Disclaimer: If I did own any of this then I wouldn't be here mourning over that fact.

Chapter 2

BPOV

Edward and I sat down at our usual table in our biology class, unpacking our books as we did so. I saw Lauren Mallory look Edward up and down as she walked in. Edward was oblivious to this, unlike me, and I glared at Lauren, hoping she would go sit down and keep her eyes away from what she had no right on. I knew that I didn't have any claim over Edward either but that didn't mean I was going to let go of the guy I loved more than anything else in the world without a fight!

I had never meant to fall in love with Edward, knowing exactly how disastrous it would be for me to fall in love with one of my closest friends but with each moment I spent with him, I had gradually realized how aware of him I became, how furious I would get whenever I saw any girl glance at him flirtatiously, although he never dated anyone nor showed any interest in anyone, it made me feel even more dejected as I knew that if no other girl, not even the prettiest ones who could never be threatened by the likes of me failed to attract Edward's attention then what chance did I ever have of igniting even an iota in him of what I felt for him.

Of course, Alice and all my other friends always ignored this argument of mine, insisting that Edward did love me but just didn't know it yet, therefore it was my duty to confess my feelings for him is what they always concluded. However, I always ignored these ludicrous notions of theirs as being friends with Edward was enough for me, a lot of girls around here didn't even have that.

Edward was the sweetest, most beautiful, caring, kind person you could ever hope to find and anyone who even had the honour of knowing him was immensely lucky. Therefore, knowing that my close friendship with him was unbreakable was enough for me. I could live with that, as long as I knew that Edward would always be there by my side, loyal and content; then I would be content, which was enough, that was all I needed to get through the day.

"Earth to Bella" Edward said as he snapped his fingers in front of me jerking me out of my pool of thoughts about him.

"I know the lesson is very bad at holding your attention but I'm sure Chief Swan would gladly arrest his daughter for flunking biology this year" Edward told me with an amused look in his shimmering green eyes.

"Well, at least in prison, I would have all the time in the world to zone out" I joked.

"I'm not sure I could stay at all happy if I had to visit you in jail, Bella, my day wouldn't be at all pleasant if I didn't have you around" Edward replied.

"Well, don't worry; I think this class is pretty much the equivalent to a prison so you don't have to visit me at all because you're stuck in here with me" I teased.

Edward just grinned at me, showing me all of his ultra white, perfect teeth and I felt something inside of me stumble and fall without ever reaching a landing. I turned away from his perfect face so that he wouldn't be able to see the effect he had on me.

Biology moved fast as I had my thoughts trained on Edward. I hardly heard anything that was mentioned in the lesson as I lost myself in fantasies of a world where Edward loved me as much as I loved him. The bell rang making me jump which caused Edward to laugh.

"Daydreaming again, are we?" he chuckled.

"Well, it's like you said before, this lesson is just so bad at holding my attention" I replied, not adding that that was only because I was always so distracted by him, marvelling over how much love he sparked in me.

"Well, let's go to lunch, I want to see if Emmet survived" Edward stated with humour evident on his face.

I couldn't prevent a huge grin spread across my face upon the thought of Emmet's hilarious predicament.

Edward grinned back at me and gestured politely for me to lead the way, just like the perfect gentleman he was. I walked to the door, the heel of my boot slipping on a stray piece of paper I didn't see which gave my streak of clumsiness the opportunity to assault me with full force. I slipped and fell backwards, landing hard on the floor, all the impact going to my left wrist painfully. I looked up to see Edward's worried face a couple of centimetres away from mine; he was so close I could feel his breath on my face. I moved slightly to try and sit up but I felt a shooting pain in my wrist causing me to gasp in agony.

Edward leaned in and slid a hand beneath my back; I felt a thrill shoot through me upon his gentle touch. His expression was so worried and concerned that I felt my heart inflate with adoration for him. He looked up to meet my eyes and I gazed into that glowing pool of emerald green feeling all the agony leave me as I stared into his gorgeous eyes, his tousled, bronze hair flopping slightly over his forehead. With his help, I managed to sit up, we were the only ones left in the class. Edward slid his arm around my waist as he helped me stand and he held my uninjured hand with his free one. I felt safe and secure with his arm around my waist like this and I relished in the pleasure his touch gave me.

"Okay, I know how much you hate attention which is exactly what you would get if I took you to the school office. I don't think your wrist is hurt too badly so I think you'll be fine until after school when you can get Carlisle to check it out for you" Edward murmured to me as he massaged my injured wrist slightly, so gently that it hardly felt like he was touching me at all but his gentle touch really did help to ease some of the pain.

"Do you think you need to go home?" Edward enquired, looking up from my wrist, putting an end to his reassuring massage, however, he draped his arm loosely back on my waist to help steady me.

However, he thought that I was unsteady from the injury I had sustained when in fact I was actually endeavouring to not pass out from his proximity and his gentle touch.

I slowly shook my head 'no' and he tightened his hold on my waist, gently steering me to the door. I could have told him that I was fine and was perfectly capable of walking without his help but I just simple wasn't ready to feel his touch vanish. I wanted him to keep his arm around my waist. I internally groaned as I realized this, 'Wow, Bella, you have it bad for him" I thought miserably to myself.

We reached the cafeteria with Edward's arm still around my waist. He kept stealing glances at me now and then making sure that I wasn't in too much pain but pain was the last thing I was feeling right now. I was trembling with excitement upon having his arm around me even if it was just a friendly gesture to help guide an injured friend to her seat. I saw Alice sitting at our usual table and then I saw her eyes widen with excitement as she spied Edward's hold on me. I sighed loudly as I realized what ridiculous ideas might be thronging around in Alice's head. Edward looked at me as he overheard my sigh and he must have misunderstood it for pain because he then quickened his pace.

We reached the table where Alice was sitting and Edward made sure that I was comfortably seated before removing his grasp on me, much to my disappointment. He threw one anxious glance at me, searching my face for any signs of pain and when he found none, he went to sit in his own seat, which, fortunately, was beside me. He didn't look quite satisfied and I knew that he was still debating over whether or not he should make sure that I should go home.

"Relax, Edward, I am absolutely fine, I'll get Carlisle to check my wrist later on" I assured Edward.

"Why? What happened to you, Bella?" Alice asked in a panicked voice.

"Relax, Alice, I just tripped and hurt my wrist. I'll be fine" I assured her, giving her as well as Edward a stern look that conveyed quiet clearly that I did not want any fuss to be made over this. Edward pursed his lips and I could tell that he wanted to argue but I shook my head determinedly at him.

"So, Alice, I hope you spared Emmet" I grinned at Alice, trying to divert their minds from my wrist.

"Oh, yeah, I got tired of chasing after him so I gave up, but I don't think Rosalie has forgiven him yet so you guys might find him hiding behind a tree from Rose's wrath" Alice replied, shrugging.

I could see that wild gleam in her eye as she looked at me, the gleam she normally got from shopping and I instantly knew that this could not possibly mean anything good for me.

"Edward, I think Jasper went to go help save Emmet, they're somewhere out in the parking lot, I think. I think you ought to help him, Rosalie is still pretty furious" Alice instructed Edward.

Edward nodded with a mischievous glint in his eyes; I could tell that he and Jasper were going to enjoy watching Emmet suffer. Edward got up from the table; he aimed a breathtaking smile at me before he walked off.

"Okay, Bella, there is no way that you can deny he feels the same way about you after his behaviour today" Alice threw at me as soon as Edward was out of earshot.

"What are you talking about, Alice?" I asked wearily.

I was already feeling tired at the prospect of what I knew was going to be a long argument.

"Oh, come on, Bella, you cannot be telling me that you did not see how overprotective and worried Edward was for you, you might not be able to see it, but I could tell just from the way he was looking at you that he loves you, he just doesn't know it yet which is why you have to tell him your feelings to make him realize that he loves you too" Alice explained in the way a very patient teacher might be explaining something to a very stubborn four year old for the fifth hundred time and in fact that was the case. Alice had been telling me the same theory over and over again for the last couple of months.

"Alice, he only thinks of me as a friend, a very close friend and he really cares for me which explains his behaviour today but that doesn't mean that he loves me" I contradicted.

"Oh, please, looking at Edward was like looking at a mirror image of how my Jasper would react and if Jasper and me aren't true love, then I don't know what is" Alice scoffed.

"That's just because Edward and Jasper are both very sensitive gentlemen, Alice, they have that in common so you would think they're a mirror image of each other" I insisted adamantly.

"Whatever, Bella, some day, you're going to realize that I am always right and that this time is no exception" Alice stated confidently and I just sighed at her stubbornness as we lapsed into comfortable silence.

"Hey, everyone, I'm still alive" I heard Emmet sigh as he sank down onto a chair at our table.

I was about to look up at him and say 'I'm glad', but my voice died as I saw the state he was in. There were twigs and leaves stuck in his dark curly hair, his clothes were stained with mud and dirt and he looked as though he'd been running but then attacked as he ran.

"Jeez, Rose, what did you do to him? Ambush him or something?" Alice cried in a shocked voice as she turned to Rosalie.

Rosalie opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted by the explosion of laughter that came from Edward and Jasper. Alice and I glanced at Rosalie quizzically but she too joined in the laughter.

"Err, would someone mind telling us what's going on?" I enquired as Alice continued to stare at everyone as though she were seriously worried about their sanity.

"Well, Jasper and I were watching Rosalie chase Emmet, he just carried on running away like a girl" Edward choked out through his laughter; Emmet scowled at him upon the last part, although I still didn't understand what was so funny.

Jasper seemed to have gained the most control over himself and so picked up the story from where Edward left off.

"Anyway, Emmet was running away from Rosalie, but then we saw him stumbling around waving his hands around in the air, we had thought he had finally lost the last pieces of his mind but then we saw him turn around and run, screaming "Wasps! Rosie, help" and then he tripped on his shoelace and fell into a bush, it looked so hilarious" Jasper finished with an amused chortle.

I giggled slightly as I tried to imagine the scene. I giggled even more as I turned to Emmet and queried "Are you afraid of wasps?"

"What? No way" Emmet responded forcefully.

"You are such a liar, Emmet, I still remember the incident from when you were eight years old" Alice retorted, laughing.

Emmet narrowed his eyes at his sister as he said menacingly "Don't even go there".

Alice ignored him as she turned to the rest of us who had been watching the two of them curiously.

"You see when Emmet was eight years old, he really wanted a pet but mom and dad said no because they knew he wasn't responsible enough yet. So Emmet saw a wasp in the garden, he liked their stripes and kept on following them as they buzzed around in our garden. He decided that he wanted one for a pet and that our parents wouldn't mind because they were so small, so he got a jar and tried to catch one but he accidentally squashed the wasp so he tried to pick it up to give it a funeral but I guess the wasp was still alive because it stung Emmet. Emmet howled and fell into a bush where there were more wasps; he got stung a couple more times and then ran back inside crying, for a while after that, Emmet was convinced that the wasp's ghost would come back to haunt him so whenever he saw a wasp, he would run halfway down the street." Alice finished with a roll of her eyes and we all started laughing at this revelation of Emmet.

"Wow, you were even more childish and silly back then" Edward laughed.

"Shut it, Eddiepoo" Emmet growled which caused Edward's laughter to vanish as he glowered at Emmet.

"Come on, Emmet, ignore them and the wasps, you're a man, you shouldn't be afraid of wasps" Rosalie scolded Emmet.

Emmet said nothing but just bowed his head in embarrassment.

I caught Edward's eye and I grinned at him, pleased with the fact that I could actually see Emmet embarrassed and Edward winked at me. I turned away, still smiling but my smile turned into a grimace as I saw Alice's eyes twinkle at me and I knew that she had seen mine and Edward's exchange, she was never going to let this go.