AN: Here you go. Updated most days.

Thank you for reading.

Chapter 3

It was relaxing on Alice's floor. Rosalie and I lived downstairs and there was always a nervous energy that the artists brought. Imaginations flying around with laughter and explosions of oil paints. But up here, the sounds of a lonely trumpet filled the hallway as I sat by the window on a bench, my feet up on the seat, and stared down at my fellow students scurry to their next destination. They reminded me of a group of ants trying to complete their task from the good of their brethren. Be a responsible. Make the college proud.

The trumpet's song seemed to be the perfect accompaniment to what I observed below. His melody mimicked the movements of my classmates. There was a hurried urgency to the trumpet that made me tap my knee with the script I was supposed to me memorizing. It was jazz that was stripped down to it's basest form. There was a magic it created.

"Whatcha reading, girl?" A tall boy walked up to me. He had a a bright grin and dimples that made me smile right back at him.

"A script. I need to memorize lines for my part." I found myself blushing when I told him.

It was exciting and I was thrilled to get a part in my first college production. The director was my playwriting professor and said I had childlike innocence written all over my face. I tried to take that as a compliment. He also added that I needed to grow more of a presence on stage. That observation gutted me a bit.

"You going to be a movie star?" He lifted my feet and sat down. The strange boy placed my feet on his lap. His fingers holding onto my calf.

I tried to pull my legs off of him. "What the hell are you doing?"

He lightly took hold of my flailing limbs and kept them in the same spot. "Just trying to get comfortable. You have comfy legs, girl."

I stared at this dimple man with his bright blue eyes and disarming smile. His dark hair was on the longer side with the ends curling softly. There was an edge to his sweetness that made me wary of him. This boy knew he was a beautiful and could wield it like a weapon if he desired. There was a twinkle of wickedness that was magnetic.

Thoughts of Edward flitted into my brain. That lovely boy that I could talk to all day. He was taken and I could never change that.

"Are you the bad girl?" All thoughts of red hair and emerald eyes vanished as the boy grabbed my script and started flipping through the pages. He looked up and winked at me. "I can see you being a very bad girl."

"Are you high?" I asked. I wanted to pull away, but that hand of his traveled up and down my leg. It made me blush and I liked it.

In high school, I had only been kissed by one boy. Mike Newton was all teenage hormones and carnation bouquets. Dates ended up in vacant parking lots and kissing in the back seat of his mother's Honda Civic. His wandering hands scared me right into breaking up with him. Things had changed so quickly when I got to this school. Right here and right now, I wanted this stranger to kiss me almost as much as I wanted Edward to. I didn't want to be afraid anymore.

My brain had issues with what my eighteen-year-old version of lust was aching for. I was responsible and not going to become dizzy over another pretty boy that paid attention to me.

I lied to myself once again.

"I'm high on you," he stated. He was a flirt. It was obnoxious. It was also—

"You're cheesy." I grabbed my script from him and opened it in an attempt to block him from my view.

I didn't remove my feet.

The boy pulled the script away with those eyes still twinkling. "I'm Emmett Richard McCarty. The ladies call me Dick after my middle name."

"Because you're an asshole?"

"Because I have a huge one, girl." He tapped my nose. He was a creep. "You look like a button to me. God, I could put my lips on you."

I turned my face away from him. This Emmett guy was a jerk, and I wanted those lips of his as badly as he wanted mine.

"No thanks," I muttered.

A door opened and Jane Tremont stuck her head out to glare at us. The tiny violinist's face was pinched in anger. "Em, you're were supposed to get us sodas!"

"Sure thing, sugar, Buttons and I were discussing the acting trade. Maybe I should do it? I can pretend." He gave her that brilliant smile. He moved my legs and patted my upper leg. Emmett moved his mouth to my ear and lips pressed against the skin. "I'll be seeing you around, Bella Swan."

He knew my name.

My face felt hot, as I watched him disappear into Jane's room.

Alice came out of her room and shuffled toward me. That long brown hair of hers hung over her eyes. She tried to disappear when she was in public, but I knew the vibrant girl that was aching to get out. Her demanding parents were always in the back of her mind, but now she had freedom. I was going to help her experience it to the fullest.

"You want to watch a movie in your room with Rosie?" she asked quietly. "Jane has that boy in her room again. The make lots of sounds. It gets really loud."

Alice looked highly embarrassed, so I stupidly asked, "What sounds?"

"Sex sounds," she squeaked. Her face was the color of a fire engine.

I was an idiot.

XXXXXX

"Are you going to drink, Swan?" Kate asked. I was sitting on the end of one of the beds in the dorm room, clutching a wine cooler. She continued, "Garrett, my darling, make her drink."

Garrett was Kate's husband and was one of the sweetest men I've ever met. He didn't go to school with us and Kate met him when she decided to find herself in Oregon. Garrett was a forest ranger with a ponytail and a love of nature. Kate not only found him, but herself in those woods. The sorority pearls were tossed in a river and they built a cabin. It was an amazing life and I was envious.

"I have pot. We should do that," Garrett suggested. He tapped Alice on the shoulder. "You game?"

"I need my head in the game to deal with—" Alice looked around the room with a confused expression. "I had always imagined the sorority rooms to be nicer. They're just as crappy as the ones in the art house."

The door to Kate's old room was open. Outside in the hallway was filled with her former sisters drinking and dancing to old school party jams. It would have been humorous if I wasn't so stressed.

This observation made Kate snort.

Rosalie sat at one of the wooden desks with her laptop. She typed furiously on the keys. There was rigidness to her back that had nothing to do with work. She spat, "You realize that we're all adults with jobs. We should quit idealizing binge drinking."

Quickly, I stood and moved to her side. I placed a hand on her shoulder and she relaxed into it. "Rosie, we can go. Neither of us need to be here."

"I think Edward would disagree. He was looking fine, Miss Swan. I think he would like to get reacquainted," she teased half-heartedly. Her face grew serious, as she changed the subject to a painful one. "We'll both be okay. He's in jail. It's only the bad memories left."

I hated Royce King. What he did to Rose and what he tried to do to me.

Taking a deep breath, I willed those horrible thoughts away. I linked my fingers with Rose's. "We always win when we have each other."

"No doubt, Bells." She squeezed my hand tightly.

"Are you going to kiss each other? Garrett will get far too excited and I'll have to douse him with a hose," Kate said with a smirk. "Drink and we can get dinner at the student center."

"We'll be having dinner in town, Katherine," Rosalie explained. "I will not be eating grilled cheese and french fries on campus."

"I like my grilled cheese with tomato," Alice chimed in. She picked off her nail polish in between taking sips out of her bottle.

"Did someone say something about grilled cheese?" Emmett came walking in like he owned the room. His bravado had never diminished it seemed. He just filled the room with his ego.

I felt like I was drowning in it.

"Who invited you?" Kate questioned him with an angry stare.

"Technically, sweet Katie, Irina invited me to party with them." He scanned the room. Emmett fixed his gaze on me. "Going to give me some sugar, Katie?"

He wanted to hurt me. Bravo, Emmett, you win.

"This is my husband and father of my children. Garrett, this is a jack ass." Kate grabbed another drink. "Irina is a dead woman."

Garrett gave Emmett a lazy smile. "Nice to meet you, but talk to my lady like that again and you'll be a dead man. I know some lovely wooded areas to hide the body."

"No harm, man! Just joking around with Katie." Emmett grinned and plopped down on the bed next to where I stood next to Rose.

My stomach hurt. I felt as if I was on a sailing vessel during the perfect storm. I was going overboard.

"Everyone in here hates you and you should leave," Rosalie told him as she looked over the file on the screen. Her hand still clenching mine.

He laughed. "Pleasure seeing you again too, Rosie. Alice—"

"Bitch," Alice answered. She hated him passionately for me. This group was my best friends for so many reasons and this was one of them.

"Bella, could I talk to you outside?" Emmett asked, finally addressing me.

I had a choice to make. I could ignore him the rest of the weekend or I could tell him exactly how I felt. I truly detested the man. I let go of Rosalie's hand, ignoring the protest on her face.

"For a minute. I have a dinner to go to with my friends."

I walked out with my head up and standing tall. I would not let the girl that I was so long ago, be bullied by my old feelings for him anymore. We weaved in and out of tipsy women and the occasional man to the front of the building. I stood in the middle of the foyer and crossed my arms over my chest. For a moment, I couldn't speak. There were so many words I needed to say. To convey the hurt I felt.

It only took him to step in close to me and begin to say, "I'm sor—"

"I hate you!" I interrupted. It tumbled out of my lips. "I really do! You're one of the worst people on the planet!"

He placed a hand on my cheek. My words stilled at his touch. The attraction to the idea I had of him fought with the fact that I found his insides ugly and black. It confused me.

"I was so fucking wrong," he explained. He licked his lips and took his thumb and stroked my face. "Us. We were good. I threw it away."

"It was a lifetime ago, Emmett. Five years of change. I don't believe your words. You have a liar's soul."

Oh how I wished to be in my little home. My apartment was a comfort where I could watch children playing in the park, while my cat sunning herself on the window sill. It was safe from heartbreak.

"Baby, I can't stop thinking about you. I dream about us." His index finger went over my bottom lip. It was rough over the smoothness of my skin.

The devil was seducing me with his touch. I leaned in and pulled away. It was too much.

"I don't think the lady seems comfortable." Over Emmett's shoulder, I saw Edward. He looked glorious in his fury.

I rushed to Edward. He wrapped an arm around my waist. Looking down at me, Edward said softly, "Let's take a walk."

"I was having a discussion with Bella," Emmett growled. His fists were clenched. "We need to finish this."

"It's done," Edward answered for me. He started leading me out of the building.

Emmett followed. "Bella, I'm not finished fighting for you."

"I hope you like losing." Edward gave him a wave and we walked down the sidewalk.

I felt like a fool. I should have been tougher with Emmett. "I could have handled it."

"I know you can, tiger." He hugged me tighter against his side. "I like helping out my girl."

"Your girl?"

"Hopefully. We'll figure this out together." I felt his lips on my hair. "Always together."

My head was floating with all the emotions coursing through me. I just hoped I wouldn't burst.