TFLN Contest

Title: Wish Upon a Star

Summary: Disney World isn't Edward's version of an ideal vacation, but can a brown-eyed princess change his mind and make his dreams come true? Sometimes you can't escape the magic.

Pairing: Edward/Bella

Prompt used: (407): i went to disney world today with my friends, met snow white, then saw her later at a bar. she is naked next to me in her bed, passed out. when you wish upon a star…

Disclaimer: The author does not own any publicly recognizable entities herein. No copyright infringement is intended.

Wish Upon A Star

Knock. Knock.

"Edward? Come on! We wanted to leave at eight and it's already ten after."

"Yeah, Ed, let's get a move on. We need to zip-a-dee-doo-dah out of here. Right, little Cinderella?"

"Edward! Let's go go go! Imma princess! You hafta see my dress!"

"Okay, okay," I grumbled, finally opening the door, only to be almost knocked over by a charging four-year-old. I caught her and swung her into my arms.

Or at least I assumed it was her. Mainly, there was a huge mass of sparkly blue dress. I glanced at Rose, but her rolling eyes seemed to be telling me to play along.

So I studied the smiling little face I knew so well while acting like I didn't.

"Excuse me, miss. Do I know you? I was expecting Emily McCarty, but you're obviously a princess."

"Edward!" She giggled, placing her hands on either side of my face. "It's me! Emily! I'm just wearin' a Cinderella dress. And I'm gonna meet Cinderella today. And Ariel a'cus I have to tell her I sleeped in a room with all her friends in it. And maybe Rapunzel. And Minnie Mouse. And ride all the rides. Even the scary one! Edward, you hafta ride the scary ride with me so I won't be scared, 'kay? Oooh and we can get Mickey ice cream and cotton candy and chocolate and –"

"Whoa," Rose interrupted, taking her little princess from me. "You need to take it down a notch or no sugar for you at all today. Got me?"

That shut little Cinderella up fast. She quickly nodded, sliding down to the ground before grabbing her daddy's hand and pulling him toward the elevator.

Her Daddy who, as I just noticed, looked ridiculous.

"Em!" I barked out a laugh as I shut the door to my own Little Mermaid inspired room behind me. "What the hell are you wearing?"

He turned back, grinning. "What? Rosie thought it was fitting to my personality."

"Daddy's goofy," Emily agreed.

I happened to agree too, but that didn't mean he needed to wear a t-shirt with that dog on the front and back along with a large green hat that included long black ears and Goofy written across it in huge letters.

"But does he have to advertise it? I know we're at Disney, but come on." Couldn't he have dressed a little more normal? At least I wouldn't be attracting attention in my gray UDub shirt. And though Rose was wearing a shirt with Minnie Mouse on the front, it wasn't too crazy.

It was bad enough I was vacationing here with them. Of course Emmett had to find a way to make it even more embarrassing for me.

"Don't even bother," Rose mumbled, patting my arm. "Now let's go catch a bus. Princesses and rides all day. Right, baby girl?"

Emily squealed, jumping up and down and slipping her free hand into mine. She quickly led the way, dragging Emmett and I behind her while Rose laughed her ass off at my expression.

What had I gotten myself into?

XXXX

"We have to survive five more days of this?" I leaned back on the bench, stretching my tired legs. "Holy shit, Rose," I whispered. "I thought I was in great shape but good grief."

Rose chuckled, shaking her head as she slapped my knee. "Oh come on, you big baby. You know you love it." She paused and nudged me so we could both smile and wave as big and little Em flew by us in an elephant. Dumbo was Emily's favorite ride this year, but Rose and I had both drawn the line after riding it once. "It's the happiest place on Earth, you know."

"Sure," I huffed. "Is that like the 'happiest cruise that ever sailed'? Because I beg to differ on that." I was never going to get that fucking song out of my head. And Emily was already talking about wanting to ride it again to see all the pretty dolls. The things I did for that kid.

She had me here at Disney with them, after all. I wasn't a Disney fan by any means. Sure, I'd seen most of the movies Em loved because she'd forced me, but this wasn't my version of an ideal vacation. Emily knew how to work me though and since I'd skipped out on their trip down here last year, I hadn't been able to get out of it this time.

Today the things she'd conned me into had included ride after ride after ride. It was only about three in the afternoon, but we'd already hit every ride on Emily's must list and were now going for a couple of second times. She thought she was in charge today when Rose actually had a master plan that kept both of her children appeased. Emmett had been boasting plans of thrill rides to me for weeks which we'd be getting to later this week, but really he seemed just as happy as Emily on the tamer rides

"So what's the plan for the rest of the day?"

Rose hummed, checking her phone. "Well, we have fast passes to see the princesses at four, so we'll probably go have a snack after this. Then I'm guessing maybe one more ride but we'll probably just head back to the resort for dinner and an early bedtime. We'll do parade and fireworks another night when my child has had a nap."

"She's doing pretty good today, though," I said, wanting to give Rose some credit. For years, she'd faced a lot of shit in regards to even having a kid, but she was just as much of a kick-ass mom now as she was at nineteen when Em was born. And Emily was definitely an awesome kid.

Of course, all the practice Rose had had with Emmett, the overgrown child, definitely helped.

"Yeah, she is," Rose agreed. "We had a crash course when we came for the first time with your parents last year so I know how to handle Disney and the Ems. And speaking of . . . "

She paused as the other half of our crew came running over. Unfortunately for all of us, Emmett hadn't lost his goofy hat on the ride.

"Edward!" Emily yelled as she jumped into my lap. "Didya see how high I was? I could see everything all around!"

"I did see you. You were so high, dude."

"Mommy, can we go again?"

"I'm game," Emmett said, rubbing his hands together.

"You could do that . . . or we can go get a snack and then go meet some princesses. So which one?"

Emily gasped and started bouncing on her knees on my lap, so I quickly moved her over to the bench to save myself from any damage. "Princesses! Mommy, we hafta meet the princesses! Cinderella! She has to see my dress a'cus I look like her! Daddy, we can see the princesses instead of Dumbo again, okay?"

He shrugged with a grin. "Sure thing, baby girl. Can I get my picture made with the princesses, too?"

Emily pursed her lips as she thought about it. "I think you needa ask Mommy 'bout that."

Emmett laughed loudly, probably disturbing everyone around us. "Well, what do you say, Rosie? Am I allowed to meet some princesses? Some I haven't met in the bedroom yet?"

"Oh gross," I mumbled to myself. I did not need to know what kinky shit they were into. I knew way too much about either of them already, thanks to living together for over four years. Somehow I'd avoided this fact.

"How did you meet princesses in your bedroom?" Emily asked, crossing her arms in front of her. "Did they come over while I was sleeping? I wanna meet them, too!"

Emmett laughed some more, prompting another eye roll from his wife.

"No, sweetheart. Daddy just means movies on TV. When we have movie day in our bed."

"Oh." Little Em nodded, obviously appeased by that bullshit. Thank God for Rose's quick thinking

"Now," Rose said, standing up and taking Emily's hand. "How about we go try to find a table while you boys round us up a snack."

"Aye aye, captain." Emmett saluted and turned to skip off toward one of the quick snack stations.

Having no other choice, I followed my best friend and started wondering — for probably the thousandth time — if he'd been dropped on his head as a baby.

"Can you act maybe half your age?" I asked as we took our spot in line.

"Nah. Where's the fun in that?"

"The fun in that would be for the kids. You know . . . whom this place is for?"

"Ed, Ed, Ed." He shook his head and slapped my back. "You have to embrace the magic, man. Don't think about age or whatever other reasons you shouldn't like this place. Nothing says grown men can't love Disney."

The look he received from the lady in front of us seemed to tell a different story, but that didn't stop Emmett McCarty.

"This is vacation, and we're all here to have fun, not just Little Em. So take that stick out of your butt and live a little. I saw you smiling on the Little Mermaid ride."

"I was smiling at Em."

"And Winnie the Pooh."

"Em said something funny."

"And on the teacups."

"I was trying not to hurl."

"And on the Haunted Mansion."

I glared at him. "It's dark on that ride so how do you know?"

"At the end with the mirrors." He smiled smugly. "That hitch-hiking ghost was hilarious. Don't lie."

I sighed because he had me there. That shit was kind of funny. "Okay, okay. I guess it's not so bad. But that doesn't mean I'm going to be skipping around like you are. At least act a little older than your daughter."

"No promises, man," he said as he stepped up to give his order. "No promises."

After loading up on orders of plain and chilli cheese fries along with drinks for all of us, we headed to find Rose and Emily. They had luckily found a table with four chairs so we were able to sit and eat our snack which calmed both the Ems until Rose announced it was time to get in line for the princesses. That set off the jumping and skipping again.

Even though we had fast passes, we still had to stand in line. After a few minutes of standing, Emily decided it was too much for her so she wound up in my arms with her arms wrapped around my neck.

"Are you having lots of fun, Edward? I'm having lots of fun. I love, love, love Disney World!"

"I'm having lots of fun with you," I said, kissing her cheek.

"This is the best bacation ever!" she announced, loud enough to earn us a few glances. Like father, like daughter. But she had cuteness working in her favor so most people were smiling at us. "And now we get to meet princesses! I'm so essited! Are you essited, Edward?"

"So excited." I smiled, hoping that was convincing enough.

"Good. We can get our picture together! With Cinderella!" Her eyes widened as she grinned. "Edward, you can put it on your phone! On your lockeded me out screen. It'll be soooo bea-uuuu-ti-ful."

"Yeah, okay. Whatever you say, kid."

Emily used the rest of our wait in line to tell me all about every princess she hoped was here with Cinderella. I only halfway listened as I swayed with her in my arms, praying the line would be over soon so we could go back to our rooms and rest.

Thankfully, our wait was up — thirty minutes later.

"There was nothing fast about that," I grumbled softly to Rose as we entered the room with the princesses.

"They make it good for the kids," she whispered back to me. "Just watch."

As I stood back beside her, I realized she was right. The lady playing Cinderella knelt down beside Emily and talked with her all about her dress, asking if she had a fairy godmother or mice friends to help her. Emily giggled with a smile a mile wide as she interacted with this actress and explained that her mommy bought the dress for her. They spoke for another minute as Cinderella signed Em's little book and then it was picture time. Some with just Emily, some with her and her parents, and some she made me join in.

Once that torture was over, I thought we were finished but no such luck. There was another princess to visit with. Snow White this time, as Emily informed me.

"Hello, little princess," the Snow White called, waving to Emily. "You look just like my friend Cinderella. Did you borrow one of her dresses?"

Emily giggled and shook her head, passing her autograph book over to be signed. "No, my mommy gived it to me. That's her," she said, pointing to Rose. "And my daddy."

Emmett smiled and waved, which Snow White returned.

"Oh! How lovely. Your daddy reminds me of my friend Happy. And who is this?" she asked Em, looking at me. "Is he your prince?"

"Nooo," Emily said between more giggles. "That's my Edward. He doesn't have a princess. Yet. He's my best friend."

It wasn't the first time Em had called me that, but it still made me smile. That little girl was actually one of my best friends too . . .

"Edward, you needs to come meet Snow White!"

. . . and she was about to be demoted.

I frowned, shaking my head. Pictures I could do. Interacting . . . no.

Snow White looked at me and back to Em, nodding solemnly. "Oh, I see he's like my friend Grumpy."

That cracked Emmett and Rose up, but Emily just shook her head.

"No?" Snow White asked. "Is he like . . . Bashful, then?"

Emily shook her head again. "No, he's just Edward. Edward, come over here. Pleeeeease?"

She pulled out the pouty lip this time, knowing I couldn't say no to that. She was too smart for her own good.

"Okay, okay." I sighed and walked over to them. "Um . . . hi, Snow White." I rubbed the back of my neck, feeling more awkward than I'd ever felt. "Nice to meet you."

She smiled at me, clasping her hands under her chin. "It's nice to meet you as well, kind sir. Would you like a picture with Princess Emily?"

There was no point in arguing so I agreed. We took a couple of pictures, including one with me posing as a prince, whatever the fuck that meant. I felt ridiculous, but it made Emily smile so I didn't regret it. Snow White seemed to be enjoying it quite a bit, too, and I had to admit that seeing her expressive brown eyes as she laughed at me wasn't such a bad sight.

After one last picture with Rose and Emmett included, we said our goodbyes to Snow White.

"Goodbye, Prince Edward," she called after me.

It caught me off guard, so I stopped and turned to look at her. The next kids in line were already standing in front of her but she was looking at me, still with that sweet smile and those eyes. She gave me one last princess wave before focusing on the next group.

I easily caught up to my people, thanks to them being stopped at a souvenir area.

Emily ran over to me, jumping back into my arms. "Edward! Snow White was so cool! And she thought you was a prince! That's sooo funny! I needa dress like hers. Please, please, pleeeease?"

The lip won me over again — no surprise there — and twenty minutes later, Little Em had her very own Snow White dress, shoes, and headband which she informed us she was wearing tomorrow.

"Thank you, Edward," Emily said as she gave me a big kiss on the cheek. "You're the bestest friend ever."

Okay, so maybe she was un-demoted now.

"You spoil her, you know," Rose said as we trailed behind the children who were now thankfully skipping toward the exit.

I shrugged. "Yeah, well. I'm just glad we're done for the day. Plus what's a vacation without souvenirs."

"Uh huh. I didn't see you offering to buy anything else Em said she wanted all day. But the Snow White stuff . . . "

"What are you saying?" I asked, eyeing her suspiciously.

"Oh nothing." She smirked. "Just that you might be sweet on Snow White."

"Ha. Yeah, I'm totally in love with a character I just met today. Sure."

"Not that character. The actress," she clarified. "I caught those looks you were giving each other between pictures. You're not good at being coy, just so you know."

"She was pretty," I admitted because with Rose, that was the easiest option. She could bullshit better than anyone but she saw through anyone else's quickly. "But why does it matter? So I admired a pretty girl. I'm sure she's just one of many Snow Whites here. It's not like I'd ever find her again."

"That's true," she agreed with a nod. "It was still cute, though. One of those pictures is totally going on the refrigerator."

I groaned but knew better than to fight that. And at least I'd get to see the pretty girl again, if only when going to get a drink.

XXXX

Once we made it back to the resort, we stopped for a quick dinner at the large food court. Emily was starting to droop quite a bit, so Rose picked her up, ready to take her back to their room for an early bath and bedtime.

"Wait," Emily said, lifting her arms out toward me.

I let her come to me, thinking she wanted her usual hug and kiss goodnight.

"I love you, Em," I told her as I hugged her tightly. "I'll see you in the morning for more fun, okay? Dream good dreams."

She returned my hug but shook her head. "No, Edward. I can't go night-night yet. We hafta make sure your dreams come true."

"Uh what? What dreams, dude?"

She leaned back in my arms, giving me the you're so stupid look she inherited from her mother. "Edward. You needa princess! So we hafta wish 'pon a star so you can find one, okay? I'll find you a good star."

My eyes were wide in shock as Emily set to work searching overhead for a star for me. I didn't even have a chance to tell her I didn't want or need a princess before she was bouncing and pointing above us.

"There! I find you a good one, Edward! Now you can make your wish."

I rolled my eyes but decided to just humor her. If this was what she wanted to do on her vacation, I wouldn't ruin it for her.

"Okay done," I said, but that wasn't good enough for her.

"No." She put her hands over my eyes. "Close your eyes and wish."

Letting out a deep breath, I waited a few seconds and tried again. "Okay, now I'm done." She smiled, obviously satisfied this time. "But now it's time for you to go to bed."

"Kay. Night night. Love you, Edward." After giving me a kiss, I passed her back to Rose, thankful Emmett had needed to take a piss and had missed our little wishing display. Once we agreed on a time to leave the next day, I was finally left on my own for the evening.

I didn't want to just go back to my room yet. It was my vacation, too, so I pulled out my phone to try to look up some more . . . adult places. Downtown Disney seemed like my best bet without having to drive anywhere, so I found the right bus stop and headed over there.

The atmosphere was definitely more of what I was going for. Less princesses and more laid back, but there was no mistaking it was still Disney. The few gift shops I walked through proved that. I passed several restaurants but mainly just wanted something to drink and somewhere to chill. When I came across an outdoor bar area, I decided that was good enough. There weren't many people around, so I ordered a Heineken and took a seat at one of the tables. I drank slowly, listening to the live music which wasn't half bad, and enjoyed the peace after a long day.

I was about to get up to order another one when a girl walked up. Something about her seemed familiar, and I couldn't stop myself from staring. As she turned around with her Blue Moon, I realized why.

"Well, well. If it isn't Snow," I said, just loud enough for her to hear.

Her head whipped toward me in surprise but then she smiled. "I think you're mistaken, Prince Edward. I'm just a friend of Snow."

"A friend, huh?" I gestured for the seat in front of me, hoping she'd take it. When she did, I smiled. "Is that a code or something?"

She took a sip of her beer and nodded. "Maintaining the magic and all that."

"Ahh." I nodded. "I guess that makes sense. Friends can go out for beer."

She laughed and nodded again. "That's true. And I wouldn't want to give that up. So are your friends around, if you don't mind me asking? Am I interrupting anything?"

I shook my head. "Nope. They're at the resort for early bedtime for the princess, so I came out here for a break."

"First trip here?"

"For me. My parents brought them last year but I couldn't get away. This place is . . . something."

Snorting, she nodded. "That it is."

We were quiet for a few minutes as we drank our beers, and it wasn't as awkward as I would have expected it to be. Except until I realized I didn't even know her real name.

"So friend of Snow . . . what's your actual name?"

"Oh! Sorry. I'm Isabella Swan — Bella. Can I assume Edward is your real name?"

I smiled and reached over to shake her hand which fit so nicely in mine. "Nice to meet you, Bella. And you can. Well, I'm Edward Cullen. Are you from Florida?"

"Oh no," she said, shaking her head and pulling her hand from mine. "Funnily enough, I'm from Washington state." She nodded toward me. "And I'm guessing you are, too?"

Confused, I glanced down and realized I'd forgotten I was wearing a UDub shirt. "Oh yeah. Seattle born and raised. And educated too. Are you in college?"

"Yep. I go to UDub too, actually. I took two semesters off to work down here, but I'm going back in a couple of weeks for a few summer class to get back on track."

"Done with the magic?" I joked, but she nodded fervently, making me laugh.

"Hey, don't laugh. You'd be done too if you had to talk in a crazy high-pitched voice nearly every day. And God, I miss Washington weather. This humidity is insane."

I knew how she felt after less than two full days here. Even though the early May weather wasn't that bad, the climate was still much different from the Pacific Northwest. I couldn't imagine being here for two semesters.

"So what's your major?" I asked. "Are you in a college program or something? Or am I making shit up?"

"I'm a psychology major." I raised my eyebrow in surprise which made her laugh. "I know, I know. You were thinking theater or drama or something, weren't you?"

"Guilty," I agreed sheepishly. "Or I don't know . . . communications, I guess."

"Those would make more sense on the surface," she said, nodding. "But I'm doing psych and planning to go into child life. I want to work with kids in hospitals."

"Well, that makes sense, too. You see lots of kids here, right? You're really good with them."

She smiled. "Thanks. I didn't plan to be friends with any face characters. There is a college program here which I'm in, but I was originally placed in merchandise. I'm just a huge Disney nerd and thought 'hey, why not come down here in college and live in the magic'." She shrugged, and even in the fading light I could tell she was blushing. "That's probably weird since I'm almost twenty-two."

She thought she was weird? I shook my head. "No weirder than a single twenty-four-year-old guy vacationing here."

"Aww. I think that's sweet, though. Your little best friend loves you being here, I'm sure."

"That she does," I mumbled, taking the last sip of my beer. I wasn't in a hurry to get up now, though. Even to get another one.

This girl — Bella — had been drawing me in from the beginning, even when I had only noticed her eyes while she was in character. My conversation with Rose ran through my head. What were the chances that I would find this particular Snow White again? I didn't usually believe in signs and all that bullshit, but this was clearly something special.

Bella was pretty and interesting, and I wanted to keep talking to her. So I did.

"So how did you go from merchandise to . . . this gig?" I asked. "Do people randomly do that?"

Bella shook her head. "No, I'm actually really unusual, especially since I don't have any dance or singing background. I worked merchandise for my first semester here and then I met my friend Alice." She chuckled a little. "Ironically, Alice is a friend of Alice from Alice in Wonderland and Tinker Bell, too. She's a tiny thing, so she gets those kind of roles."

She paused, taking a drink. "Anyway, she wasn't in the college program. She is trained and has been doing this for a couple of years, but we happened to meet and just click. It didn't take her long to discover how big of a nerd I am. I can quote tons of movies, sing all the songs and all that, and Snow White happens to be one of the movies I love. That combined with my height, face shape, pasty skin, and improv abilities apparently made me a good choice during the audition Alice convinced me to go to. There's no way I'd ever be in a parade or show, but I guess my interactions with kids made me a good pick for meet-and-greet. And here we are after five months of Snow-ing."

"You know, that's pretty impressive," I told her. I was impressed, anyway. "And you are really good with kids. You might have even converted Em from Cinderella to Snow White today. I had to buy her a whole new outfit."

She laughed and clapped her hands together. "Oh my God, yes! Finally! I swear Snow is the least favorite princess. Definitely not as popular as Cinderella. I can't wait to brag to Lauren about this tomorrow. She was your Cindy friend today."

I laughed with her. "Brag away. Everything was Cinderella this morning but this evening, Snow White was her thing. I hope she didn't ask to sleep in her dress."

"That's seriously so cute. So how old is she?"

"She's four," I answered. "Four but acts like she's a teenager. I don't know how any of us will survive."

Smiling, she tilted her head curiously. "Is she your niece?"

"Not . . . exactly," I said, running my fingers through my hair. "It's kind of a long story."

Bella snorted, making me chuckle again. "It's okay if it's too personal, but don't worry about long. I just talked your ear off about my life. I kind of owe you."

"Fair enough, but I think I'll get another beer first." I nodded toward her close to empty bottle. "Another for you too?"

She agreed, so I regretfully left the table to go back to the bar. I definitely didn't mind telling her about my life because she had told me so much about hers, but that step seemed important for some reason. Like this wasn't just strangers killing time together at a bar. We were going home to the same city, going to the same college. What were the odds of that?

Everything was suddenly very real. If I wanted to keep talking to this girl after tonight, I very well could. In a couple of weeks after she came back to Seattle, we could even meet again. And I wanted that. It was fast, but so what? I'd never felt this kind of connection with someone so quickly before. I wasn't willing to let it go easily.

Maybe it was a small world after all.

After getting our beers, I walked back to the table. Before sitting down, I tried to sneakily move my chair closer to hers. Her blush showed I probably wasn't as sneaky as I thought, but neither of us seemed to care.

"So. . . my life," I started. Bella smiled, leaning back and turning to face me, obviously ready to listen. "Well, I'm an only child, but I've been friends with Emmett since high school. His grandparents raised him, but after we became friends, my parents basically considered him their own so we're a lot like brothers. Em started dating Rosalie during our junior year of high school. In the middle of senior year, she found out she was pregnant which started a major shit storm."

Looking down, I shook my head, remembering how everything went down.

"Rose's parents disowned her, and Emmett's grandparents didn't know what to think. Em and Rose were both pretty popular but when something like that happens, most teenagers don't know how to react so they lost a lot of friends — nearly everyone except me and my parents. We took both of them in after that. Emily was born in the summer before we all went to UDub. We got an apartment together, and my mom watched Little Em while Rose and Emmett were in class. They both managed to prove everyone wrong and graduate on time. Rose is a nurse now, and Em works at a firm while getting his masters in bioengineering."

"Wow," Bella said, eyes wide as if in awe. "That's so incredible."

"I'm proud of them." That was an understatement. I could only hope to be as successful as the two of them, both academically and having a family.

"Jeez, I am too and I don't even know them! That's just . . . wow. So what about you, Edward? Have you graduated already?"

I nodded. "I have my bachelors in exercise science and now I'm working on my physical therapy doctorate. I want to work with kids, too. Most of my volunteer and shadowing hours were pediatric and," I shrugged, "I don't know. I just . . . loved it. I've lived with Emily all her life so I'm used to small people."

Bella reached over, placing her hand on top of mine. "That's awesome, too. You know, we seem to have a lot in common."

I turned my hand over, threading my fingers through hers. "We really do. So . . . what's your favorite non-Disney movie?"

XXXX

The next two hours passed in a blur. Talking to Bella was like talking to someone I'd known forever. We had similar tastes in non-Disney movies, TV, and music, as well as both being book worms. We even liked some of the same restaurants and bars back in Seattle and it was honestly kind of surprising that we'd never met before.

We just clicked. One topic flowed seamlessly into another without much effort at all, and soon our hand holding turned into scooting our chairs even closer together so I could put my arm around her shoulders. There was a spark between us, and I wasn't in the mood to deny it.

And maybe the most important discovery of the night was that we were both single — and for very similar reasons. I wasn't all that into meaningless hook-ups. Yeah I'd had some, but thanks to growing up with parents who were head-over-heels in love and then basically having a front row seat to Rose and Emmett's odd-defying relationship, I eventually wanted something like they had. A hectic school schedule hadn't left me much time to search and I was fine with being single, so I had put any thought of a relationship on the backburner.

Bella's views were mostly the same, though hers stemmed from her parents' failed marriage. And since she'd been here in Florida for almost a year, she hadn't wanted to put an effort into meeting anyone that she'd be leaving eventually.

"Not to sound all Disney," Bella said after our laughter over one of my stories about Little Em mischief died down. "But do you get the idea that we're . . . I don't know . . . meant to be? Kind of?" She bit her lip and looked away. "That sounds crazy now that I say it out loud."

"Hey." I gently put my hand on her cheek, nudging her back to look at me. "Okay, maybe it does sound kind of crazy, but I get what you mean." She gave me an incredulous look, making me laugh. "No, really, I'm being serious too. Maybe we're both crazy, then. That's okay with me if we get to explore where this can go."

"Me too," she said softly. "Can this go . . . here?" Slowly, she shifted, brushing her lips against mine.

The spark between us nearly electrocuted me, just with that barely there touch of our lips, and I had to have more. Moving my hand down to the back of her neck, I coaxed her lips back to mine and kissed her as deeply as I dared in public. Her mouth tasted faintly bitter from the beer but mostly, she was sweet and all too willing to move her tongue with mine.

We kissed for what seemed like hours, slow and fast, giving and taking. I'd never enjoyed kissing this much before, and when Bella placed one of her hands on my thigh, I quickly realized I'd never gotten this hard from just kissing before either. And her hand was dangerously close to discovering that, but I didn't want to pressure her.

"Wait," I mumbled, slowing our kisses. She made a little sound of displeasure in the back of her throat which almost broke my resolve but I stayed strong. I ended our marathon with a few slow pecks, and when I pulled back, I was greeted with a serene smile and slightly swollen lips.

"I've never been kissed like that before," she whispered, slowly opening her eyes. "That could wake any princess for sure."

I threw my head back and laughed, hugging her to me. "Thank you, I think. And I'm sorry I stopped but I figured PDA isn't a good thing for a friend of a princess to be involved in around here."

Sighing, she nodded. "Probably not. But . . . we could go back to my place, if you want. I don't live with the other college students. Alice and I have an apartment not too far from here. If . . . if you want."

"Oh, I want," I assured her. "But only if you're sure. I know we really only just met."

"I'm sure," she said, and her tone didn't leave any room for argument. "Let me just text Alice."

I nodded and pulled out my own phone, texting Em to tell him that I'd be gone a few more hours. He wanted to know why, the nosy ass that he was, so I made up some excuse about seeing a movie which he bought. I was glad I hadn't decided to text Rose because there was no way she would've let me off that easily.

I probably should have been worried about going home with a stranger, but I just couldn't make myself feel uncomfortable around Bella. Maybe she was a serial killer and was luring me to my death. I wasn't sure I'd complain about that, though.

Once Bella finished texting her friend, she stood and held out her hand for me. I took it and followed her out to the parking lot and to her car. As she'd said, her apartment wasn't very far away and we made good time.

"Alice actually isn't home tonight," Bella said as she unlocked the door and turned on the light, leading me inside. "She's at her new boyfriend's house tonight, so it's just us."

I nodded as I looked around. The apartment was small but even after only knowing her a short time, I could tell Bella had put a lot of personal touches in it. Purple was her favorite color and there were traces of it around the living area, and when she led me to her room, I found even more purple. And quite a few Disney collectibles which made me smile. She was the cutest nerd I'd ever met.

"Soooo." Bella wrung her hands nervously, looking everywhere but at me. "This is my room."

"It's really nice," I said, reaching over to hold her hands in mine. "Hey." I waited until she looked at me and then smiled. "Bella, we don't have to do anything, okay? No pressure at all."

She let out a deep breath and smiled back. "I know. I've just . . . never really done this before. Do you want to watch a movie or something? Need anything to drink?"

"Sure," I agreed. "No thanks on the drink, but pick whatever movie you want."

As Bella studied her collection of DVDs, I took a seat on her bed. I'd said there was no pressure and I meant it. But I would have been lying if I said I wasn't hoping for something. I didn't really know Bella yet, but I was hoping we'd continue to get to know each other. Tonight, though . . . tonight I was hoping to explore our instant chemistry further.

And I got my wish as soon as Bella turned the light out and sat down beside me on her bed. The DVD didn't make it past the menu because I couldn't resist crashing my lips against hers again.

This kiss didn't start as slowly as the first. It was all teeth and tongues and Bella's soft little moans that went straight to my dick. The fact that I had my hands under her shirt, squeezing and exploring, didn't hurt either.

What did hurt was kissing in our awkward position at the end of the bed. Somehow, we managed to scoot back to the pillows without ending our kiss — which only heated even more as we lay beside each other.

"Can we . . . more?" Bella mumbled when we finally took a break for air.

I tried to nod as I trailed kisses down her jaw and behind her ear. "Uh huh. Yeah. Whatever you want."

Apparently what she wanted was to do some squeezing and exploring of her own, and it didn't take her long to discover that my dick was more than ready for more. As much as I wanted that, I stopped her as her hands drifted to the button of my shorts. I'd been raised with the ladies first philosophy, and I planned to apply it here, too.

"Not yet," I whispered, lifting my head so I could see her face. "You first."

Bella's eyes were even brighter as she nodded, her breathing heavy. Her red, swollen lips were begging for more, but she had other plans for the moment. "Take this off?" she asked, sliding her hands up under my shirt. "I want to see you."

"Your wish is my command, princess," I said with a wink. As quickly as I could, I pulled my shirt over my head and tossed it to the side. Raising an eyebrow, I touched the bottom of her shirt, and when she gave me permission, it joined mine in the floor. Her pink bra soon followed, and though I wouldn't have minded admiring that against her porcelain skin, seeing just her was a sight to behold.

"Beautiful," I murmured. She blushed as I studied her, but I couldn't give her the same opportunity. My mouth was quickly on her again, kissing and sucking down her neck and across her chest. "So beautiful." Everything I'd felt under her shirt a few minutes ago was now right in front of me, with the addition of her blush that went much past her face.

"Oh fuck," she breathed as I pulled one of her nipples into my mouth. I went back and forth, giving them both equal attention, loving how they hardened further as her whole chest flushed pink.

When Bella's hips started bucking, I knew she was ready for more. I kicked off my shorts and shifted so I was straddling her legs. Once she lifted her head to look at me, my hands hovered over the waist of her shorts in a silent question. She took a deep breath, smiling slightly before nodding.

I didn't like that she seemed hesitant. After pulling her shorts down her legs and tossing them away, I kissed my way back up to her mouth and let our lips meet again, slowly this time.

"Mmm, hi," she whispered when the kiss ended. "I thought we were going to . . ."

"I just wanted to be sure." I brought my hand up to cup her jaw, gently rubbing my thumb over her cheek. "We can go as far as you want, but we kind of just met so it's okay if you want to stop."

She shook her head, leaning forward to kiss me quickly. "I want you. All of you. Honestly, I'm so horny right now, I'd probably kick you out if you stopped."

I laughed, hugging her close to me. "Okay, okay. I hear you loud and clear, not that I want to stop anyway. I just had to be sure."

"I'm positive," she assured me. "Can we get back to it now?"

Instead of answering in words, my mouth returned to her skin. Pinning her body with mine, I kissed and let my hands roam, going wherever made her moan the loudest. It was like a game — one I knew I was close to winning when those hips started bucking against me in a way so good it was painful. And one kiss over her underwear nearly sent her flying off the bed.

After peeling her panties down her legs, I kissed my way back up, spending plenty of time on her inner thighs that were way too close together for my liking. I wanted her open for me.

Bella's fingers started running through my hair as she moaned and sighed every time my lips met her body. I massaged her thighs softly, waiting for her to relax, and when she did, I didn't waste any time before running my tongue over her.

"Oh God," she groaned, her thighs nearly decapitating me. "Yes. Yesss. Shit, right there. God, Edward."

I slipped my hands under her hips and pulled her closer to me, feeling smug that I made her lose control like this. That my tongue on her clit made her arch off the bed. That the way I sucked and devoured her made her push my head further against her pussy.

Giving oral wasn't something I could usually say that I loved, but with Bella I could do this all night. She was fucking perfect and so responsive to every little thing I did.

The curses flew from her mouth, making me even harder and dying to get more than my tongue inside of her. I needed to get her off first though, so I released one of her hips so I could add my fingers. One hard press of my thumb to her clit was all she needed to let go with the sexiest fucking groan I'd ever heard. As she came down, I stroked her a few times with my fingers, making sure she'd be ready for me.

I had nothing to worry about since she was soaked. At least until I realized I didn't have a condom. That hasn't exactly been on my list of things to pack for a vacation to fucking Disney World with a four year old and her parents.

Thankfully, Bella was too blissed out to even notice I was having a dilemma. She would've seemed dead with the way she was sprawled out, spread eagle and not moving, but I could tell she was breathing. Crawling back up to her, I threw my arm over her waist.

"Feel okay there, princess?" I asked softly, chuckling as she gave me a shaky thumbs up.

"Uh yeah. Understatement. That was . . . whoa."

"Whoa good?"

She nodded, rolling over to face me. "Whoa best orgasm ever, basically."

I was definitely feeling smug about that, and as if stroking my ego wasn't enough, she reached down and started stroking my dick.

"Bella," I groaned, unable to stop myself from thrusting into her hand. "I . . ." Fuck, she was good at this. Thumb swirling over the head of my dick and all. "I don't have a condom."

"Oh." She paused but just for a second then went back to stroking me. "I don't have any either. But I bet I can find some."

Before I could form another coherent thought, she was gone from the bed. I leaned up in my elbows, wondering what had just happened.

A few minutes later, Bella walked into the room, looking anywhere but at me as she tried to cover herself. I couldn't stop myself from laughing as she slid back onto the bed — under the covers this time.

"Getting shy on me now?" I asked as I slipped off my boxer briefs and joined her under the covers. "You know where my tongue just was, right?"

She slapped my arm, not anywhere close to hard enough to hurt, and she couldn't hide her smile either. "Shut up. I forgot I was naked until I got to Alice's room. Oh and she had some, thankfully." She passed something into my hand, and I pulled it out from under the cover to find five condoms. I looked back at her, chuckling as she shrugged. "I just . . . wanted to be prepared."

"Well we can certainly put them to good use." Turning to my side, I pulled her closer to me and just looked at her for a few seconds. Her cheeks were red — from embarrassment or excitement or both — and she was biting her lower lip. But her brown eyes held my attention, just as they had from the beginning. They were bright, happy, and told me everything I needed to know.

Without a word, she took one of the condoms from my hand, tore open the packet, and boldly rolled it on me. I groaned softly and pulled her even closer, rocking against her as I kneaded her ass in my hands.

"Please," she whispered, placing her hand on my cheek and guiding our lips together.

As we kissed, I moved my hand down and lifted her leg over my hip. I rocked against her again, making sure to hit her clit a few times before slowing sliding into her.

"Oh shit," I groaned, breaking our kiss. "Oh fuck. Bella . . . you feel . . . God, so good."

She was tight and warm and squeezing me so good, I honestly never wanted to move. But then I had to move.

I was thrusting slowly before I even realized, trying to keep myself from blowing my load in two seconds. It'd been a while for me, plus something about Bella just made this even better. Only a few seconds later, she began moving with me, wrapping her leg further around mine and meeting every thrust with a tilt of her hips.

"Harder," she breathed, kissing my throat. "Please, hard–er, oh shit." Her breath hitched as I quickly flipped us so I was on top of her. "Yes."

I paused just for a second to look at her. Her hooded eyes, flushed cheeks, and sexy as hell little smirk almost did me in. God, she was perfect.

Before she had a chance to ask me again, I braced myself and quickly picked up my pace. Over and over, I thrusted into her, hard enough to make her bed squeak. Every so often, I stilled to grind my pelvis against hers as I watched her eyes roll back into her head.

Her little sounds were killing me. The moans and groans were so real and so much better than any porn or anyone else I'd been with. And when she'd try to say something but obviously couldn't because of how good I was making her feel . . . it was beyond anything.

My arms strained with the effort of holding myself up but I wasn't ready to give in. Bella didn't seem to be either which just wouldn't do. Bracing myself, I reached one hand down, nearly coming as I felt myself moving in and out of her.

"Fuck, you feel incredible," I murmured, moving my fingers up to her clit, circling with just a little bit of pressure. "But I need you to come again, princess. Do you . . . fuck . . . do you have another one for me?"

I clenched my jaw, fighting the tightening I could already feel as I increased the pressure on her clit.

Suddenly Bella's eyes popped open and her whole body seemed to arch as she nearly screamed my name. Even through the condom, I could feel her clenching around me which was the last straw for my already limited control. With her name on my lips, I thrust quickly until I felt myself coming and then I just gave into the fucking perfect sensation.

The next thing I knew, I was lying directly on top of Bella. She didn't seem to really mind since her arms were wrapped tightly around my shoulders as her hands played with my hair, but I didn't want to suffocate her.

"Sorry," I said, rolling to the side as far as she'd let me. "I kind of lost it a little bit there. You must be magic." When I said the word, she clenched, reminding me that although my dick was softening, I was still inside her. I wouldn't be soft for long with her doing that, though. "And apparently you like dirty talk, huh, princess?"

She giggled — which also felt pretty incredible — and turned her head to give me a sweet kiss. "I didn't know I liked it," she said shyly. "But . . . yeah. That was good. Really good."

"I think 'good' is an understatement," I said, not able to resist kissing her again. "That was . . . wow. Best ever for me."

"Me too," she agreed.

Her eyes told me exactly how honest she was being, and I knew I was telling the trust as well. There had never been anyone like this girl for me before. And maybe I hadn't lasted all that long and I possibly squashed her at the end, but we were still magic together. And I couldn't wait to go again.

Unfortunately, I couldn't do that with the same condom so I regretfully pulled out of her before we got ourselves into a big mess and cleaned up a little in Bella's bathroom.

When I crawled back into bed, Bella was yawning but trying to hide it.

"We can sleep," I told her as she snuggled close to me. "We have all night, right? Or are you kicking me out? Do I have a midnight time limit?" I winked, making her chuckle.

"No, you definitely do not have a time limit." Her voice softened. "I'd keep you forever if I could."

I hugged her tightly, kissing the top of her head. "I'm pretty sure you can, you know. This doesn't end tonight. We will see each other back in Seattle. I'm not letting you go now."

"Good," she mumbled. "Don't want you to."

Her speech was a bit garbled already so I pulled the sheet over us. "Sleep, princess. I'll wake you with a kiss later." She smiled faintly so I gave her one last kiss before she was completely out.

I watched her sleep for a while before remembering that I needed to text Em before I went to sleep, too. And the light in the other room was still on, but we desperately needed the ceiling fan to be instead. Damn Florida heat.

Carefully, I shifted Bella out of my arms and got out of bed. I went to make sure her door was locked first and then came back, turning off the light behind me. The TV was next, but I had to stop and laugh when I saw what movie she had picked that we never watched. The menu to Snow White was playing, and I honestly couldn't believe I'd gotten so lucky.

Maybe I didn't like Disney or believe in fate or wishes or dreams coming true. But Bella was all of that and more, and I had Disney to thank for it. And I probably needed to buy Emily a few more souvenirs since she'd had that stupid star idea.

Somehow I was now living in a real life fairy tale, and God, I was loving every minute of it.

Once I turned the fan on and got comfortable in bed, I pulled out my phone to text Emmett again — the truth this time. The asshole probably wasn't going to believe that I was spending the night with Snow White, but I couldn't say I cared. He was the one who'd told me to embrace the magic, and if this wasn't embracing the magic, I didn't know what was.

I was spending the night — and hopefully many more nights to come — with my own browned-eyed princess.

That was a happily ever after if I'd ever heard of one.

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