Once again, I'd like to apologize to the few loyal readers I have for being such a shitty updater. Things got in the way the past couple months; long story short, I contracted a pretty bad case of pneumonia that put me out of commission for about six weeks. I had no motivation do to anything, hence the longer then usual update. Then Mockingjay came out, so I was useless to write anything until I was finished with that (can you say sobfest?).

Anyway, here's the long overdue chapter thirteen, I hope the couple of you still with me enjoy it. :)

CHAPTER THIRTEEN - BEGINNINGS

The next few weeks were different, but back to normal at the same time. Edward, much against his will, stopped camping on my couch and went back to his apartment. I thought I had convinced him that if Jacob had wanted his revenge, he would have acted on it by now, but he still insisted on ringing my phone off the hook every hour to make sure I was ok.

I went back to work, slowly at first, picking up only a few shifts a week, to get myself back into the swing of things. My coworkers threw me a "welcome back" party, complete with streamers, cake, balloons and gifts. It was all pretty ridiculous.

Alice and I were back to talking regularly and had gone out to lunch a few times, although things were still a little tense between us. A teeny-tiny part of me was still irked at her for her behavior, but I did my best to bury the feeling. I felt like she could sense my irritation; she was overly nice and acted like she was walking on eggshells around me. That may have been part of my annoyance, the fact that she wasn't acting normal, even though I was trying my best to.

Edward and I talked on the phone every night, sometimes for hours at a time. I felt like I was in high school again. We re-got to know each other during these phone calls, or, should I say, he re-got to know me. He asked countless questions and I answered every one of them. Edward laughed a lot more during these phone calls, which in turn, made me happier. Although things weren't completely back to normal, I felt good, really good.

One morning, things were different. Edward had called me around breakfast time to, yet again, make sure Jacob hadn't broken into my apartment and murdered me. The conversation started out normal, but as the call continued, Edward's demeanor changed. He was quieter then usual, not really seeming to be listening to what I was saying. I tried telling a stupid joke, in an effort to get him to laugh. Even after the punch line, I still got no reaction out of him.

"Get it?" I insisted. "Polar-oids?" I laughed again at my lame attempt at humor.

Edward gave a half hearted chuckle. I could definitely tell something was on his mind.

"Spit it out," I demanded.

"What?" I could hear the confusion in his voice.

"Whatever is on your mind, spit it out already."

Edward's voice was weak. "I don't know what you're talking about."

I was sick of having a one sided conversation, and I had laundry to do, so I said, "Well it seems like you're preoccupied, so I'll let you go then. I have stuff to do."

Edward hesitated, before blurting out, "Do you wanna go out with me?"

"Go out with you?"

"Yeah, like on a date. Like a real date."

My stomach jumped into my throat. I wanted to say something like, "Yes! Of course! Do you have any idea how long I've been waiting to hear those words?" But I felt choked. Nothing would come out. Edward must have taken my silence as a negative response.

"Is that a no?" He sounded disappointed.

"No!" my voice came out strangled. I cleared my throat. "I mean, yes, of course I'll go out with you."

I seriously feel like I'm a sophomore again… This is ridiculous.

"Oh, ok…" Edward didn't sound convinced. "If you don't want to, let me know. You don't have to go out with me cause you feel sorry for me or—"

"Edward," I willed my voice back to normal. "I'd love to."

He sighed in relief. "Good, cause I already made dinner reservations."

"Oh really?" I asked, my voice teasing. "So you just knew I'd say yes?"

"I hoped you would," Edward said. "The reservation is tonight at seven."

"Tonight?" My mind raced, trying to think if I had anything to do tonight, already trying to come up with some sort of plan how to get out of whatever it could be. My mind came up blank, but I didn't want to seem desperate. "What makes you think I'm free tonight?"

"Bella, please, don't play games," Edward said bluntly. "I know you're off today, and you never have anything going on on Saturday nights."

I was taken aback. He was right of course, but hearing the words come out of his mouth stung, just a little. "Ok then. What time do you want me to pick you up?"

"Oh no," I could hear a smile forming in Edward's voice. "I'm picking you up."

"How?" I asked confused. "Not in a taxi, I hope. You don't need to waste your money."

"Emmett's going to let me borrow his car," Edward said. "I had to promise not to wreck it about a gazillion times, but he agreed."

"Wow, you thought of everything didn't you?" I was both amused and touched that he had already planned this whole night out.

"I'll pick you up at six-thirty," he said. "Bye, Bella." And he hung up without waiting for a response.

I closed my phone and stared at the front display, my mind reeling from the conversation I had just had. Did he really just ask me out on a date? We hadn't even reached that point in our relationship before his accident. Could things finally be falling back into place?

The time on the phone display caught my eye, 10:45. That left me with a little less then eight hours until Edward would be picking me up. I had no idea what to do with myself.

Collecting my thoughts, I decided to continue with the same plans I had for the day: laundry.

The two small loads I had took way less time then I had hoped, even with folding everything meticulously. By the time I was done, it was only one p.m; still hours before I could even start getting ready.

I decided to clean my kitchen to pass some more time, doing some long overdue scrubbing on my counters and stove. I was elbow deep in cleanser when I got a text message. I rinsed and dried my hands and flipped open my phone.

Forgot to tell you, we're eating at Il Bistro. I hope you like Italian! :)

I smiled at the text, but was overtaken with the fact that I didn't think I had anything nice to wear to such a fancy restaurant. I sent a simple, "I love Italian!" back to him and an idea hit me.

In an attempt to mend things with Alice, I decided to invite her over to help me get ready.

"He finally asked you out? Like officially?" she squealed.

"What are we, sixteen?" I complained. "Do you wanna come help me get ready or not?" I immediately regretted my tone. "Sorry, I mean—"

"No worries," Alice said, but I could tell by the way her voice changed that I had offended her. "You want me to come over now?"

"Whenever you want," I said, my voice taking on a softer tone. "He said the dinner reservation is at seven so the sooner the better I guess."

Half an hour later had Alice in my room, rummaging through my closet. "How do you want to look tonight?" She asked, her voice muffled.

"I don't know… Nicer then casual, I guess. But nothing too fancy. We're going to Il Bistro."

"Yeah, jeans won't do," Alice muttered. At least that's what I thought I heard her say. She was practically buried in the racks of clothes. "Bella, you have nothing nice in here!"

"Over here," I said impatiently. I walked into the closet behind her and pushed aside a rack of jeans. I had a few nice dresses I kept in the back of my closet behind everything else.

"Oh!" Alice squealed fingering a blue silk dress. "This is nice!"

"It's a bridesmaid dress, Alice." A coworker had gotten married the previous year and for reasons unbeknownst to me, insisted I be a bridesmaid. The dress had cost a fortune and I couldn't bear to part with it.

"How about this one?" Alice held up a dark brown drapery dress I had never worn. It was on sale at an expensive boutique and I couldn't pass it up. It cinched at the left hip and was sleeveless. It had a cowl neckline and drooped down low creating a soft look. It was perfect for mine and Edward's casual night out.

"What shoes would go with this?" I glanced around Alice at my sad pile of sneakers and flip flops.

Alice clapped and edged around me out of the closet. "I'm glad you have freakishly small feet," she teased opening the duffel bag she had dragged in with her. She dug through it for a few seconds before pulling out a pair of chocolate brown, peep-toe, crocodile print heels.

I laughed. "Did you bring your whole shoe collection with you?"

Alice gave me a serious look. "Are you kidding me? This is just a sampling of my heels. You just got lucky that I happened to bring these. I knew you didn't have any nice shoes."

"They're perfect," I said, ignoring her jab and setting the dress on my bed next to her bag.

"Shower, now," Alice said shooing me into the bathroom. She proceeded to turn around and pull a smaller bag out of the duffel and dump it onto my bed. It looked like she had brought her entire cosmetics collection with her. I shook my head before closing the door.

While in the shower, I let the nervousness of what was coming fully hit me. It's not like I hadn't gone out to dinner with Edward a million times, but this was different. It had more of a "first date" feel. I already felt on edge, and I had a feeling it would last all night.

Once I was showered, shaved and towel dried, I let Alice loose to work her magic. She blow dried my hair and took a straightening iron to it, de-frizzing it and flattening it stick straight. She put a deep part in the left side of my scalp and made side sweeping bangs that kept falling in my face.

"Stop it." Alice swatted my hand away the millionth time the bangs fell into my eyes.

"I can't handle this all night," I complained.

"Calm down," Alice sighed. "I'm not done." She used pomade and wax and hairspray and when she was done, my hair was cascading down my back in a shiny brown sheet, with my bangs sweeping across my forehead and tucked behind my ear with the help of a bobby pin. She did in twenty minutes what I could never do. Most of the time, I just threw my hair into a sloppy ponytail, which took me all of fifteen seconds.

"Wow, Alice, that looks incredible," I said, staring open mouthed at my reflection.

"I'm not done yet," she said pulling on my shoulders to turn me around. She then started on my face, blotting and swiping and penciling. Half an hour later, she seemed satisfied. She tweaked something on my cheek before stepping back and folding her arms. "Perfect," she said. "Take a look."

I didn't recognize the woman staring back at me. She had smoky eyes, framed by thick lashes, sun kissed cheeks and rosy red lips. She looked amazing while still looking natural. "Wow," I breathed. "How do you do this?"

Alice shrugged and laughed. "It's a gift I guess."

"Why don't you do this professionally?" I asked, still not able to take my eyes off my reflection.

"I don't know, I never really thought about it," Alice mused. "Now go get dressed! I want to see you ready to go."

I slipped on my dress, being as careful as possible as to not mess up my hair and makeup, and stepped into Alice's heels. It had been a while since I had worn anything higher then flip flops, so I teetered a bit, unsteady on my feet. "If I break my ankle tonight, you're paying my medical bills," I said to Alice.

She walked over to me and pulled on my dress, adjusting it around my hips and shoulders and stood back, looking me over. A huge smile spread across her face. "Shit, Bella, you look amazing."

"Yeah?" I wrung my hands nervously as I wobbled to the bathroom to check out my finished look. I had to admit, I did look good. It was a rare occasion I spent longer then ten minutes on my appearance and I had forgotten how well I cleaned up.

I was still scrutinizing my appearance when I heard a knock at the door. "Shit!" I made a beeline for my nightstand, where my clock was. "What time is it?" The glowing red numbers read 6:32. "Damnit, it's that late?"

"Wait," Alice looked confused. "How did he—"

"He borrowed Emmett's car," I interrupted, grabbing my bag off the floor next to my bed. Edward knocked again, a little harder. "Coming!" I yelled towards the living room.

"Oh no, no no," Alice grabbed my arm and pulled me back into the room as I tried to escape. "You are not taking that tacky, khaki bag." She rummaged through her duffel again and pulled out a black clutch as Edward knocked again on the front door.

"Alice!" I complained.

"Go get the door, I'll take care of this," she said, waving her hand at me.

I walked carefully down the hallway and took a deep breath to steady myself before swinging open the front door. Edward had his fist up in mid-knock and looked surprised as the door opened.

"I thought you had stood me—" Edward stopped mid sentence as he took in my appearance. I saw his eyes travel from my face, down my body, and rest on my legs. "Wow, Bella, you look incredible." He brought his eyes back to mine and smiled.

"You don't look too bad yourself," I said. He had on a pair of dark gray slacks, a black button up shirt, untucked, and a skinny black tie. It was the perfect mixture of casual and formal.

"Yeah, well," he shrugged sheepishly. He held his hand out and motioned inside the door. "May I come in?"

I stepped back and gestured for him to come inside. "Since when are you so gentlemanly?" I teased.

"This is a date, remember?" He walked in and stood in the entryway. "Are you ready to go?"

"Here, Bella!" Alice called from down the hallway. She came flying into the living room like a hurricane, thrusting the clutch in my hands. She started tweaking my dress and hair again, as Edward frowned at her.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

Alice shot a dirty look right back at Edward. "Nice to see you too, brother." She crossed her arms across her chest. "I was making Bella look hot for you." She motioned up and down my body with her hand. "You think she can do this to herself?"

"Thanks, Alice," I said flatly.

"No matter," Alice pushed us both towards the front door. "You're gonna be late for dinner, go!"

After being shoved out of my own apartment, Edward and I walked to Emmett's car, a little slower then usual because of the three inch heels I was in. Edward seemed to have no problem matching my pace, and even offered his arm to steady me.

"Thanks," I smiled, linking my arm in his. We walked the rest of the way in silence, and when we got to the car, Edward actually opened the door for me. I couldn't help myself, and a laugh burst out of my mouth.

"What?" Edward furrowed his eyebrows, a hurt look appearing on his face.

"I'm sorry," I giggled, covering my mouth with my hand. "I've just never seen this side of you before."

"What side of me?" Edward leaned his arms on the top of the car door, looking expectant.

"This whole, chivalrous thing," I explained. "Offering to help me walk, opening doors for me, asking to come into my apartment; you never acted like that around me before."

"Well," Edward motioned for me to get in. "From what you told me, we've never been on a real date before, so get used to it." He shut the door before I could respond and slipped into the driver's side.

I changed the subject. "You aren't nervous about driving again?"

Edward shrugged. "Not really. Can't live my life in fear. Why do you think I asked you out?"

I was a bit taken aback at his response. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing," Edward smirked. "Hungry?" He put the car in reverse, backed out of the parking spot, and we were on our way.

I had never been to Il Bistro. It was an upscale Italian restaurant that was a bit on the expensive side, and I had never been on a date with a guy who wanted to cough up that much for dinner.

It was no wonder I was still single.

Edward insisted I ordered whatever I wanted, but since my stomach was feeling a bit rocky from nerves, I settled on a simple mushroom ravioli. Edward ordered the Tortelloni ricotta, which I found out later was pasta stuffed with cheese and spinach and smothered in tomato sauce and was to die for. We sipped wine and nibbled on breadsticks until our entrees arrived. The conversation, while a bit tense, was normal. Edward asked me more questions about myself, questions that were more in depth then ones he had previously asked. About my family, my passion for books, places I wanted to travel. We shared a tiramisu for dessert and when the last bite was taken, I felt a pang of disappointment. The night was coming to an end, and I was almost desperate to make it last longer. I didn't say anything though, not knowing if Edward had anything else planned for the night.

When the bill came, Edward swiped the folder up and slipped his credit card inside, handing it right back to the waiter.

"Let me leave the tip at least," I insisted. "This must have been ridiculously expensive."

"Don't worry about it," Edward waved me off. "You deserve this."

"I deserve this? Why?"

"You've been so patient with me," Edward said, putting his hand over mine. "Any other girl would have left a long time ago."

I felt a bit uncomfortable. I didn't feel like I could tell Edward that I would never leave, because I was after all, ridiculously and madly in love with him, but I didn't want to risk ruining the night by scaring him off. I had a sense he knew how deep my feelings went for him, but I didn't want to voice them out loud. "Of course I stayed."

"Thank you," Edward said simply.

The waiter arrived then and Edward signed the bill. He stood up and offered his hand. "Ready?"

I put my hand in his and we made our way outside. We got into the car and Edward started the engine. He made no move to pull out of the spot, instead sitting back in the seat and resting his hands on his lap. "This was really fun, Bella."

"It was," I said.

"So, are you ready to go home?" The tone of his voice made me feel like Edward felt the same way I did, about not wanting the night to end.

"We could go have some drinks," I suggested.

Edward smiled. "Sounds good to me. I know of a nice little pub right down the street."

I got the feeling, again, Edward had already planned this, so I agreed and we left the parking lot.

I had never heard of the pub Edward picked. It was small, but pretty busy. The bar was full of fans watching a basketball game. The lights were dimmed and despite the amount of people there, it was fairly quiet. Edward and I settled ourselves in a corner of the bar and ordered some drinks; a Newcastle for Edward and a rum and coke for me.

"Hardcore," Edward teased.

"Hey, I'm not driving," I said as the bartender placed a cocktail napkin in front of me, followed by my drink.

The questions started again. Edward asked me what I had wanted to be when I grew up, and if I was still pursuing those dreams now. He asked about childhood pets, how I felt being an only child, and if I would have changed any aspects of how I grew up, if given the chance. He finished his first drink and glanced behind him.

"I'll be right back," he said gesturing towards the bathroom. "Order me another beer?"

"Absolutely," I smiled. I turned towards the bartender and motioned that I needed two more drinks.

Without Edward to distract me, I let my mind wander to how amazingly the night was going. I was only half paying attention to the basketball game that was on the TV stationed above the bar when I felt a hand on my waist. I was about to comment on how fast Edward could empty his bladder when I heard a chilling voice close to my ear.

"If it isn't the little fucking tease."

I whipped around to find Jacob Black grinning down at me, his long hair falling over his shoulders, his eyes narrowed.

"You here alone tonight? Where's your schitzo-knight-in-shining-armor?" His voice was mocking.

I glanced nervously at the bartender. He was still a few patrons away from me, shaking a cocktail. I'd really have to make a scene to get his attention.

"That poor crippled boyfriend of yours lose his memory again?" Jacob asked, stepping into my view. He was even closer to me now.

My heart was pounding in my ears. I could feel myself trembling and when I spoke, I tried to sound authoritative and not scared shitless. "Jacob, leave me alone."

Jacob laughed, a menacing, deep, frightening laugh. He stepped even closer to me. I could feel his breath on my face. "Leave you alone? Your piece of shit friend broke my nose, you know that? I don't let shit like that slide." He grabbed my arm and put his lips at my ear. "If you make a scene, I'll make it even worse."

A chill ran through my body and I closed my eyes. I felt like if I looked at him anymore, I was going to throw up. I prayed silently that Edward would come back from the bathroom soon.

I felt Jacob pull at my arm, trying to get me to stand up. I resisted at first, but when he wrapped his fingers more tightly around my bicep, I had no choice but to follow his tugging.

I still had my eyes closed, so I didn't see when Edward reappeared, but I heard it. I heard loud, fast footsteps first, followed by a "Hey!" and the sound of flesh meeting flesh. I opened my eyes when I felt Jacob's grip ripped from my arm.

I saw a not-so-pleasant sight. Edward and Jacob were wrestling on the floor, fists flying, blood spurting. The whole bar had crowded around the two of them, cheering and whooping. I pushed through the people jostling in front of me.

"Edward! Stop!" I screamed. He was on top of Jacob, holding onto his shirt collar, pounding into his face, over and over again. I was afraid if he didn't stop, he was going to kill him. I rushed forward and pulled on his shoulders. "Edward!"

I succeeded in distracting him enough to get him to stand up, but Jacob wasn't admitting defeat so easily. As soon as Edward's weight was off of him, he lunged forward, head butting Edward in the stomach, pushing us both to the ground.

Jacob was now on top of Edward, his hands wrapped around his throat, pushing him against the floor. Edward's arms flailed in desperation.

I jumped on Jacob's back and pulled at his hair, tugged on his shoulders, scratched his face, did whatever I could to get him to loosen his grip on Edward's neck.

He threw me off his back like a ragdoll. I tumbled to the floor and scrambled back up just in time to see the bartender and a security guard pulling Jacob off of Edward. Jacob continued to fight, lunging forward and shouting expletives. Edward pulled himself up onto a barstool, coughing and sputtering, blood pouring out of his lip and a large gash over his eye. I rushed towards him, helping him stand up.

"Are you ok?" I whispered, examining his face.

"Let's go," he choked, pushing through the crowd and pulling on my arm. I followed obediently.

He let go of my arm when we reached the doors leading outside. He slammed them open violently and stalked quickly down the street, not even looking to see if I was keeping up.

"Edward! Slow down!" I called after him. My heels were making it difficult for me to stay close to him. "Edward!"

"We have to keep walking, Bella," Edward turned around quickly and wiped his sleeve across his bleeding lip. "You hear those sirens? Guess where they're headed!" He whipped back around and continued to practically run away from the bar.

"Jesus, Edward, just stop for a second!" I stumbled after him and practically ran into him when he stopped suddenly. "What are you—"

He pulled me roughly into an alleyway and pushed me up against the cool bricks, blocking my body from view. The alley was dark. I doubt anyone who didn't see us duck in here would have even known we were here.

I couldn't see his face yet, my eyes hadn't adjusted to the dark, but I could feel his hot breath on my face. He was panting heavily. His hands were next to my head and I could feel his body pressed against mine.

"Are you ok?" He asked hoarsely.

"I'm fine," I whispered, pressing my back against the wall.

"Bella, what were you doing?" He whispered harshly.

"What do you mean?"

"You were just sitting there, with your eyes closed, not moving," his voice was hard. "What was going through your head?"

"I—I don't know," I stammered nervously. "I thought maybe if I made him disappear, he really would and I don't know, I was just so scared—"

"Bella," Edward cut off my rambling. He pushed himself off the wall and started pacing back and forth, pulling at his hair. As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I could see the conflicted look on his blood smeared face.

Not knowing what else to say, I dumbly replied, "What?"

"Just, listen," he put one hand up and kept the other one on his head; maybe to staunch the blood still trickling from right below his hairline, maybe to keep the thoughts from oozing out with it. He took a deep breath before speaking.

"I can't explain why I feel the way I do about you… I don't even feel like I could explain how I feel about you." He brought his eyes to mine. "It's the most intense feeling I've ever experienced. I can't go five minutes without thinking about you. I dream about you, Bella, almost every night. I can't get you out of my head, even if I wanted to. And I don't." He stepped towards me. "Just the thought of you makes my heart race, makes my mind fuzzy, and I don't know why." He reached his hand up to stroke my cheek, and rested it on my shoulder. "Bella, I think I'm…" His voice dropped off. "I'm falling…"

"Edward…" My voice came out as a hoarse whisper. His eyes stayed locked on mine, his breathing rapid, his hand tightly gripping my shoulder. "Edward."

"Bella?" I barely heard him speak my name.

The whisper of my name coming out of his lips gave me enough courage to say the words I had been aching to say for weeks.

"Kiss me."

I didn't have to ask twice. Before I could blink, Edward was smashing his lips to mine.

Sorry for the cliffhanger. I'll try my best to get the next chapter up ASAP. ;)

Both Bella and Edward's outfits for the date can be found on my profile, if you're interested in seeing exactly what I had in mind for them.

Remember in my last update I mentioned I was working on something new, something darker and smuttier? Well I did upload it like, months ago, but since I took so long updating this story, I hadn't gotten the chance to let you all know it was there, at least those of you who don't have me on author updates. :) It's called Sins and Vices and it's kinda filthy, so if you're into that sort of thing, go give it a read and tell me what you think.

I also don't think I mentioned that I linked my Twitter and my Livejournal on my profile as well if you wanna friend/follow me on either one of those. I'm not super interesting, but feel free!