Bella

Before I can even grab my phone from the kitchen counter, it rings, flashing Alice's number.

"Hey!" her voice rings out when I answer. "I just got home. Oh. My. Frick. Last night was amazing. Where are you, anyway?"

"Um, actually, I was just about to call you. I'm at Edward's."

She falls silent, and I can almost hear the gears turning in her head. "Did you stay over last night?"

"Yeah. We talked about a lot of things, and time got away from us. He asked me to stay."

"And?"

"If you're fishing for lewd details, we didn't doanything. Anyway, I wanted to ask if you could bring me something to wear when you and Jasper come over."

"Sure. We'll be there in thirty minutes. But I still want details."

"Thanks, bestie," I say, ignoring her prying. "See you then."

I hang up just as Edward comes back into the living room, rubbing a hand over his damp hair. He flops down next to me, and I sigh happily as his arm encircles my shoulders around me.

"Was that Alice on the phone?"

"Yeah. She and Jasper will be here in a bit. Do you mind if I shower?"

"Not at all. I left a clean towel for you on the counter."

I kiss him on the cheek and go back to his bedroom. In the bathroom, I strip down as the water warms up. This shower is heavenly. It's got all these jets that spray on every side, and a big shower head that rains down from above. I could stay here the rest of my life. Well, if he was here with 's crazy. I never felt as close to Mike in two years as I do with Edward after only a few weeks.

Sure, it's still early days. Butterflies-in-my-stomach kind of days. But it's so different this time. I feel things I've never experienced. I'm completely attached to him already, and it's a little scary. As I rinse suds from my hair, I hear a tap at the door, and it creaks open before I can say anything.

"Um…Edward?" I ask, crossing my arms over my breasts. He's never seen me naked, and though I'm not a hugely modest person, I don't necessarily want him seeing me in all my drowned-rat glory.

But it's Alice's face I see when a head peeks around the door. She's got one hand over her eyes, which makes me giggle. "It's just me. I'm putting your bag right inside the door."

"Thanks, Alice. I'll be out in a few minutes."

She leaves me to finish my shower, and I imagine the line of questioning I'll be subjected to once she gets me alone later. I don't really mind. I want to hear about her evening with Jasper, too. I might not be as vocal about it, but I'm just as nosey as she is. She just gives details more freely than I do.

As I dry off, a soft blue robe hanging on the back of the door beckons to me, becoming too much to ignore. I take it down and hold it against me, inhaling Edward's clean scent until it strikes me that I'm being a little creepy. I snort at myself and put his robe back on its hook.

Twenty minutes later, I'm dressed in the blue minidress Alice packed for me. This dress has been hanging in my closet for months, untouched since the day she convinced me to buy it. It's usually begrudgingly that I admit that she knows what looks better on me than I do, but this time I don't mind. I fold Edward's t-shirt up and place it on his bed, half tempted to stuff it in my bag and keep it.

Edward stands when I enter the living room, and damn. He's…devastating in jeans, a black shirt, and a gray blazer. I want him.

"Pretty," he murmurs, kissing me on the cheek.

"Hey, Bella," Jasper says, waving from his spot on the couch behind Edward.

"Jasper," I answer, nodding at him. "How are you?"

"Never better." He casts googly eyes at Alice. They're smitten.

"Told you that dress would be hot on you," Alice says. "Now let's go."

"Why are you so keyed up?" I ask as she pulls me out the door and does a fast-walk to the car.

"Oh. The surprise dinner and everything." There's something else she's not telling me. I eye her suspiciously, but she just shrugs and ducks into the back seat of the Volvo.

Emmett's eyes dart around the room of his favorite restaurant when we all yell, "Surprise!" His confused expression breaks into an ecstatic grin, and he claps his hands and laughs before throwing an arm around Rosalie.

"Rosie!" he shouts as he picks her up in a big hug. "You got me!"

The crowd of people approaches to greet the birthday boy, but I hang back with Edward, knowing I'll get my moment with Em when things calm down.

I look up at Edward to find him gazing down at me. "You really do look stunning," he says, bringing his hand up to my cheek.

"Thank you," I say and turn my face to kiss his palm.

Someone calls my name from across the room, and I glance up to see Jake and Jessica approaching.

"Jake!" I haven't seen him for weeks. He wraps me in a fierce hug, and I whisper in his ear, "You have some explaining to do." I eye Jessica, who admittedly looks gorgeous and happy.

"Hey. Jacob Black," Jake says, holding his hand out to Edward.

"Oh! I'm sorry. Edward, this is Jake, one of my oldest friends in the world."

"Nice to meet you, Jake." Edward's arm snakes back around my waist when he breaks the handshake.

"And this is Jessica," Jake says to Edward, putting his arm around her and kissing her cheek. God help me. I've never seen Jess blush before, but a tell-tale pink floods her face. There's something different about her.

Before they can wander off to say hi to Alice and Jasper, I grab Jess's elbow and whisper into her ear, "You're not pregnant, are you? You're like…glowing."

Her eyes grow wide. "I certainly hope not. I told you. I'm in love." She sighs as she eyes Jake's back.

I raise an eyebrow at her and nod in approval. "Well, you look great."

"What's that look for?" Edward asks, looking amused when I return to his side.

"I'm still in shock that those two are together. They kept it a secret for weeks."

"Really? Why?"

"She said they didn't want it to be weird if it didn't work out." I shrug. "I guess I can see myself having hard feelings if she hurt him. Jake and I have been friends since we were in diapers."

He opens his mouth to answer, but Emmett interrupts him, bounding over with Rose in tow. "Bells!" he calls rather loudly, then seizes me in a hug that's tighter than ever.

"Em—can't—breathe," I wheeze.

He laughs and eases up but kept his arms around me. "You of all people kept a secret? I don't believe it."

I grin at him. "Why do you think you haven't seen much of me lately?"

"I assumed it was because of this guy," he says, holding a friendly hand out to Edward.

"Hi, Edward," Rose says with a smirk when I do the introductions again. "I've been excited to officially meet the guy Bella's head over heels for," says Rose.

I die. She shoots me what's supposed to be an innocent look, but smiles shrewdly.

"I'm pretty damned crazy about her myself," he says, squeezing my hand. I gaze up at him, and I know I have that same goofy look my mom used to wear when she watched old romance movies.

"Let's find a seat," I suggest when Em and Rose move on.

"I didn't know so many people would be here," says Edward.

He's right. There are many more bodies here than I imagined there would be, but as charismatic as Em is, it's not surprising. "Emmett never meets a stranger," I tell him, watching him survey the room.

When everything has calmed down and people are seated at three long tables that are pushed together to form a U, Rose stands and raises a glass for a toast.

"I want to thank everyone for helping keep this a secret. I never thought we'd pull off a surprise for the nosiest man on earth." She nudges him with her hip. "But he's also one of the most loving human beings on earth, and so here we are, celebrating twenty-five years of Emmett McCarty. Happy birthday, babe."

Birthday wishes resound all around, and then Em stands to join her.

"I'd like to make a toast of my own," he says, grabbing Rose's hand and pulling her close to his side. "I want to thank everyone for coming to celebrate my birthday, but most of all, I want to thank my Rosie for putting this all together, and for being the amazing hot mama she is." He gives her the side-eye as chuckles go up around the room. "She might kill me for doing this. This was supposed to be an intimate dinner for two, but I can't think of a better way to do this."

Emmett puts his champagne glass down and bends down on one knee. I can't I'm surprised that this was coming. They've been together for years, and they've always talked about getting married. But there's no way Rose could've expected this. I certainly didn't expect him to propose at his own surprise party.

"I know you hate public displays, babe," he continues with a smirk, "but I've been planning this for weeks, so damn all these people." More laughs. "Rosalie Hale, I've loved you from the first moment I saw you. You're my life. I'll always love you. Will you marry me?"

Rose looks like her eyes might pop out of her head. She raises her hand to her mouth and nods, obviously emotional, which she hates for others to see. Emmett slides the ring on her finger before jumping up and spinning her around.

I covertly sniff and wipe a little tear from the corner of my right eye.

Edward smiles at me and wipes away another tear forming at the corner of my left eye. "Oops. You missed one."

I laugh. It's useless for me to hide my emotions from anyone. My face is an open book.

Rose and Emmett make their way around the room again while the waiters bring food and drinks. I hug them both hard and grab Rose's hand to inspect the positively radiant diamond.

"Rose, it's beautiful!"

"Two carats, round cut, platinum Tiffany Setting," Alice says confidently.

I turn to her slowly. "You little weasel! You helped pick it out, didn't you? You knew about this, and you didn't tell me?" I playfully push her aside with my hip.

She holds her hands out, palms up. "I was sworn to secrecy."

"Speaking of secrets…" I pull her aside after Rose and Em move back to their seats to eat. "Tell me about your night with Jasper."

Her face lights up like the Vegas strip. "Oh, Bella." She sighs dreamily. "We had a fabulous dinner, then—" She snorts. "—had dessert. In our hotel room. If you know what I mean."

"He got a hotel room? Mr. Whitlock is a bit presumptuous," I tease.

"We sort of talked about it before. I mean, we both knew we were ready to take the next step. He just did all the planning."

"And you were impressed, I take it."

"Very much so. Everything was amazing. Everything," she says meaningfully. "Now what about your night with Edward?"

I press my lips together as she surveyed my expression. "You're blushing already!" she all but shouts, pointing at my face.

"Alice, keep it down." I glance around to see a couple of heads turn our way. "Nothing like that happened."

Alice giggles, but then her face turned more serious. "Did you talk to him?"

I nod. "It went really well. He said nothing in the past matters. And really, I'm beginning to get it. The only thing that matters is that Edward and I are together now."

She puts an arm around me and squeezes. "I'm so glad. I haven't seen you so happy in a long time."

"What do you mean? I haven't been unhappy for a while."

"No, but you haven't been happy either. You were starting to sort of drift through life for a few months there."

I purse my lips. "I don't need anyone to make me happy. Are you saying I'm codependent?"

"I'm saying you're thinking too hard about things. Just let it happen, Bella." She smiles, and I nod again, still chewing on the inside of my cheek.

Jasper and Edward come back then, having ended a conversation with Emmett. The crowd has thinned out,

"Are you ladies ready to head out?" Jasper asks and takes Alice's small hand in his.

Edward kisses me on the temple, and something flutters in my abdomen, something that's almost always there when he's near.

"Let us say bye to Em and Rose," I say. "Then we're all yours."

"All mine?" Edward repeats, his beautifully crooked grin lighting up his face.

I bring my lips to his. "Mm-hmm. To do with as you please."

His body tenses against mine. "In that case, I'm not ready to take you home yet. We're going back to my place for a while." He raises an eyebrow, asking me if it's okay, even though his tone is demanding.

It sends a chill through me.

An hour later, Edward and I lie on his bed, kissing and caressing and talking in between. As soon as we entered the apartment, Jasper and Alice raced to Jasper's bedroom and slammed the door.

We sat on the couch for a while, but hearing Alice's giggles and moans made me uncomfortable, so Edward led me to his room and shut his door. "More of a noise barrier," he explained, grinning.

Soft music plays from Edward's iPod, which is docked in some fancy-looking contraption. It simultaneously blocks any unwelcome noises and is a perfect background to our quiet moment.

As we lie wrapped up in each other, Edward's eyes study my face and turn from mellow to apprehensive. "Bella," he says, "I want to tell you something."

"Okay." Nothing he can say can knock me off the cloud of bliss on which I've taken up residence.

"I've been thinking a lot about this, wondering if it's too soon to say anything, but it doesn't matter. I feel very strongly about this, and I want to tell you—and you don't have to say it back if you don't want to yet—but… I love you, Bella."

As soon as the words leave his lips, warm tingles start in the middle of my chest and spread outwards, engulfing the rest of me. My eyes prick with tears. "Edward, I— You love me?"

"Yes, I do. I've never felt this strongly about anyone before." His right hand goes to the nape of my neck, and for the second time that night, his thumb reaches to wipe a tear from my eye. "I know it hasn't been very long, but I just know."

I search his beautiful green eyes and find it there. He loves me. I know then that I love him, too. But when I say it, I want it to be more than me just repeating it back to him.

"Thank you, Edward," I say instead. I kiss him softly, and he pulls me toward him. No other words are necessary.