Bella's POV:

Tick tock...

Tick tock...

Tick tock...

If that clock does not move soon, I am going to throw something at it. "A watched clock never ticks..."  No, hang on, it's a "watched pot never boils."  Nobody ever said anything about clocks not moving while you watch them.

I purposely look away from the clock and then sigh. I am such a sucker, seriously. I'm sitting here in my kitchen, watching the clock, waiting for my vampire boyfriend to come back, when he's only been gone about an hour. That fact is irrelevant; I could spend forever with him and never get bored, and that's exactly what I intend on doing.  But because my father is so stubbornly biased against my boyfriend, he insists-well, more like demands-that he doesn't spend all his time here.

Tick tock...

Tick tock...

Okay, I swear the clock is taunting me now; it's purposely ticking louder and not moving, just so it can make me go insane with boredom and worry. I look back up at it, without actually realising it, and find that it's moved about half a centimetre.  I would throw something at it, but I can't see Charlie being too keen with that idea.

I push my chair back and walk out of the kitchen, away from the clock that insists on moving at a snail's pace. Actually, I reckon a snail on speed is probably faster than that damned clock.

Wait, a snail on speed? Jeez, Bella, the things your head comes up with.

I'm halfway up the stairs when Charlie suddenly decides it's a good idea to talk to me.

"Hey, Bells?"

I turn around to face him. "Yeah, Dad?"

He looks at me for a good ten seconds, and then shakes his head and walks away from me. "Doesn't matter," he calls as he walks back into the living room.

Okay then...

I shake my head and then carry on walking up the stairs, all the while wondering if the time has actually moved or not. Maybe I was stuck in some kind of dimension thingy where time is standing still, and it's actually time for Edward to come back.

Yeah, Bella, because time fails to move in the kitchen.

I swear there is something seriously wrong with my brain.

I reach the top of the stairs and notice that my bedroom door is open a fraction....  I could have sworn I shut it; I normally do. I sigh, open the door the rest of the way, and walk in, turning around and shutting the door behind me. Well, I more slam it than shut it.

"I was wondering how much longer it would take for you to come up here."

My brain instantly recognises the voice; I'd know that voice anywhere, but I'm still shocked to hear it.

I spin around, almost falling over in the process, and find Edward lying on my bed looking like some kind of Greek god with a huge grin plastered on his face.

"Hi." He smiles a bit more, if that was even possible.

Narrowing my eyes slightly, I walk towards the bed and sit down on the edge. I had not sat there for long before Edward sits up and puts his arms around my waist, lying back down and pulling me with him so that he's spooning me. I don't complain. I've missed him more than I thought I had.

"What are you doing here?"

"I can go away again, if you'd prefer."

"No!" I answer too quickly, causing him to laugh quietly. "No, I didn't mean that."

I breathe in slowly, trying to gather my thoughts again. Now, what was I going to say?

"I meant, what are you doing up here?"

I feel him shrug. "It seemed less hassle."

"Less hassle?"

"Hmm," he murmurs before kissing my hair.

I shiver involuntarily at the action, but it's a good shiver.  Edward misinterprets it and moves away from me.

I frown and wriggle closer to him; he sighs and puts his arms around me again.

"I'm not cold. It was a good shiver."  

"You always say that."

"Well, then start believing it."

He chuckles and drops another kiss on top of my head before moving away from me again and getting off the bed. He's sitting on the floor in front of me before I have time to register the movement.

"Will you do something for me, Bella?"

Uh oh... "That depends on what it is..."

He frowns but leans forward to kiss the tip of my nose. He leans back and smiles crookedly at me, his eyes shining. I don't know why he even asks me to do something. He knows I'll do it anyway...

"Please?" He exhales, causing his breath wash over me. It sends my thoughts all over the place, and I suddenly can't even remember who I am, let alone what I'm supposed to be saying yes to.

"Um, sure?"

He grins at me and stands up. It's only then that I notice he's dressed quite smartly. Where are we going that requires sharp attire?

"Um, Edward?" I sit up and yawn.

"Yes, love?"

"Where exactly are we going?"

"It's a surprise..." He says it warily, as if he's calculating how I'm going to react.

"Edward!" I whine, and end up sounding like a twelve year old.

He comes and kneels in front of me, looking up at me under his eyelashes. "Bella..." He smiles, but it doesn't reach his eyes. "Please, just do this for me? I have reasons."

He stands up again and then takes my hands, pulling me up so I'm standing flush against him. "Please?"

Edward places his index finger under my chin, gently tilting my head so I have to look at him.  Leaning down, he presses his lips against mine softly. The kiss doesn't last long, and I don't think it has anything to do with his "self-control" issues. He pulls away and smiles down at me.

"Fine," I sigh, "but you have to tell me your reasons before we go anywhere."

He looks unimpressed with the bargain that I'm trying to make with him, because he takes his hand away from under my jaw, sighs, and then looks...sad?

"Hey." I move my hand up and place it against his cheek. His eyelids flutter closed, and he sighs again. "We can just go, if you prefer. I'm being stubborn, I know, but you know much I hate surprises."

His eyes open again, and I take my hand away from his face.  He doesn't stop the contact, though, because he takes my hand in his and laces our fingers together.

"I love you," he whispers, leaning forward to press his lips to my forehead.

"I love you, too," I whisper back, and I stand up on my tip-toes and kiss him softly. "Are we going or not?"

He grins down at me and laughs. "Impatient now, aren't we?"

"Pfft!" I wave my hand around dismissively. I'm not impatient per se, just anxious to see what's going on. Okay, so I guess that counts as impatient, but whatever. "What about Charlie?"

"It's only 6:00, Bella. We won't be gone all night."

Dang. "Are we running?"

"How many times do I have to tell you that you won't fall?"

I can feel my mouth move upwards into a grin. "Maybe a few hundred more?"

He doesn't say anything else, and before I can even register the movement, he puts his hands underneath my knees and picks me up, cradling me closely.

"Edward Cullen! Put me down!" I squeal.

"Sssh!" He clamps his hand over my mouth. "Please just cooperate with me, Bella."

I nod my head slowly, and Edward walks towards the window.  We are on the ground before I even realise. I hate all of this moving incredibly fast. It really annoys me.

"So we are running?" I mumble against the hand that is still against my mouth.

Edward looks down at me and just glares. Apparently, we are running.

He lifts me up so he's got better grip of me and takes off running. He didn't even tell me to close my eyes!

I clamp my eyes shut and try not to focus on the fact that we are running at about sixty miles per hour. Instead, I'm somewhere else that doesn't involve all of this fast movement.

"Sweetheart, you can open your eyes now."

I open my left eye slowly and then the other one so that my eyesight can adjust to where we are. It's not dark outside yet, so I can clearly see that we're standing in the meadow.

The meadow? Hang on, why are we here?

I'm still in Edward's arms, and he must realise it, since he sets me down on my feet.  He takes my hand again.

"Why are we here?" I can actually touch the flowers that are growing around us. It's all so long. I brush my fingertips against the petals of a flower, revelling in how soft it feels.

"I said I'd explain." I look up from the flowers to find that Edward standing in front of me; our hands are still linked, though.

Okay, so I'm very confused.

 "Valentine's," he says simply.

I can't trace any kind of emotion in his voice or on his face. He's trying to not show it.

Valentine's? But that was in February...and it's May now...

Oh, Oh.

"Oh."

"I wasn't here." He flinches, and I step forward to comfort him, but he stops me by shaking his head ever so slightly. "I want to make it up to you."

"Edward, you don't have to do that.  You're here now, and that's all that matters."

"Please?"

It doesn't matter that I've always thought that Valentine's Day is just a commercialised holiday that is basically a load of crap and doesn't mean anything. Why should there be one day in the year when you have to shower the one you love with gifts or telling them you love them? Shouldn't people do that all year round? I'm not saying that I expect gifts all the time, because I don't. I'm just wondering why there should be one particular day when you have to say "I love you."

None of that matters, because I'm only interested in making Edward happy. It doesn't matter that I hate surprises or that I hate getting presents. I just want him to be happy.

Suddenly, Edward smiles, not just the crooked smile that I love to see, but a full-blown grin. He must be happy because of the fact that I've agreed to do this.

He drops my hand and sits down on the ground, smiling at me still. I narrow my eyes slightly, but sit down next to him anyway.

It's gotten a little bit darker since we've been here, and it's a surprisingly clear night; you can see the stars already.

Looks like it'll be sunny tomorrow.

"I know you hate this kind of thing, but it means a lot that you-"

I put my hand over his mouth to stop him talking. His eyes widen as I do so, but he does what I asked.

"I just want you to be happy, and if doing this makes you happy," I sigh, "then it makes me happy, too." I take my hand away from his mouth, and he just smiles again.

He's done an awful lot of smiling already.

"Valentine's Day never meant much to me before; obviously, I had nobody to share it with, and that didn't bother me. I didn't care. But then you came into my life, and suddenly, I did care. I just wanted to spoil you, but you won't even let me do that." I blush as he says this.  "Then I wasn't here this Valentine's, and even though I knew you wouldn't have let me spoil you had I been here..." He flinches again. "I want to do it now, because you mean the world to me, Bella."

I swear my eyes are filling up with tears, but I'm determined not to cry. "I know," is the only thing I can say without my voice shaking so much it gives away my tears.

He takes a stray piece of my hair between his fingers and hooks it behind my ear.

I can't help but smile at him. He looks happier than I've seen him since he came back. I'm not going to dwell on it, since it's not a good thing to do. But ever since he came back, he's just been constantly blaming himself, and Charlie hasn't exactly helped with the situation. Edward's just smiling so much tonight, and it makes me want to kiss him.

He puts his arm around my waist and pulls me with him as he lies down. I can't help but squeal, since the sudden action shocked me.

Edward just laughs at me.

"Hey, the grass could have been wet!"

He leans over and kisses my forehead again. "You're adorable."

I blush. "Thanks?"

His arm is around my shoulders now, and I move over so that I'm snuggling against him.

"You'll get cold," he warns.

"I don't care."

He shakes his head, but doesn't say anything else. "It's really clear tonight."

Weird. "Hmm..." I can't help but yawn. "It'll be sunny tomorrow." You can hear the regret in my voice.

"Maybe."

"Okay, so what's Valentine's got to do with the sky?"

"Just look at it." He's smiling again. I can tell without even looking at him.

I look up at the sky like he says.  It's not completely dark out yet, but there are more stars in the sky than there were before-quite a lot more, actually.

Just looking at them makes me smile, it's so amazing. Just to think that even though those stars are billions of miles away from us, they look so close.

"It's beautiful," I whisper, my voice full of awe.

"I can think of something more beautiful than that."

"Liar." I smirk. "So, are you ever going to tell me what the stars and the sky have got to do with our belated Valentine's?"

Edward takes his arm from around my shoulder and sits up. I follow his movements.

"Because I bought you a star," he says simply.

"You bought me a...star?" I say the words slowly, not just for his benefit, but for my own. A star? He bought me a damned star?

"Don't get mad."

"I'm not mad." I look at him, and he looks almost...scared. I try not to laugh at the expression that is currently on his face. "Can you even buy stars?"

"Of course." His expression lightens, and then he smiles. "I could have bought you shares in Hershey's, if you'd have preferred."

"No, no. A star is good. Different. Unique."

He cups my jaw again with his hand and makes me face him. "Like you."

"I'm hardly unique, Edward."

"Of course you are. You're mine, and that makes you unique. Not everybody falls in love with vampires."

I giggle. "No, I guess not." I smile at him, and he leans down to kiss me softly.

He pulls away first, obviously not wanting to push anything. He knows me too well. "So, where's my star?"

"Up there." He points to the sky.

"Well, obviously!"  I glare at him. "But where?"

"Well, it's not just one star..." He leaves the sentence hanging.

"You bought a constellation?" I squeal. "Edward..."

"In my defence, it didn't cost much. You don't let me buy you presents, Bella, when all I want to do is to spoil you. I needed to do this to make Valentine's Day up to you.  The only way to do that was to buy you something that not many other people have. Like you said, it's unique, just like you."

"I'm sorry, I'm just the worst girlfriend." I really am, aren't I? What kind of girl doesn't like to get spoiled by her boyfriend? Ugh, I should just let him buy me presents and be-

My thoughts were cut off by Edward speaking. "No, Bella. Don't say that. You're not. Don't think that." He kisses my forehead.

I nod slowly. "Thank you, for the star, I mean. I should probably say stars, though. I love it, really."

"Really?"

"Really." I grin at him.

Edward grins back and then looks up at the sky. "I reckon that your stars are around there somewhere." He points to a certain bit in the sky.

"Edward?" He looks at me. "I really don't mind; let's just say that it is there, okay?"

"That's fine by me." He squeezes my hand.

"I love you."

"I love you, too."

I lean up and press my lips to his. I don't care that he bought me a present; I don't care that I'm crossing boundaries. I'm saying thank you to him in the only way that I know how.