A/N:

The "meaningful look" Bella gave Edward in the last chapter was the subject of many questions I received. Like I told most of you, it's up for interpretation, but she was not mad. In their youth, they were extremely close, and even though they were apart longer than together, that kind of bond never leaves you. And as lovely as Gianna is, the relationship she had with him sort of paled in comparison. Maybe that'll help you understand the look better.

Beta is Lindz26. Pre-reader is Dinx.

CHAPTER TEN
*CONTRAST*

I tried calling Gianna a few times. I didn't like how things ended, and after the year we spent together, I owed it to her to apologize; however, she wasn't answering my calls. I gave up after the fifth attempt, needing to close up the store so I could go home.

"So, it's over for good?" Emmett asked me as we waited for the last of the customers to leave.

"Yeah, it is," I answered.

"She was up all last night with Rose, crying. You must've hurt her real bad."

I sighed, feeling miserable with myself. "I did."

"You know, if you still love Gi, I could get her to talk to you," he offered. "Maybe there's still a chance for you guys."

"No," I said firmly.

"You don't want her back?" he asked, baffled. I didn't want to answer that, because in truth, I had no desire to get back together with her, and that made me feel worse. "Rose told me you broke up 'cause of that girl you used to be friends with in high school."

I nodded wordlessly in response.

"Man, that's messed up," Emmett remarked. "You didn't cheat on Gi, did you?"

"No." Unless kissing Bella's fingers counted as cheating. And knuckles. And wrist. Shit...

"Are you in love with that Andy chick?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Andy?" I questioned.

He rolled his eyes. "Rose forces me to watch that Malibu Beach crap with her all the time." I couldn't help but smile. "So, are you?"

"Yeah," I answered with confidence. "I love her."

The last of the customers were finally leaving, and we were getting ready to close, when in walked Mike Newton. Crap…didn't the stupid douchebag know we were closing?

"Oh, I'm sorry. Were you guys closing up?" he asked cockily, definitely not sorry at all. He walked over to the counter and hopped up to sit.

"You go close up, I'll handle him," I said to Emmett, and he walked away.

"What do you want, Newton?" I asked, wishing I could just pound his head in with the nearest fishing rod.

"So, I heard someone's back," he said with a smirk. "Wanna guess who?"

I suppressed a groan. He always had to bring up Bella. "Tupac?" I questioned sarcastically.

He ignored me. "Bella Swan." He smiled, as if he'd won the biggest prize. "I think we both know why she's back."

"And why is that?"

"Me, of course. Why else?"

I wanted to laugh at this joker. "You think she's back for you?"

"I know she's back for me," he spoke, and hopped down from the counter. "Tonight, I'm gonna go to her parent's house, maybe take her out to dinner, then we'll go to her room and make out on her bed like we used to." He chuckled sardonically. "Actually, from what I remember, I'm sure she'd be down for a lot more than just that."

I wasn't amused now. Like hell he was going to even put his douchey lips and body parts anywhere near her.

"Edward," I heard Emmett call out from the front of the store. "Got someone here for you. Sending her back where you are."

Her?

Bella suddenly came into sight, walking directly to me with a wary expression. I was surprised to see her. I wasn't sure if she would come after the whole Gianna thing yesterday.

Her eyes focused on Mike, and a scowl briefly crossed her face.

"Bella," Mike greeted happily, and quickly brought her into a hug.

Her arms were stiff at her sides. "Mike, hey…" she replied, and pulled away from him. "Wow, long time no see."

"Yeah," he said, and eyed her up and down. "Damn, you look good."

My nostrils flared, and my hands balled into fists.

"Uh, thanks," Bella murmured, looking down at herself. She was just wearing fitted jeans and a thin, white tank, but I had to admit, she looked beautiful.

"And you're all famous and stuff, huh?"

She cleared her throat, seeming uncomfortable. "I'm just a part of a successful show, that's all."

"So, listen," Mike started, ignoring what she said and moving a little closer to her. "I was thinking tonight we'd—"

"Sorry, Mike, but I need to speak with Edward right now," she interrupting quickly, and walked off abruptly.

I assumed I was supposed to follow her. Mike glared at me, so I gave him a triumphant smile, before he stalked away.

Bella was standing in the camping and hiking aisle, waiting for me. She was looking closely at something in her hand. "What is this?" she questioned, holding up a small device.

"That's an electric compass."

She set it carefully on the shelf and regarded me. "So, your friend, Emmett…he's nice."

"Oh, you met him?"

"Yeah, we talked for a little bit when I came in here."

"Ah," I said, curious as to what exactly they talked about.

"He told me you've been pretty down today," she said, and paused for a moment. "I hope everything's okay with you and your girlfriend."

I tried to decipher what she was feeling, but her face was expressionless. "Ex-girlfriend," I corrected. "She broke up with me."

Her eyes drifted to the side, and she began fiddling with the handle of an LED lantern. "Oh…"

"It was mutual, though," I assured. "I would've broken up with her, anyway."

She looked back at me. "Why?" she asked so vulnerably that I wanted to wrap her in my arms.

I chuckled, though not out of humor. "Bella, if you even have to ask that after—"

"No, I know why," she said, a smile forming. She took a step toward me. "I'm sorry about Gianna."

My eyes were locked on hers as I closed the remaining distance between us. "I'm sorry about Riley."

Her hands pressed to my chest. "I'm not," she admitted.

I watched as her lips parted. "Me neither," I said, and dipped my head down to press my mouth to hers. When I was a teenager, I used to imagine her lips felt soft, and now I had it confirmed.

She responded immediately, stretching up on her toes to deepen the kiss. One of my hands was buried deep in her long hair, while the other grasped selfishly onto the back of her tank top, bringing her body more into mine. I was sure she could feel how turned on she made me.

"Oh, oops, my bad."

Emmett.

Only our faces pulled away as we looked in the direction of his voice, but he wasn't in the aisle anymore.

"Hey, man, I just need the keys so I can lock the front doors," he instructed from the next aisle over.

I groaned and grabbed the keys from my back pocket, making sure to keep my other hand in Bella's hair. I tossed the keys over the top of the aisle, and a loud crash filled the store. My guess was Emmett had tried to catch it and fell over the merchandise.

Bella's giggle brought me back to her. Not caring about Emmett's well-being, I captured her lips again, more gently this time, savoring this opportunity. I'd wanted so many times to kiss her when we were teens, and now, I actually was. It was surreal.

She was the one to pull back first, but didn't go far. Our foreheads pressed together, allowing us to catch up on our breathing.

"I wish you could've come with me," she whispered. "There were so many things I wanted to experience with you."

"Me, too, but you know I couldn't have," I replied, and planted kisses down the side of her face until I got to her neck. She moaned softly as my tongue traced a circle over her skin.

She dug her fingers into my hair, scratching my scalp lightly. "I should've stayed."

I stopped instantly and moved back to look at her. "No. You needed to go." She would've been miserable here.

Her expression crumbled. Now, the moment had been ruined, because of me. "See, this is the kind of stuff that made me think you didn't want me here."

I sighed, dropping my hands to my sides. "I couldn't condemn you to my shitty circumstance. It wouldn't have been fair."

"Condemn me?" she asked incredulously. Her expression turned to anger.

Wasn't it just a second ago we were kissing? Now, everything was tense again.

"Yes, condemn you," I confirmed.

"Who the hell are you to decide something like that?" she questioned. "It was my life, and I could've done whatever I wanted. But I left because I thought you wanted me gone. It seemed like you wanted space from me. And then when you stopped emailing me, that just confirmed it even more." She shook her head and began taking steps back, away from me, looking as if something was snapping into place. "I would've stayed, Edward. I just wanted you to want me to stay."

As she walked out of the aisle, I grasped onto my hair, pulling on the roots. She had gone to LA because she was convinced I didn't want her here. I'd thought I was doing something good for her, giving her what she wanted. I never dreamed that she would've actually wanted to stay with me, given the choice.

All these years, we could've been together, but instead, we were apart, because of my irrational ideas on what her happiness should've entailed.

I followed after her, but by the time I got to the parking lot, her SUV was driving off.

Instead of going home after work, I went to check in with my mom and sister. I told them both that Gianna and I were over. Neither seemed too upset, though Alice said she liked her and would miss her. Mom was smiling all over the place, making me suspicious.

"Why are you so happy?" I asked her.

"Oh, don't act like you don't know," she said, and when I gave her a questioning look, she continued. "You and Bella."

I narrowed my eyes at her. "Wait a second…were you trying to set us up all those times you called me for dinner?"

She chuckled. "Not set you up romantically, but I did have hopes for you two reconciling. You both are so stubborn, and it was about time you became friends again. If your friendship turns into something else, well, even better."

"You're dating Andy?" Alice inquired.

"Alice," I scolded. "Please don't call her that."

"Oh, oops. Slip of the tongue," she said, realizing her mistake, and smiled. "So, are you?"

I sighed. "No, we're not." Not yet, at least, since she was probably still mad at me. "But I need to go talk to her, so I'll see you later."

"I wanna come," Alice said enthusiastically, following me to the front door.

"No, I'm going alone."

"It's not like you can stop me," she spoke, and quickly rushed outside ahead of me.

I groaned, but knew I couldn't stop her. She was going through a defiant stage right now.

"Bree is having a party this weekend. She wants me to ask Bella to come. You think she will?" Alice asked, walking along side of me.

"Absolutely not, Alice," I reprimanded. "You're not going to ask her anything like that, understand? She's not here to hang out with fifteen year old fan girls."

She pouted. "It's just one little party. Plus, Bella and I are best friends."

"You are not!" I shouted, aggravated.

"Sure we are," she giggled, and skipped ahead to Bella's house. She was saying this stuff just to piss me off; I sure of it.

Alice knocked on the door, before I could do it. After a few moments, Bella answered. She refused to look at me, opting to regard Alice.

"Hey, kiddo," Bella greeted, feigning a smile. "What a surprise."

"Hi, Bella," Alice replied, and cast me a sideways glance. "My mom wanted me to tell you and your family to come over for dinner again."

I rolled my eyes. Alice was up to no good. I hadn't heard Mom say anything like that to her.

"Oh, that's sweet. My dad will most likely be working, but I think my mom and I can make it."

"Awesome," Alice said with a grin. "Well, I gotta go. Bye!" She quickly dashed away, not giving Bella a chance to say anything back. Little runt.

I cleared my throat, knowing I needed to fix the tension between us. "Is your mom home right now?" I asked.

She crossed her arms in front of her, wearing a stony expression "She's in the living room."

"Do you want to come to my place? Maybe we can talk there."

When she hadn't replied, I thought she would turn me down, but she nodded and went back inside, leaving the front door open. I assumed she was going to tell her mother where she was going, so I decided to quickly move my car out of my driveway and outside of her house.

The drive over was quiet, but I didn't want to have any sort of serious conversation without being able to properly look at her.

After I opened the front door of my modest, two bedroom apartment, and we went in, her eyes began roaming all around.

"Well, this is where I live," I said. "And Emmett, too." It was no fancy loft, like I was sure she had, but it was my home.

"I like it," she spoke softly, looking at the pinball machine in the corner of the living room.

"That's not mine. That's Emmett's," I assured, embarrassed. "His bedroom is ten times worse. It's like a nine year old's room."

She chuckled. "He seems pretty cool," she replied, and finally turned to me.

I stared at her, forgetting why I brought her here in the first place. She played with a lock of her hair absentmindedly. When had she picked up this habit? I hated that I didn't know everything there was to know about her anymore. There was a whole six years of separation between us. I had a lot of catching up to do.

"Uh…do you want me to show you around?" I offered.

"Sure," she replied.

The apartment wasn't too big, and the tour didn't take long at all. We avoided Emmett's room, thankfully, and ended up at my room last.

"This is mine," I notified, and pushed the door open.

She went in, not shy about exploring my room. It wasn't much. I mean, I wasn't a decorator or anything, but I had managed to make it my own, with pictures of me and my family, including loads of Dad.

She assessed each one, until she got to a picture that had Alice, me, and herself in it from around the beginning of our sophomore year in high school. I hadn't kept any pictures of Bella and me, just because the reminder was always too painful, but this particular picture represented simpler days.

"I remember this," she said, pointing to the picture. "We went to the park and Alice got stung by a bee. She screamed the whole way home."

I snorted. "Yeah, I think she was more shocked than in pain."

Once Bella got her fill of analyzing my belongings, she sighed and sat on my queen sized bed, looking in thought.

"You said earlier that you wanted me to want you to stay," I began, leaning against my desk for support. "The truth is…I did want you to go." She shook her head, appearing upset. "But not because I wanted to get rid of you or because I wanted space from you. I just wanted you to live an exciting life. I couldn't let you sacrifice a happy future just because my dad died."

"Yeah, but I would've been happy here," she spoke indignantly.

"That's not true. I saw you when our school friends started going off to college. You seemed so upset that you were stuck here."

She shook her head. "I was upset for you, not for me. You were scaring me," she admitted. "Sometimes, you were really happy around me, and other times, you looked so depressed. I didn't know what to do for you."

I frowned. "But what about that time your parents wanted you to go to school in Seattle? You said you had stuff to think about."

She began picking at the blanket. "There was just something I realized that night…that's all." Okay, something she didn't want to talk about. "I just wanted us to stay together, no matter what."

I was growing frustrated. "I don't understand, Bella. You have a good life. You're a TV star, for heaven's sake. What the hell do I matter? I'm nothing."

"What do you mean you're nothing?" she questioned angrily, and stood from the bed, her temper flaring on a dime. "You're everything. You've been everything since ninth grade!"

My eyes went wide and my heart took off at her admission. Did that mean…? "What?" I asked in a breath.

"But it hasn't been the same without you," she continued, ignoring my reaction. "You made me happy, unlike anyone in my entire life."

I shook my head disbelievingly and walked to my closet. Inside, I reached to the top shelf and brought down a shoebox I'd kept there since I'd moved in. I walked over to her and spilled the contents of the box on top of the made bed. All the pictures Bella had given me. Each one showed how great a time she had in LA, so I knew she was full of it.

"You kept my pictures?" she asked in a whisper. "I didn't think you…"

I picked up one of her at a party with some girls. "Look. You're happy here." I dropped it and picked up another of her having a good time with a random guy. "Here, too." And another. "Here." Another. "Here." I tossed the pictures roughly, growing angrier by the second. "You're smiling in all these pictures. So, don't give me that shit and say you weren't happy." I could feel my old bitterness resurfacing. I was upset that she had a life without me in it and was denying that fact.

She grabbed a bunch of pictures and held them up to my face. "These are happy?" she questioned loudly. "These are fake smiles!" She threw the pictures on the bed. "They're fucking fake!" Her eyes were blazing as they glowered into mine. "After years of being best friends, you never knew when my smiles were real and when they weren't?" Tears started to well up in her eyes. "Maybe not, because you only ever got to see one kind of smile—my true smile. So, don't you dare tell me I was happy. You don't know anything. You don't even care about me."

Enraged that she would suggest such a thing, I grabbed the sides of her face and pulled her roughly to me. Her breath hitched, taken aback, not only at my anger, but at our sudden nearness.

"You think I don't care?" I asked, my tone low and rough. "If I didn't care, I wouldn't have watched you."

"You…you watched me?" she questioned in a whisper.

"Every Friday," I answered, and slammed my mouth down on hers, eliciting a sharp intake of breath from her. She responded instantly, her lips moving feverishly with mine. My hands were gripping the sides of her head, angling it to deepen the kiss. Her tongue came out first, and I welcomed it. The tiny, barely audible moans escaping her were driving me crazy.

I wanted more of her. Right now. Six years was far too long to have been separated from her.

Pulling away abruptly, I tried to shove all the pictures off the bed, but it was taking too long, so I ripped the blanket from the corners and threw it aside. In a flash, she was on the bed with me on top of her, every hard part of me molding to her body.

"I've wanted you for so long," I breathed, kissing across her cheek.

Her fingers wove through my hair, and she released an airy moan. "Me, too," she uttered.

Emboldened by her words, I slid down her slender body and pushed up the front of her tank. That was when I saw a small, black, tattooed star on each of her hip bones. My eyes were glued to them, remembering her telling me ages ago when she'd gotten them tattooed. Shit, they were sexy as hell.

"I like these," I rasped, and pressed my mouth to one of them. "What do they mean?"

She chuckled. "They mean a drunken night with my cousins."

I smiled against the inked star. "Would've loved to have seen that," I murmured. My tongue came out, making lazy circles around it, and dragged up higher and higher, leaving a wet trail as I pushed the tank past her breasts.

She was wearing a burgundy lace bra that showed her hardened, pink nipples. I pressed my mouth to her ample cleavage once before I pulled a cup down and sucked her nipple into my mouth. Her little moans spurred me on, making me scrape my teeth gently over it.

"God, Edward," she sighed in pleasure. "Don't tease me."

I stopped and looked up at her through heavy-lidded eyes. "You don't want to be teased?" I asked with a hint of a smile, to which she didn't respond, except to give me a lusty look. "Fine."

Wasting no more time, I straddled her hips and reached over my head to tug off my shirt. I threw it into the far corner of the room.

"Sit up," I demanded, and she obeyed. Her shirt was off in a second, followed by my fingers making quick work of her bra. She wanted this to go fast, I could do that. Besides, I needed her too badly to praise her right now. I would—later.

"That's more like it," she all but growled, greedily running her hands up my naked stomach.

I gave her bare breasts a firm grope before I popped open my jeans button. Her fingers unzipped me at the same time, and together, we pushed the denim down to my ankles in a rush, before I kicked them to the side. She palmed me roughly through my boxers, causing me to grunt deep in my chest.

Holy fucking shit. I was surprised at how forward she was, not that I didn't like it. I just had always pictured her being innocent; however, she was far from that.

Before I knew it, my boxers were around my knees, and my dick was in her mouth. My hands went to the back of her head, trying to do two things—keep her from going too fast so I didn't bust my load, and wanting to push her further down my cock so that I could bust my load. I wasn't sure which I wanted, but the rational part of me yearned to be inside of her when I did that.

When her tongue came out to swirl around the tip, I pushed against her shoulders to lie back. I reached down and wrapped my hands around the backs of her legs. In a swift movement, I yanked her directly to the edge of the mattress and settled her ankles against my shoulders.

"Undo your jeans," I ordered.

She flicked the button open, unzipped, and lifted her ass off the bed. Her jeans were skin tight as she pushed them down to her knees. Since she couldn't push further, I did the rest for her, tugging them off roughly. Her lacy underwear was the next to go, bringing me that much closer to where I wanted to be.

Looking down at her, gloriously naked before me, she was the angel and the devil all in one, and I wanted her desperately.

I pressed a kiss to each of her ankles, lingering a bit, and then reached into my nightstand drawer for a condom. I tore the wrapper apart and eagerly slid the latex down my length.

"Ready?" I asked with a smirk.

She raised her arms above her head and gripped onto the edge of the mattress. "Definitely," she responded, her lust-filled gaze piercing me and making my cock swell even more. "Do your worst."

I chuckled and positioned the head at her entrance. After coating myself in her slick wetness briefly, I pushed into her until I was buried all the way inside.

"Shit," she gasped, her eyes squeezing shut. "Move out and back in me again, but harder this time."

I did as she requested—pulled out until just the tip was left in her and then slammed all the way inside her, gaining a sharp gasp from her. She felt amazing—tight and warm. I could've stayed here forever. But damn, I wanted to feel what it was like to release inside of her. It was like all my wet dreams were coming true.

A rhythm began to build, and soon, I was pounding her over and over again, watching as her tits bounced and her knuckles turned white from holding tightly onto the mattress. One of her hands came down, and she began playing with herself.

Goddamn…

I had to avert my eyes, not wanting to come so soon at the sight. Instead, I licked and sucked on her beautiful, long legs, loving how smooth they felt on my tongue and against my hands.

Needing to be closer to her, I kept her legs against my chest, but bent over her and positioned my forearms by her head. My actions were slower, but deeper, really wanting to feel what the new position had to offer. She was very vocal about how much she loved it.

"Make yourself come, Bella. I'm not going to last long," I rasped above her sweet face that was contorted in desire.

She didn't answer, concentrating on herself instead. Our eyes locked, and that was all she needed to clamp down around me, causing me to push inside her faster and harder.

"God!" she cried, throwing her head back.

She was a vision, and I was abundantly aware that the passionate look on her face was because of me alone.

She panted, as if she'd been holding her breath, and dropped her limp legs to my sides. I stopped moving, allowing her to rest.

"That was…" she breathed, "unlike anything I'd imagined."

I smiled and brought my lips to hers. We kissed and explored each other's mouths for a few minutes, until I remembered I was still ridiculously hard and inside of her.

"Wrap your legs around me," I requested in a whisper.

Her long legs felt amazing wound around me, bringing me closer to her. We began to move together as one with more meaningful strokes. My eyes closed while I placed small, adoring kisses up the side of her face. I couldn't believe we were actually here and doing this. It was everything I'd ever wanted.

Fingers lightly caressed my back, sending shivers up my spine. All that could be heard was the sound of our labored breaths and bodies meeting. She felt incredible, and I could feel my peak gradually nearing, whirling in the pit of my stomach and making me go faster to reach the end I needed.

I came into her, letting it take me over, momentarily blinding me. I saw stars…I saw her.

Basking in the afterglow, I pressed a kiss to the side of her neck. She turned her head and captured my mouth with hers. We lazily kissed, not wanting to move very far from each other right now. Not ever.

A/N:

As many of you know, this is a novella, so the next chapter will be the last. I've enjoyed writing this piece and am so pleased it evoked such a strong, emotional reaction from you all. Anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself. There's still more to cover in the next update.

Twitter: xrxdanixrx