Whoohoo, here's another chapter. It took a while for me to update because I've had a lot of crap going on. I dumped my boyfriend and after the fact I found out some very interesting information that made me glad I did break up with him (because before I actually felt bad) and yeah. What does one do with old stuff given to you by old boyfriends. I keep jewelry but what about Valentines day stuff? I figured throwing it out would be slightly rude... but honestly, what do I do with it? And yeah, there's been other crap like planning our cruise over spring break and shopping. But since I've gone and gotten myself grounded for getting a 62 on a math test that 20 freakin 7 people failed! (obviously it was a teacher error, not a student one)

Well, here's the story!

"What do you want?" I asked in a hard voice to hide my unease.

"I was hoping that well…" He trailed off and looked down at the floor.

Seconds passed and I found the butterflies in my stomach moving around at alarming rate while the anticipation grew. "Spit it out already, Edward." I spat.

He looked up and his eyes met mine. The nervousness was reflected back at me. Was Edward really nervous too? "Would you like to go out with me?"

I felt my jaw drop. That was unexpected. Couldn't he see that I hated him? "I… Uhm… Listen, Edward… I just… no… I'm sorry."

I ran out the door quickly, trying to escape that unbelievably sad expression on his face. It was heartbreaking, but there was no way it was real. I doubted that there was one inch of him that cared for the girls he hurt when he was through with them. I wasn't going to be one of those girls.

"Bella," Emmett addressed me in a disapproving tone. "Sodas?"

"Oh," I sighed. "Right, sorry. I'll just go get them now…" I inched off back towards the room unhappily.

Edward was sitting down at the counter with his face in his hands. I don't think he heard me until I opened fridge which caused him to jump. He looked like he was almost ready to cry.

"Soda," I explained, holding up the 2liter can.

"Oh," He said lamely before going back to putting his face in his hands.

I hesitated a few seconds before I realized he wasn't going to say anything and walked towards the door.

"Bella," Edward called as my hand just touched the door knob.

"Yes?" I answered quietly.

"Why?" He asked, sounding muffled by his face in his hands.

"Why what?" I played dumb. I knew exactly.

"You know why." He pulled his head up with a scowl on his pretty face.

"Edward, I don't want to be one of those girls- the ones you date without knowing, use them, and dump them. I don't trust you and I still don't like you. A disturbed childhood is one hard thing to forget." I explained, feeling like myself again. I have no clue why I was actually feeling sorry for Edward Cullen earlier, the Edward Cullen who ruined my self esteem as a child and uses girls…

"Bella, you won't be! I swear it. This is different… I can feel it." Edward spoke heartily.

I just rolled my eyes. He sure was a charmer. And that would be my downfall. "Words are words. I want proof that this is different. I want to be one hundred percent positive before I even consider doing this." I saw his face fall when I mentioned only considering it. "That's right… as of now, it isn't a possibility. Work your ass off, and you might have a chance. Until then, you're still the same girl-using boy who ruined my childhood- what is supposed to be the best memories of your life."

And with that I walked out of the room with the soda with me and a proud smile on my face. I certainly knew how to silence a man. The only regrets I had were for feeling sympathy and getting nervous to talk to him. After all, he was only a boy- a very gorgeous one, but a boy who breaks hearts.

EPOV:

I watched Bella walk out of the room with a shrew smile on beautiful face. Clearly she was proud of herself for what she'd come up with and leaving a hell of a lot for me to think about.

Clearly Bella was very hard to impress or change the mind of. It reminded me of Pride and Prejudice when Darcy was saying how his fault was that his once his good opinion of you was lost, it was lost forever. Maybe that was how Bella thought of things. And if that truly was the case, I really was going to have to work my ass off.

I sat at the kitchen counter and put my head down onto the smooth counter tops and repeatedly bashed my head quietly. How does someone impress someone as un-impressible as Bella enough to make her not hate you anymore?

I ran through ideas in my head for a while once I'd stopped banging my head against the counter. I'm pretty sure there was still a red mark where I'd been resting/banging my head against the table.

"Dude, what's wrong with you?" I heard Emmett's booming laughter come from the doorway.

I groaned but didn't lift my head as my arms hung limply to my sides.

"Yeah, you look like you're dead." Jasper agreed, also laughing at my misery.

"Well, you missed the whole movie so it's time to take your sorry butt home!" Then I was thrown over Emmett's shoulder and towed to the car. All the while I was beating on his shoulders with my fists and telling him to put me down. Somewhere between the kitchen and the car we had passed the girls, who were all laughing at me as well. At least I could take pride in knowing that I brought a smile to Bella's face in one way or another.

When we were in the car again I was bombarded with questions. 'What's wrong with you?' 'What the hell happened to your head?' 'Did you ask her out?' 'What'd she say?' 'Dude, your forehead is read. What'd you do?' 'Hah, did Bella hit you in the head with a rolling pin?' 'Are you sick or something?'

"Enough!" I finally yelled. They were giving me a headache. "I'll tell you everything that happened if you two would just… shut up!"

They both immediately quieted and gave me a look, encouraging me to go on.

"Well," I took a deep breath and began. "So, I went in there and asked Bella if she wanted to go out with me and she said no and that I'd have to work for it and show her that I was really committed and she wasn't just going to be one of those girls who I 'use and dump without a care for their feelings.' Ugh," I groaned.

Emmett just laughed. "Can't blame the girl, though- you do have a lot of those. But, damn, Alice and Rosalie are rubbing off on her big time. I remember when Rose did that to me."

"You bet I do. They almost have to be cautious when it comes to dating. It's too bad we chose the smart girls, the ones who know to make sure they knew what they're getting themselves into. Bella is no different then them, if not more guarded. You've got quiet the reputation for using girls, there, Edward." Jasper put in.

I just sighed. "I'm not going to hurt her. I can't explain it…" I mused aloud. "It's strange. I just want to kiss her, hold her… But the idea of someone else doing that… it makes me… angry…" I was suddenly furious at the thought of anyone else touching her.

"That doesn't sound too much like some award winning speak to make her fall in love with you." Emmett sounded a bit disappointed in my words.

"No, no," I quickly corrected. "It's more then that. She's just different. She makes me have to think thoroughly to answer her questions and the more she asks the more I want to answer. I love talking to her, despite her confusing manner of asking questions and the way she dances around my questions or counter-questioning me instead of answering them. She's clever and cunning, she's book smart, she's beautiful… she may not exactly be the kindest person if she doesn't like you but I can tell she has a good heart. She just drives me wild…" I finished, smiling brightly as I thought about her.

"Wow, she's got you smiling like an idiot for no reason." Jasper noted with a small smile of his own.

"Oh, I was so right! She's already got you whipped!" Emmett hollered jovially as we pulled into the driveway.

"And Rosalie doesn't have you whipped?" I countered.

It was strange how I felt almost happy about being whipped. It was exciting to feel this way about someone for a change. This was a different feeling then when I knew I was going to get what I wanted from a girl right away, with Bella I had to work for her heart- unlike the many girls at our school who would openly admit to having an obsession with me. And I wanted more from Bella then the physical stuff. I wanted to be able to hold her for hours and talk to her about every little thing that runs through that complex brain of hers and dissect her complicated ways of thinking until I can read her like a book.

"Like a dog, man," Emmett announced, breaking me out of my thoughts.

"Good Lord, I think he's in love." Jasper cried, probably meaning it.

I wouldn't doubt him at the moment. This was better then Mellissa Devry, way better!

BPOV:

"Okay," Alice spoke up as soon as the boys left. Alice and Rosalie turned to me on the bean bag where I'd been sitting for the past hour with a blank expression on my face as we watched movies. "What the hell happened in there with Edward?"

"Well, he asked me out..." I trailed off as I waited for their screaming to ensure.

Sure enough, two loud squeals echoed through the living room and I hid my face. "Oh my gosh, what did you say?!" Alice shrieked.

When I didn't answer both her and Rose grabbed my hands and pulled them away from my face. "Well," Rosalie demanded.

"No," I sighed.

"You said no?" Rosalie cried and Alice let out a frustrated groan as I nodded.

"Details, I want all the details." Alice peered at me intently.

"Well, I was getting the soda and I turned around and he was right there. And I mean right there. I backed up and I said 'yes'. And then he said 'I need to talk to you.' Then he didn't say anything. Then I said 'What do you want?' in a not very nice way. And then he stuttered before finally saying 'Would you like to go out with me?' And then I stuttered and then finally told him no. Then I left but forgot the soda so I went back in and he looked sad and it made me feel bad but he wouldn't say anything until I was about to leave. And then he asked why and then I played dumb but then I told him that I didn't want to be one of those girls and he told me I wouldn't be and then I told him he's going to have to work his ass off." I surmised.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Alice cried. "You're killing me, Bella! I need more details. What exactly did he say?"

"He swore that it was different, that he could 'feel it.'" I quoted his words sarcastically. Feel it, my ass. Hah, that doesn't sound right.

"Bella, I think he could be serious about his…" Alice warned.

"Seriously," Rose agreed. "I've never seen him so out of it for a girl, go so out of his way. I mean he was sitting in the kitchen for at least an hour."

Alice nodded. "But this will only work if you give him a chance, Bella." Alice informed me. "He has all the potential to be a good boyfriend- if you show him how, he'll get it. Momma didn't raise no fool." Alice added in a 'gangster' voice.

I chuckled. "Get a life, Alice."

She glared at me but quickly moved on to ask me another question. "So, do you like Edward?" I opened my mouth to point out my childhood hatred but she added, "Excluding your stupid vendetta against him."

I huffed. "It's not stupid, Alice."

She rolled her eyes at me. "You didn't answer the question."

I growled in frustration. "He's unbelievably gorgeous." I finally admitted.

"But do you like him?" Rosalie asked.

I shook my head. "He's a man whore."

They both giggled. "Well, what if he changed? I can already see you have an affect on him. So what if… What if he was all for you- deeply and madly in love with you?" Alice spoke hypothetically.

"If he gets like that then I'll let you know." I grinned at their frustrated faces.

I wasn't in the mood to talk about my non-existent love life with their testosterone-fueled brother. No, I wanted to watch graphic horror movies until I was about ready to throw up they were that disgusting. I needed distraction so I would stop replaying the conversation in my head or picturing what things would be like if Edward really did devote himself to me. Something told me it'd be very, very nice.

"Well, someone's grouchy!" Alice retorted unhappily as she crossed her arms and glared at the TV.

"I'm sorry," I apologized sincerely. "I just really don't want to talk about it. It has me stressed and I just need to stop thinking about it before I get a stress pimple or something equally as disgusting."

Alice nodded, pacified. "Don't worry, girl. Rosalie and I went through the same thing when we were first 'passing judgment.'"

Rosalie agreed. "Yeah, so stressful- but if Edward is anything like Emmett or Jasper- which he is- you'll have no trouble whipping him into shape."

"Ugh," I groaned. "No offense, but I don't want to be doing and whipping of your brother in any form. Can we please talk about something else?"

They both laughed with a roll of their eyes. "You are so over-dramatic, Bella."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," I fell back on the beanbag and closed my eyes while pinching the bridge of my nose, a reaction to stress.

"Come on, we'll put on a nice horror movie for you." I felt the beanbag shift as Alice got up and picked out several movies. Once the first once got started I sat up and paid strict attention to it. After several others, Alice and Rosalie had fallen asleep on the beanbag and I was bored.

I got up and took a stroll around their house. It felt somewhat nosey but I had nothing better to do. I wasn't sure if it was a reaction to the scary movies or what but I felt that same presence as before as I looked out the windows and quickly sped up until I passed it. What was it about Forks that freaked me out so much? I never got scared over movies in New York. Then again, New York wasn't as good of a place to shoot a horror as this small, tree covered town.

I heard the boards creak behind me and my whole body tensed. I froze in place and waited until I heard the creaking pass. Someone was up. I took several deep calming breaths as I told myself it's just Alice or Rosalie. I followed the noise in an effort to calm myself down.

The noise turned into the kitchen and I followed the person into their quietly. It certainly didn't sound like Rose or Alice. The footsteps were much too heavy. The lights were suddenly switched on and I saw Emmett standing there in the kitchen. I gasped at the surprise and the person turned around.

"Holy shit, Bella!" Emmett roared as he put a hand to his heart. "Are you trying to give me a fucking heart attack?!"

I laughed slightly hysterically. That scared me so bad! "No, sorry. I heard someone in the hall as was checking who it was." He nodded and opened the fridge. "Why are you here?"

"What does it look like I'm here for? Food, duh," He answered for himself.

"Don't they have food where you guys were staying?" I asked.

"Not my favorite midnight snack- marshmallows with peanut butter. His parent's thought they had marshmallows but they didn't so I had to come all the way back over here." He pouted.

I shook my head at him with a slight chuckle. "You're insane." I told him.

He took a seat at the kitchen counter and patted the seat next to him. I sat down immediately and watched him eat his disgusting snack. "Don't knock it 'till you try it." I gave him an 'are you kidding me?' look and he just grinned. "Seriously, Bella, this is some good stuff."

He dipped another one into the peanut butter and handed it to me. I eyed it doubtfully before putting it in my mouth. I pretended to gag and he looked shocked. I smiled and shook my head. "It's good." I attempted to say through my marshmallow filled mouth but it came out like mush.

Emmett laughed heartily. "Wait, it's good right?"

I nodded as I tried to swallow the puffy, sticky food. Once I finally had it down I took a long gulp of the glass of water he was drinking. "Yeah, but I'm never having it again. That thing is so hard to swallow."

"That's what she said!" Emmett cried.

"Ha, I'll admit- I set myself up for that one." I hung my head. I was usually so good at not saying anything that could be taken in a perverted way.

"Hell yeah, you did!" He laughed but quickly calmed down. "So, what are you doing up so late? Alice and Rose are asleep and from the look of it they'd been out for a while."

"I couldn't sleep." I offered vaguely and tried to shake off that eerie feeling that seemed to have taken over my subconscious again.

He scoffed. "Thoughts of a certain bronze haired boy running through your imagination too much to let you sleep..."

"No!" I defended immediately. He shook his head. "Maybe…" He gave me a look. "Fine, yes, I've been thinking about it."

"And…" He coaxed.

"I'm still not going to date him. He's not getting off the hook that easy. My brains just been given too much to think about at once and I need time to think through it all, is all. I have a bad tendency to overanalyze every little thing." I admitted.

"Edward too- we were playing Halo but Jasper and I ended up killing him so bad that he just left and went out for a jog to clear his head."

I nodded and stored that information in my head for future study. It seemed we had a lot of the same habits.

"He really likes you, you know." Emmett offered after a while of silence.

I cocked my head to the side. "Oh, really," I asked in a disbelieving tone with a hint of sarcasm.

He nodded enthusiastically. "You should have heard him in the car, going on about how different you are, how you make him think, how he loves talking to you, how clever and cunning and smart and beautiful you are. Oh, let's not forget about how you drive him wild."

I tried to hide the smile on my face but failed miserably.

"Look, you do like him!" Emmett cried.

I quickly snapped out of it. "I do not! I'm flattered, is all. No second hand compliment is going to make me like him. Nope, no way- I want him to tell me himself about everything I make him feel and I want it romantic, not in an 'Oh, baby, you make me so hot. Let's bang.' Sort of way. I want more then that too. I'm going to push him to his very limits to test him." I grinned at the thought.

"You might just end up being worse then Rose. And let me tell you, she was pretty bad." Emmett laughed. "But I think Edward needs it. He's as bad as I was about hooking up with a pretty girl." He must have seen the murderous look in my eyes because he quickly amended. "But don't worry. It didn't take long for Rose to break me in. And you've already got Edward hooked."

I just nodded and continued to stare at the kitchen sink faucet.

"Really, Bella, you don't have anything to worry about. He's already falling under your spell and this one's unbreakable. Edward gets addicted for life."

"I get it. I'm just thinking." I told him so maybe he'd leave me alone to my thoughts. Gee, thanks, Emmett, for giving me another hours worth of information to think about. I thought sarcastically.

He looked at the clock on the wall and stood up. "I better get back so I'm not one of the walking dead tomorrow. I'll catch up with you later." I nodded and he gave me a quick hug- which was more of a strangle hold. "You should try and get some sleep too, Bells." He called as he headed out.

I decided to make myself a pot of coffee and pull an all-nighter so I could get all my thinking done and then sleep all day tomorrow.

Heh, so basically I have decided that I will not update any of my stories (and I have all new chapters for every single one of them ready to go AND a new story ready to post!) unless this one recieves over 90 reviews, Fallen From Grace recieves 52, and Bring Me Down recieves 505. Heh, so have fun. I will not budge on this. So review if you want to know how any of these stories go:)