One Stupid Thing

A/N: Some of you have been asking me for more information about Bella and Edward. There are some interesting nuggets buried in this chapter here. Happy digging.

Chapter 7: Guys Do Keep Keepsakes

August 27…8 months ago

EPOV (23 years old)

"Edward?"

I looked up at Bella in surprise, realizing that I'd been lost in thought, thinking back all those years to a major event in my life: the day providence intervened and I fell out of a tree instead of becoming a complete voyeuristic pervert. I had apparently just missed something in the conversation. I shook my head to clear my thoughts and refocus.

"I'm sorry, what did you just ask?" I looked from Bella to Angela, feeling like a complete dolt.

Angela spoke up. "I was saying I remembered you were there the evening Bella, Alice and I went to the prom. Hadn't you broken your leg or something the night before? I seem to remember you were on crutches."

Before I could answer though, Bella was responding to the question.

"He'd sprained his ankle," she corrected Angela. "I remember seeing him lying there asleep on the couch the next morning with the crutches on the floor. I'd gone and sat next to him, wondering what had happened since he'd been fine the night before. He told me he'd been trying to get a cat out of a tree when he fell." Bella turned her smiling face to me.

"Oh, that's right, I completely forgot!" Angela said, nodding then at the recollection.

"You remember all that?" I asked Bella in surprise, feeling a little embarrassed because I'd stuck with the damn cat story after all, omitting the part about it being Mrs. Cope's cat to save face. Only my dad would ever really know just what kind of a horny little pervert I'd been that night. And I'd gotten the distinct feeling that evening that he wasn't planning to share that information with my mom. I'd be eternally grateful for that.

Bella nodded in response to my question. "I have a really good memory. I remember lots of things that would surprise you. I remember I thought it was just so sweet you would climb a tree at night, in the dark, to rescue a stray cat."

I nodded and smiled uncomfortably, thankful that Angela began reminiscing with Bella at that point about their preparations for the prom the following night. I was glad I wasn't being forced to retell and elaborate on the whole treed-cat-fabrication.

Late May… 10 years ago

EPOV (13 years old)

After my dad and I came back from the hospital the night I fell out of the tree, spraining my ankle while trying to spy on Bella, I had slept fitfully. Maybe part of the problem was the pain medication. I had probably been overly tired but because Bella was in the room next door, I had been unable to really sleep, hallucinating instead. But what wonderful hallucinations they were. Bella, Bella, and more Bella, in various stages of undress and wanton sexual activities with me.

By the time the morning rolled around, I hadn't gotten much sleep at all. The girls woke up fairly early, probably keyed up for the prom that evening. I heard them talking and laughing in Alice's room, next door to my own. I managed to hobble down the stairs on the crutches, going to lie down on the living room sofa. No one else had managed to materialize yet. I turned on the TV and lay there watching without really seeing. After a while I dozed off again.

The sound of the girls' voices, as they descended the stairs and headed into the kitchen for breakfast, didn't completely permeate my dreams. Nothing woke me completely until I felt the couch shift a little, as someone settled down, sitting right next to me.

"What happened to you?" a soft, female voice asked.

My eyes flew open in an instant. It was her, sitting right next to me on the couch where I was lying on my side. I must have looked confused, because she repeated her question.

"What happened to you, Edward? What's with the crutches?"

I glanced down. I had set the crutches on the floor, along the base of the couch. My eyes flickered back up to Bella's.

I was trying to ogle your naked breasts when fate intervened and tried to kill me.

I blushed at her, but then decided to tell her the story my father had allowed me, with a minor modification, since the truth probably wouldn't go over too well.

"Uh, I went for a walk last night and when I came back I thought I heard a cat stuck up in the tree." I gestured vaguely with my thumb over my shoulder toward a point somewhere between the tree in the front of the house and the one outside Alice's and my bedroom windows. I hated to lie to her; it was better to be vague. "I, uh, climbed up, but then I fell when my foot slipped."

She gasped. "You poor guy! What a sweet thing you were trying to do!"

No, not entirely.

I grimaced. Not because of the pain, but because of what she thought and just how far from the truth that was. I wanted to crawl into a hole in the ground. I felt like I'd let her down and I was such a disappointment to myself.

"Is it broken?" she asked, glancing quickly at my ankle, misreading my expression of pain.

"Oh, no, it's just sprained; I'll be okay, I just have to use crutches for a while and stay off of it. My dad took me to the hospital last night to get it checked out."

"Does it hurt very badly?" she asked, a pucker forming between her brows as she looked at me. "Do you want me to get you some aspirin or do you have pain medication?"

I was momentarily distracted by her little frown of concern but then I realized I hadn't taken anything since last night and I was due again by now.

"Uh, sure, Bella…thank you. I think the bottle of pills is on the kitchen counter."

She stood up and headed to the kitchen and I realized that she was still wearing the little pajama shorts I had seen on her last night. She was wearing a little hooded sweatshirt, covering up her pajama top; the errant pajama top that had nearly made my dreams come true last night.

It dawned on me that she probably was still braless under her clothes and just that little fleeting thought was now giving me problems. I grabbed one of the two toss pillows that my head was resting upon, and quickly brought it over my head and down to cover the front of the basketball shorts I was wearing. Basketball shorts do not offer much hard-on restraint, so I needed fortification. I tried to drape my arm across the pillow casually.

She returned with a glass of orange juice and a pill, waiting for me to sit up a little.

"Thanks, Bella" I said, leaning upwards to take the pill and then the glass, feeling sick once again at the thought that she was being so kind to me after I'd been a voyeuristic degenerate.

"Sure, Edward. Do you want something to eat? Alice, Angela and I are making waffles. Do you want me to fix you some?"

"That sounds really great. Yeah, thanks." Alice would never have thought to offer me any of the waffles she and her friends were making. That's okay though, when Jasper comes over I generally snub her as well. Tit for tat.

Tit for tat?

Damn! Now I was thinking of braless Bella once again.

I sat myself up, once she had left the room. I was facing the TV now, putting my leg up on the coffee table, resting it on a pillow to elevate it a little. After a while the girls came into the room, each of them wearing the same kind of outfit Bella had on: pajama shorts and a sweatshirt. I was really only focused on Bella, of course.

She brought me a plate with hot waffles, slathered with butter and syrup and a tall glass of cold milk. She sat down on the couch next to me with her own plate of waffles, setting her glass of milk next to mine on the coffee table. Alice and Angela plopped themselves down on the couch and chair, respectively.

Alice commandeered the TV remote control and put on some show that they wanted to watch. I didn't really care. I was too focused on the fact that a braless, yet sweatshirt enrobed Bella was sitting next to me on the couch. I could feel the warmth of her body emanating from her. It was a zippy little electrical charge that I felt, running through my body and directly to my pillow covered groin, where I had set my plate of waffles for good measure. I really tried to ignore the whole braless thing…but I just wasn't that strong.

Alice and Angela had wondered at my situation, and Bella had filled them in, telling them the same stranded-cat-story that I had told her. I blushed a little, but only because I knew the real story and they didn't.

They discussed their plans for the day, which included lying out in the backyard in shorts and tank tops to catch a little sun, since it was supposed to be a relatively warm day. They also had plans to get their hair cut and styled much later in the afternoon at the local salon in preparation for their big night out.

I called Jasper a little later that morning, telling him that I'd sprained my ankle and was pretty much out of commission for a while. He was a good friend; he agreed to come over to hang out with me to keep me entertained. I figured if he was there I wouldn't be tempted to press my face up against the window, mouth-breathing until the window was all fogged up as I ogled Bella in the backyard. I wanted to protect her from the disgusting monster within me if it was at all possible.

Jasper rode over on his bike after lunch, bringing a few videos and a few of his video games in his backpack. We played several games, arguing over the merits of each and which one was best and who was best at which game. We'd often had those same arguments, never really reaching any firm conclusions.

In the early evening my mom started making dinner, saying that Jasper was welcome to stay if he wanted. He stayed for my mom's famous spaghetti and meatballs. It was nice to have someone there to keep me entertained and to occupy my thoughts as Bella got ready to go out on a fabulously grown-up date with Ben Cheney.

I wondered if she liked Cheney. I knew him through Emmett; he played on the baseball team with Emmett. He was a little on the short side, but slightly taller than Bella. At least, I reflected, he wasn't known for being a douche like Tyler Crowley. He was a good guy. That was kind of what had me so worried; Bella had gone three months without a boyfriend or date, at least to my knowledge, and I hoped this wasn't the beginning of some big romance. I'd cry my eyes out if Second-Base Cheney made it to second base with Isabella Swan.

Early in the evening, the girls came downstairs; all made up and wearing their prom dresses. Bella looked like she'd stepped right out of my dreams. Her dark brown shiny hair had been curled and then caught into two gold combs on either side of her head. She was wearing a dark green dress. It had little puffy sleeves and a scooping square-cut neckline. It was a little fitted through her torso, but billowed out around her at the waist. She was wearing a little gold locket around her neck. I thought I'd never seen anyone look more beautiful. The dark green of her dress was a pretty color on her, and I thought she looked like a fairly tale princess.

I had no idea what Alice or Angela wore because I don't think I looked at either one of them once.

The guys were arriving together that evening: Ben Cheney, Mike Newton and EricYorkie. I wasn't too happy about seeing Bella go to a fancy prom with Ben Cheney, but at least he was a better choice than Newton or Yorkie. Cheney was at least a fairly nice, unassuming guy. Newton had always irritated me a little. He had that self-satisfied attitude all the time; like he was pretty convinced that he was a cool dude. I most certainly couldn't imagine Bella spending an evening with Twinkle Toes Yorkie.

I didn't know how Alice was going to make it through the evening with Yorkie without collapsing into a pile and laughing her head off. I don't know…maybe the guy could dance but I'd only ever seen him at Alice's dance recitals and I hoped for Alice's sake he wasn't going to do any ballet moves at the prom or do that "jazz hands" thing.

I recalled the last recital Alice had had, which Emmett and I had been forced to attend with our parents. Emmett had leaned toward me to whisper, 'Yorkie is a real man's man… literally.' And then Emmett had laughed at how funny he was while I'd rolled my eyes, slouching farther down in my seat, hoping no one from the junior high was there to see that I was watching my sister's fucking dance recital.

On the evening of the prom, Jasper and I were sitting in the living room playing video games when the guys showed up in their tuxedos, carrying little corsage boxes for the girls. Yorkie had bought Alice a wrist corsage, Newton had gotten a regular corsage, and his fingers were now dipping into the top edge of Angela's gown as he tried to pin it on. I thought he seemed to be having a little more difficulties than the situation warranted. If Ben tried that shit with Bella I was going to take a big wind-up swing with my crutch and let him have it over the head. Luckily for Bella and Ben's head, he just handed her the corsage and said that he wasn't too sure about how to pin it to her dress. Newton immediately offered to help her and I felt my palm itching for my crutch. I wondered how quickly I could hop over to him before he noticed my intent. Bella declined Newton's help and I just stayed put on the couch next to Jasper.

My mom and dad were there to take photos to document the occasion of Alice's first prom, fawning over the girls and guys alike. Jasper and I watched from the couch. He seemed fairly detached, intent on getting the high score on whatever video game was in the machine. I couldn't very well get up and hobble over to the group and really, why the hell would I do that, anyway?

They left shortly after that in Ben's dad's big old Suburban. I have to admit I thought about Bella that whole evening, imagining her twirling around on a big ballroom floor in Ben's arms, him stopping at the end of each song and dipping her low to the ground, bent back over his arm, him running his lips along her bare and curving neck, before pulling her back upright, tightly against his body, with little strings of lights twinkling above them romantically. I think that was probably a scene from some sappy movie I'd seen, but in my head, that was what was going on at the Forks High Prom in the Forks High Gym.

Emmett had taken Rosalie, of course. He'd left earlier in the evening to pick her up at her house. Before he'd left, he'd sneaked me a peek at the flask filled with booze he had tucked into his jacket pocket. He'd told me it was for a guaranteed good time, adding that I'd wake up dead if I ever said a word about it to our parents. When I'd asked him what kind of booze it held, he confidently told me that it was a mix of most of the things in my dad's liquor cabinet. I shivered in disgust. But then I wondered if Ben had a flask that he was planning on sharing with Bella.

When the six of them left together for their high-class night out, I really felt the gap in our ages. It seemed like everyone I knew was older than me and going to the prom. Well, except for Jasper Whitlock. But both my brother and my sister were dressed up like adults and getting to look at Bella all night, while I sat here playing games and watching TV with Jasper, like we were two goddamned little kids.

By midnight Jasper and I were sick of video games. We had watched another movie while eating popcorn and we'd also talked about everybody at school that we could think of. I'm certain after practically twelve hours with me he was just generally sick of me and my rather grumpy attitude. He figured that it was due to my swollen and sore ankle, but in reality I was just severely annoyed about the prom and what might be happening under the influence of bad decisions. Jasper decided he'd go home, rather than spend the night, so he hopped on his bike and rode back to his house a little after midnight. The Whitlock's just lived two streets over, so it was no big deal.

I stayed in the living room for a while after he left. It wasn't like Bella was going to be coming back here, so I don't know what I was really waiting up for…I just didn't really know what else to do with myself. If I hadn't had the crutches I would have been pacing the floor. Pacing with crutches is a rather clumsy ordeal, I'd discovered.

Finally at one o'clock I headed upstairs; just me and my fucking crutches. I'd just gotten to my room when I heard a car out front. I kept the lights off as I peered out the window. I heard Alice giggling and calling goodbye from the front door of our house and I saw Ben wave from the driver's seat where he sat. There was one person left in the car, besides him. It was Bella, in the passenger seat. He was taking her home last. This didn't look good to me. I could only hope that the Chief of Police was up waiting; wondering where the hell his daughter was and when her damn date was bringing her home. I imagined him sitting on his porch with a loaded shotgun, ready to deal with Cheney if he'd stepped out of line.

August 27th…8 months ago

EPOV (23 years old)

Angela had scooted her chair out to stand up from the table. I realized she had just said she needed to run to the restroom and then she asked if Bella felt so inclined. But Bella said she was fine and Angela left on her own. Suddenly Bella and I were left on our own for a few moments.

"I'm sorry, Edward," Bella said, leaning her elbow on the table and propping her chin in her hand. "We've probably been boring you to tears with our prom tales." She smiled a little hesitantly.

"Oh, no. Not at all. No…that's okay. I remember that night," I said with a smile, picking up my straw and stirring my drink a little. "I still have that photo you gave me; the wallet-sized one of you and Ben, taken at the prom that night."

"Really? You've kept it all this time?" She looked so surprised. That little signature pucker she often had was right there between her brows and I was just so tempted to reach up with my thumb and smooth that confused little crease away.

"Yeah." I looked down at the table, grasping my glass tightly, wondering if I should say what had just popped into my mind.

Shit…I might as well go for it.

"Yeah, I've still got it in a box at home…and I still have that photo of you and me at our prom, too."

She paused a moment, seemingly caught off guard.

"Our prom?" she finally asked, smiling a little at me. "Don't you mean your prom, Edward?"

I blushed and smiled awkwardly at her, wondering if I'd really gone overboard with the true confessions. I decided to rein things in a little. "Yeah, I guess it was really my senior prom, huh? But you were there, too." I shrugged, still feeling slightly foolish

She blushed a little, looking away for a moment. Her voice was a bit quieter when she spoke up again. "Life's funny isn't it?"

"Yeah, it sure is," I agreed quietly, picking up my gin and tonic and swirling the melting ice around a little before taking a rather large drink.

Funny didn't even begin to cover it. I knew she didn't mean life was 'funny-haha;' she meant something more along the lines of 'funny-odd,' with all the paths our lives take us. Sometimes life laughed at you, setting you up for disaster and ridiculing you when you narrowly escaped. Sometimes it smiled at you and gave you a break. Life had smiled on me at my senior prom, even if only for a few moments. I still had the photo to prove it. But there had been so many times, in my experience anyway, that life had seemed more along the lines of 'funny-tragic,' or maybe a little less severe, like 'funny-profoundly-disappointing.' And that had been going on for such a long time you would have thought I'd be used to it by now.

I wondered what the odds were that things might change now that I'd come back to live here in Forks.

Angela returned from the restroom as I was mulling over my fate and she sat back down, asking me what I'd been doing since high school. I filled her in on my years at UDub, getting a degree in business, followed by an MBA, living in a dorm on campus at first and then apartments after that and during my undergraduate and graduate studies.

I told her I'd shared a dorm room with my high school buddy, Jasper Whitlock the first two years and then an apartment the third year of my undergraduate studies. Jasper was also a business major at UDub, before he dropped out and decided to travel and do odd jobs to pay for his travels. Angela remembered Jasper, although he was younger like me, since he was often at our house in Forks when she was there hanging out with Alice.

Angela was surprised to find out I'd worked part-time in a bar throughout those years in Seattle and she'd asked which one. When I told her I'd worked for years at Meyer's she was surprised our paths had never crossed, since she'd been there on several occasions, having no idea I'd worked there.

The whole time we talked Bella sat there listening at times, asking a question every now and then and then completely lost in thought at others. I wondered what she was thinking about. She already knew most of my situation, since we'd seen each other throughout the years. Well, that was up until the last two years when I'd pretty much stayed in Seattle to avoid her and my embarrassment over my behavior on the night of my twenty-first birthday.

I sat with Bella and Angela for about another half hour then excused myself and said my goodbyes. I knew Bella and Angela had decided to meet so they could visit and I knew my presence was probably curtailing them from some kind of Ben Cheney discussion and whatever else was on their agenda. I really didn't want to overstay my welcome at their table; I already considered myself to be really lucky to have been invited to join them in the first place. My first time seeing Bella in a year had gone far better than I could ever have imagined; it actually felt pretty comfortable, especially considering how strained things could have still been.

It was also time for me to leave for another reason. I'd been putting in a lot of hours the past few weeks, not just here, at the Cullen's in Forks, but also helping Emmett as he transitioned to the Cullen's in Port Angeles. There had been a lot to organize and set up to get the place up and running, plus he and Rose had needed some help with their move to their new home.

Shit.

I needed a new home, too. I loved my parents dearly and got on great with them but there's just something so unsatisfying about living on your own for a few years and then moving back in with the folks; to the house where you grew up. It's a step backwards and it just makes you feel so young again after you thought you'd become an adult.

The search for an acceptable apartment to call my own had already begun. I'd narrowed my choices down and wanted to go back early tomorrow morning, before work, to make a final decision. I was anxious to make the move as soon as possible.

So, I'd wrapped up my visit with Bella and Angela then. I told them to just put whatever else they wanted to order on the same tab and it would be on the house. Bella had looked up at me in surprise.

"Can you do that? Won't you get in trouble?" The little pucker was back between her brows and for a brief second I wanted to chuckle at her little worried face…but I didn't.

"Well, let's see…" I said thoughtfully, rubbing my chin as I contemplated what she'd just asked. "My days just might be numbered if I take too many liberties, feeding the guests and buying their drinks. Of course I am the manager here…but I'd sure hate to have to fire my ass…so I'll try to keep things from getting out of hand, Bella." I bit my lip to keep my smirk at a minimum as I watched her face.

Bella and Angela both burst out laughing then; Bella covering her face with her hand.

"Oh, God! I'm so embarrassed!" she giggled. "Of course you can make those decisions. I guess I'm just used to seeing Emmett in here. Sorry, Edward!" She looked back up at me, her face a warm pink from her embarrassment. It was priceless.

I chuckled at her then. "No offense taken, Bella. So, order whatever you'd both like; I'll take care of it. Because I can." I grinned at her.

I stood up then, stretching after my long day and feeling a little awkward about how best to depart from the table. There were so many options: friendly-little-wave, pat-on-the-shoulder or back, quick lean-and-hug, one-armed hug with a peck on the cheek. What I wanted to do was to basically ignore Angela and crush Bella to my body as I mauled her lips. That would cause a definite stir in the bar, though, and there was that fairly good chance I'd get a slap for pulling that shit a second time, so I refrained, keeping the dormant monster in check.

Angela solved the problem however; she just turned toward me in her chair, lifting her arms up to me for the quick lean-and-hug. I obliged her and then I turned to Bella, whose hands remained clasped, elbows leaning on the table. She was looking up at me though, with a warm smile, so I reached out and grasped her shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze, which I hoped was okay.

"It was good to see you," I said to Bella and then turned my face to include Angela in the sentiment. "If I don't see you two before school starts back up, good luck with the new batch of demons and don't forget we've got Happy Hour to help you deal with whatever problems may arise over at the hallowed halls of Forks High School."

Angela laughed. "I'm sure you'll be seeing us, Edward."

"We'll be stopping by," Bella agreed with a smile. "I'm glad you were able to visit with us for a while, Edward. And thank you for the drinks and the terrific tapas."

I nodded a 'you're welcome' and gave them the friendly-little-wave goodbye as I dragged myself away rather unwillingly. Heading outside to my car I found myself feeling rather relieved and happy and just the tiniest bit optimistic.

BPOV (25 years old)

I had been flabbergasted when Angela had said she had an interest in Ben Cheney. Ben and I had gone out two more times after the night of the prom. We'd had a nice time together; we'd had fun but there were no real sparks between us...still, prom had been rather fun and in the end I was really glad I'd gone.

Late May…10 years ago

BPOV (16 years old)

I hadn't really planned on going to the prom. It wasn't my kind of thing. I certainly wasn't a dancer. But Alice had insisted, saying that I couldn't miss out on this experience. She called it a 'rite of passage' and said I'd regret it for years if I didn't go. Especially me, because I only had this one opportunity; I would be graduating in a month and I would never get another chance.

Alice had already conned her friend, Angela, into agreeing to go if someone were to ask her, and now she was working on me. I wasn't dating anyone at the time; actually, none of us had boyfriends, so we'd wind up going with whoever else wasn't already dating someone. There was really no one that I would feel comfortable asking, but Alice assured me that something would materialize.

Alice…such a devious friend.

She'd been right, of course. Alice would forever deny having anything to do with it but I'm sure she orchestrated Mike Newton inviting Angela and Ben Cheney asking me. The two boys were good friends, after all. Alice acted as though she were completely innocent when I told her that Ben, who was in my English class, had asked me on the exact same day that Mike, who was in Angela's Geometry class, asked her.

Coincidence? I think not. More like: Alice.

It worked out well, I must admit. Since Mike and Ben were friends it made things more comfortable for the four of us to go to prom together. Ben was a little on the short side, though he was certainly taller than me. Mike was taller than Ben and was also taller than Angela, who was a fairly tall girl, compared to the other girls in her class. The arrangements had been carefully engineered.

Alice.

The other couple in our little group was, of course, Alice and her date. She went with Eric Yorkie, a fellow dance student at the studio where Alice took lessons, and with whom she often danced at recitals. She wasn't interested in him romantically, but she knew he could dance, and they would look good together. That was important to her, after all.

Alice had been enthusiastic about all details of the prom; so much so, that she basically told Angela and me what we should wear, accessories included, how we should fix our hair, and even what make-up would best play up our features and go with our overall look. Alice was thorough. We had given ourselves manicures, pedicures, facial masques; basically everything Alice could think of.

On the evening of the prom, our dates arrived in Ben's father's big Suburban, so all six of us could ride together. They all looked so nice in their tuxedos. They came into the house, bringing corsages for us and helping us to put them on. I really did feel pretty in my dark green satin prom dress, with the little gold locket my father had given me for my sixteenth birthday, and the gold combs from my mother in my newly cut and curled hair.

I enjoyed seeing everyone dressed up at the prom. Boys you had only ever seen in jeans and t-shirts and sweatshirts were suddenly so handsome and seemed so refined in their tuxedos. The girls looked like elegant princesses in their gowns and dresses.

The scent from the flowers in the corsages permeated the air in the Forks High School gym, which had been transformed by the prom committee, led by head cheerleader, Rosalie Hale, into an exotic indoor forest, complete with faux leaf-less trees decorated with strands of white twinkling lights. "An Evening in the Enchanted Forest" had been the theme. It was pretty, even though you knew it was still the gym.

The six of us had a rather fun time that evening. Eric Yorkie really was quite the dancer. Every time that Alice would want to take a break and sit down or get something to drink, some girl would ask Eric to dance. He didn't pirouette, though, like Edward had joked the evening before.

I smiled at that thought. Edward had shown a vague interest in our pre-prom activities. He had been there much of the evening before, when we spent the night with Alice. He had been hanging around most of the evening. He must not have had anything else to do. Why a boy his age would be interested in the activities of a couple of girls involved in their pre-prom primping, was beyond me. But he was cute. He asked questions, gave Alice a hard time, smirked at Angela and me, and smiled a lot.

Even the next night, the night of the prom, before we left from the Cullen's house, I had noticed Edward watching with interest as he sat on the couch with his sprained ankle, playing video games with his friend, Jasper. Our dates arrived in their tuxedos with our corsages. Edward seemed awfully surprised to see us girls so dressed up, so made up, and our hair so fixed up, and I felt his eyes on us as we stood there inside the doorway, putting on our corsages and giggling before we left with Ben, Mike and Eric.

The six of us sat together at the same table in the gym. None of us were romantically involved with each other, so we just had a good time dancing, talking, watching and commenting on those around us. When the prom was over, Ben drove everyone home, starting with Angela and Mike, who lived near one another, then Eric, whose home was on the way to the Cullen's, where he dropped Alice off before heading to my home.

As he drove us alone to my house, Ben mentioned what a good time he'd had that evening and asked if I'd like to go play miniature golf with him in Port Angeles the following weekend. I was terrible at any and all sports, but Ben was a nice guy, and I figured, sure, why not? We got to my house and Ben walked me to my door, where I realized he was going to kiss me. It was just a little peck on the cheek and he thanked me for going with him. He was a sweet date; a far cry from Tyler Crowley.

I went with Ben the following weekend to play miniature golf and again a few days after that to the diner for dinner. By this time I realized that Ben, though incredibly nice, was not going to be a major love interest for me. Ben was sweet, he was nice, but there was no strong pull there. There was no real chemistry. He wasn't the guy for me.

I also had an awful lot ahead of me this summer: I hoped to be working and taking classes at Forks Community College. I told Ben I was just too busy to get involved but that I had enjoyed our dates.

I think Ben must have sensed it coming. He was very gracious and very sweet about the whole thing. He told me he was going to be gone much of the summer anyway, visiting relatives in England with his family. In the end it worked out fine for the both of us.

August 27…8 months ago

BPOV (25 years old)

If I had thought Angela's announcement regarding Ben Cheney was a surprise, then Edward's comment afterward had really shocked me. I couldn't believe he still had that photograph of me and Ben at my prom.

He'd kept it all this time?

I was floored.

Guys keep keepsakes?

That prom photo wasn't even really his keepsake. I'd given it to him when he was still just a junior high kid. He'd seen the pictures the day we'd gotten them back from school a few weeks after the prom. They were photos that had been professionally taken by a hired photographer that night. We'd posed beneath a little, white, lattice-work bower, decorated with vines and flowers.

Alice and I had been looking at her photos and mine earlier, before Edward's tutoring session. He had been curious and had asked to see them when we'd seated ourselves at the kitchen table. Once he'd seen my photos at the outset of that day's session, he had shyly asked if I had an extra one that he could have.

That had been the first day I'd realized young Edward Cullen must have had a little crush on me.

And now tonight, just moments ago, older Edward had admitted several rather remarkable things to me during that short, quiet conversation when Angela had left the table.

First of all, he had kept that wallet-sized photo of me and Ben for a decade. Secondly, he knew he still had that photo and he knew right where it was. Thirdly, he'd said it was with the photo he had of us at his senior prom, so he'd held onto both of those seemingly insignificant photos all these years. Lastly, he had just referred to his prom as, 'our prom,' and I'd seen the awkward smile on his face when I'd pointed that out to him.

Suddenly I suspected that those photos weren't quite so insignificant to Edward Cullen.

I'm sure it was a combination of all those realizations that made me suddenly blush and feel nervous and uncomfortable and a little warm, just sitting there with him. I realized that older Edward Cullen maybe still had a bit of a crush on me.

I realized what a ridiculous thought it was almost as soon as it came to me. Nothing could happen between us; it would just be wrong for so many reasons. I knew that and he knew that as well. It wasn't just because of our age difference. There was more. We had such crazy history together between his junior high and high school years. It would have been wrong to consider Edward Cullen as more than a sweet boy back then and I certainly wasn't going to contemplate it now. Besides, I was already involved with someone…someone older…someone with whom I shared a much more normal, more acceptable history.

I'd made a promise to myself long ago: I was not going to make the same mistake that my own parents had made years ago, nor the numerous mistakes my mother continued to make for years afterward. I had vowed to never enter into a relationship with someone younger than myself, convinced the results of which would be just as catastrophic as my parents' own failed marriage. Because of my conviction, I had only ever dated guys who were older than me. I had seen what had happened to my own two parents, with my father being a few years younger than my mother. I had also lived with the aftermath of that first bad decision, as my mother chased younger man after younger man, never finding true happiness and a lasting relationship with any of them.

Well…until Phil Dwyer had come along and she'd married him. But that was surely a fluke.

When Angela had returned from her restroom trip the regular conversation resumed and I felt relieved. She wanted to know what Edward had been up to in the past few years, so he filled her in on the course of his education and living and working in Seattle.

The three of us visited about a half hour more before Edward announced that he had to leave. I knew he probably thought he was intruding, although he certainly wasn't; I'd enjoyed his company and I'm sure Angela did as well. But we couldn't persuade him to stay. He said he had a lot to do the next morning before coming back into work for the lunch crowd and he wanted to get a good night's sleep. His exhaustion was certainly understandable considering his family had just opened their second restaurant. I figured he'd probably helped with all of that and knew it had surely been a stressful few weeks.

Angela's eyes were on Edward's back as he headed out the door of Cullen's. When he disappeared from view she turned on me, peering intently over the top of her glasses, her lips pursed.

"Well," she said, "It looks like one of the Cullen boys has a crush on the Swan girl."

"What?" I yelped. "Oh, please, Angela! Edward doesn't have a crush on me. He was just being nice to friends he's known for years."

"Well, if you ask me, those tapas were for you, not me, Señorita Swan, and he realized you needed a second drink before you even did, hand-delivering our tapas and your drink himself. And I don't know what you two were talking about when I came back from the ladies' room, but I could see 'moonstruck' all over Edward's ridiculously handsome face."

I rolled my eyes and shook my head. "Angela, there are just so many reasons that would be wrong. You have no idea what you're talking about. Besides, I'm in a relationship and I'm committed to that relationship; I have no plans to rob the Cullen cradle."

"Okay, okay," Angela laughed, relenting finally. She signaled our waitress that we would like another round of drinks before turning back to me. "Just keep in mind that if that relationship doesn't work out, I'm pretty sure there is someone willing to step in and take over."

"Oh, Angela…really! Can we please just talk about something else?" I begged.

Angela leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table top, lacing her fingers together and perching her chin atop them. Her eyes flashed as she smiled across at me.

"Sure, Bella…tell me all about Jake."

A/N: I know, I know…I feel the same way you do about Jake. But stick with me here…we'll get to an ending you'll like. ;) Now tell me what you found buried in this chapter.