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 chapters have hints to this story).

Huge thanks to wheather79 for pre-reading and FanpireMama for beta-ing. SM owns the characters - I circumcised them, converted their names, forced them to eat my brisket, and gave them matzo ball soup when they were sick. 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.

Chapter3: Boom-Boom-Plotz

EPOV

New York City at the end of June was hot as balls. It wasn't as bad as the summers I had spent in DC, which was like as hot as balls on a fat man at the gym, but NYC was soupy. Luckily my window air conditioning in my apartment was working quite well, which is more than I could say for Bella's. She didn't want to impose, but I knew she loved getting out of her apartment as much as possible, so she would often stop by and cool off. Though, being the nice Jewish girl that she was – Bella would never arrive empty handed. Menus, brownies, ingredients for cooking dinner - she seemed to really enjoy spending time with me and I was determined not to fuck this up.

From spending so much time together, more time than I could have ever imagined, I learned Bella didn't want to fuck whatever we were going to be up either. She hadn't said it out loud yet, but she had hinted at in conversation and had tried in other ways, like cooking and bringing me baked goods, that our disastrous breakup wasn't solely on me. We both had failed and although I was comfortable with freely saying the words out loud, Bella, being Bella, was always a bit more stubborn.

I didn't expect any less from her. She was Isabella Swanstein. She was tough, smart, and could command a room. Being a Jewish girl named after a queen who actually expelled the Jews couldn't have been easy. Okay, that's a bit of a stretch, I'm sure Bella hadn't even realized that she shared a name with her. It's not like she's named Adolf or anything. On second thought, maybe she had. I used to think I knew what was going through that girl's head, but I was never going to assume anything anymore.

Zayin was happy and I was glad water was included in my rent, because of the copious amount of time I spent in the shower. I didn't know when we would ever be more, and actually get physical. Heck, I hadn't even given her a peck on the cheek. I was thinking the Fourth of July and the fireworks on my rooftop deck would be the perfect backdrop for our first re-kiss.

I had the day planned in my head and I had avoided phone calls from my mother, because if I told her what I was planning she'd criticize it. So, when I wasn't studying, jacking off, spending time with Bella, or sleeping, I was planning. My rooftop deck was a mess. It was small, but it was mine and a quick order to CB2 took care of furnishing it. Thankfully, I had a small signing bonus and my parents had yet to make me relinquish their credit card.

So, it should all be ready for the big day. There I go over-planning things all over again.

BPOV

They, whoever "they" are, say that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. Clearly, I was overcompensating for not apologizing and taking some ownership in the downfall of our relationship. Gosh, that makes it sound so epic, but then we had been epic. Edward was my best friend and it was so easy for us to bring back the whole friendship side of things. So easy. Too easy. I did plan to formally apologize during our Fourth of July celebration. Of course, I wasn't sure how'd he take it. I think he would be okay with it and would want to move forward, with well, I don't know what we were attempting. The thought had crossed my mind of what if he rejected my apology and our short reconciliation was just that – a short reconciliation. I didn't want to lose him, again. I needed to have a contingency plan if that did occur.

"Oh, my, gawd! Is that my roommate, Bella Swanstein? It looks like her, but wait, she doesn't hang out here anymore." I heard from the door of my apartment opening.

I turned and saw my tall and very blonde bombshell roommate, Rosalie Hayles. We had been best friends since one of the first days of Hebrew school. Rosalie was an assistant salesperson at the only Ferrari dealer in Manhattan.

"Oh, hey. Yeah, I'm home tonight." Edward had a study group and it was expected to go late.

"So, what's his name, Bella?" Rosalie asked as she threw her purse on the counter and came to sit next to me on our couch.

"What?"

"Oh, come off it, you've been going out almost every night. You are happy for the first time, like ever," she said as she kicked off her shoes and plopped down next to me.

I needed a good lie. I couldn't tell her I was seeing Edward again. Not yet. I wasn't ready to share him and let people know what was going on before I figured out what was really going on, but maybe I could hint at it.

"Well, umm, I had an idea. I was wondering if you could ask Emmett to friend Edward on Facebook?"

Rosalie gave me a look like I had just taken a giant shit on the coffee table.

"Okay, hear me out. I was thinking. He must be done with law school and I am wondering where he's living. I mean maybe he's in DC, but maybe he's not. I'm curious. I've spent a lot of time the past few weeks thinking about the past and well, I miss him." I was being a little deceitful.

"You could friend him."

"I could, but I figured if Emmett did it wouldn't look like I was desperate or anything."

"When you put it like that – it's not a horrible idea. Let me go change and I will call him."

Rosalie and Emmett were pretty serious, but Rose's parents were super strict and would never allow them to live together unless she had a ring on her finger. Let's just say Rose totally overplayed that Beyonce song. Emmett had also moved to NYC after graduation and had a job doing some type of financial analysis for the NFL.

I checked my phone to see if Edward had called, but he hadn't. I knew I would have to get used to not hearing from him for several weeks while he focused on the bar exam. It scared me how comfortable it was to fall back into so many of our old habits of hanging out together – of course, we weren't physical at all. Holding hands and hugs were about the extent of that.

"Done. Emmett sent Edward a friend request. He said he'd call when Edward accepted," Rosalie said, emerging from her bedroom in an outfit mirroring mine – tank top and boyshorts. It was too hot to wear anything else.

It wouldn't take long for Edward to accept as he was attached to his smart phone and was always checking email and such.

"Thanks. I don't know Rose, am I crazy for thinking about him?"

Rose rolled her eyes. "No. Seriously, I don't know what those Brandeis friends of yours were thinking – why didn't you talk to him when he tried to talk to you? Why did you ignore him? Alice and I both thought that was the stupidest thing in the world."

"I don't know and trust me I regret it. My college friends thought I needed time to cool off, they thought he'd be around and then he wasn't and I had too much pride."

"And now? Do you have too much pride?"

"No." My response was immediate. It had taken me three years and Edward having the balls. I smiled at the thought of his balls. He was wrong to walk away and I was wrong to not try to talk it out when he tried to.

Of course Rosalie's phone chimed with the football ringtone she had assigned to Emmett's number. I could only hear her end of the conversation. "Hey. Yeah, great. So, where is he living? It says New York? Shut up. Wait, let me tell Bella…"

Rosalie turned toward me. "He's living in New York. Emmett may try to meet up with him. He always liked Edward. Is that okay with you?"

"New York? Oh my!" I feigned shock. "Umm, I don't care. Emm can do whatever he wants. They were so close in high school – I won't begrudge him."

"Thanks, umm, I'm going to take this in my room, Bella. Something has definitely come over you, but it is good whatever it is."

I wasn't trying to seduce Edward, but he had invited me over for the Fourth of July and we were going to spend the afternoon reading outside. Given the amount of time I was going to be spending outside, I needed to wear a bathing suit and mine just happened to be a bikini. Examining myself in the mirror, I couldn't help but notice how much my butt had become toned walking around New York. I wasn't fat in college, but I definitely had some schmaltz on me from drinking and such. Most of that had been burned off from the frequent gym trips I now took each week.

I threw on a cotton jersey sundress over my bathing suit and examined my to-be read pile of books looking for something good to read. I didn't want anything too heavy and finally picked out a book that had been on the bestseller list. I probably wouldn't have much time for reading for pleasure once I started school.

I arrived at Edward's later that afternoon. He answered the door wearing khaki cargo shorts and a vintage t-shirt. There is something about Edward's bare legs that always turned me on. His bronze leg hair and his toned calves were just utterly lickable.

"Hey," he said, opening the door.

"Hi," I said, biting my lip. Why was this so awkward? It's not like we were going to have sex or anything.

"Let me get the cooler and we can head up to the roof deck." I nodded.

Yup, definitely awkward.

Edward fiddled with ice and the refrigerator in the kitchen.

"Do you need help?" I asked curious as to what he was doing.

"No, I got this, but umm, so, Emmett McCartney friended me on Facebook earlier this week."

"I know."

Edward reappeared and motioned us to leave with his head. We climbed the staircase to the roof deck and I was amazed at how well it was set up.

"Wow! This view – wow! Edward, this is great. You must be paying a fortune for this place."

He shrugged. Awkward. "So," I continued, "I thought that if Emmett befriended you on Facebook then when I tell my friends that we are…" I didn't know what to say. I wasn't sure what we were.

"It makes sense, besides I've missed Emmett. Does he really work for the NFL? "

I nodded my head, relieved Edward didn't want to venture down that whole "what are we" conversation territory.

"So, I packed up some snacks for us. You've been cooking for me so much I thought I'd do something." Edward pulled some containers out of the cooler. "Zabars."

Shaking my head as I sat down on one of the padded chaise loungers I replied, "You didn't have to go to all that trouble. I'm a simple gal."

"Oh, I know. I'm grilling hotdogs tonight." The thought of doing dirty and suggestive things to my hotdog as I ate it came to mind. I think the same thought flashed in Edward's mind, because his lips curled up and he looked away.

"Well, these dumplings look delicious." I grabbed one from the plate and popped it into my mouth.

"Good?" Edward asked, taking the chaise next to me and pulling out a very large Barbri book out of his bag.

"The flavor explodes in my mouth," I replied, my mouth half-full. Edward laughed at my response. He probably, no he definitely was thinking something inappropriate. "Okay, I am not going to disturb your studying. I brought a book too."

I took my book out of my bag and relaxed into the chair. It only took a few minutes in the blazing heat for me to strip off my sundress and layout in my bikini. Edward didn't outwardly gawk at me, but I did catch a few sideways glances my way. It didn't help my focus when he became too warm, and took off his own shirt.

We spent much of the afternoon together, but in our separate worlds, except when we were secretly checking out one another. Occasionally we'd talk but I tried to give him some quality study time. I busied myself with reading a book, flipping through magazines and texting with Alice and Rose. They were out in the Hamptons. Rosalie refused to spend any weekends in the city during the summer. She said only poor people and tourists choose to be in Manhattan in the summer. Sometimes she could be a real snob.

I hadn't had a chance to really speak with Alice in depth – she and Jasper were living together and lately the world had been centered on her. She hadn't even planned their annual barbeque, because she was so overwhelmed with her Alice drama. It was always something – the few times we had spoken the conversations centered around her issues – Jasper left the toilet seat up, she felt she always had to do things with his friends, her job was stressful. While I didn't have anything I wanted to share with her, it would have been nice for her to at least ask.

The sun started to go down and Edward went back to his apartment to get the hotdogs and everything for dinner. He refused to allow me to help him. When he returned, I knew better than to even ask to help with the grilling. Edward loved to grill and the small grill he had on the roof deck was only big enough for one person to man it. It reminded me of the summers back in Forks when the Cullenmans would host huge barbeques.

"Are you sure you don't want any help?" I asked, looking at the sides Edward had set on the table.

"You relax, I've got this."

I put my dress back on since it was getting too dark to read and I didn't want to be rude by talking on my phone. I should apologize to him about my part in our breakup. I should do it now.

"Edward?" I asked, my voice trembling.

"Bella, I told you relax. I got this. Please let me do this for you."

I bit my lip. "No, I wanted to tell you something and it may piss you off, but I want to put it out there." He didn't respond, so I continued. "The breakup wasn't entirely your fault. I'm sorry for not hearing you out and for completely shutting you out after you tried to talk to me. I was really stubborn and I thought that you would stay around until I calmed down, but when I did calm down, you were gone. Edward, I had too much pride to find you and chase after you. You may have walked out on me after I said no to marrying you, but I walked away from trying to get us to work."

Edward put the tongs down next to the grill and walked over to me, but he still didn't say anything.

My eyes were tearing up from apologizing and from his lack of response. "Edward, I'm sorry. I will never walk away from you again."

His hand reached for my shoulder and pulled me closer to his bare chest. He smelled of sweat and sunshine. "Thank you," he murmured into my ear. I wanted to look up and maybe even kiss him, but I didn't and instead basked in his closeness.

EPOV

I was blown away by Bella's apology. She didn't have to do that, but she did. I wanted to kiss her and hold her all night, but the hotdogs were going to start to burn. So, after a few moments of having Bella close to me, I glanced at the smoking grill and realized I needed to pull away.

"I don't want dinner to burn." She nodded her head. "Why don't you run downstairs and grab the pitcher of sangria I have in the fridge?" An idle Bella was never a good thing.

She nodded her head and smiled before making her way down the steps. Her absence gave me plenty of time to put my shirt on, prepare the table, and set the food up. Besides hotdogs, I had several different types of salads and a variety of pickles.

Bella returned and we sat down in silence. Pouring the sangria into two plastic cups, not the classiest, but they held a lot, I knew I needed to say something. Come on, Edward man up.

"Bella, you didn't need to apologize like you did," I said between bites. "The past few weeks with you have been amazing. I feel like we have really connected again. I can't make any promises until after I finish with the bar exam, but I want us to try again."

"Edward, I want that too. I had forgotten how good it felt to laugh with your best friend. I don't ever want to forget how that feels."

"You won't, but I need you to be patient. This exam is a big deal and I know you understand that."

"I know it is. I've waited this long, three more weeks is nothing."

"I know we are comfortable with us, but why don't we ease our friends into it. How about I plan a post bar exam party at a bar? I will invite Emmett and let him know to bring his friends. We will have to come clean about our secret meetings, but I think it would be better if we do it then."

Bella sat there contemplating my proposition. "That sounds good. If they have a problem with us being together, then they obviously don't know us. Rosalie already suspects something is going on with me."

"Really?" How would Rosalie know about us?

"She doesn't know what is going on; she just knows I've been happier since that day in the bagel shop."

"I have been happier too. I had forgotten how spellbinding you can be."

She arched her eyebrow. "Spellbinding? Really?"

I didn't have a chance to answer. The fireworks display that Macy's sponsored started with a large boom, startling both of us.

"It's starting!" I cried. "Do you want to watch from the table or from the chaise loungers?"

"Oh! Let's watch from the chaise loungers." Bella lifted her cup of sangria and stood up. I followed her but noticed the goose bumps on her arms.

"Are you cold? I could get you a sweatshirt or a blanket."

"No, I don't want you to miss the fireworks," she exclaimed.

I moved in closer to her, putting my arms around her. I rubbed her arms and hoped my body heat would warm her up.

"Better?" I asked.

She nodded. I took her by the hand and led her toward my lounger. "Sit with me; I'll keep you warm."

I sat down first and she followed with her back to my chest. I wrapped my arms around her and she leaned back into me. Together we watched the fireworks against the iconic New York skyline. We oohed and awed together and as the final fireworks flashed in the sky, I brought my lips to her cheek. My lips didn't find her cheek, Bella had turned her head toward me and my lips instead were meant by hers.

Suddenly, the fireworks started all over again, expect this time they weren't in the sky.

AN: People who review receive replies with teasers in them. Just saying, this isn't some Jewish mom guilt trip, but…