We hope you enjoy this chapter! Thanks to those who read and review.

Of course, sadly we own nothing, just the plot:)

Now, go read!

**

"I wanna be the one who walks you home

who walks you home tonight

stare into her eyes and then try to explain it

try to explain it away

but that shit just fucks you up

and I can never get close enough"

~Cherry Lane, by Ryan Adams

EPOV

After we pack everything up and have another drink with some of our regular fans, I drive Kate home. I feel bad that I haven't really gotten to spend time with her since before we started the set. "So how did you like the music?" I ask her.

"It was great! The rhythms, the lyrics...all great." Kate taps her fingernails against the arm rest. "That Bella's a lucky girl."

"Oh?" I ask, my eyebrows pulling together in confusion. Is she into Emmett? That would just make us the most perfect, pathetic pair.

"Yeah...to have those beautiful lyrics written about her by such a great guy."

"Oh!" I say. "Emmett doesn't write the lyrics. He helps out with the music, but I do most of the lyrics."

"Yeah, I figured that out." Kate smiles at me.

Oh. Fuck. "What are you getting at, Kate?"

"I saw the way you kept looking at her. You've got it pretty bad for her, don't you?" She's raising an eyebrow and smirking at me now.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I say, running my hand through my hair and scratching the back of my head.

"Come on, Edward. It's completely obvious. I saw the way you lit up when she walked in, and the look on your face the whole time you two were up at the bar together. You could hardly keep your eyes off her the whole time you were singing." Now she's looking at me with...I don't know, sympathy?

I pull the car to a stop in front of her house and stare at her for a minute before dropping my head to the steering wheel. "Shit. I'm sorry, Kate," I mumble.

Kate's hand is on my arm then. "It's okay," she says. "Does she know?"

I look up and sigh heavily, then shake my head no. "She loves Emmett. He's been a good friend for a long time..."

Kate's biting her lip while I study her face. She's contemplating something. It's kind of cute, and I grin at her. "You really are beautiful, Kate," I tell her honestly. "I'm sorry I'm so fucked up."

She shakes her head, and her tongue peeks out slightly to lick her lips. "Maybe--" She stops for a second, takes a deep breath, and starts again. "Maybe I can help you get over her."

I suck in a deep breath myself. I'm not sure what to say at first. "Kate, that wouldn't be fair to you--"

She raises a finger to my lips. "No, what wouldn't be fair is you not giving me a chance to help you forget about your...crush? I really like you, Edward."

I search her eyes and see nothing but sincerity there. I let my head loll back against the head rest. What can it hurt, really? Uh, her feelings, for one, when she realizes you can't think about anything but Bella.

"I sort of have a confession..." she says, and I turn my gaze back to her. "I--sort of asked your mom to introduce me to you."

"You did?"

She nods and looks a little self conscious. "Yeah, I went to a concert with Irina and Garrett a few weeks ago, and you were there singing with another band. I heard your name and asked my mom if you were Esme's son."

I automatically know which show she means. I sometimes sing harmonies for my friend Maggie's band. "So you knew a little about me before we met then..." I say.

"Yeah. Is that weird? I'm sorry..." she starts.

"No! No. I'm actually sort of...flattered." And I am. I wonder briefly if I should be angry that she's sort of lied by omission, but I'm not at all. I guess I've kind of done the same thing.

"You are?" she asks, blushing a little.

I grin bashfully at her. "Yeah."

"So...will you...will you give me a chance, then?" she asks quietly.

I search her pretty blue eyes again for a moment, and then I nod. "Yeah." I realize then that we've been unconsciously leaning closer and closer to one another.

"Edward?" she whispers.

"Hmm?"

"Would you kiss me?"

I swallow hard, my mouth feeling sort of dry now. I lean in even closer as I lick my lips. I'm taking it slow, clearing my head and taking in her flowery scent. When our lips touch, it's soft and sweet. I pull her bottom lip between mine, and she sighs gently. The kiss is brief, and I pull back minutely to look her in the eyes again. "You have to be patient with me, okay? I--I haven't even thought about anyone else for so long..."

Her right hand is on the side of my face then. "I understand. I just want a chance." She kisses me again, chastely, and her lips are smooth and warm, and they just feel...nice. I let myself relax a little bit. "Thank you, Edward. Good night."

"Good night, Kate," I murmur.

She steps out of the car and then leans down to say, "Call me?"

"Definitely," I say, nodding. She smiles and turns to walk to her front door. I watch her retreat, making sure she gets into the house okay before driving away.

It's with a smile that I drive back home, congratulating myself on only very briefly imagining Bella's lips on mine during that kiss.

****************

My phone rings at 9 o'clock the next morning, waking me from a dream in which Bella and I are sharing a batch of my mom's chocolate chip cookies before Nemo the clownfish jumps out of the water and snatches the cookies away. Except Nemo's actually the size of Shamu. And then Bella disappears into thin air.

Freud would have had a fucking field day with that one, I think as I squint at the display on my cell phone. Mom. Of course.

"Good morning, darling," she croons when I answer.

"Hey, Mom," I yawn, my voice thick with sleep.

"I hear you and Kate had a nice time last night."

I groan. "Yeah, we had a good time."

My mom giggles. Fucking giggles. "I can't tell you how happy I am that you asked her to dinner. Where did you go? Did you pick her up? Did she enjoy your show? How do your friends like her? And please tell me you were a gentleman, Edward."

"Whoa. Isn't it a little early in the morning for this, Mom?"

"Oh, dear, I'm sorry. Are you still sleeping?"

"No, it's fine. I need to get up anyway." I sigh. "Uh, I picked her up at her house. I didn't know she had a sister. Actually, why wasn't I aware that your friend Tanya had daughters in the first place?"

"Well, they've always had boyfriends," she says matter-of-factly.

"Oh...kay..." I decide to just drop it. "We went to Chai, my friends thought she was nice, she said she enjoyed the music, and of course I was a gentleman."

"Are you going to see her again?"

"Yes."

"Oh! When?"

I roll my eyes. I'm fairly certain she's flipping through bridal magazines at this point. "I'm not sure. I said I'd call her."

Mom giggles again. "And was there a good night kiss?"

I scoff at that. "Mom--"

"I'm just kidding, Edward."

"Good, because I wasn't going to confirm or deny that one."

"Are you coming for dinner tomorrow?" she asks.

"Of course. It's Sunday, isn't it?"

Alice and I meet at Mom and Dad's every Sunday evening to catch up and have dinner. Alice brings Jasper along, since we're all pretty sure he'll be an official member of the family one day soon, and the five of us enjoy a nice evening to close out the weekend.

"Okay then! I'll see you tomorrow, darling. Have a good day," Mom says.

I tell her to enjoy her Saturday, and then it's quiet again in my small apartment. I have no plans today, and I wonder briefly if I should call Kate and see if she wants to do something. Is it too soon, though? I think it might be. I'm sort of rusty when it comes to this dating thing. Bella's the only girl I've lusted after for the past year, so I obviously haven't been interested in impressing any other girls. It's made for a lot of solo time, if you catch my drift.

And now that I'm thinking of Bella, my morning wood pops up to say a proper "hello". Great.

I wonder what she's doing today. Is Emmett taking care of her? Is he taking her out to do fun things like most couples do on Saturdays? Then I'm suddenly thinking of her beautiful smile, the soft looks she gave me last night when we were alone at the bar, the way she leaned her head on my arm, the way her eyes fluttered closed when I tucked the stray hair behind her ear.

I imagine her eyes closing at the feel of my lips instead of just my fingertips on her face. I wonder what it would feel like to brush my lips against the soft skin of her jaw, trailing them back behind her ear and placing an open-mouthed kiss there while she shivers. Then the Bella in my mind is kissing me passionately, pressing herself against me. Her hand, instead of my own, slips into my tented boxers and grasps the steely length, pumping slowly up and down, her palm covering the head and sliding back down my shaft. Her lips trail down my body, leaving tingling sensations in their wake. She places a soft kiss on the head of my cock, and the moment I imagine her lips wrapping around me, I groan loudly, fisting my other hand in the sheets and throwing my head back as my hand/Bella's lips and tongue stroke me into oblivion. The tension builds in my belly, coiling like a spring and burning low like kindling, and I open my eyes and picture her deep, brown eyes staring up at me, her hair tumbling around my upper legs and hips, brushing softly against my tightened sac. I explode then, whispering her name into the quiet room as I pump hard and fast, shooting streams of warm liquid that I wish were filling her up instead of making a mess on my stomach and sheets.

When it's over, I drop my head back onto the pillows roughly, catching my breath and slowly stroking my softening cock to calm myself. I want that so badly. I want her. And if I'm being honest, I want everything with her. I want to be her boyfriend, take care of her, make her feel good, love her. I want to marry her and support her and hold her every night while we sleep. The whole shebang.

This level of obsession is ridiculous. I can't keep thinking about her like this. One day, I'm going to slip up and say something or touch her inappropriately, and Emmett will kill me, and Bella won't want to be around me anymore.

That is something I simply cannot have. Bella is my friend, first and foremost, and that is enough. For now.

BPOV

The hardest part of the night is surely yet to come. It's not me being in bed with Emmett and not having any kind of contact. It's the falling asleep part, not dreaming, the wanting and needing Edward part. I close my eyes and silently beg sleep to come, but of course my mind has other plans. My mind has his lyrics stuck on repeat. I want to believe that those lyrics mean something to me, that they were penned for me, only me, and not Kate.

I have nothing against her. I don't even really know her, so I can't really judge her. I have no reason to feel jealous. I can't explain it. The only thing I come up with is that she's with the man that makes my heart flutter, breath stop, and words escape me. She has the one thing that I want most yet most certainly can't have. That fact alone shouldn't hurt me, but it does. The truth always hurts the most, especially when we don't want to hear it, want nothing at all to do with it.

Maybe it's that realization alone that makes me even more scared. The fact that I'll never deserve him, never get to have him. He has a girlfriend. Surely he'll never want me. Anyway, I have Emmett. But does Emmett want me?

I roll over, facing away from Emmett. I don't want to look at him snoring and dreaming while I think of another man. It makes my chest hurt, like a dull knife twisting in my heart, until I can't take the pain anymore. Surely, deep down I know I deserve this pain and guilt for even thinking this way, but I can't help thinking that maybe I deserve something better, someone made for me, just for me.

The covers come over my shoulders as I wrap them around me tighter. I glance at the clock. Two in the morning. I force my eyes closed. I try counting sheep, anything. Sleep never comes.

I'm haunted by the bronze hair and green eyes. His lips that move so slowly when he talks. The way he says my name, or even a simple yes or no. It feels so right yet wrong at the same time, imagining those same lips burning a trail up and down my body. Marking a path of where they have been and where they will go. Where I want them to go.

This is so wrong of me, I think as I begin to push the sheets off myself. It looks like another night of no sleep. My legs swing over the side of the bed just as I feel Emmett's arm snake around my waist.

"Rose," he whispers softly.

Rose? Roses? He's dreaming about flowers?

His arms begin to pull me closer, so close to the point that we're spooning. He kisses the top of my head, and I listen to him exhale and inhale deeply. I run my fingers down his arm slowly around his fingers and slowly begin to move his arms from around my waist.

"Bella?"

Is he awake now? "Yeah, Em?"

"Why are you trying to move my arm and get out of bed?"

Because, Em. I can't sleep. I can't stop thinking of your best friend. I can't be here.

I turn over to face him. I lick my lips and let my eyes close, and then look up to the ceiling. "I just can't seem to sleep lately, Em. I'm so tired, but I just can't relax." I sigh deeply and hope my eyes don't betray me.

Instead, I feel his lips press against mine. My eyes close, and I allow myself to fall into the kiss, allowing my lips to move with his. The kiss is purposeful, slow, deep. It's how I have wanted him to kiss me for so long. But now I want nothing more than to be kissing Edward this way. My stomach flips at this thought.

Emmett places his hand on my left shoulder, pushing me onto my back. His fingers brush my hair out of my face carefully as he kisses me, letting his tongue trace my bottom lip as he moves on top of me. He hovers over me, holding his weight on his elbows.

"So, will you allow me to make up for earlier? The shower, and every other time I fucked up this last week?"

Could I really tell him no? My breath hitches in my throat as I stare up at him. His eyes are pools of lust, half closed. I watch his tongue slowly come out to lick his lips. He wants me. In this moment, I won't say no. I will allow myself to feel something, anything. If anything is left there at all.

My lips find his jawline, and I kiss my way up, nibbling lightly as I go. I reach his ear, sucking on the soft skin there. I trail my lips down his neck, where I bite him harder than usual. I know he loves it when I do that. I hear him whimper when I remove my lips from his neck.

I look up at him, and his eyes are boring into mine as he runs his fingers painstakingly slowly down my ribcage. His thumb moves up under my shirt, brushing across my skin. I bite my lip, closing my eyes, breathing in and out slowly.

I will give in tonight. I want nothing more than to forget and get lost in Emmett. He wants me, and I want to melt with him completely.

"Just take my shirt off, Em. You're torturing me."

And there's that cocky smile of his that I need to see. I wrap my arms around his neck, pulling him closer. My lips find his, and I kiss him deeply, running my tongue along his bottom lip. He parts his lips, opening up for me. He tastes sweet, familiar, but not entirely home to me like he used to. Our tongues meet, and my stomach begins to flutter.

My shirt is thrown to the floor as he kisses and nibbles his way down my neck to my collarbone, sucking right below the hollow of my neck, right where he knows I like it. I moan softly, closing my eyes. I trail my fingers down his back, letting my finger trace his spine.

"Bella, that wasn't at all fair."

I look innocently up at him, playfully batting my eyelashes. "What, Emmett? I didn't do anything that you know you didn't like. Now, I believe you have something to attend to." I push up against him, feeling how hard he is under his shorts, and he hisses at the contact.

"Again with the teasing," he growls.

"Just kiss me and do what you planned to do. I really do plan to get some sleep," I say playfully as I spread my legs, allowing him to come closer.

"You really don't like to play fair, do you?"

"Nope," I say, popping the p louder than usual.

His fingers find their way down my waist to the top of my pajama pants. "These, Bella, must come off now."

I lift my hips, allowing him full access to pull them off. "And these too." He winks at me as he slides my underwear off as well.

"Something is wrong with this, Em. You have way too much clothing on, and that is just not fair. Now who's not playing by the rules?"

"Bella, baby, when do I ever play by the rules?"

I yank on his boxers, pulling them down as I kiss his soft but slightly chapped lips, biting as I do so. I feel him rub up against me, teasing me. I whimper in reaction.

His lips move down lower, across my shoulder, down my arm, then across my chest. His lips skim across my now erect nipple, making me moan softly and push up against him, which in turn elicits a soft moan from him. I know I have him right where I need him now.

The warmth of his mouth on my right nipple as he sucks and licks only drives me higher in my bliss. I whimper when he moves his lips and begins to kiss his way down my body. His tongue circles my belly button before he continues on, placing open-mouthed kisses across my hips and down my legs, completely bypassing the one place I want him the most. My breath hitches, and I close my eyes as his lips lightly skim over my clit, but he moves quickly over to my other leg, where he places more kisses. Yes, he's teasing. God, such a damn tease.

Emmett's fingers glide up my legs until he reaches my middle. Slowly, he runs his thumb across my clit, then down into my folds, not deep, just enough to tease. And God, does it feel good. I watch his eyes devour my body, moving down to my center. He licks his lips, and I stop breathing, anticipating what happens next. His tongue moves up my wet center, teasing my folds up to my clit. A moan escapes me, and I bite my lip.

He continues licking, sucking, gently grazing his teeth across my delicate, wet skin. I whimper as I feel two fingers slowly make their way inside me, softly toying with me, pumping in and out. When my legs start to tremble, he removes his fingers.

"Not yet, baby."

Those warm, soft lips of his make their way up to mine again, and I can taste myself, my wetness on his lips. I lick his bottom lip and slip my tongue into his mouth, kissing him deeply. His hands go to my waist, gripping tightly as he pushes into me. We both moan, eyes closed.

The further he pushes in, the louder we moan. He feels so deep. This should be home for you, Bells. It should feel like home. I kiss him as he starts to slowly thrust in and out. I feel myself getting wetter with each deep thrust.

"Mmmh..God, Ed--" Oh, God. "Emmett, feels so, gah, mmh...good."

The pace picks up, and I push up against him with each thrust, meeting him each and every time. Our breaths quicken, becoming shorter and more urgent.

"Bella, mmm... God, I don't think--"

"Em, just fuck me."

He shakes his head vigorously as he starts to thrust faster, harder. His lips find their way to my nipples again, sucking, flicking his tongue across them as he pushes into me.

The tightness in my stomach begins to give way, and I know it won't be much longer. Emmett spreads my legs further apart, bending my knees at his sides as he pounds into me, our moans betraying us and becoming louder. I feel him twitch. He's close too.

"Let go, Em."

I push up against him hard as he comes back down to thrust again. His eyes roll back as he lets out a deep, throaty moan.

With the last thrust, I lose it, lose control and just let go. My moans fill the room as my orgasm rips through me. My legs go limp. Emmett thrusts into me again, and he shudders against me, grunting, moaning as his orgasm washes over his body.

"Oh, Ro-- Bella, God! Unh...so good."

He collapses against me, our breaths becoming slower as we both come down. He kisses me as he remains quiet, rolling over to his side once again. I get out of bed to clean myself up and get dressed again.

I make my way back to the bed, not wanting my heart or mind to betray me right now. Right now I just need sleep. That's all I want. No complications, no thinking, no second guessing anything. Nothing but the darkness staying until the light.

My alarm startles me awake. Some newscaster's boring voice blares through the radio. I turn over to face Emmett's side. It's empty. Grabbing my robe, I make my way to the bathroom, turning on the shower and stepping in. The warmth of the water wakes me up slowly but surely.

I get dressed for the day, going about my regular routine. Just as I'm stepping out the door, the house phone rings. I go back to the counter and pick it up.

"Hello?"

"Uh..." I'd know that voice anywhere. He's hesitating. "Hey, Bella, is, um, Emmett there?"

"No. Sorry, Edward, he just left not too long ago."

"Oh, I just needed to talk to him. I tried his cell, but it went straight to voicemail. I hope you don't mind me calling so early."

"Not at all-- don't be silly."

We say our goodbyes, and I hang up the phone. I take a deep breath in, grab my keys, and head out the door.

I instantly miss his silky, smooth voice. I regret instantly hanging up the phone when I really wanted to talk to him more, to hear his voice more.

For now, I will take what I can get, even if it's hardly anything at all.

**

Let us know what you think of this! We always want to know what you, the readers are thinking. Any theories?

Thanks again for reading!