Alright, first some news –

For the first time since I’ve started this story, I’m sorry to say that I might have to break my posting schedule. I’m leaving the country for two weeks on August 8th and I have no idea what the internet situation is going to be like while I’m gone. I’m going to try very hard to finish the chapters before I leave so they’ll be ready to post and if I can’t post them, I will try to get one of my friends to do it for me. It’s a bit up in the air right now, but just know that posting might be a little messed up in the next couple of weeks.

Also, I’m sorry to have to say this after I promised, but I’m going to have to stop sending out quotes as replies to reviews because honestly – it’s a little overwhelming to reply to 140+ reviews every week and it will be nearly impossible for me to do this while I’m away anyway. I’m still going to be posting them on my livejournal community, gloriousbite, however. So if you want to check them out there, I’ll start leaving the posts unlocked for you!

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The days after the wedding slipped by me and before I knew it, Alice was already planning the Christmas dinner she wanted to host at our apartment. But her shopping frenzy hardly affected me because I had discovered a secret weapon against her obsession. The moment I would mention plans with Edward, Alice would drop any and all insistence on me shopping with her and all but push me into her brother’s arms. I was happy to comply with her wishes and not just because it got me into the arms of a gorgeous man and out of her clutches.

Spending time with Edward had truly become the highlight of my holiday and when I was with him I felt as if I was glowing all over. He had a strange power over me that reduced me to a downright giddy specimen of the female species. I wasn’t the only one affected by our time together though. It was hard to miss that he seemed happier and that only added fuel to my own giddiness.

Now instead of fighting against the magnetism we felt toward each other, we were letting it take control and it was scary how fast and exhilarating things could go. After just a few conversations alone with Edward, I felt as if I had known him for ages even though I knew parts of him were still undiscovered.

He seemed tentative to take our relationship past a few kisses and hand holding, but I was willing to wait for him. Even if I was sure it was going to drive me crazy with want before he decided to take us further. In the back of my mind, I felt the irony of our situation. Usually it would be the man’s role in a relationship to be pushing the physical boundaries and here I was sitting around, trying to devise ways for my shirt to ride up “accidentally” so I could possibly feel his hand brush against the skin there for a split second.

I was having one of those more and more common plotting sessions when his knock came on the door, startling me out of my thoughts. He was taking me out to the movies tonight. I rushed to answer the door and opened it to see him standing there, hands stuffed in his pocket and inexplicably nervous-looking.

I grinned at him and this seemed to relax him visibly. He sighed and watched as I grabbed my purse from the table and then closed the door behind me.

“How are you tonight?” he asked, sounding curious even though we had just gotten off the phone with each other less than an hour ago.

“Good,” I answered amusedly and took his hand in mine, twining our fingers together.

“Do you think you’re ready for Christmas dinner yet?” Edward asked as soon as we were in his car.

“Yeah…mostly, I mean. My only real job is to cook and Alice is taking care of everything else, so I’m pretty much prepared in that sense,” I replied. “I’m not finished buying gifts yet, though.”

“Really?” he seemed genuinely surprised. “I would have pegged you for the kind of person who did all their Christmas shopping months in advance.”

I blushed in embarrassment and barely contained my snort of laughter.

“Far from it,” I admitted. “Actually, I’m a very last minute shopper. I always put it off until it’s absolutely necessary.”

He laughed quietly to himself and shook his head.

“What?” I asked defensively.

“The second I think I have some small part of you figured out, you go and tell me that I’m completely wrong,” he replied with a half grin, half grimace on his face.

“Oh?” I wondered aloud. “What else have you been proven wrong about me? Because from where I’m sitting, it seems like you’re almost always right.”

“I usually am,” he conceded. “But…there’s something about you that eludes me. Let’s just say, I would give anything to have a small peek into your mind once in a while.”

“Back at you,” I replied ruefully. He smiled again and took my hand is his. My eyes drifted uneasily to the steering wheel and speedometer but I swallowed my reprimand against his speed because honestly, I was too selfish to want him to take his hand back just to put it on a steering wheel. The sad fact is that I would rather be holding his hand and crash than not be holding it at all and arrive safely.

We somehow made it to the theatre without mishap and Edward bought tickets to the latest romantic comedy out. I was glad he wasn’t really the type of guy for horror movies because I would never have been able to accompany him if it was the case. No, much to my delight, Edward had easily agreed to the light, fluffy romance flick. I don’t know how much of it was wanting to actually see it and how much of it was just to please me though.

The theatre was relatively empty when we got there and Edward led me up nearer to the top, away from the few other people that were in there. We didn’t have to wait long for the house lights to dim and previews to start rolling. The sudden change in the atmosphere was palpable.

There was a sudden electricity between Edward and me that hadn’t been there two minutes prior. I shivered inwardly and stared down at are hands as my heart beat loudly in my ears. I wondered if he could hear it. He sat so close next to me I almost believed he could.

The movie was passed in complete silence between us, but it was a silence that crackled with unsaid words. I felt an inexplicable tenseness in the air, but it wasn’t unpleasant. It was more a tense need to be nearer to him all of a sudden. I wondered if he could feel it too, but didn’t dare ask. Occasionally throughout the movie, his grip on my hand would tighten and I felt him shift a little closer to me. Every time he moved even infinitesimally closer, my heart sputtered hyperactively.

If asked, I couldn’t have told anyone anything about the movie. Not even who was in it and what they looked like. It was a complete blur to me. The car ride home was even more blurry but what happened immediately after was thankfully, very defined.

After he pulled up to my apartment, Edward got out his car and quickly loped over to my door to open it for me. As he pulled me up gently from the seat, I caught his eye for the first time since before the movie. They were dark with an emotion I’d never seen before.

We walked to my apartment door and the sense of déjà vu was strong as he looked down to his feet, letting his hair fall into his face.

“Edward,” I said softly, trying to draw his face back up to mine. “I had a really good time tonight.”

His eyes slowly traveled up to mine and there was at least a shadow of a smile there.

“I did too,” he said and his hand brushed along my jaw gently before he leaned down to give me a light kiss on the lips.

I don’t know what came over me as his lips pressed against mine, but I knew in that instant that I didn’t want just a simple goodnight kiss from him tonight. I tugged on the front of his shirt pull him closer to me and was surprised when he didn’t immediately pull away. Instead he deepened the kiss, his tongue lightly brushing against my lips to gain access to my own.

When we broke apart from each other, he leaned his forehead against mine for a moment that was long enough for me to act on an impulse. I turned and opened my door as swiftly as I could, keeping his hand firmly inside my own, and then led him inside. I shut it behind us and pulled him down to me for another kiss.

He seemed shocked for a moment but then his lips began to move against my own again in a slow, desperate exploration. I moaned in the back of my throat helplessly and pushed him in the general direction of my bedroom, hoping against all hope that he wouldn’t stop me before we got there.

Miraculously, he didn’t. He seemed just as eager to let this happen as I was.

I was glad I knew the way o my bed without looking or we never would have made it there. As it was, I stumbled a bit against the base of the bed and fell more than leaned back, pulling Edward on top of me. He laughed against my lips and the vibration against my skin was electrifying. I couldn’t believe the turn this night had taken. Was it really possible that less than thirty minutes ago I had been sitting in a movie theatre feeling awkward?

His mouth left mine to trail gently down my neck. The feeling of his nose brushing along my skin made me gasp and I could feel his smile as he kissed the hollow of my throat. My hands slipped under his shirt to lightly touch his smooth chest and I was rewarded by a soft moan that sounded deep in his throat. I desperately wanted to guide his hands to touch my body, but he kept them firmly on my hips in a way that left me little doubt he wouldn’t move them until he was ready. That didn’t change the fact that I was all but aching for him to be ready.

His thumbs caressed the small expanse of skin along my hip bones, but wandered no further. Finally, after minutes of heated kisses, my own hands drifted from tracing his chest to the hem of my shirt, intent on encouraging him a bit. The moment I began to slide the fabric up my stomach, however, his hand caught my wrist firmly and he pulled away from me.

“Bella,” he murmured softly, sounding pained to my ears. “Would you please stop trying to take your clothes off?”

“Do you want to do that part?” I asked hopefully, in a last ditch effort to return to our former activity.

“Not tonight,” he declined softly and let go of my wrist. Even though I had anticipated his answer, it still stung as I absorbed those two words fully into my brain. Not tonight.

“Edward,” I pleaded and arched myself back up to him. He didn’t come all the way back down like I wanted but he did at least grant me one more kiss before saying anything further.

“I’m not saying no.” His voice was carefully low and it at least blunted the sharp bite of rejection that I felt inside. “I’m just saying not tonight.” He punctuated this statement with another slow kiss that was free of the urgency and heat of a few moments ago.

I let him kiss me again instead of arguing but when we broke apart again and he rolled away from me, lying at my side, I curled up next to him with my chin propped on his chest and a challenge ready on my lips.

“Give me one good reason why tonight is not as good as any other night,” I said, trying to sound firm despite my own failed efforts to calm my inside tumult.

He sighed and wrapped his arm around me, pulling me close to his body. I snuggled even closer to him, hitching my leg across his torso. His hand absently rested on my leg there and I thrilled to his touch.

“Bella,” he finally started. “I want to do this right.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, confused. I bit back the other response that bubbled to mind, that went something along the lines of from the feel of it, we had been doing it very right.

“I mean that I want to be sure we’re ready to leap into that. I don’t want to ruin this by moving too fast,” he explained in almost a whisper, his voice was deep with emotion. I scooted closer to his face to better look in his eyes as he spoke. “I care too much about you to ruin this.”

The sincerity of his words hit a chord deep inside me and I felt very small beside him. I said the only thing I could, knowing without a second thought that it was true, “I care too much about you to let either of us ruin this, Edward.”

He swallowed visibly and I watched in fascination as his throat clenched and unclenched. On an impulse, I ran my fingers through his messy hair and smoothed it down, only to muss it again. His lips lifted into a smile and his eyes closed in obvious enjoyment.

He let me play with his hair for a long time before he stirred again. It surprised me because I thought he had drifted to sleep as my fingers scratched his scalp, but apparently not. He seemed to notice my surprise and pulled me down for a kiss before speaking.

“What time is it?” His voice sounded drowsy and it, coupled with the mess I created of his hair, was absolutely adorable and made me giggle a bit before answering him.

“Almost eleven,” I replied once I controlled myself. He sheepishly took a hand to his hair and felt the odd angles it stood out at and I felt a fresh wave of giggles break free from me.

“I should head home,” he said softly and I immediately sobered up. I bit the inside of my cheek for a split second, deciding how best to keep him here. I went for simplest choice.

“No.” I pouted lightly and his thumb came up to brush against my lip.

“No?” he asked in surprised amusement.

“Please stay,” I pleaded, my tactics shifting slightly. His eyes softened a bit and I knew I had won this time. It made me feel oddly high that I had at least some small sway over him.

“Okay,” he agreed after a long moment, his thumb still tracing my bottom lip. I kissed his thumb happily and he leaned back against the pillow with a laugh. I laid back down with him and happily let my head rest against his chest.

“Bella?” he asked quietly. His chest rumbled underneath my head as he spoke my name.

“Yes?” I mumbled, not quite willing to move from my comfortable spot yet.

“Are you planning on sleeping in your jeans?” he asked, sounding both amused and curious. I felt an immediate blush rise to my cheeks and my eyes widened a bit at the realization that we were both still in our clothes from our evening out.

“Oh…I guess not,” I said sheepishly. His soft, musical laugh only made me blush all the harder. I swung myself out of bed and immediately went over to my dresser. “I have some shorts if you want,” I offered tentatively, not certain of what he would prefer to sleep in.

“That’s fine,” he said quietly. The amusement in his eyes was clear from across the room and did nothing to relieve my raging blush. I wasn’t even sure why I was blushing anymore.

I quickly fished out a pair of shorts for him and tossed them his way. He took them with a smile, studying the silver fabric of the worn basketball type shorts I had given him, and gracefully rose from the bed. He crossed over to me and kissed me lightly on the cheek before disappearing through my door to the bathroom down the hallway. I watched him go in a sort of trance that was only broken by the distant click of the bathroom door closing.

I snapped out of my trance and turned back to my drawer, feeling a sudden panic. All I really had to sleep in were flannel pants and t-shirts. Not exactly sexy. I sighed and pulled out a tank top from my drawer, telling myself at least it wasn’t an old t-shirt, and then some pants. I quickly pulled them on and right as I smoothed the tank top down, Edward knocked softly on my door.

“Come in,” I said, appalled to hear a slight tremor in my voice. It wasn’t as if I was seeing him for the first time tonight. What was with the sudden onslaught of nerves?

He swung the door open a moment later and I didn’t miss the sweep his eyes did of my new outfit even though he quickly looked away and back again to meet my eyes. I smiled, all my nerves disappearing as soon as his eyes met mine again.

I tucked my loose hair behind my eyes and crawled back into bed, patting the empty spot beside me. He pushed himself off the doorjamb where he still stood and pulled the door shut behind him.

“Are you sure you want me to stay?” he asked as he neared the side of the bed. I sat up and leaned across the bed to pull the hem of his shirt toward me, effectively pulling him along with it.

“Very,” I whispered softly when I had pulled him as close as I could without yanking his entire body onto the bed.

He grinned down at me and I was struck with how young he looked in his happiness. I pressed my lips to his softly before letting him climb into the bed beside me and take me into his arms for the rest of the night.

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Reviews are kinda awesome to get. I have a question to ask you guys too: How many of you are planning on continuing to read after Breaking Dawn? It would be great to know as I’m sort of nervous I’m going to lose like half of my readers after this book comes out.

I also want to encourage everyone to check out the parody, The Tragically Original Tale of Bella Swan’s Love Life. We just posted another chapter yesterday and if you’re a fan of all human fics, you’re going to understand exactly where we’re coming from as we write this parody. It’s great fun and I’d love to hear some of your opinions on it!