Hey guys! Sorry it took me absolutely forever to update, but I had a lot going on and for some reason it was hard for me to get this chapter exactly the way I wanted it. It's much shorter than the first two chapters, but I really wanted the next one to be from Bella's POV. Hope you guys still enjoy it! Of course I have to thank the BFF Kayelzibub for continuously having my back and supporting me. Obviously all the amazingness that is Twilight is owned by Stephenie Meyer, I just play with the characters. Also, the feedback that I've gotten so far has been amazing! You guys are awesome. I love hearing what you have to say and I'm so glad so many of you are enjoying my story so far! And on a side note, my brilliant bestie came up with the fabulous idea of naming the chapters after titles of Muse songs in case you were wondering. We're both really into the band and their songs of course influence my writing so it seemed like an obvious choice!
You, you want nothing to do with me.
You, you want nothing to do with me.
I, I don't know what to do with you 'cause you don't know what you do to me.
Baby is this love for real?
Let me in your arms to feel the beating of your heart baby.
The beating of your heart baby.
Beating Hearts Baby-Head Automatica
~EDWARD~
One hour and fifty-eight minutes. That's how long I had been sitting here talking to Bella Swan. How could it be possible that something as perfect as her even exists? Not only was she absolutely breathtaking, but she was smart and funny too. I couldn't believe I was having these feelings about someone that I had just met. We talked about everything; her life back in Florida, her friends, her hobbies and I couldn't bear to take my eyes off of her for even a second. She would giggle and peek up at me through her lashes when she got embarrassed; her cheeks filling with a deep, pink blush that was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen. She would bite her lip when she was flustered, trying to come up with an answer for one of the thousands of questions I was throwing at her, but I couldn't stop myself. I wanted to breathe her, drink her in; learn everything I could possibly learn about this gorgeous woman in front of me. What the hell had happened to me? Her intoxicating scent that couldn't be described as anything other than 'Bella' was washing over me, overpowering all of my senses. Some invisible cosmic force was drawing me closer to her and I couldn't stop myself even if I had wanted to. She leaned closer too, our lips so close I could practically taste her already. Her sweet, warm breath washing over my face. And then she suddenly snapped out of it and pulled herself back, making up some sort of lame excuse to go and check on Alice. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed, but I already knew I'd wait a lifetime for one kiss from this woman. I told her I would wait for her to come back and that beautiful, soft blush stained her cheeks again. I watched her walk into the house, appreciating the tight jeans that were hugging every curve of her perfect ass. I sat there, smiling to myself, my fantasies of Bella taking over once again. I could hear footsteps approaching from the side of the house and I strained my eyes against the darkness, trying to make out the shadowy figure coming towards me.
"Hey Edward," a voice I never wanted to hear again called to me.
"Tanya, what the hell are you doing here? What do you want?" I said through clenched teeth. I couldn't believe she would even have the balls to come here tonight, much less try to talk to me.
"Oh, Edward I'm so sorry!" She flung herself at me on the chair and we both nearly toppled over.
"Get. Off. Of. Me. Now," I growled at her
"Edward what's wrong? I said I was sorry!"
"Tanya, we had this discussion already. I have nothing more to say to you."
"I don't know why you're acting like this! How many times do I need to apologize? Just let me come home. I know you still love me."
"First of all it's not your home, it's mine and secondly, I'm pretty sure I never actually loved you," I said, still trying to pry her off of me.
"Yes you do. I'll prove it to you!" And before I could stop her she forced her mouth onto mine, her breath reeking of alcohol. Her lips were bitter, poisonous, trying to suck the life from me.
I shoved her off of me and stood up quickly, knocking her to the ground, just in time to see Bella turning and running away.
Shit. No, please no. Please tell me Bella did not just see what happened.
"Bella, wait!" I called after her, but she was too far into the house.
"What the hell Edward? You're already screwing some whore?" Tanya screeched and I fought the urge to punch her in the face and ran into the house, praying I could catch Bella. She was nowhere in sight and I ran through the house searching frantically for her. Emmett caught me by the arm and practically yanked it off of my body.
"What the hell did you do to my little sister?" he said, glaring down at me.
"Nothing! I mean I didn't mean it. It's not-I have to talk to her. Where is she?" I couldn't let her leave thinking that I was purposefully kissing another woman. I had told her I was here alone and now she probably thought I was lying to her.
"She had Alice take her home. Now you better explain to me what's going on and why you made her cry."
Shit. She was crying? The thought of her being hurt by something that I had done made me sick inside. I shoved past Emmett and went into the kitchen, pouring myself three shots in a row.
"Edward, man, slow down, you have to drive. What the hell happened?" He was starting to look concerned.
I sighed heavily and rubbed my hand over my face.
"Alright, look, Bella and I were sitting out back just talking for like two hours and then-"I stopped myself hoping I wasn't going to get punched in the face if I told the next part of my story.
"And then?" He asked, growing impatient.
"And then, well, we almost kissed, but she ran inside and said she needed to check on Alice or something. I stayed out there waiting for her to come back and then fucking Tanya showed up and like literally threw herself at me. She kept begging me to take her back and I told her to get off, but she wouldn't listen, then she grabbed me and kissed me and by the time I pried her off Bella had been standing there watching the whole thing." I kept my eyes focused on the ground, not really wanting to see the expression on Emmett's face.
"Okay, so let me get this straight. You have a thing for Bella?" he said slowly, sounding confused.
"It's not just a 'thing', okay? I mean Bella's incredible. She has me going out of my mind over her," I said chancing a look at him. Surprisingly he didn't look like he was going to beat the shit out of me.
"Isn't tonight the first time you two met?" he asked, his brows scrunched together in confusion.
"Technically, yes. This is the first time I've spoken to her, but I saw her in the coffee shop a few nights ago. The moment I laid eyes on her I just, I just knew she was different. Just being in the same room with her I…" I trailed off, afraid I had already said too much.
"Huh," he said.
"Huh? That's all you have to say about all of this?" I said, shaking my head in complete disbelief.
"No, that's not all I have to say about this. I'm just trying to figure all of this out."
I stood there, uncomfortable as hell for what felt like an eternity waiting for him to speak.
"Okay, here's the thing," he said, finally breaking the silence. "I know that you already know this, but Bella has been through a hell of a lot of shit lately. She's a good girl and losing our parents really took a toll on her. She doesn't need to get dicked around on top of it," he said staring at me. "But I also know that you're a good guy Edward and if you say that the two of you almost kissed, then obviously she's into you too." He paused again, collecting his thoughts. "If you had told me a month ago that you could meet someone and in the same night feel that spark with them, that chemistry, I would have told you to stop being a pussy and that you probably just needed to get laid. But, then I met Alice. I get it. I do. I'm not saying I'm ready to walk down the aisle or anything, but I know what you're talking about. When you have that connection with someone you just know."
I could feel my mouth hanging open in shock. Had I just heard those words come from Emmett's mouth? The same Emmett that had at one time had sex with three different girls in one weekend? Hell must have frozen over. Not that I had much room to talk.
"You need to fix this shit. You need to tell Bella what happened with Tanya so she doesn't think you're a dick just like her ex-boyfriend." Emmett told me, nodding in agreement with himself.
"Yeah, yeah I know. I just don't know how. I mean it's not like she's going to listen to me."
"I think she will. She's pretty open-minded. Just be honest with her. Oh and if you do anything else to her to make her cry, I will rip your balls off and feed them to you," he said with a smirk, but I knew he was only half kidding.
"Yeah," I said absentmindedly wondering how everything had gone from being so perfect to so fucked up in a matter of minutes.
"Come on, dude let's get out of here before Tanya finds you again."
~ooo~
The entire drive home I couldn't stop thinking about Bella. I wish that she had just let me kiss her, then she never would have gotten up and Tanya wouldn't have fucked everything up for me once again. I couldn't blame Bella though. I knew things were moving way too fast for both of us, considering we had both just gotten out of serious relationships but, at the same time, when you knew you were meant to be with someone, why wait? I must be absolutely out of my damn mind. How could I know that she was meant for me? One meaningful glance across a crowded coffee shop and a two hour conversation at some random party and now I was ready to marry this girl? Well, maybe not marry, but I couldn't see myself staying away from her for long. Any chance I had with her has to be gone by now though. What little trust we had built in that short amount of time was surely broken. How could I expect her to ever talk to me again? I briefly considered cutting off the person next to me and turning down the street to her apartment. If I showed up at her house she'd have to talk to me right? Or, call the police for being a lunatic. It was going on two in the morning. I had no clue how I was going to fix this, but I knew that I would do whatever it took to get Bella to talk to me again.
~ooo~
I woke up the next morning to my phone vibrating off of the night stand and crashing to the hardwood floor.
"Hello?" I rasped into the phone.
"Hi sweetheart, how are you?" I'd recognize her soothing, gentle voice anywhere.
"Mom! God, I miss you. I'm, I'm fine. How are you?" I could feel my throat tighten a little at the thought of how long it had been since I'd seen my mother and the rest of my family.
"I'm good baby. I can't talk long, your father's probably going to wake up soon and you remember how angry he was the last time he heard me talking to you."
Yea, how could I forget that. He had ripped the phone out of her hand and told me that I was worthless amongst a few other choice words and slammed down the receiver.
"I just wanted to call and check in on you. See if you got that check I sent you?"
"Yeah, mom I got it. But you know dad's gonna catch on eventually. He's gonna notice that the money's going somewhere."
"I know," she sighed into the receiver. "But your grandfather left that money to you and Jasper. Your father has no right to try to cut you off. And I know it's next to impossible to pay your own way through med school. You need it. I just wish the two of you would straighten things out and talk about this like adults."
"There's nothing to talk about mom. He already has his opinion of me. There's nothing that I can say that's going to change his mind." I could feel my face starting to burn with the anger that was bubbling up in my chest.
"Have you talked to your brother recently?" she asked, but by the tone of her voice I could tell she already knew the answer.
"No, not really. I've tried to call him a couple of times, but he never answers. He's shoved too far up dad's ass to go against him, so…" I trailed off, not really wanting to get into a fight with the one remaining family member that still spoke to me.
"Edward, I miss you. And your father misses you too, he's just too stubborn to admit it. You two are more alike than you'd care to think."
"I am nothing like him," I said in a low, controlled voice.
She sighed heavily into the phone.
"I have to go sweetie. I love you."
"I love you too mom." And with that I hung up, pulled on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt and headed out into the living room. My dad would never change. It had been years since I had spoken to him, there was nothing I could say to make him believe I was telling the truth. And, to be honest, even though I missed my family terribly, I was too stubborn to try to apologize. I had nothing to apologize for! I hadn't done anything wrong, but he had always believed Jasper over me anyway.
I slipped on my sneakers, grabbed my iPod, keys and phone, and headed out to go for a run. I needed to clear my head. Between everything that had happened with Tanya and whatever it was called that was happening with Bella and now my mom calling to bring up the past, I needed to get out of here. I decided I'd run over to Emmett's place. He was only a few blocks away and maybe I could convince him to give me Bella's number. He'd probably beat my ass for waking him up this early, but I didn't really have any other choice. He'd get over it. I jogged up to Emmett's front step and wiped the sweat off of my face on the bottom of my shirt before pounding on his door. He opened it almost immediately (not something I had been expecting), and was fully dressed with a wide grin.
"Hey Edward! How's it going man?" He asked me cheerfully. Too cheerfully, something was up.
"Uh, hey. I need to talk to you about Bella." I eyed him suspiciously.
"Oh, well it's kind of a bad time, I mean-"
"What's up Edward!" Alice cut him off mid sentence as she came up behind him at the door.
I guess the expression on my face said it all because before I could get out my smart ass comment he said: "Alice surprised me with breakfast this morning." He arched an eyebrow at me as if to say 'it's not what you think so you better keep your damn mouth shout.' I chuckled under my breath.
"You want some breakfast Edward?" Alice chirped. "We have tons of food left over."
"Actually, Edward was just leaving. He has to finish up his run," Emmett said, still shooting daggers.
"But he just got here," Alice countered, wrinkling her forehead.
"Yeah, Emmett I just got here. Don't be rude. Invite me in for some breakfast." I smiled at him. God I really was an asshole and he was definitely going to get me back for this. I followed Alice through the dining room and into the kitchen. She wasn't kidding when she had said there was tons of food left over. She had brought enough to feed the entire block. Bagels with cream cheese, muffins, donuts, coffee, juice. I grabbed a bagel and sat down at the table next to Alice and across from Emmett who made sure to kick me twice while getting into his seat.
"Alright, talk," Emmett said, shoving almost an entire muffin in his mouth. Alice and I rolled our eyes at him in unison.
"Um, I don't know if I really feel comfortable talking about this in front of…" I gestured towards Alice, not wanting to seem rude, but not wanting to sound like a giant pussy in front of a girl I hardly knew either.
"Oh, is this about Bella?" Alice chimed in. Were there absolutely no secrets left between me and Emmett now that he was pussy whipped or whatever the hell you call what he was doing even though he hadn't even gotten laid yet?
"Emmett, what the hell-"
"Actually, Bella told me herself," Alice cut in.
"She told you about what happened at the party?" I don't know why I was so surprised. They were roommates and obviously friends since they showed up to the party together. I should have known. Girls tell each other everything. Great. Alice was probably getting ready to kick me in the nuts.
"Yes, she told me," was all she said. Then there was awkward silence between the three of us, the only sound was Emmett chewing. I couldn't take it anymore.
"Well? What did she say?"
"I don't really think it's my place to tell you everything, but she was upset."
"Really?" I threw my bagel down on the plate in front of me, losing my appetite.
"Yes," was all she replied, looking down at the table.
Great.
"Look, Alice I know this will probably make me sound completely out of my mind and you'll think I'm a stalker, but you have to convince her to talk to me."
She looked back at me not responding.
"I have to tell her what happened. I can't let her go on thinking that I would hurt her on purpose."
"And what did happen Edward?"
I sighed and got up from the table, pacing around the kitchen as I replayed the whole story for Alice. By the time I was finished Alice was pissed, but not at me, at Tanya. Then her eyes softened and she said: "I was right."
"Right about what?" Emmett asked her.
"About Edward and Bella. I just have this really intense feeling that the two of you should be together and Bella was worried that you didn't like her back and- "she stopped, mid sentence, her eyes wide with panic. "Forget I said anything. I may have shared way too much information."
"Bella likes me?" I asked her, not able to stop the grin that was slowly spreading across my face.
"Oh for Christ's sake," Emmett huffed. "You're such a little bitch Edward."
"Really Emmett? Because I remember you telling me just last night when we were at the party about how if someone told you a month ago-
"Shut the hell up," he snapped, cutting me off.
"That's what I thought." I smirked back.
"Why don't you try calling her first? That's a start," Emmett said in between mouthfuls of food.
"Well, I never actually got the chance to ask her for her number," I mumbled quietly.
"Good God, Edward. Am I going to have to hold your hand through this entire thing?"
"Don't pay attention to him Edward. Here give me your phone," Alice said, pulling her phone off of the table beside her. She punched a few numbers into my phone and slid it back across the table to me. "There you go. Ball's in your court now Edward."
"Thanks Alice." I decided maybe I needed to cut Emmett a little slack, finished my juice and headed back on my way.
By the time I made the jog back home it had been at least eighty degrees outside and I was absolutely drenched with sweat. I made my way to the bathroom, peeled off my clothes and climbed in for a cold shower. I rested one hand against the wall in front of me and hung my head, letting the cool water trail down my back. I felt like I had no control over my life anymore. There were so many things I was unsure of and had no clue how I was going to handle, but the one thing that I was certain about was Bella. I knew without a shadow of a doubt that I had to set things right with her. The thought of never getting a chance to simply sit and talk with her again made my stomach clench.
I finished up my shower, wrapped a towel around my waist and went back out into the living room to grab my phone. I scrolled down through the Bs until I found her name and hit the call button, not really having any clue what I was going to say to her in the off chance that she would actually pick up. It rang and rang and with each sound my heart beat a little faster. Finally on the fifth ring her voice mail picked up and I panicked, not knowing if I should leave a message or just hang up. Before having time to decide, I heard the beep telling me to start talking and I froze.
"Uh, hey Bella, um it's Edward, from the party. Yeah, look I really need to talk to you about what happened. I really need to explain myself. So…call me." And I hung up. Smooth Edward. I stumbled and stuttered through the entire message, sounding like a complete idiot. I hadn't even mentioned the fact that I'm not a stalker and I got her number from Alice. Or bother to give her my number. Hopefully it would pop up in her caller id, that was if she even cared enough to call back.
~ooo~
The rest of my week continued on, each day dragging by slower than the previous one had. I called Bella again on Wednesday, only to be greeted by her voice mail and her never returning my calls. This only made the week more painful. Why did I care so much? Why did I feel so compelled to set things right with Bella? Deep down I guess I knew the answer, but didn't really want to admit it to myself. I was hoping that I would explain things to Bella and then she and I would, I dunno, maybe start dating? It sounded insane even to me, but that magnetic pull I had to her couldn't be denied.
I asked Emmett and Alice if they knew what was going on. If she had mentioned the fact that I called or if she was just ignoring the situation altogether. They both told me that when they asked she pretty much refused to even talk about it. In fact, she hadn't even mentioned me again since that night at the party. What had I expected? Why would someone as perfect and amazing as Bella want to have anything to do with me? She deserved so much more. But that still didn't stop me. It was like I couldn't control my thoughts or actions when it came to Bella. So, Saturday night I made my way over to Alice and Bella's apartment. I took a few deep breaths before knocking on the door and raked my fingers through my hair.
"Oh! Hey, Edward. What are you doing here?" Alice greeted me. I swear, I had never seen someone so damn happy all the time.
"Hi, Alice. I was hoping that maybe I could talk with Bella." Not that I had the slightest clue as to where I would even begin.
"Actually she's at work right now."
Crap. How many signs from above did I need that I wasn't meant to talk to her?
"But, she's getting off soon. Did you wanna come in and wait for her to get home?"
I thought over Alice's offer and decided this was going to turn out really good or really bad, but at this point I had no other options. I followed Alice into the apartment and she gestured for me to have a seat. I sat on her sofa feeling awkward and out of place, fidgeting with my hands in my lap.
"Hey Alice?" I had to break the silence. "Can I ask you something?"
"Sure. What's up?" She bounced back into the room and sat in the chair opposite me.
"What makes you trust me so much? I mean, not that I'm complaining or anything, it's just that I'm used to girls sticking together and since Bella's been avoiding my calls I figured you wouldn't want to talk to me either."
She kicked off her shoes and tucked her legs up underneath her.
"Edward, I don't know what it is about you exactly, but I get a good feeling about you. Normally I can read people pretty easily and when you told me about what happened with Tanya at the party I believed you. Plus, I feel like maybe Bella could use a good guy in her life. Obviously it's up to her whether she listens to what you have to say or not, but it wouldn't sit right with me if I knew that I didn't at least try to help out a little."
I nodded my head, not really sure what to say. I wasn't exactly used to dealing with rational women. Alice and I made small talk for a few more minutes before hearing keys jingling outside the door. I heard the lock turn and the door swung open with Bella bursting inside. How could I have forgotten how gorgeous she was? Well of course I hadn't forgotten. I had been thinking about her every second of the damn day, but my memory could never do justice to the beauty standing in front of me. Bella froze in the door, her large brown eyes locked with mine. She looked back and forth between me and Alice and then back again, clearly trying to make sense of the situation before her. She quickly dropped her eyes from mine and made her way over to Alice who was now standing in silence in front of the chair.
"Hey Alice, can I talk to you for a second?" Not waiting for her response, Bella grabbed her by the arm and began dragging her down the hallway.
I could barely make out their muffled whispers. Clearly Bella was upset though. This wasn't looking so great for me. I finally heard Alice's voice rising just above a whisper saying, "Just let him explain. Trust me." And then their footsteps coming back towards the living room. Bella marched back up to the couch in front of me looking indignant.
"What are you doing here Edward?" she said in a small voice.
"Bella, look I know you probably think I'm crazy, but I just really need to talk to you. I have to explain myself." I was practically begging her now.
She stood there defiantly with her arms crossed over her chest and glanced over at Alice once again.
"Okay fine. Talk." She didn't sound too happy about it, but at least it was something.
"Well I was hoping that maybe we could talk in private? Go for a walk or something?" I must be out of my mind. I knew I was pushing it. I could see Alice nodding enthusiastically to her out of the corner of my eye.
Bella sighed heavily and started walking away again.
"Just let me change out of my work clothes and then we can talk," she called over her shoulder.
Yes! I don't know why this excited me so much, but I just knew if I could make Bella hear me out she would realize that I wasn't who she thought I was. That I would never, ever hurt her.
She emerged into the living room, once again making me catch my breath. Her long hair was pulled back into a low ponytail and she was wearing a simple t-shirt and jeans, but I was pretty certain she'd still look perfect even if she was wearing a garbage bag. She breezed past me and headed out the door. Alice gave me an encouraging smile and I took that as my cue to follow her. I finally caught up with her on the sidewalk in front of her building.
"Alright Edward what's your deal? You've called me and left me messages, got my brother and my roommate asking me about you …" she trailed off as she made her way down the sidewalk. I followed quietly beside her trying to collect my thoughts.
"Bella I wanted to talk to you about the party."
"What about it?" she said not meeting my eyes.
"About, about what you saw. I know you saw me kissing someone, but it's not what you think. It's not like that."
"Oh no? Well then please by all means tell me, what's it like?" she sounded angry, but when her chocolate eyes met mine I could see the hurt lingering behind them. Without giving me a chance to respond she started in again. "I'm not dumb Edward. You have a girlfriend. I get it. I know how it goes. You either got in a fight with her or didn't think she was going to show up to that party. You figured you'd play 'the good guy' saving me from Mike and hopefully end up with a one night stand and you lucked out. Your girlfriend didn't catch you. My question is why are you still trying so hard to get in my pants?"
Wow. I sure as hell wasn't expecting that. The hurt expression on her face was enough to make my own heart break.
"Bella, I told you, I'm not like that. I'm not trying to get in your pants!"
She quickened her pace, clearly pissed off.
"Then what the hell is this Edward?"
"I need to make things right." I was practically jogging now to catch up with her.
"Seriously Edward, it's not that big of a deal." She stepped off the curb into the street, circling back towards her building. Shit. I couldn't let her walk away without knowing the truth.
"It is a big deal Bella."
She didn't even look up at me. I ran and barely caught her by the arm before she headed back into her building.
"Did you hear what I said? It is a big deal."
"Why?" she glared up at me.
"Because that night at the party, talking with you I-I don't know, something happened. Something changed in me when we almost kissed. Something was there Bella, I felt it. And you could walk away from me right now, without knowing the truth, but I know you'd regret it."
"Oh really?" she scoffed. "What makes you so sure?"
"Because you felt something too." My heart was thudding in my ears, trying to force its way through my ribs.
She slowly turned back towards me and she was trying to hide the look of shock on her face. She made her way over to sit on the curb. "Okay. I'm listening."
Oh thank God. I couldn't remember the last time I had been so nervous. I took a deep breath and began telling her my story.
"Bella, that girl you saw me with at the party is Tanya and she's my ex-girlfriend. We dated for a few years and she eventually moved into my apartment with me. I thought I was in love, but looking back on the situation now I realize it was more infatuation than anything else. It was the idea of having someone. Of not being alone."
Bella sat in complete silence, listening intently.
"She used me, told me she was pregnant. I guess she thought maybe she could trap me. We had been fighting a lot and I had threatened to break up with her over and over. I couldn't take it anymore. I guess she knew that if she got pregnant I'd stay. I'd never abandon my responsibilities. Things were okay for a few weeks, but then I come home one day and she's crying. She told me she lost the baby. I couldn't believe it. I was in complete shock. After that things just got even worse. She was never home, constantly out getting trashed with her friends, barely making it to work most days. And I wanted out. I knew it wasn't fair to either one of us to stay in that relationship knowing I didn't love her, but I felt awful for even thinking that way after what she had been through." I paused, not wanting to relive the next part of my story.
"What happened?" Bella whispered softly.
"I came home one day and I was going through the mail and I noticed a bill addressed to her with my last name, as if we were a married couple. I was so confused as to who would be sending her something with the thought that she was my wife, so I opened it. It was a bill from an abortion clinic."
"What?" Bella's voice echoed off the building.
"Yea, she purposefully got pregnant, knowing I wouldn't leave and then once she thought I'd stick around, she went and had an abortion. She pretended we were married so she could put the charge from the clinic on my credit card." That last part made the bile rise up in the back of my throat.
"Oh my God," Bella muttered under her breath.
"So I made her leave. I told her I knew all about the abortion and I ended things."
"Wow. Edward I'm really, really sorry. I had no idea. But, I still don't understand what happened at Mike's party." Her body stiffened again with that realization.
"Well Tanya found me at the party, begged me to take her back and when I refused she said she'd prove to me that I still loved her and forced herself on me. That's what you walked in on."
She sat in silence for a minute, taking it all in before saying, "So, you really don't have a girlfriend?" she peeked up at me through her lashes. God, I would never get tired of looking at her. Even if I lived for a thousand years.
"No, I really don't have a girlfriend."
"So, why would you even come to a party that you knew your ex was coming to?"
Great. This was going to be the moment of truth.
"Bella, I had no idea Tanya was going to be there. The only reason I even went to that stupid party was because I was hoping I'd get to see you."
"You, you came to see me?" I could see a tiny smile starting to form on her full pink lips that I was dying to kiss.
"Yes. Mike invited me and he had told me that you were going to be there. After seeing you that first night in the coffee shop, I knew that I had to talk to you. I, I just wanted to be around you and Mike was saying some stuff about you that just really pissed me the hell off and I don't know why, but I feel very protective of you. The fact that Tanya showed up, well…" I trailed off not really sure what else to say.
"Hey, look, I'm really sorry for the way I acted. I should have given you a chance to explain yourself. I'm just kind of used to getting screwed over and it wasn't fair of me to assume you were lying and-"
"Bella, look at me." I cut her off before she could continue her apologies and I couldn't resist tucking a strand of hair behind her ear that was blowing in the breeze. She blushed at the contact of my hand on her cheek and I made a mental note that I would do whatever I could to bring that lovely color to her face as often as possible. Ho-ly shit. Did I really just say lovely?
"I don't blame you for getting upset, okay? You have no need to apologize. I'd probably have thought the same thing if I had been in your shoes."
She nodded and turned to start walking back towards her building.
"Well I'm glad you explained everything Edward and, again, I'm really sorry for jumping to conclusions.
We stood there staring at each other for God knows how long.
"So, I should probably get back inside. Alice is probably wondering what happened to me out here," she said, glancing at me and then back at the ground.
"Oh, yeah. Okay. Well have a good night Bella and thanks, you know, for letting me set things straight."
"Good night Edward." She offered me a small smile and continued to leave.
Shit! Was I going to let her go just like that? Hadn't the whole idea been that I come here and talk to her so that I could ask her out? Do it now Masen before she's gone and the moment passes.
"Hey Bella, wait a second," I called after her, she turned and finally met my eyes completely. I almost lost all brain function just at the sight of her.
"Have dinner with me. Tomorrow night." Way to go. Instead of being smooth and charming I had come across as an asshole, demanding that she go out with me. I cursed myself silently.
The familiar rose color filled her cheeks and she let out a little chuckle.
"I'd love to Edward. Pick me up at eight." And with that she turned on her heel and I watched her walk through the door.
~ooo~
I got next to no sleep that night, having dream after dream of being with Bella. In the last dream, the one that woke me up at one a.m. practically humping my pillow, I had Bella bent over the edge of my bed while I pounded into her from behind. I could practically hear the moans escaping her perfect mouth and feel her satin skin beneath mine before I jumped awake from my dream. I woke up extremely horny and guilty. I was guilty because I felt like Bella was different. She wasn't like any other girl I had dated or even met. She was more than a fling or a one night stand. Of course I still wanted to fuck her senseless one day, but I quickly realized that maybe I wanted it to mean more than just meaningless sex.
I lay in bed for hours after that just staring at my ceiling, deciding that on my date with Bella I was going to treat her how she truly deserved to be treated. Prove to her that not all men were assholes, take care of her. She already has me wrapped around her finger and she doesn't even know it. I am so screwed.
Soooooo, what'd ya think? The more I write, the more I realize E&B are going to have a very angsty relationship so I hope you all have patience! LOL