Chapter 5

Infatuation

Six forty-five. Bella stood in front of the full-length mirror in her bedroom and gazed at the her reflection in awe. The dress fit like it was made for her, the sleeves and bodice as smooth as paint. Nothing she had ever worn had flattered her figure so. It made the most of her full bust and made her waist look tiny while hiding the hips and thighs that embarrassed her. (Which was why she never wore pants.)

She wished she had makeup. She wished she knew how to apply makeup.

Around her neck she wore the blue stone necklace. It circled around her collarbone, contrasting with her pale skin. The earrings winked in the light when she turned her head and the bracelet weighted down her wrist. She was nervous about wearing them. What if they were lost or damaged? (She had cleaned them by dipping each piece in rubbing alcohol, praying that the plating wouldn't come off.) Knowing that they had been his sister's made them even more of a precious burden. What had happened to his sister, anyway?

She had swept her hair back in a bun, the closest thing to a fancy hairdo she could manage. She considered unpinning it because he would be able to see plainly how her ears stuck out, and the blue stones adorning them only emphasized the flaw.

She gave a final twirl in front of the mirror sighing in delight at the way her skirt fanned out. She was wearing a pair of sneakers below it; she'd never even owned a pair of heels.

She couldn't do this. The woman in the mirror was not her.

Edward arrived at five minutes to seven. The man was stunning in an Armani suit; when he wore a tux, the angels wept. She opened the door and he simply stared at her, not moving, not speaking. She was similarly poleaxed.

"Jesus Christ, Bella, you're gorgeous," he finally said, breaking the silence of the mutual admiration-fest. "I knew you'd look lovely in this dress but you surpassed every expectation. Turn around for me, please."

Bella pirouetted., the skirt belling out around her legs, the gems at her throat and ears flashing. "Incredible," Edward pronounced. "You'll put every other woman there to shame."

"I wanted to talk to you about that, Edward. I'm sorry, but I can't go."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that I just can't do it. I know you're going to be mad at me, but I just can't."

He was silent for a long moment. Their eyes met and held. He seemed to be searching for something in her eyes, something he didn't find. A faintly puzzled expression came over his face. "Bella, can you please explain this to me? I want to understand."

Bella sat on the sofa. "All of the crowds, the noise... People looking at me funny when I refuse to shake their hand... It's too much pressure. All of those people who will be there, they knew my mother and father, and so they know about me. The crazy daughter. And they'll be oh-so-happy to see me again and they'll say witty, pretty things with a smile on their faces meant to disguise the undertone of malice. You don't even realize you've been insulted until you play back their words in your head later."

"Do you think I'd allow anyone to be cruel to you?"

Bella smiled sadly. "Thank you, Edward, for all that you did. You really tried to make this wonderful for me, and I'm sorry to disappoint you."

"Bella, look at me," he commanded.

She did.

"You can do this," he said, staring deeply into her eyes with a strangely intent expression.

She shook her head. "No, Edward I can't."

"Bella, listen to me. YOU CAN DO THIS."

"These aren't the droids you're looking for," Bella muttered. Edward recoiled in shock. Bella instantly felt ashamed for making light of his attempts to reassure her. She rose to her feet and started toward him but he was backing away from her, the strangest expression of bewilderment on his face.

"All right, Bella. I respect your decision. Good night." Edward gave her a little bow and strode out the door, shutting it behind him.

"Edward, wait!" Bella ran after him, throwing open the door. But Edward was already peeling down her driveway.

Once again, Edward was out with Bella and once again, Emmett was pacing and prowling around the apartment, torturing himself with images of Bella and Edward together, images of her dazzled by his charm, images of her in love with Edward, images of her weeping from a broken heart.

He looked around the apartment and wondered why he'd never noticed how cold and impersonal it was. It was elegantly decorated, sleek and modern with use of glass and metal and burnished wood, but it looked like a picture in a magazine, or a movie set, waiting to be brought to life by the characters.

They had no knick-knacks or photos, nothing that said anything about the people who lived here except that they had money. Even the art had been chosen because it matched the decor, not because it appealed to either of the residents.

Emmet had a few personal mementos in his bedroom, sentimental things that he had kept down through the years, but Edward's bedroom was just as bland and devoid of individuality as the rest of the apartment. Edward had exactly one personal possession he valued and kept with them through all of their travels, a small, plain wooden box. He refused to divulge its contents, but whatever it was, he had run into their burning house to save it during the great fire of 1666.

Emmett froze in his tracks when he heard the sound of Edward's car approaching. He glanced down at his watch to confirm what he already knew; Edward shouldn't be back yet. Something was wrong. He waited in the living room, anxious, impatient, feeling like one of those little yippy dogs that danced and barked their fool heads off waiting for their owners to finish unlocking the door.

Edward came through the door and went straight to the sofa, a blank look on his face. He didn't bother to remove his coat as he flopped down.

"Did Bella cancel your date?

It was a moment before Edward spoke. "She didn't want to go."

Emmett tried to refrain from grinning but wasn't completely successful. He rubbed beneath his nose as if he had an itch to hide it, which wouldn't have fooled Edward for an instant if he'd been less distracted since vampires never itched. "Did something happen?"

"It's what didn't happen. Have you tried to read her mind?"

"No." He'd decided he wouldn't violate her privacy in that manner, though sometimes he ached to know what she was thinking.

Edward ran his hands through his hair in frustration. "Well, I did. She's a blank. Either she hasn't a thought in her head or she's blocking me somehow. Both seem equally unlikely. Holy fuck, Emmett. No one has ever blocked me, not in- Well, a very long existence. Nothing! Absolute I couldn't control her."

"Why did you try?" Emmett asked, a little miffed.

Edward gave him an irritated glare. "It was for her own good. I tried telling her that she wasn't freaked out by the prospect of being out in public amongst her parents' peers. It didn't work."

Emmett now understood why Edward looked so shell-shocked. No one, especially a mortal, should be so powerful. He crossed the room in a blur of motion, grabbing his keys and coat. "I'm going over there."

"No offense, mate, but if it didn't work for me, I highly doubt it will work for you."

"I'm not going over there to work some mind mojo on her, Edward. I'm going over because she's probably upset at how quickly you walked out on her."

"Aw, fuck!" Edward dropped his head into his hands. "I was so taken aback that I didn't even- Ah, dammit." He slammed his fist down on the coffee table and it shattered magnificently. Edward jumped to his feet babbling an apology in between curse words. Emmett was amused and a little smug. It was usually Emmett who broke things by not remembering to curb his strength.

Bella was in tears. Emmett found her up in her garden, still dressed in the blue ballgown and sapphires, thick gardening gloves on her hands, working compost into the soil around her tomato plants.

"Bella?" he spoke softly but she still jumped.

"Oh, Emmett, I think I hurt Edward's feelings and I feel terrible about it!" she wailed. She sat down on a bag of potting soil, her five thousand dollar dress pooling around her sneakers on the gravel floor, and sobbed. She pulled off the gloves and wiped at her sodden cheeks.

"Bella." He said her name to get her attention and when she looked at him, Emmett caught her eyes and locked on.

-Shouldn't have said that, it wasn't a time for jokes-It was so mean of me to do that when he was trying so hard to be nice-

He could hear her.

"Bella," he commanded. "Stop crying."

Like a spigot that had been shut off, she did. She blinked rapidly, and reached up to touch the wetness on her cheeks as if surprised to find it there.

He could lock onto her mind and command her just as easily as any other human. It made no sense. Edward was a hundred times more powerful than Emmett.

He sat down beside her on the pile of soil bags. "I'm sorry your date didn't work out. You look beautiful."

"Thank you," she said, ducking her head, her cheeks pinkening.

From downstairs they could hear her cell phone begin to ring. "Want me to-" Emmet started.

Bella shook her head. "I don't want to answer it. I feel really bad but I need to think about what I'm going to say to him."

"You didn't hurt Edward's feelings," Emmett told her.

"You saw him? What did he say?"

Oh, God. He hated playing go-between and in this situation, he had no idea what to say. He couldn't very well tell her, "Edward was shocked he couldn't read your mind or command your actions." And he sure as fuck didn't feel like defending Edward to her.

"Bella, I really think you should discuss this with him. All I'm going to say is that it was nothing you did."

"He went to all that trouble and I ruined the evening." Bella started to cry again, silent tears rolling down her cheeks. Cautiously, Emmett took her hand, patting it in the only form of comfort he could deliver.

Bella allowed it, and to his surprise, she even leaned against his arm. Emmett remained absolutely still. Sobs began to shake her form and then her head was against his chest, her arms up around his neck. Slowly, he placed his own arms around her back. He was holding her in his arms, really holding her, a stage he hadn't imagined they'd reach for quite some time. Her soft, white throat was exposed to him, its vulnerable curve only inches away, the blue veins pulsing with life . Her mouth-watering scent burned his throat every time he inhaled. "Shh," he said softly. He rubbed her back and Bella snuggled closer. Emmett closed his eyes, trying to imprint this moment on his memory indelibly. Emmett spoke to her in soft murmurs, probably too low to be intelligible, telling her how sweet and lovely she was.

After a while, her sobs stilled and she sniffled quietly. Emmett continued to murmur to her until she sat up and drew away. "I got your t-shirt all wet," she said, scrubbing at her tearstained cheeks with the heels of her hands.

"Don't worry about it." As reluctant as Emmet was to let her go, he needed the space. His fangs had elongated from her mouth-watering scent and her soft, warm body pressing up against him was awakening other appetites. He tugged surreptitiously at the hem of his t-shirt to ensure his lap was covered.

"I hugged you!" Bella said with a proud smile. "I haven't hugged anyone since my parents died."

"You can have a hug whenever you want one," Emmett offered. "I'll even throw in some free hand-holding."

Bella chuckled. "You felt cold. Where's your coat?"

He was always at room temperature unless he intentionally warmed himself by doing something like soaking in a hot bath. "I left it in my car. I was in a hurry and forgot to put it on."

"You hurried over here for me," Bella said in soft wonder. "Because you thought I might be upset."

"Yeah."

"You're so sweet, Emmett. Thank you."

"Bella, if you'll give me the privilege of being the one to hold you when you cry, I'll be a happy man."

A soft crunch of gravel. They both looked up and saw Edward standing in the greenhouse door. Emmett hadn't heard his car approach, distracted by the delightful novelty of holding Bella in his arms, but he should have guessed Edward would come when Bella hadn't answered her phone. "Am I interrupting?" he asked, his expression strangely hesitant and vulnerable. Emmett had never seen him look this way and it set off some alarms in a distant part of his brain.

"Oh, Edward, I'm so sorry," Bella said, her voice rough from her tears.

"You don't have to be sorry." Edward came to kneel in front of her, his black, tux-clad knee digging into the gravel. "It was my fault. I pushed you too hard, Bella."

Edward kneeling, their faces were level. "I didn't mean to be glib when you were trying to encourage me. It was insulting and I apologize."

"Sweetheart, don't worry about it." Edward gave her one of his crooked smiles. "Besides, it was sort of funny. I didn't realize you were a Star Wars geek. For a chick with no TV, you sure know your pop culture references."

Bella grinned at him, feeling a little better about the situation. "I've never seen Star Wars, but I once saw that line used in a book."

Edward gave her a look of exaggerated horror. "You've never seen Star Wars? Good God."

Bella giggled and ducked her head. Emmett gritted his teeth. He was glad she was no longer upset, but he wanted to be the one who made her laugh. He eyes the shovel leaning up against a nearby planter and entertained himself with a vision of bashing Edward over the head with it.

"Seriously, Edward," Bella said. "You're not angry? Tell me the truth."

"I solemnly swear it," Edward said.

"Friends?" And to Emmett's dismay she stuck out her hand.

Edward took it gently. "Friends."

Emmett arrived home a few hours before dawn and went to the room that he and Edward referred to as "the office" though no one ever did any office work in there. It was the repository of their financial papers, accountant statements and tax returns. The Rolodex on the desk at which no one ever sat had the numbers of various business associates, the people who paid their bills for them, invested their money and kept the IRS happy. Emmett found the number for his lawyer's cell phone and dialed.

It only rang twice before Jenks answered, his voice gravelly with sleep. "It's 3 A.M., on a weekend, Emmett. I'm guessing you must be in jail."

Emmett chuckled. "No, it's something much more interesting. I've got a project for you."

Jenks was a dayman, one of the humans who served vampires by protecting them at their most vulnerable time, and took care of the tasks interacting with the human world which needed done during the day, hence the name. Though they were called "daymen" around half of them were actually "daywomen". The term was just a holdover from earlier, less politically-correct, times.

Daymen weren't ordinary people. Something in their physiology set them apart from other humans. Their lives were longer, but not extraordinarily so, they tended to be hardier in their constitutions, and they smelled awful to vampires. It was theorized that the smell was a protection, a way to keep the vampires from seeing them as a convenient meal or forming a short-lived romantic attachment.

Their attachment to their vampires a simple employer-employee relationship. Vampires and their daymen had a deep emotional bond, platonic soul-mates.

When a dayman was discovered among the human population, they were invited to enter into service, guaranteed to be lavishly compensated and cared for until the day they died. They could never, however, become vampires themselves. Something in their blood, their physical makeup, made that impossible. The ones who attempted the change always died painfully.

If they accepted the invitation, they were entered into the VAMPbase, a registry of all vampires loyal to the Queen, and went through a selection process much like a combination of a job interview and a dating agency. Vampires searching for a dayman interviewed potential candidates. If they were going to "click", it happened almost instantaneously. If the connection was not made, both parties moved on to other candidates until they found their match. If they turned down the invitation, their memories were erased and they were sent back out into the human world.

Emmett himself had never had a dayman and neither had Edward. Edward preferred to hire whatever people were necessary to take care of his business and since this meant Emmett's affairs were taken care of as well, he'd never sought to have his own dayman.

Jenks was dayman to Esme Cullen, a sweet but rather scatter-brained woman who was practically helpless, needing his assistance for even the simplest of tasks. (She had once called Emmett for help when Jenks was busy with a client because she needed to put gas in her car and had no idea how to do it.) Jenks loved her dearly and she suited his meticulous, protective nature. He had been an attorney before he was discovered and he continued on in that capacity, now serving his vampire clients' legal needs. He was also an incredibly skilled forger and was able to create the identity documentation that was becoming increasingly necessary.

Emmett detailed Bella's ideas for her restaurant. When he finished, Jenks was silent for a moment. "I'm going to need you to repeat that, Emmett. Did you really just say a restaurant for the homeless?"

"I did. Bribe, extort and blackmail whoever you need to in order to get the necessary permits, do whatever you have to do. Hire as many people as you need to get it done, and done as soon as possible. I also need you to get a chef for the place, a really good one."

"Um, Emmett, as your financial adviser I think I need to tell you that you're probably going to lose money on this venture. A lot of money."

"I can afford it," Emmett said. "And I'd imagine Bella is going to insist on repaying my capital outlays."

"You want press for this?"

"No. It's Bella's vision, not mine, and she's a very private person."

"It'd be a hell of a PR boost for the companies you own."

"I'll pass. Listen, if you can't find a suitable place, build one. Preferably downtown near the Clinton Street bridge."

"God, Emmet, it would have been much simpler if you were calling me from jail. This little 'project' of yours makes a trial look like a picnic."

"You need a challenge every now and then. Keeps you on your toes."

Jenks grumbled, but said he'd start work Monday morning. Emmett hung up, satisfied.

Bella didn't usually swear, but when the delivery men showed up the next morning with a huge box, the words that popped out of her mouth were, "What the fuck is this?"

One of the men bore a vague resemblance to Keanu Reeves. He looked very bored. "Delivery, ma'am."

"Yes, I can see that, but what is it and why is it here? I didn't order anything."

"You're Isabella M. Swan? At 221 Cliffside Drive?"

"Yes, but-"

Keanu interjected, "Lady, this box is really heavy and we really need to move on, so can we please bring it inside?"

Bella sighed in defeat. "Yeah, all right."

They set the box down in the living room and thrust an electronic signature pad at her. Bella recoiled. She could see ground-in grime on the buttons. She excused herself for a moment and fetched a pair of latex gloves. She studiously ignored their stares as she signed the pad.

After they left, she walked around the box and discovered a card envelope with her name handwritten on it. She slit the envelope and fished out the contents. The note was written on heavy, creamy paper with Edward's name at the top. She gave a soft snort. Only Edward would have his own embossed stationery.

Bella, Don't be mad, it read. I thought it would be fun to watch Star Wars with you. To get the full effect, you really should watch it on the big screen, but I didn't think you'd wish to go to the theater again. When I come over tonight, I'll hook it up for you. Edward.

He'd bought her a TV and a DVD player. A BIG TV, the sort of ostentatious thing that she despised. It didn't even fit in her small living room. Would he next get her a new house with more room for the TV?

He'd written "when I come over", not asking her permission, just assuming she'd vacate any plans for him. Or maybe he thought she had nothing better to do.

She grabbed her cell phone off the counter and waited. As soon as it rang, she punched the green button and said, "Take it back."

"Take what where?" It was Emmett and he sounded very confused.

"I'm sorry, Emmett. I thought it would be Edward calling promptly after the arrival yet another one of his surprise deliveries."

"Oh, shit. What is it this time?"

"A television that's taller than I am. Oh, and a DVD player. He wants to watch Star Wars."

"Bella, he's... uh... used to girls who appreciate these sort of over-the-top extravagant gestures."

Bella felt like tearing out her hair in frustration. "You'd think he would have figured out by now that I don't. Is he home? Can you put him on the phone?"

Emmett told her to hold on and she heard knocking and them the low rumble of male conversation. "Bella!" Edward said, sounding annoyingly chipper. "Good morning."

"Edward, I haven't had my caffeine yet, so I'm going to try to make this as brief as possible. There's a huge box in my living room and I want it gone."

"Please, don't get upset-"

"I AM UPSET!" she shouted. "God, Edward, don't you understand? I don't like this stuff. I don't want a giant TV in my living room. I don't want a cell phone and I don't want your sister's jewelry."

"Who?" he asked and Bella's gut went cold. Her defenses went past Defcon One and into all out thermonuclear war. "To worry, worry super-scurry/Call the troops out in a hurry/This is what we've waited for/This is it, boys, this is war."

"Your sister," she repeated, her voice rigid and icy. "Remember, the one who used to own the jewelery set?"

He was silent. In her mind, air raid sirens were blaring and the missile silos were confirming their launch codes.

"You never had a sister, did you?"

"I did, actually" he said. "She died long, long ago. Bella-"

"The jewelery didn't belong to her, did it?"

He sighed. "No, it didn't."

Bella took a deep breath. Her hands were cold and trembling. "I want you to come get this stuff. I want it out of here. Now."

"Please, Bella-"

"You lied to me," she accused.

"I knew you wouldn't accept them if you thought I'd bought them just for you. But, Bella, I wanted you to have them. I told you, I like giving gifts. I liked seeing you in silk and gems. You're not above a little fib now and then, yourself. Remember, you said you had a cell phone when you didn't."

Maybe it made her a hypocrite but Bella didn't see her lie about the phone in the same light. "So, that excuses lying to me to trick me into accepting your gift?"

"I'm sorry." He sounded more exasperated than apologetic.

"No, you're not. You're just sorry I called you on it." She hung up the phone and turned the power off. She slid the phone into the envelope taped to the side of the box and went into her bedroom. The blue dress was hanging from her closet door. She stroked the soft fabric and tears swam in her eyes. She yanked down the dress and tossed it on her bed. She'd put the box in which it had been delivered into her recycling bin. She pulled it out now and stuffed the dress inside, tossing the box containing the jewels on top of it.

She gazed at them just once more before putting on the lid and wished for a moment that she could be the girl who wore that dress and went to the opera wearing a small fortune in jewels and could get excited about a man buying things for her, his high-handedness in deciding things for her. But she wasn't that girl, and no matter how hard Edward tried, he couldn't make her become that girl.

That was the problem, wasn't it? Edward wanted to change her. Maybe those changes would be for the better in some respects, but it spoke to her deepest insecurities, that no one could ever love her just the way she was. Everyone had to try to re-shape her into something different.

Everyone but Emmett.

Emmett had his own issues. Suicidal, possibly addicted to drugs and she was pretty sure he was just about as insecure as she was.

Which probably made him the perfect match for her, when you came right down to it.

"Pissed her off, did you?" Emmett said with a small smirk when Edward called, "Bella? Bella?" into a dead connection.

"This isn't funny, goddamit!" Edward roared. He threw the phone and it burst into fragments against the wall.

"Edward, what the fuck!" Emmett stared at him "I've never seen you like this."

"I've never felt like this," Edward said grimly. "I don't know what's happening to me." He sat down and buried his face in his hands. "This is crazy. I can't believe I'm so worked up over a girl I've known for four days. I have- I have feelings for her, Emmett."

"I know." Emmett sat down beside him.

"I wish I could ask you for advice," Edward said with a humorless smile.

"I'll tell you this: it's not about what you want for Bella. It's about what Bella wants."

Edward leaned forward eagerly. "What's that?"

"That's the point. You never bothered to find out. You treated her just like you've treated all of your flings, expecting the same game to work on her. But she's not like that. I tried to tell you that from the start."

"I know she's different. That's why she intrigues me so."

Emmett stood.

"Where are you going?"

"To get the phone in the living room. I've got to call a delivery company and get them over to Bella's house to collect all that shit you sent her." He looked back at Edward, sitting dejected on the edge of his bed and felt a flash of pity for him. It had to be bewildering to have emotions for the first time in... however old he was, and worse, to have no idea how to express them properly.

That evening, it was Emmett who headed over to visit Bella, Edward disappearing for parts unknown. He tapped on Bella's back door and listed to the sound of her footsteps as she approached. Her face was intentionally passive until she discovered who stood outside and then she was all smiles. "Emmett! Hi, come in."

He followed her into the kitchen where a skillet steamed on the stove. "I made dinner. Hope you're hungry."

Emmett inwardly cringed. "Sure. What are you making?"

"Stir-fry. Do you like tofu?"

"I've never had it," he said honestly. He seated himself at the kitchen table.

"I hope you'll like it." Bella went on, happily chatting about the properties of tofu while Emmett just watched her. She was wearing a loose blue gingham dress that covered her from collarbone to shin, her hair simply caught back at the nape of her neck with a rubber band and ratty old sneakers. Emmett thought that he'd never seen a more beautiful, sexy creature in all of his days.

She put a plate before him, overflowing with fried vegetables and rice. The little white chunks must be the tofu. She placed a pair of lacquered chopsticks on his napkin. "Um, I've never used those before," Emmett said.

"Hey, no time like the present to try," Bella said cheerfully. "It's no big deal if you drop stuff. It's just me here."

That wasn't terribly comforting since she was the person he most wanted to impress.

"Asian food is designed to be eaten with chopsticks. Using anything else is like eating spaghetti with a spoon." She seated herself and picked up her own pair of chopsticks. "Hold them like this."

Emmet tried to get his big, clumsy fingers to cooperate.

"Think of them as extensions of your fingers. The bottom one doesn't move, it just rests in the crook of your thumb. Use the top one like your index finger." She waggled her chopsticks in demonstration.

Emmett finally got them positioned as she'd instructed and tried to pick up a carrot slice. The sticks skittered apart. He tried again and dropped the top stick. He looked up at Bella, worried she was mocking him, but she just gave him an encouraging smile. He chastised himself. How could he think that she would make fun of him? Bella didn't have a mean bone in her body.

He redoubled his efforts and somehow managed to transfer a piece of broccoli from the plate into his mouth.

Bella was plucking morsels off her own plate, as light as a bird. "You did it! See, it's easy once you get the hang of it."

Emmet chewed, trying valiantly to appear as though he was enjoying it. He swallowed heavily, trying to force the chunk of food down his resisting throat. He went for a chunk of the tofu, but it was slippery and annoyingly difficult to pinch between the sticks. Ah! Almost got it! There!

The bit of tofu flicked between his sticks, sailed across the table and hit Bella in the cheek.

Emmet was horror struck.

Bella giggled. "So, it's war, is it?" she said and flicked a carrot disc at him. Emmett caught it out of the air and launched it back at her.

"That's cheating!" Bella cried. "You can only launch missiles with your chopsticks!"

"I don't remember agreeing to that," Emmett said, flicking a pea at her.

"All civilized nations abide by the rules of war! It's on page three of the Geneva Convention."

"I'm a rogue nation. I take no prisoners." He kept up a steady bombardment of vegetables, which Bella attempted to dodge. She retaliated with broccoli, but it only made it to the middle of the table before falling with a plop.

"Four out of ten," Emmett judged. "Nice execution but poor distance."

It turned out that little of the food was actually eaten. As uptight as she was about messes, Bella seemed to enjoy their little food fight, giggling every time he lobbed a bit of food in her direction. It was another memory he wanted to capture and keep forever, Bella's eyes sparkling with laughter.

Clean up after the meal took longer than usual, but they finally finished. Emmett waited until she was occupied with putting away the cleaning supplies before slipping up to the greenhouse. He opened the compost bin and set about ridding himself of the few bites of food he'd had to consume.

He heard Bella come up the stairs and he quickly shut the lid.

"What were you doing with your head in the compost bin?" Bella asked.

"Uh... er... smelling it?"

Bella chuckled. "No one believes me when I tell them it doesn't smell bad. Anyway, I'm not gardening tonight. I was planning to go for a walk. Would you like to join me?"

They went down the fire escape toward the cliffs, though to Emmett's relief, they headed away from the area where she'd found him, waiting for dawn. Walking along cliffs at night would sound like a recklessly unsafe pastime but Bella knew these cliffs like the back of her hand and never strayed too close to the edge. About a mile down shore, there was a staircase set into the cliffs which led down to a beach below. At the bottom, Bella shyly held her hand out to Emmett, who eagerly clasped it in his own. Hand-in-hand, they strolled down the beach.

It was a beautiful night, cool but not cold, the moon bright over the waves. They walked slowly in companionable silence.

Emmett had always considered himself brave. He was the first to rush in to rescue a friend or stranger, never back down in a fight and was always willing to try new things. But asking Bella the question that burned in his mind scared him. If he'd had a heart, it would have been pounding.

He stopped walking and pulled Bella gently by her hand closer to him. She looked up at him, questions in her eyes. He finally worked up the courage to say it. "Bella, may I kiss you?"

Bella hesitated.

"Just like this," he promised, touching the back of two fingers to her hand. "Just a touch."

After a moment, Bella nodded and he leaned in slowly, letting her get used to his proximity. Her breath hitched and her heart raced.

Closer.

Closer.

Bella closed her eyes.

His lips touched hers, a soft feather brush of a kiss. A jolt of electricity zipped through Bella's stomach.

Her first kiss. On a moonlit beach with a handsome man. She couldn't have asked for a more perfect moment.

He brushed his cool, firm lips over her cheek, her forehead, her eyelids. "You're trembling," he said softly. He wrapped her in his arms and held her against his chest, kissing the top of her head.

"I didn't freak you out, did I?" he asked. He didn't want to make Edward's mistakes, pushing her into something she didn't want.

"No," she replied quickly. "It was- it was... nice."

"Nice?" he teased.

Bella's face was beet red and her heart was racing but she tried for nonchalant. "I guess you'll just have to do better next time."

Next time. Emmett felt a wide, stupid, gleeful grin split his face.

Icing.