Disclaimer: Nope – still don't own Twilight.
Sorry for the delay in getting these chapters up – they were all supposed to go up yesterday (Thursday) for FAGE, but I was away and my laptop decided that it no longer had wireless cababity – so I had no way of updating until I got home.
Thank you so much to LyricalKris who beta'd this chapter for me, and of course to Elaine and Dani – my faithful pre-readers.
Chapter Three.
The hard work began the next day; there was no time to be jet lagged. The eight hours difference couldn't affect the acts.
They were staying in one of Bella Marie's homes. She told them she loved England and that some of her ancestors were in the country during the Victorian era. They'd not owned this particular home in the Kent countryside, but they'd mostly been in that and the London area. Her great-great-great grand father had moved for work along with his young wife to the US around 1910. Bella told them she'd always wanted to visit England, and it wasn't until she was in the band that she'd been able to afford to take the trip. She now spent at least two months a year relaxing there.
It was a fairly modern home – built in the early 1990's with an indoor pool, eleven bedrooms and a plush recording studio situated in what we were told was an out-house (It was actually just a little separate building off to the side of one of the garages). Bella informed them she'd only had that installed two years previously as sometimes in the night she got the urge to go play with her music bunnies. She liked to write her own music. They were all pleasantly surprised, Edward in particular, to discover that not only was Bella a natural and talented vocalist, but she was also an accomplished musician. Like Edward, she played guitar, both acoustic and bass but also the cello, flute and clarinet. She'd played bass when she was touring with Breaking Twilight, but it was never something touched on when she'd been in the contest. The Idol shows had still been in their relatively early days back then, and it had all just been about the voice and concentrating on how they sounded rather than multiple talents.
Bella had the contestants at her home for two weeks, and in that time, she was able to work with each artist individually. She also called upon the help of Rosalie Hale who was the winner of Idol the year Bella's band had been the first runners up. Bella and Rose, as she preferred, had become close when doing the live shows and had stayed in contact ever since. After the demise of BT, and when Bella had decided that she wanted try out a solo career, she had been Rose's supporting act when she did a nationwide tour. She was Bella's best friend and kept the woman grounded.
Bella and Rose worked closely with each of the top six, bonding with them and helping them on their way. At the end of the two weeks, each act would have to perform in front of Bella and Rose, and then Bella would have to make the decisions about who had to go home and the final three acts that she would be taking with her to the live shows.
Rosalie had noticed something about Bella. She was always watching Edward. More so and in a different way than she looked at the other acts. It wasn't favouritism but something more along the lines of awe. She didn't mention anything to Bella, not wanting to put her friends' nose out of joint. In the years that the two women had been friends, Bella had been in the grand total of one relationship. Said relationship with another singer/songwriter, James, ended very badly, and Rose had not seen Bella look at another man since. Love was a sore topic for Bella, and she'd become snappy. She had made it clear to Rose that she was happy being single, and she wasn't intending to get involved for a long time.
However, the way she looked at Edward Cullen was strange to Rosalie Hale. She wasn't stupid, and she'd not seen Bella look at another human being the way she looked at the scruffy man ever since she'd been dating James. Rose shuddered at the thought of the smarmy man with his greasy blonde hair. He'd been a creep and a cheater from the word go, and he'd successfully broken her best friend and tried to ruin her and Bella's friendship simultaneously.
So, Rosalie, being the good friend she was, didn't mention anything or press. But the more she watched the two of them as they interacted did she realize that it wasn't one sided. Scruffy Cullen, the one who almost wasn't chosen, had the hots for Bella too.
The blond just hoped that at some point in the not-so-distant-future, the pair of them would wake up and smell the proverbial coffee.
Edward kept to himself the majority of the time, preferring to spend his time rehearsing outside in the evenings. He worked with Bella and Rose, who encouraged him just to be himself. They told him to work with what he had and not to be afraid to be raw. Bella in particular gave him an air of confidence that he thought he'd never have. She helped him figure out new arrangements and gave him some of her own creative input. They started to become good friends, and he admired her greatly. She was a beautiful person both inside and out.
On the evening before the day of what could have possibly been his final performance, he was sitting under a willow tree in the rain. It was only drizzling a little, but it was getting foggy outside with the dampness in the air. He picked gently at his guitar and hummed quietly as he tried to just kick back and relax.
The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end, and his ears started burning. He felt like he was being watched. He knew who it was right away. Only she smoked menthols.
"You know, you really ought to stop doing that?"
"What?" She chuckled as she came out of her not so stealthy hiding place and joined Edward under the shelter of the tree. She sank to the ground beside him. "Stalking you or smoking?"
"Both, actually, but I was going to go with creeping up on people. You're not great at it."
Bella shoulder bumped him and feigned hurt. "Dude, way to be mean. Anyway, I saw you out here and thought I'd come and tell you to be a good boy and go to bed. It's cold out. I just had Tanya complain to Alistair that it was too cold in her room."
Edward grinned. "She's from Florida. She's always cold. I, on the other hand, am from Washington State. It rains all the time. This is normal for me. It feels like home."
"Do you miss it?" she asked him.
"No, not really. But everything has been so crazy here and so different that I've not had time to miss it as such. I love my job, don't get me wrong. The kids I work with are amazing, and I miss my family. I've never really travelled – and certainly not alone... you know?"
Bella cracked her knuckles. "Oh yeah. I know exactly what you mean. But in all seriousness, Edward, when you have to go home, do you honestly think that you can go back to normal? You've had a taste of this world now. Could you just go back to Washington and go back to working in a school?"
Edward shrugged. "I've not looked that far ahead. Did you know I didn't actually fill in the application for this? I didn't know anything about it at all until my best friend dragged me to Seattle for the audition. I was totally unprepared."
Bella blinked. "No shit? I mean sure, I'd heard that was the case. But in all honesty, I thought that maybe that was just your story – you know, for the cameras. Everyone has one."
"Not me. I honestly had no idea. Aside from coaching the Vocal group at the school, the only time I had actually ever sung in public was a few awkward, drunken nights at the local karaoke bar."
Bella shook her head. "Wow... that's incredible. Jeez, weren't you mad? "
"At Jasper?" Bella nodded the affirmative. "At first yeah, I was pissed... and scared. I was so scared. I've watched and followed these damn shows for years and all of a sudden I was just thrown into one. I know how they work, and I was scared I was going to end up a laughing stock. Jasper's intentions were noble though. Overall? This has been the greatest experience of my life."
Bella shivered in the cold. As much as she loved England, the summer nights could still be chilly and she was more acclimatized to the Los Angeles heat. Edward noticed and took his jacket off and silently put it around her shoulders. Bella jumped a little but thanked him quietly.
They sat in comfortable silence for a few moments until Bella turned back towards him. "Do you want this? Like really want it, even though you didn't at first?"
Edward swallowed and looked back down at her, his green eyes earnest. "As crazy as it sounds, yes. More than anything. I'm fucking terrified, but I want this so bad."
In that moment, Bella wanted to kiss him. She had the urge to take the shy man into her arms and make him hers. She wanted to take him under her wing even more than she already had. But she knew she couldn't. She was his mentor, and it would be wrong at this stage in the competition. Tomorrow, the last six of her acts would perform, and she would have to make the gut wrenching decision to send half of them home.
So instead of acting on instinct, she got to her feet, shrugged off Edward's jacket, and handed it to him. "I'm glad we got the chance to talk, Edward, really. Get some rest. I'll see you tomorrow."
Edward got to his feet and tucked the jacket over his forearm. "I'm glad we talked, too. Thank you, Bella. For everything."
Bella turned and began to walk back to the house, but she turned around and faced him again. "Do something for me tomorrow. Sing your heart out, remember everything you've learned the last two weeks and give it your all. Be yourself."
"I will, thank you. Goodnight," he whispered as he watched her walk away. His heart was beating hard and fast in his chest.
He wanted Isabella Swan... Bella Marie. His mentor. He knew that wouldn't ever be possible, but at that moment, Edward made a promise to himself that he wouldn't let her down. He would be the best he could and give the performance of his life.
Edward wanted to win and not for himself. He wanted to win for Bella.
Eeeeeeeep!