A/N: So this is something I have periodically worked on for several years if nothing else was working for me, but was determined not to post it until it was finished. Unfortunately, that is not the case, and this likely will be slow to update since I've only got I think nine chapters written so far, since it hasn't been a primary focus of mine so far. But I felt the need to post something today after a tweet I received on Twitter this morning that made me go a little slackjawed.
Ten years ago today, I posted the very first chapter of Late Night Encounters. It wasn't my first fanfic, but it was the first one to appear on TwiFanfictionRecs. At times, I can't believe I've been in this fandom for ten years this year, and that I still have some of the very first reviewers I ever had still sticking with me, and that I am still getting new readers along the way. I appreciate each and every one of you, whether you've been reading my stories for ten years or ten minutes. Thank you for making this experience such a wonderful one and helping me through very difficult times in the last decade. The Twilight fandom is one of the absolute best in the world.
Ericastwilight has been on my case to post this story for ages, but I've been very hesitant for the aforementioned reason of it not being complete and being a "back burner WIP" for so long. I'm hoping that I'm wrong about it being slow to update and that having a story in progress on my profile again will give me the push I need to get myself out of this writing slump I'm in and get some words out again. So, thanks, Erica, for all of your encouragement you've also given me over these last ten years of friendship we've shared. Love ya bunches!
Hope you all enjoy, and fingers crossed that I get more posted for you very soon.
Chapter 1 ~ Slightly Bruised Ego
"I'm ready to start dating again, Jas," Edward said to his best friend as he walked into the grocery store with his phone to his ear and grabbed one of the baskets by the door.
"Edward, it's only been three weeks. Don't you think you should give yourself a little more time?" Jasper replied with a hint of worry in his tone.
Edward sighed heavily and grabbed a bunch of bananas off the end cap. "What for? She dumped me, it's over, and what good is it going to do to sit around and mope about it? I'm creeping up on thirty. I'd like to get married and have kids sometime before I'm ready for the nursing home."
Jasper laughed, and Edward knew he was rolling his eyes at him at that very moment. "Still have a tendency for the dramatics, I see. You're only twenty-seven, for crying out loud. And you do realize that you actually have to go out sometime to meet your future bride and mother of your brood, right?"
"I'm out right now," he countered, holding the phone between his shoulder and ear, tearing off a bag for the tomatoes.
Jasper groaned, and Edward heard the distinct smacking sound of his palm meeting his forehead. "You're at a damn grocery store, Edward. What are you going to do? 'Excuse me, miss. Can I buy you a carton of eggs?' That's not creepy at all."
"Is that any worse than 'hey, let me get you liquored up so I can take you home and have my way with you'? I don't do bars, and even if there was anyone at work who wasn't married or completely revolting in the personality department, there's a no fraternization clause in my contract," he replied, spinning the bag and setting it in his basket.
"Okay, first of all, who the fuck says 'liquored up' and 'have my way with you' anymore? And second, there are more options out there than bars. There's singles' groups, online dating—"
"Stop right there. Not happening. That may work for some, but that's not for me," Edward cut him off, shaking his head. "You never know who you're going to meet online, and a singles' group would feel like a support meeting for lonely people."
"Someone is cynical and bitter. What are you going to do then? Ask the next woman you see out to dinner while she's trying to shop?" Jasper jokingly asked.
"Actually, I think that's exactly what I'm going to do," he replied to his somewhat challenging tone.
Jasper barked out a laugh, followed by a spell of coughing. "Edward, you've only been with three women since we were in high school and all of them have been long-term relationships. Not to mention that each of those women asked you out. Now you're deciding to be the rebel? You don't have the balls."
"We shall see. I'll talk to you later," Edward said in annoyance and ended the call, silencing Jasper's continued laughter and steeling his resolve.
It wasn't that strange to approach a woman at a grocery store, was it? If he hadn't been so irritated by Jasper's taunting, Edward might have said the hell with it and simply headed for the checkout. However, the truth of the matter was that he really had been lonely. He did want to get out there and start dating again, and there were very limited options as to how to go about meeting women for him. He wasn't exactly a social kind of person. Not that he was a hermit or anything, but he didn't go out of his way to go to bars or clubs. He grew up in a small town, and even since moving to Seattle right after college, he still preferred quiet surroundings.
He wasn't completely heartless. Naturally, he'd been upset when his two-year relationship with Jennifer had ended, but he couldn't honestly say that he was completely devastated by it, either. She just wasn't the right woman for him, and as he said to Jasper, Edward really did want to find "the one".
But in the produce aisle? Sure, why not.
Edward's eyes scanned his surroundings, determined to do just as he'd said; ask the first woman he saw out to dinner. Yet, the first one he spotted made him instantly shake his head and insist that the very first one shouldn't count. She looked old enough to be his grandmother.
The sound of a cart hitting the wall of the coolers and the subsequent cursing caught his attention, and he looked over to find a beautiful brunette mumbling under her breath as she began rifling through the lettuce. Her sunglasses were propped up on top of her head, holding her hair back from her face and exposing the smooth, blemish-free skin of her cheek. She was petite, probably no more than a few inches above five feet, but far from scrawny. She had amazing curves from her waist to her hips, and definitely nice, shapely legs. She is gorgeous and probably way out of my league; no way is this woman single, he thought to himself.
Edward's eyes lowered to the hand wrapped around the head of Romaine she held, shocked to find that there wasn't as much as an engagement ring on her finger. Not that it meant much, but chances of her being taken were just a little less slim than before.
"I only said I would ask her to dinner, nothing about her accepting," he mentally prepped himself and began moving toward her, uttering a soft 'excuse me' to catch her attention as he reached for his own head of lettuce. She glanced at him briefly and offered a polite smile, which only added to her beauty. He started to choke up and thought about backing down, and he was turning to walk away when he paused. Jasper would never let him live it down if he didn't try, and honestly, the worst she could do was say no. He looked back to her again quickly, catching her eyes gazing somewhere below his waist before they shot up to him in shock. A faint blush touched her cheeks, and she looked away, taking two steps before he stopped her. "Excuse me, miss. I know this may sound incredibly weird and awkward, but I was wondering if you might like to meet me for dinner tonight."
The woman gazed at him with an arched eyebrow and ran her eyes over him as if he'd lost his mind. With the look she was giving him, Edward thought for sure she might start screaming for security any minute. Yet, when her eyes met his, she did the last thing he ever expected—she began to laugh. "Oh, this is good. Angela put you up to this, didn't she? I'm not quite that desperate for a date, Ang!"
"Wow, thanks," Edward said, scraping his demolished pride off the floor. Apparently, 'no' wasn't the worst thing she could say. "I don't know who this Angela is, but a simple 'no thanks' would have sufficed."
"Wait a second," she called out, her hand touching his shoulder as he turned to walk away. He looked back to her with a tense jaw and she perused his face in silence for a moment. "You were actually serious?"
"About which? This Angela person, dinner, or my wounded ego?" Edward retorted, and her hand rose to cover her mouth. "It's fine. Have a good day."
"Hey, come on. I didn't mean 'desperate' as in desperate. I'm sorry. I thought it was just another one of my friend's lame jokes on me. How many women can actually say they were asked out on a date in front of the lettuce by a handsome stranger?" she replied with a smile, and he rolled his eyes, and then her features shifted to a more serious expression. "I mean, it is a little out of the ordinary, don't you think? You've never even met me before this. Why would you seriously ask me out on a date?"
"It doesn't matter. I asked, you said no. I'm sorry I disturbed you," Edward said, giving her a weak smile and a nod.
Her face contorted at his statement and her forehead wrinkled. "I recall thinking it was a little strange of a situation and asking why, but I don't remember saying no. Did you hear me say no?"
Edward gazed at her, stunned by her response and the jerk of her head, motioning for him to walk with her. "If I tell you the why, you will definitely say no."
She shrugged and stopped to grab a few apples. "Well, it can't get much stranger, so you never know. Why don't you try me?"
As they walked around the store, Edward explained to her vaguely about his breakup with Jennifer and wanting to move on, and Jasper's challenge. "Actually, it was more of a response to his insistence that I didn't have the ba…er, guts to ask a woman I've never met out to dinner."
"I see. So, it was a bet kind of thing," she replied, and both her tone and expression were difficult to decipher. Then she began to laugh again and looked up at him. "Men actually do that beyond college?"
"Well, I don't, usually. I honestly don't know what came over me."
"So, of all the women here this fine Sunday morning, I happened to be the lucky lady in the right place at the right time?" she inquired, glancing over at him with a glint in her eyes as they reached the checkout counter. "It's not every day you meet a man willing to buy tampons, after all."
Edward looked to her in confusion as she began unloading her cart and lowered his eyes to the basket he was holding and the menagerie of items he didn't remember putting in there while walking around with her. Sure enough, there was a bright pink box of tampons lying right on top. He brought his free hand up to cover his eyes and could feel the tips of his ears burning with embarrassment. At her soft chuckle, he looked to her in time to see her reach into the basket to take them out, setting the box on the conveyor belt with her things. They shared a smile, and he felt himself relax, but he still needed to divert the topic. "Well, it was a toss-up between you and that lovely lady over there."
Her brow creased, and she turned her head to gaze in the direction his hand was gesturing. Her lips pressed together in an attempt to not laugh when her eyes met the older woman he'd spotted by the grapefruits, a few registers down from them. "Wow, that was some fierce competition. I'm flattered."
"You should be. It was a tight race," Edward teased back, and that time, she didn't restrain her soft giggle.
"Well, if that's the case," she began, handing her money to the cashier, and then turned to face him. "My name is Bella, by the way, and I guess we have a date."
"That would have been a smart, not to mention polite, way to start," he replied, feeling like a complete moron—he hadn't even asked for her name. "I'm sorry. I'm Edward."
Bella's small hand slipped into his extended one and shook it gently, and then she reached for the notebook among his items and took a pen from her purse. She wrote her number on the inside cover and placed it back on the conveyor belt. "It's nice to meet you, Edward. Send me a text as to where to meet you tonight. I'm free any time after five-thirty."
"Sounds good. I will see you later, Bella," Edward answered with a smile, and she began to walk away.
"Hold on. Can I see your phone?" Bella asked as she turned back quickly. He reached into his pocket for it, and she only smiled at his confused response. She grabbed the notebook again and scribbled something on the first page, turning it to face away from her and standing beside him. The movement caused the soft coconut scent of her hair to waft up to him, and he was looking down at her as she held her arm out to snap a picture, and then handed it back to him. "Evidence for your friend. See you later."
Edward's eyes were trained on her as she grabbed her bags and waved before walking away, only breaking his gaze from her retreating form when the cashier gave him the total. Once he finally got out to the car, he pulled out his phone again and looked down at the screen, gazing at the picture. Bella really did have a beautiful smile, and she barely reached his shoulder, and even in the photograph, the glimmer in her eyes still shined through. He felt a tug at his own lips as he read the words she had written.
Dear Edward's friend,
My name is Bella and he definitely does have 'the balls'. We have a date tonight.
Edward laughed and sent the picture to Jasper, driving home with a wide smile on his face. His phone chimed as he was putting away his groceries, and when he finally checked it, his smile grew into a downright cocky smirk.
Holy shit! Who the hell are you and where have you hidden my best friend?