A/N: Hello everyone. I am so sorry for the extremely long wait. My world has been in chaos for a few weeks. I really do apologize. A quick note about this chapter: this is sort of a transition chapter and I do apologize if it's a little slow. Sorry, it must be done. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own the Twilight Series. It all belongs to the goddess Stephenie Meyer.
"No, Alice," I said, tired of the conversation I had been having with my 'little sister' since we had arrived home from school. "I'm going to go to the school, pick up his things, and come back home."
"Well, you're going to have to run if I don't go with you," she said in a matter-of-fact tone.
"No shit, Sherlock," I said rolling my eyes. I had been trying to convey this message to her for two hours, and it appeared it still hadn't sunk in.
Alice folded her arms across her chest and pouted. I reached across to where she sat on the love seat in front of me. She batted my hand away and I tried again. When she moved to bat my hand again I grabbed her hand and yanked her off the small couch and onto the floor. She stared up at me with an expression of mild shock plastered on her pixie-like face. I smiled down at her with a smug expression on my face and rose from the long couch I had been sitting on. I was halfway to the door when my legs were suddenly knocked from underneath me.
It was my turn to look up into the mischievous face of my attacker. It only took a moment though before my hand snapped out and grabbed Alice by the ankle and brought her crashing down parallel to myself. Before she had a chance to move I had her pinned and wriggling to get free.
"What have I told you girls about playing in the house," said a disapproving voice from the staircase behind us. " I really would rather not have to replace another couch, wall, or section of the floor for that matter," Esme said in her most motherly tone.
"Okay, okay," I said and rolled away from Alice getting to my feet in the same movement. Alice wasn't far behind me and she still held the same little pout in place.
"I still don't see why you want to run when you could drive,"she whined.
"Bella, are you going some place?" Esme asked from somewhere behind me.
"Yes, Esme. I was going to go and pick up Edward's truck and his things from school and take them to him."
She studied me for a moment then nodded. "Don't forget you and Carlisle were supposed to go hunting tonight," Esme reminded me as she walked into the den.
"Okay," I said to her retreating form and then turned back to the door. I sort of felt bad about not letting Alice drive so I decided to appease her a bit.
"You, Rose, and I can go shopping tomorrow if that makes you feel any better." It was like flicking on a switch in a darkened room. She immediately
began smiling and took off like a bolt of lightning up the stairs to inform Rose that we would be going shopping tomorrow. Thank goodness it wasn't a school day.
I opened the front door and began to run. I absolutely loved running. It was more exhilarating than anything I'd ever experienced, and trust me I had experienced a lot since 1901.
In moments, it seemed I was at the entrance to the science building. I removed the tools I had grabbed from the garage and began to pick the lock. This would be much quicker than having to remove the entire handle. I replaced the tools in my pocket and before a second had passed I was at Mr.Barner's classroom, twisting the handle to see if it were locked before I tried to pick it. It wasn't locked so I pushed open the door and walked to the teacher's desk in the front of the room.
There, as I had expected, were Edward's books and backpack. I lifted the stack and slung the bag over my shoulder. I closed the door, then peeked through the small window to make sure I had left everything as I had found it, except for Edward's things, of course.
Once out of the building I checked to make sure the door had locked back and walked quickly to Edward's truck and pulled open the door. I placed his things in the passenger seat and reached into my jeans pocket for the key. Although I braced myself for the roar that was inevitable when starting this particular vehicle, I still jumped a little when I stuck the key in the ignition and turned it.
I wanted to floor the gas pedal when I first pulled out of the parking lot, but as soon as I did it began to sputter and stall. I eased off the gas and the truck stopped it's protest.
As I neared Edward's house I found my self becoming a bit nervous. I shook my head from side to side trying desperately to shake away the unwanted nervousness. I mean, okay, so I liked him. A little. But that was no reason to be nervous. Was it?
I was still trying to talk myself out of my nerves when I climbed from Edward's newly parked truck. I knocked timidly on the door of the small house and waited for Edward to open it. Or at least I assumed it would be Edward. Chief Swan's cruiser wasn't in the yard and I was almost certain that no one else lived in the house besides Chief Swan and Edward. So I really wasn't surprised when Edward opened the door.
"Hi," he said with a timid smile.
"Hi," I said smiling back, in what I hoped was a friendly-reassuring way. Even though I hoped my smile conveyed it I didn't feel very sure of myself, so I handed him his things and was about to turn and leave when he took me by surprise.
"Would you like to come in? I just began to make dinner…." he trailed off the uncertainty I heard in his voice returning. For some reason I was suddenly eager to accept his offer. I certainly had not planned on going inside the Swan house, and I wasn't one to easily deviate from plans. I could easily be late meeting with Carlisle if I stayed to long here. And what if Chief Swan came home and I was there? What would he think?
Even with all these anxieties buzzing in my head I accepted Edward's offer and stepped across the threshold.
I stood to the side as Edward closed the door behind me. I followed him down the short hallway into the small kitchen.
"Umm, you can have a seat if you like," he said motioning towards one of the few chairs around the kitchen table. I noticed a cookbook lying open on the table and pulled it towards me. There was a picture of a plate with steak and mashed potatoes and some sort of vegetable I took them to be green beans.
"Is this what you're preparing?" I asked while flipping a page, using my index finger to hold his place.
"Yeah, I was thinking about it." He said with his back turned to me.
"Hmm," I mused. "Did you have anything else in mind?"
"Well, I was thinking of something along the lines of Chicken Alf redo, but I wasn't sure if Charlie would like that so I was looking for something a little less…. extravagant and a little more…. simple."
"I see," I said. "I assume if you were even thinking of making the steaks you started marinating them long ago." I said as more of a statement than a question.
He turned and rested his back against the counter and folded his arms across his chest and gave me a crooked smile.
"I did put a couple of steaks in the fridge, when you dropped me off this afternoon. Just on a whim, I mean dinner plans really weren't even at the top of my priority list at that point." He held me captive with his crooked smile and shining emerald eyes. If my heart hadn't already stopped beating, I'm sure it would have been fluttering at that moment. I returned his smile and looked back to the page with the picture of the steaks. "Well, Edward, it seems that whim of yours was your subconscious saying 'Mmm, I'm thinking steak.'" I said with the smile still playing at the corners of my mouth. He crossed the room and pulled open the refrigerator door. He removed them from the coolness and carried them to the kitchen he had previously been leaning against. He pulled a deep iron skillet from underneath the counter and placed it on the stove.
"Umm, while this is heating up, would you mind helping me peel a few potatoes? I really don't feel like instant tonight."
"Sure," I said, repositioning myself so that I sat squarely in front of the table. He brought me a knife and a couple of potatoes and a bowl. I began quickly peeling them and then I remembered where I was and slowed down a bit.
Wow," he said looking into the bowl. "It usually takes me ten to fifteen minutes to peel three large potatoes." I shrugged.
"I use to be the cook for my family. There were a lot of mouths to feed and not a whole lot of time in which to do it."
"Use to? Why'd you stop?" he inquired.
"Well, you know, we all got busy with different things and so now everyone pretty much just grabs what they can while they're running from place to place." I amazed myself how I could tell him everything about me and keep everything concealed while doing it. I'm so good, I thought to myself.
"I see," he said, and we lapsed into a comfortable silence.
I cleared my throat after a few moments had passed. "So, you don't find a whole lot of guys who can cook. How'd you pick it up?" He rose from the table to check the skillet and I began searching the cabinets of a boiler for the potatoes.
"Well, my mom was never much of a cook, so when I got tired of eating frozen dinners and take out I picked up a cookbook and taught myself. I found that I wasn't half bad at it, so I continued cooking for my mother and myself. When I arrived here I found that Charlie wasn't much of a cook either so I went grocery shopping and as they say the rest is history."
"I see," I said and glanced down at my wristwatch. 7:15. I was supposed to be meeting Carlisle at seven thirty. I pulled out my cell phone and called my "dad."
"Hello," his deep voice greeted my ears.
"Hi, umm can you pick me up from Chief Swan's place? I had to bring Edward his truck and I didn't think to ask Alice to trail me so I would have some mode of transport, you know, other than running."
"Sure, I'm leaving the hospital now. I'll be there shortly."
"Okay, bye," I said and pressed the end button on my phone. I turned back to Edward.
"I'm going to have to leave soon, Carlisle and I have this thing that we've had planned for a while, but if I didn't have that already planned I would love to stay and help you finish dinner."
He gave me another one of his crooked smiles.
"No, that's fine. I can handle it from here. Thanks for all your help." I could hear Carlisle approaching the house.
"Well, I'm sure Carlisle'll be here any moment so…"
"Oh," he said quickly. "I'll walk you to the door." When we got to the door I hesitated for a moment then stood on tiptoe and pecked Edward on the cheek.
"I had fun," I said with a timid smile. "You should pass out more often." He smiled and pulled the door open.
"Ha, Ha." He said smile still in place.
"Good night, Edward," I said as I descended the porch steps.
"Good night, Bella," he replied. As I reached the last step I thought of something I had meant to say while still in the house.
"Oh, Edward,"
"Yes," he said curiosity etched on every inch of his face.
"If you're looking for a quick, simple dessert you might try grahm crackers with peanut butter and chocolate chips on top."
"Hmm, sounds good. I think I'll try that. Thanks."
"No problem," I said and ran, in a human speed, to Carlisle's black Mercedes and slid inside.
After we had rounded a corner my father turned to me.
"Did you have a nice time?"
I smiled. "Yes, I had an excellent time."
He looked out of his window and smiled a knowing smile.
"Excellent."
A/N: I hope you liked it. Reviews are always appreciated. I love you all.
Mwah,
Devil