Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or any of its characters…the end…

A/N: This is an AU with a human Edward because human Edwards are sexy beasts and also because this is my fanfiction and I can do what I want with him…muwahaha…oh, and he's sort of OOC because I'm not as articulate Stephenie Meyer and I like making Edward swear. Oh, and the quote from the history teacher is actually something my history teacher told me last year XD…I love you, Mrs. S. 3

Falling. It's simple. Effortless. Once you start, only a force of nature far stronger than you can stop your plummeting. The only thing you can do is let yourself keep spiraling downwards and into the unknown. I guess that's why they call it falling in love. Love is just like that. Once you start falling in love, there's nothing you can do. You just fall.

And sometimes when you fall, you end up getting slammed. Just like a pancake. You're just floating along, minding your own business when—POW!!! —you're on the floor of rock bottom nowhere. And then all you feel like doing is curling up into a ball and wondering how the hell you got there to begin with. As my former history teacher said: "Life sucks; and then you die"

I'm really starting to agree with that particular anecdote. I might just be biased, seeing as I look like a drowned rat standing here at the pick up counter in the slowest Starbucks on the face of the earth. All I wanted when I got up this morning was to have a nice cup of coffee before my first class at the nice café down the street. But nnnnoooooo. The freaking power went off in the middle of the night, so now I'm just hoping for a speedy latte. And of course, because I woke up so late, I totally forgot my umbrella. Leave it to me to forget my umbrella even after living in Oregon for over a year.

I check my watch again, willing time to slow down I'm not late to Calc. Again. But naturally, the only people who're working the counter right now are some stupid girl who just started two days ago and the loser that's too busy trying to get her attention to care about anything else. When the girl can't get the freaking foam machine to work, I'm tempted to just forget about it and go to class, but seeing as I couldn't sleep until one o'clock last night, I figure I could really use the caffeine. Plus, it's not really her fault that she can't use a foam machine. I'd probably break it. While I'm waiting for the poor girl to figure things out my mind wanders to dangerous places. Namely her. Why, oh why did I have to go and ruin everything? We'd had a good, solid friendship going for us before I'd screwed up. I should've just kept my mouth shut. Now she's freaking avoiding me. Great. Then again, I'm not exactly seeking her out, either. Now, instead of hanging out and having fun on the weekends, I listen to emo music and feel sorry for myself. Double great.

Welcome to Rock Bottom. Population: all us heartbroken losers.

~*~*~*~*~*~

It's raining even harder when I get out of m last class. Whoopie. Normally, I don't mind rain. You'd have to be a little crazy to live in Oregon if you don't like rain. Crazy and screwed. Funny how I still ended up crazy and screwed anyway. Over a year of hiding my feelings and I blow it all in ten seconds.

I sigh as I pull my hood up and dart out into the downpour. A curse escapes me as the wind blows the icy cold drops into my face. All I can think as I trudge down the walkway in the direction of my apartment is, "fuck my life".

I'm less than five minutes from my complex when I reach a patch of half frozen water on the sidewalk.

"Shit!" I roar as I tumble to the concrete in a flailing heap. I groan and lie here a minute as I wonder it if would really be so bad to just take a nap right here. That latte hasn't worked as well as I'd hoped. I just want to curl up in a ball and sleep in the middle of the walkway. I'm soaked anyway. I realize I'll probably get pneumonia or something equally as unpleasant if I say, though, so with another heavy sigh, I roll over and start to get up as carefully as I can.

My as is sticking way up in the air when I hear it. Her voice. Calling my name. I think I might actually be losing it for a second, but I look between my legs and see her walking toward me with a smile. No wait, I'm upside down, so it's a frown. For one wild moment I hope she hasn't seen me, but she calls my name again and I hang my head.

Oh bloody hell. Fucking shit. Crap buckets.

With as much dignity as one can muster when looking like a guinea pig that's been dumped in a bucket of water, I straighten up. I push some of my matted, rain-soaked hair out of my eyes and turn around with a fake smile plastered on my face.

"Hey, Bella!" I love you. I miss you. I can barely breathe when we're not talking. Please forgive me. I can be just your friend if that's what you want. "What's up?" What's up? Really?

"Oh my god, Edward, what happened?"

I was too busy thinking of you and fell on my ass. "Oh, nothing. I just tripped." Have I mentioned I love you?

"What? Are you crazy?" Only about you. "You'll freeze to death! Or get pneumonia or…" We even think of the same diseases. "Whatever. Come on, we're almost to your apartment."

Wait. "Huh?" Isn't she supposed to be avoiding me? "No. It's fine. I'm fine. You don't have to come with me." Please just tell me the truth or leave me alone. Seeing you like this is so painfully awkward. But mostly just painful.

"Don't be silly. You could pass out on your way and nobody'd be there to help! Of course I'm coming, you idiot." She slaps me lightly on the arm. She's so adorable when she's trying to beat me up. She grabs my arm and starts dragging me towards my place while I try to ignore the warmth radiating up my arm from where her hand is.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Calm down, Edward, just calm down. So she's in your apartment. No big deal. She's been here tons of times before. Just stay calm.

I'm in my room changing into dry clothes, all the while trying not to hyperventilate. Calm down. It's no big deal. So the girl I love with an undying passion is standing twenty feet away in my living room. So what? Yeah.

I take a deep breath before exiting my room and enter my small living room. Living in apartments sucks when you're a broke college student. The only ones you can afford are about as big as cardboard boxes. I'm on a similar train of thought as I reach the room. I almost run into Bella, who's standing right at the entrance with a towel in hand. Oh no. Please don't tell me she's going to—.

"Come here."

Oh god, please murder me now. I'm very proud that my voice doesn't waver when I say, "You know, I could just do that myself."

She snorts. I love it when she does that. It's so amusing and she looks so endearing with her nose all scrunched up like that. She uses her free hand to crook her finger at me, rolling her eyes and muttering something about me never accepting help. I sigh and walk towards her, cursing the fact that I can't say no to her.

The feeling of her hands on me is blissful torture. It's the first time I've been this close to her in days. And I can't even do anything about it. I can't wrap my arms around her and pull her to me. I can't kiss her or tell her I love her. I close my eyes and try to stop thinking like this. At least it'll all be over in about ten seconds.

Yeah right. If only I were that lucky. Ten seconds comes and goes, and I'm still being forced to concentrate on breathing more than I should have to. Abruptly, the towel falls from my head, but what surprises me is that her hands don't. They just stay where they are, one resting on my shoulder, the other near the base of my neck. I open my eyes in confusion and almost jerk my head back. Bella's closer than I expect, staring up at me with a strange intensity that I don't recognize in her eyes. Oh god, what did I do? Did I make a weird noise? Is there something on my face?

"Bell, what's—?"

Holy crap, she's kissing me. At first I'm too stunned to do anything. Then I realize that this is actually happening and decide to enjoy whatever's happening while it lasts. This has got to be one of the best kisses I've ever had. Bella's going to need a bucket to carry me around in by the time we're done.

All too soon, she's pulling back, but thankfully doesn't try to escape my arms. That's strange. When did they wrap around her? Oh well. It's certainly nothing to complain about.

"Um…what was that?" Apparently I've lost the ability to form intelligent thoughts.

Her lips twitch up at the corners as her breathing settles down a little. "What do you think it was? I must be doing something wrong if you can't even recognize a kiss when it hits you in the face…literally."

Normally I would laugh at her teasing, maybe even make a smart-ass retort, but this is not normal. It has the potential to be much better. I can feel the hope rising in my chest. "No, I mean…you know…why?" I curse my seemingly broken motor skills.

A faint blush creeps onto her face and she turns her attention to pick what I'm sure is a nonexistent piece of lint from my shirt. "Why do you think I did?" she nearly whispers.

"Bella," I reply pleadingly. She can't play with me right now. I can't take it.

She looks up at me again. When she sees the desperation on my face her own expression softens and she pulls herself to me again, burying her head in my shoulder. I wait with bated breath, but when she finally speaks her voice is muffled against my shirt. Is she trying to kill me?

"What?"

I feel her face heat up against my shoulder once more. "Because I love you! Too."

I think I'm going to die of shock and happiness. I can feel the dim-witted smile break out onto my face. I pull away from her and cup her still-red face in my hands. "What? You do? Really?" I'm really blabbering, but I can't seem to make myself care at the moment. I'm too ecstatic.

"No doofus, I'm joking," she hits me lightly on the arm with a sheepish laugh. Then her blush deepens even more. She's so adorable. "Of course I love you. How could I not? I've never been able to talk to anyone the way I talk to you. You're the most amazing person I've ever met."

"I think I know someone more amazing than me," I teas, releasing her face in favor of squeezing her hands.

"You're such a goof," I love embarrassing her. She gets all red and flustered. She surprises me by asking, "So when's our first date going to be?" She's usually all discreet about affection. Her mother was always cautioning her about marriage and men and her father doesn't really like to talk about those things. I decide to take the fact that she's being forward as a good sign. I didn't think I could get any happier, but she just proved me wrong. As usual.

"How about Friday? I'll pick you up at your place around six?"

"What're we doing?"

I shake my head, that stupid smile still plastered on my face. "Nope. I want it to be a surprise. You'll have to wait and see."

She hits me again. "Dork."

"Takes on to know one," I shoot back, drawing her close to me again.

She smiles even though she'd usually just retort back. "Shut up and kiss me."

My answering smile is ten times goofier than before. "If you say so." Bella laughs at my idiocy, but leans in for a second time. As her lips press against mine softly and sweetly, I come to a new conclusion about falling. It's really not so bad after all. At least not when you've got someone waiting to fall with. It makes the blow at the end a lot more enjoyable because you know there'll always be someone to help pick you up afterwards.