I've had this little idea in my head for months now, inspired by a few young kids in my neighbourhood. The real life "Edward" is only five and "Bella" is only 2, but in my head, I imagine those two growing to really love each other and thought I would write a short story about them ; )

I realized that I never mentioned how old the characters are...Bella would be 19 and Edward would be 23 in this story, so it's not like she's 14 and he's 18 (weird).

I hope you enjoy. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated : )

Bella sat on the front step of her home, thinking it all through in the light early evening breeze. It all seemed surreal to her, but in the way that it all should have been completely obvious to her the whole time. She realized that the only surreal part was that it wasn't.

"Why are you with him?"

He had just driven her home from the movie theatre and they sat in the car in his driveway, neither making a move to get out.

"What? Why would you ask me that?" she retorted, not answering his question.

He shook his head in disbelief. Was she really this clueless?

"What is it, Bella? Seriously. Why do you keep letting him do this to you?"

She stared at him, wondering why he was suddenly confronting her about this. She always knew there was something he didn't like about their relationship, but she could never put her finger on what exactly it was. All of a sudden it was all coming out, and she wasn't sure how to react.

"Edward, he's not a bad guy." And she meant it. He wasn't a bad guy, it's just that his priorities were just in a bit of a mess.

"I know, Bella. I know. I've known him his entire life, and I know he's not a bad guy. But that doesn't mean he's a good boyfriend, nor does it mean he treats you well."

"He doesn't treat me badly."

"But he doesn't treat you the way he should."

"Where is this coming from?" She asked, her voice rising with her irritation.

"This is the third time I`ve seen this happen, Bella. He left you at the movies. How is that not a red flag?"

"It's not like he abandoned me," she defended, "His friends called and I told him to go meet up with them if he wanted."

"And he couldn't have driven you home first?" She cast her eyes downward at this question. She had thought the same thing when Tyler had kissed her cheek and darted out the movie theatre doors.

"What would you have done if you didn't run into me tonight? Your parents aren't home, they wouldn't have been able to go get you."

She shrugged. "I probably would have called Elliott." She said quietly, thinking immediately of her cousin, who was four years older than her – Edward's age – and lived only a few blocks away from them.

Edward sighed. "I just don't get it, Bella. I just don't get why you're doing this. The guy's a douchebag."

She looked up at him suddenly, shocked at this admission. She thought they were friends.

"Oh, come on. Don't look at me like that. You know that I think he's a douchebag."

"No, I didn't know that. I thought you were friends."

"He's Jasper's friend, Bella, not mine." And every time Tyler was over at their house, Edward would only last two minutes in his presence before finding some excuse to leave.

She didn't respond, because she knew that was true. And when she thought about the times they were all together, she knew Edward only tolerated Tyler, at best.

"He never wants to miss out on anything. He's always trying to be a part of it all. He can never let his friends do anything without him. And in the meantime, he's missing out on everything with you. Come on, Bella," he begged, "open your eyes."

She stared up at him for a long moment, wondering why he was suddenly so concerned about what her relationship with Tyler was like. She pushed back her tears as hard as she could.

"I should go inside," she said, even though they both knew there was no real distraction to tear her away from the car.

Edward's lips drew into a hard line and there was tension in his eyes. "Fine."

He knew she was just avoiding the conversation – avoiding him – and he feared he had said too much. Tonight was the last straw though, and he couldn't hold it in any longer. Seeing her standing in the lobby of the movie theatre alone had sent him reeling. He left his own friends in order to give her a ride home so that she wouldn't have to take the bus at that late hour.

Bella thanked him quickly and quietly for the ride and got out of the car, walking swiftly next door to her own house.

It had been two weeks since that argument with Edward, and Bella had not been able to get it out of her mind. At first she was confused as to why he was so annoyed. She couldn't understand how he could be so upset about something like that.

She had gone to his house many times, only to find that he wasn't home, or if he was, he was too "busy" to come to the door.

She felt dejected, rejected and hurt. Her need to talk to Edward only grew stronger over time, and she questioned her desperation at needing to see him. Why was this all so intense all of a sudden?

And then it all clicked into place, everything from the beginning of time up until that very moment.

As she sat, waiting for Tyler to pick her up, she heard the front door opening next door.

She looked up suddenly and sat up straighter when she saw Edward step outside. Her heart pounded hard.

"Hey," she said, hoping he'd at least acknowledge her this time.

"Hey," he replied.

"You're talking to me again. That's nice," she said sourly. She couldn't let on that she wanted to run to him, grab hold of him and never let go. She was supposed to be mad at him, and so that's what she would pretend to be. Though she desperately hoped he wouldn't play into it and leave.

Edward rubbed his temples, a gesture that acknowledged how hard he'd been working to avoid her. She turned her head to face forward again, trying to keep hold of the upper hand. Don't walk away, Edward.

To her surprise, she saw him approaching out of the corner of her eye, and he took a seat directly beside her.

"I'm sorry," he said.

She said nothing, because she didn't know what to say. She couldn't tell him it was okay, because it wasn't okay. It was not okay for him to just drop her for two whole weeks, as though that conversation in the car had never happened.

"It's none of my business. I know."

She looked up at him finally.

"Why were you so mad?" She asked.

He shrugged. "He ditched you at the movies, Bella. Who does that?"

She sighed. "Tyler does that," she mumbled, looking down at her interlaced fingers.

He looked at her with surprise, as this marked the first time she didn't try to defend him.

"You're right, Edward," she spoke softly," his priorities are his friends. He's never made any effort with me, not ever."

Edward's mouth went dry. "You don't deserve that, Bella," he said, barely above a whisper. "You're wasting your time."

His tone was different. She had never heard him talk like this before. There was something in his voice – something new – that she had never heard.

She looked at him, searching his face for some evidence of the newness. Maybe if she saw it she could pinpoint what it was.

He swallowed hard as her eyes scanned his face. He was nervous, and the longer she looked at him, the more nervous he became. He may as well have been naked, stripped of his armour entirely, with every bit of him on display for her to know. After this conversation they would never be the same again, he could feel it.

Her eyes softened as she met his gaze once more.

"Why didn't you ever tell me?" she whispered.

He almost laughed at the question. How could he possibly have told anyone about the feelings he had for his younger brother's friend, while she was dating the boy from across the street?

Edward didn't know how to respond, and she nodded in understanding. Even given their age gap, they had always understood each other. He was her friend, her confidante. He had always had a soft spot for Bella, from the first moment he made the shy little baby girl laugh when no one else could.

In a sudden rush of adrenaline, he slowly reached up and placed a hand on her cheek, and she closed her eyes to the soft touch. Edward's eyes roamed the curves of her face, one that he had long since memorized but took the opportunity to admire while it was right there in front of him.

Every one of Bella's senses was heightened as he touched her. The breeze blew her hair across her shoulders ever so lightly, and she could feel each strand as it brushed against her skin. She could hear Edward's breath and smell his intoxicating smell.

Edward fought the urge to lean in and kiss her softly, knowing she still technically had a boyfriend. He never wanted her to regret kissing him, so he would wait for the right time. He fought even harder as she opened her eyes and looked at his mouth, instinctively leaning towards him ever so slightly, shortening the distance between them by just a fraction of an inch.

His breathing deepened as his thumb grazed her cheek, reaching the corner of her mouth and making things inside of her stir the way they never had before. Bella let out a shaky breath.

These feelings were unfamiliar to her, but she knew that she liked them. She knew that being near him and feeling his touch would now be her favourite thing in the world, and now she wasn't sure how she would ever be apart from him after this moment.

She bit her bottom lip and his eyes followed the gesture, wavering his resolve for a short second before he came to his senses once more.

There was a sudden sound, shocking them both out of their moment as Bella realized it was her cell phone buzzing.

Tyler.

He was cancelling their date. Instead of picking her up after his shift like he promised, he would be meeting the guys for bite to eat.

"He's cancelling," she said, shaking her head.

Edward watched as she wrote him back. Call me, we need to talk.

She put her phone down and looked up at Edward. "I can't be with him anymore."

"Do what makes you happy, Bella."

"You make me happy," she whispered without missing a beat.

The ringing of her phone interrupted them then, and Edward stood up to give her some privacy. She watched him walk back into his house and shut the door as she made small talk with Tyler, and broke it off with him once she was alone, sitting on her front step. As predicted, he didn't take it well, not understanding what he could have possibly done wrong.

It was ugly and it was hard, but it had to be done. When they finally hung up, she made her way back inside her home, receiving a text seconds later from Edward.

You ok?

Yes and no. I'll call you later.

She let the tears fall for her lost friendship with Tyler, and the time she spent pining over a relationship that barely ever was. The most surprising of all was the lightness she felt to finally be free to love someone worth loving, who she knew loved her back with the fierceness she had only ever dreamed of.