A/N - Last chapter! Epilogue next week, and then new story - "Mile High Club"! Enjoy!

Chapter Twenty-one : Spoon

"Meet me at quarter to seven on the big steps." I re-read the note written on a scrap of paper in his perfect script, and couldn't help feeling butterflies.

Alice felt that my look needed more of a "Bellafication" rather than the Rosalie-clone I had been last week. Sweet, innocent. Much more appropriate for a dance where I was chaperoning. I did not need attention from Jake and Tyler, and I did not need to look sexy for Edward, considering that I had already ended up in his bed. I just needed to look loveable.

"Audrey," Alice declared, as she turned me around.

"Excuse me?" I was concerned that Alice had inhaled a little too much Chanel No. 5 - my name wasn't Audrey.

"You look like Audrey Hepburn," she complimented me impatiently.

Oh. I turned in the mirror to either side, my tea-length black dress swishing either way. It had a bateau neckline just as Audrey's had in the movie Sabrina, and though my hair was much longer, I did look a little like her, thanks to Alice.

"Thanks," I hugged her in gratitude, but she waved me back so that she could finish the job. She left my hair loose, pinning back a tiny braid with a floral clip, and she left my face bare, except for some light mascara and a little blush, though I wouldn't need it with my complexion. I could tell that she was dissatisfied with the lack of challenge in my new look, but she couldn't deny that it was perfect.

"So...do you think he's going to say it tonight?" Alice asked, adjusting my hemline.

I watched my cheeks pinken in the mirror. "Say what?"

"I love you?" Alice said, rolling her eyes. "I mean, he already slept with you, he asked you to the dance..."

My blush deepened. It was slightly fascinating to watch it first-hand, rather than just judge by the heat in my face how brightly it was glowing. "I don't expect..." I mumbled. "I mean, when I said...I was obviously drunk. It hardly counts."

Alice shook her head, and let it drop, because we both knew that I was really hoping that he would.

We went back to our separate halls, to gather up our girls. Their dress ranged from jeans to almost prom - no one was really quite sure how formal a last nerd dance would be.

I had a mother moment when I saw Jessica; I wanted to tell her to march right back up those stairs and change, even though it wasn't my place to do so. Then again, it was the last dance...chances were that her scarlet bustier and black leather mini would be enough to keep Mike's attention on her, and not me. He was only a teenage boy, after all.

When we reached the dance hall, I sent my girls on ahead, up the stairs. I stood nervously at the bottom, waiting for Edward - it was silly of me to be nervous; I had him already, but the butterflies were there nonetheless.

I watched all of the other halls arrive, feeling stupid as I watched the minutes tick down to 6:45. My spirits sank every time a new group approached, a new broad-shouldered RA in the fading light, and he wasn't there.

"Bella,"

I whirled to find him at the top of the steps, emerging from the dance hall where he must have been the entire time. My mouth broke into a wide grin as he took the stairs two at a time, looking handsome as ever in a dark blue button-down.

"You're gorgeous," he murmured, kissing me right there, right in front of everyone. I could tell from their shocked expressions that the boys from last Saturday had actually kept their end of the secret bargain. I basked in his words - not 'you look,' - 'you are.' That had to be more than lust. Right?

"C'mon," He grabbed my hand and pulled me up the stairs, where they were playing "Sweet Caroline".

"Did you plan this?" I asked, as we held hands and he spun me in a twirl to the very same tune we'd danced to so many years ago.

"You'll never know," he said with a wink.

It was adorable how it felt just like that last day of five years ago, all over again. Only this time, I was confident, and I was hopeful. We danced just like the other kids did, innocently, slightly awkwardly. Very save-room-for-Jesus.

And then the slow songs came. Everything changed then, when people realized that the dance was drawing to a close. Everyone grabbed a partner and Edward held me close. I breathed in his wonderful, unchanged scent and watched over his shoulder as Mike grabbed Jessica and started sucking her face off. Judging by her enthusiastic response, she couldn't have been happier.

I sighed when the last song played; most of the kids cried, and I remembered how I had felt about leaving. Now, my hesitation stemmed from uncertainty about what this would mean for me and Edward. It was stupid for me to think that just because he had asked me to the dance that meant that we had a future together.

He kissed me lightly on the lips when the song ended, and I kept my eyes closed. I didn't want this to end.

"May I walk you to your dorm, Bella?"

I opened my eyes and smiled at him. You can do much more than that, bud.

I was lucky; most of my girls had sleepovers in other dorms tonight. Half the girls on my hall were in the room farthest away from mine, and the other half were on Alice or Roses' halls. Victory was mine.

We walked arm in arm back to the main courtyard, our little band of nerdlings trailing in our wake.

"Give me a moment," I whispered to him when we reached the door.

"I'll be waiting," he smiled.

Only when I was absolutely sure that all the girls were out for the night and that my room wasn't a complete pigsty did I return to the quad. I knew he had no expectation of seeing my room tonight, which made this all the more fun.

When I got back to the quad, my heart dropped through my stomach, thinking he'd left. But the adrenaline kicked back in when I spotted him standing under a lamp post. He straightened and walked toward me, and I met him halfway, under a tree.

"I just wanted to say goodnight," he murmured, pulling me close. "And thank you for a wonderful evening," he kissed me "and to tell you," kiss "that I love you, too."

I jumped on him for the second time in two days, rendering myself utterly predictable. "Follow me," I whispered, tugging on his hand and bringing him back to my room.

"Are you sure?" he said kind of nervously. "Because I wasn't expecting - "

"I know," I reassured him. "I want to. When but now would be better? It's the last night." My voice betrayed me by shaking on my last words.

He looked at me steadily before pulling me close to whisper, "It may be the last night for camp, but never for us."

I took him into my room and we undressed slowly, gently, savoring everything. And this time, I was completely conscious. And it WAS amazing.

His body curled around mine in perfect harmony, his arms twined around my waist and shoulder, his hands caressing my skin like it was the softest of silks. I reveled in the feel of him, burrowing myself deeper into his skin, feeling his intense warmth, his protective shelter. I slipped into a dream state, and then began to laugh.

"What's funny?" he whispered in my ear, his voice rough and gentle with sleep, and sexy as hell.

"Spooning," I explained softly, hugging his arms tighter with both of my own. "In the end, it all comes down to spoons."