A/N: Okay, I have no intention of offending people with intellectual disabilities. There are some slight humour regarding that so I thought I should make myself clear first. This was a fun chapter to write. Hope you enjoy it!

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Bella

That night I slept very well. I felt like a huge burden had been lifted off of my chest. Sure, I hadn't told Edward exactly how I felt but he probably has a hunch now. I don't know what had gotten inside me then. His endlessly self-deprecating nature was driving me crazy and I just snapped. Otherwise, I would never have dreamed to be that much daring in front of him. He needed to hear those things.

In the morning, I woke up in time and decided to take a quick shower. Looking out the window, I saw Charlie leaving for his morning walk and since it was already past 7:30, it meant my brother had left for work too. So, after my shower, I draped myself in my fluffy white bathrobe and padded down the stairs, looking for breakfast. What I saw in the kitchen almost gave me a heart attack.

Edward was sitting at the table with his hands around a steaming mug of coffee and a serene smile on his lips. I could hear Renee at the other part of the kitchen, chatting away enthusiastically with him, like she had known him for years. I stood at the bottom of the stairs where I could see only Edward listening politely as Renee rattled on. He must have sensed me staring at him because at that moment, he turned to look at me. I felt his eyes move from my legs and travel upwards until it settled on my eyes. My face suddenly felt hot as I started feeling underdressed in front of him. As I pulled the bathrobe more tightly around me, he shifted slightly and his face broke into that familiar crooked smile. He spoke softly, so that only I could hear him. "Good morning, Bella."

I flew up the stairs, slammed my bedroom door and stood with my back pressed against it. I waited until I had caught my breath and then confidently walked over to my closet, picked up my nicest blouse and a pencil skirt. I got dressed, dried my hair and put on some mascara. Grabbing my shoes and purse, I took a deep breath and walked down the stairs.

He was still sitting in the exact same position, except, instead of holding the coffee mug, he was now digging into my mother's homemade blueberry muffins. Renee sat at a chair next to his and sipped her own cup of tea, while conversing with him.

"…And there she was, arms immersed in pancake mixture, cooking for the first time in her life. I was so proud of my baby girl that day. I knew that one day she would find interest in cooking," Renee was saying, gazing off in space dreamily.

Edward leaned forward and said conspiratorially, by lowering his voice, "So, what you are saying is that, before that day, Bella had never been inside the kitchen, ever?"

Renee shook her head as I cleared my throat to make them aware of my presence. "Of course I have been inside the kitchen before. I can make….um…fried eggs and coffee, tea," I listed the only things I was capable of making. I felt incredibly foolish.

"Bella!" Renee exclaimed. "It's good that you're here now. I saw Edward waiting by his car outside. And I thought I should invite him in," she smiled.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at Edward.

"Now, Bella, that's rude…" Renee began.

"Mrs. Swan, that's fine. I know this is unexpected, but I just thought I would give Bella a ride to work, if she doesn't mind riding with me, that is," he said, nervously running his hands through his hair.

"Of course she wouldn't mind!" Renee answered before I had any chance to say anything. She swivelled her head between me and Edward while he stared back at me, with a raised eyebrow.

"You didn't have to bother," I mumbled as I sat down to with my cereal bowl and poured milk in it.

As I finished my breakfast and Edward devoured the remaining bits of his muffin, Renee kept interrogating him about where he worked, where his parents were, if he was an only child etc. I looked at Edward apologetically. My mother could be so embarrassing at times.

As soon as we both were down, we said goodbye to Renee and exited through the door. Not until we were sitting inside his car, did I heave a sigh of relief.

"Sorry about that," I said.

He shook his head, smiling. "Your mother is an intriguing character. I can now see where you get some of your unique personality traits from," he said.

"Unique? I hope that isn't synonymous with 'crazy' in your vocabulary," I said, quirking an eyebrow.

He laughed out loud. The sound was mesmerizing. I noticed how his face looked younger when he was relaxed and carefree like that. His moss green eyes sparked with humour and seeing him so vulnerable tugged some strings in my heart. "No, in my vocabulary, 'unique' is synonymous with 'special'," he said, turning to look at me momentarily, before returning his gaze to the road.

"'Special' as in 'Special Olympics'?" I countered back.

He laughed again, this time shaking his head. I could get used to that sound.

"In so many ways, she reminded me of my own mother. I guess all mothers have some characteristics in common, am I right?"

It was a rhetorical question. So, instead of answering him, I asked him a question of my own. "When was the last time you went to visit your mother?" I blurted out. Then I added, "If you don't want to answer that, it's fine. I understand."

He spared me a glance and his features softened. "A few months ago, during Christmas. Why do you ask?"

I bit my lip and wondered if I might be delving into something personal. He noticed my hesitation at answering him. While keeping his eyes on the road, he reached his hand out and released my lower lip by tugging my chin. I shivered slightly at his touch.

"Stop doing that."

I nodded and then gathered the courage to respond to him. "When you talked about your mother, you sounded like missed her."

He opened his mouth to reply but no sound came out. He snapped it shut then opened it again and sighed deeply. "You caught that, huh? Yes, I do miss her. But I really don't have the strength to face her scrutiny anymore. After taking one look at me, she'd know that what was going on with me. That I am still….hurting inside."

I noticed how hard his hands gripped the steering wheel as he said those words out loud. I realized how difficult it was for him to talk about this, yet I was thankful that he chose me to share these thoughts with. For that, I felt truly special, like he had said I was. "And that would cause her pain. I don't want that," he finished.

I reached out and lightly caressed his straining knuckles that were still holding the steering wheel like his life depended on it. His hands visibly relaxed from their firm grip and he lied back on his seat, looking a bit calmer than he did a few seconds before.

I thought of Esme, his mother. She lost her husband, her only son moved out and then that horrible tragedy befell on said son. I couldn't imagine what sort of emotional turmoil she must have gone through. Then, as I tried to imagine her all by herself in Edward's childhood home, with no one to keep her company, no other child to spoil, I felt this indescribable sadness for the woman who had brought up the man I had fallen in love with. I swallowed once and decided to come out and tell him what was on my mind. As much as I loved Edward, it seemed to me that he was being incredibly selfish about this. Had he thought that how much his visits could mean to her?

"Have you thought about visiting her more often? I mean not only during holidays, but after every two or three weekends or so?" I asked, while keeping my eyes on my lap.

He seemed to be at a loss for words again. He nervously ran his hands through his hair and finally said, "I figured it would be easier this way, if I didn't see her very often."

"Easier for who? You or her?" I challenged.

He looked at me with a perplexed look on his face. "What are you getting at?" he asked, a little impatiently.

I shrugged. "I just thought your mother might feel better if you went to see her more frequently. I hate to think of someone living all by themselves, that's all." I tried to keep my voice light, not wanting him to think I was advising him on how to treat his family members.

"And I thought she would like it if she got the chance to see you more often, you know what I mean?" I finished lamely, quirking an eyebrow.

He thought that through. Finally, he leaned his head back and heaved a sigh. "Yes, I know what you mean. God, I am such an idiot. All this time, I only thought about how she fussed over me for how much weight I'd lost or how well I was sleeping. Never had I given a thought about how happy it made her to see me every once in a while. I have been so blind…" He groaned in frustration.

I realized I had brought the self-deprecating Edward back again. "Edward, please calm down. It was never my intention to get you agitated like that. I, for one, know you had the best interest in your heart. I am sure your mother knows that too and understands."

"You are right, again. Esme is very much considerate. That's why I'm feeling even more horrible. I am such an undeserving son."

"And there you go again, beating yourself up. When you are done hating yourself, let me know. I think I'll be able to squeeze in a little nap time before that," I snapped, in an annoyed voice.

He laughed again and shook his head. I didn't realize how our light-hearted conversation had turned so grave. And it was all because of what I said. Trust me to mess things up when they had been going so smoothly….

He remained silent for a while. Then, to lighten up the situation, I assumed, he said, "So, is it true that you never knew how to cook, until our impromptu breakfast meetings began?"

I bit on my lip again and nodded wordlessly.

"Will you tell me why?" he asked, with an almost child-like innocence. I was almost on the verge of blurting out the truth when he pleaded me like that, with his eyes brightly lit.

Um, because love makes you do irrational things?

I shook my head minutely so he wouldn't notice. Of course I couldn't tell him that. I settled for saying something that was equally true. "There hadn't been a good enough reason for me to learn how to cook before that."

He nodded while he processed my explanation. Then as he stopped the car at traffic, he turned the full force of his smouldering eyes on me and softly said, "And you think I was a good enough reason?"

Um, what was he saying again? Oh yes, he was a mind-bogglingly handsome reason indeed.

I held his gaze for a few seconds and decided to try a trick of my own. After keeping my eyes on his for a few moments, I suddenly dropped my gaze and looked up at him from beneath my lashes. I had seen girls do that on television and hoped I didn't make a complete fool of myself.

I heard him take a sharp breath and his face went blank for a few seconds. He recovered almost immediately. After swallowing visibly once, I saw him shifting in his seat slightly.

Mission accomplished.

He cleared his throat and while staring straight ahead, he said, without any trace of humour in his voice, "By the way, that blue top looks very appealing with your skin tone."

I was tongue tied, as usual, whenever he unpredictably paid compliments to me like that. I decided I had to say something back.

"You look nice too," I managed to choke out. "I mean, not only today. You always look…very nice." I realized I sounded mentally incompetent. I looked down at my lap, secretly wishing the floor of the Volvo would open up so that I could crawl under it.

Edward remained silent for a moment and then when I glanced at him, I saw him facing me with a smug grin. "Thanks, I guess."

I smacked his arm, muttering "Jerk." He shrugged nonchalantly and laughed again.

At noon, while I was sitting at my desk, my phone chirped. I had received a text message.

According to Webster's dictionary:

spe·cial

adjective

Surpassing what is common or usual; exceptional.

Distinct among others of a kind.

Distinguished, set apart from, or excelling others of its kind.

Edward

I giggled like a school girl. I typed in a quick reply before heading off for lunch.

You are such a dork – Bella

At the cafeteria, while I unenthusiastically picked on the unappetizing spinach sandwich in front of me, my phone chirped again. Another text had arrived.

Yes, but you happen to like this particular dork – Edward

This time I laughed out loud and consequently received some curious gazes from the people around me. Ignoring them, I hit the 'reply' button again.

You are lucky that I do.

I smirked at what I had written, feeling a little smug. Let's see what he makes of that. A minute later, came his reply.

I know I am.

I finished the remaining of my sandwich with a warm, fuzzy feeling in my stomach.

Just like the previous evening, Edward drove me home. We kept up our newly established playful banter throughout the drive. He was more relaxed around me now. I noticed that he could be exceptionally funny and charming when he was comfortable in the surroundings around him. I liked seeing this brighter side of his personality. Maybe it was always there, but had been under that cool demeanour of his.

When he stopped the car outside my house, I fidgeted with my seatbelt for a while. I turned to look at him and noticed he was staring intently back at me. Removing the seatbelt, I leaned in closer to him. I placed one hand on his cheek, feeling the day old stubble on it. His eyes fluttered close at my touch and I lightly caressed his cheek while bringing his face closer to mine. Taking a deep breath, I kissed him lightly on the other cheek, feeling my heart pounding like crazy against my ribs. He sighed once deeply and leaned his face further into my hands. My eyes started welling up and I felt the atmosphere between us getting charged.

All of a sudden, his hand that had been clasping the steering wheel slid down and fell on his lap with a loud thump. I jerked back at the noise, removed my hand from his face while he simultaneously opened his eyes. The moment had passed.

I started giggling like a mad person. The entire scenario had been so serene, so precious and within a second, it had turn into something comical. In the light from the lamp post, I saw his cheeks getting red. He ducked his head in embarrassment and ran his fingers through his hair, while a smile tugged the contours of his lips.

I wished him a good night and exited his car, while still laughing.

A/N: So, the authors of two of my favourite stories, Tropic of Virgo and A Little Less Than Before, did this so I thought I'd try doing this too. At the end of every chapter, I'll leave a question for you guys to answer, just so that I could get to know all you lovely people a little better. Here's the question for this chapter:

What's your favourite breakfast item?

Also, if any of you wish to talk about anything even remotely related to Twilight, tweet me at www(dot)twitter(dot)com/ScienceGeek91, because, honestly I have no friend in this fandom *cue pouty face*

Finally, review please?