Bella's POV

I don't ever remember picking out an outfit with more care. I don't remember ever really caring what I wore. I was more or less a geek back home and so I never really had any reason to dress up. I didn't have anyone I wanted to impress anyhow. …So did that mean I wanted to impress Edward now? No. I shook my head. No, I am a girl and girls like to get dressed up for no reason sometimes. That was it. Nothing more.

At least that was what I was trying to convince myself as I picked up a pare of fitted jeans, a green button up shirt with the buttons undone and a brown tank underneath it. Both of which Alice had forced me to buy. I was going to have to thank her one of these days. After I was dressed I finally thought of a question I hadn't asked Edward yet tonight. I walked to the bathroom and texted him at the same time.

Okay here we go, what is your favorite superhero? -Bells

It wasn't until I sent it that I really thought about last night. Edward and I had talked all night. Literally. Why would he want to talk to someone like me for that long? It didn't add up in my head.

Sighing I shook the question from my head for now; because I was afraid that if I asked Edward, he would realize he was wasting his time on a girl like me and would stop hanging out with me.

I brushed through my hair and pulled it back with a black headband. I was starting down the stairs when I heard a knock on the door. Heart skipping a beat I rushed down the stairs; which in Hines sight wasn't the best idea. I made it two steps before I tripped on a stair and fell. Luckily I was an expert faller so I landed on my shoulder. I groaning I got to my feet and took inventory. Nothing seemed too badly injured. The only thing that really hurt was my shoulder, I would probably have a nice bruise by tonight. Perfect.

Taking it a little slower I walked to the door, brushing back my hair, hoping it looked somewhat decent. I opened the door to see Edward leaning against the doorframe.

"Flash." Was all he said.

I was so caught up in how fantastic he looked that I barely heard him. "Huh?"

Edward smiled. "My answer to your last question. Flash."

"Oh right!" I said my brain trying to catch up. "Really? Flash?"

Edward nodded. "Yeah, I have always had this thing about going fast. I used to have dreams that I could move faster than a car. So when I heard about Flash, I was mesmerized." he said with a shrug.

I laughed a little and stepped back from the door to let him in. As he walked past I caught a good whiff of him; he smelled so good! Seriously, was everything about this boy perfect?

"You look amazing by the way." Edward said turning back to me suddenly.

Our eyes met with that weird intensity again and I was lost in them. He thought I looked amazing? Edward took a step closer and if it were anyone else I would have felt a little uncomfortable, but I didn't. My breath caught in my chest, I couldn't blink, couldn't move. Edward brought his hand up slowly and carefully brushed his fingertips across my upper left cheek. The air between us seemed to disappear and the moment stretched on forever. There was so little actual skin contact, but even so a warmth spread through my entire face. Finally Edward blinked and brought his hand down.

Clearing his throat he nodded to me. "You had a hair in your face."

I blinked a couple of times, trying to clear my head. "Yes." Of course that's what he was doing. That made sense. There was an awkward silence, Edward was still standing close to me and I wasn't sure what to say.

Edward was the one who broke the silence. "So what about you? Who is your favorite superhero?"

I tried to get my brain to think, but it was still moving so sluggishly. My cheek was still warm from where Edward had touched it and I was afraid I might be blushing.

I mentally kicked my brain. "Uh, Batman." I finally got out.

Edward raised his eyebrows for me. "Really? He always seemed so dark and cynical to me. Why is he your favorite?"

Again I had to force my brain to think. "Because he didn't have any super powers. He proved that anyone can be a superhero. You don't have to be born with some unearthly power to be or do something great."

Edward looked at me thoughtfully for a moment before nodding. "That is a nice way of thinking about it." He continued to gaze at me and it wasn't until I mentioned the time that Edward stopped, heading for the door.

Edward open the house door for me as well as the car door. We rode to the hospital, listening and talking about music. Which turned out to be a very large subject because Edward was a huge music lover. We talked about music we hated and music we loved; which we agreed on most everything band and artist we discussed. The only artist that we absolutely disagreed on was Avril Lavean. He liked her and I didn't.

"All she ever does is talk about how boys suck!" I argued.

"Well can you blame her? 90% of the guys out there do suck!" He said.

"But that's all she sings about, I mean a couple songs about guys sucking is fine. But she does nothing else!"

"Yes but she does it well." He said with a grin.

I tried to point out that he himself was a guy and that he was being very sexist against his own sex. But all he said was that because he was a guy he could really say that they suck with 100% certainty.

In the end we decided to just agree to disagree.

When we reach the hospital, we walked in together and only parted ways when I had to go to the women locker room to put of my scrubs and Edward had to go to the men. As I changed out of my normal clothes I remembered Edward saying he thought I looked nice. My heart warmed at the idea.

When I came out of the locker room wearing a light pick pair of scrubs, Edward was waiting for me, leaning against the wall across from the door to the women's locker room. I couldn't help but pause to admire him. So casually leaning on the wall wearing his own pair of scrubs, which even though I thought it was an impossible thing to achieve, he looked amazing in.

We spent the day checking in on all the kids together. We went and saw Trevor, the kid who was brought in yesterday. He was doing a little better today. But since he had gotten here, he hasn't spoken a single word. Carlisle says that he is in shock and might not speak for quite some time. So when Edward and I went in there we asked all questions he could shake his head in response and even then he only answered part of the time. When we walked into Trevor's room my heart broke into a million pieces. Trevor, who was a small 6 year old boy to begin with was lying in a bed four times bigger than he was, making him look even smaller and was covered in bruises. He also had a cast on his left arm and stitches along the left side of his face.

I watched Edward while we were checking up of Trevor and my heart went out to the both of them. Even though I wasn't really positive what exactly happened to Edward, there was no mistaking the chemistry between him and Trevor. Edward understood what Trevor was going through.

And that thought sent a whole round of questions flying through my head.

What had happen to Edward in his childhood? Had he been beaten like this little boy? What had happen to Trevor? Was this the first time he had been beaten like this? He was covered in bruises, one of his eyes still swollen shut.

My eyes started to water up at the images that my mind thought up of Edward as a child and things that Trevor may have gone through. I imagined small little Edward covered in bruises and cuts, broken bones, black swollen eye...I quickly excused myself from the room and fled from the toy boys. I walked across the hallway as tears overflowed from my eyes, and leaned heavily against the wall. The tears slid down my face as I slid down the wall into a sitting position. I put my head on my knees to hide my face from the world, from a world where people beat innocent little children. Children who didn't have a fighting chance. Children like Trevor and Edward. Soon I was sobbing quietly. I tried to stop, but I couldn't manage it. Images of Edward kept coming to my head of a sad broken Edward and I just couldn't take it anymore.

It wasn't until I felt a pair of warm hands on my shoulders that I looked up.

Edward was kneeling down in front of me so that we were eye level. I wiped the tears from my face and looked at him in the eyes. "It happened to you too?" The way I said it sounded more of a statement then a question.

Edward sat beside me against the wall. He ran his hands through his hair before saying, "Yea. It happened to me too." He said it so quietly I wasn't sure if he meant for me to hear or not. We were silent for a few moments, I couldn't say anything, I felt as if I had just had a bucket of ice water had been dumped over my head.

"Are you okay?" He asked softly, his eyes telling me he understood.

I started to nod my head yes, but my emotions took over and I shook my head no and started to sob louder. Saying nothing at all Edward wrapped his arms around me. I leaned into him and buried my head into Edward's chest, sobbing uncontrollably.

How could the world be so cruel! How is there such evil as this? How can someone look at little Trevor's young face and then start pounding into it? The thought of Trevor lying on the floor, unconscious long before, yet still being beaten on made me cry even harder.

Soon I was blubbering out loud. "How can someone d-d-do that?" I sobbed. "How can someone scar a child like that? He can't even talk!" I practically yelled. "And you...How...Not you." I couldn't even get a sentence out, I was so upset at the world.

Edward, still not saying anything got to his feet and pulled me up along with him; he started leading down the hallway by the hand, but since I was still crying, I couldn't see where I was going and tripped over my own two feet. But Edward caught me effortlessly and put his arm around my waist so that he was supporting some of my weight. He pulled me into a empty room and sat me down on the couch.

Somewhere in the back of my head this scene freakishly familiar to another time, but I was too distraught to really remember.

Edward sat down with me and pulled me close. I leaned heavily on him and continued to cry. I knew I should be self conscious of blubbering all over Edward, but this was bigger than that. Someone was out in the world right now and could be hurting a another little boy!

"There is nothing else you can do for him." Edward whispered. "All we can do for him now is treat him kindly and show him that not everyone is evil. The scars will always be there, but we can help him try to heal."

I knew he was right. I nodded and took in several deep breaths. "Are we looking for him?" I managed to get out. "The person who did this?"

Edward rubbed his hand up and down my arm. "Charlie is going to meet with the boy later today; but because he isn't talking I'm not really sure what good it will do. After that, I don't really know what he will do. I know he talked with the teacher that brought him in yesterday."

I nodded. I was going to have to ask Charlie about it later. I sniffed and sat up a little; but Edward's arms didn't leave me. It took me a few minutes, but finally I was able to blink away the tears and was able to get my breathing under control. Taking in a deep breath I glanced at Edward who was watching me intently. "Sorry about that." I mumbled. Now that I had calmed down, I started to realize how ridicules I probably looked.

But Edward just shook at his head. "There is nothing to be sorry about. Sometimes it would just be inhuman not to break down at some of the things we see here. Nothing to be ashamed of."

I nodded. That made some sense. But even still I wiped my face on my shirt sleeve. Feeling completely drained I laid my head on Edward shoulder. Edward leaned back into the sofa, bringing me back with him and he rested his head on top of mine; I couldn't really make myself be bothered by it. My eyes slid shut and last night's lack of sleep slammed at me full force.

Edward's POV_

My pillow shifted under my head and readjusted to so that it was comfortable again.

"Edward?" I heard someone mumble. Who on earth was trying to wake me up! I tried to ignore the voice. "Edward wake up!" Again the voice said, more insistently.

I think I may have mumbled something as I opened my eyes. The second I did I realized I wasn't in my room in my bed. I was at the hospital! I looked down and sure enough there was Bella sitting next to me! Our eyes met and I felt a heat rise to my face.

"Did I just fall asleep?" I asked stupidly. Of course I fell asleep! Crap! What must Bella think of me?

She nodded. "I think we both did." She mumbled looking down at her hands.

I looked up at the clock hanging on the wall and saw that we had been asleep for a good hour. Dear goodness what if someone had walked in and saw us! What would they think? I didn't want to think anything bad about Bella.

"Hey I am really sorry." I said sitting up. "I didn't mean to fall asleep. I think last night really just hit me all of a sudden."

Bella nodded her head. "It's okay. I fell asleep too. I guess that's what we get for talking all night."

"Talking to you all night and getting to take the best nap of my life, I can think of worse things." I said. As soon as I said it I wished I hadn't. That was probably too much. Geez I was practically flirting with her! I needed to cool it.

But the shy smile I got in return was almost worth it. "So are we still good?" I asked hopefully.

Bella nodded. "Of course."

I couldn't help the relieved smile that spread across my face. "Then you ready to get back to work?" I asked stretching my arms over my head.

Bella hopped to her feet and replied that she was. She started for the door but I stopped her by putting a hand on her arm. She turned to me with raised eyebrow. "Are you okay?"

Bella just shrugged. "As okay as I can be I think."

I nodded in understanding and followed her out of the room; we began our rounds where we left off before our nap.

Throughout the rest of the day I tried to figure out how on earth I had managed to fall asleep with my arm around another person. I had issues hugging Esme, much less being comfortable enough to fall asleep with someone else. I found myself unable to keep myself from staring at Bella as we visited the rest of the patients, she didn't seem the least bit disturbed by what had happened, she just went about caring for the kids. I watched her as she walked, talked, and acted around everyone around her, most of whom were under the age 12 years old.

The way she acted with the kids warmed my heart. She would get down with them at eye level and make conversation with them, not shying away because they were whiter than a ghost or because most of their hair had fallen out. She gave them a sense of normalcy that most of these kids hardly remembered. She was truly something else. We ended up skipping lunch because of the work we had to make up for because of the time we were asleep.

I tried to get Bella to go eat while I did the make up stuff, but she had refused; saying that it was her fault and that she would help do the work. I complied, though I didn't think it particularly healthy to skip a meal, I wasn't going to force Bella to do something she didn't want to just because I thought it was what was best for her. Though I knew Esme was going to really let me have it when she found out that I skipped two meals in a row.

The day passed by quickly, they seemed to do that with Bella around. Soon I was driving Bella back to her house, promising to pick her up at 7:30.

After dropping her off I made my way home, where I had every intention to go right to my room and take a nap until it was time to go get Bella for our date tonight. No! Not date! For our…what was it? Get together? Either way, I was going to bed.

Or so I thought.

"Edward Cullen!" Alice called to me as I started climbing the stairs. I turned on the stair to her.

"Yes?" I asked tiredly.

"Where were you and Bella during lunch?" She asked in a huff, marching to the base of the stair well. "I waited for you, but you guys never showed?"

My brain scattered for a moment. Telling her I fell asleep with Bella was defiantly not an option. "We took a break before then that lasted longer than we thought and didn't have time for lunch after that." I said, glad I wasn't lying to my sister.

Alice raised an eyebrow at me. "Oh?"

I rolled my eyes and turned my back on her. "It was nothing Alice." I said as I walked up the stairs. Thankfully Alice left it at that. But it wasn't nothing. It was defiantly something. I went straight to my room and fell down back first onto my bed. I closed my eyes, expecting sleep to come instantly, but all I could think about was Bella. I told her I had been abused! How on earth did she know to even ask that?

Then when she had started yelling about Trevor, I hadn't really thought about it, I had just known she wouldn't have wanted to let others see her like that, so I got her out of there. When she had tripped and fallen I caught her without even thinking about it. It broke my heart to see Bella so distraught. I remember the feel of her warmth all around me as I hugged her tightly, comforting her. How was it that I didn't feel uncomfortable being that close to her? When I had rested my head on top of hers I had gotten the wonderful smell of strawberries; the scent still rested in my nose.

I was thinking about that comforting scent when sleep finally claimed me.

Bella's POV

I watched as Edward drove away, leaving me on my doorstep, feeling strangely cold. As I stepped into the house all my brain could do was go over and over again of the day's events. The break down, Edward leading me to that room, us falling asleep. How that last one happened I have no idea.

Charlie wasn't home yet, probably working late, so I went to the couch and threw myself onto it. I wrapped my arms around myself, but it wasn't the same. I noticed it about an hour after the nap. When I had first woken up I had been really confused, then I noticed Edward beside me and his arms around me. I remembered feeling comfortable and warm and really having no desire to move. His scent was about me, his warmth seeping into my body, keeping nice and warm.

But ever since I had finally gotten the nerve to wake Edward up and we left the room I had this kind of cold feeling. I couldn't really explain it either. On the ride home I had asked Edward to turn the heater on, but it didn't help. I felt as though my body temperature had dropped ten degrees.

Reaching up I pulled the throw blanket from the back of the couch and wrapped it around myself; but it didn't help either.

I pulled my knees up to my chest, curling myself into a ball and snuggled into the couch. Maybe if I was lucky I could get some sleep before Edward came to pick me up later.

But I had no such luck; my brain wouldn't turn off. Even though my body was tired and my head was exhausted, sleep didn't come. Instead for the two hours that I was lying in the living room I thought more about all that had happened and Edward.

Finally 7 o'clock came and I decided to just start getting ready since it was obvious that I wasn't going to be getting any sleep. So rolling off the couch I headed up stairs to my room. I went to my closet and started rifling through to find something to wear. I had just pulled out a white mid thigh length skirt to inspect when I heard a car. Looking out the window I saw Charlies cruiser. I decided to go with the skirt and was looking for a top when Charlie called out.

"Hey Bella? You here?"

"I'm in my room! I'll be down in a minute." I called back, pulling out a purple blouse. Not really sure I put the skirt and shirt on and looked at myself in the full length mirror that was hanging on the inside of my closet door. The skirt was a little shorter than I normally wore, Alice had picked it out that day we went shopping and swore up and down that it wasn't bad at all. The top had a wide neck and had quarter length sleeves that had slits running the length of them so that they flowed very much. The shirt was loose except for the bottom two inches which had elastic inside it making it snug around my waist, just meeting the top of my skirt.

I turned this way and that, looking at myself from every angle.

"Bella? You coming?" Charlie called.

Figuring I didn't look completely hideous I headed down the stairs to find Charlie, who was in the living room. He looked up when I reached the last stepped and his mouth fell open a little.

"Charlie?" No response. "Dad you okay?"

Blinking twice Charlie smiled. "Bella you look very beautiful. Am I to assume that you dressed up just for your old man?"

I felt heat rise to my face and I quickly looked down at my feet. "I'm not dressing up for anyone. I just felt like wearing this today."

I knew exactly what look my father was giving me even without looking up. One eyebrow raised and a smirk. "So you're hanging out with me tonight then?" He asked.

I rolled my head around and looked at Charlie. "Uh, actually no." Charlie smiled triumphantly which annoyed me. "Edward and I are going Miniature Golfing. He is picking me up in," I pulled my phone out of my back pocket and checked the time. "5 minutes."

"Ah, so you're dressing up from him." Charlie said getting to his feet. "I guess that means I can order in pizza tonight." He said smiling widely.

I rolled my eyes at him. "No, I'm not. but sure, do whatever you want." Since I had gotten here he had been trying to eat more healthy for my sake; but I knew he loved eating junk food.

I headed back up the stairs, found the pair of purple flats that Alice had said I had to get for the shirt. Slipping them on I grabbed thirty bucks from my wallet and put it in my pocket. I was on my way back down the stairs when someone knocked on the door.

Suddenly the feeling of butterflies lit up my stomach. I took a deep breath, went to the door and opened it. Edward was standing there in blue jeans with a black button up shirt with all it's buttons undone and a fitted white shirt under it. My mouth went dry and I suddenly had no idea what to do with myself.

Slapping myself mentally I opened my mouth to say 'hey'; but nothing came out. Instead I was left looking like a moron with my mouth opening and closing without any words ever coming out.

"Good evening Bella, you look absolutely stunning!" He said looking me up and down. "But you didn't have to get all dressed up for me." He said with a charming smile.

Finally I got noise to come out of my mouth and laughed nervously. "Oh this? No, it was something I just threw on." I said, trying to get my voice back to it's normal pitch.

Edward just continued to smile. "Well you look fantastic."

I felt a smile ease onto my face and I knew I was blushing fiercely. "Thanks."

"Ready to go?" He asked.

I nodded and called back behind me at Charlie. "Hey dad I'm leaving."

"You guys have fun!" I heard him yell from the kitchen.

Edward walked me around to my door and made sure I was settled in before walking to his side and getting in.

"Port Angeles is the closest Mini-Golf place." Edward said pulling out of the driveway. "But they do have a really nice one and have a lot of decent places to eat if you want to grab a bite to eat after the game."

I nodded. "Sounds good." It really did! How did I get so lucky? I mean Edward was what every girl wanted in a guy, good looking as all get out, sweet, chivalrous, caring, and funny; but he chose to spend tonight with me. Why on earth would he do that? I know he said he wanted to be friends, but I thought that was just for at work. Why would he want to spend time with me he doesn't have to. He could be with any girl he wanted tonight. Why me?

Edward's POV

Oh good Poseidon. This girl was going to be the death of me! Her addicting scent filled my whole car and with every intake of breath I was drowned in it. It was like the perfect mix of flower scents. Like walking into a high end floral shop. But there was also a hint of strawberry thrown in to give it a little sweetness. It was the most wonderful smell! Not to mention she was sitting next to me looking so amazing I couldn't keep my eyes on the road. The skirt was modest but short at the same time and the purple she was wearing was a very good color for her.

As we drove the 45 minutes to Port Angeles I could hardly even make conversation because I had to focus so much on trying to watch the road.

"So are you any good at this?" Bella asked.

Taking in a deep breath of Bella's scent I replied. "Put-Putting? Oh pretty good. I usually win when I play, not to brag or anything."

Bella laughed lightly, a beautiful sound. "Uhuh, sure. Well just so you know I am not bad myself."

"Oh do we have ourselves a challenge?" I teased.

"I dunno; what do you think?" Bella said playfully.

I grinned. "Okay then, loser buys desert?"

I glanced to Bella and saw her eyebrow shoot up. "Why just desert? Why not dinner too?"

I shook my head. "Not that I am second guessing myself, but that won't work. Because as the gentleman I will pay for dinner, but since you are going to lose I guess I'll let you pay for the desert."

"Oh you don't have to pay for me!" Bella exclaimed. "I brought money, really you don't have to!"

But I shook my head. "When I man takes a woman out it his job to pay. You will not talk me out of this so please don't feel guilty or anything. I want to pay." It was also a way for me to show her how much I thought of her; but I didn't need to add that.

Bella looked like she might want to argue a bit more, but then she sighed. "Okay. Thank you." She said looking down at her folded hands.

I watched from the corner of my eye; it was amazing how this girl could go from one second to challenging me in a game of Mini-Golf to the next looking shyly down at her hands. It was like she had been shown all her life that she was only capable of achieving so much and she just had to live with it, but every now and then a little confidence would sprout up, to aspire to be more, but then would flee at a moments notice.

I wished I could help her feel more of that confidence that I had just saw a little blip of. She was so amazing, she shouldn't not know it.

The rest of the ride was spent talking of lighter topics and listening to music. When we reached Al's Mini-Golf it was 8:20, but there were only four other cars in the parking lot. It was usually slow on week nights and crowded on week ends. When I parked in the lot I jogged around the front of the car to Bella's door and opened it for her. She climbed out and looked up at the place. It wasn't the most flashy joints out there, but I wasn't going for flashy tonight.

I led Bella to the building where a young long haired kid was sitting on a stool behind the counter. We walked up to him, but he didn't even seem to notice me, his eyes were glued to Bella.

"Hey, how you doin?" The guy asked, leaning on the counter getting his sleazy face closer to Bella's.

I quickly pulled out a twenty dollar bill and set it, a little violently, on the counter top so that it made a bagging noise. The boy blinked and looked towards me.

"Two playing." I said, doing my best to glare at the boy, without actually glaring at him. What was this guys problem? It was obvious that Bella was here with me! And anyone from the outside looking in would most likely make the mistake that we are on a date. But even knowing this the boy went ahead and tried to flirt with her!

The guy took the twenty, giving me a weird look as he did and gave me my change. As soon as the money was back in my pocket, I grabbed two putters and two different colored balls. Then I put my hand on Bella's lower back and led her out onto the course.

The whole course was alight with white Christmas lights. They were wrapped around many of the trees and bushes. Trees were everywhere, beautiful ones with long willowy branches and short ones covered in flowers. And white Christmas lights covered it all, there was no other source of light.

"Which would you like?" I asked Bella holding up the two putters.

She looked between the two, looking thoughtful before grabbing the one on the right. "This one looks good!"

I also let her pick which ball out of the ones I had grabbed. She picked the purple one.

We went to the first hole, a simple straight shot with a part of the turf in the middle raised in a bump.

"Ladies first." I said smiling.

Bella smiled back and bent down to set her ball on the mark spot. As she did this the bottom of her top slid up her back, revealing skin between her shirt and the skirt. My mouth went dry and my heart started beating a million miles a seconds. I tried to shake myself out of it, it was just a back! But who knew a back could look so sexy?

Bella stood up and her shirt went back down. Taking her stance she looked down at the hole then back at the ball and took her shot. The ball went, bounced off the back wall and ricocheted into the hole for a hole-in-one. I felt my eyebrows go up.

I tried clearing my throat, so that it wouldn't be so dry. "Nice shot." I commented.

Bella shrugged. "More luck than anything."

I was still thinking about her back when I put my own ball down. I tried concentrating on the ball and how I wanted it to bend, but it was hard. After a moments I decided to just hit the ball and pray for the best. I hit the ball, it ricocheted off the back wall and missed the hole by half an inch. Sighing I walked over to the ball and putted it easily the last two inches into the hole. I reached down and grabbed both Bella's and my own ball.

"Let it be known," Bella said coming up next to me and taking her ball from my hand. "that I was winning from the beginning." She said with a smirk.

Smiling I followed after her.

The next 10 holes went about the same as the first. Except hole 7 where Bella got a three. But besides that she got three more hole in ones and six two pointers. While I was at a steady two to three ratio. As we walked to hole 11 we passed a old gazebo that had Christmas lights intertwined with the green vines that had wrapped themselves around the posts holding up the roof.

"It's beautiful." Bella said, pausing in front of the white wood structure.

I watched her looking at the gazebo, lightly lighten and casting a warm glow onto Bella's face. It was the perfect picture. Thinking fast I quickly pulled out my phone from my pocket and snapped a quick photo, thankful that I had put my phone on silent earlier so it made no noise. I quietly slipped my phone back into my pocket before Bella turned back to me and we made our way to the next hole.

"Okay, I admit it, I am not very good at this game." I said staring down the 18th hole's coarse where I had just made a two pointer. "It just appears that everyone I usually play with stinks."

Bella who was standing off behind me giggled. "Aw now come one, you didn't stink." I looked back at her with a raised eyebrow. "You just really wanted to be the gentleman and pay for the desert as well as dinner."

I couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah, that was it. My chivalry got in the way of my game play."

Bella nodded. "Yep!"

"So you ready to get something to eat?" I asked as we made our way back to the building where we paid.

"Sure. You do owe me desert after all." She said with a giggle.

"Yes I do."

Taking Bella's putter and ball I quickly returned them to the guy behind the front desk; not giving the boy any opportunity to talk to Bella again.

Once we were back outside I slowed down our pace and ushered Bella to her side of the car. She started to get in, but lost her footing. Quickly I reached out and help steady her with a hand on the shoulder. Bella gave me a grateful look and got into the car, but I didn't move my hand away; I wanted to make sure she didn't stumble again.

Once she was seated I knew I was supposed to move my hand, but I found that I really didn't want to. Her skin was warm and soft to the touch. I stood there for a moment before I looked up and met Bella's gaze; then slowly I moved my hand down her shoulder blade and down to her elbow. I let my hand fall away from her arm and back down to my side. When I finally did my hand tingled; like little spurts of electricity going across my hand. I made my way to my side of the car, looking down at my hand. I flexed it a couple times before getting into the driver's seat trying to stop the feeling that was there.

"So where are we going to eat?" Bella asked while buckling herself in.

I shook away the feeling long enough to answer. "You can take your pick."

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Bella shrug. "I have only been to Port Angeles a few times before, I don't really know what anything is."

I thought about it for a few moments, still ignoring my hand, before deciding. "Okay, I know just the place then."

We rode in silence the four minute ride to a busier part of town where there was a boardwalk that had shops and eating joints all up and down it. I parked in front of a small independent clothes store. "Would you mind a little walking?" I asked, turning to Bella.

She shook her head and we both got out of the car. There was a good deal of people walking the boardwalk, couples, a few skateboarders, and some bicyclist. We walked up onto the old wooden boarded walkway and started down it; walking so close our shoulders brushed a little. Bella was walking right next to the shop's windows while I walked on the other side of her to keep her away from the crowd. Normally I hated crowds because I would brush people as they past and would be reminded of my past. But this time I didn't mind it as much because being as crowded as it was I had to step even closer to Bella at times to let people pass. Each time I did this I got another whiff of her intoxicating scent.

"Hey Edward?" Bella spoke up once we had been walking for a few minutes.

"Yeah?"

"About earlier? About the falling asleep thing." Oh no. What? Was she upset at me? Was she mad that I had fallen asleep? I was the guy, I was supposed to keep things like that from happening. "It's not going to cause us to be weird around each other is it?" She stopped like she was done, but then rushed on before I could answer. "Because I really don't want it to! I enjoy spending time with you and I don't want something like that to ruin it." She said looking down at her feet.

I gently pulled Bella to a stop by the elbow, my hand started tingling again. "Isabella, I don't intend to let anything stop us from spending time together." I told her meeting her gaze evenly and I saw her eyes widen a little.

She kept looking in my eyes, as if searching for something. "Why are you here with me right now?" She asked. I could see some panic and almost a terrified look in her eyes; like a deer caught in the head lights.

I kept her gaze. "Because I want to be." I replied with all the sincerity I could. I knew how little self worth she had, but I wanted her to know that not everyone saw her the way she saw herself.

Bella blinked a few times, as if trying to keep tears away. "But why?" She asked in a half whisper. "You could be with anyone you wanted to tonight! Why me? Why not someone else?" She asked, making it sound like a plea.

Not having any control over my body I leaned in close and brushed my knuckles gently across Bella's cheek. "Because," I said softly. "if I went with anyone else I wouldn't be spending tonight with you."

Bella's POV

"But why?" I choked out. I had no control over my mouth or mind. I was being plagued with these questions. It didn't make any sense! "You could be with anyone you wanted tonight! Why me? Why not someone else?" Was it some practical joke? But even as I thought it I knew that wasn't it. Edward wasn't capable of doing something like that. But then what?

Suddenly Edward's face was leaning in towards mine, his dark green eyes shown brilliantly from the shop's lights behind me and his hand came up to brush against my cheek. I felt a warmth spread from that spot, just as it had the first time he had done it. Then when he spoke it was so soft. "Because if I went with anyone else I wouldn't be spending tonight with you."

I looked deep into his eyes, trying to see if there was any evidence there to tell me if there was anything but truth there.

But all I saw was a earnest heart. How? How could Edward want to spend time with me? It couldn't possibly last. He was going to get bored with me eventually. Maybe none of this was real. Was all this just some dream? I didn't even know anymore.

We stood there for some time; before Edward touched the tip of my nose playfully. "Ready to get something to eat?"

I choked on a laugh. "Sure." Edward took my hand and put it through his arm so our arms were interlocked. I may not know when Edward was going to get tired of me, or if this was all just some dream; but if this was a dream I hoped to stay asleep for a long time.

It only took a few minutes to reach the restaurant that Edward was taking me to, La Bella Italia. Edward held the door open for me and we were greeted by a pretty female hostess wearing black pants, vest, and a white shirt. We waited for about 7 minutes before the hostess took us to a booth. She lead us through the main room where there was a crowd and not a open table. The room was lit with low lighting and there was a bar off on one side of the room. We were led into another side room with more tables and booths where there were only a two other tables taken. She seated us in a far corner, handed us our menus and told us our server would be with us shortly.

Edward leaned on the table. "This is my favorite place to eat. Anytime Esme or Carlisle wants to go out and have a nice dinner I always suggest this place."

"So you're saying if I don't like this place I lose nifty points?" I asked picking up my menu. "Holy crow this place is expensive!"

"Hold up-"

"Edward I can't let you pay for me here!" I cut him off.

"I can win in that argument in a second; but more importantly did you just say 'nifty points'?" Edward asked with a wide smile.

I shrugged. "Yeah. Why?"

Edward laughed. "I have just never heard anyone say that before!" He laughed again. "Sorry, so what were you saying about the food?"

I was so caught up in his laugh that I had to scramble to think of what I had been trying to say. "Uh, oh! I can't let you pay for me here! It's too expensive!" I cried.

Edward just shook his head. "I told you already, you aren't going to change my mind on this. Get whatever you want and don't you dare look at the prices."

Sighing I looked back down at the menu, but everything that I looked at the price for each thing jumped off the page at me. I groaned and looked at Edward over the top of the menu. He looked over the top of his and met my eyes. Shrugging he set his menu down on the seat beside him, then reached over and snatched mine out of my hands.

"Hey! What are you doing?" I asked confused.

"Well if you can't see anything but prices then I will just have to read off all your choices for you." He said as if that were the natural thing to do. He looked down at the menu, lips pursed. "Well they have a wonderful area of salads with all the dressings you can think of, as well as a decent selection of soups. They have a sea food platter, though I would recommend not getting that if you don't like sea food."

I sniggered and kept on listening, expecting his to stop at any moment. But to my great surprise he kept all going, listing item after item, adding little tidbits about certain things he really enjoyed. Our waitress walked up in the middle of his reading and got our drink order. When she came back with our drinks, Edward was still reading off food. Finally, laughing as I did so, I said, "The mushroom ravioli!"

Edward looked up from the menu and smiled. "Excellent choice."

A few minutes later the waitress came by and Edward gave her our order, Edward getting the seafood platter.

"Gosh Edward, if this is how you treat all your lady friends I don't know how you keep them all off you." I remarked.

Edward tilted his head a little, giving me a smoldering look. "Are you saying you want to be all over me?"

"WHAT?" I spluttered, choking down my sweet tea; the heat rising rapidly to my face. "N-n-no! That wasn't what I was saying! I just meant.. That…" I searched for the right words, but I couldn't find them.

Edward laughed. "Calm down Bella, I was just teasing you."

Still feeling the heat hot on my cheeks I ducked my head down and looked at my hands that were clasped in my lap.

"You know," Edward said after a moment. "when you do that your hair falls down and covers your face so that no one can see it."

I felt a hand come under my chin and gently lift it up where I met Edward's eyes. "Which is a pity because you do it quite frequently and your face is so lovely."

Again the heat burned on my face and I knew I was blushing fiercely. My heart was pounding in my chest and I desperately wanted to duck my head back down, but Edward hadn't released me from his gaze. "Please don't." He asked.

I don't know how, but somehow he saw it on my face that I wasn't going to bend my head again and he dropped his hand from under my chin.

What was this boy doing to me! I tried taking in a few deep breaths to calm myself some, but I don't know how much it actually worked.

"So do you miss home?" Edward asked a few minutes later.

I opened my mouth to 'very much'; but I stopped myself and instead what came out was. "Some times." 'Sometimes'? Where did that come from? I was shocked to realize that it was true.

"So would you want to stay here if your mother would let you?" Edward asked.

"I can't." I said immediately. There was no way I couldn't not go back. I had to. I just had to. Right?

Edward looked a little taken aback, but nodded.

A moment later our waitress returned with our food. We ate and talked some more, but Edward didn't ask about my leaving again. Instead we stayed on lighter topics such as Jenny, more music and things like that. I laughed and had fun. Real fun. By the time we left the restaurant and started back to Forks I was very confused.

I could barely remember the last time I had fun, true, pure fun. Edward's question rolled around in my head the whole ride home. "So would you want to stay here"

I couldn't. I just couldn't. ….could I? No. I had to go back. Maddie was there.

But sitting next to Edward in his car listening to music, I felt at home.

The idea of staying in Forks for good followed me all the way home. When we reached Charlies house Edward opened the car door for me and walked me up to the front door.

"Thank you for a wonderful evening Bella." He said with a charming crooked smile. "I look forward to many more like it."

I felt myself smile. "Me too." I said softly.

"Sleep well Bella." And with that he turned, walked back to his car and left.

Feeling like I was on a cloud I walked into the house and leaned into the door to shut it. I still had a smile on when I walked into the living room where Charlie was sitting on the couch.

"How was your night?" He asked as I walked past.

I turned at the stair case. "It was fun." And with that I headed up the stairs.

You could stay. It's what everybody wanted. Mom and dad seemed to think it was the right thing to do. I could stay…

I walked into the bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror. It was almost a completely different person than I was used to seeing. I was wearing a smile, a pink tint covered my cheeks giving them a sort of soft glow.

I could stay.

Maddie.

The word hit me like a blow to the ribs and I doubled over, gasping for breath. Maddie. I couldn't stay! I had to go back! Maddie was there! I couldn't just leave her! Not again. My stomach began to churn and I felt a burning sensation there.

Breathing hard I stumbled over to the toilet and leaned over it. With barely any effort I threw up everything I had eaten with Edward in a matter of seconds.

No; I couldn't stay.