Edward wasn't sure if she was taking the homework as seriously as he was and though the sexologist had encouraged words and touch, Rosalie hadn't seemed to do much of either. They'd cleaned up the dinner dishes together, listened to some classical music, and Rosalie yawned, seeming to be in a hurry to get to bed. Now, he realized ironically that they were no ordinary couple in a rush to hit the sack. In fact, they would be sharing the bed now, which, in itself lent to its own new level of strange. At least at the hotel, he felt free to get in bed and browse his neverending emails or read up on continuing education. But now, while the cameras were still watching them in the corners of the room, he tried to act natural.

He struggled for what to do. "You tired already?"

"I like to read." She paused for a moment. "Maybe we can find something on tv to watch. What shows are you into right now?"

"Documentaries. But also older shows like MASH. Otherwise, I'm not a big fan of television." He wondered now if they would find anything to watch that they both liked. "How about you?"

She smiled, and he could tell she hadn't liked any of his suggestions. "Reality shows, but I do like the history channel. Especially about the technology."

Didn't interest him at all, but Edward decided he would give it a try. After getting changed, they both got into bed and Rosalie flipped through the channels but then uttered a sigh when she didn't find anything appealing.

"Well, maybe we're rushing television. I mean, Dr. Muncher did want us to get to know each other more."

You'd think he just asked her to mop up grease off the floor. She closed her eyes, took a breath, and exhaled.

Edward wondered if she realized the cameras were recording all this and she was not going to be painted in a good light, which was something she was very concerned about. Had she forgotten, or had she no longer cared?

"I'm sorry, Edward. This is so much harder than I thought this would be. It's not your fault. I hope you know."

"I know. Me too. I think this homework is a bit much."

"Should we just go to sleep?"

The clock showed 8:30, and the green dot on the camera sat nice and big and round. showing them they were still rolling. The producer was definitely watching, and Edward hoped someone else wouldn't make a surprise appearance at her front door.

"I guess not. Just wow. I don't know what to do. Maybe we can play cards or something…"

Edward just lay on his back with hands curled behind his neck, not tired, unsure what to do. He imagined that if Bella had been here this awkward silence would not exist. "Okay, well there's the getting to know you type of games. Like twenty questions or Never have I ever…"

"That's a drinking game, isn't it?"

"It doesn't have to be."

"How about this: tell me something about yourself you would change if you had a magic wand."

"Ummm…maybe I would be smarter. Kinder."

Edward scoffed. "You're smart, Rosalie. People who can fix things the way you do have brilliant minds."

"Thank you. Then I guess I would be kinder. Maybe I wouldn't be so obsessed with myself." She kept her gaze lowered.

"The fact that you think you're obsessed with yourself tells me maybe that you're not."

"No, I'll admit it. I'm pretty selfish. I'm not proud of it, but I guess I've always felt like my life was a competition, that I've always had to be better than others. And the truth is I never believed that I was. It does a number on you. "

"What stops you?" he asked. "I mean, from just being who you are? There will always be people who like you and people who don't. Life doesn't have to be a competition."

"I understand that…except that my life always has. Hell, this industry is all about competing, getting the job, landing the role."

"Well, right now, who are you competing with? The other couples?"

"Nobody, I guess. I really did come here to find my perfect someone, Edward. I'm not trying to be difficult."

"Okay, so we have that in common. They say that until you learn to like yourself, that you're not going to be good for anyone else. So, if you didn't care what others thought, who would you be?"

Her eyes began to fill with tears, and right away she began fanning them with her hands. "I'm sorry. I…just nobody else has ever cared enough about me to ask me that. It means a lot, Edward. Thank you."

"I meant it, Rosalie, from day one, what I said to you in the vows, though it was misunderstood, I want to know the real you."

Her face crumpled, and she covered it with her hands. "I know, and I was such a bitch to you. I can't believe you stuck with me."

Edward was surprised himself that they'd made it this far, but his stubbornness was a trait that served him over the years, finishing what he started, that was how he'd made it through med school. He was even more surprised when she reached for his hand and squeezed it.

"Thank you. I'm so grateful to you. For giving me…for giving us a chance."

He smiled and squeezed her hand. "Me too."

She yawned and scooted closer to him and set her head on his chest. "I'm going to try, Edward. I'm going to be the person I want to be, hopefully the person you deserve." She sniffed. "And you smell good. I love Aventus."

He couldn't help but smile at this new connection they'd made. And what had he done? Cared more about who she was than the image she was trying to present. "You smell good too."

"Thank you."

Rosalie

When they weren't forced to be together, Rosalie was surprised to find how easy it was to be with him. The one thing he saw past was her looks, and for her that had been her biggest advantage. Edward hadn't cared about that. He hadn't emphasized importance on how she looked. When they woke up, she was on her side and he had his arm wrapped around her. How had that happened? At first, she startled at this unexpected contact but then his words flooded back to her. She wondered then if he was even attracted to her? Was she attracted to him? At least now they were in a place where they could relate to one another. Even just as friends. The thing that bothered her, though, is that despite all this, she wanted him to be attracted to her, but if he hadn't been impressed by now then likely there wasn't anything outward she could do. Maybe she could just focus on being herself. Was she all about impressing others or wasn't there someone in there who actually cared more about things outside herself.

She crept from the bed, carefully removing his arm from her as sunlight shone through the cracks in the curtains. They'd fallen asleep so early. Rosalie padded to the restroom, looked at her tousled hair in the mirror — still had a light streak of mascara that ran down from beneath her eyes.

When she finished scrubbing her face, the knock at the door startled her. "I'm going to be a little while yet, Edward. Can you use the other bathroom?"

"Sure, I just thought that we'd go out for a jog."

He liked jogging.

Uh…She was going to need time. "I don't have any makeup and I haven't showered."

"Yeah, that's kind of the point. Jog first, shower later…you know by yourself, of course. Then get ready for the day."

No. She couldn't just go out in public without makeup, could she? "But…"

"Rosalie, you are a beautiful person. Stop worrying about how you look on the outside. Besides, joggers aren't supposed to wear makeup. It's kind of a rule."

She looked at her reflection, pondering what he said. Could she? No. She grabbed her mascara wand and two minutes later was out of the bathroom, her hair in a ponytail and grabbing some pants and a tank top and hoodie.

He was already by the front door when she left the bedroom, stretching, shiny shorts and all. And of course, there was the Jim, their cameraman.

"Yikes! What's up with those shorts?" Rosalie asked.

Edward looked at her in surprise, and he seemed not to be shocked by her lack of makeup. Nor did he seem like he was going to ask her to turn around and do something about it. "I'll have you know, these are top quality, water and wind resistant…"

"Woman resistant," she said.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know you only cared about my shorts."

She laughed at this. A drone hovered ahead of them, keeping its distance, and she kept her gaze on the sidewalk, the manicured grass that bordered it. It started off as a sprint, then graduated to a race where Edward had gotten a lead on her, but little did he know she too jogged almost daily, save the last few weeks, but her legs were hungry for the motion, her feet smacking the ground rhythmically. She passed him up, then turned and waved to him.

"Hey, it's not a competition, remember?" he yelled.

She slowed down at this and allowed him to catch up to her. "I know, but sometimes it makes things more fun." Then, when Edward picked up the speed and dashed ahead, she propelled herself forward to catch up as he laughed. Rosalie caught up to him quickly enough, and they settled into a companionable jog.

"This is good."

"Just admit that you're irritated because you can't run faster than me."

"I'm just not that competitive. If you want to be faster, you go ahead, but I don't see how that helps us get to know each other better."

He was right. She slowed to a fast walk and they arrived at a pathway leading to a park. "You're going to have to be patient with me, Edward. I've competed all my life."

"No worries. I'm very patient."

A very desirable trait — so foreign to her growing up. She leaned toward him, elbowing him. "Thanks."

The sun shone brightly as they made their way toward a bridge. "Hey, so why are you here, Edward? How come you haven't found Miss Perfect already?"

"I just don't have time with my job. Besides I don't think perfection exists, but I figure at least with this show, they can come pretty close."

"Did you ever wonder, you know, if things didn't work out what you would do?"

"Forecasting, are you?"

"Before we met, you knew it was a possibility, didn't you?"

"I didn't like to think that way. Especially because my family and coworkers would see all this…"

"Aha! You do care what people think."

"To an extent. I'm putting my best foot forward. I'm doing what I can to make this work. If it doesn't work then…"

"Then it's because of me."

"I didn't say that."

"No, you didn't have to. If everyone sees you as the agreeable one, then it doesn't matter to you how everyone sees me. Ultimately, it will be my fault, right?"

"Wait a minute now. This is a two-way street. It's way too early to be having this discussion. This is not about who fails because they didn't try hard enough. This is about figuring out a way to put forth the effort to make a marriage work."

"Sorry. Defensiveness is my go to. Besides, I hate to think you will hate me or say mean things about me. It's not like I don't deserve it."

"What it's always going to come down to is if we can make this a real marriage. It's going to take both of us. We became a team from the moment we said "I do."

"Right. I've never been part of a team. Not a successful one."

"Well, there's a lot of firsts for you here. I'm seeing a lot of growth. Aren't you? Aren't you learning more about yourself?"

"Yeah. It's just that now if you take away the competition aspect, I don't know who I am anymore."

"Can't you just be Rosalie? I mean, save the competition for your job, but in your personal life just be you?"

"I'm trying. It's still new to me." The drone hovered in front of them, and she tried not to think of how she was being portrayed. As much as she wanted to feel free to be herself, how was that possible when you've set yourself up to be judged by thousands? "Besides, how do you just stop caring what people think, Edward? How?"

"Well, what's the worst thing that can happen?"

"America will hate me."

"Is that the worst thing? Reality stars are often misunderstood. The editing alone…"

"Does anyone give them a chance?"

"I'm sure the right people do? How do you think celebrities manage? They have to be who they are because they can't live their lives for others. So, I'm asking you again…is that the worst thing?"

"It could be bad for my career."

"People have bounced back."

"Name one person." He was silent for a minute. "You can't think of one, can you?"

"Well, you have a choice. You can be who you think the world expects you to be and be miserable, or you can make yourself happy by being yourself. Personally, Rosalie, I have faith in you."

"Thank you, Edward. That actually means a lot." She edged up to him and set a kiss on his cheek. And it was the first time since this process began she could actually see him as her life partner.

A/N: Hang in there with me. We are going through the motions. As always, thanks for reading and for your reviews.