disclaimer: sm owns twilight.

-O-

Labor Day 1998

The kiss Edward gave me Friday night was nothing like I ever imagined. He was sweet and gentle and sexy... the list goes on and on. And I was so nervous to be so close to him, wondering constantly what he was thinking. Even before the kiss, I felt as though I couldn't exist in a world without Edward, and after… well that kiss just solidified the feeling. I hated to be an overly-dramatic teenager, remembering how I made fun of girls who had the same mindset as me, but I couldn't stop myself.

He kissed me softly before I drove away; heading back home and making it just in time for my curfew. My parents were watching a movie in the living room and seemed relieved that I wasn't late, although my dad had to comment about how close I was to missing my deadline. He was never satisfied. Ever.

On Saturday, my parents had plans for us to go to Red River and spend the night there; I faked a wretched bout with stomach flu and got to stay home. I was so worried that they would end up cancelling their plans altogether, but being the "family man" that my dad was, he didn't want to drop his plans to see his brothers and other family members. That, and he had paid in full for our cabin – no refund. In addition to my parents leaving, my brothers had already left town for a camping trip with their friends, so everything worked out perfectly.

I promised to answer the phone and stay at home while they were gone. Those conditions were no problem for me because Edward would be there with me. He was thrilled when I told him that we would get to spend the day together. Emmett and Rose were going to spend the day in Denver, and I was relieved to hear that bit of news. Rose still didn't like me; I knew this from her glare the night before. She'd made her dislike for me pretty obvious, but unlike my usual cowardly-self, I didn't let her stop me from wanting to be with Edward.

Thirty minutes after my parents left, I called Edward to let him know the coast was clear. He still didn't feel safe having his truck parked in my driveway, so he was going to have Ben drop him off. And he wasn't a minute late; I think he was probably waiting just down the road because he was on my doorstep not five minutes later, not giving me enough time check myself over in the mirror for the hundredth time.

I swooned... literally swooned, when I opened the door to find Edward holding a bouquet of daisies. "If I can't take you out on a real date, I might as well make the most of it, right?" he asked, chuckling quietly as I forgot about my usual shyness and lunged forward to hug him.

His strong arms wrapped around my body, lifting me off the floor slightly as he pressed his lips against the side of my face. "You're so beautiful, Bella."

He made me feel that way. "Thank you. You are, too." I blushed and rested my forehead against his shoulder. "Handsome, I mean." Sometimes I said the stupidest things around Edward.

"Thanks, Bell... but let's get inside before your dad's cop buddy next door spots us standing out here."

That was going to be the ever-present problem in our relationship. After researching many nights, just in case we ended up dating or whatever, I found that the legal age of consent in Colorado and Texas was seventeen. However, Edward wouldn't be convicted of any crime since he was less than four years older than me. But I knew if my dad found out, he'd come up with his own laws or something.

"So... ready to start our all day date?" Edward asked, clasping his hands together as I shut the front door.

"Absolutely," I replied, smiling nervously.

ooOoo

After watching various movies in my bedroom and having the 'Edward Cullen Lunch Special', which consisted of a grilled cheese and chips, I went to the diner to pick up our dinner. It was just too risky for us to go together and even though Edward felt horrible about our situation, I kept reassuring him that it was fine.

While I was gone, Edward set up our next movie.

"I am never going to sleep after seeing this movie."

I made Edward watch Clueless and as my punishment for making him "suffer" through that movie, I had to watch Children of the Corn.

"Hey, at least we're not surrounded by cornfields. That should make you feel better."

"Surprisingly, it doesn't."

"Aw, you poor baby..." he cooed, pulling me closer to his side. "I've you got. And I wouldn't let some psycho, brainwashed kids hurt you."

When he said sweet things like that I never knew what to say. Instead, I stayed silent, snuggling up against him until I remembered I was supposed to be making our late-night snack. That task gave me a moment to myself, trying to calm down from the Edward-high I was on.

As I assembled our S'mores to heat in the microwave, Edward joined me in the kitchen. The S'mores reminded me of our camping trip with Alice and Jasper, when I wished so much that he would kiss me. Though it was just a couple of months later, I was finally getting my wish.

Placing his hands on my hips, Edward stood behind me. "I haven't really had a proper kiss from you today, Bell..." My heart fluttered with anticipation. All day he'd given me little pecks, but nothing more. I was beginning to think I really sucked at kissing. I turned around slowly, and his hands moved to the counter on either side of me. "Mind if I kiss my girlfriend now?"

"I'm your girlfriend?" I asked dumbly.

"Do you really have to ask that question, baby?"

I nodded, biting my lip apprehensively.

"Yes." Edward sighed, tucking my hair behind my ears. "You are. And I'm your boyfriend, who will be pining for you while I'm away for school. We'll have this extraordinary long-distance relationship, and it will work out because I'm drawn to you – meant to be with you always."

"Well..."

"You do want that, right? A relationship with me? Because I'm willing to beg, Bella."

With a big smile and an open heart, I nodded. "Yes. I definitely want to be in a relationship with you."

And I got our first real kiss of the day. It was perfect.

Regardless of the distance between us, we were together and somehow it would work out. Like Edward said, we were meant to be together. I was drawn to him and he was drawn to me. It would be tough, but we would make it.

ooOoo

Thanksgiving 1998

From: Cullen, Edward
To: Swan, Isabella
Date: November 20, 1998 7:29 AM
Subject: Hope you're ready...

Hi, baby.

My truck is all packed and I just have this stupid test to take. I got up early this morning and studied, and I did after we got off the phone last night, too. I think it'll be a piece of cake. Anyway, I'll be leaving around 10... and like I promised you last night, I will pull over if I get too tired. But I don't think that will be a problem, because you see, I will be anxious to see my girlfriend and that constant reminder alone will keep me wide awake.

I can't wait to see you.

Hope you have a good day at school.

Love,

Edward

PS. Be prepared... I've missed you so much, Bella.

.

How does one read something like that and not feel as though her heart is going to beat out of her chest?

Edward always said the sweetest things to me, leaving me speechless and smiling like a fool. Every night I would listen to him tell me about his day, but he always remembered to throw in some sweet, cheesy line, and I began to wonder what I did before him. Teenage dramatics or not, he made me forget about everything going on in my life.

We had yet to say the big 'I Love You', but I fully expected one of us to slip up sometime soon, and I hoped that it wouldn't be over the phone. I always thought falling in love was something that took a great amount of time, but for me- not so much. He was it for me, and I think he knew it.

"Bells, are you ready?" my dad hollered, as I heard him stomp down the hallway. I was riding with him because it was pretty icy out and he didn't feel comfortable with me driving to school on my own. The school was two miles from my house. Go figure.

And I hated when he called me 'Bells'. I loved when Edward called me 'Bell'.

Grabbing my jacket, I headed out of my room. "Coming!"

My dad seemed to be even more irritated with me lately and I didn't know why, other than the fact that he was suspicious that I was talking to someone late at night. I had to whisper to Edward on the phone many nights or have the covers over me so my dad didn't hear me talking. My dad stayed up late every night, which annoyed me to no end. My parents' bedroom was at the opposite end of the house, and one would think that I had a lot of privacy, but for some reason, my dad always had an excuse to walk by my room. I knew one day I would probably be doing the same thing if I had a teenage daughter, but at that time, I was beyond frustrated.

"No backpack today?"

I shook my head and walked past him wordlessly.

The day seemed to crawl by. I checked my watch a million times, wondering where Edward was and looking forward to calling him when I got home. I hoped he'd be in a good area where he had a strong signal and I could hear his voice for a few minutes. Cell phones were the greatest invention known to man, but I knew it would be a while until my parents ever got me one. My dad didn't exactly believe in "luxuries" like that.

Unfortunately, I kept getting his voicemail when I tried calling him once I got home. He had left a message on my answering machine earlier that day, letting me know that he was going to call when he got to his parents' house. We had plans for him to sneak into my house later that night. It wasn't like we were going to get to see each other whenever wanted because my dad was always in the way, so we found other ways around the situation. Edward was going to visit with his parents when he arrived and I was PMS-ing, so my excuse to go to bed early that night was totally believable; my mom and dad didn't suspect a thing.

ooOoo

Around two in the morning, I heard a light tap on my window and smiled out of relief and excitement as Edward's face came into view. Opening the window and helping him climb inside, I couldn't keep myself from hugging him almost immediately.

"I was so worried about you!" I whispered with a small gasp of relief. His arms wrapped around me tightly, making me feel whole again.

Kissing my temple, he moved us to sit on my bed, placing me on his lap. "And I'm fine. No reason to worry your pretty little head."

I buried my face in the crook of his neck. "I missed you." It was amazing how much closer we were since getting to know each other even more via email. Before Labor Day weekend, we were just close friends corresponding, but after that, things started to get intense; a good kind of intense that I liked. A lot.

"Too long, Bell... I hate being apart from you."

"Are you sure you can do this?" I asked, struggling to find the right words and judging by Edward's confused expression, he had no idea what I was talking about. "The long-distance thing... you're surrounded by all those girls at school... and I'm so many hours away. Don't you ever get tired of it?"

Edward leaned in, kissing my forehead. "Never... I mean, I get tired of being away from you and wish I could just drive down the road to see you, but I never get tired of us. I hope you don't feel that way."

"I don't. And I'm just being... stupid and immature... worrying over every little thing. I'm sorry."

His fingertip ran along the side of my face. "You're not stupid and immature, baby... this long-distance crap is tough, but we'll work out just fine. As long as you are willing to trust me, and I trust you... everything will be all right."

And just like that, Edward eased some of my worries.

Lying down on our sides, we faced each other, talking about anything and everything as Edward ran his fingers through my hair. It was amazing how comfortable I felt around him even though we hadn't been officially "together" that long. He was my closest friend, though, and my boyfriend. Edward was my boyfriend. I still couldn't believe I could say those words and not be lying to myself or daydreaming again.

"What are you thinking about?" Edward said, grinning with his familiar smirk.

I shrugged my shoulder and moved a little closer to him, resting my head on his arm. "Just glad you're here."

"Me too, Bella... you have no idea." Leaning forward, he kissed me gently, and when his tongue entered my mouth, I was overjoyed that he was finally letting loose a little bit. Being in my bed, with my parents down the hall, made him extremely nervous, like me, which had resulted in Edward holding back..

I wrapped my arm around him, trying to lessen the gap between us, and it worked because before I knew it, Edward was slowly easing me onto my back. God, he was sexy.

His lips were planted against my neck, moving slowly–so slowly–as my hands clutched his back. "I don't think I can keep my hands off of you, Bella," Edward whispered, nibbling on my earlobe.

I was sure I was going to die of pleasure. "Then don't."

"I can't, baby," he said, his voice rough with need. "Not yet..."

"Touch me, Edward... please," I whispered, feeling my face burn with my request. I didn't want to have sex with him yet because we weren't exactly ready for that step, but I did want to take our relationship to the next level.

Edward lifted his head, looking down at me worriedly. "You're sure about this?" I nodded frantically. "And you're sure your door is locked?"

Nodding again, I lifted my head to press my lips against his. "Yes."

Any boldness that had appeared before disappeared as soon as I felt his hand move from my side to my breast. The shy girl who'd never felt anyone touch her there before came out in full effect. I gasped, but in a good way, reveling in the feeling of his hand on me.

"Okay, baby?" Edward asked, kissing the spot just behind my ear.

I nodded as my hands fumbled with his shirt. I wanted him to pull it off, but there was no way I could ask him to do that. The last time I'd seen him without one was when we had gone swimming on our camping trip with Alice and Jasper. And now he was my boyfriend; it was normal for me to want to see him naked. Right? God, I felt so incompetent and stupid.

I was thankful and excitedwhen Edward leaned up and pulled his shirt off without me even asking. He probably knew that I was too scared, too shy, to ask.

"Your turn," he said with a smirk.

I didn't have a bra on. I didn't have a BRA on.

He saw the conflict on my face but probably didn't know what the real problem was. "Baby, if you're not ready–"

"I am," I interrupted quickly. "But, uh... I don't have anything on underneath." My face was on fire. Inferno level.

Smiling sweetly, but cockily, Edward leaned down and kissed me slowly. "If it makes you feel better, I was going to ask if I could take it off of you anyway... we're just skipping a step, baby."

I laughed nervously and ran my hands along his toned back. "Ass."

"I'm sorry, did you say I could see your ass? Because I would definitely love to see that," he murmured, slowly raising my shirt. Edward always had a funny comeback - or just anything to alleviate my nerves a bit.

With my heart racing wildly, I sat up and started to pull my shirt over my head, but Edward stopped me.

"You're sure, Bella? I don't want you to feel like you have to do anything with me. I'll be happy to just lay in bed with you." His face was so sincere and sweet, I swear my heart clenched.

"I'm positive."

Edward was straddling my legs, and it did not escape my notice that he was hard. I couldn't feel it, but I saw it pressing against his shorts. I always wondered what he looked like there, and felt ... slightly perverted? I'd never really cared about that sort of thing before, but with Edward everything was different.

"Allow me," he said, his voice low and husky. Ever so slowly, Edward pulled my shirt up and over my head, making me feel so exposed, yet comfortable beneath his gaze. He made me feel sexy and brazen. "You are fucking gorgeous, Bell. So damn beautiful."

His body covered mine as he pushed me onto my back.

Our hands roamed everywhere and before I knew it, my shorts were off and so were Edward's. When his fingers toyed with the edge of my panties, I thought I was going to faint. For the first time in my life, I was being touched there, and it wasn't me experimenting to see what the big deal was about orgasms. Every time I tried to touch myself in the past, I never really understood or found the right way to touch myself to come undone like one of my Cosmo magazines said. But with Edward... oh my god. He touched me in ways that I never thought possible, making my body tingle with the sensations he made me feel.

Pulling away from me for just a moment, Edward placed my hand on his... it... and I had never seen or felt one of those before, but he was huge. I wondered how I would ever fit that inside me but desperately hoped that I would find out someday.

"Just move your hand up and down, baby," he said, moving our hands together. "Like this. Feels fucking perfect... your hand is... fuck." His hand returned to my center, his fingers passing over the most sensitive spot I'd ever felt, which made me feel like I was going to scream.

Facing each other on our sides allowed me to see his face – his expressive eyes – watching me intently. Seeing him like that, it was too much. I felt things I had never experienced before.

We were in perfect rhythm and although my arm was getting slightly tired, there was no way I could even think of stopping. Very quiet groans and grunts of pleasure coming from Edward made me pant. Literally.

"Come, baby," Edward whispered and his voice alone made me fall apart. He covered my mouth with his, keeping my cries of absolute bliss silent. It was easy to forget that my parents were right down the hall, and I was thankful that at least one of us was thinking.

What seemed like seconds later, Edward's body trembled and he moved his mouth to my neck, kissing softly as he came on my thigh. I didn't know if I should keep moving my hand or not. That was the hard part when it came to having no experience whatsoever; I didn't know how to make him feel good.

I slowed my movements as Edward's breaths came quickly, right next to my ear. "That was so good, Bell... you have no idea."

I smiled widely, feeling successful that I was able to make him feel good. It was kind of a daunting task for me, knowing he'd been pleasured by other girls and not just with hand jobs. I wanted to be good for him and in that moment, I felt on top of the world.

Kissing me softly, Edward stood from the bed and quietly walked into my adjoining bathroom. He returned shortly with a damp wash cloth and wiped my thigh. "Sorry," he said bashfully.

And that made me laugh quietly. Seeing him shy and slightly vulnerable; it was cute. "Don't be sorry."

"You're laughing," he stated, whispering loudly as he smirked at me in the darkness.

"You're cute when you're nervous."

"Only when I'm nervous? Otherwise I'm just a weird, old creeper guy?"

I sat up, slipping my tank top back on and tugged on his hand to join me back in bed. He complied, easing himself down slowly so my noisy bed wasn't so... noisy.

"You're pretty cute all the time."

"You're gorgeous all the time."

I blushed, burying my head in the crook of his neck.

Edward pulled back slightly, brushing the hair out of my face and kissed the tip of my nose. He pointed to the moon which glowed beautifully outside my window. "When I start to get upset that I don't have you in my bed with me or anywhere near me, for that matter, I look to the moon and know you're under the same one as me... so we're never too far apart."

Romantic, cheesy, whatever you want to call it... he certainly knew how to make my heart beat out of control like no other. "I hate being apart from you."

"I know, Bell... me too."

"Love you," I whispered, unable to stop the words that I'd held back for so long.

A second later, Edward kissed my forehead. "Love you, too, baby."

Not overly extravagant. Simple. We were in love.

ooOoo

"So... Charlie," Alice began as she fiddled with her napkin. "I was wondering if Bella could fly down a little earlier than you guys for Christmas... I wanted to take her around to see some of the sights and stuff."

My mom smiled reassuringly at me, and I knew that she would persuade my dad to agree. "Yeah, Charlie, I think it's a good idea. Bella probably won't want to be around during that time..." And by 'that time', she meant what would have been Angela's seventeenth birthday. That assumption was correct; I didn't want to be surrounded by the memories of just a year ago when I had my best friend and then lost her.

"How much earlier?" he asked gruffly.

"Well, Bella said school is over at noon the Friday before Christmas... so maybe that Saturday? You guys are coming up on Wednesday, right?" Alice asked. "Unless you guys had something planned..."

Come on, of course we had nothing planned. I pleaded silently, hoping he wouldn't keep me at home for any reason. We weren't going to do anything. We were just going to sit around the house, everyone moping and quiet as usual. Being at home was pointless, especially when I would have a chance to spend some time with Edward before my parents arrived in Texas.

"I guess so... but the plane ticket will come out of your allowance, Bella," my dad said, his voice stern and asshole-ish, like always.

Jasper smiled and shook his head. "Charlie, if you don't mind, I'd like that to be my Christmas present to Bella. I travel so much for work, and I have a ton of frequent flier miles saved up..."

He looked suspicious, like we were all hiding something from him. And he was right – about me hiding something, anyway. I knew Alice was trying to get me to Texas because she was the only person I could confide in regarding my relationship with Edward, and she understood. She just got it... us... she knew we wanted to be together.

"If it's okay with Renee..." he trailed off, looking to my mom.

"Sounds good to me, sweetie," she replied, and I swear it took so much effort to not get up and hug her.

I was going to Texas for Christmas. I would get to see Edward – be alone with him, possibly stay the night with him. I couldn't imagine how great it would be.

-O-

Thanks to my redpen speed-queen, Jen328 (who made posting tonight possible) and my prereaders, Teacher1209 and Jadsmama. And mega thanks to all of you for reading - I really appreciate the feedback/support/lovin'.

I'm hoping to have the next chapter posted by Thursday as usual, but with the way things are going (more RL crap), I can't make any promises. I'll try though. Sorry!

A lot of you asked how close we are to the prologue - 2-3 chapters - lots of skipping/skimming in the next few chapters and we'll be there in no time.

Thanks again for reading!