Author's Note: SM owns the characters. I'm just playing with circumstances.
Sooo everyone guessed where they'd be going for their date, but that's okay. Fun fact, my first date was to my county fair and even though the relationship didn't work, it was still a lovely date. Most events of their date were inspired by my own (although Edward is much more romantic than my date was).
Please read, review, and enjoy!
Bella and I held hands for about an hour till we crossed to the next town over. As soon as we hit their town limits, Bella spotted the big, colorful sign
COUNTY FAIR!
"Oh! Edward, are we going to the fair?!" She sat up and grinned over at me. Her excitement was palpable and I was glad I'd made a good decision.
"We are. My parents used to bring me here every year and I thought it could be fun. Do you like rollercoasters?"
"I've never ridden one. Dad never took me because he was busy with the farm and Momma always said it was too expensive." My eyes widened at her confession.
"You've never been on a rollercoaster? Never been to the fair?" She shook her head. "Oh, we're gonna fix that. I'm pullin' out all the stops. We'll ride every single ride, play the silly games, and I'm stuffin' you with fair food, pretty girl."
"Thank you. I can't wait!" Bella was bouncing in my passenger seat and focusing hard on her surroundings. We arrived at the fairgrounds around 1:45. The smell of funnel cake and cotton candy wafted in the air. You could hear screams and laughter as the rollercoasters went every which way. Bella soaked it all in.
"Wow."
"C'mon. This is just the outside. It's about to get so much better." I took her hand again and led her to the ticket booth. Shelling out the money for unlimited tickets wasn't even a burden. This way I could treat Bella to every amusement at the fair. I took care not to let Bella see how much anything cost.
When we entered the gates, we halted as Bella took in everything going on around her. She couldn't seem to focus on just one ride, so I led her over to a pretty laidback rollercoaster. It was an easy one to break her into the adrenaline scene.
"I'm so nervous! But in the best way."
"Don't be nervous. I'll hold on tight to you, darlin'."
"Hmm, I might have to pretend to be extra nervous if that means you'll hold me tighter." Bella purred, running her hand down my arm.
"All you have to do is ask," I flirted back, taking the hand that was caressing mine, and kissing each finger adoringly before kissing her palm. She blushed, curling into me a bit more. The line was dragging, but we didn't mind.
"So did you and your family have any other annual trips you took?"
"No, not really, me and Alice were pretty laid back kids. We didn't ask for much and since our parents both worked full time they didn't have a lot of vacation time. What about you? Any memorable vacations?"
"Just a trip to my Grandma Swan's house every summer. I spent about a week there. It was fun, nothing special, but we had a good time."
It was our turn to load into the car of the coaster. Bella was thrumming in excitement and her hand was gripping mine so tightly I wondered if I'd lose my fingers. The ascent into the sky began and Bella was giggling as she squealed.
"We're almost at the top!"
"You ready for the drop?" I asked. Bella nodded. The ride came to a stop at the height of the loop. Bella and I made eye contact, smiled, and then we dropped. We both screamed. Loud. Amongst the screams, we were laughing. Head thrown back, big belly laughs as our hearts pounded and adrenaline soared.
The ride ended and Bella and I were taking a second to catch our breaths when she burst into laughter again.
"You-scream like-a girl!" She clutched her stomach and bent over herself.
"I do not!" I protested, but couldn't find it in myself to be upset that she was teasing me. If it made her laugh like that then she could believe I had a feminine scream all she wanted to. I chuckled while she calmed down.
"That was so much fun! Another! Can we ride another?!" She didn't have to ask again. I grabbed her by the hand and led her to another large rollercoaster. It seemed I'd found myself another adrenaline junkie. She sat up, anticipating every twist and turn. We must've ridden a dozen rollercoasters by the time I heard her stomach rumbling.
"Let me feed you, Bella. Fair food is almost as great as the rides."
"Alright, I guess I'm kinda hungry. What's your favorite fair food?"
"Well, you can't eat just one fair food. They're all important. The corn dog is a staple, french fries are sinful, we can't leave without funnel cake and deep-fried Oreos, and you're crazy to pass up on cotton candy."
"Edward, you're insane! I'd explode if I tried to eat all that!"
"Luckily, you don't have to eat it alone. I'll order us a bunch of food to split and you'll be in love by the time you've tried it all." Preferably in love with me, but I guess falling in love with fair food could be acceptable.
"That sounds good, do you mind if I run to the ladies' room while you grab food?" I smiled and escorted her to the nearest restroom. I'd intended to wait in a food line when something caught my eye. At one of the game booths, there was a pretty big sized stuffed dog hanging. The game was rifle shooting, something I happened to know a thing or two about.
I didn't hesitate in dropping a ten dollar bill on the counter and taking my shot. A few minutes later I was asking the gentleman running the booth to pull the dog down for me. Bella was still in the restroom, so I went to grab our dinner and found a table. I placed Bella's plastic-wrapped dog under the seat and waited for her to come back to me.
She caught my eyes when she exited the restroom and made her way over to me. Her mouth dropped dramatically when she caught sight of the food laid out, buffet-style, across the tabletop.
"You weren't kiddin' when you said the food was sinful. Thank you."
"I got you somethin' else while you were in the ladies' room. I saw it and couldn't resist." I pulled the dog out and she smiled hugely at me. She took it in her arms and hugged on tight.
"I love him! He's so perfect!"
"I figured since Charlie might shoot me if I bought you a real dog, so here's a stand-in till you get your dream dog." I definitely did something right because she rose from her seat and came over and hugged the hell outta me.
"I love it. Thank you so much. Edward, this has been the best date ever. I'm so happy."
"For me too, sweetheart, I've enjoyed every second with you. Now, c'mon, eat something so we can get back to having fun."
We dug in. She moaned as she tried each new food. I had to distract myself through most of it to prevent jumping across the table and devouring her. I'd never enjoyed fair food as much as I did this year with Bella. Midway through dinner, she yawned and admitted she couldn't eat another bite.
"If you're nearly ready to leave, there's one more ride we have to go on before we go home. There's no way you can go to the fair and skip the ferris wheel." Bella agreed and a few minutes later we were loading into the ferris wheel bucket.
"The view from up here is beautiful," Bella murmured as she looked out to the night sky and observed my hometown.
"Yeah. It is." My eyes couldn't leave her face. Tonight had proved what I'd speculated from the beginning. Bella was everything I wanted in a girlfriend, a partner, a woman to stand by my side. I was, without a doubt, falling for her.
Her kind heart, humor, and down to earth nature left me enamored. I stared at her, hoping she felt the same, but knowing it was too early to tell her how I felt. Or at least all of how I felt.
"Bella, tonight has been wonderful. This past week gettin' to know you has been a dream."
"I feel the same way, Edward. I want to keep seeing you after tonight." I grinned, moving closer, holding both hands in hers. The lights made her eyes twinkle in a new way and she seemed to glow in the dark. I was drowning in Bella.
"Well, are you gonna kiss me or not?" She whispered.
That was my cue. I leaned close, cupped her cheek in my hand, and pressed our lips together. It was fireworks. She tasted like the cotton candy we'd just finished. She fell against me and moaned softly. It was magic. The perfect end to the day we'd had together. We only broke apart when the need to breathe was burning our lungs.
As soon as my lips left hers and we gasped for breath, Bella whispered, "can we do that again, please?"
"Your wish is my command." And our lips met again.