Metamorphosis
Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance.
– Eckhart Tolle
13. Date
"Buckle yourself in," he says. His tone is playful. She loves that about him.
"Why? Will it be a long ride?" she asks, curiously.
"Well, even if it's not a long ride, I don't want to get arrested for having my date not wearing her seat-belt," he says, incredulously. She giggles. It warms his heart.
His hand instinctively turns up the heat in the car, he doesn't want her to be cold. It's night time in Forks, the temperature has dropped again. His eyes quickly glance at her bare legs. They appear to be bare, but she is wearing a pair of semi-opaque pantyhose. Her dress has ridden up to her mid-thighs. He gulps and looks away. She looks more beautiful than ever. But her blush shows that she is embarrassed and begs to differ.
"You're beautiful," he murmurs. It's the third time he's told her tonight and they haven't even started driving yet.
"Thanks," she says, quietly.
Edward had picked Bella up at six o'clock sharp. Marie just gave both of them a smile, before diving for her handy camera and asking the two to pose.
"It's not prom!" Bella had exclaimed. Edward just laughed in response, along with Marie.
They drive in silence, occasionally offering their opinions on the song that would play on the radio. He comments on how good it is while she scoffs to disagree. When the next one comes up, it'll be the opposite. She squeals in her seat whilst he looks away, mocking disgust. They laugh at the end of their bickering.
"You never told me we're going to Port Angeles," Bella says, as she starts to realize the highway Edward pulls up on.
"You never asked," he says casually. "Plus, I asked Marie for advice and she told me that the pizzeria there is excellent. I plan to take you to Port Angeles a lot in the near future."
"You consulted my grandma?" she asks, shocked. She's carefully ignored his last sentence. She doesn't want excitement to ruin her good luck with him.
"Sure I did, I asked for her blessing," he says before quickly clamping his mouth shut as it sounds like something else entirely. Sounds like he's talking about matrimony, Bella thinks to herself. They arrive at the restaurant in record time, with Edward walking around the front of the car to open Bella's door. She touches his arm as she thanks him and together, they walk into the restaurant with linked arms.
He speaks to the host as he asks for what name they are under. Bella takes this time to stare at Edward. His face is clean-shaven and his hair is combed, although not making much of a difference, but the effort has been put in and she smiles at that. He looks terribly handsome.
"You're beautiful," she whispers to him, parroting his own words. They are now waiting to be directed to their table.
"Men don't like to be called beautiful," Edward chuckles. He turns to face her fully and presses a gentle kiss to her cheek. He hasn't been anything but kind and gentlemanly this evening. His lips linger on the apple of her cheek as her rosy blush makes its famous appearance.
"Your cheeks are warm," he murmurs, before pulling away.
He holds her hand as they walk over to where they'll dine for the night. Situated near the windows that overlook the harbor, they are to eat in a nice, cosy area of the restaurant. Practically, in the corner. Out of sight from the rest of the patrons.
"Hello, my name is Natalie and I'll be your waitress tonight."
A blonde stands by their table. She smiles at Bella but her eyes are magnetized to Edward's as she looks him up and down. Bella notices Natalie subtly licking her lips. She frowns. Edward has his head buried inside the menu book as he flips the pages. Natalie looks back at Bella and then at Edward. Perhaps, wondering what the relation is between the two.
They settle on each getting their own brick oven pizzas with salad dressings on the side. Bella usually didn't eat much, so eating a whole (delicious) pizza may still be a challenge. She looks at Edward after their orders have been placed. He's already staring at her with a smile on his face. He looks relaxed.
"What are you thinking about?" he asks, scrutinizing her.
"Nothing..." she says. "Well, I'm sort of thinking about how nice this place is and how well this date is going."
It's probably one of the best extended interactions they've ever had in their miniscule history of big, secretive departures.
"Did you... not expect this date to go well?" he asks. She can't tell if he's hurt or not by her words. His face has become unreadable. By his body language- his eyes gazing downwards- she feels the need to explain herself.
"Of course not, I was just thinking of how well it is going," she says, emphasizing her point with hand movements and praying that he would understand. She hopes he will not ask her to elaborate. She's only trying to make conversation.
He smiles at her, reaching over the table to grasp her hands.
"Shall we continue the twenty questions we never finished?" he asks.
As they wait for their food, they find themselves settling into laughter and jokes. They find themselves falling into mutual understanding and contagious hilarity. They find similarities within each other and dissimilarities in their disputes. And for once in her life, Bella truly smiles at her date and thinks to herself about how lucky she is to have met Edward.
Might update tomorrow. Hope y'all are having a splendid day.
Love, perpetually.