A/N - Less than a week! I had absolutely no idea how I wanted this chapter to go, but I heard the song The Dark Knight from the movie soundtrack and it just clicked. Music is such a wonderful writing tool. :-)

As always, I must thank every single person that has added this story (or me - I'm always happy to see that too) to their favorites. It makes me smile big and get all goofy. And to my gracious reviewers! It makes my day to see your opinions and thoughts! That is the reason why I have continued this story, else it would have died several chapters ago. Thank you to each and every person that reads this story!

That's enough of me - here's the story

Disclaimer - SM owns everything Twilight related, including a large part of my obsessive brain, but at least she lets us play!

Edward's POV

"Alice, leave me alone. I don't want to talk about anything right now," I told her. I was upset with Jasper, but that did not mean I had to take it out on his mate.

"Edward, you need to talk about it," she said. I shook my head. "Well, at least tell me what happened," she said. You know how much I hate not knowing something, she said with her mind. Fine, I'll tell her.

"Jasper had decided to play with Bella and me. I think he made her upset with me while I was feeling lust and then he flipped it around. Thing was, I thought we had all agreed to no interference in the bet." I said quietly. I had just realized we were standing outside Bella's room and with the way the night had been going, she was awake and listening.

"I don't think he meant it like that, but more as a harmless prank,"

"Yes, but now I doubt Bella will even look at me, so much as spend any time with me. That's called interfering."

"Edward?" Bella said from behind her door.

Damn, she heard us, Alice thought at me. Of course she heard us, we were standing outside her door talking about her. My night couldn't get any worse.

"What are you and Alice talking about?"

I knew this was coming, but it did not make opening her door and walking in her room any easier.

I opened her door, but did not enter. Her insanely appealing scent had saturated everything in the room and nearly over powered me. I felt the venom pooling, but quickly swallowed it down and viciously stomped on the monster within me that craved nothing besides her blood. This was Bella and right now she was upset. I needed to make it so that she would want to see me after this. That was my focus. That and trying to figure out why this beautiful human girl had such a hold on me.

"Oh, um, it was something from school the other day," I said. Even I was suspicious of the way I sounded.

"Really? Because I thought for some reason it had to do with what happened tonight between you and me. I really think I deserve to know why my emotions were getting played with, don't you?"

"She's got you there Edward," Alice said. I didn't need her to tell me that.

"Great. I'm killing him tonight." I told Alice. She just grimaced at me. You can feel it as well as I can that he's upset with how his prank turned out. Don't be too hard on him, she thought at me.

I sighed before opening her door further and walking in her room. If I had thought her scent was strong before, it was nothing compared to actually being in her room. I had to fight with the monster for dominance again. Unsure of how well I would be able to control myself as this conversation progressed, I had to stop at the edge of the bed. It was probably better to stay back from her anyway.

"Spill," she commanded.

"Well, you see, on Thursday at lunch Emmett and I got into a sort of argument. It was really stupid, but somehow, we came up with the idea of a bet. I agreed to it and that's about it." I knew she wasn't going to accept anything but the full truth, but I had to try.

"And the bet was about?"

"It was… I had a week to get a girl to agree to go on a date with me."

"There was more to it."

"Well, you're the only woman whose thoughts I cannot read. Emmett wanted to keep me from cheating."

"I am pretty sure I know exactly where this went and how far, but I want to hear you say it Edward." Why did she have to hear it? Didn't she know I felt bad enough about this? I never wanted to hurt her, especially not with something as stupid as this. I had to close my eyes before I could answer.

"I bet that I could 'woo' you in a week." There, the cat was out of the bag. I looked away from her. I felt like an idiot for even thinking about taking that bet.

"Let me get this straight, you and Emmett made a bet about me last week and due to said bet Jasper played with our emotions tonight?"

"Yes." I couldn't help but admire her bluntness even as it was tearing into my being.

"Emmett!" she shouted. She must not have realized that our entire family was just outside her door.

He stepped up to where she could see him.

"You and Edward made a bet regarding me, am I correct?"

He nodded. Guess we should have known something like this was going to happen.

She appeared thoughtful for a moment. "I am going to speak with Esme in the morning, but Emmett, if I were you, I would not count on having my video games or movies for a while. And Edward, I think your car may stay here at the house for a while."

She what? Wait, she couldn't take my car! No, this was not going to happen. Emmett's mind was just as befuddled as my own. How could she do this to us? I tried to come up with an argument, but nothing was coming to mind. This was not fair!

Esme must have taken that as her cue to step in. "I think that's fair Bella. Two weeks each. And Jasper, you're not going to be left out either, no video games or movies for you for one week. Does that cover it, Bella?" she nodded.

"I think your father is going to want to speak with you both as well. Emmett, you first," she said. I couldn't even pay attention to what was going on here. Bella must have been feeling more upset about this than what I could have guessed. I didn't know what I was going to be able to do to make her trust me again.

I did not want to leave her when she was so upset, but I could not see how I could convince her to let me try to make it up to her. I wanted so bad to hold her and tell her that I would do anything to make it up to her. She deserved the world after everything she had been through and I just made it worse.

Thinking only of ways that I could try to make it up to her, I slowly turned and started to make my way out of her room.

"No Edward, I want to talk with you for a while longer," she said before I could take more than five steps. I turned back and went to stand where I had been. It was as close as I felt she would let me come. The urge to sit at her side and pull her into my arms was getting stronger.

I don't know when, but sometime over the weekend I had stopped questioning my desire to be closer to her.

"I expect things like this from Emmett, but not from you Edward. You don't get involved in Emmett's games. So why did you have to choose this one to get sucked into? Out of all the other schemes that Emmett plans, you have to get dragged into the one that involves me," she said. I could see the tears she was blinking back and wished to take everything that had happened at that lunch break.

"Bella… I didn't mean to hurt you," I said. I could not look her in the eyes. I did not want to see her cry because of me. I felt so useless just standing there at the end of her bed.

"Well, it looks like you did anyway. Was that the only reason why you spent any time with me this week? Why you sat with me and helped me with my school work or played your piano for me? Was that all to "woo" me, Edward?"

I looked up and saw the tears streaking down her face. If my dead heart could have broken, it would have at the sight. I felt such a strong pull to be near her, to comfort her that my body moved on its own. I went from standing at the foot of her bed to sitting on the edge next to her. Her tears made her scent more powerful, but also filled with salt, reminding me of why it was stronger. I knew then that even if she never forgave me, I deserved every moment of suffering I would feel. That this angel should cry was wrong.

"Bella, I'm so sorry. It was not my intention to hurt you."

"Well, whatever your intentions were, it happened." I knew then that even if she never forgave me, I deserved every moment of suffering I would feel. That this angel next to me should cry was wrong.

"Bella… The first night, I did use that bet as an excuse to spend time with you. But it was only an excuse Bella. I wanted to spend the time with you anyway. I wanted to hear you laugh and start to understand what goes on in that mind of yours. After that, I didn't really even think about that bet. I was spending time with you just to be with you. You're a very interesting person Bella, and I would like to spend more time with you to get to know you even better." I had to let her know that I wasn't going to give up on her. She needed to know that I was going to do whatever I could to convince her to let me stay near her. To still be her friend.

"I can't believe you Edward. It doesn't make any sense. I'm not that interesting, and I thought it was too hard for you to be around me. That I smell too appetizing." She shook her head, new tears making their way down her cheeks.

I was dismayed. Had she not realized that I had fought that battle with the monster that I am? The very thought of her getting hurt because of me, of me taking so much as a drop of her blood sent such a searing pain through my body that it was unthinkable. How could I make her understand that?

"Yes, it's hard to be near you, but it's harder to be away from you, especially when you're hurting," I told her.

I leaned forward and gently wiped away her tears with my thumbs. I felt a current of electricity shoot down my arm from our contact, but rather than being painful, it was pleasant. I ignored it though, right now, Bella's comfort meant more than deciphering what that current meant. That didn't keep me from relishing the feeling of her soft, warm skin beneath my fingers. I could not read her reaction to my touch though and pulled my hands back after her tears were gone.

"It's okay Edward, you don't have to lie to me to try to make me feel better. If you feel guilty, just say so and go. I won't hold you up." My dead heart broke a little more. She didn't believe me. When I am telling her the truth she refuses to hear it as such.

"I'm not trying to make you feel better because I feel guilty. I don't like seeing you in pain Bella. I really don't like seeing you in pain when I'm the one that caused it. What can I do to make this right?" I begged.

She took an excruciating silent minute to answer. Her eyes closed and she scrunched her face as though thinking hard. I saw her bit her lower lip and knew she was struggling with whatever was going on in her mind. I desperately concentrated on her mind, trying to hear anything that was going on in her mind. I almost cried out in frustration at the silence that did not disappear.

"I don't know Edward. I don't think I can tell you that. If you really mean what you said, then you are going to have to come up with it. If I tell you, then it won't mean anything."

"That's fair enough Bella," I said. If it was going to take the rest of her life, I would do anything to convince her to forgive me.

Edward, that's enough for tonight. Let Bella rest and come to my study, Carlisle thought at me. I sighed internally. I did not want to leave Bella, but I knew that I needed to.

"Carlisle is asking for me. I'm sorry Bella, I really did not mean to hurt you." I stood up and quickly left. I knew if I did not leave immediately that I never would leave until she had agreed to forgive me.

I shut her door and leaned back against it. I listened to her sobs and knew that I had messed up. I had never messed anything up so bad in my entire immortal existence.

I pulled myself away from her door to go speak with Carlisle and Esme. Both were being guarded about their thoughts, concentrating on whatever had been going on the rest of their day rather than what they wanted to say to me.

Before I could get to Carlisle's office, Jasper stopped me.

Bro, we need to talk, he thought as he shoved himself away from the wall and into my path.

"Jasper, I do not see what we need to talk about right now."

I want to apologize, Edward. I messed up, worse that what I thought I could. A flash of what he was feeling slipped past the walls that he had built around his own emotions. They were no where near as bad as my own, but I knew then that he had not meant anything more to come of it.

"I do not want to talk about this," I said.

You need to, Edward. You need to talk to someone about it. You love her so much that you are tearing yourself apart with your guilt.

Love? What was he talking about? I didn't love Bella.

"You're wrong," I said. There was no way I could love her. At least not the way that he was implying. If I loved her, it was as my little sister, someone I needed to protect from any harm or pain.

I didn't think you'd believe me right away. You'll discover it for yourself soon enough. Jasper walked past me and made his way down to speak with Alice. His thoughts told me that he really believed what he was thinking was true, but I just could not accept it.

Even if it was true, it wouldn't matter. There was no way that Bella would ever look at me like that so much as love me.

Before anything else could interrupt me, I walked the short distance to Carlisle's office and knocked on the door.

Come in, Edward.

Opening the door, I saw both he and Esme sitting behind his desk. I sighed internally. That always meant that they were speaking as my parents, not as Carlisle and Esme the leaders of this family. The parent role was always more important in this family.

"You know that we heard your conversation with Bella?" Carlisle asked.

"Yes, I do," I answered formally.

"Did you mean everything you said, Edward? Do you really want to make this right for her?" Esme asked. I could see her concern for Bella and her hope that she would be able to forgive us.

"Yes, Esme, I meant every word. I care about her, Esme," but not as more than a brother, "and would do anything she asks of me to make it right."

"Then you know that we are following through with her requests for grounding you," Carlisle said. I grimaced but nodded. But I had meant it. I would do anything to make this right again.

"I know," I said. I looked up at both of them. "Do you think there's a chance she will forgive me? Can I make this right?" I asked.

"Yes, Edward, I think that given time she will forgive you. It is not in her nature to hold grudges," Esme said. Carlisle nodded in agreement. "I know this is going to be hard for you, Edward. We have already noticed how much happier you have been the last few days. Don't push her too hard and give her space to figure this out. She will be able to forgive you. But remember, she has been through so much the past few weeks."

I smiled weakly. It was going to be so hard to sit back and watch her be distant and sad when I wanted nothing more than to shower her in affection and adoration. She should be getting flowers and gifts and be treated as the angel she is, not suffering from the grief of losing her parents and then being made to feel like she was just another girl.

Esme came from around the desk and hugged me tightly. I am still upset with what you and Emmett did, but I can see this is hard on you. I am here for you too if you need to talk, Esme reminded me. I smiled. She truly was my mother as much as my biological mother had been.

"Thank you, Mom," I said. It was times like these that I liked to remind her the place she had in my heart.

Carlisle place his hand on my shoulder, Edward, I know that this is hard for you, but don't forget that it is just as hard for Bella. We are her family now and we have to treat her as such. I nodded. He was right, we had not treated her as family. I'm sure Emmett and Jasper had already been told as much. We would not make the same mistake in the future.

I took that as my dismissal and walked out of their office to my piano.

I let my hands wander the keys, just hearing the perfect tones of each note and chord. It was not long before the same piece that had been haunting my mind since Thursday started to surface. It was a lullaby, that much I could tell, but it felt unfinished, there was something missing.

I toyed with different chords and scales before I settled with just playing the part that I had. The rest would come as it saw fit. That was the way I always composed my music.

I was pulled from my music by the softest whisper from upstairs. I knew whose room it emanated from and I found myself being pulled up the stairs. I opened her door, careful not to make a sound. My mind barely registered the delicious aroma that was Bella as I drifted to her bed.

Her blankets were getting tangled around her free leg and torso and her eyes were blinking and moving from side to side. It was then that I knew she was dreaming, but whatever it was about could not be pleasant. She was restless, her lips moving and face scrunching as though in pain.

"No, Edward, don't," she said. It was so quiet I almost did not catch it. My still heart plummeted to my feet. Even in her dreams I upset her. I saw the glimmer of a tear just before it slid down her cheek. Her mouth continued moving in silence while I stood there in my own personal hell.

"Please… don't go. Edward, I'm so alone," she said louder than before. My eyes opened wide to hear those words. Did she… could she… can she really care so much?

"Shh, Bella, don't cry. I'm here," I said as gentle as a feather. My hand moved to her cheek to catch the next tear before it could add its moisture to her cheek. I expected her to pull back from my cold touch but she surprised me and instead turned her face so my hand was cupping her cheek.

"I will be here for as long as you ask me to stay," I whispered in her ear and began to hum the lullaby I composed. She sighed and her breathing began to even out, her face relaxed. Minutes later her eyes lessened their movements and I observed her fall into a deep sleep.

I was elated. She did not want me to go at all. She wanted me to stay. She felt comfortable around me, enough so that I could soothe her troubled sleep. I knew that should bother me, but my heart would not let my logical brain take over.

After I made sure she was deep asleep, I ghosted my way back to my piano. Without me even being aware of it, I had finished the lullaby when I was humming it to Bella. I wanted to hear how it sounded my piano.

It sounded just like I had thought it would. Beautiful and gentle and loving, just like Bella. She had even helped me name it.

It was Bella's Lullaby.

A/N - Again, thank you for reading, and please click the review button below and tell me your thoughts. I reply to each and every single review and take what you say and try to make it a part of the story. You are my inspiration, my friends! I look forward to seeing your thoughts and ideas and suggestions. :-)

faeriegal/Amber