*Disclaimer- They're not mine, but this story is.

**Author's Notes- Wow, so this one took awhile. But after moving, and a week with no laptop (AAAHHHH), and kids going back to school, and all that jazz, I finally made it here. I want to thank my unofficial beta & BFF, Muse, for kicking my ass into gear. I definitely needed it this time. Just as an FYI, from here on out, I'm going to make each chapter longer. YAY!! Each chapter will have Edward's POV & Bella's POV all in one chapter. Okay, well enough of my babbling. Read on, and then leave me some love.

Chapter Twelve

---EPOV---

"Edward?" I heard Alice call from the living room when I came in the front door at home. "Is that you?"

"Who else would it be?" I said. "I'm gonna go lay Jay down for a nap, then you can start the questioning." I laughed when I heard her little huff.

Once Jay was changed and in bed, I went to my room to change as well. I hadn't really intended to stay at Bella's the night before. I wouldn't take it back though. It was nice to have someone to talk to. Alice and my mother were constantly trying to get me to talk, and for some reason I just never really had a lot to say. Talking to Bella though, it almost reminded me of the nights I'd stayed up talking to Angela on the phone after we met.

Angela.

My angel. My love.

The thought of comparing Bella to Angela sent a shock of pain through my heart. They are alike in ways though: both caring, and sweet, and beautiful. But I'd promised my life and my future to Angela. How could I take back that promise?

You're not taking anything back, I reassured myself. Bella is just a friend. It's not like you're dating her. Friends watch movies together all the time.

I changed my clothes, trying to clear Bella from my mind. But then another thought hit me.

What if she thinks it's more? What if she wants it to be more … ugh! You're over thinking it Cullen.

"Alright," I groaned as I flopped down into an armchair five minutes later. "Let me have it Alice."

She almost laughed. "So," she mused.

"So?"

"So, what's the story Edward?" she finally asked.

"There's nothing to tell, Alice," I answered. "It was all completely innocent. We drank coffee, ate pizza, and watched a movie. End of story."

"No, not end of story. You left out the part where you spent the night with her," Alice replied.

"It's not like that," I said defensively. "I fell asleep on the couch. She went to her room."

"Edward, I'm not sure that I'm comfortable with where thi-" I didn't give her the chance to finish her statement. I knew what she was going to say.

"Alice," I replied. "You have nothing to worry about. Bella and I are just friends. Strictly platonic. You know I'm not ready for anything more than that."

"I just don't want you getting hurt Ed," she said. "And Bella has a very promising career ahead of her. I don't want to lose her."

"Are you serious?" I was getting a little irritated with my favorite sibling. "For one, Alice who I chose to befriend here is none of your concern really. You wanted me to make new friends remember? Two, that's all Bella is to me. A friend who understands a little bit of what I've been through. And three," I paused when I noticed Alice shrinking away from me slightly. "Three, I'm sorry if it worried you when I didn't come home."

She threw a pillow at me. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't be questioning you anyway."

"You're right, you shouldn't.," I said throwing the pillow back at her. "You're forgiven though."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Good morning," Jessica yawned as she opened her door on Monday morning.

"Morning," I answered as I stepped through with a still sleeping Jay.

"Are there any special instructions or anything?" she asked.

"No, not really. He usually eats breakfast between eight and nine and then takes a morning nap. Then lunch between noon and one and an afternoon nap. He's pretty easy really. I brought a bunch of baby food and juice. Oh, and a couple extra cans of formula, and more diapers," I explained. "It's all out in the car still though."

Jessica laughed a little. "Well here," she reached out and took the car seat from me. "Let me take him and the diaper bag and you can go get everything else from the car."

I smiled and nodded. This would take a little getting used to. I went outside and to my car. As I was pulling things from the trunk I heard a voice from the garage next door.

"Shit! Shit! Shit!" the voice said. She sounded upset. I hurriedly grabbed the rest of my things and took them into Jessica's house.

"Has Bella brought Vanessa over yet?" I asked.

"Nope. She's usually here by now too," she answered.

"Well, I just heard her swearing about something in her garage. I think I'll go over and check on her," I said.

Jessica smiled, a little deviously. "Okay."

I walked across the lawn to the side of Bella's garage. I could faintly hear the clanking and rattling of something, telling me she was still in there.

"Hello Bella," I said as I stepped into the open garage door. "I heard you from the street, is something wrong?"

Bella's head snapped up in surprise. What I saw when she looked at me shocked me a little. Upset was an understatement, Bella was a wreck. She stood there in tattered sweats and a t-shirt. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying. She had dark circles underneath them, and mascara streaked down her cheeks. She didn't say anything as she slumped down onto a lawn chair by the wall.

"Bella," I asked kneeling down next to her. "What happened?"

She raised her head a little, meeting my gaze, and shrugged her shoulders. "I'm fine," she sniffed.

"Obviously you aren't fine," I said gently. "Come on, let's go in and wash your face. Then you can tell me what happened."

Bella nodded and stood up. I pulled out my phone as I followed behind her. I wanted to let Alice know we'd be to the office late without Bella getting anymore upset.

-Bella & I will be late. Not sure how long. She's very upset about something. I'll fill you in ASAP.

The return message came only a moment later. –Okay. Let me know if there's anything I can do.

When we got to the bathroom I turned on the faucet to warm the water up, and then told Bella to sit down. She just nodded again. What could have brought this on?

I took a cloth from the shelf and soaked it in the warm water for a minute before I gently wiped the smeared mascara from her cheeks. Bella sat quietly with her eyes closed. The sad, sullen expression never left her face.

"Where's Vanessa?" I asked.

"She's still in bed," Bella whispered.

"Okay, I'll take care of her. I want you to take a warm shower, and get dressed. I already let Alice know we would be late so don't worry about that," I said

"Okay," she whispered again.

I left Bella in the bathroom to take her shower. I had hoped it might relax her a little bit. When I walked into Vanessa's room, she sat up in bed smiling.

"Hi Vanessa," I said as I stopped next to her bed. "Your mommy doesn't feel good today, so I'm going to help you get dressed. Would that be okay?"

Her eyes twinkled, so much like her mother's did. "Okay," she said and stood up.

I found her a clean outfit in the closet and changed her out of her pajamas. Then I took the hairbrush from on top of the dresser and brushed her hair for her.

"Do you know where your shoes are?" I asked. Vanessa toddled off to grab them from the closet floor. She sat down on the floor in front of me and handed me the shoes. I got them on her feet and then helped her up.

"Go bye-bye?" she asked.

I nodded to her with a smile. "Let me just check on your mommy real quick and then we'll go over to Jessica's house okay."

Her excitement was evident in her smile. "Okay," she said.

"Come on then. Let's check on mommy," I replied and took her little hand in mine.

I knocked on the bathroom door, not wanting to walk in on Bella if she wasn't dressed yet. "Come in," she said.

"Feel better?" I asked as I opened the door. I stopped, surprised, when I saw her standing in front of the mirror in a towel. "Oh! Wow, I'm sorry." I immediately turned for the door.

It's not that she didn't look good in that towel. She looked better than good, more like exquisite, but that wasn't the point. I felt like I was violating her somehow. It was balancing precariously on the edge of impropriety.

"I'm, uh," I stammered. "I'm going to take Vanessa over to Jessica."

"Okay," Bella replied.

"Bye mama," Vanessa said and waved.

"Bye sweetie, see you tonight," Bella answered as we left.

I tried, without luck, to shake off the feelings of embarrassment before we got to Jessica's door. My face must have been ten shades of red when I walked into that bathroom and saw Bella. Worse, she seemed completely unbothered by it.

Why would she tell me to come in, knowing she was standing there in nothing but a towel?

This thought brought back my earlier concern about her wanting more than I could give right now.

"Edward?" Jessica asked after opening the door to see me with Bella's daughter. "Where's Bella?"

"You go ahead and play inside, okay Vanessa," I said moving aside to let her get through the door. Then I turned to Jessica. "Bella's kind of a wreck this morning. I don't know what happened yet, but she was very upset about something."

"Is she okay?" Jessica asked. "I should go talk to her."

"No, it's okay. I'll take care of her. She'll be alright; I'll make sure of it." I did my best to reassure her. "Go on back in. I'll let you know if I need anything."

"Okay," she said; a worried look still on her face.

"Bella!" I called out as soon I walked through the front door.

"Back here," she replied.

I found her in her room, perched on her bed with an open photo album. "Hey, you okay?"

"Sorry about before," she answered. "I wasn't thinking."

I strode across the room and stood next to her bed. "It just took me by surprise," I laughed. "What're you looking at?" I pointed to the album.

"Oh, this. Just some photos of Vanessa's dad," she answered. "Have a seat if you want." She'd scooted over a little to make room for me next to her.

I sat down a few inches from her. "Bella, talk to me."

"You don't want to listen to me whine about my ex," she said.

"I do, if it'll help. Bella that's what friends are for," I put my hand under her chin and gently lifted her head until she met my gaze. "I want to help, Bella. Let me."

She sighed deeply. "His name is James."

It was a start, but not much to go off of. "Are you still together?"

She shook her head and I let out a breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding. "No, we broke it off while I was pregnant."

"Bella, what has you so upset? Did James have something to do with it? Did he hurt you?"

She laughed a little. "No, he didn't hurt me."

"What happened then?" I asked again.

"Yesterday after you left, he called and asked if he could take Vanessa out to dinner. Since she was sick last week he didn't get her on Thursday night. Of course, I agreed, and called my mom to let her know that James would be there shortly to pick Vanessa up," Bella stopped, grabbed a glass of water from the nightstand and took a long drink before continuing.

"Well last night, I needed to run to the grocery store for a few things, but James hadn't called to make sure I was home like he always does before he drops the baby off. I figured that if I hadn't heard from him by the time I got back I would call him to see if he wanted to keep her overnight. I felt bad that he didn't get his night with her last week. So I got my shopping done, loaded everything into the car, and then called his cell phone number. When there was no answer, I decided to drive by his house and see if they were back from dinner yet. When I got there, his car was in the driveway, along with a black Lexus that I'd never seen before."

---BPOV---

I stopped for a minute and looked up at Edward. He just sat there, waiting patiently for me to go on. He looked at me compassionately, but never pressed me. I took another drink of water and then went on.

"Anyway, I went to the door and rang the bell. When James answered the door at first he was shocked to see me, but then he was distracted, like something was wrong."

I paused for another minute again, reliving the whole conversation in my head….

"Bella?" James had asked. "What are you doing here?"

"I tried to call, you didn't answer," I said. "… Is something wrong?"

I stepped past him into the apartment. "Where's Vanessa?"

"She's playing in her room. Why are you here?" he asked again.

"I just came by to see if you wanted to keep her overnight. You hadn't called. Is everything okay? … Wait, whose car is that?" I said

I shook my head, coming back into the present. Edward sat patiently, waiting for me to continue. "Before James could answer, a tall, red head walked out of his bedroom, wearing his sweatpants and a Seattle Seahawks sweatshirt."

"What is going on James?" I demanded. "Who is she?"

"Bella, this is Victoria. I've been seeing her for about nine months," he replied.

"Nine months? Why did you not say something?" I said, my voice rising. "You've had her around Vanessa before today, I'm guessing?"

"Yeah, so," James replied. "What does that matter?"

"You've had this woman, who I knew nothing about, around my daughter for all these months and never said anything. Of course it matters James!" I shouted at him. "I would never let anyone spend that much time with her and not tell you about it!"

"Really Bella, you're making a bigger deal out of this than it is. Yes, Vicki has been here, in fact she lives here now. She is very good with Vanessa; you have no worries there. She's getting the same care, if not better, as she always has." James was now shouting in return. " And yes, maybe I should have told you sooner. I'm sorry, but I wanted to avoid this!"

"She lives here? Since when? And doesn't she have her own damn clothes?" I was getting angrier by the minute.

"Jesus Bella!" he shouted back at me. "Would you get a damn grip? I said I was sorry!"

"Bella?" Edward said, bringing me back again. "There you are. I thought I'd lost you for a minute."

"Oh, I'm sorry," I said, shaking my head. "Anyhow, there was a huge argument. Apparently, he's been dating this woman for almost a year, she's now living with him, and he felt no need to tell me."

"What happened then?" he asked.

"I grabbed Vanessa and got the hell out of there," I said. "I couldn't look at him anymore, I was so mad. Ugh, and that woman!"

"Did she say anything to you?" Edward replied.

"No, she just stood there, all innocent. Like she'd done nothing wrong. What kind of woman just moves in like that without making sure its okay with his daughter's mother first? Or that she even knows about it in the first place?"

I was being irrational, and I knew it. There was no logical reason for me to be as upset as I was about this. I didn't want James, and hadn't for a long time now, but it still hurt. The fact that not only did he not tell me he was seeing someone, but that it was also pretty serious, hurt more than I'd ever have thought it would. I felt betrayed. And the sweatshirt? It had to be the same one, but I thought I'd kept it. James had taken me to a Seahawks game on our third date. I bought him the shirt because it was his favorite team, but it ended up being something we kind of shared. He only wore it occasionally, but I wore it to bed every night in the winter time. He'd always told me how great I looked in his shirt. When we went our separate ways I thought I'd put it in a box in my garage.

"So why where you out in the garage this morning?" Edward asked.

Shit, can he read minds?

"The sweatshirt," I answered.

"You were upset because you couldn't find a sweatshirt?" he said puzzled.

"It's not just a sweatshirt," I explained. "Remember I said the woman was wearing a Seahawks sweatshirt?" He nodded so I continued. "Well, it was my shirt. Well, kind of. I bought it for James when we first started dating. I used to wear it as a night shirt. But I thought he'd let me keep it when we broke it off. I could've sworn I had it here."

"Okay, I get it now. That is a little, uh," he paused, trying to think of the right words.

"Fucked up," I finished for him.

"Exactly. God, I could never imagine another woman wearing Angela's old clothes," he said.

"So, you don't think I'm Looney Tunes for going crazy over this?" I asked.

Edward placed his hand on my shoulder and looked me in the eyes. "No," he said. "I think you have every right to be hurt and upset Bella. It was inconsiderate of him not to say something about his new girlfriend sooner. And he definitely should have told you that this woman was moving in with him."

"I know he doesn't want to give me all the details of his life, and I really don't expect him to. But something like that? It just kills me that he wouldn't tell me," I said as tears started to fall yet again.

Edward put his arm around my shoulder and tucked my head under his chin. He softly rubbed up and down my back as I cried. It was a simple gesture, one often made by friends, but to me, it almost felt like more. When I was all cried out, I pulled away. Sitting back, I looked up into his dazzling, green eyes and became lost in their endless depth. Without thinking about it, I leaned into him, our lips almost touching. So close I could feel his breath on my face. Edward hesitated only a split second, and right before my lips met his, he abruptly pulled back.

"Bella," he whispered softly. "I can't…" he slowly continued to back away from me. "…we should get to the office."

Without another word, Edward turned and walked out my bedroom door.