Salut, my fellow readers! For any of you who don't know, Salut means hi in French. Anyway, this is a three-shot that I came up with like five minutes ago in the shower. It's based off of a chain e-mail I got the other day, and my inspiration came wholly from that. Thank you, Leah! And don't forget to review!

Disclaimer: Me don't got no Twilight

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Summary: AH. 3-shot. Ever since Edward was twelve, he's been in love with Bella, the only one who's too oblivious to notice. Many opportunities present themselves, but he never tells her. Then, when she dies in a car crash, the truth comes spilling out. Please R&R

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Edward – Twelve (1994)

I watched her walk towards my locker after school, her long brown hair shining in the sun that rarely ever peeks out of the clouds. I was entranced by the way she walked, and the way her hips swayed with each step she took.

She smiled when she noticed me, and my heart did a flip. I couldn't help but smile back.

And I took my feelings as a confirmation of the suspicion I had come up with last night; I was in love with Bella. I could just tell.

"Hey," she greeted me once she stopped at my locker.

"Hey." My grin grew even wider, and I was sure my eyes were sparkling with excitement.

"I hope you haven't forgotten about our deal." She teased. She'd been coming up to me and saying this every day after school for the past year. I decided to mess with her just a little this time.

"What deal?" I faked a lack of knowledge.

Bella pouted. "The one that keeps us together throughout the rest of middle school and high school and then to college and forever. And that makes sure that, no matter what, we won't separate from each other. Don't you remember?"

"Oh, right. That deal." The pain in her eyes was so apparent that I dropped the act immediately. "Geez, Bella, I'm joking. How could I forget?"

I bumped her a little bit with my hip. She playfully slapped my shoulder and stuck her tongue out.

"That wasn't funny, Edward Cullen." But her face was breaking into another smile, and I knew I was forgiven. "You scared me half to death."

"I could never forget that deal. I was the one who made it up. We will be best friends for ever." I rolled my eyes at her, but inside my heart soared.

Best friends. Best friends. Best friends. Best friends. Best friends.

But I wanted to be so much more. Even though I was only twelve, I knew that I was in love with Bella. I could barely stand being just friends. I wanted to be able to hug her and kiss her and have it mean something. I wanted Bella to be mine.

"Of course. Always and forever. Love you!" She gave me a hug and turned to walk away. That's what she always said; Love you! I just wish that it meant more than it did to her.

I grabbed her wrist as she walked away. "Bella!"

"Yes?" Her eyes sparkled. This was my moment. I was going to tell her I loved her, but in a more than friends way.

I was going to do it. I took a deep breath.

And chickened out.

"Have fun at Angela's."

"Thank you." She gave me a hug and walked away.

I couldn't do it, but I would have other opportunities later, right?

But all that was running through my head was:

You failed. You didn't tell her you're in love with her. Maybe that's means she'll be gone.

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Sixteen (1998)

The doorbell rang downstairs.

"I'll get it!" I called to my mother, Esme, who was in the kitchen.

As I was walking down the stairs, the doorbell rang again, followed by rapid knocking. I decided to run the rest of the way.

I yanked the door open, and there stood my angel, my best friend, my Bella.

"Edward!" she cried, launching at me to give me a hug. I hugged her fiercely back

"What is it?" I asked, a little breathless from her enthusiasm. With the way her face glowed, I knew it was going to be good news.

"I got asked on my first date!"

"Good for you." My voice sounded totally fake to my own ears, but Bella was too excited to notice it.

Of course, this had always been expected. Bella was the most beautiful girl in our school, she had top grades, and she was always so kind and generous. There was no doubt that someone would ask her out. But still, I had hoped. I had wished to be the first one, once I told her that I was in love with her.

"Wait, who are you going with?" I needed to know if he was good enough.

"Mike Newton."

I suppressed a growl. Mike wasn't anywhere near good enough for Bella.

It was common knowledge that Mike had been head-over-heels for Bella since the moment he met her, but I was surprised that when he asked, she said yes.

"Oh, um, great!" I didn't think my attempt at sounding enthusiastic had worked too well.

"Do you mind if I stay here with Alice until I'm ready? She'll do a better job with preparation than I ever could." Bella laughed and I laughed with her, but inside I felt a twist of pain. Why did she try to make herself even more beautiful than ever for a date with Newton? Maybe this meant more to her than I had thought.

"Yeah, sure. Alice!" I called up the stairs. My little pixie of a sister came sprinting to the top of the stairs, and – as if she had heard everything – proceeded to drag Bella to her room, all the while chattering away about what Bella was going to need to wear, what makeup she was going to apply, even what perfume she was going to spray on her wrists and neck.

As if Bella didn't smell good enough already.

I waited for the next hour in my room, fantasizing about how Bella would look, but once I watched her walk down our staircase in my mind, I saw myself as the one to hold out my hand. It was me that was taking her on the date.

After what seemed like forever, I heard Alice squeal in the other room, and then shout, "Oh my god, Bella, you look beautiful!"

I dashed out of my bed and ran down to the second floor of our house and outside of Alice's bedroom.

There, sitting on the bed and holding up a mirror, was Bella. They both turned their heads to look at me, and I almost gasped.

Alice had lightly applied makeup to Bella's face, but you could still see the natural beauty radiating from underneath. Bella's eyelids were covered with a soft blue eye shadow that matched her top. The somewhat dark mascara put on her eyelashes brought out the lights that twinkled in her eyes. She looked more beautiful than ever, if that was possible.

"Bella," I breathed. "You look beautiful."

"Thanks," she whispered and blushed red. I had a longing to walk over and stroke the red on her cheeks.

Bella walked over to me and pulled me into another hug.

"You look beautiful, too," she teased, and I rolled my eyes before I looked down at her.

"Bella!" Alice's voice reminded me that I was not alone with this beautiful angel, and my heart was hurt once more. "You are going to get picked up by Mike any minute now."

"Oh, right." She pulled away from me, a little reluctant, and she turned to walk out the door.

As I had done that one time four years ago, I grabbed her wrist and pulled her back.

"Yes, Edward?" Her face turned to me once more.

My heart pounded in my ears. My brain went haywire. I was sure my palms sweated a teeny bit. Just the same as last time.

But this time, it would be a little different; I would tell her.

I opened my mouth to tell her I loved her, but all that came out was, "I hope you have a great night. Have fun."

"I will." She grinned at me and walked away.

So this time was no different.

You failed. You didn't tell her that you're in love with her, and now she's going away.

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Eighteen (2000)

Tonight was the night. Tonight was senior prom.

I hadn't quite been looking forward to this too enthusiastically, but I had been asked out and thought it would be rude to decline the girl that was currently my date – Bella was already going with somebody.

I wasn't going to prom with Bella, the vision I had seen this whole year. Instead, I would be escorting a girl named Tanya to the prom. Tanya was nice enough, but I didn't like her like a girlfriend. She always flirted shamelessly and didn't know when it was enough. Still, it was better than going with nobody.

I arrived at Tanya's house in my shiny Volvo right on time. As soon as my hand went up to knock on the door, it was wrenched open. There, standing in the doorway, was Tanya.

Her strawberry-blonde hair was curled slightly at the ends and an elegant clip was holding it in place in the back of her head. Her makeup was applied a little too thickly, but the light blue eye shadow brought out her eyes.

What was even more shocking than the fact that she actually looked somewhat beautiful was the dress that she was wearing. It wasn't slutty at all, and it actually looked pretty.

The dress was a light, bright blue. It came about knee-length with flowing fabric reaching to the end. The top was held in place by two thick straps that – after falling over her shoulders – reached to the middle of her back. And the dress was complete with silver peep-toe heels. (Dress on profile)

"Hey, Edward," she greeted me in her high, flirtatious voice. It might supposed to have been seductive, but it didn't appeal to me at all.

"Hello, Tanya. Are you ready to go?" I asked more out of courtesy than will; she was obviously ready to go, but I didn't want to be rude.

"Of course." And Tanya took my hand as we walked the short distance to my house.

Once we got to the prom, Tanya skipped over to her friends. To brag about the fact that I was her date, no doubt. We did dance a little bit, but it seemed that all she really wanted to do was gossip with her friends. And brag.

Finally, after an hour, I let my gaze sweep over the crowd of dancers, my heart pounding when my eyes rested on Bella.

When the current song ended, I rushed over to where she stood.

I tapped on her date's shoulder and politely asked, "May I?"

Bella nodded, both at me and her date, and he turned around to face me. I recognized him as Bella's friend, Jacob Black, who lived on the La Push reservation just a few minutes away.

"I guess so," he responded reluctantly, letting go of Bella's waist. I just smiled a thanks in response and slid into the spot that he had just occupied. Another song started, and Bella and I danced silently for thirty seconds.

In those few seconds, I raked my eyes over Bella's body to see what she was wearing. Her beauty left me breathless.

Her dress was a soft pink, and the fabric that covered her torso wrapped around her frame rather tightly, showing off her curves. It was sleeveless, and covered only up to a little lower than mid-back. On her left side was a slit that came up to about eight inches below her waist, showing off her leg. The right side trailed to the ground, and the slant that was created was made up of a thin, light fabric. (Dress on profile)

Her hair cascaded like a waterfall down her back, shining in the light. She was absolutely gorgeous.

I bent my head down so that my lips were at her ear. "You look absolutely stunning."

She blushed my favorite shade of pink. "Thank you," she whispered. I smiled.

Our next three dances were filled with small talk consisting of friends, what we were doing in our spare time when we weren't hanging out with each other, and anything about each other's families that we didn't already know. She smiled so brightly that I couldn't help but smile back.

Once the last song ended, Jacob cut in and it was my turn to unwillingly remove my hands from Bella's waist.

"Have a fun night, Edward!" Bella called after me. I shot her a small grin before turning around again.

The rest of the night, I danced with Tanya three more times, a girl named Jessica once, and a few other girls, all of whom I only liked as a friend. My eyes the whole time were filled with the image of Bella.

As the end of the night drew near, I found myself leaning against a wall, watching Bella twirl gracefully on the dance floor. Finally, I found my chance.

Jacob whispered something to Bella, and she nodded, after which he soon departed. She looked almost lost, and I rushed to her side to come to her rescue.

"May I be honored with a dance?" I asked, holding my hand out towards Bella. She laughed.

But she didn't take my hands. Instead, her arms snaked around my neck, and replied, "Of course, good sir."

Her humor made me break into a huge smile.

For the next four minutes, we danced in complete silence. This time it wasn't awkward, but just how it ended up. Her head fell on my chest in the first minute as we rocked side to side, completely happy.

And after what seemed far too quick, the D.J. (just a man who controlled the iPod and microphone) announced that this year's prom was over. But Bella didn't loosen her grip on me for another twenty seconds.

When she pulled away with a sigh, I grabbed her hand and kissed it. Her large brown eyes sparkled and her lips pulled into a smile.

"Thank you for tonight," I whispered. She leaned in to give me a kiss on the cheek.

"Thank you. Love you, Edward."

"Bella," I began, my confidence built up from her eyes. For once, I wasn't going to chicken out. I wasn't going to be a wimp.

Apparently, I was. "I had a great time."

"Me too." And she turned away from me and towards Jacob, so that he could give her a ride home.

You failed. You didn't tell her that you're in love with her, and now she's walking away.

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Twenty-One (2003)

I had been at home for the first time in months for a week now. Because of college, I hadn't got to see my family for months on end.

But it was the holidays now, and I was back home. So was Bella.

We didn't go to the same colleges. I went to Dartmouth and she went to Cal. We were on opposite sides of the country, so we barely saw each other at all any more, except for when we came home on the holidays.

But my love for her still grows.

I had wished more than anything that we could have gone to the same college, and there perhaps developed into something more than friends. That would be after I told her I loved her, of course.

"Edward," my mother called. "They're going to come any minute! Help me set the table."

"Alright, I'm coming!" I hollered back.

Today was Thanksgiving, and Bella and her father were coming over to have dinner with us. My stomach did a somersault at the thought of seeing Bella for the first time in months.

Once they arrive, I rush over to give Bella a hug. She squeals, but hugs me fiercely back. Oh, how good it felt to have her in my arms.

We pull back from each other, and her eyes twinkle with excitement. Her face glows, outshined only by her smile.

"I missed you." She smiled up at me.

"I missed you, too." And I had. So much more than she could imagine.

But little Emmett had to ruin the moment. He grabbed onto the edge of Bella's shirt and whined, "Didn't you miss me too?"

"Of course, I missed you, Emmett. How could I not miss my favorite little man?" And with that, Bella picked up Emmett and twirled him around. Once they stopped spinning, though, Bella didn't put Emmett down. Instead, she marched him into the dining room and sat him down on one of the chairs. Emmett had a grin so big that he looked like the Cheshire Cat.

The rest of us walked to the table with few words. When I got there, I pulled out a chair for Bella, who was now tickling Alice, and then chose to sit down in the seat next to hers.

The dinner was filled with chatter, mostly coming from me and Bella – the adults wanted to know how college was going. When Bella supplied the conversation, I watched her every move, entranced. But even when I was talking, I barely looked away.

I wasn't sure if she had been watching me enough to notice.

By the time dessert finished, all of us were full, and most of us tired. Bella was even clumsier than ever when she tried to walk to the front door, not to mention her car, so I put her arm around my shoulder, put my arm around her waist and half carried her out the door. Once I had placed her into the passenger's seat, I took her hand and leaned my head in toward her cheek.

I needed to tell her. I was going to tell her.

But I was too scared.

All that came out was, "Love you," as I planted a kiss on her cheek.

"Love you too." She gave me a grin and closed the door.

And then I watched as Charlie's car pulled out of the driveway and down the road.

You failed. You didn't tell her you're in love with her, and now she's driving away.

Thank you for reading, my little people! And, if you will, might you be able to check out my other two stories, please? Thanks, and please don't forget to review!!!