A/N: Thanks to everyone who's reading this and reviewing! I hope you're enjoying it! Got out of work early today, so I got everything done early for my weekend away, and was able to work on this and get it up! Hope you enjoy :)

As always, Twilight, it's characters and situations belong to the fruitful mind of Stephenie Meyer.

~*~*~*~*~

Chapter 5: Chinese Rock

They stood, eyes locked, lips a breath apart.

The bell rang, and still they stood, unmoving.

Finally, Bella blinked.

"I~we…we need to get to Bio," she stuttered. "I don't want to miss a class my first week," her voice was breathless.

Edward pulled back from her slightly and she reluctantly let go of his leather jacket. He shook his head a little and blinked, as if waking from a dream. "Yeah, we need to get to class," he mumbled. He could feel his legs trembling. What was happening here?

Bella grabbed her messenger bag from the hood of her truck, where she'd tossed it when they lit their cigarettes, and slung it over her chest. Edward stepped aside and motioned for her to walk ahead of him. He kept shaking his head. He felt like he was in some sort of trance. Was it possible for Bella Swan to have such power over him after only just meeting? Had he really just confessed to her that he liked her in a round~about way? It didn't make him any better than Mike freakin' Newton, in his own estimation. It only made him more honest about it. No, he had to control himself better.

They walked to their class in silence, each lost in their own thoughts about the moment they had shared.

Bella freely admitted to herself that she wanted it. She wanted Edward Cullen to kiss her. She wanted to feel Edward's full lips on her own. She wanted to see his reaction when he felt her lip ring against his softness. She wanted to feel his tongue flick across the lip ring. Just the thought of it made her feel warm. Most of all, she wanted him to want her. He was the most normal boy she'd met in Forks. The nicest boy. The most beautiful boy. So what if they had just met? She knew what she liked, and she liked Edward Cullen. He was…different. He treated her like a human from the moment they met, unlike the others. He didn't try to impress her by acting like an idiot like Newton and Yorkie did. Edward was just…Edward. She sighed as they reached the classroom, Edward holding the door open for her.

He sat silently, staring down at his notebook for most of the class, lost in his own thoughts. Bella glanced over every now and then as Mr. Banner droned on about…something? If he called on her to answer something, she was quite certain she wouldn't be able to. She was too wrapped up in Edward. His lips…they had been so close, and yet, so far. She glanced sideways at him. He was looking down, lips pursed. She closed her eyes, inhaling deeply.

Edward knit his brows together, trying to comprehend what had just happened. Had they really almost kissed? It had been a weird, surreal moment, to be sure. One minute they were talking about how Newton and Yorkie were making complete asses of themselves to get her attention and then, all of a sudden, the earth seemed to tilt slightly on it's axis. How the hell does that even happen?

He would never deny he liked her. Not to himself and not to her. How could he? Especially now. And, if he was being honest, he was pretty sure that she didn't invite him to sit with them at lunch just to be social. Not Bella Swan. She was far more sophisticated than any of the bumpkins here at Forks High. City people like himself and Bella were just different. Even after all these years, Edward still considered himself a city person.

"Mr. Cullen, care to tell us what the membrane that gives the paramecium its definite shape is called?"

Edward jumped involuntarily, having been startled from his thoughts.

"Uh...it's…it's the…uhh…" he ran his hand through his bronze hair nervously.

"We're waiting, Mr. Cullen," Mr. Banner leaned against the chalk board with a smug expression on his face.

"It's the uh…pellicle?"

The look on Mr. Banner's face gave way to a sour expression. "Yes, Mr. Cullen. It's the pellicle." He turned to the chalkboard and wrote the word in big, angry letters.

Edward glanced sideways at Bella. She had her head down, with a huge grin on her face. He smiled crookedly as she turned slightly to look at him.

"Nice save," she mouthed silently.

He nodded his head at her. It was always nice to have an ally, and it had been quite a while since he'd actually had one.

Biology seemed to last longer than usual, but eventually the bell did ring. Both Edward and Bella moved slowly, gathering up their books and sliding them into their bags, but not looking at each other. Edward zipped his backpack first, slinging it over his shoulder. He stood waiting for her.

"You don't have to wait for me, Edward," she smiled warmly at him. It was the first time they had looked directly at one another since the parking lot, and she took his breath away.

"It's ok," he whispered. "I want to wait."

"Well, in that case, I'm glad you did," she smiled and looked down at her boots. Her black and purple striped tights matched the black and purple shirt she wore with a black denim mini skirt. Edward had noted that she seemed to like skirts. A lot. The usual faded denim jacket was in place yet again. Bella Swan didn't seem to realize just how wet things were in Forks. Or maybe she did and just chose to ignore it.

They walked slowly toward the door after everyone else had filtered out of the room. "Hey, did I make things weird?" She didn't look up at him when she said this. "Because the last thing I want is for things to be weird between us."

"Weird? Nah, if anything, you made things clearer." He let out a soft chuckle.

"Really?" She stopped and looked up at him just as they reached the door, her face questioning him.

"Yeah, you did. Listen," he could feel his legs begin to tremble again. "You like Chinese food?"

"Yeah, Chinese is cool. Lot's of vegetarian dishes. Why?"

"Well, I'm not working Friday. So, I was wondering if you would want to go into Port Angeles with me to hang out and get some dinner?" His knees were shaking uncontrollably now. He hoped that his voice hadn't picked up the nervous tremble.

A great big smile broke out across her lips and Edward let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding. "I would LOVE to go to Port Angeles with you, Edward," she almost sighed his name when she said it.

"Really?" He couldn't contain his obvious glee.

"Yeah," she nodded. "Yeah, I want to see what you're like away from Forks High and the Thriftway. I want to see the real Edward Cullen." I mischievous grin played on her lips.

The second bell rang and they were both now late for class.

"Well, I better run or the real Edward Cullen will be grounded on Friday," he rolled his eyes, thinking about how Carlisle would react if he got caught ditching again. "See you at lunch tomorrow?" His green eyes burned brightly.

"Not if I see you at Thriftway first," she smiled up at him. He flashed a crooked smile at her before taking off down the hallway to his next class.

Bella leaned against the door jam, hugging her arms around herself tightly. I have a date Friday night with Edward Cullen, she sighed to herself.

~*~*~*~*~*

The rest of the afternoon flew by, even crappy old gym, until she got hit in the head with a volley ball, compliments of Lauren Mallory. Bitch. Probably saw Edward sitting with her at lunch and got jealous.

Not that it mattered. Nothing Lauren Mallory or any of the assorted characters at Forks High could do to her could affect the state of immense happiness she was in. Edward Cullen had asked her, Bella Swan, out on a date. Bella Swan had a date with Edward Cullen. No, she wasn't going to start writing EC + BS or Bella Luvs Edward on her notebooks. She wasn't that kind of a girl. In fact, she wasn't even really the kind of girl who would let the fact that a hot guy had just asked her out affect her the way she had let Edward. And she had no idea why she felt as euphoric as she did. But she did, and it was all because of Edward.

She walked slowly to her truck after her last class, hoping to catch a glimpse of him before leaving school for the day. Her heart fell when she noticed that the silver Volvo was gone by the time she reached the lot. Just as well. Maybe she would swing by the Thriftway this evening for…something. Maybe Charlie needed some milk for his coffee? Maybe they needed coffee? Charlie was a cop. Didn't cops drink tons of coffee? She shook her head, realizing she was already too far gone. But…Edward Cullen had asked her out!

Before she reached it, she noticed that something was wedged under the windshield wiper of her truck. Scowling, she raced over to it and yanked the cardboard out from under the wiper. Her heart jumped when she looked at it.

A twin pack of Bic cigarette lighters. One hot pink, the other black.

A smile formed on her full lips as she hugged the package to her chest. She knew who had left them there.

She was still grinning like an idiot when Charlie got home from work. She was flitting around the kitchen, humming happily when he walked in.

"Hey Bells! You seem happy!" He took his gun belt off and hung it on the peg by the kitchen door.

"Hi Charlie! Do I?"

"You sure do," he smiled at his only child as he sat down in his usual seat at the kitchen table.

"I guess that's because I feel kind of happy, Charlie." She placed a large bowl of tossed salad on the table and turned back to the old wall oven, donning a pair of oven mitts as she did.

"What smells so good tonight?" Charlie was thrilled by the aroma that filled the tiny kitchen.

"Cheddar and Broccoli quiche," she smiled as she pulled the pie out of the oven. "It's hot, so be careful."

"Quiche? I thought real men didn't eat quiche?"

"Oh, Charlie. That's so…so…80's." She set the hot pie down on a trivet on the table.

"So…there's no meat in this, is that right?" He eyed the quiche suspiciously.

"No, no meat in this one. Just cheese, eggs and broccoli."

"So, eggs are ok?" He smiled at his daughter. This was the happiest he'd seen her since she arrived in Forks a week earlier from Phoenix.

"Yep, because eggs are in everything and it's just easier for me." She cut into the quiche, smiling.

"And quiche puts you in a good mood like this?" He spooned some salad into his plate, then held the dish out to Bella, who slid a slice of quiche onto it.

"No, not really," she giggled as she dropped some salad onto her plate next to her quiche.

"Then why so happy?" Charlie held a fork full of steaming quiche up to his lips and blew on it to cool it.

"I have a date Friday night," she could hardly contain her glee.

Charlie dropped the fork down from his mouth. "No. A date? Already?" The corners of his mouth drew up into a grin. "I always knew I had the most beautiful daughter in the world!"

Bella rolled her eyes. "Oh, Charlie. I don't think beauty has anything to do with it. He and I just, well, we just click."

"Who is it? It's not Crowley, is it?" He absently slid the forkful of quiche into his mouth. "Mmm! This is good!"

"No, it's not Tyler. You really don't like him, do you?"

"Drives too fast," Charlie said as he chewed on some salad. "Is it Mike Newton?"

Bella rolled her eyes. "Oh, God Charlie! I'd rather eat a burger than go out with Mike Newton!"

"Yorkie then?"

"No, not Erik. He's sweet, but he's not my type."

Charlie looked at her for a moment, then swallowed hard. The grin returned to his lips. "What was I thinking? You're thrilled, so that has to mean it's the Cullen boy from the Thriftway. Am I right?"

Bella's face lit up as she smiled. "I am right," Charlie gushed.

She nodded. "Yeah, Edward asked me to go to Port Angeles with him. He said there was a good Chinese place there."

"Probably The White Lotus," he mused. "If that's the place, have the sesame noodles."

"He didn't say. Just asked if I liked Chinese."

"Does he know about you?" Charlie slipped another piece of quiche into his mouth.

"Does he know what about me?" She looked at her father.

"Does he know you don't eat meat?"

She smiled. "Yeah, he knows I'm vegetarian. In fact, I think that's the reason he mentioned Chinese."

Charlie smiled. "He's thoughtful then. And he's a hard worker. Doesn't drive nearly as fast as Crowley. I like him already!"

Bella rolled her eyes. "It's just a trip to Port Angeles, Charlie. We aren't getting married or anything."

"Well, not yet," he teased.

"You're the worst, Charlie Swan!" She shook her head and looked at her father, the amused expression on his face making her laugh out loud.

~*~*~*~*~*

Friday couldn't come soon enough for Edward. The idea of being alone, one on one, with Bella, was driving him crazy. No stupid school constraints. No jackass assistant store managers. No Mr. Banner. No Mike freakin' Newton. Just Edward and Bella. She consumed his thoughts, waking and sleeping. And there was nothing he could do about it.

He was amazed that, since meeting her, he had even been sleeping better. No tossing and turning, trying to fall asleep. No watching the numbers on the clock tick away while waiting for sleep to find him. Edward actually fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow, anxious for the next day, the next encounter with the enchanting Miss Swan. Plus, more sleep meant Edward was in a better mood, although not where his siblings were concerned.

Rosalie had ratted him out to Carlisle for being late to Trig on Wednesday, and Carlisle had berated him for it. Whatever Esme thought about Carlisle, Edward knew otherwise. Carlisle did whatever the others wanted him to do, plain and simple. There was no fairness involved, at least not where Edward was concerned.

He pushed all of his dark thoughts from his mind on Friday morning as he pulled into the Forks High parking lot, spotting the now familiar old red pickup truck. No amount of bitching about his driving from Rose could cloud his mood today. He pulled into a spot two spaces down from Bella's truck and parked.

"You'd think the damn Chief of Police would get his kid a better car," Rose griped as she opened the back door of the Volvo to get out. "That thing is an eyesore."

"Eyesore or not, it's more wheels than we have, Rosie," Emmett wore a wry grin on his face.

"Yes, I do realize that, Emmett. Someone was supposed to talk to Carlisle about that, if I recall." She gave him a dirty look as she walked past him, headed to her first class. He shrugged and slammed the car door shut behind him.

Jasper opened the front passenger door to let Alice out. They always sat the same way. Rose, Emmett and Jasper sat in the back. Alice sat in the front with Edward. No one but Alice ever spoke to Edward. Not that he cared. He had nothing to say to his brothers or sister anyway.

"Come on, Alice. Smokey over here probably wants a cancer stick before class and I don't want you having to breathe in his second hand smoke."

"Oh Jazz," she sighed as she got out of the car. "Edward would never smoke with me in the car. You know that."

He stared at her. "Why do you always defend him?"

"Why do you always attack him?"

"I'm not going to get into it with you this early in the morning, Alice," he shook his head.

"Because you don't have an answer, no doubt," she walked past Jasper, not looking at him, and headed down the sidewalk toward her first class, with Jasper rushing to catch up.

As usual, Edward remained in the car with his head down until his siblings were out of sight. Silently, he got out and pulled a pack of cigarettes from his jacket pocket. He slipped one out and slid it between his pouty lips.

"Hey, buddy. Can I light your Lucky?"

Bella Swan stood before him, a small flame flickering on the lighter in her hand.

"How about you light my Marlboro instead?" He couldn't contain his smile.

She shrugged. "Works for me." He leaned over and took the light, inhaling deeply as the cigarette settled his nerves.

Bella pulled a cigarette from behind her ear and lit up as well, enjoying the smoke.

"New way to store your cigs?" Edward smirked.

"Nah, I was waiting on you, and you were late, you slacker," she playfully punched him lightly in the arm.

"My sister," he rolled his eyes. "She and her makeup held us up this morning. Of course it was my fault, not the fact that she has to put her makeup on with a trowel."

"You don't seem to like your family much," she mused.

He shook his head, looking down. "It's…complicated."

"Hey, it's ok. You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

"It's not that I don't want to talk about it," he smiled shyly at her. "It's that we just don't have enough time before class starts to even touch the surface of it."

"Well, we can talk about it tonight," she looked up at him through lashes thick with mascara, reminding him why today was so important to him in the first place.

"We can talk about anything you want tonight," he smiled. Looked like she was looking forward to tonight just as much as he was.

"I don't want to sound anxious…or make you think I'm easy, but…I really have been looking forward to tonight, Edward," she breathed softly as she said this.

"Bella, I'd never think you were—" the bell cut him off. "Crap! I need to hustle! We'll talk at lunch?" He shifted the backpack on his shoulder as he tossed the cigarette to the ground.

"Of course…and you'll finish that thought, mister," she smiled a reassuring smile at him, making his heart jump a little bit.

He offered a tentative wave as he ran toward his first class, leaving Bella standing by the Volvo, unconcerned that she'd missed the first bell.

The morning classes dragged for Edward who was eager to get to lunch, to continue his conversation with Bella. He was out of his seat and running toward the cafeteria the second the bell rang. He saw her, waiting outside the building for him, as she had been the day before. Newton was probably already sitting at the table, sulking again. The thought made Edward smile to himself.

She smiled and waved as she saw him approaching. He couldn't help the huge grin that engulfed his entire face.

"Hey," he sighed as he reached her. A light drizzle was falling, and her hair was already starting to stick to her cheeks. "It's raining. You should have gone inside."

"And have to sit with that friggin' tool until you got here? No way! I'd rather get soaked to the skin, thank you very much," she shook her head.

Edward opened the door and held it for her to walk in first. She stepped to the side as she crossed the threshold and pulled him over against the wall with her, allowing other students entering to walk past them.

"Listen, you want to sit in there with those magnificent idiots, or would you rather go sit in my truck and eat?"

Was she suggesting an hour alone together? Without the watchful eyes of Mike Newton on them? Or the sarcasm of Erik Yorkie directed at them? Or the uncontrollable giggling and flirting of Jessica Stanley? Hell yes, she was!

"Sounds like a plan," he looked down at her, green eyes smoldering.

"Cool. Let's go get something to eat, and I'll grab Jess and tell her what we're doing, since it's not really polite to just ditch her and Angela." They started to walk toward the lunch counter.

"I kind of feel bad about leaving Jess and Angela alone with freakin' Newton," Edward shook his head.

"I know. I honestly have no idea how I got stuck with him," she grabbed a strawberry yogurt from the refrigerated case.

"I don't mind Jess. She stares at me with her mouth open sometimes, but overall, she's not nearly as mind numbingly annoying as Newton is," Edward picked up a bagel that had been sliced in half and slathered with butter before being wrapped in plastic and took a bottle of Coke to wash it down with. "And Angela has always been the sweetest thing."

"She is. I really like Angela a lot. She's very different from Jess," Bella reached into her messenger bag for her wallet. Edward grabbed her hand and stopped her.

"I have it, Bella," he smiled shyly.

"Uh…well…Ok then," she looked at him, surprised, and stepped back as Edward pulled a well worn black leather wallet from his back pocket. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Angela's always been really nice to me," he continued the conversation, "even when the others weren't quite so welcoming."

Bella took her yogurt and went over to where the plastic utensils were, catching her eye and waving at Jessica to come over. Edward met them there.

"Jess, Edward and I are going to go eat in my truck. I hope you don't mind."

Jessica Stanley looked Edward Cullen up and down before breaking into a huge, toothy grin. "That's great, Bella," she giggled, never taking her eyes off of him. "I'm sure Mike will be thrilled."

Bella rolled her eyes. She really didn't care what Mike Newton thought. Jessica, on the other hand, thought Mike was getting exactly what he deserved.

Bella led Edward out of the cafeteria and down to her truck. She slid behind the steering wheel while Edward hopped into the passengers seat. She turned on the truck, and turned up the heat, trying to ease the chill of the damp mid-October afternoon, and hoping to dry off some before having to step out into the cold drizzle once more. She turned and smiled at Edward.

"Now, isn't this nicer than having Newton and Yorkie scowling at us for an hour," she giggled.

Edward nodded, taking a bite of his bagel.

"You said before that Angela was welcoming. Aren't you from Forks?" She ripped the foil cover off the top of the yogurt container.

Edward shook his head and swallowed the mouthful of bagel he had. "No. I'm from Chicago. Carlisle and Esme adopted me when they were living there."

"Really?" She stirred her yogurt, staring at him intently. "How old were you? A baby?"

"No, I was seven."

"Wow. Were you in the system long?" She put a spoonful of yogurt in her mouth.

"Nah. Carlisle knew my grandfather." He took another bite of bagel. He never discussed his circumstances, but with Bella, it felt like the natural thing to do.

"Oh…was your mother…um…unwed?"

Edward laughed. "No, my parents were older and married. My father was a fairly prominent doctor himself. My grandfather was on the board of directors of the hospital where Carlisle was doing his residency." He took a small bite of bagel, chewing slowly.

"Why did they put you up for adoption?" She watched his eyes as he recounted his early life to her.

"My parents were drug addicts, Bella," he didn't look at her when he said this. "My father ended up in prison and my mother died of an overdose when I was six." He lifted the bottle of soda to his lips, sipping quickly.

"And you were put up for adoption?"

"My mothers parents had passed away, and my father's parents took custody of me. My grandparents were up in years, and within months of my mother's death, my grandmother was diagnosed with dementia. My grandfather wasn't a well man himself, and he realized that if he didn't do something, I would eventually end up older and in the foster care system. He didn't want that for me, and decided to find a family to adopt me."

"Wow. He had to really love you to make that sacrifice, Edward." She couldn't take her eyes off him.

"Carlisle said he adored me," Edward couldn't look at her and stared out the front window of the truck. "I don't really remember much about him," he sighed, "but I do remember that at night he would sit in this great big chair in front of this really huge fireplace. I'd sit in his lap, and he would hug me tightly and read the Chicago Tribune to me until I fell asleep." He smiled at the memory. "Guess he bored me to sleep."

"That's a really great memory," she reached out and put her hand on his knee. "So your grandfather told Carlisle about you?"

"Well," he took a deep breath, "Carlisle was doing his residency at the time, and my grandfather had taken a liking to him. I mean, everyone loves Carlisle." There was a sarcastic tone in his voice as he said this. "Anyway, Carlisle and Esme were just married, and Esme got sick. Cancer. They caught it in time, but not before she had to have a complete hysterectomy," he shook his head. "They were both devastated. The thing Esme wanted most in her life was a family, and here she was, a newlywed, and had no hope for one." He took another gulp of his soda, finding that his mouth was suddenly dry, and fidgeted nervously.

"If this makes you uncomfortable, you don't have to continue," she touched his knee again.

"No, it's ok. It was so long ago, it's like, I don't know…like it was someone else, you know?"

She nodded, and kept her hand on his knee.

"Anyway, my grandfather knew what had happened to Esme, and he approached Carlisle about me. They arranged for Esme to meet me, and that was it." He shrugged.

"Esme fell in love with the beautiful bronze haired little boy immediately," she smiled.

"I don't know if it was love at first sight," he chuckled softly, "but it was kind of like we knew we needed each other, you know? We were both missing something, and we filled that void in each other."

"That's a beautiful story, Edward." She rubbed his knee absently. "You moved to Forks then?"

"No, we stayed in Chicago for a few years. My grandparents both passed away a few years after I was adopted, and that's when Carlisle decided to leave Chicago. We spent three years in Seattle before ending up here two years ago. Picked up the rest of my siblings along the way. They adopted Alice two years after me. Then Rose. Emmett and Jasper came along in Seattle. They were both twelve when they were adopted." He bit into the bagel, taking a huge bite and chewing noisily.

"Is your father still in prison?" She kept her hand on his knee.

Edward shook his head. "No, he was killed by another inmate five years ago. They were fighting over cigarettes," he snorted. "You'd think I wouldn't smoke, knowing that, huh?"

"Had you gone to visit him?"

"No. My grandfather refused to let him see me, and Carlisle complied with his wishes."

"Your grandfather seemed to only have your best interest at heart, Edward," Bella shifted in her seat, feeling the need for a cigarette herself.

Edward nodded. "He did. Carlisle had nothing but the highest praise for him. He stayed in my life after the adoption, you know. He would always give me the best Christmas gifts," he laughed at the memory.

"What did he give you?" Her eyes were wide as she watched him. He seemed like a different person as he spoke of his past.

"A piano," he laughed, shaking his head. "A baby grand piano."

"A piano? Did it come with lessons?" She giggled with him.

"I got them after I got the piano," he laughed and took another drink from the bottle of soda. "I fought it at first. I mean, Alice and Rose didn't have to take damn piano lessons. But I did."

"Do you still play?"

"I used to. I haven't in a long time," he looked down at his long, slender hands, flexing his fingers. Bella noticed his eyes darken and decided to change the subject.

"Do we have time for a quick smoke?" She looked at her watch.

"Do we?"

"No," she frowned. "We should actually start heading to Bio."

Edward sighed and straightened out, stretching his legs as much as the space in the front seat would allow. It had been a long time since he spoke about his past. It was something he tried not to think about, although it was never far from his thoughts. Everything just seemed so easy with Bella. He opened the door and got out, walking around to meet her at the driver's side door.

"So, what time should I pick you up at your house?" The walked up the path toward the red brick buildings in the light drizzle.

"I don't know. I don't have to make anything for dinner for Charlie. He's ordering a pepperoni pizza," she laughed at the thought, "since he doesn't have to worry about me being home."

"Does he know you're going out with me?" Edward smiled at the thought.

"Yeah," she nodded. "He's totally thrilled by the idea that I have a date already. And he knows you'll behave, since he's the police chief and all," she giggled at the thought.

"He doesn't have to worry. I will take extra good care of you."

"How about you come by at four?" They were at the building, standing under the overhang to keep dry while they waited for the bell.

"Four it is," Edward smiled with anticipation.

~*~*~*~*~

A/N: Hope you like this chapter. It gives a little insight to Edward's past. Reviews are appreciated :D

Be gone till Sunday, so for everyone in the US, have a Happy Thanksgiving & don't eat too much turkey :)

Remember...next chapter will be the date :D