Betad by kitchmill

Preread by Hoodie

There is a difference between helping a druggie out with his paper and dating a drug dealer.

It feels as if the color drains from my face. Kind of the way I watch it drain from Edward's. Tony's … Whoever's.

He recovers quicker than I do, nodding at Felix in silent greeting before stepping past him and inside.

"You know the guys, Maggie." He nods again. "That there's Bella. We're in Art History together. She's here to help me with a paper. But she's cool, right?" Felix asks.

I nod even though I'm far from cool with this entire potentially illegal situation. I'm not cool with avoiding two-face then being trapped in a confined space with him. I'm not cool with confronting this. Not now. Maybe not ever. I'm not cool.

"If you say so," Edward says. Grabbing an empty milk crate from a pile in the corner, he flips it over, using it as a seat opposite the couch and then empties the contents of his pockets onto the coffee table. My eyes go wide at how many little bags of weed he's strung out before us. "Each one's an eighth. Sixty a piece or four fifty for the ounce."

"Four fifty? It was three fifty last month," one of the guys from Jewish studies complains.

Looking at his phone Edward shrugs. "What can I say? Inflation's a bitch." He hits a few keys then slides his phone back into his pocket. Resting his elbows on his knees, he clasps his hands, his gaze running down the line of guys before it lands on me. "Hurry up and decide. I don't have all night."

That one look says it all. The anger, the confusion, the hurt. That maybe he misses me just as much as I pretend to not be missing him. But then again how can two people miss each other when they haven't spent all that much time together in the first place?

My phone vibrates in my hand. I look down then hide the screen when I see it's a message from Edward.

He continues to stare at me until Felix sets a scale down on the table with the bags. Edward looks at it then up at Felix with an annoyed look on his face. "What's the matter? You don't trust me?"

"Oh, yeah. No doubt. No doubt, I do." Felix places his palm on his chest then points to the lineup of guys sitting beside me on the couch. "This is all Brady. See, man? I told you he'd be pissed."

Brady and Felix start to argue. Edward rolls his eyes before putting an end to their bickering with a forceful tone. "Shut the fuck up. The both of you before I make it four fifty an eighth."

The boys go silent.

I clear my throat. "Felix, where's your bathroom?"

Edward's eyes are back on me as I stand and adjust the hem of my sweater. They follow me until I pass by him, heading down the short hall. I fish out my phone to read his message once I'm behind closed doors.

You are alive.

I lick my lips, my fingers hovering over the keys. Technically I could keep ignoring him, but I don't know if I actually can. If I want to. Especially after seeing him again. And when he's just in the next room.

But I should. I need to.

Yeah, no. I can't.

Yep. Alive and well. I write back, nibbling on my thumb nail, waiting until he writes me back.

I'm glad.

It's two simple words but they have the impact to loosen the tension in my shoulders. A small smile spreads across my face.

So I guess this means you can't handle it then.

I think about it, so sure I had made up my mind. I almost drop my phone when someone knocks. Please don't be ...

"Jesus, you fall in or what?" a female voice complains from the other side.

I breathe a sigh of relief, disappointed at the same time. "Sorry. Just a minute."

"Well, hurry up. I gotta get in there."

I glare at the door in annoyance then flush the toilet and turn on the water before telling Edward what I should have from the start.

Yeah, that's what it means.

Turning off the water, I check myself in the mirror, still not quite ready when I open the door to Maggie's impatient scowl.

I scowl back before maneuvering past her and into the living quarters to find Edward standing at the door getting ready to leave.

My heart nearly jumps out of my chest to follow but my sensible ribs cage it in, allowing me to take my spot back on the couch as Edward shakes Felix's hand, glancing at me one last time before leaving.

I breathe another sigh of relief.