Disclaimer: I do not own the wonderful world of Stephenie Meyer, nor do I have any intentions on buying it. I'm a poor, poor worker who only enjoy reading and the occasional writing.

A/N: I have much to say, but I choose not to delay your reading. More explanation at the end of the chapter.

Chapter 8- Lean on Me

EPOV

I held the door open for Bella as we left the book shop. I heard a soft, "thank you," as she passed through the door. We walked down the street in a comfortable silence. If I was honest with myself, I was scared to let her know what I was going through. The questions started to go through my mind. What if I scare her off? What if I burden her with my grief, would she ever talk to me again? How am I even going to bring up my dad and what we're going through?

I looked over at Bella as we continued to head toward the coffee place. Her long, brown hair was being blown by the gentle breeze. I could smell the scent of strawberries as her hair danced around her face as her eyes were focused to the right. I looked to see where she was looking, but realized that she was thinking. I wished at that moment I could see what her mind was going through.

After a few minutes, we were in front of the store. I reached for the door and pulled it open. I guided Bella through the entrance, my hand slightly touching the small of her back. Suddenly, my heart began pounding; I could feel the panic set in.

"Edward, are you alright?" I had not noticed I stopped walking. My eyes left the floor to see her dark chocolate eyes looking up at me.

"Sorry," I simply stated. I ran my right hand through my hair, "I was…um… just sort of lost in thought, I guess. I didn't realize I had stopped. My apologies."

"It's okay. I just wanted to make sure you were alright." Her eyes studied me for a few seconds then glanced around the shop. "Looks like Alice isn't here yet, I'm sure she'll be here in a few minutes. Did you want to order now?"

"Sure, we can get our orders and grab a seat while we wait. Go ahead and start your order. I'm trying to decide which one I want."

Bella walked up to the young lady at the register and I heard her place her order. The lady asked if there was anything else, and I jumped in and added mine to her order. Before she could protest, I handed the cashier a twenty dollar bill.

"Edward, you didn't have to pay for me. Here-," Bella reached into her purse for her wallet.

"I couldn't accept Bella. It's my treat. I was the one who asked if you could come with me to talk. Consider it payment for listening." I couldn't allow Bella to pay after I had asked her to basically be my psychiatrist.

We went over the arm chairs that were in the corner of the store. There were four burgundy chairs all facing each other. She sat in her chair and tucked both her legs beneath her.

I took a deep breath and calmed my nerves that were slowly making their presence know. "I suppose, I should know a little about you, before I burden you with talking to me. How long have you lived in the Seattle area?" I asked, deciding to start off with an easy question.

"First, you don't have to worry about being a burden. I can see that something is going on. I see the pain and hurt in your eyes. I never would have put my offer out there, if I didn't want to listen. Please don't forget that." She paused for a second. "I've lived in Washington all my life. My family used to live in this little town called Forks. But as we all started to get older, our parents moved to the outskirts of Seattle. Our dad was able to get a job at a busier hospital and has even started his own practice. Mom was always home until recently. She wanted to get back to working. She has been helping out with Dad's practice. My two sisters are already attending the college here. Alice will be a junior and Ro-"

"Bella!" I turned around and noticed a petite, young woman running towards Bella. "Sorry, I'm late, I started talking about shopping. And well you know," she gave Bella another hug and turned to me.

Something was very familiar about this girl. Bella motioned to me, "This is Edward. He is a regular at the bookshop. Edward, this is Alice, my sister. I warn you in advance, she is very…how do I say this… hyper. That about describes it." Bella started laughing.

I realized where I knew her from. I smiled, "I now have a name to go with all those shopping bags. It's nice to officially meet you."

Alice quickly glance at Bella and then back to me. "I knew I'd see you again. I have a very strong feeling we'll be good friends." She winked at me and went back to Bella.

Bella's face twisted in confusion. Alice decided to fill her sister in. "Remember last week, I said I had met a guy that helped me with my bags to my car. This would be that guy."

Bella's eyes went wide with realization, "You mean you were the one that helped Alice when she was running errands between the two stores."

I heard Alice laugh, "Bella, you know what this means."

I could have sworn I saw Bella close her eyes and say, "please don't be him, please don't be him."

"I think fate has a sense of humor, " Alice said then turned back to me. "You remember when the girl dumped her coffee on the guy and I said it reminded me something that my sister would have done."

I looked at Bella. Her face was flushed with embarrassment. She looked at me from under her eyelashes, her cheeks fully flushed. She spoke in a very soft voice, "that was me. I'm the one who spilled the coffee on the 'resident'," she air quoted the last word. "Then to only find out that it's a 'resident' who works for my dad. He tried twice that day to get my number or whatever. Ugh, the vile Newton." She shook her head, as though to shake the memory from her mind.

I couldn't help but laugh. I knew that I was curious to know who the girl was that day. What are the chances?

"Well, in that case, I'm glad I finally get to meet the mystery girl."

"So Bella, do you work this weekend? I was thinking that the girls could have a weekend out. Perhaps check the new club that just opened. I'm dying to wear my new outfit." Alice's energy amazed me.

"Alice, you know how much I don't like to dance. And I know what comes with a night out, you and the evil sister will play Bella Barbie. I don't know… "

I had a feeling that Bella was not going to win this argument.

"Bel-la, it'll be so much fun. I promise that we won't spend all day shopping. I'll try to take it easy on you. But you know, if the call of the clothes beckons me, we must listen and buy them."

Bella sighed and Alice started jumping up and down, "Thanks Bells, you're the best. I'll let you get back to Edward. I'll talk more when you home. I'm going to go ahead and start planning with my partner in crime." Alice gave Bella a hug and completely caught me off guard as she turned to me and gave me a hug too.

"Thanks." I felt my cheeks get warm. "It's was a pleasure to run into you again. And now I have a name to the face."

"Bye guys," Alice called as she practically bounced out of the store.

Bella

When Alice came bounding into the coffee shop, I was worried that Edward would be scared. My sister's energy never ceased to amaze me. I could not believe these two have met before. Much to my dismay, he was also there for my coffee fiasco. I rolled my eyes at the complete irony of the situation.

Now that we were finally left alone, I needed Edward to let me know what is on his mind. I was afraid I was pushing the limits of our new found friendship.

"So, you haven't told me where you are from. How long have you lived around here?" I sat back down on my chair and took a sip of my drink.

"I just recently moved here. My brother has been here for a few years because he's been going to the University here. The family as a whole have been here just two months. My dad-" Edward closed his eyes and took a shaky breath. "Jasper and I just transferred to University of Washington. We were going to school in Chicago, but we wanted to be close to the family."

I noticed that Edward hesitated when he mentioned his dad. I wondered if this was his reason that he needed to talk.

"I'm actually taking classes at the same University as well. It's one of the reasons why I took the job at the bookstore. I needed something close to school. You'll find out that I have a love for reading and just can't seem to get enough." I realized I was rambling, but I couldn't help myself. I was becoming nervous and I didn't know why.

"You mentioned your brother Jasper; do you have any other brothers or sisters?" I was curious to find out how many brothers. I knew there was more than one, but I didn't know how many.

"I have two brothers. Jasper is the middle child. He has a love for photography. He has a way of taking pictures and it's almost like you know what the people in the photos are feeling. I have always thought of Jasper as the one who can influence your moods. He just seems to know how you are feeling and can cheer you up or calm you with little effort." Edward reached out to grab his cup of coffee. He took a few sips and set the cup down. He crossed his right leg over left knee cap and leaned forward a bit.

"Now my oldest brother is very different than myself and Jasper. We're more of the calm ones, where as Emmett is quite loud and the poster child for sports. He's on the UW varsity football team and loves working with cars. And just for the record, he loves pulling pranks." Edward shook his head and rolled his eyes.

All of the sudden the names sounded very familiar. What are the chances that Emmett and Jasper are the very same ones that I met with Rose a while ago?

"Bella, is everything okay?" I didn't realize that I had just frozen and my mouth hung open.

"Edward, I know this may sound weird, but were you supposed to go to a café about a week ago for lunch?" I bit on my lip, awaiting my answer.

Edward leaned back in his chair, "I was supposed to go with Emmett to meet his girlfriend Rose. I unfortunately forgot I had to go to the hospital to get my IDs. How do you know about that?" He looked at me with curious eyes.

"I was there. I met Jasper and Emmett, I'm Rose's sister. I can't believe I didn't pick up on the names before. But when you mentioned Emmett and him being a jock and the pranks, it all makes sense. In fact, he mentioned he had pictures from his recent prank, which had involved you and a towel." I couldn't help but to laugh a little. I was beginning to think there was someone above laughing their butt off at this whole situation.

It was the first time I noticed Edward blush. "Um, he didn't actually show you the pictures did he?"

"No, no he didn't. He tried, but I sorta freaked out at the idea. No offense," I giggled.

He ruffled his hands through his tousled hair. "None taken. I can't get over this. I'm actually at a loss for words. This is quite the coincidence of us meeting and yet, we were so close to meeting before this. It's funny the way things work out."

"Yeah, really. Wait until Rose and Alice find out, they're going to flip. I think the only two that haven't met is Alice and Jasper." I pulled both my feet up on the chair, Indian style. I suddenly realized why he hesitated at his dad's name. It was time for Edward to let me know what was wrong.

"Edward," I reached across and placed my hand gently on his arm, "the reason you need to talk, is it because of your dad? I know Rose has been spending a lot of time with Emmett because of the passing of your dad. I don't want to seem to forward, but I want to help any way I can." I met his eyes and I saw in that moment, that this was why Edward was here to talk. I stood up and walked over to Edward, never breaking eye contact with him. I leaned over and gave him a hug. My heart ached for a man that I have only just met and wished that I am strong enough to help.

Edward wrapped his arms around me and squeezed tightly. I don't remember how long we stayed that way, and nothing else seemed to matter. Slowly, he pulled away and looked up at me. His bright green eyes were glassy and the smallest tear escaped and ran down his cheek.

I reached my hand for his, "Edward, I want you to know that I am here. I cannot imagine how you are feeling, but I want to listen and help any way that I can."

He looked straight into my eyes and squeezed my hand, "Thank you, Bella. I can't thank you enough. It's been hard because I really don't know many people here. I don't know who I could talk to and I didn't want to burden my family with my own worries and fears. It just didn't seem fair. The worst part was that I was working at the hospital when he came in. I saw his name on the computer monitor when I was making the files for new patients. My heart dropped and I realized that he was coming in on an ambulance and that Dr. Carlisle was being paged for a trauma case that was coming in. All I could do was run. I ran into the restroom and just collapsed. Anne had come to find me once she realized what had happened. I met with Dr. Carlisle soon after and he tried his best to comfort me and my family. I could tell by his look that my dad wasn't going to make it. I know he tried his hardest and he offered any help that he could give to our family. He knew that we just moved here and would need to know a few places to go to. He's been more than helpful." Edward let his face fall into his hands as he leaned forward.

For the second time that day, I was reminded what a small world it is. I remember Dad coming home that night after that accident. He seemed at a loss and was determined to help this family out as best he could.

"Edward, I am so sorry. You have more strength than you realize and such an open heart. You have made quite the impression on my dad as well." I looked at him with a small smile.

Edward raised his head slowly and looked at me with confusion, "Your dad?"

"Yes, Dr. Carlisle Swan is my dad. I remember how sad and helpless he felt when he came home that night. He said that he wanted to help your family the best he could. He knew that you just moved here and didn't know how else to help."

"Bella," he looked at me, his eyes threatening to spill over in tears, "I don't know anything about fate, but I don't find it to coincidence that we have crossed paths. Please let your Dad know that we are more than thankful for his dedication and hard work. He has gone above and beyond what he has to do."

"I will. Do you want to walk to get some fresh air?" I took both our cups and threw them into the trash can.

"Sounds like a good idea." Edward looked at me and gave me a reassuring smile. It was just enough to let me know that he still needed to talk, but this was a beginning.

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A/N: Alrighty...I cannot say for sure how long it's been since I've last updated. It's probably nearing a year. BUT, I wanted to let you know that I have not forgotten this story, but unfortunate reality of life just got in the way. I decided to take on a second job. This leaves me working M-F day shift and three shift out of the week on midnight shift. Yeah, talk about no life. Plus I have 2 kids, the "hubby" and in the midst my mom moved back in. Sooo...I have had little time to myself. However, this story has been dwelling in my mind and I can't just forget about it.

With that said, this has not been beta'd. I have to get myself on a updating schedule before I ask someone to beta. I know I'd drive them insane. Yet, if anyone knows of anyone who would like to, I'm up for it.

I hope you enjoyed the chapter and hopefully I'll be able to get another one out soon. Love ya guys for sticking w/ it!! Your reviews are amazing and let me know just how much you like this story. THANK YOU!!!