EPOV

I was nervous. Unbelievably nervous. I never get nervous around girls, but this isn't just any girl – this was Bella Swan. I'd dreamed of being with Bella for so long and I wasn't sure how she felt about what happened between us yesterday. What if she regretted it? What if she was just caught up in the moment? But the little bit of hope that I held in my heart asked - What if she had wanted that to happen as much as I did? I gathered my books and the peach roses that I'd bought for Bella and headed toward her locker. Rosalie had just turned and headed down the hallway when I turned the corner, thankfully, I really didn't need an audience for this.

I walked up behind Bella, putting the flowers behind my back. "Hey Beautiful," I whispered.

Bella turned and gave me a shy smile, a glorious red already tinting her cheeks. "Hi," she returned my whisper.

"I got these for you," I started, bringing the roses from my behind my back to present to her. "I know you talked about the peach roses that you loved so much at the park . . . " I was rambling and hoping to shut myself up before I made a complete fool of myself.

Bella bit her lower lip, the shy smile growing. "I can't believe you remember that. Thank You." Bella's smile was encouraging.

"So, I was wondering . . . if you would be interested in going to dinner with me tomorrow night."

Bella grinned from ear to ear, making my heart soar. "Like a date?"

I shuffled my feet, suddenly a little more uncomfortable for having to put myself out there like this. "Yeah, like a date."

The hall was getting less crowded as more students had made their way out to their cars. Bella took a step closer to me and put her delicate hand on my forearm. "Edward, I would really really love to go with you . . ."

I could already hear the hesitation and my heart plummeted. "But . . ."

"I have to work tomorrow. From after school until closing," she finished, her voice sounding regretful.

I furrowed my brow in confusion. "I thought you only worked on Sundays and Thursdays." Was this just an excuse to get out of going out with me? Her way of letting me down easy?

Bella tightened her grip on my forearm. "I begged Mike for some of his shifts to help pay for the damage to my car."

I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding. That made sense. Emmett, Rose and I had been able to help and get some of the parts for cheaper, but it wasn't exactly cheap to fix her car.

"What about some other time?"

"I'd really like that." She smiled at me, removing her hand from my forearm to stabilize the flowers she held. She leaned forward, smelling them. It was quiet for a moment before Bella continued, "You know, Ali and Jasper are coming over Wednesday to help me pass candy out to the kids, then we are going to watch scary movies. They seem to think I shouldn't be left home alone on Halloween. You're welcome to join us."

I was grinning from ear to ear when I told Bella that I would love to join them for Halloween. Okay, so it wouldn't be just the two of us, but at least I got to spend time with her. And I definitely agreed with Alice and Jasper that Bella shouldn't be left home alone on Halloween.

"And then I get to take you on a real date Friday night," I added. Bella smiled and nodded.

I was walking on cloud nine as I walked Bella out to her car.

"I'll see you tomorrow," I said as I opened the door for her.

She smiled, holding on to the door for support, she stepped up on her tip toes and kissed my cheek before getting into her car and heading home.

Hours later I was still grinning like an idiot, but I really didn't care. Bella had agreed to go out with me. Me.

I ran a hand through my hair, the bag of movies in my other hand. It was six o'clock and I had just pulled up to Bella's house. She had put a few decorations out and two carved pumpkins adorned the porch at the top of the steps. Bella had tried to insist that I didn't need to bring anything tonight, but I wasn't having that. I finally convinced her to at least let me provide the movies. I jogged up the steps, taking note that Jasper or Alice's car were not here yet. Maybe I'd have a few minutes alone with Bella before they arrived. That thought made me smile.

I quickly knocked on the door, grateful that Charlie Swan was working this evening. Not that there was a whole lot of crime in the small town of Forks, but Halloween was one of his busier days. I had to smile when Bella opened the door. She was dressed in a long black dress, complete with black witch's hat on her head, and a broom in her hand. She was smiling at me as she opened the door.

"Trick or Treat," I teased, returning her smile.

She looked like she was in deep thought for a moment, "Treat," she responded, then leaned up on her tip toes and planted a very sweet soft kiss on my lips.

"Treat in deed," I responded, following her into the house. I deposited the bag of movies on the coffee table in the living room and followed her into the kitchen. She was in the middle of preparing dinner – it looked like pasta.

"I hope lasagna is okay with you," she said, turning her head to look glance at me.

"Lasagna sounds great. What can I do to help?" I said, walking up beside her.

Bella smiled, "I'm just about done." She hesitated for a moment before adding, "By the way, you're not getting out of wearing a costume tonight."

I looked at her very warily. "Umm . . "

"Don't worry, it's nothing compared to what Alice put everyone in last weekend." She laughed and it was great hearing her so carefree. She nodded to a box that was on the table, "It's in there, and you only have to wear it as long as the trick or treaters are coming around."

I cautiously walked over to the box, but to be honest, at this point I would've worn absolutely anything Bella had asked me to. I reached in the box and pulled out what appeared to be a black cape and a pair of fake fangs. This wasn't too bad, at least I could keep my own clothes on.

Bella smiled at my reaction.

The sound of Bella's phone interrupted my next thought. 'All seven and we'll watch them fall. . . They stand in the way of love and we will smoke them all . . '

Bella giggled. "That's Ali," she said, wiping her hands off and heading towards the sound of her cell phone in the other room. "Would you mind tossing that in the oven?" She asked, nodding toward the lasagna.

"Not at all," I replied, quickly sliding the food into the oven. I had to laugh at the ring tone Bella had for my sister. I knew exactly where that had come from. Alice and Bella had been hanging out at the house working on a project for their biology class when Alice had jumped up and started dancing to the music blaring from the nearby stereo. When I had walked in, both she and Bella were dancing around the kitchen like they didn't have a care in the world. Bella had grabbed my hand and pulled me in to join them. I'd had a special place in my heart for Prince songs from that moment on, and apparently so did the girls.

When Bella returned she had frown on her face, but she also looked confused.

"Ali says Jasper isn't feeling well, so she's taking him home and going to stay with him." She started. "He seemed fine today at school."

My brow furrowed, unsure of whether this was a good turn of events or bad. "B, do you not want to be alone here with me?"

She took a deep breath and her cheeks deepened in color. She lifted her face to look me in the eyes, "I'm okay with it if you are."

How, after all of this, she could think I wouldn't want to be alone with her, I couldn't fathom. "Of course I still want to be here with you."

Bella's anxiety seemed to diminish significantly, but before she could say anything there was a knock at the door. Bella grabbed her broom and the cauldron that was on the table filled with candy. She smiled then, "Well, if you're staying, you better put your costume on."

For the next two hours we passed candy to the multitude of children that came to the Swan's door. It was absolutely amazing to watch Bella interact with the children. She was amazing.

"You were great with those kids," I complimented as we started picking up after the trick or treaters.

Bella smiled. "Thanks," she quickly blew out the candles that had lit the pumpkins on the porch. "I don't know, they can just be so much fun. They have such imaginations, and an unjaded view of the world."

I returned her smile, "So you think you want to have kids, some day I mean."

I knew this conversation was probably a little forward for a first sort-of date, but Bella and I had known each other for so long, it didn't seem awkward.

"I suppose," she started, heading towards the kitchen to pull out a couple of plates so we could finally enjoy her lasagna. "I have other priorities first though. I want to go to school, probably U-Dub, graduate with at least my Bachelor's before I start thinking about a family."

"At least your Bachelors?" I started, "Does that mean you are planning on going farther than that?"

Bella smiled at me, talking about school and writing always made her happy. "Yep. I want to get my Master's Degree. They've got a pretty good program in Seattle, and I figure I'll be better off if I just continue directly on after my Bachelors."

I couldn't help but smile at Bella's enthusiasm. She had this ability to just radiate happiness. It was quite contagious.

"So are you still planning on going to Dartmouth to become a hot shot surgeon?" she asked, popping a fork full of lasagna in her mouth.

"I don't know about 'hot shot surgeon', but yes, I do want to go to Dartmouth and go to Med School." I'd initially wanted to be a surgeon, but recently I'd been thinking more towards becoming and ER doc, like my father. It was so amazing knowing the differences he made in people's lives.

It was so easy talking to Bella. I could talk to her for hours and never get tired. I learned so much about her in those few hours. After our lasagna, Bella went to change out of her costume and we ended up curled up together on the couch watching scary movies. When the first movie had started, there was actually quite a bit of space between us, but with every scary moment, Bella would jump slightly closer to me. It didn't take long before I put my arm around her and pulled her close.

Charlie got home shortly before midnight. He seemed moderately annoyed that I had been in the house alone with Bella, but I had been around long enough with Alice that he didn't seem to question it too much. Bella quickly warmed some of the lasagna up for her father and then came to walk me to my car.

"I had a great time tonight Bella," I told her as I leaned against my car door, in no hurry to leave her side.

Bella looked down at her feet. "I did too."

"B?" I asked, causing her to look up at me. "Can I give you a kiss good night?"

Bella nodded her permission and stepped up on her tip toes as I leaned down to kiss her. I leaned down enough so she could relax back on her feet. Bella was clumsy enough as it was, I didn't need her taking the additional risk of her falling over mid-kiss. My arms wrapped around her tiny waist and we both seemed to get lost in the kiss.

Charlie clearing his throat at the door broke us apart. Bella turned bright crimson and buried her face in my chest. I couldn't help but let a small laugh out at the situation. I leaned down and kissed Bella on the head. "I'll see you tomorrow. Can I pick you up for school?"

Bella nodded, her head still against my chest.

"I'll pick you up at 7:30."

She turned and walked back into the house, her father shutting the door behind them.

I drove home in a daze. As I pulled up to my house I pulled my phone out and sent a quick text to Bella. 'Good Night Beautiful.'

Alice was waiting in the living room for me. She jumped at me the moment I walked in, "So, how was your night with Bella?"

It all suddenly became very clear and I couldn't contain the smirk I sent my little sister's way. "Oh, it was great. How's Jasper? Feeling better?"

She smiled at me and played along, both of us knowing perfectly well that Jasper had never been sick. "He'll be okay. Probably completely back to normal in time for school tomorrow." She paused for a moment before jumping back in, "So how was your night with Bella?"

"It went great Ali, really great," I paused a moment, then added, "Thank You."

"You're welcome," she sang, happily dancing around the living room before bidding me good night and heading up to her room.

Yep, definitely the best Halloween ever. It may be my new favorite holiday.