Thanks for the reviews!! Now, some bad news... I may be able to update a chapter tomorrow. After that though might be a problem, I don't know if I'll be able to update for a few weeks. But stick with me. I'll get it finished over the hols so there'll be no excuses for updating after that ;D anyway, enjoy this one. I DID.

Chapter Eleven: The Piano

Bella

As I got ready for school the next day, I deliberately wore low-rise jeans and a short t-shirt that sat just above my bellybutton, eager to show off my new piercing. I was so proud of it, and really glad I had gotten it done. I should have done it sooner.

I arrived bang on time to school - which was a first, as I usually was too late or too early most days - and found Alice practically jumping up and down with excitement next to my usual parking space. She beamed at me in greeting.

"Hey, Alice," I grinned, jumping out of the truck. "What's new?"

"I just saw Edward Cullen arrive on his motorbike, and guess what?"

"He has his eyebrow pierced?" I pretended to guess.

"How did you know?!" Alice pouted, disappointed the element of surprise was gone. "Ah well, doesn't matter. I must say, it really adds to both his danger and sex factor. It suits him fabulously. And Jessica Stanley was just telling me that he did it himself last night because Emmett dared him to. Imagine piercing yourself in the eyebrow!" Alice exclaimed, shuddering.

"That's not true," I snorted.

"And how do you know?" Alice demanded, indignant.

"Because I was there when he got the piercing," I blurted.

She goggled at me. "What?!"

I pointed at my stomach, and she goggled at that too. I saw it click in her brain as she put it together, as only Alice could.

"Oh my God. You got a piercing with Edward Cullen. Oh my God."

"It was fun. He paid for it and everything," I told her, amused by her expression of amazement.

"What's going on?" Rosalie appeared at our sides, frowning concernedly at Alice, who was still gawping at my stomach.

"Hey, Rose," I greeted, and Alice just pointed wordlessly at my piercing. Rosalie followed her gaze, her eyebrows raised.

"I didn't know you had your bellybutton pierced," she said to me interestedly, still looking confused by Alice's expression.

"She got it done yesterday," Alice announced. "With Edward Cullen."

Rosalie's mouth fell open too. "No way!" She looked at me for confirmation, and I nodded. I was still amused at Alice's theatrics over the whole thing, so there was a smile tugging at the corners of my mouth.

"Edward has his eyebrow newly pierced," Alice informed Rosalie. "The two of them are freaking piercing buddies."

I laughed, rolling my eyes.

"This is unbelievable," Alice shook her head. "All these years we've been at school with Edward Cullen, and we hear all these stories and we think we have some idea of what he's like… and then Bella moves here, and he's acting like a totally different person!"

"Dude," Rosalie said, staring at me with wide eyes. "What have you done to Edward Cullen?"

Edward

I couldn't help noticing that people were staring at my eyebrow all day, and whispering behind their hands - it was pathetic. Didn't these people have anything better to do rather than discuss and analyse my every move?

Probably not.

I managed to hear snatches of the gossip flowing around the school; they had all seen Bella's piercing too, and apparently put two and two together. How clever they all were.

I had noticed Bella earlier, by her truck, with her friends. She'd been wearing these tight little jeans and a short t-shirt. I hadn't been in school on her first day, but Emmett had described her to me, and said that she was wearing baggy clothes, the kind that celebrities would wear to remain inconspicuous as they were running to the corner shop to buy condoms.

She hadn't wanted to be noticed when she first came here, but she wanted to be noticed today.

I had to be having some sort of an influence on her. I was convinced she wasn't the same girl who had first moved here a few weeks ago, all quiet and shy and desperate to blend into the wallpaper. Well, she was the same girl, but I was just bringing her out of her shell.

I had tentatively begun trying my hand at bad romance, and I was convinced I was doing a terrible job. She laughed at me when I asked for a kiss. That had just been painful - I was so not doing that again in a hurry. I just knew I had to prove to her that I wasn't all jerk-off, like I had been acting for the past while.

A part of me was wondering whether or not I was going too far, though; romancing her and gaining her trust, only to throw it all away at the end of it all, just for a few hundred dollars. It seemed… cruel. Twisted. I would win the bet, but I wanted to remain friends with her, if I could.

The realisation that I actually kind of liked Bella Swan was beginning to dawn on me.

She was feisty. Stubborn as hell. Witty. Rather hot in those jeans.

But I didn't like like her, just to be clear. I didn't mix business and pleasure, and to me, Bella Swan was just business.

I walked up to her in the cafeteria at lunchtime, just to create further scandal. She was standing in the line, evidently still deciding on what she wanted, and I casually skipped the queue. I could feel nosy eyes watching us, sneaking glances and nudging each other.

"Nice piercing," I said, shoving myself into the space next to her.

She smiled. "Thanks. Nice piercing yourself."

"Why, thank you," I smirked.

"Any particular reason why you skipped the now irate queue to talk to me?" she wondered, raising her eyebrows.

"Well," I drawled, "I wanted to know if you felt like coming to my house after school."

Emmett would be out, and I wanted to know what would happen when I got her all alone.

"What?" she said, looking as though she thought she hadn't heard me correctly.

"My house. After school."

"Why?" she threw at me.

"Why not?" I countered.

She paused. "Because I don't know what you want from me, and I don't want to be used."

I was taken aback for a second by her honesty. She was holding my gaze now, her brown eyes blazing, and I didn't know why I said what I did.

"Bella, ask yourself this," I said. "Compare the Edward Cullen they talk about, to the one you're getting to know. Are they exactly the same?"

She just looked at me.

"The real Edward Cullen hangs out at my house after school," I shrugged, still not knowing what all this real Edward Cullen stuff was coming from. "You can be there, if you want."

I thought she was going to stand there all day, assessing me, but then she nodded.

"OK," she said.

"OK," I repeated, suddenly blasted by an unexplainable guilt. "I'll see you later, then."

I walked away, the stares making me increasingly paranoid. I was trying to ignore the little voice in the back of my head, the one I usually managed to block out, but it was yelling at me today.

I was just lying to myself, as well as lying to Bella. The real Edward Cullen liked to mess around with people if it meant winning money. How much would the real Edward Cullen be interested in Bella Swan if there were no bet existing?

Who the hell was the real Edward Cullen, anyway?

Bella

Oh my God, he just asked me to go to his house with him.

To hang out. Just hanging out.

I wanted to ask Alice's advice, and Rosalie's, but I already knew what they were going to say. They'd advise against it, tell me not to go, tell me not to trust him. I would just listen to their advice, but go and do it anyway. Just like all the other times. I hadn't consulted the girls every time Edward showed up at my door wanting me to go somewhere with him, or asked if I wanted to skip class with him.

I felt a wild mix of emotions; nervousness, excitement, confusion, apprehension, curiosity… I had a list of reasons not to go, and some voice in my head out-screaming them and telling me to just see what would happen.

I had already decided what to do though. My internal debate was raging, but it was already decided that I was going. I was going to Edward Cullen's house after school. To hang out.

"You coming back to ours?" Rosalie asked, after the last bell rang, and the school was beginning to evacuate for the day.

"I'm going to someone else's house today," I confessed quietly, all too aware of Alice and Jasper waiting on us nearby, and not wanting a full interrogation.

"You have other friends?" Rosalie choked, pretending to be horrified.

I laughed. "I wish it weren't so."

"Who's stealing you away from us, then?" she asked, but then her eyes widened. "You're going to Edward's, aren't you?!" she guessed excitedly.

"Ssh!" I said, flapping my arms at her. "You'll set Alice off."

"Who said my name?" Alice had moved closer to us; it seemed she had an instinct that drew her close to people who had information worth knowing.

Rosalie just smirked at me. "Doesn't matter, Al. Come on, we're going."

"Don't be a bitch, wait for Bella!"

"Bella has something else to attend to, which she is going to ring me and tell me about later," Rosalie said, with a pointed look at me. I nodded, grinning.

"What is it? What is she doing?" Alice looked torn between questioning me and finding out from Rosalie, but before she had a chance to decide, Jasper had taken her hand.

"See you later, Bella," he said amusedly, dragging Alice along.

"But -"

"Bye, guys!" I said, fighting the urge to laugh. Rosalie could not have been less subtle, and Alice couldn't be more nosy; I felt a strong burst of affection for my friends.

And along came the guilt. They were only looking out for me, by warning against Edward. Any people who were worth being called friends would warn you against the guy with the bad reputation.

Damn Edward, for being so attractive and annoying and annoyingly mysterious.

"Well, sweetheart, are you ready yet?"

Speak of the devil, and the devil shall appear.

I turned around, and there was Edward, smirking at me expectantly.

"Yes," I said, trying to act all casual, as though I went to his house every day.

"D'ya want to ride on the bike? I can drop you to school tomorrow morning?"

"Nah, I'll just follow you in my truck," I said, thinking I should probably limit my motorbike riding until when it was necessary. I'd hate for anyone Charlie might know to see me sitting on the back of it, and wonder if he knew.

"Fine," Edward shrugged. "Well hurry up then, 'cause if you fall behind and get lost, I won't be sending out a search party."

I huffed. Charming.

Despite Edward weaving through the traffic irritatingly, I managed to keep up with him enough to follow him directly to his house. The last time I had been here I had arrived on the back of Edward's bike at around five in the morning, so my memory of how you got there was a bit sketchy.

I parked my rusty and rattling old truck next to the shiny motorbike and a silver Volvo self-consciously, noting the absence of Emmett's jeep. Had Edward known Emmett would be out today? Did he plan on me coming over in advance?

Edward was already strolling towards his house when I climbed out of the truck, so I followed him, fidgeting nervously. I had no idea what hanging out with Edward Cullen meant. Or the real Edward Cullen, as he had said himself. I wondered who that guy was.

I caught up with him as he was unlocking his front door, and he held it open for me. I walked inside, admiring the décor once again. Whoever designed it had nice taste.

"So, where's Emmett today?" I asked, anxious to fill the loud silence that descended once Edward had closed the door.

"I think he's trying out for the football team," Edward said, rolling his eyes. His expression changed suddenly, and became rather hostile. "If you want, though, I'll invite you over here on a day when I know he'll be home, next time."

"What do you mean?" I demanded, bewildered.

"Is Emmett's absence such a big disappointment to you?" Edward asked icily, raising his eyebrows. I was still confused as to why he was acting like a tool all of a sudden, and I was immediately defensive.

"I don't care where Emmett is, I was just wondering. There's no need to attack me over it," I snapped.

"Are you sure you don't care where he is?" Edward sneered.

"Yeah, I'm sure, you total -" I stopped suddenly, realisation hitting me like a slap in the face. "Oh, I get it. You think I'm only here to see Emmett."

Edward just frowned at me.

"You're jealous?" I guessed, and his expression changed to outrage.

"You wish, Bella. I don't care what's going on with you and Emmett."

"It sure as hell looks to me like you do, Edward, or you wouldn't be acting like such a jerk-off now."

"I'm not acting like anything," he growled, striding away from me. I followed him.

"I'm not acting like anything," I imitated his moody tone to prove my point, and he snorted.

"Really mature," he drawled sarcastically.

"Yeah, almost as mature as you having a tantrum for no reason. I'm not interested in Emmett," I told him. He just looked at me.

"Do I care?" he shrugged.

"I don't know," I said, raising my eyebrows. "Do you?"

There was a silence, and I refused to drop his gaze. My heart was throwing itself painfully against my ribcage, having palpitations at the thought that Edward might be jealous of Emmett and I having kissed that night. Would that mean he liked me? As in, properly, and not just enough to endure me for a day? And what would happen then if he did?

Edward sighed, and rolled his eyes. "I'm not in the mood for this."

"Well, you started it."

"Mature, yet again."

"Whatever, Edward. Whatever."

There was another pause, and I found my eyes wandering around the room. There was a bookcase and a couch and a beautifully woven rug on the floor, but the main piece in the room was definitely the grand piano. It was huge. Edward caught me looking at it, and raised an eyebrow. The one with the piercing.

"That has to beat the keyboard, right?" I asked, hoping he'd allow me to change the subject. I didn't come to his house just to argue with him.

"Yeah," he said, sighing again and heading towards it. "I only play it when there's nobody in the house. You can hear it in every room."

"Self conscious?"

"Something like that. I just want to be left in peace while I'm playing," Edward muttered, sitting himself down on the bench and running his fingers lightly along the keys. I wondered whether he was going to play something for me, or whether he'd feel too self conscious to. I moved closer to the piano, and then froze.

Edward suddenly launched into Clair de Lune, and my mouth fell open. The way he played was effortless, his fingers moving across the keys like he wasn't even thinking about it, like it was natural to him. The sweet music filled the room, rich and pure, raising goose bumps along the surface of my skin. Edward's expression was clear, peaceful, content; there was no trace of sarcasm or condescension in his face. No trace of jerk-off was apparent. I was mesmerised.

When the music ended, the final notes hung in the air, reverberating in my ears.

"Wow," was all I could say, when I had recovered.

Edward looked up at me, like he had just remembered I was there. He shrugged at my compliment, his eyes returning to the keys.

"Seriously, Edward," I said, my skin still tingling. "That was amazing. I couldn't make a piano sound like that."

He smirked suddenly, and looked up at me again. "It's not that hard to learn," he said. "I'll teach you."

"Teach me?" I said warily. Knowing me, I'd probably cause the piano to spontaneously combust just by touching it.

"Yeah," he said, with a smile that was impossible to trust. "Come here, I'll show you."

I reluctantly moved closer to the piano. "Scoot over, then," I said, indicating the small bench he was sitting on. He didn't move, and I raised my eyebrows, waiting expectantly. He just gazed at me, and then patted his lap.

"Sit."

"On your lap?" I stuttered, my heart rate kicking up a gear.

"Yep," Edward smirked. "Problem?" His eyes were almost daring me to object, and I inhaled deeply. I walked slowly towards him, keeping my eyes locked on his, my heart thudding so loudly I was surprised he couldn't hear it. He sat back, giving me room to sit down, still with that smirk on his face.

I perched gingerly on his lap, unable to believe what I was doing. I could feel Edward's breath blowing against my ear, and he shifted underneath me, his arms reaching around me and taking my hands. He covered them with his, and placed them on the keyboard.

"Any particular song you want to request?" he murmured in my ear, and I tried to suppress a shiver.

"Don't mind," I said, and I watched as his fingers spread out to cover all of mine. He pressed down lightly, and In The End by Linkin Park began to flow from the piano. Edward guided my fingers along the keys, his breath tickling my ear the whole time.

My concentration began to slip; I was too aware of Edward. Sometimes I thought I was imagining it, but I was sure that he was smelling my hair, nuzzling at my neck.

I didn't think about what I was doing. All my instincts, or whatever they were, told me to tilt my head to the side, and that's what I did. I felt my hair falling from my shoulder, exposing my bare neck, and my heart spluttered and jerked as I felt his warm breath on my skin.

Edward kissed my neck. My eyes closed, and everything else was forgotten… my hands lay limp on the keyboard, and I barely registered as Edward intertwined our fingers… all I could feel were his lips, running along the surface of my neck, leaving a trail of fiery tingles. My head fell back against his shoulder as I felt him bite me lightly, and my fingers clenched around his when he started sucking on my skin.

It would leave a mark. I didn't care. I didn't want him to stop.

I couldn't think anymore; I was overcome by urges and wants and needs and all kinds of things I didn't previously realise had existed. I wanted more. I wanted to kiss him. The voice of sensibility, the one I always listened to, had been drowned out to a faint whisper. I wanted to listen to the voice telling me to turn around and kiss him.

"Bella…" Edward whispered against my skin, and I nearly combusted. "Turn around…"

No need to tell me twice. I felt all my muscles lock into position, preparing to twist me in his lap the few inches I needed to face him… my heart was beating way too fast, my breathing was unsteady and shallow, and both of them sped up even further with anticipation…

An unwanted noise penetrated my haze. A door. The front door. Banging. I was confused. Why would it bang, unless someone was coming in…?

Edward tensed suddenly, as though he had heard it too. That meant I can't have imagined it.

"I'M HOME!" bellowed the oh-too-familiar voice of Emmett. "HELLO?! DON'T IGNORE ME, EDWARD, I KNOW YOU'RE HERE! AND JUDGING BY THE PIECE OF SHIT TRUCK OUTSIDE, SO IS BELLA! WHERE ARE YE BOTH?!"

I jumped up like I'd been scalded. I moved away from Edward rapidly, just as Emmett sauntered into the room.

"There ye are!" Emmett boomed. "And Bluebell, fancy seeing you here," he added, winking.

"Emmett!" Edward snapped, saying his name as though it were an expletive. "What are you doing back so early?"

"Well, it started raining, as you can see," he explained, gesturing to the window, and sure enough there were sprinklings of water against the glass. "So Wimpy Mike Newton had a girly fit at the thought of us all spraining our ankles in the training field, so the tryouts are rescheduled. Load of bull," Emmett said, rolling his eyes. "Why?" he said, suddenly suspicious, a slow grin spreading across his face. "Did I interrupt something?"

I wanted to laugh at the understatement of the century, and for just a second, I saw Edward's lips twitch too.

"Not at all, Emmett," I intervened, with a remarkable attempt at breeziness. "And what were you saying about my truck?"

"I called it a piece of shit," Emmett said, thankfully going along with the subject change.

"My truck could be your jeep's grandfather. Have some respect for your elders."

Emmett just sniggered, his eyes on Edward now.

"Was he showing off?" he asked me, gesturing at the piano. "I'll bet he was and all. What's up with your face, grumpy?"

Edward just sighed exasperatedly, and stood up. "Nothing, bro. Absolutely nothing."

I fidgeted for a second, wondering what to do. Stay or go? I wanted to stay, but the waves of electricity radiating in the space between Edward and I were driving me crazy, and I needed to think. I needed to get my head straight.

"You know what, I told Rosalie I'd call in, so I think I'll head over there now," I said, and in my peripheral vision I saw Edward finally look in my direction.

"Aw, alright," Emmett said. "Tell Rosalie I can't wait to see her Friday night," he added with a wink.

"OK," I smiled, delighted to hear they were going out someplace. "See you later then." I walked around Emmett towards the door, and I couldn't help myself; I looked over my shoulder at Edward.

He was staring straight at me, his eyes smouldering and burning, and I wanted to melt. I felt the electricity dart between us again, and I broke his gaze, in desperate need to think this through before anything happened.

"Bye, Bella," I heard him say, and I mumbled a reply.

The cold air outside hit me like a thunderbolt. Everything I had ever been told about Edward Cullen came back to me. He knew how to charm women. He'd probably used those scorching eyes on them all. I shouldn't fall for his trap. I shouldn't be wondering when would be the next time we'd get a moment alone. I shouldn't have wanted to kiss him. I shouldn't still want to kiss him.

I didn't like him… right?

What the hell just happened?