A/N: Chapter ten! WHOA. Here goes

EPOV

Another day at school, another day where Bella didn't speak to me, though it looked like she wanted to. Carlisle said he'd spoken to her and I told him that he shouldn't have, to let her ignore me in peace, but he said that his intentions were good and that she took them on board much more than gracefully.

Alice and Emmett were due to arrive tomorrow, so today my mother had me setting up the guest rooms on the second level of our house. When I'd questioned her on the fact that we were only setting up two rooms for the four of them, she'd just said, "Edward, they're as old as you are. They should be mature enough to spend the time with their partners without… You know" and then she'd smiled and continued fluffing the pillows.

After we finished the rooms, I'd retreated to mine. I sat down at my piano and mournfully stroked the keys. I hadn't played in days and I knew that if I started now I would continue to write that wretched song that would never grace the ears it was meant for. I shook my head, frustrated and slammed the lid back over it, running my hands through my hair to rid some of my built up anger. I pushed myself away from the piano and threw myself on to my bed, picking up the first book that touched my hand between them.

I laid there reading Maximum Ride; Max and marvelled at how James Patterson could turn a supernatural freak into a being capable of love. I also noticed how Fang and Max had been friends for so long before they became lovers, and that he left her eventually. Of course he did, love could never last if one was a beauty and the other was the beast. That thought led me to a dark part of myself, where I wanted to see the contrast between Bella and me so tangibly, that it would rip my heart apart and create a bigger rift in our distinction. I shut the book fiercely and ran downstairs to the lounge room.

"Edward dear, is that you?" Esme called and I called back a yes in response.

I sat down in front of the television and flicked through the movie selection we had. My selections currently were Beauty and the Beast and the one that hit most close to home; Pay it forward. Not that Bella was a prostitute or anything, but more the fact that he was burned so much and he thought she wanted to be with him, and then it all turned to crap. I switched off the movie before they could get reunited because I didn't want to see the happy burn victim and his beautiful partner. I sat through the movies in my reverie, analysing the way the beast moved around the beauty, noticing how she was afraid of him, and of course the fact that the beauties name was Bell didn't skip my notice either. I shut off the television once the movies were done and I sat in the lounge room for a long time, hating who I was, hating how I looked and more importantly, hating how much I wished Bella didn't think the same. I decided to remove myself from the hateful atmosphere when I felt tears dripping down my cheeks. Disgusted with my emotions, I went outside and walked as far as I could until I reached the stream that sat just a small way from the house.

It seemed like forever that I sat there; pondering life and the reasons I continued to participate in it. I found it exceedingly difficult to pinpoint anything other than my family and Bella that was keeping me alive. I've known for ten years that I would be alone, but I never thought at all that I would be lonely. I'd never needed anyone, I'd been find existing with my family, I'd never seen anyone in particular that would make me change that, until I'd met Bella. I was beginning to fall in love with everything about her. The way her eyes lit up when she smiled, the way she bit her lip and the way she studied me when I was quiet. She was the epitome of beauty and perfection and I wished so fervently that I was able to tell her that myself. I would never get the chance though, she would never speak to me again, and I would be lonely, as always.

The sound of a stick snapping behind me pulled me out of my self-pity bubble.

"Edward, are you okay son?" I heard my father's voice ask as it came closer.

"Yeah" I said and tensed when I heard that I sounded sad, broken.

"With this Bella thing… she's going to talk to you" he said and I looked at him and all at once, his expression softened even further.

"How would you know?" I whispered desperately and he smiled at me.

"Because she told me she would, that she wanted to" he responded and I felt a glimmer of hope beat in time with my heavy heart.

"When?" I asked.

"Three days ago at her appointment" he answered without skipping a beat. I nodded, feeling less sad, but also scared that she had lied to keep him happy. "You need to trust her son, she's a wonderful girl, and she cherishes you so much. Funnily enough she thinks you hate her!" he quietly chuckled and I stood up, staring at him, dumbfounded.

"What?" I begged of him and he nodded. I raced past him, into the house only to find a pile of luggage at the front door.

"Surprise!" I heard behind me and I flinched as I recognised the voice. I turned slowly, composing my face into a smile.

"Emmett" I said and extended my hand towards my giant, bear-like cousin. He laughed boisterously and threw his arms around me. I gingerly lifted a hand and patter him on the back.

"Good to see you Edward! This is Rosalie, my lady" he smiled and gestured to the pretty blonde who stood beside him. She smiled gently at me and held out her hand as an offering and I smiled at her, a small, grateful smile. I took her hand and shook it.

"It is lovely to meet you" I said and she nodded. That was when I heard the squealing.

"Edward!" my infinitely smaller cousin, Alice screamed and ran down the stairs and jumped at me. Alice and I had always been the closest out of the cousins, because Emmett had always had other friends when we hadn't. She flung her arms around me and I gently hugged her back. "I've missed you so much" she said in a small voice.

"I've missed you too" I spoke back and she unwound herself from me.

"This is Jasper" she said proudly, pointing at the tall, sandy-blonde male who I hadn't noticed slowly descend the stairs after her. Jasper shocked me. He held out a scarred hand, his sleeve rolling up revealing a scarred arm. I stared at him in shock and he just smiled.

"Alice said we had some stuff in common. I didn't think she's mean this" he smiled regretfully and I was overcome with gratefulness at the fact that I wasn't the only one who was disfigured, but I was still the only one who was alone. I shook Jaspers hand and smiled at him, not a happy smile, but an empathetic smile.

I looked over at Alice and she was on her phone, talking excitedly. She removed the phone from her ear and called out to my mother.

"Aunty Esme, would it be okay if a friend of mine came over? I haven't seen her in so long and we miss each other so much" she tacked on the grovelling and my mother's happy voice resounded from the kitchen.

"Of course! I was about to get started on dinner. She can stay for that if she'd like," she offered and Alice squealed again, talking quickly into the phone, telling the stranger the directions to my house.

"You have friends here?" I asked, once she hung up.

"Just one" she smiled and then picked up the rest of her things and went upstairs.

Twenty minutes later the doorbell sounded and Esme asked me to answer it. I made my way over to the door and swung it open. I froze where I stood and stared, face shocked as I stared at our guest. She looked so incredibly beautiful and wonderful, and her face looked at me in the exact same way.

"Bella!" I heard Alice squeal from behind me.

A/N: What did you think!