Author's Note: Well, I've decided to say "Fuck It!" when it comes to chapter length. I know, walking contradiction over here. I came to realize while writing this chapter that length isn't as important as content. Plus, I didn't want to have like, six chapters revolving around only one day. Anyway, the word count for this is almost triple what some of the others are and we've made some real progress. Well, you'll see what I mean by that. The drama has been starved off until a later chapter. I didn't have it in me to ruin everything before it even started. Enjoy!

This chapter is dedicated to a lovely loyal reviewer by the name of Chewie4370. She's got some awesome stories with canon pairings and some really interesting ones as well. Check her out!

~Tay

DISCLAIMER: Stephenie Meyer owns all things Twilight. I just like to see what happens when they get all caught up.

Bella's just as nervous as I am: she's got her hair down so she can hide behind it and her index fingernail is in between her teeth. Those aren't the only reasons I know though. I know because she's wearing the black Northface jacket she wore last year, the first day she arrived at Forks High, and her favorite pair of faded blue jeans.

To anyone else it'd seem she was going for simplicity. But I know Bella – I've watched her for a long time – so I know she's going for comfort. And not just the physical comfort either, but the emotional kind. Her mom bought her that black jacket before she moved here because of the rain. A lot of other people have that jacket; it's completely nondescript. It makes her feel like she can just melt into the background.

I wish I could have told her it was pointless to think she could ever be invisible to me. Never the less, I let her wordlessly shrink into my passenger seat on our way over to Carlisle's.

We're both sitting in the backseat as Carlisle drives us up to Port Angeles now, though. His older brother Clay is home for whatever college holiday and is catching a ride. I couldn't have been happier that chivalry is almost dead; he called shotgun, leaving Bella to sit in the back with me. Carlisle has better manners than his brother and wanted to protest. I had silenced him with a glare.

I've never been more thankful for Carlisle's piece of shit car than I am today. It's small and the seatbelts in the back are screwed up. So much so, in fact, that in order to secure them, the belt for the middle seat has to tie them together, forcing the two people in the back to sit closely together.

Very closely together.

Like, arm hairs touching and knees bumping, closely together.

I watch Bella out of the corner of my eye a lot. I can't see her face, but she blushes randomly. I think she can see the goose bumps I get every time our arms brush – and I make sure our arms brush a lot. That's the beauty of an old car; the shocks aren't so good, which is cause for a lot of jostling when going over bumps or dips in the road.

I think Carlisle's onto me though; we hit every pothole along the way.

It's a good drive and it makes me feel bolder.

It takes just barely under an hour to get to The Port and only another fifteen minutes to get to Esme's house.

Carlisle and Clay jump out of the car once it's parked and head inside, but I linger in the backseat, untangling Bella and I from the seatbelt trap. It isn't complicated at all – just a simple knot – but it's right on her hip. I have to touch her thigh a lot to untie it.

So I touch her thigh a lot.

Then, I have to retract the sash from across her chest because the coiling mechanism is broken. That means I have to graze across her chest a lot.

So I make sure I do that part slowly and thoroughly.

I'm still slightly bent towards her when I finish and I decide to look at her. Her face is beet red and her back is flushed against the seat, hands held up as if she's being robbed.

She looks fucking cute with her huge eyes and slightly parted lips.

I want to laugh.

I want to kiss her.

I want to tell her she's beautiful.

I want to get back on the road so I can untangle and re-tangle all over again.

But I'm trying to play it cool so I just raise my eyebrows while looking into her eyes. "You cool?"

She exhales as she looks down and nods. Her breath is dizzying in its sweetness. "Yea, I'm good." Her voice is soft and melodic and I close my eyes for a second when I nod back to her. I think I hum a little bit too.

This girl is getting me so caught up, but I think I like the feeling.

We can't stay out here for too much longer. I open my eyes. She's staring into mine. I'm mesmerized by deep, deep brown.

She must have leaned forward when I wasn't looking; we're so much closer together now. I look at her lips. They're less than a foot away from my own. I'm contemplating closing the distance.

Would she turn me away?

Would she kiss me back?

Would we start making out?

Would she let my hands roam?

Would her hands roam?

My dick aches at the last thought.

I want to close the distance so badly. I'm in a trance and her voice is the only thing that brings me out of it. "Um, w-we should probably, uh, get inside." I should have just kissed her. "Y-ya know, so they d-don't worry."

She's stuttering again. I wonder why she's embarrassed.

I nod and motion for her to step out of the car. It's a coup so I help her push the passenger seat forward so she can slip out of the door. It's also so I can look at her ass bent over and in my face. It's a good view.

Since we were invited I just open up the front door once we climb Esme's porch. We hear voices from the kitchen and find Carlisle and Esme sitting at the island counter. I don't see Clay anywhere. Seems no one noticed how long we took to get inside of the house.

Esme plays hostess and gets Bella and I each a bottle of lemonade before leading us down some stairs. "We were just going to watch a movie in the basement until the picnic." Carlisle's by her side, but she keeps looking over her shoulder to talk to us. "My brother's home from U-dub too, and I'm sure him and Clay and all of their friends will be taking over the living room soon." She rolls her eyes at the end, but she's smiling a little bit. "Older brothers can be so immature."

I don't have an older brother, but my older sister Rose can be a bitch sometimes so I just shrug.

We get to the bottom step and it's dark. Bella stumbles a little bit and I reach out, wrapping my arm around her to make sure she doesn't fall. It's so dark down here and her body is warm and soft.

I think Esme and Carlisle take advantage of the situation because when the light finally clicks on, both of their faces are flushed and Carlisle's smiling a little.

Esme smoothes the front of her shirt before looking up, cheeks pink, but I don't care.

She tells us we can pick whatever movie we want, but I don't care.

Carlisle picks a horror flick and pops it in, but I don't care.

Esme pulls him down beside her on the couch, but I don't care.

There's an empty couch on the side wall and I make my way to it because I care. I care about that empty couch because Bella and I are about to sit on it…and my arm is still around her waist; it's hard to concentrate on anything else with her so close to me, touching me.

I look down into her face once I've plopped down, practically bringing her into my lap as I sit. "This cool?" I hope she realizes I'm talking about more than the seats. There's no way I'm scooting farther away from her and my arm is very comfortable nestled above her hips.

She just nods. Her face is completely aflame.

Esme hits a bunch of buttons on a remote and the lights click off. We're bathed in darkness for a minute until the TV screen switches on. The light's dull enough that I can barely see Carlisle and Esme on the other side of the room. I look away when I realize they're already making out.

I face Bella, but her hair curtain is up. My hands are traitors; I push it back behind her ear. Her eyes snap to mine, but she doesn't look pissed.

"Sorry." But I'm really not sorry at all. I don't think she really cares anyway; she hasn't moved from my grip. I try to act bored while mentally doing a happy dance. It's tough.

We both focus on the movie, but I see nothing. Twenty minutes in and two people have died, Bella's cowering into my side with her fingernail in her mouth. Carlisle and Esme are still making out and it's making me antsy. I shift in my seat a lot.

Bella's trying to do her best to cover her ears, bite her nail, and shield her eyes all at the same time. I help out by bringing my hand from her waist up to her ear. It helps me out too because it presses her firmly into my chest.

She wraps her arms around my waist and buries her face into my chest, completely blocking out the movie. I smile since I know she can't see me.

She mumbles something into my chest, but the heat of her breath through my shirt distracts me from trying to decipher it. I whisper for her to repeat herself because I don't want to draw any attention from Esme and Carlisle.

"Is this okay?" She says it all breathy and trembling. She's looking up at me, her brown eyes to my blue.

I'm completely lost to her.

I've been trying so hard to not look like she's got me so caught up and it's all been for nothing. She owns me.

I want to protect her; shield her from everything.

I want to hug her and tell her everything's perfectly fine.

I want to call her for no reason and smile at her when I feel like it…

…which is all the time.

I feel kind of heavy and kind of light at the same time and my heart is beating like crazy. I wonder if she can feel it.

"Yea, it's cool." I don't know how to make her my girl, but I'm tired of not being with her. I'm tired of just watching. It's time for action.

So I kiss the top of her head and pull her closer. I look back at the screen just in case she's not happy about that move.

I think I feel her kiss my chest when her head nuzzles back into its place. It might just be wishful thinking though.

I smile until the movie ends and the lights flicker back on. Esme and Carlisle straighten out their clothing before Emse speaks. "Well," Her face is all splotchy and flushed. "We should get going."

Everyone nods and I nudge Bella with my shoulder before getting up. She looks up at me with her huge brown eyes while I stand. Her face is a little pink, but not the usual scarlet. I reach my hand out to help her off of the couch. She looks at it for a second, but then grabs it to hoist herself up. I don't let it go.

I hold her hand while we walk up the stairs.

I hold her hand in the car on the way to the picnic.

I hold her hand in line at the concessions stand.

I even hold her hand when I play the ring toss.

She never lets go either. I hope she realizes I want her to be my girl.

It's late when we finally decide to leave. Surprisingly it wasn't so bad – for a school function anyway. I'm a bit biased though.

As we exit East Bay High, I let go of her hand. She looks over at me but I keep my eyes forward. When I see her look down and take her bottom lip into her mouth, I swing my arm over her shoulders, pulling her into my side.

I look over in time to see her smile and I feel so much bolder now. I bend my head towards her ear and whisper to her. "The next time we go out like this? It's going to be just me and you." I'm keeping an eye trained up ahead; Carlisle and Esme are ahead of us and I don't want them to see me trying to make Bella my girl.

I chance a peek at her and she's blushing, deep red. I get kind of nervous until I realize she's chewing on her lip again; that's totally a good sign. "That cool?" I have to make sure though so I squeeze her shoulder a little bit.

She looks up at me and takes a deep breath. "Y-y-yea. T-that's, um." She closes her eyes and takes another deep breath before she huffs it out and looks back at me. She looks so determined. "It's totally cool."

I don't hide my smile this time. I feel on top of the world. I don't really think she's officially my girl yet, but this is progress.

I'm so happy I kiss her temple and pull her impossibly closer to me as we make our way back to the car. Esme spots our cuddly positions once we get back, but she keeps her thoughts to herself. Carlisle raises an eyebrow at me and nods, but I already knew he'd be cool with this.

The ride to Esme's is full of conversation about the day. I try my best to focus, but Bella has all of my attention; I can't concentrate when she's touching me and I make sure to be in constant contact with her. Thinking's overrated anyway.

Carlisle takes us home after saying goodnight to Esme. Clay reclaims the front seat and Bella falls asleep leaning into my side as I finger the ends of her hair. Bella's too tired so I don't mess around when it comes to disentangling us from the seatbelt. She only wakes up long enough to leave Carlisle's car and get into my passenger seat before she's knocked out again.

I bump fists with Carlisle and get on the road back to Bella's house. She looks fucking beautiful with the moonlight from the window illuminating her skin. I feel like a pussy for noticing that, but it doesn't make it any less true.

I pull up into her driveway and kill the engine. I watch her for a few more minutes then swipe a lock of hair behind her ear. My hand lingers a little bit, but I finally jostle her softly.

I speak as quietly as I can. "Hey Bella, time to go."

She looks a little startled when she wakes up, but quickly scans her surroundings. He eyes meet mine and she smiles a little bit while her face turns pink.

I try to hide my returning smile by facing forward and running my hand through my dirty blond locks. I'm sure it isn't working so I try to talk so she can't see the curve of my lips.

"So, I'll see you in school tomorrow?" I already know the answer, but I need her to know I'm not just talking about seeing her in passing. She needs to know that I want to see her outside of our regular classes together.

She nods and looks down at her hands. Her fingers are twisting together. I've never seen her do that before. I wonder why she's doing it.

"I had a nice time, um, t-thanks for…" Her voice is soft, her head still down and I realize I'm leaning over trying to hear her better. "Umm…"

"What's up?" I'm really close to her now and when she looks up, her eyes zero in on my lips.

She unclips her seatbelt and turns her body towards the door with her back facing me before speaking again. "Today was cool. I'll see you tomorrow." She opens the door and shifts one foot out before swiveling around and kissing me quickly, dashing to her house before I even have time to blink.

I feel light headed.

I snap out of it before she enters her house and call out her name. She turns around with bright red cheeks and questioning eyes.

"I'm picking you up for school tomorrow. Be ready by six thirty."

She fails at suppressing a smile and awkwardly half waves before going inside.

I smile the whole way home.

A/N: Did this make any sense? Was it everything you wanted it to be? There's some progress happening over here and me likey where it's going, do you? Expect to see some more of Clay... That's all I'm going to say about that.

Blue Review buttons tell it like it is and also get teasers! Have a good weekend, see you next Friday!

~Tay

P.s - My "Bathed In Black: Jacob Black" contest has a little over a week left before entries are closed. Head over to forthereluctantreader(dot)blogspot(dot)com to read the rules and the entries already posted. Voting starts on the 8th of February. Also, feel free to hit up my twitter shantytown005. I'm always talking mad shit on there.