You Belong With Me

By: emerald(e)grl

Chapter One : Tuesday

"Seriously, it was only a joke." His voice was strained, and I could see him internally debating whether he would hang up on her this time. I watched this from upside down on my bed – I was pretending to read. While I didn't quite know what Edward was arguing over, I did know it was her he was arguing with. And that, no matter what she was yelling at him, he would never hang up on.

Edward would never hang up on anyone, it was too rude.

He glanced at me with an irritated expression so I fixed my gaze back on the book I was supposed to be reading. For eavesdropping purposes as well as for school purposes. We were supposed to be studying – we always studied on Tuesdays, considering it was the one school night we were both free. Between his football practice and my work on the school paper, we were pretty busy.

"Tanya, listen to me." He had to stop again as her voice started up again, only pausing to let him get those four words in. I could hear her annoying voice from here, though I could not decipher anything other than screeching. I didn't know how he had the patience.

I tried to block out their sounds of arguing (well, her sounds) in my room; I tried to focus on Moby Dick. At last the anchor was up, the sails were set, and off we glided. It was a sharp, cold Christmas; and as the short northern day merged into night, we found ourselves almost broad upon the wintry ocean, whose freezing spray cased us in ice, as in polished armor… I'd never found a book so completely boring as this one.

"Emmett asked me to rank the J.V. girls; I would never actually date one of them." He seemed to have rushed this out during one of her pauses for breath. Ah, so this was about the underclassmen cheerleaders, no wonder Tanya was feeling insecure. She was head cheerleader – the kind of girl who was actually pleased when someone only liked her for her looks. "Hey, he might sometimes be a meathead, but he is one of my best friends."

Uh oh, big mistake Tanya, have you learned nothing? Edward is nothing if not fiercely loyal to his friends, especially one of his best. Damn, what am I doing? I'm not supposed to be listening. I focused this time on the music from my speakers, figuring it was a better attention magnet than the horrid book in my hands.

My iPod was on shuffle, and currently it was Flyleaf, one of my favorites. All heads are bowed in silence; To remember her last sentence; She answered him knowing what would happen; Her last words still hanging in the air; In the air… While it was much more pleasant than Moby, it still made me think that it was the kind of music Tanya hated.

She was more of a Pussycat Dolls and Kayne West kind of girl. Pop and poser gangster as I would call them. It was drastic the differences between Tanya and I – similar to the contrast of day and night. Tanya is blond, perky, confident, beautiful, and even her name sounds like she deserves sovereignty of the school. I am brunette, sarcastic, shy, mousy, and my name sounds like I should be riding a gondola.

The silence was longer than usual, and I snuck another peek from under the book, even upside down, I could tell Edward's expression was slightly apologetic. I tried not to sigh when he spoke again. "What has Bella got to do with this, Tanya? And you know I'm over here right now, it is Tuesday."

It seemed that many of their arguments eventually dragged me into it – I guess the mention of best friends reminded Tanya I exist. The thought absolutely kills her, and I think it's because she knows it's going to take quite some time before she knows Edward's story like I do, if ever. Edward and I have been best friends since third grade – they've been dating since the start of this school year.

I hid my frown, knowing that it would upset Edward if he knew that I was upset. Edward had never dated anyone this long before, usually it took two dates before he was done. This time span of four months was starting to make me feel a bit restless; I didn't like it. Plus the fact that Tanya acted like she was so much better than me (and she probably kind of is – in the social class anyways) always irritated me.

"Look, next Tuesday you can come study with us, if it'll make you feel better." I could hear the frustration in his voice, and I knew by his sentiment of surrender he was at the last straw before he completely lost it. I wondered if she knew this.

And, like hell she would join us. Half of me knew Edward was saying this only to appease her and leave him alone for this night, but the thought that he would give up our alone time hurt me more than them arguing over me ever could. While I had hoped to hide my frown, a part of me wanted him to notice my angry countenance.

"Tanya-" He stopped abruptly and I noticed it wasn't the sound of her voice that had stopped him this time. It seemed that while he was against hanging up on people, she had no diversion to it. He threw his cell phone to the side, and I heard him lay back with a sigh.

I peeked at him once again, wanting to gauge if his face showed he wanted to talk about it or if he wanted me to leave it alone. Except, I was stalled by the sliver of flesh exposed by his shirt riding up. Oh, lovely, lovely tanned miracle of sin.

I glanced at his face and he was staring back at me with a twisted smirk on his lips. I rolled my eyes, used to being caught I had become very crafty with my responses during moments like these. "Nice boxers, Cupid," I knew they were heart-covered not because I had previously been staring at them a moment ago, but because I had seen them when he grabbed his backpack from the backseat only hours earlier.

"Thank you – now where is my peek?" His grin told me he was in a better mood than his phone call had ended with him in. I was glad I could distract him from Tanya, even if it was at my expensive of being caught staring. It wasn't my fault he was irresistible.

"You're going to have to pay for that show, buddy," I said as I threw my book aside finally. I sure as hell wasn't reading it anyways. When he joked like this, it made me equal amounts of giddy and loathing; it made me torn in a way I didn't like at all. We'd joked like this basically ever since hitting puberty, and for just as long it seemed I wanted them to be serious.

Sigh, yes call me the tragic cliché. I'm in love with my best friend. Yadda, yadda, I'm delusional thinking a confession will do any good, considering in real life they never like you back and the friendship is never the same.

Trust me, I know both sides better than you can imagine between Pro Alice and Con Rosalie, my best girl friends. Alice is actually Edward's sister, which made me wary at first, but she hasn't told him as far as I know. Rosalie is Emmett's girlfriend, as well as Alice's boyfriend Jasper's twin sister. It seems everyone has managed to get it together, unlike Edward and I.

Which I consider retarded considering we've known each other the longest; in my opinion, we so deserved to hook up before either couple. Then again, that was two consenting parties – I had no clue Edward's thoughts on the matter.

And well, I'd take him as my best friend over him as my embarrassed and awkward ex-best friend. Because the way I see it, that's where it has to end up. And before you say anything, trying to convince me that he feels the same of some bull, I do have a plan. Alice has convinced me to tell him.

But I get to decide when, and I've chosen sometime after graduation and before we all leave for college. That way I can escape to the University of Arizona if need be, while the rest chum it up at the University of Seattle. And I'd say I'm pretty brave, considering I'd have to give up all my best friends, the better city and college, and Edward himself if it all goes down how I'm thinking it will.

Edward's staring at me, with his lips turned down as if he's trying to resist smiling. He raises his eyebrows when he noticed I've come back to real time. It's often I get lost in thoughts, in case you haven't noticed. "Oh yeah, well where's my payment, then?"

He was sitting up again, and I rolled over on my bed to face him upright. "It's not my fault you're cheap; you're the one who set your price range at free. Maybe I'll give you a quarter for the full view." Or maybe I'll sell my soul for the full view of Edward Cullen's naked body. Of my best friend's naked body.

"A whole quarter!" he said in mock excitement, grinning again. That smile of his could light up the entirety of this cold, dreary town of Forks. "You'd better pay up then." He started to raise his shirt up, and before he could get it over his head, a pillow hurtled at him from my direction. "Owf!"

As much as I did want the full show, I would not be treated to it during the middle of our friend-zone teasing. He can't know what he does to me – it would be too cruel. I couldn't help but smile, though, as he laughed. "I said maybe I'd pay you; from what little I did see maybe you should be paying me that quarter."

He pouted as I busied myself with pulling my bag over to me, flopping my Calculus book out onto the floor. It was silent for a moment, except for the music coming out of my speakers, before he spoke again, this time more serious. "I'm sorry, Bella, I know you don't like being the reason when Tanya and I fight."

I only nodded at him, and I knew he could tell I did this because I was only accepting his apology, not completely forgiving him. It wasn't my fault everyone else (which included her) seemed to realize Edward belonged with me. "What were you fighting over to begin with?"

The corner of his mouth tilted upwards, letting me know that no matter what reprimanding Tanya could've given him, he still thought it was funny. "Emmett told me to rank the J.V. girls, and Tanya heard me say that Jessica Stanley would be first because she gives the best head."

Even I had to laugh at that. Maybe because I knew that Edward has never actually gotten head from anyone. I knew this because when we'd entered junior high we promised we would tell each other everything; even if it was a sexual experience (this had seemed like a good idea before when neither of us had ever even kissed anyone – now I wished we'd never made that agreement because I certainly did not want to be informed when Edward made it to second base – if he ever got that far with Tanya). Or maybe this was simply humorous because Jessica Stanley had braces.

"See? You get it!" Edward exclaimed as I laughed aloud, and my laughter kind of sputtered to a halt. I didn't like it when Edward compared me to his girlfriend, even though I was guilty of that very same thing. He knew this too, and his own smile dropped off his face when he realized what he had done. "Sorry, Bella."

I focused on my Calculus book, not really knowing what to say to that. Lately, it seemed as if I was always trying to avoid awkwardness when being put in the middle of Edward and his girlfriend. And while I constantly picked out the many differences between us, I didn't like when Edward did it at all. I could say that it was because then I knew that he knew just how wrong I was for his type.

Tanya wore a shirt skirt and high heels every day. The thought alone exhausts me; my wardrobe typically consists of a t-shirt and my converse. I'm far too active for a skirt, and I honestly do not feel like giving anyone a panty shot when I go about my day. As for my shoe choice, it's a safety precaution, honestly. I have enough trouble walking across flat surfaces.

"Did Edward go home yet, Bella?" My dad's voice hollered from down the hall, seeing as he rarely came close to my room, let alone my door.

"Yes, Dad," I figured it was Charlie's own fault if he couldn't be bothered to check out front for Edward's car. It's not like his shiny silver Volvo couldn't be used as a beacon for ships. I think deep down my dad had accepted Edward and my relationship – and a part of me realized that Charlie actually trusted Edward.

Probably because Edward was a bit of a prude.

He'd slept in my bed pretty much every night for the past four years, and the most that had occurred was some spooning now and then. And those had been the result of cold nights or unknowingly cuddling in sleep. It sometimes made me wonder if I was hideous or untouchable. At least it made me comfortable enough to wear whatever the hell I wanted; it wasn't as if my scantily-clothed flesh even tempted Edward.

For example, I was currently donning a big t-shirt, sans bra, and panties. Hey, it is my room' I'm free to wear what I want. Although, I'm pretty sure my dad (or Tanya for that matter) would freak if they knew what occurred nightly. Oh, and FYI, the sans bra thing is not for his benefit, considering a bra can only help that situation. I'm still hoping I am a late bloomer.

"Does that mean it's time for bed?" Edward asked curiously, not even feeling the need to whisper.

See? That could only mean that Edward and I weren't sneaking around – hell, my door was technically wide open. Edward stood to shut said door and shimmied out his jeans easily. Okay, well, it was open.

And, to be quite honest, I was a little miffed. Because while Edward seemed to be completely oblivious to my body, mine was quite obviously aware of his. He looked like he should be on a Calvin Klein billboard with his black tee and boxers. Except he needed to get rid of that shirt, and I was not exactly sure Klein sells heart boxers.

He crawled around me on the bed, settling into his spot closest to the window. I shut my Calculus book with a sigh, having only completed two more problems in the homework, and straightened my body out so that I was no longer perpendicular on the bed to him. "You forgot the light, idiot," I said lazily, jumping up to get it.

"No, no, Isabella," he looked at me smugly, "just getting that peek I so rightfully deserve." He stared at my legs appraisingly. My face flushed slightly, no matter how hard I tried to resist. He was instantly delighted by this fact, and he flashed me one of his crooked smiles. I missed those; it seemed as if they were getting rarer and rarer with the introduction of Tanya.

On my way back to bed, I grabbed the pillow I had thrown at him earlier and whacked him with it again for good measure. "My name is Bella," I grumbled, but proceeded to crawl under the covers next to him. And I'd never admit it, but I kind of liked it when he called me by my full name – it seemed more intimate or something.

I relaxed as I felt him turn on to his stomach, and his arm came around my torso of its own accord. His breathing had already evened out, and I knew that if he wasn't asleep yet, he was very close.

The first time he had come to my house, snuck up to my window, and crept into my bed had been about a month after he had found out he was adopted and the day after my mother left. Our relationship was weird that way – we always had moments that made our moods match, tragic or thrilling, we always could relate to each other in our lives.

Renee had divorced Charlie and eloped with a guy half her age all within the span of a year. Carlisle and Esme had finally told Edward he was adopted on his fifteenth birthday – that they'd tried for two years to have a child, had a miscarriage, and then settled on adoption. Less than two months later they found out that Esme was pregnant with Alice. Edward took it kind of hard, but he loved his adoptive parents as if they were his own, and with my help, he'd grown to accept it.

And yet, though those wounds had healed, Edward kept coming. And I kept letting him. How could I turn away my bronze-haired angel when he so rightfully fit in my arms? How could I turn him away when he so rightfully belonged with me?

Author's Note:

This fic started on Twilighted, so now I'm transferring what I have so far (five chapters) to .

Basic rundown – Started with me falling in love with Taylor Swift's new album, one song in particular, and this is what came out of it. Was going to be a short little thing, around six chapters, but because of the response I received, I decided to make it longer for you guys. Anyways, please review with comments! I won't be saying much in the next author's notes, until I get caught up to where I am on Twilighted. Oh, and there's also a forum there if you're interested. Thanks!