Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or its original characters. No copyright infringement is intended with the posting of this story or its dirty-talking Edward AKA; Masen, and his equally smutty Bella, AKA; B.

A/N: Welcome back! I'm really enjoying getting to know these characters. Especially this Edward! So much more to come, so I hope you'll stick around for it. This chapter is nice and fluffy. Not much more to say, but a big thanks to my beta, myonlyheroin. Let's get to it then!


Batter Up

Chapter 5

.)Edward(.

After I'd started to drive us east towards the closest IHOP, a frequent breakfast spot of mine and Jasper's, I decided to continue past the restaurant until we would hit A1A, the main road that ran along the beach.

This road would take us on a short detour past all the swanky hotels that sat along the coast line.

I wanted to throw her off a little.

Predictability was never good right out of the gate with any woman. Let alone a woman I'd already set out to shock and awe.

I had to make sure that what came next would leave an everlasting memory. One that she would lay in bed thinking about over and over again, for many many nights to come.

Her suspecting smirk was ridiculously adorable.

I liked that I was already able to read her like an open book… well, the more recent chapters of her book anyways. At the moment she seemed determined to stay silent, keeping all of her thoughts and inner dialogue to herself, but I wouldn't let her lack of subtlety bother me. Especially when she was giving me all kinds of cues with her body language.

The hidden grins and nervous glances.

The way her hands wouldn't stop tugging nervously at the bottom of her shirt.

We'd barely spent more than thirty minutes together in person, but I couldn't help but revel in the fact that she wasn't making it difficult for me to invite myself further into her world.

Her real world.

This was good.

This was very good.

"I thought we were getting breakfast? Where exactly are you taking me? Not the beach, I hope. You're not that cliche, Edward." She dared to finally utter while keeping her gaze focused through the passenger window. I had to laugh because I'd already known that was exactly what she'd anticipate once I'd continued to head us east without slowing down.

"Pft. You don't know me, Bella with a B." I sarcastically reminded her, pretending to be hurt for a short second by her sexy as hell sarcastic accusation. We continued past all of the open parking spots that lined the dark street before making a random right, turning us west again to head down a narrow one way only side street up a short alley. This street would lead us to an old baseball field that was part of the church I grew up attending before finally 'aging out' at adulthood.

"Baseball? At six in the morning? You really are trying to strike out. This is kind of sad." Bella casually teased after unfastening her seatbelt once I'd parked the car. I watched her fingertips rise up from the buckle at her hip to trace at the lining of her tank top just above her left breast. I swallowed hard when she shocked me further by throwing a playful wink from her right eye in my direction prior to pushing the door open to exit my vehicle. She remained in the seat though, keeping her stare locked on my own ever-growing grin while I attempted to take all of her flirtatious behavior in.

Well, if she's up for it, then why are you even bothering with the tiptoeing, Cullen? Why waste any more time? If B is leaving you breadcrumbs to follow, you sure as hell better follow those goddamn breadcrumbs all the way up to the door!

I shook my head, freeing myself from the inner voice that was already daring me to cross all the lines during my first real play in this inning. "Glad you're wearing sneakers. How well can you climb a fence?" I questioned, then watched her face go blank once she'd processed my words.

"I um, I have two older brothers. I grew up climbing trees and fences. FYI, I also grew up playing baseball. My dad's a pretty big fanatic actually, but he hates the Florida Marlins."

"Pft. Everyone hates the Florida Marlins."

Silly girl still thinks we're here to play an actual game.

If only she knew all the games you were already fantasizing playing with her.

Now now.

Behave, Cullen.

Let's not show all of our plays on our first outing together.

"Come with me, Bella."

I swear I saw her clench her knees and thighs together in reaction to my very purposely, and not so subtly, spoken words.

When she didn't move, I got a little nervous.

Nervous that maybe she'd finally realized who I was.

Nervous that she'd realized I was him, and that I'd already put together that she was her.

Seconds that felt like minutes passed, and still, she said nothing.

I tilted my head to the side, then carefully questioned if everything was okay before holding my breath again to wait for her true and honest response.

"Yeah, I um… everything's fine. I just had one of those deja-vu moments." She gently shared, with an anxious bite at her bottom lip following her words. Her dark eyes danced back and forth, and then up and down across my own blank expression. She was trying to read me the same way I'd been trying to read her just a few minutes ago.

When I remained quiet, she smirked again with a roll of her eyes and began removing herself from the leather seat of my car. I followed her lead, then closed my door, locking the car behind us. When our eyes met the next time I nodded my head, gesturing for her to follow me up onto the sidewalk. My grin raised itself even further as I watched her look around at the quiet empty streets that now surrounded us.

"Do you come here often?"

I bobbed my head one time, affirming that I did come here often, then continued walking the both of us across the un-cut grass, towards the home team dug-out just as a crack of thunder boomed in the far off distance.

As of now, the skies above us were clear, but at a moment notice that could quickly change. This was, after all, South Florida.

"One sec." I quickly ran myself back towards the car and popped my trunk open to grab a towel, then returned to where I'd left her standing nervously in the dark beside the chain linked fence that outlined the field.

"So, do we need to be on the look-out for gang-related activity, or homeless people who might want our shoes?"

"Nah. This is a quiet place of mine. Mostly old people live around here, native south Floridians, keeping an eye on things. You know, since they have nothing better to do. It's a nice spot to visit when you want to go someplace where nobody cares about your name, or what you can do for them," I quipped, "Plus, I scared off all the gang bangers a long time ago, so no worries on that front."

"Interesting, and should I question why you're choosing to share such a special place with little old me? I mean, I'm a virtual stranger. What if I steal it from you and make it mine?"

"This is our first, Bella, of what I hope to be many sunrises shared together. I couldn't have it be something as simple as a cliche morning on a blanket spread out over the beach sand. A beach that would be littered with at least a few drunken-morning after tourists." I mused, earning my smug ass self another instant eye roll from her ever telling gaze.

"I guess I need to remind you, I do have a boyfriend."

"Nope. No reminders needed here. I haven't forgotten. Nor will I forget. I promise not to bite... unless you ask me to."

She laughed.

She laughed that laugh.

The laugh that made me want to learn everything there was to know about her. The laugh that told me I needed to make her a part of my world, my real world, and never question anything else ever again until I could intertwine our paths.

Bella pulled at the back of her neck, all adorable like, then anxiously shifted her weight side to side on her feet where they'd remained planted beneath her slender frame. She straightened her stance and crossed her arms in front of her chest, then glanced down at my own feet as her bottom lip found its way between her carefully clenched teeth.

I looked away when I could take no more of her taunting and tilted my head towards the tall chain-linked fence we were still standing beside before turning myself back around to grin in her direction.

The look I'd just elicited from her... She was having a very difficult time hiding the fact that she was actually enjoying my company and all the new things I was currently forcing into her own world. I could see the internal battle. I could even hear it during these long moments of silence when our eyes did all the talking, but neither of us dared to move our actual lips.

"Let's climb."

She turned her head and raised her brow in slight disbelief after dramatically releasing her arms down to her sides. "Climb to where neighbor boy?"

"To heaven, baby. Where else would I take an angel like you?" I casually challenged with a short laugh, followed by a cheesy wink from my eye, already knowing my over the top response would make her smile again, "Come on now, where do you think? To the top of the fence. Haven't you ever laid in a hammock before? Consider the netting above home-plate the world's best and biggest hammock in the sky. It's like floating on air." I instructed, then carefully placed my right foot into one of the lower openings of the chain linked fence we were standing in front of. My hands reached up above my shoulders to bring myself higher. Once I'd reached the top, I turned back around to look down at her sexy as hell, but still slightly dumbfounded, expression.

"What? Don't you trust me?"

She laughed at my question, then crossed her arms firmly in front of her chest again, "And now I guess I need to remind you that I still barely know you? Why exactly should I trust you?"

I rolled my eyes and pushed myself up and then over the top of the fence to roll my body into the netting where it easily caught me and bounced my weight comfortably in the air so that I'd still be hovering about twenty feet over the home plate of the dark ballfield.

"I thought your last name was Swan, not chicken. I'm gonna need you to be Brave Bella here. This thing has held me, Jasper, and at least three other people more than once for hours at a time over the years. It's completely safe. Promise." I assured her while peering through the netting and chain linked fence to once again gesture that she join me. "Hurry or you're going to miss the start of a brand new beautiful day, beautiful." The sky was already beginning to lighten up in far off the distance. The beach was less than half a mile away from where we were, and there weren't any obnoxiously tall buildings in the way once you were floating way up here. You could actually make out the horizon meeting the ocean, and it was one of my most favorite untouched places here in Miami, because it was one of the very few places left where I could go to be alone and get inspired by darkness as it turned into light.

She let out an exaggerated huff, obviously reviewing her options in her head all the while pulling at the back of her neck again, silently playing a mental game of tug-a-war game with herself. She was knee deep in it all. I could read it on her face, even from way up here. "I'd never put you in harm's way, Bella. You can trust me. I swear."

I saw her eyes soften and her shoulders relax once she'd allowed herself to actually process my declaration. My grin widening the moment she finally began moving up the fence. She hadn't been lying. She really could climb. She almost made it look easy. Like she was part spider monkey in a sexy as hell kind of way. It was now more than obvious that her apprehension hadn't been in regards to the climb.

Nope, that hadn't been it at all.

It was me.

She was still nervous, and it was because of me.

Interesting.

I took her hand when she reached the top of the fence so that I could help guide her over the metal frame and into the netting, then listened to her nervous giggle as it once again filled my ears eliciting all kinds of absurd feelings… the type of feelings I wasn't at all used to experiencing here in this reality.

"Wow, this is actually incredibly comfortable. How have I never thought of doing something like this before? Why is this not a thing?! You've seriously never gotten in trouble for trespassing?" She questioned between her soft giggles, still nervously glancing around the neighborhood that we were now watching over with a birdseye view.

"Nah, I only do this super late at night, or early in the morning after a long night when I'm not ready to go home. No one has ever said a word to me, and Jasper and I started doing this way back when we were in middle school. To be totally honest, this place is usually pretty secluded. The church hasn't been used regularly in years, but the owners refuse to sell the property." With my last words, I scooted myself further up the net so I'd be able to help her get positioned more comfortably beside me, then pointed my index finger towards the ocean where the sun was just beginning to come up over the glimmering blue water, granting us another day of marginalized predictability in a self-centered world.

Reign in your inner pessimist, Cullen. Your marginalized predictability has been looking much less predictable over the last forty-eight hours. Embrace it. Live it. Breathe it all in, and exhale it all out.

Yup, the annoying voice in the back of my head, it was right.

This new day was starting out with a breath of fresh air, paired with a mesmerizing sunrise all thanks to my newest companion this morning. I needed to appreciate that change in my routine, and I needed to take advantage of all the possibilities it was bringing to my door, from the door… right next door.

I turned my head and looked over just in time to see Bella's awestruck expression ignite across her flawlessly tranquil face, then felt my own grin double over the sight of her perfectly honest and true reaction. She was enjoying this. I was earning those points. I was cracking that wall and tearing away at her defenses, and I'd barely even begun.

It was always nice to meet someone who wasn't from here. People who were born and raised in South Florida never appreciated all that it had to offer. This was an easy place to become jaded and numb towards the simpler things that life had to offer. It was honestly what I hated most about living here.

The whole, me first-and give me all the things, attitude you'd meet throughout your day, every day- day in and day out.

It was mentally exhausting.

We sat in silence for the next couple of minutes. Every once in awhile, I'd steal a glance in her direction and instantly find myself wondering what was going on inside that busy head of hers. Mostly, at first, she'd looked relaxed, and comfortable… but each time after that initial side-eye, I could see the battle in her head becoming all the more fierce, and I could feel her body begin to stiffen beside my own now.

I needed to help her relax.

I'd meant what I'd said.

I wouldn't bite until she asked me to, and I wouldn't feel at all guilty about it when that moment did arrive, but until then, I wouldn't force anything she wasn't ready for.

That wasn't my type of game.

"So, where are you from, Bella with a B?"

"Me? Um, a small town in North Carolina called Wake Forest. Believe it or not, I'd never even seen the beach before moving here five days ago. That was part of the allure, I guess, when it came to me impulsively packing up all of my stuff in less than an hour to jump into Alice's moving van after she'd stopped in to say goodbye to me."

"Not the boyfriend then? He wasn't the push that sent you due south?" I had to pry. I had to poke at least a little.

She smirked and shrugged. "He played a small role in my decision, but he still doesn't even know I'm here. We haven't spoken since he himself left home almost two weeks ago to head to USF."

This news surprised me. How does one not speak to their long-term, long-distance girlfriend for almost two weeks after going off to college?

"Fight?"

"No. No fight. I was just giving him his time to get settled in and…" she paused to look away for a moment after hearing a police siren in the far off distance. She couldn't seem to find the right words to continue her thought though, so I decided to help her out a little.

"And you wanted to see how long it would take for him to be the one to call you first?" I finished for her. She turned to look at me again. Within seconds she let a crooked smirk escape passed her lips followed up by a shrug from her exposed shoulders.

"Yup. Pretty much."

I laughed softly and shook my head. "What's he studying at USF?"

Obviously, I was playing with fire here by talking about the one dick in the world that would be keeping my dick from getting to know all of the most sensual parts of her, but at the same time, I knew this was the better way to help Bella feel comfortable around me.

Comfortability was truthfully my only in here.

"Criminal Justice, he wants to be a defense attorney."

Super, the shit head wants to represent the lowest of scum in a court of law.

"Why aren't you in school?"

She paused and shrugged beside me again, then relaxed a little, allowing her shoulder to press into mine, which easily sent a pulse of electricity to my toes.

"I gave it a try right out of high school. Finished two semesters at community college before getting bored. It wasn't for me. Higher learning. I'm more of a hands-on type of person." Her response was simple, and one I'd heard many times before, but I could tell there was more of a story there. I wouldn't push to hear it yet. We had plenty of time for that.

"What about you?"

She wants to know more about you, Cullen.

This is good.

Simple answers only.

Keep moving forward.

"I go to UM. I've only got one more semester before I'll be forced to go into adulting full-time."

She laughed and leaned herself a little further into me before asking what my major was. That's when a gust of wind swirled around us, instantly beginning to sway our bodies back and forth for a moment in the air above home-plate. The rhythmic motion eliciting the most delicious giggle from between her perfectly pursed lips. I couldn't help but smile as I looked down into her eyes when she'd impulsively grabbed onto my forearm to steady her position against me as we rocked back and forth in the sky.

I grinned a little wider at the sight of her hand from where it was now grasping over my skin just below the cuff of my shirts sleeve. "Majoring in Journalism and English."

"A man of many words, are we?"

If only you knew, B.

All. The. Words.

"Words are definitely a passion of mine… amongst other things. I don't know if I'll ever make a living out of them, but it's a fun hobby to have. Do you have any hobbies or hidden talents?"

Besides being able to get me off with the sound of your panting voice.

The sudden mischievous smirk that sprang across her face made my dick once again lift up from my lap with its own pleasantly peaked interest. I was almost positive we'd both just shared the same exact inner dirty thought without her even realizing just how insane that possibility actually was.

She tapped the side of my sneaker with her own footwear, then leaned herself further back into the netting behind us, "I'm pretty good at… breathing… the whole inhale-exhale thing. It's really managed to get me through life, and it's opened up a couple of doors for me."

She was teasing me.

She was teasing me and being painfully a-fucking-dorable about it.

"I saw a woman leaving your apartment the day we moved in. She looked like a movie star or a model. This is Miami though, so I'll go with model. Is that your roommate? I mean I'm assuming you don't have a girlfriend, since you're here with me at this time of day… and not in bed with her, at this time of day."

Christ, I wanted to attack her mouth.

She knew just how to push me, and all the right looks to throw my way.

I swear, it was actually as if she were factually fucking with me, and doing it all on purpose just to get a rise out of various parts of my body. She was daring me to bulldoze through all of her barriers. Silently pleading with me to say, 'fuck all the games', and just pounce without second guessing a single reaction I might cause her to elicit over my animalistic desire to just conquer and dare her to let all of me, the perfect stranger, in.

But for now, we would talk about uncomfortable things.

"That would be Tanya you saw. She's my ex. We just broke up a few weeks ago, but I'm riding out the lease on our couch until it's up in December." I carefully explained, trying my best to sound nonchalant about the situation I was in, even though it was fucked beyond belief.

When she didn't say anything in response, I glanced over to find a seemingly shocked expression on her face. "She cheated on me," I added, thinking maybe it might land me a bit of bonus sympathy.

I had no problem with accepting a few sympathy points if it meant me making that much more progress with her in a shorter amount of time.

"I'm sorry. That sucks. You two must still get along okay?"

"Only out of necessity. I don't know why I wasted three years of my life in that relationship. We did the whole long distance thing when she studied abroad her sophomore year. That was actually the best year we spent together, when there was an ocean between us." I shared, a little too honestly.

"Well, she's absolutely gorgeous, so I guess I can see the allure to stick it out until she gave you an easy out."

"Ha!" I laughed loudly and almost rolled my eyes like a broken-hearted tool, "Yeah, she's something pretty to look at and show off around town, but that's where it ended. She lacks any real substance. We were stuck in a comfortable situation. Hence, why we're able to still live together without killing each other."

A crack of thunder suddenly roared from above us, and at that exact same moment, I felt some low-grade vibrations sneak up from beneath us. I instantly knew it was a phone interrupting our shared sunrise just as a fresh morning squall was starting to roll through over our heads.

"It's probably Alice. She should be getting up for her morning run. She probably just saw my text." I was surprised when she ever so casually leaned half of her body into me so she'd be able to reach into her back pocket to pull her cell phone out into her hand. Her hip was literally resting on my lap now, and for a moment I almost snaked my arm around her back to keep her there before she could shift herself back over to the other side.

Christ, did she smell good. Especially with the scent of salt water meeting the smell of fresh rain that was slowly starting to creep up all around us.

"Yup. It's her. She's demanding you return me at once, or she's calling my father. Did I mention he's a private detective?"

The way she'd smirked with each and every one of her words... I knew she wasn't going to force me to follow her best friends own selfish demand.

"I'll have us home right after we eat something."

She didn't even take a second to think over my words.

Nope, her well-manicured fingernails were already hitting the send button on her phone's screen before I'd even been able to take another breath upon completing my sentence.

Bella, obviously, wasn't ready for our shared morning to end. Neither was I, so this was good. Maybe we could spend the entire day together? Who needs sleep? I mean, I did have tonight off after all. I had nowhere to be until tomorrow evening.

Slow your roll, Romeo.

Too much, too soon has the potential to alarm her with instantly raised red flags, and that could send her running.

Her phone buzzed again within seconds of her sending her best friend's last text. "Alice said you have forty minutes to get me home before she alerts the authorities."

That was when the clouds opened up and the sky began to fall heavily all around us. Cold wet rain fervently pummelled our bodies and drenched our clothes while we both began to laugh together in unison. She quickly crawled over my lap to make her way towards the steady aluminum fence again, but I shouted for her to wait for me before she could begin her descent.

"It's better if I go down first and help you find your footing," I informed her after cupping my hand over my eyes to block the rain from blurring my vision. She brushed the wet hair that had fallen in front of her face, then pulled it back behind her ears and raised her eyebrows with a guarded smile that told me I should hurry up. I got my legs, and then my hips over the side of the top of the fence, and carefully scurried my way down until both of my feet reached the earth's stable muddy surface. At this point, I was ridiculously wet, but it wasn't bothering me. Even though being wet outside in the rain was one of my most absolute least favorite things to have to endure in this life.

"Ok, your turn. I'll get you, just bring your feet over the edge." I yelled up to her after brushing my own slicked hair back over the top of my head. My arms purposely raised themselves upward to be in position. I needed to be ready and waiting if she did lose her footing. I'd never forgive myself if I actually let her fall.

My eyes danced side to side as they watched her flawless ass make its way downward towards my open palms just waiting to take her against me while the chilled rain continued to splash at my feet and across my face. She was laughing so hard that for a moment I worried she really might actually fall. Tanya would not be laughing over something like this. If she had been the one here with me, in this moment, she'd be cursing my name and blaming me for her seven layers of makeup and blown out hair being ruined.

Once Bella was close enough, I placed my hands at her hips and brought her down safely towards the ground, then took her hand into mine to run us both into the old dugout that was still mostly dry. I grabbed up the towel I'd left on the bench and draped it over her shoulders to begin patting her down while she shivered and laughed in front of me.

"Oh, my God! Where did that even come from? One second we're watching a beautiful sunrise in front of us, and the next thunder and lightning are taking over the sky from behind us!"

"Welcome to Florida." I toyed, then smiled after she threw her head down between her knees to shake out her soaking wet hair. Her hands swiftly wrapped it back up into a messy bun at the top of her head, and then she rubbed her palms across her face several times in an attempt to further clear her own vision. "Maybe you should ask Alice to meet us at IHOP. That way she can bring us a change of clothes."

"I'm not so sure I have anything in my closet that will fit you, Edward." She teased without missing a goddamn beat. Christ, was she sexy without even trying. Just standing there like a wet cat who had just come in from a torrential storm… she still looked like the most gorgeous thing my eyes had ever seen.

"Funny girl, you are. Tell her to ask Jasper to grab me something. He's got a key to my place for emergency purposes."

"And why don't you text your own buddy, buddy?"

"Rules."

She tilted her head and narrowed her eyes in response to my own cryptic rebuttal. This was going to be good. More points were about to be rewarded.

"What rules?"

"I don't pull my cell phone out when I'm with a pretty girl. Pretty girls always get my complete and undivided attention."

Her smile nearly tripled before she was able to wipe it clean from her face. "Pft!" She snickered with a roll of her eyes, then sent a playful jab to the side of my shoulder. I took a fumbled step backward, over exaggerating my reaction to her flirtatious touch, then shrugged with a tilt from my own head taking in her veiled grin. "You're really too much, Mr. Cullen."

"You actually remembered my last name."

I'd only ever mentioned it to her once.

Though, I did recall her using it several times within the first thirty seconds of that exchange.

"Maybe I did."

"Was that because you silently paired it with your first name to see what it would sound like threaded together as one?" I teased, then dodged her fist with a laugh that she easily matched her own.

She really was making this easy.

Almost too easy.

I hadn't been lying to her, though. It truly was a rule of mine. Nothing annoyed me more than when someone would be more preoccupied with an electronic device in their hand, rather than with the actual real-life people who surrounded them in the now.

"Well, for what it's worth, that sounds like a very admirable rule. I might have to start trying that one out around Jake. Maybe it will rub off on him… not that we get to spend much time together these days."

I didn't say anything right away. I wanted to give her a few seconds to really think about what she'd just shared with me. Talking about her boyfriend with me was fine. I mean, at this point, it had to be fine. It was even finer though when the talking revolved around his shortcomings, and what it was that made him the dick he factually was.

"Many can try to imitate, but very few will ever replicate." I eventually teased back, earning myself another exaggerated roll from her partially guarded eyes.

"You're middle name should be trouble,"

"Maybe it is?"

"Nope. You told me, Edward M. Cullen when we met yesterday. Last time I checked, trouble started with a, t. I know, let's play a round of twenty questions while we wait for the rain to let up." She slyly suggested before taking a seat on the bench in the corner of the dugout.

I already knew I couldn't tell her my real middle name. That would elicit all kinds of alarms in her head and it would without a doubt expose me in ways I wasn't quite ready for.

I also didn't want to lie to her, so I was pretty much fucked no matter what I said.

"What are you, fifteen years old? Twenty- questions? Seriously, Bella?"

"I'm actually twenty thanks, neighbor boy. My birthday is next week. I'll finally be of legal age to toss my fake I.D. and start adulting, as you put it, like an adult."

So, she'd been telling me the truth on our call. She really was only twenty, and not only that but all kinds of doors were now open, what with her birthday being right around the corner. That opened up the opportunity for gifts… partying and other types of… celebrations.

"I call dibs."

She laughed at the words that had just fallen straight out of my mouth, obviously noticing the panic that had set in on my face once said words had so impulsively rolled off my tongue.

"Dibs? What are you, fifteen years old? Seriously, Edward?" She teased, once again without missing a goddamn beat.

Too late to turn back now, Cullen.

The smirk on her face was ridiculously contagious.

"Yeah, I want to take you out. To celebrate. Alice can come, too, and I'll even invite some of my friends, so you two can meet a few other SoFlo dipshits. That way you'll see I really am as good as it gets around here."

"Boyfriend," she not so subtly coughed out into her closed fist before sending me a brash wink from her eye.

"He can come too, but I should warn you. Most boyfriends don't like me once we've spent twenty minutes in a room together." I teased further, causing her to laugh again and lean into me with her shoulder once I'd very purposely bumped into it with my own.

"You'll probably have to coordinate with Ali. She's been talking about my twenty-first birthday for the last six years of our lives."

I nodded without hesitation, quickly agreeing with her one and only stipulation, then felt her shiver beside me.

"Let's make a run for it. I'll hate myself if you come down with pneumonia right before your birthday, and it doesn't look this will be letting up anytime soon. We can roll through a Mcdonalds for some drive-thru breakfast and bring something back for Jasper and A."

She seemed to pause for a moment at the sound of that one single letter once it had left my lips. I instantly found myself both holding my breath and avoiding her stare again.

"Fine. We can play our game of questions another time."

You're still in the clear, Cullen. Tread carefully.

"I'm down for many other times for games with you."

I heard her snicker something under her breath just as another loud crash of thunder boomed around us, causing her to jump further up against me where she latched herself onto my arm.

Without even hesitating, I stood us both up and repositioned the towel over her head then gave it a light tug after grasping the ends beneath her chin where she grabbed at them with her own freed hand placed over mine.

"On the count of three. Ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be, neighbor boy." She replied back after we'd locking our eyes together again. There was something in her stare. It made me wonder if she was answering my question in the now, or in the 'all of the above' connotation.

Bella didn't give me much time to figure it out because before I could even blink, she was counting to three and taking off towards my car laughing the entire way, and leaving me behind.


A/N: Progress is being made and walls are beginning to crack. A positive start to good things, or will Edward's luck run dry in the next inning?

Bella meets Tanya in Chapter 6, or should I say, Tanya meets Bella *wink*… and Jake finally proves his existence, but will it be welcomed?

**Reviews make me smile, and as thanks for making me smile, I will reply with an outtake from Bella's POV during her and Edward's car ride back to their apartment building from the ballpark.**