Disclaimer: I am not Stephanie Meyer (actually I am not Kimberley Smith either, but that's irrelevant); I didn't write the 'Twilight' series, but if I had done, it would have looked more like this:

Despite my slight reservations, I was beginning to look forward to having an evening alone with Edward. Though his family left us with a bit of peace, we were nearly always being over-heard. We still had work to do on rebuilding the trust that had been lost when Edward left me, and it was hard to do that when several members of his family were within ear-shot.

Rose was almost as excited as Edward and Alice was almost as excited as Rose. I'd agreed to get to the Cullens' house after lunch and let Rose give me a full makeover before Edward and I went out at seven. When I pulled up at the house at half one, Rose ran over to the door and pulled it open, claiming that I could have been there a full hour ago.

The makeover wasn't as bad as it could have been. It began with a relaxing bath, which I really enjoyed. Then I was wrapped up in a towelling robe, while Rose played beautician. Rose made non-fashion-related conversation while she did my hair and make-up, so I didn't actually have to think about being preened. Unlike Alice, Rose didn't feel the need to try and educate me while she dressed me. She didn't bother to explain the outfit that she had chosen, so there was no tension while I pretended to understand the rational behind the neckline.

Rose laid out underwear and a dress and allowed me to put it on myself, so I wasn't as embarrassed as I might have been about the silky panties and the matching corset. I fiddled about with the stockings and suspenders, wishing that Rose had embraced the design of hold-ups, but there was no sniggering outside the door, so I just took my time and kept my cool. Once all the underwear was fastened on, I found that it wasn't actually at all uncomfortable. Suspenders do give you the confidence that your stockings won't fall down, and they're less claustrophobic than tights, so perhaps Rose had been considering the wear-ability of my outfit after all. The dress was amazing. It was a midnight blue, covered with glittering diamonds. It looked like a clear night sky. Most importantly, it was incredibly soft against my skin. It was the nicest fabric that I have ever felt. Rose had chosen a mid-length skirt, which I quite liked, and the neckline was a modest half-moon. I didn't feel exposed and my incredible underwear disappeared under the dress, giving me a seamless silhouette I had expected the suspenders to be visible under the skirt, but they weren't at all. There was no reason for Edward to even know that I was wearing them.

When I had my dress on I called out to Rose, as we'd agreed, and she came back promptly without complaining about how long I'd taken. She helped me on with my shoes, delicate kitten-heels, which weren't too high, and had secure straps so they probably wouldn't fall off. I was a bit overwhelmed by the jewellery that Rose had selected. There was a full set of ear-rings, bracelet and matching necklace, but it had been part of the bet, and it would be churlish for me to protest now. I let Rose fasten the delicate chain around my wrist, and tried not to be too suspicious. With the number of sparkles and the size of the stones, at least I could be sure that they weren't real diamonds. The necklace was even more extravagant. There were five separate strands of sparkling stones, looped around each other and then around my neck. It was a bit like tinsel around a Christmas tree. The ear-rings were impressive baubles: more sparkly stones, dangling down my cheeks. Then Rose added the final touch: sparkly barrettes in my hair. I couldn't believe how long everything had taken, but, by the time I was dressed, there was barely twenty minutes before Edward and I were due to leave.

Twenty minutes was certainly long enough to spend with Alice squealing and demanding that Rose talked her through every little detail of my outfit. Rose, quite neatly, took advantage of how close to time we were running and handed me her car keys rather than my own. At the very last minute she declared that the car was an accessory and, hence, part of my makeover. She insisted that I took hers. I would have loved to argue about that, but Rose reminded me that Edward had been waiting all day for a glimpse of me, and had been pacing up and down in front of the house for at least an hour, so I ought to put him out of his misery. For Edward's sake, I accepted the car-keys.

When I opened the front door, Edward was standing there looking at me with an expression of utter delight on his face. As I stepped out of the house, the moonlight fell on me and I began to sparkle. The dress, the jewels, even my shoes had sparkles in the heels, all of that looked stunning. But the most surprising thing was my skin: the bathwater that I'd been in, or the body lotion that Rose had covered me in, must have contained tiny pieces of glitter, because as soon as the moon hit me, I sparkled. I looked down at my arm and I was amazed: my skin looked just like Edward's. Edward sucked the air in through his teeth, it must have scared him to see me look so vampire-like. He didn't comment on it, though, he told me that I was 'a vision' and he escorted me to Rose's car, which was waiting right in front of the house. Without even grimacing, Edward held open the driver's door for me, though he must have been frustrated to know how slowly I was bound to drive this powerful car.

He was in the passenger seat before I'd even worked out how to turn on the engine. He watched me struggle for a bit, and then said softly, "I don't want to interfere, Bella, but, won't it be easier to get to where we're going if you start the engine?"

I was going to snap at him for being patronising, but then I realised that his hand was indicating a big red button.

"Really?" I asked.

Edward nodded.

"Why is Rose letting me drive her car? What is she going to do if I hurt it?"

"Have a lot of fun fixing it back up again," he said, "it is intended as a compliment that Rose is letting you use her car. You will really offend her if you refuse. She knows that you're human, so she'll be happy as long as you attempt to bring it back in one piece. She doesn't expect it to get through this experience unscathed."

I scowled at him. Then giggled when Rose shouted, "Edward, shut up!" from inside the house, loudly enough for me to hear.

He shrugged and sat back in his seat, pretending that he wasn't watching carefully and waiting to step in the instant I struggled to control the powerful engine. At the lightest touch on the gas, the car engine roared. I pulled out and drove neatly back down the Cullens' driveway.

"So, where are we going?"

He smiled and directed me smoothly. His voice would have sold a lot of Sat Navs. I was enjoying driving, listening to Edward's smooth, velvet tones warning me of the turns. I was utterly content. Rose's car was easy to drive, once I stopped worrying that it was going to take off. I had expected to be nervous of the car, but I hadn't expected to take pleasure in driving it. It was, however, rather thrilling to have control of such a powerful engine. It reminded me of the game we'd played, when I was ordering my powerful vampire around. Having all that strength under my control was exhilarating

"The red awning on the left," Edward said, at last, "pull up here."

As I pulled up, he sighed happily, "at last," he said, "I didn't know that it was possible to drive this car quite that slowly."

"Very funny, where do you want to park? We can't just abandon the car here."

He smirked, "I thought that I was the one who didn't live in this century. Why are you the one who doesn't know about valet parking?"

Valet parking? Great. I should have known that he'd want to go somewhere ridiculously fancy. Typical Edward.

Still, he hadn't gone anywhere since he'd got back from Italy, and he hadn't exactly been having fun for the eight months prior to that. It would be a terrible girlfriend who objected to being spoilt by Edward this evening. Instead I smiled at him and bit back my sarcastic remark about people who spent obscene amounts of money on over-priced food they weren't going to eat.

Edward jumped out of his seat and ran around to open my door. He managed to beat the valet to it, and was smiling smugly, as I stepped out of the car. The valet looked at me with such shock and surprise, that I dropped my head, blushing. I don't know what he was thinking. Maybe he was surprised that I was driving. Maybe he was surprised that a couple as young as us could afford this car and this restaurant. Maybe he was surprised that someone who looked like me had arrived in the same car as someone who looked like Edward. Whatever it was, I was embarrassed

A cool hand reached into mine and removed the car keys. Then I felt the same cool hand on the small of my back and Edward whispered in my ear, "shall we go inside, Bella?"

He steered me expertly through the reception of the restaurant, and into a comfortable booth. Keeping my gaze down, avoiding looking at any of the people who were really used to being in places like this, I watched the floor. The plush red carpet on the street gave way to a deep burgundy runner in the entrance-way, which soon turned into a deep golden floor when we entered the restaurant itself. Edward walked slowly, for him, but confidently, speaking to the waiter in a low voice. I sat down opposite him, and looked up at last, so that I could see his butterscotch eyes.

Fancy restaurants didn't make Edward uncomfortable, even though he never ate, he was very much at his ease. So, I was surprised to see that he was looking a bit unsure. "Are you really annoyed that I brought you here?" he asked.

"No. I mean, yes, it is absurdly expensive, but I'm reconciled to it, I think that you deserve a bit of a treat."

A smile flashed across his face briefly, probably laughing at the idea of a fancy restaurant being a treat for him, then his concerned look returned, "you're not happy, Bella," he said, "what are you thinking about?"

"Oh," I felt the heat rise on my cheeks again, "I just feel a bit out of place. You must have seen the look that the guy doing the valet parking gave me. He could tell that I didn't belong here and that I don't belong with you."

"Actually," Edward replied, "I know exactly what the valet was thinking."

"Tell me."

He considered this for a few moments, then he gave a to-hell-with-it shrug (which, I guess, from Edward is really a 'to-heck-with-it shrug') and said "he was amazed by how gorgeous you looked and was trying to work out if he recognised you from a movie. He thought that you looked too 'together' to be a singer or a model, but he couldn't remember a single film that he'd seen you in, and he was sure that he wouldn't forget a face, or a figure like yours" Edward grimaced slightly, at the remembrance of another man noticing my body. Then he continued, "of course, there is nobody with a face or a figure like yours. You are uniquely beautiful, so he shouldn't have wasted his time, trying to decide whom you resemble."

"Are you trying to make me feel better?"

"Sort of," Edward picked up his menu, opened it, then put it back down again, "but, that is what the guy was thinking. I wish that you knew how stunning you look tonight. Sometimes I wish that you knew what other men thought of you. Well, not the details, that would be horrifying, but the broad brush strokes"

"What are you going to order?" I was only trying to make him laugh, but Edward took my question seriously and began discussing the courses on offer. Perhaps someone was listening to our conversation, and he was trying to convince them that he was a normal, food-consuming human.

After a lot of discussion, I chose the soup to start, and Edward chose scallops. For our main courses, I went for lamb, which made Edward laugh, and he chose aubergine and halloumi kebabs. I was a bit surprised that Edward wouldn't chose to eat meat, but he pulled a face at all the domestic animals that were on offer. I guess he would never consider hunting chickens, sheep or cows, and so he wasn't happy eating them, either. Of course, he wasn't actually going to eat any of the food he ordered, but that didn't stop Edward being picky.

"Do your family eat fish?" I asked Edward, when his scallops arrived.

"No, Bella," he said, "fish are too small."

"Sharks are pretty big. You can swim, can't you?" I remembered the fiery hair flashing through the sea.

Edward nodded, "we're good swimmers" he said, "but, we don't hunt sharks." He pulled such a disgusted face when he said that, I couldn't help giggling at him.

My soup was lovely, creamy and spicy parsnip soup. Edward enjoyed feeding me his scallops. He'd ordered them partly because I'd never eaten them before, and partly because the restaurant was famous for them. I was impressed with his choice. The scallops were meaty and soft, really good. They were drizzled with a sweet chilli sauce.

After staring at me for long enough to make me wonder whether I'd got sauce dribbling down my chin, Edward said "you look beautiful when you eat." I couldn't really ask him to stop staring at me after that. It would have been cruel.

"Talking of which, has Emmett made me that movie yet?"

Knowing Edward, he had probably hoped that I would forget all about Emmett's promise to film him hunting. Reminding him when we were alone was probably a bad move. I should have waited until we were with his family, so that I'd have back up.

To my surprise, he actually grinned at me, "yes, Emmett's made his movie. We're waiting for you to come and watch it."

"I thought that you wouldn't want me to."

"Do you remember what you said after Emmett's last demonstration?" I nodded, and Edward went on "I agree with you. If you're going to become more involved with my family, you should probably see exactly what that entails."

"Are you still waiting for the running and screaming?"

"I'm still trying to change your mind," he smiled, trying to fool me into thinking that he was joking, but I knew that he was deadly serious.

"You can try," I said.

As soon as we'd finished our starters, our main courses arrived. Edward's vegetarian meal was surprisingly good.

"Why don't you hunt lamb or chicken or cows?" I asked him, reminded of his distaste when I'd suggested that he ordered a meat dish.

"Are you asking me why my family don't hunt domestic animals?" Edward smothered a laugh, "I don't think that the owners of those animals would be particularly impressed."

We both laughed at the idea of Edward's family becoming sheep-rustlers and getting chased around the countryside by irate farmers waving pitchforks.

That wasn't what I'd seen in his expression, however. "You pulled a grossed-out face," I told him, "what's wrong with lamb?"

"I don't believe that I can look 'grossed-out'" Edward said primly, making me giggle again, "I may have seemed somewhat revolted. That would be because herbivores don't taste as good as predators. Besides which, hunting lambs wouldn't exactly be sporting."

"Is that a concern?" I had never considered the Cullens to be animal-lovers. The image of Alice and Rosalie cuddling little baby lambs, made me giggle. Then I thought about Carlisle and Edward seriously discussing ways of making their hunting fairer on the animals. I pictured the whole family sitting down and drawing up a 'sporting-hunting' charter. They might have a handicap system, similar to golf, to even up the playing field a bit.

"Of course," Edward looked very serious, "we do take our duty seriously."

"What duty?"

"We have a duty towards the animals that we hunt. We are careful to respect them, not to hunt the young, not to over-hunt in any area, and not to cause unnecessary suffering." Being a 'vegetarian' vampire was a moral choice. So I shouldn't have been surprised to hear that they had thought about ways to minimise the harm that they caused to their prey. "I think it's similar to the utilisation of humane farming techniques," he offered.

I wasn't entirely sure that free-range eggs were quite the same thing as not leaping on lambs and sucking out their blood. It was probably not a conversation that I was fully equipped to have, however. Right now, I had only very vague ideas about what it was like when Edward and his family hunted. Perhaps, after I'd seen Emmett's movie, I would have more to contribute.

"So who drew up the charter?" I asked.

The only response was an extremely confused expression. "Oh," I said, remembering, "that was something that I thought and not something that I said aloud. When you mentioned being 'sporting' in your hunting, I imagined you and Carlisle drawing up a charter to describe how you would hunt. I was wondering if that really happened."

"Not exactly. One of the benefits of perfect memories is that we need not write down our agreements in order to ensure that we all recall them. You were right to assume that our beliefs have grown out of conversation, though. We have all discussed our way of life many times, both as a family and in smaller groups."

"Do you all agree?"

"Broadly," Edward smirked, "you have seen that my family rarely agree completely about anything. But, you have also seen that we are usually capable of making compromises that allow us to live with one another."

That was true, and really quite surprising. Most teenagers couldn't wait to get out from under their parents' roof. Edward, Alice, Jasper, Rosalie and Emmett were eternal teenagers and yet they rarely bothered to set up homes on their own. They could all easily afford separate houses, but they chose to live together almost all the time. They must be incredibly good at compromising.

"I'm not sure that I'll be quite as easy to live with," I said, a new worry suddenly occurring to me, "what would happen if I couldn't live comfortably with the rest of your family?"

"We'd move out," Edward said, as though it was a matter of no moment to him at all, "we'd set up a home of our own."

"Wouldn't that be sad for you? You haven't lived apart from your family since . . ." I trailed off, realising that the only times Edward had lived alone had been when he was suffering. He had rebelled and lived alone in those years when he was more vampire than man. He had lived alone when he had left me. He had only lived alone in misery and despair. How could I ask him to leave his family again?

He seemed to read my thoughts from my face, he looked down at the table, still ashamed of his past. He still thought that his rebellious period and his time away from me were things that I should condemn. He seemed to think that those moments when he had struggled made him less worthy of my love and admiration.

"I don't have a good track record of living alone," he admitted, "but I wouldn't be alone. I would be with you. We wouldn't have to live alone, anyway. If you were unhappy living with my entire family, I'm sure that we could find a combination that suited. We could share with Jasper and Alice. Then you wouldn't have to worry about my slipping."

I reached out and smacked his arm lightly, "don't be silly," I said "I'm not worried about you 'slipping'. I'm worried that you would miss your family. You've never chosen to live away from them before."

"I've never had anywhere to go before."

Living with Alice and Jasper would be fun. It would be like going away to college. I wondered if we could do that. We could rent a big house: me and Edward, Alice, Jasper, Emmett and Rosalie. That would have a different vibe to the house that they all lived in currently. "Do you think," I asked slowly, "that we will rearrange things sometimes? It sounds like it could be a lot of fun to house-share with Alice and Jasper."

Edward frowned and I thought that he was going to object, but instead he pulled his phone from his pocket. "I said that they shouldn't disturb us with anything that wasn't important," he explained, "I ought to check." He read his text message, then slid the phone across the table to me, rolling his eyes as he did so.

'Don't moan, this is important. We'd love to live with you, but it won't happen for another twenty years, or so. And, Bella is NOT allowed to choose curtains ever.' It was, of course, from Alice.

I laughed, "there's never any privacy in your family, is there?" I said.

He gave me a nervous look, "do you mind that?" he asked, "I know that it's very different to the way in which your family works."

"I like it. I'm looking forward to having a big family."

I'd thought that I was reassuring Edward, but instead I seemed to have confirmed one of his more pessimistic hypotheses. He sighed and looked down at the table. In a quiet, little boy voice, he said, "is it the family that you want, rather than me? I mean, I do understand that things between us have changed since I . . . betrayed you and left you. Do you want me as a brother now, rather than anything else? Is that why you don't want to marry me?"

"Ugh! No, I do not think of you as a brother. Yuck! I um . . . I want to do very non-fraternal things with you."

He looked up, which made no sense. How could it be a surprise to him that I had strong feelings of lust for him as well as love?

"You still have those feelings for me?" he asked, "I thought that they might have faded, now that you can pull away from kisses and don't keep trying to push my boundaries any more"

"They're our boundaries," I said, "we both need them in order to stay safe. I wouldn't mind pushing them with you. Maybe we could mutually agree to try and go a bit further . . ." I trailed off when I saw his expression. Edward did not look like a seventeen year-old whose girlfriend had suggested that she might be ready to go further. He ought to be happy and enthusiastic. Instead he looked miserable and threatened. "What's wrong?" I asked, "do you no longer desire me in that way?"

"It's not that. That's not it at all. I desire you ardently. It's just that I have a more, well, old-fashioned view of intimate relationships between men and women. I was brought up to believe that certain things belonged within the confines of marriage. It's hard for me to imagine that anything outside marriage would be possible. I don't want to treat you with even a hint of disrespect."

If he could have blushed, I bet that Edward would have been as red as me by now. Despite everything that we'd been through, we were both still nervous teenagers when it came to sex. I went red every time I thought of the word 'sex' when I was in the same room as Edward, let alone thinking about it in the same sentence. That was irritating. My mum had always said that I should never have sex with someone until I could talk to them about sex. She said that if you didn't know someone well enough to talk to them then you didn't know them well enough to sleep with them.

Well, I knew Edward well. And I trusted him and I was sure that I was ready to take our physical relationship on to the next level. All I needed to do in order to prove it to myself was to talk to him about it. This, however, was definitely not the right place.

"Do you have further plans for this evening?"

Edward grinned, "yes," he said, keeping his answer short so that I couldn't guess anything.

I grinned back, if he was enjoying keeping secrets, let's see how good he was. "Do your plans involve us having a bit of alone-time?" I asked.

His grin widened, "maybe," he said.

"Good, we need to have a talk."

His grin faded, "that doesn't sound good for me. Is this 'talk' going to resemble the 'chat' we had the other day?"

"Maybe," I mimicked him, and giggled at his confused expression.

"In that case," he said, "I'm going to put off our talk for as long as I can. Won't you have some dessert?"

A lot of girls worry about what they eat in front of their boyfriends, but everything that I ate seemed disgusting to Edward, so there was no point in my trying to look dainty by eating nothing but green salads. The advantage of that was that I could eat chocolate brownie sundaes without worrying that he thought I was a greedy pig. Edward thought that I ate barely anything because I didn't eat several deer at a sitting. He easily persuaded me to have dessert at the restaurant, and even to linger over coffee and mints.

Finally, there was nothing left for me to eat and Edward had to give in. I'm pretty sure that he had only been kidding about putting off our talk; he paid quickly and seemed almost eager by the time he was steering me back to the entrance of the restaurant.