A/N: Hey! I wasn't sure how exactly the selecting of the guys would work, so I decided to do it like the TV show, Next, but made a few changes to it, and dragged it out further.

Hope you like. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or can have any credit dealing with it, or Next, the TV show. :)~ But Andrew and Alex are all mine. Read on to find out what I mean!

Troubled Love

Chapter 10

EPOV

~Flashback~

"Men. This is Princess Bella, and Jasper. As I previously mentioned, Jasper and I are her bodyguards. You will not go anywhere without either one of us by your side. Understood?"

What Emmett had said had finally struck a cord in my brain and I turned my focus back on him. Albeit, it was hard, but not impossible to accomplish.

...

I had learned some of the names of the guys standing next to me. I could see of in the distance Baby Face walking next Bella, talking. Apparently, his real name was Mike; but I'll just stick to Baby Face for now. It better suits him.

The guy on my right was named Alex. He had dark hair, and even darker eyes, which were really creepy; on my left, there was Tyler, who had light brown hair with blue eyes; nice looking, all and all. Right beside him was a guy with dark, soft, shiny hair, and eyes the same completion, was Andrew. Who used to be next to Andrew, was Baby Face, but he went of to speak to Bella; to have his turn.

All of us started to get to talking after Emmett announced we would take turns talking to Princess Bella -I still couldn't get used to the princess part- each day, and after about a month of this, she would decide which ones to get rid of. Every week, she would decide one who left our ranks, and when it got down to the last three of us, her father would decide which one she was to marry. Apparently I was still supposed to be in this...competition...still, for Caius and Marcus's plan to take place. Speaking of the plan, I was supposed to meet the kitchen dude, who in turn was going to help me win over the princess and give me more information about everybody. Not that he would have to give me much on everybody here, that I didn't surmise while talking to said people at the moment.

What I did get out of them was that they were princes of nearby major cities, ports, or famous tourists spots; all their parents or parent, hoping to unite their kingdom with Aswan's, by marriage of their children. Basically, parents who are power hungry, looking for more region to reign for their children and themselves by default, to leave their name in history. Altogether, it was the rich, being the rich.

While Baby Face was talking to Bella, I got to know a little of what each guys attitude was like. Alex, I guess you could say, matched his appearance perfectly; creepy was written all over him, and he seemed a bit hesitant too, like he was trying to keep a secret. Andrew, also true to his appearance, was very friendly and playful. But the thing was, he didn't know when to stop being playful; it was all very childish of him. The other guy, on my left, Tyler I think his name was, well...cocky, egotistical, and just plain rude. And Baby Face, while the short interaction I had with him earlier still fresh in my mind, from what I've learned, was also cocky, and had quite the temper that I was just dying to mess with, and could barely finish a sentence with him around.

All in all, the group I came in with, was very hazardous.

'This is going to be a long day...' I sighed realizing how true that statement was.

"So, Edward," Tyler started, sticking his nose up at me, "You haven't told us much about yourself."

I nodded my head in agreement, but didn't give anymore on the matter.

"Are you going to tell us anything?" He prompted again, when he saw that I wasn't going to say anything else. "Or d-"

"Or do we have to torture it out out of you?" Andrew continued for him. Although I'm sure Tyler wasn't going to say that; he wasn't as childish as Andrew was.

I let out a snort. "I'm not sure you could touch me if you tried, Andrew." I shot him a warning look when I saw that spark of playfulness in his eyes. You would think we knew each others darkest secrets and that we're best pals by the way he was acting. "And don't get any ideas." But his grin only got bigger, and he stooped down in a crouching position, arms reaching out in front of his body, like he was going to pounce on his prey at any second. I had a very accurate feeling that I was that "prey" in this situation; not that it would take much to turn it around on him if he decided to take on the analogy, and pounce on me.

He took a step forward, springing forward on the balls of his feet, toward me. He put his arms out, fists open, ready to grab whatever he could. He would have knocked me off my feet, he had a good form and launch, but if experienced guards couldn't catch me in an alleyway the other day, then ultimately this inexperienced boy definitely couldn't even touch me, if I so wished him not to.

But I didn't do that. Instead, I let him think he was going to get me, but at the last second, grabbed his fists in mid-air and twisted out of the way simultaneously. Also, since I didn't want to look like I was overly experienced in doing this stuff, I made things look sloppy, like I wasn't sure, but sure at the same time, of my moves. Since I didn't want his face to get smashed in with the hard dirt ground, I twisted his wrists and pulled them towards me, while letting go a second later so I wouldn't fall with him. I did play-stumble a step forward, so it looked like I lost my balance some, but in reality, I could have done it without stumbling; especially since he was so small and didn't weigh that much, it was easier to manipulate his body the way I wanted it to go and fall in. It was all a show, my sloppiness with my actions.

He went flying a few feet away from the group of us, and rolled on his side. He bounced up a bit while rolling, and I'm sure there was going to be bruising later. His arms were in front of his face, protecting it from the harsh dust coming up and attacking his face. Well that was good, at least, for his face. Not so much for his sides, though.

All the while through Andrew's attack, the others around me were looking at me with their mouths agape and large eyes.

"Holy crap, Edward! Where did you learn that?! That was AWESOME!" Tyler practically shouted of my ear, even though he was four feet away from me. Since I stumbled forward a couple feet, he wasn't right next to me anymore, fortunately, there was quite a distance between me and his yelling gig. I think I might not have lost my hearing, after all.

"Dude," I said rubbing the ear that was closest to him, "Don't yell when I'm right next to you. I could have heard you just fine without it." I stopped rubbing my ear and looked at him, sending a glare his way.

"I'm sorry, Dude. But... Where did you learn how to do that? It was totally wicked," He apologized, looking at me with wide, awe-filled eyes.

"I learned that from my..." My what? I hadn't really got to thing about that part. "My bodyguards. They thought it would be a good idea to learn self-defense if ever I was in need to use it. And I guess they were right."

"Can you teach me how to do that?"

I shrugged, not giving a definite answer.

"Are you okay, Andrew?" I didn't really want to cause a lot of harm, so I went for the easy way out: dodging him. But even a simple move as easy as dodging someone, as not to get hurt yourself and them by association, can go wrong sometimes. Thankfully, Andrew sat up, shaking his head as if to clear it, and started the process of standing up. When he was on his feet, he dusted himself off, and stretched his spine. He winced a little when he started rubbing his side where he originally landed on.

He turned toward me, and said in a voice barely above a whisper, "I think I agree with Tyler here. That was totally wicked..." His eyes got really big and far away, glazed over if you will, and mouth slightly open. He looked like he was daydreaming.

I sighed. "I would apologize, but I did warn you not to try." I put my hand hand on his shoulder, with a loud pat. He stumbled a step forward, and that seamed to bring him out of his daydream.

"What?" He looked up at me, with a confused expression. "What did you say?"

"Nothing," I sighed, letting my hand slide off his shoulder and took a step backward, distancing ourselves.

At that very moment, Jasper came over and said, "What happened here? Is anyone hurt? Prince Andrew? Prince Edward?"

I looked at him, and shook my head slightly. "No. No one was hurt. Andrew was just being overly playful." It took me a second to realize that he had called me Prince Edward. And I didn't like it. Not one bit. "Please, Jasper. Call me Edward." He gave me one short nod in acknowledgement, letting me know he heard me. Jasper returned his attention back to Andrew, who was watching our interaction.

"Okay." Andrew continued, "I'm fine."

"Oh. And feel free to call me Andrew."

"Same," Tyler and Alex said, one after the other.

'This is going to be a long, long day.'

~End of Flashback~

*~~~...~~~*

"Seth, what am I going to do?" I groaned out, flopping down backwards on the bed I was to sleep on for the duration of my stay at the palace. Not to long after everybody started copying me, a staff member came out and showed us to each of our rooms. Shortly after the door closed, another swung open: Seth's cage one. He sprung out of the box like it was on fire. It was sort of amusing to watch, but it did nothing to better my mood.

I blew out a breath of frustration and annoyance.

Everyone here was frustrating and annoying.

Even more so those other princes. Especially Mike. He was always the most annoying and frustrating of them all. And I heard the rest of the princes were coming in tomorrow afternoon. I overheard the staff talking about it.

The staff was all right. They didn't get to much on my nerves.

It was like all those guys wanted to d after they saw me dodge Andrew was be like me. It was flattering and all, but got on my nerves still the same. I mean, why can't they be their own person? Why do they have to be like me? It was as annoying as heck.

As per usual, Seth didn't answer me. Just swung there, on his tail, without a care in the world. That must be nice. Not to have a care in the world. II really missed those days when I was young kid, without a care in the world. If I had known this was going to happen, I wouldn't have grown up, if I had a say in it. Just stayed as I was then; so young, so naive. Head full of imagination, endless possibilities; the sky was the limit, people would say.

I shook my head to clear my wistful imagination. Apparently I still had one. I shook my head and groaned. ;What have I gotten myself into?' I stood up and went over to the table near the middle of the room and poured myself a glass of water. Incredible. Even the water tasted expensive. Not that I would know what expensive water taste like. Well, I guess I knew now.

I sighed, walking back over to the bed and plopped down. I knew I was officially going crazy now. My mind was rambling and taking on a wistful tone. Was it possible to die of stress? I was starting to think yes, yes you could.

I went to the middle of the bed and sat with my legs folded, straight back, and let out a deep breath, trying to calm my nerves. Measuring each breath carefully; I did the same over and over, till I felt myself relax some; however just minimally so.

"Never carry too much stress, Edward. That gives cause to mistakes; and mistakes are never good in this line of business."

I felt my legs fly out from under my sitting form on the bed, rolling over and tumbling to the ground, landing on my back spread eagle.

I remember that voice. It's been a long time since I heard it, but I still remember him saying it to me as clear as day. It was Uncle Anthony.

I was panting from the suddenness of the memory. I wasn't expecting it at all.

It was the time after John and Noah went missing. I was passing a whole in the floor, crazy with stress. Then all of a sudden he said that and I nearly jumped out of my skin then. Seems it has the same affect after all these years. I could clearly see what he meant. I was too stressed to notice him walk up behind me. So the next day I came up with this position, to help alleviate the stress. And it helped, a lot.

A sudden knock on the door got to me to my feet in seconds and called the person. They walked through the door and smiled at me. It was the girl who met us all at the front doors. Angela, I think her name was.

I looked at her with an expectant look and she said made me want to do the pose all over again. "Princess Bella is ready to see you. It's your turn, Prince Edward."

"Edward," I corrected automatically. "Call me Edward."

She smiled at me and ushered me to follow her, so I did. Alibi very stressed.

A/N: Hope you don't hate me. I seem to keep putting off the interaction between the two. Always leaving it on a cliffy. I'll try not to next chapter, but can't make any promises! So... How was it? I'd love to hear what you think. Leave me flowers, please!

~Cynthia~