Music and Memories

Charlie had left by the time I got up the next morning; he was fishing with Billy again, and probably wouldn't be back until late. I did the homework that had to be done by Monday and cleaned the house, but it was still barely noon by the time I had finished. Edward hadn't said when he would call, so when the phone rang a few minutes later, I almost fell down the stairs in my hurry to get to it.

"Hello?" I answered breathlessly.

"Hi honey!"

I let out a slightly disappointed sigh; mom.

"Hey mom." I started twirling the chord around my finger, hoping this wouldn't turn out to be one of her marathon calls.

"Was that a sigh of disappointment I just heard? Were you expecting a call from someone else?"

"Mom…" I could never hide anything from her.

"Are you waiting for a boy to call, Isabella Marie Swan?" I knew her well enough to recognize her teasing.

"Maybe…"

"Tell me everything! What's his name? How old is he? Are you dating? Is Charlie completely freaking out?" I laughed at her last question.

"Actually, yes, a little. I had to remind him to put his gun away before Edward came over last night." It hadn't been very funny at the time, of course, but I could laugh at it now.

"Edward? He sounds like he's eighty or something."I could practically hear her frown over the line.

"He's my age." Eighty… eew.

"He's in your class then? Is that how you met him?"

"Yeah, we have Biology and P.E. together."

"He still wants to hang out with you after having seen you in Gym? That must be a good sign." I rolled my eyes and was about to say something sarcastic, but she quickly changed the subject. "So you went out last night? Where did you go? What did you do? Is there actually anything to do in that sorry excuse for a town?"

"Not really. We went to this really nice little Italian place in Port Angeles, and then we went to the movies." I didn't say that we went to see a movie, because there really hadn't been much of that.

"What movie did you see?"

"Eh…" I desperately tried to remember what the movie had been called, but came up blank. "The new one with Leonardo DiCaprio." That I remembered.

"Oh, you made out at the movies then." Mom chuckled, and I blushed. "And stop blushing."

"How did you…" I blushed even harder.

"Please, sweetie. I know you." She had a point. "Is he taking you out again?"

"I think so." I was suddenly filled with doubts. He had said that he would call, but he hadn't actually said that he wanted to go out again. "He said he'd call, but I don't know if…"

"Then he'll call. And I'm sure he'll want to take you out again, what guy wouldn't?"

At last count? All of them. Maybe more.

"OK, I'll let you go; don't want to block the line when he calls. I just wanted to see how your week's been. Call me tomorrow, I want to hear everything!"

With that, she hung up.

And I was left all alone with my shiny, new doubts.

He had meant it when he said that he would call, right? I mean, we had been making out through half the movie and then in his car before we said goodnight. He seemed to like me. He had said it, he'd even called me his girlfriend, and still…

Fortunately, my thoughts were interrupted by another phone call.

"Hello?" This time, it was him.

"I'm so sorry!" My heart immediately dropped. Was he only calling to say that he didn't want to see me again?

"Why?" I held my breath as I waited for his answer.

"I accidently mentioned to Alice that we were doing something today, and she somehow got me to agree to movie and pizza with her and Jasper tonight." I let out a sigh of relief. "Did I mention that I'm sorry? I'm really really sorry."

"It's fine." It was, really. "I mean, I wouldn't have minded doing something just the two of us, but Alice is my friend, I don't have a problem hanging out with her and Jasper."

"Are you sure? Because if I said that you wanted to do something else, I could probably… OK, maybe, get her to let us off the hook. It might take some begging and possibly the promise of a favor of some kind, but…"

"Pizza and a movie with Alice and Jasper will be fine." I interrupted.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

"OK, but next weekend we'll do something just you and me." I liked the sound of that.

"Deal. What's the timeline for tonight then?"

"I think it's pretty open. Just let me know when you feel like coming over and I'll pick you up. We'll order the pizza when we're hungry. Oh, and Alice already has the movies picked out, so don't bother bringing anything."

When I feel like it… how about right now? No, that would be too pushy. Right?

"Fiveish? Is that OK?" Four and a half long hours from now. I had no idea how I would pass the time.

"Sure. I'll call when I'm on my way." I thought I heard a hint of disappointment in his voice. "Hang on, Alice wants to talk to you. See you in a couple of hours."

"See you later." I waited as he handed the phone to Alice.

"Hi Bella!" She sounded as chipper as ever. "I've got a favor to ask."

"Shoot."

"Are you doing anything special today, or do you mind coming here a little earlier? I have an English paper on The Scarlet Letter due on Monday, and I really, really need your help."

I was pretty sure she could just ask one of her brothers, or Jasper, for help, but I wasn't about to pass up on the opportunity she had just – deliberately? – thrown at me.

"Sure, when do you want me to come over?" Please say now, please say now.

"Well… I actually haven't started yet…"

"How about I grab some lunch and then I'll head over? As long as someone can pick me up, I still can't drive the truck you know."

"Would you? I really appreciate it."

"Sure, Alice." I waited as she covered the phone with her hand and spoke to someone.

"Edward will pick you up in half an hour, is that OK?"

"Sounds great."

"OK. See you in a little while!" I could almost hear the smile on her face as she hung up.

I fixed some grilled cheese, and waited impatiently as the bread sizzled in the pan. After I had eaten, I took a quick shower and threw on my favorite t-shirt and a pair of jeans I had bought during my shopping trip with Alice. I grabbed my own copy of The Scarlet Letter and headed down the stairs just as I heard Edward pull into the driveway. Before heading out the door, I scribbled down a note for Charlie, telling him where I was and that he had to fix dinner himself, and stuck it to the fridge with a magnet in the shape of a rainbow.

Edward was leaning against the driver's side of the Camaro, and a crooked smile appeared on his face when I came out the door.

"Hey." I returned the smile as I walked down the porch steps.

"Hey." He walked around the car and opened the passenger door for me. I leaned in for a quick hello-kiss, but he wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me closer.

"Missed you." He mumbled, pulling away slightly and burying his face in my hair.

"Me too." I snuggled into the crook of his neck and sighed. I could definitely get used to this.

After a couple of minutes he released me and I got into the passenger seat. Before he started the car, he opened the glove compartment.

"Pick something."

I pulled out the pile of CDs that filled the small space and flipped through them, settling on Maroon 5's Songs about Jane.

"Good choice." He acknowledged with a grin.

I leaned my head back, closed my eyes and let the slightly aggressive notes of Harder to Breathe wash over me.

After a few minutes, I felt Edward's arm around my back, and I willingly scooted a little closer to him and leaned my head against his shoulder.

"Sorry about Alice." He mumbled. "I mean, not that I mind having you around all day – obviously – but she can be a bit of a pain in the ass when she's on a mission."

"Mission?" He raised an eyebrow at my questioning tone. "Oh." It had been deliberate, then. Thank you, Alice.

"I tried to tell her to back off, that I had everything under control, but she seems to think I'm going to mess up or something."

"It sounds like she just cares about you." I suggested.

"She cares about you too, you know." He chuckled. "She actually told me that if I hurt you, she'd beat me to death with a shovel."

"I hope that won't be necessary." I actually shivered at the thought, and he pulled me closer.

"Not if I have anything to say in the matter."

Was this happening way too fast?

We had known each other for barely two weeks, been on one single date. And I already knew that if he ever left me, it would break my heart beyond repair. So, yes, this was happening way too fast. But I didn't think that there was anything I could do about it.

When we got to the big house, Alice had set up her laptop on the bar counter. Edward joined Jasper, who was watching TV in the living room part of the area, and I climbed the barstool next to Alice.

"Thank you so much!" She gave me a tight, one-armed hug. "I didn't understand half of what Mr. Mason was saying in English the other day."

We worked on her paper for a couple of hours, until she was happy with the results. When she flipped the laptop closed with a satisfied click, the boys looked up from the TV.

"All done?" Jasper asked, and Alice nodded.

"All done."

"Where's everyone else?" I asked as Alice hopped off her chair. I opted against trying to match her grace and carefully climbed down instead. One broken limb was quite enough for the time being.

"They went to Seattle for the day; they probably won't be back until pretty late tonight." Alice plopped down on the couch next to Jasper, leaving a space for me between her and Edward. "Are you guys actually watching this, or can we start watching the movies?" She indicated the basketball game on the television.

Jasper handed her the remote, and she skipped to the entertainment set, inserting a DVD in the player.

"I thought we'd start with some comedy." She returned to the couch as the trailers began, kicking her shoes off to get more comfortable. I followed her lead and pulled my legs up under me. Edward put an arm around my shoulders, and I leaned into him.

I had always liked British comedies in general – and Hugh Grant comedies in particular – so Alice's choice of About a Boy suited me well.

After the movie, we ordered pizza. As we waited for the food to get there, I spotted Alice glancing at the piano in the corner.

"Do you play?" I asked, and was surprised when she turned to Edward, raising her eyebrows at him.

"It's mine." He shrugged. "It's a hobby."

"You're being too modest!" Alice huffed. "He composes his own music."

"Really?" I frowned at him. "We've spent I don't know how many hours talking about music, and you what? Forgot to mention it?"

"Sorry." He had a sheepish look on his face. "It's just not something I go around talking about, I guess."

"It's OK. As long as you make it up by playing something for me."

He got up and walked over to the piano, sitting down on the stool before running his hands over the keys, trying out different scales. He paused for a moment, and then began to play a slow, sweet melody. It became more and more melancholy as it progressed, and the final note tugged at my heart. I realized that I had tears in my eyes when he finished playing.

"That was beautiful." I said, my voice a little unsteady.

"And new." Alice noted.

Edward gave me a long, meaningful look. Had the song been for me? The small smile on his face gave me the answer.

"Hey, Jasper, I need that book you said I could borrow, come with me upstairs?" Alice seemed to have picked up on the electricity that was flowing between me and Edward.

"Right, the book. Come on." The two of them walked up the stairs, and Alice winked at me over her shoulder.

I walked over to the piano and sat down next to Edward. He placed a kiss on top of my head, and I leaned into his body.

"How long have you played?" I asked quietly.

"As long as I can remember." He ran his fingers lightly over the keys. "My mom played, so we had a piano in our living room. Esme always says that I started tinkling on the piano before I could talk."

"My mom made me take lessons when I was eight, but I never really got the hang of it." He took my hand and placed it on the keys, pressing my fingers down to produce different notes. After a moment I realized that we were playing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.

"One of the few memories I have of my mom is how she used to pick me up and sit down on the piano stool with me in her lap, and we'd play Chopsticks together." His voice was a little sad.

"That's nice." He let go of my hand, and I wrapped my arm around his waist. He leaned his head on mine, and we just sat there.

When the doorbell rang about five minutes later, we were still in the same position. Before either of us had a chance to react, Alice bounced down the stairs and threw the door open. Jasper followed at a more reasonable pace.

Alice paid for the pizzas and put them down on the coffee table in front of the couch, flipping the boxes open. One plain and one mushroom. Jasper took a slice from the plain one before reclaiming his seat on the couch.

Edward went to get some sodas from the fridge, and I joined Alice and Jasper on the couch.

"What movie's next?" I wondered, and Alice held up two DVD-cases for me to choose from.

"Matt Damon or hot surf guys?"

"Franka Potente or Kate Bosworth." Jasper corrected, grinning, as Edward sat down next to me.

"Either one is fine." I shrugged.

"Hot surf guys it is." Alice put the disc in the DVD-player and skipped past the trailers.

The movie was actually pretty good. By the time it was over, the pizza and sodas were all gone. Alice skipped into the kitchen with the trash while Jasper put the last movie in the DVD before sitting down on the floor in front of the couch. When Alice came back, she joined him on the floor, sitting down between his legs and leaning back into his chest. She grabbed one of the blankets from the armrest of the couch and pulled it over them both.

As the movie started, Edward stretched out on the couch and pulled me down in front of him, his head leaning on the armrest. He took one of the pillows we had tossed on the floor earlier and put it underneath my head.

"Are you cold?" His mumble in my ear sent shivers down my spine, and he took that as a yes, reaching out for the other blanket that was draped across the armrest of the couch.

His arm crept around my waist under the blanket and he pulled me closer so that my back was pressed against his chest.

"Comfy?" I only managed to hum in what I hoped was an affirmative way.

Needless to say, I had trouble keeping up with the plot.

About half an hour into the movie, we heard a car pull up outside the house.

"They're home." Alice acknowledged.

As the door opened, I tried to sit up, but Edward only held me tighter. Carlisle and Esme came into the room first, joined by Emmett and Rosalie a moment later.

"Hey kids." Esme greeted, smiling at us.

"What're you watching?" Emmett flopped down on the floor next to Jasper and Alice.

"Bourne Identity." Jasper replied, eyes focused on the TV.

"I've been wanting to see that."

"We'll be off to bed." Carlisle said, pulling Esme along with him towards the stairs. "See you in the morning."

Rosalie joined Emmett, Jasper and Alice on the floor and we continued to watch the movie.

Edward and I ended up making out in the car outside Charlie's house later that night, Goo Goo Dolls' Iris playing softly in the background.

It was only ten thirty, so I figured Charlie wouldn't come looking for me for a while. Unfortunately, I was wrong.

Daddy Cool started playing from my pocket, and I groaned.

"I'm assuming that's your dad calling?" Edward said in an amused voice.

"I made the mistake of teaching him how to assign personalized ring tones." I complained, pulling the phone out of my pocket. "He's taking it out on my phone."

Edward only chuckled.

"Hello?" I answered, sounding annoyed on purpose.

"Bella?"

Who else would it be?

"What's up dad?"

"I just wanted to know when you were planning on coming home."

I calculated the risk of him looking out the kitchen window, and found it to be pretty big.

"We actually just pulled up outside." I shot Edward an apologetic look.

"Great. See you in a bit then."

"Sure thing." I was pretty certain that he didn't pick up on the sarcasm in my voice. I returned the phone to my pocket. "Sorry."

"It's fine." Edward assured me. "He's your dad; it's his job to look out for you."

"He's a little new at it, so he goes overboard sometimes. We've only had the summers together before, and I'm pretty sure he was more worried about me having a good time so I would want to come back the year after than sticking to curfews and stuff."

"You didn't have a boyfriend then, either." He noted, and I smiled at the word. Boyfriend.

"Also true. Maybe he's just behaving like any normal parent of a teenager."

"Most likely." He ran his knuckles down my cheek, making me shudder a little. "You should probably get inside."

"Yeah." I agreed grudgingly.

"Lunch tomorrow? I think Esme said something about making her famous lasagna."

"Are you sure? I don't want your family to get sick of me." In truth, I didn't want him to get sick of me.

"Could never happen."

"OK then." I looked over towards the house and saw that Charlie was standing in the kitchen window. "I really do have to go now. I wouldn't put it past him to come out here and drag me inside."

"I'll pick you up at noon tomorrow."

"Charlie can take me; you shouldn't have to drive me around everywhere."

"I don't mind." And I could tell that he really didn't. "But I do have some homework to do before you get there tomorrow, so it would probably be better if Charlie drove you."

"Tomorrow at noon then." I was about to open the door, but he reached out and held me back.

"You forgot something." He said before he placed his hands on my cheeks and gave me a long, sweet kiss. I might have forgotten to breathe at some point, because when he pulled back, I was completely out of breath, and my brain felt all fuzzy.

I snapped out of it when I heard the front door open.

"Night." I quickly got out of the car, and I could hear Edward chuckle behind me. "Hi dad."

"I thought you said you just pulled up outside when I called you?"

"We did, I just didn't get out of the car right away." I blushed as I walked past him into the house and hoped that he wouldn't notice