Disclaimer: Twilight and characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.

A special thanks to Jessica0306 for being a wonderful beta.

For your listening pleasure I recommend: Pulp - Like a Friend.

"Come on," Bella squealed, stretching out the syllables of each word. "Please. Stop being so stubborn!"

Rosalie and Alice just rolled their eyes.

"We are not going camping, Bella. Seriously, stop pestering us. You are super annoying today," Rose stated and then went back to filing her nails.

Of course this wasn't going to stop her. She smiled wide and stared at Alice. Alice was easier to break. Rose stopped filing and sighed. She knew what Bella was up to.

"No! It's going to be super lame. Why do you even want to go?" Rosalie quickly added before Bella could hound Alice.

"Don't you want to get back to your roots? It will not be lame. Not if we all go," Bella retorted.

Bella turned, staring right at Alice. She was wearing her most genuine smile. "I'll write your next paper for you."

Rose groaned and dropped her head onto Alice's bed pillow.

"You are so evil... but still... sleeping outdoors…" Alice didn't finish, but her whole body shook in an exaggerated fake shudder. Alice took the idea of Bella writing one of her papers as a very serious bribe. Almost tempting enough to have her sleep in the woods.

The smile faded from Bella's face. She jumped up and dove for her shoes. Both Rose and Alice jumped a little from her sudden movement.

"Oh crap! I'm going to be late."

Bella's two friends breathed a sigh of relief. They had enough of her good mood for one day.

"Have you seen my jacket?" Bella yelled to them as she searched the room.

"You mean that old thing?" Alice sneered while pointing at a shabby black ball of material sticking out from under the bed. Bella flew towards it and immediately zipped herself in. She covered her head with the hood.

"Really Bella, we need to go shopping," said Rose.

"No time…love ya, bye" Bella yelled as she dashed from Alice's house. She was out the door, down the entranceway, and through the iron gate in one minute flat. The sidewalk was covered in fresh puddles, but it was no longer raining. She realized she didn't need to wear the hood, but left it up anyway. Her bulky bag smacked against her leg as she hurried. Sprinting down three blocks, she made her way into class almost in time.

Edward caught sight of her mad dash from across the street. He had run into Emily on campus when he was looking for Bella. When he ran into her, he was surprised she still remembered him. He was even more surprised to find out that she still talked to Alice. Those two had even shared a couple classes. Emily told him that Bella took classes here, but she didn't know which night. She hadn't known Bella's school schedule either. Emily only knew about Bella's extracurricular activities because Alice mentioned it in passing.

So, for the past few days he had been stalking around, waiting to see if she'd make an appearance. He had just about given up for the day when he saw a streak of black and blue racing down the sidewalk. Her blue Converse were soaked through and the hems of her jeans were caked in dirt. She stomped up the stairs and flew into the double doors before he could even jump down from his resting place.

He couldn't help but smile as he jumped back up on the concrete wall that was now his throne. I'll guess I'll just wait a little longer, he thought. He let out a little laugh when he looked down at his own blue shoes. They matched. He looked back up at the double doors across the street. A neon OPEN sign glared back at him. He read the big red word DANCE that was stenciled on the building. He didn't know why, but he liked knowing this about her. Since when did Bella dance?

It was about an hour later before people started exiting the building. Jumping down from his perch, he waited until the traffic slowed and then jogged across the street. He took the time to clean the lenses of his glasses with his sleeve and then put them back on.

Bella exited slowly. She was messing with something in her bag and Edward caught a hint of pink before she closed the zipper. He was blocking her way, so she nearly bumped into him.

"Oh, excuse me. I'm so sor-ry…" the words faded from her mouth when she looked up and caught his eyes.

He gave her his best wicked grin and took a step to the left. Using his hands, he motioned for her to pass.

Bella kept her eyes on him, not really knowing what to do, but then her feet were moving. Without being able to help herself she glanced back at him. He was still there, watching her. This caused her to freeze.

"Dance, eh?" he asked.

"Are you mocking me?" She wasn't sure if he was trying to be spiteful or just curious.

He continued without answering her. "Tap…ballet…swing?"

"Ballet," she couldn't help but respond. She turned to face him and he took a few steps towards her to close the space between them.

"Where are you going?"

"Home."

"OK, can I come?"

She didn't answer him this time. She just shrugged a little and started walking. He matched her pace. They made it all the way to her shortcut without saying another word. It started sprinkling again just as she took a left into a graveyard.

"Should I be worried?" he joked.

"Maybe." She grinned. The ground was wet and Bella felt her foot slip out from under her. He caught her in time. He didn't remove his hands right away. He kept them on her to help keep her steady. Her cheeks went red hot and she pulled the hood tightly around her face to try and hide her embarrassment.

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it." He let her go then. "Do you always walk through graveyards late at night?"

She couldn't help but laugh. "It's a shortcut. My place is right over this hill. Plus, it's conveniently located in the middle of everywhere I need to be. Alice lives down that way." Bella pointed to her left. "She bought a house with Jasper. I cut through it to get to my house, her house, so on and so on."

"This doesn't scare you?"

She didn't know how to answer that without sounding crazy, so she just shrugged her shoulders again.

When she got to a tall fence blocking their way she stopped. She looked around for a second and then looked back at him.

"Now, if I show you this, will you promise to keep it a secret?" She wasn't sure why she should trust him.

He just shrugged his shoulders.

She let out a sigh and crossed her arms.

"I'm kidding. Yes. I promise." She heard the laughter in his reply.

She slid her hands over the wood planks until she found her mark. Her fingers wrapped around the loose board and she slid three planks to the side. He followed her in and then she slid the planks back.

"Tada!" she sang. She smiled wide and held up her hands up. She was too nervous. His silence was beginning to give her a headache. Well, she was giving herself a headache. Her mind was overloaded with thoughts. He smiled back at her and her cheeks went hot again.

They both stood vulnerable in her backyard while the rain drizzled down on them. Edward decided to take the lead and made his way to the back porch.

"Where are you going?" she asked, interrupting his retreat.

"I thought we could get out of the rain." Edward's face went blank.

"This way," Bella said gesturing to the large garage on the side of the house.

This time she led. He waited while she took a set of keys from her bag and unlocked the door. She flicked the switch on the wall and the whole place lit up. White Christmas lights hung tangled overhead, weaving this way and that way.

She moved to the side so he could enter and then she closed the door behind him.

"Make yourself at home," she said, walking towards the back of the room and entering through another door. She shut it behind her.

He walked further into the garage taking in the room. It was like a large studio apartment. A queen mattress lay on the floor to his right. It was overflowing with pillows. Pink and purple speckled sheets were partly hidden by an overstuffed blue feather down comforter. To his left was a large armoire crammed with clothes and a desk with so much crap on it that you couldn't possibly think to use it for its actual purpose. Paper lanterns scattered the ceiling and the window was painted black. Nonfunctional sheer curtains hung down to the floor.

The rain picked up. It echoed off the roof. Bella had made her way to the bathroom and when she emerged she found him practically standing in the same spot. She tried to clean herself up best she could, but she knew she needed a shower. She had been dancing hard for a full hour, trying very hard to please her instructor since she had been late. But he was in her room. In her space. She didn't want him to go.

"The bathroom is in here," she said, pointing behind her.

He looked around again. "You live here?"

"Um, yeah. The landlord cleaned out this space a couple years ago. At first it was just going to be like a game room or something, but I kinda took it over. A girl in one of my classes told me about it. She overheard me talking about how I was looking for a place. Her uncle lives in the house."

"You don't get lonely out here? Is it safe to be out here all alone?"

She swallowed and contemplated how much she wanted to tell him. "Well, I like it here…alone."

He walked over to the desk and sat in the chair.

She walked towards him and switched on the computer by his leg. It made her nervous to be so close to him, but she did it anyway just to give her something to do.

"I pump everything through that...music…movies," she said as she walked over to her bed and sat down. She knew she was delaying the inevitable, so with a sigh she said, "Edward, I need to take a shower. I'm a sweaty pig right now. I know you just got here bu-…"

He interrupted. "No, yeah, that's cool." He stood quickly and then glided towards the door. Bella stood up just as quickly. She studied his face. His sad eyes. His tall demeanor. He looked cold. She needed to get close to him, so she met him at the door and opened it for him.

"Maybe I'll see you tomorrow?" she said with a hopeful expression.

"Yeah, maybe."

"Two years, Edward?"

He swallowed and said, "Yeah." He leaned against the frame. "Dance?"

Bella lowered her head and sighed. "I wanted to do something to help clear my head… and to improve my balance. I was tired of being so klutzy. But as you can see by my almost tumble back there in the graveyard, it hasn't really helped." Bella met his gaze again. "Do Emmett and Jasper know you are back?"

"Not yet."

"Did you plan on telling them? Are you staying?"

"I do. I wanted to see you first."

"Wait. You ran into me today on purpose?"

"Yeah."

Bella didn't know what to say. She felt raw. She decided to change the subject. "You're wearing glasses."

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"Glasses make me look smarter." He smirked.

"But you don't need to look smart - you are smart," Bella teased.

"How about if I say they help me look less intimidating."

"Hmm, that I can believe."

There was an awkward pause and then Edward took a step out the door.

"See you soon, Bella." And with those words he disappeared into the night.