Hey all this Author's Note is important so please read!

This story isn't a lot of feedback and I realize its probably because of my writing. So I'm considering finishing the story for friends and family only and posting it further in the future after I've had time to improve my style. I've really enjoyed sharing the story with the world and I do plan to post the story, no matter what, someday.

I'm sure other writers understand how it feels. I'm just beginning to feel like there's not much of a point in posting my work if no one is enjoying it.

I will scrape together another chapter since its half done and I haven't made any solid choice yet.

Thanks to those of you who have taken the time to let me know that you liked it.

It took the 20 minute drive from the hospital on top of a solid hour at home to convince Charlie that he should go back to work. The time consisted of approximately 42 'I swear to you, I'm fine!'s and 36 'I promise I will call Dr. Cullen if the pain gets too bad'snot to mention the sworn oaths I sighed to rest, keep the sling on, not leave the house bearing a fire and to call him if I felt so much as a sneeze coming on. I easily accepted all of these terms, ready to sign over my first born if it meant an end to the negotiations.

By the time I heard the cruiser pull out of the driveway I was exhausted. Between the not-so-life-threatening accident, the stalemate argument with Edward, and trying to reason with Charlie, almost as bad as reasoning with Renee, it had been a straining day.

I was grateful to fall asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

I slept straight through the night.

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I woke up to the cries of my alarm clock. The noise startled me with its unfamiliarity - I rarely heard it, usually waking up way before it went off.

I silenced the obnoxious thing and sat up to get a better view out the window. This had become my morning ritual ever since moving to Forks. I'd wake up and immediately check the weather. It usually wasn't good news out there but there was something to be said for knowing exactly what I was in for. Today the sky was overcastted and gray but the ash colored clouds were neither raining or snowing. It was the most I could realistically wish for.

I got dressed, only putting on a light zip-up over my faded T-Shirt, hoping it would be enough. The glass hadn't felt cold when I had pressed my hand against the window. I took another peek at the sky, the corners of my mouth turning down disapprovingly. I would take a jacket, just incase.

Charlie was already sitting at the kitchen table when I got downstairs.

"Sleep good?" He asked, a chuckled murmuring below his words.

He didn't so much as look up from his paper.

"Like you wouldn't believe," I answered despite the rhetorical nature of his question. "I can't believe I was asleep so long."

I crossed the kitchen and pulled a box of Corn Flakes out of the cabinet, pouring myself a large bowl of cereal with my good hand. My stomach had finally caught on to the fact that it had missed lunch and dinner and it chided with a reprehending gurgle.

"How's the arm?" He was staring into his own bowl, trying to hide his concern.

"Its feeling much better," it was the truth. "I'm definitely not going to need those pain meds."

I tried to keep the 'I told you so,' tone to a minimum.

"You still should have taken them." I shrugged in response and we both dropped the subject willingly. "How'd your truck fair in all of this?

"The truck?" I hadn't really looked at it. "Oh, I think its fine. I'm pretty sure the car next to me was much worse off," My truck, I suddenly realized, was still in the school parking lot. "Do you think you could give me a ride today?"

"You think I'm going to let you walk? Knowing you, you'd stage an encore and break your neck," he was back to the paper. "I already called the station, told them I'd be a little late," he looked over at my breakfast, then up to me. "We got time," and as if to prove the point, he pulled out the sports section.

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I was ready to go not even five minutes later. I grabbed my backpack, double checked that I had the keys to the Chevy, and threw my coat over my shoulder as Charlie led the way to the front door.

"Huh."

"What?" I asked, slipping on my second boot.

Charlie looked down at me, a tinge of amusement playing in his eyes, "Looks like you already have a ride."

I cringed, assuming the worst. Did Jessica or Lauren adopt me as their charity case? I tried to be positive. Maybe Mike had seen my truck still in the lot after school and decided to swing by.

I stood up and looked over Charlie's shoulder, my eyebrows knitting together as I took in the familiar Volvo. My eyes lingered on it for a moment, slowly traveling to the figure leaning against the hood. He was alone, which meant that his siblings had found their own means. I couldn't help but find this strange but I breathed a sigh of relief anyways. I wasn't sure if I could handle Rosalie at this hour.

Edward looked from Charlie to me quickly. "I didn't think you would go back for your truck yesterday," he shrugged casually. "I figured I could give you a ride."

Charlie looked at me, trying to judge my reaction. I didn't want to put anyone out but I also wasn't ready to talk to Edward. I had counted on having all day to prepare my plan of attack. If I was thrown into a car with him now he would most likely be at an unfair advantage.

Both sets of eyes were still on me, I could see curiosity beginning to form in Charlie's. How would I explain to him why I didn't want to accept the ride? I looked over at Edward, his expression was perfectly confident. Apparently he had figured all this out already.

"Thanks, a ride would be great."

Charlie nodded, walking towards the cruiser.

I waited until Charlie had pulled away to turn my attention towards the Volvo. Edward was already there, holding the door open for me, a victorious smile on his face.

"You going to buckle me in, too?" I asked, climbing into the passenger's seat.

He looked down at me, that ever present smirk teasing at his lips, "You want me to? I will."

I sent him my best, 'I'm not amused" look. It was harder than it should have been and he only smiled back.

A part of me, a bigger part than I was willing to admit, was overly relieved to see him. I had half expected him to go back to glaring at me or to pull another disappearing act. His moods were so unpredictable and scattered that it was hard, especially with my limited experience, to predict which Edward would grace my presence on any particular day.

I made sure to make an exaggerated example of putting on my own seatbelt but he only laughed and closed my door, making his way to the driver's side. His pace was deliberately slow, careful, as if he was trying to make a point. Edward didn't look at me as he opened his own door, took a deep breath, and slid into his seat. He didn't reach to put his seat belt on.

We were halfway down the street before I found the desire to speak. I hesitated, not sure if breaking the ice would be to my best advantage. I always had to be on my guard with him.

"Your phone is in the glove box," he said, breaking into my thoughts. "You left it yesterday, Carlisle didn't think you would need to come back for your injuries so he thought it would be more convenient for me to bring it to you," he paused," I hope you don't mind."

I pulled out my phone, flipping it open. I had about 30 messages, all from my mother. I shut it quickly, resting my head back and closing my eyes.

"One thing at a time," I reminded myself.

"So," I said casually, "we going to talk about yesterday?"

He looked over at me, his eyes falling from my face to my chest where my arm hung protected in its sling. His face contorted with pain.

"I'm fine," I assured. "I'm a fast healer. And you know that's not the part I want to talk about."

His eyes stared out at the road though his mind was obviously elsewhere. The car sped up, we were probably going double the speed limit now. I looked out the side window for a moment, startled at how fast things were flying by us. I wanted to ask him to slow down before he hit someone but I didn't dare change the subject. I turned my head away from the blurred world and tried to ignore it.

When his words finally came they were spoken slowly as if he were considering each one. As if he too realized this conversation was a battle and feared loosing too much ground too early on.

"We shouldn't be friends," was his puzzling response.

"Is everything you say a riddle? I mean, do you ever just say what you really mean?" My voice had an edge to it.

His face was pained again, making me feel guilty.

"I'm sorry," I said, looking down at my lap. "If you don't want to be friends than why are you bringing me my phone and driving me to school? Most people would rule those actions under friendly."

I was playing with the folds in my jeans, not wanting to see his face. Looking at him made it so much harder to stand my ground. But as the silence stretched my curiosity peaked and I slowly raised my head to meet his eyes,

He was looking back at me, his face strained with confusion, though anger was definitely a factor as well. I subconsciously wondered how long he hadn't been watching the road. Consciously I just prayed we weren't reverting to the silent staring bit.

"You think - You think I don't want to be your friend?" His voice was full of disbelief.

"You just said -"

"I said we shouldn't be friends," he corrected.

Not wanting to be friends with me I could understand easy enough. After all, I hadn't had many friends in my life so obviously the fault would lie on me. But shouldn't be friends - that word baffled me. I could think of nothing that would cause people to feel that being friends with me would be detrimental except for the one major thing. Edward had seen a glimpse of that yesterday and judging by way he still kept popping up, I was beginning to doubt that his hesitancy was caused by me.

"Isn't it a little late for that?" I asked. "I mean, you ask me all these questions about my life like you care, you saved my life in front of half of our class which I know your family isn't happy about, and now you're coffering me around -"

"You're the one who said that your life was never in danger," he said, cutting me off.

"Not the point," I hissed. "You thought it was. Everyone was there and you did it anyways."

We were pulling into the parking lot, nothing had been accomplished.

"This is harder for me than you know," he said quietly, as if he was ashamed of the admission.

"What is?" I asked, desperate to get even a sense of what his words were playing at.

His hands gripped the wheel tighter, even though the car was parked. His knuckles were so white, standing out even against his alabaster skin. The indecision played across his face.

I reached across my body with my good hand, laying it on his forearm. Even through his thick shirt the coldness of his body chilled my skin. I closed my fingers tighter around his arm, savoring the feel of it.

He turned to me sharply, his eyes pleading with mine for a second. For a moment I thought I had done something wrong and considered pulling my hand back. But his face softened suddenly, his eyes defeated as they caught mine.

"I want to be your friend, Aden," he said so quietly I almost missed it.

"You are my friend," I whispered back.

He shook his head, his muscles tightening under my hand.

"I don't think," his jaw clenched as he stared out the window. "I don't think we can be friends."

"Why?" I begged but he had already pulled himself away from me, out of the car before the words left my lips.

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Thanks to everyone for reading :)