Chapter Playlist- Run, Don't Walk by Hey Monday

Previously… (BPOV)

He smiled fondly at my panicked expression. "Smile," he reminded me as the song came to a close, ready for the next slow one to begin.

I tried, but it probably looked like I was baring my teeth, growling at him, rather than smiling.

Edward put his hand on my waist and placed one of mine on his shoulder. He took my spare hand in his own and I could feel people watching already. I gulped. This was going to be a disaster.

The Hard Way To Learn A Lesson

Chapter 20- Dancing and Nose Bleeds

Edward POV

Bella looked absolutely terrified. She seemed to be more scared of dancing – well, her own two feet, really – than of 'Hanging Out'. I didn't understand. Dancing wasn't that hard. Like I had told her, it was all in the leading. Did this simply prove how little trust she had in me?

"Relax," I whispered soothingly. "Calm."

"Yes," Bella breathed. "Calm." But she didn't look it.

The next song started then, and I recognized it instantly. Awareness lit Bella's eyes as well, and I guessed that she did too. I wasn't sure that there was a specific dance to 'Fall for You' by 'Second-hand Serenade' but I moved with her all the same.

She seemed to relax when we were moving and I didn't think, just lost myself, and Bella, in the dance, the music. I listened closely to the beautiful melody, but it was the lyrics that caught, and held my attention.

Best thing about tonight's that we're not fighting.

Could it be that we have been this way before?

I know you don't think that I am trying.

I know you everything down to the core.

But hold your breath,

Because tonight will be the night that I will fall for you,

Over again.

Don't make me change my mind.

I won't live to see another day, I swear it's true.

Because a girl like you is impossible to find,

You're impossible to find.

This is not what I intended.

I always swore to you I'd never fall apart.

You always thought that I was stronger.

I may have failed but I have loved you from the start.

Oh, but hold your breath,

Because tonight will be the night that I will fall for you,

Over again.

Don't make me change my mind.

I won't live to see another day, I swear it's true.

Because a girl like you is impossible to find,

It's impossible…

So breathe in so deep.

Breathe me in; I'm yours to keep.

And hold on to you words 'cos talk is cheap.

And remember me tonight when you're asleep.

Because tonight will be the night that I will fall for you,

Over again.

Don't make me change my mind.

Or I won't live to see another day, I swear it's true.

Because a girl like you is impossible to find…

The song came to an end and I rested my forehead against Bella's, forgetting about the people watching us.

"See?" I whispered. "That wasn't so bad."

Bella laughed under her breath, the sound slightly hysterical. She tried to pull out of my arms and then, when I didn't let her go, she said, "There are people watching."

"So?" I murmured. "Let them watch. We're married, remember?"

She rolled her eyes, and moved away again. This time I let her, but she didn't let go of my hand, pulling me to the side of the room again. I noticed that her cheeks were red and she purposefully avoided the stares that the other party guests were giving us.

Back at the side of the room, and now that everyone seemed to have enough decency to look away, she was a lot more relaxed.

"People are going to think things," Bella whispered, panicking.

I ignored the twinge of panic in my own stomach as I replied. "We're supposed to act like married couples, Bella. Besides, friends can dance, can't they?"

Bella pursed her lips. "But I'm… me. You hate me. Everyone hates me."

I sighed, exasperated. I pulled her outside, away from the scrutinising eyes, so that I could cup her face in my hands. "Bella," I said firmly. "I do not hate you. How can I prove that to you? I like you Bella. You're an amazing person and I feel… terrible about some of the things I said to you before this project."

Bella blinked at me. "Really?"

"Really," I said quietly. I like you, I thought bitterly, sarcastically. Bella, I don't just like you. I swear, I am in love with you.

"So you still want to be friends after the project?" she asked.

"Yes," I answered instantly, though I wanted to be much more. "If there was a way I could stop everyone saying the things that they do, then I would."

Bella smiled slightly, but sadly. "Thanks, but I don't know if that's possible now."

Suddenly the door opened and a load of rowdy kids ran past. I smiled down at Bella and lifted her hand in mine so that I could press my lips against the back of her hand. She smiled shyly and blushed before I released her hand and we went back into the main hall, no longer connected.

We saw Alice and automatically made a beeline for her, but then Lauren Mallory popped up in front of me. "Edward!" she squealed. "What a coincidence to bump into you!"

"Um… hi," I said, distractedly looking over her shoulder at Bella who hadn't noticed my absence yet.

"Want to dance?" Lauren asked. Her voice was strangely husky, like she had a cold.

"Are you okay Lauren?" I wondered. "Your voice sounds… odd."

She cleared her throat and, when she replied, her tone was unnaturally high. "I'm fine."

I nodded, bemused, as she fluttered flirtatiously around me. "Can I get you a drink, Eddie? Are you sure you don't want to dance? Oh, you'll never guess what happened today…" And then she dragged me off to the refreshments table.

I went with her, grudgingly, because I did want a drink, but I wasn't listening to her irritating nasal voice as she droned on about something that had happened to her that was supposed to be funny. I must have reacted in all the right places because she didn't seem to notice that I was too occupied by the beautiful girl across the room from us.

Jasper was right; I was intoxicated by her presence. The song was right; I was hers to keep. And she was impossible to find. But I had found her and now I never wanted to let her go.

The song changed and Alice jumped up and down excitedly before dragging Jasper to the dance floor, leaving Bella by herself. How could she do that? Did she not understand that Bella was incredibly appealing and would have guys all over her in seconds, like wolves over fresh meat?

Bella didn't seem to mind, sipping coke as she watched people sway on the dance floor. She ran a hand through her hair, and the hand absent-mindedly came to rest at the crook of her neck. Not as though she were in pain, but she looked kind of… wistful. My brow furrowed as I tried – again – to unravel the convoluted workings of her mind.

Then, her eyes flickered up and met mine from across the room. I should've looked away, embarrassed to be caught staring, but her milky brown eyes caught and held me, not allowing me to move my line of sight anywhere else. Her cheeks went red but it seemed that she couldn't look away either, because her own eyes held mine, even as people danced between us. I was beginning to wish that something would break the connection because there was no question of me looking away first and Lauren's voice was becoming a low buzz, words that I could no longer make out. How could I convince her I was listening when I couldn't even hear her?

Someone twirled between us again and I blinked. A split-second was all it took, and then Bella's eyes were gone; Mike Newton was stood between us and his body language was conveying more than just friendliness. My mouth set into a hard frown; he was going to regret flirting with my Bella.

"Excuse me, Lauren," I said, trying to slip past her.

"Aren't you coming then?" She pouted and her big eyes filled with tears.

"Coming where?" I frowned and, against my better judgement, turned back to her.

"To my house on Monday evening?"

I sighed, with the intent to refuse, but I found myself nodding. "Yeah." Damn it. What had I just let myself in for? Oh well, I couldn't think about this right now; I had to find Bella. "Excuse me, Lauren," I repeated, this time slipping past her before she could trap me with more words.

Bella POV

"Hi, Bella!" Mike appeared in front of me suddenly.

I started; I hadn't seen him coming. Mind you, I hadn't seen anything other than the green depths of Edward's stunning eyes.

"Is it later yet?" Mike asked, his voice heavy with implications.

"Um…" I faltered. "I guess…" I said slowly.

"Will you dance with me?" he smiled.

I sighed. "Sorry, Mike. I don't dance."

He pouted. "You danced with Cullen," he pointed out.

I rolled my eyes. "I was forced to do that," I told him honestly.

"I could always force you to…" My face had him back-tracking in seconds. "Or we could stay here and chat. Yeah." He shuffled nervously in front of me.

I took another gulp of coke before searching over Mike's shoulder for the familiar green eyes again. I couldn't find them.

"Tuesday night was great," Mike said after a few seconds.

"Mmm," I said vaguely.

Mike's expression instantly became more animated. I realised too late that my loose answer had sounded like I was agreeing with him. Damn it.

"It's hot in here, isn't it?" Mike asked, his eyes shining with excitement.

I was about to disagree but, before I could reply, he had dragged me outside to the dimly lit garden. It was dark and it was cold and it was terribly unromantic, but Mike slid his arm round my waist anyway.

I cleared my throat softly and tried to move away, to make it clear that I was only comfortable with being friends, but he just pulled me closer.

"Bella," he whispered in my ear, blowing in it as well. My stomach fluttered, but not in a good way, like it did when Edward whispered in my ear. No, these were uncomfortable butterflies.

"Mike," I said, when he didn't continue. My tone was reprimanding, asking him to leave me alone, but he didn't hear it like that.

"Bella, you look really beautiful," he told me. He rested his glass on a flat-topped fence nearby and leant his face closer to me.

Oh, hell no. Not again…

I pulled my face back, but, this time, his hand came and caught the back of my head, his dirty fingers tangling in my hair uncomfortably.

"Stop…" I started to protest, but then his lips came down on mine. He moved them too roughly, hurting my already-tender lips, and his mouth tasted horrible. Like some kind of weird drink. My mind guessed that it was the fruit punch.

I hit his chest and he pulled his lips away. I thought that he had got the message, but he took a breath and then came back for more.

"No!" I exclaimed. "Stop!" But now it was more than his lips. I slapped at the hands that roamed over my body, squeezing my bum, but they didn't move.

Then, suddenly, abruptly, he was gone. Ripped away from me. I hadn't had time to blink before there was an almighty crash and I looked up to see Mike on the floor.

Startled, I looked around to see Edward stood by me, his eyes glinting dangerously; anger mingled with hatred.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Mike demanded, struggling back to his feet and glaring at Edward.

The words ripped from Edward's throat like a growl. "Helping Bella put her point across."

"What point?" Mike's jaw set guiltily. I saw intuition flash in his eyes and I was outraged; he had known the whole time that I had been trying to stop him and he still continued?

"You were molesting her!" Edward stated. "She was slapping at you and you carried on feeling her up!" He was so angry. More angry than I had ever seen him. Actually, that wasn't quite true. This was about the same level of anger as when he had found me in his 'den'. My pulse sped up, remembering what his anger had led to last time…

"She wanted it!" Mike argued. "She was encouraging me!"

"She was not!" Edward roared. By now, a fair few people had drifted outside and were watching Mike and Edward yell at each other.

"What do you know, Cullen?"

Edward glowered at him. "I know Bella better than you do!"

"But Bella hates you," Mike said. "She told me herself."

I gasped, and not only because that was an outright lie. Edward had flung himself at Mike and had knocked him to the ground. Now Edward was on top, swinging punches at Mike's face like there was no tomorrow.

Mike swore loudly and tried to fight back but, by now, his nose was bleeding and Edward was in too much of a fury to be deterred.

"Stop!" I shrieked. "Stop it!"

But the now-rather-large crowd jeered at them, making them madder at each other as they rolled around in the dirt, cussing loudly and pulling fistfuls of hair. Edward seemed to constantly have the upper hand, but Mike was getting in a few good hits, and that was what worried me.

I ran towards them and tried to break them up, but then Edward's fist accidentally came up and whacked me in the face.

"Ow," I whimpered quietly, flushing as people laughed.

"See?" Mike taunted, taking advantage of Edward's momentary distraction. "You've hurt her now."

"You're dead, Newton!" Edward hissed, kneeing him in the balls.

Mike grunted, but managed to shove one of his bony elbows into Edward's muscled stomach.

I tried again, this time with blood pouring from my nose and over my lips telling me to be more careful.

I grabbed at Edward, and there was a ripping sound as the sleeve of his shirt came off in my hand. I tossed it aside and tried again, wrapping my arms round his chest and hauling him off Mike.

He struggled against me, but I locked my arms firmly around his torso and steeled myself against him.

Mike looked up from the floor where he lay. "Thanks, Bella," he said, wiping at his own bloody nose.

Edward growled and I realised that it looked like I had pulled Edward off of Mike so that Mike would be safe.

"I didn't do it for you," I hissed at Mike. Then I pulled on Edward. "Come on."

He came away easily, satisfied that he had won that fight and now more concerned about my bleeding nose.

"Are you okay?" he asked. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hit you like that."

"I know," I replied, waving off his concern. "I'm fine."

"We're going," Edward decided.

"Good idea," I agreed. "I knew I shouldn't have come."

"What the hell was that for, Edward?" a shrill voice demanded from behind us. We were outside the club now, heading back to the car.

"Nothing, Alice," Edward answered without turning. "We're leaving."

Alice huffed. "I'm not."

"Yes, you are," Edward argued. We had both turned to face Alice and Jasper now.

"I'm staying at Jasper's," Alice told him, her eyes narrowed.

Jasper looked like this was news to him.

"Whatever," Edward muttered, his arm back around my waist.

I looked over my shoulder at Alice. She was already talking to Jasper. Perhaps sensing that I was looking, she glanced over and smiled encouragingly at me. Jasper looked over too and grinned at me.

Edward opened my door for me again and helped me in while I tried to stem the flow from my nose.

"It's a good thing I'm wearing red, really," I joked when he got in the drivers seat.

Edward looked at me. "I'm sorry," he said genuinely, his eyes burning with apology.

I shrugged. "I'm fine. I do this kind of thing to myself all the time." I gestured at my nose. "You should be sorry for starting that damn fight though!"

"He was asking for it," Edward growled, angry now. "Don't tell me you weren't thankful for my interceding."

I hesitated. "Well, I was, but he probably didn't deserve a pummelling. You could have just pushed him away and left it there."

Edward's brow furrowed. "He said you hated me. He said that you said you hated me." He sounded hurt now, the anger fading away.

"Edward," I sighed. "I'd never say anything like that. You know I wouldn't. He was just trying to provoke a reaction. And he did. I don't hate you."

"You don't hate me?" he asked, sounding slightly surprised.

"No!" I said. "Why on earth would I hate you?"

Edward frowned, keeping his eyes on the road. His answer was hesitant. "I've… well, I've said some horrible things to you."

"In the past, Edward. They're forgotten. You said sorry," I pointed out.

"But sorry is just a word Bella!" he exclaimed, slamming on the breaks as we hit a red light. He looked at me. "Sorry can't convey anything! It's just one little word! I want there to be something so much harder that you have to do rather than say one inconsequential little word so that I can prove to you how much I regret saying those things! I am so sorry, Bella. But it doesn't change anything. People still believe the rumours I started. People still avoid you like the plague. People still bitch about you. People like Mike Newton molest you. I've said sorry, but none of that has changed."

I sat in stunned silence when he finished his speech. He stared into my eyes, and I felt myself drawn in again, unable to look away. Just like earlier.

I don't know how long we stayed like that, but we did until a car behind us beeped its horn. Edward started and we both looked ahead to see that the light had gone green. He changed gear and drove on home.

I stared out of the window and watched as the landscape rushed past, thinking. Maybe, just maybe, Edward Cullen did like me after all. Even if just a little bit. Whatever. It was still enough to say sorry. I just wanted so much more.

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Argh! Sorry that I didn't update! I kinda went on a spontaneous sleepover at a friends last night so that we could leave early for Thorpe Park (yes, again. Aren't I lucky? :D) and I only just got back like ten minutes ago and the first thing I did was write this AN :D But I had a great time if that makes anything any different :D

And I'm also sorry for writing out the whole song right at the start of the chapter because I personally don't really like it when people do that because it makes the chapter look longer when it actually isn't so I tried to make sure that there were more words and pages than usual. Hopefully I didn't disappoint because those lyrics seemed so… right, you know? They totally described how Edward was feeling, or I thought they did. And if you don't know the song, have a listen on youtube. It's really good—slow and sweet :D

Thanks again for the kind reviews and I'm going to shut up now (a rare occurrence for me). Fave part or line?

PLEASE REVIEW!!!

Thanks.

Steph