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And, now chapter 10…

Beta'd by the beautiful, princess07890

Chapter 10

Past and Present Collide

EPOV

"Wait, let me get this straight; you never told Bree that you didn't want to see her again. So for the last almost month, she has been under the impression that, at the very least, you guys are still dating, even if there was no commitment. To top this off, you meet this new girl who accidentally got into the back of your limo, and you two have not spent a full twenty four hours away from one another since, until now; did I get that right?"

I nodded my head while taking a drink from my beer. Jake and I were at a local bar having a drink since he has just returned to New York from California for the last time in a while. He hadn't had a chance to meet Bella because he was still relocating his things from back home and wrapping up things with the military concerning his discharge.

"Dude, have I not taught you anything? Women's hearts have to be handled with the same care as you would give a newborn baby. Gently, with much consideration; yes, Bree is young and even if she were not, she's just not the type of girl you would have a future with; I'll give you that. You were always honest about your intentions. However, that doesn't mean her feelings for you did not grow, as you have now found out, and you need to talk to her; you owe her that much. Yes, her feelings will still be hurt, but, at least she will know you cared and respected her enough to face her. Now, as far as the new chick, you're on your own. She is not young and you may have messed up with that one. How long has it been since this happened?"

"Four days." I said, running my hand through my hair.

"Wow, and she still won't respond to a text or call? Yeah, she's pissed."

"I know that, Jake; the question is what do I do to get her to respond?" I asked, annoyed.

"Hey, don't get aggravated with me; you're the dumbass that started one thing without ending another."

"Yeah, we established that, now tell me how the hell to get this girl to talk to me."

"I don't know, send her flowers or something." Jake replied, picking up his beer and taking a sip, before heading to the restroom.

My phone vibrated on my side and I quickly answered it, hoping it was Bella, but no such luck. It was Grandma Cullen, my grandmother on my dad's side.

"Hey Grandma Cullen, how are you?"

"I would be better if my only grandson came to visit me more often. What have you been up to?" She questioned and I felt guilty for not going to see her this past month.

"I'm so sorry, Grandma, and I have no excuse at all; hold on a sec Grandma." I said, muting my cell phone as I saw Jake coming back from the restroom.

"Don't tell me you called her from a freaking bar, dude!" Jake exclaimed, loudly as he approached me.

"No, you moron, it's my grandmother; I'll catch up with you tomorrow man, I'm heading home." I told him while placing money on the bar for my tab.

I unmuted the phone once I reached my car so I could resume my conversation with my grandmother.

"Hey grandma, I'm back now; how about I stop by and see you now? Would that be okay?" I asked, while pulling out from my parking space.

"I'm always ready to see my only grandson."

Twenty minutes later, I pulled up in front of my grandmother's house and made my way in.

"There's my handsome grandson; come give your grandmother a hug."

"Hey, Grandma, how are you?" I said, while bending down to give her a hug and a kiss on her cheek.

My grandmother was more than a foot shorter than me, standing only five foot one. My grandfather, on the other hand, is where my father and I got all of our height from; he was six feet four. To see the two of them standing next to one another is a pretty amusing sight sometimes, especially when my grandmother is fussing at him. I call him the 'Gentle Giant' because when it comes to Grandpa Cullen's family, he wouldn't lift a hand to you unless it was to hug you.

"I'm better now that my grandson has come to see me." She replied smiling.

My grandmother was a mixture of Irish and Native American and my grandfather was Irish. While my grandmother was born right here in the U.S., my grandfather's parents did not move here until he was three. Needless to say, this is the only home he knew and remembered.

"Something smells good; did you bake a cake, grandma?"

"No, brownies, help yourself." She smiled, as she followed me into the kitchen.

"Well, well, well; look what the cat dragged in." My grandpa said, causing me to turn around.

"Grandpa, I was just going to ask where you were; how do you feel?"

"I'm great, I…"

"He is not great and he refuses to rest like his doctor has instructed him to. The doctor said his blood pressure has been a little higher than usual, so he put him on meds to control it and instructed him to take it easy. Your grandfather's idea of taking it easy is sliding under that car in the garage and stressing about how to get it running again."

"That does not stress me, it relaxes me! Would you tell your grandmother that's how a man relaxes; we fix cars, go fishing, and watch sports…"

"How could you possibly relax while yelling at the TV every five minutes? Besides, there is nothing relaxing about lying on your back under a car for hours on end? The doctor was very specific when he said bed rest."

This bickering between them went on for another thirty minutes; by the time they were finished; I had finished two brownies and a glass of milk.

"You're both right, okay?" They both immediately stopped talking and turned to look at me.

"What?" They both responded in unison.

"I said, you are both right; grandpa, if the doctor has instructed you to take it easy and to not do too much, you probably should not be working on your car every day. Try not to get too excited while watching sports on TV; after all they are just games." He nodded while taking a seat at the kitchen table.

"Grandma, on the other hand, Grandpa is right; if he enjoys working on his car, watching sports, and fishing, those activities are probably not as stressful as they look, so give him a break."

"Oh dear; Richard, when did our grandson become wiser than us? Here we are fussing at each other over nothing." My grandmother stated while giving my grandfather a hug and a peck on the lips.

"No, you're right, darling, I know I need to rest more. Thank you for always looking out for me." He said, wrapping his arms around her.

I looked at my grandparents, and marveled at the fact that they have had their ups and downs, but after fifty one years of marriage, they were still unbelievably in love. I wondered if I could ever love someone that much and for that long? How do you give your heart to just one person for the rest of your life with the promise to love, honor, cherish, and protect them? How do you sustain that love, the passion, and the romance? I remember my dad telling me that one important, key thing to a successful relationship of any kind, is honesty; and to this very day I've always strived for that. I know there are more components than that, but my dad never got the chance to completely have that talk with me. I was broke out of my wondering thoughts by my grandfather's voice.

"Edward, what are you concentrating on so hard over there? No one as young as you should look so worried."

I looked up to find my grandmother had left the kitchen and I was in the company of just my grandfather. He stared at me with a curious expression, obviously waiting for a response to his question; so I decided to ask for some advice. I mean, he had been married for fifty one years; he had to know a thing or two about relationships.

"I messed up grandpa; at least I think I did." I replied, looking down at the floor.

"Did you cheat?" he asked, while taking a seat next to me.

"How did you know it…?"

"It was about a woman…" He said, more like a statement than question, cutting me off.

"Because I'm seventy four years old and I've loved the same woman for more than half of my life; and that look on your face could only come from a woman who has your heart."

I shook my head and chuckled at his words.

"No one has my heart, grandpa."

"Oh, she does; you're just too dumb to know it yet."

"Grandpa!"

"You still did not answer my question; did you cheat?"

"No, no, grandpa, I didn't cheat."

"Did you lie?"

"No."

"Then, whatever it is, you can fix."

"That's the problem; I don't know how."

"Tell me what happened."

So, for the next hour, I explained to my grandfather my relationship with Bree and the one I'm trying to develop with Bella.

"Edward, your situation is not that bad; you just went about it the wrong way. I know you told Bree you didn't want to be in a committed relationship, but, evidently, you continued to sleep with her and gave her some kind of hope that you may eventually make a commitment to her. Then, you started seeing someone else and you technically never let Bree know that you did not want to see her again. Omitting information and avoiding contact, are just as bad as lying and cheating. Instead of facing Bree and telling her you could not see her anymore, you avoided her, and instead of telling Bella you had been seeing someone else before her, you omitted the information."

"I get it, grandpa."

Once I finish talking to my grandfather, I could see how both women could be upset about how I handled things. The first thing I did after leaving my grandparent's house was call Bree to see if she would meet me for a cup of coffee tomorrow morning. But, in the meantime, I went home and got some much needed rest.

OOOOOOOOooooooooOOOOOOOO

When I walked into Starbucks, Bree was already seated at a table; I ordered my usual and what I remembered to be her usual before joining her.

"Hello, Edward, how are you?" She greeted me with a pleasant smile, which only made me feel even worse than I already did.

"I'm well, Bree, and you?"

"That depends; did you come here to break my heart?"

I looked down at the cup of coffee I was holding and heavily sighed before responding.

"That's not fair, Bree; I never asked for your heart. I was always honest and upfront with you from the very beginning. I told you I had just come out of a really bad break up and I wasn't looking for anything serious and you agreed."

"We've been sleeping together for over six months now and I just thought, after all this time, you felt different; but then you stopped coming around and calling as often. Every time I asked if something was wrong, you never said anything. So I thought you just needed time and then I saw you out with someone else."

"I care about you, Bree, and that's why I stopped, so that this wouldn't happen."

We were silent for a while, both lost in our thoughts.

"Bree, do you remember the last few times we hung out and you said something was different about me; you said I hadn't touched you in weeks. At the time, I didn't respond, because I didn't know how to. Well, now I do; I hadn't touched you because I knew that my feelings were not going in the same direction as yours and I never wanted to make you feel like I used you. Yes, we slept together for over six months, but I haven't touched you in over two months and this is why; I never wanted to hurt you, Bree. You're a beautiful girl; young, smart, tenacious, and you will find a guy who is going to love you to pieces one day, I promise."

She nodded while pondering my words and I prayed that she understood my intentions were to never hurt her.

"She's very pretty; I can see why you are pursuing her." Bree stated, shocking me.

"Yeah, well, I may have blown that, too" I replied taking a sip from my coffee.

"Just apologize and she'll listen; we women can be a bit stubborn sometimes, but if we truly care about you, we have very forgiving hearts."

"Thanks, Bree, I appreciate that."

We finished our coffees and said our goodbyes, before departing our separate ways. I headed to the Hallmark store and bought Bella a card that showed how sorry I was and then went to a florist and picked up some Pink Azaleas. By the time I reached the front door of Bella's building, my heart was in my throat. I took a couple of calming breaths and proceeded to go inside and went up the stairs to the second floor. After one more deep breath, I knocked and prayed that: one, she was home and, two, that she did not throw me out of her building for showing up unannounced. I was prepared for everything except what happen next. When the door opened my mouth fell open in shock and I felt a mixture of confusion, hurt, anger, jealousy, but most of all shock, all at once.

"Edward? What are you doing here?"

"Jake?!

A/N: Yeah, very cliffy I know! Bet you didn't see that coming and neither did Edward! Please leave me your thoughts in a review and I can't thank all of you enough for the tremendous support you guys give. I love my readers, you guys are so awesome!