I woke the next morning in Edward's giant fluffy bed. The sun was streaming in through the window. I stretched and yawned looking around for my favorite morning sight. Right on cue, Edward walked in with a serving tray piled with food. I smiled at him gratefully.

"Good morning." He kissed me softly on the lips and set the tray in my lap. It smelled amazing. I picked up my fork and started piling the delicious food into my mouth. "Did you sleep well?" he asked, stroking my hair.

I mm-hmm'd around my mouthful enthusiastically. He chuckled and settled himself behind me, acting as my own personal backrest. I scooted back into his open legs, relishing in the culinary creations and the personal attentions of my master chef. I finished eating and Edward removed the tray.

"I slept like a baby. I was really tired after all that dancing last night." His eyes took on a bit of a pinched look which he quickly hid with a practiced smile. I could tell his thoughts were focused on the disastrous ending to our night out.

I thought back on the evening. We definitely needed to talk about it. I had been too tired when we got home to deal with what would certainly be a difficult conversation. So instead, I headed straight to the shower and into bed. We hadn't talked about anything. I wondered when I should bring it up. I didn't want to ruin the current peaceful mood.

"Charlie came by late last night," he casually changed the subject.

I nearly choked. "What! Why? Did he see you?" Visions of an epic fatherly melt down flashed in front of my eyes with horror. Edward chuckled at my over-reaction.

"Of course not. Alice saw his decision to 'patrol' the house with enough time to set things up convincingly." Relieved, I rolled my eyes.

"What do you mean 'set things up'?"

"Nothing major. We moved the appropriate cars into one of the outbuildings behind the house. Alice set up a few props. It wasn't a problem." I laughed. I bet Alice had actually had fun, setting up props. I shared that thought with Edward. He nodded in agreement, smiling. "She was quite thorough; spare camping gear strewn about the garage and miscellaneous messes in the living area to make it look like actual teenagers live here."

I chuckled with him. Alice had definitely had fun. "She had the most fun setting up sleep-over props. Unfortunately, this means you'll be spending additional girl time with Alice before our weekend is over. She plans to paint your nails." I grimaced and he chuckled softly, placing a kiss in my hair.

"Well, I suppose it's a small price to pay for avoiding the wrath of Charlie. You'd think the fact that we're getting married in just a few weeks would afford us a little space from fatherly prying," I griped. He smiled at my mention of the wedding. Of course.

"I'm afraid his cop tendencies and his fatherly instincts got the better of him in the middle of the night." He smiled remembering something funny.

"What?" I smiled, wanting to be let in on the joke.

"Charlie decided he should make sure I was really camping and you and I weren't here doing anything inappropriate. It was pretty funny watching him prowling around the garage and peeking in the windows. Emmett nearly didn't hold it together when Charlie snuck up on the porch with his flashlight." Edward's eyes flashed with humor. "In Emmett's defense, it was probably the first time in history a human ever stalked a whole house full of vampires."

I laughed at the mental image. Poor Charlie. He was in way over his head, just trying to be a good dad. And I had slept through the whole thing. I smiled fondly and tried not to let any sadness creep in around the corners. I had less than a month with Charlie after all. Edward seemed to sense my shift in thoughts despite my efforts.

"He'll be okay love. He's a good man and he's trying hard to accept that his only child is moving into an adult life of her own. He'll be a little lonely at first, but he'll get along just fine."

I nodded. I didn't really want to go down this path right now. I had a lot of other things to think about. But the comment about Charlie's 'fatherly instincts' did make me think again about the things that had happened last night between Edward and I. Charlie's instincts were more correct than he knew.

"I think we need to talk about what happened last night." I felt Edward tense and I turned to get a better look at his face. It was a careful mask, but I could see the pain behind his eyes. He was blaming himself. I knew we needed to talk about this. "Edward, nothing actually happened. You don't have anything to blame yourself about."

"Bella, there's nothing you can say that's going to change what I nearly did."

"Nearly. Edward. Not did. Nothing happened to me. And what did happened was my own stupid fault." He was already shaking his head in denial and moving off the bed. I reached out to catch his arm. He allowed me to grab his hand, his body half way off the bed. He sighed. I opened my mouth, but he cut me off.

"Bella, I don't want to hear you try to take the blame for this. I know what happened." He gently unclasped my hand from his and walked to his bedroom door. My heart stuttered with the ghost of a familiar pain. He was leaving. I knew it wasn't permanent, I had that faith in him. But the familiarity of the situation was stinging me. My heart started to race. He paused in the open door, but didn't turn to look at me.

"I'm coming back, I promise." And he left the room.

I stared after him open mouthed. He had never left like that before. Well, not since those horrible months apart when he tried to leave me for good. I failed at suppressing a shudder. I tried not to let the ghost of that pain take over my whole body.

I had a short minute to collect myself before Alice came bounding into the room all smiles and hyper-active energy. The change between Edward's tense back leaving the room and Alice's bouncing frame entering was jarring. I shook my head trying to keep tears from falling.

She gave me a sympathetic look, but thankfully didn't say anything. I would have broken down if she had. Naturally, she heard everything Edward and I had just said.

Her bubbly energy filled the room. I scowled when she informed me it was time for some girl time. After her lecture about keeping up on appearances, I relented to the pedicure Charlie would surely be expecting me to be sporting when I got home. I bargained for my human minute, changing into my comfortable jeans and a tee shirt before joining her in her room. I didn't catch any sign of Edward on my trip down the hall, but then I hadn't expected any either.

Alice chatted amiably while she buffed and painted my toes and fingers. I tried to maintain a cheerful demeanor, but I was having a hard time keeping my mind away from what happened with Edward.

"Earth to Bella?"

"Sorry Alice." I set my freshly polished hands in my lap. I didn't know what to say. I couldn't get my mind off of last night and his abrupt departure this morning.

"Everything's going to be all right," she offered. "He just needs some time to cool down."

"Is he here right now?"

"He went out for a run. Emmett and Jasper followed him." Her eyes narrowed.

I noticed the specific way she phrased that. They hadn't left together. I frowned.

"They'll only be gone another hour," she tried to reassure me. I nodded again, unsure of my voice. An hour seemed like an awfully long time. "Do you want to talk about what happened? At the club?" she prodded gently.

I sighed. I didn't have anything to lose. "Everything was going great last night. And everything that we talked about was so good, Alice. The dancing was amazing. Intense, you know?"

I looked up to see if she understood. She nodded encouragingly. I paused not sure how to explain what happened next. "When he took me outside things got a little out of control. But it wasn't his fault at all. It was all mine. "

I rushed through the next part, embarrassed to relive the humiliation I felt in the car on the way home.

"My stupid body decided that it was a good time to relieve all the tension. I swear I didn't know that would happen. And I didn't know he could smell me, Alice. Not until what Emmett said in the car." I didn't dare look up as the blood reddened my cheeks. This was so embarrassing.

"Bella, it's okay. Emmett is an idiot. And you shouldn't be embarrassed. It's completely natural. What happened after your orgasm?" I cringed at her casual use of the word. But it sort of helped, to just get it out there.

"Well, I didn't know- you know- what it was at first. When it happened." I tried not to sound awkward and failed miserably.

"That was your first orgasm?" She said, scandalized. I bit my lip and nodded self consciously.

"Oh Bella, that's great!" I laughed self-consciously at her enthusiasm. "How was it?" She asked intently.

"It was great, Alice. I felt like I was going to implode dancing with Edward like that. And then we were outside kissing. And it just happened and I wasn't sure what it was at first. But it was really, really great."

"That will get even better with time." She laughed and squeezed both my hands. I smiled, appreciative of her sisterly advice. "We can talk all about that later. How did Edward react after?"

I thought back, trying to focus on the order of how things happened.

"Well, I didn't know what was wrong at first. Like I said, I was a bit confused myself. He just froze. He was breathing really heavy and he wouldn't move. I didn't realize he could, um, smell me. But I think that's what set him off. His eyes were the darkest I'd ever seen them, and he growled. But I wasn't scared of him, I know he wouldn't hurt me. I just knew he was losing control. I suggested that he stop breathing and then he asked me not to move. I held really still and after a minute he got himself under control and we went back to the car."

Alice looked thoughtful.

"I wasn't ever in any danger, Alice. I promise. He's beating himself up for what could have happened when nothing did happen. He doesn't give himself any credit at all."

"I know, sweety. You're mostly right. If Edward lost himself completely to his vampire instincts, it could be deadly for you. But he isn't just lusting after you. He loves you and he needs to figure out that love and lust can exist together- even for our kind. I know that he could never hurt you. But Edward is Edward and he is going to beat himself up over anything that has to do with you. But I think you're right, it sounds like smelling you sent him close to the edge of losing control."

"So now what do I do? I'm afraid he's going to give up on everything we've been trying. And we've been making so much progress, Alice."

"Well, we're going to finish our girl time-" I rolled my eyes at her priorities"-and after Edward has some sense knocked into him, I suggest you two have a talk. You need to help him realize that you can be responsible for your safety too. You did everything just right. Even after experiencing your first orgasm, you were able to focus on helping him. The way I see it, it's just another thing you need to add to your list of things to practice. Practice makes perfect as they say."

She arched an eyebrow coyly and I had to laugh. What would I do without my best friend and future sister?

AN: Thanks for the reviews everyone. I'm happy to post this up early for you. I'll post the next chapter when there are 15 reviews (or in 2 days).