A/N: So, is Edward finally coming to realise that his perception of Bella is skewed? Let's see!

All recognisable characters belong to SM.

12

Edward sat on a bar stool in the local pub and ordered another beer. He'd been there for a couple of hours at least, sullenly staring into his pint glass, his mind in turmoil. So, he'd been wrong about Emmett. He'd been wrong about her having a hot date last night. That didn't mean he was wrong about her completely though, did it? She still hadn't explained how she could afford her apartment, and she hadn't denied cheating on him twelve years before. Pain lanced his heart as he remembered the humiliating conversation with his parents all those years ago as he lay in that hospital bed. They'd filled him in on his sweethearts' dalliances with his supposed friend Jacob, and with that gardeners' son Eric, trying hard to be sympathetic whilst informing him that Bella wasn't the girl he thought she was. She was out for herself, a gold digger of the worst sort. And she'd played him terribly. If only he'd told them about their relationship, they could have saved him from embarrassing himself with "that girl" as they'd called her, the derisive tone to their voices indicating that he should never have been with a mere servant girl, let alone trusted her.

"Edward?" a voice exclaimed beside him "Edward man, is that you?"

Edward turned in disbelief, recognising the voice of Jacob, his former friend and apparently Bella's former lover. He'd seen him around London a few times in the last few years, but had managed to avoid him each time, but after his latest battle with Bella, he was in no mood to stand down. Fury boiled through him and he staggered a little drunkenly as he got off the stool to face the man who'd slept with his girlfriend. He stood to his full height, aggressively meeting the other man practically nose to nose.

"If you know what's good for you, you'll get the hell away from me right now" he snarled.

Jacob looked shocked and put his hands up in the surrender position as he took a step back. "What the hell is your problem man?" he asked.

"You are my problem Black"

"And what did I ever do to you Edward?"

"It's what you did to Bella that bothers me"

Jacob looked blank for a minute "I don't know a Bella…" he began, before confused recognition dawned in his face "You mean that maid girl Bella that you were seeing years ago? What the hell did I do to her?!"

Edward laughed scornfully "Quite a lot apparently. When she was supposed to be with me!"

Jacob frowned "I don't know what you heard Edward, but I barely knew the girl. Is that what this is about? Is that why you suddenly stopped hanging out with me and the guys back home? Damn Edward, you need to sit down and tell me who the hell has been telling you this crap!"

Edward frowned, Jacob sounded so sincere. He closed his eyes briefly composing his anger before sitting back on his stool.

Jacob sat next to him and called the bartender for a pint of lager for himself. He quirked an eyebrow at Edward "Well?" he asked.

"I was told that Bella was sleeping with you when she was with me"

Jacob barked with laughter "And how the hell would I have done that? That girl was all over you! No chance she would have even glanced in my direction!" he took a swig of his lager and shook his head bemused "I can't believe you thought that all these years!"

"Are you telling me you never slept with Bella?"

"Yes that's what I'm telling you!" said Jacob, exasperated. "Who even told you that BS?"

Edward shrugged "My parents"

"Well Christ, there's your answer Edward. You think your parents were thrilled to find out you'd been sleeping with a maid? I'd bet they'd have told you anything to split you two up"

Realisation hit Edward like a thump on the chest and he dropped his head in his hand. "Damn" he said anguished. Jacob was so right on that. His parents would have been absolutely disgusted at the thought of their only son and heir playing around with a maid, let alone being serious about one. But would they have outright lied to him? Maybe they'd been merely mistaken with Jacob, but what about that gardeners' son, Eric? Had Bella been with him? Could his parents have really lied to him? He knew they were stuck-up, but basically they were good people, not liars.

"Why are you even worried about that Bella anyway? It was what, ten, twelve years ago?"

"I've bumped into her again recently" admitted Edward with a sigh, "It's brought up a lot of the past"

"Ah I see. I always wondered what happened between you guys. One minute you were all hot and heavy, the next she'd gone. Of course, you had cut me off" he injected reproachfully "so I never could find out"

Edward turned and looked Jacob in the eye, holding out his hand. "I'm sorry Jacob. I should have confronted you then about it, not front up to you twelve years later"

Jacob shrugged, his easy-going nature brushing off the argument easily and shook his hand. "Yeah well it's all in the past now right?"

Edward frowned "I don't think Bella will ever be in the past"

Jacob grinned "I've been a happily married man for the past nine years to Leah, you don't need to tell me about the girl you can't let go of"

"Leah?"

"Yep, remember her? The girl I was dating when you were with Bella?"

Edward looked chagrined and shook his head "Man, I'm sorry"

Jacob laughed again and clapped him on the back "Don't even worry about it mate. But if I were you, I'd have a talk with your parents"

"Yeah I plan to"

-TCM-

Bella flopped down on her sofa with an exhausted sigh "Man shopping is hard work" she complained.

Alice gave a tired laugh and pulled off her boots "I think my blisters have blisters"

Bella grinned "Well it's a good thing you bought those red sandals to match then"

Alice laughed and relaxed further into the sofa "I'm sure Jasper will be very impressed with my colour co-ordination when I show him later"

"Hmm, very sexy" laughed Bella.

"So did the therapy work?"

Bella sobered "I feel better that I told Edward I didn't want anything to do with him anymore, but…" she paused.

"But it doesn't stop the hurt right?"

Bella sighed "Yeah"

"Well next weekend girlie, you and me are going to hit the town with all these delicious new clothes and find you a new guy, way better than Mr Pompous anyway"

Bella gave a weary smile "Sure. I'm glad you said next weekend, because right now I'm not sure I can even get up to make coffee let alone find the phone to order in dinner"

She turned to look behind her as she heard a key in the lock of her front door and in walked Emmett carrying a bag of something delicious smelling. She smiled over at him.

"If that's our dinner, you may just be our guardian angel"

Emmett grinned and squatted on the floor in front of the sofa where he began pulling the fish and chips he'd brought out of the bag and unwrapping the papers. "Did I not mention that I'm psychic?" he joked.

Alice laughed "More like you got my phone call earlier saying we were shopping til dropping and would most likely starve if you didn't feed us"

Bella looked at Alice surprised "I didn't see you call Emmett" There was something going on here, Alice and Emmett kept shooting glances at each other as if they'd been plotting something behind her back, a look she was all too familiar with around these two.

Alice shrugged "It was during one of your many hours spent in a changing room. Waiting on you would drive any girl to the nearest weirdo for a bit of excitement"

"Hey!" protested Emmett "You want these chips or not?"

Alice laughed "Gimme gimme!"

They ate in companionable silence for a while, another indicator to Bella that her friends were up to something, they were never quiet.

"So what have you two been up to?" she asked with a quirk of her eyebrow. Both turned super innocent expressions to her and she giggled "Oh please, I'm not falling for those looks! What have you done now?"

Emmett grinned "Don't look so worried. It's a nice surprise"

"Ooh a surprise for me?" gasped Bella sarcastically.

"You see, the thing is Bells" began Alice "that when you were in the shower this morning, I took a look through your latest paintings and drawings. You never said you were painting again?"

Bella shrugged a little embarrassed considering all her latest works were of Edward "I haven't done much"

"They're brilliant Bells" Alice said earnestly "Probably the best work I've seen you do" She shifted, looking uncomfortable "So the thing is, I wanted Emmett to see them, and I know how guarded you are about your work the last few years, so I called him and told him to come and have a look"

Bella shrugged again, a little disconcerted that her friends were discussing her art work behind her back, but not altogether worried either, after all they were her best friends. "So you came over and had a look?" she asked Emmett "Well that's ok, I don't mind"

Emmett cleared his throat "Well I did come just to take a look, but they're so good Bells that I took them to a friend of a friend who runs an art gallery"

Bella choked a bit on the chip she was munching, her eyes bugging "You did what?!"

"I know it was taking a liberty hon, but I knew you wouldn't consider showing them to anyone, and they really have to be seen"

Bella shook her head, annoyed "I can't believe you did that!"

"I'm sorry hon, but the thing is, the gallery loved them"

Her eyes widened "They did?"

A grin spread across Emmett' face "They did. And they want to include you in a show they've got coming up next month"

"Oh my God, are you serious? That's amazing!" she exclaimed, then realisation dawned "But they're all of Edward! I can't have a show all about Edward!"

"This could be your chance Bells" said Alice "If you don't do this show, who knows if you'll get another chance?"

"And if the show goes well, they could well be interested in further pieces from you"

Bella bit her lip. This was too much. Her dream, the dream she'd had since she was a child could be coming true, when she'd given up all hope of a serious career as an artist. But why did it have to be her pictures of Edward? She'd poured her heart and soul into those pictures. She'd be laid bare for whoever cared to look. And how would Edward take it? Could she afford to decline the invitation to show her work?

"I can't turn it down can I?" she asked, almost to herself.

"I don't think so sweetie" replied Emmett anyway. "I know it will be really hard for you, but you really need to do this"

A/N: Awe I love these three together! Yes, they take liberties, but they only have Bella's best interests at heart.

And Edward? Silly man is finally getting it, don't you think?