Chapter Three - A Trash Can's Trash Can

"Okay you said that when we got home you'd explain everything. So spill Swan! Now!" Sylvia practically attacked me the moment she had locked the door and spun around to face me.

"Why don't we change into our pajamas first? I'll make dinner and explain everything while I do." I promised with a gentle voice, raising my hands to her as if I was surrendering - which I was.

"Alright. But I'm already mad at you for not mention him earlier." Sylvia stuck out her lower lip in mock sadness and trudged off to her room.

I went to my room and took off my jeans and slipped into my sweatpants. After re-doing my ponytail, I emerged and went straight to the kitchen to start making dinner. Although I had changed at near lightning speed, Sylvia was sitting at the counter waiting for me in her frilly nightgown.

"And start talking three…two…go." She pointed at me meaningfully.

"What sounds good?" I asked, opening the fridge and looking around.

"Oh come on Swan. That's not what I meant. You could heat up some garbage from the dumpster outside and I wouldn't care as long as you told me about Edward being at the library."

"Edward." I murmured low enough for only my ears. I closed my eyes and put his face with the name. It fit like a glove.

"Hello? Earth to Bella." Sylvia said loudly.

"Sorry I was just thinking." I opened a drawer and pulled out the head of lettuce. "Is salad okay?"

The look on Sylvia's face was enough.

"Okay, okay. I was sitting behind the front desk with Suzanne talking about my family and…other things…when she had to leave for a meeting-"

"Whoa, whoa. Don't think I didn't catch that Swan. I guess you have another story to tell later. Over popcorn." Sylvia leaned forward over the counter, her eyes shining like a little kid on Christmas. "So Suzanne left for a meeting. Then what?"

"Then I was about to get back to work when…when this insanely beautiful man walked into the library." I absentmindedly reached out for a knife after pulling open a drawer. "And-"

"Bella…that's a can opener." Sylvia said with a giggle, pointing to my hand.

I looked down to see that I was trying to cut through the head of lettuce with a can opener. The blood rushed to my face as I hurriedly put it back in the drawer and pulled out a knife instead.

"Maybe I should wait to continue the story until I'm done cutting." I mumbled.

"I think that's a good idea." Sylvia leaned back in her stool, her hands gripping the counter. She looked up at the ceiling and sighed. "Oh Edward Cullen. I swear…that man is the best looking guy on this planet."

"I've never seen another man that looks like him." I agreed, cutting through the lettuce. I put the knife down and gathered up all of the sections to wash in the sink. "I mean…he's practically a statue that leapt to life. His skin is so pale and perfect, all I could think of was marble."

"What was he wearing?" Sylvia asked slightly breathless.

"A coat and a pair of jeans."

"That's too bad." When I turned to look at her she held up her hand. "I'm sure he looked like a model in that outfit, there's no denying that. But I've seen him in a short sleeve, white T-shirt and…wow. That man has some guns."

"Yeah. When I ran into him I figured he was pretty muscular underneath his coat." I turned and saw that Sylvia's mouth was wide open and her eyes were practically popping out of her head. "What?"

"You said he was at the library. You didn't say that you ran into him! What are you waiting for? You're not using any sharp objects right now." Her sentences ran together but I figured she wanted me to tell her about running into Edward.

"I was putting books away and was so busy thinking about how good he looked that I ran right into him."

When I thought about it, I began to blush again.

"Oh my god. Did you two speak?"

"I tried to but I was unsuccessful." I said sheepishly. I rummaged through cupboards until I found a box of croutons. "He said all but two words to me before he was out the door."

"What did he say?"

"He told me I should be more careful and then…" My voice trailed off as I thought about the incident with our skin touching. I hadn't noticed how many croutons I had shaken into the bowl of lettuce until Sylvia's voice interrupted my train of thought.

"Then what?"

"I don't know. It was weird. He had picked up my books and was handing them back to me and our hands touched. When they did, he kind of freaked out and backed away. And when he did he said he was sorry. And then he was gone." I shrugged.

"Wow." Sylvia came into the kitchen and started getting out bowls and forks while I picked out a salad dressing from the fridge.

"It was all really intense."

Even to me, my voice sounded far away. It was with Edward.

We ate dinner on the couch while we watched a movie, but I didn't even remember which one we had watched. I couldn't stop thinking about Edward for the life of me. I would see the color gray or feel a breeze coming from the fan and my mind would flash back to his coat or the coldness of his skin.

After the movie, Sylvia demanded to hear about whatever I had talked with Suzanne about. I ended up telling her about Jacob and showed her the picture. She had pretty much had the same reaction as Suzanne, but then we had both agreed that he wasn't in Edward's league.

We talked until ten. But then I had to go to sleep so that I could be ready for work in the morning. I was working my first full day and had to be awake and alert. Eight to ten was a long day.

But even after I had fallen onto the air mattress, my thoughts had drifted back to Edward. Even after I closed my eyes, I could see his face in my mind: his round chin, his square jaw, his topaz colored eyes, his full lips…

The screen on my phone displayed the time as one fifteen before I finally drifted off to sleep.

Although I was tired from being up late, I jumped right up when my alarm went off. I couldn't help but thinking that Edward might come back to the library.

I rushed through my shower, and cut myself shaving multiple times. After blow drying my hair, I went through the same rigorous process of brushing through it. But after I was done, I left it alone.

I brushed my teeth twice that morning. I wanted to make sure that my breath was fresh and that my teeth were clean. And I decided to wear my contacts again.

I dashed back into my room to change and then was out the door without getting anything to eat or leaving a note for Sylvia.

When I got to the library, I was winded and I could tell that my cheeks were rosy.

"What happened to you?" Barney asked concernedly.

"Oh nothing. I just wanted to get here early today." I said, breathing heavily.

"It's only seven thirty. You don't have to be here for another half hour." Barney said with a laugh.

"I know. I figured I'd take advantage of that donuts and coffee thing. Do you want anything?"

"If you want you can bring me a coffee."

"Sure thing." I smiled and walked past him, still trying to regain my breath.

"Bella? What are you doing here so early?" Suzanne asked, appearing with a coffee and a donut from the lounge.

"I wanted to get one of those donuts."

"Well help yourself." She said, looking puzzled as I walked past her and into the lounge.

I selected the first donut I saw and filled one of the little Styrofoam cups with coffee for Barney. I also grabbed a few packets of sugar just in case before heading back to the doors.

"I didn't know if you took sugar." I said, handing him his coffee and showing him the handful of packets.

"I think I'm the only old man that doesn't drink black coffee." He smiled and took the packets from my palm.

When I got back inside I went up to the front desk and handed Suzanne my purse.

"Bella are you sure you didn't come in early for another reason? Is something wrong?" She asked, dropping my purse to the ground without taking her eyes from mine.

"No. Everything's fine." I smiled and looked over at the rack. "Did another group of students have a study group last night?"

"Yes." She answered after a moment.

For the first half of the day, I spent it trying to busy myself to keep myself calm. I ran from level to level with stacks of books, brought coffee out to Barney, and even went out to get everybody lunch.

But after lunch, I lost hope that Edward was coming back. I wondered if I had freaked him out by staring and then by running into him and fumbling with words like a complete idiot.

Sure enough, ten rolled around and he hadn't shown up. I had to admit that I was disappointed. I was more than disappointed. I was crushed. And I knew how pathetic I was for being that upset that I hadn't seen Edward, a complete stranger that I had seen only twice.

When I got home, Sylvia was waiting to hear if I had seen him. She was disappointed that he hadn't come in either.

The next day was Saturday. I wasn't scheduled to work that weekend. I was worried that I was going to waste my weekend thinking about Edward, but then Charlie called to say that he wasn't too far from the apartment.

I went downstairs and waited excitedly for Charlie. He pulled up in a medium sized moving truck a few minutes after he had called.

"Dad!" I called as he opened his door and jumped down.

"Bells." He enveloped me in a bear hug, which surprised me. He had hugged me before, but never so fiercely. I welcomed it happily and hugged him back.

"It's good to see you." I said after we pulled away from each other.

"I've missed you at home." He replied with a big smile.

"You've missed my cooking."

"Well yeah…but I've missed just knowing that you were upstairs too." Charlie admitted quietly.

"I've missed you too dad."

"Well what do you say we start unpacking this truck so that I can take it to the nearest parking garage?"

I knew that Charlie probably felt awkward being so sentimental and so I humored him and went to the truck to help him unpack. I took boxes while Charlie carried up pieces of my bed and small pieces of furniture.

When Sylvia saw us come in, she helped me with boxes after I had introduced her to Charlie. With her help, we got done unloading the truck in a little under an hour.

"There's a third bedroom right next to mine. We're putting the air mattress that I've been sleeping on in there for you." I told Charlie when he returned from putting the truck into the parking garage.

"This apartment is really nice Bells. You got lucky." He replied, looking around at the living room and the kitchen/dining area.

"I know. We even have a washer and drier. They're in a closet in the hall." I showed him where they were and he was very impressed.

"Well I'll set up your bed-"

"No. You're tired. Go take a nap and then when you wake up I'll make dinner while you set up the bed." I insisted, pointing him in the direction of his room.

"Okay Bells. I'll see you later." He gave me a kiss on the head before disappearing into his bedroom.

While he napped, Sylvia and I unpacked my boxes.

"Geez Swan you weren't joking about having more books than clothing. I haven't run into a box of clothes yet, but this is the third box of books." Sylvia said as she started pulling out books and stacking them up against the wall.

"Well at least I warned you." I started filling the small bookshelf, which I had positioned in the corner next to the closet.

"Your dad seems really nice Bella." Sylvia said with a smile.

"He is. I missed him, but I didn't realize how much until I saw him pull up."

"I know what you mean. I miss my family all the time but when I hear my mom's voice on the phone, that's when it hits me the hardest." Sylvia emptied the box and flattened it out to put with the others.

"Are you going home for Thanksgiving?" I asked after a few moments.

"Nah. My parents are going on a second honeymoon around that time, so there won't be anyone home. I'm just gonna stay here."

I could hear the sadness in her voice.

"You know what you should do?" I asked, starting on the second shelf.

"Hmm?"

"You should come home with me."

"What?" Sylvia turned around from the box filled with my winter clothes.

"Yeah. I'm flying home to Forks for break and staying with my dad. My mom's flying in for two days to see me. You should come with me."

"Really?" She asked, the ghost of a smile tugging at her lips.

"Really. In fact, I was planning on booking my flight next week before prices get too high. I'll book two seats."

"Oh Bella…" Sylvia got up and came over to where I was kneeling. She threw her arms around me. "Thank you so much. That would mean a lot to me."

"You don't have to thank me. You've done a lot for me since I've been here."

"I'm really glad we were in the same group at that stupid orientation." Sylvia laughed as she pulled away. "Sorry for getting all heartfelt."

"That's okay." I smiled up at her.

We spent the rest of the afternoon unpacking and putting things away. After everything was in place, except for the pieces of my bed stacked in a corner, Sylvia went to shower and I went to start dinner.

I realized that we were running out of things again, and so I wrote a message for Charlie and Sylvia saying that I'd gone to the grocery store.

After grabbing my purse I was out the door and locked it behind me before heading down the stairs.

I walked to the grocery store, thinking about everything that had happened. It seemed like a whirlwind had spun into my life. I had graduated high school, moved out of Charlie's house and out of state, got a full-time job, and was starting school soon. It was hard to believe that a few months ago I was sitting at the lunch table at Forks High School with Angela, Mike, Tyler, Lauren, Eric and Ben.

I made it to the grocery store and took my time choosing things. It was hard to shop when you knew you could only get enough to fill two bags. I opened one of the doors to the refrigerated case and pulled out a carton of milk and put it into my basket.

After I had made my rounds and picked out the essentials, I got in line for the checkout. As I was standing in line, a headline across the front of a newspaper caught my eye. It read: Real Life Superhero In New York City?

I leaned in and scanned through the story. Apparently, there had been two different incidents in one night where an unidentified person had saved two different women from being taken advantage of. There were no witnesses besides the women, and they hadn't seen their hero's face.

"Ahem?"

I looked up to see that it was my turn. I quickly went up to the cashier and unloaded my basket.

When I left the store, I started walking back towards the apartment when I saw someone walking a yard or two ahead of me that made me stop dead in my tracks. I nearly dropped my bags when I realized that it was Edward.

I was surprised that I wasn't putting holes into the back of his head by the way that I was staring. I couldn't help it. I was frozen to the spot.

But after a moment, I watched Edward stiffen. And then he slowly began to turn around in my direction. This time, I was able to snap myself into action a little bit quicker and I was already walking and looking down at my feet. I didn't dare to look up and see if he was looking at me.

After a moment of walking, I got a little braver and slowly lifted my eyes from the sidewalk. To my dismay, Edward was nowhere in sight. I frowned, and my shoulders sank. I walked the rest of the way home looking at the ground.

When I got home, I heard Charlie working on my bed and Sylvia was nowhere in sight. I was glad that neither of them were in the living room or kitchen/dining area. I knew it was probably pretty clear on my face that I was upset about something.

I made spaghetti and cut up a loaf of bread for dinner. I sat on a stool at the table since there were only two chairs.

"So Bells, Jacob has been asking about you." Charlie said casually.

"Oh yeah? How's he doing?" I asked, pushing my pile of spaghetti around on my plate. I shoved my fist harder into my cheek and my elbow slid across the glass tabletop.

"He's doing alright…but he misses you a lot."

"I miss him and the other La Push guys too." I threw in that last part, not only because it was true, but also because I didn't want to hear Charlie talk about Jacob.

Charlie was convinced that Jacob and I belonged together. He had done just about everything to get us together. I felt like sometimes, he and Jacob conspired together. It was always annoying.

"I heard all about Jacob. I saw his picture too." Sylvia said, a naughty edge to her tone. "You should have brought him with you."

"I almost did. But he had already promised his buddies that he would go with them on one last camping trip before school starts."

"That's too bad. I would have liked to have met him." Sylvia kicked my foot underneath the table. "What's up Bella? Not hungry?"

"Not really." I answered, looking up at her. She gave me a concerned look.

"Are you sick honey?" Charlie asked, looking concerned too.

"No, just not hungry. I think I'm still adjusting to the time difference and stuff." I stood up and pushed my chair in before grabbing my plate. "Do you guys mind if I go take a shower?"

"Nope." Sylvia shook her head.

"Go ahead. Just come out to the living room when you're finished. Sylvia and I were going through the movies earlier and picked out one to watch."

Charlie still looked concerned but he didn't press the issue. That was why we got along. My mom would have interrogated me until I broke.

"I will."

I had just gotten into my bedroom when my phone vibrated. I pulled it out and flipped it open to see that I had gotten a text from Sylvia.

are you ok? you looked super bummed

I quickly typed out a response before tossing my phone onto my bed.

maybe we can talk later

I collected my towel, which I had unpacked, and my pajamas and went into the bathroom. While I let the water heat up, I looked at myself in the mirror.

I wondered if the reason that Edward was acting the way he was, was because of the way I looked. I had never thought I was ugly, but I didn't think that I was particularly striking either. But next to Edward, I probably looked like something that you would find in a trash can. In fact, I probably looked like something you would find in a trash can's trash can.

I got in the shower and took my time trying to relax. I made myself a promise - to not think about Edward for the rest of the weekend. Charlie was leaving Monday afternoon and I didn't want to spend the next two days moping.

After I showered and put on my pajamas, I joined Charlie and Sylvia in the living room with a smile on my face.

On Sunday, Sylvia and I showed Charlie around Greenwich Village and we even took a taxi across the Brooklyn Bridge. It was a good time and it was nice spending time with Charlie before he had to leave.

Monday morning, Charlie was up and ready to come into work with me. He was planning on spending the morning with me and leaving at noon.

"Hey Barney." I said as I approached the doors. "This is my dad, Charlie Swan."

"It's good to meet you." Barney said, shaking Charlie's hand. "You've got yourself a great girl here."

"Well thanks. She's not too bad." Charlie gave me a smile.

"Barney do you need anything?" I asked.

"Nah. Go on in with your dad. I'm sure Suzanne will want to meet him." He waved us away with a smile.

Suzanne was sitting behind the front desk when Charlie and I walked in. She looked up and her face brightened considerably when she saw that I wasn't alone.

"You must be Charlie. Bella's told me a lot about you." Suzanne said as she approached, hand extended, wearing a very warm smile.

"I hope only good things." Charlie looked sideways at me as he shook Suzanne's hand.

"Of course."

"Dad do you want a coffee or a donut or anything?" I asked after they stopped shaking hands.

"Uh…sure Bells."

"That's an adorable nickname." Suzanne looked at me as I moved towards the lounge. "Should I start calling you that?"

"No thanks."

The rest of the morning Suzanne, Charlie, and I sat in the lounge and talked. Charlie filled me in on what had been going on in Forks (Mike and Jessica had broken up once again and Sue Clearwater had started dating) and Suzanne brought up Jacob. Of course Charlie was thrilled that Suzanne seemed to be on the same page as him.

"I just don't understand. That boy has been your best friend through so much." Charlie said, looking at me. He then turned to Suzanne. "Did she tell you about when she almost killed herself cliff diving?"

"What?" Suzanne's eyes widened and she turned to look at me.

"Dad it wasn't even as big of a deal as-"

"Bella got it in her head one year to do particularly stupid things. She had Jacob fix up some motorcycles for her and they both went riding. She ended up with a huge gash on her head.

And then she decided to go cliff diving - without anyone else going with her. She would have drowned if it hadn't have been for Jacob. He happened to be around the area and saw her jump. He went into the water after her and saved her life."

"That's so romantic." Suzanne sighed.

"It was stupid." Charlie looked over at me with a serious look on his face. "I think she learned her lesson after she was grounded for a couple of months."

"Yeah. I sure did." I mumbled, looking at the wall above Suzanne's and Charlie's heads.

"You should tell Jacob to come for a visit during…Thanksgiving maybe?" Suzanne looked over at me and then back at Charlie.

"Actually, Bells is coming home for Thanksgiving."

"Speaking of which, I invited Sylvia to fly back with me too. Is that alright?" I asked, hopefully changing the subject.

"Sure. She seems like a really nice girl." Charlie nodded with a smile.

After that, Jacob didn't get brought up again.

Noon rolled around quickly and Charlie said goodbye to both Suzanne and Barney. Suzanne even suggested that the next time he came for a visit, they should go to dinner. Charlie had blushed.

I walked with Charlie to the parking garage.

"It was good seeing you dad. Thank you for bringing my stuff." I said as we reached the entrance.

"It wasn't a problem Bells."

"Call me when you stop for the night okay?"

"I will."

Charlie gave me a hug. It wasn't the same kind of hug from Saturday. He held onto me like he didn't want to let go, but then he was already pulling away from me after a few seconds.

"Take care of yourself honey." He told me, the serious look from earlier that day reappearing. "Don't do anything that'll get you into trouble. Be smart and be safe."

"I will dad."

"I love you Bells."

"I love you too dad. Have a safe drive."

I stood outside the garage while Charlie went in and got the truck. I stood and waved as he pulled out and disappeared around the corner.