The Sleepover
I managed to successfully repress the thought of the camping trip Edward was going on – and the subsequent shopping spree and sleepover – the whole week. When I was reminded by Alice that she and Rose were picking me up at seven thirty the following morning – the drive to Seattle would take three and a half hours – it was already Friday afternoon, and I still hadn't told Charlie about our plans.
Edward and I had decided to stay in Forks that night, going to the Smoke House Restaurant, since he was leaving for the camping trip early in the morning. When I had finished getting ready for our date, I headed downstairs to talk to Charlie.
"Dad?" He was watching a baseball game on TV.
"Yeah Bells?" His attention remained on the television.
"I know I probably should have told you about this earlier, but Alice and Rosalie and I are going to Seattle to do some shopping tomorrow. They're looking for dresses for the Sadie Hawkins dance."
"That sounds nice; it'll be good for you to get out of this place for a while, you must be missing the city buzz." He looked away from the TV, a frown on his face. "You're not getting a dress?"
"No, I don't need a dress because I'm not going to the dance."
"Why not? Edward doesn't want to go?" He huffed. "Because you don't need a date to go to a dance."
"No, dad, Edward does want to go. I don't." Did I really need to explain this to him? I wasn't like I'd gotten my two left feet from Renée. "I've already made enough of a fool of myself by tripping in front of everyone at school; I really don't think I need to add to the "total klutz" reputation by attempting to dance." I held up my cast as evidence A.
"Oh, right." He nodded. "I get that. I just don't want you to miss out on all the high school stuff you should be doing."
"Well, if it makes you feel any better, I don't think I'll be able to get out of going to the prom." Edward had hinted that he wouldn't take no for an answer, and Alice had already mentioned another shopping trip in the beginning of May, when, according to her, the "good dresses" would be in the stores.
"That's good." He turned his attention back to the game on the screen.
"And then we're having a girls' night at the Cullens', you know, movies, manicures and sleepover." I continued.
"You want to stay the night there?" Oh, goody. I had his full attention again.
"Yeah…"
"Out of the question! I don't want you sleeping in the same house as that boy."
"Edward isn't going to be there. He's going camping with Carlisle, Emmett and Jasper." I quickly explained. "That's why we chose this weekend for the sleepover."
"Oh really?" I could hear the doubt in his voice.
"Do you want to call Carlisle and ask him? He's working late at the hospital tonight, but I'm sure he'd take five minutes off from saving lives to assure you that he's not trying to corrupt your daughter." I hoped he picked up on the sarcasm.
Charlie hesitated for a moment.
"No, that's OK. I trust you, Bells."
"So it's OK then? I can stay over?"
"Sure. You could probably use a little girl time, being stuck with just me all the time."
I honestly wasn't looking forward to the 'girl' part of the night that much – manicures had never really been my thing. But hanging out with Alice and Rosalie was going to be fun. Alice and I had become very good friends in the past couple of weeks, and Rose and I were making progress too.
"Great!" The doorbell rang then, and I hurried to let Edward into the house.
"Hello, sir." He greeted. I had tried to hint to Charlie that he might encourage Edward to call him Charlie instead of sir or Chief Swan, but either he hadn't heard me, or he'd chosen to ignore me.
"Hi there." Charlie only looked away from the TV for a moment to return the greeting. "What are your plans for tonight then?"
"Well, we've got a reservation at the Smoke House in fifteen minutes, and then I thought I'd show Bella First Beach in La Push." Edward said. "It's supposed to be a clear night, and you can really see the stars out there. I have to get up early tomorrow, so we'll probably be back by ten or so."
"Right, Bella told me about the camping trip. I've never been in the winter, personally, but I hear it's supposed to be nice."
"It is. Especially with the snow; it's practically completely silent in the woods."
"You'd better bring warm clothes; I hear it's supposed to get down to the high twenties tomorrow."
"Don't worry, sir, we're all set." I decided it was time to end the male bonding session, and tugged Edward with me towards the door.
"Bye dad, see you later."
"Bye Bells, have fun."
"What was that all about?" I wondered as I flipped through the CDs in the Camaro's glove compartment, choosing Learning to Breathe with Switchfoot. I Dare You to Move filled the car as Edward pulled out of the driveway.
"I can't be nice to your dad?" He glanced at me, eyebrows raised.
"Sure you can, but that was borderline sucking up." Sure I wanted Charlie to like Edward, but I just wasn't keen on the idea of my dad and my boyfriend bonding too much.
"You talk to Esme all the time." He pointed out, and I realized he had a point. I just didn't think of Esme that way, since I didn't have a problem talking to her about stuff.
"I guess you're right." I shrugged.
"Every time the two of you are off in the kitchen or something, I wonder when she's going to pull out the baby pictures and embarrass me for life." He admitted, and I laughed.
"I'm sure you were a very cute baby."
"I still don't want her showing them to you."
We spent the rest of the short ride to the restaurant discussing embarrassing things our parents had done over the years.
At the Smoke House, a female waitress showed us to a corner table. As she took our drink orders, she deliberately turned her back on me and focused on Edward. When I saw her wink at him before walking away, my eyes widened.
"What was her problem?" I grumbled as soon as she was out of earshot.
"What do you mean?"
"Oh, come on! She was totally flirting with you! Right in front of me." He raised an eyebrow at that.
"She was?"
"You're telling me you didn't notice?" I asked incredulously.
"My attention happens to be otherwise engaged." He reached over the table, took my hand and brought it to his lips, kissing my palm.
"That's nice to know." The waitress had been very pretty.
He didn't let go of my hand, and when the waitress returned with our drinks, I noticed her glare at our intertwined fingers.
"Can I take your orders, or do you need a minute?" She asked, still completely ignoring me.
"I'll have the grilled ribeye steak, what do you want, babe?"
I raised a questioning eyebrow at the word. He had never called me anything like that before. As the waitress reluctantly turned her attention to me, he winked at me, and I had to stifle a laugh that was threatening to escape.
"Oh, I'm not sure, honey." I said, playing along. "Everything looks so good. But I think I'll have the smoked salmon."
The waitress scribbled down my order, and left without another word. I broke into a giggle when she was safely in the kitchen.
"That was great, thank you."
"I didn't like the way she was looking at you." He shrugged.
"I didn't like the way she was looking at you." I countered.
"Yeah, that was a bit… unsettling."
"Are you telling me that you're not used to girls checking you out? Because that would kind of surprise me."
"I don't know. Emmett always teases me about girls ogling me, but I guess I'm usually not aware of it. I doubt I would have noticed her looking if you hadn't actually pointed it out to me."
"Really?" He just shrugged, looking a little embarrassed. I smiled to make him more comfortable. "Well, I'm glad. At least I won't have to worry about you running off with the first hot girl hitting on you."
"You know I would never do that, don't you?" He frowned.
"I know, I know." I assured him. And I did. Most of the time, anyway. "I just get self-conscious every now and then."
"Me too." He admitted.
That was comforting.
"Good to know."
I only realized that we had leaned closer and closer together over the table and that our faces were only inches apart when the waitress cleared her throat next to us. I quickly pulled back and Edward did the same.
The waitress didn't bother us more that evening.
xxxxx
"Do you feel like driving out to La Push to check out the beach?" Edward asked as we walked to the car. "It's not even eight thirty, and it only takes about twenty minutes to get there."
"Sure." I didn't want the evening to end just yet, especially since I wouldn't see him again until Sunday afternoon. "I haven't been there in ages, but I remember that I liked to go there when I visited Charlie in the summers."
We drove in comfortable silence, the only sound filling the car coming from the stereo.
I was afraid that it would be completely dark when we got there, but the almost full moon spread a silvery light over the snow on the rocky stretch of beach leading down to the water that was glittering in the moonlight.
"Wow." I mumbled. It was beautiful.
"I know. It's pretty amazing." He put his arm around my waist as we made our way down to the beach, only partially so I wouldn't slip. We found a fallen tree a few feet from the edge of the water; Edward brushed off the snow that was covering it before we sat down on a blanket he had brought from the car. The air was cold, and I shivered a little despite my thick jacket. Edward pulled me closer.
"I wish I could find the constellations." I mumbled, my eyes on the star spangled, seemingly endless darkness above us.
"That's Ursa Major right there." Edward pointed up at the sky. "And Orion's belt over there."
"You just know everything, don't you?"
"Far from it." He shook his head. "Alice went through a space-phase when we were nine; she read everything she could get her hands on. I picked up a few things, and I guess some of it stuck."
We sat looking at the stars in silence.
"I feel so small." I said after a moment.
"Looking into the vast eternities of the universe will do that to you."
"And to think that a lot of the stars we can see have already died a long time ago…"
"It's not something you should think about too hard, unless you want to go insane." He chuckled.
"But they're still pretty to look at."
"Not as pretty as you."
"That was a little cheesy, you know that right?" I giggled.
"I know, but you gave me such an opening, I just couldn't resist." He smirked at me.
"I guess I can let it slide just this once."
"Very gracious of you."
I leaned my head against his shoulder, and silence fell over us again. After a moment I heard him sigh next to me.
"What is it?"
"I was just thinking about something." I waited for him to continue. "About what we talked about at the restaurant earlier, how easy it is to get self-conscious from time to time."
"Yeah?" I wondered what he was getting at.
"It's just… to me, the way I feel about you is so obvious that I've never reflected on the fact that it may not be to you. So I thought I'd better let you know." I held my breath as he seemed to ponder what to say. He looked down at me, a small smile on his face. "I'm in love with you. I know it's only been, what? A month? But that's how I feel." He looked away from me, staring out over the water in front of us.
I realized that he was afraid I didn't feel the same, and I suddenly understood what he had said about how his feelings were obvious to him but may not be me. It was the other way around as well.
"Well, that's nice to know, considering the fact that I'm completely in love with you too."
"Really?" He looked down at me again, doubt lingering in his eyes.
"Of course. I thought it was obvious, but like you said…" I was interrupted by his lips on mine.
xxxxx
I woke up when my phone chirped the next morning. I glanced over at my clock radio as I reached for the phone. A quarter to seven; I had set the alarm to five minutes later.
Good morning, beautiful. We just left Forks, and I thought I'd give you a nice wake-up call, hope it's appreciated. I will miss you and I will see you tomorrow night. Have fun with Ali and Rose, and don't let them get their way about everything – E
A smile spread on my face as I read the words. A nice wake-up call indeed. I shut the alarm off before it had the chance to go off, and jumped out of bed, practically skipping into the bathroom to take a shower.
Charlie was in the kitchen when I came downstairs twenty minutes later.
"Morning, Bells." He glanced up from the paper he was reading.
"Morning." I fixed up some eggs and bacon for breakfast, sitting down opposite him to eat.
"Are you coming back here tonight before you head over to the Cullens'?" He wondered, and I shook my head.
"I don't think so." I had packed a small overnight bag that I was bringing in the car. "I don't know when we'll get back, really. It is a pretty long drive."
"It is. Alice does drive carefully, right? The snow can be tricky, and I don't want you girls to get into an accident."
"Yes dad, we'll be careful." Hadn't we already had this conversation?
Just when I had finished brushing my teeth, my phone chirped for the second time that morning.
We're outside, let's go!
I grabbed my overnight bag and purse and hurried down the stairs.
"I'm going now, dad, see you tomorrow." I called into the kitchen as I passed.
"Bye, Bells, have fun." He called back.
I saw that Alice had borrowed the Volvo for our little excursion, and put my bag in the trunk before getting into the backseat.
"Good morning!" Alice greeted me, more chipper than what should be legal so early on a Saturday.
"Morning Alice, Rosalie." I only got a mumble and a wave of the hand in return from Rose, who I noticed was wearing sunglasses.
"She just needs some more caffeine." Alice explained, pulling out of the driveway. "We're stopping by the coffee shop on the way, because, believe me, you do not want to spend the day with a caffeine-deprived Rose!" Rosalie muttered something under her breath in reply.
I waited in the car with Rose as Alice bounced into the coffee shop. She came back a few minutes later with three large paper cups.
"Large coffees all around." She handed one of the cups to me, and I took a long sip. Heavenly.
Rosalie gulped down half of her coffee before Alice even got out of the parking lot. When we got out onto the highway, she had finished the rest too and tossed the cup on the floor. She took off her sunglasses and turned around in her seat.
"That's better. Good morning!"
"Good morning." I returned her smile.
"I'm barely even human before I get at least two cups of coffee, and Alice dragged me out of the house after only one this morning." She explained, shooting an annoyed glance at Alice.
"We were late." Alice pointed out. "Plus, it's not good to drink too much coffee." Rosalie rolled her eyes at this.
"I hope you're all set for this, we will be dragging you to every dress shop in town." Rosalie warned me.
"I had kind of figured that one out already." I replied. "And that's fine, as long as I get at least fifteen minutes in a bookstore and a veto on anything too hideous. Emmett made me promise."
"That's what we need you for." Alice chimed in.
"You haven't changed your mind about getting a dress for yourself?" Rosalie wondered, turning back in her seat.
"Oh no." I shook my head. "That won't work, Edward already tried."
"It was worth a shot." Rose shrugged.
"You know, it's really a little mean to Edward." Alice narrowed her eyes at me in the rearview mirror. "I mean, since it's Sadie Hawkins and everything, and you haven't asked him."
"He knows why." I wasn't going to let her guilt me into going.
"But still. I know he would never say anything, but I think he's really disappointed." She glanced at me in the mirror again.
"Wow. You're good." I acknowledged. "But not good enough."
"Damn!"
Rosalie laughed at Alice's dejected tone.
We arrived in Seattle a little after eleven, and quickly made our way to 4th Avenue and the downtown shopping district.
By one thirty, both Alice and Rosalie had found the, quote, "perfect dresses" at Macy's, and we made our way to Unconventional Pizza on Pike Street where Alice vowed that the greatest ziti in the world was served. Both Rosalie and Alice ordered that, but I opted for the lasagna, which was wonderful.
After lunch, we strolled up and down the streets without much of a goal. The dress shopping out of the way, I was granted a full half hour in a great little place called Left Bank Books Collective. I came out of it with twenty dollars less than I'd had going in, but with an old paper-back edition of Sense and Sensibility and a leather-bound copy of The Waste Land.
"Are you happy now?" Alice asked as I joined her and Rosalie in a shoe store a few shops down.
"Ecstatic." I assured her, sitting down next to Rose on a bench by the window. Alice was trying on two different shoes, one silvery and one green.
"Which ones should I get?" She wondered, twirling around in front of the mirror with a frown on her face. "The dress is green…"
"It's always difficult to get the exact same color when you try to match." Rosalie warned her. "I would go with the silvery ones."
"What do you think, Bella?" Alice turned to me.
"I have to agree with Rose. Plus, you'll be able to use them more than you would the green ones." I wasn't sure rationality was the way to go when it came to Alice and shopping, but she seemed satisfied with my answer.
"Silver it is." She took off both shoes and put the green one back on the shelf.
We walked around the shopping district for a few more hours, going in to stores when we felt like it. When Alice suggested we'd get coffee and something to eat before heading back home, it was almost five o'clock.
We went to a place on 4th Avenue called Seattle's Best Coffee, which, surprisingly enough, actually had really good coffee.
The drive home somehow felt like it took a lot less time than the drive there, which was something I had always found strange, and we were back at the Cullens' at a quarter past nine. As soon as we entered the house, we were met by Esme.
"Did you have a good shopping trip?" She wondered.
"Oh yeah, we both found dresses." Alice reached for her Macy's bag and pulled out the dress to show Esme. It was a brilliant, dark green, had glittering stones on the strapless bodice and almost reached the floor.
"That's very pretty." Esme admired. "And you, Rose?"
Rose's dress was a simpler, black one with spaghetti straps. It was cut low both in the front and back and came to just below her knees. She had gotten black, high-heeled sandals to match.
"Emmett is totally going to lose it." Alice giggled.
"I think I have to agree with her." Esme said. "But I do hope the weather gets better in time for the dance, or you're both going to freeze your butts off."
"Which is why God created pantyhose." Alice skipped up the stairs with her bags and Rosalie followed.
"I hope they didn't bore you too much with their dress shopping." Esme said, going into the living room and sitting down on the couch.
"No, it was fun." I joined her. It had been fun. "And I got some quality book-shopping-time in too, so everyone's happy."
"I'm glad to hear it."
Alice and Rosalie quickly came back downstairs, and we ordered pizza before Alice popped 10 things I hate about you into the DVD player.
We paused the movie when the pizza guy arrived, and were just about to turn it back on when I got a text message. Alice raised an eyebrow at me and Rosalie smirked. I chose to ignore them both completely.
I hope you survived Seattle with Alice and Rose, and if not, I'm very sorry :-) We're about to turn in here, and I just wanted to say that I wish you were here. It's cold and dark, but I know your presence alone would brighten the woods. Enjoy the girls' night, and I'll see you tomorrow – E
"What did my dear brother want?" Alice asked, seemingly casual, as I flipped the phone shut.
"Alice!" Esme gave her a pointed look. "That's really none of your business."
"It's OK, Esme." I smiled at her before glaring at Alice. "Butt out!"
"Oh, come on!" She whined. "It's really all my doing that you're even together in the first place, shouldn't I get some good gossip in return?"
"I thought you said you didn't want details?" I reminded her.
"True." She nodded. "Nothing too graphic, I mean, eew! He is my brother. But I miss that just-started-dating-can't-spend-a-moment-apart feeling. Don't get me wrong, I love my Jasper, but it's so exciting when it's all new."
I grabbed a slice of the pizza as I pondered how to get out of Alice's request.
"You're embarrassing her, Alice." Rosalie elbowed Alice in the ribs.
"Fine. You're off the hook… for now!" Alice wagged her eyebrows at me before turning the movie back on.
It was half past eleven by the time the movie was over, and we realized that the manicures would have to wait until the following day. Whish was completely fine by me… hopefully, Alice would have forgotten about it then, though I wasn't holding my breath.
"Where are we sleeping?" I asked Rosalie as we climbed the stairs.
"My room." She replied. "It's not a real slumber party if we don't all sleep in the same room. I have a pull-out couch that you and Alice can sleep in."
"And we can have a pillow fight, and fulfill the fantasy that every teenage boy through history has had about girls-only-sleepovers." Alice added.
"How about we just tell the guys that we had a pillow fight?" Rosalie suggested through a yawn. I realized that I was really tired too – the day had been a lot of fun, but also very long.
"I'm with Rose on this one."
We took turns getting ready for bed in the bathroom, and when I returned to Rosalie's room, she and Alice had already fixed the pull-out couch and were in bed. I crawled in next to Alice, and pulled the cover up to my chin.
"Does anyone snore?" I wondered.
"Nope, you?" Alice pushed herself up on her elbow.
"No, but I do talk in my sleep sometimes." I regretted telling them the moment the words came out of my mouth.
"We know." Rosalie replied.
"He told you?" For some reason, I found that a little intruding. It was personal.
"Not intentionally, he just accidentally let it slip to Emmett, and he, of course, cannot keep a secret." Alice gave me an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, he made us promise not to say anything to you." She glared at Rosalie.
"It's OK. As long as you promise to wake me up if I start talking about something embarrassing."
"Define "embarrassing"." Alice teased me. I threw a pillow at her, and she giggled. "I thought you were too tired for a pillow fight!"
"I don't like it when they go camping." Rosalie complained, and I silently thanked her for changing the subject. It turned out that I was a little too early. "I'm not used to sleeping alone; I get all… wound up."
"I don't think it's the "sleeping alone" part that gets you wound up." Alice giggled.
"Very true." Rosalie bit her lip, contemplating something for a moment. "Which reminds me." She took something from the drawer in her bedside table and tossed it to me. It landed on the cover in front of me, and I picked it up. I immediately blushed deeply – It was a box of condoms.
"Now who's embarrassing her, Rose?" Alice laughed.
"Oh, come on. Better safe than sorry, right?"
"But do you have to be so blunt about it?" Alice complained.
"Guys, it's not like that." I mumbled. "I mean, we're not… we haven't…"
"It's only a matter of time." Rosalie shrugged.
I wished the ground would just open up and swallow me. But, of course, that never happened when you actually wanted it to.
xxxxx
I did not manage to escape the manicures the following day – and Alice decided to throw in pedicures as well. The manicure was OK, but I found out that I definitely didn't like people touching my feet.
"If you just sit still, this will turn out a lot better." Alice informed me as I fidgeted in the kitchen chair she had brought into the living room.
"Come on, Alice, nobody ever sees my feet anyway. Why in the world do I need red nail polish on my toenails?" I complained.
"It's the time of global warming." Rosalie said from her relaxed position on the couch. "You never know when there's going to be a heat-wave, and you need to break out the sandals."
"I highly doubt that there'll be a heat-wave in Washington in March." I replied dryly. She just shrugged and turned her attention back to the fashion magazine she was flipping through.
"There, all done!" Alice announced, and I sighed in relief.
"Finally." I got out of the chair.
"You have to be careful, the polish isn't dry yet." Alice told me, and I obediently hobbled over to the couch on my heels. I was glad I had nail polish remover at home.
I turned on the TV and flipped through the channels, nothing catching my attention.
"Will you stop that, you're making me dizzy." Rosalie took the remote from me and we ended up on HBO, where there was a Sex and the City marathon. "Nice." Rose put the magazine away and turned her attention to the TV.
"Anyone hungry?" Esme asked, coming down the stairs. "I thought I'd fix some chicken salad for lunch."
"Sounds great, mom." Alice skipped into the kitchen. "I'll give you a hand."
"Do you need help?" I asked over my shoulder.
"No, sweetie, you watch TV with Rose." Esme disregarded with a wave of her hand. I turned my attention back to the screen, where Steve and Miranda were talking.
We turned the TV off to have some lunch, and then Alice and Esme joined us on the couch and we continued to watch Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda.
By the time the final episode ended, it was six o'clock.
"Shouldn't they be back soon?" I asked no-one in particular.
"Battle Ground Lake is almost a four hour drive from here." Alice replied, checking her watch. "They'll probably be back around eight or so."
"Oh." I hadn't thought they were going so far away. "Where is it?"
"Close to Vancouver." Rosalie said. "They usually go hiking in the Casacde Mountains."
"Let's watch a movie." Alice suggested, going over to the DVD collection next to the TV. "We only had time to watch one last night."
"I need popcorn." Rosalie announced, heading into the kitchen. We waited until she came back and then turned the movie Alice had picked, Panic Room, on. All four of us curled up on the couch and Alice spread a blanket over our legs.
The movie had just finished when we heard a car pull up outside.
"And they're back." Alice said, and she and Esme headed into the kitchen to start a late dinner.
I really wanted to go meet the guys outside, but I managed to restrain myself and stayed on the couch with Rose.
"We're back." Carlisle announced as he came into the house, Emmett, Jasper and Edward close behind him. Edward searched the room for a moment until his eyes found me on the couch and then a smile spread on his face.
"Hey." He sat down beside me and pulled me in close for a kiss. "I missed you."
"Me too." I mumbled, all too aware of his family around us.
"Did you enjoy the girls' weekend?"
"Yeah." I frowned at my toes. "Except for the pedicure part."
He reviewed my toenails.
"Nice color." He chuckled, and I glared at him.
"If you're not nice, I'll do yours when you're sleeping." Alice threatened from the kitchen, and it was my turn to laugh.
"You wouldn't dare." He pulled me up from the couch. "Come on."
"Dinner's in half an hour." Esme called after us as we climbed the stairs.
When we got to his room, I sat down in a corner of the couch and pulled up my legs up underneath me while he went to the entertainment set. When he had put a CD in the stereo, he joined me on the couch, and the first beats of I Can't Get Through to Myself filled the air.
"Just wanted some privacy from the piranhas downstairs." He put an arm around me and pulled me closer, and I leaned my head against his shoulder. "I love them and all, but they can be a bit much at times."
I blushed as I remembered the box of condoms, which were now safely hidden away in the bottom of my overnight bag. I buried my face against his chest so he wouldn't notice – I did not feel like explaining that right now.
"Did you have a good time camping?"
"I did, it's always nice to get into the open air."
"I'll take your word for it." Camping really wasn't my thing.
"But I didn't like being away from you, it made me… nervous."
"Why?" I looked up at him.
"Well, you're so accident prone, I kept imagining horrible things happening. Car accident on the way to Seattle, mugging, you name it."
"I'm not that fragile, you know." I pointed out, a little offended.
"I know." He kissed my temple. "Doesn't mean I don't worry."
"Worry all you want."
Three Little Words
The next few months passed by quickly. Edward and I became closer than I had ever imagined possible; we talked about everything. Almost.
I told him about my disastrous attempt at learning ballet when I was seven – which had ended in a broken ankle and five stitches to my forehead – about how my mom had refused to get me a puppy after I had killed three goldfish in a brief period of time and about how much I had hated coming to Forks during the summers to visit Charlie.
He told me about the few memories he had of his parents, about what growing up with Emmett and Alice had been like, about their life in LA and how difficult it had been to adjust to the new life in Forks.
We talked about first kisses; mine had been with a boy named Andrew on the second day of kindergarten, his with a girl called Allison in first grade.
We talked about our fears and dreams about the future; he hoped to be able to live on his music at some point, but didn't know what to do until that. I had no clue what I wanted to do, just that I didn't want to end up like my mom – married at eighteen, with a kid on the way and stuck in a small, sleepy town in the middle of nowhere.
We talked about going to college somewhere warmer and sunnier than Forks, about things to do during the summer holidays and about how senior year would turn out.
The only thing he never mentioned – and I didn't bring up – was his last year in LA. He never said anything about why the Cullens had moved to Forks, other than that Carlisle had gotten a good offer from the hospital. He never talked about anything relating to his freshman year of high school.
I didn't ask because I wasn't sure I wanted to know. I still remembered Lauren's comment about a girlfriend in LA, and I didn't want to go down that road. Even if I had said that I was OK with him having a life before we met, I wasn't exactly eager to have my nose rubbed in it.
It was now the middle of May and I found myself once again on route to Seattle with Alice and Rose. Prom dresses were on the agenda, and this time I wouldn't be able to get out of it.
When I had tried to convince Edward that putting me on the dance floor among our fellow students was a very, very bad idea – I had finally gotten rid of the cast in March, but still had to rebuild the strength in the wrist, and I really didn't want to break anything else – he had simply looked at me.
"Do you really think that I would let you hurt yourself?" He had asked, sounding almost insulted.
"It's not just me I'm worried about." I mumbled in response.
"OK, how about this? I promise not to let you go for a single second."
I looked out the car window and smiled as I remembered the conversation. I had quickly given up as his green eyes had gazed into mine, jumbling all the thoughts in my head and effectively making me forget my initial standpoint.
"I really hope you're not going to change your mind about prom." Alice said from the driver's seat, pulling me from my little walk down memory lane.
"How many times do I have to tell you that I'm going?" I sighed.
"I won't believe it until I see you at the prom in a pretty dress." She replied, watching me through narrowed eyes in the rear view mirror.
"For the umpteenth time, Alice! I. Am. Going." Her refusal to believe me was starting to bug me. "I'm getting a dress, aren't I?"
"I'll believe it when I see it." She mumbled under her breath. If she hadn't been driving, I would have thrown something at her. Something hard. As it was, I settled for glaring angrily, which didn't do much since she had turned her attention back to the road.
"Do you honestly believe that I would place myself at the mercy of "Alice the shopaholic" if I wasn't serious about going?" I had, in what I now considered a moment of temporary insanity, promised that Alice could help me pick out a dress. Bad, bad idea.
"Just lay off her, Alice." Rosalie piped in from the passenger seat. "She's going shopping with us, what more do you want?"
"A little enthusiasm would be nice."
"Sorry, you're barking up the wrong asparagus. I said I'd go, but I won't promise to enjoy myself." The only thing I was enthusiastic about was the fact that Edward had promised to take me to his meadow the following day. It was supposed to be sunny and the warmest day so far this year, with temperatures in the low seventies.
I was hoping this meant that we were moving forward. As close as we had become over the past few months – emotionally – the physical part of our relationship had not developed.
I was pretty sure that he was more experienced than I was in that department, but even I could tell that it was getting more and more difficult – for both of us – to pull apart when we heard Charlie's car in the driveway or someone walked into the room or knocked on the door. I thought he wanted me, and I definitely wanted him.
I had come to the decision that if he didn't make a move soon, I would. Whether or not I would actually go through with that was a whole other matter, and I was way too nervous to be able to make any concrete plans as to what I would actually do.
"Hey, Distracto Girl. We're here." I looked up to find Alice smirking at me from the front seat. Rosalie had already gotten out of the car. "Must be some nice fantasy you've got there, there's a smile ten foot wide on your face." I blushed and quickly got out of the car.
"Macy's first?" Rosalie suggested, and both Alice and I nodded. Might as well get the prom dress shopping out of the way first, since I was hoping to revisit the bookstore I had found on our last trip.
We spent almost two hours in Macy's formal wear department, trying on more dresses than I had worn in my entire life.
"What about this one?" Alice said, coming out of her dressing room.
"That's definitely the one." Rosalie said, and I nodded in agreement.
The dress was light pink and strapless, came to right below the knee, and had a beautiful laced waist. There was also a lace hem and the skirt was lined with tulle.
"It looks amazing, Alice." I gave myself a once over in the full body mirror. "But I don't think this is it for me." I went back into the dressing room and changed into the next dress that Alice had picked out. I was surprised to find that I didn't feel uncomfortable at all when I left the small cubicle.
"Wow, Bella, it's beautiful." Alice complimented. I twirled around in front of the mirror, trying to see how the dress looked in the back.
"I actually like it." I concluded.
The dress was a dark blue color and had a white sash that formed a bow on the left side. It was also strapless and about the same length as Alice's dress.
"You should get it." Rosalie said. "It looks great on you."
"I think I will." I could actually imagine going to the prom in this dress, Edward's arm looped through mine… I smiled at the image.
"I'm torn between this one and the champagne one." Rosalie frowned at her own reflection. She had on a red, full length halter dress with a beaded bust line.
"Put the other one on again." Alice ordered and Rosalie disappeared into the changing room.
"I think I like this one better, but I don't know." She said as she emerged a few minutes later.
The dress was a pale champagne color, and had intricate embroideries on the strapless bodice. It flowed all the way down to the floor, accentuating Rosalie's slim body.
"I like this one better." Alice said.
"What do you think, Bella?" Rose wondered.
Both dresses looked stunning on her, of course.
"I think I agree with Alice, but they both look incredible."
"I'll go with the champagne one then." Rosalie decided. "I'm going to Beyond Bronze a couple of times before prom anyway, and the color will look even better with a bit of a tan."
"Definitely." Alice agreed, heading back into her dressing room to change back into her own clothes. Rosalie and I followed her lead.
"Now we just have to find shoes and accessories to go with the dresses." Rosalie called through the wall, and I groaned. I should have known that the dresses wouldn't be the end of it.
"Can we at least have lunch first?" Alice called back. "I'm starving."
We went to a Thai restaurant on Pike, and after we had finished I managed to work out a break in the prom mission to go to the bookstore again, since it was on the way back to Macy's. I emerged after twenty minutes, without having bought anything, but mentally prepared for the rest of the day.
I found Rose and Alice enjoying the sun on the corner of the street, and we headed back to Macy's.
By five o'clock, we had all found shoes, as well as some accessories. I had insisted that I didn't need any, but Alice had practically forced me to buy a necklace that she claimed would go perfectly with my dress.
We headed back to the car and stuffed our shopping bags in the trunk before leaving the city. Alice initiated a game of 'I Spy' in the car, which made the trip seem a lot shorter.
When we got closer to Forks, Rosalie called to make sure that the guys ordered pizza before we got to the house, since we were all starving. We stopped at Charlie's house so I could drop off my purchases before heading to the Cullens'.
"Everyone still alive? All limbs in place?" Emmett teased as we entered the house. Rosalie reciprocated by dumping her bags in his lap. "Ah, Victoria's Secret." He picked up a small, pink bag and Rosalie immediately snapped it out of his hands.
"That's not for right now." She told him, grabbing the rest of the bags and heading towards the stairs.
"Oh, come on babe!" He called after her, but she only shook her head.
"We were shopping for prom, remember?" She gave him a suggestive glance as she disappeared upstairs.
"You can't see the stuff we've gotten, it's bad luck." Alice declared, following Rosalie upstairs.
"Hey, Alice? I don't think that actually applies to prom." Emmett called.
"Whatever!" Came Alice's reply from the second floor.
"Come on, Bella, tell me what she got." Emmett pleaded with me.
"No way. I'm not getting in the middle of that. You'd have to torture me." Edward chuckled from his place on the couch, and I went to sit down next to him. "Hey."
"Hey." He replied, leaning close to me and giving me a hello kiss.
As he pulled away, I reached for a slice of one of the pizzas that were on the table in front of the couch.
"What are we watching?" Saturday night had long ago become movie-and-take-out night, while Friday was date-night.
"The ring." Emmett replied, smirking, and I groaned. He'd been wanting to watch that for weeks, but so far Rosalie and I had managed to avoid it. I absolutely hated horror movies.
"Don't worry, I'll protect you." Edward mumbled in my ear.
The movie was just as horrible as I had expected, and I complained as Edward drove me home.
"I'm going to have nightmares for days!"
Though I could, technically, drive myself again now, we had stuck to our arrangement of Edward picking me up before school and driving me home at the end of each date. Carlisle had said that I still needed to be careful with my wrist, but the actual reason was that it gave us plenty of time for making out in the car.
It was almost midnight when I finally made it into the house that evening, but I no longer expected to find Charlie on the couch. He had finally come to terms with the fact that I stayed out after his bedtime. Also, he had suffered from lumbago for almost two weeks the last time he had fallen asleep on the couch in the living room. These days, he chose to trust the fact that I would come home even if he didn't wait up for me.
I managed to successfully repress the thought of the camping trip Edward was going on – and the subsequent shopping spree and sleepover – the whole week. When I was reminded by Alice that she and Rose were picking me up at seven thirty the following morning – the drive to Seattle would take three and a half hours – it was already Friday afternoon, and I still hadn't told Charlie about our plans.
Edward and I had decided to stay in Forks that night, going to the Smoke House Restaurant, since he was leaving for the camping trip early in the morning. When I had finished getting ready for our date, I headed downstairs to talk to Charlie.
"Dad?" He was watching a baseball game on TV.
"Yeah Bells?" His attention remained on the television.
"I know I probably should have told you about this earlier, but Alice and Rosalie and I are going to Seattle to do some shopping tomorrow. They're looking for dresses for the Sadie Hawkins dance."
"That sounds nice; it'll be good for you to get out of this place for a while, you must be missing the city buzz." He looked away from the TV, a frown on his face. "You're not getting a dress?"
"No, I don't need a dress because I'm not going to the dance."
"Why not? Edward doesn't want to go?" He huffed. "Because you don't need a date to go to a dance."
"No, dad, Edward does want to go. I don't." Did I really need to explain this to him? I wasn't like I'd gotten my two left feet from Renée. "I've already made enough of a fool of myself by tripping in front of everyone at school; I really don't think I need to add to the "total klutz" reputation by attempting to dance." I held up my cast as evidence A.
"Oh, right." He nodded. "I get that. I just don't want you to miss out on all the high school stuff you should be doing."
"Well, if it makes you feel any better, I don't think I'll be able to get out of going to the prom." Edward had hinted that he wouldn't take no for an answer, and Alice had already mentioned another shopping trip in the beginning of May, when, according to her, the "good dresses" would be in the stores.
"That's good." He turned his attention back to the game on the screen.
"And then we're having a girls' night at the Cullens', you know, movies, manicures and sleepover." I continued.
"You want to stay the night there?" Oh, goody. I had his full attention again.
"Yeah…"
"Out of the question! I don't want you sleeping in the same house as that boy."
"Edward isn't going to be there. He's going camping with Carlisle, Emmett and Jasper." I quickly explained. "That's why we chose this weekend for the sleepover."
"Oh really?" I could hear the doubt in his voice.
"Do you want to call Carlisle and ask him? He's working late at the hospital tonight, but I'm sure he'd take five minutes off from saving lives to assure you that he's not trying to corrupt your daughter." I hoped he picked up on the sarcasm.
Charlie hesitated for a moment.
"No, that's OK. I trust you, Bells."
"So it's OK then? I can stay over?"
"Sure. You could probably use a little girl time, being stuck with just me all the time."
I honestly wasn't looking forward to the 'girl' part of the night that much – manicures had never really been my thing. But hanging out with Alice and Rosalie was going to be fun. Alice and I had become very good friends in the past couple of weeks, and Rose and I were making progress too.
"Great!" The doorbell rang then, and I hurried to let Edward into the house.
"Hello, sir." He greeted. I had tried to hint to Charlie that he might encourage Edward to call him Charlie instead of sir or Chief Swan, but either he hadn't heard me, or he'd chosen to ignore me.
"Hi there." Charlie only looked away from the TV for a moment to return the greeting. "What are your plans for tonight then?"
"Well, we've got a reservation at the Smoke House in fifteen minutes, and then I thought I'd show Bella First Beach in La Push." Edward said. "It's supposed to be a clear night, and you can really see the stars out there. I have to get up early tomorrow, so we'll probably be back by ten or so."
"Right, Bella told me about the camping trip. I've never been in the winter, personally, but I hear it's supposed to be nice."
"It is. Especially with the snow; it's practically completely silent in the woods."
"You'd better bring warm clothes; I hear it's supposed to get down to the high twenties tomorrow."
"Don't worry, sir, we're all set." I decided it was time to end the male bonding session, and tugged Edward with me towards the door.
"Bye dad, see you later."
"Bye Bells, have fun."
"What was that all about?" I wondered as I flipped through the CDs in the Camaro's glove compartment, choosing Learning to Breathe with Switchfoot. I Dare You to Move filled the car as Edward pulled out of the driveway.
"I can't be nice to your dad?" He glanced at me, eyebrows raised.
"Sure you can, but that was borderline sucking up." Sure I wanted Charlie to like Edward, but I just wasn't keen on the idea of my dad and my boyfriend bonding too much.
"You talk to Esme all the time." He pointed out, and I realized he had a point. I just didn't think of Esme that way, since I didn't have a problem talking to her about stuff.
"I guess you're right." I shrugged.
"Every time the two of you are off in the kitchen or something, I wonder when she's going to pull out the baby pictures and embarrass me for life." He admitted, and I laughed.
"I'm sure you were a very cute baby."
"I still don't want her showing them to you."
We spent the rest of the short ride to the restaurant discussing embarrassing things our parents had done over the years.
At the Smoke House, a female waitress showed us to a corner table. As she took our drink orders, she deliberately turned her back on me and focused on Edward. When I saw her wink at him before walking away, my eyes widened.
"What was her problem?" I grumbled as soon as she was out of earshot.
"What do you mean?"
"Oh, come on! She was totally flirting with you! Right in front of me." He raised an eyebrow at that.
"She was?"
"You're telling me you didn't notice?" I asked incredulously.
"My attention happens to be otherwise engaged." He reached over the table, took my hand and brought it to his lips, kissing my palm.
"That's nice to know." The waitress had been very pretty.
He didn't let go of my hand, and when the waitress returned with our drinks, I noticed her glare at our intertwined fingers.
"Can I take your orders, or do you need a minute?" She asked, still completely ignoring me.
"I'll have the grilled ribeye steak, what do you want, babe?"
I raised a questioning eyebrow at the word. He had never called me anything like that before. As the waitress reluctantly turned her attention to me, he winked at me, and I had to stifle a laugh that was threatening to escape.
"Oh, I'm not sure, honey." I said, playing along. "Everything looks so good. But I think I'll have the smoked salmon."
The waitress scribbled down my order, and left without another word. I broke into a giggle when she was safely in the kitchen.
"That was great, thank you."
"I didn't like the way she was looking at you." He shrugged.
"I didn't like the way she was looking at you." I countered.
"Yeah, that was a bit… unsettling."
"Are you telling me that you're not used to girls checking you out? Because that would kind of surprise me."
"I don't know. Emmett always teases me about girls ogling me, but I guess I'm usually not aware of it. I doubt I would have noticed her looking if you hadn't actually pointed it out to me."
"Really?" He just shrugged, looking a little embarrassed. I smiled to make him more comfortable. "Well, I'm glad. At least I won't have to worry about you running off with the first hot girl hitting on you."
"You know I would never do that, don't you?" He frowned.
"I know, I know." I assured him. And I did. Most of the time, anyway. "I just get self-conscious every now and then."
"Me too." He admitted.
That was comforting.
"Good to know."
I only realized that we had leaned closer and closer together over the table and that our faces were only inches apart when the waitress cleared her throat next to us. I quickly pulled back and Edward did the same.
The waitress didn't bother us more that evening.
xxxxx
"Do you feel like driving out to La Push to check out the beach?" Edward asked as we walked to the car. "It's not even eight thirty, and it only takes about twenty minutes to get there."
"Sure." I didn't want the evening to end just yet, especially since I wouldn't see him again until Sunday afternoon. "I haven't been there in ages, but I remember that I liked to go there when I visited Charlie in the summers."
We drove in comfortable silence, the only sound filling the car coming from the stereo.
I was afraid that it would be completely dark when we got there, but the almost full moon spread a silvery light over the snow on the rocky stretch of beach leading down to the water that was glittering in the moonlight.
"Wow." I mumbled. It was beautiful.
"I know. It's pretty amazing." He put his arm around my waist as we made our way down to the beach, only partially so I wouldn't slip. We found a fallen tree a few feet from the edge of the water; Edward brushed off the snow that was covering it before we sat down on a blanket he had brought from the car. The air was cold, and I shivered a little despite my thick jacket. Edward pulled me closer.
"I wish I could find the constellations." I mumbled, my eyes on the star spangled, seemingly endless darkness above us.
"That's Ursa Major right there." Edward pointed up at the sky. "And Orion's belt over there."
"You just know everything, don't you?"
"Far from it." He shook his head. "Alice went through a space-phase when we were nine; she read everything she could get her hands on. I picked up a few things, and I guess some of it stuck."
We sat looking at the stars in silence.
"I feel so small." I said after a moment.
"Looking into the vast eternities of the universe will do that to you."
"And to think that a lot of the stars we can see have already died a long time ago…"
"It's not something you should think about too hard, unless you want to go insane." He chuckled.
"But they're still pretty to look at."
"Not as pretty as you."
"That was a little cheesy, you know that right?" I giggled.
"I know, but you gave me such an opening, I just couldn't resist." He smirked at me.
"I guess I can let it slide just this once."
"Very gracious of you."
I leaned my head against his shoulder, and silence fell over us again. After a moment I heard him sigh next to me.
"What is it?"
"I was just thinking about something." I waited for him to continue. "About what we talked about at the restaurant earlier, how easy it is to get self-conscious from time to time."
"Yeah?" I wondered what he was getting at.
"It's just… to me, the way I feel about you is so obvious that I've never reflected on the fact that it may not be to you. So I thought I'd better let you know." I held my breath as he seemed to ponder what to say. He looked down at me, a small smile on his face. "I'm in love with you. I know it's only been, what? A month? But that's how I feel." He looked away from me, staring out over the water in front of us.
I realized that he was afraid I didn't feel the same, and I suddenly understood what he had said about how his feelings were obvious to him but may not be me. It was the other way around as well.
"Well, that's nice to know, considering the fact that I'm completely in love with you too."
"Really?" He looked down at me again, doubt lingering in his eyes.
"Of course. I thought it was obvious, but like you said…" I was interrupted by his lips on mine.
xxxxx
I woke up when my phone chirped the next morning. I glanced over at my clock radio as I reached for the phone. A quarter to seven; I had set the alarm to five minutes later.
Good morning, beautiful. We just left Forks, and I thought I'd give you a nice wake-up call, hope it's appreciated. I will miss you and I will see you tomorrow night. Have fun with Ali and Rose, and don't let them get their way about everything – E
A smile spread on my face as I read the words. A nice wake-up call indeed. I shut the alarm off before it had the chance to go off, and jumped out of bed, practically skipping into the bathroom to take a shower.
Charlie was in the kitchen when I came downstairs twenty minutes later.
"Morning, Bells." He glanced up from the paper he was reading.
"Morning." I fixed up some eggs and bacon for breakfast, sitting down opposite him to eat.
"Are you coming back here tonight before you head over to the Cullens'?" He wondered, and I shook my head.
"I don't think so." I had packed a small overnight bag that I was bringing in the car. "I don't know when we'll get back, really. It is a pretty long drive."
"It is. Alice does drive carefully, right? The snow can be tricky, and I don't want you girls to get into an accident."
"Yes dad, we'll be careful." Hadn't we already had this conversation?
Just when I had finished brushing my teeth, my phone chirped for the second time that morning.
We're outside, let's go!
I grabbed my overnight bag and purse and hurried down the stairs.
"I'm going now, dad, see you tomorrow." I called into the kitchen as I passed.
"Bye, Bells, have fun." He called back.
I saw that Alice had borrowed the Volvo for our little excursion, and put my bag in the trunk before getting into the backseat.
"Good morning!" Alice greeted me, more chipper than what should be legal so early on a Saturday.
"Morning Alice, Rosalie." I only got a mumble and a wave of the hand in return from Rose, who I noticed was wearing sunglasses.
"She just needs some more caffeine." Alice explained, pulling out of the driveway. "We're stopping by the coffee shop on the way, because, believe me, you do not want to spend the day with a caffeine-deprived Rose!" Rosalie muttered something under her breath in reply.
I waited in the car with Rose as Alice bounced into the coffee shop. She came back a few minutes later with three large paper cups.
"Large coffees all around." She handed one of the cups to me, and I took a long sip. Heavenly.
Rosalie gulped down half of her coffee before Alice even got out of the parking lot. When we got out onto the highway, she had finished the rest too and tossed the cup on the floor. She took off her sunglasses and turned around in her seat.
"That's better. Good morning!"
"Good morning." I returned her smile.
"I'm barely even human before I get at least two cups of coffee, and Alice dragged me out of the house after only one this morning." She explained, shooting an annoyed glance at Alice.
"We were late." Alice pointed out. "Plus, it's not good to drink too much coffee." Rosalie rolled her eyes at this.
"I hope you're all set for this, we will be dragging you to every dress shop in town." Rosalie warned me.
"I had kind of figured that one out already." I replied. "And that's fine, as long as I get at least fifteen minutes in a bookstore and a veto on anything too hideous. Emmett made me promise."
"That's what we need you for." Alice chimed in.
"You haven't changed your mind about getting a dress for yourself?" Rosalie wondered, turning back in her seat.
"Oh no." I shook my head. "That won't work, Edward already tried."
"It was worth a shot." Rose shrugged.
"You know, it's really a little mean to Edward." Alice narrowed her eyes at me in the rearview mirror. "I mean, since it's Sadie Hawkins and everything, and you haven't asked him."
"He knows why." I wasn't going to let her guilt me into going.
"But still. I know he would never say anything, but I think he's really disappointed." She glanced at me in the mirror again.
"Wow. You're good." I acknowledged. "But not good enough."
"Damn!"
Rosalie laughed at Alice's dejected tone.
We arrived in Seattle a little after eleven, and quickly made our way to 4th Avenue and the downtown shopping district.
By one thirty, both Alice and Rosalie had found the, quote, "perfect dresses" at Macy's, and we made our way to Unconventional Pizza on Pike Street where Alice vowed that the greatest ziti in the world was served. Both Rosalie and Alice ordered that, but I opted for the lasagna, which was wonderful.
After lunch, we strolled up and down the streets without much of a goal. The dress shopping out of the way, I was granted a full half hour in a great little place called Left Bank Books Collective. I came out of it with twenty dollars less than I'd had going in, but with an old paper-back edition of Sense and Sensibility and a leather-bound copy of The Waste Land.
"Are you happy now?" Alice asked as I joined her and Rosalie in a shoe store a few shops down.
"Ecstatic." I assured her, sitting down next to Rose on a bench by the window. Alice was trying on two different shoes, one silvery and one green.
"Which ones should I get?" She wondered, twirling around in front of the mirror with a frown on her face. "The dress is green…"
"It's always difficult to get the exact same color when you try to match." Rosalie warned her. "I would go with the silvery ones."
"What do you think, Bella?" Alice turned to me.
"I have to agree with Rose. Plus, you'll be able to use them more than you would the green ones." I wasn't sure rationality was the way to go when it came to Alice and shopping, but she seemed satisfied with my answer.
"Silver it is." She took off both shoes and put the green one back on the shelf.
We walked around the shopping district for a few more hours, going in to stores when we felt like it. When Alice suggested we'd get coffee and something to eat before heading back home, it was almost five o'clock.
We went to a place on 4th Avenue called Seattle's Best Coffee, which, surprisingly enough, actually had really good coffee.
The drive home somehow felt like it took a lot less time than the drive there, which was something I had always found strange, and we were back at the Cullens' at a quarter past nine. As soon as we entered the house, we were met by Esme.
"Did you have a good shopping trip?" She wondered.
"Oh yeah, we both found dresses." Alice reached for her Macy's bag and pulled out the dress to show Esme. It was a brilliant, dark green, had glittering stones on the strapless bodice and almost reached the floor.
"That's very pretty." Esme admired. "And you, Rose?"
Rose's dress was a simpler, black one with spaghetti straps. It was cut low both in the front and back and came to just below her knees. She had gotten black, high-heeled sandals to match.
"Emmett is totally going to lose it." Alice giggled.
"I think I have to agree with her." Esme said. "But I do hope the weather gets better in time for the dance, or you're both going to freeze your butts off."
"Which is why God created pantyhose." Alice skipped up the stairs with her bags and Rosalie followed.
"I hope they didn't bore you too much with their dress shopping." Esme said, going into the living room and sitting down on the couch.
"No, it was fun." I joined her. It had been fun. "And I got some quality book-shopping-time in too, so everyone's happy."
"I'm glad to hear it."
Alice and Rosalie quickly came back downstairs, and we ordered pizza before Alice popped 10 things I hate about you into the DVD player.
We paused the movie when the pizza guy arrived, and were just about to turn it back on when I got a text message. Alice raised an eyebrow at me and Rosalie smirked. I chose to ignore them both completely.
I hope you survived Seattle with Alice and Rose, and if not, I'm very sorry :-) We're about to turn in here, and I just wanted to say that I wish you were here. It's cold and dark, but I know your presence alone would brighten the woods. Enjoy the girls' night, and I'll see you tomorrow – E
"What did my dear brother want?" Alice asked, seemingly casual, as I flipped the phone shut.
"Alice!" Esme gave her a pointed look. "That's really none of your business."
"It's OK, Esme." I smiled at her before glaring at Alice. "Butt out!"
"Oh, come on!" She whined. "It's really all my doing that you're even together in the first place, shouldn't I get some good gossip in return?"
"I thought you said you didn't want details?" I reminded her.
"True." She nodded. "Nothing too graphic, I mean, eew! He is my brother. But I miss that just-started-dating-can't-spend-a-moment-apart feeling. Don't get me wrong, I love my Jasper, but it's so exciting when it's all new."
I grabbed a slice of the pizza as I pondered how to get out of Alice's request.
"You're embarrassing her, Alice." Rosalie elbowed Alice in the ribs.
"Fine. You're off the hook… for now!" Alice wagged her eyebrows at me before turning the movie back on.
It was half past eleven by the time the movie was over, and we realized that the manicures would have to wait until the following day. Whish was completely fine by me… hopefully, Alice would have forgotten about it then, though I wasn't holding my breath.
"Where are we sleeping?" I asked Rosalie as we climbed the stairs.
"My room." She replied. "It's not a real slumber party if we don't all sleep in the same room. I have a pull-out couch that you and Alice can sleep in."
"And we can have a pillow fight, and fulfill the fantasy that every teenage boy through history has had about girls-only-sleepovers." Alice added.
"How about we just tell the guys that we had a pillow fight?" Rosalie suggested through a yawn. I realized that I was really tired too – the day had been a lot of fun, but also very long.
"I'm with Rose on this one."
We took turns getting ready for bed in the bathroom, and when I returned to Rosalie's room, she and Alice had already fixed the pull-out couch and were in bed. I crawled in next to Alice, and pulled the cover up to my chin.
"Does anyone snore?" I wondered.
"Nope, you?" Alice pushed herself up on her elbow.
"No, but I do talk in my sleep sometimes." I regretted telling them the moment the words came out of my mouth.
"We know." Rosalie replied.
"He told you?" For some reason, I found that a little intruding. It was personal.
"Not intentionally, he just accidentally let it slip to Emmett, and he, of course, cannot keep a secret." Alice gave me an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, he made us promise not to say anything to you." She glared at Rosalie.
"It's OK. As long as you promise to wake me up if I start talking about something embarrassing."
"Define "embarrassing"." Alice teased me. I threw a pillow at her, and she giggled. "I thought you were too tired for a pillow fight!"
"I don't like it when they go camping." Rosalie complained, and I silently thanked her for changing the subject. It turned out that I was a little too early. "I'm not used to sleeping alone; I get all… wound up."
"I don't think it's the "sleeping alone" part that gets you wound up." Alice giggled.
"Very true." Rosalie bit her lip, contemplating something for a moment. "Which reminds me." She took something from the drawer in her bedside table and tossed it to me. It landed on the cover in front of me, and I picked it up. I immediately blushed deeply – It was a box of condoms.
"Now who's embarrassing her, Rose?" Alice laughed.
"Oh, come on. Better safe than sorry, right?"
"But do you have to be so blunt about it?" Alice complained.
"Guys, it's not like that." I mumbled. "I mean, we're not… we haven't…"
"It's only a matter of time." Rosalie shrugged.
I wished the ground would just open up and swallow me. But, of course, that never happened when you actually wanted it to.
xxxxx
I did not manage to escape the manicures the following day – and Alice decided to throw in pedicures as well. The manicure was OK, but I found out that I definitely didn't like people touching my feet.
"If you just sit still, this will turn out a lot better." Alice informed me as I fidgeted in the kitchen chair she had brought into the living room.
"Come on, Alice, nobody ever sees my feet anyway. Why in the world do I need red nail polish on my toenails?" I complained.
"It's the time of global warming." Rosalie said from her relaxed position on the couch. "You never know when there's going to be a heat-wave, and you need to break out the sandals."
"I highly doubt that there'll be a heat-wave in Washington in March." I replied dryly. She just shrugged and turned her attention back to the fashion magazine she was flipping through.
"There, all done!" Alice announced, and I sighed in relief.
"Finally." I got out of the chair.
"You have to be careful, the polish isn't dry yet." Alice told me, and I obediently hobbled over to the couch on my heels. I was glad I had nail polish remover at home.
I turned on the TV and flipped through the channels, nothing catching my attention.
"Will you stop that, you're making me dizzy." Rosalie took the remote from me and we ended up on HBO, where there was a Sex and the City marathon. "Nice." Rose put the magazine away and turned her attention to the TV.
"Anyone hungry?" Esme asked, coming down the stairs. "I thought I'd fix some chicken salad for lunch."
"Sounds great, mom." Alice skipped into the kitchen. "I'll give you a hand."
"Do you need help?" I asked over my shoulder.
"No, sweetie, you watch TV with Rose." Esme disregarded with a wave of her hand. I turned my attention back to the screen, where Steve and Miranda were talking.
We turned the TV off to have some lunch, and then Alice and Esme joined us on the couch and we continued to watch Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda.
By the time the final episode ended, it was six o'clock.
"Shouldn't they be back soon?" I asked no-one in particular.
"Battle Ground Lake is almost a four hour drive from here." Alice replied, checking her watch. "They'll probably be back around eight or so."
"Oh." I hadn't thought they were going so far away. "Where is it?"
"Close to Vancouver." Rosalie said. "They usually go hiking in the Casacde Mountains."
"Let's watch a movie." Alice suggested, going over to the DVD collection next to the TV. "We only had time to watch one last night."
"I need popcorn." Rosalie announced, heading into the kitchen. We waited until she came back and then turned the movie Alice had picked, Panic Room, on. All four of us curled up on the couch and Alice spread a blanket over our legs.
The movie had just finished when we heard a car pull up outside.
"And they're back." Alice said, and she and Esme headed into the kitchen to start a late dinner.
I really wanted to go meet the guys outside, but I managed to restrain myself and stayed on the couch with Rose.
"We're back." Carlisle announced as he came into the house, Emmett, Jasper and Edward close behind him. Edward searched the room for a moment until his eyes found me on the couch and then a smile spread on his face.
"Hey." He sat down beside me and pulled me in close for a kiss. "I missed you."
"Me too." I mumbled, all too aware of his family around us.
"Did you enjoy the girls' weekend?"
"Yeah." I frowned at my toes. "Except for the pedicure part."
He reviewed my toenails.
"Nice color." He chuckled, and I glared at him.
"If you're not nice, I'll do yours when you're sleeping." Alice threatened from the kitchen, and it was my turn to laugh.
"You wouldn't dare." He pulled me up from the couch. "Come on."
"Dinner's in half an hour." Esme called after us as we climbed the stairs.
When we got to his room, I sat down in a corner of the couch and pulled up my legs up underneath me while he went to the entertainment set. When he had put a CD in the stereo, he joined me on the couch, and the first beats of I Can't Get Through to Myself filled the air.
"Just wanted some privacy from the piranhas downstairs." He put an arm around me and pulled me closer, and I leaned my head against his shoulder. "I love them and all, but they can be a bit much at times."
I blushed as I remembered the box of condoms, which were now safely hidden away in the bottom of my overnight bag. I buried my face against his chest so he wouldn't notice – I did not feel like explaining that right now.
"Did you have a good time camping?"
"I did, it's always nice to get into the open air."
"I'll take your word for it." Camping really wasn't my thing.
"But I didn't like being away from you, it made me… nervous."
"Why?" I looked up at him.
"Well, you're so accident prone, I kept imagining horrible things happening. Car accident on the way to Seattle, mugging, you name it."
"I'm not that fragile, you know." I pointed out, a little offended.
"I know." He kissed my temple. "Doesn't mean I don't worry."
"Worry all you want."
Three Little Words
The next few months passed by quickly. Edward and I became closer than I had ever imagined possible; we talked about everything. Almost.
I told him about my disastrous attempt at learning ballet when I was seven – which had ended in a broken ankle and five stitches to my forehead – about how my mom had refused to get me a puppy after I had killed three goldfish in a brief period of time and about how much I had hated coming to Forks during the summers to visit Charlie.
He told me about the few memories he had of his parents, about what growing up with Emmett and Alice had been like, about their life in LA and how difficult it had been to adjust to the new life in Forks.
We talked about first kisses; mine had been with a boy named Andrew on the second day of kindergarten, his with a girl called Allison in first grade.
We talked about our fears and dreams about the future; he hoped to be able to live on his music at some point, but didn't know what to do until that. I had no clue what I wanted to do, just that I didn't want to end up like my mom – married at eighteen, with a kid on the way and stuck in a small, sleepy town in the middle of nowhere.
We talked about going to college somewhere warmer and sunnier than Forks, about things to do during the summer holidays and about how senior year would turn out.
The only thing he never mentioned – and I didn't bring up – was his last year in LA. He never said anything about why the Cullens had moved to Forks, other than that Carlisle had gotten a good offer from the hospital. He never talked about anything relating to his freshman year of high school.
I didn't ask because I wasn't sure I wanted to know. I still remembered Lauren's comment about a girlfriend in LA, and I didn't want to go down that road. Even if I had said that I was OK with him having a life before we met, I wasn't exactly eager to have my nose rubbed in it.
It was now the middle of May and I found myself once again on route to Seattle with Alice and Rose. Prom dresses were on the agenda, and this time I wouldn't be able to get out of it.
When I had tried to convince Edward that putting me on the dance floor among our fellow students was a very, very bad idea – I had finally gotten rid of the cast in March, but still had to rebuild the strength in the wrist, and I really didn't want to break anything else – he had simply looked at me.
"Do you really think that I would let you hurt yourself?" He had asked, sounding almost insulted.
"It's not just me I'm worried about." I mumbled in response.
"OK, how about this? I promise not to let you go for a single second."
I looked out the car window and smiled as I remembered the conversation. I had quickly given up as his green eyes had gazed into mine, jumbling all the thoughts in my head and effectively making me forget my initial standpoint.
"I really hope you're not going to change your mind about prom." Alice said from the driver's seat, pulling me from my little walk down memory lane.
"How many times do I have to tell you that I'm going?" I sighed.
"I won't believe it until I see you at the prom in a pretty dress." She replied, watching me through narrowed eyes in the rear view mirror.
"For the umpteenth time, Alice! I. Am. Going." Her refusal to believe me was starting to bug me. "I'm getting a dress, aren't I?"
"I'll believe it when I see it." She mumbled under her breath. If she hadn't been driving, I would have thrown something at her. Something hard. As it was, I settled for glaring angrily, which didn't do much since she had turned her attention back to the road.
"Do you honestly believe that I would place myself at the mercy of "Alice the shopaholic" if I wasn't serious about going?" I had, in what I now considered a moment of temporary insanity, promised that Alice could help me pick out a dress. Bad, bad idea.
"Just lay off her, Alice." Rosalie piped in from the passenger seat. "She's going shopping with us, what more do you want?"
"A little enthusiasm would be nice."
"Sorry, you're barking up the wrong asparagus. I said I'd go, but I won't promise to enjoy myself." The only thing I was enthusiastic about was the fact that Edward had promised to take me to his meadow the following day. It was supposed to be sunny and the warmest day so far this year, with temperatures in the low seventies.
I was hoping this meant that we were moving forward. As close as we had become over the past few months – emotionally – the physical part of our relationship had not developed.
I was pretty sure that he was more experienced than I was in that department, but even I could tell that it was getting more and more difficult – for both of us – to pull apart when we heard Charlie's car in the driveway or someone walked into the room or knocked on the door. I thought he wanted me, and I definitely wanted him.
I had come to the decision that if he didn't make a move soon, I would. Whether or not I would actually go through with that was a whole other matter, and I was way too nervous to be able to make any concrete plans as to what I would actually do.
"Hey, Distracto Girl. We're here." I looked up to find Alice smirking at me from the front seat. Rosalie had already gotten out of the car. "Must be some nice fantasy you've got there, there's a smile ten foot wide on your face." I blushed and quickly got out of the car.
"Macy's first?" Rosalie suggested, and both Alice and I nodded. Might as well get the prom dress shopping out of the way first, since I was hoping to revisit the bookstore I had found on our last trip.
We spent almost two hours in Macy's formal wear department, trying on more dresses than I had worn in my entire life.
"What about this one?" Alice said, coming out of her dressing room.
"That's definitely the one." Rosalie said, and I nodded in agreement.
The dress was light pink and strapless, came to right below the knee, and had a beautiful laced waist. There was also a lace hem and the skirt was lined with tulle.
"It looks amazing, Alice." I gave myself a once over in the full body mirror. "But I don't think this is it for me." I went back into the dressing room and changed into the next dress that Alice had picked out. I was surprised to find that I didn't feel uncomfortable at all when I left the small cubicle.
"Wow, Bella, it's beautiful." Alice complimented. I twirled around in front of the mirror, trying to see how the dress looked in the back.
"I actually like it." I concluded.
The dress was a dark blue color and had a white sash that formed a bow on the left side. It was also strapless and about the same length as Alice's dress.
"You should get it." Rosalie said. "It looks great on you."
"I think I will." I could actually imagine going to the prom in this dress, Edward's arm looped through mine… I smiled at the image.
"I'm torn between this one and the champagne one." Rosalie frowned at her own reflection. She had on a red, full length halter dress with a beaded bust line.
"Put the other one on again." Alice ordered and Rosalie disappeared into the changing room.
"I think I like this one better, but I don't know." She said as she emerged a few minutes later.
The dress was a pale champagne color, and had intricate embroideries on the strapless bodice. It flowed all the way down to the floor, accentuating Rosalie's slim body.
"I like this one better." Alice said.
"What do you think, Bella?" Rose wondered.
Both dresses looked stunning on her, of course.
"I think I agree with Alice, but they both look incredible."
"I'll go with the champagne one then." Rosalie decided. "I'm going to Beyond Bronze a couple of times before prom anyway, and the color will look even better with a bit of a tan."
"Definitely." Alice agreed, heading back into her dressing room to change back into her own clothes. Rosalie and I followed her lead.
"Now we just have to find shoes and accessories to go with the dresses." Rosalie called through the wall, and I groaned. I should have known that the dresses wouldn't be the end of it.
"Can we at least have lunch first?" Alice called back. "I'm starving."
We went to a Thai restaurant on Pike, and after we had finished I managed to work out a break in the prom mission to go to the bookstore again, since it was on the way back to Macy's. I emerged after twenty minutes, without having bought anything, but mentally prepared for the rest of the day.
I found Rose and Alice enjoying the sun on the corner of the street, and we headed back to Macy's.
By five o'clock, we had all found shoes, as well as some accessories. I had insisted that I didn't need any, but Alice had practically forced me to buy a necklace that she claimed would go perfectly with my dress.
We headed back to the car and stuffed our shopping bags in the trunk before leaving the city. Alice initiated a game of 'I Spy' in the car, which made the trip seem a lot shorter.
When we got closer to Forks, Rosalie called to make sure that the guys ordered pizza before we got to the house, since we were all starving. We stopped at Charlie's house so I could drop off my purchases before heading to the Cullens'.
"Everyone still alive? All limbs in place?" Emmett teased as we entered the house. Rosalie reciprocated by dumping her bags in his lap. "Ah, Victoria's Secret." He picked up a small, pink bag and Rosalie immediately snapped it out of his hands.
"That's not for right now." She told him, grabbing the rest of the bags and heading towards the stairs.
"Oh, come on babe!" He called after her, but she only shook her head.
"We were shopping for prom, remember?" She gave him a suggestive glance as she disappeared upstairs.
"You can't see the stuff we've gotten, it's bad luck." Alice declared, following Rosalie upstairs.
"Hey, Alice? I don't think that actually applies to prom." Emmett called.
"Whatever!" Came Alice's reply from the second floor.
"Come on, Bella, tell me what she got." Emmett pleaded with me.
"No way. I'm not getting in the middle of that. You'd have to torture me." Edward chuckled from his place on the couch, and I went to sit down next to him. "Hey."
"Hey." He replied, leaning close to me and giving me a hello kiss.
As he pulled away, I reached for a slice of one of the pizzas that were on the table in front of the couch.
"What are we watching?" Saturday night had long ago become movie-and-take-out night, while Friday was date-night.
"The ring." Emmett replied, smirking, and I groaned. He'd been wanting to watch that for weeks, but so far Rosalie and I had managed to avoid it. I absolutely hated horror movies.
"Don't worry, I'll protect you." Edward mumbled in my ear.
The movie was just as horrible as I had expected, and I complained as Edward drove me home.
"I'm going to have nightmares for days!"
Though I could, technically, drive myself again now, we had stuck to our arrangement of Edward picking me up before school and driving me home at the end of each date. Carlisle had said that I still needed to be careful with my wrist, but the actual reason was that it gave us plenty of time for making out in the car.
It was almost midnight when I finally made it into the house that evening, but I no longer expected to find Charlie on the couch. He had finally come to terms with the fact that I stayed out after his bedtime. Also, he had suffered from lumbago for almost two weeks the last time he had fallen asleep on the couch in the living room. These days, he chose to trust the fact that I would come home even if he didn't wait up for me.
Twilight<3
For some, it's true...
