper west coast," he nods. That sparked my interest. When did Alice ever talk about me with him?

"Here you are, my lovely young couple," the owner came and dropped off our food before we could say anything else on the matter.

"Grazie," Edward says.

"Smells good," I let my senses inhale my pasta. Edward and I smile one last time at each other before we dig into our own meals.

For the rest of the night we talk about our favorite things, stuff we were into, and our dislikes. I am having so much fun getting to know him. The bottle of wine he ordered really relaxed me and allows me to just be myself without worrying about any embarrassing acts, even though I came close a few times. Just to be safe, Edward moved the burning candle away from me. "I don't think your uncle can afford to pay the damages to this place," he teases.

"Very funny," I smile sarcastically. He smiles back at me but in a different way, his green eyes dancing and sparkling in the candlelight. He always appears to be hiding something behind those eyes of his. He also look indescribably handsome tonight as I stare without caring if he notices because he's staring right back at me. Only the wine can give me this kind of courage as it courses throughout my body. I feel really good.

"Bella, I…"

"Yes?"

"I—" Before he can get another word out, his phone vibrates on the table. He looks displeased from the intrusions and checks to see who it is that is ruining our perfect moment. "I'm sorry, I have to take this…it's Emmett."

"No, of course, it's fine!" I smile reassuringly. Dammit, Emmett! Just as he's about to say something that could have made my heart burst out from my chest again, he had to call. Geez! I have to mentally slap myself to get it together since I'm not supposed to be thinking about him like this anymore. Oh, well. With the mood and the setting, it can't be helped.

"I'm really, very sorry. Excuse me." He gets up from the table and answers his phone by the entrance. I see him roll his eyes and sigh. He looks frustrated at whatever they're talking about. Edward finally nods his head and hangs up the phone, making his way back to me. "It appears that everyone is looking for us," he smiles sheepishly. "I'm supposed to tell Emmett where I go, but I keep telling him he's not my babysitter." He glowers from the though of his brother-slash-agent. "Anyway, I guess we should head back before they send the Italian police to get us," he jokes sarcastically.

He drops me off at my villa first and walks me all the way to the elevator. "Thank you for tonight," I smile. "I had fun."

"I did, as well," he smiles back. "We should try to do that again sometime. Maybe pick a place where there isn't phone reception or wi-fi available." He smirks and looks away when the elevator doors open.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow," I say bashfully.

"Yes, you will," he replies, his eyes still shining. He takes my hand and gently kisses it. "Good night, Bella."

"Good…night." I enter the elevator door. He stands there until it closes between us.

I slump against the back wall and let out a long breath I was holding in after I am finally alone. My hands are shaking from our brief interaction and I can feel my giddiness in knots in my stomach. I walk groggily to my room, my body suddenly feeling so heavy. I think the effects of the wine are finally kicking in. It always makes me drowsy and exhausted. I lazily discard my shoes and purse wherever they fall on the floor and crash land into my bed without changing into my pajamas. I immediately fall into a deep sleep, dreaming of Edward.

The next day when Alice and I finally arrive at Aro's villa, we can hear people chattering in the kitchen over something. When we enter the room, we see the four actors, minus Edward, hovering over a newspaper magazine. The room falls silent when they see us, particularly me.

"You should have known better, Edward!" I heard Rosalie's voice from another room. Soon Edward with Rosalie right on his heels enters the kitchen. Emmett walks in after them trying to calm her down. "Great. Give me more work to do!" she places her hands on her hips. Their own intense conversation stops when they see me. "Perfect, she's here." Rosalie is shooting daggers at me with her eyes.

Edward spins in my direction. "Bella…"

"Can someone please tell me what the heck is going on?" Alice demands. She's looking around the room at all the silent faces.

Rosalie takes the newspaper from the counter and hands it to her. "See for yourself," she glares at me again and walks out of the room, dialing a number on her phone.

Alice examines the front page. "What is this?" she stares at it curiously.

Emmett sighs. "It's a picture of Edward and Bella having dinner last night."

"What?" I snatch the paper from her. "How…when…what?" my brain didn't understand what I was looking at.

"One of the waiters couldn't resist and took a picture of the two of you with their camera phone. But, luckily, they didn't get a clear shot of your faces, but everyone knows the guy in the picture is Edward," Emmett explains.

I stare at the picture in horror. It's true that you can't see my face clearly, only because my hand is covering my mouth. I always did that whenever I laugh too hard about something. I remember that moment, too. I accidently snorted at something funny he said. Ugh! It was so embarrassing even though Edward said he found it 'cute'. Whatever. And Emmett is right…even I can tell it's Edward. "Alice, what does this say?" I didn't understand what the headline said about us because it was in Italian so I want her to translate it.

"Um…" she took it from me, "It says, 'Handsome heartthrob Edward Cullen seen at a local restaurant with a mystery girl. Could this be love in Volterra?'"

My eyes shot up from the headline to directly at Edward. My expression was of one having a heart attack, Edward staring back at me with pained, apologetic eyes. "I'm really sorry, Bella. I thought for once something like this wouldn't happen."

"What is with all the fuss in here?" Aro finally joins us. He's holding a script in his hand. "You are all pretty lively this morning."

"Sorry, Aro," Edward apologizes, his head slightly tilted toward the kitchen tiles. He looks more upset about this than I do. If anything, I'm more shock to find myself on the front page of an Italian gossip magazine. I have no stomach to read the article or find out if there are more pictures of us.

"Aro!" Jane came running in. "Did you see—" she pauses when she sees all the people in the room. "Oh…"

"See what?" he turned to her, still looking confused. "What is going on?" Aro glanced at everyone but no one said a word. Jane walked up to him and handed him a copy of the magazine. He quietly read it to himself and raised an eyebrow. My face was feeling warm again. This was even more embarrassing in front of my uncle! "Isabella…"

"Yes," I quietly replied.

"Is that…you?" he held up the magazine next to my crimson face to compare the girl in the picture to me.

"Ye…ah…" I look away. Aro turns his attention to Edward, who is having a difficult time looking him in the eyes, then back to me. "But, it's nothing! The picture…it was, well…we were just…" I really didn't know what to say.

"You were having dinner," he throws the paper on the counter. "So, what is the big deal?" he looks around the room again. We are all shocked by his calm response. "Don't give in to this tabloid nonsense. They will misconstrue any picture just to gain profit from other people's personal lives. You all should know that." It was like a lecturing. "Besides, are you two really in love?" he asks nonchalantly. So direct. My heart skipped a couple of beats.

"They're just rumors," Edward is the first to speak. His face is hard like he's still upset about something. His jaw is also tightly clenched. I have never seen him like this before.

"Yeah…" I agree quietly, frowning to myself. "Just rumors…"

"Well, then, forget you even saw this article," says Aro. "Instead of reading magazines, I suggest you start brushing up on your lines," he tells his actors. "If any of you need me, I'll be in my study." After he leaves the room, people finally start to disburse, Edward one of the first to leave without a word.

"Hey, Alice, I'm going to put my things away in my room. I'll try to meet up with you later…" I say to her and walk way without waiting for her response. I quickly dash up the stairs on the other side of the house and lock my door as soon as I am safely inside. The room that is mine whenever I stay here is secluded from the other rooms that are occupied by the house guests. Alice wouldn't be able to follow me because she doesn't know the ins and outs of this place yet. This side of the villa is also primarily reserved for family members.

The picture is no big deal so why did I feel like hyperventilating? Why did my chest feel like it's closing in on me and hurts every time I breathe? Why is Edward's face etched in my mind at this very moment? Why are his words painfully echoing in my ears? Why? Why? Why? And then—it hit me like a ton of bricks. "Oh, my Go…" I cover my mouth with my hands.

I am in love with Edward Cullen. Crap!

Author's Note: I had to laugh at this chapter. Bella is so silly. She really needs to give herself more credit. Hope you liked it! Now, go review!