WOW… I am amazed at the number of favorites and followers this story got in the last two weeks – is this posted somewhere that I don't know about? Is someone pimping out one of my stories? Thanks to you, whoever you are!

To say that Bella was a little nervous was an understatement.

She watched as her friends pulled out of the driveway, and she and Edward stood there and held hands for several minutes after the taillights were no longer visible. She was just beginning to wonder if she should say anything to break the silence when he turned to her.

"Would you like to sit by the fire with me?"

"Yes," she breathed, smiling. They walked hand-in-hand back to the fire, but this time instead of sitting in a chair, Edward let go of her hand (reluctantly, she thought) and pulled over a bale of hay. He draped a small blanket over it and turned to her. "Where did you get that?"

"Jasper brought it over when we were building the fire," he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. "You're not allergic to the hay, are you?" She loved how worried he suddenly looked. The look of utter relief when she shook her head no was almost comical. "Would you like a drink? There are some sodas left, I think."

"Are there any beers?"

"A woman after my own heart," he said, flattening his palm to his chest for a moment. She sat down on the hay and watched the fire for a few moments. When he returned, she took the beer he proffered her, removed the cap, and took a long drink. He had brought the entire cooler with him, which she smiled at. Apparently he planned on sitting by the fire for a while, which she didn't mind a bit. Edward settled down next to her, and her pulse sped up – their thighs were touching. After a few minutes, she relaxed, and tilted her head upward.

"The stars are so much clearer out here," she murmured. His gaze followed hers, and she could hear the smile in his voice when he spoke.

"Yes, they are. That's something that I've always loved about living in the country, away from all the light pollution of the city. Of course, you can still see stars in the city – just not nearly as many."

"Your house is amazing," Bella said, looking over at him. Even in the darkness, she thought she could see his cheeks darkening.

"Thank you," he said, grinning. "You know I can't really take credit for it, though. Momma decorated everything herself."

"Did you have the house custom built, or…?"

"Yes. My daddy had a friend of his to design and build it – although Momma had a hand in the design, too. How about you? What's your house like?"

"I don't live in a house, I live in a third floor apartment," she corrected. "It's nice enough. It's a studio apartment."

"What's that?" He looked confused. Bella kind of wanted to kiss his nose – it was wrinkled adorably in his confusion.

"It's basically a one room apartment. My bed is the best part. It's built into the wall, and kind of looks like the top part of a bunk bed. Right under it are my desk and a bookshelf." He watched as she gestured with her hands, trying to demonstrate where everything was. "The kitchen is against the opposite wall. And right up against the window is where I put my couch. "

"What about the bathroom?"

"Oh, it's so tiny," she breathed, sighing. Her bathroom had been the biggest letdown of the apartment, and honestly if she hadn't thought the bed was so much fun, she would've kept looking for another place to live. "It's like walking into a closet."

"That sounds awful," he admitted, taking another drink from his bottle. "It makes me even more grateful for all of this," he said, waving his bottle at the inky darkness that blanketed his property. She giggled, and he looked at her.

"I can't really see what you're talking about, Edward," she admitted, still smiling. "It's too dark out here." He smiled back at her, and she giggled again.

"Yeah, sorry."

"I don't really mind my apartment." She shrugged. "It's only me, so I don't need more room – and the price is right. I don't spend much time there, anyway. I work long hours. When I am there, I'm usually just lying in my bed, reading, or maybe binge watching shows on Netflix."

"Speaking of reading," he began, trying to fight back a grin. She eyed him warily, knowing what was coming next. "Exactly how many romance books about cowboys are there?" She grimaced playfully and laughed.

"I knew that one was going to come up sooner or later," she said. He laughed. "There's a lot out there, actually," she admitted.

"How much is a lot?"

"Well, I have an entire bookshelf," she said, gesturing with her hands to show the size. He nodded. "One entire part of that shelf is nothing but cowboy-themed romances." His eyes widened a little, and she giggled again.

"That many?"

"What can I say? I take my cowboys seriously." She bumped her shoulder gently against his, and he nudged her back.

"Are any of them realistic?"

"Edward," she chastised gently. "No romance book that I would buy is going to be anywhere close to being realistic." He laughed again softly.

"Sometimes I think things that can happen are actually better. Fantasy is nice and all, but I don't think it would be very nice to live life hoping for something that couldn't actually happen."

"Yeah, I know you're right. But there's something to be said for men who give up everything to be with the woman they love, or for the women who run away to be with men that their fathers forbid them to ever see again." She sat her empty beer bottle down on the ground and accepted the fresh one he handed her. She hadn't even realized she'd finished the first one.

"I suppose," he conceded, opening a fresh bottle himself. "But why does either one of them have to shun someone they love in order to have that other person? Why can't someone write a book where the couple's families actually like each other so the couple doesn't have to choose between their family and their love interest?" Bella watched him intently, her lips pursed in thought.

"Maybe someone does need to write that book," she mused aloud.

"Maybe someone needs to live that story in order to write the book," Edward answered, grinning crookedly. She bit down gently on her lower lip and gave him a shy smile.

"Maybe they do," she agreed.

"I wouldn't make much of a romance writer anyway," he hedged. "Seeing as how I've never really been in love. What about you?"

"Have I ever been in love?" she echoed. He nodded, both wanting and not wanting to know her answer. "I thought I was, once."

"Tell me about it?" he asked.

"Um… okay." She thought for a minute, wondering if she should tell him everything – and then she decided that she liked this man enough already that she didn't want there to be any secrets between them – just in case the relationship that she was hoping for came to pass. There was a difference between volunteering unnecessary information and giving it when it was specifically asked for, she thought. She took a drink of beer and cleared her throat. "His name was Jake – Jacob, but everyone called him Jake. I met him when we were stationed in Washington state. At first we didn't even like each other. Our dads were friends, and they would go fishing together every weekend. After about two months, my mom made friends with another woman on the reservation. After that, it was kind of inevitable that we would become some kind of friends because we were thrown together every weekend."

"I don't mean to interrupt, but what do you mean by reservation?"

"There's a Quileute reservation near the town we were stationed in."

"I see. Sorry, continue, please."

"It kind of sucked for him, I think," she mused, staring into the fire. "My dad was pretty much gone all the time anyway, since he was a soldier, but Jake was used to having his dad around. Once his dad, Billy, and my dad became friends, he basically lost his dad during the only time he could see him. He went to school during the day, and he had a job at a garage during the week for a few hours every day after school. Anyway, we started hanging out with some of the other kids on the reservation, and I actually got to be pretty close with a few of the girls."

"What was there to do on the reservation?" Edward wondered aloud.

"Not much of anything, other than the beach. I mean, it was Washington, so it was pretty cold and wet a lot of the time, but there were some really amazing days where it was warm and we could swim. Usually the guys would try to surf, if the water was right. We did go cliff diving a few times, though."

"Cliff diving?"

"Yes, it's as stupid as it sounds," she said, laughing. "We would jump off of a cliff into the water. I only did it twice – that was quite enough for me. I liked watching the others do it, though. But Jake was the best. He was so graceful. We started talking and hanging out a lot more by ourselves, and I convinced myself that I was in love with him. He paid attention to me more than the other girls, and he was always doing sweet things – like, he would bring me a drink when he hadn't brought one for anyone else, or sometimes he would surprise me with flowers he'd picked – oh! Once he even made dinner for me, which didn't turn out very good," she said, wrinkling her nose at the memory. Edward chuckled.

"So he treated you right," he observed. Bella 's expression fell a bit, and he wondered at it. "Or didn't he?"

"He started out okay. It was after the first six months had passed, and we had decided to make our relationship official – well, he decided, when he announced to the entire rez on the beach one night that I was his girlfriend. After that, things sort of went downhill. When I finally reached the point of realizing that I wanted to break things off, it was horrible. We were fighting every day, he was spending his time with other girls in front of me, and I was crying myself to sleep every night. We talked about it, and he thought that maybe we would be closer if we … consummated our relationship."

"Did he put it like that?"

"Um, no. He used a much more blunt turn of phrase. My dad wasn't very happy when it got back to him."

"What?" Edward looked startled. "How old were you then?"

"Seventeen. Someone at the rez overheard our conversation, and they told Billy, who apparently made a joke about it to my dad. He said something about them being in laws someday. My dad was not happy at all – my mom thought it was funny. I wound up getting a really long, uncomfortable sex talk from my dad, and a trip to the doctor with my mom to discuss birth control."

"If I'm being too forward, you don't have to answer, but … did you?" Bella bit her lip at how obviously uncomfortable Edward looked.

"I did, but it wound up being sort of an accident. We got into a huge fight during a bonfire, and I was so mad, I actually drank the weird kool-aid and vodka drink that the guys made. I drank a lot more than I'd planned on, and he took advantage of that. I wasn't happy the next day, because I didn't remember a whole lot about it. I remember enough to know that he didn't force me, but I don't think I would have done it if I hadn't been so drunk, and I think he knew that, too. That's what finally gave me the courage to break up with him. He got mad and said he never wanted to see me again. Of course, a year later when we moved, he was at the going away party and swore to always stay in contact with me. Every now and then I'll get a text or a call from him. Sometimes I answer, and sometimes I don't…" she shrugged. "He doesn't really seem to care either way. I appreciate that we didn't totally burn that bridge, but at the same time, I don't feel totally comfortable talking too much to him. I don't want him to get the wrong idea, you know?"

"I understand."

"What about you?" she asked, turning so that their knees touched. "Now that I've told you my horrible first time story, do I get to hear yours?" She tilted her head to the side and smiled softly at him. He cleared his throat and grinned.

"I was sixteen," he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck, his eyes trained on the ground. "And the girl didn't even really like me all that much – she admitted to me later that she'd only been with me in an effort to try and get to my best friend."

"Emmett or Jasper?"

"Emmett." He blinked and looked over at her. "How did you know it would be one of them?"

"You just seem like the kind of guys who've been best friends forever."

"Yeah, I guess so," he admitted, his grin back.

"I hope Emmett didn't go out with her after that."

"No, he didn't. He made sure that everyone at school knew what she'd done, too. Somehow he made me come out like some kind of hero. I felt bad for her, though, because she moved schools a few months later. I've always felt like somehow I was the reason why."

"Don't feel bad," Bella said, leaning over and resting her head on his shoulder. He reached an arm around her and pulled her even closer, resting his hand on her hip. His thumb rubbed slowly back and forth over the denim. "Anyone who would try to use you to get to someone else isn't worth your time. You deserve someone who wants you for you, and not as a means to an end."

"Funny, that's almost exactly what Jasper told me."

"He's a smart guy." Edward chuckled.

"Yeah, he really is. He and Alice seem to have taken a shine to each other."

"Oh my gosh, tell me about it. She's already talking marriage. I've never seen her like this with a guy before."

"I've never seen Jasper with a girlfriend, period."

"Really?"

"Yes. I wouldn't be surprised if they actually do get married, with the way he's acting. The whole time we were over here alone, he was talking about her and how amazing she is."

"We should totally take bets on how long it'll be before they're actually engaged."

"Emmett would love that. He likes nothing better than a good wager."

"You know, I can't figure him and Rose out," she admitted. "They look like they hate each other, but both nights, they've snuck off to have sex."

"Maybe she sees him as a challenge?" he wondered.

"Maybe," she conceded. Then, "I feel so comfortable with you." The hand on her hip gave a light squeeze.

"I feel comfortable with you, too. That's a good thing, right?"

"Absolutely. This is the first time in a very, very long time that I've felt completely comfortable around anyone other than Rose or Alice. I'm so glad we came here. I'm even happier that I met you."

"I am so happy you met me, too," he teased, chuckling when she gently elbowed his side. "I am happy, Bella. I want you to know that. I never imagined that someone like you existed."

"What do you mean, 'someone like me'?"

"I know it seems melodramatic, considering how young I am, but I seriously had almost given up hope of finding anyone that I actually connected with. I didn't actually go out looking for women, but when I did meet one, I like to think I gave her a chance. Like with Tanya, our meeting was an accident, but she was pretty, and she was nice to me. I'd accidentally bumped into her at Newton's sporting goods store while I was looking for some rope. She was looking for – well," he rubbed his cheek with his free hand for a moment while he paused. "I'm not rightly sure what she was looking for. But when I bumped into her, I knocked her on her rear, and things just went from there. I invited her out for a drink." He chuckled, and Bella tilted her head up to look at his face.

"Why is that funny?"

"It's just – you saw Tanya, right?" She nodded. "Why I thought she would ever enjoy going to the bar we went to is beyond me. She hated it from the moment she set foot in the door, and what's worse is that she didn't make a secret of that fact, and I still continued to see her."

"Well," Bella said, trying not to be too negative, "Your girlfriend doesn't necessarily have to love everything that you love. It helps, but it's not necessary."

"You don't have to be nice, Bella," he said, grinning at her and squeezing her close to him. "I love that you're trying, but you don't have to. She isn't the nicest person in the world, if you hadn't noticed. Besides, it turns out that she'd seen me around before, and she'd done some digging, and she found out who Momma was. She wanted to get close to me so she could get to my Momma, and that just wasn't going to happen."

"Rose said something about your mom yesterday," Bella remembered. "I guess I don't really pay attention to stuff like that."

"I'm glad. I don't think I would've been able to trust you if you'd known who she was, and that would definitely have been a tragedy of the worst kind."

"Then I don't feel bad about it," she declared, finishing off her beer. He laughed, and she joined in. "So, tell me, Edward Cullen – what is your favorite breakfast food?"

"French toast," he answered without hesitation. "But only when it's made with thick bread and drenched in powdered sugar and maple syrup."

"I would've pegged you for an omelet guy," she mused, snuggling closer to him. He stretched his legs out in front of him.

"Don't get me wrong, I love omelets, too. I guess they're heartier than French toast – but nothing beats sweets for breakfast. I always feel like I'm getting away with eating dessert." She giggled.

"So you can make French toast?"

"I never said that," he backtracked. "I only get it on holidays, when I see Momma. She makes brunch, and she always makes me a ton of French toast. I usually go home with some, but it doesn't taste as good when it's not fresh."

"I agree completely."

"What's your favorite breakfast food?"

"Everything. I love breakfast. I love food, period."

"That's a good thing, though, since you're a chef, right?"

"That's probably why I became a chef," she said, laughing. "That, and the fact that no one else in my family knows how to cook, and if I wanted something edible growing up, I had to make it myself. I didn't mind, though. Mom was always really appreciative that I took that particular chore away from her – so was Daddy, come to think of it." Edward smiled.

"You sound like you're close to them."

"Yeah, Daddy more so than my mom, but I think that's a girl thing – being a daddy's girl, right? But I do love my mom. We didn't always have the best relationship when I was growing up, but what teenage girl gets along with her mom, you know? Now that I'm out of their house and on my own, I have so much more respect for her. I call her every other day."

"It's nice to hear that you love your family so much. I don't mean to compare you to her, but Tanya hated her family. I couldn't really talk too much about my parents, or she got jealous, and I felt bad. Honestly, sometimes I wonder if maybe I haven't found somebody before now because I don't deserve it."

"How can you say that?" Bella pulled away enough to look Edward in the eyes. "You didn't like Tanya, but you still didn't want to make her feel bad. You love your mom enough not to expose her to someone like Tanya. You love your family, you love your friends, and you're kind and honest. These are all just things I've learned in the last twenty-four hours. How could anyone not want you for you? You're amazing."

Edward didn't know what to say to that. She'd stood up to him last night to his friends, and now she was standing up to him for himself. He locked eyes with her, and when she held his gaze, his heart sped up. He let his eyes drop to her pink lips, and then he looked back up. He could hear when Bella's breathing became irregular, and it made his stomach flip in anticipation. He cleared his throat.

"Bella, can I…" He trailed off. "Would it be okay if I kissed you right now?"

"Yes, please," she breathed.

He grinned before closing the distance between them and gently pressing his lips to hers. It was a soft kiss; a barely-there kiss – like being touched by a pair of butterfly wings, Bella thought. How could a kiss be hesitant and certain at the same time? After a moment, his lips left hers, only to meet hers again a second later, firmer this time. He never tried to deepen the kiss, which left Bella feeling both frustrated and grateful. She wondered if maybe he wasn't trying to push the kiss because she'd had a few beers and he was mindful of her story about Jake. She was grateful because she wasn't really sure if she wanted to sleep with him tonight if it involved anything other than actual sleep – and it wasn't because she didn't find him attractive (Jesus God in Heaven, he was attractive – and he smelled amazing, and he was sweet, and considerate, and loyal, and he loved his family, and he was kissing all coherent thought right out of her head), it was just that she'd just met him, and she wanted to be sure that it was what they both wanted, with clear heads, when it happened. She was also frustrated because she kind of wanted him to deepen the kiss. The light kisses were incredible and they were making her dizzy and lightheaded, but she wanted more. Surely they could kiss harder without falling into bed together?

All too soon, he pulled away and buried his face in the side of her neck, panting. She understood; her breaths were ragged and shallow. If chaste kisses did this to her, what would deep, passionate kisses do? She didn't know, but she suspected, and she wanted to find out.

"Bella," he breathed into her neck. She felt the gooseflesh rise and she shivered. He pulled away to look at her, and she missed the warmth of his breath on her skin. "Are you cold?"

"Not at all," she said, shaking her head.

"Was that okay?"

"It was more than okay, it was perfect." His expression relaxed, and he smiled.

"I think so, too." He reached out and grabbed her hand with his. "Do you want to go inside now? As much as I would love to stay out here longer, it's been a long day, and I'm pretty tired."

"Sure," she said, letting him help her to her feet. She brushed the back of her pants off and gathered the beer bottles as he began to put the fire out. She walked the trash up to the house and waited until he joined her a few minutes later. He reached for her hand, and once their fingers were intertwined, he led her into the house. Bella surprised him by letting go of him once they were inside the kitchen, and she began packing up the leftover food and putting it away. "Sorry – it's habit. I don't want it to go bad. You have enough food here for a couple of days of leftovers – or just one day, if Emmett and Jasper eat with you." She missed his grin as she cleaned up. He joined her and started filling the dishwasher. He couldn't help but notice that they worked in tandem in comfortable silence, and it felt like they'd done this a hundred times before. When they had finished everything to Bella's satisfaction, he led her down the hallway towards the bedrooms.

"There's no pressure if you don't want to sleep in my room," he began, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. Bella smiled and bit down on her bottom lip.

"If I say I want to sleep in your room, can we just sleep?"

"Yeah! Yes, I mean – of course. I'd like that." His cheeks turned pink.

"You're cute when you're flustered," she blurted. His eyes widened slightly, and then he relaxed. He laughed softly.

"You're cute all the time," he offered quietly, reaching for the doorknob. On some level, Bella knew that her friends would be asking her for the details of what Edward's room looked like, but she didn't notice anything in the room except him. It was dark, and he only switched on a bedside lamp for light. She did see that his room was huge – probably one of the biggest in the house, she thought, but she didn't pay much attention to anything else other than the man in front of her and the bed that they were going to share.

The bed itself was a simple one, for which Bella was glad. She wasn't sure what she would've done if he'd had some ornate thing. For Edward, this bed was a perfect fit. Simple and fuss-free and covered in green (what was quickly becoming her favorite color), the bed was exactly the one she could picture Edward wanting to crawl into at the end of a long, exhausting day. He released her hand long enough to move to one side of the room, and she turned to watch. She could make out a long dresser in the dim light, and she watched as he went through drawers.

"Do you have something to sleep in?" He asked, glancing up at her. She started to nod, and then her eyes widened in realization.

"I did pack something, but my bag is in Rose's car."

"Want to borrow something of mine?" Bella wished she had more light just for a moment. His offer was soft and almost shy, as if he were afraid she might say no.

"I'd love to." After a moment, he approached her with a t-shirt and a pair of long pajama pants. He gave her an apologetic smile.

"Anything I have is probably going to swallow you."

"I don't mind at all," she said honestly. "Where can I change?"

"The bathroom is over there," he said, pointing behind her. "There's a brand new toothbrush in the medicine cabinet, too – you're welcome to it." She thanked him and then moved slowly towards the bathroom. When she found the light switch on the wall, she flipped it and shut the door behind her.

This bathroom was definitely bigger than the bathroom that she'd used earlier. It had a huge shower, a separate bath tub that looked like Charlie's therapeutic hot tub at home, and a double sink. Hell, this bathroom was probably half the size of her apartment, she thought. She got dressed quickly and located the toothbrush that Edward had told her about. She smiled to herself when she realized that they used the same toothpaste. It was a small thing, but for some reason, it made her flush with warmth. When she tried to leave the bathroom, she found that Edward's pants, even rolled up, were much too large to stay on her hips. She worried her bottom lip with her teeth before deciding to get rid of the pants altogether. The t-shirt was long enough, she figured, looking down at herself. It fell just past her knees. Surely that wasn't sending the wrong signals? Not that there were any wrong signals, she thought, rolling her eyes at herself. If he really wanted her badly enough, she wasn't sure that her reasons for not having sex would actually prevent her from doing it. She sighed and left the bathroom.

"Are you okay?" she looked up and saw that he'd already changed into his pajamas, which were very similar to what he'd given her. He was adorable in plaid flannel pants and a snug t-shirt. For some reason the sight of his bare feet was making her warm. Bare feet, muscular arms, strong hands… she shivered.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she answered finally. She watched as he stared at her for a moment, wondering if he was sizing her up the way she'd just done to him. His throat moved as he swallowed.

"What happened to the pants?" he asked, his voice a bit higher than it had been moments before. She dug her toes into the soft carpeting.

"They were too big. Is this okay?" she looked down at herself again before meeting his eyes.

"It's perfect. Just give me a minute – I'm going to go brush my teeth." She watched as he disappeared into the bathroom, and then turned back to the bed. Which side did he prefer? She examined both nightstands on either side of the bed and came to the conclusion that he preferred the right side. The nightstand on that side had an empty glass and a book. She picked up the book and turned it over, smiling when she read the title.

"I told you I liked mysteries," he said, startling her. She put the book back on the nightstand and turned to smile at him.

"I never said I didn't believe you."

"I know, but now you've seen the proof. Which side do you want?"

"I'll take the left side." She followed his lead and turned the covers down before climbing into the bed with him. He reached over and switched the lamp off, bathing them both in darkness. After several minutes, he cleared his throat.

"Bella?"

"Yes, Edward?"

"Would it be too forward of me to ask if I could hold you?" She reached her hand out and felt warmth when it met with his side. He reached out and pulled her close, and she snuggled into his side, resting her head on his shoulder. He hummed in contentment. "This has been the best night of my life," he murmured into the top of her head.

"Mine, too," she admitted. His hand stroked her hair for a few moments, and she closed her eyes to enjoy it. The last thing she remembered before drifting off to sleep was the feeling of Edward pressing a kiss to her forehead.