A/N I owe all of you an apology. When I started TDP I planned to update every Sunday, but that was a silly move on my part because real life threw a giant snowball in my face and laughed at me. My family is going through a rough time right now and my free time has dwindled considerably. Eeking out time to write, edit and post has been difficult. BUT I still have several chapters pre-written and I will NEVER abandon my fics. I love to write and it's one of the few things that helps me de-stress. However, I have decided to change my updating schedule to every other week. I hope you all understand and will continue to support me and TDP.

Giant Eskimo kisses to my brilliant and supportive team; SazzleDazzled, Mullet86, Edwardsfirstkiss and 2brown-eyes. They're all volunteers and they all ROCK!

Disclaimer: SM owns Twilight. And I still own a slightly overweight puppy that now thinks green beans are treats. She's dumb but I love her!

The Devil's Plan

Chapter 9

Forgiveness and Puppy Pajama Pants

"It was lovely to see you again, Bella. Please come back soon."

"Yes, please do. I think the house is just a bit brighter when you're here." Carlisle added from his position next to his wife. Esme smiled adoringly up at her husband.

"I will." Bella promised with a smile. This visit had been a one-hundred and eighty degree difference from the last. Not only was Carlisle already home when she and Edward arrived but he looked genuinely happy to be there. His interactions with his wife and son were nothing short of loving. Bella had seen the change in Edward at school, but hadn't expected to see it in the whole family.

"Do you want once last cuddle?" Edward asked, holding out the squirming puppy to her. Bella's face brightened instantly.

"Of course I do." She exclaimed, taking the bundle of fur from him. "Aren't you my favorite boy? Yes, you are. Yes, you are." Bella giggled as Kodi licked her face.

"I don't know who that puppy loves more, you or Edward." Carlisle commented with a laugh.

"I think it's hands down Edward," Bella said, handing the pup back to his owner. Kodi's happy wiggling intensified as he was once again placed in Edward's arms.

"He never wants to leave his side." Edward smiled at her comment and placed a sweet kiss on the pup's head.

"I guess that makes me a bit of a wuss?" Edward said, blushing slightly.

"No. Showing affection doesn't make you anything but genuine. You love him. It's nice." Bella assured him, reaching over to scratch the puppy's ear.

"Thank you," he said quietly. "And thank you for coming over. I don't have many friends here-actually you and this little guy are kind of it." Kodi snuffed softly as he napped in Edward's arms.

Bella's heart soared at Edward's statement. He considered her his friend. Of course she shared the distinction with a two-month-old puppy, but a friend nonetheless. "Maybe you could eat lunch with me tomorrow and you could meet Angela, Ben, Jessica, Alic..." Alice's face popped into Bella's mind, but she quicky pushed it back. After their blow-out in the school parking lot, Bella was afraid that her relationship with Alice may be permanently damaged. She'd have to do some repairs before introducing Edward into the mix.

Edward regarded Bella thoughtfully for a moment. "You know what?" He asked with enthusiasm. "I think I will join you tomorrow. It's time to let things go and live again." Bella wanted to ask what he had to let go as she strongly suspected that whatever it was had to be the cause of the family rift she'd witnessed last Friday. Instead she smiled warmly giving his arm a friendly squeeze and said, "That would be wonderful."

Edward watched Bella's car disappear down the driveway with a genuine smile on his face. "Kodi, I think things are finally looking up for me." Edward laughed as the puppy licked his face in agreement.

~~TDP~~

"Edward, it's time to get up! You need to feed and walk Kodi before school." Any other normal teenage boy in the entire world would have uttered any number of groans, moans and promises that he was getting up when his mother rapped on his bedroom door at six-thirty in the morning. And then roll back over for a thirty minute snooze, but Edward emitted no false promises, just a quick, "Yes, mom."

"Hey, little guy. If I have to get up, then so do you. Especially since you're the reason I have to wake up early." Edward poked the mass of fluff that had been snoozing next to him on his pillow, earning him several muffled grunts as the chubby pup struggled to roll over onto his back, yawning from the exertion. Securely in position for his customary morning belly rub, Kodi waited for Edward to get on with it.

"You're such a spoiled brat!" Edward fake protested as he lovingly rubbed and scratched the puppy's soft underbelly.

After Kodi had been walked around the back yard, fed and his water dish cleaned and filled, the two made their way back up the stairs to Edward's room. Edward walked slowly and spoke encouragingly as Kodi struggled to keep up with him on his short puppy legs. While Kodi took a quick detour into Emmett's room hoping for another round of belly rubs, Edward showered and brushed his teeth.

"Hey buddy." Edward greeted his four-legged friend as he walked across the floor to his closet. "What are we in the mood for today?" Kodi never offered an opinion on his favorite human's wardrobe choices, only tweaking his ears at the question before lying down onto the soft carpet to watch his boy get dressed with sleepy eyes.

With his book bag in hand and four-legged best friend in tow, Edward walked to the front door, bending down and scooping Kodi into his arms. "Be a good boy and I'll see you in a little while." He promised. The puppy's whining started almost immediately.

"Be good." Edward uttered into Kodi's fur not missing the look of compassion his mother was giving him.

In just a few short weeks, the two had become nearly inseparable and the change in Edward was incredible. In truth the whole family dynamic had changed. There were still bad days, Emmett continued having problems with the football coach and Carlisle still struggled to work within a small town healthcare system.

But Edward was finally showing the improvements Esme had hoped for when they'd first moved to Forks. Darkness still lurked in his green-eyed depths. She could see it, especially when one of the other family members was having a rough day and as they seemed to take their aggravation out on Edward. When one of those days occurred she'd find him huddled in his bed staring blankly into his dark room. It broke her heart to see him still struggling with so much guilt. Thankfully he did have good days when he was too busy with Kodi and his friendship with Bella to allow the guilt to overtake him.

"He'll be fine, baby." Esme promised, taking the sad little fur ball from Edward's arms. "Have a good day and don't forget about your appointment with Dr. Tanner, after school." Edward nodded with a small smile. In a fit of puppy excitement, he'd agreed to start seeing the therapist that his mother had found in Port Angeles. Today would be his third visit.

"I remember."

"Okay, we'll be waiting for you." Esme waved the puppy's paw at him. Edward laughed as Kodi tried to squirm out of his mother's arms to get back to him. It filled Edward with happiness to know that he was the center of that being's world.

"Thanks to you I might just get my boy back." Esme cooed to the puppy in her arms as they watched their boy drive away.

~~TDP~~

"Are you going to eat that?" Bella shook her head at Ben and handed over the rest of her fries.

"You know you need to talk to her," Angela said.

Bella's head landed on her folded arms in a thump. "I know." From her position, hunched over the lunch table, Bella had a clear view of Alice and Jasper in the far corner of the crowded cafeteria. "I don't know what to say. The last time we spoke was a disaster."

Angela's brown eyes filled with empathy. The two girls' parking lot fight had been the talk of the school for days. It still would be if Tyler's van hadn't slipped on ice and taken out the side of the principal's car, replacing them as the hot topic of the day. "Just say what you feel." Angela urged.

Bella rolled her head to the side, giving Angela an exaggerated eye roll. "Okay. I'll just say, 'Hey, Alice I love you but you've been acting like a Stepford Wife on crack, your boyfriend creeps the pudding out of me and I think he might be an alien." Bella had decided that no seventeen-year-old boy in this time period would speak in the manner the Jasper did. Therefore, she'd concluded he must be either a time traveler or an alien. Alien sounded more probable.

"Yeah, say that." Angela mocked with an accompanying eye roll.

"Ugh!" Bella slouched more into her seat and once again dove for the cover of her crossed arms.

"What's wrong?" Angela and Ben shared knowing looks as Bella instantly perked up when Edward walked up to their table. With a mouth full of cheese pizza, Ben scooted over, making room for Edward to set his lunch down across from the now smiling Bella.

"Hey, Edward. She's just trying to find a way to tell Alice that her boyfriend gives her the heebie-jeebies." Angela playfully nudged the unamused Bella. Edward looked around the room, his eyes settling on the couple in question.

"Ah, Jasper. I get what you mean. He's, um, he's a bit strange." His voice and facial expression piqued Bella's attention. She hadn't been aware that Edward had any classes with Jasper.

"Do you have classes with him?" Edward put down the sandwich he'd just bitten into and wiped his mouth on his napkin before answering her question.

"No, but he cornered me in the library a couple of weeks ago." Bella's mind instantly jumped to the day of Edward's hallway melt-down. Feeling emboldened by the forward movement their friendship had taken these last couple of weeks, Bella decided to test their bond and ask him about in biology.

"I don't know him either and it sounds as if I don't want too," Angela commented, taking a long drink of her water.

"I don't care about him, but I'd like the chance to get to know his super-hot sister." Ben waggled an eyebrow in Rosalie's direction, earning him a frown from Angela. Bella surveyed the girl's face and instantly recognized her expression as the same one that had been appearing on her face since nearly the first time she'd laid eyes on Edward Cullen. Angela and Bella were both card-carrying inhabitants of the Friend Zone Club. PoorAngela had been there pretty much since forever or third grade. The year Ben's family had moved to Forks.

Bella watched Angela's face fall, each time Ben missed another subtle clue she threw at him. Bella sincerely hoped Edward wasn't as dense as Ben seemed to be. Her hope was to slowly make Edward see that she was girlfriend material. She was still working on how exactly to accomplish that task. While she figured it out, she would do what she could to help Angela.

"Good luck, Romeo. You'll have to fight Emmett for her." Bella laughed as Ben's leer was replaced with a look of true fear.

"Dude, is that true?" Ben asked Edward. "Your brother already claimed her?"

Edward nodded his mouth full of sandwich. "Yeah, they've been practically inseparable since school started." Edward took another bite not wanting to discuss his brother's unfriendly girlfriend. As much as he tried, he failed to understand how someone who didn't even know him seemed to go out of her way to make things difficult. Every time he and Emmett took a step forward, even a small step, Rosalie would show up and the next thing he knew, Emmett was mad at him again. The only time he and Emmett seemed to get along was when they were playing with Kodi.

"I've met her. She wasn't very friendly." Angela added.

"That sucks!" Ben complained, slumping into his chair. "I can't stand mean girls."

Bella didn't miss Angela's smirk.

~~TDP~~

As was their new custom, Edward and Bella walked together to biology after lunch, but Bella waited until they were in their seats before pouncing.

"Edward, that day that you had the uh…" She struggled with how to politely put his attack. "The day you had to leave school early, was that the day Jasper spoke to you?" Edward's face flushed, and he looked away to the side of the table. He knew that eventually Bella would ask about that day. He'd tried to prepare some glib answer to placate her, but from their time together he knew that Bella wasn't the kind of girl to just let something to go. He just wished fate would have given him a little more time.

"Uh, yeah." He kept his eyes averted from her soul-searching gaze.

"You were having a panic attack or something weren't you?" She leaned closer as she softly voiced her question. Their classmates were starting to enter the room, and she didn't want them to hear.

"Yes." He said simply, still hoping she would drop it.

"Was the attack because of what he said?" Her mind reached for anything that might explain how the words of a stranger could have affected him so much.

"Yes."

"Do you want to talk about it? He said some things that really bothered me too. That's why I've been avoiding him. Plus, he's got some kind of hold on Alice that is not normal or okay. Maybe we could figure him out together?" Her offer made Edward smile but telling her about what he'd done was not an option. Her friendship was much too precious to him to jeopardize it by her learning what had happened in Seattle. She would hate him and he simply couldn't bear that.

Instead he chose to focus on her. "He said something to you? What did he say?"

Bella sighed, knowing that his question was a stall tactic but realizing that she might need to give before she got anything back. "Basically, he said that my only purpose on Earth was to make babies, and then tried to lecture me on how to take care of myself so I could fulfill that function. Can you believe that? Can you believe that someone our age would be thinking about having children? How ridiculous! First of all, I'm NOT just a baby machine and second who in their right mind wants a baby as a teenager? I can barely take care of myself much less a completely dependent infant." She was so caught up in her anger; she didn't notice the color drain completely from Edward's face when she mentioned teens having babies.

"This is the 21st Century! Where did he come from to think so archaically?" Bella's rant continued until the Mr. Banner called the class to order. With a sheepish grin, she silently acknowledged that she'd gotten a little carried away with her speech. Edward gave her the best smile he could muster before lowering his head to his book. He missed Bella's perplexed look, though he figured it was there. Mr. Banner's excited descriptions about their next subject kept Bella occupied until the end of class. Edward's mind was consumed with his past and what it meant for his future. Would he be able to get past what he'd done? Would his family? After hearing Bella's speech how could he ever expect her to understand? Edward's stomach churned with the remorse he carried around on a daily basis, threatening to bubble over. Folding his hands over his stomach, Edward tried to hold himself together until the end of class.

"So, I'll meet you at your house?" Bella asked as she gathered her books from the lab table.

Edward mimicked her actions and packed his books away. "Um, actually I can't hang out with you today." He began moving towards the aisle, leaving a confused Bella in his wake. They'd been spending almost every Friday afternoon for the last three weeks playing with Kodi and fitting in a bit of homework here and there, but this week his usual Wednesday appointment had been moved to Friday. He'd forgotten about the switch until his mother had reminded him on his way out of the house this morning and had completely overlooked telling Bella. She quickly looked to him for an explanation but got nothing but a view of the top of his head as he packed his book bag.

Bella's face got warm at what she perceived as rejection. She licked her lips nervously, her intentions of getting Edward to share his Jasper story gone. All she wanted now was to know why he didn't want her to come over. "Why?" She asked quietly.

"I have an appointment after school." He answered quickly, avoiding the look of hurt in his friend's eyes. Edward knew that he owed her a better explanation. He also knew that he wasn't ready to give one especially after learning how she felt about teen parents.

"Have a good weekend, I'll see you on Monday," he said before leaving the room for his next class.

Edward hurried out of the room and away from the memories that Bella had unwittingly brought up.

~~TDP~~

"So Edward, how would you like to start?" Dr. Tanner asked with a friendly tone that grated on his young patient's nerves.

Edward gave a shrug of indifference and shifted on the leather couch inwardly giving himself a high-five every time his movement produced a false fart sound. Emmett would have been so proud of him he thought as he avoided answering the doctor's question.

Noticing Edward's desire to avoid him, Dr. Tanner put his pad of paper down on the table next to his chair and leaned back, stretching his jean clad legs out before him, taking in his young patient's appearance. Edward Cullen was a benefactor of a privileged upbringing. His expensive looking clothes, shoes even his haircut bespoke of money. Normally Felix didn't bother with rich kids. He preferred to use his time to help those that came from backgrounds where a hundred-dollar haircut was unheard of and where daddy issues weren't suddenly cured with a gift of a new car or fancy purse. As he looked across the room to his silent patient, his heart went out to this boy. The guilt that Edward harbored in his young soul was real and Alec had serious concerns for his mental health. After one meeting, he didn't hesitate to take Edward Cullen on as a patient.

"Edward, since we're still new to each other, why don't we start with a few easy questions?"

Edward nodded his agreement. "Great. How was your week?"

Edward shrugged in answer.

Doctor Tanner had expected his seventeen-year-old patient to be a bit close lipped. Most teenagers were not looking for ways to open their lives up to adults, but he'd hoped that the doctor/patient relationship he'd been fostering with Edward would be enough to have the boy start working with him. He couldn't help him if all he was going to get were shoulder shrugs and sullen grunts for answers.

He would have to change tactics. "What do you like to do for fun?"

Edward stared numbly at his shoe laces. Fun? When was the last time he had fun? "Um, I guess playing with my puppy."

"Puppy? That sounds as if that's a relatively new development?"

"Yeah, we've only had him for a month."

"What did you do for fun before the puppy?"

Edward turned to look out the office window. He watched the orange and yellow leaves of the trees that lined the front of the office building sway in the wind as he tried to remember life before the incident. "I guess I watched TV and rode my bike?"

Edward answered before shrugging and returning his gaze to the window.

"What about spending time with friends? Did you participate in any school sports?" Dr. Tanner watched with concern as Edward seemed to sink further into the over-sized couch. He made a mental note to revisit why Edward was upset over not playing sports. He decided to change tactics.

"Edward, I know you've had a rough year and I understand that you're hesitant to discuss what happened with a stranger, but I'm here to listen. I want to help you put the past in the past where it belongs. Not that I can make you forget, I can't do that. But I can help get you to a place where you can look back at what happened and not allow it to rule your present or your future. Will you let me help you?"

Dr. Tanner leaned forward putting his elbows onto his knees, affixing the silent boy with a sincere gaze. "Believe it or not, no one is perfect." He smiled as Edward rolled his eyes. "I know, I know, you've heard that before and yet you seem to believe that you're perfect."

Edward vehemently shook his head in denial. "I don't think I'm perfect. Not at all, I'm the opposite of perfect." Edward's posture instantly became rigid as he denied the doctor's wild claim.

"Are you sure? From what I can tell you don't believe that you're allowed to make mistakes." Dr. Tanner resumed his note taking.

Edward was instantly on his feet and began pacing around the spacious office.

"Are you kidding? All I do is make mistakes! I'm a royal fuck up! Just ask my brother or my father, they'll be happy to tell you!" Doctor Tanner remained silent, waiting for Edward to calm down before attempting to speak again. As Edward's breathing began to slow, he leaned forward, looking straight into the troubled boy's eyes.

"Do you believe that people can make up for their mistakes?"

Irritated with the line of questioning, Edward shrugged and looked off to the side, mentally calculating how much longer his session was.

"Edward, do you think it's fair that people who go to jail for, say, fraud deserve a second chance once their time is up?"

"Yes, of course." Exasperated with the questions and the memories they dredged up, Edward fell back onto the couch.

"Why?"

"Because they've paid for their crime. You can't punish someone forever for writing a bad check." Why the doctor was focusing on someone else's crimes and not on his, confounded Edward.

"Okay, what about people who have committed involuntary manslaughter? Maybe they had too much to drink at a party and drive home drunk, causing an accident and maybe someone is injured or dies. Does that person deserve a second chance?"

Edward stayed silent as he thought about the question. His parents had raised him with a strong sense of fairness. He'd grown up being taught that forgiveness was the best gift you could bestow to another person.

"I guess. They would have to pay for their crimes but living with what they'd done would be a life sentence."

Alex smiled at his words; he had the boy right where he wanted him.

"So you believe that society should forgive them, but that they should never forgive themselves?" Edward nodded at Doctor Tanner. "A lifetime is a very long time, Edward. You really don't think that person who makes that kind of mistake deserves happiness?"

"No."

"Edward, everyone deserves happiness."

Edward rolled his eyes at the doctor's obvious message. "Really? Did Hitler deserve happiness or Charles Manson?"

Dr. Tanner sighed and rubbed his chin, helping Edward Cullen was going to be a lot harder than he'd hoped. "You trusted the wrong person. You were taken advantage of and yes, people were hurt by your actions but Edward, comparing yourself to the likes of Adolf Hitler and Charles Manson is ridiculous."

"Aren't you supposed to be objective?"

"Yes, I am. But c'mon you have to give me that one. You know that comparing yourself to two murderers who used charisma and fear to get others to perform mass murders in their name is not realistic or fair. Edward, what you're doing to yourself isn't fair to you, or your parents-you have to give yourself the opportunity to find moments of happiness every day."

Edward shook his head and lowered his eyes, clearly not ready to believe the doctor's claims.

Recognizing that Edward's patience had run out, Dr. Tanner issued this week's assignment. "You have to stop allowing these thoughts of unworthiness and guilt to rule your life. Over the next week, I want you to find three instances per day where you are genuinely happy and write down what you're thinking during those moments. I don't care what it is; eating chocolate ice cream, driving your car, playing with your puppy-anything. We'll discuss it next week." As soon as the words left the doctor's mouth, Edward shot up from the couch and rushed from the room. Not even sparing a glance to the pretty receptionist in the lobby.

Edward's ride home felt considerably longer than the one that had brought him to his appointment. His homework assignment weighed heavily on him. How was he supposed to make people understand what it was like to carry around the guilt for his sins? How could he deserve happiness when he'd brought so much unhappiness to both his and Tanya's family? As the meager lights of Forks appeared in his windshield, Edward's mind calmed slightly. As much as his appointment had rattled him, Dr. Tanner had made a few points that stuck with him.

Forgiveness. He'd always believed in forgiveness. He was taught that a man or a woman could pay for their crimes and be given another chance no matter what they'd done. Could he be forgiven? Edward knew that his mother thought the only person who needed to forgive him was himself. Maybe she was right? And then maybe she wasn't. His head began to ache with the stress of the day. Before Edward knew what was happening, he found himself driving down Bella's street. He hadn't officially been invited over but he suddenly couldn't shake the feeling that seeing her would make him feel better.

He saw lights on the second floor and shining out of the big picture window on the ground floor. Not seeing a police cruiser parked in the driveway led him to believe that Bella was home alone. He debated a moment over the idea that it wouldn't be a good idea for a boy with his reputation to call on a nice girl like Bella without her father being home, but Dr. Tanner's words echoed in his head. He had to start somewhere with the forgiving and he just really needed to see her.

After his emotionally draining afternoon, Edward knocked on the weather faded front door with about as much strength as a newborn kitten.

The timid knocking broke Bella's concentration. She'd been deep into her social studies assignment on religion and morality. A break from the philosophical thoughts the reading provoked was welcomed. As the second knock rang out, Bella turned down her iPod, and cocked her head towards the open doorway. When the knocking continued she closed her social studies book with a huff and got off her bed to check the door but not before grabbing a little something to defend herself with in case the knocker was a homicidal lunatic hell bent on defiling her virgin body. She rolled her eyes at the stereotypical teen/slasher movie moment and proceeded down the stairs.

Predictably Charlie had left the living room light on but had left the front porch light off, casting the mysterious knocker in total darkness.

Three more knocks softly echoed in the quiet house. With her trusty Louisville Slugger clenched tightly in her hand, Bella cautiously crept to the front door and flipped on the porch light.

"Shit!" Edward exclaimed as the energy saving LED light burnt his retinas. Recognizing his voice, Bella threw open the door to reveal her friend bent over in obvious pain.

"Edward? Is that you?" He lifted his head, but kept his eyes tightly clenched against the bright onslaught of light. "Crackers! Are you okay? I knew this would happen. I told my dad that lights were too bright to put on a porch. I told him he'd blind someone." Bella rambled as she grabbed Edward's hand and led him into the much dimmer hallway. "Better?" She asked.

Warily, Edward slightly cracked an eye. As he adjusted to the normal level of brightness one would expect in a residence, his regained sight revealed a sheepish looking Bella dressed in flannel sleep pants with what appeared to be brown lion or bear cubs on them and a pink tee shirt with two stick figures laying as if dead that read:

"Romeo loved Juliet.

Juliet loved Romeo.

Juliet died because Romeo couldn't wait another five damn minutes?!

Juliet was stupid. Don't be like Juliet."

"I'm so sorry. I tried to tell Charlie-"

"It's okay." Edward interrupted. "I just wasn't expecting the light of the sun to come pouring out of your porch light." He chuckled at her slightly horrified expression and quickly thought to defuse her embarrassment. "I like your outfit. Are those Chow puppies?" He asked, pointing to her pants.

Bella smiled and nodded. "Kodi is so cute. I couldn't resist." Edward smiled widely. He'd been in her presence for less than ten minutes and already felt as if half of the world had been lifted off his shoulders. They stood awkwardly in the hallway for a moment, both simply happy to be with the other, until Bella's innate curiosity reared its nosey head. "So, what brings you here?"

Edward opened his mouth to explain and then quickly closed it; he was at a loss as to what to tell her because he'd given no thought to an excuse. He just needed to see her. "I just wanted to see you." At this point Edward felt that he owed her honesty wherever he could give it to her.

Bella's face broke out into a wide smile that reached her twinkling eyes. "Really?"

Edward nodded enthusiastically, bolstered by her obvious delight. "Yes. I had a rough afternoon and wanted to see you before I went home." Bella's smile faded slightly at hearing he'd been upset.

"Do you want to talk about it?" She asked, kindly. Edward shook his head. If the warm feelings that blossomed throughout his body when she'd opened her door were to be believed, he knew that he would eventually have to talk to her about everything, but not tonight.

"No, but thank you. I hope I didn't interrupt anything." Edward looked around the sparsely furnished but tidy living room, spying Bella's discarded bat. "Were you headed out to for some late night batting practice?" He joked, pointing to the wooden bat leaning against the door jamb.

"Um, no. Actually 'Sluggo' is just there for protection."

"The girl who nearly broke the gym teacher's ankle with a badminton racket uses a bat for protection?" He had to laugh at the mental image of their last gym class.

"Of course. If my display of athleticism in gym hasn't proved that I'm a serious physical threat to others, I don't know what would." She returned his teasing.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. A baseball bat could do some serious harm in the right hands."

"Do you play?" She asked.

He frowned and shook his head in answer.

"You don't like baseball? I thought all boys played baseball." At least they did in Forks, she thought.

"No. I mean I really like it as a sport and I watch it on TV but I've never played on a team."

"Why?"

"Ahh, because I really don't have much talent for sports." Or anything else he thought. No wonder no one had ever taken an interest in him. He was an absolute bore.

Bella frowned as his face fell and the light that had been shining in his eyes dimmed slightly. She'd give anything to erase that look of worthlessness that had crept onto his beautiful face. "That doesn't sound right. Look at you." She motioned to his lean body in an up and down motion with her hand, trying desperately not to linger anywhere that might give away her attraction to him.

"You have the look of a-second baseman, maybe even a pitcher. You're always great at whatever sport torture Mr. Griffin inflicts on us in gym. You're a natural athlete." She stated as a matter of fact, watching in glee as Edward's lips slowly turned upwards into a smile.

"Really? You think so?" He asked earnestly. Bella was overjoyed at the way he treated her opinion. He acted is if she were a renowned baseball scout instead of a seventeen year old girl with a crush on him.

"Yes, I do."

"Maybe you'd like to play catch sometime?" Bella's head bobbed enthusiastically as she mentally tried to remember where she'd thrown her mitt after the last time Charlie had attempted to play catch with her. He'd walked away with a black eye and a limp and an ear full of 'I warned yous' from his daughter.

"That would be wonderful." She agreed, with a smile.

"Great! How about tomorrow? Since it's Saturday, you could come over in the morning and stay for lunch." His enthusiasm over the prospect of spending the afternoon with her was evident in his voice.

"It's a date!" Bella exclaimed excitedly before slapping a hand over her mouth as soon as the words she'd said registered to her red tipped ears. "I mean, um, you know…"

Edward smiled widely and gently pulled her hand away from her mouth. Her skin tingled at the contact. "I know what you meant." He said softly, wishing for a moment he could date her, but knowing that he wasn't ready. His eyes smiled right along with his mouth, Bella had to restrain from reaching out to trace his inviting lips.

With a deep sigh, Edward reluctantly tore his eyes from hers. "I really need to go." It was after six and his mother had expected him home by now, if he didn't leave, she would start calling and that was just too embarrassing to fathom.

Edward moved back from her and started towards the door. "Thanks for not using 'Sluggo' on me." He joked as he walked onto the porch to his car.

"Thanks for not being an escaped lunatic coming for my virginity!" She yelled out into the night and for the second time in ten minutes, Bella's 'no filter' mouth showed up to embarrass her.

Eyeing the clearly stunned girl on the porch in her puppy covered pants and pink tee-shirt, Edward bent over in laughter. He knew coming to see her had been the right decision. Her easy going nature put him at ease. While her earlier speech in biology had rattled him, he understood her feelings and knew that none of her words were directed at him.

"You're welcome," he said mirthfully, reveling in their interaction. It was becoming clear to him that this girl was readily becoming one of the things that Dr. Tanner was talking about. She made him happy.

For the first time in a long time, Edward's heart felt lighter. He wondered if maybe his mother's promise that moving to Forks was going to heal them all wasn't already coming true.


Sooooo, what do you think?

Thank you all for your support. It means a lot to me.

Have a great week!