A/N: Huge thank to everyone who has reviewed. This is a bit short, because I'm sick and couldn't be bothered with writing more. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or its characters, Stephenie Meyer owns everything.


Counting Down the Days

Chapter 9

Thursday, December 9th

All through the morning and lunch I was, in lack of a better word, giddy. It seemed strange, but I felt like last night had been another step for me and Edward towards…well, whatever it was that was happening between us. I could only hope that he felt it too. We'd been friends for a long time and had spent many evenings together, but nothing really like what had been going on lately.

I was on my way to my last class of the day when I saw a mop of bronze hair outside the music building. Edward. I considered going over and making plans for later; we didn't have a chance to talk about it this morning, but I stopped when I saw he wasn't alone. Irina, Tanya's roommate was standing in front of him, looking like she wanted to swallow him whole. She was laughing, touching his arm in an intimate way and I nearly cried when I saw the way he was looking at her. I knew I should get to class, but I couldn't get my legs to move. An excruciating pain like I've never felt before threatened to split me in two when I saw her lean in and kiss him hard, her arms around his neck. That pain, however, was nothing compared to the pain I felt when I saw Edward kiss her back, his hands on her hips pulling her closer.

I gasped, and tears pooled in my eyes and spilled over onto my cheeks. So I did the only thing I could think of; I ran. I ran as fast as I could until my legs couldn't carry me anymore and it hurt to breathe. I was at the dorm now, and I hurried inside so that no one would see me. I didn't bother waiting for the elevator; instead I took the stairs up to the fourth floor and by the time I arrived I was ready to collapse because of the physical strain of running, crying and climbing four flights of stairs.

As I went into my room and lay down on the bed my phone started ringing, the ringtone letting me know it was Alice. I tried to control my tears long enough to answer.

"Are you running late or something? Class starts in like 3 minutes."

Crap, I'd forgotten I had another class today. Coincidentally the only class I shared with Alice. I didn't want her pity, nor for her to talk to Edward, so I decided to lie. "My period started and I have really bad cramps."

"Oh, okay. I hope you feel better."

"Thank you. Bye." I hung up and laid back on the bed. It wasn't a complete lie since my stomach was hurting so bad I thought I was going to throw up. It wasn't cramps though, but heartache. I buried my face in the pillow and screamed out all my pain and frustration. Why did I for a second think that Edward would be even remotely interested in me? I knew we'd grown even closer over the last week, but maybe he was just lonely. I knew he'd broken up with his girlfriend Heidi this summer, after dating for two years. My phone beeped with a new text. I took out my phone and read the text, which I saw was from Edward.

Just watched Eric fall of the stage and into the orchestra pit. Looked pretty amusing.

I threw my phone on the floor and sighed. Had it been another day I would have sent a text back, but I wasn't in the mood. The image of him kissing Irina was burnt into my mind, and I didn't want to talk to him right now. I knew I couldn't avoid him forever, but I sure could try.

Then I remembered; tonight was jazz night! I didn't want to go. I wasn't sure I could keep myself together when I saw him. Then I got mad. What was his problem, acting like this way around me, almost kissing me, and then turning right around and kissing Irina! Tears forgotten but still with the pain of heartache in my chest I sat up and took up my phone from the floor. I opened the phone book and found the number I was looking for. Before I could change my mind I hit the call button, and listened to the dial tone before someone picked up.

"Hello?"

"Hey Tan, it's Bella. Are you still free to do the session tonight?"

...

I met Tanya in the dining hall, where she was already sitting and eating when I arrived. She took one look at me and asked, "What's wrong?"

I brushed her question off, not feeling like talking about it. "Nothing, really. Do I need to bring any special clothes or anything for later?"

Tanya shook her head. "No, just bring yourself and that'll do. By the way, aren't you going to Nefertiti tonight? I thought you always went on Thursdays."

I shook my head, taking a bite of my cheese pizza to buy myself a few seconds to think of a good answer. "I'm not really in the mood, I'm really tired."

"Are you sure you're up for tonight then? We can do it another time." Her brow was furrowed, probably with worry, but I assured her that I wasn't only up to it; I was looking forward to it.

We went back to the dorm, and I quickly went to grab my purse while Tanya went to get her camera and what else it was she needed. Well, the idea was for it to be a quick visit, but I didn't take Alice into the equation. She was changing into a pink dress, and looked up at me frantically.

"Where've you been? Never mind, you need to get dressed or else we'll be late."

"I'm not going."

Alice looked shocked. "What do you mean you're not going? We always go to Nefertiti on Thursdays. It's tradition."

"I have plans."

"What plans?"

"Plans! I don't have to tell you every single thing I do!" Alice looked hurt by my outburst, and I sighed. "I'm sorry Alice, I didn't mean to yell. I'm hanging out with Tanya tonight, I promised I'd be her model for her photo assignment and tonight was the only night she had available." I felt a bit bad about lying to Alice, but I didn't want her to know the truth.

"Are you sure that's it?" Crap, I knew it was no use lying to Alice. She saw right through me.

I gave up whatever pretences I had; I knew it was no use anyway. "Alice, can we please not talk about it now? I just really need some time for myself."

She actually looked like she understood, which I was grateful for. "Of course. I'll tell the others you're not feeling well. You do know that you can talk to me about anything?"

I nodded and stepped forward to give her a hug. "I know. Thank you, Alice. Have fun tonight, and don't worry about me, okay?"

She agreed, and I left to meet Tanya. Because she wanted a large variety of photos, she started taking pictures of me as soon as we came outside. It was really strange, having her walk all around me snapping pictures and I caught myself straightening up my back and pulling back my shoulders. If I was going to be in photos I at least wanted to have good posture. This continued all the way to the studio, and Tanya must have taken at least 50 pictures by the time we entered her work space.

"So where do you want me?" I asked, taking off my jacket and hanging it on the back of a chair.

"Sit down, please." She gestured to the plush green armchair standing by one of the windows.

We were in there for nearly two hours, where I stood in every single spot in the room, in every single pose, with every single emotion on my face. When I was told to look sad, I channelled all the feelings of heartbreak I'd felt over the last months, and it was the thought of today's events that pushed the tears from my eyes and down on my face.

"Oh, that's great. Keep that expression!" Tanya snapped photo after photo, and I was starting to feel a bit drained.

"Can we take a break?"

Tanya looked worriedly at me as I sat down in the plush armchair, drying the tears from my face. "You okay?"

Just as I was about to bottle everything up inside again, something broke within me, and the tears started coming faster. I shook my head vigorously. "No."

"Is it about Edward?" her tone was wary, and I looked surprised up at her. She knew? "I'm not blind; I've seen the way you look at him."

Her words only made me cry more, and within an instant she had crossed the room and hugged me tightly. Before I knew it, I had told her everything. Absolutely everything. And afterwards, I actually felt better. Relived. Happy that I had a third party person to talk to, who could give me an unbiased opinion.

"What should I do?" I asked when the tears finally stopped, and Tanya sighed.

"You're not gonna like what I have to say. You need to talk to him, ask him how he feels for you. If he feels the same, that's great. If not, then you need to get over him."

"I'm afraid to tell him, because our friendship will be ruined as soon as he knows how I feel."

"Unless he feels the same way about you. Granted, I don't know him very well, but I have seen the way he looks at you when you're not looking."

I had no answer to that, and Tanya didn't push me. Instead she asked if I was ready to continue, and I nodded. I needed some more time to think about all this.

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