Title: Behind The Scenes

Pairing: Bella/Edward

Rating: T

Chapter Ten: Friends

[3/06/10]

Summary: Bella Swan is a young 17-year-old actress who's known for her lead roles in Indie movies. Edward Masen is a 21-year-old actor who's close to unemployed. They stumble upon the roles that would alter their acting career forever. [I suck at summaries. I can't believe I just said 'forever'.]

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight. I'm not Stephenie Meyer. And the "movie" that they'll be in, is not mine either. If it resembles anything (the movie), it's by chance and totally coincidental. Although, this story is dedicated to Robsten. You'd probably guess who Bella is, and who Edward is, and who Jacob is—and it's not Taylor Lautner, btw. But the rest of the characters are not as dedicated to the real-life people. Hehe.

Bella POV

"You are in deep, deep crap, Bella," Emmett said.

I just got in the house and he was standing behind the door, like he was waiting for me to come home. I responded, a smile on my face, "I don't know what you're talking about."

I walked passed him, the inerasable smile still plastered on my lips. I scurried up the first three steps before Emmett's firm grip held my shoulder.

"Bella," he hissed, careful not to wake Charlie. "You think I'm stupid? I saw what you and you're… friend… did there. I won't let Jacob know about this; I won't let anybody know about this, only because I care about you and your reputation. What the hell were you thinking?"

I looked down and ran my fingers through my hair—something I picked up from Edward. "I really don't know what you're talking about, Em. I want to go to sleep. It's two-thirty."

"I'm not stupid, Bella. I know about it. Hell, I saw it," he said, harshly whispering in the darkness.

"What exactly did you see, then?" I tempted.

He sighed and leaned a bit closer to me, still hyperaware that Charlie was upstairs sleeping. "I saw you have a make-out session, tongue-hockey with your co-star and, as you say, friend Edward Masen."

I froze. Okay, so he did see that. "I didn't play tongue-hockey with him," I quickly defended. "It was… chaste… aside from the part that I was sort of… you know… doing the taboo."

"I don't care about the details, Bella," he said, squinting at me bitterly. "I've grown to actually like Jacob Black, and I make sure every now and then that I'm actually saying Jake instead of Jack. And you just turn around and cheat on him with a guy that just came along? I never knew you'd be that kind of girl."

I hung my head low and shook my head. "I don't know what kind of girl I am, Emmett. I'm sorry that I didn't turn out the way you thought I'd be. But I know what I'm doing."

"What are you doing?" he said, still whispering. "Because I couldn't seem to comprehend what in the world you're up to."

I shrugged off his hand and went to the middle of the stairs, his silhouette still in view. "What happened out there… was one of the surest things I have ever done. I have never been that sure ever in my entire life, until tonight. Not until I had that moment with Edward Masen. If you really do care for me, then you'd just let me be."

"I couldn't do that," he hissed through his teeth. "You're not just hurting Jacob here, Bells. You're hurting Edward… for leading him on and you're going to have to end whatever it was that happened between you two soon enough—"

"And what if I don't want to?" I fired back. For a moment he was speechless. "You didn't think that far, did you? There's something about Edward… and I just couldn't tell you what it is, exactly. But there's just something about him that… that's worth it, okay? You wouldn't understand."

"Try me," he said, finally giving up, dropping his arms.

I shook my head. "No. Because I know you'll find a way to make me feel crappier than I already do. So, let me be, Emmett. I know what I'm doing," I said, sprinting to the top of the stairs.

I heard Emmett's heavy legs trudging up the stairs after me. "Bells—" he started but a low, groggy voice interrupted.

"You guys, I know you're a little more hyperactive than I am, but just this once, may you let me sleep properly?" Charlie said, his head sticking out the door.

"Sorry, Dad. Bella just got home and—" Emmett said but Charlie yet again interrupted.

"Huh? Bella just got home?" Okay, now he's awake. "Where've you been, Bells?"

As much as I love my Dad—he's a great dad—and as much I hate lying to him, and given that I'm a bad liar, I had to. "I fell asleep at… Edward"—Emmett shot me a glare—"Edward's sister's house. We were having a girl's night out and forgot all about my curfew. Sorry."

Charlie nodded and said, "Okay, then. It's fine. Just go to sleep, please? That means you, too, Emmett." Charlie went back into his room and locked the door.

I ran silently into my room while Emmett's attention was diverted.

I fell on my face, flat on the bed as I itched my shoes off, followed by socks. I didn't mind sleeping in my jeans and my battered red plaid. It didn't bother me at all. Besides, Edward's scent was all over it, so, of course I didn't mind.

I emptied my pockets, bringing my phone out and placing it on the table. My eyes were drooping already, but at the corner of my eye, catching a glimpse of my phone on the nightstand, Jacob's name flashes agitatedly.

Edward POV

"Good morning, Alice," I chirped as I leaped down the last two steps of the stairs. I called Alice earlier this morning to help me out with the packing for tomorrow.

"You're in an awfully good mood today," she observed. "I was expecting you to be sulky and, well, sort of hung over from last night. I heard you got home at three. What were you doing? Clubbing?"

I shook my head, smiling at her. "Nope. As a matter of fact, I am in an excellent mood today. And, knowing you, you're already done packing."

She nodded and said, "You know me well, brother."

I loved Alice very much but if she found out about Bella and I last night, she would snap and start haranguing me about responsibility and consideration to Bella and Jacob.

She went up the stairs and entered my room, not even caring that I was still downstairs. I followed after shortly and saw her already emptying my drawers and stuffing them on an open Samsonite on my bed.

"So what were you up to last night?" she asked, grabbing an armful of my plain grey, white and black T-Shirts. "Anything that made you this happy today?"

I shrugged and brought out my jeans and packed them into my bag. "I'd rather not tell you," I said. I loved intriguing Alice.

"Oh, c'mon. You choose to hide things from me now. I'm going to find out anyway. I swear, I won't tell anybody. And, in case you're still the insecure butt I grew up with, I wouldn't get mad ," she insisted, packing around ten pairs of socks. Where did I even get all those?

I tried to act normal about it, but as soon as I blurted, "I kissed Bella Swan last night," she started chucking my shoes at me.

"What the hell are you thinking? Do you know what you've done? Edward! I thought you were more responsible than that! How could you do that to her? How could you do that to her boyfriend? EDWAAAAARD!" she yelled, throwing my favorite Nikes to my head.

"Alice! Calm down! Stop throwing shoes at me, for Christ's sake!" I pleaded. She paused the swinging of her arms, a Salvatore Ferragamo leather shoe already on her hand.

"Well what were you thinking, then? Bella Swan isn't really the best person to kiss, is she? She has a boyfriend, Edward! You, of all people, should know that! You're a delirious psychopath to have kissed her, you idiot," Alice said, throwing the shoe at me. I ducked before it made contact with my head.

"Alice! Shut up for a second—and put down those shoes! I had them custom made by Marc Jacobs himself," I said, taking the shoe from her and putting it down safely on the ground - I'M NOT METRO. I hate it when people say so.

"Explain yourself, please," she demanded angrily, sitting on my bed.

"Alice," I said softly, letting a certain emotion lace through my tone. "I don't know what I'm feeling for her. I'm bordering insanity whenever I see her. You have no idea what I feel whenever she looks at me, or when she touches me just a little bit. It's like… I've come alive. Alice, don't take it away from me. Last night was the best intentional mistake I have ever made."

Alice sighed, saying, "Oh, Edward, you know I'm a sap for cheesy romantic stories." She smiled at me. "You love her?"

I threw my hands up in frustration. "I don't know, Al. I've known her for… what? A month, excluding the whole auditioning thing? It's too soon to tell. I don't know if the Tom Quicksilver role is ruling over me. And not to mention your insane method acting."

"Edward, Edward, Edward," she said, standing up and putting her hands on her waist. "Admit it, my naïve older brother. The stray dog fell in love with the poodle in the limo speeding away. You're just running, like the weirdo that you are, even if you know you wouldn't catch up with that limo. It's sad."

"Stop bringing me down, Al," I said. "What if the stray dog was actually a police dog a few years back and hasn't lost its flare? He still has a fighting chance with that poodle in the limo."

"I suppose," Alice added with a shrug. "Only thing is… Pretty poodle as a handsome little beagle inside. Can you compete with that?"

"I'm glad you guys came," Emily said, rushing into The Company's office, a laptop in her hands.

Just as usual, Bella comes in with her. She looked at me and smiled, but looked down soon enough. What happened?

"I already got the list of apartments here. Take a look at it and, you know, pick one. There's one apartment building that has two free ones. So, two of you would stay in the same compound. You can just type your name next to the apartment and we'll rent it out for you. And as for Alice, Rosalie and Emmett, I don't suppose to would mind staying in a hotel, do you?"

Alice, Rosalie and Emmett shook their heads. Emmett glowered at Bella. Seriously, what happened?

Emily left the room, leaving the laptop behind. I kneeled down next to the table and scrolled through the apartments. Some were too big, some were way too small, others were too submerged in the ghetto areas, kids running around in the middle of the night, armed.

I chose the most decent one. The one closest to set and, funny, the most expensive. I'll just cover the excess expenses.

Bella knelt down next to me and scrolled through the apartments. The rest didn't bother waiting in line; Bella sat there twice as longer as I had, and she hadn't even picked one out yet.

"So…" Bella said, looking at me quickly. "What happened last night… was... something else. I don't know how to tell you how… how… different that was for me." I knew that she was trying to make it conversational but even I knew it was much more than what she had just mentioned.

I smiled gratefully and looked at her, smiling broadly at me. But then her smile inverted, forming a lopsided frown.

"But the thing is… no matter how different that was… I have a boyfriend," she said, the sadness and… somewhat pain evident in her face, crumpling as the time passed. She looked down and continued, "Just think that it never happened."

I couldn't say anything. What was she asking from me? All my prayers were answered last night and she expected me to imagine that it never happened? Well, duh. She's want me to think of it as something that had never occurred because she didn't want a clouded conscience especially when it comes to her biker boyfriend—the beagle in the limo.

"That never happened and I don't want to get weird between us during filming and everything," she said slowly, blinking rapidly. She was going on her fifth round with the options. She just kept on scrolling down until she went back up and started over again. "And I was thinking I'd go to your apartment—in Brentwood—sometime to rehearse some more. Our relationship would be nothing but professional. If anything,. it'll be... friendly. Because that's what we are. We're friends."

I just kept blinking, following the arrow on the monitor as it hovered over the choices she had in front of her. She finally clicked one and typed her name at the bottom, adding a quick note for Emily: I call first dibs on this one. –Bella.

"I'll see you around, Edward," she said, standing up and walking out of the office.

That was the worst thing I could ever take right now, and I take it… in front of a laptop? I was waiting for the dramatic, cinematic scene in the rain, but I didn't get what I was expecting.

What's up with that? She was unusually antsy and not to mention downright odd. It's like she wanted to get things over with. Then it suddenly dawned on me… Does anybody here know about what happened last night, except for Alice? Bella might've told Emmett. Alice must've told Jasper and Jasper must've told Rosalie. And Rosalie must've passed it on to Irina and Irina to Tanya and—Okay, shut up. Only Alice knows.

I looked at the laptop and searched for the one she chose. I sighed and slapped my forehead, squeezing my eyes shut, upon seeing the one she had picked. Ironically, she chose the one that was on the same building as mine was. Perfect. This would be a long six months.

Bella POV

Pre-Production: Brentwood, Two Weeks Later

I already told Emmett that Edward and I were over.

Edward and I were passed being awkward. We—at least I have, for Jacob's sake, who has no idea about any of this—decided to have just let that incident outside my house to pass. I let it pass, just like that, even if I was willing to hold on to it. I was willing to actually be in an—never mind. I won't go that way.

The real reason why I had to let it go—much to my dislike—was because of that voicemail that Jacob left me at two-thirty in the morning two weeks ago. I can still remember his words, his sleepy, half-sad, half-sleep words.

"Bella, where have you been? Bells, I've been trying to call you. You weren't answering your phone. That one time you replied, it wasn't even you. Edward Masen did it for you"—of course, I knew that. I even asked him to do it—"saying that you were just getting something from the kitchen. What the hell? Is there anything going on that I should know about? Bella, you don't have to keep anything from me. I thought I could catch you awake right now… it was just a quick guess since I think you don't sleep. Well, call me when you get this."

I did call him and I had to make a double take whether he was drunk or not. "Bella, I was worried sick. Where've you been all night?"

"Jake, calm down. Edward and I were just at his place bumming around. We watched Back To The Future."

"Well did you have fun?"

"Yeah, I did. It was… enjoyable. The movie was hysterical. And he ended up bringing me home so that meant that I got home safe. I'm completely fine, Jake. Don't worry about me."

"Bella, I'm more worried about you and Edward… I don't like it. You're… too close to him. I couldn't help but jump into conclusions. It's understandable that you guys hit it off as soon as you met, but, be honest with me, at least."

"I'm being genuinely honest"—not really—"There's nothing going on with Edward and I"—not really—"I won't cheat on you. Ever"—too late—"Trust me"—you shouldn't.

"Okay, Bella. I do trust you," he said, whispering. "I have to go. The team is calling for me. You know… practice. 'Love you, Bells."

"'Love you, too."

God, I'm a terrible person. In that phone call, everything I said was almost a lie. Aside from the part that I loved him, because I really, truly loved Jacob. I just wasn't sure how I loved him. He's my first love, my first relationship, even. He's bound to stay long.

But Jacob couldn't come along to Brentwood. His career was in LA; his calling was there. I don't see why he couldn't just ditch the whole thing, like how Emmett, Rosalie and Alice had. I didn't expect Jacob to do that, though. He's intense with his career.

So now there I was, looking like an idiot outside Edward Masen's apartment door, weighing the pros and cons on whether I should ring the doorbell or not. I had the weirdest sense of déjà vu but I ignored it.

Edward and I lived in the same building and we always meet at the Brentwood headquarters whenever we could. We already set aside all that happened in LA and we needed to start over in Brentwood. It wasn't verbally exchanged, though; we just didn't talk about it. So, I guess that counts as our neutrality toward the matter.

I wanted to bring it up, though. I wanted to offer him the proposition that I wanted him to accept—no, I still won't go there.

Jacob came here a few days ago to visit me and he was actually warm towards Edward. I expected Jacob to be cold and cruel to him after suspecting that he and I had a thing back in LA—which we technically had for a few heated seconds. They get along and I'm pretty sure the cast adores Jacob.

Jacob left the day after; duty calls. Edward eased up a bit. I couldn't help but wonder if the tension with Edward was caused by Jake's presence. That's when I started pondering if he actually let it go or not. But he doesn't bring it up either, so I dismissed the conspiracy easily.

Jasper and Alice is officially a couple. They hung out at the HQ all the time, always together. The media wasn't in on it yet, and they don't have the slightest idea that he and she are even acquainted. All the stupid gossip, comical actually, was centered on Edward and I, which we graciously denied.

Emmett and Rosalie is, too, a couple. They told us a few days ago, coming to HQ hand in hand. I couldn't help but feel a weird tinge of envy as they came in that way.

It's not that I don't have a person to hold hands with; it's just that he wasn't there to actually do so. Edward looked even worse than I did when they told us that they were head-over-heels. He had nobody to console to when he needed help, that is if you don't count me occasionally. But I always treated it like it wasn't a big deal, so he didn't expect any stable advice from me.

It's nice to know that the person that I was—and still am—utterly infatuated with still trusts me after a passionate episode a couple of weeks ago.

Emily started getting more stressed as the days passed. We had one and half more months of pre-production before filming starts. She was starting to freak out when a few of our extras didn't fly over the Brentwood yesterday from LA but it was covered now. She's still hassled regardless.

I finally rung on Edward's doorbell and he answered it on the second chime. He smiled at me and stepped aside to let me in.

"Hey," he greeted, sitting on the lumpy couch. "Go ahead. Have a seat."

I did. I sat on the armchair next to the couch and took the already-much-abused script from under my arm. I placed it in front of me and started flipping through it.

"Okay so last time I remember, we were around the fifties, right?" I said. I couldn't make the shaking of my voice escape my tone. The butterflies in my stomach were already bubbling slowly to my lips.

He nodded, saying, "Yep." He didn't even bother bringing out his script. He just looked around, then back at me, and started looking around his apartment again.

"Okay, here's a good one, between Samantha Johns and her brother, Kirk: You're an as—" He cut me off.

"Bella," he said, rushed. "Tell me that you think about that night often. Tell me that you still remember."

I knew it. I knew that he would snap eventually. Coz if he didn't right then and there, I would have.

I put the script down and raked my fingers through my hair—again, his fetish.

"Yeah, I think about it. Sure. But… I let it go," I said nonchalantly.

I was saying it like it wasn't a big deal. But it actually was. I think about it a lot. I think about it whenever we talk to the guys—the only reason why I'm not as responsive. I think about it before I sleep, when I'm wondering what I'd do the next day. I think about it when I'm on the phone with Jacob, contemplating if I should tell him or not. If my mind had a list of the 25 most thought about stuff, 'Late Night Kiss with Edward' would rank first. I think about it when I see a chick-flick, imagining Edward's arm draped around my shoulder. I think about it when I'm with Jacob, sometimes hoping it was somebody else's company. I think about it when I eat, imagining Edward there with me. I think about it when—okay. So I think about it a lot.

I wanted to tell him that I was determined and, truth be told, ready to do this with him, to get into something that nobody would ever know about except for ourselves, and especially not Jacob. I knew that I didn't give a damn about what happened to everything else as long as I had him. The tension's just going to get pent up from then. An affair—THERE. I SAID IT—was something I was willing to have with Edward. But I couldn't, because I realized that Jacob cared for me and I couldn't just do that to him since I "slipped" and fell for a co-star.

Edward blinked a few times before letting his lips slip into a pout. "Okay, forget it," he said, clearly disappointed, finally bringing out his script.

I shook my head, thinking to myself how stupid I know I am for thinking that we'd move on from that kiss. It's close to impossible.

But I couldn't tell him that. Right now, we were friends. Friends that didn't share what I would like to call the most amazing kiss I had in a long time.

Friends... and nothing more.

3,826 words. Wee! That was supposed to be the fill-in chapter. I was sort of in a hurry.

I'd only mention stuff BEHIND THE SCENES, not the filming itself. Well, duh. It's what the story is called. I didn't expect myself to write about what happens in the so-called "movie".

So I'll just mention things in between takes… Stuff like that. I've been thinking about writing a sequel. I'm still thinking about it. LOL.

Hopefully I'm done with the whole story before Eclipse shows, which I think would actually happen.

Oh, yeah, before I forget, MOST EPIC CHAPTER NUMBER TWO is coming real soon. But epic chapter number two is a bit confusing; it changes from Edward to Bella and back again. It's in constant flux. But it is coming soon. Just don't know when.

REVIEW!

~ Age of Detour