A/N: Alright guys, we're done with high school, and are in the present now.

Just want to let you all know that I've read every single review and appreciate all of them. I wish I could've responded to all of them, but between work and family and trying to get these chapters out, I haven't been able to. But I thank you all for them.

And also wanted to let you all know that the rest of our usual players will all be popping up eventually.

All characters belong to S. Meyer. I'm just playing with Edward in my own little world (sigh).

Chapter 4 – Back to the Future

'I'll never be the same if we ever meet again.
Won't let you get away if we ever meet again…' – If We Ever Meet Again - Timbaland featuring Katy Perry.

Six and a half years later:

I made my way through the throng of scantily clad moving bodies, trying to get through the crowd without calling too much attention to myself.

Still, several girls stopped me on my way out, grabbing my arm, hands 'accidentally' brushing against my chest and my ass, arms wrapping around my waist and proposing various activities, some legal, some questionably so, as I made my way through. I grinned at some, ignored others. It was the same thing night after night.

I broke through the rhythmic melee and made my way out the front exit of the club, inhaling deeply as the fresh night air hit me and the smell of smoke and booze, and occasionally certain illegal substances, got left behind – though Emmett and I would throw whoever we found with that shit out on their asses whenever that happened. But it was a dance club; these things were to be expected occasionally.

I drew in another deep breath. Every now and then the pulsing and the moving lights, the noise and the clatter got to be too much and I'd need to take a break.

"What's up bro?" Emmett asked, from my right side. "You come to check out the prospective meat yourself?"

I glanced over at my brother. He stood tall and imposing at the front of the line, his huge muscles flexed under his black t-shirt, the word 'BOUNCER' printed in black ink along his broad chest. Behind him, a long line of hopeful and anxious beautiful people waited behind the red rope.

I smirked, running my hand through my hair and then dropping it to straighten my silk tie. The club belonged to both of us, but Emmett preferred to deal with the front end of the business - the people, the employees, while I was the business head, dealing with suppliers and hiring and firing, the music, etc. It was an arrangement that worked out fine; the employees preferred him anyway.

A dark haired woman at the front of the line caught my eye. I strode over to where she stood; a crooked grin in place.

"How are you doing tonight beautiful?" I asked.

She smiled seductively, batting her long, fake eyelashes and pouting blood red lips. Her black leather jeans were so tight they looked like second skin on her. The red silk blouse she wore left little to the imagination; nothing more than a flimsy piece of material barely covering her tits and completely open in the back.

"I could be doing a lot better inside than standing out here," she purred with a sexy smile.

"I bet you could," I agreed, removing the rope and signaling with my head for her to walk through. Out of my periphery I could see Emmett's amused smile, watching me.

Sexy Jeans walked through slowly, grabbing her girlfriend's hand and tugging her along. Her friend wasn't too bad either, though shorter and dressed less provocatively. But Sexy Jeans…shit; I could feel a stiffy threatening. Not a good thing, since Victoria was inside tonight and she'd have my balls if she caught me with one of the clubbers.

But she wasn't out here now…

Sexy Jeans ran one hand slowly against my chest, pulling on my tie. "Maybe I'll see you inside? Give you a proper thank you?" she hinted through pouty lips. "You know, you let me in, maybe I could…return the favor…"

Tempting. Very tempting...

But probably not worth the shit I'd get from Victoria.

But hell, it wouldn't hurt to flirt a little more. "Maybe, beautiful. We'll see how the night progresses…"

Her smile grew. She batted her long eyelashes once more before walking in with her friend, her tight ass shaking seductively as she went. Before they disappeared inside and the loud cacophony of music swallowed them up, I heard her friend turn to her, squealing.

"Oh my God, I can't fucking believe it! You are so fucking lucky! He's even hotter than everyone says!"

I smirked.

"Victoria catches you fucking around again she's gonna castrate you man!" Emmett warned jokingly, clapping me on the back and pulling my attention away from Sexy Jean's retreating ass.

"Yeah well, Victoria's busy interviewing for a new bartender," I murmured. "And what she doesn't see won't hurt her."

"You are such a dog sometimes," Emmett snickered.

I shrugged.

"How's it looking tonight?" I asked.

Emmett's eyes trailed over the rest of the people hoping to get in, as Demetri went through the crowd, hand picking those good-looking enough to be allowed in. Lots of long legs, flimsy clothes, smoky eyes, red lips, and of course, the men willing to spend every last cent they owned to take it all home with them.

"Lots of regulars. A few new faces tonight," he shrugged. "Looks like it'll be a good night," he laughed.

Two years ago, after my graduation from UDub with a business degree, Emmett and I went out celebrating and ended up at this club. A bit of a dump, but somehow we'd gotten talking to the owner and found out he was looking to sell it, since it hadn't turned a profit in a few years. More than a little drunk and feeling invincible, we'd made him a proposal which he'd immediately accepted. The next morning we'd woken sober and fucking terrified.

What the fuck were we going to do with a club?

But we'd kept our verbal agreement with the guy, and somehow managed to turn the club around in the past couple of years from a dive to…Eclipse - the most popular club in the downtown Seattle area. Every night, the young and the young at heart waited in line for hours and hours to get in. The popularity of the club could be owed to Emmett, who everyone agreed had the most magnetic personality. It's financial success? To me.

'Magnetic personality' weren't usually words that were attached to my name, at least not by anyone who worked for us. Usually it was more like, 'fucking hot but hard as shit to please,' or 'I'd love to be over him but not under him.' I didn't necessarily agree nor disagree with my assessments. I chose to see myself as a man who didn't settle.

I'd settled long enough. In high school, everyone had treated me like shit just because they didn't like the way I looked. The first year of college had been slightly better, if only because everyone was too busy with either their schoolwork or their newfound freedom and social lives to give me shit. But other than that, I remained invisible, unseen.

Then that summer after the first year, things had started to change. At some point, and almost without me even having realized it, my skin had begun to clear up. One morning I'd woken up in my dorm and made my way lazily to the bathroom to brush my teeth.

When I'd caught my reflection in the mirror, I'd been shocked.

My face was completely clear. Not a zit, not a pock, not a red mark. I'd run a hand up and down my face and across my jaw line; not so much as an unseen bump.

At first, I'd chalked it up to a fluke; the pimples would return – and probably with a vengeance – so I tried not to make too much of it. But days passed, then weeks, and nothing. Suddenly, eyes followed me down the college hallways, through campus, but no longer in disgust. Girls started speaking to me in classes, stopping me in hallways; sitting and introducing themselves to me at the café, asking for help with homework, giggling and blushing. I'd hear them whispering about me.

'God, he's hot! I'd freakin' love to screw him! Did he just start here over the summer? I don't remember seeing him before…'

I'd frown and shake my head, still too confused to give their looks and words much thought.

By that time I'd also had Lasik eye surgery, so the glasses were gone, and the Tae Kwon Do classes I'd started up freshman year helped with my coordination and confidence, as well as toned me up physically.

Then I started dating.

One night, less than halfway through sophomore year, I lost my virginity to Jane Volturi, a pretty little blonde thing with the flexibility of a gymnast and an almost insatiable sexual appetite. Which I had no problem with.

Jane was a lot more experienced than I was. She guided and coached me patiently while I fumbled my way through those first few times. But I'd always been a fast learner, and sex was no exception. We dated and screwed for a few months, and then eventually we both moved on, no hard feelings, each having gotten something out of the deal. She fucked the hottest guy on campus (their words, not mine) and I…well I fucked.

Everything came much easier to me after that; the girls, the sex. But after going through a fucking marathon – literally – for the rest of sophomore year and most of junior year, I decided to take a step back. Balancing school and girls was not so easy, so I made my grades my priority again. After all, none of the girls I'd met were worth fucking up my GPA over.

After that I dated as much as your average college kid, because the truth was I'd gone into UDub determined to make something of myself. What that would be, I still had no idea. But it would be something that would've proven to all the losers I'd gone to high school with that I was much more than Crusty Cullen, the zit-faced four-eyed dork they'd laughed at all through junior and senior years.

Crusty Cullen was nothing more than a dark, fading memory, exiled along with the other memories I'd pushed to the back of my mind over the years. Like my memories of her.

Yeah, you could say the female population had a thing for me. I took it all in stride. I kept things uncomplicated and casual, and it was so easy to do so. There had only ever been one girl I'd ever met that had tied me up in knots. But that had been a long time ago.

It was better this way anyway. I was better off this way; keeping things cool and simple, because falling in love…

Love wasn't something I thought of. Not since…not since I'd made a giant ass of myself in front of that fucker Mike Newton and a little high school sophomore brunette named Bella Swan.

Bella Swan.

I rarely thought of her after my freshman year of college, at least not during the daytime hours. Too busy I guess. Still. You can't control your dreams. And there were nights.

Nights when I'd wake up in the dark, and she'd be there, behind my eyelids. Long brown hair, rich chocolate eyes, pale, creamy skin; like a vision. And even on those nights when I'd wake up gasping for air and not exactly remember why, I knew. There had only ever been one person in my life that could make my heart beat as furiously as it would on those nights; that could take my breath away so completely. I'd know exactly who I'd been seeing in my subconscious. But I'd push the dark hair and rich eyes away, throw my head back against my pillow, and force myself back to sleep.

I'd never kept in touch with her.

During one of my few visits back to Forks to visit my parents, I'd heard she'd gone off to Columbia University, in New York, when she'd graduated. I'd felt a slight stab in my chest at that information, at the mention of her name, but I'd ignored it and put it out of my mind. Mike Newton had been a senior in high school at the same time as I, and he'd gone off to college in New York too, to NYU. I could only assume Bella had followed him off to New York once she'd graduated

A stupid high school crush; that's all it'd been, because she'd been the only one that had treated me half-decently during those years. But even she had thrown me off to the side in the end.

So yeah. Emmett had stayed in Seattle after graduating, working odd jobs until that one fateful night at an old, beat up club. And now he and I were the kings of the Seattle night life, with very little real competition, except for the shitty open-mike club Jasper Whitlock owned a few blocks from here, Nitelock.

A year ago, we'd decided we needed an assistant, or rather I did. That's how Victoria had come into the picture. At some point, she'd become my right hand man – or woman, as it were. At some point, we'd started fucking around.

It was a comfortable relationship. Victoria was beautiful, and unbelievably smart, and she knew the night club business inside out. She was a few years older than me, and had plenty of experience where it counted, in and out of bed. And although she tended to be a bit on the jealous side, I didn't mind. I loved to flirt, yes, but I didn't have the time right now, or the patience, to screw around with more than one woman at a time. Victoria kept me physically satisfied, and that's all I needed.

I drew in another deep breath, tasting the semi-fresh air for the last time for the next few hours, and turned back to Emmett. He and Demetri were busy sorting through the crowd.

"I'm going back in man," I said to Emmett. "See if Victoria needs some help with the prospective bartenders."

"Alright man," Emmett answered without looking my way, focused on his job of sorting through the cattle.

I walked back in and made my way through the crowd, this time skirting around the dance floor so I could try to avoid most of the pulling and grazing and groping. I made my way to the back of the club and through the black door marked Employees Only. The steep stairwell leading up to our offices was narrow and dark. A shiver ran down my spine as I made my way up. I'd have to get one of the janitors or something to check for a draft around here.

I opened the door at the top of the stairwell, the noise from the club downstairs low and muted by the doors and the distance. The hallway where Emmett's office and mine lay was painted a soft, caramel color, almost brown. I'd always had a thing for brown…

I was about to step into my office when I heard Victoria's voice.

"So tell me, what kind of whiskey would you use if a customer ordered a Manhattan Cocktail?"

I waited on the other side of the door for the prospective bartender's response. Silence.

I smirked. Victoria would be ripping this kid a new asshole by the end of the night.

I decided not to interrupt, so instead I gave two rasps against the door and stepped back, waiting for Victoria.

"Excuse me for a second," she said as she walked out, not even giving the interviewee a chance to respond. When Victoria opened the door I caught a glance of the bottom half of the interviewee's jeans, faded and worn; a pair of black Ugg boots on female feet. I chuckled to myself, surprised Victoria had even bothered to interview whoever was behind that door.

The scowl on her pale face was enough to let me know the interview had not gone well at all. She closed the door behind her, rolling her blue eyes, her fiery red hair tumbling from side to side as she shook her head and glared at me.

"How fucking hard can it be to find one decent bartender in this damn town?" she growled in a pitch I wasn't so sure would be muffled by the closed door. "I mean seriously, this girl is a fucking waste of my time! She doesn't even know what the fuck goes into a Lemon Drop for God's sakes!"

I chuckled and murmured back, "Vic, Lemon Drops aren't exactly the most popular drinks on the menu."

"I don't give a shit!" she complained in an irritated tone. "You come to interview for a bartending position in the city's hottest nightclub, you'd better know your business! This fucking girl just graduated from college and apparently has no god damned clue what she wants to do with her life so she thinks she can just come waste my time!"

I chuckled again; her face was as red as her hair. She scowled back at me.

"And you should see what she's wearing, a faded pair of jeans and a college sweatshirt! Can you believe her nerve showing up here in an outfit like that?"

"Well, it's not like we're interviewing for a CEO position."

"Yes, but this is a god damned nightclub, not a warehouse! You want to work here, at least dress the part! You think it's funny?" she hissed angrily at my amused expression. "Why the hell don't you go in there and finish interviewing this girl so you can see how irritating she is?"

I shook my head and leaned in to put my mouth on hers. She tried to pull back for a split second but once my tongue plunged into her mouth she was putty in my hands. After a few seconds of calming her down, I pulled away.

"I'll let you take care of it. That's why you're here."

She gazed at me, slightly dazed, before raising an eyebrow. "That and because you know how to work wonders with that tongue."

"That too," I smirked. "I'll be in Emmett's office if you need me."

She licked her lips. "I might just come looking for you after I'm done getting rid of that loser in there."

"You do that," I said, and turned towards Emmett's office, feeling her eyes on my retreating form.

I walked into Emmett's office and closed the door behind me, taking a seat behind his desk and turning his laptop on. I'd get some work done while I waited for Victoria to get rid of the girl in her office. Through the closed door, I could hear her muffled voice, barely making out her words. I chuckled quietly, my fingers moving over the keyboard.

"…sorry….not what we're looking…more experience…busiest bar…don't have time to train…"

I snorted. Victoria was nothing if not direct.

I turned my attention back to the order sheets on the screen.

"…sorry to waste…won't take up…see myself out…"

My heart stopped. All the air left my lungs in one breath.

That voice.

I'd recognize that voice anywhere.

Through the thickest doors.

Under water.

Through the loudest cacophony of blaring music and drunk voices.

Bella Swan.

I froze. Just like the last time I'd seen her, or heard her melodic voice, over six years ago. I couldn't move one muscle, even as I heard the door to my office open, and the sound of Victoria sharply directing her how to get out of the building, and – oh Jesus - there went her voice again, once more thanking Victoria for her time.

Bella.

I couldn't get up. I might as well have had a thousand pound weight across my legs.

Bella.

What was she doing here?

My mind raced. Did she know this was my club? Had she come looking for me? What was she doing here? Wasn't she supposed to be living in New York, with her boyfriend Mike? What was she doing here? Would she speak to me? Would she even remember me?

What was she doing here?

Time passed, seconds, like a eons. Then the door to Emmett's office opened and Victoria walked in, a smile that only meant one thing on her face.

"She's gone," she drawled with a meaningful smile. She raised her arms behind her and started pulling down the zipper on her tight black dress. "We're all alone up here."

She's gone.

She's gone.

Bella was gone. Bella Swan, the only girl I'd ever even considered being in love with, had been a few feet from me, and like a coward, like the coward I'd been all through high school, I'd let her leave. Again.

Suddenly I was on my feet, running past a confused-looking Victoria.

"Edward, where are you going?" she called out, holding her dress up against her chest.

"I'll be right back!" I managed to answer.

I raced down the dark staircase and threw open the door. The loud thunderous blare of music and the vibrating floor below me hit me all at once. I scanned the large room quickly; desperately searching through the masses of people huddled together for one solitary brown head of hair. Unfortunately, in the dark, everyone's hair looked the same; a symphony or reds, oranges and purples from the bouncing lights, faces lit up white from the glare of the overheads, tall thin half-naked women dancing and laughing while their male counterparts eyed them hungrily hoping for a lucky night.

Bella.

At the opposite end of the room, just a few feet from the exit, a smaller figure, dressed differently from the rest - plain jeans and a sweatshirt – was quickly hurrying out.

I forced myself through the crowds, pushing off the searching hands, ignoring the offers, making my way to the opposite end of the room as quickly as humanly possible. When I finally broke through the horde, I pushed the doors open, my breathing hard and erratic from the rush of adrenaline. From the shock.

"Yo bro what's up?" Emmett chuckled, frowning. "You look like you've just seen a ghost!"

"Not seen, heard," I answered, scanning the streets. Which way?

"What?" Emmett asked.

"Did you see a girl walk out of here, about five four, brown hair, wearing jeans and a sweatshirt?"

Emmett's frown deepened; a puzzled smile rested on his lips. "From where? From in here?" he asked, jerking his thumb towards the club. "Are you shitting me?"

I ignored him and kept scanning the streets. How could such a small girl move so fast?

There was a time, a long time ago, another life time ago, when I could feel Bella moving through the school. It was as if some sixth sense told me whenever she was around; some ingrained personal Bella GPS tracker that would warn me when she was walking a few feet behind me, or ahead of me, or if she was in a room I'd just passed, or entered.

I closed my eyes, praying for that tracker once more.

Nothing.

"Aaah Fuck!" I growled, running my hands through my hair.

Emmett turned to say something to Demetri and then walked over to me.

"Edward, what's going on?" he asked in a low voice. "What's with you?"

I didn't answer him as I took off running.

"Where are you going Edward?" Emmett called out.

I ran through the dark city streets, still alive at this time of night. In this neighborhood, the nights literally ended once the muted sun made its way over the Seattle sky. Several people turned and watched me curiously as I ran past them, but I ignored them all.

Four blocks into my chase, just as I was getting ready to give up hope of ever finding her, a soft head of brown hair, gathered together in her trademark haphazard ponytail suddenly bobbed up and down about a three-quarters of a block ahead of me. My heart beat sped up. I picked up my pace, my mind still reeling; unwilling to believe it was actually her. It couldn't be Bella, could it? I must've imagined her voice. That brown hair could belong to anyone.

But that walk. I'd recognize that walk anywhere. Purposeful and steady, each step measured as if she were being careful not to trip on something. And no, that hair couldn't belong to just anyone.

She walked quickly, purposely, big Ugg boots and a black purse slung over her shoulder, her hands in her pockets, her head down. My pulse quickened. Adrenaline moved me forward blindly. Abruptly, her pace slowed. She stopped for a couple of seconds, not moving. Her head went up as if she were listening for something. When she started walking again, her pace picked up considerably.

She crossed the street quickly, at a sprint now, and I had to break into my own sprint to keep up with her. I was only about half a block behind her.

Halfway up the fifth block, she turned abruptly, a dark object in her hand. I drew in a sharp breath of air.

Bella.

It was her. Her creamy face; her beautifully dark eyes. Dark and…angry at the moment.

"Don't come any closer!" she hissed in a slightly shaky voice. "My father's a cop and he taught me how to defend myself!"

What?

"Bella?" I breathed. My voice echoed off the walls of the storefronts.

She cocked her head to the side, a wary and stubborn look on her face. Even in this distance, I could see her eyes sparkling, full of determination.

She studied me for a couple of seconds, confused; her expression morphing several times, from puzzlement, to wonder, and then to complete and utter shock.

"Edward?"

I swallowed thickly.

"Yeah Bella. It's me."

She stared for a few more seconds.

That was when I remembered how we'd left things the very last time we'd seen each other, six and one half years ago.

I'd completely ignored her that last week before my high school graduation, and then I'd walked away; ran really, refusing to turn back when she'd called my name.

She'd asked me to keep in touch, to email her. I hadn't done so even once.

She probably had absolutely zero interest in seeing me.

Out of nowhere her expression changed once more, equal parts disbelief and delight.

And then she ran towards me, with arms outstretched, and before I could process it, she'd jumped up and thrown her arms around my shoulders and wrapped her legs around my waist. Instinctively, I wrapped my arms around her waist, holding her up and against me tightly, and dug my face into her hair. I inhaled as deeply as I could.

Six and a half years after the last time I'd laid eyes on her, Bella Swan was in my arms.

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I will update this one more time this week (as well as an update to TIWIA) :)