I don't own Twilight. I do own a healthy fear of tax season and a deep and abiding love for calculators.

To the guest who complained that this story is moving at a glacial pace. First of all, I'm Canadian and it is winter, glacial is something in which I am well educated. However, you are right, it is a very slow burn. For my next story I promise I'll skip all that nasty character development stuff or plot. They'll jump into bed and have wild, carnal and circus style sex three minutes after meeting for the first time, shout out each other's names while having explosive orgasms, drop I Love You's every ten seconds, get married, have babies and live happily ever after in wealth and luxury. Look for that story very soon.

For every other person who took time out of their lives to review, hi. Thanks for the marshmallows.

Chapter 28

The banquet hall was decorated with fresh white flowers and bright twinkling lights that glittered against the dark walls. A large dance floor was surrounded by dozens of small tables. A string quintet was set up and quietly tuning their instruments in the corner closest to the dance floor. There were several large tables set up with all the food Esme and Bella prepared. The high-school students that had volunteered their help were lined up to greet the guests and oversee the food. There was an area set aside for donations to fund the nephrology department and the transplant team. It was this year's cause for the benefit gala.

Bella was still reeling from the news that Esme had given her. She never would have guessed that Edward would already have a date lined up. But the longer she thought about it the more sense it made in her mind. None of the notes he gave her said anything overly romantic. Chances were slim that a very good looking guy like Edward would not have a girlfriend waiting for him while he worked out of town. It wasn't like he and Bella had long conversations about their lives. In fact they barely talked at all. Bella decided that his secret admirer notes were just to boost her confidence. That idea helped her feel less foolish. It was a big brother type thing to do. She ignored that tiny little voice in her head that yelled at her. The one screaming 'brothers don't kiss their sisters like that'.

Esme grabbed her arm and showed her around the food tables to see how the students had arranged everything. Carlisle joined them after he finished turning in their coats. Esme smacked his hand as he reached to sample a tempting morsel. He flashed her a little boy smile that reminded Bella of Edward.

The banquet hall very quickly filled with noise and people dressed in all their finery. They were milling around, chatting and eating. Esme beamed watching everyone enjoy all her hard work. She glanced at her watch and made her way over to the quintet. She whispered in the ear of the violin player and stood to the side as they started to play. It was the cue for the guest of honour to enter the room. The young girl, Siobhan, was chosen as the face of the fundraising campaign. She had been in desperate need of a kidney transplant. She was an only child in a very small family so there was no familial match to donate for her. A state wide search had yielded nothing. It wasn't until a posting on a social media site went viral that a donation tree was set up. There were currently fourteen people on the list and it was growing. A kidney had been found for her and her surgery was scheduled in two weeks.

Siobhan stood just inside the double doors to the banquet room. She was the epitome of the little girl next door. At nine years old she was a bit small for her age. Her strawberry blonde hair was a riot of curls. She wore a petal pink dress with flounces at the hem. The colour clashed at bit with her hair but that wasn't an argument her mother wanted to get into. She had a white patent leather purse that matched her Mary Jane shoes. There was a white orchid corsage on her left wrist that her date had given her. The right hand was firmly held by that date, a dashing young man in a black tuxedo.

Bella's heart stuttered when she saw that Edward was the date.

Now she felt even more stupid than before. She had let her mind run away with her. She had assumed the worst with out bothering to find out the truth. She decided that there was no way she was going to go back to Forks without talking to Edward, really talking to Edward.

Bella joined in on the applause for Siobhan and watched as Edward led her to the middle of the dance floor. One of the band members handed Siobhan a microphone. She gave a little speech about her situation and the need to donate to the hospital. She was quite eloquent for a nine year old. Siobhan beamed with pride when she finished her speech and skipped over to where Edward was waiting for her. Two people, who could only be her parents each gave her a big hug and the four of them started to mingle with the other guests.

Bella accepted a glass of some sort of pink liquid from Jasper, who had three drinks in his hand. She chatted with a few people who came up to talk to Alice. She listened to the quintet play. She tasted the food and smiled when she overheard people praising the effort. She even danced with Jasper, Carlisle and an octogenarian who was a little handsy.

Edward stayed loyal to his date. Bella would catch his eye once in a while and smile. He seemed to be having as much fun as Siobhan, just less giggly.

Esme dragged Bella around to all the auxiliary committee ladies and told them about Bella's contribution, making her blush with all the compliments.

Esme and Carlisle led the count down to midnight. Everyone was cheering and laughing as the new year rang in. Edward gave Siobhan a kiss on the cheek and she fell asleep listening to Auld Lang Syne. Bella joined in with Esme and the auxiliary ladies as they cleaned up the food platters and divvied things up. Esme announced to the group that they had raised an additional thirty-seven thousand dollars at the gala. More than the year before.

Although she was tired and her feet hurt, Bella couldn't remember having a better New Year's Eve. When she walked back into the banquet room she saw Edward sitting at a table by himself. Alice and Jasper were dancing and Carlisle was chatting with some friends.

"Your date was very beautiful. I think I'm jealous of her.", Bella said as she took a seat next to Edward.

"There you are. I wanted to talk to you but I couldn't find you.", he said, a little surprised to see her.

"I wanted to talk to you too. Would you drive me home, Edward?"

"Of course, Bella. Anything for you."

He stood up and waited for her to do the same. Edward caught Carlisle's eye and motioned to him that they were leaving. He helped her on with her coat and was shocked when she took his hand in her to walk to his car.

AN: I could make jokes about being covered in sticky white stuff...