Rating: M

Disclaimer: The original characters and plot are the property of Stephenie Meyer.

Thanks to her for bringing them to us.

No copyright infringement is intended

Big thanks to the endlessly patient and helpful Snuggler for being my beta.

CHAPTER 25

EDWARD

As he gazed at Bella, the noise and bustle of the party around them seemed to blur into nothing. The only person in the world that mattered, at that moment, was her. She glanced suspiciously in his direction, a response to being stared at. In his costume, of course, he would be unrecognisable, but he wanted her to see him. She looked at him with innocent, doe-like eyes and backed slightly as he walked toward her. Would she react like a deer and be startled away? He had to risk it.

"It's me," he said in an unhelpful croak. He cleared his throat. "Edward," he clarified, more loudly.

Her brow furrowed. "Edward?" Then, "Oh!" she gasped, as realisation hit.

For a moment, they had eyes only for each other. The Edward/Bella bubble started to re-form over them, holding them together against the world; except that the world wasn't ready to allow that to happen, it wanted to butt in. Tanya was prodding his arm, and some blonde guy had put his arm round Bella and was asking to be introduced. Fuck it, thought Edward, remembering that Jake had told him that she had a boyfriend. As an awareness of their surroundings rushed back in; his thoughts and feelings assailed him. What shall I do? Chit-chat politely and then bow out gracefully to let the better man win? The idea made him sick. No, not bloody likely. He knew what life was like without her, and this was the closest he'd come to her in a year. If he was lucky enough to have been given a second chance, he wasn't prepared to let it go without a fight.

He turned, briefly, toward Tanya, said, "Yeah?" and then immediately went back to Bella.

"How have you been?" he called out over the party music, holding his hand out to her.

She took his fingers lightly but flinched away when they touched as if receiving a shock. Her eyes widened, and she looked ready to flee at any second. He took her hand again and placed his other hand over the top, partly to calm her and partly because he didn't want to let it go. It must have had a calming effect. She seemed to collect herself. He resisted the urge to kiss the hand, too, for fear of embarrassing her, but kept hold. She allowed it as she tilted her head in the direction of each of the three people behind her. Doing battle with the party music, she forced her voice up a notch to answer.

"I've been…OK…This is Eddie, Alice and Jasper."

"Hi," said Edward, not really looking at them. Then, almost doing a double-take, he leaned in to her and added, with a hint of mockery, "Eddie? Really?"

"Yes, really," she stated, seeming suddenly more sure of herself.

She looked at him squarely as if daring him to make something of it. She obviously wasn't going to let him get away with taking the piss but still blushed slightly as if she was a child caught with her hand in a cookie jar. Standing there, defiantly, in her little French maid outfit; with dark curls framing her face, she looked like a naughty Victorian doll. She was as adorable as ever.

"This is Edward," she shouted to her companions. "He's an old friend."

The world "old" pricked his heart. Did "old" mean that he only belonged in the past?

"Hi," they all responded including Eddie, who held out his hand to shake Edward's with innocent enthusiasm.

Dammit, thought Edward. He was going to have to let go of Bella to shake hands with this dufus. Bella pulled her hand away, forcing him to show some manners. Edward took the hand being offered to him. It had the effect of bringing him to his senses. He suddenly became aware of how rudely he was ignoring Tanya. Trust Bella to find a way to steer him right. He turned to Tanya to introduce her and was surprised to find her eyeballing Bella with barely disguised fury.

"This is Bella," he offered, hesitantly.

"Mmm," was Tanya's initial response. "Pleased to meet you," she sounded out through gritted teeth, looking anything but.

At that moment, as if in reaction to some secret signal, there was a flurry of activity. Edward suddenly felt his arm yanked by Tanya. He resisted, at first, but she was hissing something at him in an urgent tone. He couldn't make out what she was saying, but whatever it was seemed to need his undivided attention and couldn't wait. He had no option but to follow but looked over his shoulder at Bella as he was pulled determinedly away. It left Bella's stunned and slightly offended group to go off in the other direction; and assorted party goers swept in to fill the void. When Tanya had eventually dragged him some distance, she stopped, and he waited patiently for the earth-shattering news, full of anxiety. Seconds ticked by painfully before she admitted that it was nothing. Edward was livid. Family or no, she was not going to scupper his golden opportunity. He wrenched away from her grasp and set off in search of Bella, fearful that she and her friends might have thought better of this party after all. Would she have told them about him? Would he have been painted as a villain? Weaving in and out of the crowd, he tried not to actually push anyone out of the way but found that people in conversation with a drink in one hand become strangely immovable. He kept a watchful eye out for Rosie. She was the only other person he really knew and therefore the only person likely to detain him. He couldn't risk it; finding Bella was the priority.

He eventually spotted her on the far side of the kitchen. Fortunately, she was on her own. She faced away from him and, surprisingly, appeared to pour herself a drink. That was new. It was a lot quieter in the kitchen and would make it easier to talk. Right, don't cock this up, he instructed himself. He stopped and regained control of his breathing but remained alert to her every move. Then he strolled over as casually as possible and stood behind her, close enough to smell her. She still smelled of strawberries. Was it a favourite product or was that her natural scent? As if she could sense him there, she turned slowly and raised her glass to him with a smile.

"Cheers," she offered, shamelessly.

"So, what brings you to Cambridge?" he chose as an uncontroversial opener.

"A Law degree."

"Oh you're a student here," he said, without thinking.

She bristled. "Yes," she enunciated.

Perhaps it wasn't a great opener after all. Idiot! Now I've offended her. He tried to rescue the situation but succeeded only in making matters worse.

"Law…Wow."

She wasn't going to be patronised either. She gave him an old fashioned look.

"Wow? This, coming from a med student..."

"You remembered."

He actually wasn't trying to change the subject. He was genuinely pleased.

She took the reins of the conversation from him, putting it into a safer pair of hands. "Yes. How about you, why are you here? I thought you went to Oxford. It's a long way to come for a party."

"It is and I did, I mean I do…go to Oxford, I mean." Nerves were making him incoherent. Calm down and try again. "Tanya and I are at Oxford together. We're both related to Rosie, who lives here, and we wanted to surprise her." He smiled, nervously.

"Oh?" she said with a slight lift in her voice and the flicker of a smile.

It gave him hope. He watched as she took a large sip from her wine, and he ran his teeth over his bottom lip, envying her glass.

"So, Tanya is…?" she queried.

"Yes…actually a distant cousin of mine….long story."

"Mm," Bella responded, the smile fading. She took a large gulp from her drink.

He moved as close to her as he dared and spoke into her hair. "I must speak to you again. Do you still have my number?"

He was close enough to feel the protest building inside her, but he wasn't going to let her finish any sentence that might begin with "no".

"Please… just consider it," he interjected.

She nodded minutely.

"Can I have your number?" he added.

He held his breath, waiting for her to say something and was relieved when it was, "Yes, I have a different number, now."

He already knew that. One night, drowning his sorrows, he'd given into the temptation to call the old one and regretted it. Now, he pulled out his phone, tweaked her details and handed it to her to enter the number, noticing how her fingers trembled while she tapped.

He had just put the mobile back in his pocket when her friends descended on her with a, "There you are."

He offered one last smile around the group and left them together, patting his pocket to make sure that the newly treasured phone was still safe. For the rest of the evening, he chatted and giggled with Rosie and did the rounds with her friends. He was still angry with Tanya's irrational dislike of Bella, and frustratingly, she refused to offer any explanation for it, but it wasn't enough to properly dampen his spirits. Tonight he carried a warm glow inside. He had seen Bella again, and she hadn't sent him packing.

BELLA

Given the number of times Bella had "seen" Edward, over the past year; or, at least, thought she had, it was ironic that when they actually stood face to face she didn't, at first, recognise him. But then Edward didn't normally look like this. The sightings that had made her heart skip a beat were of a glimpse of shining auburn hair, a slight swagger or a slim frame. This costume did a good job of disguising him. As he squinted at her, even his eyes, at first, didn't have the sparkling green clarity she was so used to. Then he spoke; she would have recognised those soft, honeyed tones anywhere and felt herself melting from within. It WAS him, here, in Cambridge. The moment she had feared and prayed for had come. Her carefully managed feelings had been thrown up in the air like a pack of cards, not least because she didn't know how he felt about her. Did he still have feelings for her; did he no longer care; or would he be bitter and resentful? She was lost and, yet, still utterly spellbound. For a moment, only he existed and when her fingers felt that familiar spark she nearly lost it. Then, as she grew more aware of the friends around her, she felt guilty that they had so quickly become invisible and knew she had to get it together. After all, one of those friends was officially her boyfriend. Edward had his girlfriend with him, too; it would be inappropriate to turn to jelly in front of them all. Her defensive auto-response kicked in and gave her the courage to introduce him. The Dracula outfit actually helped. If her first sight of him had been in all his natural, stunning glory, after all this time, she would not have been able to keep control. The slightly comical costume created a kind of safe distance between them.

They had barely spoken before he was whisked away, far too soon. Was that to be it, her only contact, after all this time? Tanya had dragged him off. She was obviously furious, and it wasn't surprising. Although they'd never met, she would know what Bella looked like from her Facebook picture and must have known that Bella had been with Edward before her, through Thea. It would have come as a shock to find Bella in Cambridge. They may be "friends" on Facebook, but Bella used Facebook to follow other people, not to reveal what she did with her own life. Clearly, there was no way Tanya was going to put up with Edward reconnecting with an ex, and it wasn't unreasonable, she was his girlfriend. It was still a wrench to see him walk away with her, though. It was one thing to know that he was with someone else, even to see them together in photos, but this was rubbing it in. Bella needed a drink. She hadn't exactly gone from teetotal to drunkard. In truth, she was still a bit of a lightweight, but there were times when a drink really helped. In the kitchen she opened a new bottle, poured herself a glass of wine and downed it in one, then another and downed that too.

Alice had followed her in. "Hey steady on," she said. "Is everything OK?"

"I'm fine," said Bella. "You go, and I'll join you in a minute."

With the third drink in her hand, Bella was beginning to relax and feel a soothing fuzziness when she became aware of a presence behind her. It was a familiar sensation. His delicious smell sent disconcertingly warm tingles throughout her entire body.

She turned to him, made bold by the alcohol and said, "Cheers."

His closeness re-awakened every nerve ending. How could he do this to her so easily? He looked at her with eyes that peered into her very soul and she saw a longing that echoed her own. For a moment, she felt as if they had come together as real equals. They were, after all, both students at Oxbridge, but the class issue was still there and now there was Eddie and Tanya. It was bloody bad timing, but they were people who couldn't be ignored, people who would get hurt. For some strange reason, Bella felt the need to check that she hadn't made a mistake about Tanya. Why, she didn't know. It was obvious they were together, but she had to be sure. His answer wasn't helpful. It was a pity guys were so literal. "A distant cousin" wasn't exactly the information she was looking for, but she had used enough courage asking the first time, it was hard to ask again. That probably would have been that if he hadn't come so close. Try as she might to resist, she was under his spell. Phone number? Yes. Take it, take it all. Then he was gone again, and a little part of her went with him.

She saw little of him after that, mainly because she avoided him. With Eddie and Tanya there, gazing at Edward wouldn't have looked very subtle. Bella and her friends left the party early, just after 1:00am. She swapped her party shoes for fold-up flatties and trudged, wearily, back to the halls with Eddie by her side. Alice and Jasper followed on behind, seemingly well oiled. They swayed into each other as they manoeuvred the tricky terrain of public paths. Once the girls were safely back at their flat, Eddie left to help Jasper back to theirs.

Bella turned the key to her bedroom door and wandered in, pushing the door closed behind her and yawning. There was the familiar click but followed by a light knock. Oh no, thought Bella, Alice doesn't need help while she throws up. Does she?

She went back to the door and opened it to find a far more sober Alice than she was expecting, arms folded, leaning on the wall saying, "Who is he, then?"

"Who?" said Bella but, from the look Alice gave her she knew it was pointless trying to play the innocent. "Edward," she admitted, allowing the door to swing fully open.

Alice quirked one eyebrow. "Seriously? Do you, like, have a thing about the name?"

"Don't you start. He's my ex"

Bella turned and went back into her room. Alice flipped the door shut and followed. She threw a sympathetic arm around Bella.

"Awwww – why did he break up with you?"

Bella pulled away indignantly. "No, I broke up with him." For someone claiming to lack self confidence, she was surprisingly irritated.

Alice looked at her with a complete lack of understanding. It was late, and Bella was beginning to get a slight headache, but Alice clearly wasn't going away without a satisfactory explanation so Bella set about offering one. She dropped onto the bed and Alice sat with her, waiting with baited breath.

"OK," said Bella. "The thing is…he's posh and rich."

"I'm posh and rich."

"Are you!" Bella exclaimed without thinking.

Bella never considered Alice in relation to class; she was just "Alice". The news was a revelation, but she immediately dismissed it.

Alice was affronted. "What are you, some kind of inverted snob?"

"No," protested Bella, fearing that she might be. "It's different, you're a friend and Edward, well….I loved Edward."

"And….?"

"And he's sweet, gorgeous, funny, popular and good at everything."

Alice listened to the words intently, waiting for the "catch" which didn't come. "Is he stupid?" she asked, trying to think of one tick box that hadn't been checked.

"Far from it"

Alice looked puzzled. "Right….Failing to see the problem here Bella. So far, you're only selling him to me."

Why was she making this so difficult?

"Don't you get it?" Bella exclaimed. "He's everything I'm not."

"In your eyes, maybe, but not in his. He looked at you like he was crazy about you, and from the way you looked at him, I'd say the feeling was mutual. You've never looked at Eddie that way."

"Yes, but that's another problem," insisted Bella. "He has a girlfriend, and what about Eddie?"

"Sorry, but fuck Eddie - although I'm guessing you haven't – what about what you want?"

Alice slowly smiled and her voice lowered. "Talking of fuck did you ever…with this Edward?" The quirked eyebrow and little lip twitch said it all.

"Once," admitted Bella.

Alice continued in an eager whisper. "And how was it?"

"Amazing," said Bella gloomily.

Alice stared at her with exasperated pity and shook her head.

"Yunno Bella, for an intelligent girl you're really stupid sometimes. Just go for it."

Alice hugged her and left; she had her answer. Bella had thought she had all the answers, but now she wasn't so sure. Was she stupid? She pulled out her phone. Dare she call him? Maybe, she could just text and say something non-committal like "Hi". Her moral nature tried to make a stand. She'd resisted contacting him for a whole year because of Tanya and what about Eddie? Was she going to abandon morality now for the sake of a "Hi"? It might be the dumbest thing she could do. But she had also learned from Alice that sometimes, when you "just went for it", "it" turned out to be for the best. While Bella thought it through, she sought Edward's name from her list of contacts and entered the letters "H" and "i". It was OK; it wasn't committing to anything…but "send" was so easy after that.

EDWARD

Edward lay in a sleeping bag on the floor of an upstairs room at Rosie's place. Wanting to be alone with his thoughts, he had crashed for the evening despite the party still going strong on the floor below. He remembered the time he'd shared a sleeping bag with Bella and wished she were here with him right now. As he weighed his phone in his palm, he wondered how inappropriate it would be to text her. At that moment, his phone vibrated to signal that he'd received one.

It said "Hi" – just "Hi", but it was from her. He snuggled into the quilted cushioning and replied

- Hi back

There was no response for a while. He decided to risk what he'd wanted to say all evening.

- Can I tell you something?

- What?

- You look really hot in a French maid outfit.

The wait was agonising. Had he gone too far?

- You shouldn't talk to me like that when you have a girlfriend.

- What gf?

- Tanya.

- She's family. I don't have a gf

He mentally kicked himself. The thought hadn't occurred to him, before, that turning up with a girl on his arm might not have been the best way of meeting Bella again. It wasn't surprising that she'd got the wrong idea.

- I'm sleepy. Sweet dreams said her final text.

- You too he responded. He kissed the phone and closed his eyes.