I'm so glad everyone enjoyed Rose, but sadly they won't be staying in Idaho. I still gotta get these two back to Forks. Let's get on with it, shall we?

Location: Coeur D'Alene, ID

Prompt: Italian Restaurant

Bella and Edward walked into Nino's Italian Restaurant just after nine and most of the dinner crowd had already cleared out. The hostess guided them to a private table in the back and eyed Edward with a grin as she set their menus down on the table. Their waitress, a rather busty redhead with a short skirt, took their drink order and turned to leave, purposefully sashaying her hips, which frustrated Bella and made Edward crack a slight smile.

He wasn't used to the attention, or jealousy, from women.

The silence between the two was deafening as they perused the menu and avoided talking about anything of consequence.

"Do you know what you are having yet?" Edward asked, as Bella lifted her head from the menu in confusion. "The manicotti looks good, right?"

"Sure, I suppose. I'm just not feeling overly hungry."

Bella had called Charlie from the pay phone in front of their hotel and he pressured her about when they were going to arrive in Forks. Charlie sounded disheartened when Bella recounted to him the story of the cruddy alternator. Charlie offered to book her a flight to get her back to town faster, but Bella quickly veto'd the idea. After all, it's not like there were many flights between Coeur D'Alene and Port Angeles.

"Everything okay?" Edward questioned, trying to draw Bella out of her shell. Bella nodded her head softly and then decided to not dwell on things she couldn't change. Her father would always be disappointed in her for how she left and she couldn't get home fast enough to placate him.

"Yeah, everything will be fine. I think I'm gonna have the vegetarian lasagna."

"I thought you weren't hungry?"

"My stomach is overriding my brain right now."

Edward and Bella exchanged easygoing conversation while they waited for their dinner and when it finally arrived, their table was filled with silence while they devoured the best meal either of them had eaten in a while. Then again, anything would be infinitely better than the fast food they had consumed lately.

"You know, I always wanted to go to Italy," Bella commented randomly between bites of her lasagna. "It's actually been one of my biggest goals in life for a long time."

"Really? Then why are you traveling across the states instead of just heading over there?" Edward questioned.

"Other than the fact that I just can't afford it, you are gonna laugh when I tell you."

"Probably, but it doesn't mean you shouldn't tell me," Edward joked. Bella rested her fork down and took a sip of her water before she spoke.

"Several years ago I saw the movie 'Under The Tuscan Sun' starring Diane Lane and some chick from Grey's Anatomy." Edward looked at Bella, unsure of the movie she was referencing, but listening intently anyways. "So the lead character leaves her life behind to go and live in Tuscany. She buys a dilapidated old house and renovates it. She has romantic entanglements that leave her breathless, and she eventually finds the love of her life as he stumbles by her villa. It's all very romantic and sweet, but for some reason it appealed to me. I could picture myself doing the same thing and taking pictures all day, maybe even dancing a bit in my villa. You can start laughing now, ya know."

"There's nothing to laugh about," Edward answered genuinely as Bella felt somewhat buoyed by his support. "It's great to have dreams like that. I wish I had something I wanted as much as that. I mean, I've always wanted to go to Australia, but that's just because the Aussies always seem like they are having such a great time. I also once wanted to go to Ireland for St. Patrick's Day, but I would prefer to steer clear of bar fights."

"I'm sure there is more to St. Patty's Day in Ireland that bar fights," Bella commented as Edward looked at her, challenging her to give an example. "Maybe… a parade or… potatoes?"

"Nice try."

"I thought so," Bella answered as Edward reached his hand across the table and brushed the tips of her fingers with his. It was a small gesture, but as Bella looked up and saw Edward's eyes so full… of something she had never seen before.

Conversation was somewhat stilted after this and when they were offered dessert, Edward and Bella quickly turned down the offer, opting to head back to the hotel and get some rest instead. The moment they stepped over the threshold of their room, Edward slowly shut the door behind them and locked it tightly.

There was an awkwardness in the air that neither of them knew how to fix, so Edward made his best attempt. "So…is there anywhere else in Italy you want to visit?"

Before she could come up with a decent answer, Bella closed the space in between them and reached up on her tippy toes to kiss Edward on the lips. It was somewhat odd at first and she missed his top lip completely, but he was a good bit taller than she was. Edward was caught off guard initially, but once he was able to come to his sense, he caught her hip is one of his hands and pulled her closer to him, leaning down to envelope her in a deep and passionate kiss that both of them could feel in their toes.

"That was…" Edward began to say, but Bella was suddenly pulling him towards her as she walked backwards into the tiny room. The back of her knees hit the bed and Bella yanked Edward down onto her, eager to resume their kissing.

Their fingers moved almost as desperately as their lips, both of them eager to explore their partner as much as they could. Edward was fearful that Bella was suddenly going to stop and feel ashamed for how they had suddenly jumped into things, whereas Bella worried that Edward would realize that she was an inexperienced girl who wasn't old enough to be kissing him, let alone seducing him.

"Bella," Edward murmured, pulling back for a moment and trying to catch his breath. "We should slow down… a bit."

"Oh… yeah," Bella remarked, her fears getting the best of her as she slid herself from underneath Edward and grabbed her bag, immediately fishing around for her sleep clothes. "You are definitely right. We should… this needs to be… slow, or whatever. I get it."

"No, you don't get it." Edward climbed up from the bed and stood directly behind Bella, wrapping his arms around her midsection and grinding himself shamelessly against her ass so that she had no misconception that he wanted her. "It's just…I like you, like… a lot, and I know we're kinda pressed for time, but we don't need to hit a home run on the first night out."

"What is it with guys and baseball analogies?" Edward laughed heartily and Bella turned swiftly to plant a kiss on his cheek before slipping out of his embrace to get into the bathroom to get ready for bed.

That was the first night Edward and Bella slept together, wrapped around each other, on purpose.