That night, I couldn't sleep. I felt out of place and mismatched in Peter's house. The room wasn't mine, I wasn't sleeping in my bed. I wasn't used to the sounds this mansion made at night. What I would have known to be a normal creak in my own home sounded like a burglar trying to break in to this foreign place. Eventually, I gave up on getting any rest. My mind wouldn't shut off, almost like my brain was in shock from everything I'd talked about today.

I threw the covers off and crawled out of the giant poster bed, breathing a sigh of relief as my feet hit the floor. Moving as quietly as possible, I tip-toed down the stairs and made my way toward the kitchen. None of the lights in the house were on; I was essentially fumbling around in the dark. As I neared the dining area, I noticed a faint glow coming from around the corner.

"Bella, dear, is that you?" A voice that I recognized as Jane's inquired.

"Erm, yeah," I said, stepping into view. Jane was sitting at a small table playing a game of what appeared to be solitaire by candlelight.

"Couldn't sleep?" she asked, motioning toward the chair across from her.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you," I whispered, still not moving to sit next to her.

"Oh nonsense! I'd greatly appreciate your company. And please, don't worry about the noise. Peter is a very heavy sleeper."

I let out a small laugh and walked over to the chair next to her, sitting down. She reached up and flipped a switch, and the lights in the kitchen turned on. The sudden brightness almost blinded me. "Why the candle?" I asked.

"Well, I didn't want to turn all the lights on so I could sit alone and play cards\with myself. But now that you're here, it seems a bit ridiculous to squint in the dark." She pulled all the cards on the table back into the deck and began to shuffle them. I watched her aged hands flex as she bent the cards together and rearranged them. They seemed strong, but frail and delicate at the same time.

"So, how long have you known Peter?"

"Oh, goodness, for years. I met him right before I got married to Thomas. Thomas was very ill and out of work, I needed a job and Peter needed someone to keep him in line. I suppose you could say we've been a team ever since." She was still shuffling cards, but looked up at me and grinned.

"If you don't mind me asking, who's Thomas?"

"Thomas was my husband, but he passed away almost thirty years ago. He'd had brain cancer for a long while."

"Was he sick when you married him?" I asked, not bothering to hide my curiosity. I was too tired.

"Yes, he was very ill. We were married for a little over a year and then he passed. It was quite difficult at times, but we were happy, and that's all that mattered."

"Oh, Jane… I'm so—"

"No matter, dear. I've come to learn that it's all a part of life. I do miss him very much, though. I learned a lot from Thomas, and when I was alone, Peter took me in. My life wouldn't be the same without either of them. And dare I say, Peter would be a lot worse off without me here to keep him out of trouble." She laughed to herself and shook her head, laying the cards back out.

"Peter doesn't seem like he could get himself into very much trouble," I said, doubtful.

"Goodness, that man is dangerous when left to his own devices. Four marriages! And all of the women are at least half his age. Then he mopes around for ages, heartbroken, and manages to write his next bestselling novel. I suppose that's the only positive outcome to his….well, I don't know what you'd call it these days, but you can understand what I'm trying to say."

"I understand," I said.

"Thankfully, the ex's never got away with much. He's yet to realize that they've all been after his fortune. All except for one. Maria."

"Maria?" I asked, feeling like I was listening to an incredible soap opera.

"They were young, and I believe he met her in Spain while he was doing some traveling. They were married shortly after that, and I knew she really loved him. In fact, I didn't even mind having her around because they were happy together. It was infectious, almost."

"What happened?" I asked.

"Well, she was the first truly serious relationship he'd had since I'd known him. This woman was relatively close to his age, only a few years difference. They must have been in their late twenties. A couple of months after they'd been married, Maria told us she was pregnant. I've never seen Peter so excited. Now, the thought of him being a father terrified me—he can hardly take care of himself, let alone a child. But needless to say, we were all ecstatic and prepared for the arrival of their child.

" I immediately set to baby proofing the house, and Maria and I were shopping almost nonstop as soon as we found out they'd be having a little girl. Not long before her due date, Maria was in an accident. She was hit by a drunk driver."

"Oh my god…did she…?"

"She was alright," Jane assured me. "They rushed her to the emergency room and discovered the baby was in distress. The doctors scheduled an emergency cesarean section, but it was too late." She broke off suddenly and took a deep breath. "Everything fell apart after that. We were all devastated, but Maria lost herself when she lost that child. It wasn't long before she and Peter decided they no longer belonged together, and she left."

"That's terrible," I breathed. She nodded and began shuffling the cards again.

"Peter refuses to talk about it. Last I heard, Maria remarried. I can't blame her, because I know she tried for Peter. But it wasn't enough."

I sat there, completely dumbfounded. There wasn't anything I could say.

"Well, I think I should be off to bed now," she said, setting the cards off to the side stretching her arms.

"Oh, right," I said, standing as well. "Thank you for talking with me."

"Oh, anytime dear. Goodnight." She disappeared around the corner and I listened to her walk up the stairs. I was suddenly struck by a memory of Edward I had once forced myself to forget. I remembered the odd mixture of anger and confusion in his eyes. How I was so sure everything between us was over. My stomach twisted into a painful knot. After a couple of minutes, I made my way back up the stairs and climbed back into bed. This time, I didn't have any trouble falling asleep.

In the morning when I saw Peter, I couldn't help but look at him in a different way. I suddenly saw so many complexities to him. Maybe I was imagining them, but I couldn't deny that there was so much more to him than I would have ever guessed.

"Good morning, Bella," Peter said cheerfully, spearing a piece of French toast onto a fork.

"Hi, Peter," I said, still feeling awkward in the kitchen. I didn't quite feel comfortable just grabbing myself some food and sitting around like I lived there.

"Here," Jane said, setting down a cup of tea on the table. "Would you like some French toast?"

"Sure," I said, a little overwhelmed. No one had ever really cooked for me before. At least, not consistently. As she set the plate down in front of me, Jane patted my head and went back to sipping her tea. She reminded me of the grandmother I never really had.

"So," Peter said, breaking the comfortable silence. "How about we get started?"

"Peter, she hasn't finished eating," Jane reminded him. I speared a chunk of the French toast and shoved it into my mouth. After last night, I felt much closer to her, and I didn't mind as much when she defended me. She was also a magnificent cook and I was thoroughly enjoying my breakfast.

"Fine," he grumbled, hobbling across the room and peering into the refrigerator.

"Watch your cholesterol, Peter. No more cheese this morning." Jane sighed, without even looking up. She knew him all too well. He closed the refrigerator and grumbled some more.

"I'll just be waiting in the garden, then."

Though, I took my time, I actually found myself getting anxious to talk about Edward. Talking about it felt almost as though I was reliving everything, and I wouldn't have minded reliving that chunk of my life. I sat across from Peter in the garden, just like I had the day before and waited for him to set up his recording devices.

For the next week, I tutored Edward every day after school. We'd almost fallen into a routine, and he'd stopped with the stubborn arrogance, for the most part. On the next Tuesday morning, I got a phone call from Elizabeth. My phone buzzed on my desktop at work, distracting me enough to look up from the manuscript I was editing.

"Hello?" I asked, getting up to close my office door.

"Hi, Bella, it's Elizabeth." Though we'd had many phone conversations, she never failed to introduce herself.

"Hi, Elizabeth. How are you doing?" I asked, running my fingers through my hair. I was absolutely positive something had happened with Edward. That was usually the case.

"Well, I'm alright, but I'm calling to ask you a favor…"

"Of course, what can do I for you?"

"I feel terrible asking this of you, but I need someone to pick Edward up from school. I would do it myself, but I have a doctor's appointment and Edward left his car at home today."

"He left his car at home?" I asked, remembering the silver Volvo I'd seen in the driveway a few times.

"Yes…we ran into some problems yesterday. One of our neighbors is learning to drive and they backed into his car. He left it so a member from the dealership could tow it to the shop. I was able to drop him off this morning, but I can't reschedule my appointment."

"Sure, I'll pick him up," I said, instantly dreading it. I didn't want to go anywhere near a high school campus. "What time is he out at?"

"He gets out at 2:30. Really, Bella, thank you so much. I can't believe I even have to ask you to do this. I'm so sorry," she babbled.

"Oh, it's not a problem at all, Elizabeth. I'll pick him up at 2:30 and bring him home. I'll just spend some extra time working with him today."

"Okay, thank you so much," she gushed. After, I couldn't even focus on my current project. For some reason, I was extremely on edge, and caught between feeling anxious and excited. I would be picking Edward up from school…it shouldn't have been that big of a deal. But it was.

I tried for another hour to sort through the pile of scripts I had to deal with, but I didn't get anywhere. Defeated, I picked up my phone and decided to call Emmett.

Emmett had been my best friend since the first week of college, and since then he'd become more of a big brother to me than anything else. After college, he moved out of state for a while, and it was hard for me to adjust without him. Fortunately, he had just moved back and didn't live more than a half hour away.

"Bells!" Emmett practically shouted into the phone after the second ring. "How's my favorite klutz doing?"

"Hey, Em," I said, instantly feeling at ease. "Do you wanna meet for some coffee?"

"Sure, what time?" he asked. I could hear him rolling over in the background.

"How about now? Or are you still in bed?"

"Of course I'm still in bed," he chuckled. "But it'll take me two minutes to get dressed, so now is just fine. I'll meet you at The Brew down the street from your office, okay?"

"Sounds great," I conceded. Seeing Emmett always made me feel more like myself. I quickly organized the documents on my desk and checked my messages. The beauty of having my job was that I didn't really have a set schedule, as long as I met my deadlines and attended the important meetings. As I neared the coffee shop, I felt my nerves begin to unwind themselves. It was almost ridiculous how a simple visit from my best friend could make my entire day turn around.

Emmett showed up ten minutes after I'd arrived and ordered our drinks. I instantly felt like I was three years younger and living in a dorm room. We talked mostly about Emmett's job hunt and the last girl he'd tried dating.

"Enough about me. How's life going for you? How's work?" Emmett asked, gulping his cappuccino.

"Work is work, I guess. Harry's been throwing scripts at me like crazy, and making me sub in for him at meetings. I think he's getting ready to retire. He hasn't told me yet, but I can see it coming." Emmett nodded and motioned for me to keep going.

"I also just started tutoring this guy. Charlie volunteered me to his parents, so I didn't have much of a choice. I'm actually picking him up from school today."

"What grade is he in?" Emmett asked, giving me an odd look.

"He's a junior in high school…" I said, slowly. Emmett sighed and reached for my hands across the table.

"Bella, please be careful," he said. "It's really easy to get sucked back into high school."

"I know that," I said, getting defensive. "Relax, I'm just tutoring him. And he's a jerk anyway."

"Should I kick his ass for you?" he asked, grinning. Typical.

I felt remotely calm until I was about 100 feet from the parking lot at Franklin High School. Maybe it had something to do with the massive amount of cars spilling out of the lot, or the stampede of students I saw, but my heart rate quickly doubled. I pulled into the long line of cars and tried to focus on my surroundings while blocking the floodgate of horrible memories I had of my high school. The line of cars for parent pick-up was bumper to bumper, so I sat there until I'd reached the very front of the line, only to find no Edward waiting by the curb.

After a few moments of searching, the car behind me honked, so I drove forward and set out to find a parking spot. When I finally found one, I dug through my purse for my cell phone and tried to call him. It automatically went straight to voicemail, meaning that he was either ignoring me or his phone was off. I realized I had no other choice than to go out and look for him. I couldn't very well sit in the parking lot all day.

With shaking hands, I opened the car door and stepped onto the asphalt. A lot of the crowd had cleared by now, so I wasn't as petrified. I decided it would be best to look for the main office and attempt to locate him from there. The only problem was that I had no idea of where to find the office. The moment I stepped foot onto the campus, I felt the flood gates to my 'horror memories' beginning to crumble. This campus didn't look anything like mine, but the ideas were still the same. As I walked through it, I still recognized the cliques and was able to point out just who the bullies and the outcasts were.

I hadn't realized that my eyes were watering until I felt something wet hit my cheek. Quickly wiping the tears from my eyes, I sniffed and continued in my search for the main office. I was walking by what appeared to be a music room of some sort, when my foot caught on the uneven pavement, sending me flying toward the ground. I braced myself for the impact, silently willing myself not to scream, when I pair of rigid arms stopped my fall. I gasped and looked up to see a confused looking Edward holding me.

"Bella?" he asked, carefully lifting me up.

"Um, hi," I said, still out of breath.

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm supposed to be picking you up. Your mom called me this morning and said you didn't have a ride." I sniffed a little too loudly and stepped back from him.

"Oh…are you alright?" he asked, seeming genuinely concerned.

"Yes, I'm fine," I said quickly. "I just tripped, it happens sometimes. Are you ready to go?"

"I'll just go grab my things in the music room…I'm sorry, I didn't know you were coming. I was expecting to walk home a little later."

I followed him into a nearby room, feeling jittery, and he walked over to a large piano in the corner and began gathering some papers he had laying out. They looked like sheet music to me, but I knew very little about music. We walked back to my car together and I wracked my brain for something to say. Anything to break the awkward silence.

"How was your day?" I asked, lamely.

"It was fine, I guess. Just an average day." From the corner of my eye, I saw him staring at me. "How was yours?"

"Oh, well, I didn't really work at all today. I spent most of it having coffee with a friend of mine. I think I might have skipped a meeting, but I don't think it was very important. My car's right here," I said, pointing at the white Sentra. I quickly walked over to the driver's side and got in without so much as looking at Edward. Something didn't feel normal.

Edward got in next to me and set his bag down by his feet. Just as I was backing out of the parking space, he broke the silence.

"Oh, I think I left my house keys in my car…" he trailed off, digging in his pockets. I glanced at him, trying not to seem alarmed. "I can try to break in, if you want."

"No, no, that's fine. We can just go to my house until someone can let you in." A feeling very similar to dread seeped into my core. Edward Cullen would be studying in my house, most likely sitting on my couch, and probably eating some of my food. And I had no idea why that bothered me so much.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Edward asked after a few minutes. I'd been making a conscious effort not to breathe too loudly or make eye contact with him.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why do you keep asking?"

"You just seem a little more tense than usual, I guess," he said, quietly.

"I-I just don't like high schools; they stress me out." I was telling him the truth, at least most of it. Just the thought of high school made my skin crawl.

I was incredibly thankful that I'd decided to clean my living room the night before when we finally made it to my house. I told Edward to make himself at home and offered him something to eat, but he claimed to not be hungry. Instead, I helped him prepare for a history test he had coming up within the next week.

"Who won the Civil War?" I asked, sitting next to him on the couch.

"The Union," he answered, immediately. We continued like that for another hour or so, with him answering the questions automatically, until he began to look bored.

"I think you'll be pretty prepared for this test," I finally said, giving up. He looked up at with a curious expression on his face.

"What do you do for a living?" he asked, setting his notes down on the coffee table.

"I'm a script editor," I answered, confused. I had no idea why he even cared what my job was.

"What kind of scripts? Where?"

"Uh, usually scripts for TV shows, I work at the KBW studio."

"I don't understand, Bella, I thought my mom said you were twenty one. Isn't that a little young to have such an important job?" he asked. I instantly searched his face for any traces of mockery. Instead, I only found pure curiosity in his startlingly green eyes.

"In a normal situation, I guess. But I graduated from college when I was 19, and the owner of the company is a close family friend. I just got lucky."

"How did you graduate when you were nineteen?" he asked, incredulous.

"I got my GED when I was fifteen, and I enrolled in college at sixteen. I had a few extra credits that got me ahead." I'd hoped my answer was concise enough so he wouldn't ask any more questions.

"Wow," he said. "That's really…admirable." I eyed him carefully, knowing he was trying to be nice to me.

"Thanks…so…someone backed into your car?" I asked, taking the focus off of me.

"Is that what my mother told you?" he asked, something foreign flashing in his eyes. He had a look about him that I wasn't used to seeing.

"Yeah…is that not what happened?"

"No, that isn't what happened. I left my car parked halfway in the street and our half-blind neighbor drove into the side of it." He sounded exasperated.

"Why would leave your car parked there?" I found the situation to be quite comical.

" I was in the process of leaving when my mother stopped me. I left the keys in the car, hence the reason I don't have a key to the house. I'd just gotten into an argument with my father and I thought it would be best if I left for a bit. My mother had her own ideas, so I left the car halfway into the street to go back into the house to reason with her. And Mr. Henson chose that moment to drive to the grocery store."

On one hand, I wanted to laugh, but on the other, I thought about Edward arguing with his father. Something about that man seemed off. Instead, I settled for something in-between.

"That's…different," I said. Edward nodded in agreement and shrugged.

"It's nothing that can't be fixed, I just feel bad for leaving my keys. It was pretty careless of me—let's hope one of the mechanics at the shop doesn't get any bright ideas and take them." He smiled and laughed quietly, which took me by surprise. I hadn't ever heard Edward say anything remotely close to a joke before. Everything about him today seemed different.

We talked for another hour or so until the sun started to set. Edward was almost positive his mother was back by now and I drove him home. Suddenly, it was considerably easier to be around him. I didn't feel like he was a total stranger anymore. When I pulled up to his driveway, the shiny Volvo was parked, looking brand new.

As I was about to say goodbye to him, I felt a warm pressure on my shoulder. Edward's hand was lightly resting there, causing my chest to tighten.

"Thank you, Bella," he said. "Will I be seeing you tomorrow?"

I cleared my throat before answering. "Yeah, same time as usual."

He got out of the car and walked over to the Volvo. I watched as he pulled open the driver door and dug around inside for a moment. When he reappeared, he held what appeared to be his house keys up, smiling. While I drove home, I couldn't help but feel jittery. My shoulder felt like it was on fire. And for the first time, I was actually excited to see Edward again.

Next chapter's coming out soon! Lemme know what you think!