Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own twilight (weeps) or Edward (sobs)

This is Bella's POV of before, and after Edward picks her up for their date

When I woke up I stretched and glanced at my watch, I couldn't believe it, it was already 9:30. I stumbled out of bed-literally and trudged down the stairs, still in my pajamas. I was pouring my cereal when I saw Charlie's note:

Bella,
Gone fishing with Harry Clearwater, be back around 3, looking forward to meeting Edward
Dad

I wasn't looking forward to dad meeting Edward at all, mainly because it would mean that I would have met Edward's parents already. Honestly I know that its silly to be scared, I had rung Alice in panic yesterday, and by all accounts Carlisle and Esme were great, but things were going so well with Edward, what if I said or did something to stuff it all up.

So I dressed with extra care, wearing a pre-approved (by Alice) outfit and pulling my hair into a low ponytail. I 11glanced at my watch again, I still had an hour and a half before Edward picked my up for our date, so I cleaned, releasing all my nervous energy into scrubbing the kitchen counter. Alice would have been horrified that I was cleaning in my date outfit, but years of cleaning up after a scatterbrained, extremely busy mom had made me deft and I successfully made the kitchen spotless while keeping my outfit in the same condition, and thank goodness, because as soon as I had finished putting away all the cleaning supplies the doorbell rang.

I skipped to the door and flung it open. Edward was standing at the door, perfect as always, holding a bunch of freesias in one hand. He extended these towards me and said in a clearly embarrassed tone

"Um these are for you, they remind me of you… it seemed romantic at the time but in hindsight it's a little lame". I didn't think it was lame at all, I took the flowers eagerly

"You were right the first time, a very romantic gesture Mr. Cullen and not at all lame."

Edward blushed,

"Thanks"

"Edward, did you just blush?"

"I might have"

"Edward" I scolded, "you know that's my forte."

He gave a small laugh and I beckoned him inside

"Come on in while I put these flowers in a vase" I directed him, pushing the door even wider, welcoming him in.

I searched for a vase while Edward inspected my house. I was kneeling on the kitchen bench, searching the high cupboards, cursing the fact that I hadn't asked Charlie to give me a comprehensive tour of the house, when I spotted a vase at the back of the left cupboard. I pulled it down and filled it with water, putting the flowers in and setting it on the counter. Edward broke the comfortable silence

"Your kitchen is really clean Bella."

"I clean when I'm nervous" I confided.

"What did you have to be nervous about?" I raised my eyebrows; Edward knew exactly what I was nervous about. "Come on Bella, lets get going to the movies".

I ran outside and hopped in the front seat of his Volvo. Edward climbed in as well and gave me one of his crooked smiles- I felt my heart speed up as we pulled out of the driveway. Just as it was slowing down my heart speed up again, put for an entirely different reason

"Edward slow down"

"Relax Bella, I am an excellent driver"

"You and Alice should join some kind of suicidally fast drivers club" I sulked.

Edward laughed and started mocking me,

"For your information we already belong to one, I am the President and she is the Treasurer."

We continued with the same kind of mindless teasing and before I knew it – thanks to the President of the Kamikaze Drivers Association- we were pulling up in front of the cinema.

We walked up to the ticket seller, having previously established that we would see When a Stranger Calls, the only decent looking movie out at the moment. The ticket seller was wearing a top that was at least two sizes too small for her, and as Edward approached she leaned forward, squeezing her breasts together and batting her eyelashes. I frowned, and Edward, being the unbelievably attentive boyfriend that he is, noticed, he wrapped his arm around my waist and kissed my forehead. I noticed with intense pleasure the look of crushing disappointment on the ticket girls face and gave her a little smile.

"Hi, can we please get two tickets to When a Stranger Calls?" asked Edward, handing the girl some money. She slid our tickets and change towards us and said in that same bored tone that every cinema worker uses,

"You'll be in cinema two, please hold on to your tickets and enjoy your movie"

In that 90 minutes I learnt something important about myself- I don't cope well with tension. I spent the entire time clutching Edwards arm occasionally jumping and burying my head in his chest. Normally I would be embarrassed but I was way to scared. Edward, on the other hand, was calm and collected throughout the whole ordeal, he even laughed at one point- at the same time I was on the verge of tears.

"What's so funny?" I had hissed at him.

"Its just so ridiculous and clichéd" he had replied.

I had taken my head away from his chest and was staring at him openmouthed, I was about to explain exactly why When a Stranger Calls was in fact full of tension and surprise when the police called the girl and said

"We've tracked the call…it's coming from inside your house."

And with that I let out a horrified gasp and wormed closer to Edward. He gave a little chuckle and said under his breath

"Women", but held me close all the same.

W walked out of the cinema, Edward's arm still around me, and I turned to him and said

"We are never going to see another horror movie ever"

"I liked it!" Edward's statement had me confused.

"I thought that 'its so ridiculous and clichéd"'

" I didn't like the movie Bella" he said, talking to me like I was a two year old

"What did you mean then?"

"I liked it when you got scared and hugged me" Edward explained as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. I was flattered, and of course, as red as a tomato.

"You don't need to make me scared to get me to hug you" I said. And it was true; hugging Edward was one of my favorite things in the world, besides kissing him. As we walked to La Bella Italia I stood on tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek.

Edward responded by moving me around so that we were kissing full on the mouth.

He moved so one hand was in my hair, the other on the small of my back, pressing me close to him. We stayed like that, stationary on the street, in our own little world for what seemed like forever, swaying to our own rhythm, before we had to break away, both gasping for breath.

We stayed latched on to each other, our foreheads touching, chests moving up and down, before Edward kissed me on the cheek.

"You" he said kissing my face, "are incredible." I shivered, painfully aware of Edward as he started kissing my neck.

"You're pretty good yourself" I gasped, tilting my head back, giving him full access to my throat.

Our moment was interrupted far to soon my an old man who was forced to walk around us grumbling, "Kids these days, all they think about is sex."

We both laughed and kept walking to the restaurant. We sat in a private booth, shielded from the jealous stares of the other female patrons of the restaurant, and, free from Emmett's jibes, basked in each other's presence, talking about everything and nothing at the same time.

Once we had finished and paid, Edward turned to me and said, "Alright Bells, time to meet my parents" I was naturally terrified, but tired not to show it, Edward had been nothing but the perfect boyfriend and I knew that me meeting his parents was something he was very excited about. So I jumped into his Volvo and didn't say a word as we drove to his house.

When we got there I gasped, his house was huge. Edward got out of the car and walked around to my side, opening the door. I was about to walk to the house when Edward trapped me against the car.

"You're being very quiet Bella, what exactly are you worried about?" he asked.

"That your parents won't like me, that I'll make a fool out of my self and that in a fit of klutziness I'll break something." I replied with difficulty, Edward was looking directly at me, so close I could see his chest move with every breath he took.

"Well" he whispered, "I am going to make you forget all those things", Edward leaned even closer, kissing my neck lightly. I tried to retain my ability to think, and replied

"Good luck with that." But Edward could hear the uncertainty in my voice, and he smelled an easy victory. He leaned in again and kissed me softly on the lips.

All thoughts of fear, of anything that was not Edward had been banished from my head, my brain had shorted out as soon as his lips touched mine, and he was all I could think of: Edward, Edward, Edward. Too soon he broke away, taking my hand and leading me to his house. I followed blindly, still a little dazed. Edward squeezed my hand, before ringing the doorbell. In a few seconds the door was answered by an older man. He smiled and spoke in a voice eerily similar to Edward's,

"Hello, I'm Carlisle, you must be Bella, come on in." As Edward and I walked inside Carlisle turned towards the back garden and called loudly, "Esme, Edward and Bella are here". As we walked to the kitchen I saw a women with the same emerald eyes as Edward emerge from the garden, pulling off her gloves, and dusting off her jeans. She extended her hand towards me and said, or rather sang in her light musical voice

"Hello, I'm Esme, its very nice to met you Bella." I shook her hand,

"Hi, its nice to meet you too." Edward laughed, and I looked at him quizzically,

"Oh please Bella, you were terrified of meeting my parents." I instantly turned scarlet, and whacked Edward on the arm. He just smiled his crooked smile and instantly I had forgiven him. Carlisle and Esme smiled at us and Esme exclaimed

"You two are so cute! And you're right Edward, Bella's blush is adorable." Edward grinned,

"I know," he said, slinging his arm around my neck. We stayed in the kitchen for a while, eating some delicious brownies that Esme had made before Edward turned to me and said, "So do you want to see my room." I nodded, and he led me up a winding staircase. We passed lots of rooms in the long corridor that followed the staircase before making our way right to the end of the hall. Edward stopped me and gestured towards the last door,

"My room" he said, opening the door and walking me inside. His room was beautiful. The southern wall was one huge window, and I could tell it was one of those rooms that relied on natural light. He had a large bed in the center of the room, and a long black leather couch. One entire wall was taken up with CDs, and the floor was covered with a thick golden carpet. The walls were hung with a darker fabric. I pointed to the fabric confused, and Edward answered my unspoken question "Good acoustics."

"What's with the millions of CDs?" I asked

"I buy a lot of music, is that a problem Miss Swan?"

I ran my hand along the CDs, taking in the versatile genres. "There's just so many" I mused. Edward walked over to stand beside me, placing his hand on my back.

"What do you want to do now?" he asked

"Lets play 20 questions" I said, excited to learn more about my boyfriend.

"Okay" he agreed, "You go first." I thought for a while

"What's your favorite colour?"

"Pink", okay, I made a mental note, favorite colour pink, wait…

"PINK? Why pink, isn't that a little girly"

"It's the colour you turn when you blush" I was once again flattered, and to prove his point I flushed the colour he claimed to love so much.

"Its stupid to base a favorite colour on someone else" I stated, trying to hide my embarrassment.

"Oh yeah, what's your favorite colour?" he asked. Damn, he'd caught me

"Emerald" I muttered, defeated.

"What's wrong with that?" he asked. Idiot. I dragged him to his mirror and pointed at his reflection, specifically at his eyes. I saw understanding in his eyes and he smiled and kissed me lightly, "So based on your assessment we are both stupid"

"Yes"

"I guess we are, stupid, silly teenagers in love", he teased. I had a momentary freak out when I thought he was saying he loved me, I'm not ready for this, not at all, but then I realized he was just joking with me, and let out a small sigh of relief. I reached for his hand and entwined it with my own, kissing him on the cheek. After that we kept playing 20 questions, learning stupid insignificant things about each other before I noticed the time, 5:30.

"Time to go to Charlie's" I said. As we walked out the door, I turned around, saying good-bye to Carlisle and Esme when I saw the piano, slightly to the left. It was beautiful, "Who plays?" I asked pointing at it.

"Oh Edward does" replied Esme, "didn't he tell you he was musical". I glared at Edward

"No, he didn't, but next time that we come over I'm making him play" I said. Edward pushed me out the door, and Carlisle called after us,

"Looking forward to it."

Please Review!