"You can't stay in your corner of the Forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes."

― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

21

I called Edward when I woke up the next morning. I knew he was working but thought I'd at least get his voicemail. Sure enough his polite, friendly voice spoke a recorded message, followed by the beep.

"Edward, it's Bella. I'd love to see you again tonight if you're not busy, so…give me a call back and we can make plans. Hope your morning is going okay. Right…speak soon."

I hoped I didn't sound too nervous. While he managed to put me completely at ease when I was with him, the idea of him intimidated me. Especially after stumping me with his sweetness the previous night. I hadn't known him for long, but I had yet to find any faults. It was a foreign concept to me when it came to potential boyfriends.

He called me back an hour later after he got out of a successful surgery. He was brimming because it had been particularly touch and go, and the kid was doing well. His passion for his job and life in general was contagious. I needed to be around that so badly.

"Is Emmett home for Ben tonight?" he asked eventually.

"Yeah, he is."

"Come to my place for dinner? I'm finishing up a bit early, so I'll have time to cook."

"You cook?" Still no faults.

"Yeah, but please reserve judgment on that until you've actually tasted my food." He laughed and I couldn't help but smile. Something so simple had never felt so good.

"Shall I come at six?"

"Please. I'll text you the address, gor…" He stopped whatever he was going to say. "It's really close to your place."

It was a big day for me. When I hung up from Edward, I called my friend Ang. She'd come to the funeral and texted me every few days to let me know she was thinking of me, but I hadn't really let her in yet. She'd had a son in our last year of college with her boyfriend Eric, and Leo was around the same age as Ben. She was happy to hear from me and didn't ask any questions I couldn't really answer. We set up a playdate at the park at lunchtime, and Ang offered to bring a picnic. For the two hours that we sat in the grass watching the boys, I almost felt human. Ang had enough to tell me about to stop the conversation from drifting to the elephant on my shoulder, and Leo's and Ben's happiness as they stared, babbled, and threw toys about was a good distraction.

Emmett got home just before five and took Ben off my hands for dinner and bath time. My brother-in-law's homecoming was always one of my favorite moments. The look on his face when he greeted his son always obliterated the weight of loss his eyes carried when Ben wasn't with him.

"So, I have a date. Tonight. But there's dinner for you in the fridge."

He looked back to me with a very knowing smile. It was a genuinely happy one. I hated using the word date when the word grieving felt like it should be the only activity we were associated with at the moment. But I also knew that Emmett encouraged this. He wanted me to take a risk and open my heart like the rest of my family had at some point in their lives. Instead of saying anything, he kissed my forehead and went to get out of his suit.

I couldn't remember the last time I had worn makeup. I decided a little mascara and an attempt at lightly concealing the dark circles under my eyes wouldn't go amiss. I had started to look like the dead one. I raided Rose's closet for a cashmere sweater, ever hopeful that her clothes would carry her scent forever. I liked having something of her with me. When I slipped on my non-skinny skinny jeans, I wondered if I should be dressing up. But it was Edward, and at Edward's house, and he would forgive me my casualness.

Checking the address on the mailbox, I pulled my Mini Cooper up outside a beautiful dark grey wooden house. It was two-storied and long across the huge section; I imagined it made the most of the view it must get of the Sound from this vantage point. Excited to see more, I grabbed the dish of chocolate mousse from my passenger seat and headed up the front path.

Edward was of course quite the sight when he opened the door to me. It felt like each time I saw him it was for the first time. I supposed in a way that was true; as time progressed, my capacity to really see Edward was increasing, and the fog in my head was gradually lifting. He was hard to miss tonight. His dark jeans sat low on his hips, and a simple grey t-shirt fitted across his chest just so. Nothing about him was forced. He looked comfortable but handsome at the same time. The smile on his full lips was so pleased to see me, and I caught it immediately and gave him one of my own.

"It's good to see that smile, Bella," he said softly, gesturing for me to come inside.

The air between us was easy as he showed me the main living areas of his open-plan home and placed a glass of wine in my hand. I had been right – the length of the house opened out at the back to a yard and pool area overlooking the water. The interior was so nicely decorated that I assumed his mom must have had an influence. I felt more relaxed in his home instantly, so reflective of the way I felt with the man who lived there. I watched from a barstool at the bench as Edward finished off some great looking steaks and served them up with roast potatoes and salad.

Conversation flowed easily until it was time for me to serve up my mousse. I got stuck inside my head a little. I needed to tell him what I was feeling – I owed it to him after the amazing gesture he made the night before.

"What are you thinking, Bella? That lip and occasional brow furrow are a dead giveaway." The way he said it wasn't challenging. It was an opening. There was no point beating around the bush. He'd never done that with me.

"I don't know how to let you in."

"You're doing it. You don't need to think about it. Just be with me. Talk to me. It'll come to us." He shrugged to punctuate the simplicity of the idea.

"I'm scared to let you in."

I looked up at him and found his eyes scanning my face carefully. His eyelashes batted when he blinked. He was so remarkable to look at.

"I'm not going anywhere," he said softly.

"How do you know that?"

"Because I feel connected to you. Not because of what happened. Just connected, protective, attracted…all of it. It's almost like somebody put me on this earth to find you, help to heal you, and make you mine forever. I know what I want, Bella. That means that I'm not going anywhere unless you're coming too." He looked down for a moment. "I'm not sure what I'm saying." But when he looked back up at me, I was fairly sure he did know what he was saying.

I leaned across the corner of the dining table and closed the gap between us, my eyes fixed on his, determined and amazed. I watched as he looked to my lips and back to my eyes, and then we were kissing. Like everything related to Edward Cullen, it was perfect. Slow and cautious to start, then utterly convincing. His hand moved to my cheek, his thumb against my chin gently shifting my lower lip open to him as his tongue met mine. It was like we'd been kissing each other for a lifetime and knew exactly how to make the other person's toes tingle, heart thrash, and brain turn to glitter. I wanted to keep kissing him for a lifetime.

I pulled away a millimeter to whisper against his lips.

"Whatever that little box symbolizes? I want it to be mine."

"Like I said, it already is yours. So, so, yours."

I smiled against him and sealed his sentiment with our kisses.