Disclaimer: All things Twilight belong to the wonderful Stephenie Meyer. I just want to play with them for a while.

Chapter 7 Higher

EPOV

I wanted to kiss her so badly it hurt, but I was afraid if I did, I would lose all control and take her right here on the dance floor. She really was much to appealing for her own good, and I felt like a heel for thinking that way. Therefore, I decided to kiss her cheek instead. However, when my lips encountered the smooth soft skin of her cheek, I could not stop at one. So I trailed a line of kisses along her jaw as I tried to talk myself into stopping. I knew if I didn't stop I would make an ass of myself with a public display of affection that would most likely embarrass us both. But everything about her felt right; her hair, her body, her eyes, the way she blushed, her laugh and the playful way she flirted with me, and I couldn't forget the way she moved when she danced. As I inhaled the strawberry scent of her hair, I became aware of the song we were dancing to. It was one of my favorites, Come Get Higher, by Matt Nathason. I was lost while I held Bella in my arms and let the words of the fill my head.

I marveled at how perfectly her body fit into mine. It felt so good to have her safe in my arms. As I looked at Bella, I felt whole. I could see my entire future in her brown eyes as seemed to look deep in my soul. I knew at that moment I wanted her so much more that just one night. We continued to dance the rest the song just looking into each other's eyes.

All too soon, the song came to and end. Bella sighed before she rested her head on my chest. I kissed the top of her head lightly while I looked around. I noticed Emmett still holding Rose and he nodded his head towards the stairs indicating that they were heading back up to the table. I didn't see Alice or Jasper anywhere. I looked back down at Bella when I felt her head lift off my chest.

"Emmett and Rose are heading back up to the table. Shall we join them?" I really didn't like the next song that was not blasting around us. She shrugged and nodded in agreement. As we pulled apart, my body tingled with coldness at the loss of the heat created when we danced. No sound passed our lips, we laced our fingers together, and followed Emmett and Rose back to the table. Mere words could not improve a comfortable silence we shared.

At the table we found Alice on Jasper's lap, encircle in his arms as the stared lovingly into each other's eyes. The didn't seem to notice the four us as we sat down at the table, not breaking their gaze once. The moment looked very intimate.

Of course, it was lost when Emmett coughed loudly, "Who's winning the staring contest?" This elicited an elbow to his stomach from Rose. "OW! Rose, honey. What was that for?" She just rolled her eyes while Jasper and Alice softy laughed.

We all fell into little private conversations for a while. I was content just to listen to the sound of her voice. "So what's your most embarrassing moment?" She asked with a twinkle in her eye.

"You mean besides being responsible for bringing the Mikester out of the closet?" I said with a pained look on my face. She laughed freely in response and it reminded me again of church bells.

"How about something from your childhood." she suggested

"Hmmm. That's a toughie." I teased. "Well, hands-down is has to be my first piano recital." I grimaced.

"You play the piano?" She said surprised.

"You sound surprised. I do have other talents besides those relating to the Mikester, you know." I said trying to sound annoyed.

"Ok, ok!" she laughed. She drew her hand out in front of her to indicating for me to continue.

"Well, I was about 9 years old. I had been practicing for months. So there I was all dressed up, waiting for my turn to play – video cameras and flashes going off as proud parents tried to capture the 'special' moments in their child's life. Anyway, my turn came and as I walked onto the stage, I became so nervous I passed out; hitting my head on the piano bench and cutting my head open. This effectively ended the piano recital at that moment. I had to get seven stitches in my head." I said my voice full of chagrin.

"Wow, my childhood clumsiness pales in comparison. I don't think I can top that.," she laughed at my admission.

I grimaced before I added, "That's not the worst of it. My father captured the moment on video tape, so that every time I go home for the holidays or any family event, he pull out that stupid tape and show everybody."

"Well then, I just have one question." Bella asked with a serious look on her face.

"Proceed." I said just as serious.

"Will this fear of performing keep you from playing for me sometime?" she said with a shy smile. "Because I'd really like to hear you play." I couldn't help but grin at her.

"I would love to play for you." I no longer have performance issues. She stifled a laugh at the expression I used.

BPOV

"Hey guys, have you see my shoulder pads?" Edward asked a little frustrated at not finding them where he had left them. Everyone looked down at the floor around the table, but found nothing.

"Why, do you have a big game tomorrow?" Jasper laughed.

"I bet the Mikester took them so he could have something to remember you by." Emmett said as he clasp his hands together as he put them up by his head, while he tilted his head into Edward and batted his eyelashes. Without any expression on his face, Edward just shoved his hand into Emmett's face and pushed him away with such force, Emmett fell out of his chair. Emmett landed on his butt with a thud. The stunned expression on his face was priceless and we all broke out in laughter.

"I had a feeling about him when I met him a few weeks ago." Jasper added.

"You know the Mikester?" Emmett said raising one eyebrow, as he got up from the floor.

"Yeah, he lives in my building. He came by to 'welcome' me to the building. Even gave me homemade cookies. When he recommended the Eclipse as a great place to meet people, was afraid it was a gay bar." Jasper offered.

"Well, I guess now we know how to reach him if Edward changes in mind about him and wants to 'hook-up'." Emmett said before he dodged Edward's attempt to smack him upside the head.

Edward scowled at Emmett before he grumbled, "Keep it up and I'll make you walk home."

"Idle threats boy! I think I can persuade the lovely Rose to take me home." Emmett said as he turned to Rose and planted a wet kiss on her lips.

"Sure honey. Which home did you have in mind." She said sweetly after Emmett pulled away. "The boys' home for juvenile delinquents?" she purred.

Emmett pouted a little, obviously not getting the response from Rose he was hoping for. But I could tell she was just as taken with him and he was with her. She leaned over and whispered something in his ear and his expression brighten immediately.

Suddenly Emmet jumped up and announced, "Well children, I think Rose and I are going to turn in early!" But before he could do anything else, Mike walked up to Emmett. He had his head down, staring at Emmett's chest as he shifted nervously from one foot to the other unable to make eye contact.

"Ummm, I uhh, I'm um, Mike." He stammered. "Would you like to dance?" Mike suddenly said a little too loud. All conversation around us with in earshot stopped and it felt as if everyone was holding their breath.

Emmett just stood there with a startled 'deer in the headlights' look on his face. Before he could recover Rose stood up, turned to Emmett and said a little too brightly, "Why don't you go ahead, Emmie. You've been talking about Mike all night. Have a little fun."

"You know you want to." Alice chimed in with equal brightness. Mike's face started to brighten as Emmett's face twisted in disgust at what Rose had just volunteered him to do. Emmett looked over to Edward, who was about to burst with laughter, and mouthed 'HELP ME'! Edward immediately put on a mock serious face and marched up to Emmett.

"You've been looking at Mike? What about us Emmie? I though I meant something to you. But I see I was wrong." Edward said trying not to laugh. Then he weakly slapped Emmett across the cheek.

Emmett jumped back when Edward slapped him. He turned to Mike and said, "Dude, get away from me!" then he turned to Edward and added, "You too. And by the way – NOT funny."

Mike stood there with a confuse look on his face as he realized that the person in the football costume was NOT Edward. He turned to Edward, who proceeded to shoot him a death glare. Mike opened his mouth to speak when Edward held up his hand. "I'm taken." He said, looking into my eyes. Mike just walked off grumbling about stupid vampires and football players, as everyone in the area burst out in laughter. As soon as the laughter died down, Emmett grabbed Rose's hand and pulled her to her feet.

"Well, as I was about to say, Rose and I are heading out." Emmett announced a little excitedly. Rose just rolled her eyes at him, but the a silly smile broke out on her face.

"Hey, how are we supposed to get home?" Alice chimed in pointing to herself and me. But Jasper quickly whispered something in her ear and she smiled. "Okay, how is Bella supposed to get home?" She laughed.

I just rolled my eyes at her silliness. I was a little embarrassed to ask Edward for a ride home. What if he didn't want to? What if his interest was just for the night and tomorrow he's move onto the next girl. I didn't think he was like that, but my insecurities were suddenly making themselves known after being squashed down for so long. My eyes darted nervously over to Edward who leaned in and sweetly whispered in my ear, "Would you like me to give you a ride home?"

"You don't mind?" I whispered back, worried that he did want to oblige.

"Of course not, love. I would be my pleasure.," he cooed. I thrilled every time he called me love, but when he said 'pleasure', I felt my stomach quiver. I smiled shyly in response.

"We've got it covered." Edward announced with a smile.

"Alright then. Later!" Emmett shot over his shoulder as he pulled Rose away.

"Call me tomorrow!" I said to Rose.

"Yeah! We want details!" Alice yelled. Rose turned and gave us an obscene hand jester as she walked off, letting Alice know she had NOT succeeded in embarrassing her.

"Oh, that reminds me… Can I get your number?" Edward said a little nervously. What was he so nervous about? He couldn't possibly think I would refuse could he?

I smiled and said, "Give me your cell phone." As he handed me his phone, I gave him mine and we programmed our numbers into them. As I gave him back his phone, he said 'smile' before snapping a picture of me.

"Hey! No fair!" I pouted. Edward looked at my lips hungrily as he reached up and brushed his thumb across my lower lip. My lips parted slightly as I let out a small gasp at his touch.

"Ahem." Edward and I jumped slightly at the sound of Alice, who was suddenly standing next to us. "Jasper and I are leaving too. Call me later?" she said as she started to move away.

"Sure, sure. But not too early." I said with a knowing smile. Turning to Jasper, I said, "It was nice to meet you, Jasper."

"Yeah, good to meet you." Edward said genuinely. "I'll get the costume back to you. And thanks for loaning it too me." He added.

"Hey, thanks for letting me crash you little group. It was good to meet you both." Jasper returned with a smile before he left with Alice.

"I guess that leaves you and me." I said, not really wanting to leave. I was afraid he would disappear; that he would turn out to be an apparition.

"Are you ready to go?" he asked. I was about to say 'no' but a yawn started to come on and I couldn't quite stifle it. He quietly laughed as he rubbed my back. "I'll take that as a 'yes'." 'Stupid traitor yawn', I grumbled in my head.

"Oh. What about your shoulder pads?" I suddenly asked.

"Maybe someone found them and turned them in." Edward offered. "We can check at the bar as we head out.," he added as we got up to go. He grabbed our vampire capes from the backs of our chairs and we headed down towards the bar.

As we walked up to the bar, hand in hand, Garrett greeted me, "Hey Bella." He grinned when he saw our hands. "What can I do you for?" he said. Edward stiffened slightly at Garrett's greeting to me. Garrett had his arm around a beautiful tall blonde. I looked over to her and then back to Garrett, raising one eyebrow at him. "Oh! Yeah! Bella, this is my fiancée, Kate. Kate this is Bella." Edward immediately relaxed and started to smile.

I extended my hand towards Kate and said with sincerity, "Nice to meet you."

She took my hand and said warmly, "You too."

"This is Edward. Edward, meet Garrett and Kate." I said, suddenly remembering I had manners.

"So what can I get you?" Garrett offered again.

"I seem to have lost a pair of football shoulder pads. Have you had any turned in?" Edward said quickly. Garrett looked at Edward's costume with a funny look on his face. Edward looked down at his costume confused, until it dawned on him what had Garrett confused. "I came in as a football player, but Bella here turned me into a vampire with her 'bite'." He laughed. Garrett was about to say something, but Edward just raised his hand and said with a big smile. "Long story."

"Yeah, we have them. I think Mike turned them in. They're in the back break room. Down that hall, second door on the left." Garrett offered. Edward coughed as he tried to stifle a laugh.

"Thanks Garrett." I said with a smiled as we walked towards the break room. We walked down the hall in silence. My anticipation skyrocketed as I quickly realized I was going to be alone with Edward. As soon as we entered the room, the door shut automatically behind us.

Suddenly I found myself in his arms. He leaned his head down and my breathing hitched. There was no mistaking what he was about to do and my heart was screaming yes! Yes! YES! I started to close my eyes as his lips were about to take mine when he stopped. My eyes flew open at the sound of my name as it rolled off his tongue. His mouth hovered an agonizing inch above mine, as I felt his breath on my slightly parted lips. I could taste the sweetness of his breath as it blew past my lips and washed over my tongue. I looked into his green eyes ablaze with desire and held my breath. "Bella?" he cooed.

I could not form a coherent thought with him so close to doing the one thing I've wanted to do most all night. I started to get light-headed as the realization slowly dawned on me that I wasn't breathing. I exhaled shaky a "Yes?" as I released the spent air in my lungs.

"May I kiss you?" he said, his eyes darkening as he took in a ragged breath. My head and heart were chanting 'HELL YES!' in unison as I my breathing quickened.

"Oh yeah." I gasped. He slowly brought his head down to close the small gap between our lips. But he still didn't kiss me. Instead he every so lightly brushed his soft lips across mine heightening the thrill of anticipation. He lifted one of his hands and trailed seductive ribbons of fire along my arms and shoulders with his fingertips as he lightly caressed my bare skin. His other hand pulled my soft body tightly against his hard muscled body. My lips throbbed and my mouth ached as my need for his kiss increased, as I moaned. "Edward, please…" I begged.

His mouth crashed roughly on to mine. I gasped at the pleasure of his soft warm lips working their magic with mine as my hands found their way to his soft messy hair. His tongue traced along my lower lip asking for entrance and I gladly granted him access to my mouth. The kiss deepened with the swirling dance of our tongues as they wrestled for dominance. My fingers tangled in his hair, as I tightened my hold. I heard him groan and my back automatically arched as I tried to get even closer to him. His hands were moving up and down my back and over the exposed skin of my shoulders sending shivers down my spine at the touch of his skin on mine. As we broke off to gasp for air, he started to trail kisses down my neck. He placed one hand firmly in my lower back pulling me even closer to him. He tangled the his fingers of his other hand in my long tresses before grabbing a hand-full of hair at the back of my head and gently tugging my head back to grant him better access to my throat. I let out a gasp at the pleasure this simple move gave me and I offered no resistance. With my back fully arched into him, I wrapped one of my legs around one of his to keep my balance. This simple movement caused my costume to shift, exposing a small line of the skin at my lower back. As his fingers grazed this newly exposed skin, we both moaned. He trailed his kissed up to my ear and said in a desire-laden voice, "Bella… You taste even better than I imagined." His lips quickly returned to mine and he filled me with another passion-filled kiss. I lost all track of time as Edward continued to kiss me, drinking my desire for him from my mouth. Suddenly the door to the break room swung open.

"Hey, Bella did you find…" Garrett started to say, but he stopped abruptly. "Oh." he said quietly before he chuckled. "As you were." We broke off our kiss to turn to look at Garrett, sill holding our bodies in the same position he found us in. My lips were swollen from the passion of Edward's kisses and I'm sure my face was flushed.

"Damn, Bella! I didn't think you had it in you." Garrett laughed as my already pink cheeks started to brighten at Garrett's comments. "I'll just give you too some privacy." He said with a sparkle in his eye just before he closed the door.

"Ugh!" I sighed while I let my head fall on Edward's chest as we straightened up loosening our grip on each other but remaining in an embrace. I took a deep breath as I tried to get my heart to calm down. A very difficult thing, I might add with Edward's arm around me. "Garrett is never going to let me live this down." I said with a light-hearted laugh.

I felt Edward's chest rumble with a quiet chuckle. "Come on, love. I think if we stay in here any longer, we might have to lock the door and stay forever."

"Sounds good to me; I think we could live here quite nicely." I said with a nervous giggle at the implications of what he said.

"True, but I we could do much better than the break room of a nightclub." He said softly in my ear resulting in another round of blushes on my part. As I loosed my hold on him, he pulled away from me, still keeping his arm around my waist. He untangled his fingers from my hair and I picked up his shoulder pads off the table in the break room. Before Edward pulled open the door, he looked down at me without a word. The passion still radiating from his eyes confirmed that we both knew where that kiss would have taken us if we hadn't been interrupted. He ran his hand though his hair before smiled and kissed me quickly on the lips. As we left the confines of the room, he took the shoulder pads from me and threw them over his shoulder.

I had to admit, the passion that seemed to consume us as we kissed frightened me a little. I was by no means an innocent, having been in physical relationships before. But I wasn't as free with my affections as Rose. I could count on one hand the number of boyfriends I'd been with. Moreover, I had never started that part of the relationship until I was sure on my feelings for the other person and had taken the time to get to know them. I preferred to do things at a normal pace. Yet with Edward, it was so easy to get caught up in the moment and forget that I had just met him a few hours ago. Everything just fit with him; I felt like I could tell him anything, like I could be myself. Nevertheless, I was not ready to sleep with him yet, as much as my body wanted to. I sighed a little in disappointment at this realization.

"Are you okay?" Edward asked, a concerned look crossing his face as we walked down the hall.

"Yeah, it's all good." I smiled lightly at him, hoping he would accept my answer. He looked at me for a moment, but didn't push it.

EPOV

I could tell something was bothering Bella as we left the break room. I was on a 'high' after that incredible kiss we shared a few minutes earlier. We both knew where that kiss would have led us. And I would be lying if said I didn't want it; I knew I wanted her. But I wanted to take the time to get to know her first. I didn't want to rush into a physical relationship right away. Those kinds of relationships always seemed to burn themselves out too quickly and I didn't want that with Bella. I wanted something that would last infinitely longer. But as she tried to tell me 'it's all good,' I know something was worrying her.

As we neared the bar at the entrance of the hallway, we caught Garrett's all-knowing smile. "You kids finished in there?" He said with feigned innocence.

"All done!" I said in a fake chipper mood, like nothing had happened, but I laughed as Bella just stuck her tongue out at Garrett like a three year old.

As we started for the door, Bella started to get nervous. That's when it hit me. Is she worried that I'm going to want to go home with her? Maybe she didn't want tonight to go beyond tonight. What if she didn't want me to know where she lived. I wonder if the number she gave me was fake. 'Calm down!' I mentally chided myself. She obviously likes me and there was not denying the passion in our kiss. I could certainly tell that she enjoyed my company, almost as much as I enjoyed hers. Maybe she was like me and didn't want to rush it, especially now that we are getting ready to leave all that it implies.

We walked out into the cool night air and Bella shivered. I took her vampire cape and wrapped it around her body. We arrived at my Volvo quickly and I opened the door for her. She kept her head down as she got in. I shut the door and quickly came around and got in my side of the car. I as soon as I started the car, I turned on the heater to take the chill out of the air. I turned to her and said, "So… Where to?" Her eyes widened in alarm for a minute before she stammered.

"I.. er, home?" she said as a blush covered her cheeks.

"Bella. What's wrong?" I asked, now nervous myself. She just looked down for a long moment before she looked up to me with apprehension in her eyes.

"Edward." she started. 'Oh no. Here it comes. The 'I had a good time but I don't want it to go beyond tonight, speech.' I thought in my head as I braced myself for what she was about to say. "I've had an amazing time, getting to know you, but… I, oh how do I put this?" she started to mumble.

"Just say it." I said with a resigned sigh. I was surprised by the hurt the look in her eyes.

She looked down and said, "I really like you, probably more than you like me. And that kiss we shared was beyond words, but if it gave you the impression that I would go home with you tonight, then I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. Well, I did mean to kiss you, but…" She paused biting her lip. "I'm just not ready to do that…, yet." she said finally looking up at me with apologetic eyes.

I was still processing that she wasn't blowing me off. However, as her words sunk, my face erupted into a big smile. She looked a little confused at my reaction, so I leaned over and kissed her lightly on the lips and said. "I feel exactly the same way. I want to get to know you better before we take to the next level."

I wasn't prepared for her reaction. She suddenly grabbed my face and kissed my fiercely. Before long, we were back to where we were in the break room; hands in each other's hair, breathing heavy, moaning with the pleasure of each other's kiss. Finally, we broke apart.

"Well, that was intense. I think if we do that again, we might do something neither of us is ready for." I said still breathing fast.

Bella started to giggle. "You hair is everywhere." she started to run her fingers through it to smooth it down, but I stopped her.

"Let's not start that again." I teased. I took her hand in mine and kissed in lightly before starting towards her place. I had a big stupid grin plastered on my face as we made light conversation as we drove. Once we arrived, I got out and opened the door for her.

"Quite the gentleman, aren't we.," she laughed.

"My mother taught me well." I said. I walked to the door and took her in my arms. "I'll call you tomorrow, well later today, I guess." I said looking at my watch.

"I'd like that, but make it much later. I'm sleeping in late!" she said with a yawn. "Ooo, I'm so sorry for that."

"It's okay, love." I said. "Now, I'm going to kiss you. Try to be good." I smirked at her.

She pouted for a minute but then decided to play nice as she put her hands behind her back and turned her face sweetly up to mine. I kissed her lightly, but soon found myself wanting more. I decided it was time to go, as my feet started to leave, but my lips keep bringing me back to Bella. She laughed and pushed me away a little.

"Time to go before I ask you to drag me back to your cave." she said with a giggle as she unlocked and opened the door to the apartment.

I stepped away from her, sighing in mock resignation. "Okay." I mumbled with my head hung low as I turned to go. Then I looked back at her and smiled. "Goodnight, Bella." I said quietly.

"Goodnight Edward." she said whispered just before she stepped inside and closed the door.

fin

A/N: Okay! There you have it! Sorry I didn't get this out yesterday, so I gave you an extra long chapter for the ending. :) Yes it is finished because, like I've said to some you before… you know who you are. There's only so much you can do in one night. ;) If you want me to continue with their story, I'm not opposed to the idea of a sequel. But I might need some help with ideas to make it different from all the other BxE stories out there. Otherwise, I'm happy to let it stand on it's own. Let me know what you think.

BTW you guys ROCK! I appreciate the reviews. You gave me such wonderful encouragement that I couldn't wait to check the stats to see what you all had to say! And even if you didn't review I still want to say 'thanks' to everyone who took the time to read my story, add me to their favorites and alerts. I hope everyone enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Now, it's time for the results from my poll. I asked you to pick what you thought my inspiration was for this story.

50% – dream, 25% - sitcom, 12% - commercial, 12% - talk goat (LOL), 0% - short story

And the winner is… (drum roll)… COMMERCIAL. It was a Captain Morgan commercial to be exact. The Halloween costume commercial where the a guy sneaks in the bar and scope out three girls in costumes. He sneaks off to a waiting van that holds two of friends and tells them what each of them will be. The guys dress in the van as we get a view from the outside of the van rocking violently back and forth. As the three guys walk in the bar, three girls think is just amazing that these three guys match their three costumes… Got a little Captain in you?

I was surprised 'dream' won. I only offered 'dream' as an option because that was Stephenie Meyer's inspiration for 'Twilight'. Anyway, thanks to those who voted.

SavageWoman