Beta'd by Irritable_Grizzzly, the amazing, incredible friend I'm so glad I met along this journey.

Changing POV's, which will happen from time to time.

Alice Brandon

"Ali, I am not wearing this! It barely covers my ass!" Bella called from behind the bathroom door.

"Oh yes you are. I did not spend three hours at Fred Segal for you to tell me no. You'll wear it and you'll like it!" I yelled back.

Bella stepped out looking fantastic in a Fred Segal green dress. Her legs looked amazing in it, but she was right; it did barely cover her. I wasn't about to tell her that. I knew deep down she was worried about being next to Rosalie Hale and Emmett. She would never admit it though; they had always had a strange relationship before they were engaged so why she was nervous now was beyond me.

"Bella, you look fantastic, Masen won't know what hit him," I told her.

"Edward's going to be there?" she asked with a slightly panicked voice. Shit! I wasn't supposed to mention that. If Bella knew that he was going to be there, she would cancel and not go. Jasper would kill me if I ruined the effect of it all. We had been orchestrating this for over two weeks; he would not be pleased if I blew it.

"No, well…maybe. I guess he might, he is an actor, they do go to these things a lot," I lied. "Besides, your picture will be taken; he'll see it that way no matter what." Bella shrugged in resignation, believing my explanation.

"Besides, you're Jake's date and you need to look good for him too."

"Trust me, Jake will care more about the dress than he does me," she said as she went back into the bathroom to change.

"Bella, you're a single woman who's in the best physical shape of her life. You have a lot to offer, trust me; Jake won't be able to keep his hands off of you." I knew her confidence was shaky; I didn't have it in my heart to tell her that I thought Jake was gay. That would devastate her.

"Okay, so what time is the car getting here?" she came out of the bathroom in her normal day clothes. For someone who came from the wealthiest and most well-known families, she sure did enjoy dressing like a hobo. Jeans, t-shirts and Chuck Taylors were staples in her wardrobe. I made fixing her closet a top priority for next week on my Blackberry.

"We're to be ready by six, the car is here at six-thirty; it's picking up Emmett and Rose first, then it will be swing by. Jake is meeting us here at five-thirty." She nodded in acknowledgement.

The rest of the day was spent going over the schedule for Vancouver and other meetings that she had for the next couple of weeks. Every now and again I could see her staring off and letting her mind wander. I knew she was retreating into herself and letting her insecurities take over. I couldn't let her do this; she was going to need to muster all her confidence for tonight. If I needed to be her personal cheerleader all night then that's what I would do. Best friends do that for each other.

Around four we started getting ready for the night. She let me do her hair and makeup which she had gotten used to over the years. About a year ago she had finally gotten to the point where she no longer rolled her eyes when I would point to a chair in the mirror. After nearly poking her eye twice with the eyeliner pencil, she gave up and let me do it. I didn't realize how nervous she was. I almost felt bad for her. Almost.

When Bella took this new position with Charlie, she knew it would entail her being in the public eye for more events and not just the days when the paparazzi would see her going into a bodega for tomatoes. She hated being in the public eye, but in a way she asked for it. If she hadn't had that damn lunch with Edward I can guarantee she wouldn't be this nervous. People wanted her picture even more now that she and Emmett broke up. Between the potential for Masen being there (of course, I already knew he would be), Emmett on a date with Rose, the pressure to put on a happy image as the face of SMG, and the general attention from the media, the poor girl was a wreck.

When Jake finally arrived, he gave Bella the confidence boost she needed, constantly telling her how gorgeous she looked, it didn't hurt that we started doing shots of Patron tequila either.

By the time the car arrived with Emmett and Rosalie, Bella and Jake were drunk, or if they weren't drunk they were damn close to it. Official introductions were made all around and what shocked me the most is how nervous Rosalie seemed. It didn't escape my notice that she and Emmett were constantly touching in some way. It seemed that they had to be in contact; their shoulders or hands or knees, it didn't matter. They were always connected. Despite her bitch exterior, it turned out Rosalie was really very nice and personable.

Her eyes kept shifting between Bella and Emmett as they joked around and traded drinking stories from when they first met. Jake would chime in occasionally about bar crawls when he joined them. By the time we pulled up, I could feel myself starting to get nervous. I saw Edward with his date; a gorgeous strawberry blonde, a tall guy with short blonde hair and another tall guy with shaggy blonde hair. I had a feeling that the shaggy guy was Jasper, or at least I was hoping it was Jasper.

He and I had talked on the phone several times since Ivy-gate; his voice was soothing and had a slight Southern drawl. I've ruined a few good pairs of panties while talking on the phone to Jasper Whitlock.

When the door opened, Emmett and Rosalie stepped out first, causing a huge ordeal with the press and screaming fans. Bella started to look panicked again; the tequila must have been wearing off. She spotted Edward, and I could see the blood literally leave her face. Jake noticed it as well.

"Bells, it's gonna be okay. I promise I won't leave your side all night, okay?"

She nodded.

It was our turn to get out of the car, each of us taking one of Jake's arms. The press went crazy again. Bella was shaking against Jake. He was whispering words of encouragement and it seemed to be working.

That is, it was working until I heard him whisper "Relax Bells. You've only had one meal with the guy; you need to have two more before you can sleep with him. Although if you don't, I will."

I don't think I've seen Bella turn so red so fast in all the time I've known her.

She needed to stop this blushing business; otherwise Hollywood was going to kill her.

Edward Masen

I remember when I was a senior in high school; I was lanky and awkward. I had yet to grow into my body. Tanya always compared me to a German Shepherd puppy; utterly adorable with paws and a head too big for the rest of my body.

Thanks sis.

Despite the fact I had famous parents I didn't have a lot of friends, which is why I ended up taking my half-sister to the prom. Thank God nobody actually knew she was my sister because of our last names were different and she went to an all-girls' school. That would've been even more humiliating. Nobody would ever suspect a Denali was actually a Masen.

Almost ten years later, I found myself doing it again, except this time it's a movie premiere, but I still didn't have an escort; so I was taking my sister, again. It wasn't the lack of being able to find a date. There was only one woman I wanted to attend with me, but I was too big of a chickenshit to call her. Plus I was pretty sure Bella hated me.

The movie isn't even that good from what I heard, but in order to keep up appearances that I have my shit together, I had to go. Plus I already promised Irina that I would go and she scares the holy fuck out of me.

I heard a light knocking at my door; I turned to see Tanya standing in my doorway. "Are you almost ready, Eddie?"

"Don't call me Eddie and yes, I'm ready." I crossed the room to give her a hug. "You look gorgeous by the way," I meant it, she looked beautiful. She had her hair pulled up in a simple ponytail and was wearing a silk wrap dress that matched her green eyes. Our eyes were one of the few features that we shared in common. Our nose and height were the only other two indicators of sharing the same father.

"You don't look so bad yourself," she motioned her finger in a circle indicating she wanted me to spin for her. I knew I looked good, as always, but this time I was on edge, unsure of why. I had on a pair of light gray-wash jeans, a black button down shirt with the sleeves rolled to my mid forearms, with a white basic t-shirt underneath. I slipped on my black Doc Marten loafers. I fought like hell to tame my hair, but that only seemed to make it worse.

"I don't look like I'm trying to hard?" I asked.

"Are you nervous? Is this about a girl?" she teased.

"Yes and thanks."

"Hey, can we talk for a bit?" she asked as she sat down at the foot of my bed.

"Of course, are you okay?"

"I'm fine; it's you I'm worried about."

"You're worried about me? What for?"

"Please don't be mad, but I may have talked to Jasper…" Fucking hell. "He's a little concerned for you, don't be mad at him."

I sat down next to her and nudged her shoulder. "I'm not mad at you; I've just got a lot on my mind."

"A recently single New Yorker have anything to do with it?" she asked with a sly smile.

"It might," I looked down at the ground. "I don't know what the hell as come over me. I never get unhinged like this. I'm not sure I like it."

"You like her." It wasn't a question.

"I don't know what's happening to me. Anytime I'm around her or I hear her voice. I can't help but be a total asshole to her. The day we met I had no idea she was engaged and I found myself torn between wanting to introduce her to Ed and Liz and fucking her on the table." I stood up and started pacing, running my fingers through my hair.

"Whoa. Jas was right, you do have it bad." I nodded in agreement.

"Then she called a few days ago to apologize for not being in contact for almost two months and I fucking shut her down. She was actually nice to me and I was a fucking prick." I mentally cringed at the memory of my attitude.

"Well dear brother, that's because you are a fucking prick," she paused for a second to take a deep breath. "Okay, I'm going to tell you something, and you may not like what you hear, so promise you'll hear me out through the entire thing?" I stopped pacing and stared at her.

"Edward, I love you to death, but you are an asshole. Whenever a girl has a chance to get close to you for some stupid reason you push them away. Wouldn't it be nice for you to have someone other than me or Jasper to hang around with?"

I opened my mouth to answer but she held up her hand to stop me. "That was a rhetorical question, Eddie. Stop trying to have the answer for everything. I think one of your issues…don't look at me like that. You know you have issues -as in more than one. I'm not sure where these issues you have with the opposite sex are coming from, but you need to get over it. Ever since your first movie came out you've changed, and at first it was for the better," she smiled at me.

"You were more outgoing, you laughed more, and it seemed like the weight of the world had been lifted off your shoulders. Now it seems that you're slowly falling back to the way you were before. You're more withdrawn, I haven't seen you really smile in ages and look at where we are now. We are about to head to a movie premiere and I'm your date. Unless you want to keep falling backwards and you need to pull your head out of your ass! You're only a few steps away from braces and a bad overbite."

I knew exactly what my issues were, the only problem was the one issue I did have with Bella had been dealt with.

I held up my hands in surrender, "I get it! Can I expect a verbal bitch slap every time you're my date? It's no wonder you're single, T. You really know how to bring a guy down."

"Yeah, well you need it," she said as she hopped off the bed and threw her arm over my shoulder. "So tell me, what are you going to do about the New Yorker?"

We left my room and turned down the hall.

"Well I was planning on apologizing and trying to be civil with her."

Tanya quirked an eyebrow at me. We made our way down to the car that Irina had sent for us.

"You want to be civil with her?"

"Yeah, so?"

"I remember those pictures, Ed, and you just said yourself that you wanted to fuck her on the table. You're completely smitten with her, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I guess so." Bullshit, I wasn't smitten with her. I was damn near fucking obsessed with the girl and I'd only really seen her in person a handful of times. We had yet to even discuss anything remotely close to feelings or anything personal.

"So what are you going to do about it?"

"I was thinking of calling her sometime next week to see if she would like to get together," I looked at the floor of the town car, not wanting to meet her eyes

"What if you see her before next week?" she had a playful tone in her voice. My head snapped up from the floor. I hadn't thought of that and I told her so. "What would you do if she were at this little shindig tonight?"

"Why would she be?"

"I don't know, just throwing out a hypothetical," she lied. Tanya has always been a terrible liar; it's why we never played poker. Her right foot would twitch and her nose wrinkled.

"Bullshit. What do you know?'

"Me?" she pointed to herself; "I have no idea what you're talking about," she gnawed on her fingernail and looked at me out of the corner of her eye.

"I call bullshit, T. What aren't you telling me?"

"All I'm gonna say is be prepared for anything. L.A. is not that big of a town. Remember who she works for and what her job duties include. That's it and you can't make me say anything else." She stomped her foot.

"Hey, where's Jasper?"

"I have no clue. I got a text from him earlier today saying that he would meet us there; something about meeting with Carlisle.." She nodded in acknowledgment but remained silent.

The forty-five minute car ride to the theatre was spent in relative silence. The only sounds in the car were from Tanya's nails typing on her Blackberry. The car slowly pulled up to the theatre and the driver made his way to our door.

Tanya threw on her 'big smile face' and looked at me expectantly. "You ready for this?"

"Not really, but let's go," I smiled for her.

"It'll be fine, I already see Jasper and Carlisle at the end over there" she said; pointing to them in the corner through the window. The driver opened the door, I stepped out first and my ears were immediately assaulted with screaming. I held my hand out for Tanya who just smirked at me. She linked arms with me and made our way to the carpet runner. I saw Jasper and Carlisle make their way towards us.

"Tanya, lovely to see you again," Jasper leaned in and kissed her cheek; causing her to giggle in reply. She's always had a crush on him, ever since we were kids. Carlisle leaned over and gave her a light peck on the cheek.

"Eddie, glad to see you pull yourself out of your hole and join us," Carlisle patted me on the back, hard. I scowled at him calling me Eddie, but I remembered the cameras and quickly changed my expression.

"Yeah, well I wouldn't want to starve my adoring fans of my presence," I smirked.

"And….he's back!" Jasper said, causing us all to laugh. I could put on a façade if needed.

"I'm going to warn you now, Eddie, Irina is on the warpath," Carlisle whispered in my ear. I nodded. "Okay, we're going to get out of here this heat is killing me, you kids have fun with the press." Carlisle waved to us and walked off.

Jasper, Tanya and I made our way down the carpet, but I soon found myself trailing behind them. The photographers were all yelling for me to pose alone. Apparently they didn't want to get a picture of my manager or a contracts lawyer. I had successfully caught up with them three-fourths of the way down and I could feel the air conditioning coming from inside the entryway of the theatre when I heard another loud round of screaming from the fans and press.

I turned to see who was causing all the fuss, only to see the back of a really tall guy reaching to help pull out a blonde woman. The couple turned away from the car and walked over to the Entertainment Tonight people. Holy fucking shit. Emmett McCarty and Rosalie Hale? What was even more shocking was right behind them, out of the same car, was Jacob Black and Bella Swan. Jacob had another woman on his arm. She was shorter than Bella and had short black hair. The three of them were laughing and walked right past Emmett and Rosalie. Jake leaned down and whispered something in Bella's ear, causing her to turn three different shades of red.

Bella was stunning in a short green dress with gold strappy heels making her long legs look even more fucking phenomenal. She wore her hair down, it looked soft to the touch, and the sun was setting causing the red highlights in her hair to make her face pale face a bit more tan. My palms began to sweat and my heart started racing. She was a natural beauty and the urge to toss her in the back of her car and make her mine was overwhelming.

To say I was confused would be an understatement. I turned to Tanya who had a small grin on her face. "You knew she was going to be here, didn't you?" I asked. She nodded. "How did you know? Do you know her?"

"I don't know her and it's a long story I would love to explain to you sometime, but now is not the time, okay?"

"Oh, I think now is a great time." The venom was seeping through my calm façade.

"Edward, I promise, I'll explain everything. Instead, let's just have fun watching a crappy movie and getting tanked at the after party, okay?" She put her hand on my forearm trying to calm me down.

"Who's the tiny dancer with Jacob Black?" Tanya asked and I looked at Jasper to see him wearing a look of bewilderment and fascination.

"I have no idea. You're his new best friend, Jasper, why don't you go ask him?" I may still have been a tad bitter about breakfast earlier in the week.

"I don't have to. That's Alice Brandon, Bella Swan's personal assistant," he said. How the hell did he know that?

"Jacob just waved to me and it looks like they are making their way over. Better put your pretty little Ray-Bans on Eddie, you're about to go blind," Jasper laughed. I had no idea what he meant. Instead I focused on the way Bella's hips swayed as she walked towards us, stopping and pausing to talk with various people on the other side of the barriers. Not even five minutes later Jacob shook hands with Jasper and was being introduced to Tanya and me.

"Edward, it's nice to finally meet you. I've heard a lot about you," he laughed and lightly elbowed Bella. She looked him and glared.

"Edward, lovely to see you again," she leaned over and placed a light kiss on my cheek, she then whispered quickly "go with it and pretend you don't hate me." I could smell a hint of tequila on her breath; she was drunk. The contact from her lips caused my mind to flash back to the first time we touched at The Ivy. My mind wasn't the only thing with a flash. The moment she leaned in my direction we were instantly blinded by camera flashes. I had to close my eyes to prevent being blinded.

I felt that familiar overwhelming sense of calm and comfort again and instantly craved more. I looked at Bella and confirmed that she had felt it too. "Edward, I would like to introduce you my assistant and co-date, Alice Brandon."

"Alice, it's lovely to meet you," I was shocked at her response. She gave me a brief nod and then walked a few feet over to Jasper and introduced herself.

"I think we've lost her," Bella snickered.

"One down, two to go," Jacob said as he winked at Bella. Bella snorted with laughter and slapped him on the chest. I was instantly jealous and wanted to be Jacob's shirt. The thought of being slapped by Bella was oddly arousing. Interesting. Jasper and Alice had taken off inside only leaving Jacob, Bella, Tanya and me awkwardly standing around.

"Bella, are we all set to head in?" I heard Emmett call from behind her.

"I think we're all done here," her voice was clipped. "Jake?" he nodded in response. Emmett walked past us, giving Tanya and me a polite nod. It did not escape the wink he tossed back to Bella. Part of me wondered if this was a sick game they liked to play with each other.

This had turned into one of the most confusing situations I had ever been in. From what I knew Bella and Emmett had been engaged not even a week ago, they broke up weeks before their wedding, but now they are attending a highly public event together but with separate dates? What the hell was going on? I was dying to ask Bella about it, but she was with Jacob and as friendly as the guy seemed; I knew he could easily kick my ass if I pissed her off. She was already pissed at me enough.

I watched her walk off again, still staring at her hips and the way she glided into the theatre. Tanya and I followed them in and quickly found our seats. I was sitting two rows behind Bella. Alice, Bella and Jacob were already seated by the time Tanya and I found our seats next to Carlisle and Jasper. I made my way down the aisle and saw Jacob with his hand on Bella's knee. I felt the jealousy and anger starting to rise. I wanted to be the one touching her knee like that.

The rest of the theatre had people talking in hushed polite whispers; I could hear the faint sound of Bella giggling which slowly grew into a full blown laugh. Other movie patrons were turning in their seats to glare at her and Jacob. Jacob leaned over and whispered something in her ear; Bella stood up and made her way out of the theatre.

I sat there mentally throwing daggers at Jacob's head; Tanya leaned over and whispered "she's alone, now is your chance to go talk to her. The press is probably gone so you guys will have a moment to talk." I stared at her and gulped. She was right; this was my opportunity to do this right.

"Wish me luck," I whispered, earning a large grin from Tanya.

I made my way out to the lobby and saw that Tanya was right. Most of the photographers were gone or packing up their equipment. The lights were slightly brighter in the lobby than they were in the theatre; I had trouble at first trying to find her.

"So are you stalking me now?" Bella asked from behind me. I turned around to see an amused looking Bella leaning against the far wall.

"Stalking you? If I recall correctly, I was here first." She quirked an eyebrow at me.

"You were here first? What are you, twelve?"

"It would seem so, Ms. Swan, seeing as how you enjoy playing the game of tag." I replied.

"Tag?" She uncrossed her arms and pushed off the wall.

"Anytime we seem to make any kind of contact, you run," her eyes flashed with anger. She slowly made her way over toward where I was standing. Instinctively I backed up. She was no longer a pissed-off kitten. She was a lion and I was the lamb. She had claws that could come out regardless if she was the hunter or the hunted and right now she had a look in her eyes that I couldn't place.

"I see," was all she said. I swallowed hard.

"Look, I only came out here to apologize. You called me to explain why you hadn't spoken to me and I threw it back in your face. You didn't deserve it, so I'm sorry." She didn't say anything, so I continued my apology, "you also called to thank me for your breakfast with Jacob and I blew it off like it was nothing."

"Okay," she said softly, she was coming closer. "I accept your apology," she paused in her movements. She was only a foot away from me and looked me straight in the eye. She licked her lips; just a flash of pink from her tongue was enough to renew any arousal.

"I…uh…" this was new for me. I've never been left speechless by a woman. I was intimidated and turned on and scared shitless all at once. We looked into each other's eyes; the electricity that had been slowly starting to build between us was palpable. I tried to speak, opening and closing my mouth several times.

I could feel her hand reach out for me and I closed my eyes waiting for her to touch me. I wasn't sure if she was going to slap me or touch my face. She could fucking sack tap me for all I cared.

But I felt nothing.

I opened my eyes to see her standing a few feet away from me pacing back and forth. She was running her hands through her hair. "Fuck!" she cried.

"Are you okay?" I asked softly

"No I'm not okay, Edward," she snapped. "Does it look like I'm fucking okay?"

I could feel my annoyance starting to rise. How could someone be so fucking beautiful and tempting and so goddamn frustrating and good at pissing me off? I tried to rein in my anger. "Bella, would you like to get out of here?" To my surprise she just nodded.

"What about your date?"

"Tanya? I doubt she'll miss me, I have a feeling she'll know where I am if I don't come back. What about Jacob? Surely he'll miss you?" I thought back to his hand being on her knee and the way he had his arm wrapped around her waist in the press line.

"I'll deal with Jake later," she waved her hand around.

I tilted my head and stared at her. Surely she had to know how badly it would look if anyone saw us leave together. "Are you sure? The last thing I would hate to do-"She held up her hand to stop me from saying anything further.

"I understand it must be hard for you to be civil ninety-six percent of the time, so unless you're going to say something incredibly kind about me, I highly suggest you keep your mouth shut. Clear?"

"Crystal."

"Good," she grabbed my hand; the warmth and calmness immediately taking over, "now let's get the hell out of here. My feet are killing me and this dress…words can't even begin to describe how badly I need to get out of it." She slapped her hand over her mouth and looked at me with wide eyes. I busted out laughing when she realized how she sounded. "Th-th-that's not what I meant!" she punched me in the shoulder.

"Oww, what the fuck, woman? That hurt!" I rubbed where she punched me. If we were ever mugged in a dark alley, I was certain she would have to protect me. "Don't punch me because you have a desire to strip when I'm around." She opened her mouth to protest but shook her head and tugged at my hand for me to follow her.

We slipped through the employee entrance of the back of the theatre and walked a block down the street until we found a cab. "My place or yours?" I asked.

"Mine, nobody knows where I live." She eyed the cabbie warily who was staring wide-eyed in the review mirror. "And we're going to keep it that way, aren't we?" she said with a firm voice looking the cabbie in the eye. Intimidating Bella was back.

And so was my hard on.

We pulled up to a gorgeous home not too far from mine. It was simple and elegant with a touch of beauty in all the details, it was very Bella. As we walked up the drive to her house she asked if I was hungry to which I told her I was. I hadn't eaten anything since my late lunch. Instead of walking through the front door, she led me around back to the side entry of her garage.

"What are we doing?"

"We're going out to eat."

"So why didn't we just take a cab to a restaurant?"

"Well, for starters I don't have any desire to be seen anywhere near the theater. Secondly, I wanted to change before we head out; and third," she looked down and I could see her blush beginning. She opened the garage and flicked on the light.

"Go on…"

"Ugh, fine. And third, I wanted to drive. I just got a new car and after living in New York with Em…after being in the city for so long, I never really drove. I always had car services to take me places, and I like the feeling of power."

"I've noticed," I smirked.

"Will you be okay here for a second while I go change? You can come in the house, but I won't be gone long enough for you to get settled."

"I'll be fine, go change." She slipped off her gold shoes and bolted into the house.

I took a moment to look around her garage and spotted a brand new 2010 BMW M6. It was a gorgeous gold color and I could tell that it already had several body modifications to it.

She wasn't lying when she said she wouldn't take that long. She had only been gone for about ten minutes. "Sorry about that," I looked up and was stunned. She had changed into a pair of sinfully low-riding jeans and a shimmering spaghetti strap tank top with a pair of low slung black heels. She grabbed her keys and slid in to the driver's side of her BMW. "Get in, I'm starving."

"So where are we going?"

"I have made a discovery since moving out here," she said as she looked both ways before pulling out onto the main road. "In New York you can get anything delivered at any time, and there are a million different types of food." I held back the urge to tell her I had been to New York before, but this was clearly something important to her.

"The one thing I was never allowed to have growing up or allowed to do on my own really was get my own food. Even when I was at the office, people would have food brought to me. I never went and got it myself. So I am sharing an indulgence with you, Edward."

I noticed where we were when we pulled into the parking lot. I turned and looked at her. "In-N-Out?" I asked.

"Yes. Tell me a double-double with extra sauce and hot fries does not sound amazing right now." She met my gaze, daring me to contradict her. I couldn't. A greasy burger with Bella after ditching a movie premiere sounded absolutely perfect.

"I'm sold, let's go," I grabbed her hand and gave it a light squeeze. Luckily we walked in and there were hardly any customers. The girl working behind the counter immediately smiled and flashed what I'm sure was supposed to be a flirtatious smile. We placed our orders and stepped off to the side and waited for our food.

"Oh shit," Bella murmured.

"What?" I asked as she nodded her head towards the girl who took our order; she was texting furiously on her phone. "Do you trust me?"

She bit her bottom lip and nodded. Fucking hell that's hot.

"Okay then," I walked over to the young girl and put my hand over hers.

"Hi there," I smiled. Her eyes grew wide and her hand started shaking. "What's your name?"

"J-J-J-Jessica. Jessica Stanley"

"Jessica, it's lovely to meet you. I'm going to guess that you know who I am and who my friend is, is that right?" I asked her with a smooth tone; I spoke low enough so it seemed that it was an intimate conversation.

"You're Edward Masen and that's Bella Swan," I noticed she frowned when she said Bella's name.

"Now Jessica, I'm also going to guess that you just sent a mass email or made a posting on Facebook that we're here, am I right?"

"I'm sorry," she started to apologize.

"Now Jessica, we both know you aren't. But I will make you a deal, okay?" she nodded. "If you send out another message and say that you were mistaken, that you didn't see Bella and me here. We will be more than happy to take as many pictures with you and sign some autographs for you and your friends."

"Can I kiss you?" Jessica fluttered her eyelashes, sending Bella into a fit of giggles.

"You're going to let her kiss you before I have?" Bella mock-scoffed with a mischievous grin on her face.

"That depends," I walked over to Bella and leaned in so my lips were grazing her ear. "Do you want me to kiss you, Bella?" It was the first sort of any outspoken acknowledgement of the chemistry that was happening between us. Bella nodded her head; my heart fluttered and my mind was made up. Bella Swan would be the death of me.

I pulled back and looked into her eyes and gave her a small smile. It pained me to tear myself away from her, if only for a few minutes.

"Not a problem, Jessica. Do you have a camera?" Jessica handed me her phone and then jumped over the counter, it was actually pretty impressive how she cleared it with ease. I passed her phone to Bella.

"Okay, Edward. Give the girl the kiss she wants," Bella teased. I shot her a dirty look than nodded.

I wrapped my arm around her shoulder and Bella held the camera phone up to adjust. "Okay one…two…" Jessica grabbed my face and mashed her lips to mine"…three" there was a quick flash.

"Delete that!" I told Bella, she nodded.

"No!" Jessica shrieked as she lunged for her phone.

"I'm sorry this was such a bad idea." Bella was laughing so hard she was gasping for air. She tossed Jessica's phone to her after she deleted the picture. "Let's get out of here, we can find somewhere else to eat." We quickly left the restaurant leaving a screaming Jessica in our wake.

After we were in the car and had been driving all over the city, we stopped at a red light a few blocks from Bella's house. Silence had taken over and the unspoken tension was rising again.

"So I'm thinking we still need to talk," I heard her say softly.

"Yeah, we probably should," I agreed. "Do you want to just go back to your place?"

"No, Emmett and Alice will be there. Talking is going to be awkward enough. The last thing either of us need is to have my ex-fiancé and best friend around." The thought of Emmett being at her house and possibly spending the night made me tense. It was inappropriate on so many levels. I constantly reminded myself that she wasn't mine and I had no say about how she spent her free time or who she spent her time with. That didn't mean I had to like it.

"Well Jasper is going to be at my place and I'd rather not talk about anything with him around." I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair. Why did this have to be so damn hard?

Thank you so much for reading!