A/N:

Hi everyone!

Thanks so much for the amount of people who added this story to their alerts! I really appreciate it and I hope you'll continue liking this story!

As to the posting schedule, let's throw that out of the window. I'm really busy at school so I'll try to post twice a week, but it's hard. I don't think I'll post anything until Monday, but it's possible. Let's hope I'll find some time to write :)

Thanks for the reviews I got last chapter and I hope you'll continue to show your support :)

Disclaimer: Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer, I'm only playing with the characters. (But enjoying it immensely ;) )

This chapter is unbeta'ed, all the mistakes are mine.

Have fun reading and don't forget to Revieww!

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Previously on Stay:

"Sorry, okay? I was just startled. I didn't mean to snap at you like I did," he reached out for my hand, and I gladly gave it. He rested our hands on the gear stick.

"I know," I said.

"I'm really sorry. I should've been more careful," Edward chuckled. "You're pretty distracting when you're letting yourself that free," he smiled at me and his grin was crooked. I laughed.

We held hands the entire ride to Port Angeles; I liked it, enjoyed it, and loved it.

Chapter 7

BPOV

It was nearing Twilight outside when we reached the outdoor rink. Port Angeles had one every year. Next to it was a stand that sold hot chocolate and had the best cookies; they tasted like they were made by someone's grandma.

Edward and I had made a tradition out of it. We had gone every year since we were six. Then of course our parents had brought us and taken a gazillion of pictures of us – two little kids trying to skate a little without falling on their butt every single minute. I still have one of those pictures hanging above my desk; Edward and I, both 8 years old, holding hands and skating next to each other.

We grabbed our skates from the trunk of the car and walked to the little office that was attached to the rink. A little fat man with an adorable smile accepted our money and wished us a lot of fun. Soon we were sitting down on the benches and putting on our skates. Edward had ice hockey skates while I had figure skates. Edward had played some ice hockey for the club in Port Angeles a few years ago, but had to quit after getting a knee injury.

You'd probably think; Bella? The Bella who falls over her own feet? She skates? You'd be surprised how well I can actually maneuver on the ice.

Edward was done soon with lacing his skates. I was being my usual clumsy self and was still busy on the first skate. Edward squatted in front of me, grabbed my foot and slit my skate on. He began lacing it, but asked every once in a while if it wasn't too tight.

He patted my foot when he was done; I was still busy doing the other foot.

Edward laughed and shook his head, swatting my fumbling hands away and began lacing that one too.

"Could I hire you as my personal assistant? It seems like I could use one," I remarked seriously. He looked up at me and showed me his crooked grin. I smiled back.

"I don't think you have to hire me, I pretty much am already," he joked. I poked him in the chest. Of course he barely felt it since he was wearing his thick and warm coat.

He stood from his position and helped me up from the bench.

"I don't mind being your unpaid personal assistant at all, Bella. It gives me a reason to be with you all the time," he said and I swooned.

He pulled my beanie down over my ears and I did the same to him. He bowed a little so I could reach his head without reaching up too much. I pulled on my mittens and grabbed his hand again.

He was holding both my hands and we slowly walked to the rink over the rubber ground. I was leaning on Edward because right now I was in a very hard position. Instead of walking on both my feet which was a challenge already, I was walking on two very thin blades.

This situation is just asking for a broken leg and an ambulance.

"Don't look at your feet so much," Edward broke me out of my telepathy ambulance call.

And then we were on the ice.

There were only three other people on the rink; a female and male, with a child. I was assuming it was a family outing. I smiled inwardly and remembered when we were six. Edward and I holding on to each other for life, not wanting to let go or one of us would fall down. If we tried hard, maybe even the both of us.

"Let's go slow the first round, okay?" Edward said. I nodded.

He went in front of me and skated backwards, holding onto my hands like we always did.

"How could you even skate backwards? I can barely even skate in a straight line!" I exclaimed, looking down at how my skates made contact with the ice.

Edward let one of my hands go and put a finger underneath my chin. "Don't look at your skates all the time," he repeated himself from a few moments ago. "Sorry, sir," I said mockingly.

Then he let go.

"Edward!" I whisper-yelled.

"What? You can skate just fine. Do it on your own," he said with a reassuring smile.

In my periphery I could see the family exiting the rink, which meant we were now alone on the ice.

Edward kept skating backwards and I took mini slides toward him, but every time he was just out of my reach.

He turned around so we could skate next to each other. I was back to feeling okay on the ice, so I gained some speed. Edward had to accelerate a bit too, and he reached for my hand. We were skating egg-shaped rounds now, and smiling and laughing.

I was admiring the experience; the little lights illuminating the dark sky, the smell of hot chocolate and ice invading my senses and of course the amazing feeling of holding onto Edward. My best friend. The person I could count on. The person I could sing with. The person who read my deepest thoughts through my stories. The person I grew up with. The person I loved so dearly. The person I wanted to be more with than just friends.

I wanted more. I wanted him. I wanted us together.

My eyes opened in shock, I hadn't even realized I had closed them. I was pulled out of my concentration and fell on my butt. Edward landed on his back half on top of me.

"Bella!" he laughed so carefree.

His eyes shone, the edges of his mouth pulled up into a smile and a few strands of his unruly but special bronze colored hair peeked out from underneath his dark green beanie.

He stood and grabbed my hand to help me up.

That brought us face to face, and fairly close too. Only a few centimeters of cold air was between us. I could see the air he breathed out in white clouds, and it mixed with mine. The tip of his nose was a little bit red, contrasting beautifully with the green of his eyes and the bronze of his hair.

His hands were resting on my hips and mine were gripping his upper arms.

Unconsciously we were both leaning towards each other.

Is he going to kiss me? Am I going to kiss him? Are we going to kiss each other?

I saw his eyes flicker from my eyes to my lips and my thoughts were confirmed; he was going to kiss me. Did I mind? Not at all.

And then his lips were on mine. His soft lips were barely touching mine. I wound my arms around his neck and pulled him down a little, my hands finding home underneath his beanie in his soft hair.

Pretty much everything was soft about him, apart from his abs. And chest. And back. And hopefully his crotch.

I added a little pressure and nibbled on his bottom lip. His nose was sliding against mine and I felt the tip of his tongue against my lips. His arms moved from my hips to around my waist, hugging me to him.

I opened my mouth a little and gasped at the feeling. A little moan escaped me when his tongue slid next to mine, stroking it lovingly. I kept playing with his hair, and pulled it once a little harder. I wanted to apologize, but I heard Edward groan conveniently so I decided not to break our kiss.

Our tongues played together, moving against each other and stroking each other. It felt like magic. Then Edward's hands were on my face, cupping my cheeks. He slowly removed his tongue from my mouth, which made me moan again to much my shame, and kissed my lips a few times.

He held my face in his hands and I kept my hands in his hair. We looked into each other's eyes and apparently we were both lost for words, because neither of us broke the silence. The lights in my periphery were even more beautiful now, as was Edward.

"Bella," he breathed. His breath fanned over my face, and I wanted nothing more than to reclaim his lips and kiss the hell out of him.

"Edward," I breathed back. We were standing so close to each other, I could feel his body heat through both our coats.

He let his hands slide down again, and I unwound my arms from around his neck. He then grabbed my hands in his and smiled shyly at me.

I didn't want to be the one to break the comfortable silence, but I did anyway.

"I really like you, Edward," I said, and I looked down at my skates again. After this kiss I would think he'd like me too, but what if he regretted it? I didn't want to ruin our friendship like that.

He tilted my chin up again like he had done so many times already. "I really like you too, Bella," Edward said. He kissed me chastely on my lips again. Way too chastely if you asked me.

"Cool," I said and I smiled and nodded at the same time.

"Very cool," Edward confirmed.

Then his lips were back on mine again and he kissed me intensely.

A lot fell from my shoulders right then. Our feelings were out in the open, and our relationship wasn't ruined because of this all. This only made us stronger, I could feel it.

I cupped his neck when his tongue was stroking against mine again. When the kiss ended, he grabbed my face and peppered it with kisses all over it. I laughed and squirmed on the ice.

"Would you like to get some hot chocolate?" Edward asked me.

I nodded. I felt so happy; Edward liked me just like I liked him and we kissed and it felt so amazing.

Five minutes later we were sitting on the opposite of each other, sipping our hot chocolate with extra marshmallows. I took a big swig and ended up with a chocolate mustache.

"You have a little –, wait," he said and leaned over the table.

He claimed my lips again, but favored my upper lip this time. He began licking it and then my mustache was no more. I kissed him back and I felt his lips curl into a smile. I opened my eyes during the kiss and was met with his beautiful but piercing emeralds. We burst out laughing at the same time and broke the kiss.

I finished my beverage after taking a few swigs. "Come here," he requested in a soft voice.

I straddled him on the bench, digging my fingers into his hair again. He hugged me to him and I rested my head on his shoulder.

"Bella," he began.

"Yes?" I asked, not moving my head from its place on his shoulder.

"Will –" he stopped and breathed in.

"Will you be my girlfriend?" he continued.

I did move my head from his shoulder now. When I looked into his eyes I saw uncertainty but also a lot of adoration and maybe even love.

I didn't want to just reply so I kissed him instead to confirm. But in case he didn't understand I gasped a "Yes" out as well. We kissed for what felt like hours and I would be lying if I said I didn't feel something hard against my heated center.

"Uh," someone said behind us. We applied the 'just ignore it then it will go away' practice and kept kissing.

"I'm sorry kids, but we're closing up," that did get our attention. I looked at my phone that was lying on the table.

"Oh shit! It's almost eleven!" I said. "Mom and dad are going to kill me!"

"If we go now, we might make it before midnight, Bella. Don't worry," he reassured me.

Edward and I both stood from the bench and collected our stuff before linking hands and walking away.

"Thank you, sir," Edward said.

"No problem, kid. I hope you get home in time," he winked at us.

"I hope so too," I mumbled and Edward laughed.

The ride home was uneventful, but comfortable. We held hands the entire ride and Edward kept stroking the back of my hand with his thumb; it was oddly arousing.

"Hey, Edward," I began.

"What's up?"

"Where was Bree today? I now realize I haven't seen her the entire day," I felt a bit guilty for forgetting about Edward's cousin.

"She had an appointment today so mom told her to just stay home. I guess she will be there tomorrow again if everything went well," he shrugged.

"Will you introduce me to her?" I asked.

He squeezed my hand lightly. "Of course," he confirmed.

The rest of the ride home we just looked at our surroundings through the tinted windows and enjoyed being together.

"Let me get that," he said. I was pulling my bag with skates and some other stuff from the trunk of his car but it was heavy.

"Edward, you don't have to fight my battles for me," I said, slightly annoyed that he'd think I couldn't do anything.

"The battle with your bag, you mean?" we both chuckled and I let Edward take the bag.

When I opened the door it was surprisingly silent. No mom running towards me or dad scolding me for being home late. He'd told us to be home at eleven, but it was a little past midnight now.

I did hear the TV from the living room so I went there and found my dad on the couch, fast asleep. I turned off the TV and threw my gran's blanket over him. I then walked back to the hallway and hugged Edward to me.

"We're not going to pretend like we're not together, right?" I said into his shirt. He pushed me away slightly to look me in the eye. "Of course not. We're together now so I want to show the world you're off limits. I hope it will learn that damn Jacob Black a lesson," he said, smirking a little.

"Jacob Black?" I asked surprised.

"That dude that keeps hanging around that Eric guy, you know? I believe he lives in La Push. Well anyways, he keeps looking at you like you're something to eat and I want that over with," he said.

"Possessive, are we, Mr. Cullen?" I poked him in the chest softly.

"Yeah, totally," he admitted and kissed me deeply. I responded by sliding my hands into his hair and pulling at the strands. It was Edward who moaned this time and pushed me against the wall. He didn't push me hard, but he was now closer to me than ever before.

Me likes.

The kiss was a little bit more aggressive than the others we'd shared, but I loved it so much. He swiped his tongue over my lips and kissed them a few times before stepping back a little.

"I'll pick you up tomorrow again?" He made it sound like a question.

"Absolutely," I confirmed.

He pulled me to him for a final kiss and then opened the door and walked out. I watched from the window how he stepped into his car and drove away. I only hoped he wouldn't get in trouble by getting home so late.

I dragged my bag up the stairs, trying to make as little noise as I could, but of course at that moment the zipper decided to break and my skate tumbled down the stairs.

"Fuck," I whispered angrily.

I ran down the stairs quietly and picked the skate up before running upstairs again, where I had the shock of my life.

Emmett was standing atop of the stairs with a baseball bat in his hands.

"Jesus, Emmett! You scared me to death!" I yelled quietly. I was clutching my chest.

The fucking second time today I had an almost heart attack!

"You scared me too! What the fuck are you doing dragging a body bag up the stairs in the middle of the night!" he exclaimed and lowered the bat.

One of Emmett's many problems; the dude can't keep his voice down.

I heard my mom switch the light on in her room and the shuffling of feet coming towards the door.

I closed my eyes as if I could not be seen right now.

"Isabella Marie Swan!" my mom yelled when she opened the door. "Where have you been?"

I opened my eyes to a fuming mother.

"And where is Charlie?" she added as an afterthought.

I pointed my thumb down the stairs, hoping she'd understand that dad was on the couch.

"You should also ask why she's dragging a body bag up the stairs, mom," Emmett said.

My mom glared at him. "Emmett, help your sister get her bag to her room and then go to bed. Isabella, you come here for a minute," she moved away from the door so I could enter the room.

I sat down on the bed and crossed my arms.

"And where have you been, young lady?" my mom asked.

"Edward and I were at the rink in Port Angeles but lost complete track of time. When we saw what time it was we raced home – don't worry he didn't break the speeding limit – but we were having fun and I'm home now and I'm sorry and I love you," I smiled sweetly at her.

At the mentioning of Edward's name the jittery feeling in my stomach returned and a little smile appeared on my face.

"I will verify this with Esme, but I trust you. Off to bed," she shooed be away.

How exactly does saying she trusts me and that she will verify this with Esme correspond?

I went to the bathroom and changed into my pajamas. I now felt that I hadn't had dinner but I was too afraid to go downstairs to get a granola bar so I just went to bed.

When I was in my bed, I grabbed my phone and fired off a text to Edward.

I had a lot of fun today. Thank you. Xx B

I put my phone on the charger and fell asleep. In my dreams the color white and green occurred a lot and I felt truly happy.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A/N:

I hope you liked this chapter and our little Bellward moment!

Please revieww! I'd love to reach 10 reviews with this chapter :)

~Nathalie