A/N: Hi out there. Thanks for all your reviews, comments and any other kind of support. I really love to hear your thoughts and answer your questions. That's what makes all the work worth my while ;). If I overlooked one of you, please believe me when I say I didn't do it on purpose. I try to answer each and every one of you.

My wonderful team are, as always, my betas evelyn-shaye and EdwardsMate4ever and my pre-reader and my rock LaPumuckl. Without those ladies hard work, you wouldn't want to read what I write.

So, this turned out to be a long one, but you'll get something you've all been waiting for since the start. I hope you'll enjoy it. See you at the bottom.

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight …

******TBL******

Chapter 11 – Just Friends

EPOV

I was on my way home from the hospital. For once, I'd actually been able to leave when my shift ended at six p.m. It was strange. For as long as I could remember, I'd never felt a pull to go home, so my superiors and fellow residents were used to me staying way past my normal shift to care for my patients and volunteer to assist with procedures. But since Bella had moved in with me, I was anxious to leave work as soon as I could. Every now and then, I wondered how long it would take for my father to hear about my change in attitude. I pushed that thought to the back of my mind, though, looking forward to getting home to Bella and spending a nice evening with her.

It had been seven weeks now since she'd called me that night to pick her up — the best seven weeks of my life. Used to living alone since I moved out of my parents' house, it was a big change to suddenly have someone around all the time. It was definitely a change for the better, though. Of course, it was nice to find a warm meal waiting for me, my laundry done and the bathroom cleaned when I came home. But that wasn't the reason I was already plotting to find a way to keep her around. It was not having to eat alone or spending the evenings on the couch with Bella, watching entertaining nonsense, that made her presence in my apartment so special.

Before she'd been there, I'd studied every spare minute, eating quick sandwiches while turning the pages of my textbooks. Every now and then, Emmett had dragged me out for a night on the town. But I'd known that I hadn't been happy because something had been missing from my life. That something had fallen into my lap now, and I wasn't willing to let it go without a fight.

In the beginning, Bella had called her landlord every day to ask him for news about the repairs to her apartment. Over the last few weeks, she had reduced her calls to once a week since the answers she got were mostly the same every time: an expert had to come in to estimate the damage, the insurance company had to agree to pay for the repairs, he had to wait for the insurance money to come in, et cetera.

All the while, the walls started to grow mold, and the whole building assumed a rather wet stench. Most of Bella's things had found a place in my apartment by now. Her assortment of cookingware filled the cabinets in the kitchen. Her clothes were stowed away in half of my closet and dresser. All of a sudden, I had glass vases in my living room, nice green pillows on my sofa and purple towels in my bathroom. A smile spread across my face realizing, not for the first time, that it wasn't just my apartment anymore. I was living there with Bella — and I loved it.

A plan had started to form in my head over the last few days. To be honest, no matter how much I liked having her living with me, the apartment was too small for two people, and come April next year, we'd be three. So we needed more space. Just two days ago, I'd asked Jasper for the name of a real estate agent who could find us a bigger place. But I'd made up my mind not to tell Bella about it until I'd found just the right thing.

I parked the car in the underground garage right next to Bella's, and a warm feeling spread through my chest at the thought of how normal and right it all felt.

When I opened the door to the apartment, I was instantly assaulted by a delicious scent and the sound of Bella singing along to Robin Thicke's Good Girl blaring from the stereo. I grinned widely, knowing exactly what I'd get to see as soon as I rounded the corner to the kitchen. Careful to not make a noise, I set my bag down next to the door and hung my jacket over a chair, then snuck into the room far enough to peek into the kitchen.

The view in front of me was amazing. Bella, wearing black yoga pants and a tight pink tank top that showed off her slowly growing little baby bump, her hair piled up high on her head in a messy bun, her face showing traces of flour, was dancing around, singing into a big wooden spoon. I froze where I stood, enjoying the display of domestic bliss in front of me.

After a few minutes, Bella spotted me, at once ceasing in her dancing. "Hi," she said with a bashful smile, her teeth biting down on her bottom lip.

"Hi," I answered with a brilliant smile of my own. "Great show you put on."

Her face brightened and her eyes sparkled. "You're early."

"I was hungry, and it smells great in here. What are you cooking?"

She lifted the lid of a pot, took her makeshift microphone, and spooned a bit of dark-red sauce on it. Then she walked over to me, holding it out for me to taste.

"Hmmm," I hummed appreciatively as the flavors reached my taste buds. "That's great. What is it?"

"It's bolognaise sauce with home-made spaghetti." She smirked impishly.

With an amused chuckle, I reached out and brushed away the flour on her forehead. "So that's the reason for the fancy facial powder. But you totally rock that look."

"Oh, no!" Bella rushed off to the mirror next to the front door, scrubbing at her face like crazy.

As our eyes met in the reflection, she started to giggle, and I just had to join in. It was great how easily we got along and how much fun we had together.

****TBL****

Shortly after, we were sitting at the dining table, enjoying the wonderful dinner Bella had made.

"No Emmett today?" she asked after savoring her first bite.

I'd been raving about Bella's skills in the kitchen since she'd started cooking for me, and a few weeks ago, Emmett had decided he needed to know what my praise was all about. Since that first day, he'd invited himself over for dinner with us on more days than not. He seemed to really like Bella and enjoyed her company. Bella in return appeared to love Emmett like a big obnoxious brother. A few times, he'd met Rosalie here, and those days, our meals were accompanied by verbal sparring matches those two seemed to secretly enjoy, even though they still stared daggers at one another.

"No, I think he had a date or something tonight." Or he was meeting a girl for a booty call. Who knew. "How was your day?"

I was surprised to see her cheeks flush at my question. She shoved a few noodles around on her plate before she answered.

"I was asked out on a date today." Her teeth caught her lip and started to worry it.

I knew it was irrational because, so far, we were only friends, but her words made me feel like I was punched in the gut, and the green-eyed monster of jealousy took a hold of me. It was exactly the same way I'd felt when she told me she'd dated that Mike guy. I flinched a bit, remembering Bella's panic attack after my reaction. Never in the world had I thought she'd had sex with him or, even worse, lied to me about the baby. To be honest, I thought that, even if I knew she was having someone else's baby, I could handle it as long as she stayed part of my life. But I didn't have to worry about that. Peanut was mine, and there was no doubt in my mind or my heart about that.

"Who, um, I mean where, um..." I was embarrassed by my weird stammering, but I needed to know.

Bella took a sip of her water. "I went over to the little diner across the street from work to get a sandwich for lunch, and there was this guy standing behind me in the line. He tried to flirt with me the whole time. Then, when I was about to leave, he asked me to go to dinner with him."

She hadn't looked at me the whole time, and I was beginning to dread hearing her answer.

"What did you say?" I sounded squeaky, and although my appetite had all but vanished, I stuffed my mouth with spaghetti, just for the sake of having something to keep me busy.

For the first time since the conversation had started, her eyes met mine and her face was incredulous. "Of course, I said no. That's ridiculous." Shaking her head, she took another fork full of food.

Now I was the incredulous one. "Why's that ridiculous? Don't you want to go out?"

Bella's brows were raised and her eyes wide-open with disbelief. "Isn't that obvious?"

"Not to me," I answered in a serious tone.

"I'm pregnant, Edward."

"And?"

"And nothing. I can't go out with anyone, making them believe it could lead somewhere when it obviously can't. And I'd feel like I was cheating on Peanut." All of a sudden, she sounded a bit sad.

"So you'd want to go out but you think you can't?" There was a glimmer of hope and a plan forming in my head.

She thought about it for a moment. "Yeah, I think that's about right." Her voice was quiet and she looked away again.

Before I could ruin it by wondering about it too much, I made a suggestion. "Then, go out with me."

"What?" Bella squeaked.

"I'll take you on a date. Tomorrow." Please, please, please, say yes.

Again, her teeth started nibbling on her lip. "I don't think that's a good idea." She wasn't meeting my eye.

I was wound tight, wanting her to agree. "Why not?"

Bella took a few steadying breaths as if to gather her courage. "Edward, I like you a lot, and I really enjoy spending time with you. But I'm scared that, if we try to be more than friends, we'll ruin it all. See, we're going to be parents, and I want to do this right. If we start dating, and it doesn't work out, it'll be hard for us to do this together. I've seen what happens when parents split up. I think it's better to never have been together. I couldn't handle that. I don't want to lose you. " Her voice was quiet and sounded even a little sad, but she seemed determined.

I already knew that I was feeling so much more than friendship for her, so I had to try and argue my point. "What if we'd work out? There's never a guarantee in life."

Her warm brown eyes met mine, and I could see that it wasn't easy for her. I wasn't sure, but I thought that I could see a glimmer of longing for more in her gaze.

"Before I told you about the baby, I was ready to do this on my own. But now that I know you better and that I've seen how wonderful and caring you are, I'm scared to death to lose you. And even more, I don't want Peanut to lose you. Please, try to understand." Her eyes were holding mine prisoner, beseeching me to give in.

I was so very sad that she was shooting down everything there could be between us, but I didn't feel like arguing with her right now would make her change her mind.

"You've given this some thought, huh?" I threw her a strained half-smile.

Wordlessly, she nodded her head.

"Okay then. Friends."

She answered me with a relieved smile. "Friends."

"So, will you go out with me as friends tomorrow night? I promise, I'll be good." Making puppy-dog eyes at her, I dared her to say no.

She giggled like a teenage girl, the sound making my heart swell. "I'll go out with you as friends."

I breathed a relieved breath. "With dressing up and dinner at a fancy restaurant?" I cocked a brow, wanting her to play along.

"With dressing up and dinner at a fancy restaurant. Yes. But only as friends." Shaking her head in amusement, Bella started to finish her meal, and my heart was beating faster but happily in my chest. Maybe there was a chance for us, after all.

****TBL****

At seven o'clock the next evening, I was nervously pacing the living room. Dressed in my dark gray suit, white shirt and burgundy tie, I felt a little weird, considering I hardly ever wore anything other than jeans and a t-shirt or scrubs.

I was just about to look at my watch to make sure we were still on time, careful not to turn the flowers in my hand upside-down, when I finally heard the bedroom door open. Turning around, I was stunned to see Bella standing in the doorway, dressed in a beautiful purple halter dress with a high waist that disguised the little curve of her belly. The soft fabric fell free to just above her knees, showing off her long, shapely legs that were further enhanced by her nude-colored high heels. Her long dark tresses fell loosely around her shoulders.

"Wow! You look beautiful," I mumbled, trying to keep my mouth from hanging open in admiration.

Her face lit up like a sun. "Thanks. You clean up nicely yourself." She took a few tentative steps toward me, her gaze wandering to my hands.

My eyes followed hers, and I remembered the flowers I was still holding. Reaching out, I offered them to her.

"These are for you," I murmured, unable to take my eyes off her.

"You shouldn't have." Bella lifted the bouquet, taking a whiff, and I thought I spotted her hiding a cute little mile. Then she went to retrieve a vase to put the flowers in.

A few minutes later, she came back into the living room. "Ready to leave?" I asked, holding up her jacket.

"Yeah, I'm ready," she answered, slipping her arms in.

When she grabbed her clutch, I remembered I'd been searching for my phone earlier.

"Have you seen my cell anywhere? I've been looking everywhere but I just can't find it." Again, I patted the pockets of all my jackets in the closet.

Bella opened the little nude-colored purse and pulled out her red cellphone. "Wait a minute. I'll call you."

Before I could come up with a reason for her not to, I heard the faint sounds of "Bibbedi Bobbedi Boo". Bella must have heard it, too, because she frowned in confusion.

Needing a moment to prepare myself for the questions that would certainly follow, I turned away, rushing over to the couch where the music was coming from. I rummaged through the pillows and finally found it between the cushions. As soon as I'd freed it, I stopped the music.

When I looked up, Bella's eyes were on me. "I've heard your phone ring before. It's always some bell chiming. Why is my ringtone from Disney's Cinderella?" Her tone was a mixture of uncertainty and awe.

I felt caught and wasn't sure how she'd react, but I wasn't going to lie to her.

"Bella, remember the morning you woke up in my bed and ran off?" I asked cautiously, feeling like she might run again.

Bella huffed. "As if I could ever forget that." She sounded a tad bit sad but there was also a trace of humor in there.

"Well, you left something here." I held her gaze, waiting for her to recall what it was she forgot in my bedroom.

Her brows furrowed. "I couldn't find my bra and was in too much of a hurry to search for it."

"When you ran out, I dressed as quickly I could and chased after you. I wanted to take you home or at least ask you for your number. But you were already out of sight. Later that day, when I cleaned up, I found your bra under the bed." I had to smile ruefully at the memory of finding the piece of lingerie and how I'd sniffed it to smell her again. "As stupid as it is, the situation reminded me of Cinderella. And that's what I called you in my head for weeks. So, when you finally gave me your number, the ringtone only seemed fitting."

I held my breath, waiting for Bella to say something. I'd expected her to call me a perv or a stalker, but what she did instead was move her hand up to her mouth, trying to hold back the giggles that were bubbling out of her mouth.

"Cinderella? Were you going to go from door to door and ask women to try on my bra? This is hilarious." She was full-on belly laughing.

Her amusement was infectious, and I found myself joining in. After a few minutes, we were both fighting for breath. So, when I'd partly recovered, I slipped my phone in my pocket and held my hand out to Bella.

"Come on, Cinderbella. We have a reservation. Let's go."

With a coltish grin, she put her hand in mine. "Of course, Prince Charmward. Lead the way to the golden carriage."

****TBL****

"Good evening, Mr. Cullen. May I show you and the lady your table?" the maitre d' asked after I told him my name.

I thanked him, and he led us through the restaurant which was packed with a well-dressed evening crowd. My hand was resting on the small of Bella's back as she walked beside me when I heard someone calling for me.

"Edward? Hey, Edward!" the female voice shouted.

I turned around to see where it was coming from.

"Over here!"

I looked again, and finally, my eyes zeroed in on a beautiful strawberry blonde who was sitting next to a short brunette with a giant head of curls. I waved at them shortly before turning to the maitre d', who had already reached our table. Motioning for him that we were going to greet the guests over at the other table, I redirected Bella who, with a confused expression, followed my lead.

"There's someone I have to say hello to," I told her while we were still a few feet away from the women.

"Edward. Long time no see. You're looking great." The blonde rose to her full height and slung her arm around my neck, giving me a friendly hug.

I hugged her back, patting her back amicably. "It's good to see you, Tanya. You're looking great, too. No date tonight?" I asked, noticing she was wearing business attire rather than date getup.

"Naw, not tonight. Alistair's out of town, and since Jess was short a date as well, we decided to have a girls' night out," she answered after stepping away.

"Bella, these are my good old friends Tanya Denali and her cousin Jessica Stanley. Ladies, this is my date, Bella Swan." Weaving my arm around her waist, I made introductions, leaving out a few less important details.

Tanya smiled brightly at Bella, reaching out her hand. "Nice to meet you. It's so good to see Edward with someone again."

"Nice to meet you, too," Bella replied kindly while shaking Tanya's hand.

Jessica stood up, shoving herself between the two and extending her hand with one of the fakest smiles I'd ever seen. "Hi, I'm Jessica." Then, looking at me, she added, "How could you forget to tell the girl that Tanya's also your ex-girlfriend? After all, you were almost engaged."

I'd never liked Tanya's obnoxious cousin, and even while we were together, Jess had always openly flirted with me. But with her saccharine sweet voice, trying to intimidate Bella, she really pissed me off.

Luckily, Tanya chimed in and set things straight. "Jess here tends to exaggerate. We dated for a while but we're both better off now." She threw Bella a conspiratorial wink. "We don't want to keep you any longer now. Get on with your date. We'll see each other around, I'm sure. Bella, it was nice meeting you. Enjoy your night."

I thanked Tanya, making sure my eyes conveyed that I was really grateful to her reining Jessica in. As I turned to say goodbye to her, Jessica smiled at me sweetly.

"Make sure to tell your parents I said hello, okay?"

In my peripheral vision I noticed Tanya rolling her eyes. Of course, she knew better than to ask me something like that, knowing how bad my relationship with my parents was. At the same time, she knew as well as I did that the sole purpose of Jessica's comment was to aggrandize herself by mentioning that she knew my parents.

Without acknowledging her request, we said goodbye and made our way over to our own table.

After settling Bella in her seat, I sat down perpendicular to her and ordered a bottle of San Pellegrino. We discussed the menu for a bit and both ordered our food.

"That was a bit awkward," Bella started the conversation, fiddling with the napkin in front of her. "Tanya seems nice, though." Her voice sounded cautious but genuine.

"Yeah, she is. I've known her for a long time because our parents are friends." I could feel she wanted to know more, but I wanted her to ask me.

Bella took a sip from her glass, then looked up at me with curiosity. "So, how long were you two together?"

"For about a year," I answered after swallowing a mouthful of water myself. "As I said, I've known her forever, and my father has always been bugging me about going out with an eligible woman." I made air-quotes around the term but hurried to elaborate. "Someone who fits his stuck-up standards. So I took her to one of the endless rows of charity functions my parents subject me to, and we actually had fun. So we decided to give it a try."

Bella had listened intently. "What went wrong?" she asked, her eyes locked with mine.

I shrugged my shoulders, contemplating my answer. "Nothing, really. We just found out that we wanted different things in life and didn't fit together. Tanya enjoys the whole social life thing my parents have to force me to participate in. She has a college degree and a good job but she's waiting to get married and become a more active part of the charities she's a member of. She's a good person but we just don't click." I paused for a moment, feeling the need to set right what Jessica had said. "Jess lied about the engagement. We were never even close to that. And we were more friends than we were anything else. I'm not sure about Tanya, but I wasn't in love with her. After about a year, we decided to break up. That was in June last year. Tanya's engaged to Alistair now, and they're perfect for each other."

After a moment of silence, Bella continued the inquisition. "You know about most of my past, but I know next to nothing about yours. How many serious girlfriends did you have?"

I chuckled to myself. "You really want to know?"

Bella nodded, her brows raised expectantly.

"Okay. Apart from Tanya, there were two. I was with Lauren during sophomore year in college. After about a year, she dumped me one day without any real explanation. Then there was Kate in med school. We dated for a-year-and-a-half before she was offered a spot in a special exchange program in Australia which she couldn't turn down." There wasn't much more to tell apart from the fact that my father hadn't approved of either of them, but I didn't want to talk about my parents during our date. "But there's still a lot I don't know about you. So I suggest, a tit for a tat. You ask me a question, then I ask you one."

We were interrupted by our food arriving, but after the waiter left, Bella was quick to shoot off the first question. "When did you get your first kiss?"

"Peck on the lips or full-on tongue action?" I asked, tasting my steak for the first time.

"Both." She put a fork in her mouth, chewing with a cocky smile on her face.

"Well, let me think. Angela Weber chased me around the school grounds in first grade. I backed myself into a corner, and she pecked me on the lips. I thought I'd have to puke." Bella's giggles made me grin. She was so beautiful when she was uninhibited like that. "First real kiss was with Bree Tanner. I was thirteen and we played Seven Minutes in Heaven. Now it's your turn."

"Hmm, first peck on the lips would have been Jake when we were six. We'd been invited to a wedding the weekend before, and we played bride and groom." She had a nostalgic gleam in her eyes as she told me. The memory was really sweet, although it didn't sit well with me that there was another first she shared with him. "First real kiss was at fourteen with Paul Lahote. He'd bought me ice-cream and walked me home. When we reached the door, he pulled me close, crushed his lips to mine and thrust his tongue into my mouth. It was very sloppy, but he got the hang of it after we'd practiced for a few weeks." Her impish grin was contagious. "Next question. First blow job?"

I choked a bit on my food at her blunt question, but it felt incredibly good that we could talk about it like that.

"Maggie Walsh, I was sixteen and it was at a party. You?"

A hint of sadness clouded her expression for a short moment, but it vanished after a second. "Riley Biers. Eighteen," she rushed out. "First sex?"

"Again, Maggie Walsh, seventeen. Her parents were out of town and mine thought I was sleeping at Jasper's. It was awkward and lasted about three seconds." I raised my brows, indicating I'd ask the same question. Of course I knew who her first had been, at least if Renée was right. But I wanted to hear it from Bella herself.

She bit her lip, looking as if she was ashamed of the answer. "No one knows this but Rose. I was seventeen, and it was with Jake. I was curious and there was no one around I was actually interested in. Riley hadn't moved to Forks yet. I didn't want it to be just anyone, and Jake had some experience but was without a girlfriend at the time. I had to talk him into it, but he eventually agreed. One afternoon, when his dad was in Port Angeles, Jake asked me over. He had two bottles of beer, saying it would loosen us up, and there was music playing. He really made it kind of special for me."

"I thought it had only ever been Riley, all the more with your answer to the blow job question."

"Not really. I had a few boyfriends. We made out, got to second base a handful of times, but never more. The only people I've had sex with, though, are Jake, Riley and you. Riley knew I wasn't a virgin, but I never told him who it had been, although he tried hard to get me to spill in the beginning."

But she told me. I wanted to believe that it meant something. She trusted me enough to share that secret with me. I was giving myself an internal fist pump when Bella's voice pulled me back into the present.

"So, how do you know Disney's Cinderella? I figured boys would rather die than watch princess movies." Finally, Bella was steering the conversation toward easier topics.

I chuckled once before answering her question. "You're right. I actually hated those movies, but with a little sister like Alice, I was tortured by them a lot. The songs from the movies haunted me in my dreams for years during my teens."

We finished our meal and when I asked Bella about dessert, I noticed her fidgeting around a bit.

"What's the matter? Don't you like it here?"

She smiled at me uneasily with her lip caught between her teeth. "This isn't really my scene. The food was great, and it was really fun dressing up, but it's a little too stiff here for my taste."

Smiling in relief, I answered, "Thank God! It's so not for me, either. Dressing up is nice, but this here is a bit much for me, too. Come on, let's have dessert somewhere else."

I motioned for the waiter to come and asked for the check.

****TBL****

BPOV

About two hours after we'd left the restaurant, we were back at the apartment. We'd had dessert at a cute little diner we were terribly overdressed for, but we enjoyed spending time together and laughed a lot. I really couldn't believe how much fun Edward and I had had together. To be honest, it was the best date I'd ever had, even though it had only been a platonic one. It was a bit strange to meet his ex and her horrible cousin, but I'd forgotten all about them as soon as we'd begun to really talk. Knowing how nice and caring Edward was on top of being heart-stoppingly beautiful, I couldn't believe that he'd only ever had three real relationships. Remembering Alice's words, I began to wonder what Dr. Cullen might have done to sabotage them, but tonight was not the time to ask about that.

Edward closed the door behind us and took my jacket from me. I waited for him to put it on a hanger and stow it away in the front closet before I started to slowly stroll toward the bedroom door. As I reached the sofa, I stopped, looking up at Edward, who had followed me.

"I had a wonderful time tonight. Thank you so much." I threw him a little smile and was instantly mesmerized by how green his eyes were.

"Me, too. We should do this again sometime."

As if drawn in by an imaginary magnet, Edward had taken a step toward me so that we were only a few inches apart. Suddenly, the air around us was buzzing with electricity, and I didn't dare to breathe. I noticed Edward's eyes wander from my eyes down to my lips and saw his tongue come out to wet his own.

It felt like everything was happening in slow motion when he reached out his hand and cradled my cheek in his palm. His touch was scorching my skin, burning right into my soul. Inch by inch, way too slowly, he lowered his face to mine until, finally, his lips lightly brushed mine. It felt heavenly.

Only that second, I realized just how much I'd wanted him to kiss me. Carefully and very tenderly, Edward moved his lips over mine, kissing first my bottom then my top lip. On their own account, my arms moved up, wrapping themselves around his neck, securing him to me.

He seemed to take that as some sort of an invitation as he cautiously ran his tongue over my bottom lip. In reaction to that, I opened my mouth slightly, granting him the access he was obviously pleading for. As his tongue met mine for the first time, I couldn't hold back the moan that wanted out. It felt so unbelievably good and totally natural, like we'd always done this, but at the same time, it was all new and exciting.

With a groan of his own, Edward's tongue started to stroke and caress mine. His arms went around my waist, pulling me flush against him. I felt myself getting very wet as Edward's erection pressed into my stomach.

We found ourselves in a haze of passion, devouring each other, his hands moving up and down my side. Moans and whimpers were filling the air as my hands wove themselves through the hair at the nape of Edward's neck. I was totally high on the taste of him, the smell of him and the feel of him against me. I wanted him, so much — on top of me, inside me, all around me. At that moment, it felt like Edward was the air I needed to breathe, but in the back of my mind, I was reminded of what it would mean if we gave into our desire. It could ruin everything we had and make it impossible for us to raise Peanut together.

For a few more moments, I tried to push the nagging thought away and just revel in our kiss, but eventually, it wormed its way to the forefront of my mind. Very reluctantly, I pulled away and broke our heated lip-lock.

"This is a bad idea." I panted, my hands resting on Edward's chest to keep a bit of distance between us.

"I think it's the best idea in a long time," he answered, angling his lips closer to mine again, but I pushed him away, carefully but with determination.

"I'm sorry, but I can't do this. It could lead to losing you as a friend. I couldn't handle that. Please, let me go to bed now." My eyes were burning into his, begging him to understand. His expression was first surprised, then sad, but in the end, understanding. Very slowly, he dropped his arms that had been around me.

"Okay, then. If that's what you want." His eyes held an emotion I couldn't really read.

I nodded slightly, stepping away from him. "Are we still friends?" I had to work hard to keep the desperation out of my tone.

"Friends — always." His voice was firm and assuring.

"Thanks again for the wonderful evening. Good night, Edward," I said as I slowly walked backwards to the bedroom door.

"Goodnight, Cinderbella," he answered just as I turned the knob.

The moment I closed the door behind me, I pressed my back against it, breathing out a shaky breath. I couldn't believe what just happened. I'd never been kissed like that. I'd never wanted to kiss someone as badly as I wanted Edward out there in the living room. But it couldn't be. I'd just lost someone who'd been a major part of my life for years. I couldn't lose Edward because we weren't able to control our desires.

Hesitantly, I started to get ready for bed.

****TBL****

An hour later, I was still lying awake. My mind was replaying our kiss over and over again, leaving me all hot and bothered. Damn pregnancy hormones were making me all needy and horny. After tossing and turning about a hundred times, I surrendered to the feelings the memory of Edward's mouth on mine elicited from me.

Carefully, I let my hands wander down my body, my thumbs brushing my already pebbled nipples. I moaned lowly, closing my eyes to savor the sensation. A few times, I stroked back and forth, making my buds hard as rock while my mind conjured up images of Edward kissing and suckling me.

One of my hands moved further down, making its way into my panties while the other kept teasing my sensitive nipple. I gasped in surprise at the amount of moisture I found between my legs. I was sure I'd never been that wet before. Slowly, my finger started to circle around my swollen clit, making me bite my lip to try and keep from moaning out loud.

God, it felt good to finally be touched where I was all hot and needy, even if it was my own hand doing it. But in my fantasy, it was Edward fondling me, slipping a finger inside me while his tongue lapped at my ready-to-burst clit. With that image in mind, it only took a few moments before I exploded, trying to keep in the loud moans that tried to fight their way to the surface. Rubbing frantically, I worked to prolong my orgasm.

Finally, I lay there panting and sweaty, but lighter. With a smile on my face, I turned to my side, closing my eyes.

That was the first time I masturbated to thoughts of Edward, but it would certainly not be the last.

********TBL********

A/N: Phew, is it hot in here? I know you were all waiting for them to finally kiss and I'm sorry it didn't end the way you hoped. Tell me, can any of you understand Bella's reasoning, her fear to go somewhere they can't turn back from? Or would you just have gone for it, damn the consequences?

What did you think of Tanya and Jess? Is Tanya really nice or is she a bitch in disguise?

In the next few chapters, things will get a little uncomfortable. Here's a little teaser:

… "If you're so sure of yourself and your situation, why is it you haven't told us yet? Is she okay with being your dirty little secret?" His mother countered in a deathly calm voice. …

Oh, no, Esme makes an appearance. What could that mean? How did she find out? What will Edward do? I can't wait to hear your guesses. Tell me here or on Facebook in my group Payton79's Fanfiction. There will also be a pic of the dress Bella wore to the date.

And here are my recs, all on :

WIP rec:

White Collar Boxing – RosieRathbone

Retired boxer-turned CEO, Edward Cullen, is about to face his biggest challenge yet when he is landed with his teenage daughter for the summer. With the help of his feisty PA, Bella, maybe they can find something to bond over? AH OOC.

This story is a hoot. Great sassy Bella, wonderful Bossward and entertaining supportive charaters. You should really check it out.

Complete rec:

Turning Pointe – Viridian6

Edward's life was a non-stop party – drinking, drugs, girls – he's completely out of control. Determined to win back his father's approval, he befriends sweet & innocent Bella. His plan backfires, but can he give up his new addiction?

I almost had to read this story in one sitting. It has endearing characters that go through a lot of pain and you just have to stay and go through it with them. So worth the read.

I wish you a lot of fun with the recs. Next update will be in two weeks. See you then.