My steps were slow on the stairs, hesitant as I thought about a way to bring this up with Edward. I was still embarrassed from Alice's talk this afternoon and I flushed again even thinking about it.

I kept my eyes shut as Alice worked on my face. I had already argued that she would just be able to see the outcome anyways and we really didn't have to go through with a practice round of make up for the wedding, but she insisted it was Part of the 'experience' and long used to Alice getting her way, I hadn't fought it. I simply went to my mental happy place and let her have at me. She was humming an unfamiliar tune under her breath for most of the time, stopping every once and a while to admire her handy work.

"How are things going with you and Edward?" Her melodic voice pulled me out of my revery, and I considered her question.

"I'm not sure what you mean." I said, eyeing her. Her question was innocent enough, but nothing Alice did was without a plan or motive. She scoffed at me and rolled her golden eyes.

"I think it's a self-explanatory question Bella. How is the relationship between you and Edward?" She asked again, her tone casual. I didn't trust it for a single second.

"Well, considering we're getting married in less than a month, I'd say it was pretty good, Alice."

She gave me a small smile and then put down the brush she had been using to dust my cheeks. She pulled herself up onto the counter in front of me, and I was instantly nervous as she dropped the pretense.

"Okay, I've played this out every which way in my head, so I'm just going to come out and say it." I sat up further in my chair, trying to prepare myself for whatever would possibly come out of her mouth.

"I think you and Edward need to push your physical boundaries before the wedding night."

I actually felt my mouth drop open at her statement. My mind reeled for a moment as I tried to make sense of what she was saying. She wanted us to…what? Move to second base before the honeymoon? I felt the heat creep into my cheeks as I tried to push that mental image away.

"Before you say anything." She said quickly, raising her hands in defense as if I was a bomb about to explode.

"Let me explain. I know you don't want to think about it, and neither does my brother honestly but I can't help what I see, and this is a very important step that you guys are taking so it's not my fault that I'm seeing certain…futures." Her eyes darted around the room, and I realized she was just as uncomfortable with the topic as I was. I was also insanely grateful that the Cullen house was empty for a change, or had she orchestrated that. When I didn't say anything she continued.

"I'm trying not to focus on details, but one thing I'm almost positive about is there are too many things that could go wrong. Edward has established very clear lines for you both and in a couple short weeks you guys are going to attempt to cross every one of those lines. I think it's going to be too much for him, going from chaste kisses to full blown sex, it's like going zero to sixty in ten seconds flat. Not a smart idea." Despite my hot face, I actually was interested in what she was saying. If Alice felt the need to bring it up and warn me about it, it was a very real possibility that this could be a problem.

"Okay. I'm listening." I said, trying to push the embarrassment away. She clapped her hands and smiled, moving passed the awkwardness herself.

"Good. So what I'm thinking is you need to talk to him. He won't consider the idea himself, he's too old fashioned, so you're going to need to bring it up to him." She was right of course, even after the day in the clearing when he'd offered me everything then and there, he'd reverted to his careful physical lines.

"What…I mean how do I say…" She took pity on me and hopped down from the counter.

"I don't know, that's for you to decide. The how's are between you and my brother." She picked up her brush again, turning her attention to my face.

"The things that you see…is it..." I tried to find a way to word this, aware that to say it aloud felt almost like a betrayal. I trusted Edward implicitly, but I needed to know if it was possible for his peace of mind. Alice took pity on me once again, already knowing what I was going to ask.

"I won't lie, there's a chance for minor injuries. I've told him this of course, but most of what I see is him backing out cause he's to overwhelmed." I gave her a thankful smile and that was that.

I hadn't been able to get what she said out of my head, and the more I thought about it the more it had seemed like such an obvious problem. She was right, whether Edward had thought about it or not he wouldn't suggest pushing those lines before marriage, which meant I was going to have to do it. Which was the reason behind my hesitancy as I pushed my bedroom door open and stepped inside.

Edward was on my bed, lying on top of the comforter, his long legs stretched out and his arms crossed behind his head. He looked perfect and my heart thumped painfully in my chest. I had just closed the door when suddenly he was in front of me, his cool stone arms encasing me. I hugged him back quickly, despite my mental hesitation.

"I missed you." He murmured, tucking his cheek against the top of my head. I tightened my arms around his torso.

"I missed you more. How was hunting?" I felt him shrug against me and his arms loosened enough that he could pull back.

"It was uneventful. How was your day." His eyes held mine and I flushed as I remembered my conversation with Alice again. His hand came up, stroking my pink cheek, his eyes inquisitive.

"It was okay. Alice wanted to practice my makeup for the wedding." I pulled away, using the excuse of finding my pajamas to hide my face from him. I found them tucked onto my desk chair and retreated to the door.

"I'll be right back." I said, slipping out and heading to the bathroom.

I was annoyed that I was already blushing and hadn't even broached the subject yet. I mean really it shouldn't be this hard, we had already agreed to try, it's not like this was coming from nowhere. I pulled on one of my nicer pairs of pj's pants; slowly but surely Alice was replacing the clothes from my drawers, and a comfortable tank top. I brushed out my hair and then brushed my teeth, finally I couldn't delay it anymore and shut of the light, heading back to my room.

He was sitting on my bed closest to me, his face curious and I knew he knew something was up. I tossed my dirty clothes into my hamper and then turned back to him, walking the couple steps until he was in front of me. His hands reached up, landing gently on my waist, and tugging me forward in between his legs.

"What is it my love." He asked gently, his honey eyes holding mine. My hands found their own way to his shoulders without my conscious decision.

"Im really not sure how to say this." I admitted, my eyes trailing off around my room.

"I'm not going to like this am I?" He asked, forcing his mouth into a small smile. I appreciated his effort at humor.

"I have no clue." I said honestly, pulling away and climbing onto my bed and sitting beside him. He turned his body so he was still facing me, his knee touching my own.

"What is it Bella, you can tell me anything." He ducked his head, catching my gaze so I was looking at him again. I took a deep breath, preparing to say this but still having no clue how to.

"Don't say anything at first, just listen...okay?" He nodded but I could tell he was dying to know what was on my mind.

"I've been thinking, and the wedding is only a couple weeks away and maybe we should be…preparing?" It sounded like a question, but it made no sense, even to my own ears.

"What I mean is, I think we need to practice." He looked just as confused as I felt. Why oh why did Alice not give me anything better to say? His mouth opened but then closed, shutting silently and he waited for me to go on.

"For the honeymoon." I said, and his brows shot up.

"Okay I change my mind, please say something." I said desperately, dropping my face into my hands. I felt the bed shift and he came closer, his leg folded beside my own and when I lifted my head he was only inches away.

"I'm sorry love, but I really don't know what you're trying to say." I let out a frustrated sigh and tried again, stealing Alice's words.

"I think we should try pushing our boundaries, before the honeymoon I mean." His face stayed calm and collected, his hands taking mine into his cool grip.

"Just so there's no miscommunication, are we speaking of physical boundaries?" I flushed but didn't turn away and nodded. He frowned, the expression odd on his perfect inhuman face.

"I have already told you Bella, if you don't want to wait we don't have to. I meant what I said in our meadow."

"That's not what I want, well that's not what I mean anyways.." God this was harder than it should be, we were getting married for god sake, why I couldn't I talk about sex like a grown up.

"I do want to wait. I just think that if we wait for everything it's setting us up for something to go wrong." He frowned at me before letting one of his hands rest on my cheek, his other holding both of mine.

"You think I am going to hurt you?"

"NO!" I said it too loud, and I was thankful that Charlie was downstairs watching sports in the living room still. I laid my hand over his on my cheek, trying to reassure him with my touch.

"I don't think that at all. What I'm trying to say and failing miserably is that I think we need to push those lines in a controlled and less…pressure filled environment. Rather than going from nothing to everything in one night, we test the lines so that when that night comes, we'll know a little more what to expect." I could practically see his mind racing at my words, turning them over and finding the flaws in them.

"Again, just to be clear. We would be working up to our wedding night, rather than crossing every line in one night." He asked to confirm, and I practically sighed out in relief.

"Exactly. Just like in the beginning, even touching me was difficult for you, now you can hold me and kiss me no problem. It's like that, we practice until it's easier and less overwhelming." He took hold of my hand again, bringing it up to his lips and kissing it softly.

"I don't see how it would be a bad idea, but would you please let me think about it?"

"Yes, of course."

I was relived to finally have that out and leaned backwards, getting ready to climb under my blankets. He was beside me in a heartbeat, on top of the blankets and stretched out. Once I was covered I snuggled up to him, laying my head on his chest and hugging his torso with my free arm. We were quite for a couple minutes, and while I would normally fall asleep fairly easy, tonight I felt to nervous.

"Are you still up?" He asked quietly and I laughed gently, like he couldn't tell I was.

"Yes." I said. His arm wrapped around my back, his hand resting on my waist.

"I have questions." He said and it sounded like he was smiling.

"Sometimes I forget how quickly you process things." I said, smiling also but leaving my head resting on his chest.

"Go ahead."

"What boundaries specifically are we talking about." I thought about that and shrugged.

"I'm not sure to be honest, I haven't really thought beyond talking about it." His hand slowly slides to my back, his fingertips light as they trailed patterns over my top.

"Okay, then I think it's important to discuss the boundary prior to pushing it."

"That seems reasonable." I said, fighting back a grin.

"And only pushing one boundary at a time."

"Okay."

"What about you. Anything to add?" I thought about that, it might seem obvious, but I would put it out there anyways.

"No sex." I said and blushed. His hand paused on my back before returning to his path.

"Okay."

"And no wallowing if something doesn't go perfectly." He paused again and when he spoke he sounded like he was indeed pouting.

"I do not wallow."

"Mhmm." Was my only reply. It was a couple more moments before he spoke again.

"Communication. If we are going to do this we need to be able to talk about it, I know I'm not very good at that myself, but it can only work if we discuss everything." Finally his hand resumed stroking my back.

"Agreed." I said, fighting back a yawn that was attempting to come out. His free hand held mine that was resting on his chest, giving it a light squeeze.

"Go to sleep love, we can discuss this more in the morning."

I didn't bring it up in the morning and neither did he. It seemed harder to talk about things like physical touching in the light of the day, so I decided to wait for him to bring it up again. We had a pleasant day, spent some time at his house with his family and then made dinner for Charlie. I walked him to the door for him to 'leave' and he kissed me goodbye. When he pulled away he gave me a wink before disappearing.

I called out a goodnight to Charlie before heading upstairs to my room. Once inside I grabbed my pajamas and went to change, finding him waiting for me when I got back. I smiled and quickly crawled into my bed, curling up beside him as he laid his arm around my shoulders.

"I would like to finish our conversation from last night." He said calmly, and I breathed out a small sigh of relief.

"Okay." I unfurled from his side, laying beside him, and turning onto my side. He mirrored me, his face slightly higher than mine and I was distracted by his cool breath.

"You are right, it is a good idea." I smiled at that, happy that this seemed to be going good at least.

"I would like to establish some ground rules thought." I rolled my eyes, of course he did.

"Isn't the whole purpose of this to break some rules?" I asked, giving him a little grin. He smiled back, sliding his body closer to me but not touching.

"My sweet Bella, you always break the rules." I couldn't help but laugh at his words and I moved in, leaning into his hard body.

"Somebody has to." I mumbled, my face close enough to his smooth neck that I pressed a small kiss to it. He stiffened beside me, and I rolled my eyes again.

"What are your rules." I asked, pulling away to see his face.

"Some of them are redundant from last night, but I want to list them officially. Number one is communication. If we are pushing these lines I need you to talk to me and tell me if I do something you do not like." That was an easy one to agree with, mostly cause I knew there wouldn't be anything he could do that I wouldn't like. I nodded, my hand absent-mindedly moving to the back of his neck and playing with the silky strands of hair there.

"Number two is no getting carried away. If you change your mind about being intimate before the wedding it is going to be because of a clear-headed decision, not hormones. So I will not allow it in the moment." I was listening to him, I swear I was but watching his mouth move was distracting and I wanted nothing more than to start pushing those boundaries.

"Can I add one?" I asked, thinking of something important. He looked slightly skeptical but nodded.

"Go ahead."

"You can't run away. If I do something or if something gets too difficult you tell me to wait or stop, but you can't run away from me. We wait for it to become easier." He listened and to my surprise he nodded easily.

"I can agree to that." I was thrilled with how well this was going, and I felt my lips pulling up into a smile.

"Like I said last night, I want to clearly discuss each line before we push it and there cannot be any surprises. We go slow and take our time. "

"I also don't think it should be every night, you need your rest, and we have plenty of time until the wedding." I wanted to argue that we only had a couple of weeks, but he was going along with this, so I knew better than to push my luck.

"Okay." I waited for him to say more, imagining the list of hard rules he had come up with, but he stayed quite, his eyes soft on my own.

"Is that all?" He gave me my favorite smile, his hand coming to rest on my waist.

"That's all." I felt the nervous energy return to my body but figured since this had been my idea I would have to start it.

"Should we…start now?" His smile grew, his eyes sweeping over my cheeks and to my mouth.

"I think that is a great idea. I might regret this question but where would you like to start?" Thoughts raced around my head of what we could do, most of them way to out there for tonight. I felt my cheeks redden with my imagination but pushed those aside. I had to be practical, if we started with something to hard he would pull away and refuse any more.

"Kissing?" He raised a brow in surprise and one corner of his mouth kicked up.

"Don't we already do that?" He asked. "I mean I know I'm old fashioned, but I do know how to kiss." I rolled my eyes and tugged gently on his hair.

"You know what I mean, we start by pushing something we already do. Instead of pulling away so soon we see how long you can handle it."

"Okay, but just so you know I could kiss you for all of eternity." My heart fluttered at his tone, there was nothing better on this earth than flirty Edward.

"Prove it." I said, tilting my head back so it was closer to his face.

He didn't waist anytime, his hand came up to hold my cheek and he pressed his mouth gently to mine. His cool lips were perfect, and I wanted to drink him in. I reminded myself we had to take things slow, I couldn't jump him. I allowed my hand to twist deeper into his hair, futility trying to hold him to me. He kissed me softly and when I needed to breathe his lips trailed to my cheek. I took a couple of breaths and then turned my head, meeting him with a little more enthusiasm. He matched my pace, allowing me to lead, my arms wrapped around his stone neck, and I pulled myself closer, our chests tight together. Normally this would be a clear sign to him that this needed to end, but not tonight. His hand left my face, finding the small of my back and pulling me closer. My legs tangled with his so I could feel him from my head to my toes. A shiver ran down my back, one he felt, and he pulled back just a breath away.

"Are you cold?" I shook my head, ignoring the slight flush that crept up my cheeks.

"It wasn't a cold shiver." I whispered and watched in delight as he smiled.

"It amazes me that I can make you feel that way, given what I am." My eyes narrowed at his comment, and I was immediately annoyed.

"What you are, is a loving and amazing man, who I plan to marry in less than a month. I would be concerned if you didn't make me feel that way." He gave me a breathtaking smile, his hand sliding from my back to my waist, and then lower, to my hip. It was stupid that a whole three inch difference of his hand placement mattered but it did. He hadn't ever touched me here, not purposely anyways.

"And how do I make you feel?"

"I thought we were meant to be kissing."

"Maybe I want to push our verbal boundaries?" He quipped, giving me his best crooked smile.

"Oh, Sorry. One boundary at a time." I said, trying to distract him from his question. I knew we had to get better at communication, but I so didn't want to admit how much he turned me on, fiancé or not. His eyes narrowed at me.

"Okay, but next time I pick which one we practice." And then there would be no getting out of it. At least I had time to figure out what to say.

"Are you going to kiss me?"

"So demanding." He tutted, but leaned in and kissed me again. I don't know how long we kissed for but at some point id pulled myself so close to him that I was half on top of him, my chest on his and my thigh over his own. His hands moved down my sides and stopped on my hips, his long fingers brushing the top of my butt. His mouth was on my neck, and I was attempting to keep my breathing steady.

"Behave." He whispered and pulled me closer, sliding my body so I was on top of him, my thighs on either side of his torso. My heart pounded painfully at this new position and excitement raced through my veins.

"Bella?" He asked, his lips moving to my jaw.

"Hmmm?"

"Is this okay?" I wanted to laugh but couldn't get enough air in my lungs to manage it. Despite his cold touch I felt like I was boiling.

"Yes." I breathed out and I swear I felt his lips curl into a smile on my skin.

"Relax your body, you don't need to hold yourself up." I did as he said, relaxing so I was resting on him instead of my arms. His hands slowly moved down, caressing the outside of my thighs.

"I like you on top of me." He said quietly. I wasn't sure, but I think I might have actually caught on fire. His head tilted, his lips moving up the side of my neck, brushing a sensitive spot below my right ear. My lips opened of their own accord, a soft moan coming out. If he had been a human he probably wouldn't have even heard it, but Edward wasn't a human. He froze and I worried he would disappear from under me. My face heated almost painfully, and I buried it into his neck.

"Im sorry." I said. I didn't know what else to say. He finally thawed out, his hands moving up to my back and going around me in a hug.

"You have absolutely nothing to apologize for." I didn't move from my hiding spot, I was too embarrassed to face him. One of his hands stroked my hair reassuringly.

"Bella please. I mean it. This is the whole point of this, to become familiar with one another more intimately. You shouldn't feel embarrassed by that my love." Rationally I knew this, but it was the fact that he had barely done more than kiss my neck and I was already moaning.

"Please look at me." He asked so pleadingly that I couldn't deny him. I pulled back, trying to ignore my still red cheeks. When my eyes met his I noticed his where a darker shade of gold then they had been earlier.

"I can't change how you feel, but I can tell you that hearing you moan because of me brought me pleasure." My mouth fell open at his admission.

"Really?" I asked. He gave me a crooked smile and held me tighter.

"Yes really. It brings me pleasure knowing that I elicited that sound from your perfect lips. Despite my century of reading minds I have no firsthand knowledge of what to do with this sort of thing. Iv purposely not allowed myself to think about it." I allowed his words to seep into my mind, really contemplating that he not only wanted me in that way but that he was enjoying bringing me that kind of excitement. My fingers stroked over his cheek, my thumb brushing his bottom lip.

"Maybe that's a mental boundary that you should push." I suggested. His lips parted slightly, his cool breath rushing over my hand, and I shivered from the cold this time.

"Maybe your right." He said quietly, taking my hand and kissing my fingers.

"But I think for tonight we've pushed enough." I gave in willingly, more than surprised at our current position. I made to move off of him when he cupped my face, pulling me down gently to kiss him again. I wound my arms around his neck and held on tightly, kissing him with everything I felt. A couple moments later I pulled back and climbed over him, curling against his side and quickly falling asleep.