A/N: Hello people! Thanks again for all your amazing reviews! I'm really glad you're enjoying this story! Now, I know this is just the same chapter in EPOV, but I promise to update again as soon as I possibly can! Next chapter things are going to change, in a major way! :D

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, etc etc. Shout out to my girl, shortcake!


Chapter 6: The Giant Rock.

Edward's POV:

4 years ago, Forks.

I heard an old car pull up by the house and jumped out of Bella's rocking chair to look down the window. The second story of the house wasn't very high, and I've always had exceptional eyesight, so I could see Bella clearly inside the car, in the passenger's seat.

Someone drove her home from La Push, someone she's been meeting with for the past week or so, as I assumed by her weird behavior during that week.

"Come on," I spoke in a low voice. "Show yourself." I hoped they wouldn't look up and see me standing in the dimly lit room.

Bella seemed upset, which I didn't like one bit, but after a moment she smiled, and…

No.

I swallowed hard.

She was kissing him. She kissed him.

I suspected she might be seeing someone, but seeing her kiss some guy was a whole different thing. I couldn't figure out why it made me feel so… angry. Worse. My gut was turning over. My heartbeat was frantic. I felt like ripping him apart.

We're best friends. It's only natural that I would feel protective of her, like a big brother. Yes, that must be it.

Bella walked out of the car and ran into the house as the guy started making a U-turn.

No. That's not it. This is so much worse.

As he drove away, I could see his face. Jacob Black. Bella's boyfriend was Jacob Black.

I am going to fucking kill him.

I never liked Black, he and his friends from the Reservation were always hanging around town and looking for trouble, or trying to cause it. He always used to glare at me, and do the exact opposite to Bella; he would check her out at every opportunity. I guessed he'd finally made his move on her.

I sat back down on the chair and sighed, trying to calm down before Bella comes in.

I'm probably just being overly possessive over her. We're best friends, so she can't have a boyfriend.

That still didn't feel right.

Bella walked in her room, closing the door behind her without looking in my direction.

"Oh god!" she jumped as she turned around and saw me.

"Welcome home," I said grimly. Seeing her now felt weird. It felt uneasy, as if I had a huge rock sitting on my chest. What the hell was wrong with me? "And you might want to keep it down, unless you want Charlie to wake up."

"Edward, you scared the hell out of me!" she said with one hand over her heart. "Don't you fucking ever do that again!"

"Sorry," I gasped as I felt a sharp pain that accompanied a heartbeat, and tried to cover it as a chuckle. I didn't know why being around Bella felt like this, but I had to test it. I got up and walked towards her. "I didn't mean to scare you."

As I got closer to her, I felt worse and better all at the same time.

"Well, what are you doing here?" she said, more calmly now.

"I tried calling you earlier, but Charlie said you were gone," I answered.

"Yeah, I was," she shrugged and sat on the bed.

"He said you were down in La Push," I tried to get her to tell me.

"Yeah?"

"You're not gonna tell me what you were doing down at the reservation?" I raised an eyebrow. Why did she insist on hiding this from me?

"You're not gonna tell me what you're doing in my room?"

God, that's annoying.

"I was waiting for you, now will you answer me?" I said, trying to sound more patient than I really was. I needed her to explain this to me.

She sighed and her eyes darted away from mine. "I'm… kind of seeing Jacob Black."

"Yeah, I know," I said curtly.

She rolled her eyes. "How?"

"I saw him driving you home from your window. Why didn't you tell me?" I asked, trying to ignore the rock on my chest.

"I don't know," she answered. I sat down beside her.

"You know I don't like that Black kid, right?" I said. I was trying to figure out why she had to go out with him, of all people.

"I know," she nodded. I knew her well enough to know that she felt bad about seeing someone I didn't like. I didn't want her to feel guilty because of me.

"Do you like him?" I asked.

The pain seared through my heart to my arm as she considered the answer.

"Kind of, I guess," she replied half-heartedly.

She doesn't even like him that much, yet she's still seeing him.

"Why are you even with him, Bella?" I asked.

She sighed, as if she was the one carrying a rock on top of her chest.

"I'm tired of being alone," she said, her voice slightly breaking. I knew her well enough to notice it.

I don't understand.

"You're not alone. You have me," I said. Did I not make her feel like she has me to talk to, to lean on, at all times? The thought caused me slight panic.

"It's not the same, we're best friends," she said grimly.

I nodded. She needed someone to be more than her friend; to make her feel loved and wanted; to hold her and to… a lump formed in my throat. To kiss her. The images of Jacob Black and Bella kissing, touching, made me want to just… throw up. I banished the images out of my mind, before they would have driven me completely mad.

I suddenly felt so many things at once. Besides feeling sick, and the heartbeat that wouldn't slow down, I felt confused. Why did I care so much about Bella seeing someone else? Someone who wasn't me? Why did it physically hurt to watch her kiss another guy? I felt scared. I had a feeling creeping up, telling me that I was just short of realizing something that I didn't want to realize. Not now, not when it was too late. I held those thoughts back, to make room for fear. My breath hitched as a thought floated to the surface of my mind.

What if I'm going to lose Bella?

"We're not going to drift apart now, are we?" I asked, trying to hide the panic.

She shook her head to reassure me that she didn't want to lose me either. "I'm not going anywhere." She wasn't lying. She was being honest. She didn't want to lose me either.

"Okay," I smiled at the realization.

I couldn't sleep that night at all.

I turned over again and again, but nothing made those new thoughts, new questions in my head go away. I had to face them.

I turned to my side to look at Bella. She was lying on her back and sleeping peacefully. Her face were those of an angel, with heavenly features. I always knew Bella was beautiful – it was kind of hard to miss – but at that moment I realized she wasn't just beautiful. She was so much more. She was striking, she was astonishing, she was perfect.

I'm attracted to Bella. I want Bella.

I felt drawn to her full, rosy lips, and longed to kiss them. I wanted to touch her cream like skin and caress it. I wanted to get closer and inhale her scent, to taste every bit of her, to feel her body against mine, beneath mine, I wanted…

Bella.

I was jealous. I was so jealous of Jacob Black that I wanted to practically rip his hands off for ever laying them on her.

Bella moaned in her sleep, adjusting herself slightly, and I closed my eyes in case she opened hers.

"Edward," I heard her soft voice murmur.

My eyes shot open and I stiffened in place. It wasn't the first time Bella had said my name in her sleep, not even close. We were best friends.

But it did make my heart shudder for the first time and, just for a moment, removed the heavy rock from my chest.

Fuck.

I'm fucked.

I'm not just attracted to her.

I'm in love with Bella.

I'm in love with my best friend.

Fuck.

5 days ago, Seattle nightclub, morning time.

"Emmett, quit whining like a little bitch, okay?" I said to my brother, who was sulking on his stool. He was my big brother, but he always acted like a child.

"Dude, you can't quit the band. Cause if you quit the band, there is no band!"

"There are other guitar players in Seattle, Em," I shook my head. "Besides, I have to do this if I'm going to get a real job."

"Why would you even want another job? We're getting paid for gigs… sometimes."

"No, I'm getting paid. You're living off your girlfriend, and Edward is eating into his savings. I'm with you, man," Jasper told me, while cleaning some glasses behind the bar. He was right – he had his job here, Emmett lived with his girlfriend, and I was barely making it through the month.

But that was going to change. I had a job interview lined up for the next day at some paper company, and I was going to make a good impression as if my life depended on it. And it kind of did.

"Why are you always taking his fucking side, Jazz?" Emmett asked.

"Cause he's always right, and you're usually an ass," he answered, making me chuckle in response.

"Whatever man, I just don't get why he has to go around changing his entire life all of a sudden. I mean, who does that kind of thing out of nowhere? Unless…" he turned to me with a shocked, yet delighted expression on his face.

"You're doing this for some chick!" he yelled out.

Jazz stopped cleaning glasses and gave me a questioning look.

"Just mind your own fucking business," I said, shaking my head.

"Wow, so there is a girl," Jasper said and patted me on the shoulder. "Good luck with that, man."

"I didn't say that," I said, but they were already far from listening.

"My bro is finally getting laid again!" Emmett yelled, causing two girls who were cleaning around the back to give us dirty looks.

I hung my head back in frustration and rolled my eyes at the stupidity.

"Seriously, you haven't had sex with anyone since that skank… what was her name? Jessica? That ain't cool, man."

I'd lost my virginity to some girl, Jessica, in college at a party I went to, only to try to take my mind off Bella. It was meaningless, and tasteless, and I haven't found anyone I wanted to repeat that with, until I found Bella again.

"Em, I don't think he's doing anyone. He's probably getting a job to impress the girl, so she'll let him do her," Jasper grinned.

"Come on, have you seen the smile smeared on his face lately? That's a definite getting-laid smile," Emmett countered.

"What I'm interested to know is who finally managed to get your attention after all those years of pining for one girl," Jazz directed the question to me, leaning over the bar. Emmett was looking at me too, waiting for an answer.

"Oh, I'm part of this conversation again?" I asked, purposely averting the question.

"Oh no," Emmett looked like realization hit him. "Oh man! Not again!"

"What? Who is it?" Jasper looked confused for a moment, but then caught on. "It's Bella?"

Jasper didn't know Bella, since he never lived in Forks - he went to highschool in Texas, but he knew of her.

"Yes, it's Bella. I ran into her some time ago and now we're… friends again," I said. I wasn't one to kiss and tell.

"I can't believe this shit!" Emmett shook his head. "You really want to get into that again after all you've been through?"

"I never really got over her, anyway," I said. "Now can we please just drop the fucking subject?"

Jazz knew when I really didn't want to talk about something. He immediately jumped head first to another topic. "There was this girl in here the other night… man, I thought I was going to have a stroke when I saw her. My mind went literally numb just looking at the girl."

"Did you get her number?" I asked, moving the conversation along in that direction.

"No," he suddenly glared at Emmett. "We were going to go out at the end of my shift, but this dumb ass right here needed me to come pick him up from some highway, and I couldn't find her anywhere to tell her I'm leaving."

"Rose kicked me out of the car!" Emmett retorted. "What was I supposed to do? Call Edward? He doesn't even own a car!"

"Thanks man," I took that punch like I deserved.

The job interview did go well, and I got the job. I was now officially a secretary. But at least a nicely paid one.

The first few of days of my new job were hectic; I barely found the time to register for college. If they would accept me, I would continue college starting a few months from now. The plan was definitely in motion. Now all I needed to do was get settled in my new job, sell my apartment, pay out the mortgage, and use the rest of the money as down payment for a better place.

When I finally called Bella, she was pissed. All she told me was to get my ass over to her place, but I knew just how angry she was. She was definitely right. I just knew from past experience that the more of Bella I saw, the deeper I was in, and the harder it was not to tell her I want her for life.

"Bella, I'm really sorry," I said the moment she opened the door. She wore a dress, just like I said she should do more often, so I took that as a good sign.

"Just get inside," she said, her lips pursed.

I walked inside and turned around to face a very glaring Bella. That woman could be quite scary when she wanted to be. But it was mostly cute, to tell the truth. She was just so beautiful.

"Now continue."

"I didn't mean to disappear on you again, I just… I had so many things going on this week, and I got this new job, and everything just distracted me," I started making sorry excuses.

"So you couldn't at least call me? Send an email? An owl? Something?" she was trying to go for mad, but I saw sadness in her big brown eyes, and all I really wanted to do was kiss her.

"I know, I know. But I really didn't mean –"

"Funny how you never mean to disappear on me, but then again – you always do," she interrupted.

I let her down again. God, I'm such a jerk.

"I'm sorry, Bells," I said, feeling ashamed of myself.

"No!" she suddenly yelled. "This is why we stopped being friends. This is why even though we both went to college in Seattle, we still drifted apart!" she said.

She didn't just say what I think she said. She can't think that.

"What?" I asked.

"You constantly disappeared on me, sometimes for two weeks at a time! You barely kept in touch; I was the one who always called you, and most times you didn't even bother to pick up. I kept us alive until I just realized – you didn't want to be friends with me anymore!" she said in one breath. She's been keeping this inside for two years, I could tell.

Well, I've been keeping some things inside for fucking two years, as well.

I didn't want to be friends with her? No, I didn't! I wanted to be more! She was the one who started seeing that jackass, Black.

"You think that's the reason our friendship fell apart? You think I'm the reason?" I raged.

She nodded, crossing her arms against her chest. I just couldn't believe this.

"You really don't have a fucking clue, Bella!" I yelled.

"Go ahead and explain it to me, then!"

I had no idea how to explain this to her without exposing myself, but it doesn't mean I was wrong.

She had no idea how hard it was to know she was with him, see her with him and his hands all over her, to feel my heart being torn apart a thousand times with every kiss he planted on her. To be so jealous, so frustrated that I didn't realize how much I felt for Bella before she got together with him.

But I suffered through all of that, for the sake of our friendship. So I wouldn't lose Bella.

Until one day there was something different about her. I couldn't pinpoint it, but she looked different to me. We were at a coffee place with some mutual friends, and when she went to get herself a raspberry muffin, Black leaned over to me and said something that broke me for good, a sentence I would never be able to forget.

"You see that smile on her face?" he nodded towards Bella with a grin. "I put it on her face last night. She's definitely mine now, Cullen."

I had a hard time facing her after that, because every time I looked at her, I imagined her underneath him. At best, this would set me off on a rage, but at worst, I couldn't breathe, I was trapped under that rock with no way out. She wasn't supposed to be with him. She was supposed to be with me.

That asshole probably told all his friends that he popped her fucking cherry.

And the worst part was that she didn't even seem to notice my distress around her, around them. She had no idea how I felt about her, all she cared about was her precious Jacob. And he used every opportunity he got to push me away, saying things like he'll be happy to go with her to the book store, because I would probably just get bored spending four hours in a book store, and I couldn't believe she let him do that.

"It was that boyfriend of yours, that fucker Black!" I told Bella. "You didn't have a clue back then, either. He was wrong for you, Bella! I had a serious fucking problem with him, and you didn't even notice anything wrong with me. I thought I was your best friend, but you didn't know me enough to tell that I suffered because of your relationship with him."

She gazed at me with shock for a moment before she spoke.

"You never said anything," she whispered. I closed my eyes for a brief moment.

Why does she have to be so fucking gorgeous when I want to be mad at her?

"You should've known. You made him your new best friend. I just stepped aside so he could fill the position!" I accused wrongfully, stepping towards her. She did have some part in this, but he was her boyfriend, so obviously she would tell him everything she told me.

"That's bullshit, Edward, and you know it! You were always my best friend! Hell, you were my best friend when you were gone for two fucking years!" she yelled, punching my chest with her tiny, ineffectual fists.

"He was pushing me out of the way, and you weren't even noticing. You know how much that hurt, Bella?"

"Yeah, I do! About as much as it hurt to have my best friend ignore my calls and phase me out of his life, no explanations whatsoever!"

It was so painful to know that Bella was hurt, and that of all people, I was the one who had hurt her. She never even knew why I distanced myself from her. And if hearing her say those words was painful, seeing her cry was fucking excruciating.

She tried to hide her face, but I just pulled her close, holding her tightly to me. I wanted her to stop crying, to stop hurting. She cried into my chest for a few moments, but then pushed me away again. I couldn't tell her to what extent that simple action she did was heart wrenching; having her close felt so damn good.

"And now you're doing it again! God, you're such a jerk sometimes!" she groaned. Even with remains of tears in her eyes, she looked absolutely dazzling. I couldn't even focus on what she said. All I noticed was her long, creamy legs she stomped on the ground.

"Well you're no picnic either, Bella," I raised both my eyebrows at her, once I got a hold of myself.

"You could've called!" She pushed me again, and I caught her tiny hands in mine.

"Would you just let it go? I said I was sorry!"

"You said that last time!" she yelled again, and I let her back me up against the wall. I couldn't say that I was really focusing on the verbal part of the argument, not when the physical part involved having Bella's body close to mine.

"I haven't seen any missed calls from you, either!" I managed to say as I turned us around, so she would be against the wall, with my hand beside her head. I saw her chest heaving up and down in the cleavage of her dress as she panted slightly, and it was disrupting my thoughts.

Her face. Look at her face.

I raised my eyes to her face, and caught sight of her delicious lips.

God, I want those.

"Like you wouldn't just screen me!" She pushed me hard against the opposite wall, smashing her slender frame into me and making me bite back a groan. Her fierceness was amazing; she made me feel so alive.

"Why won't you just let it go?" I grabbed hold of her hands again so she couldn't escape me. I wanted her answer, I wanted her to tell me that she cared about me, that she felt fraction of what I felt for her.

"Because I'm extremely fucking stubborn! Okay?" she replied with spirit. Her lips were like magnets, pulling mine to inch down towards them. I knew that if I did this, it would pretty much going against what we had agreed on, but I couldn't resist her. I had to have her now.

I kissed her with everything I had in me, and turned us around again, grasping both her hands in one of mine in one quick motion, above her head. I used the other to touch her body, wherever I could get. I felt like an addict who got his hands on another fix, I couldn't get enough of that woman.

"And extremely fucking sexy," I said in a low voice, and resumed the kiss.

She wrapped one leg around me, grinding our bodies together, and I nearly lost it. I deepened the kiss, denying us both of oxygen, and tried to calm myself slightly before I took her right there.

"Let go of my hands, Edward," she growled at me.

Fuck Bella, that's just tempting your luck.

I let her hands go, and she immediately pushed me again onto the other wall, unbuttoning my shirt quickly and skillfully. She nearly fucking ripped it open.

When I started kissing down to her neck, she grabbed a hold of my hair and pulled on it, tempting her luck again.

It was so fucking hot when she got rough.

I moved my hand up her dress, brushing my fingers lightly on her panties to tease her, and earning a moan on her part, before pulling them down completely.

I pulled the straps of the dress down as well, desperate to taste her breasts. My tongue was relentless against her silk-like skin, and when I reached her delectable little nipple and put it in my mouth, her hands shot to the buttons of my jeans to undo them, pulling them down and stripping me naked.

She darted her hand out and wrapped it around my throbbing erection tightly, pumping it slowly once. I groaned loudly. Once was enough to drive me insane and make me lose all my control, mostly by her impatience for me to take her.

I parted our lips and gripped her thighs harder, lifting her hot little body onto mine. She immediately wrapped her arms and legs around me and pulled me in for another needy kiss on both our parts. I backed her against the wall again, pleased that now she would stay there with my body against hers and won't push me back.

She guided me to her wet little pussy, and I could already feel the warmth on the swollen tip of my cock. I couldn't wait; I thrust all the way into her warmth, and we both moaned loudly at the sensation.

God, I must be dead in heaven right now.

I began pushing into her with force, lowering her body to meet mine with the support of the wall. Our eyes were locked together, making my heartbeat rate rise even further. She was so fucking beautiful. Her fucking soul was beautiful.

"This… doesn't… mean… I forgive you," she gasped out a broken sentence. I loved that I was making her breathing sound like that.

"I'm not saying sorry," I groaned, keeping my movements hard and steady. "I'm just letting out aggressions."

Then she fucking slapped me.

That went straight to my cock, making me slightly shiver against her. I quickened my thrusts.

"That was just fucking hot," I told her truthfully, grinning.

One moment she was giggling, the other she was mewling and whimpering. God, when she did that, I felt like a fucking teenager that couldn't last long enough. Nothing turned me on as much as the sounds coming out of Bella's lips.

"Oh god," she moaned, digging her nails roughly in my back.

Well, fuck me.

Her moan, combined with the slight pain of what she did with her nails, was nearly sending me over the edge. I buried my head in the crook of her neck, inhaling her sweet strawberry scent, and fucked her mercilessly, going deeper to hit all of her favorite spots so I could feel her cum around me, before I would lose it.

"Fuck! Edward!" she creamed, crying out and fucking clenching around me until I couldn't take it anymore. "Edward!" she shouted again, making me groan loudly when I came inside her, and bit on her shoulder as she milked my cock. Mine, I thought as I did. Mine forever.