A lot of us admitted to fanfic being our biggest secret shame. That's probably my second biggest one, right under my devoted love of the color lime green. I'd also like to add a big thank you to all of my reviewers and to my Beta. She would rock my sox's if I was wearing any.

Chapter 25- Why not?

POV-Edward

How could I have messed thing up so badly so quickly?!? Bella hadn't said more then five words to me since Emmett interrupted us last night. 'good night' when I walked her silently back to her room after an almost unbearably quiet diner. She hadn't asked me to stay and I didn't ask her to come up with me. "good morning' when I picked her up again this morning and we had gone down to breakfast and a simple 'yes' when I asked her if she was done eating so I could clean our dishes. She'd hardly touched her food and the dark bags under her eyes matched mine.

I'd wrongly assumed that she wanted to be with me. Sure, I hadn't asked her directly to be my girlfriend but I'd thought that's what she would consider herself. She let me stay in her room, I'd asked her to stay in mine. She probably thought I was just playing with her. Make-out when ever I felt like but to afraid to commit in anyway. She couldn't possibly think I would use her like that, could she?

She wasn't mine to claim and I been taking her company for granted these past few weeks. Her hair was down again, spilling around her face and preventing me from seeing her eyes as we walked up the stairs. I wanted to brush her hair away and make all the pain go away. I just didn't know how to do that and keep myself in check.

She'd made it clear last night that she was not my girlfriend and the glare she'd shot at Emmett made it seem pretty clear she didn't want to be. Her words had stung so badly I dropped her waist like she'd burned me. Why hadn't I asked her to be my girlfriend? I'd had so many good opportunities to ask her. I should have asked her the first time I confessed how much I liked her.

Then she'd stepped away from me in the hall and I was glad I hadn't said anything. Her subtle physical rejection hurt almost more then her words and I didn't need to bare my sole to someone who wouldn't return my feelings. I'd fallen hard for Bella the moment I first saw her before diner at the start of callbacks. She was even more beautiful in person then she had been on the TV during her audition, dancing to "Baila, Balia." I'd never seen anything sexier then the shy little girl with the dark blush who danced like a sultry minx under a angel's halo. Her dress had been the most beautiful color blue and it stood out against her pale skin and warm brown hair. The only other place I'd seen that same blue color was on the tank-top she wore to bed at night.

Bella glanced quickly at me once and then over my shoulder where Roger was turning his camera on. He nodded once he was all set and Bella pushed the door out of our way so we could see who we would be working with.

I watched Bella's face as a smile pulled on her beautiful lips. She had no idea how beautiful she was and that innocence only added to her wicked charm. I reached out to take her hand but she shot forward out of my reach and bounded into the room.

I looked up as she threw her arms around a woman neck and smiled softly to myself. We were working with Tabitha &Napoleon D'umo this week. Bella had told me she was looking forward to meeting them. Her heart was in Latin dance but her soul grooved to a deep base hip-hop and I was worried I wouldn't be able to keep up.

"Bella, Edward welcome."

Tabitha wrapped an arm around Bella and returned her eager hug. I walked closer and shook hands with Napoleon and exchanged my own hug with Tabitha.

The two choreographers, commonly referred to as Nat and Tab on the show, got straight to work. We would be dancing to a song called "Battle Field" by: Jordin Sparks and we were in for a hard week so we had better be prepared.

"Have either of you danced Hip-hop before?" Napoleon wanted to know glancing back and forth between the two of us.

I shook my head and pointed at Bella throwing her under the bus. "She has."

Bella nodded. "I'm not trained in Hip-Hop but it's definitely one of my favorites. I've taken a couple of classes." Her enthusiasm won her big smiles from both choreographers and we started stretching.

As we stretched they told us a bit about what the dance would look like. As suggested by the song title Bella and I would be fighting during this battle, at least a little bit.

"We've also got a really cool prop for you to use that were going to work in later."

"What is it?" Bella asked.

"It's a white flag." Tabitha said with a big smile. "Took us forever to find exactly what we needed, your going to be the first ones to use it."

Napoleon got up and dug around in a bag he had back by the stereo. He returned to our little stretching ring and held up a white cloth with some loops and knots sown into the fabric.

"Give me your arm Edward."

I held out my hand and he looped the white cloth around my wrist. He strung the flag threw one of the loops and hooked it over a knot so it wouldn't come off.

"In the song there's a lyric about having your hands tied behind your back." He explained gesturing to the cloth hand cuff I was wearing.

Bella visible paled and her mouth formed a perfect little 'o' like they do in movies when someone is terrified. "Oh no." The words were nothing more then an airy whisper but we all heard it.

"Oh yes" Tabitha said with an even bigger smile on her face. She reached over and yanked on the white flag tied around my wrist.

"See, it won't come off if you yank at it but," She reached under and tugged on the knot, the flag came loose and I could slip it off my wrist. "If someone else pushes on the knot it will come right off. You're both going to have choreography during the dance where your arms are going to be tied together."

Napoleon nodded and unwrapped the cloth from my wrist. "We'll show you where we're going to use it later. For now let's get to work learning some of the basic moves."

"You're trying to kill me." Bella said softly as we rose to our feet.

Nat and Tab both laughed. Tabitha hung an arm over Bella's shoulders and hugged her. "Bella we wouldn't have picked this dance if we didn't think you could do it. We saw your Bollywood number, the stage chemistry between the two of you is what choreographer's dream of working with. We did a happy dance when you drew our card." She admitted pointing to Napoleon who nodded along. "Besides" she added patting me on the back as she moved over to the stereo. "The only lifts in this dance are easier then the ones you did last week. I don't think you have to worry about Edward dropping you."

Her checks blushed pink and she turned away from me to follow after Tabitha to the other side of the room. I'd never drop her. I made the silent promise as much to myself as to her.

Working with Nat and Tab was like trying to learn to speak a different language. All of the hip-hop moves had funny names. Tabitha tried to teach me one called a 'windmill' and Napoleon became my instructor on 'popping' and 'locking'. Bella spun around the room with Tabitha looking like some kind of gritty angel making it all look so easy as she mirrored Tabitha's moves.

"Edward, you're not paying attention. Focus on what you're doing!"

I jumped as Napoleon's voice snapped me out of my thoughts and I tore my eyes from Bella's reflection in the mirror. Watching Bella dance was like getting a glimpse into her thoughts. She moved with more feeling then any other dancer I knew and she didn't even have to try.

"Sorry."

"You ok?" He asked glancing over my shoulder at where the girls were working.

I nodded. "Yes sr."

"Good, watch me one more time then try to follow along ok?"

I nodded again and watched at Nat redid the run and then tried to follow along. I did a spin, got tangled in my own legs, and fell flat on my ass. A soft, chiming giggle drew my eyes to Bella's face before she could cover her laughter in a fake cough. She was watching me through the mirror in front of her and I felt my ears burn in embarrassment.

Nat offered me a hand and pulled me back to my feet.

"Don't worry about it Edward, you'll get it down eventually."

I continued to work with Napoleon on my opening solo as Bella breezed through hers. Eventually Tabitha called us together and wanted to get some work down on the first partner phrase. Roger had been circling the room like a hawk all morning, filming us work, and he was going to do individual interviews again after lunch.

"Ok Edward you stand here and Bella you stand in front of him."

We moved to where she was pointing and listened as they talked about the dance. It was actually quite humorous to watch the two of them. They kept finishing each others sentences and Bella and I had to keep looking back and forth as they talked.

"The first time you get near each other in the dance is going to be kind of like a climax." Tabitha explained.

"There's a swell in the music so it works out perfectly." Napoleon added.

"We'll show you the counts later for now let's get the moves down."

Tabitha talked with her hands.

"Bella you're going to move into this stance from the ground. On the last role in your solo you'll get up right here with Edward in front of you."

Bella nodded as Napoleon moved behind her. He took her hands in his and moved her into a fighting stance. Tabitha moved behind me and did the same.

"Bella have you ever hit anyone before?" Tabitha wanted to know.

Bella shook her head, staring over my shoulder at Tabitha instead of looking at me.

"Well here's you chance to make it look like you're hitting someone." Napoleon moved his hand forward slowly, Bella's fist in his. He swung forward and pretended to hit me in the jaw. I bit my lip to keep from laughing at Bella's expression.

"Edward" Tabitha tugged on my shirt collar. "Have you ever been hit before? You're supposed to move when someone hits you."

Oh, I was supposed to play along. Napoleon and Bella swung forward again and I fell back trying to act like she had actually hit me. Napoleon showed Bella the string of hits. She was going to try and hit me three times. The first one would hit my jaw the second one would hit my right side and I would dodge the third one.

"However Edward your not going to hit back because that's rude." Tabitha said with a smirk dropping my hands so they would fall to my sides. "Now run it again and try to make it look like you're angry at each other.

Napoleon moved away from Bella and she moved into her new fighting stance. I pulled up my fists and smirked at her. She frowned and swung forward. I recoiled from the first hit, took the second one like a man and dodged away from the third hit.

"What do I get to do after I dodge the hit?" I asked.

"We'll get to that later." Napoleon said and the ordered us to run the move again.

Once we had the fake fight down Nat dragged me to one side of the room and Tab took Bella to the other. They had us run our opening solos and then practice the transition into the fighting stances.

"Bella you're behind on the last move, run it again and try to stay on top of the tempo." Tabitha instructed as we ran the transition moves again.

"And Edward you keep getting to close, try to leave a little more distance between you and Bella so she can really move with her swings."

Napoleon added as we moved back into the opening stance and Tabitha hit the play button again. I started my solo trying to keep one eye on Bella as she moved. Her moves came more naturally then mine did and I watched as she moved into the role a count to early.

I turned so I would be facing her and realized I was to close and she was coming in to fast. She had moved to early and was already starting to swing by the time I realized my mistake. She had used her role to add force to her swing like Tabitha had showed her. I tried to pull back but it was too late. Bella's tiny fist hit my chin with all of the speed and power she had built in her role and I heard the sick little snap.

My jaw snapped shut and my teeth rattled as I stumbled backwards. I tripped into Napoleon, who had moved forward to catch me, and we both fell to the ground. Bella gasped in shock and it turned into a hiss of pain as she clutched her fist to her chest.

"Edward, are you ok?" Tabitha grabbed my hand and pulled me to me feet.

I nodded and moved closer to Bella's side. "Are you ok Bella?"

She shook her head. "Nope, something's wrong with my hand." She tried to straighten her fingers and hissed again. "I'm so sorry Edward I was off count."

I carefully took her hand and started running my fingers over each of hers looking for the problem. "It wouldn't have mattered if you were on count. I was to close to you again."

She hissed when I hit the knuckle on her ring finger and jerked her hand away from me. Tabitha fluttered to her side and grabbed her hand again.

"Let me see it Bella."

Napoleon grabbed my chin and turned my head to the side to he could see my check better. "She hit you good boy, I bet that bruises." He laughed but it was cut off as Bella hissed in pain again. We both moved over to stand next to the girls and glanced at Bella's hand.

Her left ring finger was starting to swell and the knuckle had the faint purple start of a good bruise. Tabitha let go of her hand and Bella tucked it against her chest again.

"Bella you need to go down to medic right now. Napoleon, Edward you go with her I'll go talk to the show producer. They'll need to know she's hurt. Roger you can come back tomorrow to film some more."

Bella grumbled something that sounded like 'hurt again'. Napoleon ushered us out the door and down the stairs. We made our way down stairs and I opened the door for Bella when we reached the medic's room.

Dr. Andrews was sitting at a desk in the corner when we came in and he jumped to his feet when he saw us.

"Edward, Bella? What's wrong?"

I helped Bella get up onto the cot and the doctor moved to her side. Bella held out her hand and let him look over it. She was biting down on her lip and I could tell she was trying to hide how much pain she was in.

"The knuckles broken." Bella said wincing as he ran his fingers over hers. "I've done it before." I had the strange urge to pull him away from her as she winced under his touch again. He was a doctor he wasn't suppose to hurt people.

Dr. Andrews nodded. "Your right about the break but I'd like to take an X-ray just to make sure." He dug in a small white fridge and pulled out an ice pack. "Put this on your hand Bella, we don't want it to swell any more."

He started rummaging around his desk. "How did this happen, Bella?"

Napoleon chuckled and I rolled my eyes.

"I hit Edward." Bella said shooting me an apologetic look. I gave her a soft smile and shrugged my shoulders.

"I'm fine."

Dr. Andrews came up to me and lifted my chin like Napoleon had. He ran his finger along the spot were Bella had hit me. It was sore and I had no doubt that it would bruise but it really didn't hurt. I was oddly impressed with how much power Bella had been able to work into her swing.

Dr. Andrews pulled another ice pack out for me. "Put this on your chin."

"It's not swelling, I'm fine." I said leaning against the wall next to Bella. She had looked away from me again and I didn't want her feeling guilty about hitting me. I probably disserved it for something. I had to find a way to fix our relationship. Even if she didn't want to be my girlfriend, losing a friend like Bella would be a mistake.

The doctor held the ice pack out to me. "Take it, doctor's orders. It'll help keep the bruising down. If you show up in Max's office with a giant bruise on your face she'll eat you alive and force you to wear a whole bunch of make-up for the show."

I took the ice pack and pressed it against my jaw. I'd never admit it out loud but I was honestly afraid of making Max mad. I had a feeling she wasn't afraid to chew the dancers out.

"Bella leave all of your electronic and anything metal in here. I've got a small X-ray next door we can use to look at your hand."

I helped Bella down and she left her I-pod and her cell phone on the cot. She tugged at a chain around her neck and I helped her with the clasp. A small gold coin hung on the thin chain. She set it down and added her shoes to the pile of things before following Dr. Andrews out of the room.

I tried to follow them but I was ordered to stay with Napoleon and wait. I sat in a chair along the wall and Napoleon took the open chair next to me.

"What's up with you and Bella?" He asked with a knowing glance in my direction as soon as the door was closed behind them.

I raised an eyebrow at him and he smiled. "The chemistry between the two of you could have set the stage on fire last week and either one of you would have realized. Getting the two of you to pay attention up stairs just now was like trying to pull teeth. Now what happened between your show on Wednesday and today?"

I shook my head. "There's nothing going on between Bella and myself." Because I was too stupid to think of asking her, and I doubt she wants me anyway. She should have hit me harder.

Napoleon shook his head at me and leaned back in his chair. "Your talking to a married man, remember? Maybe you and Bella really are too stupid to not see it but, if you don't fix whatever happened your stage chemistry is going to come apart at the seams and you'll end up getting sent home and I know either of you want that."

I nodded not looking over at him. "I'll talk to her."

"Good man."

The door flew open and Tabitha came in followed shortly by one of the stage workers I recognized but couldn't remember his name. I didn't really care what his name was. Napoleon filled them in on Bella's hand and Tabitha demanded to see my jaw. I glanced at myself in the mirror. A faint purple mark was forming on the underside of my jaw and even thought it hurt I smiled to myself. Bella had a good left hook.

The door opened again and Bella came back into the medic's room followed by the doctor. She stuffed her things back into her pockets and I helped her get her shoes on. She jumped up onto the cot and sat still as Dr. Andrews fitted her for a brace.

Tabitha had Max on the phone and they were talking about a change in Bella's wardrobe to accommodate the brace. She would have limited mobility in her left hand but it wouldn't affect her dancing to much.

"We're going to have to change a few of the moves in the dance." Napoleon said as he and Tabitha moved off to a corner and started whispering about our routine. Tabitha nodded and I moved next to Bella while the doctor was working on her hand.

"How are you feeling?"

She shrugged her slender shoulders. I knew she wouldn't tell me it hurt while everyone else was around but I wanted to try and open the lines of communication between us. "It's sore but I've had worse."

I nodded, the gash on her arm from the van incident was still visible and it looked like it would probably leave a faint scare. I'd never known someone as graceful as Bella to hurt themselves so often.

"How's you jaw?" She asked glancing up at me.

I moved the ice pack and let her see the mark. "I'm fine. You've got a good left hook."

She chuckled. "I'm really sorry about that Edward. I honestly didn't mean to hit you."

"Don't worry about it."

Tabitha and napoleon moved back over to our side. Tabitha looked like she was ready to hit something and Napoleon smiled at me.

"Once the doctors done I want both of you up stairs in Costume. I've talked to Max and she's going to move you're fitting up before lunch. You're both done dancing for the day." She pointed a stern finger at Bella and scowled. "If you even think of using that hand I'll hunt you down myself." She pointed at me. "You keep her off her hand, do anything you have to. She's not aloud to use it. We'll see you both tomorrow."

She and Napoleon said some quick goodbyes and left. The doctor finished fitting Bella with her brace and excused us. I opened the door for Bella and followed her down the hall. She'd gone quiet again.

She glanced up at me and folded her arms over her chest. I shied and ran a hand through my hair. "Bella can we talk?"

She looked a little wary about my question but nodded anyway. I glanced around the hall and spotted several people within ear shot. I took her good hand and she shied at the contact. I pulled her down the hall a bit and glanced in studio two. It was empty.

I pulled her inside and shut the door behind us.

"Bella what's wrong?"

She let go of my hand and crossed hers over her chest again. "It's nothing Edward."

I ran a hand through my hair out of habit and tried to find a way to ask her about what had happened to us. "It's not nothing, or it wouldn't be bothering you so much." I said quoting the words she had use on me yesterday to get me to talk.

She moved to turn away from me so I took her hand and stopped her from leaving. She spun back around to look at me and her face was closer to mine then it had been since this whole mess started. Her beautiful eyes locked on mine and in that moment I would have done anything for her. She had no idea how beautiful she was.

"Bella? Please."

She moved closer and rose up onto her toes. She pressed her lips to mine and it felt like she'd punched me right in the gut. The move was unexpected, sweet and I only hesitated a second before kissing her back. Her soft hands were on my chest the fingers of her good hand curled into my shirt and my arms wrapped around her waist.

Her hands moved to the back of my neck and I adjusted my hold on her waist. She stiffened in my arms and pulled back a step. She pressed her good hand to my chest to keep me from moving with her.

"Edward we have to stop doing this."

Her words burned me like they had last night and I dropped my arms to my sides again. I couldn't keep up with her mood swings. One second we're laughing like long time friends, then were making out like long time lovers and then she pushed me back and builds all of these walls up between us. She never did what I expected her to.

"Why?"

She shied and my hand shot out automatically to take hers. She didn't pull away and let me weave my fingers together with hers. I loved how her hand hit perfectly in mine. She glanced down at our hands and then looked back up at me again.

"Edward"

The way she said my name tore at my chest in unexpected ways. I'd never felt anything like this before. Her voice started off soft as she spoke but as she kept going she got faster and louder.

"I don't just make out with people on a regular basis Edward. I'm not your girlfriend, it's not right. Alice knows, now Emmett knows, were really not good at the whole keep this secret thing. Soon everyone will know and I'll get labeled as the seasons ho and you'll get called a player or a womanizer and I don't want people to think that because your not and I'm not that easy and I think it would probably be easier on both of us if we just stayed dance partners and-"

She stopped, not knowing what to say next and I almost chuckled. She was trying to protect our reputations. How anyone could think Bella was easy was beyond me. She was the most confusing woman I'd ever met. One second she's dancing like some kind of hell risen angel. Then she's slipping me tiny kisses while no ones watching like there secrets ment just for me. And now she was throwing a tantrum and it was the hottest thing I'd ever seen.

A chuckled escaped my lips and she glared up at me. I smiled at her and wrapped my arms around her waist again, ignoring her attempt to push me back as I pulled her closer. "So, be my girlfriend."

She was almost as shocked by my words as I was. She stopped pushing against me and glanced up at my face. A small smile tugged at the corner of her mouth but she kept her face free of any other sign of emotion.

"Really?" She asked softly.

I nodded. "Why not?"

She frowned. "You don't have to do that just because I-"

I cut her off, she misunderstood and I didn't want her to think I was just doing this so she would continue to make out with me. "Bella I'm not doing this for you or for Emmett or the show or for any other reason. I should have asked you a week ago but I didn't because apparently I'm an idiot. I've never had a girlfriend before Bella I'm not going to pretend to be an expert at this kind of thing. Will you be my girlfriend?"

She smiled again and a delicate blush crept up her checks. "Sure, I'd like that Edward."

"Really?" I asked with a stupid grin on my face.

She smiled. "Why not?"

I laughed and she joined in a second later. We laughed for what felt like forever. All the awkward tension between us was gone. It was just me and Bella again. Only this time she was my girlfriend, my Bella. I grabbed her good hand and pulled her to me so I could kiss her.

Once we pulled away she took my hand and pulled me towards the door. "We need to get upstairs."

I nodded. "I'm kind of afraid of Max." I admitted following her as we hurried down the hall and into the stair well.

Bella giggled as she raced up the stairs ahead of me. "I'm more afraid of Tabitha."

~Darkrose

I hope everyone understood the bit about the flag. I've seen a prop like that used once before and it was really cool. I'll work on finding a picture of it for my profile.

As always I hope you enjoyed it and please feel free to leave me a review. "Cough Cough 'hint' Cough"