Soundtrack:

Where do you go when you're lonely
Where do you go when you're blue
Where do you go when you're lonely
I'll follow you
When the stars go blue
When the stars go blue

~When the Stars Go Blue

by Tyler Hilton and Bethany Joy Galeotti

Chapter Twenty-One

"B. I'm so glad you're back." Tessa gave a dramatic eye roll as she helped me unload my stuff from my car. It was hard to believe that about eight months ago, when I had just graduated from college, I had been standing at this exact same spot, wondering what my life was going to be like as a journalist of Media Today. The biggest difference was that at that time I had no colleagues to offer their assistance, as I hadn't met them yet, so I had to carry the boxes in all by myself because Edward had an important exam on that day that he claimed he couldn't miss.

"Umm… thanks. That's very welcoming." I smiled.

"Dude, I'm serious. You know who took your place while you were gone? Jack Andrews. As if he knew anything about literature. Anyway, that's not the point. Do you know that he-"

"Bella! Bella! Bella!"

Vanessa pushed the glass doors all the way open and leaped into my arms, causing me to drop one of the boxes in the process. "Oh my gosh, we haven't seen each other in like forever. I missed you. I was so happy when Hope told us you were coming back!"

She was right. Even though it had only been two months since I last saw my best workmates, it did feel like forever.

"I was in the middle of a story, V." Tessa glared at her. "Thanks for the interruption."

"Which story?"

"Jack Andrews."

Vanessa giggled. "Oh, okay. Carry on. You'll love this, B."

Tessa nudged her in the ribs then turned her head back to me. "Where was I? Right. Okay. Do you have any idea what I had had to put up with while you weren't here? Jack Andrews is freaking repulsive. He picks his nose when he thinks nobody is looking and guess what? He flicks his… booger- or snot, whatever- to the carpet after he's done. Oh my god, I just about threw up on him one time."

I widened my eyes at the news and threw my head back and laughed. Jack Andrews never socialed with the rest of us. He was the kind of guy who would choose having his ass glued to a computer chair rather than going out with friends. He wasn't a nice guy either. Instead of looking at you when you talked to him, he'd peer at you like you weren't even worthy of his time.

"I think I'll talk to Hope King about a new desk," I shuddered, shaking the image out of my head. They giggled.

"Oh! Speaking of Hope King… dude. She's awesome. I mean, she's strict, yes, but she's driven and just-"

"Please don't tell me you have a girl crush on her," I couldn't help but tease Tessa when I saw her eyes glint with admiration at the mention of our new boss.

"Oh, ha ha. You're hilarious, Bella." Tessa rolled her eyes. "The best thing about her is she got rid of the slackers. Kendra Bitch-llington is still here, unfortunately, but she isn't slutting her way out of everything. She's actually been… working. For real."

Kendra worked? Now that should have made the headline of the newspaper.

Most of my colleagues either raised their heads or stood up to welcome me back to the office the moment I stepped inside the building. I'd be lying if I say I wasn't as nervous as hell because I was. Vanessa elbowed me after catching a glimpse of my shaking arms and mouthed "Relax". I didn't relax. The entire situation seemed surreal to me. There was no way I got my job back.

Everyone stared when Tessa and Vanessa helped me bring my things to my old desk. On my way there I bumped into Jack Andrews, who was returning from the restrooms, and I didn't miss the sour look that he shot me. Great. I had made another enemy at the office. Thank God his desk was all the way on the other end of the room.

There's something on my desk, I thought with bewilderment as I got closer and closer. My eyes brimmed with tears when I saw what that something was. A card. A huge, homemade card with a little cake that said "Welcome Back B.S." sitting prettily beside it. The B.S. made me smile; it was an inside joke for the three of us. According to Tessa, "Bella Swan" was capable of saying loads of "bullshit" if she didn't get a good night of sleep the night before. One time I said "Someone threw up in the sink restroom" instead of "Someone threw up in the restroom sink" and they never let me live it down.

"Save your speech, Bella," Vanessa boasted with a smirk. "Tessa and I know we're wonderful friends and you're extremely lucky to have us."

I laughed and pulled them both into a hug. "You're making me feel like today's my birthday or something."

"Just say we're awesome and get it over with. I have work to do. Instead of typing an article on teen drinking last night, I was making this card for you with my insanely awesome artistic skills. Be thankful, Bitch."

"I am thankful."

"Good." Tessa clasped her hands together and was about to say something else before she saw Hope approaching us. She and Vanessa scurried away but whispered "Welcome back" before leaving me.

"Good morning, Bella," Hope smiled earnestly. "How does it feel to be back?"

I stood up and let out the breath that I had been holding. "It feels… actually, it feels great. Thank you so much for letting me return. I'm really grateful."

Her posture stiffened. "You don't have to thank me, Bella. My brother made a mistake and as usual, I have to clean up his mess." She shook her head. "Anyway, I'll let you get back to sorting out your stuff. Great to have you with us again."

I bowed my head in thanks and watched her walk her confident pose down the aisle. Even though she wasn't much older, there was something about her that made her far more superior than the rest of us. And it wasn't just because she was my boss either.

"So Bella Swan is back."

I winced at the unpleasant voice. Raising my head, I found Kendra Bitch-llington gazing down at me with a smirk on her face. Bitch.

"Yeah, she is." And there's nothing you can do about it.

"Hope wanted you to fill out these papers. Sign them and bring them back to me pronto."

"Kendra?"

"Yeah?"

"You haven't changed at all." I smiled.

"Is that a good thing?"

I stifled my giggle. "I don't know. You tell me."

She glowered at me then click-clacked away. My relationship with her was as antagonizing as ever. Some things just never change, you know? Like Edward with Mr. Florence back in ECA.

Putting my stuff back in my desk turned out to be more difficult and time-consuming than I had originally thought. The drawer was a lot smaller than I remembered; how was that possible? Then I took out something that I had never brought to the office before, something I had thought of last night before going to bed.

A picture. Of me and Edward. Together. With his arms around my shoulder and our tongues sticking out at the camera. It was a great picture; we took it a couple of days ago when Alice and Jasper returned from their honeymoon and demanded that the six of us go out for a movie night. We went to the cinema downtown, watched a stupid chick-flick that none of us paid any attention to, and then took a bunch of foolish, crazy pictures in the mall with people gaping at us as if we were insane. Did I mention that we dared Jasper to ask one of the clerks who worked at Macy's where California was? He almost got punched. Anyway, it was an awesome night. A night that I would remember for as long as I shall live.

My phone went off and it showed that I had a text message.

Yo lil sis, show them how stupid they were to let you walk out of their doors!

your insanely handsome big bro,

Emmett-the-God

I laughed then quickly clicked the reply button. Emmett actually programmed Emmett-the-God into my phone under my contacts.

AWW!!! Thanks, Em! I heart you. Emmett-the-God. Pftt. Keep the dream alive.

After I settled in, I got right back to work. I checked the bestsellers of this week, got in touch with the author's agent, and managed to set up three meetings for this week and the next. I was so excited about being able to work again. I missed typing into the computer; I missed my squealing office chair; I missed the sound of the telephone ringing… I saw how I took all of these things for granted before.

"Bella, V. and I are going to grab some pizza for lunch. You coming?"

Tessa sat closer to me in comparison with Vanessa. She was only two desks down so usually we were able to communicate without walking around. Vanessa, however, was another story. Her desk was located right beside Kendra. I really felt for her, having to listen to her bitch and yammer about unimportant things.

"Let me just finish up. I gotta get this email out by noon; you know how long it takes Brook to reply."

"Okay, okay. I gotta pee so take your time."

I was right around done when Vanessa reappeared up so I didn't put up a fight when she clasped my laptop shut. Her face was glowing and her eyes were doing the speaking for her. I hadn't seen her this excited since… well, since the latest Johnny Depp movie came out.

"Dude, you've got to see this."

"See what?"

Tessa made her way to us smilingly, rolling her eyes backwards dreamily. "Oh my God. V. Did you see?"

"Hell yes. Damn, I had such a hard time tearing my eyes off-"

I was growing agitated. "See what?"

"The most gorgeous man ever. Dude, I was blushing just by looking at him. He's as fine as hell. No kidding!" Vanessa gushed. Now this amused me; Vanessa was usually the kind of girl that cursed all the guys to hell ever since her last boyfriend, James, cheated on her. She had sworn she was staying single for the rest of her life. According to her, men were scums.

Tess didn't second that. She, unlike V., got crushes so easily that her infatuation changed weekly if not daily. Her current fixation was Samuel Ross from the PR company across the street.

"Oh my god. He has amazing lips; moist, but not wet, you know? I wonder how good it feels to kiss him," Tess gave a sigh. "And did you see his jaw? I couldn't see the color of his eyes since I wasn't close enough but I bet they're hypnotizing. I think I'm in love."

"Tess, you fall in love with every guy you meet." I laughed.

"This is different!" she protested. "I'll bet he's a model, though I don't know why he would be on our floor instead of Jen's office if that were the case. Maybe he's lost. Oh!" She clasped her hands together with a gleam in her eyes. "I'll offer to show him the way. Who knows? Maybe I'll get to know him a bit. This calls for a detour."

Vanessa and I rolled our eyes at her.

"I thought we were going out for lunch," I accused.

Tessa winked at me. "Well, Mystery Guy sounds a lot more delicious than pizza, doesn't he? I wonder if he's still at the reception desk. Oh my god, why am I still here, wasting time?"

Just like that, she flew to the direction of Marissa's desk. Vanessa and I followed her, not wanting her to embarrass herself since she tended to do that every now and then when she came across guys that she was interested in, and I stopped in my track when I saw who was standing at the reception area.

At the same time, he turned his head to the side and met my eyes. He smiled crookedly, thanked Marissa and murmured, "Never mind. I found her."

I couldn't breathe. I couldn't believe he was here. At my office.

"See? Even you're infatuated." Vanessa snickered and elbowed me.

Shaking off my momentary dumbfounderment, I rubbed my eyes to make sure I wasn't hallucinating and threw myself at the figure standing in front of me with a wide smile. Tess, Vanessa, Marissa, along with a couple of my other female colleagues who were now watching us, seemed too stunned to speak.

"Edward! What are you doing here?"

He chuckled, kissed me softly on the lips and said, "Class was cancelled. The professor got the swine flu that's been going around and I thought it would be nice to have lunch with my beautiful girlfriend." Then speaking into my ear, he whispered, "Why the hell are all these people watching us? It's kind of creepy."

I giggled because I couldn't help myself. I surveyed the room and found that a lot of people were still gaping. Tessa had her lips parted and her eyes were twitching. Vanessa looked to be in shock.

"Umm everyone, this is Edward. My boyfriend. Edward, these are my co-workers."

Most of the girls said "Hi" or "Hey" with disbelief and left to take their lunch break. Tessa and Vanessa stayed behind so I introduced the two of them to Edward, who shook their hands and dazzled them with his trademark crooked smile. Tessa's face reddened when Edward claimed that he had heard a lot about both of them. Vanessa wasn't any better; she gave a flustered giggle every time Edward spoke.

God. Edward was turning my friends into mush.

"Between going through all of that again and going to hell, I'd rather go to hell." Edward shook his head with a grimace as soon as we stepped into the lot.

I laughed, tightened my grip around his arm and planted a kiss on his cheek. "I was so surprised to see you! My first thought was that there was an emergency or something."

He grinned at me. "What? I can't show up at my girlfriend's work without an emergency?"

"I didn't say that," I scoffed. "I just said I was surprised to see you. You have no idea how the girls regarded you before finding out who you are. Mystery Guy, they called you."

"Hope you weren't disappointed to see it was me instead of some other dude," he commented wryly.

"Of course I wasn't. Anyone else would have been a disappointment. They can never match up to you."

I wasn't trying to suck up, I swear. I honestly believed Edward was the best that there was. Models? Movie stars? Phft. Step aside. Edward Cullen made them look like crap in comparison.

He smirked. A wideass, triumphant smirk. "You can say that again. No really. You can."

I shook my head with regret. "Why the hell did I just inflate your ego? Your head is big enough as it is."

We went for a walk around the lake after lunch. I told him about my first day back in Media Today, how nice everyone- well, almost everyone- was to me, and how I was sure having Hope King as my boss would be a million times better than having her brother. As soon as I finished speaking, he leaned over to kiss me. But when he pulled away, I noticed for the first time how there was something off about him. He was smiling, yes, but the smile looked forced.

I covered his hand with mine. "Edward, what's wrong?"

He looked down to his feet. "It's… umm…" he sighed. "Stuff at work. That's one of the reasons why I showed up at your office today."

"You can tell me anything. You know that. What's the matter?"

I didn't like this. Whatever it was that was bothering Edward.

He withdrew his hand from mine and buried his face in his hands. "Gerald, my mentor… he warned me about being too attached to Aly. Several times. This morning he told me that Aly might be able to leave the hospital in a week."

I stared at him with my lips parted.

He removed his hands from his face and smiled sadly at me. "I know this sounds really selfish, but a part of me didn't want her to leave. I really like that little girl, you know?'

"You love her," I corrected him. "And I love her too. There's no need to be embarrassed about it."

"Yeah," he said, running a hand through his hair. "But it's unprofessional. I'm not supposed to be emotionally attached to these children, you know? I'm not even a doctor yet so how am I going to get anywhere if I get myself so attached to these kids?"

I shook my head in denial. "You aren't like this with all kids, Edward. Aly… she's special. She's gone through so much and you were there for her when no one else cared. It's not just a patient-doctor relationship. You guys have a strong bond. You made her life better, Edward. I'm so proud of you."

He laughed sourly. "What's the use? I won't be able to help her once she gets out of the hospital. Hell, I won't even be able to see her anymore. Do you want to know the worst part? Her shitty uncle and aunt… they don't even want her. They're putting her up for foster care or adoption after she gets released. Depends on how her father's trial goes."

I blinked back the tears that were welling up my eyes. He didn't want to give Aly up. Neither did I, even though I hadn't spent much time with her in comparison with Edward. It really broke my heart to heart that Aly was going back to her uncle and aunt. They didn't care about her.

Edward really loved that little girl. When he came home, she was included in every conversation whenever I asked how his day at work was. Sometimes when we were in the middle of eating, he'd go "Aly hates peas" or "Aly would love this" without realizing it himself. If Aly wasn't so sweet and I hadn't grown a soft spot for her, I would have felt jealous that Edward was spending more time with this little person than he was with me. Not that I blamed him; after all, the hospital was his career.

"Edward," I said, trying to smile. "We'll figure something out. I'm so sorry you have to go through this, that Aly has to go through this. But we'll figure something out."

"If she gets adopted, how do we know if her new set of parents don't fuck her up again? She's already broken. No one deserves to go through hell twice." He shook his head with disgust.

I closed the distance between us and pulled him into a hug. He buried his face into the crook of my neck and inhaled sharply. This was the first time that I had to be the strong one in our relationship. He was always the one that I ran to whenever I was in trouble or needed someone to talk to. Edward had always been my rock.

Now I was his.

We stood there for I didn't know how long. I was glad we were in a secluded area so Edward wouldn't feel awkward if anyone happened to stare.

"I'm sorry. I'm keeping you from work, aren't I?" he said, breaking from his daze.

"I can call the day off if you want," I said, though I had no idea how I was going to pull that off without having Hope thinking I was a slacker.

He shook his head. "No. It's fine. I want some time to myself anyway. I'll drive you back."

I nodded and linked our fingers together as we walked back to the car. Edward's eyes remained clouded with distraught throughout the entire car ride; he didn't say anything and I had no idea what I could say to comfort him.

"I'll see you tonight, okay?" I pecked him on the cheek before getting out of the car. "I love you."

"Love you too."

"If you need anything… call me, okay?"

"'Kay."

I watched with my heart drumming as he drove away.

Tessa yanked me into the ladies room when I stepped back into the office. Her face was red and she was babbling so speedily that I almost couldn't catch a word that she was saying. She apologized to me about swooning over Edward, said she was so embarrassed from talking about how amazing his lips were, and I told her to forget about it since I was used to girls reacting that way around him.

Now I had a new nickname in the office- Bella Swan: The Girl with Hottie Boyfriend.

The road was slippery so I almost hit the car behind me as I pulled the car to reverse at six o'clock. How coincidental; it was Kendra's Toyota. I could tell she wanted to flip me the bird but since we were mature grownups, she just said "no worries" when I rolled down my window and yelled out my apologies. I wondered if she was like Lauren back in high school. If she were Lauren… she would have gotten out of that car and lunged at me. That was when I noticed Hope King retrieving a stack of documents from her trunk, three cars down from us. Of course, I should have known; Bitch-llington was acting mature because Boss was there.

I raced down the highway, a bit anxious and giddy to get home to Edward. I wanted to see him, wanted to wrap my arms around him to comfort him which, I admit, probably wouldn't do much. I wanted him to know that I was there for him. And if anything popped up, he could come to me and we could solve the problem together as a team.

Edward was lying on the couch, flipping through the channels when I got home. He smiled at me and I scampered to him after hanging my coat. He laid his head in my lap and I stroked his hair, wishing there was something I could say to cheer him up.

"Have you had supper?" I asked. "There is some frozen pasta in the fridge and I can heat it up."

He shook his head. "I had some chips before you came back so I'm not really hungry. You should get something to eat though; I bet you're worn out."

"I'm fine. Not hungry."

"Bella?"

"Hmm?"

"I'm sorry," he said simply.

I frowned at him, my fingers frozen on a lock of his bronze hair.

"I'm just… so embarrassed," he chuckled humorlessly. "I don't want you to see that side of me. The weak side. I mean, I almost broke into tears because of a little girl. I can't believe how pathetic I am. Emmett's right; maybe I am going soft. Back in high school, if you told me any of this, I would have laughed."

"This isn't about going soft, Edward," I murmured. "I love this side of you. I know you want to be the arrogant popular guy that all of your friends expect you to be, but you know what? I love sweet, kind, caring Edward more. It was this Edward that made me fall head over heels in love."

He cracked a smile. "Oh, you mean not my sexy, bad boy attitude?"

I laughed. "That's a bonus."

"Thanks, Bella."

"What are girlfriends for, right?" I ruffled his hair and leaned down to kiss him on the lips. "Now get up."

He groaned. "Why?"

"Because we're heading over to the hospital. Someone there needs our company."

I can't believe it's been this long since my last update. RL has gotten in the way so I had a lot of school work to catch up on. I wish I can say that the craziness is over... but it's not. Thank you guys so much for reviewing the last chapter. It's wonderful to know that you guys haven't given up on this story. I know I never will... so even if you don't see an update for some time, DON'T PANIC. I promise I'm still writing. This chapter is not edited so I apologize in advance for the possible errors. The next chapter will be the reunion for the ECA Bulldogs. I'm excited; I hope you are too.

Pictures of Hope, Tessa, and Vanessa are on my website!

~o~o~

Review please!

I love reading them. They're my writing energizer.