Still don't own Twilight.

Chapter Six

Edward arrived at Bella's house at exactly six o'clock. He was dressed in a blue button down shirt and a nice pair of jeans. With a bouquet of flowers in his hand, he walked up to the house and knocked on the door. A moment later, Charlie answered the door.

"Hello, Edward," he said.

"Good evening, Chief Swan," Edward said.

"Come on in."

"Thank you."

Edward came into the house and Charlie shut the door behind him. The two of them went into the kitchen. Charlie went to the bottom of the stairs and called up to Bella.

"Bella, Edward's here!"

"Be down in a minute!" Bella called back.

Charlie turned to Edward. "She'll be right down." Edward nodded.

A long silence passed between the two. Neither of them looked at each other. During recent taps into his mind, Edward found that Charlie still resented him. Edward did have to admit that Charlie's feelings were justified. He had caused Bella to run away from home twice, and had also sent her into a deep depression when he left town just days after her eighteenth birthday.

Edward wasn't a bad guy. He wished he could explain it all to Charlie and make him understand. He wouldn't be able to do it without revealing his secret life, and he was already in trouble for letting Bella in on the secrets of the vampire world. If he told Charlie, he'd have to kill him or change him. Neither option was very favorable. So, Edward continued to work on rebuilding Charlie's trust. It was a slow-going process, but Edward knew it wasn't impossible.

Just then, Edward heard footsteps. He looked up and watched Bella come down the stairs. She was dressed in a blue button down shirt and black dress pants. A backpack was slung on her back. She looked at Edward and smiled.

"Hey," she said.

"Hi," Edward said, returning her smile. He offered her the bouquet of flowers. "These are for you."

"Thank you." Bella took them from Edward. She looked them over and then smelled them. "They smell so good."

"You can leave those here," Charlie said. He started to search the cupboard. "I'm sure I've got a vase or something we can put them in."

"Oh, OK."

"Yeah, right here." Charlie pulled a glass vase from the cupboard. "Hasn't been used in a while."

He handed the vase to Bella. She took it over to the sink and rinsed the dust off of it. She took a pair of scissors from the utility drawer and cut the bottom from the stems. She arranged the flowers in the vase and put the vase in the center of the kitchen table.

"It looks good," Edward said.

"Thank you," Bella said.

"Are you ready to go?"

"Yes, let's go."

The two of them started for the door.

"Bella," Charlie called to her.

Bella stopped and turned back. Edward continued to the door, knowing that Charlie wanted to talk to Bella alone. Not that it would matter anyway. Edward's vampirism gave him a heightened sense of hearing.

"You make sure Edward keeps his hands to himself," Charlie said. "OK?"

"OK, dad," Bella replied.

She headed for the door. Edward helped her into her coat and then the two of them went out to the car. Bella turned to look at Edward, and saw that he was grinning at her. Bella grinned back.

"You heard him, didn't you?"

"Of course."

"You think we should take his advice?"

"No, I don't."

"Me, neither."

Edward opened Bella's door for her. As she climbed into the car, Edward gave her a light tap on her backside. It made Bella giggle. Edward got into the car and the two of them were off for their Valentine's date.