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Chapter 10

I pulled my noisy truck slowly up into the driveway and grinned over at Bella again. She smiled brightly back at me. Suddenly, I felt nervous about the prospect of Bella being in my home. What would my parents think?

My parents. Crap. Somehow in my eagerness to spend more time with Bella and the discovery that she wanted me close to her, I had forgotten to take them into account. I couldn't imagine that they would disapprove of her, but I was nervous about the whole bringing a girl home thing. It wasn't like I had never had a girlfriend, or had girls over before back in Chicago, but this was different. Bella was different. I realized as I walked around to Bella's side of the truck that it would matter to me if she didn't like my parents or vice versa.

"Um...so...there's a slight possibility that my mom may be here," I said sheepishly as I helped her down from my truck.

"That's fine. I'd love to meet her," she smiled sweetly at me.

Of course she would. Most teenage girls would be annoyed at the prospect of meeting someone else's parents, but Bella seemed truly genuine in her desire to meet my mother.

"Okay, but I have to warn you," I said as we approached the front door, "Esme can be a little...over the top sometimes."

As I opened the door for Bella and she stepped through, I could hear Esme calling out from somewhere in the house. "Is that you, Edward?"

"Hi, Mom. I'm home. I brought someone I'd like you to meet," I called.

My mom rounded the corner and came into view.

"Mom, this is Bella," I said, gesturing needlessly to Bella and rubbing the back of my neck awkwardly.

"Oh, hello!" she smiled, moving forward to shake Bella's hand. "I'm Edward's mother, Esme."

For her part, Bella beamed back at Esme. "It's very nice to meet you, Mrs. Cullen. You have a beautiful home."

Of course. I should have known that the two would hit it off instantly. Esme led the way back through the dining room and into the kitchen, all the while chatting easily with Bella. They discussed Bella's classes, Bella's family, and life in Forks in general.

Finally, Bella and I settled down in the dining room under the guise of attempting to do some homework. Neither one of us could really concentrate on our work, however, and ended up talking quietly and holding hands under the table. After a while, we abandoned the homework entirely and wandered into the family room where I flicked through channels on the large flat screen my dad had purchased when we moved here.

"Bella, you are welcome to stay for dinner," my mom said, emerging from the kitchen, wiping her hands on a flowery apron. From my place on the couch, I raised one eyebrow at my mom. I wondered what she had been doing to occupy herself while Bella and I were watching television, because this was the first time we had seen her in almost two hours. I was shocked that she had managed to stay away.

"Oh, thank you, Mrs. Cullen, but I probably need to get home," Bella said, glancing at me. I frowned in disappointment, but I understood that staying for dinner might be a little awkward for Bella.

"I'm going to take Bella home, Mom," I said as Bella gathered up her things.

As we walked slowly out to my truck, fingers linked, arms swinging gently between us, Bella looked up at me, a playful smirk on her face.

"You know you don't really have to take me home right? I can easily run, and probably be there in less time than it would take you to drive," she said.

"I know, but if I don't take you, then I just have to say goodbye to you that much sooner," I reasoned, gazing down at her.

"Okay, good point," she grinned, hopping easily up into the passenger seat.

I hesitated a moment, not wanting to close her door yet. From her position in the cab of the truck she was nearly eye level with me. I reached up and brushed a thick lock of her silky brown hair away from her face and tucked it behind her ear. Once again, she nuzzled her face into my hand.

"How are you feeling?" I asked, making eye contact with her so that she would grasp the true meaning of my words.

She thought for a moment before speaking. "I feel...good. The burn is always there, Edward, but it's under control."

"So...this...is okay?" I asked quietly, leaning closer towards her. She had yet to swing her legs around into the truck, so in my current position I was standing in between her knees. I gently placed a hand on each of her knees.

For the second time today, I felt her cool breath wash over me as I neared her glorious face. She maintained eye contact, and for the briefest moment I saw her eyes grow slightly darker, and the warm liquid topaz suddenly turned hard and icy. I paused and felt her hold her breath. Then, just as quickly as they had frozen, her eyes melted back to their liquid gold color. She nodded and I began moving closer once again.

I stopped when I my lips were mere centimeters from hers. I needed her to come the rest of the way. I wanted to know that she wanted this as much as I did. I was thrilled when after only a fraction of a second she closed the gap between us, and her lips were on mine. They were cool and firm, but the same electrical current that moved between us whenever we touched ran rampant under my skin. My eyes were closed, but I saw little flashes of light pop behind my eyelids. I reached up and ran my hand up her neck, twisting her hair around my hand.

Far too soon, I felt Bella's hands on my upper arms, gently pushing me back. I knew she could have forced me to move, but I sensed that she wanted me to be the one to break the kiss. Recognizing how difficult this already was for her, I acquiesced and pulled back.

"Wow," she said, grinning sheepishly.

"Yeah. Wow," I said a little more breathlessly than I thought was entirely necessary. "That was…." I struggled to find an adequate description. Bella grinned and rolled her eyes at me.

"Get in the truck, Cullen," she laughed, swinging her legs into the cab and reaching past me to close the door.

I practically skipped around the truck to the driver's side.

Okay, calm down, I thought, taking a deep breath. Play it cool. You don't want to seem too eager. I opened the door and hopped up. No sooner had I slammed the door closed than I felt Bella's cool hands snake around my neck and into my hair. I turned my head just in time to feel her cool lips on mine. I am pretty sure I let a most embarrassing moan escape my throat as she moved her lips against mine.

"Sorry," she said sheepishly a moment or two later, breaking away and moving quickly back to her side of the truck. I wiped my finger across my lips, still tasting her.

"Bella," I breathed, shaking my head, "don't ever apologize for...that." I ran my hand through my hair, trying to clear my head as I started the truck.

As I drove through the dark, empty streets towards Bella's house we were silent, but it was surprisingly not awkward. After a while, Bella finally spoke.

"So, that was really...nice," she said quietly in the darkness. I smiled at the shy tone in her voice. I didn't have to ask what she was referring to.

"It was," I agreed, "Although nice isn't really the word I'd use."

"What word would you use, Mr. Cullen?" Bella asked, and I could hear the smile in her voice.

"Hmmm... Amazing, spectacular, phenomenal...you choose," I supplied easily. If it was possible, my internal filter was getting even more flimsy the more time I spent around her.

Despite my best efforts to drive as slowly as possible, all too soon we were pulling into the Swan's long driveway.

"Well, I hope you have a good night, Bella. Do you have plans?" I asked, turning in my seat to face her.

"I'll find something to occupy my time. Don't worry," Bella said. Before reaching for the handle, she leaned over and quickly pecked me on the cheek. "Thanks for a wonderful day, Edward."

And then she was gone. I sighed and rubbed my cheek, the latest spot that her lips had blessed, as I pulled my truck back onto the street and headed for home.

As I pulled into the driveway of my own house, I braced myself for the flurry of questions I would receive upon entering the house. Esme did not disappoint. All through dinner I was inundated with questions about Bella from my mom and dad. Carlisle had apparently been briefed about the events of the afternoon by Esme while I was taking Bella home.

Somehow I made it through dinner, doing my best to field all of my parents' questions while still trying to appear nonchalant about my feeling for Bella, a task I was finding to be increasingly difficult. After working for a while longer on my homework, I headed upstairs to get ready for bed.

I stepped into the bathroom and turned the shower on. Under the stream of hot water I felt my muscles relaxing, and I replayed the events of the day. Not surprisingly, my thoughts turned to Bella. As I had so many times before, I thought of her eyes and her perfect face, and this time when I thought of her lips, I felt as though I could still feel them on my own.

I sighed as I shut off the water and dressed for bed, throwing on some flannel pants and a t-shirt. It seemed crazy how quickly everything was moving. But when I thought about Bella I only wanted more. Everything felt so right with her. All the obstacles that were trying to get in our way didn't matter. We needed to be together. I knew how I felt, and after today, I was becoming more and more convinced that Bella felt the same way.

I had just lain down in bed and was trying to turn my mind off so that I could sleep when I heard a soft pinging against my window. At first I thought it was the branches of the huge oak tree that stood outside my window. But soon I realized the sound was much more regular than what the wind could produce. Puzzled, I stood up and went to the window. I had to fight not to yell out at the sight that awaited me.

Bella was dressed in black and standing in the tree outside my window. I flung the window open as quickly as I could, while still taking care to keep it from squealing from disuse.

"Hi," Bella smiled sheepishly, grasping the branch lightly as she made her way lithely towards my window. "Can I come in?"

Unable to speak, I stepped aside so she could hop gracefully into my room.

Holy crap. Bella Swan was standing in my bedroom.

A/N: Yay! Bella's in Edward's bedroom!

Thanks to cyber-sarah and daniwerner from Project Team Beta for cleaning this chapter up for me. :)

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Thanks for reading. I'd love to hear what you think about this whole thing... :)