Okay, I know a lot of you are really wanting to see the reasoning behind Bella's rejection. Well, you're only going to get a taste of it. Sorry, but I promise the whole thing is coming in the next chapter. This is the first part of what I like to call "The Friday Night From Hell" scene. It's all EPOV. Read away!

Except I'm going to be annoying and leave a longer than average A/N. Shout out to tahughes who reviewed every single chapter. That made my day :) I swear, I'm officially done rambling. READ!


EPOV

To say things had become awkward would be a gross understatement. I had never been rejected before, not by a girl at least. Her explanation was maddening.

"I just really can't handle that label right now. I like where we are and I like the idea of being with you, but I just need to figure some stuff out first. When I'm ready, you'll be the second to know." Her voice trailed off and was followed by a deafening click. She fucking hung up on me. And why the hell would I be second in line? Were there other guys? A flare of jealousy passed through me. This girl had me completely beside myself. She obviously had some feelings for me, but they were scattered and unfocused. Our brief encounters after the party had been really uncomfortable, we just didn't know how to act around each other. I would say something to start conversation, but she'd let it fall flat. She would offer a compliment, and I would only return a gruff 'Thanks'. It was getting a little stale.

Three days after the party, I decided I was done waiting for her to make up her mind. I drove furiously to Jasper's, weaving in and out of the tail end of rush hour traffic. It was a little past 6:30, and I knew she wouldn't be really busy for another hour or so, when the pre-concert crowed would show up. I didn't know exactly what it was about her, but Bella stirred something in me that made it impossible to let her go so easily. I was emotionally invested now, it's time she was too. I threw open the heavy front door, meeting her gaze immediately.

"Edward? This is a nice surprise." Her genuine smile caught me off guard and completely erased all my anger. Maybe she wasn't lying when she said she wanted to be with me, just not as my girlfriend.

"Um, yeah." My carefully scripted rant seemed rather pointless now. I now had to wing everything. "I missed you." I confessed quietly as I took a seat across from her. She saw through me easily, though.

"Look, I'm sorry about how things turned out earlier. It wasn't my intention to hurt you." She looked down at her fingernails, and picking the left-over red nail polish off suddenly became interesting. "I do like you." She looked up at me through her lashes, and her coy smile rendered me speechless.

"I-I like you too. A lot." It was amazing how she could reduce me to a stammering teenage boy asking a girl to the big dance. "What I mean to say is that I'm willing to wait."

"Really?" A huge grin broke out on her face, and my chest swelled with pride knowing that I'd put it there. I nodded like a puppy and she leaped over the bar (with zero grace) and flew into my chest for an unexpected hug. "Thank you." She whispered in my ear. Her warm breath so close to my neck made my knees weak, and I was glad I was firmly planted on the bar stool. We awkwardly released each other when Jasper's snort broke our little moment. I helped her safely to the other side of the bar.

For the next couple weeks, things progressed. Slowly, but I wasn't going to sneeze at it. Holding hands in public was a big jump for us. Us. I fucking loved being able to say that. She warned me early and often that she couldn't handle much PDA, so I was constantly aware of my body language to make sure she was comfortable. Everything was going perfectly, that is, until the last Friday of July.

"So what are you playing tonight?" Bella asked while pouring a beer for a ragged looking tourist, most likely a hiker in need of respite.

"Some covers. Oh, and Mike wants to try out his newest sickening love song."

"What's this one called?" She smirked.

"I can't believe I'm going to say this. It's called 'If I could Love You Forever', and I'm sure he'll be crooning it to Jess Stanley later tonight." I stuck my finger in my mouth and pretended to gag.

"Still not as bad as 'Starlit Butterfly Kisses'. That's probably the worst." She laughed, her dark hair bouncing slightly with the motion.

"Oh god, I forgot about that one." I raised my Coke to clink with her glass of water. "Here's to Mike forgetting about it too." Soon after our toast, Emmett came to tell me to help the band set up. I left Bella with a wink and a hand squeeze before joining the guys backstage.

"Big crowd tonight boys!" Ben Cheney announced as we tuned our instruments.

"Yeah, let's hope you don't piss your pants this time!" Emmett guffawed before ducking out of the way of the drumstick Ben launched his way.

"That was one fucking time! Plus my Angela was watching us for the first time..." Ben and Angela had been an item for as long as the band had been together, and she rarely missed a show. They had what I wanted with Bella; something stable and loving.

I peeked out the dingy curtain to look at her behind the bar, but she wasn't there. Odd, she never took breaks on show nights, it was just too busy.

"Let's get this party started!" Emmett shouted and slapped me on the back. Soon we were in our familiar places on stage, and Ben's drumming carried us into our first song. Again I scanned the bar for Bella, but I saw only a frazzled Rosalie and a really creepy guy giving me the stink-eye. It was getting fucking scary, by our third song, our own twist on Jon McLaughlin's 'Industry', I was sure he was going out of his way to make eye contact with me. I was so distracted that I barely heard Mike announce his new song.

"Edward! It's your intro." Ben hissed, his hand covering his microphone. I nodded and plowed into the disgustingly sweet and generic chords I had memorized last week. My thoughts were jarred out of focus with a sudden roar of applause. She still wasn't at the bar, and creepy guy looked really fucking pissed off, turning shades of red and purple. He finally stormed off, shoving several people out of his way to get to the exit.

I packed up my sheet music and helped Emmett put away his amps in his monster van when Alice rushed into the parking lot.

"Edward! You've got to come quick, Bella's having a serious panic attack or something." She panted. I knew there was something wrong when she disappeared from the bar.

"Where is she?" I yelled, my volume surprised even myself.

"She's in Jasper's office, bawling her eyes out." Worry was burned into her delicate face, and I knew that whatever was going on wasn't trivial.

I took off towards the back door that led to the office and employee's bathroom. I threw open the door, praying that she wasn't hurt. My entrance produced a guttural scream from Bella that tore me to shreds.

"It's him!" She cried and covered her eyes with her arm. Her fear paralyzed me. Rosalie held her close, rocking her slightly.

"Shh. No baby, it's just Edward. I promise it's not him." She was curled up in the fetal position on Jasper's chair, looking broken and scared. I dropped down to my knees in front of her and stroked her tiny hand. Two things I could see very clearly. One, was Bella; hurt and clearly upset. Two, was red; red because I was so angry at the motherfucker who did this to her. I would find him, castrate him, and then kill him.

"Bella, baby what happened?" I whispered into her hair. She flew off the chair and into my arms where she sobbed some more.

"H-he's b-back. H-he c-came lo-looking f-for m-me." She hiccuped from crying. I crushed her into my chest and silently vowed to make this right. Whatever the cost.


More than likely, it'll be a quick update for part 2, sleepless nights really help me pump out the chapters. I promise this cliffy won't last long, and all will be revealed. Much love and review. :)