I own none of these characters. I'd love to be in the South of France rather than writing college essays, but I suppose this is better than nothing! This was lightly edited, so all mistakes are mine.

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I've been dreaming of you.

Edward wasn't quite sure how long he was staring blankly at the wooden table, but he immediately glanced up when a shadow appeared over his seat at the bar.

"You haven't called me," Bella retorted, with a brow raised as she pulled out the chair next to him.

"I thought it was an unspoken rule to not call back for at least three days," Edward replied carefully after a brief pause.

It was a bad excuse. Edward found himself on multiple occasions these past few days being tempted to call her, just to hear her voice once more.

Rolling her eyes, Bella replied, "Oh come on. That's so outdated, I'd much rather someone call me right away than follow social expectations." She waved to a friend across the room as she got comfortable in the chair, before leaning against the table to stare directly at him.

"I'll keep that in mind for the next time I meet a pretty girl."

Bella's eyes narrowed slightly. Then, she burst out laughing.

"For as long as I'm here Edward, you're mine," she teased. "I'm sorry, I don't make the rules around here," Bella said, batting her wide eyes innocently at him.

Hers. He could definitely find it within himself to produce a smile at the thought of that.

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All the sounds that could be heard were the faint taps of her heels skipping alongside his leathered shoes against the concrete floor. Something about her youthfulness pulled him to her. There was only a slight age difference between the two, yet Bella seemed to have an endearing childlike quality at times- at least late at night when there's no one else other than Edward to see it.

He was walking her back to her student housing dorm. Or he was attempting to walk her back. Bella seemed to be amusing herself by combining a variant of tap dancing and a strange form of interpretive movements in the middle of an empty road.

"Are you sure you're not drunk?" he called out.

He knew he wasn't. The first night was a mistake. He's seen first hand how easy it is to go down that slippery slope and he's not sure he could control himself. Tonight, he'd ordered food and water instead when she sat next to him at the bar.

She giggled before skipping back towards him. "Edward, you saw how I barely finished my glass of wine." Throwing her arms around his neck, she exclaimed, "Instead, let's just assume that I'm intoxicated on the fact that we're alive and that I'm currently living in a new continent," before smacking a light peck on the corner of his mouth. Or maybe it just had to do with the man in her presence and the man she can't stop thinking about. Luckily they're the same exact person.

Something about Bella's touch still made him freeze at first before he melted in her arms. She was so small and warm compared to him. Shouldn't he be the one holding her?

Finally wrapping his arms close around her waist, he stared down at the goofy expression on her face. He wished he had a camera on him at that moment. God, she was a sight for sore eyes. Even with her disheveled hair and tiredness in her wide chocolate eyes that was beginning to peek through.

"Edward?"

"Yes, Bella?"

"How long have you been living in France?" She set her head down on his shoulder, quietly yawning.

"Almost three years."

She paused, warmly exhaling against the expanse of his neck. "Why did you come here in the first place?"

"I had to leave home."

Bella hummed in understanding as he kept her in his embrace.

"Hey, Edward?"

"Yes, Bella?"

"Maybe we should get out of the middle of the street now," she responded, rubbing her face against the soft cotton of his shirt.

Edward stifled a laugh and pulled himself away. Holding hands, they made their way towards the door of her building.

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Hi! Thank you so much to all of those who have reviewed, favorited, alerted, and read. I'm sorry it took me so long to update- especially since I typed this out the day after the initial publish date. I just began my senior year and so things are a bit hectic right now, but I'm hoping to have semi-consistent updates! Also, I'm still figuring out the exact chemistry between the characters as I write, so there were some awkward moments that caused me to delay this update. Once again, thanks for giving this fic and me a chance!

P.S Sorry this chapter was a boring chapter! B&E are just getting to know each other, but chapters will get longer as they get closer. Can't wait to show you guys what I have in mind for these two.