A/N: Thank you lovelies for reading and reviewing. I read every single review, so don't be shy about leaving me some love.

Betad by the wonderful thrown_rosesx and Bublichka.

Disclaimer: I don't own this.

"Ugh! I can't even fathom where to begin." Sarcasm dripped from my voice, the back of my hand overdramatically hitting my forehead.

"I know!" Alice pranced over to the box that was marked as "Bella's Spring/Summer Clothes."

After a few days of endless hail, Forks officially went into an unusually long drought. Precipitation hadn't touched the ground in a full week, something I couldn't remember happening at all ever. So, I decided to pull out some warmer gear I had stowed away upstairs.

"I only have maybe two or three boxes, Alice. This isn't going to be a long dress up session." I observed that girl already on the floor, tearing open the box. It was like Christmas in March for her, going through clothes.

"We don't have much time anyway, but you have to have something in here. Something we can work with. If not, I love a challenge. And on a time constraint? Even better." Her eyes bulged out of their sockets with that last prospect.

Besides the need for weather appropriate clothing, I was going on a date with Edward. We agreed that we needed a day away from the others; go and do something that'll take our mind off the issue that constantly hung between us. He kept the specifics from me, which was both annoying and, dare I say…adorable. However, Edward had the dates confused with what he wanted to do and left Alice with little time to help me find something date-worthy.

I didn't care what I wore, but Alice had different ideas. "Do I have to get dressed up?"

"From what Edward told me you don't have to, but there's no harm in taking that little extra step. It'll earn you some brownie points." Alice winked at me.

"Alice…" Fuck, way to trigger the classic Bella Blush.

After sifting through the almost non-existent options in my closet, we found ourselves climbing the stairs into the hot, musty smelling attic.

I was on my knees, digging through a separate container. I didn't have a clue what I was looking for. Alice said something like "sweetheart neckline," or "scoop neck." My hands pulled out shirts that I thought were decent and even a pair of black capri pants that I've worn to dressy casual events. Alice put a handful of pieces aside that could possibly work, but nothing that was definitive in her book.

"No." Alice stood up, stretching out her legs from being on the floor for so long. She turned to me and said, "You think you had one more box?"

"I might." I narrowed my eyes and bit my lip, trying to remember where it would be.

Alice scratched her wig, twisting her face into an irritated grimace. I keep forgetting that she wore a constructed piece of hair on her head. Even though she had a crew cut underneath, it must still be sweltering beneath. Especially more so when you're in a place that is hot to begin with.

"Alice, if you want to take off your wig you can." I hoped it was okay that I noticed her discomfort. Anything to do with wigs seemed like such a personal thing.

Still scratching away at the annoying fake hair, she said, "It won't freak you out?"

"No. It takes a lot to freak out a freak. Plus, I've already seen you without it."

With a final confirmation on my part, she removed the offending wig. "Phew! I can breathe." She placed it on top of a box, before sweeping her hand across the shaved hair on her head. "Thanks," she smiled back to me.

She continued with the task at hand, flitting around to various sized storage bins. Lots of them were Charlie's and Emmett's, filled with their own clothes and mementos. I think Emmett had at least three boxes dedicated to trophies, sports equipment and a big collection of baseball cards he used to keep up with.

I folded up some items and placed them back in the box, while others I laid over a chair to take down to my room.

"Oh! I think I found something!" Alice's back was to me, her arms dangling her finding in front of her.

"Really?" I was purely skeptical; nothing in my collection was worthy of her excitement.

"No, it's so pretty and vintage." Alice had it draped over her arm, walking over to me. "You always looked like a vintage type girl."

She held up a cardigan that wasn't mine. It was light beige with blue, pink and white sequined flowers along the front. There were no buttons or clasps to close the front.

"Alice, where did you get that?" She must have found a box I didn't know about, unless she had a sewing machine stowed away in her purse and can whip out a sweater in less than ten minutes flat. It wouldn't surprise me.

"It was in this box." I followed her to the other side of the attic, following an uneven path through rows of boxes. "It was unmarked."

I knelt down to peer into the container. Nothing in it was mine or looked familiar to me at all. In fact, everything in it appeared to be decades old. "It's not my stuff."

"Whose is it then?" Alice examined the front and back of the garment; I wasn't sure what she was looking for.

The exterior of the box barely had a scratch on it, no evidence of it being dragged across a floor or opened before. I lifted a small mahogany jewelry box, the contents jingled against the movement. Looking inside, I saw over a dozen rings resting in cushions, a set of three bangle bracelets, and a few pairs of earrings.

"Oh, I think I found something." Alice showed off the opposite side of the collar tag.

There were three initials in black marker: RHS. The first two letters looked more faded than the last one. The 'H' had a line running through it, negating the middle initial.

Renee Higginbotham Swan.

"That's…" I sighed out who they belonged to, "…Renee's." I mumbled to the untouched memories.

Looking to put things back where they were, I gingerly put the jewelry box back. Alice was still admiring the cardigan, as I gestured for her to hand it to me.

"It's really gorgeous, Bella."

"No, it's going back in here." I vehemently pointed back to Renee's belongings.

"Bella, why not just try it on first? It couldn't hurt, could it?" Her eyes held a softness that I knew was hard to resist under normal circumstances, but when it came to the topic of Renee, that was an individual entity altogether.

"We weren't even supposed to open this box. It's all the way in the corner." It was obviously shoved off into the darkness for a reason, never to be thought about.

"Out of sight, out of mind, doesn't mean you can't think about it once in a while." Alice was already shoving my arms through the sleeves.

"No, stop." I weakly whined, like a kid not wanting to wear a certain piece of clothing that a parent thought looked adorable on them.

It didn't feel right as the material stretched out over my forearms, slowing inching up to my shoulders. I was invading a memory I didn't deserve to know. This belonged to a woman I never knew and won't ever get the chance to. The initials engraved on the tag were burning the back of my neck.

Alice smoothed out the jacket, testing the strength of the fabric by pulling it in toward my chest. She took a step back and said, "Bella, it looks…perfect on you."

Is she on something? My eyes went to the cuffs of my sleeves, traveling upward to the sequined bodice. "How can you tell?"

"It does." She held up a finger to me and said, "Hold on." Her flip flops flapped against her heels as she ran to the full length mirror on the other side of the attic. She grunted as she lifted it, setting it down a couple feet in front of me. "Have a look."

Slowly, I made me way to it. The wood floor creaked under me as I took those last few steps. The baggy 'Forks Fire Department Ladder No.3 2000 BBQ' t-shirt under the cardigan definitely didn't match. Also, I had my pajama bottoms on still. I couldn't get past those to see how it looked on me.

Alice sensed my inability. "Let me find something that goes." She rummaged through the small array of shirts and pants that could go with it. She kept muttering to herself, "blue or pink."

Her hands prayed together, resting against her mouth. Her eyes narrowed, deep in thought. I had no fucking clue what she was going to do. I had nothing, she couldn't bring anything from her house. There is nothing I had that would match with the cardigan. I'd have to settle with wearing that teal dress again, even if it is a little fancy.

Alice looked down at her pants, her hands fingering the hem of her blue tank top. "I've got it!" She brought her hands to her shirt, grabbing the end of it to pull over her head.

"Whoa! What the fuck are you doing?" My hands came up in protest.

She stopped her motion. "My tank top matches the flowers." She obviously didn't see anything wrong with her stripping in front of me, giving me the clothes off her back.

I looked at what she was wearing; eying the fact that she didn't seem to be wearing a bra. "I'm not going out in that without some sort of support underneath." I didn't have much in the first place, but still.

She rolled her eyes at the fact. "It has a built in bra." She flicked the elastic underneath her chest.

I bit my lip at the low cut shirt she wore, sensing that my discomfort was imminent. However, I had already taken the plunge and thrown caution to the wind when I put on Renee's long dormant remembrance. One more step isn't going to kill me, I guessed.

In my room, Alice took off her tank top, exchanging it for one of my raggedy old t-shirts. My bras were too big on her, so she freely went bra-less.

Alice fixed my hair up into a ponytail, curling the ends a little with one of her hair tools. She went easy with the make up, adding shiny stuff to my lips and using something to make my lashes curl.

After that I put on the tank and cardigan. The one pair of decent jeans I owned completed the outfit.

I stepped out into my room, glancing at Alice who sat swinging her legs on my bed, her wig back on her head. Her eyes went to me, but she didn't say anything or gave any sort of expression away. Instead, she walked over to me and took my hand.

We walked back upstairs to the full length mirror in the attic. I finally saw what I looked like.

The thin strapped tank top was a little tight on me, both on my body and my mosquito bite boobs. So that's what they look like. The top also rested a little lower than what I was used to. But, the cardigan was…something else entirely. I never owned anything as nice as this before and knowing I had it all along surprised me. The fabric felt soft against my arms, warming me and keeping me cozy.

What if it looks horrible when I take a new look at it? I turned to the side to see it from a different angle. It didn't change how I felt, which forced an involuntary smile on my face.

"You had to see for yourself. If I said anything downstairs, you would've told me otherwise." Alice whispered from behind me, fixing the fabric of the top I wore.

I knew she was made of pure evil. I stood slack jawed at her, although, it was more than likely true.

We made our way back to the second floor, when the front door bell rang.

"I'll get it!" Alice called to me, as I tried to race her to it. She was lighter than me on her feet though and beat me easily.

I stood on one of the bottom stairs, waiting for Alice to grant Edward entrance.

"Hello, can I help you?" Alice greeted Edward.

"What did you do to her?" Edward was obviously used to Alice's over the top tendencies with just about every aspect of her life.

"I listened to you. Don't worry. I'm fairly sure you'll love me a little bit more." Alice opened the door all the way to let him in.

Edward's eyes went to me. They went wide for a quick second, flickering to the tightly stretched material across my chest. Then, his devastating smirk fell into place. To say I matched the shade of sunburn was an understatement.

I walked up to him, my hand trying to cover the growing redness on my neck. His hand removed mine, as his mouth went for the heated skin I was attempting to hide. "Your blush is beautiful. Don't ever hide it." He whispered against my neck. I giggled as he fake nibbled on it.

Alice cleared her throat, letting us know there was an audience in the room.

"There's my girl." Jasper called from behind the doorway. Alice pranced to his side and planting a kiss to his lips.

Jasper raised an eyebrow at the t-shirt that Alice was wearing, bunching the extra material in his hand.

"Fashion emergency." She told Jasper. "I need to go home and change."

"No, have dinner with me and my parents in this. It'll show you have community pride." Jasper tried to keep his laughter contained.

"And that I like to go bra-less? No tha--hey where are we going?" Jasper yanked Alice out the door before she could say her goodbyes.

Edward and I chuckled, as I grabbed my house keys and made our way to his car. I took a quick glance at Jasper and Alice making out in the front seat of his car.

Jasper's hand grabbed Alice's boob through the shirt. "She can keep that thing now." I muttered to Edward as we drove off on our date.

=X=X=X=X=X=X=

"Can you give me a clue?" It was ridiculous. We were already a half hour outside of Forks and he wouldn't tell me where we were going.

"Be patient. I promise you'll like it." Edward ran his hand through his hair, before scratching away at his jaw. A tiny cut caught my eye.

It looked like he had shaved recently. "Did you nick yourself?" My hand felt the smooth skin along his jaw.

"Someone slammed a door in the house. I jumped a little and that's the end result. Many sheets of toilet paper later, it stopped bleeding." His finger gestured to the small scratch on his face.

Placing my hand back in my lap, I gave him some advice. "You know what stops it quick? Eye drops."

"Really?" His eyebrows came together in surprise, as we turned onto a freeway entrance. The highway sign indicated that we were heading in the general direction of Seattle.

"I wouldn't think so either. The men of the house cut themselves all the time. I got tired of them walking around self conscious at the fact they had little pieces of toilet paper attached to their face. So I figured, what products constrict blood vessels? Eventually, I found out that eye drops do the trick rather well."

"Huh. That's really creative." He turned his head slightly, proudly smiling at me.

"Eh, it was kind of selfish on my part. They'd grumble and complain and it got old after a while."

"I think that was more thoughtful than selfish." His hand rested on mine, in my lap. "You obviously care about them enough to ease their insecurities."

Removing my hand from under his, I played with his fingers, as we continued to drive toward our destination. The nick on his face left an unsettling feeling in my stomach. They were common, but I didn't like seeing him with a nasty bloody spot on his face. In turn, I guess I really liked making Charlie and Emmett feel better.

"Maybe," I simply responded.

"They'd do the same for you too." He wasn't asking if they would, he knew.

"I guess, if there was an equivalent." I massaged the knuckles of his fingers. "Carlisle or Esme would no doubt do the same for you?" I felt guilty for asking the question; I didn't know enough about his parents, other than Edward's blatant distaste for his last name. It's why I'm asking, aren't I?

The hand in mine attempted to squeeze into a fist, but I halted the effort. His hand on the steering wheel responded instead, tightening around the leather. He clearly held a deep seeded hatred that made him seethe with the mere mention of his parents. Maybe I should go for a softer angle with asking him. Well, my version of one.

"Carlisle's a doctor. Don't they have all kinds of solutions for that shit?" Maybe it was my naïve thinking, but there might be some sort of quick medical healer for cuts to the face.

"He's not around much for me to ask. If he is, by the time I find him in that house, it'll have stopped bleeding or I'll have bleed to death."

The size of it could easily compete with the Von Trapp house or the frigging Buckingham Palace for that matter. It was that huge. "What is the deal with that place? Its more like a museum than a house."

"It's an old family estate from long ago. Carlisle's grandfather built it up and out. Once it became available for Carlisle to move into, we moved in."

Oh, that's right. His family came later. "I forgot you only started when you were in first grade?"

"Kindergarten."

I was too young to remember any kind of speculation when Edward, Alice and their parents first came into town. Also, my isolation from the rest of the world had begun to form. "I knew it was somewhere around then. Sadly, I only have one memory of you around that time."

"What's that?"

"Well, you were sitting at the end of one of the big wood tables. I was on the other end. The teacher, I can't remember her name, passed out the crayons. You turned it around in your hand and roughly pressed it to the paper. I thought your fingers would break with the way you were holding it." My hands paid extra special attention to them in that moment, my thumbs rubbing gently. "You caught me staring, and glared at the paper in front of you."

Another attempt at balling his hand up was stopped by me. He rolled his eyes, annoyed he couldn't move it. There really was nothing he could do; he was driving, both hands occupied. "Can I have my hand back please?" I imagined his leg would be bouncing up and down if we weren't in a moving vehicle.

"Not if you're going to injury anything."

"I need both hands to turn the wheel." He gestured with his head to an exit that had a really circular turn off. Reluctantly, I let him go.

As we slowed down to the exit, Edward spoke. "I'm sorry for that. The crayon incident. My anxiety was not directed toward you."

The key question came next. "Anxiety?"

He sighed out. "I was new in town. Just a little boy scared on his first day of school."

"Oh." I wasn't dissatisfied with the answer, but his actions at the time seemed very unreasonable. "You were more angry than anxious to me."

His hand went to his hair; he was trying to make some sort of decision. With one final pull of his hair, he said, "Anger and anxiety go hand in hand."

I decided to not push it any further. Spending the entire day prying and picking wasn't what I wanted to do.

Our drive lasted another hour as we finally ended up at an...abandoned airport hangar.

Okay…

Edward sniggered as he saw the humorous disbelief displayed on my face. "Hold on, you'll see."

He sped through the mostly abandoned parking lot. As we came closer to the huge building, there were more cars parked near the abandoned building. Edward pulled into a spot a few rows away, rushing over to my side of the car to open the door for me.

"Thank you, kind sir," I fake curtsied to him. He played along, bowing to me.

Once at the entrance, I looked around my surroundings. The ceiling was expectantly high, with a rounded roof and wood arches running across it. Rows upon rows of tall, independent white walls were in the center of the space, while display tents circled around them. The back doors to the place were open as well; I caught a glimpse of some structures and what looked like a stage outside.

Some lady passed us both a brochure, which held a map and index inside. "What is this place?" I turned to Edward.

"The Contemporary Art Airport Festival. Hundreds of artists travel around the country to showcase their art in airport hangars or terminals."

"That's pretty fucking cool. Why these kinds of places though?"

"Their big, abandoned, and cheap."

We walked around for a while, collecting any free bit of merchandise and brochures I can get my hands on. Stopping every now and then, we gazed at pieces of work that caught mine or Edward's eye. I was surprised to find out that I was pretty picky at what interested me.

The photo was of a man and woman facing each other, a big white heart painted on a red wall next to them. The bigger focus was on their hands and arms, where CT scan and x-ray images of muscle and bone were superimposed onto them.

"I think its simple hand holding. His hand and arm are relaxed." Edward ran his finger along the visible tendons of the man's forearm. "The effortless ease he generates is not just on his face, but in the way he is holding her hand."

That's where I thought he was wrong. "I think she's actually grasping his hand, pulling him to her. Her fingers," I pointed to the curve of the fingers, "look stressed and her face looks like she's asking for permission. And his response is relief. I think the whole point of the medical image use shows how there is more than meets the eye."

"The simple act though goes along with the basic human internal structure. Medical images boil things down to a science, and once you figure out what that diagnosis is…sometimes it can be hard to understand and accept." His last few words left him in a whisper.

"But whatever it is, that person has no choice but to accept it. And once they do, the people around them will too. And that's what she's doing in the picture." My finger traced along the woman's arm, all the way to the man's elbow. "She's accepting him."

A few minutes later, I felt a warm hand gently wrap around mine.

Who knew that still images runs deep?

=X=X=X=X=X=X=

We happily swung our arms as we continued to stroll around a few more aisles of artwork.

A yawn involuntarily escaped me, causing Edward to ask. "Are you having a good time?"

"I am." I nodded, smiling up at him.

Out of the blue, Edward steered us toward the wall of the structure. Yes, I came here to be well acquainted with walls. Oh! Is this a pearl or muddy grey?

I found my back flat against the very same wall I was mocking, Edward's mouth hovering scant inches from my neck "How about now?" I love walls.

"Umm…" His lips finally made contact with the tingling skin. "...Mhmm," my throat vibrated, the lids over my eyes fluttered closed. I grasped onto his shoulder, hoping not to turn into jelly right then and there.

"Is that who I think it is?" some girl close by asked.

"I'd recognize that mop of hair anywhere." a man responded, sounding amused.

A few seconds later, a finger tapped Edward's shoulder and simultaneously brushing my hand. If you guessed that I was a tad bit upset that we were disrupted, you'd be correct. "Excuse me, I'm making out with my boyfriend here," I opened my eyes to address the intruder. Some long dark haired chick and shaggy blonde man looked at me in bemusement.

Edward turned around to see who touched him, his demeanor went from pissed off to shock. "Peter? Charlotte?"

"Eddie boy." Peter gave Edward a manly hug, filled with lots of back slapping and laughs.

Charlotte's hug was less rough and filled with warmth. "It's good to see you, Eddie."

For once, I felt the need to apologize to someone. "Sorry about that." I thumbed back to the spot by the wall, a thick coat of blush hitting my cheeks.

"Oh Char? Pete? This is my girlfriend, Bella." Edward introduced me, as I shook their hands. "I didn't know you'd be here this year," he inquired to the two of them.

"We're traveling for a bit. New York was getting a little boring." Peter waved his hand in a blasé gesture.

"And speaking of which," she lightly hit his arm, "I thought you were coming to see us for New Years."

"Ugh, well…Carlisle and Esme were throwing their annual party and Aro---"

"Still has a bug up his ass? Those other two dudes too?" His tone was light, but his message was concern.

Edward's hand tensed around my waist, bracing himself for some sort of impact.

I was ready to interject, step forward and ask more.

"Don't dwell on it, Peter." Charlotte gently chided, eyeing him forcefully though. "So what have you been up to? Obviously, you've been busy." She winked playfully.

I was torn that our conversation went to a lighter tone, but Char and Peter asked how we met which relieved Edward immensely. All four of us walked around, each pair linked hand in hand, as Edward lit up at the parts of our story.

Eventually, we got to my love of all things fire. "Yeah, I like to burn shit." Simple as that.

"Is that why you're here?" Peter suggested. Out of the corner of my eye, Edward was shaking his head.

"Huh?"

"Forget the Brimstone is here. They're performing later."

Oh my God. Hold the phone. Stop the presses. "Are you fucking serious?!" I grew wide eyed with excitement. My hand gripped Edward's tighter, as I jumped up and down.

All three of them were laughing at me, but I could give two shits as I rambled on. "Edward! I fucking love FTB! I watch all their online videos, collect articles on them, and have their poster in my room…" I stopped bouncing, coming to a realization, "…and you knew they would be here." I stood in front of him, my finger digging into his chest.

"I was going to tell you myself…" looking at Peter, giving him the stink eye. "…but I'm glad you're happy."

"Of course I am!" I stood on my tippy toes and kissed him hard.

"You've got yourself a little firecracker there, Eddie." Charlotte observed.

Edward wrapped his arm around my waist once more, as we walked on. "Yeah, I do."

=X=X=X=X=X=X=

We said goodbye to Peter and Charlotte a little bit before Forget the Brimstone came on stage. They promised to call in and talk to Edward every now and then.

Then, FTB came on stage…and they were amazing! Of course seeing fire on tiny pixilated videos doesn't even compare to the real thing; like having milk in hot chocolate instead of water, it was a richer experience. Every single trick was even more daring than I thought they would be. I kept tugging on Edward's arm whenever I thought something would go wrong, especially when someone limboed underneath a flaming bar. The finale was filled with ten jugglers tossing close to two dozen burning objects in the air and passing them to one another, all without skipping a beat.

We hung out at the festival until every last person was gone, spending some of that time sifting through the mostly useless merchandise we collected.

Eating the last two corndogs sold at the show, we walked through the building back to our car. "Can I call you Eddie?" I teased, as I blew cool air on my snack.

He laughed. "Peter and Char call me that after one of my photo subjects kept pinching my cheeks and calling me every derivative of Edward in the book. Eddie, Eddie boy, Eddiepuss…" He closed his eyes, shaking his head at the memory.

"So, how do you know them?" I bit into the hot piece of food.

Edward swallowed his bite. "They stylize photo shoots and worked with me on one I did in New York last summer. I ended up hanging out with them the whole time I was there. They're very talented, but very much drifters and even the hustle and bustle of New York gets old for them quick."

"How do they know this Aro guy then?"

"Aro, Caius, and Marcus are my uncles on Carlisle's side. Aro helped arrange that photo shoot and was around the set." His answer was very measured, as he was still holding back information. I swear I could see the puppet strings attached to him when he spoke of his family in any aspect.

I sighed at the fact he wasn't revealing much to me. He looked incredibly tired, and it was quite a long day; disturbing that now would seem unfair and tasteless on my part. I decided to save it for another day, enjoying all the good that came from doing something fun together.

After our late night snack was done, "Race you to the car." I whispered in his ear, jetting off in that instant.

I heard his foot falls as we ran clear across the empty parking lot; attendees of the show had left long ago. The light orange glow of the parking lot lights passed above my head in a recurring pattern. The air left my lungs quickly as I swung my arms, propelling myself to the car.

Edward caught up with me and it was a dead heat as we both slammed into the side of his car. My lungs burned from the impromptu run. I saw it had the same effect on Edward as I heard him breathing hard, gulping down any bit of free air.

I turned my head to look at him, gazing out from where we had come. The way his hair hung in his eyes at that moment made him look so care-free and innocent; I wanted to breathe in whatever was making him look that way. His thick bronze locks were curled in on the ends. Those little kinks weren't from the humidity around us, but the natural way his hair fell. My hand reached up to reverently twist them even more around my finger.

He turned his face to my movements, my hand placed against his cheek. His body shifted to stand in front of me; my hand went further into his hair. His lips delicately brushed mine in a sweet, thankful kiss.

We stood in the lot for a little bit, kissing under the candle glow colored lights. No anxiousness was present in our actions. We felt like the only two people in the world. The sound of chirping crickets and our rustling clothing were our soundtrack.

Sooner rather than later, we found ourselves in the backseat of his Volvo. The oldies station, the only one that worked this far out of the way, played softly in the background. Heat radiated from the car and our bodies as sweat pooled along every inch of covered and uncovered skin.

We struggled to get comfortable at first, but that soon fell away. I was lying flat on my back with Edward hovering over me; his hands resting behind my head. My hands couldn't help themselves as they ran up and down his back and shoulders, finally resting on his waist. Our bodies were so charged with spending the day together as we played out how much we enjoyed it.

Our lips didn't battle for dominance. It was a slow steady race, with no desire to reach the finish line. Edward's tongue licked my bottom lip, teasing for entrance. I granted it to him without hesitation, a moan eliciting from both our mouths on contact.

The slick pressure of his tongue on mine hit a spot in me. My heels dug into his calves, my nails scratched along the taut muscles of his back. Moving to the hem of his shirt, I coaxed it upwards. Edward sat back on his heels as we jointly removed it.

Seeing a man shirtless like this overloaded every major circuit inside me. Every live wire unraveled from their tightly coiled selves, sparking and flaring once freed. I had only blindly felt Edward's body before, but looking at him without a shirt on…why didn't I take it off sooner?

I felt really lucky. And not lucky because of whom Edward was, but lucky to be able to have this kind of moment. To have someone to be with in this particular way. Getting to know someone and letting them know that I appreciate who they are. A small smile pulled at the corners of my lips, as Edward gazed down at me. His hands massaged my thighs up and down.

He was slightly hunched over, creating a less than perfect roll to his stomach. My finger pressed into his clavicle, dragging it down the middle of his chest to the small hills of his abs. The flesh goose bumped and his stomach moved under my finger, his breathing kicking up. I felt him shiver from my touch as I hit the spot above the button of his jeans. My hands were impatient as I leaned up to wrap them around his neck, forcing him to me.

My tongue found his again, attacking fervently. My fingers scratched deeper into his back, feeling the hot skin mold against them. He was so slick and soft and taut; I wouldn't think you could mix that altogether and make it feel so good, but you could.

His hands, one by one, pushed my cardigan down my shoulders. His lips followed the roundness of my shoulder, planting soft kisses to the newly exposed skin. Once completely removed, we let it fall to the car floor. His fingers gently slid the straps down, placing his lips to skin again.

I fisted the back of his head as he went for the span of skin above my breasts. Sighs of contentment escaped me as I heard the sound of his mouth pressing against my flesh. The movement of his lips gradually became more urgent, his tongue licking and sucking up every single piece he hadn't claimed yet. My motions were stirring Edward as he wanted more skin of his own.

My eyes went to his closed ones, but it was the sight of his tongue lusting on the peaks of my breasts. Warmth spread through me, filling my head with everything and nothing. I threw my head back as far as it could go, wanting friction. Wanting every inch to be covered in what he was giving me.

His breathing was ragged, as he dragged his bottom lip up toward my neck. My head lulled to the side as his mouth found its place there.

A grunt resonated from his lips, as he pressed his body fully against me. I could feel what this was doing to him and I knew he wasn't going to last much longer. This was probably the longest we had gone making out and this thrilled me, as I'm sure it did Edward.

His mouth and tongue became more and more desperate. My own verbal responses left me in a similar fashion.

Edward's hand glided up my side from my thigh passed my hip and body, finally resting on my breast. He took a test squeeze and a new round of noises fell from our mouths. Taking a cue that I liked what he was doing, he continued. His fingers massaged and pinched roughly, matching the pace of his fast moving mouth and tongue.

I gasped as Edward's teeth lightly bit the thin skin on my neck. My hips bucked against him as he did it one more time. Pressing his face further down, he licked and sucked, jolts of pain and pleasure shooting through me, spreading like a wildfire over my body.

Edward ceased his movements, inch by inch his lips leaving my neck. His gasping breath hit my face, as his chin eventually rested between my breasts.

The features on his face, one by one, revealed a mischievous shade. That lopsided grin, the delicate lift of his eyebrow and a tiny glint in his eyes caught my attention; they were very intent on the spot his mouth was just on.

"What?" I curiously whispered.

He was holding back something. His lips struggled not to twitch and bellow out a laugh. The closed lip laughter traveled to his stomach, bouncing against mine. What's so fucking funny?

"Edward, seriously. What is it?" I squeezed his biceps, physically trying to get a response out of him.

His propped himself back on his hands, pressing his mouth back to my neck. I hissed when he applied the lightest of pressure.

"Oops." He snickered against me.

Oops? What did he do? I gestured to sit up, maneuvering my body to look at my neck in the rear view mirror.

Oh My God. I regretfully had seen enough of them on Emmett, Alice, and a few of the student body to know what Edward had just done. "You gave me a hickey?" I turned to look at a still smiling Edward.

"And I'm really not sorry." He breathed against my ear. I turned to him, eying his gleefully cocky expression. The branding of my neck was not something he was going to get away with easily.

"My turn." I growled, pushing him. The back of his head made a low thud against the passenger window.

Straddling him, I mimicked the same actions he performed on me. His head lulled to the side, his hands digging into my hips.

A little while later, we collected ourselves and hopped into the front seats.

A day well spent?, I glanced at Edward's smirking profile as we drove home.

Yep, very well spent.

A/N: I made up that festival, but there are art shows that do take place in airport hangars. The fire performing group and the hand photo are also made up. However, the eye drop tip is real.

Song on the oldies station: "A Whiter Shade of Pale" by Procol Harum

Thanks for Anna and Jess for suggestions and help with the fire performing group's name. I was utter creative name fail.

Reviews aren't as good as making out in the back of a car, but can come close.