Disclaimer—everything Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer

EPOV

"Alice actually managed to get you to come, huh?" Emmett asked, grinning at someone behind me. I started to turn, but I was only able to see a blur of brown hair.

"Bella! What the hell are you doing?" I heard Alice yell from the other side of the gazebo. I strained to hear the rest of the conversation, but I could only hear frantic whispering.

I turned my body back toward Emmett and raised my eyebrows.

"What's going on?" I asked. "Why is Alice here?"

To my understanding, Emmett wanted to talk to me about proposing to his girlfriend Rosalie. I told him I had no experience with that, but he still wanted to talk to me.

Emmett grinned evilly. "Alice and Angela Weber brought your date for tonight."

I couldn't speak for a moment.

"My…" I cleared my throat. "My date? You set me up?" I groaned.

A gazebo and a private table for two seemed over the top for a brother-to-brother talk.

Emmett continued to grin.

"What about Rosalie?"

He laughed. "I already proposed to her. I can't believe you actually thought I'd be worried about how I would ask her!" He laughed louder.

I stood up from my seat and began to walk away.

"He's your…brother?" I heard a girl whisper.

"Good God, you're slow," Alice said, just as Emmett tugged on my arm, pulling me back to the table.

"Where do you think you're going?" he demanded.

I crossed my arms and sat back down.

"I don't want to go out with someone," I muttered, pouting a bit.

Emmett smiled. "You'll like Bella. She's Alice's best friend. And maybe she'll get your mind of that girl you call the 'brown-eyed beauty'.

I groaned again. "Is this what this is all about?" I should have never told my family about the beautiful girl that went to NYU with me.

Emmett chuckled. "Yup!"

I shook my head and looked down at the forest floor.

"Sorry Edward," Alice said, now right beside the table. "We just had to sort a couple things out."

I slowly looked up to see what this Bella looked like. My eyes met beautiful chocolate brown eyes, and I gasped.

It was the brown-eyed beauty. Standing right here in front of me. Her face was beat red, making her look even more adorable.

I looked at smiling Alice and she nodded, then pointed toward Bella and mouthed, "Brown-Eyed Beauty."

Emmett caught that, and he whispered so quietly that only I could hear, "Holy shit!"

"Okay," Alice said, "Bella, Edward. Edward, Bella. Have fun you two!" Then she looked at Emmett.

"You," she said, pointing a finger at him, "can get a ride with Angela and me."

Emmett whispered, "Good luck, bro," and seconds later, I was alone with Bella.

BPOV

Edward and I stared at each other without speaking for a few moments. Then suddenly Edward stood up and pulled out the chair that Emmett had been sitting in.

He smiled and said, "Would you like to sit?"

I nodded carefully, walked toward him, and sat down slowly.

He sat back down, and we continued to stare at each other while I tried to make my heart slow down.

"My name is Edward Cullen," he said, holding out his hand.

"I know. Bella Swan," I said and reached out to shake his hand. The moment are skin touched, I felt electricity course up into my arm, making me jump a little.

Edward looked a little startled, too. I wondered if he felt it. I released his hand, placing mine back on my lap. We sat still for a moment before I spoke.

"Look, I'm sorry about the coffee and the papers—"

He started to laugh, making his green eyes sparkle.

"It's fine. Don't worry about it."

I smiled back gratefully. Then I grimaced again.

"And I'm sorry about all this…that's Alice. Well, you know Alice."

He nodded, understanding and amused.

"I do know Alice. But you probably know her better. You're her best friend, or so I'm told. When did you two meet?"

I smiled, thinking back to my first day of kindergarten.

"The first day of school. She spent the majority of the day doing my hair." We both laughed at this.

"You know…" I began. "You don't have to sit here with me. We could go home." Part of me hoped he would agree, and the other part prayed he would stay.

"No!" he said quickly. I frowned in confusion.

He cleared his throat, looking embarrassed. "I mean, no, it's alright."

I nodded. "Okay. Well…can I ask you a few questions then?"

He smiled again. "Of course."

"What did you take at NYU? You were always in the library at the same time as me, so I was wondering what you do each day at the same time."

His smile faltered momentarily, and then he replied. "I took medicine, and I actually just like reading. That's what I always did in my spare time." He paused, and then looked up at me.

"And how about you?" he wondered, looking like he was actually curious. The intensity of his eyes made my heart stutter.

"Um…" I said, trying to think coherently. "I took journalism. I love reading, too. That's why I was always at the library."

The last part was a lie. Edward was the reason I was always at the library, always at the same time.

"So you have a job here?" he asked.

I shook my head. "No, I live in New York. I'm just visiting my dad for the summer. Do you still live in Toronto?"

He nodded. "Yes, I do. I'll be going back by the end of the month."

"Oh," I said, a little bit sad. I was hoping he lived in New York, too. Then maybe we could meet somewhere—

I stopped that thought in its tracks. I don't want to date, I don't want to date… I repeated that in my head like a mantra.

We continued to talk for another four hours. It amazed me that on top of having drop-dead looks, he was even more amazing on the inside. He was smart, funny, caring, and it was impossible to feel awkward around him. Eventually I looked at my watch and saw that it was 11:30 PM.

"Oh!" I exclaimed. "Charlie's probably worrying right now. I'm usually home by nine."

He laughed. "I'll drop you off at home."

We stood up, and to my great surprise and pleasure, he took my hand in his. Electricity zinged through me again, and I blushed.

Edward opened the passenger door of a silver Volvo for me, and I stepped in carefully, blushing yet again.

The ride home was silent for the most part. When he pulled into my drive-way, I turned to say good-bye.

"Thanks for the evening. I had fun."

"I did too."

I frowned, thinking. "I'm sure Alice is waiting to bombard you with questions when you get home."

He laughed. "I'm sure you're right." Then he became more serious. "Bella…" he said.

I looked at him questioningly.

"Do you maybe want to get together again soon?" he asked hesitantly.

My heart fluttered, and I smiled. "Sure."

He grinned back. "Alright then. See you soon."

I opened the door to leave and had one foot out of the car when he suddenly grabbed my arm.

I turned back to him, surprised to see that his face was just inches from mine.

He slowly bent his head and pressed his lips delicately to my forehead.

"I really did have fun with you tonight," he whispered against my skin.

I shivered. "Me too," I whispered back. After almost a minute more, he pulled away.

"Come over tomorrow," he said.

I stared into his beautiful eyes and said, "I will."

Then I attempted to exit the car without falling down, and actually succeeded. I watched Edward drive away with a smile on my face.

See you tomorrow, my green-eyed beauty, I thought to my self as I skipped to the porch.