Hey, everybody!
I definitely meant to have this written and posted a lot sooner. First at Christmas. Then by New Years. Finally, by my birthday (which was on the 18th). So, I'm ten days late to that goal. Sorry! The chapters seem to be getting longer as I'm going on.
Big thanks to EdwardsLove82, who answered my plea on Facebook for someone to beta. She got it back to me super quick and has agreed to stick around!
Also, thanks to Tropical Sorbet, who, as always, reads my chapters and tells me they aren't terrible. And for our many attempts at writing fests.
It seemed like the weekend after Prom, everything got a lot more busy and stressful. In the last week of May, all the teachers had stopped teaching us new material. Suddenly, I was weighed down by study guides and not so subtle threats that doing badly on my finals for any given class could ruin my GPA for the year.
Since Edward took his schooling really seriously, the only chance I had to actually see him outside of school was if we were studying.
Most of the time it was just Edward and me, but tonight it was the whole group.
"Ugh. Can we take a break yet? My brain hurts. All the numbers are just jumbling together." Victoria complained, throwing her calculator down on her Algebra textbook.
"Yeah. I think I've read over this note card five times," Ben added.
"Okay. I'll go put the pizzas in the oven," I said, getting up off the floor of the entertainment room at Edwards.
"More drinks too, please!" Angela called after me.
I nodded and headed to the garage where the freezer was. Carlisle and Esme had gone out for the evening and had made sure that the house was well stocked with every snack food and drink we would want, since they knew we would be over to study.
I grabbed four of the pizzas, knowing that the guys could eat a lot of pizza.
Back in the kitchen, I had all the pizza's on baking sheets and the double oven preheating.
"Hey," Edward said, coming up behind me. "I came to help."
I rolled my eyes. "I don't think I need help. I'm just about to put them in."
"Oh. Well, I can get the sodas." Edward offered, going over to the refrigerator.
"Oookay." I said, dragging the first syllable out. Edward was acting weird. But not his normal level of weirdness.
I turned back to what I was doing and squeaked loudly when Edward appeared behind me again, this time wrapping an arm around my waist and resting his chin against my head.
"You look really pretty today."
I blushed, my eyes looking down at the counter top. "Stop it."
"Stop what?" Edward asked.
"Lying."
"I'm not lying. Why would you think that?"
"Because. You're my boyfriend. It's like, your duty to tell me I look nice when I don't."
"I'm not lying. I like your hair up like that. Your shirt is nice too."
"Okay. Now I know you're lying." I was currently featuring second day hair and this t-shirt my mom had just sent me a shirt that had Jacksonville, Florida across the front in between two palm trees. It was laundry day. Besides, I had felt guilty enough when I called my mom to thank her for the package and told her it wasn't necessary to send me anything. She had burst into tears, thinking that I hated it. Freaking pregnancy hormones.
I turned around to look at Edward, who looked back at me with a confused expression. I slid away from his grasp and grabbed one of the pizza's to put in the oven.
"You're really pretty, Bella. But fine, I won't argue with a crazy lady." Edward said, filling the other oven with the two pizza's while I set the timer.
Before I could argue, Victoria walked in the room, one arm out feeling around with her other hand over her eyes.
"Is it safe?" She asked, parting her fingers slightly to see through them. "Oh, good. You guys are fully clothed. I thought you were in here screwing, you were gone so long."
"Victoria!" I mumbled, embarrassed. She could be so crude sometimes. In another lifetime, I'm sure her and Rose would've gotten along really well.
"Whatever. I'll grab the sodas. Come on. I'm getting bored of studying this whole time." Victoria grabbed the sodas and headed back to the entertainment room without waiting for us to respond.
That's how the next two weeks continued. Edward was stressing over finals, insisting we spent every bit of free time studying, because soon after that we would have nearly three months to relax. Ben and Angela were much more relaxed about the whole thing since they already had one foot out of Forks High. And with James and Victoria, well, like always, they took things in stride.
0-0
"Just one more final," I sighed, plopping down at my usual chair in the library. It was just Edward, James, Victoria and me there for lunch. Today was the seniors last day. They had all finished their finals earlier in the day and were currently having the senior luncheon in the Quad, followed by graduation practice.
We were all sitting around, signing each others yearbooks. I hadn't signed Edwards yet, but told him to save me a page. We planned on exchanging yearbooks tonight to sign.
When the bell rang for the end of lunch, Edward walked me to my next class as he usually did.
"So. Friday night, do you have plans?" Edward asked once we got to the door of my class.
"Nope." I shrugged. "Probably just hanging out at home, relishing in the fact that I don't have to go to school for the next few months."
"Let's go out and celebrate. Just you and me." He suggested, leaning against the wall.
I quirked an eyebrow. "Just us? Like, a date?"
"That's the idea."
"Awesome. Where are we going?" I asked, feeling excited. Edward and I didn't really do the whole solo date thing.
"Port Angeles." I opened my mouth to ask where in Port Angeles, but he cut me off. "No. I'm not telling you where."
"Just a hint?" I pouted.
Edward pushed himself off the wall and laughed. "No, Bella. No hints. I'll see you after school, okay?"
I nodded and watched as he walked away, feeling butterflies flutter in my stomach.
0-0
The next day at school was pretty much a joke. All it consisted of was food, getting back all our work from our teachers and clearing out our lockers for the summer. And signing yearbooks.
The signing yearbooks part was probably the most depressing. I wasn't really friends with anyone besides our immediate group anymore.
My yearbook from sophomore year was filled with peoples signatures and little notes, promises to hang out over the summer and even some phone numbers.
Sure, none of the plans to hang out never actually happened and I never bothered calling any of the numbers, but people actually wanted to sign my yearbook.
Unlike this year.
Actually, I hadn't even bothered to get my yearbook back from Edward and he hadn't gotten his back from me, either. The page he had designated as mine was still blank.
I still hadn't seen Angela or Ben yet, but I had texted Angela to let her know that Edward and I would be going to graduation later that evening.
At twelve twenty, school was let out and I went to meet Edward by his car.
"We have a few hours to kill, how about we grab lunch before coming back here for graduation?" Edward asked when I got up to him.
I shrugged. "Sounds good. But let me take my truck home so I can drop off all my stuff and change?"
Edward agreed and with a quick peck on the cheek, we each got in our cars.
0-0
Charlie was at work when I got home, so I grabbed my iPod out of my backpack and put it in the dock, turning it up loud and scrolling through until I landed on The Cure.
I danced around my room, probably looking like an idiot, but I couldn't help it. The fact that I wouldn't have to return to school for an entire summer was just really exciting.
Then, I remembered that I would go back to school in the fall as a big sister.
Shit.
I pushed that thought out of the back of my mind for the moment and fished through my closet, looking for something nice to wear that would also reflect my unusually bright mood.
My eyes landed almost immediately on the bright yellow sundress with the tags still on. Another gift from my mom that went unworn. Also, probably another ploy to get the thought of moving to Jacksonville in my mind.
She knew that in Forks, I'd have very few opportunities to actually wear a strapless dress like this.
However, it was pretty sunny and in the mid-sixties, so I figured I would go for it.
I quickly stripped down to my underwear and looking in the . I didn't have a strapless bra to wear with it. I took off my bra and them cupped my boobs, holding them up and moving my hands away.
Yeah, I could get away with not wearing a bra.
After I got the dress on, I threw on a cardigan and put on a pair of old, white Converse.
I still had thirty minutes until Edward was going to come pick me up.
Since I really had nothing to do to make the time pass, I texted Edward, asking him if he was ready yet.
When he didn't reply, I figured he was busy.
Five minutes later, there was a knock on the door. I shut off my iPod and starting running down the stairs.
"Coming!" I yelled from the staircase.
"Edward!" I exclaimed, opening the door. "You didn't text me back."
"I'm sorry. Should I have texted you before I came? I mean, I figured that you were reading and wanted me to come over soon, so I thought I would surprise you. I can go and come back."
I shook my head, smiling, then grabbed him by the front of his shirt and pulled him inside the house, shutting the door behind him.
"No. Of course not." I stood up on my tiptoes to kiss him, wrapping my arms around his neck to pull him closer.
A minute later, we broke apart and I grabbed his hand and my bag, leading him out of the house.
We decided on going to the diner for lunch, since it was really one of the only good places to eat in Forks. After stuffing ourselves full of greasy food, we still had a while to wait until graduation started, but decided to go early anyways and try to get four seats to save.
I sent a quick text to Victoria, letting her know we were here.
The graduation ceremony was being held outdoors in the Quad, there were big flower arrangements up near the stage, along with flags and a podium.
Edward and I found four seats together near the front along the aisle, so I set down my bag on one of the empty seats to save it.
By now, the sun was pretty warm and shining brightly, so I stood from my seat and shrugged off my cardigan to hang over the back of the other empty chair.
Besides me, Edward groaned.
"Edward?" I asked, laying a hand on his arm. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, Bella." Edward shook his head, shifting slightly in his seat. "I think I'm getting a headache."
"Oh." I frowned. "I think I have some Motrin in my bag, if you want?"
Edward laughed. "No. It'll go away on it's own."
I shrugged, going back to sit in my seat.
Sometimes, Edward could be so weird.
0-0
Victoria and James managed to get back to school ten minutes before the ceremony was supposed to start.
Both of them looked overly smiley and rumpled, making me hold back a teasing comment about what they were up to the past few hours.
I only saw Angela and Ben briefly as they walked past us down the aisle to Pomp and Circumstance, Angela waving frantically and smiling brightly at us. Since the seats weren't in any order, Angela and Ben sat together in the front row.
I rested my head on Edwards shoulder during all the speeches from various students and faculty, letting myself feel a little sentimental, thinking about how in just a year, we would be the ones up there in the blue and yellow cap and gowns.
Finally, Diplomas were handed out and our group stood up, cheering and clapping loudly at both Angela and Ben, causing them to each smile embarrassed.
At the end of the ceremony, Edward and I hung back while Angela and Ben went to find their parents and claim their diplomas.
"Hey, you guys!" Angela said, coming up to us and giving me a hug.
"Congratulations, Ang. How does it feel to officially be a high school graduate?"
Angela shrugged. "Pretty freaking awesome."
Ben came up behind her, his and Angela's parents in tow.
"Hey, we're all going to dinner at the Lodge, you guys wanna come?" Ben asked. "I already asked Victoria and James. They want to come."
I looked at Edward. "Yeah. We should all celebrate together."
0-0
Later that night, Edward dropped me back off at home from the celebratory dinner and Charlie was already in bed. I lay awake, listening to the few crickets outside chirping.
My phone vibrated on my nightstand and I flipped it open, seeing a new text from Edward.
Looking forward to tomorrow night. Sweet dreams. -E
I sent him a text telling him goodnight, then squeezed the phone to my chest, feeling stupid for doing so.
Yes, this summer would definitely prove to be a good one.
0-0
The next evening, I was showered, dressed in a floral printed spaghetti strapped dress and wearing a pair of sandals.
Angela and Victoria had come over earlier in the day, insisting that they help me get ready for our date. In the end, I guess I was lucky, because Victoria was able to do my make-up while Angela curled my hair a bit around the bottom.
Charlie had played the role of the over protective father once he found out about mine and Edwards plans for the night.
Lucky for me though, he was working all night. Although that didn't stop him from suggesting I come with him to the station to have Edward pick me up there.
I didn't really get what his issue was. I mean, he liked Edward. He liked his parents, I knew he approved of Edward, otherwise he probably would have put his foot down and not let me go out at all with him.
I was pretty sure he just wanted to scare Edward to assure he would behave.
Charlie knew I was safe with Edward. He was a respectable, young man; his words exactly. Seriously, he drove a Volvo. How much more trustworthy could he get?
Besides, it wasn't like we were doing anything more than making out.
At six forty-five, Edward came to pick me up, his relief obvious when he saw that Charlie's cruiser wasn't in the driveway.
I guess Dad really did achieve what he wanted to.
Edward still wouldn't tell me where we were going, even when we got to Port Angeles. Instead, he just parked at the same parking lot we had last time we were here and held my hand, guiding me toward the restaurant the entire way.
Edward held my hand, leading me towards the restaurant, Bella Italia. The spaghetti strap dress I was wearing was perfect for the humid June night.
"I hope you like this place, my parents said the food was really good." Edward said, holding the heavy wood door open for me.
"I am starving," I groaned, following him up to the hostess stand.
"Hi! Welcome to Bella Italia." The young, blonde hostess greeted us. Or should I say, greeted Edward.
"Hello, we have a reservation under Cullen for 7 o'clock." Edward said, wrapping a hand around my waist and pulling me closer to his side.
"Sure thing. Please, follow me." She grabbed a couple of menu's and lead us toward the back of the restaurant.
Edward and I followed behind her, Edward rushing ahead to pull my chair out for me, causing me to roll my eyes.
Waiting until we were both seated, the hostess handed each of us our menus. "Here you go. Your waitress tonight will be Bree and she will be right with you two. Enjoy your meal."
Edward smiled back at the hostess, thanking her, as I opened my menu up.
"Can you believe we'll be Seniors next year?" Edward asked, not looking up from his menu.
"I know, right? It feels like just yesterday I started at Forks High."
Edward looked up from his menu, smiling. "Yeah, me too."
"Hi! My name is Bree, I'll be your server tonight. Can I take your drink orders?" I jumped, looking up to see a tiny girl who looked around our age staring down at us.
"Bella? Do you know what you want to drink?" Edward asked.
"Um...sure. Can I have a Coke please?" I asked, looking up at Bree. She was staring at Edward, seemingly not hearing me at all.
"Excuse me?" I asked. "Did you get that?"
Bree shook her head, coming out of her trance. "Oh, I'm sorry. You said an Iced Tea?"
"No. A Coke." I corrected her.
"Oh. Sure." She dismissed me, turning to Edward. "And you?"
"I'll have the same," he replied, smiling at her.
"Alrighty then. I'll be right back to take your orders and bring you your drinks and bread sticks," Bree said, turning around. Her hips swayed a little too much as she walked away.
As we waited for her to come back, we talked a little bit about Edwards plans for his birthday that was coming up in the next week.
All too soon for my liking, Bree came back, carrying a tray with our drinks and bread on it.
She took our orders, Chicken Parmesan for me and Eggplant Lasagna for Edward, smiling at him the whole time.
"Everyone is really nice here, aren't they?" Edward asked, taking a sip of his Coke.
"Yeah, just great service." I muttered, pulling apart my bread stick angrily.
"Is there something wrong, Bella?" Edward asked, reaching across the table to grab my hand.
"No." I shook my head, grabbing my glass with the hand he was reaching for. "Everything is fine. I'm just hungry."
Edward seemed to take my excuse and gave my hand a squeeze. "Good. I'm hungry too."
Bree came by once again, serving us our plates of food and asking if there was anything else we needed.
"No, I think that's all." I said, giving her what I hoped to be an icy smile.
We ate dinner mostly in silence, although I would occasionally look up and catch Edward staring at me, smiling.
"What?" I asked after the fourth time I caught him staring. I took my napkin from my lap and blotted at my face. "Do I have marinara on my face?"
Edward shook his head, laughing. "No. I just forgot to tell you how pretty you look tonight. I realized I tend to do that a lot."
I blushed. "Well, thank you. You look good too."
All too soon, we finished eating and Bree came back.
"Did you enjoy your meal?" She asked, hovering near Edward.
"Yup." Edward nodded, smiling at Bree and pushing his plate further back. "It was really good."
"Yes, it was really good. Thanks." I chimed in as well, even though she looked as if she could care less about what I thought.
"Lovely." Bree replied, turning her head and flashing me a tight smile, then turning back to Edward. "Would you like dessert?"
Edward looked at me and I shrugged. I didn't really want to stay for dessert, but when Edward and I went out, he always ordered dessert. I had learned pretty quickly that he had a huge sweet tooth.
"Sure. What do you suggest?"
"I would recommend our triple chocolate cake. It's absolutely...sinful." Bree said, practically purring.
"Sounds good, we'll take that."
"Alrighty then. I'll just clear up your plates and bring back your dessert.
After we finished eating dessert and Bree had dropped by the table with our bill, Edward and I fought over the tab. I wasn't quite sure why I even bothered. In the end, he always ended up winning, even if it meant slipping the waiter the money when I was in the bathroom.
Luckily enough for me, Edward said he didn't need to wait for change, so we were able to leave without seeing Bree again.
"Night you guys, thanks for dining with us!" The hostess called after us as we left the restaurant.
The air outside had cooled down considerably, causing me to shiver and Edward to wrap his arm around my shoulder, pulling me against him.
Although the gesture and the closeness was nice, I couldn't shake the bad mood from the restaurant.
"I really liked that place," Edward commented. "Did you?"
"Yeah. Good food." I agreed with him.
"Great food. We should go back soon. They were all really friendly, too."
I rolled my eyes. "Yeah. Really friendly."
My mind began to wander as we walked down the street to Edward's car. The girls were friendly. They were also older and gorgeous. And Edward was all smiley and flirty with them back.
Edward was completely oblivious to my inner turmoil, even as we got to his car and he held the door open for me and received a tight lipped smile and a curt 'thanks' back from me.
As we drove through the streets of Port Angeles, Edward reached over the console to grab my hand, taking it in his.
Seeing those girls so flirty with Edward made me feel insecure. They were prettier than me. Why wouldn't he be attracted to them?
Maybe he wasn't attracted to me. I had thought that after we said, 'I love you' to each other, that maybe our physical relationship would step up a notch. Like, maybe he would have initiated something.
Maybe Edward thought I wasn't willing to put out. I mean, I wasn't willing to have sex, yet. But I would have like to do something more. Maybe I could try Victoria's advice?
Or maybe he wanted me to touch him.
I was driving myself crazy.
"Pull over!" I half-yelled at Edward.
"What? Why? What's wrong?" Edward asked, clearly panicked.
"Just...pull over." This time, I managed to keep my voice in check. "There's parking coming up on the right for Lake Pleasant."
Although it was mostly dark out, I could tell Edward was looking at me like I was crazy.
A couple minutes later, Edward pulled into the deserted parking lot, shut the engine off and turned to me.
"Bella, is everything okay? You've been acting-"
Before he could continue, I leaned over the console, steadying myself against the car door to kiss him.
Edward tensed before he relaxed, probably confused my my rapid mood swings. After a couple minutes of making out over the console, I decided the space between us was too much.
It was a little difficult, but I managed to get myself out of my seat belt, climb over the console and straddle his lap. The steering wheel dug annoyingly in my back, so I reached my right hand down, still kissing Edward, to feel blindly for the lever to push the seat back.
Once it had moved back further, my hand found itself back in Edward's hair, weaving my fingers through it and tugging slightly.
Edward's hand were low on my hips, his fingers were digging in almost painfully. I squirmed in his lap, trying to get his fingers to loosen their grip.
The action caused Edward to groan. And that's when I felt it. His...thing. The fabric of his slacks wasn't tight enough to fully keep it hidden from me and I could feel him, hard, against my inner thigh.
It was now or never. I scooted back a little further in his lap, my right hand releasing its grip and going down his chest, to the crotch of his pants.
I palmed him gently, in completely new territory; literally and figuratively. Edward squirmed beneath me, so I took that as a good sign and gathered up even more courage to quickly unzip his pants and stick my hand inside, cupping him around his boxers.
Edward's lips froze on mine and he jumped. "H-holy shit."
Opening my eyes, I saw his, wide open and staring at me. Leaning forward, I began kissing him up and down along his neck, still awkwardly fumbling below his waist.
"Wait. Bella." Edward groaned, his hand moving from my hips to my wrist. "Wait. Stop."
This time, the tone in his voice was enough for me to stop. Horrified, I realized what I had just done.
"Oh, God. Oh, God." I quickly removed my hand from his pants and leaned back, staring at the look of shock on his face in the dim light. "Oh my, God."
I grabbed the door handle, opening the door and slamming it shut once I got out. The air was even cooler now and I hugged my arms around myself, shivering. I began walking in the direction I thought Forks was in.
It didn't take me long to hear the echo of the car door closing and Edwards frantic voice ringing out.
"Bella? Bella!"
I knew it was stupid to just leave him there and even more stupid to decide to walk the ten plus miles home than to simply talk it out.
But I couldn't. I was mortified.
I heard running footsteps behind me, but didn't bother stopping.
"Hey, Bella." Edward was right behind me then and he reached out, grabbing me by the wrist. "Wait."
"Ugh. Just...just let me go. I'm really sorry. I don't know what I was thinking." I apologized, still not looking him in the eyes.
"There's nothing to apologize for. But do you really think you are walking home?"
I nodded. "Yes. I am walking home. Besides, I can call Angela or Victoria to come get me."
"Oh, really?" Edward laughed. "Bella, you left your phone in my car."
"Crap." I groaned, rubbing the heels of my palms in my eyes.
"Come on, let's just go back to my car and talk."
"No thanks. I think I'll just keep walking. I can use the pay phone at the gas station."
"Would you stop being so stubborn? Seriously. Come on." Completely surprising me, Edward grabbed me around the waist and picked me up.
"Let me down!" I yelled, squirming in his arms. I wasn't even a foot off the ground, but his grasp on me was so tight that I couldn't scoot down.
He grunted, shifting me up so I was higher off the ground and started to walk back to his car.
"Edward. You're going to hurt your back. Just put me down."
"Will you come back with me if I put you down?" Edward asked, stopping.
I sighed. "Yes. Fine."
Edward loosened his grip on me enough to let me slide down his body to the ground. The hardness I had felt in the front of his pants earlier was still there, leaving me more confused.
We walked back together in silence, not touching. For once, I hated the silence between us. It wasn't the usual comfortable silence that neither of us felt the need to fill. Instead, it was a tense silence that allowed my embarrassment and confusion to settle in my mind.
I skipped ahead of Edward as soon as we got close enough to the car so that he wouldn't be able to hold the door open for me, which in turn, earned a scowl from him.
"Are you ready to talk about this?" Edward asked, adjusting the seat back in place.
"I don't see what there is to talk about. You rejected me. You don't want me like that. Okay. Take me home."
"Stop it. Would you at least listen to what I have to say instead of jumping to conclusions? Conclusions, which I must say, are very, very far from the truth."
I huffed, crossing my arms over my chest. "Fine."
"Okay." Edward looked relieved as he turned on the light above us. "I'd like to see you while we talk."
I motioned with my hand for him to continue, but he caught it quickly and held on to it.
"Bella, It's not a matter of whether or not I want you. Believe me. I do want you. It's about the timing. I mean, do you really want our first...whatever that was... to happen in the front seat of my car in some random parking lot?"
I could definitely see his point in that. But it wasn't like we were going to have sex. What did it even really matter where it happened? Instead of opening my mouth and saying something stupid, I just shrugged.
"You've been acting strange ever since we got to Port Angeles.I don't want something to happen that we'll regret, Bella," Edward explained, rubbing his thumb across the back of my hand.
"A mistake? It would have been a mistake?" I asked, trying to pull my hand from Edwards, who just tightened his grip on mine. At this point, I knew I was being irrational. But it seemed like all I could do was go with my emotions, which currently felt like they were a little out of control.
"Not that the...act would have been a mistake. Don't take it out of context. I meant that maybe it would have been too soon and you seem upset. I don't want you to wake up tomorrow feeling guilty about it, which in turn would make me feel like shit."
I groaned. "Why do you have to make sense?"
Edward smirked, then leaned forward to kiss me, his face lingered near mine when we parted.
"Talk to me, Bella. Tell me what's going on." His breath was hot against my face and my breath caught in my throat at hearing his low whisper.
Most of the time, Edward was quiet and awkward and shy. But sometimes, he had surprised me by being like this. I think I was thoroughly dazzled.
So naturally, it was like the floodgates unleashed.
"Those girls!" I practically screeched, causing Edward to jerk away.
"What girls?" Edward asked. The look on his face was completely clueless. But he couldn't have actually been.
"The girls that were all over you at the restaurant." I explained, exasperated.
"The hostess and the waitress, Bree?" He clarified.
"Bree, is it? So what, you're on a first name basis now?"
"What? She was our waitress. She introduced herself as Bree." Edward spoke slowly, as if he thought I was having a hard time comprehending him.
"Yeah. Sure. She was all over you. So was the hostess. 'Can I help you? What can I do for you?'" I mocked in their high pitched voices, batting my eyelashes obnoxiously.
Edward barked out a laugh and ran a hand through his hair. "You're not serious, are you?"
I arched an eyebrow at him, giving him my best bitch face.
"Holy crap. Bella. You're serious."
"Yes. I'm serious, Edward. You might as well have asked them when they were getting off work so you could pick them up."
"Have I ever, ever given you a reason to doubt me? That I would actually cheat on you? That I could actually hurt you like that?"
"Well, no." I said sheepishly. "But I mean, most girls at Forks High, they don't see you like I do. They don't see how attractive and sweet you are. So when not only one, but two girls that are way prettier than me start hitting on you, it makes me feel...bad."
"Bella. You remembered when I told you that I loved you, yes?" He paused, waiting for my confirmation so I nodded, smiling a bit at the memory. "I meant it. I wasn't flirting back with the waitress or the hostess. I didn't even see more to them than them just doing their job. Believe me?"
"Yes." I said, happy that I knew I wasn't lying. "I believe you."
"Good. And never, ever say that I don't want you. Because I do. You have no idea how difficult it was to stop you." Edward looked away then, but I could see the tips of his ears and his cheeks flush pink.
"Okay. So...we're good?" I asked. "I mean, you aren't mad at me?"
"No. Of course not. I wasn't mad at you at all. I should probably be the one asking you that."
I giggled, embarrassed at the scene I had made. "I'm good."
"Good. And Bella?" Edward asked, turning off the overhead light and starting the car.
"Hmm?"
"Please, don't ever run off and start walking in the middle of nowhere at night. Besides, you were going the wrong way."
Let me know what you think! I reply to all my reviews, most of the time with teasers.
Next chapter will be one you'll (hopefully) all enjoy and probably have been waiting for!