AN: If you haven't read my story Eight Nights of Delights, this story may not make a ton of sense. I highly recommend you read the Eight Nights of Delights first (at least the first two chapters, but all the stories have hints to this story).

Huge thanks to Wheathe79 for pre-reading and FanpireMama for beta-ing. SM owns the characters I circumcised them, converted their names, and forced them to eat my brisket. I tend to play up some stereotypes; it is all meant in good fun. If you are offended, let me know, or just hit the x button on your browser window.

Chapter2: The Anti-Schmuck

BPOV

Edward was like the Bush tax cuts. I didn't want to like them, but how can one not like something that saved money. Okay, that was a horrible metaphor, but I couldn't help but to like Edward – again. After we had left the bagel shop, we spent the afternoon together, and then we grabbed dinner and then ice cream. We were still catching up, so we met up again the next day and then the next and the next. We met around his bar exam classes and his homework, but the days started to not feel complete without at least speaking to him.

Maybe a better metaphor would be to say he was like my favorite pair of shoes that got thrown in the closet and had recently been rediscovered. Although, unlike shoes that were worn in public, I was very secretive about talking to Edward again. My friends and definitely my parents would freak out if they had known we were talking again.

I think my parents would be relieved, especially my mom. She had always blamed me for the breakup and thought I had been stupid not to say yes to Edward. Sometimes, I liked to call my mom Mrs. Bennett, because she was like the mother in Pride and Prejudice, whose was intent in marrying me off. She was sure Edward Cullenman would be the best suitor for me and I had pushed him away. Sure, she got that I wasn't ready to be engaged, but they had adored Edward. He had been the one to walk away from me, but I had been the one to reject him. Since it had been several wrongs that tore us apart, I wasn't sure how everyone would react. So, I hid the fact that we were talking.

It was easy to do since my friends were all working and I was the poor slob bumming around the city all summer. I wanted to be inspired to do something more worthwhile like volunteer or cook my way through a cookbook, like that one woman who blogged about it and then wrote a book, and then had the book made into a movie, but usually I ended up reading. Since the breakup, I had stopped reading for a while, and even when I did occasionally read, it was usually one of the classics like Dickens. I had avoided romances, until this week.

Slowly, but surely, hope was returning to me. Shit! I have to stop getting lost in my own thoughts. I was cooking Edward dinner. It was stupid; we lived in a city where every type of food was readily accessible. Rosalie and I rarely used our kitchen. In fact, I had to take our knee high boots out of the oven so I could use the broiler.

I didn't want to cook anything too heavy, so I was making steak salads and brining them over to his apartment. With all of his studying, I figured he could use a home cooked meal, but the June heat that had blanketed the city hadn't made it conducive to anything too heavy.

Was a home cooked meal too much? Maybe I was trying too hard. I was trying too hard. What would he think of me cooking him a meal? What would I think if the tables were turned? Well, I would think he was trying to move out of the friends' zone. I think we were in the friends' zone; we were talking and hanging out. We weren't sucking one another's faces, although the thought had crossed my mind. I should pick up burritos or something.

EPOV

I was finishing up my assignment for my Barbri class to prepare for the New York state bar exam when the doorbell rang. It was Bella. My plan was working – we were talking. Better yet, Zayin was happy again. Well as happy as a penis could be with my right hand but seeing Bella had caused him to spring back to life, literally. I wanted to kiss her, but I wanted to take it slow, make sure the timing was right and she wouldn't freak out.

Slow. We had never done anything slow. Since we had gotten together, over a game of dreidel on the first night of Hanukkah four years ago, to losing our virginity eight nights later – nothing we did was ever slow. Even proposing, I had rushed her and for the past three years, I had sworn I would never rush her again. I would never push her again. Yeah, I was still totally pussy-whipped by this girl.

"Hey," I said, opening the door. I wanted to say 'hey, beautiful' but I was trying to show some restrain. She looked gorgeous in a pair of jeans and long tank top. Her tits were definitely bigger than they had been in college. If they continued to grow they'd be huge by the time we reached our golden years. Of course, she could wear a burlap sack and still be beautiful. Or she could wear nothing – ugh, I needed to shut Zayin up! During our time apart, her body had become even more curved and womanly.

Bella smiled at me and held up a shopping bag. "I cooked dinner."

Was this a sign? Did she want to be more than friends? I was hoping we could keep working on our friendship and then after the bar, maybe move the relationship along. Of course, my planning in the past had proven disastrous.

"Come in. Let me get some plates. Make yourself at home."

Bella walked in, put the bag on the table, and began to unpack it as I ran to my tiny kitchen and pulled out some plates and silverware. I placed them on the table.

"Wine?"

"Red, please. We're having steak salad."

Meat. She made me meat. I had some meat for her. I was going to die taking this slow. I ran to my small wine rack and pulled out a red wine from a small winery in Washington State. Sure, Washington wasn't known for its wine, but Bella was the only person I could think of who would get a kick out of it.

I grabbed two glasses, holding them between my fingers and the wine bottle. Before opening the bottle, I displayed the label in a very Vanna White-like fashion.

"Columbia Crest, it's from Washington State," I announced.

"Shut up. Is it any good?" She was already sitting down and when she said that she looked up at me, biting her lip. I missed those lips.

"I don't know. My parents gave me a bunch of wine from their collection to get my own collection started. You know, it's no Baron Herzog, but let's give it a whirl." I tended to do that a lot with Bella, bring up things from our past to remind her of our past. Not that I needed to remind her, but I had avoided so many things that reminded me of her for so long that it was like a floodgate.

"You do that a lot," Bella commented as I was pouring the wine.

"What?"

"Mention things from our past. I didn't forget any of it."

"I know. I didn't either." I took a gulp of the wine; it wasn't half bad. The wine helped loosen me up. "I'll stop if it makes you uncomfortable; it's just I avoided a lot when I was in law school."

"I avoided a lot of things too."

"Bella, I avoided anything that made me think of you."

She nodded and started serving me salad.

"So, have you told anyone that we're talking?" She asked.

"My parents, but they knew I was seeking you out. I haven't told them everything just that I've seen you and we talked."

"Past tense?" Bella took a sip of wine.

"I didn't want to get their hopes up and I didn't know how long you would be talking to me," I shrugged. That sounded nonchalant, didn't it?

We ate in silence. I had successfully killed the conversation.

"Bella, did you tell anyone we're talking?"

"No, not yet, at least. I am still unsure what I am going to say when I do decide to tell them."

"So, you're planning to tell them?"

"Whoa, holy line of questioning, counselor. Edward, I'd be lying if I said I didn't like spending time with you."

But…

I waited for a but, but it didn't come. Holy shit. Come on, say something back you schmuck!

"I like spending time with you too. I've missed hanging out with a normal person."

Bella snorted; well it was more of a giggle-snort.

"Me, normal?"

"Well, compared to a law student and definitely compared to someone taking the bar exam. Somehow you always find a way to ground me."

"I didn't avoid everything that made me think of you, Edward."

I looked up and waited for her to elaborate. She had my attention – mine… Zayin's…

"When no one else was around, I sometimes would put on Fox News and pretend you were in the room. Sometimes I would leave it on and turn the sleep mode on and fall asleep to the O'Reilly Factor," Bella confessed.

I really wanted to fucking kiss her. Instead, I reached out and squeezed her hand. She squeezed back and didn't let go.

Had I just pulled the anchor on the friends' zone? Were we setting sail to the land of relationships? Not bad, Cullenman. Not bad at all.

BPOV

I didn't want to let go of his hand. So we ate with our rights hands, while our left hands remained intertwined on top of the table. The steak was too chewy and my jaw was already starting to get sore. Not that it mattered; it wasn't as if I was going to give him a blow job or anything.

I was going to have to tell everyone about Edward. I didn't want to hide this, but I wasn't ready to share him either. Besides, his schedule with studying for the bar was only going to get worse and I didn't want him to feel like he had to live up to people's expectations, let alone mine.

"Listen, Edward, your main focus right now should be on taking this bar exam and passing. You don't want to be like JFK Jr."

"Bella, I already don't like to fly."

"Ughh, no, still too soon. He had to take the bar exam three times in order to pass. Your job depends on you passing – I get it. I refuse to be the reason why you didn't pass."

"You'd never be…"

"Cullenman, you may not say it but I would know it. I'm a bum until late August, that's when my pre-term orientation starts. So, when you are free and want to hang out – call me."

"How enterprising, you'd be my beck and call girl?" Edward replied, smiling.

"Shut up! No, but if I'm not busy – we'll hang out."

"I was just teasing, you know. You never cease to amaze me – going from teaching to getting your MBA. What would you want with a douche bag like me?"

"Oh, come off it, Edward. The job market sucks for lawyers and for you to be an associate at some big firm – that says a lot."

"We really are over-achievers aren't we? Even in breaking up – we really over achieved in really screwing things up."

"We can't go backward and regrets are just that regrets. We have both learned a lot and grown as people," Edward said. When did he get to be so wise? I thought law school was supposed to be pretty useless.

"That's good. I may have to use that when I tell people."

"Tell people what?"

"Tell people about us. I will say just that – we both made mistakes the only way you and I both know how to do something – with 100% commitment to making them. The past is and will be the past and our future is…well, our future is unknown," I stated. I hadn't expected to be so philosophical at dinner.

"There's one date in the future that needs to be known."

I looked up at Edward quizzically. Was he planning our wedding again? I still had two years of b-school to get through.

"The Fourth of July – it's sort of the last unofficial day I can take off before the bar exam. I hear Macy's does a pretty good fireworks display over the East River and well, you see I have a roof top deck here. Would you want to come over and watch the fireworks with me?"

"Just me?" I asked. Usually Alice and Jasper hosted a barbeque at their apartment. The past couple of years I had done that with them.

"Yeah, just you. Since we aren't telling anyone about us, and the only other people I really know in the city are a few people from law school and a few of my AEPi fraternity brothers; I thought we could do something low-key- just you and me. Hey, that rhymes."

My imagination was going wild with images of Edward and me having sex on his rooftop deck as fireworks went off in the sky. As much as the image, excited me it scared me, because my next thought was that he was setting me up. He wanted to fuck me and then never call me again. I saw myself staring at my phone, willing it to ring. I was starting to think that this was just some elaborate scheme for revenge. I had to get out of here.

"Bella!" Edward shouted my name and it shook me out of my thought stream. "Stop over-analyzing this. I see the panic written all over your face."

"Panic? Me? Pshawww," I replied, brushing away the thought with my hand. Of course I was lying. I wanted to trust him. I wanted to believe that he missed me and had sought me out because of that – not some trite revenge plot.

"Talk to me, Bells. Let me into that head of yours. We aren't going to get derailed by some overplayed miscommunication plot-device that the writers of Three's Company used a thousand times."

I swallowed hard. If I told him I thought that he could be only doing this for revenge, he'd only deny it. If I didn't say anything, he'd know I was covering up and that something was still bothering me. I wish my parents could be here. My dad would give Edward that scary 'what are your intentions toward my daughter speech'. Of course, my parents were pro-gun control so it isn't like he'd pull a shotgun on Edward.

Nope, my dad wasn't here. So, I'd have to look out for myself. "We've caught one another up on our lives over the past three years, and it's been great, but I have to ask before we go further, what are your intentions for seeking me out besides apologizing? Is this some sick game?"

Edward's mouth dropped in disgust. "How? How could you even think…? Do you think that poorly of me? What the fuck? Really?" He stopped.

I could practically see the smoke coming out of his ears. I fucked up. I shouldn't have said anything, but maybe he was mad because I was right.

"No, sorry I shouldn't have blown up at you just now. I was the one to walk away from you three years ago; you have every right not to trust me. I sought you out to apologize and because I miss you. That is all, nothing else. Would I want to try to get back to where we were? Yes, I would, but better, stronger…"

"The six million dollar relationship – better, stronger, faster?" I joked.

He chuckled along with me. "You don't change, you know that? You're still using humor to deflect during serious conversations."

I nodded. "I know, but our breakup isn't just on you. I rejected you in the worse kind of way. We were both wrong in different ways, but we were 22 and maybe we needed time to grow up."

"You never answered me. Fourth of July – my rooftop – you and me? Are you in?"

Oh, he definitely had something planned.

"How can I say no to you? Erm, bad choice of words – ummm, yes, yes I'll be there."

EPOV

She was still my Bella – always saying the wrong thing at the wrong time or deflecting with humor. It was something I knew her college friends would often be annoyed with, but frankly, I missed it.

Tonight opened my eyes to so many things I hadn't wanted to see all week. While we had caught up, there was still a lot of healing that we needed to accomplish together. Of that healing, sexual healing was definitely not off the table oh, yeah! We had a lot to work on, but we would get there. I couldn't wait to tell my parents.

Luckily, it was still early in Washington.

"Edward, how's the studying going?" My mom asked, she picked up the phone within the first ring.

"It's going, Mom. So you know how I told you Bella and I had talked? Well we have been talking and I had dinner tonight with her…"

"And…"

"We're still talking. We've been catching up and tonight we talked a little about where we went wrong. I think she missed me as much as I missed her. She even cooked for me."

"She cooked? What'd she make?"

"Steak salad."

"Oh, I bet it was tough – she broiled the steak right? I marinate mine for days – melts right in your mouth." I pinched the bridge of my nose. This is what my mother had become in the past few years. "Let me get your father… Carlisle…Carlisle, Edward's on the phone," she screamed right into the phone and my ear.

My poor father got on the line. "Edward, how's it going?"

"He lied to us. He and Bella have been talking all week," Mom volunteered.

"That's wonderful! How's it going?" He asked.

"Slow, but steady, Dad. She agreed to come over to watch the fireworks with me."

"That's terrific!" He replied encouragingly.

"Do you think it's best to be starting something with her this close to the bar exam? She could be a big distraction to your studies."

"Ma, Bella is fully supportive of me taking the bar. She knows the Fourth of July is it until afterI take the test. She's really got her act together. I told you she got into NYU's School of Business. She's getting her MBA so she can run a non-profit."

"Edward, keep doing what you're doing. Your mother and I support you. We always knew you and Bella would be running the world one day."

"Thanks. I should go. I have some studying to do before my class tomorrow."

"Edward, one more thing…" my mom started to say, "don't mess this up again and don't be a schmuck."

Schmuck: meaning an obnoxious, contemptible person; one who is stupid, foolish, or detestable. Reviews are like butter - like a big stick of butter!