April 10, 1996

I try my best to keep away, but I can't resist bringing you a pint of Ben & Jerry's Wednesday evening. This time, Officer Dad is home. But I've psyched myself up for this. He's not as scary as I made him out to be in my head. Then again, he's not wearing his uniform. If he was, it might be a different story.

"So," he says as soon as he opens the front door. "You're Edward."

Gulp. "Yeah—uh, yes sir. Edward. I'm…Edward."

His mustache twitches, and he leans against the door frame with his arms crossed.

"You must be, uh…you're Officer…uh, Deputy? Swan?" There's no way I could sound like more of an idiot.

"Relax, son." He does that thing you do, where you purse your lips to the side to hide a smile. If I thought you looked like your mom, it's nothing compared to how much you resemble your dad. That's…kinda creepy. "Mr. Swan's fine."

"Or Charlie," Renee says, peeking over his shoulder.

He shrugs her off. "Mr. Swan."

"Sorry, uh, Mr. Swan. I brought ice cream for Bella…if that's okay."

"I dunno. What flavor is it?"

"Daddy, stop."

He stumbles backward to reveal you hiding behind him, holding the back of his shirt in your fist. You look so much better today, standing there in striped pajama pants and a Hard Rock Cafe t-shirt.

"Sorry, Edward," you say, glancing at your dad, who's shaking his head and laughing quietly.

Finally, I relax and give in to a smile. "It's okay. I expected a lot worse."

"Let's go out on the porch, okay?

"You shouldn't be out in the night air, Bells," your dad says gruffly.

"I'll be fine," you argue. "My throat hardly hurts anymore, and we won't be long."

He looks doubtful but nods and closes the door behind us. Leading me over to the swing at the far end of the porch, you reach for the pint of ice cream.

"Cherry Garcia. Mmm. Thank you so much, Edward." You lean in to me and kiss my arm, right under my shoulder. " Want me to grab some spoons?"

I stretch my arm out and rest it behind you on the back of the porch swing. "Nah, I got it for you. Wouldn't want to catch your gross germs, anyway."

"Shut up," you mumble, bumping my arm with your shoulder.

Tucking your legs up under you, you angle your body toward me and stare until I'm slightly uncomfortable with the prolonged eye contact. Even if your eyes are beautiful.

"This thing…" You trail off and shake your head. I've never known you to be at a loss for words.

"You'll have to be more specific," I tease. "There are lots of things in my life."

"This thing we have." You shrug. "It makes me happy."

You have no idea. "Bella," I say, tracing circles over your right knee with my fingers. "I am disarmed by you on a daily basis."

April 13, 1996

By the weekend, you feel much better. I'm grateful, because between you going out of town and getting sick, we haven't had a whole lot of alone time. Time where we can just talk and be us. Instead of going out to dinner tonight, we sit on my bedroom floor with Chinese takeout. We talk. We watch some sitcom you say you can't miss. We listen to music. We make out a little bit. It's perfect.

By the time I walk you downstairs so I can get you home before curfew, my parents are back from their own "date." It's something they do every other week since their schedules are usually so busy.

"So this is Bella," my dad says with a raised eyebrow. I'm sure we'll be talking later about why I had you up in my room without them at home. Luckily, it was purely innocent.

Well, except for that one time I pressed my boner up against your hip.

"That's me." You offer him your hand, and I'm proud of the way you take this impromptu meeting-of-the-parents so easily. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Cullen."

"You, too," he says. "I'd love to say we've heard a lot about you, but Edward doesn't tell us much." He winks at me, knowing full well that I don't tell them things because our schedules don't match very often.

Mom shoots me a wide smile, and I know why. Partially because she looks like she's had a few cocktails. Partially because you're very different from other girls I've dated.

"I'm very glad to meet you, Bella," she says, bypassing your outstretched hand and kissing your cheek. "I, on the other hand, can say that I've heard a lot about you. From Alice." She gives me a triumphant glance and turns back to you. "She adores you, by the way."

Mother of all that is holy. There's no telling what Mom and Alice have been gossiping about. I scrub a hand over my face. "I've gotta get Bella home before eleven, so…"

"Oh, noooo," Mom croons. "Bella, you have to come back when we can talk more—"

"Okay," I interrupt before Bella can answer. "Five till eleven, Mom. Gotta get her home. Her dad's a cop. Many guns."

My dad smirks, and after a quick goodbye and a promise that you'll come for dinner next weekend, I steer you out the front door with my hand on your back.

"That's cute," you say when we're settled in my car. There's no time for a leisurely walk back, even though it's just a few blocks. "You're embarrassed by your parents."

"No, I'm not," I mutter.

"You are. They're adorable."

"If you say so."

The drive to your house takes just a few minutes, thank God. I wasn't kidding about the many guns and my fear of them. It's because of that fear that I pull the car over a few houses down from yours. So I can take advantage of the last minute we have before your curfew's up and kiss you good night. Really kiss you. I can never get enough. Your lips are red and your hair's messy.

I love it.

I run my hand through it and kiss you once more on the forehead before you climb out of the car and jog up the sidewalk. My chest is achy and my skin is buzzing. And my heart is full.

A/N: Thank you for all the kind reviews. It seriously makes me feel so great that you guys like reading my words. And as always, thanks to RachelFish, who writes The Shift, which you should definitely be reading, because it's cute and hilarious and adorable, and I'm in love with Mase. ;)