Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, but this story does belong to me.

Chapter 25--Inside Out

Edward

After I got off the phone with Bella, I couldn't go back to sleep. I was relieved; finally I could have some alone time with Bella. Finally I could go back to being good father for my daughter. It made me smile to think that everything was actually going to get better...finally.

Alice and Jasper had taken Juliet to the county fair earlier that day. They had just gotten back a few hours ago, and since it was late, they decided to crash at my place. I was excited to tell them the good news, about Rosalie's returning. I knew they'd still be awake, or at least I hoped they would be. I made sure Juliet was asleep and tucked in before I left upstairs.

I descended down the stairs, and was thankful to see them on the couch watching something on T.V. I heard the last bit of their conversation before I decided to interrupt.

"...I don't get this show, or why you watch it, Alice." Jasper complained.

"Oh shut up." She slapped him. "Why don't you like this?" Even though I couldn't see her, I knew she'd be pouting.

"Because it's stupid. How can you not know you were pregnant?"

I decided it was time to make my presence known. "Why are you guys watching, 'I Didn't Know I was Pregnant'?" I took a seat on the recliner, putting my feet up and staring at the screen.

"Because it's interesting." Alice retorted and I opened my mouth to speak, but she cut me off. "Don't say it. I've heard enough complaining." She threw a pointed look at Jazz then changed the channel to Fox News. "Happy?" Jazz smiled, while I chuckled.

"So, why aren't you asleep, man?" Jasper asked me. I turned to look in their direction. "You find Emmett anywhere?"

I sighed. "No, I haven't found him. I don't know where he could be. I checked the local bars, but..." I trailed off. I told Bella I'd find him, but I failed. He had been acting strange and going to the wierdest places that I didn't even know where to start.

"I'm sure he's all right, he's a big boy." Alice tried to sound optimistic, but I knew she was upset. "I hope everything get's better..."

"Oh yeah!" I shouted, remembering my good news. "Rosalie's back!" I stared at them, and they stared at me. Eyes wide, jaws ajar.

"Don't do that, Edward." Alice spoke in monotone.

"Do what? I'm telling you the truth."

"How do you know this?" Jasper spoke up.

"I just got off the phone with Bella. She said they met up at a coffee shop." I told them simply. My phone vibrated in my pocket, the name flashed, Bella.

Jasper, Alice, a half-asleep Juliet and I sat in the parking lot of the bar "Get Silly." Bella had called me and told me she needed help to find him. She was worried, near tears, so I had to help. I told Jasper and Alice this and they agreed to come along, saying that they would not sit at home. I argued and they said they needed to be there just in case something happened. I felt awful waking up Juliet, and dragging her along, but this was important.

Bella sent me a text later, saying that she was at the bar and found Rosalie there. So now, we were sitting in my Volvo, in the parking lot of the bar. I leaned my head against the seat and closed my eyes.

For what felt like a few seconds later, someone was slapping my arm. "Damn! You're a heavy sleeper!" Alice half-whispered, half-shouted at me. "I just saw Emmett walk out! I swear it."

"What?" I rubbed my eyes.

"Rosalie's in there, isn't she?" Alice didn't wait for me to answer. "So is Bella." She leaned against Jasper who was asleep and leaning against the back seat window.

"Should I go inside?" I whispered to myself, but she answered for me. Mumbling 'yes'. She also said she'd stay here with Juliet, so I had nothing to worry about. I thanked her and walked inside. I was wearing my jeans from today and a black Metallica band shirt with black boots. It wasn't a fashion statement, I was just in comfortable clothes. On the sleeve of my shirt I noticed some dried drool had taken home there. I sighed. Well, that's attractive.

Only a few people were still inside the bar. Two bartenders, two women, three men and another man who was wiping his nose and mouth that seemed to be covered with blood. I heard shouting flowing from the back of the bar. I recognized the voices, and I found myself walking over toward them.

"... You're a bit extreme, huh Bella?" Rosalie. "You're ridiculous. Just because you had every guy in high school, doesn't mean you can have my husband."

Huh?

"And I don't want him!" Bella. "You were so jealous of me in high school and you're still jealous. All though, I'm not sure what you're jealous of. Why are you such a jealous bitch?"

I didn't understand what was going on, but I knew I had to stop it before it got extremely out of hand. "Bella, enough." My voice was scratchy from the lack of sleep, but the scold rung clear. She slowly turned around and faced me. God, she's beautiful.

Her eyes were mad, her mouth set in a grim line, hands on her hips. She's the only one that can look so hot in simple pajamas.

"What? Excuse me?" I noticed now, both girls were staring at me like they wanted to kill me. "You want me to calm down? Why are you sticking up for her?" Rosalie now wore a smug smile as she looked between Bella and I.

Wait a minute. I wasn't sticking up for Rosalie! God, I'm so tired. "You're being out of line." I stated softly. Her mouth opened and she sighed, frustrated, then she told me she couldn't do this and needed to go, and walked toward the back doors.

"She can be so stubborn sometimes, I honestly don't know how you keep up with those mood swings. I don't know how we stayed friends so long, she was never like this in high school. Not until that guy--"

"Rosalie." My voice was a warning. She stared at me, her blue eyes waiting. "Shut up. I don't want to hear anymore. I'm tired, I'm hungry. I've got Alice and Jasper, and my daughter in the car outside sleeping. They don't deserve this and neither do I." I took a deep breath. "I'm sorry for what you've gone through, I know it's tough, but taking out all of your confusion and anger on Bella isn't the right thing to do. Now, because of you, I've got her mad at me. And I don't even know what I fucking did. So do me a favor and shut up, because I'm tired of your bullshit. Think before you talk, yeah?" I turned and walked in the direction Bella left.

I suddenly felt like a prick. But, it felt so good to say that to her face. My only excuse for my behavior, I'm tired. But, I couldn't care about Rose at the moment, she's strong, and she'd get over it. My only focus was to make sure Bella was all right.

I found her standing by herself, staring at the sky. I walked over to her and apologized, she forgave me with a smile. We joked that she might be bipolar, which I actually considered for a moment but thought it was ludicrous and shook off the thought. Later, right as I was about to brush my lips across her warm, inviting mouth...Rosalie interrupted us. She apologized and didn't even let Bella speak. She started to accuse herself of being a terrible person, but I silenced her with my mouth.

God, it'd been so long since I felt her against me. Mouth to mouth, chest to chest - I told her that her shirt was too thin and she just smiled a little smirk and teased me. I held back a groan. My knee parted her legs, my lips followed the curve of her collarbone. All I wanted to do was lick...and oh.

She groaned.

I thought I was going to fall apart right there, right against the wall of the bar. Finally, I got some control over myself and jumped back. Her chest was moving up and down, her eyes hooded. "What's wrong?" She whispered, her breath blowing across my face. I nearly collapsed.

"We...need to stop." I said reluctantly. She frowned, and pouted her lips.

"Why? I'm fine..." She stepped closer to me and grabbed me by the loop of my jeans that started to hang lower on my hips.

"No. No." I shook my head and stepped away from her. Hurt filled her eyes and she stepped back, biting the inside of her cheek. "No, Bella, I want you. Don't doubt that, it's just...I have Alice and Jasper in the car with Juliet..."

She stood straighter, "oh." She smoothed out her hair that I had messed up while running my nose and fingers through. "I'm...sorry."

"Stop apologizing." I smiled and took her hand. "Where's your car?"

"In the parking lot..." She yawned. I told her that I would take her home and we could pick up her car later. She argued saying she was fine.

"Bella, you're tired, I can see that." I ran a finger under her eyes lightly.

She looked away and then said, "oh!" I asked what was wrong and she said that she would be right back. She ran into the bar and a few minutes later, she came back out. "I gave my keys to Rosalie. She needs a ride home and she needs to get Emmett home." She crossed her arms over her chest and stared at the ground.

"Hey, don't listen to Rose, or whatever she said tonight." She looked at me, but kept averting her eyes. "She was a little tipsy, but I'm sure she's sobered up by now." She nodded. I held her hand and walked her toward my car. I held a finger up to my lips, in a gesture to say be quiet. She nodded and opened the door quietly and closed it quietly.

We drove in silence. Alice and Jasper were laying over each other, asleep and Juliet's hand was in Alice's. "So cute..." Bella whispered staring at them, then effectively yawned. Since yawns are - for some reason - contagious, I yawned too.

I carried Juliet's sleeping body upstairs to her bed, Alice and Jasper dragged up the stairs the the guest bedroom. I said goodnight and received a goodnight from everyone in return. Once Jules was tucked into bed, once again, I realized we had a problem. Bella walked up the stairs and smiled at me. I smiled back. "So, I'll sleep on the couch - my room is right--"

"Edward, we can sleep in the same bed." I gulped and looked everywhere but her face. "We don't have to do anything, we'll just be sleeping." I could feel my face turning red. "Or, no, don't even worry about it. I'll sleep on the couch."

"No, I couldn't let you do that." I cleared my throat. "I'll be fine on the couch."

"Quit being so stubborn." And with that, she grabbed my hand and led me to my room. I gave her directions and once we were inside, she closed the door behind her. I exhaled loudly.

"If you're uncomfortable--"

"Don't worry about it." I smiled at her trying to reassure her, and she smiled shyly back. "Uhm, I don't sleep in my jeans so...but I'll leave my shirt on so you're not weirded out." I mumbled. She seemed to understand and turned her blushing face away from me and sat on the bed.

"This is really soft." She smiled and spread out on the bed. I chuckled and watched her hair get into a tangled mess atop her head. I stepped out of my pants and crawled into bed next to her. She gulped.

"If you're uncomfortable--"

"I'm fine." She squeaked. I rolled my eyes and she just laughed nervously, burying her face into the pillows.

We just lay there, staring at each other. Sure, it may have seemed a little creepy, but it was nice. I felt lost in her gaze...I felt...home.

Something donned on me, something I wanted to ask. "Can...can I ask you something?" I whispered and she nodded. "Well, when you and Rose were...yelling at each other...you kept saying that she was jealous. And, I was wondering why."

She closed her eyes. "I would wonder why too." She sounded a little offended and so I backtracked.

"No, no not like that. I know why she'd be jealous, because you're beautiful...uh." I could feel myself blushing again. "But, I was just...you know what? Never mind. Good night." I turned around feeling completley stupid.

I heard her giggle behind me. "Edward, calm down. Turn around." I did as she said and faced her again. "Well, in high school...well, this is kind of a long story, so keep up." She smiled.

"Rosalie and I became friend freshman year. Both of us were awkward and really weird. I was into English and she was a big science freak. We didn't have any friends, because all of my friends became 'popular' or whatever and so did hers. She wore glasses..." Bella giggled at the memory and I laughed trying to picture her like that. "But, she was really confident in herself, even if she did wear ridiculous outfits and bad shoes. She talked to me first. The weird girl with the baggy hoodies and book worm." She rolled her eyes and continued. "We were best friends. We did everything together. You couldn't keep us apart, we were like attached at the hip. My dad always warned me that I should get more friends just in case, but I never listened to him." Bella sighed.

"Once sophomore year was over, in the summer, Rosalie started to get...curves. Guys would say she had 'a nice rack,' and 'good booty'" She giggled. "But, I was like a wall. I had no boobs, no butt. Rosalie's mom got her contacts, so she didn't wear glasses anymore. And she was gorgeous. She started to wear clothes that clung to her, and made her figure look great. And by the beginning of junior year, guys really, really noticed her." Bella had a far off look in her eyes as she remembered. "Then, we barely talked because the other girls talked to her. The popular girls. Rosalie completely forgot about me and I was left with no one. No one wanted to talk to me, because Rosalie wasn't talking to me." She frowned. "During the summer, I knew there was something I had to do. I wanted to be noticed. But, I wanted my best friend back. So, senior year, I wore clothes that fit me better. Because, by then, I had finally developed.

"I wore make-up, I styled my hair better. My braces had come off--"

"You wore braces?" I asked, no wonder her teeth are so great. I laughed at the thought.

"Yes, but don't worry, I didn't have headgear or whatever." She rolled her eyes and punched my shoulder when I laughed.

"All right, go on."

"Okay, so, people started to notice me more then..." She rolled her eyes. "I got asked out a lot, but I turned them down. I started to get...conceited, I guess you could say. All I worried about were my looks, my new popular friends and jocks. Boys followed me around, girls envied me." Bella thew a disgusted look to me, but continued. "Everyone thought I was...experienced. But, the truth is, I had never gotten my first kiss. But I always said I did. So, I decided it was time to get a boyfriend. Rosalie was friends with a different crowd of populars, so I wanted to talk to the guy that Rose was crushing on. Just to get her mad, just so she could be my friend again." Bella played with the hem of her shirt. "I told Alec that I wanted to go out with him, and he was eager to agree. Soon, we were officially dating. But, he didn't want to tell anyone. He said that if I really liked him and his friends, I had to do something for him." She sat up and ran a hand through her hair. I sat up and listened as she continued.

"I wanted to be friends with his friends, and be friends with Rosalie again, so I thought that his option...was the only way to be his kind of popular. So I did as he said. I wore what he told me to wore. God, I was so stupid." She turned to me, her eyes pricked with tears. "You have to understand that I was a stupid kid, I did things I regret. Please, don't hate me."

I held her in my arms. "I could never hate you. But...what were the things you did?"

"I did drugs, I drank with his friends. I kissed him whenever he ordered me to. I'm disgusted with what I did for him."

"Wow, I'm sorry. I understand, when we're young we do stupid things."

"No, Edward." She slipped out of my embrace. "I did bad stuff. My first time...I did with him, in the backseat of his car. He didn't even know I was a v. And when he did know it was, he cut me off. He didn't talk to me anymore. He was ashamed of me." She cried quietly. And I sat there trying to take it all in.

"Wow." I whispered. I clenched my fists. If I ever found that guy...oh, fuck, I'd kill him.

"Don't hate me." She whispered back and clutched her knees to her chest.

"No, Bella." I played with her fingers. "I could never hate you. You were young, I get it."

"Thank you." She kissed me softly, but didn't deepen it like all the other times. "After Rose found out that Alec and I were together like that...she was upset with me. And I had to fight for her friendship. But finally, she got over it and realized that her friends - me, was more important than a boy. So, we promised each other we'd never fight over something so stupid. And we haven't...not since tonight..."

"Bella, I want you to know that I think Rose is a great person, sometimes. But if she's making you fight for her friendship, that doesn't seem like a friend to me."

"I know, but, I don't know..." She sighed. "You're right, Edward. I won't fight for her friendship, if she wants me to be her friend, she has to treat me right. I've been treating her right for...forever." I kissed her forehead. "I think I deserve some respect in return."

"Thank you for sharing that..." I said quietly and nodded. "Thanks for letting me in, to your past."

"It's the least I could do, you've only been amazing to me."

I laughed. "You're amazing."

"All right, enough complimenting, we're getting corny."

A few minutes later, we let the darkness envelop us, and drift us to sleep.

A/N: Okay, tell me how much you love me!

-&-Pixie.