3. First Date

For days Bella cursed herself. In trying to act coy and aloof, neither her nor Edward exchanged cell numbers. For the first time, in a very long time, she found someone who was attention grabbing. He was strange but in a good way. He was attractive in a very good way. He was interested in her, she was interested in him, but she had no way to contact him.

Even her dreams were taunting her. The first night, she dreamt they were on a cliff. He asked for her number, and every time she tried to give it to him, the wind was so loud, he couldn't hear. She tried to yell the numbers louder and louder, but her voice was not strong enough to speak above the woosh woosh of the breeze. A few nights later, she dreamt he was sitting with her in her car. He asked for her number again, but every time she spoke the engine revved.

Over two weeks had passed since she met Edward, and it had been a very frustrating two weeks. Even her friends were beginning to notice her irritability.

Bella and Angela were having lunch together on campus on a Wednesday afternoon, but she wasn't paying any attention at all to the conversation.

"I'm sorry Angie, can you repeat that again?"

"What's the point, it's not like you're going to hear it," she replied matter of fact, but not at all angry. Bella groaned and buried her head in her hands.

"Ugh, I'm sorry! I just haven't been sleeping well."

"Did you have another dream with the mystery boy?" Bella refused to tell Angela and Jessica Edward's name, for fear of making her emotions seem too real when she didn't even know if she would ever see him again.

"Yes, and I'm very over it. I get it! I'm stupid for not giving him my number, but can we stop with all the dreams!"

"Don't let it get to you so much. I'm sure once you stop stressing about it, things will fall into place."

"I'm trying, but you know how out of character this is for me. This is a stressful thing." Bella groaned again.

"Yeah, I can't actually recall you ever being this caught up over a guy," Angela responded thoughtfully, with the spoon she used to eat her yogurt sitting against her mouth. "You know what might help? Go to yoga with me! It's very relaxing."

"Maybe for you. You thin willowy people always look great doing yoga. Me, on the other hand, I look terrible. I'm not flexible. My body wasn't meant to bend those ways."

Angela shrugged as if saying 'I tried' and went back to finishing her lunch. Bella was annoyed with herself. She knew she was being whiny, but had a hard time stopping when she was low on sleep. Her and Angela parted ways after lunch.

Bella stuck it out through the rest of her classes, but similar to her conversation with Angela, nothing was being absorbed. She might as well just have gone home after lunch. But Bella decided she would take advantage of being on campus later, and this time for a legitimate reason.

Already Bella spent a handful of nights the past couple weeks trying to 'translate more of the book', but as jumpy as she was at every sound in the library, she had to be honest and was hoping for Edward to materialize again. After a few unfruitful nights (and going to the library more times in those two weeks than she had in two years), Bella decided there would be no translation happening until she learned to get over this hang up.

This time, she purposefully kept away from the library and instead found a large tree in the quad. She dropped her bags next to her and sat so her back was supported by the trunk of the tree. She closed her eyes and took a few calming breaths. Even before receiving her mother's book, Bella always found comfort being outside. The natural sounds were soothing and, many times, were the only things that could help her relax. And now it made sense, considering she was supposedly a 'descendent of Mother Earth'. Bella could be spiritual, and she did enjoy being connected to something her mother felt so strongly about, but she had to chuckle at how magical and absurd sounding the book was.

"What's so funny?" a voice asked as she felt a body take a seat next to her, feeling his arm slide up next to hers, back against the tree. Before she could stop herself, she could feel a smile forming on her face.

"Inside joke, you wouldn't get it." Bella opened her eyes and was so giddily happy to see Edward making himself comfortable.

"Another mystery to add to the pile," he joked. After settling in next to her, he commented, "I seem to be making a habit out of disturbing your peace, but strangely don't feel bad about it."

"You're just lucky you're on my good side today."

"I'm very lucky," he said straight face without a trace of teasing. But then breaking out again into his characteristic smile, "And what are you doing on this fine afternoon sitting in the dirt?"

"Relaxing."

"Yes, when I want to feel relaxed, I also like to plop down and play in the soil." She elbowed him gently in the side.

"I'm not playing in the dirt. It's just always been comforting outside. Solid. Stable."

"Oh," Edward sat back against the tree. The two of them sat in easy silence. After a few minutes had passed, Edward spoke again, "You're right, this feels nice."

Taking strength from his closeness and the comfort of nature, Bella felt emboldened.

"Edward," she started.

"Hmm?"

"Why didn't you ask for my number the other night?" Bella watched his face light up, and his shit eating grin pull up at the sides of his lips. Never before had she felt the intense urge to both slap and simultaneously pull someone closer.

"So, you've been thinking about me?" She elbowed him again but a little rougher. "Okay, okay, to be honest, I just completely forgot. I'm not sure if you realize this, but you're a very distracting person."

"Is that so?"

"Absolutely, but I'm not planning on making the same mistake again." He turned towards her so the top half of his body was fully focused on her. "Bella, would you like to go out on a date with me?"

Bella's stomach did a quick flip.

"Yes, I would."

He let out a small breath. She silently laughed; it was endearing to see him a bit nervous.

"And of course, the follow up to that, can I please have your number?" In response, Bella laid out her open palm. Edward fumbled with the phone is his pocket before placing it on her waiting hand. She deftly typed in her information and gave it back to him. "Bella Swan. I like the last name, it suits you."

"And what last name goes well with Edward?"

Edward quickly typed into his phone. Bella felt the phone in her purse start buzzing. She pulled it out and read the text message.

"Edward Cullen," Bella echoed out loud. She saved his number to her phone and the two of them sat together until the lamps started clicking on in the increasing darkness.

...

If Bella was stressed out before, it didn't hold a flame to how she was feeling now. What was she going to wear? What were they going to talk about? When was the last time she even went out on a date?

Over text they confirmed they would go out Saturday night, and he would pick her up at her apartment.

"That's good!" Jessica acknowledged, "He's taking the initiative to set up the date and he's picking you up. It's hard to believe, but the amount of guys who would go to even that small amount of trouble is dwindling."

It was Friday night. Jessica and Angela were sitting on Bella's bed while she tried on outfit after outfit. She came out of her closet wearing a royal blue blouse and a black pencil skirt.

"Are you going to work with him or on a date with him?" Jessica critiqued.

"Why don't you try something more summery," Angela added trying to be helpful. Bella pulled off her outfit and added it to the growing pile of discards on the floor. She picked out a white dress with a floral print.

"Too virginal. We want him to respect you, but still get his blood pumping."

"I'm not made for this type of life," Bella groaned. She walked forward and collapsed face first on the bed next to the girls.

"It's alright, Bells," Angela cooed while patting her on the back.

"Give me a minute." Jessica went into Bella's closet and started searching around. "No, no, no, no, possibly, ew, why do you even own this, no, no, wait…yes, you're gonna love me. Why didn't we think of this before?!"

Jessica came out and displayed in her arms was the black dress Bella bought when she went shopping with the girls a few weeks earlier.

"Oh yes!" Angela clapped her hands in approval.

"You both don't think the back is too revealing?" Bella asked.

"Definitely not. It's the perfect dress!" Jessica squealed.

Bella acquiesced and hung the dress up on the outside of her closet door. She spent the rest of her Friday night and Saturday as an anxious mess. She would try to sit down and watch TV, but wouldn't be able to concentrate when commercials came on, and she started to pace around the apartment. She had an essay due in one of her classes on Monday about comparative economics between the US and a developing country, but if she couldn't concentrate on TV, there was no way she could muster the focus for an essay. She finally couldn't take it and grabbed a coat to take a walk outside.

The apartment complex she lived in was primarily occupied by college students, but despite that, it was still a generally beautiful and quiet place to live. The perks of living so close to forested areas were that the foliage and vegetation would spill out into the town. The complex was surrounded by several large, dense trees which made for nice walkways. She picked her favorite path, a little out of the way, and started following it.

She was nervous but she wasn't sure why. Bella had always been a very secure person. She was hard to rattle, but something about Edward was unsettling in a good way. He had so many facets: playful, flirty, kind, mischievous. And this was from only talking to him twice. Bella knew that Edward was different from all the other guys she had spent time with.

Being so caught up in her thoughts, Bella didn't hear the two teenage kids riding on their bikes down the path. They were ringing their bells, but she didn't hear until they were coming up right behind her. Bella moved out of the way quickly, but ended up forcing them to ride over huge piles of dead leaves. The leaves were thrown into the air by the force of the cyclists, and started raining down over Bella.

'Just what I need, to smell like dead leaves for my date,' Bella thought. She tried to cover her face by tucking her head close to her body, and closed her eyes so none of the dust would blow in. And starting from her finger tips, flowing all the way down her arms, and body, Bella felt a small zing. A gust of wind quickly rushed her and then, seconds later, all was quiet.

She opened her eyes and the leaves were back in a pile on the ground almost as if they had never been disturbed. Not even a single fluttering leaf or dust particle was still in the air. It must have been a peculiar wind, to be able to reform a pile of leaves. Maybe one of those small tornado like winds? But before she could think too hard about it, her phone began buzzing in her coat pocket. She received a text.

'E: I hear you have a hot date tonight with a handsome young fellow'

Bella laughed out loud. And texted back:

'B: Are you trying to hype me up for your date with me haha

E: A little anticipation never hurt ;)

E: I've also been told that I'm a lovely companion

B: By who, your mother?

E: As a matter of fact, my mother is my number one fan

E: Maybe I'll have another fan after tonight

E: I'm really looking forward to our date, Bella'

Bella let out a tiny girlish laugh, very uncharacteristic of her.

'B: Me too :)'

And just like that, her nerves were gone. He somehow, through text, was able to put her at ease. Bella held her phone and smiled as she walked back to her apartment to start getting ready.

Bella took her time putting on her makeup just so; nothing outrageous, just enough of the Naked Basics pallet to accentuate her eyes and features. She put on a thin line of liquid liner and a few coats of her favorite Maybelline mascara. Bella left her hair down but sprayed a little dry shampoo to add volume. All of it was simple and classy, like her dress, like she hoped the date would be.

Since she calmed down, the time rolled by quickly. Just as soon as she adjusted the dress properly on her body, a few short knocks were heard at the front door. But before she could even stand up from the makeshift vanity on her bed, she could hear Jessica yell, 'got it!'. That was a disaster waiting to happen. Bella tried as fast as she could to clear her area of makeup so she could intercept, but it was too late. As she was hurrying out her bedroom door, she could hear Jessica ask:

"So what are your intentions with our housemate?"

Good natured as always, Edward complied with the questioning.

"To take her on an amazing, tasteful date but of course bring her home at the respectable hour of… 11pm?" he guessed.

"We aren't prudes, midnight will do."

"Then midnight it will be. I will make sure to deliver her to the capable hands of…?"

"Jessica Stanley."

"And?" Edward directed towards Angela.

"Angela Weber."

"Jessica and Angela. It was great meeting you both, but I see my date is ready, and I don't want to keep a beautiful woman waiting."

Bella watched the interaction with bemusement. He was dressed handsomely in a white button up shirt, a few of the top buttons left open to reveal the smoothness of his chest, paired with well fitted black slacks.

Once he turned his eyes on Bella, she felt like there wasn't anyone left in the room. He didn't run his eyes over her body like normal men would, making her feel like a piece of meat. Instead, he kept direct eye contact with her and said:

"You look gorgeous, Bella," and from behind his back, as if from thin air, he pulled a bouquet of roses and baby's breath. He politely stepped past Jessica and Angela and gave her the flowers. She brought them up and took a deep breath. The perfume of the plants was wonderful.

"Thank you, Edward. These are stunning." Angela stepped forward and offered to put them in a vase for her.

"Shall we go?" he said offering his hand to Bella. She took it and let him guide her to the door.

"Goodnight ladies," Edward spoke to Angela and Jessica as they walked through the threshold of the door. Bella glanced back at the girls long enough to see Jessica mouth 'marry him'.

Idling in front of the apartment building was a sleek, almost new looking, Volvo. He opened the car door for her and helped her in before climbing into the driver's seat. In an instant, they were off.

"I do mean it, Bella. You look fantastic, but I knew that before tonight." Bella was grateful for the darkness. She wasn't sure she was blushing, but she was sure whatever was showing up on her face was embarrassing.

"Thank you. You don't look too bad either."

"I've been told I clean up well."

"Humble as always, I see"

"If you got it, flaunt it," he laughed at the joke.

"So, where are we going tonight?"

"A very upscale establishment."

15 minutes later, Edward pulled into the local bowling alley parking lot.

"And your version of upscale is a bowling alley?" Bella questioned, not opposed at all to the idea, but wanting to give him a hard time.

"To be fair, you did know I find customary boring."

They both got out of the car and walked into the bowling alley together. They ordered two games and two pairs of bowling shoes. The total came out to $15.

"Don't worry, pretty lady," Edward began as he pulled out his credit card, "this one's on me."

"Oh, you're so generous," Bella teased.

And in one of the most bizarre, but best dates Bella had, they began to bowl. Unbeknownst to Edward, Bella was a very competitive person when it came to games. She tried to act very mature in the beginning, but when she found out how evenly matched their skill levels were, it wasn't long before she fell into her natural ambitious spirit.

It was Edward's turn to bowl, and they were neck in neck in the last two rounds of their first game.

"Better watch out. Mess up this throw, and I might just win this game," Bella taunted from the sidelines.

"I'd like to see you try," he replied as he smoothly rolled and knocked down 8 out of 10 pins.

He picked up the returned bowling ball, he began to step forward towards the lane to take the spare shot, but Bella came up behind him before he could throw.

She touched the lower part of his back and leaned up to whisper in his ear, "Don't miss now." Completely distracted by this new tactic, Edward did exactly as Bella predicted and rolled a complete gutter ball.

"What a sucker," she laughed merrily.

"Those are dirty tactics," Edward pouted.

"A smart player uses all resources at their disposal." Bella finished up the game and won with one strike and spare.

"I hope you know that this was a test round, I went easy on you. You won't be so lucky this time."

And true to his word, Edward won the second game, but in the most impossible way. Every ball he threw either was a strike or a spare. Even when he threw at an awkward angle or Bella was 100% positive the ball was going to be a gutter ball, it would miraculously swerve at the last second and hit its mark. He obliterated her score.

"I call shenanigans," Bella cried when the game was complete. "Totally and completely rigged."

"That's what you think, but look," he began to gesticulate in the air as a magician in a magic show would, "no strings."

"We need a rematch. Everyone knows you have to win two out of three to be the true champion."

"I am completely down for that, except," he pointed to the rest of the bowling alley.

Bella and Edward were so caught up in their game, they didn't realize the building had emptied out and slowly lights were being turned off as the building was being prepared to close up for the night.

An older man, the manager, called up from the front desk down to the couple.

"Hey Eddie, make sure to lock up when you're done." He threw down a pair of keys. Effortlessly, Edward caught them out of the air.

"Thanks, Joe."

"You kids have fun now," Joe yelled back as he made his way out of the building leaving the couple completely alone. Bella looked over at Edward confused.

"Change your shoes and come with me," Edward responded mysteriously.

Edward led Bella from the bowling alley floor to a closed door in the back of the alley. He opened up the door for her and Bella let out a tiny gasp.

It was small room with flower wreaths intertwined with lights encircling the ceiling of the room. Little lamps hung from the ceiling covered with paper lanterns giving the room a warm glow. In the center was a set table for two, a candle merrily burning at the heart of the table next to a single rose in a vase. Food was already prepared under covers, and it smelled amazing.

"What do you think?" he tested.

"It's wonderful, truly." Edward relaxed and broke out into a glittering smile.

"Then shall we?" In a true gentlemen fashion, he led her to the table and helped her in her seat. "I know you aren't legally 21 yet, but I thought the occasion was better marked by wine than water." He pulled out a chilled bottle of white wine from a small cabinet in the corner. "Would you like some?"

"Yes. How did you manage all of this?" Bella asked. He poured her half a glass.

"My dad is a doctor around the area. He's helped a lot of people over the years. So Joe has known my family for a while. When I told him I wanted to set up something special tonight, he decided to help me out."

"Do this often?" Bella asked teasingly but also interested in knowing the answer.

"No, I don't. Practically never. But you're different, you deserve something non-customary," he replied with a serious smile.

"To something different," Bella raised her glass.

"To different," Edward clinked his glass softly with hers.

Edward removed the lids from their meals and let the aroma of lamb with couscous waft out. Both Bella and Edward dug in. Bowling can build up quite the appetite.

"So tell me more about your family," Bella asked.

"Nothing too exciting. I'm an only child, but my parents provided a great environment for me to grow up in so I never felt like I was lacking. Like I said, my dad is a doctor. There have been so many people in and out of our house, it felt like the whole city was my extended family. I practically grew up with all these people. My mom likes to restore old houses. She took the house we live in now from bare bones to the best house in the county. But I may be biased. You'll have to see it to judge for yourself."

"I would like that. They sound like great people to be around."

"And you?"

"I'm also an only child. My mom died when I was young, but she was a beautiful loving person while she was in my life. My dad is great. He's supported me through everything I have ever decided to do even though he doesn't always have the mother/father roles worked out perfectly. He works for the sheriff's department in the county over."

"He must have done something right to raise someone like you," Edward stated thoughtfully.

"I'd like to think so," Bella responded. The quiet settled in for a few moments before Bella pushed on to another topic. "So Edward, you already know how old I am, how old are you?"

"24."

"Wow, so super, super senior."

"Something like that, but it's not as unusual as it sounds for people like us to stay in school longer."

"The generalizations again? And who exactly are the people like us?" Edward hesitated for a fraction of a second. It wasn't long, he recovered smoothly, but it was enough time for Bella to know he wasn't being fully forthcoming about something.

"Why the suave and debonair of course."

"And you're still not going to tell me your major?"

"I think that requires a few more dates before I reveal something so intimate, don't you think, Miss Swan," he winked. "Hey, random question, just out of curiosity, do you know the exact time you were born?"

"That is random. And I actually do thanks to a family tree project in middle school. 1:26am on September 13th."

"Interesting…"

"Is it?" she asked.

"To me. Everything about you is interesting to me." Bella had to look away from the intensity of his eyes; the soft glow making them look like molten gold.

They spent the rest of the dinner sharing stories from growing up. Soon the candle had burned low. Edward took a peek at his phone (the first time either of them had bothered to look at their phones since they were so caught up in the date).

"Well we better start going if I'm to keep my word to your friends."

Edward told Bella he would clean up later, but Bella insisted she help him now. It was the least she could do for giving her a wonderful night. Side by side, they worked together to put the room back to the original state. And in a weird way, cleaning up together felt even more intimate than the meal. With both of them, the room was cleaned quickly.

Edward locked the building behind them as they left and packed up all the dining ware into his car. 15 minutes later, he was helping her out of the car at the apartment. He took her hand to provide something stable to lean against as she gracefully slid from the seat, but he didn't let go after she was out. They walked hands clasped together to her front door.

They turned to face each other. This was usually the time of the awkward end of the first date dance, but neither of them was feeling awkward at all. The wind had turned into a steady breeze as night fell. Bella's hair was flying behind her. A strand got stuck in the middle of her face. Without even thinking about it, Edward brought his hand up and tucked it softly behind her ear.

"I had a great time tonight," Bella whispered breathily. His hand then traced the side of jaw before he leaned in to cup her face.

"I did too, Bella."

Without any more preamble, he brought his face towards hers and laid a gentle kiss on her lips. She moved closer to him, wanting to eliminate any space between them. He took this as a good sign and wrapped his free arm around her so his fingertips slid down and followed the path of the braided back strap and rested on the bare small of her back. His touch and taste were electric. Bella deepened the kiss and reached up, wrapping her arms around his neck, entangling a few of her fingers in his hair.

Time stopped. Time rushed by. They both could feel the natural attraction to each other. They wanted to take it farther. They wanted to slow down to relish the moment. There were so many conflicting emotions. After what felt like forever and at the same time not enough, he pulled back and rested his forehead against hers. They were both breathing a little heavier.

She looked into the depths of his eyes and realized she could lose herself forever in them and be perfectly content. He cupped her face again and ran his thumb down her cheek.

"Bella, you're magical."

They became entangled in another kiss, before they finally parted. He watched her get inside the apartment before getting in his car and driving off.

As Bella walked through the door, Jessica's voice exclaimed loudly:

"Midnight on the freaking dot. God damn that man is so smooth it hurts."

"Tell us all about it," Angela pushed. Bella felt a little heated, and tried to make her breathing less erratic.

"Maybe tomorrow. For tonight, I'm going to savor it," Bella smiled at the two girls.

"OHHHH Bella likes a guy! She really likes him!" Jessica yelled with no regards for the time of night and their neighbors.

"I think I do," she said to them as she went into her room.

She took another whiff of the flowers in the vase Angela placed on top of her bookshelf. 'I really do,' she thought.

A/N: A special thank you to Songster51 and shout out to all support from Ficsisters readers! And another huge thanks to the voters at A Different Forest for voting this story as top five for August/September Fic Dive!