DISCLAIMER: These beautiful characters unfortunately do not belong to me. They belong to the fantastic Stephenie Meyer. I'm just playing around with them….and using them for my own pleasure.

THANKS: Huge thanks to everyone who reviewed. Also thanks to everyone who added me to their alerts and favourites list.

A/N: OKAY WOW. It has been ages. I most definitely know that. And sincerely apologise for that. But never fear. I am back. My stories will continue. But I guess you want an explanation, so here's the short version.

After returning from my one week trip back at the end of my May, my laptop got sick within a week after my return. It was gone for almost a month. I'd had it back a week tops, and it carked itself again. This time it was gone for at least 3 months. I've had very limited computer time, meaning no time to work my stories, and I really do not have the patience to sit and write it all out on paper. Anyways, I finally got my laptop back last week……so I am now back. Thank god………………….

Eyes Like Yours

Chapter Thirty One - Date Night

BPOV

I'd been in Alice's presence for only thirty minutes, and already I was feeling on edge. It was obvious to me that I'd made a mistake in telling her about my dinner date with Edward tonight.

"So, have you got any idea's about what you're going to wear? Just let me pick something out for you. You should wear that sexy dress I had out for your last date. You didn't get to wear it, so why not tonight," Alice ranted as she skipped behind me as I made my way into my room.

I opened my wardrobe, and just stood there, looking in and over the clothes that hung in there. I spotted said dress hanging in a plastic cover. It was purple, and silky. And gorgeous. But way too fancy for a casual dinner at Edward's place.

"Alice, I already told you; it's just dinner at his place. He even told me this morning not to worry about dressing up. We've decided on casual," I sighed.

I know I'd explained this to her a hundred times already this morning, but I honestly feel that with Alice, things like this, they go in one ear and out the other. When she listens to someone, if it's not something she wants to hear, she probably only hears 'blah blah blah'. Then she makes out that you've said something that actually excites her. The woman is loony I'm telling you.

"But Bella, you need to make a nice impression," she pouted as she started to rifle through my clothes.

See what I mean? She's not listening.

I scoffed and laughed in her face. "A nice impression? Alice, please. Why would I need to do that? I've already had his kid," I said as I pulled out a tight grey sweater dress. "This will do. I'll pair it with some black tights," I told her as I pushed her to the side and closed my wardrobe.

Alice opened her mouth to, I'm sure, protest. I stopped her before she could get a word out. "Alice, you've seen me in this before, and you know it looks good. It's nice, and casual. Plus it makes my ass look great," I grinned.

"It does make your ass look good," she mumbled her agreement before letting out a heavy sigh. "At least wear some sexy underwear," she seemed to brighten up a little again.

"Not that Edward will be seeing my underwear tonight, but if it makes you happy, I'll wear some cute panties," I laughed as I pushed her from the room. "Now, I'm sorry, but I have to kick you out. I have to go see my dad and see if I can squeeze some juice out of him".

"About him and your mum?" Alice questioned as we grabbed our purses and headed out to our cars.

"Yeah. I'm going to grab some burgers and go bribe him with some lunch. See if I can maybe knock some sense into him," I told her.

"You'd like to see them back together then?" she asked.

"Yea, I guess," I shrugged. "I think it would be nice if we could all be one big happy family, you know? But, only if it's what they want. I don't want to push them into something that they may not want in the long run," I explained.

"Fair enough," Alice nodded as she gave me a quick hug and headed towards her car. "I'll see you tomorrow. I want details about tonight". I rolled my eyes at her and received a giggle in return.

I waved goodbye to her as she pulled out of my driveway. I jumped into my own car, which I'd only just gotten back yesterday after getting fixed and headed towards the local burger joint to pick up some lunch for my dad.

XXXX

I sat down with Charlie in his private office at the station, and together we chowed down on our lunch of burgers and fries.

"This is a damn good burger Bells," Charlie spoke in between chews.

"I could lie and say I made them myself, but I think we both know how crap us Swan's are at lying," I chuckled as I looked at him over my burger.

By making that statement, I hoped that it would make my dad realise that there was no point in trying to pull the wool over my eyes. I even thought that my father would figure out himself that I wanted to talk to him about Renee, but he was either absolutely oblivious, or he really was stupid enough to try and pretend he had no idea what I was talking about.

Looks like I'll just have to get straight to the point.

"So dad, you and mum? And don't even bother lying, because like I said before, the pair of us are shitty liars," I gave him my serious look.

I meant business, and that look proved it. He knew not to try and bullshit me.

"Mum has already told me everything dad, so cut the bullshit," I sighed. "Look, I know you still love her. You never stopped. If you guys want to give it another go, then you should. I don't see what the problem is if it's what the both of you want," I went on.

Charlie let out a loud sigh of his own and put down the rest of his food before wiping his mouth with a napkin. "I'm just worried that it's not the right thing to do," he told me.

"Hey, you're getting your ex-wife back. The love of your life. The mother of your only child. The owner of half your stuff. Dad, you can't go wrong," I giggled a little.

He snorted at me. "She did get a lot of my stuff in the divorce, and it would be nice to get some of that back," he joked with a chuckle.

"Well, there's your answer to it all then," I clapped my hands excitedly.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Charlie tucked back into his lunch with a grin.

I smiled to myself. I couldn't have been happier about this. I would be excited to see my parents back together. And it gave me hope for myself. Maybe that fairytale life I'd always dreamed of as a child wasn't as far out of my grasp as I thought. After all these years apart, my parents could still feel that amazing love for each other. Maybe it had never disappeared; it had just been hiding.

Seeing them happy again; it definitely gave me hope for my own future.

XXXX

Edward really impressed me with dinner.

He'd cooked for me before, but that had only been small things. He'd never cooked me a proper meal before.

When I arrived at his place at six, yes I'd driven there myself, he wouldn't let me step foot in the kitchen. I'd begged for him to let me help, but he put his foot down.

"How am I supposed to woo you with my skills if I let you, the professional cook, in here to do everything for me?" he laughed. "Now, why don't you go out to the dining table, pour us some wine and put some music on. Dinner will be ready in five minutes," he grinned down at me as he clutched my waist and gave me a soft push away.

I snorted out loud as I poured the wine. "When you say skills," I yelled out to him. "Do you mean like cheese on toast skills?" I asked in a teasing voice.

Edward poked his head out through the arch that led to his kitchen and gave me a 'not so scary' glare. I held back my snicker as he ranted at me. "I'll have you know that I am quite a good cook. Esme is my mother after all," he pointed out.

I made a face at him. "Whatever," I poked my tongue out.

He let out a loud sniff and ducked back into the kitchen. I just kept laughing at him while I made my way to his CD player, and scrolled through the stack he had sitting there ready. I found a mixed CD with some classical music on it and smiled. It was appropriate for this setting. It was nice and peaceful music, and it wasn't too loud, so Edward and I wouldn't have to talk loudly over it.

I moved back to the dining table and sat down, taking a sip of the wine. I relaxed into my chair and closing my eyes, I let the beautiful music drift over me. I'd listened to a lot of classical while pregnant with Sammy, but I had enjoyed it previous to that too. It was something else Edward and I had in common, and that thrilled me and made me happy.

"Hey, don't go falling asleep on me now," Edward chuckled as he stepped from the kitchen and carried to two large dishes to the table.

I smiled lazily and sat up straighter and looked at the food he'd placed in front of us. Mmm, it smelled and looked delicious. My mouth watered at the coconut and curry aroma that wafted in the air.

"This looks amazing," I praised Edward as he started to spoon out white rice onto our plates. "What is it?"

"This is a chicken Panaeng curry with vegetables and rice," he told me as he added the creamy chicken dish to the rice.

"Nice. I'm very impressed," I grinned. "And, I love hot food," I exclaimed.

"I know," Edward grinned back at me.

Ah, so he had insider knowledge. My father or Esme would be my guess. Probably Charlie. He seems to be Edward's number one fan lately. But I suppose you get that when you happily agree to go on a fishing trip with the man. Edward really has no idea what he's gotten himself into with that one. Ah well, serves himself right. That's what he gets for trying to be a crawler. But, sucking up did get him into dad's good graces, so looks like things went according to plan.

The dish tasted just as amazing at it looked and smelled. Edward knew what he was doing. He'd be cooking for me a lot more from now on if I had my way.

"That was delicious. I loved it," I told him as we tidied the table and took the dirty dishes into the kitchen and loaded them into the dishwasher.

"You're welcome," Edward grinned in return as he led me to the lounge room with our wine in tow. "Now, why don't you put a movie on, make yourself comfortable, and ill go grab dessert," he trailed off as he left me for the kitchen again.

"There's dessert?" I called out.

"Of course there is dessert," he laughed.

I was excited to see what he'd made. Sweets were my specialty, and seeing what others could come up with always excited me. And if dinner was anything to go by, then this dessert would be just as great.

I quickly popped in a movie, I think it was Wolverine; I wasn't really paying much attention. With only a brief glimpse, I'd just grabbed something that was sitting on top of the coffee table. It'd do. Sipping some wine, I kicked off my shoes and made myself comfy on the couch.

My eyes widened in surprise when Edward appeared carrying two plates, with what appeared to be pink soufflés. They looked stunning. The pair of them sat perfectly with strawberries placed strategically on top. Wow.

"Are they soufflés?" I asked; the surprise was clearly evident in my voice. "I was just expecting a chocolate cake or something".

"I want to impress you, so I have to go all out," Edward chuckled. "And they aren't just your normal everyday soufflé's. These are chilled strawberry soufflés," he said smugly.

I whacked him in the chest as he sat down next to me. "Someone loves themselves just a little too much," I sniffed. But then I grinned. "And you don't have to try and impress me. You won me over a long time ago," I smiled shyly as I took the dessert from him.

He didn't say anything to that. Just smiled his thanks at me. We sat silently after that, watching the movie and chowing down on one of the best and yummiest soufflés Id ever had the pleasure of tasting.

After we'd finished the last dregs of our soufflés, I snuggled up into his side and continued to watch the movie.

XXXX

EPOV

My dinner date with Bella went off without a hitch. I'd impressed her with my cooking skills, even though she told me there was no need for me to try. Apparently I'd won her over long ago. I must admit, I was thrilled to hear her say that.

At this moment, Bella was curled up against my side, quietly watching the movie.

This is what I wanted. For us to be normal, just like every other couple. And I think, finally we are there. Maybe we still have a little more way to go, but where we are now with our relationship; it's perfect.

Soon enough, the movie had finished. It was getting late so I knew Bella would be wanting to head off soon.

"As much as I love me some Hugh Jackman on his own, I still preferred the X-Men movies," she exclaimed as she stretched while I slid the DVD back into its case.

"I agree," I chuckled.

Bella stood then, but not before sliding her shoes back on. "I guess I should head home," she smiled. "Thanks for a wonderful night. I had fun," she told me.

I helped her into her coat. It was cold outside tonight, and I didn't want her getting a chill. "You're welcome. And I enjoyed it too. We'll do it again soon," I said in return as we walked out of the house and towards her car.

Bella nodded in agreement as she threw her purse into the passenger seat. She stuck her car keys into the ignition and turned her heat right up. She closed her door again, making sure the warm air didn't escape.

"I'll see you tomorrow?" she asked as she turned back to me and stepped closer.

"Of course," I grinned.

She smiled back at me before moving right in so that she could throw her arms around me. I gripped her waist tightly and held her to me as we said our goodbye. I buried my face into her strawberry scented hair and inhaled deeply. Her scent, combined with the warmth of her breath that hit my chest through my shirt, instantly made me hard. I couldn't help it. I told myself before Bella had even arrived tonight that I would control my arousal around her. But you know, you can't stop those things. No matter how hard you try.

Bella could feel it too. I knew she could. How could she not; it was pressed right up against her stomach. She pulled away gently and looked into my eyes. I could see the questions in hers when she looked back at me.

"Sorry," I shrugged sheepishly. I half expected her to scold me, but she surprised when she didn't and done something completely unexpected.

She moved her hands to my neck and roughly brought my mouth down to hers. Okay then. If that's what she wants. I'm in.

I moved my hands back to her waist and pressed myself into her as hard as possible. Her moan vibrated against my lips, and the sound and feeling went straight to my dick. I cupped her ass and squeezed gently as I started to trail my lips down her neck and across her collarbones.

"Edward," she gasped as she pulled at the strands of my hair. She moved my face back to hers and sucked at my lips. "I really have to go," she whispered at my mouth. But she didn't stop, just kept on kissing the life out of me. But do you hear my complaining? Didn't think so.

She soon broke away though. Bella's eyes were heavy and lidded, and our breaths escaped in gasps as we looked at each other.

"Go now before I throw you over my shoulder like a caveman and run us back inside," I growled.

"Ill see you tomorrow," she giggled as she took a step away from me and opened her car door. She jumped in quickly and closed the door before I had the chance to change my mind and pull her back to me.

She grinned and waved at me as she drove away, and I went back inside and prepared for yet another night alone with my hand.

XXXX

BPOV

Am I stupid?

Why am I driving away?

I should be back there letting him drag me inside like the caveman he said he was.

Oh god, that felt good. So good.

I am visibly shaking, and my breathing had not yet returned to normal. My body was on fire. It felt like my blood was bubbling under the surface of my skin. I hadn't felt that in such a long time. And stupid me was now moving in the other direction. Like I said, I should be back there going forward. Not backwards.

Oh screw it.

I slammed the breaks on in my car, and it screeched to a stop. I pull the fastest U-turn known to man, and speed all the way back to his place. Soon enough I'm at his door banging on it like a mad woman in heat.

I hear his heavy steps on the hard wood floor as he nears the door in a hurry. The grin on his face almost reaches his ears when he see's that I have returned.

I screech excitedly as he lunges and pulls me inside, before slamming the door behind us.

XXXX

A/N: Yes, I sure did leave it there. LOL. But you'll get the long awaited lemon next chapter. I pinkie promise.

Also, you'll find a picture of Edward's souffle on my profile page.