Recap:

I saw it now, the way that Rita hovered around him, enduring his lashes and temperamental behavior when neither Mike nor I would. The pitying way she looked at him before leaving the room. It had confused me then, but now I was beginning to connect the dots.

Something happened to Edward. Something big. Something to ruin him.

Disclaimer: I am not Stephenie Meyer, therefore I do not own any Twilight characters. Big thanks to my beta, Permanent Rose!

Chapter Dedication: SouthernBelle90. If I haven't answered your question already, PM me! (:

I've found a reason for me
To change who I used to be
A reason to start over new
And the reason is you

-Hoobastank, The Reason

Chapter Seven: We're going drinking, man.

Edward's Point of View

I ran a hand through my hair one last time. I had attempted to tame the mess for the business meeting, but I finally settled on just allowing it to tangle itself back up into its natural form.

Rita was waiting with my coat at the bottom of the stairs. My gaze drifted through the room, searching, always searching.

What was I looking for?

"Have a good day, sir," she interrupted my thoughts politely. I forced myself to nod as I stepped out the door into the brisk morning air. The wind hit me hard, but I welcomed it. It was biting, almost painful, but it felt like a punishment I deserved. I stripped my coat off and let the bitter wind nip through the thin material of the shirt. I closed my eyes and let my thoughts drift to the place I most wanted to be.

"Relax," she whispered in my ear. Her voice, so soft and enchanting, caused me to smile. I turned around abruptly and wrapped my arms around her waist. Her feet flew off the ground, and her scream bounced off the air and into the night.

I was my intent, though. I wanted everybody to know just how happy, how lucky, I truly was.

"Next time," I growled playfully in her ear, "I won't be this nice."

She didn't answer, but her laughter rang into the darkness, letting me know she didn't believe my threat. I sighed contently and allowed her out of my grasp, but she held tightly to my hand and lowered us into the grass. She closed her eyes and folded her hands on her stomach, proudly displaying the ring that I'd given her just weeks before.

I couldn't understand it. I didn't deserve to be so blessed. I lifted her hands carefully and slid my head onto her stomach. She ran her fingers softly through my hair; though I couldn't see her face, I knew she was smiling.

"You know," I mused as we watched the stars, "someday when we have kids, you're going to be an amazing mother. I can see it… you, smiling, pushing a beautiful blonde-haired, green eyed little girl on the swings. Maybe a bronze-haired, blue eyed older brother standing protectively next to you to make sure she's not hurt. We'll be the perfect family."

"Yes," she agreed. I knew she was going to add a sarcastic remark; she always did. "But what if our child has one eye, a big one, right in the middle of his head? What if he has webbed feet and has to waddle wherever he goes? That will hardly be the perfect family."

I turned to look into her eyes. They were bright and elated at the prospect of a little girl, and I couldn't help but nuzzle my nose against hers.

"Still the perfect family," I disagreed. "As long as we have the hair and the eyes, I'm content."

She mumbled something unintelligible against my lips, but I was too far gone to care.

"I love you," I managed to say. I could feel her lips curve into a smile.

"I love you, too."

I had to push the thoughts out of my mind. I stepped into the limousine and grabbed a stack of papers to go through in preparation for my speech.

"Hello sir," Mike greeted me cheerfully from the front seat. I scowled – why should he be happy when I couldn't be?

"Drive," I snarled. He nodded quickly and started the car, and before I knew it, we'd pulled up at the building. I recognized Emmett's red Porsche already parked perfectly in front of the building as I stepped out. I left my coat in the car.

"Have a good day!" Mike called after me. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes; couldn't he see that I wanted to be left alone?

Jessica greeted me as soon as I walked in. She wasn't casual about giving me a once-over, but I didn't care anymore. She kept in pace with my long strides as I stepped into my office.

"Lauren and I came early," she informed me with a proud smile. "We wanted everything to be perfect. This is a big firm, Edward, and the smallest details can really set off the boss. He's known as a hard ass that appreciates a tough businessman, and there's a very fine line between tough and obnoxious. Oh but I'm sure you'll do just wonderfully, you always do! I never quite understood how you're so powerful and strong…"

I blocked her out. I didn't care about her compliments. Five minutes into her speech, Emmett opened the door. He beamed at me, but I didn't want to smile. He and Alice were worried about my smiling deficiencies, but I honestly didn't mind anymore. According to the chart he'd written as a joke, it had been approximately one hundred and thirty days since I cracked a smile.

"Yo, bro!" Emmett boomed as he sat himself on the corner of my desk. I growled, but he wasn't scared of me. It wasn't surprising; he had once dreamed of playing professional football, after all.

"Hi Emmett," I said dully. He informed me cheerfully that he'd sunk the introductory speech and softened up the boss. That did make me happy, but it was all erased with his next words.

"Do you know Bella's friend Rosalie?"

I flinched at the combination. Bella's presence had been frightful during the past few days. It had been one month since she moved in with me, but she was still afraid to be loud if I were around. Not that I minded, but my mind drifted back to a few nights before, when Bella went out for the night with Rosalie.

I'd heard her getting ready all day with her friend. They were loud and giggling, and even Rita had abandoned her chores to help them get ready. Rosalie was going on about how Bella needed a "night on the town", and Bella kept droning on about responsibilities.

I hadn't seen them, but I'd heard her. For the first time in a month, she sounded happy. And according to my sensitive ears, I'd acquired that she had remembered the night before. I heard her quietly giving one word answers as Rita's pried. After what seemed like an eternity, she finally told her about a man named Jacob. Rita was ecstatic. I was dumbfounded. Something sparked inside of me, and something hit me right then.

This stranger could make her happy when I couldn't. I was too cold to care enough to try to break the ice that had been steadily forming for the past month. I couldn't deny that that was what we were: strangers. Somehow this Jacob had managed to do, in just one night, what I couldn't in a month.

"Do you?" Emmett asked me again. I looked up at him in confusion.

"Come again?"

He rolled his eyes.

"Edward, dude, I don't know what you're thinking about lately, but you seem to be in another world. At least before when you were depressed and disconnected you were angry – now you're just blank. It's freaky man."

I scowled at him. He grinned and bent down to pinch my cheeks. My hand moved up to swat his arm away, but he had already pulled back.

"Good, Eddie," he cooed. He shook his head again and sighed. I was shocked when Emmett got serious again and looked at me. His voice was soft and mystified as he watched me shuffle some papers. "What's changing in you?"

"What the hell?" I asked him. My plan worked; he laughed.

"I mean, you're not angry anymore. Was it because of Alice and her talks?" He pretended to shudder. "I swear, she is just like Mom. She's like a smaller, more deadly version of Mom…"

I shook my head. I wasn't positive, but I was fairly certain I knew what caused my sudden change. Bella. She rarely said anything to me, but her presence was enough to affect me. By not following me around, she made me anxious. I was used to the attention from females, and I found myself trying to get her to notice me, to pay me a little attention. I wanted to make her smile.

I wanted to make her blush.

Lauren stepped in then and flashed me a brilliant smile. She batted her faux eyelashes at me and waved me forward with a vibrant red fingernail. "Edward, they're ready for you now."

"Brilliant, man!" Emmett said as we walked out of the building. The sun was setting now – it had been a long day at work. The deal had taken more than five hours to discuss, three hours to talk finances, and another four to get the 'okay' with the boss.

In the end, we walked away with a quarter million.

I shrugged, but Emmett was ecstatic.

"This means that we're halfway to buying the Smith firm! This is a cause for a celebration!"

"You celebrate, you oaf," I told him. He was flying high, but then so was I. It had always been my father's dream to buy Smith, and as much as I hated him when he was alive, it felt good to make him proud.

"Edward," Emmett told me seriously. "Alice is out with some friends. I'm meeting up with some friends, too. We're going drinking, man."

I rolled my eyes at his immaturity. "I drink all the time, Emmett."

"No," he disagreed. "You drink at home. This is partying, Edward. I've got some clothes in the backseat you can borrow. Jeans and a t-shirt that are a size too small for me, but you should be able to fit into them easily."

"I've got work to do."

He shook his head. He didn't realize that he wasn't going to win this fight.

I looked at him and glared. He was grinning broadly; I didn't realize that I was walking closer and closer to his car.

"No," I snarled. He grabbed me suddenly and ripped the door open. I yelled and kicked him, but he'd already locked the car door. I seethed as I tried to open it, but the Porsche had special safety features and refused to unlock.

"What the hell, man!" I yelled when he slid into his own seat. He tore out of the parking lot and grinned widely at me. He ruffled my hair and reached into the backseat. A pair of jeans landed on my lap. I hadn't worn jeans in over a year.

"Alice owes me five hundred!" He grinned and stepped on the gas. He pumped a fist in the air and beamed. "She's going to be so excited."

I had no idea how this happened. Alice fluttered around me in the parking lot while I sulked, trying to fix my shirt. Her eyes were shining even as she handed Emmett the wad of hundred dollar bills.

"Edward, you need to relax," she coached me. "You're too stiff. I know this isn't your thing, but you need to accept that you're here now."

"Yeah, right," I muttered. She ignored me, but I knew that she was flying high too. Money was Emmett's form of a drug and partying was Alice's.

What was my drug, then?

"Oh," she said. Her voice took on a new tone, one I was accustomed to hearing from her. She was smiling, and her eyes looked so immeasurably happy I didn't know what to say. "One of my friends is here. Well a few, but he's really special to me Edward. Please, if you could find it in your heart to be nice to him I'd love you for eternity."

"You already love me," I reminded her. Her face fell into a pout, and I relented. Only Alice. "Okay, I'll be nice. Let me see him."

She grabbed my hand quickly and darted into the party. It was loud and smoky, and I felt even more uncomfortable in here than during late nights when Lauren attempted to seduce me. Which was saying a lot. Parties simply weren't my element.

She stopped in front of a large crowd and smiled. She leaned forward and dove into the arms of a tall, blonde haired man. Emmett stepped up beside me to high five the man, and I realized then how out of my sibling's loop I really was.

"Who are you?" I asked over the noise. I wanted to make sure that he was perfect for my sister. I felt that it was my duty to make sure she was happy.

"Jasper Whitlock," he said. He seemed polite and he was fairly handsome. Alice was staring up at him in an awestruck way, as though his name were law. I realized then that I felt happy. The feeling surprised me. Here I was in the middle of a crowded club, watching my sister fall over a man, and I was happy for her.

She got to be happy while I was still suffering. For some reason, this didn't upset me. It only brightened my mood to know that Alice did not need to feel the pain I was bearing.

I shook his hand. Emmett grinned then as a tall figure leaped into his arms. He spun around herquickly and laughed, her own laugh mixing with his. When he set her down and wrapped her arms around him, I stared blankly.

Tall, long-legged Rosalie was standing in his embrace. My gaze flickered to the blonde male again, and whispers of overheard conversations suddenly clicked into place. Jasper and Rosalie, Bella's best friends. Bella was supposed to be out for the night, or so Mike had told me. Alice was in Jasper's embrace, and Rosalie was encircled in Emmett's arms.

I knew two things. First, Bella must be here.

"Why didn't you tell me?" I hissed at Emmett. He seemed lost in his own little world, but I then heard Bella's voice.

"What the hell?" she said loudly. I saw her making her way through the crowd as she grew closer and closer. "Jasper? Rosalie? Alice? Where are you guys?"

I saw somebody else then, a tall figure standing next to her, his hand grasping hers in a protective manner as she meandered her way through the throngs of people. He was tall and tanned, with short cropped black hair and eyes as dark as flint. His gaze met mine, which had been focused on Bella until that point, and he growled.

Before I realized what I was doing, a glare of my own slipped out.

Stay away from her, I thought. Then I stopped, blank once more. She was getting closer, and I didn't have much time. I was torn as to what I should do.

So I made a decision.

"You tell her I was here," I threatened Emmett, "and you will be sorry."

I knew deep down what was forcing me to leave. It was irrational and insane, but it was causing me to turn quickly and run. It was the man, the man with his hand wrapped around hers so tightly, pulling her in the other direction, watching me with his fierce expression. I knew that if I stayed, one thing would be inevitable: war.

As I looked at my siblings, the second thought occurred to me. Even after Bella moved out of the mansion, she wasn't going away.

No, as far as I knew, as much as I cared, Bella was here to stay.

Question: Do you think the characters are moving too fast? Do you have any ideas to help my writing?

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