Somewhere To Begin Chapter 28, a twilight fanfic

A huge thank you to our awesome team, Liz Vesper, Editor and pre-readers, Connie Sanders and BohemianRituals. You ladies are a tremendous help, and this story wouldn't be what it is without you!

Chapter 28: Space and Opportunity

Edward

Two days later…

So maybe walking away wasn't the most mature thing to do, but could you blame me? Really?

Yes, we could all blame you. Now stop pouting.

I'm not pouting, I'm just…

Pouting.

But whatever.

He never went away; he was always in Bella's face. And he was always flirting, not to mention the whole hand on the waist thing? Completely unnecessary.

It was annoying. He was annoying.

He was like a fly.

A pesky little house fly that was always buzzing around.

It was frustrating. He was frustrating.

But more than anything, I was frustrated with myself.

I didn't say anything. I didn't do anything. I just walked away. That was so fucking stupid.

Obviously, the plan wouldn't work. I needed to try something else. I couldn't show her anything, hell I couldn't tell her anything, literally. Colton was always there—whether we were biking, fly-fishing, walking, eating, breathing—he was there, and interrupting.

And you know what?

To a certain extent, I got it. Bella was beautiful. I'm tired of hearing him call her that, but it's true. She just had this thing that drew people in. She made you want to get to know her. She's unique and special. She's amazing.

So, I got it. Why he was interested. Why he came on so strong and was so forward. Had this been any other woman, I might have even rooted for the guy. But it wasn't.

It's Bella.

I wasn't going to just roll over and let him… I don't want to say take Bella. She's not an object, but I wouldn't let him keep doing what he's been doing. I wouldn't give him the opportunity to let Bella forget me.

So, I brainstormed. For two days.

And I came up with nothing.

Fucking nothing.

Which only added to my frustration.

"Hey, Edward." Bella sat down beside me.

"Hey."

She looked at me as she bit her lip, seeming hesitant.

"What?" I raised my eyebrows. "What is it?"

"A-are we okay? You've been kinda… I just want to make sure everything is good. That we're good."

"Uh." I looked down at my hands. "Yeah, yeah we're good." I looked back at her and gave a small smile.

Her forehead wrinkled. "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. I'm just still trying to wake up." I held up my coffee mug.

The day had started early for everyone. We had a quick breakfast before the kids left with Bailey to do something called geocaching. And the girls would be with Dakota doing a ropes course while we, the guys, went on our hike.

"Great, okay then." She sighed and crossed her arms. "I was thinking, well, wondering if maybe you'd want to go play some disc golf today?"

"We'll be gone most of the day. We're not expected back until close to dinner."

"Oh." She blinked and tucked some hair behind her ear. "Right."

"Maybe another day?"

"Yeah." She smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. "Another day. Enjoy your hike." She sighed, got up, and headed back to where the girls were.

This wasn't the first time she asked me to do something with her. Normally, I would jump all over it, but I had been in my head for the last couple of days. I felt like I wouldn't be any good. My head wouldn't be in the game and I felt like I would just be awkward around her, and like I wouldn't know what to say, well, besides the obvious.

You're such an ass.

I know.

A huge one.

I know.

And you're a pain in my ass. It's a metaphorical ass, but somehow you're still a pain. I don't know how much longer I can put up with you or your bull- oh, would you look at that?

Colton and Bella were talking. Of course, he couldn't stay away from her.

I bet he's shooting his shot.

Blah.

Who the fuck says something like that, anyway?

At least he's saying something.

You're supposed to be on my si-

Bella laughed.

He said something to make her laugh. And he had the biggest, dumbest smile on his face.

Ugh, I hoped I never looked like that.

"Colton." Lawson appeared out of nowhere and waved Colton over to him.

I bit on my bottom lip to keep from smiling.

Maybe he was telling him to stay away from Bella.

You're so childish.

I watched the entire exchange. Lawson did all the talking and Colton only nodded his head before he walked out of the mess hall; not without looking back at Bella, though.

"Hey Creeper." Emmett yawned.

I jumped and turned.

"I saw you looking at…" He yawned again. "Those two, Bella and Colton."

I shook my head. "I wasn't looking at them. I was looking in that general direction, not at them."

"Whatever man." He rolled his eyes. "We're going outside to wait for Dylan and Lawson."

I looked around. None of the guys were in the mess hall and the girls were going out another door. I got up and followed Emmett.

"Why did we agree to go so early?" Demetri yawned.

"It's not early." Avery frowned. "It's a little after seven."

"It's early for vacation." Emmett rubbed his eyes.

"At least someone gets it." Demetri said.

"Oh, come on you two." Ben said. "Stop complaining. We're gonna have a good time."

"Why are you so perky at this hour?" Demetri squinted.

"What do you mean?" Ben held his hands out with his psalms up. "We're on vacation, and we're all having a good time. This place is amazing and we're in the great outdoors. What more could I ask for?"

"Ew." Demetri scrunched up his nose. "He's one of those happy morning people. Tell him to stop."

"Stop." Emmett said as he scratched his head.

"Leave him alone. He balances out you two" Jasper waved his hand in Emmett and Demetri's direction.

"All three of them suck." Jacob crossed his arms. "They," he jerked his head toward Demetri and Emmett, "are too grumpy and he," he looked at Ben, "is too happy."

"Man, I'm just high on life right now." Ben spread his arms out and smiled.

"High off horse shit." Emmett mumbled.

"No, more like Angela." Demetri smirked.

Ben just smiled and wiggled his eyebrows.

"That's more than what I wanted to know." Jacob said.

"Well, what can I say? She-"

"You don't have to say anything." Jacob said.

"Aww, you're jealous." Ben raised one eyebrow.

"Uh, no." Avery shook his head. "We just don't want to hear it."

Emmett shrugged. "It didn't bother me."

"Of course, it didn't." Jasper sighed.

"We're all adults here. It's not like we all aren't having sex. Well, almost all of us." Emmett glanced at me.

I gave him the finger.

"But it doesn't mean we want to hear about it." Avery said.

"I don't think there's anything wrong with sharing stories." Demetri said.

"I disagree." Jasper said.

I stepped back and sat down on the stairs. It's not like I had anything to contribute to the conversation, as Emmett pointed out.

And of course, my mind immediately went to Bella.

Do you think she likes the attention Colton is giving her?

Oh, you're actually asking me something?

Can you just for once not be sarcastic and answer my question?

That wasn't sarcasm…

…

I don't know. Maybe she does, maybe she doesn't.

That didn't really help.

What did you expect? I don't have ESP; I can't read her mind.

I'm just looking for some guidance here.

Well, you could do what I've been telling you to do from the start. Tell her, you know, like a grown man.

I ran my fingers through my hair. I don't know, I'm still nervous about doing that, bu-

Oh, for the love of god. Stop torturing us. I can't take it anymore. I want a new human, a different brain to inhabit. I can't keep doing this with you, but I can't ignore you; you never shut up. You just keep going and going and going. You're running in bloody circles, man.

Are you done now?

Yeah, I just had to get that off my chest.

Okay, now that you're feeling lighter, I said that I agree with you. I don't have any other options now. The only thing I can do is tell her.

Really?

Yes.

You're not joking, right?

No, far from joking.

Oh, thank god. I couldn't take this much longer; you were really stressing me.

I'm glad I could help.

"Hey." Emmett groaned as he sat down beside me. "What's going on with you?"

"Nothing." I shook my head.

"Okay, I was trying to ease into this, but you're going to make me rip off the band aid." He sighed. "Why have you been so moody lately?"

"Moody." I frowned. "I have not been moody."

"Yeah." He slowly nodded his head. "You have. For a couple days now."

"I'm not moody." I grumbled.

Well…

"Fine, quiet, it's just playing semantics with words." He rolled his eyes. "Why have you been so quiet?"

"I just have a lot on my mind."

"Like what?" Emmett raised his eyebrows. "We're on vacation."

"Uh." I scratched my eyebrow. "Well, I um." I chucked nervously. "I-"

"Morning." Dylan walked out the door.

"We'll finish this conversation later." Emmett said as we stood.

"Good morning." We all said simultaneously.

"I apologize for the wait; we got a little behind with-"

"Good morning." Colton walked out.

So, he doesn't just interrupt me. I don't know if that makes it better or worse.

"Moring." Everyone said. I didn't, but everyone else did.

"Like I was saying, we got a little behind with dinner. We still need to get everything prepped, so my dad won't be able to do the hike with us. He'll be staying behind and helping Levi. Colton will take his place."

Great.

"You guys ready?" Colton asked.

"As ready as we'll ever be." Demetri said.

"Don't mind him." Ben put his arm around Demetri's shoulder. "He hasn't been high on life lately." He grinned.

Demetri turned to Ben. "Get away from me."

"Got it." Dylan laughed. "We have water, lunch, snacks, a first aid kit, and anything else we could need packed, so if everyone's ready, let's get going."

There was a comfortable silence as we traveled through the pine forest and rhyolite outcroppings to get to our first destination, Paradise peak mountains. We stopped to take a water break and took pictures. Then Dylan and Colton guided us through the Western hills, where we saw the wildflower meadows, Mary Beth's peak, and the tips of Top of the World.

"So," Colton cleared his throat. "Where are you guys from?"

"Chicago." Demetri said.

"Okay." He nodded. "What do you guys do?"

"I work in the fashion industry." Demetri said.

"Marketing and investing." Emmett said.

"History professor." Jasper said.

"I fix, sell, and rent exotic cars." Jacob said.

"Stockbroker." Ben said.

"Sports medicine." Avery said.

"That's cool." Colton put his hands in his pockets. "What about you?" He looked at me.

"Accounting and investing."

"Oh, that's nice."

"Yep."

"You all seem like a tight bunch. Have y'all been friends long?" Colton asked.

"Long enough." Emmett said.

We walked a few steps in silence.

"And the girls, are they from Chicago too?" Colton asked.

"Yeah." Jasper glanced at him.

"Okay." Colton cleared his throat. "And, uh, you and Beau-Bella are close, right? Friends?"

It was quiet again. I looked at him. He directed that question to me.

"Why are you asking?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Oops." Demetri said lowly.

"It's just I-I…" Colton rubbed the back of his neck. "I noticed most you y'all are coupled together and th-"

"Colton." Dylan shook his head. "Man, just stop already." He stopped walking and looked at Colton. We all paused, too. "You know what Dad told you."

Demetri looked between the two of them. "What are you trying to ask?"

It was quiet as Colton and Dylan stared at each other.

"I was going to ask if-" Colton said, still looking at Dylan.

"Colton, stop." Dylan said.

"If Bella had someone waiting for her back in Chicago."

"And how is that any of your concern?" I asked. My mouth moved before my brain could catch up with it.

Shit, now I was going to look like the jealous best friend pinning after her.

Aren't you?

I at least wanted to tell her first, before the others could speculate any more than what they already had.

Oh well, nothing was going as planned, anyway.

He looked at me, and I looked right back at him. I wouldn't back down now.

All was quiet.

"I don't mean to step on anyone's toes, but I'd like to get to kno-"

"I think you are." Demetri mumbled, looking between Colton and me.

"You concerned about stepping on toes now." I stepped toward him. "You've been shameless since the moment we got here."

I guess I was going to take all my frustration out on him.

Because it's only right to be upset with the guy who had no problem making his intentions known to the single woman… right, makes sense.

Colton frowned. "Look I-"

"Enough." Dylan got in between us. "Go back and help Dad and Levi. I'll do the rest of the hike by myself."

"But I was-"

"Go." Dylan said louder.

They had another stare off.

"Fine." Colton handed him the hiking bag, turned, and walked back in the direction we came.

Dylan watched him until he was out of view, before he turned back to us. "I apologize for the interruption. It won't happen again. Let's keep going." He walked ahead of us.

Everyone slowly followed behind him, but not before side eyeing me. Especially Demetri.

Definitely have to tell her now.

I went to take a step, but a hand on my shoulder stopped me. "Whoa, hold on a second." Emmett said.

"Come on Em, we don't want to get left behind."

"We won't." He let go of my shoulder and crossed his arms.

I blinked at him. "Are we just going to stand here all day?"

"Admit it."

"Admit what?"

"That I was right. You like Bella. That's why you've been moody." I was about to correct him. "I mean quiet, and why you and Texas ranger were about to have a showdown. You like Bella."

"I…" I opened and closed my mouth a few times. "Okay, you were ri-" I cut myself off. I refused to finish when he had that dumbass smirk on his face.

"Right." He raised his eyebrows. "I was right."

"Yes." I sighed. "You were…" I paused. "Right." I mumbled. "I like Bella."

"Oh, I knew that already. It's just nice to hear you say it out loud." Emmett smiled and started walking. I fell into step beside him. "So, what are you going to do, you know, so you can get your girl?" Emmett nudged me with his elbow.

"I've been trying to figure it out. The plan I had originally won't work now."

"You had a plan?"

I didn't mean to tell him that. "Yeah." I blew out.

He snorted. "Tell me."

I chewed on my lip as I thought. It's not like it could get any worse, and now he knows I like Bella. "I was going to show her I liked her."

"Show her?" Emmett frowned. "How would that have been any different from what you'd been doing?"

"What do you mean, from what I'd been doing?"

"Dude, everyone knew you liked her. Just think over the stuff you two do. That plan won't work. You were already doing the things you were doing because you liked her."

"Hmm." I hummed. "I guess I didn't think about it that way."

"Not surprising. But it makes sense now why you've been so pissy. Colton's been flirting with her nonstop."

"I have not been pissy."

He blinked at me. "Seriously?"

I rolled my eyes. "So, what do you think I should do?"

"Tell her."

Where have I heard that before? It sounds so familiar.

"I think you're right."

"That is music to my ears." Emmett grinned.

I chuckled. "Don't get used to it."

"Little brother, when will you learn?" He sighed. "Papa Em is always right."

"I told you never to say that again."

"You can't deny it."

"I'm walking away from you."

"Okay, okay." He laughed. "I'm about to get serious now."

I turned to look at him.

"I know how you are, and I know how you overthink everything, but don't do that, not this time. Don't wait, tell her sooner than later, or…" he trailed off.

He didn't need to finish. I got what he was saying.

"Come on, guys." Jasper waved. "You're falling behind."

"We're coming." Emmett turned to me. "Get your girl, Ed." He smacked me on the back before he headed toward Jasper.

STB

The sun was setting, and there was a warm breeze.

We all sat around a campfire on logs, watching as Lawson finished dinner. A big black cast iron skillet sat on top of cinderblocks and a fire.

"This is a traditional dish and has been called 'Son of a Gun' or more popularly known as 'Cowboy Stew'." Lawson smiled as he stirred the stew with a big wooden spoon. "A good friend of mine and a fellow cowboy named Anthony Bruno shared the recipe with me, and I love to share it with others as much as I can."

"We're glad we get to do this with you." Bailey said. "It's one of our favorites."

"And it's served with sweetbread and rice." Dakota set three containers on a table that was off to the side.

"It takes a while to cook, but it's worth it, I promise. I really hope you all enjoy." Lawson rubbed his hands together. "Let's dig in."

Dakota and Bailey filled bowls with rice, and Lawson followed behind with the stew.

The stew was delicious. It was rich and flavorful, the sweetbread and rice balanced out the savory-ness of the stew.

Conversation was low as we ate.

"How was your treasure day? I asked Aiden and Renata.

"It was fun. It's like playing hide-and-seek." Renata said.

"Yeah, but with toys and stuff, not people." Aiden added.

"Really? How did you find the toys and stuff?" Bella smiled.

"We used a map that gave us clues." Aiden said.

"Oh, so you learned how to read a map?" I asked.

Aiden nodded. "Yep."

"And a GPS. Bailey let us take turns holding it." Renata said.

"What did you guys find?" I asked.

Renata counted off on her fingers. "A spur, a belt buckle, and a little cowboy toy."

Bailey chuckled. "Cowboy figurine, you mean."

"Oh yeah, that." Renata giggled.

"You forgot the walkie-talkie's, badges and bandanna." Aiden said.

"But then, Bailey said since we took something, we had to leave something." Renata said.

"So, what'd you leave?" Bella asked.

Aiden sipped his lemonade. "A map, a shirt, some toy horses, more walkie talkies and…" He frowned and turned to Bailey. "What's that colorful thing called?"

"Rubik's cubes." Bailey said.

"Those are fun." I nodded. "I remember playing with one of those when I was little."

Renata's eyes widened. "That toy is really old then."

Everyone laughed.

I threw my napkin at Renata. "It's not that old."

"How are you guys liking the stew?" Lawson asked.

"It's so good." Alice said. "What's in it?"

"You don't want to know." Dylan chuckled and Colton shook his head, chuckling with him.

Dakota slapped his chest. "Hush."

"I really wanna know now." Rose said.

"It's a secret." Levi smirked.

"Sorry folks." Lawson blew out. "Levi's right, I can't tell."

"What? Are you sworn to some super-secret cowboy oath?" Emmett said.

Lawson stuffed his hands in his pockets and shrugged, a teasing smile on his lips. "Something like that."

Bailey leaned over and kissed his cheek. "How was the hike? It was a little warm today."

"Oh, it got a little heated." Ben mumbled.

Emmett snorted and took a bite of stew. I narrowed my eyes at him. He just shrugged his shoulders.

"Oh, I'm sorry about that." Bailey frowned. "I told Dylan you all should have gone another day."

"I think today was perfect. We got some fresh air, enjoyed a spectacular view and…" Demetri paused. "Got out some emotion." He glanced at me.

He knows. He certainly knows.

No shit sherlock.

"It was great." Emmett said. "Exactly what we needed." He looked at me.

I held his gaze. "Yeah, it was."

"Good." Bailey perked up. "I'm glad you had such a good time."

"Couldn't have gone better." Colton kissed Bailey's cheek.

"How was the ropes course?" I asked.

Immediately, all the girls laughed.

"It was…" Bella trailed off and laughed more.

"Are we going to be let in on the joke?" Avery said.

"It's… it's not a joke." Ivey breathed out.

"No, we were the joke." Angela chuckled.

"It just went terribly wrong." Alice said.

"Tell us already. We want to laugh too." Demetri said.

"I have rope burns in places I shouldn't." Bella laughed. "And it sucks. They hurt so bad."

Angela giggled loudly.

"Hey." Bella shoved Angela. "I don't know why you're laughing so hard. You got burned too."

"Oooo." Demetri smirked. "Looks like Ben isn't going to be high on life anytime soon."

This time, all the guys laughed.

Ben narrowed his eyes at Demetri before he turned to Angela. "Babe." He rubbed her back. "There not bad ar-I mean, you're okay right?"

"I'm fine, mostly." Angela rolled her eyes. "It kinda hurts, but at least I didn't fall like Rose."

"I only fell cause Alice knocked me over." Rosalie said.

"Hey." Alice frowned. "It was a small rope." She jutted out her bottom lip.

The girls laughed again.

"All in all, they…" That's all I heard Dakota say.

Colton walked up behind Bella, bent down, and whispered something into her ear.

What the fuck?

She leaned over to Aiden, said something to him, and stood up.

No one else seemed to notice the exchange between the two or that they moved to a secluded area, too secluded, in my opinion.

Even though I could vaguely hear the others' conversation, my focus stayed on them.

What could he possibly have to tell her, in private?

You remember that hike you took today?

Obviously.

Well, I don't know if you can recall, but he essentially asked if she was single.

Okay…

Please, please, please, don't be this stupid.

…

One plus one is two Edward.

Oh… oh. You don't think he's going to ask her out, do you? Not now. It would be too soon for him to do that; way too soon, right? My heart speed up.

I don't know, but more than likely he didn't plan it. If he is asking her out, he didn't wait to do it.

That didn't ease my concerns at all.

You know, it's almost commendable. He decided he liked her and will ask her out.

So, you think he's asking her out?

Maybe.

Maybe? That's all you got?

Uh, yeah. Look dude, I can only do so much. The rest is up to you. You said you were going to tell her, so tell her.

What? Am I just supposed to go over there, interrupt him—like he's done to me several times, might I add—and tell her?

No, of course not. You should wait. You have plenty of time.

Yeah, okay. I'll wai-

No dumbass, that was sarcasm.

Name calling isn't necessary.

I told you, it's the stress. I'm malfunctioning. I'll apologize later.

"Isn't that right, Edward?" Emmett laughed.

"Yeah, ha." I laughed half-heatedly. "That's right."

Emmett frowned at me. "Anyway." He continued talking, and I looked back at Bella and Colton.

Okay, I'm gonna go. I'm going to get up and go over there and tell her.

I'll believe it when I see it, man.

That's the confidence I was looking for. I appreciate it.

No one, literally no one, would blame me. We're all pretty sick of you.

Well, watch me prove you wrong.

Mm-hmm.

I sat my bowl down to the side and turned to Renata. "I'll be back in a second, okay." I whispered.

"Okay," she said as she chewed a mouthful of sweetbread.

I inconspicuously got up and quietly headed over to them.

"I just wanted you to know that." I heard Colton said as I got closer.

"Bella, can I talk to you?"

They both turned to look at me, not moving.

"Now, please?"

"Uh." Bella glanced at Colton.

"Yeah, that's fine. I said what I needed to say. I'll see you around." He tipped his hat and walked away.

This is it.

"What's up?" Bella crossed her arms.

"I, uh, need to talk to you, tell you something."

"Mmm." She pursed her lips and slowly nodded her head. "You want to talk to me now? Okay. What do you need?" She sighed.

She seemed… off.

I frowned. "Are you okay, Bella?"

"Yes. No. I don't know." She threw her hands up.

Something is definitely off.

Yeah, but what?

I've been with you all day. I don't know.

You've been saying that a lot.

I really deserve a break from you.

Help me figure this out.

Well… maybe she's mad at you.

Mad at me? No way, I haven't done anything.

Do you see the irony in what you just said?

Be serious, for once.

I was…

…

Fine, okay. Think about it this way. She doesn't look happy now, right?

Bella was chewing on the bottom of her lip, eyebrows furrowed.

She's not smiling.

Right, which is odd considering she was laughing it up with the girls, and just a few moments ago, she seemed fine talking to Colton.

So, you're saying it's me?

Well, it isn't me.

"Bella are yo-" I cleared my throat. "Are you mad at me?"

"Yes." She narrowed her eyes at me. "No." She looked down. "I don't know." She sighed.

I rubbed the back of my neck. "What did I do?"

Her eyes widened. "What did you do?"

"Uh, yeah?" I scrunched up my nose.

She snorted. "Are you serious right now?"

"I, uh, yes?"

"Edward." She squeaked.

"What? You have to help me out here. I'm clueless."

She blew out a breath and raked her hands through her hair. "I'm losing my mind. That's what's happening, and you're not helping. Not at all. In fact, you're making it worse."

"I'm sorry…"

"And," she continued, pointing at me, and probably not hearing me. "You haven't been talking to me, not really, and we said we wouldn't do that anymore. Blowing me off for not one, but two days? Practically two days of silence or indifference or whatever this is? But now, you want to talk, so we talk. What do you need to tell me?"

"I wan- I was goi- I um…" I couldn't get my mouth, or my brain, to work properly.

I haven't even said anything and somehow, I messed up.

Yeah, I don't really have anything for you. This wasn't what I expected.

Me either. Who would have thought that trying to come up with a plan would blow up in my face.

Considering no plan has gone smoothly, I guess we shouldn't be too surprised.

Wow, okay.

And besides, you annoy the crap out of me, so I know you've gotten on her nerves.

Thanks, I really needed to hear that now.

Yeah, well.

So, I shouldn't tell her now?

I didn't really expect you to, but at least you actually tried.

I sighed and rubbed my hand over my face. "Fuck."

"Edward." Her arms slapped the sides of her thighs. "What is it? You're making me nervous here."

I looked at her, really looked at her.

This was my best friend, the woman I told practically everything to. The woman who saw me at a really low point in my life, the woman who supported and encouraged me. The woman who was there for me.

I couldn't avoid telling her.

"Edward?" She took a step toward me. "Can you please just tell me al-"

Fuck it. "I like you."

Her head jerked back slightly.

"As more than a friend."

"Excuse me?" She blinked repetitively.

"I like you." I stepped toward her. "As more than a friend."

She looked at me, seeming to hold her breath.

"I've liked you for a while now, but I didn't know how to tell you or if I should." I shook my head and chuckled. "I had a whole plan. I was going to show you I liked you, but that went to shit. Colton just can't seem to stay away from you, and I hate that. I really do." I muttered. "The fact that I couldn't just tel-" I cut myself off. I was just rambling.

Bella's eye flickered over my face, her mouth ajar.

"I like you, a lot." I exhaled. "And I want to be more than friends."

Her eyes widened, and she opened and closed her mouth a few times.

I waited a few moments to see if she would say anything, but she didn't.

Oh.

She didn't feel the same way and didn't know how to tell me that.

I put my hands in my pockets and looked down. "I know this may seem sudden, unexpected, and I hope I haven't made you uncomfortable. Believe me, I don't want to ruin our friendship, but I couldn't keep it to myself anymore."

She was still silent.

I took a deep breath. I told her.

I finally told her. And I actually felt a little lighter, having said what had been rolling in my head for weeks now. But in the same breath, this sucked, knowing that it was all one-sided.

I took a step back. There was nothing else that needed to be said.

"Wait." Bella blurted out, grabbing my arm. "Just wait. Give me a second to process ever-" She paused and squeezed my arm. "I d-"

"No." I placed my hand on top of hers. "You don't have to say anything. You don't have to tell me you don't feel… it's fine. It's fine." I nodded.

I dropped her hand and backed up.

"Edward." She stepped toward me.

"Bella." I tried to smile. "It's fine."

I turned and headed back to the group, back to the laughter and lightheartedness.

You're right, none of my plans go smoothly.

A/N: First of all, we want to thank you for your patience with this chapter, with the loss of our sister. We appreciate all of the support, encouraging, and prayers words some of you posted in our group.

So…he FINALLY told her; we'd love to hear your thoughts. Show us some love with your reviews.

REC: The Fox, by Capricapra. Student Bella is assigned to the supervision of the reclusive Professor Masen. Both are overwhelmed by their mutual attraction, despite it being against the rules. But can their relationship survive their age difference and a rogue academic hell-bent on destroying their happiness?