Singing Softly Chapter 4, a twilight fanfic

Hey guys, so sorry for the long wait. I won't keep you from Edward though so enjoy. SM owns all things Twilight, I just like to have fun with the characters.

I am a bundle of fucking nerves. Tay has supplied me with a bottle of Jack and I've had maybe three shots so far, but it's doing nothing to calm the butterflies in my stomach. Of course this is typical for me when I am singing at Requiems and no matter how many times I do this, the butterflies always come to the party making me want to spew out my stomach contents all over the floor and possibly Demetri's Gucci shoes.

"You're on in five Bells." Tanya has poked her head in at least 20 times in the last five minutes to make sure I was okay. It was a little odd, not gonna lie, usually she comes in to check on me only a handful of times. It occurs to me that she may have something up her sleeve tonight, but the butterflies make their presence known again and I have to take a sip of water to push them down.

"Thanks Tay." She offers me a half smile before she backs out of the door. Yeah, something is definitely up with her. I take another shot and pray that this one calms me down so I can get out there and sing my new stuff. The new songs are so personal to me and I really want people to like it. I take another swig of water and take a deep breath. Out in the bar I can hear a lot of people talking and steel myself for what I'm about to do.

"Please welcome Bella Swan to the stage." With my guitar strap on my shoulder I go up to the stage. The lights are bright in my eyes and I can't see who is sitting out there, but I feel a slight buzzing. I brush it off and blame the Jack I downed in the back.

"Hi everyone. I've written some new pieces that I want to try out on you guys. I hope you enjoy it." I immediately start with Hey Stephen, the song I wrote for Edward. I am so glad that he isn't here or I would never have the guts to sing this song. A bunch of strangers that don't know him or me make me feel safe, which will help me get through this. The buzzing feeling is still there but again I brush it off. There is absolutely no way that he could know anything about me singing here.

Hey Stephen, I know looks can be deceiving
But I know I saw a light in you
And as we walked we were talking
I didn't say half the things I wanted to

Of all the girls tossing rocks at your window
I'll be the one waiting there even when it's cold
Hey Stephen, boy, you might have me believing
I don't always have to be alone

'Cause I can't help it if you look like an angel
Can't help it if I wanna kiss you in the rain so
Come feel this magic I've been feeling since I met you
Can't help it if there's no one else
Mmm, I can't help myself

Hey Stephen, I've been holding back this feeling
So I got some things to say to you
I've seen it all, so I thought
But I never seen nobody shine the way you do

The way you walk, way you talk, way you say my name
It's beautiful, wonderful, don't you ever change
Hey Stephen, why are people always leaving?
I think you and I should stay the same

They're dimming the street lights, you're perfect for me
Why aren't you here tonight?
I'm waiting alone now, so come on and come out
And pull me near and shine, shine, shine

Hey Stephen, I could give you fifty reasons
Why I should be the one you choose
All those other girls, well, they're beautiful
But would they write a song for you?

I can't help it if you look like an angel
Can't help it if I wanna kiss you in the rain so
Come feel this magic I've been feeling since I met you
Can't help it if there's no one else
Mmm, I can't help myself

If you look like an angel
Can't help it if I wanna kiss you in the rain so
Come feel this magic I've been feeling since I met you
Can't help it if there's no one else
Mmm, I can't help myself

Myself
Can't help myself
I can't help myself

The crowd in the club erupted in applause and I felt my blush rising. There was a loud clapping and whistling right in front of me and that's when I heard it. I was officially going to kill Tanya. She's the only one who could have done this and she was going to pay for it. Ignoring the voices that I knew were right in front of me I start strumming the guitar to go into the next song.

"Thank you! This next song is for Jamie."

I took a chance, I took a shot
And you might think I'm bulletproof but I'm not
You took a swing, I took it hard
And down here from the ground, I see who you are

I'm sick and tired of your attitude
I'm feeling like I don't know you
You tell me that you love me then you cut me down

And I need you like a heartbeat
But you know you got a mean streak
Makes me run for cover when you're around

And here's to you and your temper
Yes, I remember what you said last night
And I know that you see what you're doing to me
Tell me, why?

You could write a book on how
To ruin someone's perfect day
Well, I get so confused and frustrated
Forget what I'm trying to say, oh

I'm sick and tired of your reasons
I got no one to believe in
You tell me that you want me, then push me around

And I need you like a heartbeat
But you know you got a mean streak
Makes me run for cover when you're around

Here's to you and your temper
Yes, I remember what you said last night
And I know that you see what you're doing to me
Tell me, why?

Why do you have to make me feel small
So you can feel whole inside?
Why do you have to put down my dreams
So you're the only thing on my mind?

I'm sick and tired of your attitude
I'm feeling like I don't know you
You tell me that you want me then cut me down

I'm sick and tired of your reasons
I've got no one to believe in
You ask me for my love then you push me around

Here's to you and your temper
Yes, I remember what you said last night
And I know that you see what you're doing to me
Tell me, why? Why? Tell me, why?

I take a step back, let you go
I told you I'm not bulletproof
Now you know

Clapping came from all around me and suddenly Tanya was up on stage with me.

"Bella will be right back after a short break." Tanya said into the microphone, her hand on my forearm practically dragging me off the stage.

"What the hell Tay?" I was mad, livid even. How could she invite him here? When did she have time? When did she even talk to him? She must have seen him as he was leaving my place last night or when he was on his way up, but then why wouldn't he have told me when we were out that he met Tay and she invited him to the club? UGH! She's just standing there staring at me not saying anything. I want to slap her. "Why the fuck did you invite Jasper tonight? You had no right Tay."

"Bella, listen. Yes I invited him and I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but I thought it would make you happy. He's hot by the way." I rolled my eyes and continued glaring at her, willing the answers to come from her mouth. "I can see you're pissed. I'm sorry, I really am, but you should have seen the look on his face when you were singing, he was so happy and I don't know…proud of you. It's adorable. And holy shit Bella, his friends are fucking gorgeous. If I wasn't married and happy at that I would totally jump that bronze haired god that's with him." What? SHIT! No, no, no, no, no, no. He cannot be here. If he heard the first song I sang, he'd know it was for him. Kill. ME. NOOOWWWWW!

"Tay, FUCK! Are you telling me that Edward is here?" She looked at me in confusion. "Edward, the bronze haired god. SHIT!" I was practically screaming, no scratch that I was screaming. I wouldn't be surprised if the whole club could hear me.

"Are you fucking kidding me Bella? That perfect piece of man meat is Edward? THE Edward? This is classic. Wait until I tell Demetri. Oh God Jacob is going to have a field day with this one."

"Don't you dare tell Jacob! I'll never hear the end of it." I paced waiting for some kind of solution to avoid my current situation, but thought of nothing, except pretending I was sick and just going home, but Tanya was standing right here and she knew I wasn't sick. Worse than that she'd make a damn scene if I even tried to get out of singing anymore. "What the hell am I going to do? I can't just go back out there now Tanya. I am completely mortified."

"Oh stop being overdramatic. Everything is going to be fine Bell. Just go out there and sing your heart out." Tanya was always the optimist. Yeah like I can just go back out there and sing when Jasper, Emmett and…GOD! Edward is out there. I'm in hell. No really, a black hole could just open up below my feet and suck me in and that would be better than this.

"Everything alright back here?" I heard the familiar voice of my best friend and thought I was dreaming. Yes, this is all just one bad dream, but my best friend is here. I turned in the direction of her voice and squealed.

"ROSALIE!" I ran to her and gave her a big hug. She laughed at my enthusiasm and hugged me back. "What are you doing here?"

"Well I had an interview and Tay called me to let me know you were singing tonight so here I am."

"Wait, back up. You had an interview? HERE? Are you moving here?" She nodded and we both started squealing. There may have been some jumping up and down too. Having Rose here took all the panic from my current situation away momentarily.

"Bell, you need to go back out there." Tanya said from behind me. I turned and gave her a level glare. "Oh stop with the dramatics already. Everything will be fine. Suck it up and go back out there."

"What's going on?" Rosalie looked utterly confused, of course she did, she had no idea what was going on, so I told her. "Oh good lord Bella. What have you gotten yourself into?"

"I didn't invite them here" I turned and pointed to Tanya, "she did! She did this to me, after I agreed to do her a favor."

"Okay, here's what we're going to do. Tay, you go out there and stall for a little bit while I get B's nerves under control. Bella, where's the Jack?" I looked at her with wide eyes and my mouth agape. "Stop pretending you're insulted and go get it." I closed my mouth, nodded and went to get the bottle. When I returned to Rose Tanya was gone and I could hear her talking to the crowd, stalling just as she was told to do. "Good. Okay, take a gulp Bella. Now this isn't so bad. Tanya says those men out there are hot, so good for you having all three of them on their knees for you. Don't roll your eyes at me missy. So the plan is for you to go back out there and sing your little heart out, come back here when you're done, where I will be waiting for you and we will make our escape back to your place. This way you don't have to face the three of them yet. Now that Hey Stephen song, I'm assuming that was about…"

"Edward." I took another big gulp of Jack and it was finally starting to work on me. I needed to stop drinking or I'd be a sloppy mess on stage and I wasn't in the mood for any further humiliation tonight.

"Right. The one you aren't actually dating. Holy Hell Bells how did you get yourself into this mess? How many times have I told you that it's fine to play the field but you don't date friends at the same time. That's just asking for trouble." Rose reprimanded. It wasn't as if dating Emmett and Jasper at the same time was causing any issues, it was my feelings toward Edward that caused me to panic and the fact that he's out there and that he heard the song, his song. SHIT!

"You sound just like Paul."

"I knew I always liked that boy! Hot piece of ass that one is. Ah well. Okay, go back out there and we'll get out of here as fast as our legs can carry us when you're done. K?" I handed her the bottle and gave one quick nod before going back up on stage. The crowd clapped as I made my way to the piano and started playing Follow Through by Gavin Degraw. I didn't feel like playing any more of my own stuff, with the guys out there I just felt so naked singing my stuff in front of them so I played what felt right. Two more songs later and I stood up to uproarious applause. I felt good, it could have been the Jack, but I think it was the crowd, they were amazing. I didn't bother waiting for Tanya to come up to the stage, I just got up and ran to where I knew Rose would be, the sight before me when I got to her stopped me dead in my tracks though. There stood Rose, with Emmett leaning into her, they looked intimate. I felt a pang of jealousy because he had just been out with me a couple of days ago and we were supposed to be going out again on Friday on a real date and now here he was hanging on my best friend.

"Uh UM!" They broke apart and at least they had the decency to look guilty. "Emmett, what are you doing back here?"

"Hey Belly. Great show babe." He walked over and pulled me into one of his bear hugs. "So, um. Look I just came back here to see if you were alright after whatever that was earlier. I found Rosie here watching you and we got to talking. Did you know that she's an engineer?"

"Um, yeah, I did know that, she is my best friend after all."

"Oh, right. Okay, well I know Jazz is eager to get back here to you, so I'll just…" He turned away from me, walking back out to the bar and I noticed the way Rose was staring at him. I knew that look, she wanted him. Truth be told, there was no chemistry between Em and I, not like that anyway, so if my best friend wanted him, who was I to deny her that? Come to think of it they were perfect for each other.

"Look Bella, I know what that looked like, but it was all very innocent, I assure you. I would never…" I put my hand up to stop her, she didn't need to make excuses, I think in the back of my head I knew Emmett was perfect for her, but it just took seeing them together to solidify it.

"You should go for it with him Rose. He's perfect for you." Rose was never speechless, nor did she EVER leave her mouth open. Rose was never surprised, always prepared so to see her with wide eyes and mouth agape, just as I was an hour ago was a little strange. "You'll catch a fly Rose." She immediately closed her mouth, but just stared at me like I'd grown a second head. I tried unsuccessfully to suppress the giggles.

"Y-yy-you're not mad?" Another thing that Rosalie Hale never does is stutter.

"No, I'm not mad. Can we go now? I'm tired and just want to get out of here." I asked as I was collecting my things so we could leave

"Yeah, of course Bella. Let's go." Rose grabbed her stuff before we started out of the club.

"Bella?" Jasper, of course. There was no way I was making it out of here alive.

"Jazz!" I ran to him, jumping in his arms. Just because I knew I was in for it didn't mean I wasn't happy to see him.

Jasper laughed as he swung me around in his arms and kissed my neck. "You did absolutely amazing baby. I knew you could sing, but, just WOW Bella."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. You did great. I especially liked your own stuff. You're going to have to tell me about this Jamie character though; I want to kick his ass after that song you sang to him." He nuzzled my neck a little more before there was the sound of a throat clearing behind us.

"Oh. Jasper, this is one of my best friends Rosalie Hale, Rosalie this is Jasper Whitlock." They both shook hands and exchanged pleasantries until Edward came in. When I took in the sight of him in his dark jeans and button up white shirt my heart rate sped up and my mouth became dry. Jasper's arm was still around me and I wouldn't be surprised if he could hear and feel my heart pounding. "Edward, thank you for coming tonight." I said to him as his eyes raked over me. I felt the all too familiar blush creep over my face whenever he was near me, I need to get his attention off of me. "Edward, this is my best friend Rosalie." Unlike Rose and Jazz they just nodded at each other, Edward never took his eyes off of me unless it was to scowl at Jazz's hand that was currently placed on my hip.

"No problem Bella. You were amazing up there tonight. I especially liked that first song you sang, what was that called?" Edward asked. His signature smirk firmly in place as he said it too. Shit, he knew that was about him, I just know it.

"It's called Hey Stephen. I'm glad you enjoyed it." I tried to act nonchalant, but I don't think it worked based on the all knowing look he was giving me.

"Mmm, I did Bella. So when may I ask did you write that little gem? Is it something fairly recent or is it something that you've been holding onto for a while?" Yeah, he definitely knew it was about him. Fuck My Life.

"Actually I just…" Thankfully Tanya rushed back to us at that moment and I was saved from telling him exactly when I did write that song.

"Bell, girl the crowd is screaming for more. You did so great out there babe." She stopped to look at everyone, gave Rose a hug since she didn't do it earlier and continued on. "Jasper nice to see you again. You must be Edward, I've heard a lot about you."

"TAY!" I scolded. Shit, the woman needs to keep her damn trap shut.

"Oh, sorry. Anyway, Demetri wanted me to come back here and grab you for a second if that's okay."

"Sure." I kissed Jasper on the cheek before following after her. "I'll be right back."

EPOV

I was out running errands, picking up dry cleaning, groceries, that sort of thing when Jasper called. I was still pissed that he had kissed Bella, but what he said on the phone just had me seeing fucking red.

"Hey man. Listen, I ran into Bella's friend Tanya yesterday and she mentioned that Bella was going to be singing at her jazz club Requiems tonight and I wanted to see what you were up to."

I tried to sound like I wasn't pissed, really I had no right to be, she wasn't mine nor did Jasper have any idea that I wanted her to be mine, so I decided to suck it up. On the up side if I went out with him to this club tonight I'd get to see her again. I wasn't too happy when she bailed on me Thursday night after karaoke and I still needed to talk to her.

"Yeah, sure. That sounds like fun. What time is she supposed to be on?" He told me what time to meet him there and our conversation after that was fairly quick. I knew there was something going on with him though. He's never made this much of an effort to get into a girls panties before.

I grabbed a sandwich at the nearby deli and went home to eat and relax a bit before I had to get ready to go. I wasn't sure what to expect tonight, Bella has an amazing voice, but I had no idea that she sang other than at karaoke nights. Goes to show how much I actually know about her I guess.

When I got to Requiems Jasper and Emmett hadn't gotten there yet, the place wasn't very full so I got a table big enough for the three of us near the front of the stage. When the waitress stopped by our table I ordered three beers as I waited for my friends. I noticed movement to my left and saw none other than Bella and some strawberry blond girl talking and walking to what I assumed was the back with a bottle of Jack Daniels. Once they were out of my sight I let out a breath, I hadn't even realized I'd been holding my damn breath, but Bella seemed to always have that effect on me. She was beautiful tonight. She had on these black pants that look like they were painted on her slender legs and a tank top with sequins all over it. Her hair was down in loose waves, her make-up was light except for her eyes, they were smoky and she looked fucking hot.

"Hey Edward." Jasper and Emmett took their seats and started in on their beers. "Thanks for coming guys. Bella will be happy that we all came. Tanya said she's shy about asking people to come watch her but she's excited to have some supporters."

"So what's the deal here Jazz?" Emmett asked. "I mean are you two, you know?"

"We went out yesterday. We had a nice time." He told us; again I was seeing red, trying to hold the rage inside of me so I didn't pop my best friend in the nose.

"She's something isn't she? Man when we had coffee on Wednesday we never stopped laughing. Good lord that girl can kiss too, can't she Jazz?" WHAT? No, no, no, no, no, no, no. This cannot be happening, Emmett too?

"I know. I felt that shit in my toes last night."

"You sound like a chick man." Emmett chortled while smacking Jazz on the back.

"You two are both fucking Bella and neither of you have issues with this? What the hell is wrong with you two?" I asked. I was mad, seriously fucking pissed. I did not want to think about my two best friends having their dicks anywhere near my Bella.

"I'm not fucking her, wait are you…" They both said it at the same time. Okay, good. Now I don't have to rip both of your dicks off, I don't want them kissing her either, but as long as it stays in their pants then I don't have to commit murder.

"Alright you two. What the hell is going on here? Obviously you're both dating the same girl, how is this supposed to work?" It's a valid question, who ever heard of two best friends dating the same girl and it not ending badly.

Jasper spoke first since Emmett seemed like he was lost in thought. "Well obviously, at least on my part, I'm hoping that she feels something more for one of us than she does the other early on and then she'll just choose one."

"Yeah, that works for me. I won't let it affect our friendship Jazz. Bros before hoes man, bros before hoes." They fist bumped each other like a couple of Neanderthals. Really what did Bella see in these two? I shouldn't say that, they are my best friends and I don't know what I'd do without either of them, but Jesus, do they actually see this working out?

Bella came out about an hour later, after some moron who was supposed to be funny. Thank Christ she came out, I couldn't take another minute of that guy.

"Hi everyone. I've written some new pieces that I want to try out on you guys. I hope you enjoy them." The song started off and I couldn't take my eyes off of her. She was in her element up there singing this song about some idiot named Stephen? I listened to the words and wondered if maybe she was singing about Jazz or Em, it's possible, she is a songwriter and don't they usually draw from personal experiences for these things? I stopped my musing and listened to the words she was singing and then she got to this part and I knew, I felt it in the pit of my stomach that she wasn't talking about Jazz or Emmett. What was that line she just sang? "Hey Stephen, I could give you fifty reasons why I should be the one you choose, All those other girls, well, they're beautiful, but would they write a song for you?" No, they aren't giving off the appearance of a manwhore in front of her, that's all me. Could this song be for me? I wasn't sure if I felt sick at the thought or blissfully happy.

The song came to an end and everyone was on their feet cheering and clapping. Emmett was loud and I mean fucking loud, Jasper was screaming her name, but I don't think she heard any of it. She was phenomenal up there; she blushed a beautiful deep pink color and started strumming her guitar for her next song.

"Thank you! This next song is for Jamie."

Who the fuck is Jamie? I swear to god how many guys is she stringing along? Again I had to shut up my inner musings and listened to the words of her song. The more I listened the angrier I got. Seems this Jamie asshole did a fucking number on her. I wanted to rip his throat out. If the words to this song were true then the asshole fucking hit her, he HIT Bella and made her feel like nothing. Who would do something like that to an angel? I chanced a look at Jasper and he looked in awe of Bella, I didn't notice one ounce of anger on his face as he listened to her, he probably wasn't paying any attention to the lyrics of her song, for me though, I've been around her for months and paid attention to every word she ever sang, even it was just karaoke. I moved my attention over to Emmett and he looked like he was about ready to kill someone, now that's more like it.

"Dude, do you think the words in this song come from personal experience?" He asked me. Jasper whipped his head in our direction at Emmett's question and waited for my response.

"I don't know man. They say that song writers use personal experience to write songs, but who knows. Maybe this was written about a friend of hers and their relationship or it could have been her own experience. I just…I don't fucking know man. If someone did these things to her though I'll rip his fucking balls off." Emmett had his hand wrapped so tightly around the neck of his bottle of beer I thought it might shatter in his hand.

"Yeah. Me too. Bella doesn't deserve that shit. She's a great girl." He said as he tried to calm himself down. "Excuse me a minute guys." He shot out of his seat to what I was assuming was the bathroom.

The same blond woman that introduced Bella before she came on stage came up and said that Bella was taking a short break and practically dragged her off stage. Hmm, I wonder what that's about?

"Hey Jazz, man?" He looked up at me, his eyes were almost pure black and he looked utterly fucking pissed. I guessed that he was going over the lyrics to that last song over his head. "So you and Bella huh? Is that why you asked me a good place to take a girl on date the other day?" He had called a couple of days ago asking about a nice romantic spot and I pointed him towards Marrakesh, a place that my boss Ben had taken his dates a few times and he just raved about it. Had I known the asshat was talking about taking Bella I never would have suggested it.

"Yeah. It was great, thanks for the tip. Bella loved it. She's really great Edward." He had a huge smile plastered on his face at this point and I just wanted to rip it off.

"She is pretty hot man. So you said that you didn't fuck her, what happened? Couldn't close the deal?" The thought of Bella turning him down made me giddy.

"Actually man, I didn't even try. We talked about our lives, ate ice cream on the boardwalk and when I dropped her off at her place I just kissed her. I didn't push for more than that because, shit man. Bella's special." She sure fucking is, I could have told him that a while ago.

"That's great Jazz. So when are you seeing her again?" Was this a serious thing with them? I know in the back of my mind that I have no chance with a girl like Bella and Jazz is a really good guy, he deserves her, I don't.

"We hadn't actually made plans to see each other again yet." He shifted uncomfortably in his seat, his hand rubbing the back of his neck. "Do you think that's a bad sign?"

I shrugged at him and continued drinking my beer. "No idea man. Women are confusing characters."

"Must be why you only have one night stands, right man?" He chuckled. Fucking asshole. He doesn't know shit.

"What!" I asked defensively.

"What? I mean..listen man, I didn't mean it like that. I just meant that I can't remember the last time I saw you with the same girl twice and Bella said she sees you leave with a different girl on your arm every Tuesday and Thursday." Shit, she told him that, which means she's noticed, EVERY FUCKING TIME. I could do nothing more but scoff at his comment.

"I don't have sex with all of them Jazz. I want to change, I do. I want something more meaningful, I just don't know how to go about doing it." It was the first honest thing I have ever said to my best friend about this, I always just let him assume that I was happy getting it from different women and never wanting anything real.

Jasper leaned forward and looked me straight in the eyes before he spoke. "Edward, admitting you want a change is a great place to start. Is there anyone in particular you are interested in having a relationship with?" I just nodded. I wasn't about to actually tell him that the girl I wanted was Bella. I don't know how he didn't get it the other night when I basically told him to back off of her. "Good, that's great to hear. You need to ask her out. Go out on a date with the girl. Most of all, and I know this is difficult, but you need to keep it in your pants until you get to know her better."

The label from my beer was completely shredded and taken off the bottle at this point. I was sure that I could do that, I wasn't ruled by my cock for Christ's sake. "Yeah. You're right Jazz. Thanks." Emmett came back to the table looking a little strange. "Em? What's up you look like you've seen a ghost."

"I think I just saw the woman of my dreams." He said. His face still held the same expression as he looked around the room.

"Wait, you went and saw Bella, didn't you?" Jasper asked him with a scowl on his face.

"Well that was my intention, yes, but then I literally ran into this woman and my God, she's my wet dream come true. I just have to figure out a way to break things off with Bella and figure out who this girl is." O-kaaay. I guess I have 1 down, 1 to go as far as Bella is concerned. Can't say I'm too upset about it.

Bella finally returned on stage and sang some more. She played the guitar and the piano as each song called for it. The girl was fucking amazing and I couldn't wait to learn what else she was good at. Blackbird was about half way through when Emmett got up to look for his mystery girl, Jasper seemed happier by the new developments.

"What do you think his chances are with the mystery woman?" Jasper asked. I was too enthralled with Bella to register what he said though. "Edward?"

"Hm? What? Did you say something?" He laughed at me.

"It's Bella, isn't it?" He asked me.

"Nah. I could never be good enough for a girl like her." I turned my attention back to the stage just as Bella played the last chords on her guitar.

"Thank you! Good night everyone." With that Jasper and I got up to go backstage. I excused myself to use the restroom as he went backstage to go see Bella. I needed to pull myself together. Jazz knew about my thing for Bella, that was abundantly clear and I wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing. If he knows for sure would he back off to make way for me or would he be pissed at me for lusting after Bella? Deciding it was best to just let them be and hopefully realize that they don't actually belong with each other I exited the restroom and headed for the backstage area. I overheard Bella's sweet voice talking to everyone before I saw them.

"Oh. Jasper, this is one of my best friends Rosalie Hale, Rosalie this is Jasper Whitlock." The woman I guessed was Rosalie shook Jaspers hand before I was seen. Bella's gaze turned towards me and she blushed a lovely shade of pink.

"Edward, thank you for coming tonight." She said as my eyes raked over her. She truly is breathtaking. "Edward, this is my best friend Rosalie." We nodded at each other; I couldn't take my eyes off of her or Jazz's hand on her hip. I wanted to rip it off and replace it with my own. Yeah, I know, I'm pathetic, what can I say?

"No problem Bella. You were amazing up there tonight. I especially liked that first song you sang, what was that called?" I asked her with a smirk. That song had to have something to do with me, it just had to and I figured there was no harm in calling her out on it.

"It's called Hey Stephen. I'm glad you enjoyed it." She shifted uncomfortably and Jazz looked unhappy with my comment.

I decided that I didn't give a shit if Jazz didn't like it; I was going to push the limit with her on this one. "Mmm, I did Bella. So when may I ask did you write that little gem? Is it something fairly recent or is it something that you've been holding onto for a while?"

"Actually I just…" Unfortunately the strawberry blonde came back and interrupted her before she could answer my question.

"Bell, girl the crowd is screaming for more. You did so great out there babe." The woman took a look around the room, stopping when her eyes saw Jasper. "Jasper nice to see you again." He gave her a similar greeting before she shifted her gaze to me. "You must be Edward, I've heard a lot about you." Okay? I guess Bella must have talked to her about me at some point.

"TAY!" Bella yelled at her friend.

"Oh, sorry. Anyway, Demetri wanted me to come back here and grab you for a second if that's okay."

"Sure." Bella responded, kissing Jasper's cheek then following her friend out. She turned around to look at all of us before she was completely out of the room. "I'll be right back."

Jasper turned to me and we talked more about Bella. Rose and Emmett seemed to be getting cozy and I was a little ticked off. Emmett said he was going to break things off with Bella, but from what I could tell that hadn't happened yet.

"Em?" I called to him. He stopped talking to Rose and looked at me expectantly. I motioned for him to follow me and walked to a more secluded place so I could talk to him.

"What's up Ed?" I groaned as he smiled at me, his arms crossed over his chest.

"What are you doing?" I asked him.

"What do you mean? I'm not doing anything." He said defensively. He could tell by the tone of my voice that I was mad.

"Not doing anything? Em, you're practically falling all over Bella's best friend. BELLA, who you are supposed to be dating."

"Dude, we're just talking. I like Bella and I would never do anything to hurt her, but I already told you that I was going to break things off with her and Rose is the girl I was talking about."

"You need to break things off with Bella before you start something with Rose Em?" I told him, it was obvious to me that he and Rose were attracted to each other, any idiot could tell the way they would lean into one another it had to be apparent to Bella.

"I know." He said.

"She's her best friend Em. Be careful with her." Did he not see what was wrong with this scenario? This could really hurt Bella.

"YEAH! And she's dating one of my best friends as well as me, so how is that any different Edward? What the fuck do you care anyway?" His eyes were locked on me searching for something it seemed, when he finally broke his gaze he got a huge smile on his face and it just angered me more.

"What are you smiling at?" I asked him angrily.

"You like her." It was a statement and I'm sure I gave him just the reaction he was looking for.

"What are you talking about?" I didn't want him or anyone else to know about my feelings towards Bella.

"Bella! You. Like. Bella." He was talking slowly, enunciating each word like I was a fucking idiot.

"NO. No, I don't. I just don't want to see her hurt because you can't keep your hands off her friend."

"I'm not buying it. You've never been protective over a girl, well not since…"

"DON'T!" I yelled interrupting him. I really didn't need him to finish that sentence. She was gone; there was no use in talking about her.

He held up his hands to show he was backing off that topic.

"Look man, I like Bella, but the moment I saw Rosie I felt something, a spark. I don't know. I sound like a damn girl." Emmett chuckled lightly as he looked at his feet. I have to admit that I've never seen him like this. "I have to talk to Bella."

"Talk to me about what?" Bella was suddenly at our side, I turned and smiled at her, she thankfully smiled back.

"I'll just…" I turned and left them to chat and go find Jas, it wasn't difficult, he was talking with Bella's friend Tanya.

"There you are. I was wondering what happened to you and Em. Did Bella find you?" Jasper asked me. That was odd, she was looking for me?

"Um, yeah. She's talking to Emmett right now. Was she looking for me?" I was curious as to why she would be looking for me and hoped that Jasper could shed some light on it. I wasn't overly optimistic that she was going to want to talk to me after Emmett told her about Rose.

"Oh yeah. I don't know why though, just said she needed to talk to you." He shrugged and went back to talking to Tanya. "So this club is really great Tanya, how did you and…"

"Demetri." Tanya answered his unasked question.

"Right, Demetri. How did you two get into owning a club?" Jasper could befriend just about anyone, it's always been that way. He's just got this calming way about him. Puts everyone at ease.

"Demetri has always had this love of music and it's been his dream as far back as I can remember. His grandmother passed a few years ago and left him quite a bit of money so we decided to use it to open this place up. It's been unbelievable, hard at first, but once we got into a groove and got some talent in here we've been doing really well. Bella plays here about once a month. I usually have to guilt trip her into it, but I know she loves it. It's the nerves that make her resistant to doing it more regularly. Jamie, well he never encouraged her, said she wasn't any good and should do something else, but music is her passion, it's in her soul Jasper. She needs someone that's going to support her. You get what I'm saying?" Even though she said Jasper's name she was staring directly at me. Jasper just gave a curt nod in understanding.

"So this Jamie…he uh." I was nervous and didn't know if I actually wanted the answer to what I was asking. Tanya seemed to understand what I wanted to say and sighed.

"Yeah. I've never actually heard that song before, but yeah…he did all those things to her. It really messed her up. I probably shouldn't be telling you guys this, but… just be careful with her okay?"

"Tanya?" A big guy came into view looking everywhere until his eyes fell on Tanya. "Where's Bell?"

"Talking to Emmett over in that corner. She'll be back in a minute babe." He strolled over to her, grabbed her by the waist and kissed her temple. This must have been her husband. "Babe, this is Jasper and Edward. Guys this is my husband Demetri."

We shook hands, did the "nice to meet you" thing and watched as he practically molested his wife in front of us.

"Jas?" Bella finally came back out and she looked happy almost. There were no signs of tears at all. I wondered if Emmett actually talked to her or not. She had to have been hurt by the revelation that one of the guys she was dating wanted one of her best friends. I know it was killing me seeing her with my best friends when I wanted her for my own. Jasper hugged her lightly when she got to him.

"You okay darlin?" His hands rubbed circles on her lower back. He must have known what was going on.

"Yep. Emmett and I had a good talk."

"Oh yeah, what did you two talk about?" He asked.

"Well it seems that Emmett has a thing for my friend Rosalie, so we kind of broke up." Jaspers smile was huge at this news.

"And how do you feel about that Bella?" I asked her smirking. She blushed, yep she wants me.

"I'm actually fine with it. There really wasn't a…spark with Em. We'll be great friends though; he's like the big brother I never I had." Bella responded with a huge smile on her face.

"That's great baby! Now I get you all to myself." Jasper picked her up and spun her around kissing her neck. She squealed and my stomach churned. I had to make her see me, see that we could be good together. I just needed a plan.

A/N: Sorry for the delay in getting this out. We bought a house and moved. It's been insane lately.

So we're down to just Jasper. What do you think Edward is going to do to get her to see the real him?

Music in this chapter is courtesy of Taylor Swift. Hey Stephen and Tell Me Why. This is what I imagine Bella sounding like when she sings, plus I just love Taylor Swift, her songs are so expressive. I will try my hardest not to make you wait so long for the next chapter.