Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns all things Twilight. No copyright infringement intended.

"Edward..."

"Bella…"

They both let out a laugh as they spoke at the same time. Bella motioned for him to go ahead and speak first, feeling a little unsure of what she was even going to say.

Edward took a deep breath and turned to face her fully, his hand reaching out to take hers, causing her eyes to meet his. "Bella, can I kiss you?"

Bella flashed a wide smile that easily met her eyes and gave a little nod. Edward hesitated, unsure if her head moving was a nod or not, so to play it safe, he continued to hold her gaze, the question evident in his eyes.

Bella giggled at his hesitation, "Well, are you going to kiss me or just sit there and stare at me?" She squeezed the hand she was still holding, "You know there's no pressure here. If you want to, go ahead. I'm definitely not going to stop you. It's something I've been looking forward to since… Well, let's just say that I've been looking forward to it for a while." She grinned at Edward as she watched his eyebrows rise in surprise and winked at him as she tugged at his hand, bringing him closer to her. "So maybe the better question is if you want to kiss me. Not if you can kiss me."

Edward took a deep breath and gave a little chuckle before raising his free hand to cup her jaw and watched her eyes flutter shut. He closed the short distance between and pressed his lips to hers—a light kiss, pure, innocent, new. Bella sighed as he drew back a little, a small smile playing on both their lips with their eyes opening and meeting.

"May I kiss you again, Bella?" Edward whispered, his breath ghosting across her lips.

She nodded again and he set his lips once more to hers. He brought her hands up to his neck, fingers threading together as he gripped her waist and pulled her onto his lap. He wanted her closer, to feel her against him, to make their interaction seem more real since he was pretty sure this was more of a dream. She felt too good for it to be a part of his reality.

She linked her fingers together and leaned into the kiss, feeling his hands settle on her hips as he moved his head to deepen the kiss. His hands never roamed, never explored.

It was the perfect kiss for Bella. She dreamed of this moment since she first caught a glimpse of him years ago. No one knew she had snuck downstairs to steal a glance at her betrothed, but curiosity got the best of her. She smiled inwardly as she remembered his young face, the smile he gave his mother, and the way he was so polite and proper. The perfect Prince.

She heard Edward sigh as his fingers flexed at her hips, causing Bella to wiggle and break the kiss with a laugh.

"I'm sorry. Your fingers hit a spot," Bella said, laughing as he pressed his fingers into her hips again, hitting a ticklish spot. She put her hands on his to move them so she could ease back. She didn't want something as cliché as tickling to ruin this moment for her.

Edward smiled back at her as he grinned and let her move back. She scooted back to her spot next to him, a smile still on her face. "Um, thank you. You know…for that," she stated as she gestured in the air between them.

"It was entirely my pleasure, Bella," Edward replied. He caught her hand in the air and brought it to his lips, placing a light kiss across her knuckles. He opened his mouth to continue but was interrupted by a loud, irritated whinny and stamping coming from their horses not too far from them.

Bella's bright laugh filled the air as she got up. "I guess that's our cue that we've been here long enough. My horse doesn't like to be tied up too long. She get impatient when she's out of the stables and not able to run."

Edward checked the time and agreed, packing up the saddlebag. "Yeah, I need to head back as well. My dad and I are leaving this afternoon to go back home." He walked up next to Bella, threading his fingers between hers, giving it a light squeeze. She leaned into his arm and smiled sadly. "I know. King Carlisle told me that when we spoke last."—Bella looked up at Edward and spoke softly—"Is it wrong that I wish we had just a little more time together?"

"No. I was just thinking the same thing. Maybe we can figure something out. I know it's gonna be busy around here for you and the impending coronation, and I've still got to finish out this semester, but I'm sure we can figure something out," Edward answered. He wondered if he was being too forward, assuming that she even wanted something with him still. He wasn't sure when the turning point for him was, but he was glad for it.

(To be continued)

A/n: I know. I know. This is super short. There are many reasons for it, but the main one is that my muses have seemed to disappear and left me hanging. So this post is a little bittersweet. We get the kiss, but I'm going to have to put the rest of this on hiatus until it comes back to me. Hopefully, that is sooner rather than later. I still plan on writing, but I'm just not able to write on this one.

I feel so bad that I have to do this, but I don't want to leave you all hanging while my writing mojo is in a funk. So I'm going to go hide under my umbrella as things come flying at me.

A Tale.