Disclaimer:

Things I Own - A worn copy of Twilight in paperback, all seasons of Buffy on dvd, a blue and silver cell phone.

Things I Do Not Own - SM's characters in any way, shape or form. I just like to screw 'em emotionally every now and then! :D

BPOV

I recognized the hair before I saw the man. Bronze and completely crazy standing out from all the neatly combed blond and brunette strands on the heads of the men and women in the crowd he standing in. I already knew without having to see his face that it was him.

It had been years since I'd seen him but even in this sea of humanity,something in me recognized him. He looked exactly like he'd spent hours not sleeping on a plane. His blue button-down shirt was wrinkled and his eyes were rimmed with red from the lack of sleep that comes with the stress of an unexpected red eye flight.

The crowd parted and his green eyes searched until they met mine. His face was expressionless. as if he was resigned to my presence. I could see him sigh heavily and scrape his right hand over his face before pinching the bridge of his nose. He hitched his duffel bag higher on his shoulder and then he started towards me.

I pulled my bottom lip in between my teeth and nibbled at it as he approached me. I gave him a small smile and he nodded slightly as he walked right by me. I turned quickly and had to rush to keep up with him.

"Do you have anymore bags?" I asked, gesturing to the sign that read Food - Restrooms - Terminal A 500-550 Baggage Claim

He grunted what I assumed was a no and continued striding down the terminal towards the signs.

"Food." he said.

I rolled my eyes. Some things never change. Edward was always a one word man when he was focused on a goal. In this case his goal was to keep our interactions as minimal as possible.

I chose a place to sit and waited for him to return. He came back with a slice of pizza and a bottle of water. He threw his duffel down and slumped down into his seat. He brought the pizza to his mouth and it was gone quickly. After he opened his water and took a sip, he glanced over at me and raised an eyebrow.

"What?"

After a pause, I snorted and got up. If he could act like a jerk, then I would do my best to give it back to him. I started to follow the signs to the parking garage and heard him scramble to grab his bag and follow me. We walked in silence for a moment before he cleared his throat and took a breath to speak.

"Why are you here?" he questioned.

I sighed and shrugged.

"I'm doing it as favor to Alice."

At the mention of his sister's name his teeth came together with a snap and I could practically hear his teeth grinding against each other.

"I could have gotten the limo." he muttered.

I lead Edward to my truck, and as it came into view he sighed loudly.

"I should have called for the limo." he said snidely.

I sighed as I went to my car and unlocked the driver's side door. I was only mildly insulted by his obvious disdain for my truck. She had definitely seen better days but she was mine and I loved her.

I leaned across the seat and unlocked the passenger side. I watched as he stood there clutching his bag. I rolled my eyes and sighed impatiently.

"You could always walk!" I snapped. "It's a hell of a long walk back to Forks though."

He huffed and then sat his bag between us on the seat and slammed the door. Once he was situated as best he could he crossed his arms over chest and stared sullenly out the window.

I almost laughed at his childishness. This grown man who had been all over the world could stand being in the truck with me for an hour, I was sure. If he couldn't, well then too bad for him. He was stuck with me for now whether either of us liked it or not.

As we started the drive from Port Angeles back down to Forks, the mist of rain that had been going on all morning suddenly become heavier and I scowled as I turned my wipers on.

The scraping sound caused Edward to startle and I snickered. He glared at me and turned his head back to the window to resume his brooding.

He rubbed his hand over the lower half of his face in impatience and frustration at the situation he was now in and growled softly to himself. I was reminded of how often in our years of knowing each other I'd covered that area with my hand to shut him up. No need for that now I thought to myself as I remembered the night we'd really begun.

I'm going to die.

This is what I thought to myself as I peeked out from underneath my covers and watched the window slowly creak open. A huge pale hand was was gripping the window sill now and I closed my eyes and gulped as I wondered how this stranger was going to kill me.

Strangulation? Is it a vampire come to suck my life's blood? Is this stranger going to wrap me up in my blankets and then steal me away in the middle of the night to his warehouse where he'll do unmentionable things to -

"Fuck!" a voice hissed into the darkness. I jumped and with a little shriek threw the covers over my head completely.

"Bella, dammit, help me!" I heard as there was scraping and then a thud.

I opened one eye and peered over the top of my sheet to see..nothing. There was nobody there. I sat up in bed slowly and cocked my head to one side in confusion. Where did my attacker go??

I heard a groan from the floor and I carefully moved from my sitting position on the bed to crawl stealthily to the end of the bed and looked down.

I gasped.

There on my floor was Edward.

"What are you DOING here??? I thought you were a hideous fiend come to murder me -"

His chuckle cut me off. He squinted up at me from the floor while holding his left hand against his chest.

"A hideous fien-" he was cut off mid-sentence by my hand slapping over his mouth. I felt tingles spread throughout my hand and up my arm at the contact and my eyes widened slightly at the sensation of touching Edwards skin. This was the first time we'd touched and it was literally a shock to my system. His skin was warm and smooth to the touch, I noted.

"Do you know what my dad will do to you if he finds you in here? What are you doing here?!" I whispered. Why on earth is Edward Cullen in my bedroom?

Edward's right hand reached up and gently removed mine from his mouth.

"I think it was pretty fucking chivalrous to come up the tree and climb through your window. Its like something right out of those books you read - you'd think a girl like you would be happy to have a guy like me climb in through her window!" he hissed and stood, still holding his left hand against him.

I looked at him in confusion and then as his comment sunk in, humilitation that quickly turned to rage.

"What do you mean a girl like me????" I glared at him as he ignored my question and walked past me to grab the doorknob. He started to pull the door open and I rushed to stand in front of him, I pushed myself against the door, blocking his exit.

"Are you CRAZY? You'll wake Charlie!" I said, panicking. I was thinking of a million ways this could end badly. Charlie following Edward down the stairs gun cocked and loaded all the while shooting me disapproving looks over his shoulder while I shouted that it wasn't what it looked like was at the top of the list. I snorted and noticed Edward looking at me, confused.

"Bella." he began. "I cut my hand climbing the tree and its bleeding - I need to go wash it off and to do that I need to go to your bathroom." he said, holding up his left hand. As he did so I could see blood seeping from the wound in the middle of his palm. I felt the color drain from my face and I started to feel light headed. I leaned my head back against the door and closed my eyes, breathing deeply in and out.

"Oh crap, Edward." I gulped. I did not do well with blood. It smelled like rust and salt and made me sick to my stomach. I slowly opened my eyes to find Edward staring at me warily.

"Are you going to be alright?" he said, and put his good hand on the door over my head leaning into me.

I stared up at him and gulped again. Too close, my brain shouted. I slid my hand around behind me to trying to find the doorknob. When I inhaled I could smell him. He smelled like honey. I mentally shook myself and turned the doorknob behind me.

"Sit down over there, I'll go get you a towel." I whispered shakily as I pointed to the old rocking chair in the corner. He nodded and moved toward it as I escaped out the door and into the bathroom.

I grabbed the sink on both sides and hung my head down, breathing in and out slowly. Not only was there a bleeding guy in my room, but it was Edward. With my sleeping cop dad down the hall. Nothing good could come of this.

As my stomach settled I straightened up and opened the medicine chest to grab the first aid kit. As clumsy as I was there was practically one in every room of the house stashed in a drawer or a cabinet, waiting for whatever injury I'd have next.

I made my way back to my room, moving quickly up the hallway to listen at Charlie's door to make sure he was still asleep. All that could be heard from the room was snoring. I smiled in relief.

When I opened to the door to my room and walked in I expected to see Edward sitting in the rocking chair in the corner but when I looked he wasn't there. I momentarily was disapointed to find him gone and sighed. I turned to the left and gasped when I saw him sitting on my bed thumbing through a book with his good hand.

I hurried to him and grabbed the book, putting it on my bedside table.

"I thought I told you to sit in the rocking chair." I said as I tilted my head in the direction of the corner that held the chair. He raised an eyebrow at me and grinned.

"The bed is more comfortable." he said, nodding his head once. I rolled my eyes and threw the first aid kit onto the bed before backing away.

"There you go. Bandage up and then you can go."

He looked at me with amusement and reached for the kit. I started chewing on my fingernail to calm my nerves as I watched him try to clean the wound. After a moment of fumbling, he sighed and turned his head to look at me.

"I'm going to need your help, Bella. I can't do it one handed."

He tried to hand me the small bottle of peroxide and the cotton swab and I furiously shook my head no and pushed his hand away. He looked at me in frustration and huffed with impatience.

"If you want me to leave your going to have to help me take care of this!" he insisted. "It's your fault I'm injured in the first place!"

I looked at him with a shocked look on my face, and my mouth fell open.

"How am I responsible for this?! It's not like I stabbed you with a pencil or anything!" I whispered furiously, crossing my arms across my chest. I turned my head away and was reminded of the question I has asked him before the door fiasco that hadn't been answered.

"What are you doing here anyway?" I repeated, looking at the wall nervously.

"I was bored." he grinned.

"Do you do this often? Climb into a virtual strangers bedroom in the middle of the night?" I said, trying to keep my voice quiet and even. I was extremely nervous. Edward had been in my room way too long by this point and I was starting to feel sympathy for the caged animals at the zoo. Close proximity with Edward had that effect on me.

"We're hardly strangers, Bella." he purred. "We are lab partners after all. We see each other at school every day. Is it so wrong for me to want to visit a friend?"

Friend? We were friends?

"You don't have friends." I said.

He looked down at the first aid kit and plucked at my bedspread seemingly nervous, all bravado gone.

"You're right. I don't. You shouldn't want to be my friend Bella." he said softly with a sour chuckle. He shook his head and laughed again.

"I should go." he muttered.

I thought I heard him say something else, but I couldn't catch it. After a beat he looked up and the corner of his lips turned up.

"Please help me with my hand and then I'll go."

I looked at him nervous to have him here, and confused as to why exactly he was here. I didn't buy the friend thing for a second. There is no way Edward freaking Cullen would want to be anything more than my lab partner. I realized while I was having this internal conversation with myself Edward had been staring at me expectantly. I could feel the warmth rise into my cheeks and I was greatful it was dark and he couldn't see my embarrassment. I sighed, resigned. He was going to be the death of me.

"I'll try." I whispered and reached slowly for the peroxide and cotton swab that had been discarded on the bed. I kneeled down in front of him and he held his hand out to me. I put peroxide on the swab and took his hand in mine. I tried to ignore the thrill that I felt at touching his skin again and began to carefully dab at the cut.

The cut was small, but there was still blood coming from the wound and I felt my stomach start to flip again. I swallowed hard and as I closed my eyes. I was mortified because I knew what was coming next.

I was going to faint in front of Edward.

How freaking embarrassing.

I felt myself start to sway back and forth and as I began to fall strong hands grabbed my arms and pulled me quickly up into a standing position. My knees were jelly. I could feel myself start to slide back to the floor and one of his hands slid quickly down my arm and around my waist, holding me up off the floor.

"Whoa!" he exclaimed softly. "I've got you." he whispered.

He gently sat me on the bed and held me steady with a hand on my back. He sat down, his thigh pressing to mine. At this closeness the tingles returned, same as before when I'd put my hand on his face. This feeling confused my already fuzzy mind.

"Put your head between your legs and breathe slowly." he said.

"I know." I groaned as I did as I was told.

The heat from his hand on my back both soothed me and caused fluttery feelings in my stomach. I slowly raised my head up, my eyes closed while I felt him rubbing slow circles on my back.

"Better?"

I nodded.

All too soon the soothing touch left my back and the loss of it saddened me. I heard some rustling and then felt something placed in my hands which were open on my lap. I opened my eyes and looked down at my hands and saw that Edward had laid a bandage there. I looked at him and he smiled sheepishly.

"I still need your help." he said, softly.

I nodded slowly and began to wrap the bandage over his hand. My hands felt shaky, my heart was racing and I was still lightheaded but I managed to fasten the bandage and then lightly patted his hand.

"Thanks."

Again, I nodded.

"Welcome."

I held my breath as he hesitated for a moment and then leaned closer to me and brushed his lips against my cheek. Immediately I felt the heat rise in my cheeks as I blushed.

He stood then and moved to the window. I followed and stood beside him as he moved the window pane and then threw one leg out and sat on the sill.

"What are you doing? You'll never make it!" I said, stunned to see that he fully intended to climb back down instead of the only slightly less risky idea of using the front door.

"You're going to kill yourself trying to get down!"

He winked at me, grinned and and slipped out the window.

I'd met Edward in my biology class 3 weeks prior to this night - though I'd met his sister Alice first. She bounded up to me out of nowhere that first day and introduced herself. I could practically hear the echo of her voice chirping "Hi, I'm Alice."

She had grinned at me and stuck out her tiny hand for me to shake. "We're going to be great friends, I've seen it!" she said as we'd walked the campus together and she had been right. Alice had been my friend from day one.

I quickly learned of Alice's family - two brothers Edward and Emmett. Emmett was a senior where Alice and Edward were juniors, like me. I was glad to know someone who would share my classes and after a quick comparing of schedules Alice noted that I had several classes with her and biology with her brother Edward. She immediately warned me of him, stating that while he was incredibly intelligent he was unchallenged by school and this made him want to find ways to make school more intriguing for him.

These feelings had usually been what led him to detention and hours of community service duty. His father Carlisle thought Edward's time would be better serving the community than other punishments doled out for boys like Edward.

My first interaction with him was that day.

Mr. Banner called our attention to the front of the class and was discussing what we'd be covering during the year when I realized I'd forgotten a pen and blushed furiously at the idea of asking a stranger to borrow one. I looked around the room nervously and was about to get up and walk across the aisle to a student I'd met in Spanish class when I felt a light tap on my arm. I startled and turned to see Edward had placed a pen on my notebook. I blushed again. Not wanting to be caught talking, I tore off a piece of my notebook paper and told him thank you.

I slid the note to the center of the table and watched as he raised an eyebrow and took it. He read it, nodded and winked at me.

"Mr. Cullen! I'm delighted that you are taking notes! Starting early this year I see." said Mr. Banner.

I cringed as the teacher made his way to our lab table but Edward just looked bored as Mr. Banner suggested he might be more entertained bya visit to the principals office as he picked up the piece of paper and took it with him to the front of the room.

Edward rolled his eyes behind Mr. Banners back and made his way out the door.

After that we would talk during class some but nothing personal was discussed and he always kept a distance until the night he'd climbed through my bedroom window.

I was startled out of my mental stroll down memory lane by Edward clearing his throat harshly. I looked over at him and noticed that I'd brought the car to stop in the driveway of his parents huge house. Not a mansion by any means but still, large enough to state "Money."

I had no idea how long we'd been sitting there and I felt a blush come over my cheeks. I stuck my tongue out at him and noticed he looked slightly less tense and thought I might've seen a flash of amusement flash across his face before it was gone and his expression was once again shuttered.

'Finally." he said.

Any warm and fuzzy feelings I'd felt while remembering the early days of our relationship were gone and quickly replaced by irritation. This man could take me to from the greatest happiness to absolute fury in moments. The passion and fire of our relationship used to take my breath away when I thought of it and now all that was left between us was bitterness and regret.

I sighed.

"See ya, Edward."

He looked at me, and for a moment I thought he might speak. I raised my eyebrows in encouragement for him to do so, but his mouth shut with an audible snap of his teeth and he wrenched the handle and hurried out of the cab of the truck, slamming the door behind him.

I watched him walk up the path and go inside and then started the truck and headed home.

A/N: This is my first attempt at writing Twilight fanfiction. Go easy on me!

In regard to lemons, I'm lemonade. I love lemons but unfortunately I can't write them to save my life. Anybody want to step up to bat for me? Please contact me via profile if you are interested! Edward will rub your back for you if you do! ;)