Author's Note: So! Here is the next chapter! Here we go!

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.


Chapter 51

Bella's Point of View

I was annoyed. Sharon had just embarrassed me in front of Edward. Edward.

After lunch, we all separated. Edward had to get back to his office, Alice and Rosalie wanted to do some shopping, and I had someone to call back.

"Bye," I said, waving as Alice and Rosalie dropped me off at my house. They waved back. Then, Alice said something that made Rosalie giggle. They cast glances at me slyly before driving away.

Sighing, I called Sharon's number as I walked inside. She answered on the first ring.

"So, what's up?" she asked. "Details!"

I rolled my eyes. "There's nothing to report, Sharon. All I did was have lunch with Alice, Rosalie, and Edward."

"Who's Rosalie?"

"Emmett's fiancée."

"Who's Emmett again?"

I settled down on a sofa. "You know, Edward's brother. Are you going to ask who Alice is now?"

I could almost hear her rolling her eyes. "Oh, please. I know who Alice is. Fashionista!"

I smiled. "That's right. I was out with the girls when we bumped into Edward in a lingerie store. So we invited him out to lunch-"

"At a lingerie store?" Sharon shrieked. "You're kidding! What was he doing there?"

"He was meeting some witness for a case," I shrugged. "She works at the store, apparently."

"Oh. So he wasn't meeting his girlfriend or anything?"

"No. He was with a client of his."

"Oh, my god. So he doesn't have a girlfriend?"

She sounded even more excited than Alice did. "No."

"Come on, Bella," she begged. "Details. Please."

"Alright, I'll tell you one that's been bugging me. He's still wearing his ring."

There was a beat of silence as she processed the information. "Wait…you mean his ring? His wedding ring from eight years ago?"

"The very same."

"It's not a ring that just looks similar? It's his ring? Seriously?"

"If you ask one more time, I swear, I will come back down to California and kick your-"

"I'm just checking! But seriously, Bella?"

"Yes," I sighed. Then, I frowned. "What do you think that means, Sharon?"

"He still loves you!" she said immediately. "What else could it be? When a man does not dispose of something that reminds him of his past love, it means that he hasn't forgotten about her. Duh."

For the first time, something that Sharon said actually did make sense to me. Usually, she was wrong. But I couldn't find any reason to believe that she was wrong this time. The ring was too big of a hint.

Not to mention the behaviors. The first time I'd entered the room, he had barely looked at me. He'd tried to avoid my eyes, but after I'd caught all of them near the staircase, he'd seemed more relaxed and happy. He'd even smiled at me, and these days, he was the one that started the conversation between us.

Wait. The staircase… I'd sensed that they had been lying about Jasper giving Edward advice about his ex-girlfriend. Ex-girlfriend…or ex-wife?

"Bella?" Sharon asked. "You okay, girl?"

I felt numb. Had they really been trying to convince him to try my again? Really? Even my own brother?

"Bella, what's wrong? Did I say something to upset you again?" She sounded guilty. "Hey. If I did, I'm sorry. You know how I am. I tend to say some things without thinking and…"

"No, Sharon," I said blankly. "You just gave me an idea, that's all." I paused. "Do you really think he does still like me?"

I could almost hear her rolling her eyes. "Yes, I do. I told you. A girl like you is going to be hard to forget. And if he's still wearing his ring, and he didn't take it off even after you came back, that can mean only one thing. I wouldn't be surprised if he still has your ring as well."

I frowned. "No way. I think that's going too far, Sharon."

"Whatever," she said dismissively. "So what are you going to do?"

"If what you say is true… Then I probably have no choice but to cut him off." My voice sounded bitter. Was I bitter? I wondered vaguely.

"What?" she shrieked. "Why? Why do you have to do that? What's wrong with giving him another chance? You never forgot about him either!"

"Sharon…you know why."

"Girl, you've gotta give him his chance! You can't just cut him off. If you two still love each other even after eight years had passed, then that's a sign from heaven saying that you guys still have a role in each other's lives! You can't just ignore that!"

"Sharon, I won't go through what I did eight years ago again!" I snapped. "I don't want to hurt anymore. I want to be happy."

"What are you saying? Are you implying that you're going to find someone else you're going to marry?"

I sighed. "I told you. I've tried marriage before, and it didn't work out. Clearly, marriage wasn't for me. I'm done with it, but maybe I could try dating." I was doubtful, but if my bluff could shut her up, I was willing to try it.

"I still think it's a mistake," Sharon said dubiously.

There it was again. Mistake. Why were there so many mistakes involved in my life?

"I got a puppy for Christmas," I said, changing the subject abruptly. "A Golden Retriever."

"What? A puppy?" Sharon exclaimed, easily distracted. "Really? You're kidding!"

I smiled. "He's the cutest thing. And he's so smart. He understands people so well, and he's so playful… I named him Rollie because he likes rolling around on his back."

"Aw, how adorable!" she cooed. "Who gave it to you? You said it was a Christmas present?"

"Well, a late Christmas present," I amended. "They gave it to me the next day."

"Who's they?"

"Alice and…" I hesitated. I thought I'd picked a safe subject that did not regarded him, but he popped up here as well. It was like he was at every corner that I turned. Literally.

"Alice and…?" Sharon prompted.

"…Edward."

She gave a little scream. "Really? He must still love you! Who gives a puppy to someone that used to be their ex?"

"Alice gave it to me too," I reminded her. "It wasn't exactly Edward."

"Shut up!" Sharon squealed. "This is so awesome! No matter what you say, I am totally on the side of you two getting back together!"

I sighed again. "Whatever, Sharon. Look, I'm getting really tired just talking to you. I'll talk to you later, 'kay? I'm going to go brood about the party."

"Party? What party?"

I told her about the New Year's party of the biggest corporations.

"So everyone's going? Even you and Edward? That's perfect! Get together! Dance with him, and go sleep with him! Make trouble!"

My expression soured. "Sharon, when I go back to California, the first thing I'm going to do is find you and slap you silly."

She laughed. "I know, I know. I'm too much. But seriously. This is a perfect little event to put some tests into action! If he asks you to dance, you have to dance with him, okay, Bella? Maybe you could find out something more about his little secret!"

"Okay, now, you're just sounding like a little middle-schooler who loves to gossip. This has gone far enough, Sharon."

"So you aren't going to do anything?" she asked, disappointed. "You're going to lose a perfect opportunity!"

"If the party is going to be a perfect opportunity, I'm going to use it to cut him off," I said firmly. "Just leave it to me."

"What?" she shrieked. "Don't you dare!"

"If his goal is to get to me, and that's what's going to stand in our way, then I will get rid of him."

"Bella!"

"The way you sound seems as though you are the one that is suffering from this situation. If you like Edward so much, I'll introduce you to him, and you guys can get married. We good?"

"Bella…" she whined. "That's not funny. I only want what's best for you. And I know Edward is the perfect man for you!"

"I'm hanging up," I said dully. "I'll call you in ten years."

She snorted. "Very funny. Fine. Be that way. But let me warn you, Isabella. If I'm right and Alice is right and your other siblings were right, then Edward won't give up on you. He's the type to not make the same mistakes twice. He won't let go of you that easily this time. So don't say that we didn't warn you."

"I'll keep that in mind," I said sarcastically, then hung up. I shifted and lay down on the sofa. I closed my eyes and visualized that scene.

"It's not what you think." His words kept replaying inside my head.

Huffing impatiently, I grabbed a cushion and hugged it closely to my chest, trying to take a nap. Trying to forget.

"I only agreed to join you in hopes of returning our relationship to its non-awkward state."

I squeezed my eyes shut, trying not to think. But of course, my brain wouldn't let me. My thoughts wandered.

What had he meant by 'non-awkward state'? Did he mean back to the time when we were kids and friends? Or did he mean back to the time when we were lovers?

I hoped for my sake that it was the former. I'd rather deal with being friends with him than suffer from love again. I wasn't going to back to when I was seventeen and experience those traumatizing sufferings of love ever again. Not again.

I turned to face the other side, trying to force sleep to overcome me.

"Men are predictable creatures. Yet, you think every one of them think like your ex-husband. Intelligently. Frankly, if he let you slip through his fingers, he was an idiot, and if he's not going after you again, then he still is an idiot."

Edward was intelligent. And he didn't make the same mistakes twice.

He wasn't an idiot. And all the evidence pointed to him going after me again.

I gripped the corners of the cushions tightly, and brought its surface to my face. I pressed it against my skin, and muffled my exasperated scream in the fabric.


AN: Reviews, please! If I don't get much, I swear, I won't update. I'm dead serious about this, and yes, I'm a greedy girl!