Probably the last chapter for the day. Need to get some written so I can share with you tomorrow. Thanks so much for reviewing even though I haven't answered any. I promise I will. Please consider this a huge thank you until I get a chance to sit down and reply to you each individually.

oOo

I was still floating when I made it to school the next Monday. Everyone was getting excited about Halloween, but all I could think about was a pretty boy calling me special while lying under the stars.

He met me at the door and walked to my locker with me, goofing off and making jokes the whole way. I didn't expect him to act differently. I knew everything was different even if he still got called to the principal's office for hanging from the ceiling in first period.

When lunch rolled around, we all sat together at the little table like we always did, but in defined pairs. No one on the outside of the group would have noticed the shift, but we did. Rosalie looked over the top of Edward's head with her eyebrows raised, and all I could do was shrug. Her eyes told me to be careful; my heart told her to shut the hell up.

I thought the whole lunch period might pass without anyone pointing out the difference, but I thought too soon. Emmett, in all his infinite wisdom, opened his big mouth and threw the question out there.

"So what's going on here, anyway? Something we should know about?"

He pointed between the Edward and me, his eyebrows raised, a smirk on his face. I lowered my chin and stared into my brown-bag lunch, waiting for the denial that would break me.

"She's got a way about her," Edward said slowly. "I don't know what it is…"

Jasper snorted. "Seriously? You pull out Billy Joel for this one?"

"She's got a smile that heals me."

Heat raced up my chest and into my cheeks as his voice strengthened and smoothed into song.

"Give her something new, at least," Alice interjected. "She deserves that much."

Edward was silent for a moment, mentally turning the radio dial in his head. He tapped the table with his knuckles and then burst from his seat.

"If I was your boyfriend, I'd never let you go." Edward's voice was strong and clear as he clutched at his chest dramatically.

His next words were drowned by boos from across the cafeteria, and he had to duck the napkins and pizza crusts flung in his direction. With a laugh, he sat back down and pretended to zip his lips.

"Break it off before it gets started," Rosalie advised me.

"Any guy who thinks that's a fitting serenade doesn't deserve you." Jasper agreed wholeheartedly with his sister.

Edward giggled again and buried his face in my shoulder. "Don't listen to them. They can't appreciate true art."

He continued to hum the song without words, dancing back and forth in his seat. His arm brushed mine several times, sending jolts of electricity through me, but I kept a straight face.

I heard Rosalie and Jasper's words, but I couldn't get Edward's out of my head. He'd clearly been teasing, but he'd sung it out loud for the whole room to hear.

Boyfriend.

Was that what he was?