Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight

7. Confrontation

BPOV

After breakfast we stayed in the diner and talked awhile. Rosalie was turning out to be a lot cooler than I thought. She was actually kind of…down-to-earth. Her love of cars made her that much more personable. The waitress who was assigned to our table started to get an attitude because we were taking up the booth and scaring away potential customers so we left, but that wasn't until late afternoon- early evening. I felt kind of bad; she probably had bills to pay and needed the tips. It reminded me that I should probably start looking for a job soon.

We went back to their dorm and spent the rest of the day just talking and getting to know Rosalie a little more. I had all but forgotten about Edward when it was time for Alice to drop me off at home. To say that I was disappointed this morning would be an understatement. I was pumped up and ready to duke it out but my confidence was deflated when I found his room empty.

I walked up to the door and took a deep breath before opening it and stepping into the dark living room. I flipped on the light switch and sighed. Of course he wasn't here, that would make my life way too easy and the universe wasn't having that. It felt like I was living alone. My roommate was virtually non-existent.

It was nearly midnight and I was already exhausted but I wanted to nip this in the bud so I was going to wait up for him.

I brushed my teeth and threw on a pair of blue flannel pajama bottoms and an old tank top and jumped in the bed. I left my door open- I wanted to know the moment he walked in. I reached over to the bed side table and turned my lamp on and tried to read my book, with little success- my mind was occupied with what to say to him. This was nothing like I expected when I envisioned my college experience. He changed so drastically from when I first met him only a couple days ago. I yawned and tried to shake off the sleep I was feeling. I couldn't let sleep get in the way of my plan. My eyes began to put up a fight so I rubbed them stubbornly and opened them wide trying to fend off the sand man.

I had planned to confront him and demand to know what his problem was- but after all that I still fell asleep.

The next thing I remember is waking up to a room filled with sunlight. I sat up quickly, too quickly. I got dizzy as the blood rushed away from my head. I pushed the covers off of me, swaying slightly as I stood before letting my head adjust. I hated when that happened. As if I wasn't clumsy enough without the dizziness. Once my head cleared I rushed out of my room, praying that I would find him there.

"You've got to be kidding me," I grumbled as found his rooms empty, yet again. I thought for sure I would hear him with my door open but the stealthy son of a bitch evaded me once again. I was beginning to think that he never came back at all until I walked into the bathroom and fresh steam was covering the mirror.

I had just missed him.

I shook my head and cursed to myself as I wiped the steam away from the mirror so I could see into it. This was getting ridiculous. He had to be avoiding me. Nobody was this busy and classes hadn't even started yet. I brushed my teeth and went into my room to make my bed. I reached over to turn my bed side lamp off but it was already done. What? He came into my room and turned off my light. He had the nerve to get mad at me for being in his room but its okay for him to come into mine? Frustrated, I walked into the kitchen and opted for a quick breakfast.

I wasn't in the mood for cooking so I settled on something quick. I looked around the kitchen before I remembered one tiny detail and groaned. A microwave would have been handy in this scenario, maybe even a toaster and wouldn't you know we didn't have either one. We were supposed to go and get that stuff together before he started acting crazy- and to think I was worried about him thinking I was nuts. I grabbed a frying pan and slammed it onto the stove with a grunt.

Hello, hello

Is anyone home

Hello, hello

Just pick up the phone

I shuffled back into my room and grabbed my phone.

"Hey Alice," I groaned.

"Bella?"

"Rosalie?" I was surprised to hear her voice on the other end. "What's going on? Why are you calling me on Alice's phone?"

"Nothing, I didn't have your number so I used Alice's phone; anyways we we're going to go shopping and I wanted to know if you wanted to come." God help me not another shopaholic.

"Uh…I think I'm good on that front," I laughed. I had enough clothes to last a lifetime.

"You can never have too many clothes Bella." I heard Alice yell in the background.

"You're on speaker," Rose told me.

"I beg to differ but I can't go anyway, I have to stay here and keep an eye out for the good doctor." I was determined to catch him this time around. It ends tonight.

"The good doctor? Are you sick?" Alice asked sounding concerned.

"I didn't even know doctors made house calls anymore," Rose stated.

"No that's just my name for Edward; he's acting like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde so I'm waiting around for his crazy ass to stop avoiding me so I can talk to him." I clarified.

"Oh, well good for you Bella."

"Kick his ass," Alice chimed, "ooh can we come watch? Do you need back up?" I rolled my eyes and chuckled.

"There will be no ass kicking of any sort, no- you can't watch, and I think I can handle it. You guys enjoy your shopping though," I said cheerfully. Now that Alice had Rose to shop with maybe she would leave me alone.

"Fine," I heard the pout in her voice, "but you still owe me. Don't forget."

"Yeah yeah, I'll see you guys later. Bye Rose."

"Bye Bella." I hung up and tried to remain positive given the fact that I would be spending a perfectly good Friday indoors.

EPOV

I was being a coward, spineless and weak, sitting in a dark music room hiding from the world. I sat on the piano bench absently fingering the keys with my head resting on the fall trying to remember that melody that had so effortlessly escaped me almost a week ago but nothing was coming up. I needed a distraction. Obviously running away from my problems was not a solution but, then again, when has running away ever solved anything? So here I sit in a pathetic attempt to distract myself from what I should be doing. I should be apologizing but I wasn't prepared to face her yet. I knew I was wrong and I knew she was hurt by the look on her face as she slept.

Yesterday after my run I needed a shower and was relieved to find that she wasn't home. I had more time to figure things out. I quickly took a shower and was out again before an hour past. It hadn't crossed my mind that I was being elusive until much later when I actually decided to come home again. It was after one in the morning and I knew she would be asleep but I got worried when I walked in and saw the light shining from her room. I closed the front door and locked it behind me and tentatively made my way towards the light.

I lightly chuckled to myself thinking about how people die in movies. They always tell you not to walk into the light and here I was blatantly welcoming my death. I knew she had to be upset with me; she had every right to be. I had treated her horribly and I deserved whatever was coming to me…but she was looking through my things so I wasn't completely wrong in my actions…right?

I breathed deep, bracing myself. I didn't know what to expect. Would she yell? Swear? Hit me?

I hoped not.

I would just apologize quickly and everything would be fine. I stuck my head in the door and found her fast asleep. I exhaled and relaxed against the frame. I was relieved. I had an extra day to continue my recreant duties. How pathetic. I shook my head at myself and walked into the room actually seeing it for the first time. It was light and feminine. The colors were calming blues and silvers. There was a rather large painting hanging above her platform bed taking up most of the space on the wall. I looked under the painting at her.

Her hair was fanned out over the pillows, the comforter pulled snug around her waist with her hands loosely wrapped around a book. But I couldn't get over the expression on her face. It wasn't peaceful like I'd expected. Her eyebrows were pushed together in stress causing a hard line to form between them. My hands twitched and ached to reach out and smooth the line away. I knew I had to be part, if not all, of the reason she looked that way. I turned off the light that was sitting on her night stand and left. I felt terrible but I couldn't bring myself to ameliorate the situation. Maybe it was better this way.

I chuckled dryly and raked my hands through my hair.

I'm a cowboy, on a steal horse I ride

I'm wanted, Dead or alive

Wanted, Dead or alive

My phone rang bringing me out of my thoughts. I quickly answered it before the sound could attract any unwanted attention.

"Hey Jazz."

"Edward man, where the hell have you been?"

"I'm fine, thanks for asking how 'bout you?" I chuckled lightly, attempting to be lighthearted.

"I don't have time for formalities. Did you listen to the CD?"

"What?" I asked confused. He sighed into the phone and I could hear him tuning his guitar in the background.

"Never mind, I need your opinion on something. How soon can you get here?"

[]-[]-[]-[]-[]

"So what is it you need my help on?" I asked cheerfully, stepping past Jasper into the room. Maybe this was the distraction I needed.

"I said I needed your opinion but your help would be appreciated." He grinned, shut the door and sat down on his bed. I rolled my eyes and took a seat at his desk, straddling the chair so that I was facing him. He picked up his guitar and started playing an unfamiliar tune. When he came to a certain part I saw his eyebrows knit together in concentration as the melody shifted. It sounded sort of sad, almost painful. There were moments when it was light and happy sounding but that painful underdone was still there. I looked at his expression and couldn't help but laugh; he looked so pensive, eyes tight- lips pursed, his whole face was just scrunched up in complete seriousness. He stopped playing when he heard me laughing and glared at me.

"What the hell are you laughing at?"

"Your face- why are you making that face?" I said through my chuckles. At this point I was gripping the back of the chair trying to keep myself from falling off. He sighed and put his guitar off to the side and laid down on the bed. Once I calmed down I really looked at him. He looked kind of stressed out; it reminded me of the look Bella had on her face last night. Maybe I couldn't relieve her stress but I could try to ease some of his.

"What's going on Jasper?"

"Maria," he sighed and threw his hand up over his face.

That explained it all. He had been dating her for the past six months and lately it seemed like they were always fighting. He didn't need to tell me why this song was so important I already knew. He was writing it for her in a last ditch effort at reconciliation…this time.

"What did you do now?"

"When I figure it out I'll let you know," he sighed. I laughed. He lifted himself into a sitting position so he could stare at me questioningly.

"I don't see why you're trying so hard?"

"What?"

"Dump. Her. She's a frigid, militant bitch. I'm sorry to be so blunt but she's not worth the trouble." Emmett and I had the pleasure of meeting her a few times and we both couldn't understand how Jasper could tolerate her.

"She's not militant."

"…Okay, then she's a frigid bitch," I laughed.

"She just knows what she wants; she's very…"

"Combative?"

"Confident." I scoffed and rolled my eyes.

"If that song is any indication of your relationship than you must be in a lot of pain and she's just not worth it…"

"How do you know what she's worth?" he asked annoyed.

"Okay, I guess I don't know, but let me ask you this…do you love her?"

"What?"

"Do. You. Love. Her?"

"I…I think so." He shrugged.

"You think? Jazz if you don't know by now I think it's time for a change." He sighed and raked his hand through his shaggy hair. We sat there in silence as my words floated up in the air. I hoped he was taking them into consideration.

"You really didn't listen to the CD?"

"Jasper, what CD?"

"The one I left with Bella a couple days ago!" I groaned at the mention of her name. His confusion at my reaction was palpable and I knew he was waiting for me to explain so I did. I told him everything that happened and how I treated her leaving my feelings out of it because at this point I wasn't so sure what was going on with me.

"Wow….you're an asshole," He said when I was finished.

"Thank you, that is exactly what I need," I said sarcastically. "It's not like I don't feel bad about it, I just…I don't know. I'm sure the last thing she wants is to see me right now." And I definitely didn't want to see her if she did.

"You can't avoid her forever."

"…But I can try." He shook his head disapprovingly before picking up his guitar.

"I don't think I need to tell you this but you live together," he said as he started to strum.

"Don't remind me." I sighed and leaned my forehead against the back of the chair.

"I don't see what the big deal is, she seemed pretty nice to me. I don't know how it is in Chicago but where I'm from we tend to like nice people," He laughed.

"Smartass." I picked up a pencil from his desk and launched it at him only to have him start laughing harder as he dodged it. I knew he was right though. I couldn't hide forever.

We worked on the song some more. I'm sure Jasper knew I was trying to prolong my visit to keep from going home but he didn't say anything more about it and I didn't try to convince him to break-up with Maria. That's how we worked. We said our peace and left it at that; either you took the advice or not. I figured 1 o'clock was late enough to go home. I was getting tired and Jasper was still trying to perfect his sad song. I knew Bella would be passed out by now; she usually was.

My feet lagged as I yawned and pulled my keys out and slumped into the car. The lines on the road started to blur slightly and I was grateful this was a short drive.

I pulled up and got out of the car. I barely took notice of the light shining through the curtain of the living room window as I put my keys in the lock and turned. I opened the door to find Bella sitting on the couch. I stood in the doorway frozen and stared at her as she stared back. She was wearing a white tank top and some loose fitting blue flannel pajama bottoms and still managed to make the outfit look sexy.

Neither of us said anything for a moment. We just stared at each other, the tension in the room getting thicker with each breath. Eventually I allowed myself to step into the room and shut the door behind me. The soft click of the lock seemed so much louder in the silence. I looked back over at her to find a determined expression on her face as she stood up from her spot on the couch. She dropped the book she was reading on the cushion next to her without a word. The tension was still building and the silence was getting unbearable. I knew this was going to happen sooner or later I had just been hoping it would be later. She took a deep breath and opened her mouth to say something and I held up my hands to stop her. Her expression went from determined to annoyed.

"Before you say anything can I say I'm incredibly sorry?" I rushed the words out hoping to defuse some of the tension; I thought that would soften her up but she looked even more upset instead.

"You're sorry? That's it? That's supposed to make everything okay? What makes you think you can just treat people like that?" she yelled and threw her hands up in the air before crossing them over her chest.

"It wasn't my intention....I was… having a bad couple of days."

"Oh so that justifies you treating me like shit?"

"No," I started and took a step towards her. "…I know it's not an excuse. I shouldn't have treated you that way but you were in my room," I pointed out.

"And you were in mine!" she shot back.

"That's different," I countered.

"How so?" she asked as she arched a perfectly sculpted eyebrow.

"I was trying to be nice and turn your light off for you, you were snooping." She scoffed and her eyes narrowed into slits.

"I was not snooping!"

"That's not what it looked like to me," I grinned and came closer. She stepped back.

"Okay, moving on. That still doesn't explain your attitude the other night."

"I told you, bad day."

"That doesn't give you the right to act-"

"I know," I started, cutting her off "I just thought-"

"Thought what- that if you avoided me long enough I would forget?"

"I wasn't avoiding you."I lied. That caused her to look at me with a blank expression. "Okay so I was avoiding you, I was embarrassed; I didn't know what to say." She contemplated my words for a second before nodding slightly.

"Edward, if you don't want to be friends its fine but since I'm forced to live here I'm going to ask that you give me some respect. I would have never treated you that way."

"I know and I am sorry about that."

"And if you stay out of my room I'll stay out of yours."

"You went into my room first." She glared at me and I threw my hands up in surrender. I was starting to sound like Emmett. I usually argued better than this.

"And the next time you have a bad day don't take it out on me." She looked at me pointedly. I nodded my head and threw in a small smile as she started to walk away.

"Bella?" She stopped and looked at me, waiting for me to continue. "I didn't mean to give you the wrong impression, I really do want to be your friend." Her eyes narrowed and her head tilted to one side as she stared at me like she was analyzing my face to see if I was telling the truth. "So what do you say?" I walked up to her and held my hand out. "Friends?" I ask smiling down at her. Her head jerked up in surprise as she continued to stare at me.

"Roommates," she said before she turned away without shaking my hand and walked towards her room. I was a little taken aback by it. I had officially offered her my friendship and she turned it down, I guess I deserved it though.

"You don't want to be my friend?" I asked in one last attempt.

"It's late, I'm tired, and I'm still pissed at you Mr. Hyde," she yelled over her shoulder before shutting her door.

Did she just call me Mr. Hyde?

I would ask her about that later. In that moment I decided that I really did want to be her friend. I've had friends who were girls before and I could do her- I mean this. I could do this. A few moments later I saw the light under her door go out and I walked into my room and got ready for bed. I would prove to her that I was a good guy and that we could be friends.


A/N I almost threw a small squirt of lemon in this chapter but decided not to...maybe next chapter what do you think???

Jaspers ringtone is Bon Jovi- Wanted Dead or Alive.