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not beta'd

storyline - beginning

prompt - cooking

Bella paused in front of the produce, mentally reviewing what she needed for dinner.

She'd made a list – and promptly forgot it on the kitchen counter. So here she was, at the grocery store, trying to remember what she needed.

Every once in a while she and Alice hosted dinner for several friends. The practice stemmed from their love of company, which had started sometime around sophomore year. In college towns, people came and went like the seasons, and the girls quickly learned that they would do well to hang on to the close friends they made.

Also, they had, by far, the best house for entertaining.

Portabella mushrooms, heirloom tomatoes, garlic, squash, and Yukon gold potatoes: some of Bella's favorite things to grill.

She picked up a couple of other things she needed, including a few cases of beer, and headed toward the cash register.

Her phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Hey…it's me."

Bella smiled to herself. Of course Edward knew she'd recognize his voice. She supposed they really did know one another that way. They truly had become close over the years.

"Hi… what's up?"

"Nothing. Just got off work."

Frowning, Bella switched the phone to her other hand and started placing groceries on the belt. "You had to work today?" Sundays were generally the one day Edward tried to keep for himself, whether it was to catch up on class work or just sleep.

"Yeah." There was a pause, a heavy sigh. "This project… I swear. Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one who takes this stuff seriously, you know?"

Bella did know. Few people were as devoted – or as gifted – as Edward. It was too bad that same level of commitment couldn't be applied to his relationships.

"Well, what are you doing for dinner?" she asked, chewing her lip.

"I don't even know. I'm beat."

"Oh…okay." Traditionally, this was where Bella let Edward off the hook, where she let him retreat.

Even if he had called her.

But he didn't retreat. "Why, what's up?"

"Alice and I are hosting dinner for a bunch of friends…"

"Ah, nice. It's been awhile since you did that."

"Yeah, it has." The person just ahead of Bella was paying now. "Would you, um… be interested in coming over? For dinner?"

"Yeah." He was smiling, Bella could hear it. "What are you cooking?"

"Does it matter?" she asked, now smiling as well.

"Nope."

"Good. Be there at seven."

"What can I bring?"

"Just yourself."

"Okay… thanks."

"Sure." Bella smiled apologetically at the cashier, who was now ringing through her stuff. "Gotta go, though."

"Right. See you soon."

Bella pocketed her phone. She and Edward really had been talking a lot lately. Initially, she'd assumed that Edward was just interested in her physically, and that he was doing whatever it took to secure their connection. They'd always been good as friends and great as lovers… just not as two people in an actual relationship.

But as time went on, and they learned more about each other than they had over the past two years, Bella saw that Edward was finally letting her in. Maybe he did want something more with her.

She certainly wanted more with him, but she was good at hiding her feelings. Before, the attraction had been mostly physical. How could it have been anything else? Edward was too good at compartmentalizing and closing off his feelings.

That was before, though. Now, Bella knew more about him and she genuinely liked the things she was discovering. And in learning more about him, she felt to share more of herself. She couldn't help but hope he liked what he saw.

It was all about timing. If they were meant to be, then when the time came, they would be.

Edward came bearing gifts; carrot cake to be exact.

Alice met him at the door, beaming when she saw the cake box. "Bella's gonna love this."

"I know," he said, trying not to be smug. Bella had been going on and on about a carrot cake she'd seen on the Food Network recently, saying she wanted to try making it. She probably would, knowing Bella, but Edward couldn't resist. He had seen the bakery on the way to the house, and on a hunch, popped on in to see if they had carrot cake. They did.

Alice led Edward through the house to the kitchen, where she motioned for him to set the cake down on the counter.

"She's out back, grilling," she said, pointing. "Want a beer?"

"Sure. What've you got?"

"Heineken…Sierra Nevada…"

"Heineken's fine, thanks."

Alice opened the bottle and handed it to him. The doorbell rang, and she patted Edward's arm before disappearing again.

Edward wandered out in to the backyard, where the smell of grilling meats and veggies filled the air. He was suddenly starving.

"Hi!" Bella called, waving.

A couple of other people were scattered around, chatting. Edward walked over to Bella and smiled, touching her arm. "Hey. This looks great."

"Doesn't it?" She smiled back. "And it's a gorgeous evening. Summer's coming…"

Edward nodded, looking around. It was almost dusk, but the outside lights were on, gently illuminating the yard.

"I'm glad you could make it," Bella said shyly, focusing on the food in front of her. She flipped a couple of mushrooms, mainly so that she would have something to do.

"I'm glad you invited me."

They often came back to this point, this funny grey area, where they were too close to be formal but too cautious to be careless. Edward wanted to touch her again, run his hand along her ponytail.

A tall, blond guy sauntered over, leaning over to kiss Bella's cheek. "There you are."

Edward bristled, taking a step back. Taken by surprise, Bella glanced over at him before looking back at Peter, a guy she'd dated a couple of times over the past few months. He was handsome, and polite, but in the end the spark just wasn't there for her. He had seemed okay when she'd pulled away, but then he kept calling and coming by her job.

The problem was, he was a good friend of Jasper's. She suspected that Peter had tagged along with him tonight. Ugh. Awkward.

"Hi, Peter," she said quietly. "Um, this is Edward. Edward, Peter."

The two men shook hands, openly appraising one another. Bella sighed inwardly. Things could never be simple. Peter would have been an easy, sure thing –only she felt almost nothing for him. Edward had been nearly impossible, and yet she had deep feelings for him.

Murphy's Law.

"Didn't know you were coming tonight, Pete," she said evenly.

"Yeah, I know. Jasper mentioned it, so… "

Bella exhaled slowly, hoping he would get the hint and go, but then Edward did instead.

"Wait, um, Edward –"

"I'll be right back; I saw someone," he said, giving her a small smile.

After dinner had been served, and everyone had gone back to socializing and milling around, Bella grabbed Edward and dragged him over to the patio table.

"What's up?"

He cocked his head. "What do you mean?"

"You feel… far away."

"Just giving you space."

"Well…don't."

Edward smiled, searching her deep, brown eyes. "Okay."

"Okay. Now where's my cake?"

Smiling, he took her hand to lead her inside.