Author's Note:

Frankly y'all, if you don't know by now I don't own Twilight, any of its dialogue, characters, or plots, then I don't what else to say.

Oh, and approximately 0 people have commented on this escapade of mine so I don't know if you love it, are neutral, or want to burn it then stab it and throw it in the sea. I also have no idea if the nearly doubled chapter length is working for you or not. Or maybe you're not even reading it. Oh well, I shall power on.

Enjoy!

It was 4:53, and Alex was panicking. What had possessed her to do this? She barely knew the man, and now he was coming over for a movie marathon - just the two of them. She was almost hyperventilating, how was she suppose to keep up conversation for the night when she couldn't even do it for five minutes. 4:56. Oh god. Was it too late to cancel?

At five on the dot, her doorbell rang, and she froze.

Chapter Seven - Movie Night

Embry could hear her quick shallow breaths and her frantic heartbeat. He wanted to run inside, examine every inch of her body, and make sure she was ok but he stayed put. She would probably just run away screaming if he did. So instead he waited. It only took her 68 seconds by his count to calm her heartbeat some and start to move. When she opened the door, he smiled at her and tried to discretely examine her with his eyes. She didn't appear to be injured.

"Hi Embry, um, come on in," she pushed the door open all the way.

He took of his shoes, leaving them on the mat by the door, and then followed her to the kitchen. He placed a brown paper bag on the counter. "I brought some stuff for us, I figured junk food goes great with movies." She smiled at him over her shoulder, pulling out two large round sheets of dough from the fridge.

"It also goes well with pizza. I didn't know what you liked on yours so I thought I'd wait to throw them together until you got here," she indicated a group of topping on the counter. "And whatever's in the fridge too I suppose. Though I don't think chicken noodle soup would make a good pizza."

She was finally talking a little, he wasn't about to let her stop, "Oh, well I'll eat anything, basically a garbage can." She smiled again, man he loved her smile. "So you choose. What do you like on your pizza?"

"I mostly stick with cheese or Hawaiian pizzas. On rare occasion, I like alfredo sauce with chicken, spinach, and tomatoes. I know how boys eat though, so whatever you like on one, and we can do half and half on the other?"

"How about one and one? I'll eat whatever you don't, and I seriously will eat anything. Everything you just said sounded good."

"Ok, we can do that. You just tell me what you want and I'll put it together."

Fifteen minutes later Alex was throwing one Hawaiian pizza and one absolutely everything pizza into the oven while Embry set up the living room. He put out the oreos, twizzlers, and soda that he brought as well as the popcorn and cookies Alex had prepared. When she joined him in the living room she sat on the couch she pulled one of the throw blankets over her lap.

"I didn't know what you wanted to watch, but I pulled a stack of movies out earlier," she pointed to a stack of dvds on the entertainment center. "I'm good with any of those."

He nodded and looked over the titles. They ranged from movies like Willy Wonka, to The Hangover He picked up Super Size Me. "Now I think I'd just feel bad watching this while we eat all this junk." She smiled. Noticeably absent from the pile were horror movies and romance movies. He wondered if that were on purpose. "How many are we watching?"

She thought about it for a second, "How about two? It's movie night, but also a weeknight."

"How about Grown Ups and...Home Alone then?" She nodded in agreement and he put Home Alone in before joining her on the couch.

"I love this movie, we used to watch it all the time when I was little. Especially at Christmas," she said quietly.

"Yeah it's a classic. We watched it at my house too, this kid is just so damn funny."

They sat in companionable silence then, watching the opening credits on the screen. She was lost in thought, remembering when she was little and watching it with her brother. They used to watch it every Christmas Eve before they went to bed to wait for Santa. She shook her head, pulling herself back from her memories. Now was not the time.

Embry made sure to keep plenty of room between them. He knew she was probably already felt uncomfortable, and didn't want to make it worse. When he had shown up to fix her car he hadn't come up with any other reasons to see her, so he was surprised but thankful when she suggested it. He was going to do his best to make the night easy for her, so maybe she'd want to do it again sometime.

The timer in the kitchen went off and they paused the movie while Alex went to take the pizzas out. She put them on the counter to cool, before joining him on the couch again. Embry started to fidget. With every passing minute his movement became more pronounced until Alex picked up the remote and stopped the movie and turned to look at him.

"You're worse than my nephew, I swear. And he's five. Why are guys incapable of being patient when food is involved?"

Embry laughed, "I'm capable! But, seriously, that smells delicious and I'm starving."

She rolled her eyes and made her way to the kitchen, "Well, we wouldn't want you to wither away, would we?"

"Definitely not."

Alex grabbed two plates from the cupboard and a stack of napkins, and took the parmesan cheese out of the refrigerator. She grabbed two pieces and two cups of ice for the soda, then watched as Embry piled an entire pizza on his plate. She raised an eyebrow at him.

"What? I'm really hungry. I don't want to have to get up again during the movie," she continued look at him skeptically. "I'm a growing man, I need my nutrients."

Alex shook her head and went back out to the couch, crossing one leg under her with the other hanging off the edge. Embry poured the pop and she hit play again. They finished the movie off in near silence, no talking, just occasionally laughter at the kids antics then decided to take a bathroom break before the next movie. Alex loaded their plates into the dishwasher and wiped down the counter, putting the leftover pizza (one sad piece) in a small container in the fridge. When Embry came back she was washing off the pizza pans and the kitchen was spotless.

"I was going to clean up, I feel bad now. You cooked."

She shrugged, "I don't mind."

"Well is there anything I can do?"

"How about you get two glasses of milk and the covered tub out of the fridge?"

He nodded and set to work pouring two large glasses then grabbed a blue container out of the refrigerator. He lifted the lid, and almost started drooling. "Cheesecake?" The were thin slivers of apple piled high on top with walnuts and the entire thing was drenched in caramel. "God it looks so good."

"It's caramel apple cheesecake, one of my favorites." She moved from the sink, where she had stacked the pans in the drying rack, and pulled out two plates, two forks, and a knife. Slowly, she cut the cheesecake in large pieces then placed a piece on one plate, and two on the other before putting it back in the fridge.

They started Grown Ups while they ate their dessert, Embry devoured his quickly before starting on the oreos and cookies. Alex ate slowly, savouring every bite and Embry caught himself staring whenever she wasn't looking. Whenever she laughed her eyes crinkled around the edges, but then she'd bite her lip like she didn't want to be laughing. She had moved a few inches closer to him, though there was still distance there. Occasionally she'd get caramel on her lip, and lick it off. He was going crazy.

He'd been so focused on her that he when she lifted the remote to stop the movie he was surprised to see it had ended. He checked his watch, it was a little after 8:30. He stood, stretching, and quickly moved to help her clean off the coffee table and wash their plates.

"Thanks, Embry. You really didn't have to help." Every time she said his name it sounded sweet.

"After that cheesecake?" He teased, smiling at her.

By nine o'clock the house had been cleaned and the empty junk food containers had been tossed. Alex walked Embry to the door while he thanked her for their movie night.

"Oh! Wait, hold on a second, I'll be right back," she disappeared back into the house and into the kitchen, he heard the refrigerator open. She came back carrying the cheesecake container. "You should take this with you, I'm certainly not going to eat it all."

"Are you sure?" She nodded. "Well, thank you. I had a really good time."

"Me too."

"I'll see you around then," he stepped away from her and down the porch steps. He didn't hear the front door close until he reached his truck and he put the cheesecake on the passenger seat before climbing in. She still hadn't talked a lot, but it was an improvement. By the end of the night, she had even seemed almost comfortable with him there. It wasn't a lot, but he would take it. He smiled, like an idiot, at the cheesecake the whole way home. One more reason to see her.

Fine. That was fine. He didn't seem to think she was crazy, at least. The movies provided a good distraction and mostly eliminated the need for conversation, as she had hoped. And now she could tell her grandma she was trying, she had made an effort. Embry seemed to appreciate the food, at any rate. Plus, he didn't seem to think it was weird that she barely spoke to him and he didn't push the conversation either.

She even felt marginally comfortable around him now. After her initial panic attack, things had gone smoothly. Embry was easy going and relaxed and his calm had seemingly spread to her throughout the night. If he was content with few words and lots of food, it wouldn't be so bad. Maybe, this could work. Maybe, they could be friends...or as close as she ever got to friends. As long as he didn't push her.