Disclaimer: Ms. Meyer owns all.

author's note: By this point you already know, BUT Our Tree will alternate between the year 2000 (which for all practical purposes is present day) and years past. This story is AU. You will see many characters from the Twi-universe, but the focus is the relationship btwn Edward and Bella. Rated M for adult/"heavy" situations. (If this were a movie, it would be rated PG-13.)

My beta (the AWESOME klarsen18) and I decided that it would be best to split this chapter into 2 parts. For some reason I am getting wordier as this thing goes on!

Chpt. 11 takes place in E and B's junior year in 1991.

Chapter Eleven –Part 1: The Upside of Kryptonite (1991)

"She's beautiful. Beyond beautiful." I was perched on my beanbag eating M&Ms and watching Julia Roberts portray Vivian; the most wonderful, most likeable call girl ever known to the world.

"She may just be the most perfect woman alive." Alice looked up at me with wide sincere eyes.

She was lying on her stomach on top of my bed. Her face was glued to my tiny T.V., whose picture annoyingly alternated between color and black and white. She only let her eyes stray over to me every now and then so we could talk about all things Julia.

"She makes being a prostitute look glamorous." I ran my fingers through my straight brown hair and wondered if Ogilvie and auburn hair dye could make a Julia out of me. Then I quickly concluded that even if I could pull off the hair I'd have to find a way to get an effervescent toothy smile and rocking body. Impossible.

"You people work on commission, right?" Alice started in, channeling her best Vivian. She quoted the movie lines flawlessly in sync with Julia as they played out before us.

"Yeah." I channeled my best snooty Rodeo Drive sales assistant.

"Big mistake. Big. Huge. I have to go shopping now." Alice finished grandly, nailing our very favorite line of the movie verbatim.

All eleven times Alice and I had watched my new VHS copy of Pretty Woman, we ended up randomly quoting lines as we watched. Somehow, Alice always ended up taking the role of Vivian, while I was whoever else happened to be in the scene. It irked me a little, but when it came down to it, it made way more sense for Alice to portray the hooker.

"I love what Julia has on in this scene," Alice gushed, using a new accent she'd adopted that hinted at British. "Total class."

"I like it too, but my favorite outfit is the brown sleeveless dress with white polka dots she wears at the horse…"

I didn't get to finish what I saying because Alice vehemently shushed me. I knew without having to look, that Barney, the manager of the posh hotel had appeared on screen. Most girls, including myself, were all about Richard Gere. Alice only had eyes for Hector Elizondo, who she called mature, superhot and Latino. In other words, he was her version of the triple threat. For that week anyway.

"You are so weird," I laughed, chucking an M&M at her, barely missing her right eye. "But I love you anyway."

"What's not to love?" she said through a giggle as she reached down from the bed and thumped my head lightly. Then she ruffled my hair, which she knew I loathed, because I had the kind of hair that didn't just fall into place.

She managed to do all of this while not once taking her eyes off Hector. Then still without looking at what she was doing, she skillfully reached into my bag of candy and grabbed a handful, which she shoved into her mouth in one fell swoop.

My Alice was one of a kind.

I nonchalantly smoothed my tresses back into place and snuggled into my beanbag. Just as I was preparing to become engrossed in my favorite scene of the entire movie; the one where Edward takes Vivian to the opera, I heard my window slide open. Edward just barely maneuvered his tall sinewy frame through the confines of it.

"Hey," he said, as his feet landed on my carpet. "What up?" Then he turned to shut the window behind him.

"Hey," Alice and I mumbled in unison, without even bothering to look at him.

He glanced over at what we were watching, and out came the requisite groan, followed by, "Not again. What is this? You're sixteenth time?"

He plopped down heavily on my bed next to Alice and the mattress wobbled, which thoroughly annoyed her. She snatched the remote from my side table, as she dramatically rolled her eyes and pushed the pause button in a very over-pronounced movement.

Here we go again. I thought to myself, preparing for a Saturday afternoon verbal sparring match.

"Nice Kurt Cobain look," Alice said flatly, while eyeing Edward's clothes with a look of disdain.

"It's not the Kurt Cobain look." His chest puffed out a bit and he sat up straighter. "It's a flannel shirt and hiking boots."

"Same difference," she huffed, with her mouth in a scowl. "Ever heard of the grunge movement, Edward?"

"I don't know, Alice. Ever seen what people wear who camp and hike?" His lips were a thin line and his jaw was firm. He was already near his boiling point after only three minutes in her presence. Things were definitely not looking good.

"Oh yeah, I forgot you are like this Grizzly Adams guy now."

"You've got to be freaking kidding me," he replied through a clenched jaw to no one in particular. Then he looked quite pointedly at me, his eyes widening slightly. He was nonverbally employing me as referee, whether I was up for it or not.

For the past few months I had served in this role more often than I'd like to admit. My two best friends simply did not get along. Part of it was just a personality clash. And part of it had to do with the fact that Edward felt like Alice "treated me like crap and didn't deserve me."

On the other hand, Alice harbored ill feelings toward Edward, as she believed he was "selfish and spent his life taking from me and never giving back."

Who could really determine the true genesis of their animosity? Perhaps it was a combination of all of the above, plus just some good old-fashioned competition. In our case, it was invariably true that three's a crowd.

"Okay you two," I interjected, feeling totally like the mother of two toddlers. "Break it up. I'm so over the constant bickering already."

Alice rolled her eyes for the fifteenth time and snatched the M&M's bag from me. Edward sat tensely on the side of my bed staring a hole in my wall while his knee bounced up and down in a rapid rhythm.

"So Edward," I said calmly, very intentionally redirecting us. "Did you get it?"

"Did he get what?" Alice inquired. She hated nothing more than being out of the loop, whether it was a loop she belonged in or not.

"His car." I looked over at her trying to include her in our conversation, feeling more like a mediator, counselor, or maybe even a Kindergarten teacher by the minute. "Or is it a truck?" This time I looked at Edward.

"The El Camino is a truck. And yes, I got it," Edward muttered, rubbing the back of his neck briskly.

I squealed and clapped my hands in excitement. "So does that mean I get to go on the maiden voyage? Please say I do!"

He shook his head with his eyes closed, as a smile--one he was clearly trying to fight back--crept across his face. "Yes, Bells, you get to go on the maiden voyage."

Then he took a deep breath and with a very efforted voice said to Alice, "And you can come too if you wanna."

Granted it was forced and insincere, but my heart swelled with pride at Edward, knowing just how incredibly difficult that little gesture had been for him. Taken aback, Alice's brown-black eyes widened a bit and her countenance softened, but only for a millisecond. She quickly regained her composure.

"You guys go on without me. Might be a little, uh, tight in there with the three of us."

Inwardly, I was relieved she didn't accept his invitation. It really would have been a tight fit in there, and it had nothing to do with the physical limitations of the cab.

"Al, you can stay here and finish the movie if you want. We'll be back soon."

"Okay, sure." She was already reaching for the remote and cramming her mouth with another handful of M&M's. She had the movie back on in no time, and was completely absorbed in it before we even left the room.

Edward and I headed out through my window, never once thinking to use my front door. When it came to us, the window was the front door. As we walked side by side down the yard, he mumbled incessantly under his breath, no doubt about Alice. The mumbling didn't stop until we came upon his prized possession.

It was a blue and white 1977 El Camino--the El Cam as we would come to call it. As it sat there in my driveway, a shining beacon of freedom to Edward, it proved the adage true that one's man trash is another man's treasure.

He had saved money for two years so he could buy himself a car. His mom certainly couldn't afford to buy him one. His dad was chronically strapped for cash as he supported his "replacement kids," as Edward called them, and a wife who had a penchant for the finer things. Edward determined he would get a car on his own, and on that chilly fall day, of our Junior year, he did just that. Granted, it wasn't the sliver 1988 Volvo he really wanted, but it was a vehicle and he'd secured it all on his own.

"I love it!" I exclaimed, as I took it in with my eyes.

I meant it with all my heart. It was old and slightly rusted, and truthfully a piece of junk. I really did love it because when I looked at it, I didn't see a beat up piece of metal. I saw the boy I loved and the hard persistent work he'd put in to buy it.

I opened the squeaky passenger side door, which took an inordinate amount of upper body strength, and hopped in. "And I like that it's low enough to the ground that I can easily get in." I added brightly. "Real trucks are a pain for short people like me."

"This is a real truck, Bella," he corrected me as he slid into the driver seat.

"I meant tall trucks are a pain," I quickly backpedaled, making a mental note to never degrade the El Cam in that way again.

"You have to pull hard two times and really quick to get the seat belt to come out, otherwise it sticks." He demonstrated the process with the belt on his side. I copied what he did and thankfully managed to pull my mine out and click it in with only minimal effort.

"I brought a mix tape for us to listen to," I said cheerfully, fishing around for the cassette in my fake vinyl Dooney and Bourke. "I just can't do Skid Row today."

"And what's so bad about Skid Row?"

"You're on a music jag, Edward, and it's about to kill me. The heavy metal stuff makes me edgy and jittery. Worst of all it makes me feel like I need to clean something vigorously."

"What are you, 80 years old?" he jabbed.

I reached over, sticking out my middle knuckle, and punched his shoulder. He didn't move an inch. Not even a semblance of a flinch.

"Didn't I frog you?" I asked, disappointed by his lack of reaction.

"Not quite," he smirked. "But good try, Little Bit."

"Shoot!" I grinned, slapping the dashboard in mock frustration. "I was hoping to inflict some serious pain. By the way, you know how I feel about that nickname."

"I do know how you feel about it." He looked straight ahead of him out the front windshield, but I could see the smile in his eyes. "I'll work with you on proper frog technique again. In the meantime, what's on this mix tape of yours? Because I don't want to hear that one with all the Wilson Philips on it. Or the Paula Abdul one for that matter." He looked over, suspiciously eyeing my bright marker writing all over the tape case.

"Just relax, hater. It's mostly Depeche Mode." I clicked the cassette into the player, pleased with my choice of the perfect musical compromise. "Awesome stereo by the way."

"Mom gave it to me. I installed it this morning. She got it because she felt bad about not being able to get me a car."

"That was sweet of her."

"It was, but she can't afford stuff like this." He thumped the front panel of the stereo. "So it just makes me more pissed off at my dad, really."

I bit my lip. Truth was, I was angry at Edward's dad too. I didn't understand his choices. I didn't understand how he could watch his son and the mother of his child struggle and not lift a finger to make things better. How he could so shamelessly throw money at his new family, while holding onto it with such tight fists when it came to Edward's needs. His choices were ever a mystery to me. Between him and my dad, I was beginning to think all fathers were good at was disappointing their children.

Edward put the truck in drive and slowly pulled away from the curb. And the maiden voyage officially began.

"Did I tell you he got the child bride a BMW?" It was just one of many of Edward's nicknames for his step mother, who was at least fifteen years younger than his dad. It was one of his nicer nicknames for her actually.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. Brand new and loaded." He shook his head in disgust. "His priorities are so out of whack I can barely look at him anymore."

"That ought to make your trip to Grace Trail next weekend nice and awkward."

"Yeah really." He rolled his eyes. "It's weird, but we do better together there. It's like the only place in the world where I actually don't despise him. I don't know if it's because we are hiking, and I love that so much, that it just makes him bearable? Or maybe he's just different in that setting because he's away from satan and her spawn?"

"Well whatever it is, I'm just glad y'all have that."

I stared out my window as we pulled out onto a main street. It was one I'd traveled down and seen a million times, but it felt different that day seeing it through the windows of Edward's new truck.

My thoughts drifted to my own dad and how I would've given anything to have even just a point of real connection to him. How pathetic it was to be jealous of what Edward had with his father, when it really wasn't enviable at all.

As if he could read my thoughts, he asked me quietly. "What's the latest with Charlie?"

"Who knows? He's started going to this bar for single people over fifty. Get this, it's called Finders Keepers."

"Finder's Keepers?"

"Yep. It's like this super gross bar for desperate old people. He goes there three or four nights a week."

"Well at least he's getting out of the house some?"

"It's not like he's going to a singles group at church." I leveled Edward with my eyes.

He shrugged his shoulders apologetically.

I softened my gaze, understanding that he was only trying to help. "It's just that this bar is so trashy. Lately I've noticed he has these match books and cocktail napkins in the junk drawer with women's phone numbers written on them."

"Ew."

"I know. I can't decide what's harder. Is it worse to imagine him with someone other than my mom?" I winced at the resulting mental image I barely had the imagination to conjure up. "Or it is harder to deal with the fact that a creepy singles bar can bring him out of hiding when his own daughter can't." My voice wavered at my last words.

"Bells, you know that's not how it is."

"Then how is it exactly?"

"I don't know." His voice became noticeably softer. "His problems have nothing to do with you. He doesn't handle things as well as you do. He's sort of lost or something."

I just nodded my head and chewed on my lower lip, believing in my head what Edward said was true, but not in my heart. In the deepest part of me, I feared my dad's issue had everything to do with me. Maybe if I was different or a better daughter somehow, I could make him happy; or at least be someone worth paying attention to.

He examined my face with concerned eyes and then focused once again on the road. "Sometimes I wish I could punch him in the face for the way he treats you, or at least shake him real hard so he'll see what he's doing to you. Because I have to believe that if he could really see how much you hurt, he'd change."

"Thanks," I whispered. "But honestly, if he can't see that, he must be blind."

Talking about my dad, as always, left me feeling hurt and abandoned. Edward's concern and loyalty covered me with warmth and belonging. Certainly, these were conflicting emotions, yet they produced in me a consistent response, burgeoning tears. So I did what I'd become best at doing. I expertly swallowed them back, not letting them see the light of day.

Edward wasn't fooled. He reached over and grabbed my hand from my lap and gave it a gentle squeeze. He didn't let go of it immediately though. His hand was warm and strong and it completely enveloped mine. Through just the feel of his skin on mine, I found myself comforted, yet confounded. How could the touch that gave me such console, also stir up in me such yearning?

I snuck a peek at his face, which was fast becoming more of a man's than a boy's. I fought the urge to simply stroke his chiseled jaw line, or to feel his hair with my fingertips.

He turned toward me and grinned with sympathetic green eyes. What I adored about the look, one I'd seen often before, was the complete lack of pity in it. He felt sadness for me and with me even, but he never pitied me. To me that meant everything. I could pity myself, but no one else was allowed to do the same.

I returned the grin and let go of his hand with a squeeze, pretending to reach down toward the floorboard to find my purse. For some reason I wanted to be the first one to do the inevitable, which was to let go.

"Today is a momentous day, Edward Anthony Masen. A day to celebrate your long awaited car, um, I mean truck," I said brightly, changing my tenor on a dime. "We can't be sad today, right?"

"You're absolutely right," he agreed. "Which makes me remember that there is something in the glove box for you."

His eyes became playful and beaming. "Open it, Bells."

"What for?"

"Just do it. I promise it'll cheer you up."

As directed, I pulled on the glove box latch. It didn't budge. In fact, it almost felt welded shut. "Is it locked?" I asked through gritted teeth, as I continued to pull on it.

"Not so much." The slightest flash of frustration mixed with embarrassment shown in his eyes. Edward leaned across me, while still holding the steering wheel with his left hand. I caught the scent of him, Drakkar cologne and Irish Spring, and underneath both was the smell of Edward. It was something words couldn't explain, but something I just instinctually knew, and always had.

I subtly breathed in him. If his touch was what comfort felt like, his scent was what comfort smelled like.

He yanked on the latch and it easily gave way. "You must have loosened it up for me." He winked at me.

I silently wondered if he was purposefully doing every single thing he could do to make me crazy for him. Not that it took much, or anything really, other than Edward just being Edward.

"So." He raised his eyebrows. "Look inside?"

I pulled the door all the way down with a loud creek and peeked within. I saw insurance papers, a couple of road maps and at least fifty pieces of my all time favorite candy, Atomic Fire Balls, strewn about.

"No way!" Wide eyed, I stared at Edward who was grinning ear to ear, looking quite childlike and adorably impish.

"Yes way. Hand me one, will ya?"

I grabbed one for him and one for me. "I will never refuse a ride from you now that I know what's in that glove box." I tore the clear wrappers off and put one into my mouth.

He took his Fire Ball from me and popped it into his mouth. "I figured I'd be giving you a lot of rides," he said with the candy stored in his cheek like a chipmunk, "so I wanted the El Cam to be stocked."

"How thoughtful," I managed. It was all I could say, and not just because my speech was impeded by the candy.

He cranked up the volume of the stereo and slid on his Aviator sunglasses, putting the Top Gun version of Tom Cruise to shame. His bronze-brown hair shone in the sun, and he looked nothing short of beautiful.

He began to crank the handle on his door, rolling his window down just a fraction. Without missing a beat, he grabbed his well-worn fleece jacket sitting between us and threw it my way. Then I, also without missing a beat, put it around my shoulders.

We drove around not really requiring a destination. The only city I'd ever known sped by on either side of me. To my right I saw Swenson's, the ice cream parlor Edward and I had gone to when we were younger every Sunday night after church to share the Earthquake. This was a colossal dessert involving ten scoops of ice-cream. Then we passed my old dance studio. The sight of it made me regret that I'd ever quit taking lessons. Next we passed the public library where Edward busted his chin open trying to do a fancy skateboard trick during his Gleaming the Cube phase. My mom's favorite fabric store came next. I could picture her perfectly, feeling all the reams of fabrics in pure contentment, as I hid inside the displays feeling like I'd escaped to another world. Then I saw Edward's dad's old office building looming ahead of us, and I chanced a look at him. His jaw line was rigid; his eyes narrowed. He promptly and sharply turned the car west, which put the building behind us and out of our view. His countenance relaxed almost immediately.

"Wanna get a coke?" he asked quietly.

"Can we go to Andrew's Drive-In and get the pellet ice?"

The corners of his lip twitched up into a smile. "Where do you think I'm headed?"

"Remember all those times we planned to ride our bikes to Andrew's so we could get an Oreo milkshake? We'd scheme our big escape with a pencil and Big Chief notebook."

"Oh yeah," he sniffed.

"And your mom or mine would always figure out what we were up to and put to an end to it. I still don't know how they knew. It's like they were omniscient or something."

"Or maybe we had absolutely zero skills in the secrecy department," he added cynically, looking at me over his sunglasses. "But seriously, Bells, it's a good thing they always caught us. We would've had to cross three major streets to get there and it's like four miles from our block. That would have been a beating."

"Not to mention seriously dangerous for two nine year olds."

"Still would have been fun though." He grinned at me playfully. "And with your bike skills, you would've been the one to get hurt anyway."

"For the last time, it wasn't about my bike skills." I rolled my eyes, not believing that after so many years he still managed to fit the bike ramp incident into casual conversation. "It was that stupid ramp you idiots put together!"

"Guess I can't argue that." He laughed, briefly holding his hands up in surrender. "Anytime you use rotted ply wood as the main body of your ramp, somebody's gonna break a limb."

I couldn't help but giggle.

We settled into a relaxed silence. Depeche Mode's Enjoy the Silence, ever so fittingly filled the air as we enjoyed our Fire Balls; enduring the cinnamon-heat just to get to the sweet part. I decided life was quite a lot like this particular kind of candy. That very moment we were in, as we lazily cruised in Edward's truck, was definitely a sweet part.

A sweet part that came to a premature ending, however, as we pulled up to Andrew's Drive-In.

"Crap," Edward said roughly. "Lauren's there. I can see her car in the parking lot."

So instead of pulling in to get our cokes, he pushed down on the accelerator. What had been our destination came and went, and became a dot in the distance behind us.

"Why does it matter that Lauren is at Andrew's?" I asked, perturbed that her pristine Geo Storm was ruining our outing.

An image of Edward's latest girlfriend popped into my head: perfectly coiffed bangs, Girbaud jeans, sterling silver heart earrings and authentic Cole Haan loafers. She was the flawless poster child for everything 90's, and I loathed her for it.

"Sorry, Bella, but if she finds out you got to ride in the El Cam before her, I'm a dead man."

"Well that's ridiculous. Doesn't she know we're practically family and have been friends since birth?"

"Yeah, she knows. Doesn't matter."

"So I don't get my coke because some girl can't handle that you and I are friends? We can't go to our favorite place with the awesome pellet ice, because you have an unreasonable high maintenance girlfriend," and I added under my breath "yet again."

"What's yet again supposed to mean?"

"I think you know what it means." I looked out my window to avoid his gaze, as well as the fight we were but one word away from engaging in. "Just forget it, Edward."

He sort of huffed. I sort of huffed. We sat there, neither of us speaking, for several seconds.

Every time one of his girlfriends came up in conversation, Edward and I inevitably had a heated exchange. I would scoff at and disapprove of his choice in girls. All of whom I scoffed at and disapproved of only because I was insanely jealous of them. He, in turn would become ultra defensive about it. Essentially we'd just go round and round and end up doing nothing but making each other angry. We'd learned that our tiffs were useless, and for the most part, we did what we could to just avoid them altogether.

As was evidenced by Edward's next and very diplomatic question, "So, can I take you to get a coke from somewhere else?"

Granted, I didn't want to go into full-on battle with him that particular day, but I wasn't above making a point. "Nah, I'm suddenly not thirsty anymore."

"Aw, come on."

"I said I'm not thirsty anymore," I answered him decisively. "Let's just head home. You have a game to get ready for anyway, right?"

"That I do. You coming?" His tone was hopeful, yet guarded.

"I'll be there." As if there had really been any question.

"Awesome," he sighed out, clearly relieved. He flashed me a heart-stopping smile. "Wouldn't know how to play without you there, Bells. You're my lucky charm, ya know?"

"Whatever." I rolled my eyes amiably, as I melted right there in my seat. I couldn't help but think to myself, "And you're my kryptonite."

My irritation over Lauren and the coke that got away, had almost completely vanished simply because I was in the vicinity of the boy next door. Edward's smile, his voice, and his eyes had the power to completely undo me, because they were my ultimate weaknesses.

He was my ultimate weakness.

So Edward can be a total sweetie, but as you can see, the other women in his life bring major tension to his relationship with Bella. ...which brings us to Chapter 12: Part 2-The Downside of Kryptonite. I will post tomorrow.

Here is a link to the "Enjoy the Silence"...http://www(dot)youtube(dot)com/watch?v=dAN9sKlOZxE I spent A LOT of time cruising to this, "Somebody", and "Personal Jesus" :)