A/N: Here is another chapter; I tried to get it out a bit faster then the last one. We jump about two whole weeks in this chapter alone, just to forewarn you. So go ahead and enjoy so much needed fluffiness!
And thank you to everyone who reviewed, put me on alert and who put me as a favorite! I appreciate it all.
Also, I will eventually be putting up pictures of Carlisle and Esme's home in the next few days. It will be a good visual for later on in the story. So be on the lookout for that.
Disclaimer: I don't own…this is just a figment of my imagination.
-oo-
Ch. 13
EPOV
After I dropped Bella off at her house, I made my way back home. When I finally got up to my bedroom, I couldn't stop starting at the rumpled sheets where Bella had been laying.
You're a royal asshole Edward. Good job.
I am sure any chance that I had with Bella was shot to hell. She had looked so dazzling in that outfit tonight; a siren right in front of me. She had always been beautiful to me, but grown up Bella was more then breathtaking.
She said she wanted space; that time would allow her to come to terms with my mistakes. I could do that; I would do anything for her.
I wanted to call her, but I didn't know if that would be too much. I knew I couldn't go see her until she gave me permission. So what could I do to tell her I was thinking about her?
Suddenly an idea came to me and I went to sleep that night with a smile on my face.
-oo-
I got up about 6:30 the next morning and made my way to the local florist, which opened by seven. I had to recall Bella's favorite flowers from high school and quickly made an arrangement out of them. I wrote a personalized note to her and asked for it to be delivered within the hour, leaving a heavy tip along with it.
I made my way to the hospital for my twelve hour shift shortly after. I was immediately slammed with a young girl and a broken wrist, a teenage boy that had taken off the tip of his finger and then a construction worker that required surgery for reattachment of a finger.
I felt my phone go off earlier that morning, but I had no time to answer it or check my voicemail. When I finally did at the end of my day, I was pleasantly surprised to find it was Bella.
When I finally made it home I ended up calling her back, at least to say that I got the message. We ended up talking about Christmas and how we were both going to finally be around for the first time in years.
I had already gotten Bella her gift, and I was a nervous wreck about it.
Over the next couple of days we got reacquainted over the phone. As the days got closer to Christmas, I found myself wanting more and more to just be able to see her in person. She seemed to finally be in a good place the night before we were to see each other at my parents' house.
At the end of our last conversation, which consisted of a lot of trips down memory lane, she got really quiet.
"Are you okay?" I asked.
"Yeah. Just thinking." I head her sigh and shift in whatever position she had been sitting in.
"A penny for your thoughts?"
"I want to talk to you about it tomorrow; it's something that should be said face to face," she mumbled.
"Sure, if it's something serious, then I agree. I can't wait to see you tomorrow."
"Me either. After talking to you so much over the past week, it will be good to see you. I should be going though; it's already one in the morning. Santa won't ever come if we're still up!" she said with a giggle.
"Oh Bells. Still a kid at heart. I will see you tomorrow." I couldn't help the grin that spread across my face at the thought of being able to at least hug her.
"Alright, goodnight." With that we hung up and I slept heavily for the first time in five years.
-oo-
BPOV
Christmas morning was hectic to say the least. We had experienced one of those occasional Seattle snow falls and my car was completely covered. As I was scraping the windows I just kept telling myself that my next place would have a garage.
I didn't have to be at the Cullen's mansion until noon so I made myself a special breakfast of eggs, toast and bacon. I rarely ate that big of a meal so early but since it was a holiday, I made the exception.
I spent most of the morning calling my dad in Forks and my mom in Jacksonville. Charlie, who had been dating Sue Clearwater for the past three years, was spending the day down in La Push. I was relieved to hear that he at least had a second family of sorts to spend the day with; just because I avoided Forks like the plague didn't lessen my guilt of seeing my dad alone during the holidays. He told me to open my gift while I was on the phone with him. He ended up getting me a cookbook with different cultural cuisines and a can of mace. I laughed at the latter of the two which caused Charlie to grumble something alone the lines of "because of that Cullen boy."
I just shook my head after I hung up with him.
The conversation with my mother was a bit longer then with Charlie. She dominated the conversation and was gushing over the crochet kit that I had sent her. She promised that the first item she made from it would be for me. I silently cringed because I knew she probably wouldn't be any good at it. But being the good daughter that I am, I just told her that I couldn't wait. Apparently Phil had some holiday baseball game with his adult team that afternoon so Renee was busy attempting to bake something for the members of the team. I opened her gift which turned out to be a fruit cake (that was hard as rock) and a locket with both of our baby pictures in it. The conversation finally ended when a) I noticed that it was already 11:30 and it would take me at least a half hour to get to the mansion and b) a sudden fire alarm sounded on Renee's end, signaling that she had burnt her treats. I hung up laughing my ass off. My family may be spread out, but they definitely have the kookiness factor going on.
I awkwardly pulled on my coat and pulled away from the curb, finally on my way to another Cullen Christmas. It was my first one in over two years and I knew that Esme was ecstatic that Edward and I were finally joining the festivities this year. My heart immediately started beating a mile a minute once I made it through the elaborate gates and up the long and windy drive.
When I finally pulled up to the front door, I noticed that I was the last to arrive. Before I could even get out of my car, I had Alice giving me a vice grip version of a hug.
"Ali…can't…breathe," I choked out.
"Sorry! About time you got here, we just finished making a round of hot cocoa. I made you a mug. C'mon!" she bounced towards the house, dragging me in her wake.
One has to be prepared when walking into a house that belongs to Carlisle and Esme Cullen. Especially with Carlisle being a successful doctor and Esme's interest in architecture and interior design. The obvious combination of those two equals out to a huge home decorated to the hilt in opulence.
I was still taken aback even after almost twenty years of knowing this family. My parents were both middle America and I didn't grow up with all of this.
We wound our way through the many hallways until we got to the large gourmet kitchen. Let's just say that I was more then envious of Esme's kitchen, and she knew it. Alice handed me a lone mug on the counter and ushered me into an adjacent room. We came upon the well used family room where a large spruce towered in the twenty foot room. The fire was roaring in the huge stone fireplace and the room was decorated in tasteful gold and red Christmas decorations.
"Oh Bella! We are now complete with your arrival dear," Esme exclaimed as she came gliding over to be for a hug.
"It's good to see you too Esme," I sighed in content.
After the hug ended, I was quickly engulfed in a firm hug from Carlisle.
"How's the arm?" he asked, taking my jacket off and handing it to Emmett.
"Alright. Can't wait to get it off though," I said looking down at the offending object.
"Just another three weeks to go," he said cheerfully.
"Any chance it could be sooner?" He just smiled and patted my arm sympathetically.
After that exchange, I went through the pass around with my friends. I finally came to Edward, whom I just noticed for the first time since I arrived. He was standing next to the fireplace with his own mug in his hand.
He was busy checking me out from head to toe, and I couldn't help the shiver that ran down my spine. I instinctively licked my lips as I noticed he was wearing a white button-down shirt underneath a black sweater and paired with loose fitting jeans. I wanted nothing more then for him to turn around so that I could check out his ass.
When our eyes finally met, a lazy smile took over his features. I found myself moving towards his now extended arms and was immediately enveloped into the warmest hug I had ever received.
"It's so good to finally see you after our many conversations," he whispered into my hair.
I just "mmhmm'd" into the crook of his neck.
We broke apart and were immediately ushered into the elaborate dining room for lunch. We consumed a few bottles of Carlisle's best wine and then made our way back into the family room.
Alice pranced over to the tree and titled herself as the 'gift giver', which basically just entitled her to pass out all the gifts to their appropriate recipients. Alice almost broke my other arm when she landed on it in excitement over the bag I had gotten her. Rose and Em couldn't wait to get on the race track. Jasper, Esme and Carlisle gave me quiet hugs of thanks. Edward left my gift for last was in shock when he opened it.
"Is this a real autograph from Debussy?" he asked in awe.
I simply nodded.
"Wow, I don't know what to say. Thank you." He had been sitting on the floor and immediately sat up on his knees. He made his way over and settled between my legs for another hug.
After awhile he asked for me to join him in Carlisle's study, which I quickly agreed to.
Once inside he closed the door behind us and offered me on of the two leather chairs. I quickly sat and Edward sat on the coffee table directly in front of me.
"I wanted to give you your gift alone," he said holding a small package.
I just nodded and then he swiftly handed it to me. I slowly opened it and knew immediately that it was jewelry. I looked up at him curiously and he just encouraged me to open the long, thin box. Inside was a sterling silver charm bracelet with a heart dangling from the end?
"What do you think?" he asked nervously.
"Is this a declaration of something?" I inquired about the heart charm.
"I do have feelings for you. This heart represents how I feel and what I hope it turns into," he said taking the bracelet out of the box and gently placing it on my wrist.
"It's beautiful Edward, thank you." I gave him a tight hug.
"Did you want to talk now that we are alone?" he asked.
"Yeah…basically I did a lot of thinking since the club incident. After a lot of thinking I wanted to tell you that…I…forgive you. I still need to rebuild my trust in you, but I just miss you so much," I said when a tear escaped.
He just looked at me for a long moment and then tentatively took his thumb and gently wiped away the tear.
"I missed you too," he mumbled while resting his forehead against my own.
"So where do we go from here?" I asked.
"Why don't we start off with a date? Say New Years Eve? We can go to Alice and Jasper's party after we go to a nice dinner," he offered.
"That sounds like a good plan. You can be my first kiss of the New Year," I smiled.
"And if I have it my way, I hope I will be the only one kissing you for a long time."
-oo-
EPOV
New Year's Eve finally rolled around and I was nervous. Tonight was my first date with Bella. We were going to head out for an early dinner at a French restaurant down the street from Alice and Jasper's house before we make our way over to their party. Alice was known for her parties and this one would most likely prove to be one for the history books.
I changed into black dress pants, a crisp white button down shirt with the first three buttons undone and a matching black jacket.
On my way over to pick up Bella I stopped at a florist and got a single long-stemmed red rose. I finally arrived at Bella's at seven o'clock on the dot. We had reservations at seven-thirty and needed to be at Alice's by nine.
I quickly knocked on her door and only had to wait a minute before she answered it. My breath almost completely left me when she revealed herself. Her hair was in perfect curls and piled in a low bun at the nape of her neck. She wore a deep blue halter-top dress that stopped at her knees and she had paired it with a black cardigan and black shoes.
"You look exquisite my Bella," I said before kissing her on the cheek.
"You don't look so bad yourself Mr. Cullen," she said seductively.
We made our way back to my car and were finally on our way to dinner. The restaurant was very intimate and expensive. Bella looked a bit apprehensive about having me pay for dinner but I quickly reassured her.
"I have plenty of money Bella. I have waited all this time to spoil you, so please let me indulge."
Once she seemed to calm down we ordered our meals and toasted with a glass of wine.
"Here is to an exciting new year of success, happiness and hopefully love," I said, clinking my glass with hers. My toast immediately produced a blush from her lovely cheeks.
Dinner flowed comfortably as we caught up on our careers, Alice's party and what we wanted to accomplish in the next year.
After paying the bill we made our way over to Alice and Jasper's home where the music was loud, even from the street. To say the place was packed would be an understatement; hopefully they clued the neighbors in on the loud noise.
We said hi to our friends as I kept close to Bella's side. We made our way to the catered bar and each ordered a drink. After a few minutes of taking in the sights around us I leaned in and whispered, "Would you care to dance?"
"Yes," she whispered.
I took her glass and my own and set them on the bar behind us. Taking her hand in mine, I guided us through the throng of people to the makeshift dance floor. A slow song that I didn't recognize started and I slide my arms around Bella's lower back.
-oo-
BPOV
Edward guided me to the floor and I wrapped my arms tightly around his neck. We swayed like that in comfortable silence until the song ended. Another fast beat began and we quickly got into the rhythm that we had found back at Blue Lagoon over two weeks ago.
Before I knew it, midnight was upon us and the lights went low and Dick Clark's voice rang into the room once the volume of the music was turned down.
"10, 9, 8, 7…"
"Thanks for coming with me Bella," Edward whispered into my ear.
"6, 5, 4, 3…"
"I wouldn't want to be anywhere else," I said into the crook of his neck.
"2, 1….Happy New Year!" everyone screamed.
"Happy New Year my Bella," Edward said as he leaned down and gently captured my lips with his. All around us couples mimicked our scene but once our lips finally met, everyone else disappeared.
In that moment, I knew without a doubt that I was finally home.
-oo-
A/N: So there you go, Edward and Bella's first date. It took a whole month for them to finally get to that point, but it finally happened.
So tell me what you think!