Many thanks to WriteOnTime for beta'ing.

*0*0*

Bella

"Bella? Bell? What do you think?"

I shook my head to snap myself out of my wildly graphic daydream about Edward. So inappropriate in the middle of a work day. Granted, it was just Angela, and we were just camped out in the conference room at the Anset Foundation working on the benefit, but it was still inappropriate. I could feel my face flushing.

"Sorry, Ang. What did you say?"

Angela sat back and pushed her glasses back up her nose, smirking at me. "What had you so distracted?"

"Um…just something Edward…said…last night," I stammered stupidly. I swear, he turned my brain to soup.

Angela laughed softly. "You have got it bad. What did he do that made you blush like that?"

I'd told her, sketchily, on Monday that Edward and I were talking again. I think I might have described it as "starting to date", which seemed a ridiculously inadequate description of what the past week had been like with him. But Angela, being Angela and not Alice, didn't pry and seemed happy to let me tell it on my own terms, and on my own timeline. So far, I'd been greedy, hoarding it all to myself, unwilling to share much of it with anybody. Today, however, Angela seemed to want info.

"Shut up, Ang!"

"What?" she was still laughing. "That's a good thing. I like him. And he's really good for you. I haven't seen you like this since…wow, I don't think I've ever seen you like this, come to think of it."

I gave up my attempts at a game face, letting my shoulders sag and that ridiculous dopey grin take over my face. It felt like I spent all day, every day, fighting to keep it off. "He makes me happy," I sighed lamely.

"Good. I'm glad. You deserve it. Have you spent a lot of time together this week?"

I rolled my eyes. "Pretty much every night. Except one night when I had plans with Alice. But yeah, he's been over every night. Do you think that's too much? Are we moving too fast?"

Angela shrugged. "Only you can answer that one. Does it feel too fast?"

"No, it feels right. I never want him to leave. God, I'm such a sap."

Angela laughed again, "You're not a sap. You're in love. It's adorable."

I snapped out of my stupor at her words, straightening up and scowling a little. "Um, love? I don't know. We just got together. And things are so…"

She just shrugged, cutting me off. "When it's right, it's right. All the time in the world won't change it. I knew Ben was it for me by the end of the first night we met."

I laughed, but I could hear how strained I sounded. Was this love? Already? Was I ready for that? My gut said "bring it on", but my head was definitely holding the idea at arms' length. Everything around me was so unsettled. I was so unsettled. Was I really in a place to get so seriously involved with someone? After all, I'd already done that once before—jumped into a serious relationship when I was fragile and my life was in free-fall— and look how that turned out. No matter how crazy Edward made me feel, I had to believe that the smart thing would be to keep this light and easy, at least for now.

Dwelling on what Angela had just said wasn't going to make that any easier to do, though, so I pulled my legal pad full of notes closer and refocused my energy.

"That's the description I wrote up for the Klein's donation. What do you think?" Angela handed me a print-out with the The Anset Foundation logo across the top.

"Sounds good," I said, after reading her write-up. "That's another one down. Has Mrs. Kendall firmed up what she's donating for the auction yet? She's the last big one that I have on my list as undecided."

"Not yet. Mary was going to call her today and see if she could pin her down."

Despite our combined lack of any actual event-planning experience, Angela and I were somehow, miraculously, pulling off the planning of the charity benefit. It helped that Angela's predecessor had been extremely organized and left a hefty file about the prior events she'd planned. Angela had gone through that and had the banquet hall, caterer, and band booked before I ever came on board.

There were several "big ticket" items on offer in the silent auction, all of them donated by foundation board members or corporate donors. Mary, the president of the foundation, had personally arranged all of those. All that was left for Angela and I to do with them was to write up the item description. The rest of the smaller things up for auction were the ones we arranged. Again, there were records of donors from previous years, so that was easier to manage than I expected. Most of them donated every year to the benefit, so they were expecting my call and were happy to help out.

After that, it I was back in familiar territory, writing up item descriptions and editing it all into the program layout. It wasn't so different than editing a magazine layout, and I was actually kind of enjoying myself. It felt good to be busy again.

Angela's co-workers were great, too. While "The Anset Foundation to Promote Early Childhood Literacy" might sound very impressive, in reality, it was a struggling not-for-profit, like so many others. A scant twenty people worked too many hours for too little money in too-small offices. In general, they'd taken jobs with the Anset Foundation over other, more lucrative career options because the work mattered to them. So, unlike my old office mates, who were mostly miserable drones, showing up and doing time just for the sake of the paycheck, Angela's co-workers actually liked their jobs, and each other. Office morale was high, and they were all friendly and inviting. Most days, I ate lunch with Angela, but if she happened to be busy, I never wanted for company. There was always someone interesting who wanted to take me someplace fun. It was hardly even like work.

At first, I'd hoped that maybe some days I could meet Edward for lunch, until I realized just how big Chicago really was. His practice was in Logan Square, and the Foundation offices were downtown in the Loop. Edward pointed out that it would take all of my lunch hour to get out to him and back. So I resigned myself to seeing him in the evenings, after work. That was probably for the best, anyway. It would be so easy to lose myself in him entirely and let him become the center of my entire life.

Angela cleared her throat to get my attention, and I realized with embarrassment that I'd gotten sidetracked thinking about Edward…again.

"So, has Alice dragged you out dress-shopping yet?" she asked.

"Dress shopping? What for?"

"The benefit, of course. You have to come, you know. And it's formal."

I sat back to look at her. "I'm supposed to actually attend it? Like, all-dressed-up attend?"

Angela rolled her eyes. "Of course. It's the tiny perk we can offer you in exchange for the slave wages you're working for. Come on," she coaxed, "it's actually kind of fun. I mean, yes, we'll be keeping an eye on things, making sure it all goes off okay. But you've seen the donor list. We'll be swimming in another tax bracket entirely. It'll be fun. Plus, so many writers come. I'll introduce you around."

I scoffed softly. "I'd have nothing to say to people like that, Ang."

She waved a hand at me dismissively, "So? Just listen to them talk. That's all they really want to do, anyway. Alice and Jasper are coming."

"They are?"

"You forget about Jasper. They're regular donors to the Foundation." She rubbed her fingers together to indicate his inherited wealth. She was right; it was easy to forget Jasper's money. Outside of the house they lived in, there wasn't much evidence of it in their daily lives. The house wasn't even all that ostentatious, but I knew it was outside of the range of an associate professor's salary.

I raised an eyebrow in consideration. If Alice and Jasper would be there, it might be fun. And I knew for a fact that there was an open bar, because I'd booked it.

"I'm bringing Ben. You should bring Edward," Angela urged.

Edward? Bring Edward? Would he want to come with me? Probably, right? He'd taken me out to dinner nearly every night this week. He might want to come to one of my things. I flushed with pleasure at the thought that I had "things"- places to be, stuff to do. I'd ask him tonight, I decided. He was coming over (again), but we were staying in tonight so that I could cook for him, for once. I decided that it was the perfect time.

*0*0*

Edward

"Nettie, how many more do I have waiting out there?"

Nettie shoved another file into my hands and smirked. "Four. Hang in there, Boy Wonder."

I opened my mouth to tell her to quit calling me Boy Wonder, at least in front of my patients, but she was already sauntering back down the hall to the front desk, and I could only smirk at her back. Her pink scrubs covered with Hello Kitties were completely at odds with her snarky personality and fairly advanced years. To be fair, Nettie had known me since I was in grade school. I supposed that I'd always be a boy to her, no matter that my name was on the front door right under my father's now.

Sighing, I rubbed the back of my neck as I skimmed the chart in front of me, trying to catch up quickly before I went in to the patient. I might have had a more prestigious training than my father, but in this respect, he definitely had the edge on me. He'd known these patients for years. Most of the time, he hardly needed to look at the chart. He could recall every illness, surgery and prescription. And it didn't stop there. He chatted up every one, asking after spouses, children, even next-door-neighbors. His ability to retain all the details of their lives, medical and otherwise, astounded and humbled me. I hoped I could be half the doctor he was some day.

The last patients of the day turned out to be pretty straightforward. Just a bunch of walk-ins fighting off the last colds of winter. My father had left early to meet with his lawyer about some loose ends regarding Harold's retirement, so I had to handle them all on my own. Still, I got through them quick enough, and finally got ready to race back to my parent's house to shower and change clothes.

"Where you headed in such a hurry, Boy Wonder?" Nettie asked as I shrugged into my coat. "You got a hot date?"

I paused for a second, considering. "Actually, Nettie, yes, I do."

Her eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"Woo-hoo! Don't you work fast? You been back in town, what? Two weeks?"

I smiled and rolled my eyes at her needling. "Let's just say that she and I had some history. You okay closing up?"

She waved me off dismissively. "I could close this place in my sleep. Clear on out, Hot Stuff. Don't keep your girl waiting."

I blew her a kiss and she scoffed loudly, as I shot out the door.

"Flirting won't get you anywhere, Boy Wonder!" she called out after me, and I laughed.

Thankfully, Dad had left me his car, saving me the endless ride on the L. I really needed to rectify the car situation. And the apartment situation. But things with Bella had blown my life to bits for the past week, and I hadn't had the time or energy to think about anything else. I pretty much wanted to be by her side every spare minute of my day. Hell, I wanted to be with her during the minutes that I didn't have to spare, too.

As I thought about her and drove, I couldn't help the stupid grin spreading across my face. It had been overwhelming, consuming, completely crazy, and absolutely fantastic. I felt like I'd been walking around all week with my head about two feet above the rest of my body, in spite of my exhaustion.

Private practice in Chicago was supposed to mean an end to sleep-deprivation. I just hadn't factored in this crazy thing with Bella. First, we were awake half the night, wrapped up in each other, and that part had been mind-blowing. But I was also crawling out of bed, and away from her, far too soon every morning. I had to get all the way out to Oak Park to my parents' place, to shower, change, and get to the practice on time. The last couple of days, I'd tossed some extra clothes in the car so that I could shower at her place and go straight to the office. The logistics were killing me, but I hesitated to suggest leaving clothes at her place. It would certainly make things easier, but it had only been a week. Yes, I felt okay with that, but the last thing I wanted was to move too fast and spook her. And I got the definite feeling that was a real possibility.

We'd pretty much blown "going slow" out of the water on our first real date, which was fine with me. Now that we were together, a warm sense of "rightness" had settled over me. Yes, it had moved fast, but I was more than okay with that. I had no reservations. If I were being honest with myself, I felt ready to plunge into a level of intimacy and commitment with Bella that should have scared me. I wasn't scared, though. I was content. All I wanted was more. More of her, more time, more togetherness. Bella, however… she was never hesitant with me, exactly. I sensed that she wanted to be with me every bit as much as I wanted to be with her. But I had to acknowledge that we were in different places in our lives. I might be ready to take over a drawer in her dresser and leave a toothbrush next to hers, but she might not be, and I wouldn't push. I needed to let her invite me in, no matter how impatient I felt.

I pulled into the drive in front of the house not too much later. I saw my mother's car in the side drive, so I knew she was home. Calling out to her as I came in the door, I flipped through the mail to see if any of my stuff was being forwarded yet.

"Well, well, well. Look what's turned up," Mom said from the hall. Her words were scolding, but there was a wry, amused smile on her face. My parents were cool with my "adult activities", I knew that. But it was still damned awkward facing your mother, knowing she was about to prod you about your sex life.

"Hey, Mom. How are you?"

"Fine. This is a delightful surprise. Should I set another plate for dinner?"

I rolled my eyes. "Sorry, Mom, not tonight. Plans."

"Hmmm," she hummed, suppressing a smile. "Might we get the chance to meet these plans soon? Or are they not the sort of plans you bring home to meet the parents?"

I laughed and crossed the foyer to kiss her cheek. "Mom, they're exactly the kind of plans that I want to introduce to my parents. I mean it this time."

She smiled in earnest now, and laid her hand on the side of my face. "I'm glad. You look happy. Well, you've looked happy since you got back from New York, but this past week…it's different."

I covered her hand with mine and smiled in return, "Yeah, it is. I do want to bring her home, and I will. It's just…it's been complicated."

"How complicated could it get in a week?"

I reached up to scratch the back of my neck. "Ah…I've known her a lot longer than a week."

Mom said nothing; she just cocked an eyebrow at me in question.

"I told you; it's complicated. She's been through a lot. And this…she and I…it's been kind of crazy. I want to introduce you, but I don't want to go too fast. I think she needs a little breathing room."

"You don't need to explain, Edward. And there's no pressure. You're a grown-up and your relationships are your own business. Just know that we're here when you're ready."

"Thanks, Mom. You really are the best."

"I know. Your father tells me so every day."

"He's right."

"Of course he is. Now, sweetheart, this schedule you're keeping…you must be running yourself ragged."

I sighed and raked a hand through my hair. "You could say that. I'm calling the realtor tomorrow. I need to find an apartment a little closer to the practice. I'm thinking of…um, Wicker Park."

"Wicker Park. I see. Is that where..?"

"Bella. Her name is Bella."

Mom blinked at me once, and then smiled softly. "Bella."

I smiled back. Bella's name made me smile. Hopeless.

"Yeah, that's where Bella lives."

"Wicker Park is lovely," she finally said. "So many great shops and restaurants."

"It is," I agreed, although Wicker Park's many amenities had absolutely nothing to do with why I was so keen to move there.

"Have you thought about buying?"

"What?" I blinked, trying to follow the shift in conversation.

"Buying instead of renting. The market is down. You could get a real deal. And you know, you've barely touched your trust. Even if it's not someplace you think you might stay long-term, buying might be a good investment."

"I hadn't…I've never really thought about buying a place."

"Look, sweetie, I have a little time on my hands tomorrow. Let me call your realtor and see if we can set up some things for you to look at. Rentals and sales both. If you see something you like and it works out, then great. If not, no big loss. Can I help out that way?"

"Mom," I said sincerely, "that would be fantastic. Honestly, the whole thing has been a little overwhelming."

"Then let me pitch in. I'd like to be of help."

"You're brilliant." I glanced at my watch. "Um, I kind of have to…"

Mom laughed lightly. "Go, go! By all means, don't keep her waiting. Not when she puts that smile on your face."

I leaned in to kiss her cheek again. "Love you, Mom."

She reached up and grabbed my face. "Uhh! My sweet boy. You have no idea how much I love you."

"Mom…"

"I know, I know. Don't pay me any mind. Having you back home has turned me into a sentimental sap. Go. Get ready for your date."

She let go of me and swatted my arm as she moved past me towards the kitchen, and I laughed before sprinting for the stairs.

*0*0*

Bella

"You know there will be days when you're so tired that you can't take another step.

The night will have no stars and you'll think you've gone as far as you will ever get.

But you and me, walk on, walk on, walk on

'Cause you can't go back now…."

The knock on the door cut me off in my sing-along mid-note, and I turned the heat down under the pan before I went to answer. Edward's face exploded into a smile as soon as I opened the door and I could feel my face answer the same.

"Hey, you," he murmured.

"Hey, yourself."

He reached out for my waist, pulling me across the threshold into the mildly chilly night and up against his chest. His head dipped down and his mouth found mine like we were magnets. And that's exactly how it felt. Magnets. An invisible energy pulling us together. His lips were always so warm and smooth. Even a slow, gentle hello kiss like this one made my stomach clench deliciously and my fingers curl in instinctively. I always wanted to grab and hold him.

"Dinner," I mumbled reluctantly against his mouth. Edward sighed. I smiled and put my hand against his face. He leaned against me automatically.

Turning back inside, I pulled him after me. "How was your day?"

"Long. Busy. Dad left early, so I handled all the patients this afternoon."

"Sorry. And you didn't get much sleep last night. You must be dead on your feet."

I reached the stove again, and turned the heat back on before pouring Edward a glass of wine from the bottle I'd opened earlier. He took it from me, but set it down on the counter, pressing up against my back and wrapping his arms around my waist. I felt his breath against the crook of my neck and I leaned back into him. My skin erupted in heat as he brushed my hair to the side.

"Believe me, I'll never complain about that kind of lack of sleep. I'm glad all that conditioning as a resident paid off, if it means I spend my nights like that."

I sighed, closing my eyes as I felt his lips brush the side of my neck. "We're never eating at this rate." Edward straightened abruptly at my words.

"What are you making?" he asked, entirely snapped out of his seductive demeanor. It figured food would distract him.

"Just a stir-fry. The vegetables looked really good at the market."

"It smells great. You cook, huh?"

"Yes, I cook. I mean, this is nothing special. But I like to cook."

"Well, I like to eat. See? Another thing about us that works."

Edward smiled broadly before kissing my cheek. I smiled back and we stood there for a moment, with our ridiculous matching goofy grins, while I cooked and he sipped his wine. He kept one hand on the base of my neck, under my hair, gently massaging my skin with his fingertips. I was trying hard to focus on not burning anything.

"It's kind of cold in here," he said, apparently noticing my goosebumps, but mistaking the cause. "Are you warm enough?"

"It's always cold in here. It's all the windows. I'm fine; I just bundle up."

"If it's this cold in April, you'll freeze to death in January."

"Hey, be nice to my place."

Edward laughed and leaned in to kiss my cheek again. "Sorry. I like your place. I do. Because you're here, mostly, but I do like it."

"Anyway, I'm not the one living with my parents."

He chuckled and squeezed my shoulder. "I told you, that's temporary."

"Uh-huh. Whatever. I bet your mother is doing your laundry for you right now, right?"

"Shut up. She offered."

I laughed out loud at that. "I'll just bet. Why don't you take your wine to the couch and relax? This is almost done."

Edward assented, and I smiled a minute later to see him reclined back on my couch, eyes closed, looking nearly asleep. A flood of happy contentment washed over me as I turned back to finish our dinner.

Once dinner was ready, we settled on my hard red sofa and turned to face each other, plates balanced on our laps. It was a little college, but I didn't have a dining table and there was no room for one even if I did. I didn't mind, though. With the music playing and the dim gold glow from the lamps bouncing off the jewel-colored curtains, and Edward's knee touching mine, it was a perfect little bubble of contentment.

"We need to get you a TV soon," he said, around a bite of food.

I huffed in amusement, "Am I boring you already, Edward?"

"You could never, ever bore me," he said with a smirk, reaching out to tuck my hair behind my ear with one finger, "but you live in Chicago now. How am I supposed to turn you into a proper Cubs fan without a TV to watch the games on?"

"Cubs. Is that…baseball?"

Edward slammed a hand over his eyes dramatically. "We have so much work to do."

"Okay, okay. If it's that important to you, I'll get a TV," I laughed.

"I'll get one for you," he shrugged absently, not looking up from his plate.

"Um, no, you won't."

"Bella, I'm the one hassling you about it. Let me get you a TV. I promise, I'll keep it simple. Just your basic flat-screen, hi-def, forty-two-inch masterpiece of modern technology."

"Edward, you can't…I can't let you….I just…" I was getting flustered, knowing that this bothered me in some way, but unable to quite articulate why.

"Hey," he said softly, laying a hand on my arm, "It's no big deal. Buy your own TV. I was just trying to be…I don't know…chivalrous, or something."

I closed my eyes and shook my head. "You were being great. It's me. I feel like…I... It's important to me to really do this on my own. Even the small stuff. Does that make sense?"

Edward just smiled at me and gave my arm a squeeze before letting go. "Perfect sense. Just make sure you buy a nice one. Baseball sucks on a tiny screen."

I laughed. and just like that, the weirdness was past. He was so good at putting me at ease.

"So, how was your day?" he asked at length. "How's Angela?"

"She's good. Managing her panic about the benefit remarkably well." I cleared my throat a little. "Speaking of the benefit, Angela told me today that I'd be going."

"Of course you'll be there," he said. "You're helping to plan it."

"Yeah, but Angela said we're also going sort of as guests. You know…bringing dates and stuff," I twirled my fork in my fingers and looked up at him. Edward looked back, the corner of his mouth curling up in a sly, crooked smile.

"Bella, are you asking me to be your date to the benefit?"

"Shut up," I grinned, nudging his knee with mine. "Yes. Will you come with me?"

"Of course. I'd like to think I'd be sort of an automatic thing."

I shrugged, "I didn't want to just assume…"

Edward reached out and wrapped his free hand around the back of my knee closest to him, rubbing his thumb across my kneecap. "You should assume. I'd kind of like you to assume."

His hand on my knee was making my brain misfire in all kinds of crazy ways, and all I could do was smile and whisper, "Okay. Assumed."

"So," he continued, letting go of my leg, "it's formal, right?"

I nodded. "Does that mean I get to see you in a tux again?"

Edward chuckled. "Does it mean I get to see you in a dress?"

"Mmm, much to Alice's delight."

Edward set his empty plate on the painted chest that served as my coffee table, the one he helped me get home on the day we found each other again. "What's Alice got to do with your dress?"

I set my empty plate next to his. "Well, I need to go buy something, and she'll want to tag along, for sure. And by 'tag along', I mean 'take over completely'."

Edward slid closer to me on the sofa, stretching his arm back across my shoulders. "I don't suppose I could convince you to wear the one you wore to her rehearsal dinner, could I? That black one? I have to confess, I've thought a lot about that dress, and you in it. Well, 'thought' is probably the wrong word to use. 'Fantasize' would work better."

Edward's voice dropped to a lower register as he leaned in. I felt his fingers start to brush my shoulder repetitively. His eyes were half-closed and dark in the low light of the apartment. He was close enough for me to smell him, the intoxicating scent of his skin that always made my mouth water and made me want to lick him.

"Sorry," I murmured, distracted by his proximity, by his softly-glinting green eyes that were pinning mine, by the light scruff on his jaw that I knew would feel prickly against my tongue if I were to give in and actually lick him. Because I'd done that…a few times. He liked it. "That dress didn't make it out of Seattle with me. Most of my clothes didn't."

Edward blinked a few times in confusion, pulling back a little. I kept forgetting that as much as I'd told him about Seattle, there were still lots of details that he didn't know.

I cleared my throat awkwardly. "Um, Jay trashed most of my clothes…with a razor. Right after the accident, I think. That dress was one of the casualties."

Edward's expression froze, and then went bleak. "Shit," he whispered. "God, Bella, I'm sorry."

I reached out for him, putting my hands on either side of his neck, trying to nudge his jaw up with my thumbs. "Hey, it's okay. It's not your fault. It's just a lousy thing that happened."

He squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head, his arm sliding down behind me and pulling me closer. "I know. It's just when I think of you so close to that situation…" His other hand found my right wrist and his thumb began to brush over the scar on the inside of my arm. "…how close you came to never making it here…It just drives me a little crazy."

"Edward, don't dwell on it. I'm trying not to. It's past."

He sighed and pulled me even closer. I let him fold me in his embrace, his arms tight around my waist, his face buried in the crook of my neck. He did this frequently. Yes, there was the kind of heated touching that made me lose my mind, but he also just held me like this a lot, tight and close. I loved it. It made me feel warm and safe and just…close to him, in a way that was different than sex. I rubbed my hands through the hair on the back of his head, down his neck, across his shoulders, and back up, while he just held me and breathed his warm breath into my hair. I could stay here for the rest of my life, I thought, with my eyes closed.

"You feel good," I whispered next to his ear. He exhaled hard, a little shaky.

"You always feel good," he murmured in return, and I knew that tone of voice. We were past the comfort and on to arousal.

"Are you okay?" I asked anyway.

He chuckled and pulled back enough to see my face. His free hand was running up and down my thigh. Somehow we'd shifted around enough that he was leaning into me, in between my legs. "I'm supposed to be asking that question."

I shrugged. "You were upset."

"Yeah, well, I'm better now." He dipped his head, bypassing my mouth in favor of the side of my neck. I sighed and tipped my head back. He tugged on my thigh to pull my hips closer to his. "Speaking of social engagements…"

"We were?"

"A while ago, yes."

"Okay. Go on," and I meant speaking and kissing, because his lips under my ear were making me breathe hard.

"My parents want to meet you."

"Huh?" I sat up a little bit, blinking to clear my head.

"I am staying there right now, so they've noticed. You know…that I'm pretty much not staying there right now. And they want to meet you."

"Oh."

Edward sat back, too, looking at me intently. "Are you…is that okay?"

"Yeah, of course," I said, nodding absently, even though the idea of meeting his parents was sparking the beginnings of a minor anxiety attack in my chest. "It's nice that they want to meet me."

Edward tightened his grip on my thigh again, urging me closer to him. "They can tell that you're important to me."

And then I sighed. Because that was the important part. Yes, I was nervous about meeting his parents, and moving this relationship out of this perfect little bubble of seclusion we'd been in for the past week, but I wasn't nervous about Edward at all. This…the two of us together, was what was important. Yes, the sex, but everything else, too; the talking and the holding.

"I'm glad I am," I whispered, cupping the back of his neck and pulling his face to mine. His lips met mine and he was hovering over me in an instant. After all, he'd been sort of feeling me up for fifteen minutes now— he was more than ready to go. Tugging me down until I was lying underneath him, he settled in between my legs, and his tongue pushed into my mouth, flicking against mine. I arched up into him and his hand slid up my ribcage to cup my breast.

I hooked my calves around his. He groaned. "Jesus, Bella…Your couch is so fucking uncomfortable," he murmured against my ear.

I chuckled in spite of how turned on I was. "Tell me about it. I'm the one on the bottom."

He laughed, too, before sitting back and pulling me to a sitting position facing him.

"Then let's move this someplace a little softer, hmm?"

He reached down underneath me, my legs still wrapped around his waist. The world tilted around me as he abruptly stood up, bringing me with him. I squealed and grabbed on to his shoulders to steady myself, and he laughed. Leaning in, I planted little kisses on his neck as he carried me back to the bed. And then I licked his jaw. It made him moan.

It was a clumsy struggle to make our way back to the bed, but once we reached it, that's where we stayed for the rest of the night, touching, talking in low voices, and finally sleeping, every part of us intertwined.

*0*0*

A/N:

*The song Bella was singing along to while she cooked was Can't Go Back Now by The Weepies. If you want to hear it, I have a playlist for The Wedding Party on my profile and it's on that.

I'm fully aware that nothing much of note happens in this chapter. I just felt that they deserved a little more time to play before things ramp up again. :)

*0*0*

I think I owe some people some thanks:

Thanks to Sue at So You Think You Can Write for the lovely interview she did with me about TWP. .

Thanks to greeneyedgirl for recently recc'ing TWP in an author's note of her fic, Silver Strand Nights.

Thanks to feathers-mmmm for recently recc'ing TWP in an author's note of her fic, Edward Wallbanger.

And if I haven't already thanked her, thank you to ScarlettLetters for answering all my Chicago questions.

If you've seen the story anywhere else, please let me know so I can say a proper thank you!