Good morning, darlings.

As always, thank you so much for your reviews, and your kind words. It makes me very happy to know that you're enjoying this story. As you see, I'm taking my time with Paul and Bella.

Btw, next chapter will be another conversation they have pending :)

In the meantime, stay safe and enjoy :)

SILVER

Chapter 11: First date 2

He nodded, leading the way to the kitchen island. When they got there, she gasped.

"What did you do?"

He smiled sheepishly, putting the cookies on the counter and the ice cream in the freezer.

He had put a white tablecloth to cover the table that served as the kitchen island. On top of it were two tall glasses, two plates, and two sets of cutleries. One spot was at the head of the table, and the other was next to it, so they would be dining one next to the other. If the table looked this lovely, with lit candles decorating as well, she might stay over after all. At the edge of the table, a vase sat holding a single sunflower. It might have been a trick of the candlelight or a trick of her feelings for him that magnified every detail, but the flower seemed to be the brightest yellow she'd ever seen, with the most perfect brown circle in the middle and the most perfect petals. She loved sunflowers, but no one knew about it.

"The flower's for you." He spoke from behind her.

"Is this a lucky guess?" She was dying to know how he'd known about it.

Paul smiled widely. "I won't reveal my sources."

That meant he'd asked someone about her favorite flowers. That was so cute. So far, these few weeks had been of perfect bliss for the two of them. They were in this state where everything was perfect, nice, and sugar on top. They hoped this state would never end.

At some point during diner, she complimented him on his attire. "Contrary to what Emily might say, we do own shirts and other pieces of clothing. We choose to normally wear only cutoffs because it's easier when we phase. We have to strip off our clothes before, so the less we're wearing, the better."

"That makes sense. Is it also easier to phase with short hair?" She'd always been curious about it. Jake was the only one of the guys to wear long hair before phasing, at least, that she knew of. When she met Embry and Quil, they both had short hair already, despite not having phased yet. When Jake phased, one of the changes was his hair. She hated it at first, but once she knew about it, her hate turned into confusion. Jake didn't enjoy being a wolf at first, so when she found out (more like remembered what he'd told her), she didn't feel comfortable asking him questions about it. Not when he seemed so upset.

Paul's voice brought her back to the present. She almost missed his answer. "It is easier. But not when we phase. It's easier when we're already wolves. If, as humans, we have short hair, it transfers to the wolf." Bella was having a hard time understanding what he meant, and he noticed it. "Short hair means fewer messes when we're wolves. It's less likely to get in the way or for leaves to be stuck in our fur." That explained it better.

"Do you always wear it this short?"

He shook his head. Once he swallowed, he answered her verbally. "Not always. I let it grow a little sometimes. But I've always liked to wear it short." It seemed so trivial to be talking about haircuts, but at the same time, it was surreal because of the context it was based on.

…

…

…

"This is amazing." Bella groaned softly, pointing at the plate of pasta Alfredo with shrimps that Paul had cooked for the occasion. She had been too curious about his wolf status and the details about it to compliment it at the first bite.

While dating Edward, he had attempted to cook for her, but since cooking had evolved since he last ate, and considering that men cooking in his time was more or less frowned upon and considered a woman's job, his cooking skills left a lot to be desired. She had continually told him he didn't need to cook for her; she was perfectly content cooking for herself and Charlie. Nevertheless, that didn't deter him from trying a few more times.

Paul's cooking, on the other hand, was beyond decent. She believed that it was because he had been single and living alone, which forced him to learn to cook at least one decent meal. Kind of like living with her mom had done with her. She had to rely on instincts, try and error, and cooking books.

Paul smiled at her compliment and thanked her. "I hope it's ok that I chose iced tea for drinking instead of alcohol."

"I'm not big on alcohol. Aside from the occasional beer or cocktail, I'm not much of a drinker." Paul nodded. He wasn't big on alcohol either, having seen his dad give in to alcoholism even before his mom's passing. He could count with the fingers of one hand (and he would have fingers to spare) the number of times he's been drunk, one time being the time he tattooed his now girlfriend's name on his butt.

They continued to make small conversation while eating, but once they were done, he stood up to clean the table, and she did the same. He told her she could remain sitting, that he'll clean, and they could talk from their respective places. "I insist. I wash, you dry, and store. This way, we won't have to clean in the morning."

It was said in such an ordinary way that it took them both a few seconds to realize what Bella had said. She blushed redder than ever before. That was something that wasn't meant to say out loud. It was something to be thought and analyzed. She never meant to say that.

Avoiding his stare was a difficult task. She concentrated on cleaning the rest of the dishes, but there was not much to clean, and soon she was faced with his stare once more. He was staring at her with an unidentifiable expression on his face. It was hard to read. He was serious, but a corner of his mouth was slightly tilted upwards.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" She finally managed to ask, trying to pretend as if nothing had happened. Of course, it was a futile attempt.

"We won't have to clean tomorrow?" He asked, repeating her words. "I'm starting to feel like you know something I don't." His intonation was light, which meant he wasn't at all freaked by her sudden lapse. "Care to share with the rest of us?" He leaned on the counter, crossing his arms. It didn't help her situation because his stance was causing all sorts of fantasies to cross her mind. His crossed arms made his biceps look more prominent and his tattoo to stretch. She amusedly thought she was more aroused by how his arms were crossed than by any other part of him. Oh, what she would do and give to be held in all ways by those arms.

"I want to sleep with you, but I'm not entirely sure I'm ready to have sex yet." To both their surprise, her blush was diminishing.

He closed the distance between them and put her face between his palms. She locked her stare with his. His thumbs were making a soft pattern on her cheeks that she found sweet and calming. "I'd love to sleep with you, no matter how hard it is to behave. I promise you; I would never do anything you don't want to do or are not ready to do." The seriousness of his voice eased whatever nerves or embarrassment she was feeling.

"It's not that I don't want to. I take it seriously, and I want to know us better before taking that step." She wanted to make sure that despite knowing she loved him, and would not regret having sex with him, that she was doing it for her and not because she was succumbing to hormones or any rushed decision.

She also knew she had reservations about having sex with him because Edward's continue rejections had played on her self-esteem. She didn't know how much of Paul's attraction was natural and how much was because of the imprint.

He kissed her deeply but quickly. "I love you. I don't care for a time frame on sex. You're sexy as hell to me, and yes, it's hard not to take you every time we kiss, but I'm not an animal…not always, anyway." She rolled her eyes at the bad joke.

She nodded; glad they had cleared that topic. "On that note, if you don't mind sleeping and not having sex, I brought a night bag, but I left it in my car." He laughed and promised he'd look for it before going to bed.

They decided to eat the ice cream directly from the container and settled on the couch to watch a movie.