Penname: kyla713
Creative Original or Derivative Fiction: Derivative

Rating/Warning(s): M

Disclaimer: All copyrighted, trademarked items, or recognizable characters, plots, etc. mentioned herein belong to their respective owners. No copying or reproduction of this work is permitted without their express written authorization.

Prompt: Word Prompts: Mask, cask, task

Bella stared at her phone on the coffee table in front of her, waiting for it to ring while her heart still pounded erratically in her chest. She wanted Edward more than any other man in her entire life, and because of their cowardice, she was charged with the task of letting him go.

Once again, Kate had been right—a part of Bella did hate her, as irrational as it may have seemed at the time. She was using Edward for her own gain, no matter how anyone tried to make it appear otherwise, and it was killing Bella to sit back and watch. But it wasn't her job to save him from himself; only he could do that.

Her phone began to vibrate, doing its little dance on the table top and she leaned forward to see Edward's name clearly displayed on the screen. She drew in a deep breath as she took it into her hand and answered, "Hello?"

"Hi," Edward's soft voice came through and Bella actually felt tears burning unbiddenly in her eyes. They were both silent for several agonizing moments, until he let out a sigh. "Listen, Bella, I know you probably think I'm an idiot now…"

"Yes, I do," Bella interrupted bluntly, leaning back into her couch with a huff. "I'm failing to see the equality in all this. She gets everything—her girlfriend, her inheritance, her chance for a baby, and the time to prepare herself for telling her family. What do you get? Two years of wearing the mask of a happily married man, alone. And what about afterward? She claims she doesn't want to embarrass you, but eventually, the truth about her and Irina is going to come out, and you'll become one of those men whose wives left them for another woman. You'll look like a fool, Edward. And for a lie!"

"I know. I've considered all that as well. It just didn't seem like that much of a sacrifice before now," Edward replied in a low tone.

"Why did you have to wait? If what Kate said was true and you really…feel that way for me, what the hell took you so long?" Bella asked, her curiosity flowing to the surface.

"It was the biggest mistake I've made in my entire life, and it's not something I can take back or make right. I'm sorry."

"Stop with the apologies and start with the explaining, Edward. I deserve that much, don't I?" Bella snapped, driving her free hand into her hair in frustration.

"Yes, you do. I'm just not sure that any explanation is going to be adequate," Edward replied, his voice lowering even more.

"Well, you've got the opportunity, so try me," Bella said as she closed her eyes.

Edward nervously cleared his throat and exhaled a slow breath before he began. "You would have been worth losing my job over, if that was what it came down to. But I couldn't even get up the balls enough to approach you. Not on a personal level."

"But you did. When it could hurt me the most, you did," Bella interrupted, shifting on the couch to lay her head down on the throw pillow there.

"I honestly didn't think I would have a snowball's chance in hell of you feeling anything for me. You're beautiful, intelligent, could have your choice of any man you wanted. Why would I even be a blip on your radar?" Edward replied and Bella felt a tear escape the corner of her eye, falling to the pillow beneath her. "And then you reacted that way when the engagement was announced, and it confused the hell out of me. And Kate…"

"Told you to talk to me. Even though it was obvious that the idea of you getting married bothered me," Bella cut him off again, her anger bubbling up inside her. "I really will never understand either of you. What the hell were you hoping to accomplish with all this? What, did the idea of two years of impending loneliness get to you, so you finally decided to take a shot with me?"

Edward sighed and was silent for a moment before beginning to speak again, his voice more firm than before. "I really don't know what I was hoping to accomplish, because I never factored this into the equation. I imagined everything from you letting me down easy to flat out laughing at the ridiculousness of it all. But not this."

Bella draped her arm across her forehead and gazed up at the ceiling, listening as Edward's voice lost some of its ferocity at the end of his statement and dropped to just above a whisper. She swallowed hard and mentally cursed the situation they were in, her chest aching with the thought. "Well, I don't know what I'm supposed to do now. I won't be a secret girlfriend on the side, and while even two years might be worth the wait for me, I want more than that. I need more than sitting on the sidelines, waiting for something that might never happen. No matter what you say now, anything could change in the matter of months, let alone a couple of years. I can't know that you'd still want me by then."

"I wouldn't change, Bella. But as I said before, you shouldn't have to pay the consequences for my decisions. I would never ask you to wait for me," Edward replied with a heavy exhale.

"But I already am paying the consequences, whether I should or not. Whatever the circumstances, she's getting everything I want, because I never had the courage to say anything before. I never thought I had a chance. She'll get to touch you when I can't, be with you when I can't, and none of it is real. And knowing that is more excruciating than it ever could have been before I knew the truth. Why you? Of all the men out there she could possibly choose from, why does it absolutely have to be you?" Bella replied softly, attempting to disguise her sob behind a deep breath and curling her knees to her chest as she rolled onto her side. "What choice does that leave either of us, Edward? Live like we're doing something wrong, or let each other go? I know she's your friend, and I'm sorry, but this is completely selfish of her. She's gaining everything, and sacrificing next to nothing. Aside from what she says would be gone anyway once she came out to her family. Is that worth everything you'd lose? Is it more important than me?"

"Bella—"

"Actually, don't answer that. I'm not sure I'd want to know either way," she halted his response, slowly swaying her head back and forth, if only for herself. She exhaled a short breath of a laugh, though the tears were still clear behind it. "It's kinda weird, huh? Breaking up before we've even had the chance to really be together?"

"Yeah, it is," Edward replied in a strained voice.

Bella swallowed back another sob and exhaled slowly before she could respond. "I guess I'll see you at work, then."

"See you at work," he answered as calmly as he could muster.

"And Edward?" Bella said before he could disconnect and he hummed in reply. "I love you."

And then she ended the call herself.