CHAPTER 13

Over the next couple of months, the weather turned warmer, the snow was melting, and Bella and Edward kept up their painfully slow courtship.

Courtship. That's what it felt like to Bella. Sometimes she would giggle to herself about it, when she wasn't in complete agony over how badly she wanted him.

It almost felt like Edward was courting her in the safety of a large group of people, and Jasper was kind of like their chaperone. Someone Edward had to impress in order for Jasper to give his blessing.

Realistically, it wasn't like that. Jasper's blessing wasn't needed at all, and the slow pace of their progressing relationship? Bella liked it, regardless of how hard it was sometimes. She wanted everything about them to be sure. And it was. It was very, very sure.

They still did spend their fair share of time alone together. Studying at the library, going for lunch in the University hall, watching Lost like they had always done.

Edward always found ways to touch her. His hand would brush the back of hers, or he would sit close enough that their arms or knees were touching. They held hands sometimes, though briefly, but the kissing was definitely on hold. It drove them both completely insane, but they knew the physical would have to wait.

And it waited, and waited.

As they walked back to their dorms after studying for an exam one sunny April afternoon, Edward casually took her hand, lifting it up in front of him and fidgeting with her fingers.

She was smiling, lost in the feeling of his gently hands on hers.

"I'd like to take you out on a date," he told her, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye with a smirk on his face. "If that's okay with you."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Hm," she pretended to contemplate this. "I think I would definitely be okay with that."

"You think?"

"I know. I would definitely be okay with that."

His smile grew wider, and he settled his hands back between them, gripping tightly to one another as though this milestone entitled them to really hold hands.

"Alright, then," he said, pleased with this new progression.

"So where will you take me on this date?"

He looked and her and said, through his laughter, "I have no idea."

She laughed with him.

"Well, Edward, for what it's worth, I really don't care where we go. As long as I get a kiss goodnight."

He smiled widely at her. "That, I can do."

That very weekend, they had their first official date. Bella scrutinized for hours on what to wear, glad that she started thinking about it days in advance, because now she only had four hours to go and was slightly panicking.

"Rosalie, help me," she said desperately.

"Me? I think you're losing it. This is not my department. Unless you want to wear some khakis and an olive-green organic cotton t-shirt. Oh, wait! I have dresses. I totally have dresses."

She proceeded to go through her closet, picking out a few dresses that were quite worn out, and all earthy, brownish, greenish tones. Bella was sure that one of them used to be an oversized t-shirt that she had sewn into a makeshift dress.

"All organic cotton?" Bella asked flatly.

"This one's hemp, actually."

"I'll call Alice, but thank you."

"Good idea."

And even though Alice was with Jasper at the time Bella called, she squealed and jumped at the chance to help Bella get ready.

"Hair and makeup too?" she had asked over the phone.

Bella rolled her eyes, not having time to argue. "Fine. But please hurry."

Less than 20 minutes later, Alice and Jasper showed up at Bella's door.

"What are you doing here?" Bella asked Jasper. This guy must really be in love if he was willing to sit through this.

"Alice said my opinion would be helpful. So, here I am," he said, holding out his arms as if presenting himself.

Bella nodded, impressed. "That's not a bad idea, actually. Thanks, Alice!"

"Okay, now I brought over only a few key pieces, because I figured you'd want to wear what you have. You know, since you're just natural and easygoing and stuff. Not a lot of frills, right?"

"Right," Bella agreed. Alice loved using Bella as her dress-up doll, but Alice worked with Bella's style, which was why Bella let her.

"I'm going to go through your clothes, pick out a few things and then you can start trying stuff on," Alice enthused, clapping her hands in front of her chest. "But first, go wash your hair and I'll give you a blow-out."

Bella obliged, knowing full well that she was desperate and in no place to argue.

Once the hair was done – Alice always gave the best blow-outs – Bella tried on three outfits before Jasper began arguing.

"You know Edward doesn't care about any of this, right? He won't care what you're wearing tonight. Please tell me you know that you're wasting your time."

Bella, Alice and Rosalie all paused to look at him.

"Jasper! She has to wear something that will make her feel good. This is a date, not a study session at the library. She needs to feel…date-ish." Alice explained the situation as calmly as possible.

"Alright, alright. I'm just saying…" but he was smiling at Alice, who was smiling at him.

Those two.

Bella's phone rang sometime between the fourth and fifth outfit, and when she saw that it was Edward, she gulped hard and became nervous. Her face fell as she assumed that he must be calling to cancel, and she slipped out into the hallway to take the call privately.

"Hello?" she answered once she was safely in the hallway, a nervous edge to her tone.

"Hey," Edward's smiling voice came through on the other end, calming her instantly.

"Hey," Bella breathed. "What's up?"

"Just wanted to say hi. I'm, um, really looking forward to seeing you tonight."

Bella beamed at this admission and tried to keep her voice level, though she wanted to scream out of pure excitement. "Yeah, me too."

"Are you having a good day?"

"Yeah. It's slow, though."

"Mine too."

She could hear that his smile matched hers.

They said goodbyes with promises to see one another soon, and Bella floated back into her dorm.

"Who was that?" Jasper asked, though he already knew based on the look on Bella's face.

"Edward," she grinned.

"What did he want?"

"He wanted to tell me he was really looking forward to seeing me tonight." Bella shook her head, unable to stop smiling, completely incredulous that this was her reality.

Rosalie and Alice aww-ed in unison as Bella giggled.

Jasper nodded, visibly impressed with Edward's move.

When the girls were finally settled on an outfit, Alice got to work on Bella's makeup. Jasper stuck around even though he wasn't needed anymore, and Rosalie called Emmett to come keep him company.

"I feel like I'm 13 and I'm going to my first dance with a boy," Bella mused as she sat still for Alice, who was applying her blush. "You really don't all have to be here, you're making this into a way bigger deal."

"Oh, but this is a big deal. Our little Bella is growing up so fast," Jasper teased.

The couples made plans to go to a movie that evening, telling Bella that if she and Edward wanted, they should meet them at Quinn's after their date.

At precisely seven o'clock, there was a knock on the door. And although Bella had seen him almost every single day for the last couple of months, her stomach flip-flopped and her heart rate picked up.

She got up to open the door, but Jasper beat her to it, holding his hand up towards her in a halting motion. Bella rolled her eyes.

Edward was startled upon seeing everyone inside. "Oh. Hey, guys. I, um…"

"I'm ready, Edward," Bella said, grabbing her purse and pushing her way past Jasper.

"Don't stay out too late, young lady," Jasper said, in a voice that sounded eerily like her father. She could never understand how he did that voice so well.

"Alrighty," she replied simply, shutting the door as quickly as she could.

"What was going on in there?" Edward asked teasingly.

"Um, well, Alice came over to, um, help me get dressed and Jasper and Emmett just came over to tease me."

Her face was red with her embarrassment, and Edward lifted his hand to the side of her face, running his thumb over one of her cheeks. Her heart-rate doubled, sending a jolt of longing through her entire body.

"Well, you look beautiful," he told her sincerely.

She smiled shyly at him. "Thank you."

He took her hand in his and off they went.

The date began the way a regular date would, though still very much fun. They ate dinner at a small Italian restaurant that Edward had been told about by someone he worked with in the library. The food was delicious, and they were right in the heart of the city. It was a beautiful evening and they planned on taking a walk through the New York City streets after their meal.

Their plans changed somewhere around the end of their appetizer, and they each had a hand extended to the middle of the table, fiddling with each other's fingers.

"So, tell me something about yourself from when you were a kid. Something you're really embarrassed about," Bella said.

Edward chuckled. "Um…okay, fine, but you're going next."

Bella nodded, holding back a giggle.

"When I was a kid, I was obsessed with magic."

"Obsessed how?"

"Like I wanted to be a magician. I went to magic camp and my parents bought me a magic set, and I would just go around to all my family and friends and do magic tricks for them."

Bella giggled. "You're kidding!"

"And I called myself 'Edward the Great'. True story."

"That's adorable! How old were you?" Bella could not hold back her laughter.

"It probably started when I was about seven. I toned it down a bit when I got to high school, because, you know, the teasing." He winked at her, and she was surprised at how that one simple gesture made her body go weak.

"So, what kind of tricks are we talking about? Disappearing acts? Card tricks?"

"Mostly card tricks, since it was easier to just carry my deck of cards with me. But I did make a few things disappear too."

"You carried a deck of cards around with you?" This just kept getting better and better.

He nodded.

"Do you have one right now?" she asked eagerly.

He shook his head.

"Darn. I want to see some magic tricks."

"I'm sure we can find some cards somewhere in this city."

Bella clapped her hands in front of her. "Really? We have to. We just have to. After dinner?"

Edward nodded his agreement through a grin.

"Hey, it's your turn now!" he teased.

"Alright, alright. Um…one time when I was a kid, I went to a birthday party where they were painting the kids' faces, and I got my face painted like a cat. And then for the rest of the week I made my mom put milk into bowls so I could lick it up like a cat."

Edward's laughter consumed him and he threw his head back. She couldn't deny how infectious his happiness was.

"A week?"

"A whole week."

They were both laughing so hard they could barely talk.

"Well what about the face paint? Did you keep it on all week?"

"Oh, no, my mom made me wash it off before bed that night. I, um…made her paint on a new cat face every morning."

Edward's laugh bellowed louder.

"Why on earth did you want to be a cat so badly?"

"I have no idea."

After walking hand in hand to a convenience store to grab a deck of cards, they walked hand in hand to Central Park, and didn't let go of one another until they were sitting on a bench. They sat facing one another, Bella with both legs crossed and Edward with one tucked underneath him. It didn't go unnoticed to either one of them that their knees were touching.

Just that very simple thing sent a very welcome fire through Bella's entire body.

He shuffled the deck as he explained his first trick, and she made an effort to focus on everything he was saying, distracted as she was by the heat coursing through her.

She picked her card as directed, hiding it from Edward, and trying her hardest to watch exactly what he was doing with his hands.

His hands…

Her eyes kept roaming to the planes of his face – his jaw, his eyes, the way his lips pursed when he was concentrating – and she had to keep reminding herself to focus.

Seven tricks later, she still had no clue how he did it.

So they spent the rest of their evening sitting on that very bench in the park, teaching and learning all about magic tricks.

"So, um, do you think we should meet up with them at Quinn's?" she asked him eventually, adjusting herself to cuddle into his side and lean her head on his shoulder. He wrapped an arm around her.

"I guess," he answered. It would keep him from inviting her back to his dorm like he so badly wanted to, but knew it was too soon for that.

"So, I guess this is the official end to our first date," he told her.

She nodded against him.

"So…" his voice grew soft. "Can I give you your goodnight kiss now?"

She lifted her head to look at him and nodded again, this time smiling widely in anticipation.

He adjusted them for easier access, and made his move. The kiss was soft and sweet, before turning into a little more than that. Her hands fisted into the front of his shirt, and his hands slid into her hair. She all but melted as the kiss became deeper. The feelings surging through her were almost too much to take…almost. Bella had never wanted anyone the way she wanted Edward, and all she knew was that it made her excited in every way imaginable.

Bella sighed as Edward's lips moved from her mouth to the edge of her jaw. They were soft as they skimmed the sensitive spot at the base of her ear, and she got goosebumps as they travelled down the length of her neck to the base of her throat.

The stirrings were so new to her that they were entirely overwhelming.

His lips travelled back up the way that they came, eventually landing once more on her mouth.

Just as their tongues found one another again, voices were heard not far away. They broke apart reluctantly, foreheads touching, as the group of four passed by them, chatting loudly.

Their breaths slowed and Bella rested her head once again on Edward's shoulder as she giggled through her laboured breaths.

In a moment of confidence, Bella brought her hand to rest on Edward's thigh, high enough to be more than just friendly, and nuzzled into his neck.

"That was the best goodnight kiss ever," she whispered.

"Yeah," Edward answered, unable to really say anything else.

Bella lifted her head and looked into his eyes. "Should we go?"

"Yeah."

But instead of holding hands this time, Edward flung his arm across Bella's shoulders and pulled her in tight. In turn, she wrapped her arm around his waist and off they went, holding each other as close as possible.

"Bella, Bella, Bella!" Alice called through the crowd. She made her way to Bella and Edward just as they had spotted their friends in the busy pub.

She grabbed Bella's hand and began dragging her away promptly. "Hi, Edward. Bella, we need to talk to you," Alice chattered.

As Bella's hand slipped out of Edward's, she looked up at him, casting an apologetic look his way. He smirked, satisfied with the fact that he would have many more of these nights with Bella.

Alice hauled her all the way to the girls' room, where Rosalie was waiting, leaning against the sinks. Alice took her place beside Rosalie, and it started.

"So, did he kiss you?"

"Of course he kissed her, Alice." And then a slight pause. "He kissed you, right?"

"Yes, he kissed me," Bella grinned. But she was not above gloating. Not after tonight.

She would never forget the goosebumps she felt as Edward gently brushed her hair behind her shoulder, lightly placing his hand just at the base of her neck before leaning in for the softest, sweetest kiss she'd ever had. How could she help it if her hands ended up fisting his shirt and pulling him closer? A girl can only do so much.

Alice and Rosalie listened eagerly as Bella regaled with the tale of what happened less than an hour ago. She couldn't believe this was actually happening. Never in a million years would she have thought she would end up kissing Edward Cullen.

"So, are you guys, like, together?" Rosalie asked.

Bella shrugged, though she really couldn't stop smiling. "I guess. I mean, that's what it feels like. That's kind of what it always felt like, even before. I can't really explain it…"

"I totally get it," Alice said seriously, holding up her hand indicating that Bella needn't say more.

"You would totally get it. You and Jasper are freaky, the way that you just…are," Rosalie said.

"Alice," Bella began. "I love you. And I love that you're with Jasper. And I love that he met you and you're going to get married."

"Bella!" Alice shouted, hitting her on the arm.

"I'm serious! You guys are forever. I see it in Jasper's eyes."

Alice rolled hers in response, though she was smiling.

"So when are you going out again?" Rosalie asked, her curiosity about the new couple not really satisfied.

"Don't know…we haven't really gotten that far yet. I mean, we just ended our date like, an hour ago. Could this not have waited until tomorrow?"

"We actually needed to talk to you about something else," Alice told her. "Non-Edward related."

"Oh! Sure, what's up?"

Alice and Rosalie looked at one another and grinned before turning back to Bella.

"Well," Rosalie began. "Alice and I were talking earlier about where we wanted to live next year, so we checked out this app on her phone that has rental listings in the area, and…" she looked at Alice once more. "You tell her!"

"We found the perfect apartment, Bella," she jumped in, excitedly. "It's seriously perfect. It's even got three whole bedrooms. I mean, two of them are the size of a closet because they used to be one whole room, but still. Three rooms. And the rent is pretty wild, but split three ways, it's totally doable if we each had a part-time job."

"And it's in a great location. Only a fifteen-minute walk from campus," Rosalie continued. "So…basically, what we're saying is…"

"We should all live there. The three of us. Together."

Bella was stunned as she listened to her friends go on. She had thought a bit about where she would live when she returned next year, but figured she would sort it out during the summer.

"Well, when's it available?" She asked. It was all she could think of.

"August 1st. I swear, this place is meant for us. How perfect is it, Bella?" Alice enthused, taking both Bella's hands in hers.

"It sounds great! But, can we see it first?"

"Of course! I'll contact the girl tonight about it. Maybe she'll let us go this weekend," Rosalie offered, taking out her phone.

"Wow, this is certainly…un expected," Bella said.

"But really awesome, right?" Alice grinned.

Bella couldn't help but return her excitement. Because it really was truly awesome.

"We should get back out there, they're going to wonder what's taking us so long," Rosalie commented.

As they headed back out and over to where the boys were playing a game of pool, Edward smiled when they approached. He put down his cue and met Bella halfway, wrapping an arm around her as they walked back to the group together.

The next chapter is ALL Bella and Edward : ) I'm still working on it, not sure when I'll post it...