Chapter Nine – (First Date)
BPOV
Last night I couldn't stop thinking about Edward. Never before in my life have I felt so nervous, carefree, scared, and happy and excited all at the same time.
I didn't realize how late it had gotten. I fell asleep half way through Romeo and Juliet, waking up with my arms wrapped around him. I've never felt so embarrassed in my life! I asked him if he wanted to stay for dinner, but he reminded me about my car still being at school. When he left, I quickly made something to eat then headed up stairs to have a shower. I had just finished getting changed into my pajamas when he returned to the house with my truck.
I go to the window just as Edward is getting out of my truck. I wave to him before opening the window. He smiles as he approaches me, standing directly under my window. I can't help but grin as I lean slightly out of the window.
"Just leave the keys in the pot plant near the door," I whisper to him quietly.
I hear Alice get out of Edward's car. I look towards her and give her a wave. She returns the gesture enthusiastically as she beams back at me.
"I'll see you tomorrow," He says with a wink before walking back to his car and driving away.
How can one person be so breathtaking? I sigh as I lay in my bed, remembering our conversation before he left to get my truck.
"What are you doing tomorrow?" he asks me.
"Um, Nothing. Why?"
I bite my bottom lip as I wait for him to respond.
"I wanna take you to Port Angeles,"
I look down at the ground as a blush creeps onto my cheeks.
"Like a date?" I ask him quietly. He lifts my chin up and smirks at me.
"Definitely,"
He stares into my eyes and I can't take my eyes off of his.
Today, I have a date with Edward Cullen.
I drag myself out of bed to get a start on the housework. If I don't do it now, it will never get done. I head to the laundry and put a load of washing on. I clean the bathroom and my room as I wait for it to finish. Once the washing is done, I place it all into a basket and carry it downstairs. I go out back and hang it out. I begin to clean the lounge room until I eventually get tired of it and give up.
Once everything is clean and tidy, I head back upstairs to have a shower. As I grab the towel off my bed, I hear the familiar ring of my message tone. Who on earth would be messaging me? I walk over to my desk and pick up my phone.
One new text message:
-Edward
My eyes go wide with shock as I stare at the screen. Open it you moron! I click view. Edward's message filling up my screen.
Hey Bella,
Still up for our date? ;)
I'll be around at 10 just like you asked.
See you soon.
-E
My lips turn up into a smile as I message him back.
I'm still up for it :)
I was just about to have a shower.
See you then.
-B
He replies back in a flash.
That's nice.
Thanks for sharing ;)
-E
I blush as I put the phone down and head into the shower. I wash my hair with my strawberry shampoo and scrub my skin with my strawberry shower gel. Yes, I like strawberries.
I climb out of the shower and head back into my room to search for something to wear.I don't have a clue what to wear so I just throw on a pair of dark blue skinny jeans with a white long sleeved shirt and a leather jacket over the top. I apply a bit of eyeliner with grey eye shadow and mascara to bring out my eyes. I add a little lip-gloss then run my hands through my hair.
I'm a complete nervous wreck by the time 10 comes around. I'm in the kitchen drinking a glass of water when I hear the door bell. I go to the door and open it to see Edward standing there in black jeans and a white button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up. His hair is a complete mess, but it looks absolutely sexy. Our eyes finally meet.
"You look amazing," he says in a whisper.
"Thanks. You don't look too bad yourself," I reply as the blush on my cheeks becomes deeper.
"You ready to go?"
"Yeah, I just need to grab my bag. Hang on."
I walk upstairs and grab my bag off my chair. I give myself a quick glance in the mirror before I head back down. Edward is waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs with a genuine smile on his face. I smile at him as I reach him and head towards the door. He follows behind me and leans up against the porch railing as I lock up the house. He walks beside me to the car, opening the door for me.
The car is filled with an awkward silence as we head to Port Angeles . I pick at the ends of my sleeve as my nerves begin to overtake me. My right leg bounces up and down and every time I go to make conversation, I close my mouth as I don't know what to say. I take a quick glance over at Edward. He looks at me out of the corner of his eye and smiles at me. God, his smile makes me melt inside. I smile sheepishly back at him.
"You alright?"
I sigh as I lean back into the seat, biting my bottom lip.
"Yeah, I'm okay. Just a bit nervous," I confess to him.
His lips twitch up into his crooked smile and he shakes his head. He takes his hand off the steering wheel. I watch as his hand comes towards my lap and entwines with my own. I look down at our hands, smiling at the strange feelings inside of me from just one touch by him.
"You have nothing to be nervous about, Bella."
His thumb runs circles on the back of my hand. I breathe a sigh of relief as I close my eyes and smile to myself. The rest of the ride to Port Angeles isn't as nerve wracking. We talk about what we're going to do when we get there. Actually, he asks me what I want to do. We end up getting into a playful argument of "I'm up for anything you want to do" followed by "No, Bella, today's about entertaining you, now choose something to do."
I raise my brow at him and say, "yes, sir" followed by a military salute. He rolls his eyes at me and we continue to laugh until I finally tell him that I wouldn't mind looking at a music store.
"But you're in charge of lunch," I add quickly.
We pull up in front of Budget CDs Music Store. Edward walks around to my side and opens my door for me. He entwines his hand with mine again as we head towards the store. He steps aside and opens that door for me as well. I couldn't stop the blush rushing into my cheeks. I smile at him as I enter the store.
It's a small, but welcoming little place. There are shelves filled with tons of CDs and three isles filled with square wooden boxes in the middle of the store that are also filled with CDs. My jaw dropped as I begin to explore the store. I shuffle through the boxes of Cds, finding the 30 seconds to mars and Evanescence CDs that I want. I find a Linkin Park CD that I think Edward may be into. He seems like he'd listen to them. I keep searching through the isle section of the CDs, looking for Sia's new CB, but I can't find it. I take to the shelves, but it's not there either. Frustrated, I go to the counter and ask if they have it. The old man looks up at me through his glasses with an annoyed look on his face. Surely he can't be annoyed about someone asking for help? That's what his job is.
"The computer says we have one copy left. Did you look under S in the Pop section?" he asks with a hint of annoyance in his voice.
Is he serious? Did I look like an idiot? I sigh and pinch the bridge of my nose.
"Yes. But I'll double check."
I shake my head as I walk away. Customer service is getting ridiculous these days. As I head towards the back pop section, I notice Edward looking at the S section with a CD in his hand. I squint my eyes as I turn my head to the side to get a better look at it. My jaw drops in shock. He turns around as I approach him. Taking in my expression, a puzzled look covers his features.
"Where did you find that?" I ask exasperatedly.
He looks at the CD then back to me and smiles.
"What's your favorite song by her?" he asks me.
"Right here in the S section. Why?"
I lean back against the wall as he closes the distance between us. He leans beside me, looking down at me expectantly.
"I've been looking for that CD for about 20 minutes. I looked earlier, but it wasn't there. I went and asked the dude up the front and he said to go look here. But I already had. I thought 'hey, why not just double check?' So I came here to do that, then saw you had it."
I frown at my wasted effort when I could have just asked Edward if he'd seen it. I hear him chuckling before he pushes himself off the wall.
"Oh, yeah. I found this. I don't know if you like them or not." I hand him the Linkin Park CD before adding, "But I thought I'd ask anyway."
He smiles down at the CD then his eyes met mine and his smile turns into a grin.
"I love Linkin Park. Thanks." I smile back at him. This time, I'm the one who entwines our hands and lead ourselves to the front desk to pay.
"So, you like Sia?" I ask as we head out of the store.
"I've heard some of her songs, she has a unique voice. I actually love the Piano work done in her songs more than anything. What about you?"
I smile to myself as the answer comes easily. "God, there are so many that i love. But Breathe Me, I Go To Sleep, Soon We'll Be Found and Day Too Soon are definitely my favourites. Her songs are filled with so much heartache and longing, but you can still obviously hear the love as well. And she can create the most up beat and fun songs as well."
"Like i said, she's unique," he adds before smiling at me.
I look up at him and smile.
As I let my mind wander, I still can't believe that I'm here, on a first date with Edward. I feel like I'm not worthy for a minute of his time, yet he surprises me by coming to talk to me and hang out with me every time he sees me. Every time he looks at me with those eyes, I get lost in them and can't think properly.
"Here we are," Edward snaps me out of my mind. I look up to see a beautiful secluded park with a blanket folded up with a basket next to it.
"Wow. How did you do this?" I ask him as I follow after him.
"I had a little help." His lips turn into that crooked smile of his. And I know I won't get any more information out of him.
He picks up the blanket, throwing it out into a straight square in front of him. I sit down next to him as he begins to pull the contents out of the basket. He pulls out two plastic plates, two plastic wine glasses, a bottle of apple cider, a round metal container that clearly has hot food in it, a clear dish of mixed fruit, and a tub of cookies-n-cream ice cream. How did he know that's my favorite? I wonder to myself. I smile anyway.
"Wow. This looks amazing. You out did yourself," I say as I look over at him. He smiles at me then begins to serve out the food. The hot food turned out to be Ravioli. Another one of my favorite foods.
We chat casually while we eat. Edward forces me to let him feed me which is weird at first, but then it's kind of cute. He tells me more about his family, I avoid mine. He tells me he plays the piano and occasionally the guitar too, but the piano is his real passion. I tell him I used to play the piano too, but eventually gave it up because of my lack of coordination. This isn't true. My mom left, and she was the one paying for the lessons, taking me to them and encouraging me. Now, all it ever does is bring back bad memories. So instead, I tell him how I took up the hobby of singing. Edward wants me to sing right then and there, but I refuse. No way am I embarrassing myself like that. We talk about simple things like our favorite colors— mine being purple, his being dark blue— to our favorite musicians and authors, which we find out we have much similar taste.
It begins to get chilly, and the sun begins to slowly go down. I help him pack everything up before we head back to the car. He places his jacket around my shoulders and entwines his hand with mine.
We drive back to my house with the radio playing lightly in the background. We spark up small conversations, but mainly just sit in the comfortable silence whilst we keep glancing at each other and giving each other smiles. Edward lifts up our hands and kisses the back of mine. I lean over and rest my head on his shoulder, sighing contently as I close my eyes. I feel his lips press into my hair. I smile to myself at the gesture.
As we pull into my street, I suddenly become hyper-aware of my living arrangements again. I freeze, leaning forward as I try to get a better look down the street. Edward gives me a quizzical stare as we pull into my driveway. Charlie isn't home yet. I visibly relax. I get out of Edward's car before he has to walk all the way around to my side again. I meet him at the front of the car, and entwine my hand with his as I head up the driveway. I sit on the porch steps and pull him down next to me. I go to rest my head on his shoulder again, but he lifts his arm and wraps it around me. I snuggle into his chest as he traces circles on my back.
We sit there silently, looking up at the beautiful night sky. We must have just gazed up at the sky for hours because when I looked at my phone it says it's seven o'clock. Charlie will be home in two hours.
"Oh, I didn't notice the time. You should probably get back to your family." He looks up at me as I stand up and stretch.
"Can you ask Alice to come over tomorrow? If she isn't busy, I mean? I feel bad for ignoring her all the time." I bite my bottom lip, waiting for his answer. He stands up and wraps his arms around me.
"She'd love that, Bella. Thanks." I wrap my arms around his waist and give him a squeeze before letting go. He looks down at me with a content smile on his face.
"Thanks for today," I tell him in a quiet voice. "It was fun, and the food was great." His small smile turns up into a big grin.
"You're welcome."
He leans forward. My heart begins to race as his face comes closer to mine. I close my eyes expecting his lips to meet mine, but they don't. Instead, they meet my forehead. He turns and walks back towards his car.
"Edward?" I call to him. "Do you want to come over after Alice leaves tomorrow? We could work on our biology homework, if you haven't already started. I know I haven't. And I should probably start it. Or we could do something else? If you–"
"Bella," He cuts me off as he laughs lightly. "Text me when Ali's about to leave, and I'll be right over." He smiles his crooked smile, turns on his heels then gets in his car and drives away.
I don't know how long I stand in the middle of my driveway, but I bet I look like a freak just standing here with a huge grin on my face. I eventually go inside and get Charlie's dinner out of the freezer. It's just lasagna. I'm still full from my lunch with Edward, so I don't feel like eating anything. I'm placing his plate on the bench as he walks through the door. I pass him through the lounge room as I head towards the stairs.
"Your dinner's on the bench. I just heated it up for you." He grunts at me and continues walking to the kitchen. No "thanks, Bella." No nothing. Typical, I think.
As I ascend the stairs, I hear him sliding the stool away from the bench.
I have a quick shower, and then get ready for bed. As I begin to pull out the CDs I bought earlier in the day, I notice I have an extra one. Placebo; Battle for the Sun. Edward. I think. That's so sweet of him to sneak it in like that. I place the CD into my CD player, turning the volume down so it's light background music.
I brush my teeth before crawling into bed. Letting the voice of Brian Molko, sing me to sleep, with a smile on my face.
Hey guys! Sorry this chapters a day late! I went to the Big Day Out music festival yesterday and didn't get a chance to update! Thankyou for your support, adding this to your story alerts and favourites! thankyou to the ones who are reviewing! It means a lot! A HUGE shout out to my amazing Beta Jenndur. I'm pretty sure i'd be lost without you!
My computer is back to normal and not freezing anymore, so i can FINALLY get back to writing :)
-Natalee-x