"Are you crazy?" Bella shouted, surprising even herself with how forceful she was. "We've known each other basically two and a half months, literally just agreed to try dating this morning, and now you want to move in together?"

"Well it's the logical next step, right?"

"There's nothing logical about it," Bella blurted out. "This isn't like some shit from TV where we've been stuck together for weeks while dating and it's been intense. We don't need to rush this."

"I've seen the Bachelor. I have a younger sister, remember?" Edward laughed as Bella paced around his living room, still in shock. "How about you forget I said anything. I just thought it might be easier for us since we basically spend all our time together anyways."

"Edward, I just don't think it's a good idea. We still need to determine how to balance this whole work life thing and adding me moving in to the mix won't help anything." Bella knew what she was saying was right, and if she wanted any chance of their relationship succeeding, they needed to not jump into living together, but part of her really wanted to. They both needed to have patience. "However, I will agree to a nap, some dinner and possibly some hanky panky," Bella said reassuringly as Edward's smile grew and he began to peel off his shirt.

"How about we start with the hanky panky?"

-!-

The first two weeks of trying to date, as well as work together, went OK at best. Edward and Bella both found themselves easily distracted by the other. Bella found herself straddling Edward in his desk chair, making out with him, more times than she expected to. They christened his desk a week after Thnksgiving, and it had given way to Edward constantly having random thoughts throughout his days about fucking her there again. Regretfully, it had yet to happen.

Bella set up a small desk in the spare bedroom to keep herself from being tempted by Edward, but it was hard. She used to work in the kitchen or dining room, but she found herself needing to focus more on his upcoming website redesign for his new novel. She wasn't designing it, but she was helping Alice with small changes to reflect the upcoming book. She even had to add a section about a book tour that would be happening in the late spring, and Bella had to wonder if Edward even knew about this. After all, how the hell would she get him to these stores? The copy she had certainly didn't say anything about the events being virtual.

On the first weekend in December, Edward had surprised Bella by ordering a real pine tree to be delivered and they had their first official date. He had dinner delivered from his favorite restaurant in Seattle, and they spent the night trimming the tree and enjoying some of the best food Bella had ever had. They ended up making love in front of the fireplace that night and while cuddled up on the couch afterwards Bella couldn't help but laugh at some of his random christmas tree ornaments, which even included a vampire.

"Is that a Jungle Cruise ornament?" she giggled, staring up at the tree while lying on her stomach.

"Yeah, I got that when I was a kid. We used to love going to Disneyland and the Jungle Cruise was always the first ride we went on," Edward admitted as he kissed Bella's bare shoulder.

"I would have thought you were more of a Haunted Mansion, kind of guy."

"Oh, I am. It's my favorite ride at Disneyland but I always ride Jungle Cruise first. It's a family tradition."

"When was the last time you went?" Bella probed, thinking now would be a good time to broach the topic of his agoraphobia with him.

"Probably about five years ago. You can be an adult and still love Disneyland, Bella," Edward rolled Bella onto her back and she looked up at him and couldn't help but smile. He was so happy talking about something that gave him so much joy, and they were in such a good place, but Bella was hesitant to ruin things. Then again, she couldn't help herself.

"So, when did you stop leaving the house?"

There it was, thought Edward. It only took her 3 months to broach the topic, and it took others mere minutes. Edward was happy with Bella, happier than he had been in years, and he had even submitted his first draft to his editor just that morning. He wanted nothing more than to be with her, and he felt he had to be completely honest with her.

"About two weeks after that trip to Disneyland. Alice, Jasper and I had driven down the coast to California for a book tour and we hit the park for a few days. It's not like Disney World where you need a lot more time to explore everything," he rambled on and Bella glared at him knowing he was avoiding the topic. "I had gone into Port Angeles for a book signing after the sequel to Midnight Sun had come out. I got lost, parked my car and went to go ask for directions when I was jumped by three guys in an alleyway. They were drunk and wanted my wallet and car keys, which I gave to them, but then they took turns beating the shit out of me. They basically left me for dead."

Bella's mouth fell open as she listened to Edward retell the story of his attack. She had been living in Seattle at the time, but didn't recall hearing anything about this. Surely, her father had known about it, seeing as Port Angeles was so close to Forks.

"I was in the hospital for a few weeks afterwards, recovering from my broken ribs, broken nose and collapsed lung, but I made it through. The time stuck in the hospital even helped me come up with the concept for my third book and I actually wrote most of it while at rehab," Edward admitted.

"And now you are scared to go out?" Bella questioned reluctantly. She didn't want to downplay what Edward had gone through, after all, it led her to him, but she could see he wasn't trying to get over it either. "Is it public places or people you are scared of?"

"A little of both," Edward admitted. He had initially tried walking around his neighborhood once he had healed considerably, but when he came in contact with other people he freaked out. This in turn, caused a lot of drama amongst his neighbours. It led to Edward getting a treadmill so he could stay active. "I was okay going out at first, but the more I saw people, the less I was able to handle it. I just kept seeing the faces of the three guys everywhere I went."

"Have you considered therapy?"

"Alice pushed a therapist on me while I was still in the hospital, but it didn't stick. I just wasn't finding it helpful," Edward admitted.

He had been seeing Leah, his therapist, in the hospital a few days a week, but if Edward was being honest with himself he didn't take it as seriously as he should have. He went from the hospital to a rehab facility and then to his house. There was no solid attempt on his part to acclimate back into normal every day life. He liked how things were at the time and didn't want to change them.

"You do realize it will be difficult for us to date if we never leave your house, right?" Bella said simply as Edward sat up, resting his head on one arm. "I mean, this date has been awesome. Great food, great company and lots of fun, but it's not sustainable." Bella let out a small sigh, as this was something she had been thinking about really seriously for the past week. How were they going to date like normal people if Edward wouldn't go outside.

"So, what can I do?" Edward offered. He didn't want this relationship to stop before it even really started. They had been having a great time for the past week and he was falling head over heels in love with her. He had been since she walked in the door of his house, but he wasn't ready to lose her. "I'm willing to try anything, Bella."

She leaned up and kissed him sweetly on the lips, tasting the merlot they had earlier. "All I wanted to know is that you are willing, Edward."

Hello sweet friends. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. It was not a super long chapter this time around, but an important one. I think it answers something everyone has been asking me about LOL. It's been a hell of a week in the CPW house. Littlest is going back to in school (half day) on Monday, my in-laws in TN both tested covid positive and are currently isolating and the hubs is thankfully, recovering nicely. He's stubborn as hell though and still tries to to do much. Men. **rolls eyes**