A/N: I own nothing!

EPOV

The night had been hell for me, in every possible way. I thought my bad luck had run out when I nearly got pulled over on my way home after kicking those little pieces of shit's ass, but alas, I was wrong. As soon as I got in the door, Bella came running down looking the stairs, which nearly gave a heart attack on its own for two reasons. The first one was that she should never run down any stairs. She should never run, period. The second was that she looked so damn cute and worried and all confused, and I couldn't even take pleasure in it because my nose had blood coming out of it like there was no tomorrow.

I had sent her away, and been an ass about it. I knew that. There are many ways to deal with the situation, but the most important thing to me was that Bella could never find out I had lost my head because those pieces of shit had dissed her. It wasn't the first time they did it, or even the first time they did it in front of me. Hell, I had been part of their conversations about her before. And that was exactly why I didn't want her to know.

And I had been so close to going home, too. When I told them I needed to go home because Bella was alone I expected them to understand it. But when they started calling her a cold frigid bitch, I felt my annoyance starting to increase. And, although I had no clue why, when Jack asked if I'd already popped her cherry my fury made me squeeze the tiny plastic cup filled with beer in my hand until the whole liquid poured down my hand. Or why when Hugh agreed and they started discussing the things they'd like to do with her when they got her into bed, in excruciating detail, I unchained Tanya's hands from my arm and nearly bashed both of their heads in. Unfortunately for them, I had grown up with two older brothers, so being outnumbered didn't matter that much. The only reason my nose was even bleeding was because my current intoxicated state made me not defend my face properly.

Honestly, I couldn't tell what the hell had come over me. Bella probably knew they didn't like her, and she obviously knew I didn't either. Besides, wasn't it a normal conversation for seventeen year olds to have? On some level I knew they didn't mean it; they were into girls which were much more flamboyant than Bella. Bella was just…simple and different and Bella. What stung the most, besides my nose, of course, was that if I hadn't been drinking I wouldn't have done it. Never. Most likely I would have laughed and said something in agreement and gone back home to ease my mind about Bella. And as soon as I got in the car I knew it wasn't their faces I wanted to hit. It was mine. What truly disturbed me was that I had treated her like crap for no good reason for years, and now on some level of my brain I believed I had to apologize. Which I didn't want to do because she didn't like me either.

By the time I got home I had decided not to tell Bella anything or make something up, depending on how my bruises looked in the morning when I saw her. Mostly because I didn't want her to know I felt protective enough about her to get into a fight for it. But also because I was ashamed for having behaved exactly like Hugh and Jack in the past, and I didn't want Bella to know exactly the type of person I was.

A monkey would have been able to tell Bella was pissed at me for not telling her what happened. At least I thought that was why she was angry, I didn't know her well enough. But she took care of me anyway, and she did it patiently, carefully, attentively. And when she knelt in the ground in front of me to fix my face, my eyes dropped for a second to her mouth, wondering if she ever had a first kiss.

Right now, standing in front of Bella's door, I had to get my priorities straight. I needed to focus on more important things – like making sure Bella didn't hate me, and trying to regain my dignity, as much as possible.

I knocked a few times before she came to the door, although I kept hearing her moving around in the room. When she opened the door after I knocked for a third time, it didn't escape my attention that she was now wearing a robe that covered her from her neck to her feet.

She spoke, and the way her voice lingered painfully on my name hurt me more than my freaking nose. I made a vow right then and there to myself that I would find out what was making me react so differently to Bella this year, and quickly. Everything was new and uncomfortable and out of place.

"Can I come in?" I asked, keeping my eyes on Bella's. I wanted her to see how sorry I was for what I had done, and I would give her the one thing she'd asked me: the truth.

She bit her lip, in a gesture that was becoming so familiar I wanted to smile, and turned around. I hoped that was a silent invitation to enter the bedroom. That's how I took it, anyway. Bella sat on the bed, with her legs crossed comfortably in front of her in Indian style, and I sat on her desk chair, which left me at a good distance from Bella, in case she got violent with me. I had had enough for one evening.

Bella was looking at me in anticipation, and I didn't blame her. She would have to be surprised I came to her room because even I was surprised that I'd done it. I tried to remember how much I had drunk, just so I would know how many of my actions were my own and how many had to do with the alcohol. But I couldn't remember. The whole freaking night was a blur.

Seeing Bella still staring at me, I sighed. "I'm sorry, Bella." Her eyes didn't change. She didn't fucking believe me. "I really am sorry for treating you the way I did"

"How do I know that's true?"

I exhaled deeply, to gain courage. I knew what I had to do, but it didn't make it any easier. "I got into a fight with Hugh and Jack because they said things about you that I didn't like. I lost my head for a second, and that was all it took."

Bella furrowed her forehead in thought for a second, and then spoke softly. "What were they saying about me?"

I ran a hand through my head. This would not be a pleasant conversation if we went down that road. "Guy things, Bella. Nothing I would repeat here, for sure." I hoped that was enough to satisfy her. Seeing her face fall, I remembered girls were emotional and insecure and shit. "Nothing bad about your appearance or something." I thought about how she would take that sentence, and opened my stupid mouth again. "Not that there would be anything bad for them to say."

Bella looked sad for a second, but I saw a hint of a smile on her lips. I didn't care that she was probably laughing at my inability to talk with another human being properly, but it made me feel so good to see that quick grin again, I couldn't have cared less.

"Wow, you're really bad at this," she said with a giggle.

Jokingly I shook my head. "I'm marginally better when I'm sober." Her eyes lifted to me, teasingly, making me instinctively lick my lips.

Bella brushed her hand through her hair, pondering about something. She stood silent for a few minutes before she spoke, so my mind started drifting. I wondered if Bella had played with her hair on purpose. Or if she bit her lip on purpose. I remembered my private inquisition previously on the night on whether Bella had been kissed before, and reached no conclusions.

"I want more answers," she said finally.

Thankful that she was able to take my mind off of her lips and kissing virginity status, I nodded happily. "Go for it."

She hummed for another second. "What are you thinking about?"

SHIT. Searching for anything, anything else that could have been occupying my mind at the time, I realized I was a complete loser. There was absolutely nothing in my head. I mentally punched myself for drinking, because now all I could think about was my mental obsession with her lips. "I was wondering if you've never been kissed."

It was unfair to Bella that I would ask it at a time where she would feel an obligation to answer me, but I had to satisfy my curiosity. "Is it true? That you've never been kissed?"

Her cheeks blushed so furiously in such an adorable way I didn't know whether I wanted to take it back or repeat the question. I wanted to protect her from whatever had upset her, but she looked so damn cute blushing I couldn't help but smirk at her.

She looked down, playing with the fabric of her robe. "I don't know," she whispered.

I let out a laugh. Yes or no seemed to be the only possible answers to the question , so I had become damn curious about how she would explain that statement. When I saw her face, I could tell she didn't find it amusing. In fact if looks could kill, I would have been dead. Not looking forward to the possibility of having to apologize again, I put on my serious face. "How do you not know if you've ever been kissed, Bella?"

She rolled her eyes, and picked up her pillow, which was behind her on the bed. Putting the pillow in her lap, she sighed. I wondered if she noticed she had just put an object between us to be able to tell me something private.

"I have…kissed someone," she started, prolonging the moment. "Just not…" she hesitated, looking for the word to complete that sentence. "Completely."

I laughed again. "Completely?"

"You know…" She said, accusingly. As if it was my fault she was inarticulate.

My blank face must have told her that no, I didn't get it. How did you not kiss completely? It's not like there is a minimum time limit. "With tongue, Edward."

My first instinct told me to laugh at her fragility, and the second one was to give her a friendly hug. I ignored both of them, and raised my eyebrow questioningly. "Why not?"

I was pretty interested in finding out who had been the loser who had kissed Bella but didn't have enough intelligence or ability to sneak his tongue in her mouth.

She sighed, exasperated. "I don't know why." She said it so bitterly, so angry, my mouth automatically turned into a grin. "Why do you want to know?" She asked me with an accusing glare. I wanted to remind her she was the one who had asked what I was thinking. Of course, I knew I wouldn't. Bella was already too uneasy about the evening's events.

"Just curious, Bella" I paused, looking around her room. "Anything else?"

I knew she was going to speak, but it took so freaking long I began thinking about slapping her back to get the words out faster.

"Did you sleep with her?"

Stupidly, I felt like telling her to be more specific. She saved me from the embarrassment when she mouthed 'Tanya' with so much hate in her face I nearly recoiled in the interest of self preservation.

"What? Tonight?" I asked in reaction, without thinking. And I cursed out loud at my idiocy after I saw the look on her face. There were plenty of better ways to let her know I had been stupid enough to sleep with her before, but not tonight.

She got that look on her face that told me she was trying to act like she didn't care either way, and nodded.

"No, I didn't. Not tonight." She nodded again, and brought her legs to her chest, hugging her legs impossibly closer to her body. I hoped she was just cold and not nervous.

My head was full of excuses to tell Bella. She threw herself at me; I was drunk; it didn't mean anything. They were all true, but this conversation was already too personal, too intimate. Why did I have to justify to Bella why I had slept with someone else. And I didn't even know her properly when I did it.

I knew she wanted to ask me more questions. That much was written on her face. But I didn't want to push her into talking about something she wasn't ready for.

"So, what happens in this new chapter?" That move had a clear motivation: change the subject and lighten up the conversation. I let myself go with it.

Rolling my eyes, I shook my head. "You're going to have to read it if you want to find out."

"Why are you calling it Uninvited?"

"It's just a temporary title."

"You should keep it, I like it." She looked like she was about to say something, but stopped herself. I felt like throwing her something. She didn't have to hold back with me, not anymore.

"What, Bella? Say whatever you want."

She gulped before speaking. "I know it's probably not referring to that, but I thought it was pretty fitting with Harriet and Clark's relationship. How he didn't want her there at the beginning but she tagged along anyway."

While I was pondering on that, I wondered if I should tell her that Harriet and Clark had grown a bit closer, friendlier in the new chapter. I didn't. I'd rather hear her unbiased reactions later. "Maybe." I smiled. "We'll see."

Earlier I hadn't given much thought to why Elizabeth and Edwin were growing closer. It seemed natural for them to evolve that way now, after Bella had pointed out how fitting they were for each other. It was just a temporary thing, anyway, and it wasn't the freaking point of the story.

"I should go now. Sorry I disturbed your evening."

She got up, and shook her head to dismiss my words. I wouldn't let myself off the hook, though. I had thrown her out of bed twice that night.

Before I left, I decided there was one more thing I needed to do before leaving. I held out my hand for Bella to shake it and smirked playfully at her confused expression. "Friends?"

She rolled her eyes, laughing skeptically. But she took my hand and she shook it. "Friends."