Ch 4 – Brothers in arms

I walked to my next class on a high. Rose and Alice would be so proud, however I could never tell them about the effect he had on me. They wouldn't understand and Rose might want me to swap with her and go for Emmett, truth be told I couldn't wait to spend more time with Edward.

As I walked into my Calc class I saw that Emmett was in this class.

"Yo Bella!" He boomed from the back of the room, I smiled and waved and he motioned for me to sit next to him. As I sat I noticed Jessica coming in the door and her eyes shot straight to Emmett, she saw me sitting next to him, sighed and took the seat up the front. I didn't have anything against Jessica, just the company she keeps.

"How was Bio little one?" There was something about Emmett that screamed big brother. Immediately I felt very comfortable around him and very safe, I think that has to do with how big he is. He would have to stand at least 6ft 5 tall, has a very broad frame much like a wrestler or footballer. If it wasn't for his baby face and bright blue eyes he would look quiet menacing.

"Good thanks Em, what did you have just then?" A huge grin lit up his face, he was actually a great looking guy, very rugged, just Rose's type.

"I had gym with your mate Rose, that woman will be the death of me."

"So I am guess that you two are getting along like a house on fire."

"I tell you what, she is trying her hardest to resist my charm but just you wait, she will crumble, they always do." I couldn't help but laugh at how he and Rose were not just similar they are the same person.

"So you've got your eye on young Rosalie then."

"Both eyes, little one, both eyes."

"So Master Cullen, what are your intentions with my bestest dearest friend?" I put on my most regal voice.

"Strictly honourable, Ma'am." Emmett had a huge smirk on his face, if he truly were like Rose then his intentions would be anything but honourable.

"Wait Em, I heard a rumour that you and" I used my eyebrow to gesture towards Jessica."…were you know a thang"

"Ah little B, I am Emmett Cullen, I don't do thangs. Im here for a good time and not a long time. Plus it would be a disservice to the women of the world if I selfishly gave myself to one woman. Sharing is caring Bella." I burst into laughter as did Emmett.

"In all seriousness, that was just fun you know, a holiday thing, nothing meaningful or serious." I nodded. "Anyway how was your class with my man Eddie?"

"Fine, a double doing nothing is always great"

"Touché little woman, touché"

"Hey Em, Did you and Rose happen to get paired together for the CS project?"

"Yeah we did as a matter of fact."

"I thought as much" god Alice is amazing!

"Whys that?" mmm…do I tell him the truth, I really liked Emmett a lot, I could definitely see us being great friends so I had better not lie, I'll just warp the truth slightly.

"See the thing with Alice is that she thinks she is superstar matchmaker, and when I got partnered with Edward I assumed that it was Alice's doing and hearing that you and Rose are too, confirms it." Emmett didn't say anything for a little while instead he just sat deep in thought nodding his head. I watched him, it was comical his face gave away his thoughts, he would be terrible at poker.

"So Al wants me to hook in with the Ice Queen hey?" I laughed "And I can totally see you and Edward!"

"Pardon me?"

"You heard me home girl, I can totally see you and Edward bumping uglies." I burst out laughing which drew looks from the whole class including the teacher.

"Why is that exactly?"

"Well you are his type, I can tell that your smart and he digs that shit, and I saw the way he was looking at you at your locker, I can tell you have him intrigued. Unlike that Lauren bird, he was trying all summer to get away from her, but she was like a hawk stalking her prey." As I listened to Em ramble I decided that I would never tell him a secret because he leaks info like there's tomorrow, and it also felt awesome that he thought I was good enough for his brother.

Em and I chatted about various things during the class, sport, his old school, Alice and of course Rosalie. The more I found out about Emmett the more my affection for him grew. He was like an awesome older brother. He and Rose would be perfect for each other if they could just get over their egos.

The bell rang and I headed to my next class. This was uneventful and I found myself watching the clock waiting for lunch and an opportunity to see Edward again. I knew that the way I was starting to think about him was going to cloud my judgement and ability to complete my dare, the problem was when I was with him I couldn't care less about any dares or bets. I just wanted to be near him.

The bell rang breaking me from my reverie, I walked to my locker and saw a very peculiar sight. Leaning against my locker in a Calvin Klein modelesk way was Edward. I had to take a deep breathe to calm myself down. How I would love to be greeted by that everyday. Stop it Bella!

"Edward, everything ok?"

"Hi Bella, everything's fine." He was looking at me so naturally as if standing at my locker for no particular reason was something he did every day. I wanted to ask him why he was here, but I didn't want him to think that I didn't want him here. I took a step toward my locker, he made no movement. What is going on here? I slowly took another step forward, still no movement. I stupidly looked up into Edwards eyes, he was staring at me with such an inquisitive look, almost like he was studying me. Suddenly I was pushed in the back by a passing student and this caused me to fall forward my body crushing into Edwards. Two strong hands wrapped around me clutching me safely against his chest. Being this close to Edward I could feel every muscle in his chest.

"You ok Bella?" I attempted to take a step back so that I could look up into his face but Edwards grip didn't falter.

"Im fine, sorry about that, freakin small children and not respecting their elders."

"No problems, I'm just glad you didn't hurt yourself." Still neither of us moved. I wanted to rest my head against his chest but thought that might have been pushing the boundaries a little.

"You two need get a room." Emmett's voice boomed from behind me, my face was instantly a vibrant red in colour. Edward loosened his grip on me and moved aside so that I could get to my locker, as I opened my locker I didn't fail to notice that while we were no longer touching Edward still stood very close to me as he spoke to Emmett. I put my books away, took another swig of my now beloved bottle and turned to face the boys.

"Hey Bella, how was your last class?"

"Lit my favourite, how was yours Em?"

"Boring without you little one." All three of us laughed as we started to move toward the cafeteria. Emmett reached his arm out and put it around my shoulders. It was more of a protective gesture than anything else. We entered the cafeteria and I saw Al and Rose across the room, both were looking at me with raised eyebrows. I gathered my food and headed toward our table, it wasn't until I sat down that I had realised that the boys were still following me. I hadn't expected them to sit with us I would have thought that they would have sat with Lauren and Jess.

The boys sat down, Em in between Rose and I and Edward opposite me next to Alice. We sat talking jovially with Emmett making as all giggle at his stories. I could see Lauren and Jessica making their way towards us.

"Bitches incoming." Rose sneered as she noticed the girls. Edward turned to see Lauren and looked immediately uncomfortable.

"Hi Eddie" Lauren said as she put her hand on Edwards shoulder.

"Lauren, Jessica."

"Eddie, I was wondering if you're not doing anything tonight, would you like to go out for dinner?" Lauren asked as she shot me a smug look.

"Sorry Lauren, but I already made plans with Bella tonight." Rose shot me a 'really" look accompanied by a smirk.

"What?" Lauren screeched. She looked straight at me, giving me a death stare. I looked across at Edward and he smiled softly at me.

"Bella and I have plans for tonight. We are organising our CS and then having dinner together." I was unaware that Edward would want to have dinner with me tonight, a smile immediately formed on my lips.

"Oh ok, so you're only seeing her because of the project now I understand. I'll see you in english Edward" I felt Emmett's hand on my knee and he squeezed it letting me know to be calm. Lauren turned went back to her table. I was a little upset that Edward didn't disagree with her. Edward was staring down at his food and avoided eye contact with me. Was he only seeing me because of the project? His actions earlier would say differently but now I wasn't so sure.

The group went back to talking with Em and Rose constantly having a go at each other. Edward didn't say anything for the rest of lunch. He just sat staring into oblivion.

The last two classes went by in a blur. I wasn't looking as forward to seeing Edward after what happened at lunch. I walked slowly to my locker trying to delay as much as possible. Again Edward was leaning against my locker however this time he didn't look as relaxed.

"Hi Edward, everything alright?"

"Everything's fine." He seemed so distracted. Maybe I would offer for us to do this another time. "You ready to go? I want to get out of here." His tone was far cooler than earlier.

"Sure" I quickly got my bag and followed Edward to his car. There was a strange vibe in the car.

"Edward, maybe we should do this some other time." Edward looked at me with confusion on his face.

"Why?" There was almost a sense of defeat in his voice

"Well, its just that…you…umm…you seem a little distracted." Edward thought about what I said for quiet a while, so long in fact that I thought that maybe he didn't hear me.

"I guess you might be right, actually I wouldn't mind getting this organised but then would it be ok if we just went home afterwards?" I knew it, I knew he didn't want to have dinner with me after the Lauren confrontation.

"Of course, Edward that's fine." I did my best to disguise the hurt in my voice. I sat in his car thinking about why I cared so much. Was he not just a bet, a dare that I was determined to complete because of the hurt it would cause? Maybe I should be more objective from now on, not let my feelings get involved. I had become very good at that over the summer under the guise of Rose.

The school was delighted to have us help as I knew they would be. Edward and I barely spoke as we started to drive home. This was not going to plan, he was supposed to be falling for me not pulling further away. I knew I would be pathetic at this, as if I could make someone fall in love with me, I'm not Rose after all. I was too lost in my thought to realise where we were going and suddenly the car came to a stop at Alice's house.

"Edward, my car isn't here. I'm sorry but would you be able to take me home?" Edward looked at me with confusion on his face.

"Oh, umm…ok. Actually I was hoping that we could have dinner here, its just I can't be bothered going out, but if you would rather me take you home that's fine."

"No, I would love to have dinner here, earlier when you said that you wanted to go home after the school I thought you meant that you wanted me to go to my home." Slightly relieved I got out of the car and walked into Alice's place. The house was quiet and empty which was unusual considering that Emmett also now lived here.

"Where is everyone?"

"Em has training and Alice is working on her CS project with Jasper, so it's just you and me."

I walked into the living room and laid down on the couch, Edward put his things in his room. "Would you like something to drink?"

"Water would be great thanks." Edward came back from the kitchen carrying two glasses of water which he placed on the coffee table. He then lifted my feet and sat on the couch next to me, he rested my feet on his lap and then took off my shoes. I stared at him noticing how natural this seemed.

"Edward can I ask you something?"

"Sure Bella, you can ask me anything"

"What happened today?"

"What do you mean?"

"Today at lunch, something happened and you seemed to change, you were different somehow, and then after school you seemed so far away. Did I do something to upset you?" Edward's eyes board into mine. He was looking for something, searching the depth of my soul and there was nothing I could do about it. I couldn't get him to stop because I couldn't tear my eyes away from his.

"No Bella, you didn't do anything to upset me, it was something I did." He took his hand and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He then turned and looked back at me, "Bella, I do need to explain my behaviour today, I'm just not sure that it is going to come out right, but ill try anyway." Subconsciously Edwards hand was now holding my foot and is thumb was tracing pattens on the top.

"You see Bella, over the summer, I got pretty close with Lauren, she was great to me and showed me around town, I didn't have any feelings for her but I think she did for me and I think that she is under the impression that there is more going on with her and I than there is. I have to be respectful to Lauren because she has been nothing but nice to me." This man is the closest thing to perfection I have ever known.

"Edward, I want you to know I respect what you and Lauren have and would never mean to cause issues for the two of you." I smiled at Edward and then sat up removing my feet from Edwards lap. I thought I saw a glimpse of disappointment shoot across his face but that was quickly replaced by a kind smile.

"What do you feel like for dinner?"