Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.

Chapter 12

Edward

It had felt like minutes that we simply sat in the meadow, talking, and enjoying each other's company.

Of course, in reality, it had ended up being around three hours.

Bella had moved to lie beside me, turning and cuddling into my chest.

I had never before felt so comfortable, yet adrenaline-induced in the company of just one person.

On the one hand, I felt like I could spend hours talking to her about anything and everything, and she would completely understand – that's the comfortable part.

But on the other hand, I couldn't ignore the rush it gave me every time she smiled, or laughed, or brushed her hand against mine, let alone her whole body – the adrenaline-induced part.

And though I would've liked to stay there in that meadow, where, for a while, we were just two people on a date, spending time getting to know one another, I knew that I had to take her back home. Back to reality. Back to constant thoughts of her impending departure, and how distressing it was for both of us that she'd be leaving just as quickly as she'd arrived.

As much as I wanted to be selfish and spend every waking second I had with her, I knew that I couldn't.

Not only because it was unfair to her, but also because Emmett would probably murder me.

Or Charlie.

I mentally cringed at that thought.

Truthfully, our conversation before the date had gone by better than I had expected. No angry threats were made. No gunshots fired.

I frankly thought that that was an accomplishment.

But then again, I knew how highly Chief Swan thought of me - I'd been "such a good influence on Emmett" in the years that I'd known him. His words, not mine.

Hard as it was to imagine, Emmett had been even more of a wild card before I'd befriended him.

Basically, the gist of Charlie's conversation with me had involved him asking me how serious I was about Bella. Which, to me, seemed like a laughable question considering the fact that I'd already asked her to be my girlfriend.

Of course, it wasn't their fault that neither him nor Emmett knew that I'd already taken the next step with Bella to commit. So, in response, I'd confessed that she made me feel an indescribable amount of happiness just by her presence. I didn't know how to describe the way I felt about her, simply because it wasn't something that words could possibly convey. I just felt more… myself when I was with her. And that was the truth.

Charlie had, similar to Emmett, been completely floored by that response, not really knowing how else to react than gape at me like he was struggling for air. Maybe he'd believed that I was only in it for her looks, or her status, expecting my response to be, "I don't know, man. She's hot."

Though after all of these years of knowing me, I was sure his train of thought hadn't been near that. Maybe he simply hadn't been expecting me to be so brutally honest.

But, when it came to the subject of Bella, it almost felt like words came spewing out of my mouth before I could really take a moment to think about the question.

Regardless, at least now I knew that Chief Swan understood that I had absolutely no intentions to use his daughter in any way. What I felt for her was genuine, completely unaffected by her fame; slightly affected by her looks.

I knew, without a doubt, that even if she hadn't been Bella Monroe, I still would've felt a pull towards her. There was no question about it.

But, getting back to the topic of mine and Charlie's talk, after recovering from my answer, he had fired a few more questions at me, which I'd answered carefully, but openly, before getting down to the more serious stuff.

"Bella's life is anything but normal… I'm sure you already know that. She's always going and going and going, but that's only because she never wants to disappoint anyone. From what you've told me, I anticipate that you both are planning to continue this relationship when she heads back to L.A. And when she does head back, you can't expect too much from her.

"She always pushes herself too hard for people that she cares about – her fans, her friends, her family. She's already spreading herself so thin with her career. A boy might be difficult to add to that picture. So just be patient if, sometimes, she can't return your calls. Believe me, she'll try. But sometimes it's going to be too stressful for her."

I'd absorbed every single word of his explanation, nodding as I had done so.

I knew that Charlie wasn't trying to deter me from pursuing a relationship with his daughter, but rather, prepare me for what was in store for me. And I appreciated it wholeheartedly. Of course, I'd figured a lot of things out on my own already, but it was great to be given input from the people who'd actually lived through communicating with her while she existed in that whole other realm of Hollywood.

As our conversation had drawn to a close, Charlie had finished by clapping me on the back, "I don't want to inflate your ego or anything, Edward. But I'm glad that you're the one that she's decided to give a chance to. I don't think I would've liked it very much if she was dating Jacob… what's-his-face." He waved a hand, referring to the actor that everyone could clearly see had a thing for Bella – which, she'd explicitly told me she didn't reciprocate. I held in a laugh, before thanking Charlie for his approval, and for everything that he'd told me. Obviously, it had sent me straight back into my anxious thoughts about the future, which I'd regretted I wasn't able to hide better after Bella had immediately picked up on it in the car ride to the meadow.

I hated that she was worried about my lack of commitment, but honestly, it was slightly hypocritical of me seeing as I was worried about the same thing. She could have any guy – literally any guy in the world – and she'd wound up choosing me.

I didn't enjoy feeling this insecure but I knew that she could do better. It startled me that she felt the same about me - she thought that it'd be easy for someone else to swoop in and catch my eye, but I knew it to be impossible.

The only way our relationship could ever work is if we both shoved aside that lack of confidence we both suffered with.

I liked her; she liked me. That's all that was important right now.

Sliding back into the present, I looked down at Bella's still form, cuddled into my side.

I was lying soundlessly on my back with one arm around her, gently stroking her smooth mahogany hair, while her eyes were closed. I knew that she wasn't sleeping from the way her breaths weren't yet regulated; she was simply enjoying the silence.

I was, too.

But, unfortunately, I was going to have to break this moment if I wanted to continue to have Emmett and Charlie's consent to see her.

Even though her wants were really all that mattered to me – and she, amazingly, wanted a relationship with me – I couldn't follow through with that if her family lost their trust in me.

It was slowly approaching half past seven, and I'd promised them that I'd have her home by eight.

"Bella," I murmured, continuing to lightly stroke her hair.

"Hmm?" she replied, a smile playing at her lips, as her eyes remained closed.

"We should go," I informed her, causing her eyelids to flutter open as she sighed.

Once again, I felt myself slowly forgetting everything around me, as I looked into her warm, brown eyes.

"I know," she replied softly, brushing her fingers across my cheek lightly.

At this rate, I was never going to have the resistance to leave; not with her eyes smoldering mine, and her skin in contact with mine.

Thankfully, she had self-control.

With a grin, Bella retracted her hand, stopping all previous motions, before smoothly sitting up. She looked back at me, a smile still playing at her full lips, legs folded underneath her.

It was almost unbelievable to me, how effortlessly radiant she looked. Her hair had come undone from the pony it had been tied up in, falling straight down her back, reaching midway, in a dark brown mess. I was having a terribly difficult time controlling my heart rate, my eyes drifting to her bare shoulders – she'd removed her jacket after realizing that the weather was quite nice up here.

Snapping out of my reverie, I stood up after her, making the first move to join hands after gathering our things, beginning the trek back to the car. A few seconds down the trail, Bella's foot caught hold of a stray tree root, awakening my reflexes as I released her hand, using my now free hand to encircle her waist, and prevent her from falling to the ground.

Her cheeks flushed, as I bit my lip to hide my grin, not wanting to fuel her embarrassment.

I hadn't known how clumsy she was until this date, which had clearly been a test for her coordination. Crazy and weird as it was to say, I was kind of glad of this fact.

After all, it gave me an excuse to hold her small body in my arms every few minutes.

A few more almost-falls later, we were finally out of the woods, and back onto open road. After packing the picnic cloth and emptied basket into the trunk, I moved swiftly in opening the door for Bella, who thanked me - not hiding her surprise at my action - before settling in. Shortly after, I walked around to my side, hopping in and starting the engine, hearing it purr softly.

Then, I proceeded to maneuver my way down the few side roads I'd taken to get to the meadow, back onto the highway, subconsciously turning on the stereo in the car while doing so.

As soon as I heard the sound of Debussy floating through the car, I felt the urge to crawl into a hole and never come out, God, now Bella's going to think I'm a loser who listens to classical music in his spare time. Admittedly, she wouldn't be wrong.

I'd known that there was a chance she'd glimpsed it the other day in my bedroom, but I'd silently hoped that she hadn't. I mean, no one from this century listened to this kind of music. She was either laughing at me, or completely turned off by my music choice. God.

Just as my hand reached out to switch the dial to Radio, I felt Bella's warm hand touch mine.

"Please, don't change it. This is Clair de Lune, right? I love this piece," she spoke up, as I felt my eyebrows shoot up to my hairline, the nausea that had built up in my stomach slowly dissipating.

"You like classical music?" I asked, not concealing my surprise. I looked over to her just as we stopped at a red light.

Blushing, she tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear, shrugging, "Yeah."

"My mom went through a phase when I was younger. She'd play Beethoven, and Debussy all around the house. After a few months, she kind of fell out of it. But, I never did. In a way, it's kind of what made me get so interested in music," Bella smiled, just as the light turned green, and I continued on, cruising down the highway.

"I didn't know that," I smiled, still openly displaying my shock, "I didn't expect it," I replied, as I saw her smile grow out of the corner of my eye.

"I guess there's still a lot more you have to find out about me," there was a smile in her voice, as I bit the inside of my cheek.

"I guess so," I chuckled, unable to control my smile at the prospect of spending the future doing just that. Getting to know her. Getting to know her likes and dislikes; her pet peeves; her guilty pleasures. I wanted to know her like the back of my hand.

For the rest of the ride, Bella and I simply sat in silence, with her observing all of the passing scenery out of the window, and me occasionally glancing at her whilst driving. She'd taken my right hand captive less than five minutes into the drive, only releasing when we eventually pulled back up in front of her house.

We'd managed to arrive back there in record time, 7:54. The sky had darkened considerably on our way back, going from a light pink, gradually growing darker and darker until the stars could be seen stark against the night sky.

I moved out, opening the passenger door for Bella once again, shaking my head as she thanked me for doing so, assuring her it wasn't a problem – it was common courtesy to open the door for someone, after all. We completed the short distance to the front door, hearing the light hum of the TV playing in the living room, figuring that Charlie and Emmett had decided to wait up for us to come home.

"Thank you - for taking me out this evening. I had a wonderful time with you," Bella looked up at me, genuinely seeming to mean what she said. I smiled, moving closer and wrapping my arms around her waist.

"You don't need to thank me. I'm just glad that you liked the meadow as much as I do."

Sighing, we continued to stand there for another few seconds, and I began to lean my forehead against hers, as her left hand lifted up, tracing the edge of my jaw before coming to glide against my lips.

"Can you tell that I really enjoy kissing you? I'm finding it hard to resist," her eyes flickered up to mine, her cheeks a vibrant red at this point, as I grinned, pulling her flush against my body, and feeling as though my ego had just inflated to an immeasurable point.

"Then don't," my voice lowered, seeing her bite her lip – an action that pretty much sent me crazy – deliberating.

She moved slowly, and I could feel myself unintentionally getting frustrated - which she took note of, seeming to be holding in a laugh. Within the next millisecond, I closed the gap between us, feeling her lips come in contact against mine as her hands wound their way around my neck. It felt so right when her arms went to my neck, and her fingers threaded through my hair.

I moved eagerly in time with her, feeling her smile against my lips before immediately sighing when my tongue made its way into her mouth, savoring its pure, sweet taste. My tongue danced with hers, lips moving fervently against hers, and I resisted the urge the groan out loud at the feeling of pleasure that kissing Bella like this gave me.

All too soon, she pulled away from lack of air, breathing heavily as I pressed my forehead back against hers, panting along with her.

I brushed my knuckles along her red cheeks, noting how swollen her lips currently looked, and feeling pretty good about myself that I'd caused that.

She pulled her bottom lip in between her teeth, brown eyes gleaming as she stared into my eyes, "I'll see you tomorrow?"

The hope in her voice just about made my night, and I grinned, "I'll see you." I'd definitely be taking her out again after the success of this evening, but I knew that in between all of that, we'd still have to make time for our friends. Which is what we intended to do tomorrow. Everyone planned to go over to Alice's for a movie night.

Just on a whim, I brushed my lips against Bella's, pulling away a second later.

"Sweet dreams, Bella," I whispered, an inch away from her lips, as her eyes widened, lips parting.

She seemed frazzled as I walked back towards my car, and I couldn't help but feel a slight sense of accomplishment at that.

I always found it hard to believe that someone as gorgeous and seemingly intangible as her could like a guy as ordinary as me, until I found moments where she stuttered, or fumbled at the little things that I did.

She waved, still looking slightly disoriented, as I got into my car. Chuckling lightly, I waited until she shut the door behind her before peeling out of her driveway, and heading towards my home.

Throughout the drive, I could feel the smile that had been permanently fixed on my face whilst in Bella's company, slowly fading away. I found myself wishing that I didn't have to go home, or that Bella's family wouldn't miss her if I took her away, and spent the night with her.

Innocently, of course. Like we'd done on Wednesday.

All I wanted to do was hold her in my arms again, and maybe kiss her a little in between.

I just wanted to be with her, in the simplest ways possible.

A/N: So this was pretty much just meant to be a little filler chapter, not with anything huge in it, really. I understand if it was a bit boring.

Still, I'd appreciate your feedback in the form a review! Thanks so much for following this story :)

Xoxo

LoveACullen