Lol, I have got to say guys I loved your comments on the previous chapter, they made me smile. :)

Just to clear it in case any one was indeed confused, no Carlisle and Brooke didn't kiss...they were very, very close though. ;)

Chapter 7

Dr. Cullen was still insistent upon my not knowing where we were going on Friday. He had told me to wear something nice, formal attire as he had put it, and that he would pick me up around seven.

I didn't know what emotion described the way I felt as I got ready on Friday night. Nervous? Excited? Thrilled? Or all of the above?

I hadn't mentioned the hallway scene to him since it had happened, and he had never brought it up himself. However on Thursday, he acted really nervous, something new for him. I found it odd, but I didn't say anything about it.

I had spent all day looking through my formal wardrobe, trying to find something to wear. He said I didn't have to look like I was going to prom or anything, but just to look nice. I had too many dresses to chose from though.

I checked the weather and saw it was supposed to be unusually warm that night. It wasn't supposed to rain either, an oddity.

Finally after hours of trying on different dresses and looking at myself in the mirror, I found one I liked. I had never gotten the chance to wear it yet, and my grandfather had bought it for my eighteenth birthday.

It was a shorter dress with a ribbon tied around the waist, and beads around the top. It was a light, pastel, color of pink. I thought it would make my grandfather happy if I finally wore it.

I had to tame my hair, because my tight curls annoyed me so much. I didn't really like being compared to a poodle. So I tried softer waves instead, by curling my hair with my heavy-duty curling iron. That took forever, but produced the result I was wanting. I put on the dress and these diamond earrings my aunt had gotten me. Sometimes I hated dressing up, because it made me feel too rich, and I didn't really like that.

I pulled some of my hair back by wearing a silver rhinestone instudded headband. I put on my heels and a light, white, shawl-like thing, and waited around for Dr. Cullen.

It was seven o'clock on the dot when I heard a knock on the door. My cat immediately jumped up from her spot beside me and ran toward it. I quickly stood up and glanced at myself in the mirror real quick. I prayed that he didn't want to come inside and see my apartment....I hadn't really cleaned it.

I walked out there and closed the door behind me quickly. When I looked up and saw him I swear I fainted.

He was dressed in a simple black tux, with a white dress shirt and black tie underneath. But he looked amazing.

He looked just as stunned as I probably did. We both stood there starring at each other for a long time, before he finally broke the silence.

"You look, wow...Brooke you look beautiful."

"Thanks..you too...I mean, you look, handsome."I blushed. Great, not even five minutes into this and I was already going crazy.

He just laughed. "Thanks...I'm glad I'm beautiful."

"Oh gosh, just forget that I said that, please."

"How can I?" He asked, laughing as he put his arm around me and lead me to his car.

I tried to distract him, so I talked to him about his kids. That actually worked, and he completely forgot about my little embarrassing moment.

Ugh, this man turns my mind to absolute mush.

He drove into Forks and pulled right into a drive that lead back to the local park. I myself had never been in the park before, but Dr. Cullen had told me about it. It was supposed to be nice, and have a decent sized lake in the middle that people went to for fishing and swimming.

He opened the passanger side door and let me out, and we walked in silence toward the lake. By one of the docks, I saw this gorgous boat sitting there.

I looked at him, "Is that your boat?"

He laughed. "No, no it's not. But it's ours for the night."

"You rented a boat?"

"Well, sort of."

I looked at him funny.

"I told you I wanted to try something new."

We both laughed and boarded this gorgeous boat. It was light up all pretty, and there was some soft music playing from somewhere. I set my shawl beside his tux jacket down on one of the seats along the boat as it slowly glided across the lake.

"This is nice isn't it?" He asked, leaning over the railing on the boat, the wind blowing his hair just slightly.

"Yeah, it is."

"For once, there isn't a one of my kids with us."

I joined him at the railing, and rested my arms on it. "What would you do if Emmett just popped out of the water over there, right now."

He laughed. "I'd be mad at him for like two seconds and then I would probably laugh hysterically."

I just smiled and took a deep breath, trying to take the whole scene in.

"Tell me about your family."

"Huh?" I asked.

"Well you've already met mine....you go shopping with them even. I don't know anything about yours."

"Oh...well. I kinda don't really have much of a family at all." I frowned.

"How come?"

I turned away from him, looking out at the water. "My parents died in a car accident when I was two. I don't even remember them at all."

"Oh, I'm so sorry Brooke."

"It's alright....it's not your fault." I said, and sighed. "My grandmother died eight years later. I've spent most of my life with my grandfather. I have an aunt and uncle and a few cousins, but other than that....that's all."

"Wow." Was all he said.

"But I love my grandfather. He's really a wonderful man. I don't even know where I'd be right now without him." I looked over at him. "He was a doctor too you know?"

"Oh really?" He asked.

I nodded, and it was quiet for a moment.

"What about your parents?"

"They're gone too."

"Oh." I said. "Sorry."

He laughed. "It's fine."

I walked away from him, toward the center of the floor and spun in a circle. He laughed at me.

"So why all this?" I asked.

"Oh I don't know, just to have something different to do, instead of just sitting around watching movie re-runs." He said, turning to face me, leaning aganist the railing.

I spun around again, feeling very much like a princess or something. I spun right over to him, and he just laughed at me.

"You're enjoying yourself aren't you?"

"Mmm hmmm." I said.

"You look like Cinderella out there."

"Thank you."

"You're very welcome."

He laughed and looked around him before bowing in front of me. "Cinderella, may I have this dance."

I giggled, "You sure may, McSexy."

He just shook his head and smiled as he took my hand and lead me out to the center of the floor.

We started out dancing a distance away each other. We probably looked like two kids that a group of friends forced to dance together at prom. We both didn't talk, and we both refrained from looking at each other.

I was thinking. Thinking about how I wanted this moment to last forever. Me and him, together...forever. It could never be anything more than a dream.

"I have a question."

"What is it?" He asked.

"Why are you so incredibly desperate to get me to like you?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"Why do you want me to admit that I have a crush on you so bad?"

"Well because I know it's true and you just won't say it."

I looked him in the eye. "Dr. Cullen I can guarantee you that I do not have a crush on you."

"I don't believe that, but ok."

I sighed. "You're impossible."

He pulled me closer to him. "Not as impossible as you my darling."

I rested my head on his chest and closed my eyes.

We were silent for a very long time. I was thinking again. Really more like debating with myself. Debating whether or not I should just suck it up and tell him how I felt about him.

"Can I ask another question?"

"You sure are full of questions tonight Brooke."

"Is that a problem?"

"No. Go ahead, what's your question?"

"How do you...know if you're in love?"

He laughed. "Why are you wondering? Because you just want to know or because you think you are?"

I sighed. "I think I am."

"You...the girl who doesn't even get crushes, fall in love? That's ridiculous!" He was being sarcastic, of course.

"I thought so too, but some very smart man once told me that you can't stop love, if it wants to happen, it just happens."

He laughed. "That was me."

"Yes Mr. Full Of Myself, that was indeed you."

"So I was right?"

"As always."

"I figured."

"So enough about how right you always are, can we get back to my question?"

"Yes, I guess so."

"Thank you."

"So you are wondering how to know if you are in love?"

"Yes, that's what I want to know."

"Well Brooke my dear, I can't very easily answer that. Love to you can mean a completely different thing than what love to me means. The definition of love varies from one person to another."

"Have you ever been in love?" I asked.

"Yes I have. Only once."

"Just once?"

"Just once."

"How did you know you were in love with her?"

"Well, every time I'm around her she's all I think about. Every time I'm not around her I think about her. I would do anything for her, she means....the whole world to me. Kinda sound like how you feel?"

"Yeah, that's kinda it."

He laughed.

"And whenever I'm around him I just...feel different than I've ever really felt before. And then like everything you said...I'm always thinking about him."

"Then you may very well be falling in love."

"Fantastic." I said laughing.

"It's not a bad thing."

"Yeah that's what they all say, and then look at all the heartbroken people walking around."

"Well, you can do everything you can not to be one of those people."

It was quiet again, before I thought of another question.

"Should I tell him how I feel?"

"Well it depends on what he's like. Do you want to tell me about him?"

I was quiet. Did I want to tell him about the guy I thought I was in love with...who happened to be him?

"I have two teenager daughters you know, I've had to go through these kind of talks before."

"Well, he's pretty much the definition of perfect. He's tall, blond, and he has the most amazing smile I have ever seen. He has to be the most handsome person in the entire universe."

He laughed. "So you perferr blonds huh?"

"Well apparently."

"What's his personality like?"

"He's smart...no smart is an understatement. He's extremely intelligent. Funny, charming, sweet, compassionate..." I sighed, "Perfect sums him up nicely."

"Would you like a doctor's diagnosis on your problem?"

"Where in the world would I find a doctor around here?"

"Gee, I wonder where, maybe you should look two inches in front of you."

I laughed.

"Brooke, you are completely...and utterly lovesick."

"Why thank you doctor for telling me something I already knew."

He laughed at me.

"So should I tell him or not?"

"I don't know...I'm not you."

I smacked his chest lightly. "Thanks for your help."

"I say you should tell him, take a chance...you never know what might happen."

"Well." I sighed, "There's a...few problems."

"Problems...what kind of problems?"

"With him."

"What? Is he a serial killer or something?"

"Not that I know of."

"Then what's wrong with him."

"Well, he's older than me for starters."

"Oh that's not a problem, age is just a number."

"He's eighteen years older than me."

"That's a big number."

"My point."

He was quiet for a minute, and I knew he was doing the math. "So he's thirty-seven years old?"

"Yes, he is."

He didn't say anything.

Well, I figured I had dug a deep enough hole now, might as well keep going.

"Number two is....he's got kids. And some of them are actually older than me."

"How many kids?"

I sighed. "Five."

He thought about this for a minute. "He's a single father of five children?"

"Yes he is."

"That must be hard for him to support all those children by himself."

"Well he's pretty rich, so it must not be too hard."

"What does he do for a living?"

Did I want to tell him? If he hadn't guessed it was him by now, then maybe he wasn't as smart as I thought he was. Once I finished telling him everything though, he'd have to put two and two together and get him.

"He's a...." I bit my lip, still debating whether I should say it or not, "Doctor."

"Oh." Was all he said for the longest time. It was quiet for what seemed like decades, centuries while we danced. My heart was pounding so loud, I had never been so nervous in my entire life.

"Brooke?" He finally said.

"Yes?" I asked.

"It's...It's me isn't it?"

I bit my lip again, and surprisingly found tears threatening to escape my eyes. " Yes...yes...it's you."

And then I started crying. I wasn't quite sure why...but I did. I think it was because maybe...I thought that now that I admitted it to him that he wouldn't even care, and I would be heartbroken, and who knows what would happen after that.

He lifted my head to meet his eyes, and he wiped the tears of my cheeks. "Why are you crying?"

"Because...I just....I don't know."

"You don't have any reason to cry."

"Yes...I do."

"Well what is it?"

"I'm crazy." I said, feeling more tears fall. "Crazy to think that..."

"To think what?"

"To think that you could ever..." I looked away from his smoldering topaz eyes, "Love me."

He lifted my chin up, forcing me to look right into his eyes. "How could I never love you?"

"I don't know!" I almost yelled. "Maybe because you're so incredibly perfect and I'm so...not!"

"Brooke, listen to me." He said, placing both hands on my cheeks. "That is one hundred percent untrue."

"No it's not."

"Yes...it is. Brooke...I do love you, more than anything in the world."

I couldn't believe the words I just heard come out of his mouth. Even though I knew he had said them, I knew that they were untrue, that they were not real at all. But yet I so desperately prayed that they were true.

"No." I almost whispered.

"What?"

"No." I said a bit louder. "You don't mean that."

"Yes I do." He said resting his forehead on mine. "I love you."

"No! You didn't just say that."

"Yes I did."

"But you don't mean it...you...you couldn't mean it."

"Do you want me to prove it to you?" He asked.

I tried to hold back even more tears that were threatening to fall. "Prove what to me?"

"Prove to you that I love you."

"I don't think anything you could do would prove it to me."

"How about this?" He asked.

And right then, the moment I only could have prayed would happen to me someday, did.

Right then, he kissed me.

The kiss was soft, and sweet, but at the same time it had this immense passion, this immense longing behind it. As if everything we had kept bottled up inside all this time had just exploded upon impact of that kiss.

I would have spent forever like that. Kissing him was like a dream come true. It was something young teenage girls could only ever dream about. And this magical moment was actually happening...to me.

However, as I found myself getting lost deeper and deeper into his kiss, I realized something. And this thing that I realized instantly pulled me away from him.

I jumped away, crying again.

"No, no, no, no, no!" I said.

"What?" He asked looking concerned, coming toward me.

"I can't...I can't do this."I said trying to get away from him.

He grabbed my hand and turned me to face him. "What do you mean?"

"I just...I just can't do this." I said.

"Why?"

"Because I'm not the only girl in your life right now!" As soon as I had kissed him, I became his partner in crime...in cheating.

He was quiet, very, very quiet.

"Brooke, you know that I don't care about her anymore."

"Yes I know that....but...it's still not right."

He sighed. "No, no it's not is it."

I stood there and sighed, looking down at the floor.

"So what do you want us to do?" He asked.

I looked up at him.

"I mean do you just expect us to move along now, live our lives and not try to develop this relationship even further?"

I was still quiet.

"And after that!" He walked closer to me and rested his forehead on mine again, inches away from me. "Gosh Brooke after that kiss...how could you truly expect to just completly forget about this?"

I looked up at him, and ran one hand through his perfect blond hair. "I can't."

He leaned in and kissed me again, just once.

"Well how are we going to do this? I mean you said so yourself there were consequences if she caught you with someone else."

"She's never around, for the one day that she's actually here in three months time, it'll be easy enough to hide things from her."

"And what about everyone else?"

"What about everyone else?"

"Well," I said. "Everyone else as in the general public. According to them you're happily with Viviene. If they caught you with me, well they'd think you were a cheater, and who knows what that could do to your reputation?"

He nodded. "I see your point. He said walking away from me, toward the railing. He looked out at the water for a second, and then turned back around. "We'll just have to hide it."

I laughed. "You want me to hide the fact that I am dating everyone's dream man?"

"Just until we find a way to get rid of Viviene for good."

I looked at him funny. Was he planning murder?

He laughed. "Ok let me rephrase that. Until we find a way to get rid of Viviene for good, legally."

I nodded. "Ok then...I guess it's worth a shot."

He smiled, the same bright, beautiful smile that had brought me into this whirlwind of an event.

He grabbed my shawl, handed it to me, and put his jacket over one of his arms. He wrapped his other arm around my waist as we walked off the boat and back to the car.

"You know.." He said. "It's not technically murder unless you get caught."

I smacked him, and he laughed, as I ran away and he chased me to the car.

He caught me easily, and I giggled as he picked me up and spun me around in the air, before finally setting me down and kissing me again.

I pulled myself as close to him as possible, and asked myself why in the world I ever even wanted to prevent myself from falling in love with him.

Well I hope you guys really enjoyed that chapter. I always put a lot of thought into my first kiss chapters, and this one was no exception. My original plan for their first kiss was for the scenes that happened in the last chapter to occur, and them actually kiss. I had also came up with a few other ideas, but this one finally stuck. I really enjoyed writing this chapter, so I hoped you guys liked it too. :)

For my convenience, I randomly placed a lake in a park that I randomly placed in Forks. Carlisle can't go to La Push beach, and that was the only other place with water I could come up with....pathetic...I know...lol.

If anyone wants to see what I based Brooke's dress off of, I have a link in my profile.

Thanks again for taking the time to read my story! Please shoot me a review letting me know what you think so far. I'm always open to suggestions as well! Thanks!

~Hazl~