Summary:

After going through a handful of unsuccessful figure skating partners, Bella Swan is on the verge of giving up her skating career. When her coach pairs her up with Edward Cullen, she decides to give her gold medal dreams one last shot.

A/N (Author's Note): ALL HUMAN.

*IMPORTANT*: I will be posting pictures that correspond with some chapters, so if you see text followed by a bold (number), that indicates that there will be a link to the picture on my profile.

I hope the pictures give you a better sense of all the skating positions... so please check em out!

I wanted to thank one of my anonymous reviewers, Anna, for the clarification.

Chapter 36: April Fools

EPOV:

"I think I'm in love with you."

Holy shit. My mouth officially had a mind of its own.

Bella sat back in her chair, stunned.

"I don't know… I don't know what t-to say," she struggled to respond.

I mentally slapped my forehead. Well that was a complete bust.

"April fools!" I blurted suddenly.

Mentally slaps forehead again.

"Oh… U-um. Okay…" Bella stammered.

Was it just me or did she seem somewhat disappointed? Deciding to give it the benefit of the doubt, I continued blurting random phrases that came to mind.

"Ha-ha! April fools again!" I laughed nervously. "I fooled you into thinking that I was in love with you. And then I fooled you again to say that the fool before was actually the real fool!"

That didn't even make any sense to me and I'm the one speaking.

"Huh? I'm… confused," Bella said.

I took a deep breath and looked her straight in the eye. "I'm in love with you, Bella."

Her mouth was dropped open in a perfect 'O' shape.

"Idon'tgetit." Her words came out rushed, but I still managed to decipher them.

"I'm in love with you," I enunciated each word. "I love you," I added more quietly.

She shifted uncomfortably in her seat and took a sip of her water. That wasn't a good sign. It meant that she was stalling. Aw hell, this outlook isn't looking all that good.

"Edward," she murmured my name softly, causing my heart to soar.

She closed her eyes for a moment before reopening them. Her facial features were now completely recomposed.

On the exterior I patiently waited for her to speak.

However, on the inside, I was screaming for her to hurry the hell up and explain herself. Did she return my feelings? Did she have any feelings whatsoever? A million questions and memories ran through my mind.

"Edward," she said again, this time a little longer. I felt my leg shaking under the table. I already knew my fucking name! I wanted to know what Bella was thinking!

"That's my name sweetie, don't wear it out," I forced a humorous grin onto my face.

She blushed and looked down at her lap.

"You are amazingly sweet, charming…" she finally started. I nodded slowly. "But-"

The hope that had built up in me crumbled. Quickly, I braced myself for the 'but'.

-"But I think we should take it slow," she continued. I exhaled in defeat. "We've only known each other for a few months and I don't think either of us is ready…"

Hell no, I was fucking ready.

"I'm ready," I said firmly. I was the one feeling the passion, not her. I knew what it was and what was going on inside me better than she did.

She sighed and nodded. There was a little bit of triumph in knowing that I was wearing her down.

"Alright, so maybe you are ready," she agreed. "But-"

Aw hell, another 'but'.

-"I'm not ready."

I bobbed my head up in down reassuringly. She wasn't ready. I understood that. But I would wait. She couldn't stop me from waiting.

"The thing is," she began calmly. My ears perked up. "I'm not sure if what you're feeling is well, er, love."

What the fuck?

"And why the hell do you think that?" I asked a little too harshly. She had no right to tell me how I felt.

"Are you sure…Are you sure that what you think is 'love' isn't just the fact that I'm one of the few stable people in your life?" she asked in a small voice.

I recoiled away from her narrow mindedness.

"Think about it," she added slightly more confidently this time. "Besides your mother and father, have you ever had someone solid by your side?"

I thought about it and did a double take.

There was Esme.

Carlisle.

And…

"No," I whispered in realization. "No. I haven't."

My thoughts had completely turned on me. Damn Bella for making me question emotions. It almost made me feel like I couldn't trust myself.

Was Bella right? Could I have possibly confused my passion with my need for her?

There was no denying it. I needed her like a druggie needed to snort his cocaine.

Reaching across the table, she took my hands in hers—only meaning for it to be a friendly gesture. Nonetheless, this little skin to skin contact was all it took to just know. The sensations weren't the doing of my want to latch onto someone. I was in love with her. No doubt.

"Time. We should give it some time and see how it plays out," Bella suggested.

I nodded, but everything she'd just said had went through one ear and gone out the other.

There wasn't a single doubt in my mind now.

I didn't need any time. I knew that I could tell her right this second that I loved her with so much conviction that it could convince America that the economy would magically get better tomorrow.

"Edward!"

A feminine voice shouted from across the room. My head snapped back and I became conscious of reality. I chuckled quietly to myself as I looked around and remembered I was in a restaurant.

"Edward!" the girl's voice repeated.

I turned my head slowly towards the door and saw a light haired brunette girl making her way through the door. I couldn't help but notice that her hair (although it was also brown) wasn't half as beautiful as Bella's. Bella's was shiny and luscious while 'What's Her Face' had split ends that had probably been under the heating iron one too many times.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Bella pursing her lips in dissatisfaction.

She had nothing to worry about. My heart belonged to her.

The fair haired brunette continued making her way towards us and with every millimeter, the crease in Bella's brow deepened.

"Hey…er…" I raised my eyebrows for her name.

"Jessica Stanley," her plastic smile faltered a bit.

Oh. Oh. One of the backseat fucks before Bella.

Fuck.

Jessica's gaze flickered towards Bella and a snobbish smirk formed on her face.

"Oh! What a surprise. Hello there Bella," Jessica sneered.

My eyebrows practically shot up to the ceiling.

These two knew each other, and judging from the disdainful look on both girls' faces, there was nothing but hate radiating between them.

Oh shit. Hopefully this wouldn't work against me…

"Jessica," Bella avoided her gaze.

"Well," Jessica turned her nose up as she glanced back and forth between us. "I see that some people never change."

My interest escalated. What could Jessica be talking about? I was extremely curious in Bella's life before me and she rarely broached the topic.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Bella gritted her teeth.

"You may not know this," Jessica turned her attention to me. "But Bella tends to whore around for the sake of her bank account. You know, the Benjamins."

Right away, I knew that she was referring to Benjamin Franklin on the hundred dollar bill.

"You started that rumor," Bella growled.

"It's not a rumor when it's the truth," Jessica tilted her head to the side.

I decided to keep my thoughts to myself since I didn't know the basic facts behind what they were bickering about. Plus, I'd learned that sometimes whatever I say can be taken the wrong way. I sure as hell don't want to get on Bella's bad side. As for Jessica's, I couldn't care less.

Jessica Stanley may have a pretty face, but nothing—I repeat: n-o-t-h-i-n-g—was beautiful about her on the inside. I analyzed her face for a moment longer and started to notice that her face was a perfect oval, kind of like a circle that had its two sides gently compressed with a Thigh Master.

I sniggered to myself silently at the thought.

Bella, being the perceptive girl she was automatically noticed the change in my demeanor.

Jessica didn't.

As if it were an inside joke, Bella gave me an amused glance and winked before returning to glaring at Jessica.

"Word of the wise, make sure you don't leave your wallet lying around," Jessica advised me.

Bella tensed up in her seat and I saw tiny water droplets forming in the corner of her eyes.

Aw shit. If there was one thing I couldn't handle, it was watching Bella cry. She was so tough that it almost seemed surreal and unnatural when she did.

Trying not to appear to be staring, I stole another glance at her and saw her bottom lip trembling.

I was screwed. Her pain was my pain.

"See you around." Jessica leaned down and planting a big juicy one on my cheek before flouncing off to her table. Bitch.

I could have sworn that the tears in Bella's eyes went ice cold and froze up when her enemy's lips met my cheek.

Was it so bad to say that I got a rise out of her jealousy? Everyone knows that jealousy was the darker form of affection.

Bella promptly stood up and marched out the door as soon as Jessica left. Whatever electric spark that was buzzing between us early had diminished to a burnt out battery thanks to her.

Quickly, I left a bill and a very generous tip on the table before running out.

As cliché as it was, it was pouring rain outside. Bella stood by my Volvo repeatedly trying to open the doors hopelessly.

There were water marks running down her cheeks, and not from the rain. Her hair was drenched, making her look like a drowning cat. Even so, she was still beautiful. A painful current ran through my body when I absorbed the condition she was in.

I unlocked the car door and in one swift movement she was already inside.

"I can't believe I'm crying over her," Bella hiccupped. Tentatively, I placed a comforting arm around her shoulder.

"Shh… Shh…" I murmured.

"All she said—it isn't true," she continued angrily. The salty tears continued pouring out and were probably ruining my leather seats, but I didn't give a damn.

I'd learned that cars could easily be bought. Bella was priceless.

"I know."

"She made high school hell for me," she seethed. I assumed that she was referring to Jessica. "I always minding my own damn business and never laid even a single bothersome finger on her!"

Her sobs grew harsher and louder. I could tell that we were getting to bitterest memories of her high school years.

I wanted to soothe her bawling, but first she had to get out all the bad toxins in her body. Sometimes all you needed was a good cry.

"And then one day she caught her boyfriend, Mike—is it just me or are all Mikes douche bags?—flirting with me," she sucked in a breath. "And I tried to explain that I had no intentions to steal Mike from her and that he was the one who had brought it on, but she wouldn't listen."

I squeezed her shoulder harder to show that I was listening.

"The n-next day there were flyers floating all around school," Bella wiped her tears with her sleeve. "I didn't bother to read one since I don't really pay attention to those things. I noticed that people were pointing and whispering more than normal, but didn't think anything of it."

There was a raw pause.

"It wasn't til lunch period that day that one girl came up to me to tell me what the flyers were all about. Jessica had photo-shopped me onto a slutty body."

I briefly considered going back into the damn restaurant and beating the shit out of Jessica.

"I thought that the flyers would die down with some time, but it seemed like every where I turned someone was waving one in my face."

I pulled her tighter against me, wishing I could have been there for her. Instead, I was probably back in Chicago fucking around with a real whore. What a waste of time.

"That was sophomore year," Bella recalled. "I did online school when I was a junior and a senior."

"I'm sorry that happened to you," I said as I caressed her cheek lovingly.

I was trying to show her how much I loved her with the little things.

A single tear rolled down her cheek and I reached to brush it away with my finger tips.

From now on I would be there for her when she needed me.

"I love you." I nuzzled my face into her hair, oblivious to the fact that it was still wet.

She didn't say anything back.

But didn't try to contradict it either.

A/N:

A review would be greatly appreciated.

I promise that Jessica wasn't just another roadblock for Bella/Edward. I feel like they really grew together as a couple in this chapter and that such drama was necessary for character development.

Lastly, many of you are annoyed with 'player-Edward' (especially if you just started the first few chapters). This story is not for everyone and if you enjoy 'perfect-Edward' this story may not be for you.

REVIEW for any CLARIFICATIONS, SUGGESTIONS, or MISTAKES

Thanks.