~~~When I Hear My Favorite Song~~~

"Oh, come on you stupid book! Come on!"

Edward was walking down the hallway to his first period class when he heard Macie's voice. In his line of vision, he could see her feet sticking out of her locker as she pawed around inside of it for something.

"Could you use a little help?"

Macie jumped so violently that she bashed her head on the side wall. Edward reached in and gently pulled her out, setting her back onto the floor.

"Edward, if you ever scare me like that again-" Macie began to threaten. But she lost steam halfway through and started to laugh. "Did I look that ridiculous?"

Edward smiled. "You were cute."

Macie rolled her eyes. "Don't let your girlfriend hear you call me 'cute'," she said, gesturing behind him.

Edward turned to see Alexis approaching them, a smile of greeting on her face.

"She's not my girlfriend, Macie," Edward said.

Yeah, right.

Edward tried his hardest not to roll his own eyes at Macie's thought. But then that stupid nagging voice in his head joined Macie's thought.

She's right, you know.

Are you ever going to be quiet?

Jerk.

"Hey, guys. Whatcha doing?" Alexis asked as she joined them.

"Macie is trying to get a book out of her locker and is failing miserably," Edward answered, trying not to look into her pretty face.

Macie let out a groan of frustration. "Well, you're tall! Get over here!"

Edward smiled and reached over her head, cleanly grabbing the Biology book and handing it to her.

"There you go."

"Thank you, kind sir. Now I'll be off," Macie said. And with a slightly more graceful leap, she trotted down the hallway and out of sight.

Edward and Alexis watched her go. Alexis turned and gave Edward a sideways look.

"Does it feel weird to have friends?"

"Excuse me?" Edward stared at her in surprise.

Alexis shook her head and rubbed her fingertips to her eyes. "I'm sorry. That totally came out the wrong way."

"What did that mean, exactly?" Edward asked, starting to walk towards her.

"I mean, is that you have always seemed like a loner to me, that's all. And also, Alice told me that you were always by yourself in the other schools that you were at. You just hung out with your brothers and sisters."

Edward laughed. "Alice has a big mouth."

"I guess so," Alexis smiled. "Answer the question."

Edward shrugged as they began to head to class. "I don't know. I just never really connected with anybody else."

"No one?"

"No."

"Are you sure?" There was a slight tease, a slight seriousness to her voice.

Edward rolled his eyes and gave her a gentle poke in the back, guiding her into the classroom. She slapped his arm away and laughed.

Later that afternoon, Edward found himself sitting in his final class that was getting ready to be let out. Edward sighed as he began putting his things away. He was actually a little tired and wanted to get out of Music Composition and go home.

"Before I let you guys leave, I have an announcement to make. I have sent all of your pieces in for the Sterling Music Competition and they have been judged. I was sent the list of the finalists this morning. Now, I want you to understand that there are only five finalists right now and soon that will be narrowed down to three, two, and then- well you get the picture."

"Mrs. G, just tell us already!" came a loud burst from behind Edward.

Mrs. Gardner and the rest of the class started to laugh. She quickly tore the top off of a large manila envelope and pulled a slip of paper out.

"Wait, you don't even know who they are yet?" asked another student named Hailey.

Mrs. Gardner shook her head. "Nope. I wanted to be as surprised as you are."

Edward closed off his mind so he could be the same and not hear the results before everyone else did.

"The five finalists are... Hailey Schroeder, Owen Cook, Regina Williams, Alexis Bowen, and Edward Cullen. Congratulations!"

Edward wasn't too surprised to hear his name. He had had resolutions about entering though and this was because of it. He looked over at Alexis to see her reaction.

She had turned into a statue.

A laugh came out of Edward's mouth that sounded suspiciously like a giggle. He swallowed so quickly that he almost choked and that made Alexis come out of her stupor.

"What the hell was that?" she asked him, causing him to laugh even harder. The laughing felt so foreign to him, so unreal. He liked it.

Alexis quickly gathered her stuff up and they started for the door. Mrs. Gardner's voice pulled them back.

"Edward? Alexis? May I speak with the both of you for a moment?"

They stopped at their teacher's desk and watched Mrs. G as she quickly stacked some papers and then turned her attention on them.

"I didn't want to do this in front of the rest of the class because it might have upset the other finalists. The point I am trying to get to is that I discussed with the judges at Sterling about the work the two of you have done together. They liked your individual pieces so much that they would like to hear a duet, actually."

"A duet?" asked Alexis. "Really? I didn't know that they accepted duets."

"They do, in fact. It is a whole separate category that was just put into the competition. I have only done single pieces for the last five years that I have had students enter. But if you would like to enter a duet instead, you may," said Mrs. Gardner.

"I'm game," said Alexis, turning her large eyes on him. "How about you?"

"Sure," said Edward. "How long do we have to prepare it?"

"The final pieces are supposed to be there within a month. The winners will be announced the second week of May. So if you want to prepare a duet instead, your names will be taken out of this running and be put into the other. All right?"

"Sounds great. Thank you, Mrs. G," Alexis smiled.

Mrs. G glanced over at Edward and he nodded his consent. "Okay then. I will let the judges know what you are going to do. Good luck on your piece."

"Gotta tell you, I am really excited about the piece that you and Alexis are going to do together!"

Edward turned his eyes on his sister. "Excuse me?"

Dummy, you guys are going to be great.

"I appreciate the thought," he said.

"What's the matter, Edward?" Alice asked.

Edward shook his head. "Nothing's the matter."

Liar.

"Fine," Edward snapped. "I'm a little nervous."

"Excuse me?" Alice stared at him, her gold eyes wide with shock. "Since when has Edward Cullen ever been nervous about anything?"

Crazy. Absolutely crazy.

"It's not important, Alice," Edward pushed past her and got into his Volvo. Alice watched him for a moment before getting into Rosalie's Corvette. He could feel her eyes still on him as Rosalie pulled out of the parking lot.

He waited until Emmett and Jasper had pulled out of the school parking lot before he put the Volvo into gear and drove out. But he wasn't heading home yet.

He could feel every single of his senses going crazy.

It was the serenity of where he was taking over and starting to calm him down. Memories of the past were making him crazy and he needed the time to become the stoic statue that he knew everyone thought of him.

The rushing water of the creek was almost like a lullaby to him as he lowered himself down into the dirt, leaning his head against the tree.

He had discovered this place the second week that he and his family had lived there. He hadn't told anyone about it, not even Carlisle or Alice. It was a place that was his and only his.

"Edward?"

Or so he thought.

Edward looked to see Alexis standing about forty yards away, her dark blonde hair pulled back into a fat braid and a leather jacket adorning her shoulders. She wore a pair of dark blue gloves that made her eyes stand out. She looked absolutely beautiful to him.

"Hi. What are you doing here?" he asked gently as he pulled himself to his feet.

"I come here at least once a week. It's my favorite place to think. Also I can play my violin here sometimes so I don't drive my mom and brothers crazy," she smiled as she approached him. "What are you doing here?"

"I found this place when I first moved here. I hide out here sometimes too."

"Why don't we hide out together?" she asked, a whisper to her voice.

Edward looked her right in the dark blue eyes and realized he actually wanted her company.

"All right."

Edward returned to his spot by the tree and Alexis leaned against it. They both watched the water rush through the dam, enjoying the light as it danced off the icy depths. Every single aspect of the creek was like a song to them.

"I've got it," Alexis said aloud after ten minutes of silence.

"Excuse me?"

"I know what we can do for our duet. I mean, I don't have my violin so I can't play anything for you but I have an idea."

"And?"

"We can do something about nature. I mean, we can write a song about the water. You gotta admit, it's beautiful. And- oh, god, I'm babbling."

Edward started to smile. "Don't worry about it. I know what you mean. I like that idea."

Alexis giggled and sank beside him. "You're smiling again."

"I'm been trying to bring plaster it on more for you," said Edward.

Alexis rolled her eyes. "Are you all right? You've seemed kind of down for the last couple of days. When Mrs. G told us about the duet proposition, you barely blinked."

Edward took a deep breath. "It's a rough time of the year."

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked gently, already knowing the answer.

"Not really," Edward murmured.

Alexis nodded. "Edward, you do know that I am your friend, right?"

Edward stared at her. "Of course."

"Then you know you can talk to me about anything?"

Another weak smile began to make it's way across his face. "Absolutely."

Alexis gently brushed her fingers against his arm and rose to her feet. "I've gotta get home. I'll see you tomorrow, Edward."

"Bye."

Alexis stepped off the high branches and landed gracefully on the dirt and leave covered forest floor. She cast another soft look in his direction and then began to walk towards the woods opening. But a voice made her freeze.

"Can you stay a little longer?"

They sat together in silence for another fifteen minutes before Edward finally spoke.

"I lost someone around this time last year."

Alexis didn't say anything as her blue eyes found his gold ones.

"Her name was Bella Swan," he slowly began. "She was the biggest klutz in the world, always tripping over her own feet and falling on her face. But when I first saw her, she had my heart. I couldn't help it."

Alexis smiled. She wasn't surprised to hear this. That was Edward to her.

"We were together for almost a year. I, uh, I even wrote a song for her. That's why I got weird when Mrs. G told us about the duet that the judges requested," he said. Alexis nodded. "But then... she was mugged by some creep in a parking lot. When she fought him, he killed her," Edward said quickly, afraid he wouldn't be able to get the words out of his mouth.

Alexis's eyes widened in surprise. "Oh, Edward…"

"I've never been able to talk about it until now," he whispered. "I've never really had anyone but my family and her. When she was taken away from me, I thought I was going to lose what was left of my mind. I guess that's why my parents moved me and my siblings out here to Alaska, hoping for a new beginning."

Alexis scooted a little closer to him and gently placed her gloved hand on his arm. His uneven breathing began to slow slightly.

"I got it though," he whispered.

"You did?" she asked.

"You."

Her eyes dilated slightly. "What do you mean?" Honest confusion was in her voice.

"You were the first real friend I ever had. And without really meaning too, you helped me through my grief. And I just—thank you," he finished quickly. Edward could feel the sob starting to rise in his throat. The tears he couldn't shed were burning his eyes and making it hard for him to talk.

Alexis didn't say a word as she took his hand in hers. She laced her fingers through his, giving him a gentle squeeze. Then she did something that neither of them expected.

She hugged him.

She wrapped her arms around his rock hard shoulders and gave him his first real hug.

He found his own arms snaking around her soft waist, his face buried in her gold hair. He took in her scent, the aroma of cherry bark and vanilla soothing him slightly.

She held him for what seemed like hours but in reality, it was only about a minute. Then she released him and sat back on her haunches.

"I'm not going to give you some lame 'it'll be okay' and all that because it's bogus. But I will say this. There's nothing wrong with remembering her. And there's nothing wrong with still loving her," Alexis whispered.

Edward smiled. He squeezed her fingers and nodded. "Thank you."

"Anytime, Edward. Anytime."

They walked together back to where their cars were parked. Alexis had parked her Tracker about twenty yards away from Edward's Volvo, the two cars lined up almost perfectly.

She brought her sapphire eyes up to his gold ones, a look of worry embossed across them.

"Will you be all right?" she asked.

Edward nodded. "I will be now."

Her gentle smile that he had come to adore slipped across her small face. Without saying anything else, she twined her car keys through her fingers and headed for her Tracker.

"Hey!"

"Hmm?" Alexis turned.

"Are you doing anything tomorrow night?" he asked.

"Oh, you want to work on our duet?"

Edward shook his head. "No, I don't."

I am such a dirt bag for not updating for such a long time. I just had absolutely no inspiration for this story and then it hit me like a ton of bricks with the help of the wonderful a novelist.

I am planning on updating more often. I have inspiration again!

So, I guess you can tell where this story is going now. Edward has finally opened up to Alexis after so long. He still hasn't told her about what he and his family really are,, as you can see. But that will be happening soon.

Also, I know that my timelines are off a bit. Forgive me!

All right, if anyone's still interested, reviews are loved!