First of all, I was pleasantly surprised by how much positive feedback I received on the last chapter. I was truly amazed by all the great things all you awesome reviewers had it say. Thanks soo much! You are all fabulous lol. And I know I have been slow at updating the last few chapters so I worked extra hard on this one to get it to you guys as fast as possible. Not too much has happened in the last two chapters and I apologize for that but they were needed for character and plot development. From this chapter on, the story will be picking up much more. There are just a couple of things I want to point out before you start reading in case I havent mentioned them before. I made Edward, Bella, Alice, Jasper, Emmett, Rosalie, and Jacob all the same age. So they are all seventeen in their senior year of high school. Also, Jacob and his friends go to the same high school as everyone else, Forks High School, rather than the one in La Push. Anyway, enough rambling and on with the story. I hope you enjoy and please enjoy! I love hearing from you!

Chapter 10: Define Happy

"Edward! Come on already! We are going to be late for school!" Alice shouted from downstairs to Edward who was still sleeping in his bed.

Edward groaned into his pillows, sandwiching his head between two of them. "Ugh, shut up, Alice," he grumbled just loud enough for her to hear. Since school started a week ago, three weeks since the accident, it has been the virtual torture for Edward.

"Fine!" she retorted back. "Mom!" she yelled to Esme. "I am leaving whether or not Edward's ready to go. If we are late again we are going to get detention and I have plans after school that I don't intend on breaking just because Edward is being difficult."

Esme sighed, gently massaging her temples with her fingertips. She was tired of the daily yelling that went on in the morning. She went up to Edward's room and knocked on the door before letting herself in.

"Go away," Edward murmured, assuming it was Alice.

"Out of bed, Edward. Now, please" Esme told him sharply.

He sighed, rolling his eyes, but nonetheless complied. His mother stood in the doorway, her arms crossed and an annoyed expression on her face, waiting as Edward dragged himself out of bed.

Esme talked to Edward as he quickly made his bed and took out a pair of beige pants and a white tee shirt. "Now I know that school has been less than pleasant for you but I can not just let you stay home, Edward. And Alice has been more than cooperative when it comes to taking you to the hospital, to school, and wherever else you need to go so give her a little break and stop giving her a hard time."

Edward just stared blankly at his mother once she had finished talking, not saying a word to her. After a few seconds he told her, "I am going to go take a shower," and he walked away and into the bathroom, slamming the door behind him.

Edward had been trying not to be so hard on his parents and to understand that they were just helping the best way they knew how. But all his efforts seemed pointless now that recent events at school had made him only even bitterer. Edward was just plain tired of all the rumors and stories that had spread about his involvement. Typically, Edward was not one to care about the opinions of others and what people thought of him. But it is hard to ignore what everyone thinks of you when they think you intentionally tried to kill your best friend.

Some people believed that Bella and Jacob were secretly dating and that Edward had found out, got mad, and purposely rammed his car into the car in the attempts of killing both of them. Other circulating stories said that Bella and Edward were romantically involved and that Bella was cheating on him with Jacob; thus, Edward sought revenge against Bella. But no matter what the rumor was, Edward was always described as jealous with a clear goal of killing Bella.

Of course, there was talk of the truth; that the entire accident was simply that, an accident, that Bella was dating neither Edward nor Jacob. But as usual, no one believed the truth because it wasn't as interesting or as fascinating as the lies. And the lies were getting to Edward. The thought of such things was beyond unfathomable to Edward for the idea only made him sick to his stomach. How could anyone even consider that I would try to take Bella's life on purpose? I would die for her! It was an accident for god's sake! An accident! Why can't they believe that? I love her. Edward thought to himself as he quickly rushed through his shower.

He wasted no time throwing on his clothes and grabbing his books to put in his backpack before flying down that stairs as so to avoid more of Alice's yelling.

"Edward, if you aren't down here in --," Alice started to scream but stopped short when he appeared next to her.

"I am right here, Alice," Edward said to her in a flat monotone voice.

She rolled her eyes. "About time," she mumbled. "Did you even bother to brush your hair today?" she asked him, narrowing her eyes analytically. Edward ran his fingers through his hair, obviously not caring, and was cut off by Alice before he could even respond. "You know what, it doesn't even matter," she told him, waving her hands in the air. "Let's go before we are late. Again."

With that, Alice grabbed her keys and headed out the door towards her car. Edward reluctantly followed and they both put their backpacks in the trunk before heading out on their way.

As they drove to school and the tension between them lifted ever so slightly, Alice asked, "How are you feeling, Edward?"

Physically, Edward was feeling much better. He had gotten the stitched removed from his arm and the cut was nothing more than a red mark now. His ankle didn't bother him as long as he didn't over work it and the bruising from his broken ribs could still be seen on his side but no longer felt sore.

But emotionally, Edward was worse than ever and his family and friends knew it, for the drastic change in his personality. He became distant, secluded, constantly feeling lonesome, like his there was no longer a reason for living. The witty, sarcastic, and fun-loving side of him had been lost. Guilt was eating at him more and more with each passing day with Bella's unchanging condition. And to top it all off, he couldn't walk through the halls of his high school without at least one person giving him dirty looks or making comments in reference to the rampant rumors.

"Hey, Edward, you hear me?" Alice asked again when Edward didn't respond.

"How do you want me to feel, Alice?" he snapped. "Honestly, what do you expect me to tell you day after day? Nothing has changed. Why should I feel any different?"

Alice didn't answer him. She just stared straight ahead at the road, her jaw tightly clenched.

Edward let out a deep breath. "Sorry, sorry," he said to her but there was no hint of apology in his voice.

"Whatever," she harshly as she parked the car in the school's parking lot. She quickly turned off the engine and got out of the car, slamming the door hard, to retrieve her backpack. "See you at lunch," she told Edward in an emotionless tone.

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The morning dragged on ridiculously long for Edward. All the classes he had signed up to take did not hold in interest. Instead, he found them mundane and relatively pointless. And worse of all, he was all alone in his classes. None of his friends, if he deserved to call him "friends" anymore, were in his classes but Edward knew this was to be true at the end of junior year. Then, he didn't care so much if Alice, Jasper, Emmett, and Rosalie were going to be in his classes or not because he and Bella had signed up for the same ones together. They had planned to take all the same senior year classes ever since freshman year. But now, everything was different. Now, the seat to the right of Edward was always empty.

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"Hey, Edward, maybe you should take a break from the hospital today and you know,

hang out with us for change," Emmett said to Edward as he next to from in the cafeteria.

Edward shrugged, briefing looking up at Emmett. "I don't think so, maybe some other time."

"Aw, come on, Edward, you never hang out with us anymore," Emmett pushed.

"I wonder why," he mumbled under his breath, rolling his eyes.

Edward's comment ended that conversation. For the duration of the lunch, Edward isolated himself from any other forms of conversation. Loneliness was really taking its toll on him. Jasper sat across from Alice, Emmett sat across from Rosalie, and Edward sat across from no one. It was like everyone had their "someone" but Edward. Edward's "someone" was still comatose in the hospital. Whenever everyone else at the lunch table got caught up in their relationship business, Bella and Edward had each other's company. Even though he and Bella were just friends, it didn't matter. The closeness between the two of them was nearly parallel to a real relationship.

Edward felt the sadness accumulating in his throat again at the thought of Bella and just how much he missed her. It felt like everyday he was finding another reason to miss her more and more.

"Edward, are you okay?" Jasper asked with concern in his eyes. Obviously Edward was not going as good of a job as he thought at hiding his emotions, for his heartbreak was evident on his face.

Before responding, Edward took a deep breath and trying to swallow the tightness in his throat. Still not feeling strong enough to speak without falling apart, he just simply nodded.

Fortunately for Edward, the bell rang to cue the end of lunch and the start of afternoon classes. Before he left off for next class, Edward pulled Alice aside.

"You don't have to drive me to the hospital today," he whispered to her, still not wanting to risk the chance of his voice breaking if he was to speak any louder.

Alice looked at him curiously, her head cocked slightly to the side. "You aren't going today?"

He answered slowly to control his voice. "No, I am going. I think I would just prefer to walk today. I just want some time alone before ago."

Alice opened her mouth to object, that she wouldn't mind taking Edward and the he shouldn't put too much strain on his ankle, but she knew none of that would persuade him from doing otherwise. Now especially, in light of the recent events, Edward was as stubborn as ever. "Okay," she told him. "If you change your mind . . ."

"I won't," Edward cut her off before she could finish her sentence.

Alice sighed. "Alright, well I'll see you at home then."

"Yeah, bye." And they parted ways to go to their classes.

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It didn't take Edward all too long to walk to the hospital from the school. His ankle barely even bothered him. But even for the short time, Edward enjoyed the quietness and stillness of the air. There was no one asking him how he was feeling or if he wanted anyone to talk to nor was there anyone spreading rumors behind his back.

Upon entering the hospital, Edward felt a sudden rush of serenity just knowing that he was moments away from seeing Bella. Even though her condition hadn't changed, Edward found comfort simply by being near her.

He hurried up his pace through the hallway to reach Bella that much quicker for he was anxious to see her now. But when he went to walk into her room, he stopped in the doorway after seeing that she was not by herself. There was already someone sitting in the chair beside her bed. Jacob Black.

Although Edward didn't announce his presence, Jacob did not fail to notice him.

"Well, look who decided to drop by. The criminal visiting his defenseless victim? Don't you think that's a little sick, Cullen? Pathetic even?" Jacob shook his head as he spoke to Edward.

Edward took a few more steps so that he was now in the room rather than just in the door.

"What are you doing here, Jacob?" Edward asked him coldly, ignoring all of the other comments he had just made.

Jacob scoffed. "I should be asking you the same question. I am here because a good friend of mine is in a coma. That's why," he told him sharply. "What is your excuse? Plotting some other way to kill her since your car didn't finish the job?"

Edward glared at him with narrowed eyes, fuming with anger. He struggled to control his anger as he spoke. "You know that's not how it happened and we aren't having this conversation."

Jacob let out an annoyed burst of laughter but then his expression turned deadly serious. "Why not, Cullen? It's not as though our arguing is going to wake her up," he said as he got up from the chair and walked closer to Edward, getting very much in his face. "But I am sure you know all about that. Bella being in a coma, I mean, considering it's all your fault and all."

Edward clenched his jaw tightly to hold back the rage building up inside him. He didn't want to cause a scene in the hospital and especially not in front of Bella, coma or no coma. "Shut up, or . . ."

Jacob didn't even let him finish his sentence. "Or what?" he shouted at him. "You will try to run me over again? Is it not enough that Bella is half dead because of you?"

That was the last straw for Edward. He had no idea how he was able to move so fast but before he knew it, Edward had dragged Jacob into hallway and had him held up against the wall, pulling at his collar.

"Stop acting like you are the only one who cares about her!" Edward lashed out at Jacob, still tugging tightly on his collar. "You spent one summer with her and you think you know what's best for her. You don't know what she needs or how to make her happy."

Jacob didn't say a word but rather just waited for Edward to let go of him. With a shove, Edward released his grip on Jacob. After a moment, Jacob finally spoke. "And you do? You think you know how to make her happy? Last time I saw Bella, she had just seen you and was hysterical crying. Whatever you said to her got her pretty upset. From what I saw, you didn't make her happy."

Edward winced at the memory for it had been the last time he saw Bella before the accident. "I didn't say anything to her, not anything that was meant to hurt her intentionally," defending himself.

"Well it was probably something you didn't say then," Jacob told him.

Edward couldn't deny that one because Jacob was right. It was because Edward was too afraid to tell Bella how deeply he cared about her.

Before Jacob continued, the edges of his lips turned up into a smug smirk. "Although I do have to thank you for that."

Edward looked at him with a confused look on his face. "Thank me for what?"

"For getting Bella all upset," Jacob explained. "If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have had the chance to, well, comfort her." His smug smile widened.

Edward could feel he wasn't going to like where this was going. Part of him wanted to walk away so he wouldn't have to hear what Jacob had to say but he couldn't find the strength to do so because Bella was involved. For her sake, he waited and listened.

Jacob didn't wait for a response from Edward, whose expression was hard and cold. "She was crying, over you of course, and was rambling on about how you didn't have the guts to tell her that you loved her. So I felt obligated to loosen her up a bit, make her forget why she was upset in the first place." Jacob was smiling even more at himself as he spoke. "To spare you all the details, I will keep it short. Let's just say that I know firsthand how much of an amazing kisser Bella is."

Edward felt the disbelief and shock fall upon his face. He felt as though he had been kicked in the stomach.

Jacob laughed at Edward's pained expression and couldn't resist adding insult to injury. "And yeah, she did kiss me back," he told Edward.

Just when Edward thought his heart couldn't be broken any further, he was proven wrong. He knew he had hurt Bella that day, hurt her so much, in more ways than one and he has been living with the regret of it ever since. But for her to feel compelled to seek such comfort in Jacob's arms, he couldn't believe. Yet, Edward could see clearly though Jacob's eyes that he was telling the truth; no hint of lying could be seen.

Jacob had kissed Bella. Bella had kissed Jacob. Edward just couldn't fathom the possibility. Jacob had gotten to experience the one thing Edward so desperately wanted for himself, and may now ever get the chance to. Suddenly, Edward no longer saw Jacob as just annoying and pompous, but as competition. If Jacob was going to be the one thing that stood in his way, then Edward was more than willing to fight for Bella. Starting now.

With one swift jab, Edward punched Jacob hard in the jaw. Jacob stumbled backwards and yelled out in pain, clutching the side of face.

After shouting out a spew of curses, Jacob finally formed a sentence. "Damn it, Cullen. What the hell is wrong with you?! You could have broken my jaw."

Edward glared at him, his fuming rage evident. "If you ever kiss her," he started before pausing for a moment. "No, let me rephrase. If you ever touch her again, I will do more than break for jaw. Stay away from her."

Jacob tried to defend himself but wasn't given the chance to. "You can't tell me what --"

Edward interrupted him and spoke to him in a cold, hard tone. "Leave, Jacob. Now. Unless you enjoy pain and would like to experience more of it."

Deciding not to push his luck, Jacob turned around and walked away. Edward stood outside in the hallway, the bridge of his nose pinched between his fingers, as he tried to gain control over his still volatile temper. When he felt he had some of his composure back, he walked back into Bella's room, taking his seat in the chair next to her bed.

For the first time since Edward had been visiting Bella in the hospital, he didn't reach out and touch her as soon as he sat down. It wasn't because he didn't want to but because, now more than ever, he felt like he didn't deserve it. As Edward there in silence by Bella's side, a thought dawned on him. What if she didn't want to be with him, but rather Jacob? Would Edward be willing to give up his own happiness and his chance to be with Bella just to make her happy?

Edward sighed. "I am sorry, Bella, so sorry. I just keep hurting you time and time again." He shook his head. "I keep thinking I know what's best for you but how can I be sure? I just wish that you could tell me how you truly felt and maybe that way I can do something right for once."

He waited before saying anymore and listened to the beeping sounds coming from the machines as though they were Bella's response. "Why can't things be like the way they were before? I just want to talk to you, Bella. I miss you. I miss us. I miss your smile, your laughter, everything about you."

Edward reached out and gently caressed her cheek. He could not not touch her. "All I want is for you to be happy," he whispered. Happy with me, he thought to himself.

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I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I really liked writing this one. I am soo not a Jacob fan so I don't mind him getting kicked around a bit lol. Get ready to expect a BIG surprise in the next chapter. I am starting to work on it now so I can have it up as soon as possible. And for anyone who likes songs that go along with stories, "Broken" by Lifehouse pretty much sums up how Edward has been feeling since the accident. It's a really good song so you should listen to it sometime lol. If I think of any other songs that go along with this story I will let you know lol. So that's all for now so thanks for reading this chapter, be on the lookout for the new one, and as always, please review! Thanks!