So I've been all kinds of epic fail, but I do have a reason . . . or an excuse if that's how you want to look at it. I spent most of my time in the hospital. Even Christmas, which was all kinds of suck. I had some kind of infection that got pretty bad (well, my problem had a bigger name, but the doctor had to dumb it down for me). So when I was all healed and stuff I spent my time getting my life, and my job back on track.

I really hope I never take this long again *crosses fingers that life will be nice*

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight . . . FML

I also want to thank Project Team Beta for correcting my damn comma problems.

Edward (POV)

Dressed in casual jeans and a T-shirt, I knocked on Bella's door. I heard shuffling and the sounds of something snapping.

What's that about?

Bella opened the door, breathless. A chuckle escaped me when I noticed what she was wearing. "We match," I pointed out, motioning to her blue shirt and jeans and my blue shirt and jeans.

"Ugh, should I change?" I shook my head no and told her we could be one of those couples we made fun of. "But it's not funny because we're not a couple. Let me just change my shirt." She rushed back into her room and closed the door. Minutes later, she came out of her room wearing a red V-neck shirt.

"Come on, let's go. It's Sunday, meaning us time."

"Where are we going exactly?" Bella asked when we were in my car.

"I was thinking we could get some Subway, and have a little picnic at the park," I suggested. She said that it sounded like a good idea so off we went. We got our sandwiches and grabbed our sodas, laughing at jokes and stories we told each other. Once we made it to the park we walked around until we found a picnic table in the shade. The sun shined, the birds sang, and the cool air was refreshing against my face – overall it was a perfect day.

"It's a beautiful day, isn't it?" Bella asked, voicing my thoughts.

"Yes it is, just for us." I smiled at her.

She held out her hand. "Give me my sub, please. I'm starving." I took the food out of the bag and placed them on the table. I handed over her food and unwrapped mine.

"Did you know one of my waitresses lit a customer on fire?" she said randomly.

I nearly choked on my food. "What?"

Bella laughed at my expression. "Yup. It would have been the funniest thing I have ever seen if it wasn't so scary at the time. You see, it was the guy's birthday, meaning he gets a free cake. So the waitress – her name is Cindy – goes to get his cake, with candles and the whole shebang, and takes it to the table. Right before she places it on the table her heel brakes, making her stumble. She leans toward the guy and the fire on the candles catch on to the sleeve of his shirt, and everyone freaks out! So the guy is freaking out and then the table cloth catches on fire! He was trying to take off his shirt, but he was so panicky that he couldn't work the buttons. No one was doing anything – well anything useful – so I had to stop myself from losing my cool and do something. I grabbed a pitcher of water and just poured the water on him. In total, it took three pitchers of water to stop the fire. It was crazy. His face wasn't burned and neither was his upper arm, but his lower arm was slightly burned. His shirt couldn't' be saved, and neither could the table cloth."

I grimaced at the mental picture. "So did he press chargers or sue you? I mean, no offense, but that's what I would do."

Bella looked at me through narrowed eyes. "Remind me to never catch you on fire at my restaurant. Thanks to all that is holy because he did not press charges. Cindy felt really bad, though. She visited him at the hospital and told him that we were going to pay for the hospital bill. He accepted and then said that if she wanted to make it up to him she could go on a date with him. She agreed and they've gone out on, like, five dates since. So anything cool or interesting that happened to you while at work?"

"Well –"

"Wait! Nothing sad or traumatic, because that kills the happy mood we're going for here."

I laughed, shaking my head, but I agreed with her. Things that happened at the hospital were intense, and often heart breaking. I doubted Bella wanted to hear any of those stories; it was bad enough I had to watch them unfold, let alone be a part of them.

After a minute of thought, I remembered the perfect story to tell; I even started laughing as the memories filled my head. "Okay, I got a good one. Actually I wasn't even working that day. I was just there to fill out paperwork. So anyway, this guy came in, and he was a total wreck. He was crying, and waving his hands in the air. He was screaming like crazy, too. A lot of people got scared, thinking that there was some kind of danger going on, but really this guy was just freaking out because he tasted some perfume."

"Fucking gross," Bella said, wrinkling her nose in distaste. "Who would taste theirperfume?"

"They asked him how and why, but instead of answering he just shrugged, as if he didn't know."

She looked at me in confusion. "How come you guys asked him questions? I mean, shouldn't you have dealt with his problem first, and then asked him what happened?"

I shook my head. "The thing is perfume isn't exactly lethal. Perfume is just alcohol and water, and some oils to make it smell nice. Actually, alcoholics drink perfume when they're desperate. So they didn't have to treat him for anything. And they only asked because they were curious. After a couple of minutes of interrogation, from other members of the staff, he cracked."

Bella leaned closer to me in anticipation, her sweet scent filling my nostrils, making my heart beat faster for some unknown reason. "Okay, so what happened? What'd he say?" she asked impatiently, her deep brown eyes penetrating mine.

I laughed slightly when I remembered the blush on the guy's face when he told us what happened. "It turns out that the guy hadn't been with a girl in a couple of years, making him pretty lonely and in desperate need of some physical contact."

Bella groaned.

"So he, out of a moment of weakness, sprayed perfume on his arm – so it could smell like a girl – and then proceeded to make out with his arm. After a couple of minutes of his hot make out session, he freaked out because he thought he would die from tasting the perfume."

She laughed. "I can't believe he made out with his arm!" exclaimed Bella. "If I ever get that desperate, shoot me, okay?"

I shook my head no.

"And why not?" she asked with her eyebrow raised.

"I wouldn't have the heart to kill you, Bella. It's simple as that," I said, shrugging.

"Aw, well aren't you sweet. Gag me," she said while sticking her finger playfully in her mouth. I smiled as I gently punched her in the arm. "Is that all you got, Edward? You are so screwed if you ever get into a fight."

"Oh, I am more than able to take care of myself."

She looked at me skeptically, but didn't say anything more on the subject.

"Come on, let's lay down on the grass," I suggested, getting up from my seat. Bella did the same and followed me to the spot on the ground that offered the perfect amount of shade. We rested on our backs, but instead of looking at the sky, we looked at each other, which, to me, was a much better view. Bella's beautiful face wasn't marred with worry lines, or an expression of anger, but instead her face was the picture of relaxation and calm. The wrinkles on her face were her laugh lines, and if you asked me they just accented her magnificence. Bella's chocolate eyes found my green ones, causing me to get lost in her meaningful gaze. The wind caused several lumps of hair to fall in front of her face, ruining my view. Lifting my arm, I gently raised my hand to her face, and then I removed the hair by putting it behind her ear. Unknowingly, by taking the hair out of her face, I had moved closer, to the point where I could practically feel her against me. Bella looked down, noticed our close proximity, lifted her eyes back to mine, and that was it.

She didn't say anything or ask me to scoot away – nothing.

Since our bodies were nearly touching each other, so were our faces. My eyes, that somehow managed to remove themselves from Bella's gaze, glanced at her plump and inviting lips which were practically begging for mine. Well, that's what I hoped. Licking my lips, I did the one thing I had never done in all the years I had known her. I kissed her. The kiss was slow and soft, for I was merely testing the waters, but I also just wanted to enjoy the feel of her lips against mine. Her lips were divine; so soft and sweet, they were made for kissing, among other things…

When Bella didn't push me away or yell at me, I deepened the kiss.

Bella eventually broke the kiss, and looked at me with eyes filled with confusion. "Well that was…"

Amazing? Mind-blowing? Breath taking?

"… weird," she finished.

With my heart in my stomach, I said, "Yea, it was."

She nodded, and returned to lying on her back so she could look at the sky above us.

We didn't look each other in the eyes the rest of the day, and we didn't discuss the kiss either.

8~*~8

Bella (POV)

"Thanks for the awesome day, Edward. We really fucking needed it – the whole bonding thing."

"Yea, we did. Hey I got a call from Emmett, apparently there's a guy's night so I'm off." I nodded and hugged him. Edward left shortly after and I just went to my room.

I was in my room for a total of two minutes when I felt suffocated by its walls. So I went to the kitchen, the one place where I could relax and think about things.

Realizing I needed junk food, I got out the burger patties, several spices, cheese, and hamburger buns. After I prepared everything, I grabbed a pan, put it on the stove, and turned it on so it could heat.

What was that kiss about? I mean, did he plan it or did it just happen? If he did plan it, then what the hell! Does he want me as more than a friend? No, that couldn't possibly be it. But if it was, could I, could we, risk our friendship? If it isn't that then why did we kiss?

I placed two burger patties on the pan and they immediately started to sizzle.

The kiss must have been an accident. I mean we were so close, of course something like that will happen. So does that mean things are going to be awkward now? I really hope not, but maybe if I just act like nothing happened then things will go back to normal! Besides, the kiss didn't mean anything. I mean, sure, the kiss was absolutely amazing. It was probably the best kiss of my fucking life – no, don't think like that Bella!

I placed the cheese on the cooked patties so that the cheese would melt.

The kiss didn't mean anything, nothing at all.

With a spatula, I took the patties out of the pan and onto the waiting hamburger buns. I added all the rest of my ingredients and afterwards I took my finished product into the living room and ate my burger there.

The kiss didn't mean anything, and I will treat it as such.

Edward (POV)

I walked into the semi-crowded bar, looking for Emmett and Jasper. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Emmett waving his hands in the air. I shook my head and laughed as I made my way over to them. They were sitting in a booth, with their beers in front of them, but one beer sat on the edge of the table. I guessed that it was for me. I sat next to Jasper with Emmett sitting directly in front of me.

"Hey guys," I greeted while taking a large gulp from my beer.

Jasper eyed me suspiciously as I continued to drink my beer.

Emmett eyed me as well. "Whoa there, Edward, slow down. Bad day?" he asked.

I shook my head. "No, it wasn't entirely bad."

Emmett nodded, and then said, "Problems at work?"

I shook my head.

Jasper said, "Girl troubles?"

I nodded.

"I knew it!" Emmett exclaimed.

"No, you didn't," Jasper said, taking a slow sip from his beer, which unlike mine was still mostly full.

"So Edward, does this have to do with your hot girlfriend Tanya? Rosalie doesn't like her, you know. But I gotta tell ya that she kind of freaks me out, too. I mean, she's sweet, but too much. She's so sweet it seems kind of fake. Am I the only one that got that vibe?"

Jasper looked at me sheepishly. "Yeah, I got that vibe too, but you know we could just be full of it, and not know what we're talking about. You spend more time with her than we do, so you're the one who really knows what she's like."

Wanting to change the subject, I told them, "The problem is not Tanya. It's Bella."

They looked at me wide eyed. They obviously weren't expecting the problem to be about her. "You guys have another fight?" asked Jasper.

"I wish," I stated. "A fight I can handle, but not what happened today."

"Stop leaving us in suspense damn it! And we need more beer!" Emmett hollered, making a waitress bring us another round of beer in what seemed like seconds. "So tells us already! You had sex with her didn't you! I knew it was going to happen sooner or later! Fuck, was it good?"

I wanted to hit him. "No, we didn't have sex, doofus. But we did kiss."

"Wow," Jasper muttered.

"I know, right? I didn't plan it, I swear. It just… happened."

"So you're worried that it's going to fuck up your friendship," Emmett stated.

"No, not really, but sort of – it's complicated. I'm more worried about the fact that I liked it, and that I want to do it over and over again. You guys, I think I might like Bella as more than a friend," I admitted softly.

There was nothing but silence coming from them, leaving only the sounds of the bar to fill the air, making me nervous.

Emmett was the first to break the silence. His face held a big grin. "Finally! It is about damn time, Eddie. I thought you would never get your head out of your ass."

Jasper nodded and patted my back while I stared at them, dumbfounded.

"What are you guys talking about?" I asked.

"Face It, Edward," said Jasper. "You've liked Bella that way for a long time; you just never saw it like that. Maybe it's because you have been friends with her for so long, or maybe because it's too complicated for you to handle, so you just pushed it back, but you for sure like her in a more-than-friends way."

"Seriously, dude. Even in college I knew you liked her, as gay as it sounds, it was in your eyes. You look at her the way I look at my Rosie and the way Jasper looks at Alice."

I thought for a moment. Did I like Bella… that way? I thought back to the days in elementary school when I wouldn't like it if Bella played with other boys, so I told her that they had cooties but that I didn't. Then in high school, when I purposely touched and held Bella in front of her boyfriends to make them jealous. Then in college when Bella started sleeping around; I couldn't stand it, I would make her spend time with me so she wouldn't have the time to go out. Then I thought about now, when I regretted introducing Jacob to Bella because he was taking her away from me, and because I was afraid that I wouldn't be Bella's number one anymore.

I do like Bella, hell, I may even love her.

"Shit," I whispered. "Fuck! Fuck!" I screamed as I hit the table with my fists repeatedly. Jasper put his hand on my shoulder as he told me to calm down, but I couldn't, not when everything was so wrong. "You don't get it! I can never be with her! She's with Jacob now, and I'm with Tanya. Bella doesn't even like me that way. You know what she said after I kissed her? She said it was weird!"

Jasper and Emmett didn't respond because they didn't know what to say to that. We sat in silence the rest of the night, just drinking and thinking as I wallowed in my misery.

I finally got what I wanted; someone to love, but that didn't mean I could have her. I couldn't make her mine when I was with someone else and she belonged to another.

Be careful what you wish for, because you might just get it . . .

I had wished to fall in love, but that didn't mean I would be loved back.

Poor Edward. That's why you don't hook up your friends together!

So what do you think? Bad? Good? Do you want to hurt me for lagging it?

I hope I hear from you and that I hopefully said thank you to all who reviewed the last chapter

My answer: I once had feelings for my friend's boyfriend. I was young, he was cute, so ya. Instant crush. My friend, being the awesome person she was, told me that it was okay and that she understood. Besides, it wasn't like I tried to steal him away or anything.

Today's question: What's your favorite color?