Disclaimer: Still in effect: I do not own the characters of Twilight or Dartmouth University. I do however own most of this chapter. Please do not copy or translate. Thank you.

Warnings: Still in effect: If you are under age, this is not for you.

Chapter Note: We're going back in time a bit. Shall we see what exactly "for old times' sake" means? Yes... I think we shall. ;-)***


September 2002-

Five minutes before they were due to leave, Bella stood before the mirror scrutinizing the outfit her Big Sis had chosen for her. Lauren's choices reflected how little she knew about Bella. Red was not her color, nor was skin-tight, though Bella was well aware that wasn't actually a color. Skirts were not Bella's preference either. She hated wearing them, which Lauren knew, but chose to disregard. It was almost as though she wanted to draw attention to Bella's unnaturally pale legs.

The shoes she'd given Bella were really cute but paired with the short skirt, they made Bella appear as though she were majoring in Adult Entertainment rather than Communications.

"Lauren, I can't do this. It's just not me."

Bella moved towards her closet with every intention of changing into her favorite "date worthy" jeans; a dark indigo pair of Lucky Brands that made her feel decent, but still a little sexy. Not that she would ever admit to the latter.

"Uh-uh. No way, Lil' Sis. I need you to make a good impression. The only way I could get Tyler to agree to this was if I could find a hot girl for his friend. Everyone else is unavailable, so you're up to bat, Swan."

Bella crossed her arms in front of her chest indignantly.

"If you think that insulting me is the way to get me to do a favor for you, then you are way off. The last I checked, you owed me for all that free tutoring."

"Bella, baby. I AM doing you a favor, believe me. Mike Newton is hot!"

Bella shook her head and made a face.

"Then you go out with him," she said.

"Sorry, Mike's hot but Tyler is just… Tyler. He's so… exotic," she sighed, looking every bit the love-sick fangirl. She turned to Bella with a wag of her eyebrows. "But believe me; if I could clone myself, I would do both of them."

"Ew," Bella moaned under her breath. She turned her back and went to the closet. She wondered again if the joke had been on her, or on Lauren, when they were paired together for Big Sis/ Lil Sis week three years ago. They were as different as night and day; demonstrated by the fact that while Lauren was a fifth year senior still enjoying the party scene, Bella was set to graduate in December after only three and a half years at Dartmouth.

But then, Bella was a serious student; she had plans, plans that did not include parties, or horny boys, or double dates with friends who didn't even bother really getting to know her. If it weren't for the fact that her mother had always dreamed of Bella following in her footsteps and pledging Alpha O freshman year, she wouldn't have ever considered going Greek. She promised she would consider the option and then found herself lured in during rush with promises of study groups, community service opportunities, and a truly impressive in-house library. And free Wi-Fi. Bella smiled to herself. She practically lived on her laptop, Wi-Fi was good.

Another good thing to come from her years in the sorority was that she'd broken out of her shell a little. Bella was sure she'd still be the painfully shy, blushing girl she'd been when she left Forks if not for the coerced socialization.

"Oh my gosh, they're here!" Lauren shrieked and started to pull Bella to the window. "I cannot wait to wrap my legs around that!" she exclaimed, earning Bella's quick rebuff.

"Lauren, could you be any more crass?"

"Oh, Bella... Get your head out of the gutter and look!"

Bella followed her friend's advice and looked outside.

Her eyes fell on two young men parked in front of their house on motorcycles. Immediately, all color drained from Bella's face and she felt as though she might hyperventilate. Not only were the guys on motorcycles, but they were on speed bikes!

Charlie had always called them, "donor-cycles".

"You didn't say anything about this!" Bella pointed out the window. "I am not going on a blind date on one of those, and there's no way in hell that I'm wearing this skirt! Are you insane?" Bella was screaming and her face had gone from white to scarlet in about 3.2 seconds flat.

"Calm down, Bella. You can't blame me for trying. I'm just looking out for my Little Sis," Lauren whined.

Bella turned away from her and went straight to her closet for her jeans and the most unflattering top she could find. She was seething and contemplated leaving Lauren high and dry.

"You know what, Lauren?" she asked with her back to the pathetic excuse for a mentor or friend. "I really don't feel like going out with you right now! Give me one good reason why I should follow through with this. You've lied to me, insulted me, and made me dress like 'Girls Gone Wild'. I have no idea why I agreed to this in the first place!"

Lauren felt shocked by the outburst. Bella never yelled or cried, and now tears threatened to pool in her Lil Sis' eyes. She was embarrassed and angry, and this made Lauren feel quite guilty.

"Um, I… I'm sorry, Bella. Just… Wow, I didn't know you would feel so strongly about this."

Bella huffed. "Well, I do."

Lauren pouted. "I didn't know that. Come on... Please don't be mad. Please do this for me? I really like Tyler a lot. Like... a lot, a lot. I just want a chance with him. He's sooo gorgeous. He totally makes me come undone with just his smile."

Bella rolled her eyes. She didn't understand what Lauren was going on about, but Bella felt her anger melting at the more vulnerable and honest approach from her Big Sis.

"Alright," she sighed. "But... this guy had better be nice. And his friend better be nicer."

Lauren brightened immediately at Bella's surrender. "Of course they're nice, did you see them?"

Bella stuck her head into her closet to get her jeans while continuing her conversation with Lauren. She practically shouted in order to be heard.

"You know what? There are more important things to consider than just how someone looks on the outside. Or what they're like in bed. Personally, I think that sex should be the last thing you worry about. Passion and looks are fleeting. It's what's on the inside that counts."

Before Lauren could scoff at what she considered Bella's cheesy advice, there was a knock at the door.

"Hey guys. Man on the floor. Can we come in?" called the muffled voice.

Lauren rolled her eyes at the intrusion, while Bella smirked. Back-up had arrived.

"Come in, Angela."

On the other side of the door, Bella's roommate and best friend at Dartmouth, noticed her male companion's long and drawn out breath. Angela looked over her shoulder at him and gave him a reassuring smile. Knowing the gentleman he was, she figured that he was most likely concerned about whether or not her roommate was decent.

However, for reasons he couldn't understand, Angela's date was actually having a very ungentlemanly problem. Something about the impassioned speech he'd overheard just a moment ago had caused an altogether inappropriate reaction in him. Moving his clasped hands in front of himself accordingly, he tried not to think too much about what that meant or why he was irrationally nervous about meeting his date's roommate.

Angela cracked the door open and peaked her head in. "You ladies both decent?" she asked to be sure.

Just in case, the man behind her kept his eyes trained on the floor and his thoughts focused on his mother, or on the fact that he had yet to start a ten page research assignment that was due on Monday.

"Yeah, we're dressed. What are you doing here, Ang? I thought you already left on a date of your own?"

Angela blushed and gave Bella an impish grin. Behind her a low chuckle escaped the man in question.

"I do have a date. I was just hoping you could meet him before we headed out," she explained. Her eyes flashed briefly to Lauren and back again.

Understanding dawned on Bella and she knew that Angela must have heard her yelling and had actually come to check on her.

Bella nodded and smiled. "Sure."

Angela smiled and opened the door all the way, revealing her tall and roguishly handsome companion standing behind her.

"Oh," Bella said, her mind going blank at his crooked grin. It was a moment or two before she realized that Angela was talking and Lauren was no longer in the room.

"…Edward Cullen. This is my lovely roommate, Bella Swan."

Bella blinked once, forcing herself to stop staring at his eyes. She'd never seen a color so striking in her entire life. They had more depth to them than the ocean itself. Yes, Bella smiled at the thought, his eyes were deeper than the blue-green ocean that they matched in color.

"Hi," Bella whispered while Angela cleared her throat and smiled amusedly at her friend. Bella blushed and tried to pull it together. "Uh, nice to meet you," she added, finding her voice.

"Pleased to meet you too, Bella," Edward answered with a wink.

Bella started and looked at him uncertainly. What was that?

Angela laughed softly and looked up at Edward. She was still getting used to those winks. Edward was a genuinely kind and forthright guy, but was ridiculously unaware of how much he affected the fairer sex. Fortunately, he had a way about him that made Angela feel special and they'd been friends and study partners long before she ever decided to chance asking him out.

"Edward and I are headed out to dinner tonight. What are your plans with Lauren?" Angela asked, raising an eyebrow having seen Bella's date pull up outside.

Bella huffed and rolled her eyes. "I'm not really sure just yet. I guess we're going to dinner." She shrugged.

Edward frowned. "Do you know your... date?" he asked, looking slightly awkward. There had been a reason he'd asked Angela to meet her roommate to begin with.

Bella shook her head. "No. I'm sort of going as a favor."

Edward's face twisted a bit. "Just be careful, okay?"

Bella smiled. "I will, thanks. I should probably change and get down there before Lauren agrees to something that will require me to kill her. It was nice to meet you too though, Edward. You both have a really nice time tonight." She leaned forward to hug Angela. "Say a prayer for me, will you?"

Angela leaned back and nodded. Bella mouthed, "Have fun", and then excused herself to change clothes.

Several hours later, Bella was sure that she was secretly being filmed for one of those horrible prank shows where the victim's friends were all in on it. If nothing else, she was certainly in the running for worst date of all time. She would have to check with the people at Guinness to see if they kept a world record for something like that.

After some debate over whether or not she would even get on a motorcycle to begin with, Bella found herself giving in and getting on the back of Mike Newton's crotch-rocket. She immediately regretted it, feeling both terrified that they would crash and horrified at having to sit behind someone she didn't know with her body wrapped around him in such an intimate fashion.

As she slapped Mike's hand off of her thigh for the fourth time in the last twenty minutes, she decided that from the point on, she would insist that all first dates take place at a table with separate chairs rather than in a booth.

"Well, ladies. What do you say we all head back to our place, mix some drinks, and relax for a while?" Lauren's date asked after the group had settled the check.

Mike's wandering hand slid up Bella's back and into the hair at the nape of her neck. Despite the way she tensed her shoulders and pulled away, he leaned into her while caressing the spot behind her ear with his jagged thumb.

"Come on, beautiful, let's make an evening of it. I'd really like to show you that sword collection I was telling you about," he whispered into her ear. Bella flinched and felt ill when a bit of saliva flew into her ear canal.

"I appreciate the invitation, but maybe some other time," she answered curtly.

She wanted to tell Mike to take a hike, or at the very least to keep his hands to himself, but she was trying to be nice for Lauren's sake. She had told him that she wasn't a very touchy-feely kind of person but he either ignored her or didn't get the hint. If it weren't for the way Lauren and Tyler seemed to be getting along, Bella would have bolted for the door an hour ago.

"Oh, come on Bella. We can just go hang out for a little while. Please?" Lauren pouted standing outside the restaurant now. She'd made Bella refuse two separate times before they left the table and was still undeterred in trying to get her way.

"I'm not feeling well, Lauren. I really just want to go home. I'm sorry. Please, can we just go back?" Bella whispered.

Lauren looked unmoved so Bella changed tactics yet again and turned to the guys.

"You boys are more than welcome to come over to our house for a movie and popcorn. The alumnae just redid our television room with a new fifty-inch plasma, a Blu-Ray player and a huge comfy couch. It's Friday, so you can stay until midnight."

Mike smiled widely, misunderstanding her intent and already imagining her laid out beneath him on the aforementioned comfy couch. Somehow the guy was clueless to the fact that Bella had spoken less than two complete sentences to him in the last hour. He was also amazingly unaware of how cold she'd been behaving towards him, although it was no wonder since he'd been staring at her breasts for the better part of their evening. For this reason, it was not terribly shocking to Bella that he made comments laced with sexual innuendo until the ride home made it impossible for him to continue.

What finally did shock Bella was the rough pinch to her backside that came only seconds after she slid off the back of his motorcycle. She immediately spun around to face Mike and confront his vulgar actions, not noticing the couple seated on the front steps of the sorority house behind her. As she slammed the helmet that Mike loaned her for the night into his chest with force, she fully expected to be the one whose voice would be heard screaming obscenities at the pompous ass.

Instead a very masculine and very ominous voice boomed over hers and caught her off guard.

"Hey!" Edward shouted, shocking Bella by his proximity as much as with the venom laced into his tone.

Mike Newton looked up, flabbergasted to see his former roommate here. As he took in Edward's body language, he grinned. Mike already felt a little turned on by the challenge Bella presented for him tonight, and it now excited him even more to think that he may have to fight for her.

Edward approached them and Bella saw the anger simmering below the surface in the reflection of his eyes. At first she was frightened and confused, until she realized the fury she saw in his gaze was not focused on her, but on the ass pincher next to her. Edward came to a stop, sizing Mike up and then looking unimpressed.

"Hey, Newton. What's up?"

"Not much, Cullen. What are you doing here?"

Bella's head volleyed between them astonished that they seemed to know each other.

"Well man, I've been sitting on my ass waiting for Bella here to get home. It seems she forgot that we had plans. Angela and I have been waiting for her for a while now. Right, Angela?"

Edward's lie surprised both girls. Angela's eyes went wide and Bella almost choked on nothing before shooting her roommate a very confused look. Edward put his hand on the small of Angela's back, a silent request to help him out.

"Uh, sure. I mean yeah, we had plans," Angela stammered. She smiled at Bella, though she was thoroughly unnerved by Edward's deception and his hand on her body. Thus far, they'd kept their touches minimal and chaste whenever they were together. At least until now.

Not surprisingly, Mike wasn't buying it.

"Oh, really?" he asked. "'Cause she was on a date with me and it's been planned for a while. We were having a really good time together too, weren't we sugar?" He moved to put his arm around Bella's waist.

Something clicked with Bella when she caught sight of the muscle twitching in Edward's jaw. She skirted away from Mike's advances and dramatically slammed her hand to her forehead.

"Oh my gosh! I completely and totally forgot! I'm so sorry you guys," she wailed.

Edward smiled crookedly and shook his head. Bella was a horrible liar.

"That's okay, Bella. But we're going to have to go right now if we still want to make it to the concert before it's over. We would have gone already, but you have the tickets."

Bella's eyes got huge and her heart started beating wildly. "Uh…"

Mike watched on, fairly sure he was being deceived. "You seriously have plans with them?" he asked Bella.

This time she didn't even hesitate.

"Yeah, I do. I'm sorry Mike, but you should know I forget things all the time. I'll probably even forget that I ever met you before I see you again. So, don't be too disappointed, okay?"

She smiled condescendingly and patted Mike's forearm.

"What?" he asked, his face turning red.

"Have a good night," Bella added before joining Edward and Angela as they turned to leave. Ever the gentleman, Edward extended an arm to Bella which she gladly took.

"What! What the hell, Bella?" Mike screamed from behind them. Lauren and Tyler pulled up on his bike at that moment and had no idea what had transpired. They rushed over only to see Edward send Bella and Angela inside the house before turning back.

Mike started to rush at him, but Edward easily deflected him with a hand on his chest.

"Listen, asshole. She may forget you, but I won't. Touch her like that again, and you'll regret it."

"What the fuck, Cullen? Are you seriously threatening me?"

"Oh no. I'm just informing you of the facts," Edward said with a dark smile.

With that, Edward turned and trotted back up to the front door of the sorority house that he was supposed to have been leaving just moments ago. If he were to be entirely honest with himself, he knew that he'd drawn out his time with Angela to make sure that Bella got home safely. He knew that he should feel pretty guilty about that, but with what had just happened, he was relieved that he'd lingered on the front porch chatting with Angela.

Edward knocked on the door and was immediately admitted inside by Angela. He took no more than three steps before he found himself wrapped in absolute heaven. For as soon as she'd seen him walk in the door, Bella leapt up without thinking and went straight into Edward's arms, hugging him tightly.

"Thank you," she whispered against his chest.

She was suddenly overcome with emotion she didn't realize was there. She felt herself trembling but couldn't imagine why. It was like a current of electricity was moving through her from some unknown source.

Edward felt it too and pulled back to put his large hands on Bella's shoulders. He bent down slightly to look at her face at the same time Angela came to Bella's side. She shared a concerned look with Edward over Bella's shuddering body. As wrong as it was, Edward had thought that the trembling he felt had been his own at the sheer pleasure of feeling Bella's body against his. Now he was questioning if it had been something else entirely.

"Bella, what's wrong?" Edward asked.

"Are you alright, sweetie?" Angela queried a moment later.

Bella shook her head, afraid to speak because she didn't want to cry. It took her a moment to compose herself, but eventually she slipped out from under Edward's grasp and backed up to sit down on the stairs. She peeked up at her roommate and apologized.

"Bella, don't be sorry. That guy you were with is a creep." Angela answered, kneeling down next to her.

Edward on the other hand, backed up a few steps and tried not to think about two things.

First and foremost, he tried to avoid remembering how amazing Bella had felt in his arms, or how she smelled when he held her. Second, he found himself unable to stop worrying that the groping they'd just witnessed outside was the least of what Mike had done to upset Bella. He tried not to think about what else may have gone on while they were out. He should have said something to her, stopped her from going.

Edward cleared his throat and spoke softly, unable to stay silent any longer. "Bella? Did Mike... hurt you?"

Bella's eyes shot up to Edward, his concern so very evident in his tone. It touched her deeply, and she felt another surge of the same emotion that had overwhelmed her only moments ago.

"No," she answered, swallowing back her feelings. When Edward remained tense with his eyes downcast, she was more firm. "He was an ass, but he didn't hurt me. I promise."

Angela and Bella both saw Edward's shoulders relax and heard his breath rush out. Angela stood and rubbed his arm, hating to see him so visibly upset. "You were pretty awesome out there. Thank you for doing that for her."

At seeing Angela comfort him, Bella looked away. She felt really bad that she'd not only interrupted Angela's evening, but that she'd acted like her roommate's date was a knight in shining armor or something. Bella was thoroughly humiliated and confused by her reaction to Edward's assistance with Mike.

"It was my pleasure really. I'm sorry that I had to drag you both into a lie with me, but Mike Newton is a real piece of work. If I'd played it any other way he would have redoubled his efforts. He likes a challenge."

Edward was pleased to see Bella's smile return when she glanced up. He wasn't sure how she'd react to what he'd said outside. Still, he felt fairly awful for making a liar out of both her and Angela. He thought for a moment before getting an idea that satisfied him.

"You know… it's only nine. There's always some band or another playing downtown on Fridays. We could go find a show somewhere and you ladies could make an honest man out of me. That is, if you both enjoy that sort of thing."

Edward found himself suddenly aware of how suggestive his invitation sounded. If he'd heard anyone else say that, he would have said it was a line, and a kind of sleazy one at that. Embarrassed by his gaffe, he quickly offered another option that was much more docile.

"I know of a really good ice cream place though… if you'd rather do that."

Edward glanced at Bella before trying to focus again on Angela. He'd been thrown into confusion from the moment he laid eyes on Bella Swan tonight and he was having a hard time covering. He now ran the very real risk of betraying his mixed feelings in front of both girls and hurting Angela in an inexcusable fashion. Had he seriously just invited his date's roommate out with them before their evening together had technically even ended? He started to panic, wondering at what point he'd gone completely insane and started breaking all of the rules.

Angela noticed his countenance and smiled wryly to herself. She was often mistaken for being far too shy and reserved to be experienced in matters of love and attraction, but that was a gross misconception. With a small sigh, it occurred to her that she should probably feel offended that Edward was so enamored by her roommate. Unfortunately, she was too good a person to be reduced to petty jealousy. She sighed a little and thought for a moment about what a mess this situation would have been if she'd already developed any significant feelings for Edward.

"Well, I for one think that ice cream sounds like a wonderful idea," she said, breaking the silence with a purpose. "What do you say, sweetie? Will you come with us?"

Bella hesitated, just for a moment. She knew she shouldn't go. She knew that she stood to hurt Angela if she didn't distance herself from this situation soon. She knew she should have just politely declined and excused herself. She needed to leave Angela alone with Edward to say goodnight, or whatever it was they were about to do before her evening crashed into theirs. But Bella didn't do any of things. Bella hesitated and Angela saw an opportunity.

"Please, Bella? I would like to spend more time with Edward, but you know how nervous I am about being alone with a guy. Just come with us for a bit. For me," Angela whispered into her ear.

So, conflicted or not, thirty minutes later Bella found herself crashing her roommate's first date with Edward Cullen.

In the chilled mid-September air, the threesome made their way to a quaint ice cream shop that the girls had never been to and sat around a small table talking, laughing, and sharing some of the best ice cream Bella had ever tasted. Although Bella had never really developed much of a sweet tooth, so she hardly considered herself one to judge, and she made sure to say so. Angela laughed at her and rolled her eyes, telling Bella what a dork she was before concurring that the ice cream was indeed excellent.

"You two are positively adorable together, do you know that?" Edward commented while walking the girls home later that night. They in turn laughed and blushed, Bella more deeply than Angela, and then launched into another humorous tale of their misadventures.

While being thoroughly entertained by their antics, Edward came to the slow realization that this was the most genuine fun he'd had in a long time. He felt more like his old self, like he did before high school ended, in the days when he'd had real friends and his life had been easy and carefree. Angela was different around Bella, and it amazed Edward how they seemed to draw out the best in each other.

As the night wore on and she became more comfortable around him, Bella opened up to Edward as well, revealing herself to be an intelligent and compassionate individual. Her beauty inside and out was both obvious and astounding.

By the end of the night Edward was wholly impressed with both girls, and without any real thought about the possible implications of it, he vowed that he would have to spend time with Angela and Bella again soon. Unfortunately, he didn't realize that at the same time Bella had vowed to stay as far away from him as possible.

That first night, she was already so attracted to Edward that the word 'attraction' didn't seem quite adequate to describe what she felt for him. It was so much more than that, and it frightened Bella. Everything about her feelings for Edward were more intense, more significant, and more unnerving than anything she'd felt before. Her high-school sweetheart, Jacob, hadn't ever made her feel anything close to that and she'd loved him with all her heart.

So, for almost two weeks after Bella met Edward, she'd avoided both him and, consequently, Angela at all costs. Eventually, Bella returned to the house one evening to find Edward sitting outside on the front stoop waiting for Angela to come downstairs. Neither of them was aware that Angela had plotted and planned the "chance" meeting, only pretending to have a wardrobe emergency until Bella arrived home. Several minutes later, ambushed by Angela, and encouraged by Edward, Bella found herself once more tagging along on her roommate's date.

She'd been embarrassed almost to the point of humiliation at first, wondering if it was pity that motivated them both to insist she come, but as the night wore on Bella realized she felt happier than she had in two weeks and so did Angela. They were the same easy friends that they'd always been while Edward watched on, doting on them both and paying for their every whim. When they stopped in the ladies room before the movie, Bella apologized for avoiding Angela over the last few weeks and Angela apologized for selfishly continuing to see Edward despite Bella's feelings. Wiping a few sentimental tears away, they agreed to talk more about it later.

When the movie was over, the three friends went out for ice cream once again and sat around talking for hours. They all went home happy and content and looking forward to getting together again sometime soon.

It hadn't been until later that night, when Angela had easily drifted off to sleep, that Bella started feeling the first twinges of her now recurring guilt. She'd lain there for hours, eventually realizing just how much she was looking forward to seeing Edward again. She could no longer deny that she was falling for him.

Three weeks later, nothing had changed. If anything, it had become even more complicated.

Bella stood in front of the mirror appraising her appearance once again.

"Angela, we have to stop going out for ice cream with Edward. Well, I do at least…" she trailed off.

Angela looked up from the paper she was typing. "Why? We always have such a good time!"

Bella turned around, her fingers on the button of her favorite jeans. "Umm…" She took a deep breath in and sucked her tummy in in order to fasten the button in the hole. She let go and let out her breath revealing the tiniest bit of a paunch over the waist of her jeans. "Muffin tops are not really my thing. These are my favorite jeans, Ang. No more ice cream."

Angela let out a relieved breath. "Oh, okay. That's no problem. We can find something else to do. I just thought you meant you didn't want to see Edward anymore."

Bella lifted an eyebrow at her roommate and gave her a look that said, "Don't start". She failed to see the need to have this conversation again.

Angela and Edward were still seeing each other. Bella had felt much too guilty to allow Angela to give up someone as amazing as Edward if he was interested in her. Angela had insisted that it was a pretty casual relationship anyway, but Bella refused to let her throw it away.

The way Bella saw it, Angela and Edward had a lot in common and were very cute together. Edward treated Angela with respect and kindness, and she'd grown more confident and outgoing since they'd been seeing each other. He was good for her, and that was much more important than Bella's crush on him.

Bella didn't seem to notice that Angela had only gone out with Edward on two or three real dates since that first night they all had ice cream together. Nor did she seem in tune to the fact that they were rarely alone. Most of the time, Angela preferred for Edward to come over to study and have dinner at the house. Ice cream had become a regular thing for them as well, but they always made sure to bring Bella along.

Bella probably missed these key details because she tried so hard not to think too much about the whole situation in general. It was becoming painful for her, but she was much too selfish to walk away from either her friend or Edward. Even when part of her started to feel a hint of resentment towards Angela, which disturbed Bella greatly, she couldn't seem to say no where that beautiful boy was concerned.

She sighed and swallowed the lump in her throat. Thoughts like this of Edward and Angela were haunting her day and night now. She couldn't get away from them and she knew it wasn't healthy, either emotionally or physically.

Bella chastised herself yet again as she traded her now too-snug jeans for a pair of brown cargo pants to go with her layered top. She knew that she needed to stop crashing Angela's dates and avoid Edward altogether before someone got hurt. She was convinced that the only thing that could come of this was heartache.

What would happen if Angela and Edward fell in love? How would Bella handle it if they didn't fall in love, but their relationship became physical? She'd never seen Angela and Edward kiss, but that didn't mean it hadn't happened. Edward was probably just too much of a gentleman to maul Angela in front of her.

Just the idea of them kissing made Bella's heart feel like it would crack in two. She took several calming breaths to try and stifle the burn, but it was futile. Already, her heart was breaking.

She knew it then.

It was time to end this. It was time let Edward go.

The phone rang in their room, startling Bella out of her thoughts. Since she was closer, Angela picked it up and not surprisingly it was Edward.

Bella tried to appear busy with her closet as Angela spoke to him. Apparently, he'd misplaced his cell phone somewhere on campus and was running late. Before he hung up, Bella heard Edward's musical voice travel from the tinny receiver as if he'd been shouting.

"I'll see you soon, sweet girl."

The endearment was all Bella could take and the tears fell without her permission. She realized that if she didn't get out of her room right away, she would have a full-blown breakdown right in front of her roommate. Hoping to avoid that humiliation, she turned and left without another word. She heard Angela calling after her as she ran down the stairs, but refused to stop. She barely made it to the first floor before a sob broke loose.

Bella looked around, unsure of where she could go. Desperate for a moment of solitude, she took a chance and made her way down another set of stairs to the basement. Fortunately, it was Friday night and she found both the laundry room and TV room unoccupied. Bella didn't even bother turning the lights on as she made her way to a plush sectional sofa and sank down into the cushions. Alone and in the dark, she finally let her sobs loose.

A few minutes later, when the couch sagged behind her, Bella wished that she'd been quieter.

Angela said nothing at first. She simply put an arm around Bella's limp form and smoothed her long wavy hair. Angela rocked her roommate back and forth until the crying abated and there were simply no more tears left to shed.

"Bella... I'm so sorry," she whispered when Bella was merely sniffling.

"S'not your fault. I'm an idiot."

"Shhh... you are not. If anything, I'm the idiot. I'm so sorry for not realizing what a big, fat liar you are."

Bella couldn't help but laugh a little at the way Angela had worded her apology.

"I don't know what I was thinking, Ang."

"You love him; you weren't thinking."

Angela's statement startled Bella and she started to object.

"No, Bella listen to me. I've known you for a while now and I've never seen you like this. I don't just mean the crying either, I mean everything. I feel like a voyeur here. I've been watching the two of you this whole time with some sick sort of fascination."

Bella sat up, effectively pushing Angela to the floor. "What are you talking about?"

Angela picked herself up and sat on the coffee table across from her friend. "Bella... He makes you light up from the inside like nothing I've ever seen before, and you... you completely befuddle that boy! It's the most astounding thing to watch. Edward never loses his composure over anyone or anything, except you." Angela sighed heavily. "To be honest, I know I never should have gone out with him again after that first night. I'm sorry."

Bella was silent. She had no idea what to say to her friend. She felt like a horrible person, yet Angela was encouraging her and apologizing to her.

"Look, Bells, I'm going to tell Edward that we can't see each other outside of class anymore, okay? I know that means you won't get to hang out with him like we've been doing, but I'll talk to him about that. Maybe I'll give him your phone number as a hint."

"No way! Angela, don't you dare! Do you have any idea how pathetic or weird that is?"

Angela leaned back up with her hands in surrender. "Whoa... okay, then I won't do that. But he's probably going to ask if there's a reason why I'm ending things, don't you think?"

Bella sighed. "I'm sure he will. I think he really likes you, so he'll want to know."

"You are deluding yourself," Angela laughed.

Bella frowned. "Whatever you decide, just don't make it about me. I'll be fine. I'll get over my crush and be really happy for you, I'll..."

"Just keep lying to yourself?" Angela cut her off. "You are one stubborn woman, you know that?"

Bella smiled halfway.

"Bella, if you are worried about what people will think, then don't. I know there's usually some sort of code around here that we don't date each other's sloppy seconds, but screw that! This is different. You and Edward are different." She ducked down to meet Bella's eyes and smiled. "There's something there, Bella, and I think you should explore it."

"What about you, though?"

"What about me? Sure... I like Edward and all. Just look at him. He's hot, and he's a gentleman, and smart, and funny, and he's a great lab partner and friend. But see? That's the thing. I won't lose anything if I go back to being his friend. I won't spend the rest of my life wondering 'what if,' because I already gave it a try."

Bella nodded and Angela hugged her.

"I love you," Bella whispered.

"I love you too, sweetie." Angela sat back and smiled. "I've gotta go make a call to a certain boy. Hopefully he found his phone. See you upstairs?"

"Yeah, I'm just going to stay down here for a few minutes," Bella answered feeling lighter than she had, but still weighed down by a small amount of guilt.

A few hours later Bella was mostly over her dark mood. She wavered for a while between self-flagellation, relief, and heartache, often finding herself wiping a few tears away. Eventually, she turned the television on and let "Weekend at Bernie's" distract her from further analyzing the whole situation.

However when Bella finally trudged back upstairs to the room she shared with Angela, her heart dropped.

"Angela? What's wrong?"

Angela sat up and frantically wiped away fresh trails of tears. She cursed under her breath, as she didn't want Bella to see her like this. Bella scrambled over to Angela's bed and knelt down in front of her.

"Oh, Ang... I'm sorry. So, so, sorry. Please for-"

"Bella, stop." Angela clapped a hand over Bella's mouth. "I'm not upset about Edward. At least... I'm not crying for the reason that you think. I'm mad."

Bella looked at Angela's fierce expression and, despite the tears, Bella knew that her friend was telling the truth.

"What happened?"

Angela sighed and patted the space next to her. "Sit down. But first, grab those tissues over there."

Bella's heart pounded with dread. She did as Angela asked and sat down, Kleenex in hand.

Angela took a moment to gather herself before speaking and when she did, Bella understood that Angela, tender-hearted as she was, had only been crying on her behalf. For even after all of the tears that she'd shed over Edward Cullen that day, it turned out that she would require some more.

"Bella... Edward's engaged."

~(~)~


End Note:

Oh, oh... what the heck, right? Please feel free to leave a little review and give me an earful- I won't mind. ;-)

Next update on December 21st, 2010.

(PS- To those of you reading "What Drives Her", don't worry- I'm still working on the latest chapter. This story was completed back in October and will not take away from the time I have to write new material. Christmas might, but not this little novella. Just enjoy & thank you for reading! :-) Ginnie)