Author Note: Hello. So I was supposed to post this Friday. My bad, but it's here. :]

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Twilight characters, except for my lovely Tony.

So read and review. Enjoy! :]

Previous Chapter:

I sighed loudly and abruptly stood from where I was seated. "You can't Alice. You don't understand." I was standing right in front of her. She truly seemed afraid of me now.

"Make me understand, Edward."

"Look…" I said, catching my breath. "I've grown…fond…of Bella." I looked away and sat in the chair once more. I needed to sit. It was quiet for a couple of long seconds, while Alice tried to make sense of what I had just told her. It felt like eternity before she broke the silence.

"Edward," She kneeled to my eye level. "What is it that you feel…for Bella?" I heard the pain and concern in her voice.

"Alice…" I sighed. "I don't know exactly. I just know I like being around her and she makes me feel…" I turned to look her in the eye. "Real. I don't know how to explain it."

All Alice did in response was hugging me and sigh at what I had just told her.

"Okay," I continued. "I'm done saying what I have to say. You can go ahead and kill me now."

Chapter 20 - Three Strikes and You're Out!

BPOV

I had already readied myself for what was going to happen. Tony was coming over and I needed to be his friend and nothing more. Which by the way I have both Alice and Rosalie to thank for putting me in this situation. I sighed at the realization. Neither of them was at fault. They don't know what was going on with Edward and me.

I came downstairs when I heard everyone hollering and laughing. Most of it came from Emmett.

I smiled and laughed. "Well, look who we have here." He yelled.

Emmett.

He was such a great person. Both Rosalie and Emmett deserve each other. I looked at Rosalie. She was clearly smiling and laughing with a sparkle in her eyes. She looked down nodding and she then spared her eyes to look at me.

I gave her a look and the smile on her face completely disappeared. Next thing you know, she's in front me. All I did was laugh. "Shut up, Bella."

"I didn't say anything, Rosalie." I kept laughing.

She simply kept quiet. She was really getting mad at the fact that I knew she liked Emmett. I honestly don't know what was keeping her from him. He clearly likes her too. It's oh so obvious to everyone, but either of them.

I tried changing the subject. "So are mom and dad here yet?"

"Yeah, they are on their way." She didn't get where I was going at.

I was afraid to ask, but I had to. "What about Tony?"

Rosalie noted my frustration. "He's said he was going to be just a little late so don't worry." She patted my back and gave me a huge hug. So hard that my glasses fell off my face. "My glasses."

Rosalie let go of me and I kneeled down to pick them up. I heard Rosalie give me an exaggerated sigh. "You know Bella…you really have to get rid of those awful glasses and start wearing contacts."

I gave her a stern look. "Rosalie, why would I go through all that pain? You know how I feel about having things in my eyes." Rosalie laughed at the memory that I brought up. "It's not funny." Giving her my warning didn't stop her from laughing, however.

"Bella, it's not my fault the first time you ever tried putting on contacts it ended in complete disaster. You staying at the eye doctors for an entire hour, until the burning ended was not my fault at all, so I think I have the right to laugh." I didn't reply to what she told me. I was a bit more anxious for what was going to occur with Tony then with the embarrassment I went through that day.

We heard Mom and Dad's car in the driveway. Rose went to go help, thinking they were carrying a lot. A couple of seconds later, Rose walked in the house with nothing in her hands. Renee and Charlie came in afterwards, carrying a couple of bags. I noticed some groceries were occupying some of them, but no pizza in sight. Obviously, I wasn't the only one who didn't notice.

"Aw, no pizza!?" I heard Emmett in the kitchen with the rest of the gang. Renee absolutely adored Emmett. She laughed at his comment. "No, they are delivering it, sweetie. Rose told us about Tony coming late so we didn't want to start our lunch event without him."

Tony. Right.

Charlie just seemed to nod at everything Renee was saying. Her adoration for Emmett was completely obvious because she approved of him. Renee, like everyone else, knows about Rosalie and Emmett. I think she wanted the same thing for Tony and me. Charlie, on the other hand, wasn't. I don't think he liked the idea of him coming over in the first place. I don't know why, considering he was a pretty nice person.

My mom kept talking about Tony, which I didn't mind. She obviously liked him. I just didn't feel okay knowing she has hope that there might be something between Tony and me. The more Renee kept talking about him, the more uneasy I became. Too much, I thought. I sat down on the couch, trying to keep my mind off the situation. Charlie came to sit next to me on the couch, clearly not wanting to hear more of Renee's speech about relationships and how love works its magic. She seemed to know. I laughed internally at my sarcasm.

"Hey, kiddo." Charlie was really bad at making conversation.

"Hey dad." It stayed quiet for a bit. We were both extremely dense when it came to talking about our feelings to each other.

"So…" He began. "You seem a little distant from the rest of the group." I was honestly shocked at his assertiveness towards talking to me. So much that I hadn't expected it and I didn't know what to say. I didn't have to though.

"Alright, alright. Sorry. I know talking" he quoted with his fingers. "To your dad about something…"he paused. "Or anything really…" he thought about it for a second. "Anyway. What was I trying to say?" Like I knew.

"Oh right, right. Sorry." He laughed and I laughed right along with him, tying to play along.

"Look dad, everything is fine." I lied.

"You're lying." He exclaimed. My eyes went wide.

"No, no, no. I'm fine, dad I promise." I wasn't about to have a conversation with him about my issues.

"Bella," he began. "I may not be the best person to talk to, but I'm not stupid." He got me there.

I sighed. I didn't know what to tell him. I couldn't tell my dad what was going on, but I felt like I needed his opinion so badly.

"Dad…" I began. "Have you ever felt like you can't get out of a situation?"

He thought about it for a bit. "All the time." I laughed.

"But what if it's inevitable hurting someone?"

"Well, that's different." He sighed. I threw a big one at him. "Look Bells, you just gotta' wing it sometimes. Do what you feel is right."

I nodded. That's what I've been trying to do, but it's advice that I should have taken already. "Thanks dad."

Rosalie came into the living room, where Charlie and I were sitting. Right on time, I thought. I wouldn't want to go through another awkward moment.

"Tony's here." Rosalie motioned for me to get the door.

Of course, it came with a cost. I sighed.

"Ah." I heard Charlie say.

"Ah what?" I asked. He didn't respond; he just gave me a grin and stood up from the couch, and left for the kitchen. Oh great, I thought. He knows.

"I think the pizza is here." Rosalie followed after him. Before leaving the room, she looked over her shoulder and motioned for me to go for the door once again. I sighed again. I got up, hoping and begging for this lunch to be over soon and it hasn't even started yet. Pathetic. I passed the kitchen on my way to get the door and Renee was nearest to the action. She wanted to hear, of course. You can tell Renee was trying not to be obvious, but it wasn't working.

I took another breath before answering the door.

I wish I hadn't been the one to open the door, because as soon as I did, I saw something that I really did not expect...or want.

Tony…with a bouquet of flowers.

"Hey Bella." He was the first to speak. Of course I was too dumb-founded to even look up from the flowers in the first place. Oh, he probably thinks I'm flattered by the flowers, I thought. Dang it. It felt like I was in a dating baseball game or something and I was on Team Bella.

Strike One! for Team Bella.

"Hey Tony," But I should be straight-forward with him. "You know you didn't have to get me any flowers."

Tony's eyes went wide. "Bella," Oh please, oh please don't say anything non-friend like. "These aren't for you…"

Now my eyes went wide. Strike Two! I couldn't speak. I felt completely and utterly stupid. Ugh. Why, oh why, oh why, Bella!?

He saw that I wasn't talking so he tried explaining about the flowers. "I got them…for your mom." Oh. "I didn't want to be rude, so I got her these as a gesture of gratitude for letting me come into her home." Well played Team Tony.

I was about to respond, when Renee came to the door. "Bella, why do you keep Tony all to yourself out there?" Of course, she would hear 'Bella's mom' being mentioned and she wouldn't miss entirely humiliating me. "Come on in, Tony." She gestured for him to come in. Renee played it all too well. Of course, she would root for Team Tony the whole entire time. "Oh those are very lovely, Tony."

Strike Three! And you're out! Well played.

Tony hadn't realized he had been holding the flowers until Renee mentioned them. "Oh, they're for you." She handed them to her, completely oblivious of the fact that Renee already knew they were for her.

"Oh, you shouldn't have."

They were out of sight; into the living room, where everyone had descended. You could hear everyone greet Tony, in the living room.

I sighed. It wasn't until I felt the cold breeze that I noticed I still had the door open. I looked outside for a second.

"Bella!" I heard Renee call.

"I'm coming." I said.

I looked outside one more time, hoping someone would just walk through this door, just like he had this morning. I shoved my glasses up my nose before closing the door behind me. This ought to be interesting, I thought.

EPOV

"I'm not going to kill you Edward."

"Well, you should. It sure beats dealing with all this mess. I don't know what I'm going to do." Alice released me from her embrace and walked across the room, onto her bed. "Look Edward," She sighed. "I'm not saying to keep lying to her, but she's my best friend. I don't want her to get hurt."

"So I should tell her." I stated, looking at her bedroom door. I noticed her room had changed. She used to have these pink walls. Now, it's a simple color. Beige.

But it suited her. She had all these things in her room, though. On the right of the door, there was this collage of a bunch a pictures mixed with magazine cut-outs. The way it was assembled made it look like a piece of art.

"Edward," She sighed. "I know Bella, and the best thing you can do now is just tell her the truth…and how you feel about her." That part obviously made her happy.

"I think I already did." I blurted out without thinking.

Alice jumped off her bed. "What do you mean? You told her already?"

"I didn't exactly tell her." I said. I still wasn't looking at her.

"Edward…" She said hesitantly.

"Well," I began. "We…we…"

"We, we what, Edward?" She exclaimed.

"We kissed." I revealed.

"Shut up, shut up, shut up!" And here I thought she would be yelling at me.

So there it is. Hope you enjoyed and please review. I would really like to here your feedback.

I woudln't mind hearing what movie you would like for the family to watch on their lunch event. for the next chapter. ha ha. So go on and review. Thanks for reading. :]

~Edward-dazzles