"The truth is hard. The truth is awkward and very often the truth hurts. I mean, people think they want the truth. But do they really?" – Greys Anatomy

We got home on December 1. I still couldn't bring myself to tell Alice who I was talking about that night I went to meet Edward. I had kept it to myself, locked up in a place far away from reality. Along with my friendship with Edward it remained tucked away in a jumbled place in my mind.

The annual winter formal was coming up. Had it not been for Alice I probably wouldn't have known about it. It was the event for every girl to wear her dream dress and a mask and become anyone she wanted to be. I wasn't all that excited for it, hell if I had my way I wouldn't be going.

I had still been ignoring my old life. Holly stopped calling after a while, probably moving on to find a new best friend as I had wished for her. Danny kept calling, pretty persistently though. I would merely erase everything that had to do with him. I had new things to worry about though. Such as if Rose's birthday present to Emmett, which happened to be a little chocolate lab puppy was chewing through my stuff.

Suddenly a tap outside my car window brought me crashing back to reality. I picked me head up from the steering wheel and looked to see Jasper standing outside my window with starbucks in hand.

"Jaz, don't you have practice?" I asked rolling down my window.

"Nah, not today. Emmett just went to the rink this morning to skate around. We have a game after school." He said, motioning to his shirt and tie. It was a game day requirement to wear it. "I brought you some coffee." He said holding up the coffees in his hand.

"Thanks Jaz." I said, rolling up my window and climbing out of my truck. I grabbed my phone and shoved it in my pocket before locking my car. I had forgotten a jacket again today, so I shivered under my cream colored sweater.

"Seriously Bells, start bringing a jacket." Jasper said. I never flinched away when he called me Bells. Everyone else though had resorted to calling me Bell.

I merely laughed as we walked towards math, talking about how much nicer it was in Florida than here. I had yet to see Lochie, and was looking out for him in the hallway. I suddenly felt two arms wrap around me from behind. Instantly my whole body was warm and I felt the smile grow across my face.

"Gray, get off Bella before she thinks you're Lochie and does something weird." Jasper said, laughing. I turned around to see Gray's 6'4" stature towering over me, laughing as well. I slapped his arm, knowing how matter how hard I hit him it wouldn't hurt.

"You suck." I said, turning around and stalking off to math. I was about to reach for the door knob when two arms again wrapped themselves around my waist. This time, a kiss behind my ear followed the embrace.

"Seriously Gray, I will have Em kick your ass." I said turning around about to scream at him when I was greeted with my favorite blue eyes. They weren't as bright as Edward's green eyes but they were unique in their own way.

"Lochie!" I said, turning in his embrace only to wrap my arms around his neck. I felt him lift me off the ground and playfully giggled when he put me back down.

"I missed my girl." He said, his amazing accent filling my heart with happiness. I was his girl, it was official now. He slowly kissed my lips, softly, but conveying enough feeling to make me his. "But what's this about Gray?"

"Nothing. Gray was just being Gray this morning. I missed you too though." I said, resting my head on his chest as his arms tightened around my back.

"Aren't you freezing, baby girl? Where's your coat?" He asked, rubbing his hands up and down my back. I sighed against his chest.

"I forgot it. I was in a rush this morning." I admitted, my cheeks turning red. Lochie let go of me and I instantly missed his touch. He shrugged off his varsity jacket and handed it to me.

"We just got them this morning. Its nice and warm." He said, straightening out his tie.

"Lachlan! You're going to freeze. I'm not taking this and being responsible for you having pnemonia by the end of the day." I scolded, using his real name.

"Please? I have another jacket in my car. I, unlike some people, brought one to school today unaware I would be getting this one." He said as I pulled the jacket around my body. He was right, it was insanely warm.

"Thank you." I whispered, kissing his lips softly again. I wanted to stay there all day and face Edward or Lauren today.

"I have to run to class, but I'll see you later, baby girl. Are you coming to my game?" He asked, hope shining through his eyes.

"I think Charlie and I may stop by for a bit." I said, looking up at him. He bent down and kissed my forehead before taking off running towards the gym. I laughed and made my way into math. I took my seat in the back by Jasper.

"What the- when did we get those?" Gray asked, looking at Lochie's jacket. "That's totally not fair that you already have one and I don't." He complained. Jasper and I laughed at his oblivious confusion only to be interrupted.

"Bugly, you're looking horrendous this morning. I guess that's not something out of the ordinary but you couldn't spare us the sight?" Lauren's nasally voice filled the room. I turned around to see Lauren flanked by Jessica and Taylor smirking at me.

"Again Lauren, I wish I could be as clever as you." I said rolling my eyes and turning my attention back to Jasper and Gray. I felt a hand grab my shoulder, trying to get my attention again.

"Don't turn away from me Swan. I wasn't done telling you how ugly you are." Lauren snickered, high fiving Jessica and Taylor.

"Hey Lauren, why does Bella have a varsity jacket and you don't? Like why aren't you wearing Edward's?" Jessica said, cocking her head to the side like Emmett's new puppy does.

"Obviously he's waiting to give it to me during lunch, Jessica." Lauren spat at her "best friend". I mentally cringed at the idea of Edward giving such a trashy girl something so special to him. Every since he was little he dreamt of having a varsity jacket.

"Lauren, take your hand off of me and seriously just go to the other side of the room. Honestly, your voice is giving me a headache. So if you're gonna fight over pointless stuff, can you take it else where?" I asked, putting my head down, letting Lochie's cologne take over my thoughts. I thought about how much he had to have been wearing this morning for it to already wear off and began to chuckle.

Lauren and her army of idiots left and Jasper rubbed a soothing hand along my back. I instantly felt better at his touch, and lifted my head up to greet him with a smile. I sat up and continued quietly talking with Gray and Jasper about Emmett's puppy, which he named Puck.

Class continued on as usual. I didn't understand any of it, Gray slept and Jasper sat there looking out the window with a bored expression plastered on his face. The end of the period soon came and I trudged off to the rest of my classes. Lunch was the only real highlight of my day.

"Bell, have you been listening to me this whole time?" Alice asked, as we wove through the crowded hallway like fish swimming upstream. I merely nodded and kept thinking about how horrible it would be to see Lauren and Edward together. It happened quickly, but not fast enough that I had any recognition of what was going on.

She saw Lauren's dry, boney hand land smack across Edward's face. A loud crack echoed across the cafeteria. Alice grabbed my arm and dragged me quickly to where Edward was standing, now rubbing his cheek. Lauren had stormed away and Jessica and Taylor quickly followed.

"Edward, what the hell was that about?" Alice exclaimed as we finally reached him. I awkwardly put me stuff done by Lochie's backpack at the table and went to stand by Alice.

"I think I deserved that." Edward had said in a defeated tone. You could see the hurt in his eyes.

"I'm sure you didn't. Honestly Edward, what's going on with you lately?" Alice asked, I felt my heart sink. He was just hit by a girl who was cheating on him and I couldn't find the guts to tell him.

"I didn't give her my jacket. She got pissed that Bella has Lochie's and she hit me." Edward said, casting his eyes towards me.

"I'm sorry." I said weakly, moving back towards the table.

"It's not your fault." Edward said, barely whispering. "I'm uh- I'm gonna go find Lauren and figure this all out."

"Bad idea, bro." Jasper said, coming from behind Alice, wrapping his arms around the pixies small frame.

Edward didn't respond he just grabbed his backpack and left. He looked like a robot, no strong emotions, just actions. Alice looked like she could murder someone, and I would guess it was towards Lauren.

"Dumb bitch." Alice hissed under her breath before sitting down at the table next to me, Jasper on her other side. Lochie finally came and sat down next to me and kissed my cheek.

"What's all the commotion about?" He asked, his big eyes shining into mine.

"Lauren hit Edward." I said, grabbing hold of his hand in mine. He smiled and I gave a weak attempt to smile back. I felt like I was holding the weight of the world on my shoulders.

"She sucks." He said, nuzzling his nose into my neck. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the feeling of his hot breath. "I have a surprise for you out in the parking lot."

"You know I hate surprises." I whined as he trailed small kisses up to my ear.

"You'll like this." Lochie breathed into my ear. I felt a shiver go down my spine and laughed. The rest of lunch continued, with no sign of Edward or Lauren.

The afternoon dragged on. Emmett had left early to go and check on Puck. Charlie still had no idea we had a dog. I was headed home quickly to change and meet up with Charlie before heading over to the game.

I climbed into my truck and was about to pull out when I took a deep breath. I smelt flowers. And this morning my car had smelt of hockey gear. That wasn't right. I looked over and sitting next to me was a big bouquet of wild flowers. The note attached to it surprise.

I opened the note, already knowing this was Lochie's doing. The inside note was one of the sweetest things I've ever gotten.

Baby Girl-

I looked for flowers that reminded me of you for hours, and these are what I

came upon. They're beautiful and perfect, just as you are. Get out of your car

and look at the back because I'm sure you walked right past it.

-L

I nearly jumped out of my car and looked at the back panel. Written in white car chalk were the words, "WINTER FORMAL?" I started laughing as I took a pix message and sent it to Alice. She would get a kick out of this.

I realized I was running late and called to tell Charlie I would just meet him at the rink. He agreed saying he was already half way there, coming home from work. I drove quickly, hoping to catch Lochie before he went out on the ice. Unfortunately I wasn't that lucky.

"Bella! Over here!" I heard Alice call me. I looked up to see her, my dad, and her dad sitting in the stands with an empty seat next to Alice. I took my place between Alice and Charlie just as the puck dropped.

I watched and cheered as the puck moved between teams, but eventually got stopped by Will in our goal. It was 3-2 the other team when the second buzzer rang. I was talking to Charlie about the weird smells coming from Emmett's room when Alice nudged me.

"Check out the ice." She said, nodding her head towards the ice. I saw Lochie standing there looking up at me with a big goofy grin on his face. He raised his eyebrows and I gave him a thumbs up and nodded my head yes. His smile grew even bigger if possible and he skated back over to the bench.

I noticed Edward look up a few times and his eyes would travel to where Lauren stood, clad in his jacket and he would look miserable. I string in my heart would be pulled and I felt myself crumble. I couldn't stand to see his green eyes hurt. I wanted to hold onto him and tell him it was going to be alright. I wanted to be the girl wrapped up in his hockey jacket, just as our mothers had planned.

I shook my head, thinking to myself that these thoughts weren't okay. I had a boyfriend, who treated me well and I couldn't be having thoughts about Edward. I blinked hard a few times trying to get the image out of me in his jacket out of my head. I couldn't be having these crazy feelings. That wasn't okay.

By the time I looked up again the game was over and there were only a few of us sitting in the stands.

"Woah, what was the score?" I asked Charlie, looking around.

"6-4, us. Where have you been, Bella?" Charlie asked, looking at me like I was mental. I was beginning to think I was though.

"Off in lala land like usual." Alice chirped in. "Bell- Jazzy, Emmett, Rose and I are going out for pizza, do you and Lochie want to go? Then we can go look at dresses afterwards."

"Sure sounds good. Are you gonna be alright on your own tonight, Dad?" I said, turning to Charlie.

"I was headed down to Billy's tonight anyways. Figured you would end up doing something with that boy." Charlie said, getting up to leave. We said our goodbyes and I promised to be home at a reasonable hour and would tell Emmett the same.

"I'll meet you guys there. I need to talk to Lochie." I said, excusing myself down to the locker room. I stood patiently, saying hello to the passing players as the exited the locker room.

"Good game, Eddie." I said softly, to make sure no one would hear me as Edward walked past me. He turned around and had his crooked grin plastered on his face. I felt my pulse quicken and looked down at the ground.

"Thanks, Bells." He said before quickly disappearing behind the doors to the parking lot. I stood there for another few minutes before Lochie finally came bursting out of the doors.

"Hey! There's my girl!" Lochie said, wrapping an arm around my shoulder. He kissed my temple and I relaxed into his arms. "Did you get my gifts?"

"Yes, and of course I'll go with you." I said, playfully hitting his stomach. "You're crazy to think I wouldn't go with you."

"I just wanted to make sure I do everything right." Lochie said. "What do you want to do now, baby girl?"
"Alice invited us to hang out with her, Jasper, Em and Rose. Just getting some pizza and then I'm supposed to go and get a dress with her and Rose." I said, helping him put the hockey gear in the back of my car. "How'd you get here before anyways?"

"Gray brought me." He shrugged. "My parents took my car for a few days to go Port Angeles."

"Gotcha. Are you ready to go to the mall now? Or do you want to stop off at home?" I asked.

"I'm good, I'll just grab my hoodie from my bag." He replied, taking my hand in his as we drove towards the mall. We walked silently through the mall, our hands securely attached.

I let my mind wander back to Edward and his gorgeous green eyes. Wait, honestly did I just call his eyes gorgeous? What the hell is wrong with me? I have this perfectly good guy next to me and all I can think about is my ex-best friend.

"There you guys are!" Alice shouted, drawing my attention back to my surroundings. "Geez, you guys took forever."

"Jas, didn't I leave the locker room before you?" Lochie asked, looking over at Jasper who was laughing.

"I take it you've never been in a car with Alice, man." Jasper said, grabbing another slice of pizza.

"We can't all drive like a bat out of hell, Ali." I said, taking a seat in between Lochie and Emmett. Everyone laughed. Dinner continued without any major interruptions.

"Alright Emmett, take Jasper and Lachlan over here home and we're going shopping for our dresses." Alice said, shooing the guys from the table.

We said our goodbyes to the boys. Lochie gave me a sweet kiss before whispering in my ear that he would come over to watch a movie tonight. Alice and Rose cooed as I said goodbye to him, forcing me to turn a brilliant shade of red.

"Ali, how painful is this gonna be?" I asked turning to her and Rose, who linked arms with me on either side, as if they were dragging me.

"Depends if you cooperate, darling Bella." Alice said, giggling to herself. They dragged me into the first store. I was silently praying it would be the only store we needed. That was so doubtful though.

"Oh my god. Bella come look at this." I heard Rose scream from across the store. I walked over to where Rose was and felt my jaw hit the floor.

"Its beautiful." I said, gasping. "Alice! Get your little butt over here."

"What?" Alice said, coming around from a rack of dresses. She stopped dead in her tracks and dropped the other dresses in her hands. "Well that was easy."

It was the day of winter formal and I had been sitting in Alice's death trap chair, as I like to call it, for the past 2 hours. My hair was being pulled in every which direction to the point where I could barely think straight.

"Okay, leave the curlers in and go put your dress on while they sit." Rose instructed as Alice finished the last touches on my makeup. They already had their hair done this morning and were putting their dresses on as well.

My dress was perfect. It was strapless and baby blue. There was a full skirt, yet I didn't look too puffy. There were golf flowers placed in patterned lines around the skirt with delicate vines connecting them. I had on a pair of simple gold heels, and a double strand of choker pearls around my neck. My mask was simply, which I was thankful for. It was gold with a few swirls that only covered my eyes.

Alice's dress was also very beautiful. It was deep purple and tiered off at the bottom. There was a small brooch on her left hip where the fabric synched together. With her dark spikey hair the dress looked extremely sophisticated. Her mask was a little more extreme than mine. While it was still the same size, hers had a large feather and flower on the right side, all done in purple as well.

Rosalie looked stunning though. She was wearing a red dress that had one shoulder and a big bow right on her collarbone. There were a few rhinestones leading down to her left waist where there was another bow and some more rhinestones. It let out into a full skirt that trailed across the floor. Her mask, as in Rose fashion was over the top. There were red flowers and gems flying everywhere. Somehow she pulled off the look, still looked drop dead gorgeous.

We got whisked away by our men soon enough and were headed over to the formal in no time. Lochie and I matched, he was wearing all black with gold accents and a gold mask as well. We danced for a while until Alice decided it was time to start dancing with other people. I got Jasper first.

"Well hello, Bella." Jasper said, as we began dancing.

"Isn't the whole point of this thing to be someone you're not?" I mocked, feigning hurt that he knew it was me.

"You can be whoever you like any day. You don't need some stupid dance to do it." He said, looking deep at me.

"You sound like a fortune cookie." I said, snickering at him. "And don't let Ali hear you call this thing stupid, you'll find single life very lonely."

He pinched me as I said that and we laughed as we finished our song. I was standing over checking my phone when someone tapped my shoulder.

"I don't think I've danced with you yet." The mysterious man said. He looked absolutely dashing.

"Well you could change that, I presume." I said, putting my phone away, following him out to the dance floor. I saw Lochie dancing with this girl Angela from my math class and smiled.

"So, do you have a name?" He asked.

"Isn't that the point, to be someone else for an evening?" I said again, looking up at his sparkling eyes. They looked so familiar. He laughed at my response. "Something funny?"

"No, not at all, sounds like someone I used to know would say." He said, chuckling to himself.

"You sound like you miss this person." I said, I felt bad for this person, because I had lost Edward as well.

"Very much. She was a good person." He said, looking down at his feet as we whirled away on the dance floor.

"Tell me about her." I said looking up at him.

"She was amazing. She has this smile that, I can't even explain it. She's absolutely breath taking. She used to be my best friend, we did everything together. But the best part about her was her blush, it was deep red, even when we were little. I would say things just so I could see her blush. Sad part is, I think I loved her. And I let her walk right out of my life." He said, I could see the hurt in his eyes as he looked down at me. Then it hit me. It was Edward. It was my Edward that I had been dancing with.

"I'm sorry." I said, as I detangled myself from his arms, rushing outside to where the garden was. I sat down on the bench and took a deep breath. He had just admitted to loving me at one point. Edward Cullen have loved me. And I think I may have loved him too.

"Excuse me. Did I say something to offend you?" Edward asked, coming around a corner. I took a deep breath before I looked up again, thankful I had kept my mask on.

"Not at all, I just needed some air." I lied. "So this girl, do you talk to her anymore?" I asked, keeping up my charade.

"No. Sometimes I wish I did. I miss her warmth, and compassion. She would always know what to do or what to say to make things better. It just hurt so much when she left. But now with my girlfriend, it's hard because I want someone to talk to like her, but I doubt she would listen to me now. I've been nothing but a jerk to her." Edward said, putting his head in his hands. I rested my hand on his back, trying to soothe him.

"I'm sure she would if you tried. It sounds like you guys have a long, twisted path. Maybe she needs you just as much as you need her." I said, softly, my voice barely reaching speaking level.

"You remind me of her. Your compassion, even your touch, it all reminds me very much of her. I wish you would tell me your name." Edward said, looking up from his hands.

"It wouldn't do you any good to know my name at this point. I should get back inside though." I said, standing up and straightening out my dress.

"Well, thank you for the dance." Edward said, he remained seated though.

"You're quiet welcome. Oh and Edward. I bet you she misses you just as much as you miss her." And with that I disappeared back inside.

A/N-- I am so sorry for the long wait. Kyle and I flew to Australia the day after Christmas to see his family. Talk about a massive flight. Especially with a 17 year old boy, the real Lochie, complaining about everything possible. Anyways I hope you guys aren't too disappointed with me for the wait. I am really sorry. Anyways review please!! you guys have been great with the reviews! and i hope you all loved the ending to SOTD I know i did! Review! love n