Location: Erie, Pennsylvania

Prompt: Cafe

Edward and Bella watched as the roadside signs passed advertising which restaurants were nearby and Edward nearly swerved off the road as Bella squealed in excitement as they passed one in particular.

"They have a Cracker Barrel. Can we stop there?" Edward looked at Bella incredulously. Who seriously got this excited over Cracker Barrel, he wondered to himself as Bella practically bounced in her seat. It was a complete 180 from how Bella was behaving a few minutes earlier and Edward was worried he was going to get whiplash from Bella's sudden change of personality.

"I guess so," he replied coolly, though inside he had to admit it was nice to see her excited about something.

Sure, Edward knew he didn't know Bella very well, but he could see there was something troubling her. She clearly didn't want to head back to Seattle, nor was she in any hurry to do so. He liked seeing her beautiful smile, so he decided to do what he could to keep her happy. However, it also made him wonder what was bothering her.

It was just moments later that Edward pulled off the highway at Peach St and Bella directed him to the Cracker Barrel restaurant located nearby, which they could see from the interstate. Bella virtually skipped into the restaurant and gushed over the menu as Edward sat in the booth across from her looking completely dumbfounded.

"What's wrong?"

"You are just... different."

"Yeah, I'm Luna, remember?"

"No, I didn't mean like that. I meant... this morning when you got into my car you seemed downright depressed about the prospect of going back to Seattle. Now you are looking at the chicken fried chicken on the menu like it's your last meal and you can't wait to savor it." Bella laughed lightly at Edward's comment, but had to admit that he was right; the chicken looked really good.

"I have good memories of Cracker Barrel from when I was younger and they don't have them on the West Coast, so I have to get my fill when I can."

"Does this mean we'll be hitting every one between here and Seattle?"

"Not likely. I'm different, not clinically insane," Bella laughed as she folded her menu and stopped to stare at Edward's grin as he overlooked the menu.

Bella had to admit as she watched him closer, she realized just how cute Edward was. In fact, she was tempted to reach into her bag and pull out her camera to take a picture of him for posterity's sake.

Though she had found him attractive physically when she had first gotten into the Volvo with him, the ease at which they talked over the past hour had made him more appealing to her. However, Bella had to tamp down any feelings she may have had because he was heading into Seattle to begin work and become a real bona fide adult, whereas she was supposed to head to college. They were at different phases in their life, and Bella knew that they both wanted different things.

Edward was going to be the kind of guy with 2.5 kids, a big house with a white picket fence and a beautiful PTA wife. Bella was never going to be that woman, so she brushed the thoughts from her mind and determined that she could be his friend, if nothing else.

Bella convinced him to have a Sweet Southern Peach Iced Tea and a rather large half pound bacon cheeseburger, which Edward was sure he would regret later. They continued to talk about the restaurant, the store and other destinations on their trip and before they knew it, almost an hour had passed.

After they settled the bill, splitting it evenly and with little argument, Bella dragged Edward into the store with her to look around. "I always wanted to get one of these for my dad," Bella explained as she took a seat on a slat rocker and began moving back and forth. "He's very much a sit on the porch in your rocking chair kind of guy. Oh, but he would need a beer... and maybe his gun."

"Um... his gun?" Edward questioned as Bella laughed at the fear in his eyes.

"He's a cop. A police chief actually."

"Great," Edward replied through clenched teeth as Bella could sense his anxiety. "He won't shoot me for bringing you home, right?"

"Hell no, he'd probably have a ticker tape parade or some shit. He's the reason I'm going home to begin with." Bella had sounded animated at the beginning of her comment, but Edward noticed how her voice dropped off when she mentioned going home.

Why in the hell didn't she want to go home? Edward wondered as he checked out a cinnamon broom to the left of the chair Bella was perched in. Everything seemed fine with her family, which made Edward think about whether or not she had a boyfriend back home that she was trying to get distance from? As much as he hoped she didn't, he knew that she was a beautiful girl, surely there was someone else pining for her, right?

As she continued to rock in the chair, Edward's curiosity got the better of him and he couldn't help but question her.

"Trying to avoid a boyfriend or something?"

"Or something," Bella replied cryptically before a person came over and began to question whether or not Bella was interested in buying the chair. Bella explained politely to the woman that she was traveling and couldn't fit the chair with her belongings, and the lady informed her that if she was truly interested then she could buy it online. Bella's eyes lit up like the Fourth of July upon hearing this news.

"Why didn't you just buy it?"

"And put it where? Should we strap it to the roof of your Volvo and drive down the street like we are mad?"

"There's some room in the trunk. After all, it is dismantled and you have to put it together. We could have made it fit."

"What happens when we part ways? I can't carry a chair back to Seattle, though it would be nice to have something to sit on at the side of the road." Bella cracked a smile, clearly pleased with her joke, but Edward already felt himself grow concerned that Bella was ready to ditch him just hours after their journey had started.

He felt a connection to this girl that he simply couldn't explain; he also wasn't sure what, if anything, he was going to do about it.