A/N: Can't thank you guys enough for all of the follows and favourites!

Thank you for reviewing: Ellie (Guest), littlestir, Monyetta, sujari6, Bugsmamawolf, brebre99, Em2017, uknown12 (Guest), sandy4321, Belieber Twihard, michael . vandebroek, TriforceandSheikahArts, misstresswillow, gi-freakazoid, Maggie Davis, Meteorite102, S.P. Tripathi, TwilighterSam1989, cbmorefie, R (Guest), Rock N Roll Can Save ur Soul, PLL92gal, lupis93, FictionAddiction734, jansails, Kirsty (Guest), lovinmich, Fullofpassion09, Yali . Page, Youat2intheMorning, hdurgan07, and 3 Guests.

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.

Chapter 10

Edward

How do you know my name?

I stood up from my desk chair, disregarding my binder for the moment since my mind was currently in overdrive, flipping through all of my conversations with Bridesmaids Girl.

I took a deep gulp.

She'd been triggered into knowing who I was after I'd given her my reasoning behind leaving Jasper's party tonight. The only people who knew that Emmett's bag had gotten stolen were Emmett and Bella.

I stopped pacing momentarily, gripping my phone in my hands. Unless Emmett was a really great actor and this had all been one of his elaborately brilliant pranks on me, the only other person Bridesmaids Girl could possibly be was Bella.

My hands shook.

I began my motions of walking across the wooden flooring in my bedroom, seeing the bubble pop up that indicated that Bridesmaids Girl was typing away.

It stopped after a moment, before about a minute later, a message appeared:

It's Bella. You mentioned Emmett's bag getting stolen, and a bunch of other things started to piece together from there.

I could feel my heart pounding from inside my chest, my ears ringing, getting the confirmation from the source herself that the girl who I'd found so interesting via text was the same girl I'd wanted to approach for weeks, but had only gotten the chance this evening.

"Yo Ed!" I heard a voice from directly behind me, which not only made me jump a good foot in the air, but also sent my phone flying to the ground after I got butterfingers.

The room went dead silent after that initial 'thump'. I stared at the fallen cell phone, which was flipped over so that the screen was hidden from view, while Emmett continued with his uncomfortably slow breathing next to me.

"Knocking would've been really helpful, you know," I mumbled, trying to conceal my irritation as I gingerly picked up the phone, examining it with squinted eyes.

"Sorry," he seemed genuinely remorseful; "I didn't think I'd freak you out so much. I just couldn't go to sleep with all of your pacing," he admitted, referring to my restless movements about my bedroom.

A few seconds of expecting let me to find a fissure going straight down the middle of my phone, which I only noticed after titling my iPhone at an angle.

Instead of letting out multiple profanities at my luck, I took a deep breath, wanting to know whether the crack was simply going to be an aesthetic problem, or a technical problem. I let out a low groan after attempting to tap various areas of the screen, seeing that none of the apps were willing to open.

Emmett was looking on at the entire thing, his frown deepening almost as much as mine, and rather than yell and make a scene, I shook my head, shrugging, "It was time I got a new phone, anyway."

I forced a smile, and Emmett knew that I was just sugarcoating things. I didn't want to get angry at him, because it was an honest mistake on his part.

"Again, I'm really sorry. I'll cover the cost," he offered, and I could only roll my eyes, my lips turning upwards. As much as I appreciated the submission, I shook my head, "It's fine, Emmett. It wasn't on purpose, and it was my fault anyway, for not paying attention."

Emmett was already working part time to cover his own tuition fees, and even though he enjoyed his job, making him fund a new phone for me was out of the question.

What I had yet to realize was that his eyebrows had raised at the end of my sentence, as his arms folded across his chest.

Uh oh.

"Yeah, why were you so focused on your phone?" he gave me a blatant look of suspicion, before his head tilted towards the ceiling, "Oh God, it isn't that text message girl, is it? I'm telling you, man, if she ends up being a fifty year old mom, don't come crying to me."

I let out a chuckle, half-frustrated at his teasing, half-amused.

"Emmett, I can assure you that she's not a fifty year old mom," my laugh came out stronger, before I began to sober up, "We were actually in the middle of figuring out that we actually know one another."

Immediately afterwards, Emmett held his hands up in a gesture as if to say that he was collecting himself with all of this newfound information, "Whoa. You two know each other? But… you didn't know that you knew each other?"

He paused, closing his eyes, "I'm giving myself a headache." I felt his sentiments exactly. My body was still recovering from its shock over the fact that the two girls in my life had actually only been one.

But judging from Emmett's hard time processing my words, I decided against giving him the full story, instead settling for the truncated version, "Bella – the girl who I was hanging out with before you called me down to the club – is the same girl I've been texting. And yes, we've only just realized."

"No way," his jaw dropped. "The hot girl you've been crushing on also happens to be the girl you've been texting? Is that even possible?"

Emmett continued to stare at me with the slightest bit of wariness, "But how do you know for sure that she's not really a fifty year old mom?"

I threw my hands into the air, "Emmett, could you let that go?"

I shook my head, "She'd literally just sent me a message saying, 'It's Bella' before you scared the living daylights out of me." I gave him a look with narrowed eyes, as my roommate once again looked like he wanted to disappear into the wall. Truly, I wasn't that upset about the broken phone anymore.

I was more aggravated at the fact that I wouldn't get to message Bella back until I got my phone fixed – and looking at my schedule, I realized that I probably wouldn't get that done until Sunday, since Saturday was packed with classes.

"Sorry… again," he muttered, and I shrugged it off, patting him on the back and ushering him to go get some rest.

"I should be getting some sleep as well," I said as an afterthought just as Emmett was leaving the room.

I was still unbelievably jittery; I felt like a wound up toy, once again racing through all of the past conversations I'd shared with Bella – who I hadn't known then, was Bella - soaking up every detail that I'd found interesting before, and now correlating it to a face.

Before, I'd only been able to use a bit of my imagination, and though I fantasized that Bridesmaids Girl – the hilarious girl with the silly accusations that I was her friend, Alice – was someone whose looks were just as striking as her personality, I'd never expected Bridesmaids Girl to be Bella. My feelings for her were now beginning to make a lot of sense; I'd felt connected to her, and familiar with her because she was also Bridesmaids Girl. I'd felt like I'd known her for a while because I actually did.

It was just like finding out that my favorite celebrity was also an incredibly down to earth person.

I'd felt conflicted that my blooming relationship with Bella would be like a slap in the face to Bridesmaids Girl, who, in these past few weeks, had been a great source of comfort and entertainment. I'd often fall asleep talking to her, sometimes about the deepest questions of life, or why Donald Duck never wore pants but wore a towel around his waist after stepping out of the shower. Now, I realized, I had no reason to feel torn.

After shutting down my laptop, stowing away my notes and setting my alarm clock, I slipped into bed, continuing to fidget.

What if this wasn't brilliant news to her as it was for me? What if she'd expected more out of the guy she'd been texting?

She hadn't given anything away about her feelings towards me being the guy she'd been texting, so I couldn't know for sure whether she was happy, not particularly bothered, or just plain dissatisfied.

I sighed, closing my eyes, attempting to empty my mind of all thoughts. It took an hour for me to finally drift off into unconsciousness.

The fact that my phone had busted wouldn't have been such a huge bother if I were going to see Bella the next day – because really, seeing her in person beat text any day. And frankly, it'd make a lot more sense if we spoke about this in person.

But alas, since I'd only fallen asleep around two o'clock in the morning, and my earliest class began at eight, I planned on relishing every minute of sleep before rushing straight off to class. I wouldn't have time to stop by the café and order my cappuccino – worse, I wouldn't get to talk to Bella and see for myself how she felt about this.

And of course, when Sunday came rolling in, and I'd actually been able to go to the apple store to see if my phone could be salvaged, I'd ended up waiting the entire day, only to find out from the tech guy that it's be better to invest in a new device.

So, I did just that, but once leaving the store, I'd realized that iCloud somehow wasn't backing up my information from my old iPhone onto my new one. As in, my contacts, pictures - all that - was gone.

And of course, by the time I realized that I'd need the tech guy's help once more, I'd raced back to the store, only to be greeted by a large "Closed" sign.

I sighed, life.

I couldn't really do anything to speed up the process until Monday, so I just accepted the fact that I'd have to wait yet another day to let Bella know why'd I'd left the conversation how I left it.

Thankfully, the wait wasn't excruciatingly long, and bright and early in the morning, I travelled the short distance to the mall, going into the apple store and greeting the tech guy I'd become so well acquainted with.

After a few minutes of small talk, I handed him my device, wondering aloud if all of my information had really been lost for good, or if there was some genius I.T. thing that he could do to help out the situation.

Fortunately, after a bit of playing around on my phone on his part, he nodded, letting me know that all hope had not been lost – in this case, my contacts.

So, I exited the store, thanking the guy profusely, plopping myself on the sofa outside of the store. Then, I scrolled through my contact list, highlighting the name "Bridesmaids Girl" and clicking the option to text her. I knew that apologies would be better explained in person, so I settled for a simple suggestion:

Can I meet you somewhere? Maybe at the park bench?

I would've suggested the café, but this wasn't a conversation I would've liked to engage in around other people. Hopefully, she'd feel the same way.

It took a while for her to answer – or maybe it was just because I was anticipating her response that I'd felt time drag on. My phone dinged:

Um, sure. I'll be there in ten minutes.

I breathed a sigh of relief, not realizing until that point that I'd felt a great deal of tension in my body.

I hadn't really given much thought into it, but if Bella had truly been uncomfortable with my identity, she could've easily refused to see me, making up an excuse. So, the fact that she'd agreed had to at least mean that she hadn't completely shut off.

The park was a five-minute walk from the café, so I figured I'd leave the mall now to grab us both some coffee there – I wasn't opposed to getting Starbucks from the mall, but I wasn't sure about Bella, so going to the café seemed like the safest option.

It took me about eight minutes to get to the café, but thankfully, it was sparsely crowded, so I arrived at the front of the line.

"Angela, right?" I asked the spectacle-clad brunette who worked the mornings at the coffee shop.

She seemed thoroughly surprised that I was making conversation with her, and I could do little to stop myself from feeling guilty that I never bothered to venture past the polite "Hello, how are you?" to anyone in customer service.

"Yeah, I am. How can I help you?" she spoke slowly, with a look of deep curiosity plastered across her face.

I gave a small smile, "I'm Edward." Her shock grew tenfold when I stretched out my hand for her to shake. I truly felt awful for only making an effort to be friendly because I wanted something in return, but Angela seemed like the type of girl who would take it all in a stride.

"You're friends with Bella, right?" A nod from her allowed me to continue, "Well, I'm going to meet her now and I figured I'd buy her a cup of coffee. Do you know what she normally has?"

Slowly, a smile began to break out across the cashier's face, seeming pleased by this information as she answered, "A vanilla latte. And you have a cappuccino, if I remember correctly?"

She was working by herself today since it was relatively slow, and she quickly began to mark the cups as I handed her the dollars, "Thank you very much, Angela."

The smile remained fixed on her face, "No worries, Edward. I hope Bella enjoys the treat."

It took less than five minutes for her to whip up the drinks, handing me the paper cups as I once again thanked her, using my shoulder to push open the door since my hands were taken.

I was pretty grateful for the warmth generated by the steaming cups of coffee in my palms, warming me up in the frigid air. The sun was out and bright, so it helped with the temperature regulation as well.

From a distance, I could spot Bella turning as she plopped herself on the same bench that we'd visited just a few nights ago. Her cheeks were rosy, her mahogany hair wavy and her hands were folded in her lap. A smile tugged at my lips, and I had to look away to calm my crazy emotions down.

"Hey," I greeted, finally reaching her as she looked up, not having expected me to arrive so quickly.

A nervous smile found its way across her lips, and I desperately tried not to read too much into it.

Instead, I handed her the cup of coffee, which had lost a bit of warmth, but not too much.

"Thank you," she said softly, startled once she took a sip and realized that it was her choice of drink. I took the seat next to her, glancing at the occasional passerby, as we both continued drinking our coffees, not in rush to start the conversation.

"So," I started after a few minutes of silence, smiling.

Her lips twitched, "So."

"So you're the girl I've been texting for the past three weeks," I began, and I could see as Bella's eyes averted.

"And you're the guy I've been texting for the past three weeks. It seems… unreal, but it makes a lot of sense," she finished, finally looking over at me as I nodded – she'd taken the words right out of my mouth.

"I want you to know that I had no idea who you were until Friday night when you sent me that text about Emmett. When I messaged you that first time, it really was an accident," it seemed to have been something she'd wanted to clear up, once and for all, though the thought had never once crossed my mind.

"I know that. You seemed completely set on the idea that I was your friend, Alice. I didn't think you were lying about that," I smiled when her cheeks tinted, apparently remembering her spiel.

"I just didn't want you to think I was a stalker or anything," she said, trying to act nonchalant, looking down at her polished fingernails, as I bit my lip to hold in my laugh. She'd been worried about that of all things?

To be honest, now that I thought of it, I wouldn't have necessarily minded if she was stalking me. Which is probably extremely weird to say, but.

"I didn't think you were," I remarked, causing her eyes to focus on mine, seeming deeply confused about something.

"I'll probably come off as really pathetic and clingy when I ask this, but, if that's the case, why'd you take so long to reply to my message?" I had to bite the inside of my cheek to prevent myself from smiling. In the end, a small grin found its way onto my face. She'd actually gotten worried that I was ignoring her on purpose. I mean, I'd had my apology ready and all, but I hadn't expected a reaction like this out of her.

"Right when you sent that text, Emmett popped up out of nowhere and scared the crap out of me. So much so, that I ended up dropping my phone - hard. I couldn't get it fixed until yesterday because my day was really packed on Saturday. I ended up getting a new phone, and basically, there were a lot of complications, but I got it all sorted out this morning," I pulled out the sleek new iPhone, and I saw the signs of realization dawning on Bella as her mouth form into a small 'o'. I hadn't been radio silent on purpose – it was tough for me to go those days without texting her.

At the same time, I figured she wouldn't really be bothered if I'd been absent from her life for a couple of days, but apparently, I'd been wrong – in this case, being wrong was a really good thing.

"I really wanted to see you in person and get everything confirmed, once and for all. And I guess I have. You're really Bridesmaids Girl," just as the last of the words left my mouth, I felt the blood rush to my face. Bella's eyebrow quirked, and a small smile etched itself on her lips.

"Bridesmaids girl? Was that your nickname for me?" she giggled, covering her mouth adorably as it was my turn to avert my eyes, shrugging.

"I wanted to save it as something obvious, so that I knew exactly who I was talking to," I chuckled, as Bella continued to smile, obviously amused.

"Well, if I'm being completely honest, Bridesmaids Girl was better than my nickname for you. I called you Young Man, you know, because of your weird fear of being thought of as forty years old," she laughed, and it was my turn to give her a look of total amusement.

"I'm happy it wasn't anything embarrassing, like Alice 2.0," I admitted as her eyes widened, as if she'd missed the greatest opportunity in her life.

"Oh my gosh, that would've been such a good name!" her jaw dropped open and I could only laugh along with her, as a few passersby smiled towards us.

When the laughter died down, and I'd come back to the bench after throwing out our empty coffee cups, Bella began to bite down on her bottom lip, making my brain turn to mush. When I focused on her plump pink lips, I could feel my mind going to places that I didn't want it to go, so I focused on her deep brown eyes instead – equally as enrapturing, though not as distracting.

"Is this weird for you?" she spoke up, once again looking uneasy to hear my response.

Judging from her reaction, she was fearful about my answer, which either meant that she felt weird and wanted the reassurance that this was weird for me too, or the opposite.

I wanted to be honest. "No," I paused, shaking my head for emphasis. I could see some of her discomfort lift away after hearing me utter that single word, and I hoped that that meant that this wasn't strange for her either.

"So you're not disappointed that I'm the girl you've been texting?" for a single moment, I thought that this was her way of letting me know that she was disappointed.

And then I really thought about it – reflected back on her nervousness at meeting me, her reaction that I'd taken days to reply to her, her worry that this situation was weird for me, that I was disappointed. She felt insecure that I'd expected more of her. The thought itself was ludicrous, especially because she'd exceeded all of my expectations.

"No," I smiled softly, gazing intently at her, still seeing the worry prominent in her eyes. Did she think that I was lying?

I glanced down at her lips for a fraction of a second, focusing back on her emotion-filled brown eyes, feeling my heart begin to speed up.

"I'm relieved," I replied honestly, already feeling my mouth go dry that I was being so obvious about my feelings for her. I was relieved that she was Bridesmaids Girl because I'd come to like both of them.

Apparently, she didn't get it, her eyebrows scrunching together, "Why?"

I'd spent the past few weeks figuratively shaking in my boots, too fearful to approach this pretty girl, too shy to tell her about the way she made me feel. And I realized that there was no way I'd ever get what I wanted if I never acted on my feelings. If I shoved them down and pretended they didn't exist, Bella would probably find a guy who'd knock her off her feet – a guy who wasn't me.

"Because now I don't feel guilty about doing this," my right hand cupped the left side of her face, my thumb brushed her cheek briefly, before I sucked up all of my fears and plunged right into the water.

I pressed my lips against hers, feeling all kinds of euphoric when I realized that her lips were softer than I'd ever expected. I felt myself melt into the kiss.

Of course, a moment later, I wanted to throw myself under a bus, realizing that my mental pep talk had only set me up for failure. In the next second, I felt Bella's hand on my chest, and I waited for her to push me off, feeling that the wait was unbearable. I was a millisecond away from pulling back myself. The apology was bubbling on my tongue.

But then she kissed me back. Her plump lips pressed against mine, and her grip on my coat tightened. And if I could, I would've been up in the air, floating in this bubble of happiness because she felt something for me as well.

I didn't want to do anything to overstep my boundaries, so I forced myself to break away, settling to brush my lips against hers, watching as her eyes remained closed, a sweet smile on her lips.

"Are you doing anything this weekend?" I said softly, feeling as if speaking any louder would break the peace and stillness of the moment.

"No. Why do you ask?" her eyes blinked open, and her smile was growing. She knew why, but I didn't blame her for wanting me to say the words out loud.

"I'd like to take you out on a date."

A/N: Ahhhhhh.

So. I'm kind of freaking out.

Honest opinions on this chapter? Let me know if you liked it/hated it. What were your favourite parts? And I just wanted to point out that if any of think they're moving too fast, they have technically "known" each other for weeks. Aaaaand yeah, the kiss was really innocent. But still, feel free to give me your thoughts!

Thank you so so much for all of the crazy, lovely reviews this story has been receiving. I appreciate them more than you guys can imagine!

Xoxo

LoveACullen