[Disclaimer] Stephenie Meyer owns everything Twilight. I own the plot for this story.

[A/N] Thanks to everyone for reading and a big hug for those who take the time to review. It means so much to get feedback from you.

*Falling in love and having a relationship are two different things*

(Keanu Reeves)

Chapter 7

I have nothing to wear.

A pair of grey skinny jeans joins the pile of clothing that is already spread over my bed.

"How about helping me?" I snap at Tanya who is sitting cross-legged in my chair, flipping through a magazine. "I don't know what to wear for my date with Bella."

My cousin looks up, her eyes moving from my curly head down to my pink painted toe nails. "I'd wear that baby blue set from Victoria's you got the last time we went shopping. It looks good on you."

I cross my arms in front of my chest and shake my head. "What does it matter what underwear I am going to wear? She's not going to see any of it."

Tanya smirks. "Are you two going to do it in the dark? If so, I would have picked a different time for meeting up with her."

I grab one of my tops from the bed and throw it at my cousin. "I am not going to have sex with her."

"Boring," Tanya lifts her hand to her mouth and yawns. "Don't you find her attractive?"

I roll my eyes. "She is very pretty."

"Isn't she your type?" My cousin asks me. "I mean don't you think she's sexy? Doesn't she make you feel all hot and tingly...deep down below?"

I take my green sun dress out of the closet. "This will do. Don't you think?"

Tanya turns her head to my mirror and frowns at her image. "I think you are turning into a prude. Stop distracting me from topics way more interesting than your outfit."

She gets up and fishes my white cardigan out of the pile on the bed. "This one looks good with the dress."

"Thanks," I mumble, turning my back at her so Tanya can zip me up. "I just don't want to mess things up with Bella. The first impression I gave her wasn't my best behavior."

"Next time you need to eat before you have alcohol. Try fries. The fat soaks up the alcohol." She helps me to fold the clothes on my bed and put them away again. "You are nervous. That means she must be special."

"It's been a while since I had a date." I confess. I never had one with a woman who has seen me naked before I even kissed her. We didn't kiss, right?

"Stop biting your lip. It will make it look chapped." Tanya says. She reaches for my lip balm and dabs a bit of it on my mouth. "See, now you are pretty enough for doing...nothing."

"Thank you." I whisper. "I am really nervous. More than I usually am."

My cousin clicks her tongue. "Do you want to know what I do when I am nervous before a date?"

The thought that Tanya could be nervous about some guy she's going to meet seems bizarre to me. "What do you do?" I ask, expecting she's going to suggest I should have a drink.

It is out of question though. The only useful tip my English grandmother has ever given during her rare visits, was that a lady should never have alcohol before lunch.

"You should have some self-entertainment before you go." My cousin tells me. "Trust me, you do that and you will be way too relaxed to be nervous."

She hugs me and wishes me good luck for my date before she walks out, closing the door to my room behind her.

"What a stupid idea." I mumble, lying down on my bed for few minutes before I have to get up. I close my eyes, picturing how much nicer it would be if I had Bambi Eyes right next to me now. My hand glides between my thighs. Very slowly I let my fingertips move higher. My breathing gets a bit louder when I touch my cotton panty covered sex. I stroke myself gently while my free hand cups my breast through my dress. In my head I imagine my hands being replaced by Bella's. I squeeze my breast, feeling heat flush throughout my body while my fingers slide underneath the side of my panties. I am not wet. With a sigh I lift my fingers to my mouth to make them slick with moisture.

I don't care for masturbation. It's not even a tenth of how it feels like to have someone go down on me. My thumb rubs over my clit. I know my body. I know what to do in order to make me cum. I tease my clit, rolling the sensitive bundle of nerves between two fingers. The release that irrevocably follows a few minutes later is too low. It's not much more than a sneeze inside my brain that sends a flicker of pleasure through my body.

"This is a game for two." I whisper, pressing my face into my pillows. "I've never been good at playing solo."

An hour later, I arrive at the house where Bella lives. She had to give me the address again, for I was too hungover to remember the right directions. Her apartment looks different. The light that shines through the windows reflects shades of warm orange on the cherry-wooded kitchen counter. There are little flower pots with fresh herbs sitting neatly on a little rack above the sink. I can spot no clothing or even the slightest hint of dust on the floor. It smells like oranges and a bit like freshly baked cookies.

The apartment is spotless. Still, my stupid nose prickles and my eyes water. I sneeze and search my handbag for tissues. "I'm sorry," I mumble an apology to my date as she walks out of the bathroom. "I hope it's nothing contagious. I rarely get sick."

Bella smiles at me and that small upwards movement of her mouth is my very undoing. She's stunning. This is the first time I get to see her while it's not half-dark or I am not suffering from the worst hangover of my life. The morning sun brings out the red in her blonde hair. I watch fascinated how her pale skin looks radiant in the light. I can feel warmth in my face when I imagine kissing the countless tiny freckles on her shoulder blade.

"Do I look okay?" She asks me, pushing her wavy hair over her left shoulder. "I don't have much to wear that's not too big on me right now."

I look down at myself. Tanya insisted that wearing my green sun dress with a white cardigan on top would be perfect. "You look very pretty," I tell her, grabbing my tissue to sneeze into it again. My eyes begin to burn again. It's very unpleasant.

"Thank you," Bella mumbles. She turns her face to the side when red spots begin to spread over her skin. "Let me just feed Pumpkin his breakfast. Then we can leave."

The ugly cat is still as ugly as I remember it from my first visit. It's huge and orange and reminds me a bit of the cartoon character Garfield. When he jumps on the empty place next to me on the couch, I shift a bit further away.

"Be careful. Don't let him bite you." My beautiful date warns me about her carrot-furred monster. She gives me a nice view of her cute apple-shaped backside when she bends down to put a little porcelain bowl on the floor.

"Eat up as long as it's fresh," Bella tells the cat. I can feel a ridiculous wave of jealousy spreading through me when she pets the ugly cat's big head. She lifts him up and carries him over to his food. I get a second look at Bambi Eyes's butt. To me it looks good enough to eat.

"If you are ready we can leave now."

I nod and stand up from the couch. When outside in the parking lot, I open the passenger's door and hold it open for Bella. "Where to, Ma'am?" I ask, resisting the impulse to put my hand on hers even if it's just a mere second long.

"I am hungry." Bella laughs. "Would you mind if we go to a different place than we planned to? I found this awesome new restaurant yesterday. They make an amazing apple pie. I would pick apple pie as my last meal."

"Mine would be a peanut butter and jelly sandwich from my Dad." I say. "Can you give me the address of the place?"

The moment she tells me the name of the street I know I am screwed. There is only one restaurant on that street. It's Mom's. My mother has an appointment this morning at that awful retirement home where she plans on putting Nana in. Still I feel uncomfortable being seen there with my date by my aunt or Kate and Irina.

I am way outside my comfort zone and very quiet during our ride to the restaurant. While I struggle to fight off the panic from inside me, Bella next to me is in a chatty mood. I learn that she loves the new place she started working at. She tells me about some rust bucket one of her brother's friend is currently trying to get back to working for her.

"I need a car," she says. "I mean, have you seen how crappy the bus connections are in the morning or late at night?"

My fingertips tap against the steering wheel. "I don't use public transportation very often. What's wrong with your car?"

Bella chews a bit of dried skin from the middle of her lower lip. "It's just old, a Chevy truck from the late sixties. My father bought it for me when we moved to live with him in our Junior Year. I love it dearly."

I wipe my sweaty palms on the sides of my dress and force my mouth into a halfway acceptable smile. I have been looking forward to seeing Bella again for days. Now, I feel like this date has been ruined before it has really begun.

Aunt Sasha waves her hand at me from the other side of the restaurant when we enter. I swallow back a frustrated sigh.

"Good Morning, Ali Darling." She greets me, wrapping me into a hug. Behind her, holding on to her apron is my baby cousin. Vasili is already eight but Aunt Sasha always acts like he's still a helpless toddler. He smiles a toothless smile at me and holds up his new green Gameboy. The last one he destroyed was a blue one.

Little tyrant.

"Don't tell me Kate sent you to watch Vasili instead of her?" Aunt Sasha asks me. "She knows I have to meet with your mother at the retirement home. God, I hate all this paper stuff."

"Ali, are you going to play with me?" Vasili demands. "Mom, tell her she needs to play with me."

I shake my head. "Perhaps another time," Babysitting the spoiled little brat is not my favorite thing to do. Aunt Sasha doesn't set up any rules for him, and that's very dangerous for a child with Vasili's temper tantrums.

"I am here with…" I stumble, unsure how to refer to Bella. "I am here with my friend. She told me she likes the apple pie." Like any cook, my aunt is thrilled when someone compliments her work. I introduce the two of them. Sasha smiles big at my date and insists that our orders will be on the house today.

"You didn't tell me the restaurant belongs to your Aunt." Bella tells me, sitting on a chair across from me. I can't resist risking a glimpse at her cleavage when she leans forward to whisper into my ear. "Does she know?"

For a minute I consider lying. Coming out is a sensitive topic for me. "No," I respond. "I didn't feel ready."

"Oh" Bella says, giving me that pity look that people, who are out, always have for those of us still stuck in the closet. "But your parents know, right?"

"My cousin Tanya knows." I confess. "She's my best friend and so far the only one I told about it."

Her fingertips twitch. For a moment I hold my breath, thinking she's going to put her hand on mine now. It doesn't happen. Instead she tells me how she understands it must be difficult for me. It never felt that much difficult to me before her. Because I feel like she could be worth coming out to my family for. She's too cute, too kind spirited, and too easy to like to hide her.

"The restaurant is nice." Bella says; while looking around. "Your aunt did an amazing job with the interior."

"My mother is the one you need to give credit for that. She likes decorating stuff."

Aunt Sasha steps to our table, placing coffee and two big slices of the caramel crusted apple pie in front of us. "Enjoy," she says. "Your friend can have another piece if she wants it. She's too thin."

Bella sighs. "I must look bad if a stranger tells me I need to eat more."

I take my napkin and fold it awkwardly on my lap. "You are pretty. But she's right. You are very thin."

"I tend to forget to eat when I am upset." Bella mumbles, stuffing a piece of caramel-crusted apple into her mouth. I watch fascinated by how she hums; when the sweetness tickles the taste buds on her tongue. She chews slowly, keeping her eyes half closed to increase the pleasure.

"This is really good pie," she says, dipping her fork into the crispy caramel again. "Do you think your Aunt would be willing to share the recipe with me?"

I shrug my shoulders. "I can ask her if you want me to." I offer. "She's probably going to say no though. It's an old family recipe from my grandmother."

Bella licks a bit of caramel from her fork. The tip of her tongue darts out for a split second and I envy the piece of cutlery. She notices me watching her and blushes. Her face looks lovely with the tint of red in her cheeks. I need to think of ways to make her turn red more often.

"I don't need the recipe to bake something similar. My sense of taste is pretty fine. I often re-cook dishes from memory." She lifts another forkful of pie to her mouth. I like the way her lips look naturally rosy. It would be my most pleasurable challenge to turn them red and swollen from kisses.

"There is only one thing I am going to change when I re-cook it." She takes another piece of apple pie and chews it appreciative. "I would use green apples instead of the red ones."

Bella sips on her coffee. "Oh and maybe I'd try walnuts in it. Their flavor would blend well with the caramel."

Green apples and walnuts; the same ingredients my Nana used to prefer for her apple pie. Bella Swan is too fucking perfect to be true.

I open my mouth but no sound comes out of it. I need a minute to bring my frantically beating heart back to a calm rhythm. There is always that enchanting moment when you fall for a person. The moment the butterflies inside your stomach make you feel like you are trapped within the ride of the wildest, fastest roller coaster you can imagine.

"Sounds perfect." I whisper, swallowing a lump in my throat. The piece of pie in front of me is still untouched. I am way too agitated to eat now. What I would like to do is feed it to Bella, preferably while we are naked together in her bed. The thought makes me feel hot and tingly between my legs. I press my thighs together and suppress a moan.

"You are welcome to test the pie once I make it." Bella offers, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. "I am just afraid it will be a while until I find time."

I stir a spoon of sugar into my coffee because I can't remember if I already added some before. "Your new job is keeping you busy?"

She nods. "I am not complaining though. It's a good position and the payment is gracious."

I push my slice of pie over to her. "Here, I have more fun watching you eat it."

Bella whispers a thank you and grants me a wide smile. She tells me about her ambition to become Sous chef at the restaurant that hired her. I don't get the point of finding it desirable to work in a kitchen, whatever position you may hold there. Working in front of the stove is always exhausting, and makes you sweaty and dirty. "Good luck." I tell Bella, smiling at her. "I'm sorry. What was the name of your work place again? I'd like to taste what you cook some time." I'd like to taste you too some time, I add in my head. My thoughts are too much in the gutter for this early time of the day.

I blame my upcoming period and the fact that Bambi Eyes is too beautiful for her own good.

"It's an Italian restaurant." She tells me, her eyes sparkling full of fire. "I love Italian food. It's so much fun to play around with all those herbs."

The way she gets all passionate about this reminds me of my mother and how she almost jumped Dad's bones in front of me and Edward when my father got her that new kitchen machine for Christmas. I hope no one is ever going to give me a piece of kitchen equipment as a gift. My reaction wouldn't be half as enthusiastic as my mother's.

"The place where I am working at now is called Volterra Dining."

I drop my cup of coffee, spilling its content all over the table. Some of it ends up on my dress, leaving an ugly brown stain on my mid-section. I am afraid that dress isn't the only thing that could be ruined by the news Bella just told me.