When Rose and I got back to the apartment, Emmett was already setting up for the party. "Hey girls, did you have a good workout?"

Rose walked right up to him and kissed him on the cheek, "Always do, babe. Can I borrow your shower? I don't want to go all the way back to my apartment. Tanya's acting strange."

"Sure," he wriggled his eyebrows suggestively, "Want me to join you?"

I made a gagging sound and they looked at me. "And you say Edward and I are bad."

Rose laughed before heading toward Emmett's room. Emmett gave me his best disapproving look, "Thanks Bella. Now I don't have an answer."

I shook my head and went to Edward's room. When I walked in, I saw Edward at his desk concentrating on a book. He had his earphones in and didn't even notice me walk in.

I tiptoed over to him and kissed him on the cheek. He jumped at the contact and swirled around in his seat so fast he nearly knocked me down. He reached out to steady me and pulled out his ear buds. "Love, you shouldn't sneak up on me like that. You scared me."

I leaned down and kissed him on the nose. "Sorry, I couldn't resist. You looked like you needed a kick of energy."

He ran his hands over my arms. "I was taking advantage of the quiet and doing some last minute studying. It's going to get crazy around here in a couple of hours."

I looked over at his stack of books. I wasn't sure how he was going to finish it. "Maybe after my shower, we could go to the library. I don't really want to be at the party."

He searched my face, "Are you sure? I mean, I'm not going to be very much fun if I'm studying?"

I laughed at his worried expression and ran my fingers through his hair. "You'll be even less fun over winter break if you don't do well on your exams. Don't worry. I'm English major. I'll be able to entertain myself in a library. Besides, it wouldn't hurt for me to do a little studying as well."

I pulled away from him and headed to the shower. I grabbed a towel and a pair of sweats along the way.

I didn't realize how tired I was until I stepped into the warm water. As my muscles began to relax, my mind began to phase out. I was definitely going to need some coffee before we hit the books.

I turned off the shower and grabbed my towel. As I was stepping into my sweats, my stomach started to growl. Supper would have to be on the agenda as well.

I left the bathroom to search for a comfortable shirt, "Whoa, Bella. You could give a guy a heart attack."

I looked over to see Jasper searching through Edward's CD's. I grabbed one of Edward's shirts from a chair and threw it over my head. "Jazz, couldn't you have warned me that you were in here? And where's Edward?"

Jasper laughed at my irritation. "Sorry Bells, I didn't know you were going to be in here." For some reason, my anger seemed to dull. It seemed that Jasper always knew how to calm me down. "And the last time I saw Edward, he was helping Emmett move the beer pong table to the edge of the room. Alice somehow got him to agree to move it."

I laughed, "I think she scared him into it. She might be small, but you don't want to cross her."

Jasper nodded and went back to searching through Edward's CDs. "You wouldn't happen to know where Edward's party mix might be, would you?"

I walked over to search with him. "No, Edward and I usually listen to more classical stuff than what you're looking for."

He scratched his head, "He said it should be in here."

Edward walked in, "Jazz, it's over here." He picked up a CD off his desk and tossed it toward us. "Emmett broke the last one, so I had to re-burn it."

"Thanks, hopefully this is what Alice is looking for." He turned and walked from the room.

I turned to glare at Edward. "What?"

"You could have given me some forewarning. I wasn't wearing a shirt when I came out of the bathroom."

He gave me a sheepish grin. "Sorry, love. You usually take all your cloths to the bathroom."

That was true. The bravery to not wear a shirt had only occurred today. The funny thing was, I'd expected it to be Emmett who caught me without some article of clothing. Jasper usually kept to himself. "We need to work on your relationship skills. First you don't lock the door. Then you let someone else in the room while I'm taking a shower."

He crossed the room and wrapped his arms around my waist. "I'm sorry." He placed a chaste kiss on my lips. "I'm new at all of this. It's like you're reawakening me. I have to learn these things as I go."

I sighed dramatically. He was already forgiven. "I suppose I'll have to be patient with you."

He placed a longer kiss on my lips. It was long enough to get my pulse racing. "Just tell me what to do."

A small smile spread across my lips, "Well, we could start with dinner. I haven't had anything since breakfast."

He stepped away from me and made a grand sweeping bow. "Your wish is my command."

I smiled and grabbed my shoes, school ID, and my history book. It was the only subject I knew I'd have to study for the hardest.

Of course Edward wanted to eat out. He seemed disgusted by the school's idea of food. I didn't like it much better than him, but I didn't know how he could afford to eat out so often. Especially since he refused to let me pay for myself, EVER.

He took me to the little Italian place right off campus. It was small and rather quiet for a Saturday night. Edward and I sat in the corner so that the cold air of the opening and closing door wouldn't reach us.

He reached across the table and took my hands as we waited for our food. "When is your last exam?"

"In two weeks."

He knitted his eyebrows together and watched me carefully, "And are you going to drive that death trap you call a truck home?"

I scrunched my nose at him and tried to pull my hand from his. I really hated it when people talked badly about my truck. "Yes, it's a great truck and I'll want it while I'm at home"

He held onto my hand firmly, "Then will you at least wait until my final exam is over to leave. I'd feel much better if I was following you."

"You'll hate following me. The truck doesn't go more than 50mph."

I heard him groan, but he pushed past it. "It will be better than being in an exam wondering if you were stranded somewhere between here and Forks."

I rolled my eyes and him, "You know, I survived more than 18 years before you came along."

"I'm not sure how. It seems that everything that could cause trouble within a thirty mile radius of you, does."

I leaned forward slightly, "And how you intend to protect me from myself?"

He laughed, "It won't be easy. Maybe I can find you one of those plastic bubbles."

"But then I won't be able to drive my truck."

His crooked grin widened into a full blown smile that knocked the breath out of me, "My plan is sounding better all the time."

The waitress came with our dishes around that time. "So does your family have any plans for Christmas?"

He cocked an eyebrow at me, "I don't think so. Should we?"

I ducked my head and blushed lightly. "It's just that your family seems like the type that would 'Christmas in the Bahamas' or something like that."

He laughed, "No, my family's more of a stay at home type. We've always done the 'wake up on Christmas morning and run to the tree' thing. My parents are very traditional."

I just nodded, I was a little embarrassed by my assumption. "So what are your plans for Christmas?"

I looked up at him. "Dad and I don't make a big deal out of Christmas. He likes to decorate the house, but he usually gives up and leaves half of the house bare. We do a Christmas lunch with some family friends from the LaPush reservation. And that will be a bigger deal now that my father's dating one of the women on the reservation."

"Do you think, maybe, you could do Christmas Eve dinner with us? I know my parents would love to have you."

"I think I'd like that."

He smiled at me, "Good."

The rest of the meal was quiet. He never let go of my hand, which made eating pasta a little more difficult, but I liked it all the same. I always wanted a part of me to be connected to him. He already held my heart, but there was comfort in the physical connection.

After we ate and Edward paid, of course, we walked hand in hand to the library. It was already dark, and I was sure that the party at the apartment was getting started.

When we reached the library, Edward and I found a table near the back. It was quiet and empty. Luckily, the library stayed open 24/7 for students. I was sure it'd be full until exams were over.

I studied for my history test for a while, and then I got distracted. I watched Edward as he flipped through his books. He had three books and a dictionary open all at the same time. He'd read out of one book, then look something up in another, which would cause him to need his dictionary. Sometimes he would run his hands through his hair in agitation. Sometimes he would smile, probably about something he succeeded to remember.

At around 2o'clock in the morning, he looked up at me. He looked shocked when he discovered that I was looking back at him. "What?"

"Watching you study is kind of fascinating."

"How so?"

"I don't know how to explain it. I've just never seen someone concentrate so intensely on anything for such a long period of time."

My mention of time brought him back to reality. He looked down at his watch. "Wow, we've been here for five hours. You must be tired."

"A little," I admitted.

He quickly pushed all his books into his messenger bag and held out his hand to me. "The party should be winding down soon. We should head back and get some sleep."

I picked up my book and took his hand. Less than an hour later, we were cuddled up together in Edward's bed, completely asleep.