Author's Note: Thank you in ten languages :)

Nice reviews are better than chocolate, unless maybe you're licking that chocolate off someone.

Nine

Bella was heartbreakingly beautiful.

When the window appeared with Alice on the screen, I knew it wasn't Bella. Aside from the fact that her hair was different, there was something about her…I don't know if I could place it, that told me it wasn't her, but I asked just to be sure.

It seemed like Alice approved, even after her warning at the end, which I have to admit, made me sit up a little straighter.

When she left and Bella sat down, well, if I hadn't already been sitting I would have had to. She was so much more than I'd pictured; she put my musings to shame. For some odd reason, I thought of Mike. How could he have stopped caring? His loss is my gain.

She seemed a little nervous at first, but then again, I was too. I talked to fill the silence, hoping to make her more comfortable. The talk inevitably went to her gift; I had a feeling she would fight me on it if I told her I was sending her something and I mentally kicked myself for mentioning it in the first place. When she asked me what it was, I realized I was hooked; I knew I'd never be able to deny her anything. I played for her and when I was finished, her expression was so soft, I actually blushed. I don't know if she saw or not. And when she said my name for the second time I almost blurted out that I liked the way she said it; yeah, I was completely hooked.

I finished up her song by midnight, but I wasn't tired. I decided to record it and while I was at it, I recorded a few other songs I knew that I hoped she'd like. By the time I was through, it was almost dawn. I didn't notice how tired I was until I stood up; my muscles were tight and sore, my eyes heavy. I dragged myself to bed and fell asleep, despite the exhaustion, I felt better than I had in a long time.

I mailed the CD, overnight delivery – which actually meant three days because of the distance. She received it on a Wednesday and I think if she could have jumped through the computer screen she would have. She'd opened and listened to it by the time I was home from work, sent me an e-mail, and was online waiting for me. I had already changed into my pajama pants and was situating myself in the living room when I signed on.

Bella: Edward, I love it! It's perfect, I've been listening to it non-stop all afternoon! Thank you so much!

I smiled; I don't think I'd ever seen her this happy. As a matter of fact, I wanted nothing more than to see her face again. We hadn't used the webcams since the first time; I wasn't sure if she'd want to, but my desire to look at her won out over my manners.

After another minute, we were face to face, sort of. "So, I take it you liked the CD?" I opened another window to look at the e-mail she'd sent.

Dear Edward,

I couldn't wait to talk to you; I love the gift! It's completely beautiful. Hopefully, I'll get to see you when you get home.

Yours,

Bella the Excited

"Very much, I've never had anything made for me like that before."

"What can I say? You inspire me."

She looked down; she may have been blushing, but it was hard to tell. "How was your day?"

I knew she was changing the subject, but that didn't matter. "It was good, our model has been approved and they're set to start clearing the site next week."

"Is an addition to a building easier than starting a building from scratch?"

I thought about it a minute before answering. "It depends. When you're designing something based on a building that already exists, there's so much more to take into consideration. The aesthetic and character of it; you want to make your work and the original as seamless as possible. It should look like one flows right into the other. You have to look at everything from the perspective of the first architect, what would they have done? And then take all of that and still make it your own design." I realized I was talking a lot. "Of course, on the other hand, building something brand new is difficult too because it's all your own vision."

She didn't seem to have fallen asleep, which I took as a good thing.

"Sorry, I could probably talk about this all night."

"It's ok, I think you're interesting." She was looking at me, resting her head on her hand.

We talked until I couldn't put sleep off any longer. That night I dreamed Bella was here; she just showed up at my front door with a big smile on her face. I grabbed her and carried her inside; the last thing I remembered was kissing her.

The next day I met Rosalie. I could tell she'd taken an immediate dislike to me and that I'd have to work my way up from the bottom. If it weren't for my casual clothing, I'd have felt as if I were at a job interview. She was sitting squarely in front of the screen; I could hear Alice and Bella on either side. Alice seemed to be supplying her with extra questions; Bella was telling them to leave me alone. "Which firm do you work for?"

"Perkins Eastman, it's –"

"Yes, I know which one it is. Where did you go to college?"

"Yale."

She showed no sign of emotion except for possibly mild disdain. "How do you take your coffee?"

"Black."

"How many women have you slept with?"

I heard someone; I was guessing Alice, laughing and Bella muttering something I couldn't make out. My "number" was a little embarrassing. Bella leaned over so I could see her, "you don't have to answer that."

I sighed, I might as well. "One."

Alice called out a loud, "why?"

I smiled crookedly; Jasper had asked me the same question. I glanced down at the keyboard, "I don't sleep with a woman unless I'm in love with them." I thought I saw a faint softening in Rosalie's features when I looked up, but I could have been wrong.

"What are your intentions with Bella?"

I heard an "oh my God" from somewhere off screen. I thought about the question before I answered, what were my intentions? To be honest, I had no idea what I was doing. So I went with the one thing I knew for sure. "I want her to be happy; I just want to be a part of her life."

Rosalie turned in her chair so part of her face was obscured; she spoke quietly enough that I couldn't hear her. The job interview image was resurfacing and I wanted to laugh, but was a little afraid to. Rose faced me again and I composed myself. "Well Cullen, Alice's warning goes double for me. It was nice to meet you," she gave me a half grin which was about as good as I was going to get.

I smiled back, "it was nice to meet you too."

"Ok, we're taking off," she said in Bella's direction.

Alice's smiling face appeared on the screen, "hi, Edward!" She waved.

I waved back.

"We're gonna leave you two alone now, good to see you again," Alice grinned; it was contagious. Rosalie flicked her wrist in my general direction as she stood up; I took it as a wave. After another minute, Bella appeared for the first time since signing online.

"Hey," she smiled. I could see her blushing.

"Hi, I have a question." She nodded for me to continue. "Why do your friends keep calling me by my last name?"

She laughed, it was a nice sound. "I have no idea, should I ask them to stop?"

"I don't mind. You have really good friends, Rosalie's a little intimidating."

"They're just looking out for me, she'll loosen up eventually."

As wary as they were of me, I liked how protective Bella's friends were being of her. I felt the same and it could be frustrating at times to know there wasn't much I could do if something were to happen. I knew that nothing was likely to happen, but it bothered me nonetheless.

I was really beginning to resent the distance.

Author's Note: I'm going to start jumping ahead in time and wanted to let you know. I have a set timeline in my head for what's happening and it'd start getting really boring if I didn't start flashing forward. Right now I'm trying to make the shifting as smooth as possible. Thank you again for reading and I hope you're enjoying it so far :)