Edward spent the next few weeks paying special attention to Bella. He was never outright rude to her before, but now he went out of his way to be nice. He would hold the door open for her, carry her books, walk her to biology, offer her rides home. He hoped that at some point he would be able to bring up the "kiss" (or non-kiss?) with her; he needed to know what really happened that night. But in the meantime, he cared for her like a little sister; he never wanted to be accused of using her again. If he couldn't love her, then he would at least take care of her.

But Bella was confused by Edward's sudden behavior change. He sought her out on occasion, just to talk (or so he said), but he had never done that before. She was starting to wonder if Alice had said something about her feelings for him. Whatever it was, Edward was certainly being extra-friendly lately, and Bella wasn't sure if she liked it. Because she knew that it wasn't because of her. Either he wanted something, or Alice had gotten involved.

Bella had imagined countless times a relationship with Edward where he would seek her out just to be with her, because he couldn't stand not seeing her for more than a couple hours. And although it certainly seemed like Edward was starting to crave her attention like heroin or something, she highly doubted it was purely because she was good company. And it hurt. She felt… well, used. And she didn't like it. Because even though he was super nice to her, she still saw him in bed with other girls. She tried to convince herself that it didn't matter, that she had no right to be mad or upset or even have an opinion. But she still felt betrayed and confused.

"Alice, I'm thirsty. I'm gonna go grab a cup of water from downstairs. Do you want anything?"

Alice glanced up from her homework. "Nah, I'm fine."

"Alright." Bella bounced out of the room, in a good mood. She hadn't seen Edward all day, fortunately, and for once she had been able to convince Alice to actually do some homework before "girl time," a.k.a. torture Bella time.

Bella had just filled a cup with water in the kitchen when she heard a voice behind her.

"Fancy meeting you here."

"Ah!!" Bella jumped, splattering water everywhere.

Edward laughed. He couldn't help it. He hadn't meant to scare her, but it certainly was amusing.

Bella frowned at him before grabbing a handful of paper towels to clean up the mess.

"Here," Edward said, reaching to take the towels from her. "Let me help with that. After all, it's my fault you spilled."

"Always the gentleman," Bella muttered, but when he raised his eyebrow at her, she just shrugged. "I probably would've spilled anyway."

He laughed. "Yes, that's true." He leaned down, putting his lips right by her ear, as if to tell her a secret. "And I still would've helped," he whispered, sending a shiver down her spine. She wondered if he had any idea how much he affected her. She glanced at his face; he was smirking. Yes, he most definitely knew how much he affected her. She scowled at him before continuing to clean up the water.

Once her cup was refilled, she started walking back toward the stairs, but before she could reach them, a hand on her shoulder stopped her.

"Come on, Bella," Edward said as he moved to step in front of her. "You aren't mad at me, are you?" He pouted a little, making himself look even more adorable, if that was possible.

She sighed. "No, just a little frustrated with your arrogance. But not mad." She smiled to soften her words.

He grinned back at her, her favorite crooked grin that she truly wished she had a picture of. After all, pictures last longer, especially in this case.

"So how are you?" Edward asked, leaning back against the railings on the stairwell. "We haven't talked in a while."

She sighed again. "Edward, it's okay."

"What's okay?" he asked, confused. He had no idea what she was talking about.

"You don't have to be nice to me. I know you feel like you have some sort of obligation to me because of your sister, but it's really okay. You don't have to make small talk. I can handle it if you just treat me the way you treat everyone else."

"And what makes you think I don't want to know how you are?"

"You never want to know how anyone is. It's not in your genetic makeup to actually care about the little details of someone else's life. And that's okay. Most people don't actually care, but pretend anyway to be polite. But you don't have to be polite to me. I think we're past that stage now."

"Bella." He gently brushed the hair from her face. Her eyes were glued to the floor, and even now she refused to look up. "Bella, look at me."

She pulled back instead, away from his touch. She glanced at his face, embarrassed. His eyes were stunned, and there was something else there that she couldn't quite place. He almost looked… hurt. But it was gone too quickly for her to truly see. His arrogant look replaced whatever it was, and he cocked an eyebrow. She looked at her feet again.

"Please don't," she whispered. "You don't have to pretend to care anymore. I know you're only nice to me because of Alice."

"Bella, even if I was only nice because of Alice, I wouldn't stop now. You mean the world to my family. I couldn't hurt them that way."

"But it's hurting me!" Her eyes finally met his, silently begging him to understand. "Every time you touch me, every time you help me, it makes me think that you care far more than you do. And I can't take it anymore. It hurts too much to think you care and then have to see you in bed with another girl the next morning. So please, just stop pretending."

He was stunned. "Bella," he said slowly, "I'm not pretending. I do care about you. You're like a little sister to me."

Bella cried out; his words were too much. It was as if someone had taken a rusty knife and shoved it through her heart. She was sobbing into her hands now, and Edward had no idea what he'd done.

"Bella, Bella, shh," he tried to soothe her, gently rubbing her back. "I'm sorry, just please stop crying. I didn't mean to hurt you."

Her tears stopped after a while, and she was even more embarrassed than before. They were sitting side by side with their backs up against the staircase. Her water glass was by her feet.

"Sorry I overreacted," she said sheepishly, refusing to make eye contact. "I've had a tough week and I'm just super tired."

"It's alright," he said gently, still rubbing her back. "I'm sorry I was an ass."

She smiled a little before sitting up. She was back on her feet, ready to return to Alice, when Edward grabbed her hand. She turned to face him.

"Bella," he said quietly, "I truly do care about you. I'm sorry if you feel like I'm only pretending, but I can't stop taking care of you." His eyes were pleading with her to understand. "And besides," he smiled, "if I'm not there, who's gonna catch you when you fall?"

Bella smiled at him, and his heart stopped in his chest. She was so beautiful, even after spending the last five minutes crying. Edward moved closer to her, very hesitantly, giving her plenty of time to say no.

He was so close that Bella couldn't think straight. His smell was overwhelming her senses, in a good way. He kept coming closer and closer, until his lips were a mere inch away from hers. She wanted nothing more than to close the distance between them, to cross those last few millimeters, but she couldn't move. She couldn't even believe that this was happening to her.

Edward hesitated again, looking into her eyes, searching for something. Evidently whatever he was looking for he didn't find. He pulled away, rubbing the back of his neck as he did so.

Bella's eyes snapped shut as she desperately tried to keep her tears at bay. She had really believed that he would kiss her this time.

He noticed her expression. "Bella, are you okay?" he asked. She didn't answer right away. "Look, I know I had no right to do that. I mean, nothing really happened, but I had no right to even try…" he trailed off when he saw the look in her eyes.

"Are you so afraid to kiss me?" she whispered.

He chuckled, trying to break the tension in the room. "No, but maybe I should be. Who knows what Alice would do to me." Bella didn't join his laughter.

"You kissed me before," she said quietly, looking at her shoes.

His eyes closed. "After Tyler's party," he whispered. She nodded to confirm his statement, but she still didn't meet his eyes. "You said nothing happened."

"I said you didn't need to apologize for what happened."

The pain was clear on his face, but she misread it. "Was I such a bad kisser? Is it so embarrassing to know that you kissed me, even drunk? Is the thought so disgusting?" Angry tears now poured down her face.

His eyes flew open. "Disgusting? I'm disgusted with myself. I used you. I took advantage of you. I had hoped I'd dreamed the whole thing." He ran a hand through his already messy hair, clearly frustrated. This conversation was not going the way he wanted it to.

"Well, I don't regret it," she said stubbornly. "And you were the drunk one, not me. If anything, I took advantage of you."

Edward cocked an eyebrow at her. "And you don't regret that your first kiss was the result of too much to drink?"

She shook her head adamantly, though still slightly embarrassed that he knew it was her first kiss.

"Did you always imagine your first kiss with a drunk man?" he asked arrogantly.

She blushed scarlet. "No, but I always imagined it with you," she said quietly, returning her gaze to the carpet at her feet.

He groaned, wiping a hand down his face. "Bella, please, do us both a favor and just forget it. All of it. We don't belong together. We're too different."

"I know," she said in a small voice. "but you can't blame a girl for dreaming."

"God, you're so stubborn."

"You're the one who kissed me. Excuse me for thinking that you might actually like a girl like me."

They stared at each other for a moment before Edward laughed at the situation. She barely reached his shoulder, and yet she was trying to intimidate him.

"This may be some kind of joke to you, Edward, but I'm serious. If you can't follow through, then at least stop teasing me."

"I have a flirtatious nature, Bella. You of all people should know that."

"Then stop telling me to stop caring about you. I can't change how I feel, not if you're not willing to help me."

He smirked at this. "We'll see. One day you'll meet a nice guy and wonder what you ever saw in me." He wondered why this thought made his chest ache.

"Fat chance," she mumbled under her breath.

"Bella!" Alice yelled from upstairs. "Bella! Where'd you go? If you think I'm going to do all this homework by myself, you are sadly mistaken!"

"I'm downstairs, Alice," Bella called back. "I just spilled when I was getting water. I'll be right up."

When Bella turned around again, Edward was gone. She wondered if the whole conversation even took place. She sighed before trudging back up the stairs.