Disclaimer: The characters of Twilight are owned by the wonderful Stephenie Meyer. The original characters, content and ideas of this story are mine.

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And now, without further ado, Chapter 11

Beta'd by the beautiful, princess07890

Chapter 11

Surprises

EPOV

"Edward? What are you doing here?"

"Jake?!

I stood at Bella's door, frozen, without a clear thought in my head. I just could not wrap my head around the fact that my best friend, my mentor, and my confidant, had just answered my girl's door!

"Jake, what the hell are you doing here?" I questioned, once I was finally able to get my brain working.

"I could ask you the same thing, Edward; but, if you must know, I ran into an old friend at the bookstore on 50th, and she invited me over for coffee. Now, I'm done answering your questions; what the hell are you doing here, Edward?"

Old friend? Where would he know Bella from; he's been in the military for the past fourteen years, so how is that even possible, unless…

"Old friend? From where, Jake?"

"No, no, no, I told you I'm done answering your questions until you tell me what you're doing here."

"I came to see Bella; she's the girl I've been telling you about."

"Wait a minute… Bella is the girl you've been talking about all this time? That's who got into the back of your limo that night? The one that you undressed while she was passed out drunk? Are you fucking kidding me?" He asked, while whispering and looking back into the apartment trying to make sure Bella was not listening.

"No I'm not fucking kidding you, now, would you please tell me again why you are here and how you two know each other? And, please, for the love of all that's holy, please don't say you're dating her, have dated her, or want to date her!" I finished, feeling exasperated.

"No, none of the above; Bella and I grew up together in San Jose. She was my best friend back home and we were inseparable from kindergarten until we finished high school. I went away to the military and she went off to college; and once I started going overseas, we just lost touch. I saw her maybe once or twice when I would come home on leave sometimes and she was also home; but, once she graduated college, she moved here to New York and we just stopped talking. Wow, flowers and a card; Eddie you really are sorry, aren't you?" Jake teased, making fun of my gesture.

"So you're telling me you've known Bel…"

"Okay, Jacob, I'm ready to go to the mus … uhm, Jacob, is there someone at my door?"

The moment I heard her voice, my heart sped up and began pounding in my chest. My throat went dry and my legs felt like they would give from under me. Maybe my grandfather was right; maybe Bella does 'have my heart' as he put it. But, how; I've only known her for a very short time. I'm a realist and I definitely don't believe in love at first sight; but, one thing is for sure, something is very different about the way she makes me feel.

"Yeah, uhm, you have a visitor." Jake answered looking back at her and stepping away from the door.

"Well, who is it?" Bella asked, before opening the door wider and staring at me.

"Edward? What are you doing here?" She questioned, looking totally caught off guard.

"Bella, hey… listen; I know I came over unannounced and I'm sorry. I just thought… I mean I've tried to call and text you… but… I just need a few minutes, is that okay?"

She continued to stare at me with a blank look on her face; I didn't know if that was a good or bad thing. My eyes flashed to Jake, who was standing behind Bella shaking with laughter at my expense. This caused Bella to turn around and look at him. Of course, he immediately put on a straight face. Asshole! Bella then turned back to me before answering.

"Edward, I'm sorry, I was just leaving with my friend Ja…"

"You know what, Bella? I just remembered I have to run to my office to take care of something, so it's fine."

"But, what about the museum?"

"We can go to the museum anytime; I do live here now, after all. Plus, it sounds like you two really need to talk. Right, Eddie?" He said, turning back to me and I could see the confused look on Bella's face at Jake's use of the nickname he knew I hated; but she still did not seem to make the connection.

"It's fine Bella; we have all the time in the world." He stated, before kissing her on the cheek and walking out of her apartment.

"She's all yours, Edward! He chuckled, slapping me on the back as he went down the stairs and it took everything in me to not trip him as he passed by me.

When I turned back to Bella, she was staring at me with one eyebrow arched and a questioning expression on her face.

"Am I missing something?"

"Nothing important at this moment; but there are some things I need to talk to you about. But, right now, I just want to apologize." I replied, hoping she could hear the sincerity in my voice.

She continued to stand there, staring at me, as if she was debating something within herself, and then, she finally opened the door wider and invited me in. I felt a wave of relief run through my entire body and I was thankful that she was at least willing to listen to me.

"Soooo… you wanted to talk to me?" She said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"These are for you." I said, handing her the flowers and card.

"Pink Azaleas; you remembered, I'm impressed." She remarked, as she walked toward her kitchen and I followed closely behind.

She reached into a cabinet, retrieved a vase, and proceeded to fill it with water before placing the flowers in it. Keeping her back to me, she opened the card and read it silently; for the next minute or so, no sound could be heard besides our breathing, and my heartbeat as it picked up pace. I anxiously waited for her to finish reading. When she did, she placed the card on the counter and slowly turned to face me. She leaned back against the sink and folded her arms across her chest while staring at the floor.

"You don't owe me an apology, Edward, or an explanation; you never said that we were in a relationship. I became… too comfortable and I let my guard down, so I have no one to blame, but myself."

"Bella..."

"No, I get it, Edward, I really do; you said in the beginning that you enjoyed your freedom and you weren't looking to be in a committed relationship and…"

"Bella…"

"I guess spending so much time with you lately kind of clouded my judgment and I started to really care about you and I thought that maybe you were feeling the same way and…"

Bella…"

"But you don't have to worry; I know where we stand now and I'll never cross that line again. I will be sure…"

I realized at this point she was not going to stop talking, so, I did the only thing I could to shut her up. The thing I've desired to do since the day she walked out of that café, leaving a void and taking a piece of me with her. I walked over to her, grabbed her beautiful face with both hands, and covered her mouth with mine. At first, she froze, but when I swiped my tongue over her bottom lip, she gave in and kissed me back with as much passion as I was feeling. It was a kiss that spoke volumes without words; a kiss that said I missed you, I want you, I need you, I'm willing to try for you, and I don't want to be without you. Then, much too soon to my liking, Bella broke the kiss and pulled away.

"Edward, wait; you can't just…we can't… we need to talk." She finally said sounding bewildered.

"Dammit, woman! It was the only way to shut you up." I blurted as I chuckled at the surprised expression on her face.

"And, plus, I missed you." I continued.

Bella was silent as her eyes darted back and forth between my eyes and my lips and, after taking a deep breath, placed her back against the sink and shook her head while staring at the ground. She finally looked up at me and spoke.

"I missed you, too, but… I…need to know what this is." She said, pointing her finger back and forth between us and I pondered on her words before I answered.

"I honestly don't know, but, what I do know is that I want to stop pretending that it's nothing."

She was quiet and I studied her for a moment while she thought about what I had said.

"What about Bree?" She asked when she finally did speak.

Ah, and there was the magic question I had been waiting for.

"Bella, Bree is a beautiful, intelligent young lady and she has a lot to offer to the right guy. I'm not that guy, and she understands that now. I know I went about this the total wrong way and I take full responsibility for that. In fact, I had coffee with Bree today and I apologized to her for any misleading actions on my part."

"And… is she okay?"

"Yeah, I think she is; we parted ways on a very positive note."

"Good, I'm glad to hear that." Bella responded, nodding her head as she looked anywhere but at me.

There was another awkward silence and, if I were being honest, I did not know if I should try to continue or let her speak first. Deciding on the latter, I kept quiet.

"Would you like to sit down or do you need to leave soon?"

"No, I have nowhere else that I need to be right now besides here with you."

We sat on her living room couch, the very same one that had been a bed for me on more than a few occasions; and the same one I hoped to have the chance to sleep on again.

"You said we needed to talk."

"Yes, I did and, yes we do. Bella, it has been a long time since I've even thought about being in a committed relationship and I thought it would be no different with you, but I was wrong. The more time we spent together, the more I wanted to be around you."

Bella sat quietly, nodding her head, waiting for me to continue. I could not read her expression as to whether or not she was agreeing with me or just listening out of courtesy. She did admit that she had missed me, too, so that had to count for something, right? I swallowed the lump in my throat and took a deep steadying breath before continuing.

"I'm not really sure how to go about this. I've casually dated, but nothing that was ever too serious and the last committed relationship I was in, I managed to screw up. I don't want to mess this up."

"What exactly is this, Edward? I don't do casual dating." Bella said, making quotes with her fingers in the air.

I moved a little closer to Bella on the couch, and took her hands in mine. I was grateful when she did not flinch back.

"Are you still angry with me?"

"Yes"

"Don't be, please; I know you don't do casual dating, and trust me, those aren't my intentions with you. I want to try to build something real, something lasting, a relationship with substance. I want you to trust me and know that I will do my best to make this work. Will you trust me, Bella?"

"I want to, Edward, but… I'm scared." Bella responded in almost a whisper.

"Why?"

Bella did not answer; instead, she just looked down into her lap while twisting her hands together.

"Hey, talk to me; what are you afraid of, Bella?" I asked, gently squeezing her hand.

Bella sighed and shrugged her shoulders while still looking down at her lap.

"I'm afraid of this not working and, if that happens, our friendship is ruined, too."

"Why don't we start again? However, this time, we can discuss how each of us would like things to go and, if we find we are in disagreement about something, then, let's agree to always talk it out and find a common ground, together. I think if we always communicate and be honest with one another, we can and will make this work. Fair enough?"

Bella smiled and looked up at me with her beautiful brown eyes and, for the first time, I saw them brighten up. I pulled her close to my chest and inhaled her heavenly scent; I could feel her relax against me.

"Edward?"

"Yes?"

"What's up with the weird conversation you and Jake were having at my door?"

I knew this would come up, but I wasn't sure Bella was quite ready for the answer; I was unsure of how to explain that her best friend growing up is now my best friend and mentor. I released her and rubbed the back of my neck before answering.

"You know, it's the funniest thing. Jake is my best friend and also my business partner." I answered, with a shy grin.

"What?! Jakes' the business partner that just got out of the military and moved here from California?"

"Yes, the very one."

"Wow! Small world."

"You can say that again." I said as I pulled Bella back into my arms.

A/N: Hello everyone; I know it's been a very long time since I update and I apologize. My father in law passed away 12 days after my last update and my brother who has been diagnosed with bone cancer, went into the hospital for a round of aggressive chemo 4 days after that. Between the funeral/burial and dealing with my brother's treatments, I had to take a break from writing. My brother did very well on the chemo and after being in the hospital for over a month was finally released the day before Thanksgiving. He is still feeling a little ill but is doing much better.

On another note here is chapter 11 and I hope you guys enjoy reading it. I'm working on chapter 12 and hope to get it out by the Friday. As always I love to hear from you guys so please leave your thoughts, comments, and/or suggestions in a review, thank you.