Bella is hopelessly, head-over-heels, embarrassingly, in love with Edward. She'll even-wonder of wonders-go on a hike with him.

Haha my fingers slipped and I accidentally wrote two thousand words of fluff instead of doing my homework for grad school. Every time I update I say that this time I won't wait a year before the next chapter, but this time I really mean it. Stay tuned for action, drama, plot, world building, etc... and maybe a little bit of teenage romance along the way, what can I say?

Reality intruded at last. I cleared my throat, resisting the urge to wipe at my suddenly watery eyes. "What are we doing today?"

Edward's eyes shifted to the side. "Not hiking."

I perked up. "No?" Was there something else we could do this far in the forest?

"I'm hiking," he clarified. "You are not."

What? I stared at him, uncomprehending.

"How do you feel about piggy-back rides?"

I surprised myself by giggling. "I haven't had one of those in years."

"You're not opposed, though?"

"No."

"Good."

He was out of the car before I could reply, and my door was open by the time I had unbuckled my seatbelt. I leveraged myself out of the seat, ignoring his offered hand. "How far are we going?"

Edward, draped casually over the edge of the door, shrugged one shoulder elegantly. "A couple of miles."

"Miles? Plural?" My voice squeaked.

"There's a place I think you would like."

"And I'll be… piggy-backing."

"Exactly." He flashed a grin. "Your only job will be to avoid falling off."

I found myself smiling in return. "I make no promises."

Edward turned away from me and glanced over his shoulder. "Are you ready?"

No! I took a deep breath. With Edward, I could do anything. "Yes."

He half-knelt and I leaned against his shoulders, thrilling at how close it brought us. He waited patiently as I wrapped my arms and legs around him. Then he stood in a movement so fluid it almost didn't feel like movement at all. "Don't let go."

"You'd have to pry me off with a crowbar." I tucked my chin over his shoulder, not minding how cold his neck was against my cheek. "I'm ready."

Edward hummed gently. "We'll see."

That sounds ominous.

I felt him tense. An instant later, the world lurched into motion around us. The trees flashed by at a dizzying speed. My heart was racing. But it wasn't quite like being in an airplane—there was no rumbling beneath me, no whining engine straining to lift the plane into the air. I clung tightly to Edward, only half-feeling the rise and fall of his strides. It was smoother than I had expected. Even running by myself would have been more jolting, I thought. If I closed my eyes, it was almost pleasant to feel the wind whipping through my hair.

I battled curiosity for a few minutes. This didn't seem like the ideal situation for a conversation. Finally the curiosity won out. "How can you keep from hitting anything?" I found myself shouting, trying to be heard over the sound of the wind.

"If you were walking through the forest, how would you keep from hitting anything?" he asked, just loudly enough for me to hear him.

Right. Super hearing. I tried a conversational voice, though I could barely hear myself. "I see it coming. In theory." I had walked into enough of branches face-first for it to only be theory.

"So do I. In reality."

I opened my eyes for a moment and saw the world passing by at an alarming rate. It felt like being on a freeway, but without the protection of a car.

"How can you see so fast?"

I felt him shrug. "I just can."

"Just you? Or all vampires?"

"All of us. It's a predatory adaptation. Or a deal with the devil. You decide." Although I couldn't see his face, I could still see the smile tugging at the corner of his cheek.

"Gift from God?" I suggested, purely out of a desire to be contrary. And really—the boy in my arms was too much like an angel for me to ignore the comparison.

He snorted, the sound just barely perceptible. "Don't be ridiculous."

"Don't be such a skeptic."

"Are you religious, then?"

"I just found out that vampires exist. Can I really afford to be closed-minded?"

"Fair enough."

The wind had died down. I opened my eyes again to see the forest silently looming around us, suddenly still. "Are we here?"

"Yes."

"So soon?"

I felt Edward shrug again. "I'm… fast." He sounded smug.

"How fast?"

"Fast enough." He rolled his shoulders back, an invitation for me to let go. "Ready to trust your own two feet?"

I felt a little wobbly, but I wasn't about to admit that. "Of course." He was tall enough that unwinding my legs from around his waist left me dangling a few inches off the ground. I flailed a little, hoping I wasn't about to step in or on anything. I wasn't used to forests.

He sensed my difficulty and crouched. My feet found the ground and I unhooked my arms from his shoulders, a little stiff from how tightly I had been holding onto him. I was belatedly embarrassed over clinging like a fearful koala.

"Good?" he asked, sliding his hand down my arm until his fingers laced between mine.

"Good." I tried to look adventurous. "This is… a nice forest."

Edward laughed. "I thought you might want to walk the last hundred feet."

Hundred feet? To what? "I'm a great walker," I lied. "I can walk a hundred feet in my sleep."

"Can you? Then you'll have an easy time with this." He tugged on my hand, propelling me in front of him.

I eyed the poorly defined trail ahead of me with suspicion. It ran between two trees and turned sharply, opening up into—

"Oh!"

"Do you like it?"

"It's beautiful!"

A meadow stretched before me. It wasn't large; there were maybe fifty feet between me and the opposite side. The soft-looking grass was broken by clusters of long-stemmed pink, white, and blue flowers. Trees towered on either side, but directly ahead of me, a cliff gave way to a long slope of more trees marching down the slopes of the hill we were on. Dark green hills rolled in the distance until they faded into the misty blue horizon. The sides of the clearing were edged with lacy bushes, some of them also dusted with small blossoms.

Above us, the sun broke through the clouds and bathed everything I could see in golden light. I couldn't help the sigh of delight that escaped me or the smile that crept over my face.

"It's beautiful," I repeated quietly. "Thank you." I turned to look at him and caught a soft, wondering look in his eyes before he could hide it. "How did you find it?"

He shrugged. "I have a lot of free time. Wandering through the woods is a good way to spend it."

I supposed I could understand. "What do you like to do when you're here?"

"Well," he said slowly, then all in a flash he had scooped my legs out from under me. I squealed with delight and nestled in his arms until he set me down on the grass so gently I hardly felt the downward movement. He sprawled beside me. "I like to lie in the grass and think about the world…"

"Mmhmm," I said breathily as I curled as close to him as I could, hoping it encouraged him to go on.

"… and lately that's meant thinking about you…"

"Mmhmm," I murmured again, meeting his golden eyes and feeling delightfully shivery all over.

"… and how much I want to do this every minute that I'm with you…" he whispered, leaning so near I could feel his breath against my mouth. He paused and I realized he was waiting for me to close the gap, so I did.

Our lips touched, gently at first and then more and more urgently. My heart pounded as I twisted my fists into his shirt, holding him against myself as tightly as I could. I was lost in his arms. It could have lasted a minute or a decade—I wouldn't have been able to tell the difference.

Too soon, he pulled away with a gasp that sounded almost like a sob. We stared at each other, both panting, noses almost touching.

"Don't overestimate my self-control," he murmured, finally. His voice was shaky. I had seen his composure ruffled before, but never like this. "You'll be the death of me, Bella Swan."

I laughed, equally shaky. "I think I'm technically the one more likely to die in that situation." I regretted the words as soon as they were out. I didn't want to think about the possible consequences of being with him.

His face darkened. "As if I could continue to live in that situation."

I tightened my arms around him again. "It doesn't matter. It'll never happen."

"I won't let it," he promised, sounding almost angry.

I tilted my chin up, hoping to distract him. He took me up on the offer and kissed me until I was breathless enough to pull away for air. My head was spinning and I felt hot all over. I welcomed his cold hands, one at the nape of my neck and one tangled into my hair. They had never wandered, I realized with a vague sort of surprise. The few boys I had kissed on a dare or out of curiosity or because it seemed like what everyone else was doing had been less restrained.

"You're very polite," I wondered aloud.

Edward chuckled, also sounding breathless. "I'm old-fashioned."

"What does that mean?"

"Back in my day," he said, and laughed again as I pulled a face at him, then brushed his nose against mine before continuing. "Back in my day, I would have gotten to know your family… sat on your front porch every fine evening… and then, after a little while, I would have asked your father for his blessing…"

I wasn't sure I liked where this was going. "Are you saying we should get married?" I tried to keep my voice light, wondering what I would do if the answer was yes. I was afraid the answer was that I would marry him.

"Not if you don't want to," he said, his tone also light. He kept his eyes on me as he continued. "I haven't done much in the way of relationships since then, so forgive me if I'm still a little behind the times."

"Much?" I asked, feeling unreasonably put out by the idea that he might have shared a moment like this with someone else.

He smirked and dropped a kiss against my forehead. "I've had my share of interested parties."

"How nice for you," I grumbled, squirming away.

"But I was waiting for you," he said. The smirk vanished, replaced by deep seriousness. "It's always been you."

My annoyance melted. "Oh."

"Were you jealous?" He hid his face in my shoulder, but I could still feel the return of his irritating half-smile.

"No," I lied.

"Does that mean I get to be jealous of all the boys in Forks who've had their eye on you?" he continued, ignoring my half-hearted protest.

I scoffed. "Name one."

"Oh, I could name several." I felt him huff against my collarbone. "Perks of being me."

"But why? I mean, I understand you having admirers." I almost wailed. "But I'm just… me."

"Exactly," he agreed complacently. "Brilliant, beautiful, funny, kind, perceptive, curious—"

"Stop, stop," I begged, moved to laughter. "I'm none of those things."

"Are you calling me a liar?"

"You've must have mixed me up with someone else."

"Ah, I see. I've made a mistake. I should really be out here with Lauren, shouldn't I?"

I laughed again, helplessly. "It might make more sense if you were."

"Oh, Bella," Edward murmured, sounding oddly sad, "you're so wise about some things… and so silly about others."

"I'm not silly." I tried to sound offended.

"Wrong, then. You're all the things I listed and so much more." His fingers moved from the back of my neck to my face and he stroked my cheek with his thumb. "I'm lucky to have met you."

I squirmed, uncomfortable with the praise. "I'm nothing special."

"On the contrary. You're extraordinary."

"I hardly think you count as an unbiased judge."

He huffed with laughter. "Fair enough. But I'm a fairly good judge of character… and I like yours."

"Oh, you like it. That's more subjective. I'll accept that." I snuggled close again and he hummed happily in response.

"I'm glad you could see reason," he murmured into my hair.

"I always see reason. I'm brilliant and perceptive, remember?"

"I couldn't agree more."

The conversation lapsed. I closed my eyes and let myself just enjoy the sensations of grass below, sun overhead, and Edward in my arms. It was the best day of my life.