EPOV

Something's changed between us, and I don't know when or how it happened. What I do know is that Bella and I are currently driving Emmett's car to Philadelphia while Emmett rides with Rose and Tanya on the bus. We haven't been this alone since the tour started. It's a five-hour drive, six with the inevitable traffic from Boston to Philly, and we wanted all the time in the world to talk … uninterrupted.

We both try to speak at the same time about 20 minutes into the trip, and Bella finally asks if she can ramble for a little bit. When I agree, I brace for good news about her feelings but her not wanting to do anything about it.

"Edward, something has changed for me in regards to our relationship and …" She trails off as she changes lanes and gives me a grin. "Who knew I was going to be so formal?" We both laugh and the tension breaks.

"I just want to say that I like you, and if circumstances were different, I'd ask you out."

I feel my shoulders sag a little, and Bella must notice because she backtracks immediately. "Circumstances meaning we weren't on tour. We have a hard enough time sneaking away every few cities for some interesting food, let alone an actual date."

"I thought those were dates," I tell her honestly as I shift my body toward her in the passenger seat. "I treated them like dates."

She reaches for my hand and squeezes gently. "I think I started to as well."

"Can you feel that? That energy between us?" I ask as I lift our joined hands slightly. "I felt that the first time we shook hands. It's just gotten stronger over the last five months, hasn't it?"

"I think so." Bella's whisper is almost too quiet to hear. She releases my hand and lights up her phone and calls Tanya on speaker.

"T, we're stopping at the next rest stop because I have to pee. So, we'll be ten minutes behind you." She hangs up and grins over at me. "I think we need a moment where I'm not distracted."

A few miles later, she pulls over, and we get out to stretch but get back in the car when we realize how cold it is outside. When we pile back into the car and meet face to face over the center console, we both stop to stare at each other.

"This is the moment, isn't it?" she asks me as she licks her lips and moves closer to me. I nod, cup her cheek gently, and pull her toward me.

"Are you sure? There's no going back after this." Instead of answering, she closes the distance between us and presses her lips to mine.

Honey and the herbal tea she always drinks after shows mixed with her menthol ChapStick and something slightly smokey that I deem specifically Bella encompasses me in the parking lot of that rest stop. We could have been anywhere or nowhere; the only thing that matters is the way our lips move together, and fiercely, Bella grips my collar.

Lips, teeth, and tongue clashing together asking for permission and looking for dominance. All the while, I can feel the electricity building around us like an electrical storm above the cloud line. When I come up for air, Bella has a dreamy look on her face and in her eyes.

"Uh oh," I say as I kiss the tip of her nose and both her cheeks. "I think we're in trouble, Bella."

"Why?"

"Because this might be more than a little crush, and now I'm worried, too."

We talk the entire way to Philly and beat the bus. When we check into the hotel, we get Rose and Tanya to get us adjoining rooms, and they snicker the whole elevator ride.

After freshening up, I order room service for both of us, and we spend the night talking and laughing, trying to make up for time we think we've somehow lost.

"We can't let this change the way our shows go—professionalism 100 percent," Bella says as we clean up our late dinner and start to go our separate ways for bed.

"These two nights in the City of Brotherly Love have been amazing, Philly," I shout to the crowd as Bella steps up behind her keyboard. "We've got a new song that we've been trying to get right, and we're gonna try it out for you all tonight!"

Candy

She's sweet like candy in my veins

Baby, I'm dying for another taste

And every night my mind is running around her

Thunder's getting louder and louder

Baby, you're like lightning in a bottle

I can't let you go now that I got it

All I need is to be struck

By your electric love

Baby, your electric love

Electric love

The crowd is loving the new song, and the harmonies are finally coming together. I'd been writing it since rehearsals in December and knew that now Bella and I had confessed our feelings, it was the perfect time to debut it.

Rushing through me

I feel your energy rushing through me

I feel your energy rushing through me

Baby, you're like lightning in a bottle

I can't let you go now that I got it

And all I need is to be struck

By your electric love

Baby, your electric love

Baby, you're electric

Electric Love by BØRNS