I'm sorry I'm late! But here you go.

Humongous thank yous to my beta, Sunflower Fran, who had spectacular edits for this chapter and has kind of learned my voice and I'm just super impressed with, and my prereaders: Mariel, RoBiNiSmYbOo, and WiccEdGoddess. And if anyone was wondering, my original draft had 18 "really"s and this one has 8. And I cut 9 of them myself!

Now, on to the chapter we've all been waiting for!

I own an iPad and a MacBook Air, but not Twilight.

I spent Tuesday in a panic. I was going to meet Edward. Tonight. Angela noticed I was antsy but didn't push me to talk about it. She knew I had plans this week. I always had Wednesday off, but I was taking Thursday off too. We were pretty quiet, and in spite of my nerves, I was pretty efficient, so Angela let me leave fifteen minutes early. I raced home and threw myself in the shower. I wasn't about to meet Edward covered in frosting. Edward texted me as I was getting out of the shower that he was on the ground.

Then, I had a dilemma. What did you wear to meet a guy you'd been flirting with for months and sexting for a week? Especially when you knew he was impossibly beautiful and usually surrounded by other equally stunning people? I couldn't believe I hadn't made Rose help me plan what to wear. I checked the time. Rose should be between classes right now. Yes.

She picked up on the second ring.

"You should be getting ready for your stud; what do you need?"

I rolled my eyes, but I couldn't keep the panic out of my voice. "What do I wear?"

"Okay, calm down, babe. Walk me through the options."

Five minutes and minimal tears later, we'd settled on a pretty simple cobalt blue satiny top with a black cotton skirt. I thanked Rose profusely, hung up, and got dressed. I brushed my hair and put on a little mascara.

Edward texted that he had gotten through the airport without too much chaos—courtesy of a Chicago Bears hat—and was now in his rental car on his way here.

I lost track of time pacing around my apartment. I knew how long it took to get to our apartment from the airport, and even so, I jumped every time I heard a noise, whether or not it sounded like the door buzzer.

The door buzzer sounded after what felt like an eternity but was in fact, almost exactly the expected thirty minutes. I pressed the button.

"Hello?" I could barely get my voice working.

"Bella?" He sounded like he was smiling.

"Come on up." I was smiling too.

It only took a few minutes to get upstairs to the apartment, but once again, it felt like an eternity before there finally was a knock on the door.

Cop-daughter instincts took over, and I rose on tiptoes to check the peephole. I saw a distorted mop of coppery hair and a chiseled jaw. I gasped and wrenched the door open.

I was pretty sure my heart stopped. I'd known he was tall; he'd told me, and magazines or wherever reported his height all the time, but even so, I wasn't prepared for how he towered almost a foot over me. It probably actually was a full foot right now since I was wearing thin flip-flops and he was in sneakers.

I really really wasn't prepared for how perfect he was, though. Sure, I'd seen the jaw through the peephole, but now I could fully appreciate it. Not to mention the cheekbones that could cut glass, the regal nose, the broad shoulders and narrow hips. Then there were the toned forearms peeking out of rolled-up sweatshirt sleeves. And suddenly, I was caught in the bright green gaze. I felt a jolt through my body. I couldn't breathe and then—

"Bella," he only breathed my name as that glorious smile spread across his perfect face. His voice was smooth and velvety, just like it was on the phone, and in every movie I'd ever seen him in, but somehow here, in person, where only I could hear him it was…

Better.

Richer.

And infinitely sexier.

My own smile spread across my face, and his widened. I was about to step back and invite him in when he took matters into his own hands.

By which I mean he took me into his own hands. He crossed the space between us in a step and gathered me up in his arms, tugging me against his chest. My arms wrapped themselves around his waist, and I buried my face against his chest, fitting into his body like we were designed for this embrace. There was a heat from his arms that was much more electric than I ever could have expected, and oh my god, he smelled so good. Like soap and really good, but still subtle, cologne and a little bit of something sweet I couldn't identify, but was definitely just … him. I nuzzled into his chest, and I think I whimpered. I felt him bury his face in my hair, and he groaned.

"You smell so good, Bella," he murmured.

I nodded. "So do you."

Finally, I tilted my head back to look up at him.

"Do you want to come in?"

He grinned. "Love to."

He didn't seem willing to entirely let go of me and kept one arm wrapped around me as I pulled him inside, laughing a little bit, as I closed the door.

"Um…" I hesitated as we stood in the hall. "Do you want a tour?"

"Sure."

I led him a little awkwardly into the kitchen first. "So, uh, this is the kitchen," I said, a little feebly.

He chuckled. "Where the baking happens?"

"Um, yeah."

I pulled him along through to the dining room.

"Um, that's where Rose and I eat breakfast together. When we actually eat breakfast and manage it at the same time … which we did last Wednesday. That's when Rose found the video of your interview with Lauren."

He chuckled. "That was the first time I mentioned you—anywhere. I'd told Em that the pretty brunette I was slightly Instagram stalking had DM'ed me, but that was it. And it was the first time I said I wasn't available."

I couldn't help smiling. "That was the first time I thought you were familiar. I told Rose it must just be deja vu. She thought it was bizarre, but I couldn't figure it out. I'd seen your movies before; I'd seen you in interviews before, and I couldn't figure out why I had a … well … a connection with you."

"This is a special table then, huh?" he chuckled.

"Yeah, this is where I was sitting when I convinced myself I was crazy for feeling like I'd met a famous actor. Definitely special. You gonna decide the movie theater seat where I had the same weird feeling during Broken Waves is special too?"

"Oh, absolutely," he grinned. "You know, you never actually told me what you thought of Waves."

"No, I did. I told you I couldn't focus because I had deja vu, and Lisa kept reminding me that the sweet guy I was DM'ing with was having issues with a girl with the same name. Don't think I forgot, by the way, that you told me Lisa made you think of your Tanya situation too."

He laughed. "Yeah, well, I was trying not to seem like I was trying to change the subject."

I smirked as something occurred to me. "Did you want me to figure it out?" I asked, leading him to the couch in the living room.

"What do you mean?"

"You didn't tell me your real name or Emmett's name, but you used Tanya's name, you told me your sister's name, your parents' real jobs, your birthplace … nothing specific that would clue me in, but enough that if I googled you, I'd know a lot of very specific coincidences pretty quick. And I know that, because it took like less than five minutes of reading your Wikipedia page to figure it out."

"For starters, I didn't mean to use Tanya's name. I kind of panicked when you recognized it. But by the time I told you Alice's name, I knew I'd be telling you the truth soon. I didn't expect you to figure it out yourself, but it would've felt weird if I hadn't told you, and I wanted you to know." He shrugged. "At that point, I hadn't told you because how do you broach that kind of subject?"

I nodded.

"So this is the living room," I gestured at the couch and chairs.

He laughed. "You paint in here a lot?" He pointed towards my easel against the wall.

"Yeah, in here or in my room. More space in here. Amazing light in my room. Depends what I'm doing, though." I shrugged. "Come on, see the rest of our place."

I took his hand as I stood. He followed me and dropped my hand almost immediately, exchanging it for an arm around my waist. I snuggled into his side as I took him down the hallway.

"Rose's room," I said, waving my hand at the open door. "And my room." He let me guide him into my bedroom.

I looked around with fresh eyes. I didn't usually have guests in here, and definitely not guys. My room was neat and tidy. We had the corner apartment, and Rose let me have the master bedroom in the corner so I could have windows on two walls and the extra light, which also meant I got the en suite bathroom. We had a two-bed, two-bath, but Rose's bathroom had to double as the guest bath.

I'd made my bed, knowing he'd probably see it, if not be in it. I shoved the dirty thoughts out of my head. My bed was a gift for myself when I'd gotten my legs back under me after leaving Mike. It was a queen, with pretty, white metal work and an elegant headboard. It was from Ikea and hadn't been expensive, but it was mine.

"The famous pink and gold bedding," Edward said softly, his arm tightening around me.

I peeked up at him. "Hmm?"

"I've been … curious about it…" his voice trailed off. There was a hunger in his eyes I hadn't entirely anticipated.

I suddenly felt very on the spot. I flushed.

He grinned. "I've been waiting for you to blush. God, you blush pretty." He raised his free hand and trailed his finger along my cheekbone.

Cool, now I felt even more on the spot. My flush deepened, and I bit my lip.

He shut his eyes and groaned.

"You can't bite your lip, baby," he moaned, tugging me against him and folding me into his arms.

"Why not?" I knew it affected him, but I didn't know precisely what the exact issue was. I mean, I knew, but I didn't know.

"Because it's making me want to kiss you."

"Why don't you?" I didn't know where the confidence to say that came from. But, well, if he wanted to kiss me, I sure as fuck wanted to kiss him too.

He tucked one hand under my chin and tilted my head up to look at him. He smirked. "You're playing with fire, little girl," he murmured.

I let my own smirk play on my lips as I licked them, my eyes settling on his. They looked really damn soft. It wasn't even on purpose when my teeth settled back on my lower lip.

"Fuck, Bella," he groaned.

And then his mouth was on mine, and yes, his lips were incredibly soft. He tugged my lip out from between my teeth and caught it in his own. He gnawed it gently, sucking and nibbling, before releasing it and sweeping his tongue through my mouth. I tangled my tongue with his and sighed into his mouth. When he buried a hand in my hair and settled his other hand on the small of my back, tugging me closer and deepening the kiss, I let out a whimper.

I kissed him back until I couldn't breathe anymore. I wrenched my mouth free from his, panting a little, and he moved along, kissing and nibbling along my jawline. And then he found the sensitive spot behind my ear. I cried out when he swirled his tongue against my skin there. He chuckled, the low sound reverberating.

I didn't know how we ended up on my bed, but before I knew it, his mouth was back on mine, with him half on top of me. I would've been lying if I said I wasn't incredibly turned on. I felt the telltale wetness gathering between my legs. When I ran out of breath again, he went to town, kissing my neck.

When he found that spot behind my ear again, my body took over, my hips grinding against his. He shifted slightly, so he was directly on top, and I ground into him again. I could feel that he was hard in his jeans, pressed against my warm center. And when I ground against him, his cock pressed directly against my clit. I gasped aloud.

He flexed his hips into me and chuckled as I moaned again.

"That feel good, baby?" he whispered. "You want more?"

I whimpered and nodded.

"Good girl, take what you want, baby."

He brought his mouth back to my lips, swirling his tongue against mine, and he began grinding against my body in earnest. I thrust my hips back, desperate for the building friction.

"Oh, god," I moaned.

He growled against my neck.

I couldn't breathe as the tension grew, and when I twisted my mouth away from his he went back to what seemed to be his new favorite spot behind my ear. It certainly was now one of my favorite spots.

He sucked on my skin, and I ground my skirt-clad crotch against his jeans-clad one. I lost myself in his mouth and his hard body as his hands skimmed my sides, never groping, just touching—gentle, soft, loving.

The pressure in me built, and I flew higher than I'd ever found myself. And I moaned and wailed, rejoicing in my head that the feelings were building like they never did for me, and then the soaring stopped and I fell against the plateau, panting and whimpering.

He could tell when it shifted. His hips stopped moving, and he pulled his mouth off my neck. He gently pressed a hand against my cheek.

"You okay, baby?"

I nodded, eyes closed.

"Hey, look at me," he said quietly. I opened my eyes slowly, knowing my face was red as could be. "What are you so embarrassed about?"

I shrugged. "I just … I didn't mean to dry hump you five minutes after getting you in the door."

He chuckled. "Do I look like I'm complaining? That was fucking hot."

If possible, my flush went even darker. He pressed a kiss to my cheek.

"As comfortable as I am like this, my beautiful girl, I need to move, or things will get … messy."

I nodded as he sat up and twisted away from me, adjusting himself. He kicked off his shoes and settled more comfortably against my pillows.

"Come here, sweetheart," he said, holding his arms out.

I crawled into them and settled, curled up against his chest like it was exactly where I belonged.

"Will you stay with me?" I didn't know where the words came from, but as I heard myself speak them, I knew they were true. I didn't want to be parted from him overnight. Absolutely not.

"Of course, beautiful," his voice was a little muffled, and I felt his face buried in my hair. "Do you want to stay here or go to my hotel?"

"Can we stay here?" I asked in a small voice. I didn't care, but I also didn't want to move. And the idea of him in my bed was … well, just so nice. And the idea of mooching a fancy hotel room off him was not super appealing.

"Anything you want, baby," he said quietly.

"I really didn't mean to attack you," I said after a few minutes of silence.

"Hey, I attacked just as much as you did. But you also made me want to kiss you."

"Should we go halfsies?" I giggled.

"Yeah, baby. We'll go halfsies," he chuckled.

We stayed curled up together for a while, until 6:30 when there was a knock on my bedroom door.

"Come in," I called.

Rose appeared, a shit-eating grin on her face.

"Don't you look cozy," she commented, leaning on the door jam, the smirk apparently a permanent feature of her face now.

I rolled my eyes. "Rose, this is Edward. Edward—Rose."

"Nice to meet you, Rose," Edward said conversationally. "I'd offer to shake your hand, but I'm a little busy holding my girl."

I froze. His girl? Is that what I was? I peeked up at him. He just smiled.

"Yeah, I see that. Nice to meet you too. Are you still bringing me something?"

"He gets in at about midnight tomorrow," Edward told her. "And he's excited to meet you. He saw some pictures on Bella's Instagram, and I told him what she's said about you." He tightened his arm around me as he said my name. It was a very nice feeling.

"Mmmmmkay," Rose said. "Well, I need dinner. Have you guys eaten?"

I shook my head. "No, I was going to cook."

"You sure? I was thinking about ordering Thai," Rose suggested.

I shrugged. "I mean, I don't have to. Let's get Thai. Does that work for you?" I twisted to look at Edward, and he nodded.

We told Rose what we wanted, and she went off to place the order. As soon as the door was closed, Edward was tugging me up to kiss me again.

I laughed. "What's this?"

"I didn't realize how long we'd been lying here not kissing. It was too long. Needs immediate rectifying."

"Hang on," I said, leaning back on my knees but not really pulling out of his arms. You have a tiny bit of explaining to do."

He raised an eyebrow but didn't respond.

"Your girl?" I said, an eyebrow raised quizzically.

He flushed. "Yeah, um … well."

I had him flustered. And stumped. I couldn't believe it. It was pretty great. I grinned.

He shut his eyes for a second. "Well, we said we'd find out if we wanted anything when we were in person, and I sure as fuck do. And it kinda seems like you do too. So…" he hesitated.

I smiled sweetly at him. "We did say that, didn't we?"

He nodded.

"So, is this the part where we have to decide what we are?" I asked.

"Yes," he announced. "And what we are, or what I'd like, I guess, is a relationship where I get to call you my girl and my girlfriend, and neither of us sees anyone else."

"So, you wanna be my boyfriend, huh?" I asked. He nodded eagerly. I pretended to consider. "What would that entail?"

"Mostly, I get to hold you and kiss you all the damn time." He was grinning at the thought. "And I'm hoping some dirty stuff too, but we don't have to get there yet."

"We um…" I hesitated. I didn't know quite how to put this, and I was guessing that the hard problem I'd felt against me earlier was an indication that this suggestion wasn't going to be entirely unwelcome. "We maybe don't have to take that much time to get there?"

He pulled me against him and rolled us over, so he was hovering over me. "No?"

I flushed and shook my head. Shutting my eyes, I replied. "No."

He pressed a quick kiss to my lips. "Well, that's great and all, but you haven't agreed to my proposed exclusive and extensive physical affections relationship proposal yet."

"Oh, well, yeah, yes. You should be my boyfriend."

"Great, I'm gonna kiss you now."

"You better."

"I'm gonna."

"Shut up," I whispered and, annoyed he wasn't doing it, kissed him instead.

We made out for a good long while. Our kisses were much more leisurely this time, a lot less desperate. His hands roamed my cleavage, slipping below my neckline to scoop into my bra. I moaned as he gently palmed my breast, rubbing my nipple with his palm. Something about getting felt up inside my bra made me feel like I was in high school again, but I had a feeling taking off my shirt and bra would be a bad idea, even if it seemed like it would be pretty well received.

I was right to keep our clothes on—it didn't take long before I heard the door buzzer and Rose tipping the delivery person. We came out and settled around the table with Rose to eat.

To her credit, Rose managed to keep the conversation somewhat normal. She avoided getting star struck and did a lot better than me at neither staring at Edward nor marveling at how a human could be that attractive. Although I suppose I can't say that I worked very hard at not doing that. Actually, I only sort of attempted not to do it. She did, however, keep looking at me a little bit slyly.

She also asked if I'd talked to my dad again. I sighed and shook my head.

"No, he texted me this morning and said he'd talked to Billy, and apparently Jacob is—" I did finger quotes "—really upset that I haven't called him back. I hung up on him last week, and he hasn't tried to get in touch, so not only is that annoying, but it's not even accurate."

Edward stiffened next to me, but didn't say anything.

"Those two old men need something in their lives besides gossiping about their kids," Rose suggested.

"No kidding," I muttered.

The conversation moved on after that. Eventually, we finished eating and got the clean-up dealt with.

"Alright, kids," Rose began. "It's Tuesday, and I'm going to karaoke. I assume you're staying in and attempting to stay incognito?"

I nodded. I had a sexy guy in my apartment and probably would want to keep him to myself even if we weren't trying to stay on the DL, but I was glad for the excuse. Rose very firmly suggested I come "help her" get ready. It was clearly code for "dish about the hottie in the apartment," but I let her get away with it. We left Edward on the couch and offered the TV remote.

"Sooo…" she began as she darkened her eye makeup. "You looked pretty cozy when I got home. And all night."

I flushed. "We did some serious making out, is all."

She leveled a look at me, eyebrow raised and lips lightly pursed. "I believe you, millions wouldn't."

I rolled my eyes. "Also, he wants to be exclusive. The specific words that got thrown around were 'girlfriend,' 'boyfriend,' and 'mine.'"

Now it was her turn to roll her eyes. "Yeah, I figured that much for myself," she said as she changed into her going-out dress. She slipped her feet in her shoes and tucked her wallet in her clutch. Grabbing her phone, she smirked at me. "Don't worry; I'll make a lot of noise with the key. And I won't check on you when I get home." I rolled my eyes again. Although, it was possible I would end up appreciating that promise. "And by the way, don't forget a little concealer next time you go out, or everyone will know what a grand old time Edward had for your some serious making out." Rose threw in finger quotes as she quoted my words back to me before she reached out and tapped the spot just below my ear where Edward had spent so much time earlier. And then she was out the door.

I peeked in the mirror. Yup, there was a round mark that was very definitely a hickey. Oops?

Settling on the couch in the living room in the now blissfully empty apartment, I cocked my head at Edward.

"You wanna tell me why you got so uncomfortable and quiet when Rose brought up my dad?"

He sighed and ran his hand through his hair. I was learning that was a nervous tic. "I … uh … it's a little daunting that there's a guy who's into you who your dad really likes."

"Okay, so my dad can date him. I don't like him."

"You say that, but it matters whether your friends and family like your partner, Bella."

"Yeah, it does. And Rose likes you and can't stand Jake. The people at work? They were THRILLED when they realized I was talking to a guy and that it wasn't Jake. Mrs. Cope at the diner? Ditto. My dad? Yeah, he might rather I dated Jake, but honestly it's not his job to care about who I date."

He raised an eyebrow at me. "You cannot be that naive."

"No, that's not what I mean. I mean … parents should give advice and help and support. They should steer you away from bad decisions and towards good ones. But that should never ever mean pushing you towards dating a specific person. Helping you see that someone is a bad choice to date, sure. Helping you decide whether to break up or get married or move in together, fine. But picking a partner and pushing you towards them? That's no one's job."

He considered my words for a minute. "I guess that makes sense."

"So, I guess, yeah, if my dad hated you," Edward winced, but I plowed on. "I would hear him out. I don't think I'd listen but I'd give him the chance to speak. But if he wants to put forth a candidate for me to date, I'm not listening to that. It's not his business to offer more than a non-binding veto. It's one thing if I were single and he was like, 'hey, my new deputy is your age and single, and I think you'd get along.' Set ups are weird and all, but whatever. But it's just creepy for him to want to push me towards a specific person.

"And if he decides that Jacob's love life is more important than my happiness, I don't need to keep him around." My voice cracked. "It's not that he's ever prioritized Jake over me, or anything. But I've always kind of wondered if push came to shove who would come out on top. And it sucks. Because Jake already has Billy. And even if I liked him, Jake just wants me to come back to Forks and have a small-town life. Bake at Mrs. Uley's, I guess. Cook for him. He lives here in Seattle, but he's always talking about when he's moving back to Forks."

Edward wrapped his arms around me and nestled me against his chest as the tears came. He rubbed my back and began to whisper soothing murmurs into my hair. I couldn't hear most of it. I caught pieces of promises that I didn't have to take care of people anymore, that he wanted to take care of me now.

Finally, I sat up a little and wiped my eyes.

"I don't even know why I'm crying," I sighed.

"Because you've always had to take care of everyone else, and it's exhausting," Edward said frankly.

I blew out a breath I didn't know I was holding and snuggled back into his chest. "Thanks," I whispered.

I could hear the smile in his voice as he answered. "Anytime, sweetheart."

Sooo? We all knew they'd have some trouble keeping their hands off each other when they were in person, right?

I hope the meeting lived up to your expectations!

I'd love to hear your predictions, hopes, whatever. Or just leave me a review because I turn 30 tomorrow (the 23rd) and that means I can ask for things!