Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

~0~

~~Bella~~

I was so excited to be spending the night with Angela, even though I was disappointed that I wouldn't see Edward today. It was hard to believe it was only five short nights ago that I had approached the mysterious pianist to hand him my lyrics, not knowing until I gazed on his amazingly beautiful face that it had been Hollywood heart-throb Edward Cullen playing such hypnotic and trance-inducing music.

I bounded out of the cab and up to the porch. Angela swung open the door with a breezy flourish.

"Bella, I'm so excited; quick, come in!" Angela looked bubbly and happy; she really was such an uplifting person to be around. Even though I would love to be sitting next to Edward, I needed to know that he hadn't dazzled me so completely that I couldn't enjoy being in other peoples' company.

I walked into the foyer and could smell the aroma of something absolutely delectable. My tummy grumbled instantly and my mouth watered.

"I made us a casserole for dinner. You know, the weather will start to warm up very quickly over the next few weeks. You are going to love being in Vancouver in summer! I thought we could take advantage of the cool weather and have warm comfort food and then I've got Ben & Jerry's and some movies."

"I brought some caramel popcorn!" I hastily dug into my bag to retrieve the box. "What's the movie? Does it star Johnny Depp?" I laughed when she looked at me with surprise.

"Um, well yes, it does. How did you know?"

"Oh, a little birdie told me that he could guarantee the movie would star Johnny Depp." I giggled like a fourteen year old.

"Edward." She laughed, took the popcorn and linked her arm with mine to guide me into the living room.

"Okay, I thought we could have a picnic on the floor." I looked down, and Angela had laid out a couple of blankets over the carpet and surrounded them with cushions. She had placed little tea-light candles on the coffee table.

"This is so fantastic Angela!" I looked around the immaculate, warm room. The furniture was a mix of modern and retro and I felt instantly at home.

"Thanks, Bella, I haven't had a girl's night in ages! I'll serve up the dinner, what did you want to drink? I have white wine."

"Whatever you're having Angela is fine by me."

Angela flittered away to the kitchen while I took off my shoes and set myself up on the floor. There were DVD cases on the coffee table. Pirates of the Caribbean: all three movies. I sucked in a quick breath. My gut ached. I closed my eyes, desperate not to remember, but a flash of Riley's face invaded my mind.

"Bella, are you okay?" Angela's words shocked me out of my trance. "You were a million miles away. Do you want to talk about it?"

"God, Angela, I don't know what's wrong with me at the moment. I can't stop thinking about Riley; everything seems to remind me of him."

She handed me a bowl of the most delectable casserole I think I had ever seen or smelt. She placed the opened wine bottle and two long stemmed wine glasses in front of us and pushed the serving tray under the coffee table.

"Maybe you should talk about him then, get him out of your system? Did you ever talk about him to anyone, after you split up?" The deep glugging sound as Angela poured the wine was somehow calming.

"Well, no. I couldn't talk to my mum; she didn't even know that we had gotten together. My friend Jessica knew, but she just told me to forget about him. She thought I was silly for even visiting him in the hospital, let alone seeing him after that." I remembered how Jessica had been less than supportive, but then she hadn't seen for herself how he used to be with me when we were alone and, so I thought, in love.

"When did you break up with him, Bella?"

"It's been three years."

"Have you, you know, seen anyone since then?"

"Seen anyone, you mean like a psychologist?" God, now even Angela thinks I'm mentally unstable.

"No, that's not what I meant. Have you had a boyfriend since Riley?" she handed me a glass of wine.

I sighed. Until I met Edward I hadn't even fantasized about being with any other man.

"No, it's only ever been him." Riley was my first and only boyfriend. I'd given everything to him: my trust, my love, my virginity...

"You never confronted him, did you?" Angela's words confused me.

"Confronted him?"

"You said yesterday that you cut him from your life. Did he ever try to get you back, or explain why he was two-timing you?"

I could tell she was concerned for me and as much as I wanted to be angry with Riley, hurt was still the strongest emotion. I had spent the last three years thinking about our time together, wondering why he needed to be with Victoria, why I wasn't enough for him and what I could have done differently. I knew it was unhealthy, but I couldn't blame myself. I had only ever loved him. Okay, maybe it was obsessively, and I hated myself that I never really got to know the real Riley Biers. I had simply idolized him.

"No, I couldn't see him. He tried calling me, but I was hurt and confused. What point would there have been in talking about it? He made his choice. I didn't have anything to say to him. I changed my phone number, changed my locks, and my email address."

"So, perhaps the reason you keep thinking about him is because you have unresolved feelings? Sounds like you didn't get any closure, Bella. Maybe you need to work through your feelings before you start another relationship."

I looked at Angela, confused. "Another relationship?"

"Well, I thought, maybe you were attracted to Edward?" she sounded hopeful.

I laughed. "Isn't every girl attracted to Edward?"

"Well, sure, attracted to his looks, but not many people get to see the real Edward. You have, so…"

"Angela, Edward is gorgeous, and a wonderful person; I would be lying if I said otherwise. But he made it pretty clear that he doesn't want to be in a relationship; he has some rule about, you know, not getting involved romantically with people he works with."

"He said that, to you?" Angela looked shocked, almost stunned.

"Yes. Why?" I questioned.

"No reason." She was lying, and not very convincingly. I sensed Angela had some insider information that she would never reveal to me. "I just thought, well you seemed so comfortable together and, well, I guess I want him to meet someone. He's pretty isolated in his chosen profession, you know. It would be nice if he had someone like you to be with."

I laughed again. "Seriously Angela, Edward would never feel that way about me. I'm totally not his type. I thought he went for tall blondes, like Rosalie." Even as I said those words, a part of me wished that he did want me that way, repeatedly. Forever.

But I knew, we'd only ever be friends—especially since my discovery this morning.

I hadn't initially wanted to, but the desire had been overwhelming. I'd googled Edward Cullen to see if I could find any reference to past girlfriends. I couldn't get back to sleep this morning when Jessica had called to freak me out about Jake, so I got online and did some cyber stalking.

There were lots of online pictures of Edward, with lots of very beautiful women. Most of them—and there were a handful over the last two years—were obviously fabricated dates to boost an actress' status, and normally around the time her film was due to release. But there was one girl that appeared repeatedly and before his first movie broke box office records. She was Tanya Denali, a sitcom actress. Her IMDB profile said she had appeared in a lot of TV shows, most notably a regular but short stint as a prostitute in some police drama. She was a year older than Edward, tall, beautiful, strawberry blonde curls, and lithe athletic body. She was an older version of the Barbie Doll perfection of Rosalie Hale.

"Edward would never date Rosalie Hale!" spluttered Angela. "She is, well excuse the language, Bella, but Rosalie Hale is an absolute bitch!"

I could tell Angela wasn't the type of girl to use expletives often; she was blushing at her own words.

I looked at her, speechless. What is she trying to tell me? She thinks I'm Edward's type, over the beauty of Rosalie Hale or Tanya Denali? Seriously?

I picked up my fork and proceeded to devour the delicious casserole. I could feel myself blushing. Angela had been Edward's friend since school, and I had seen how close they were. She knew him better than me, and her boyfriend was his best friend. What could I say to her? I couldn't admit that I had googled Edward and seen him with Tanya. I knew he'd only had two girlfriends, and Angela had implied that one of them was when he was in High School. Maybe her wanting to pair Edward and me together was wishful thinking on her part.

"Believe me, Bella, Edward would never want someone as selfish and vain as Rosalie Hale." She said it with conviction, then she smiled and changed the subject. "Umm, so do you want to watch the movie while we eat?"

"Sure Angela, you'll be shocked to know that I haven't seen them." I had to look away from her when I spoke the words.

"No way, Bella! How could you NOT have seen them?" Angela opened the DVD case and stood up.

I frowned to myself, as she put the DVD in and settled back on the blankets with the remote.

I took a deep breath in, and that same flash of Riley's face invaded my mind. His facial expressions were distinct and I'll never forget them.

Embarrassment. Guilt. Anguish.

~0~

Sydney, three years ago.

I had finally agreed to go to the movies with Jessica. Riley had said he had an important business dinner he needed to go to, so he wouldn't be able to see me until the next day.

Riley and I had been inseparable for months. Three months of pure bliss. I saw him every day; he slept over my place almost every night. I hadn't wanted to do anything but be with him. I had neglected my studies; I had neglected my friends and even brushed off mum and Phil. I was completely and utterly absorbed with my intense feelings for him. Nothing in the world held any interest for me except being in his arms, feeling his lips on me; having him in my bed. Riley was my world.

Jessica and I were walking up to join the queue to buy tickets. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow.

"Jessica, Bella?" We both turned around when we heard our names.

"Austin?" smiled Jessica.

I recognized him instantly. He was one of Riley's friends from school. He was smartly dressed in jeans and a shirt that was casually rolled up across his forearms. I couldn't help but notice Jessica flick her hair across her shoulders—her not so subtle habit when she was attracted to someone of the opposite sex.

"Hi," he smiled at us. "Fancy seeing you girls here!"

"Hi, Austin," gushed Jessica. "We haven't seen you in ages. What have you been up to?"

"I'm studying Economics at ANU. I came up for the weekend to go to the dinner for Victoria. Are you girls here for that too? The restaurant is the one just up on the next corner."

"Dinner for Victoria? Victoria Marshall?" I choked out the words. Riley said she would be travelling for at least six months.

"Yes, Vicky went backpacking around the US and Canada, lucky bitch." He laughed. "She got back from her holiday three weeks ago."

Riley worked for Victoria's father; surely, he would have known that she had come back?

"We were just going to go and see a movie." Jessica stepped closer to Austin, her hands twirling her cheap Goldmark dress ring around her finger unconsciously.

"Why don't you girls come to the restaurant and have a drink first? There's supposed to be a whole gang from our year at school there. I'm surprised you didn't know about it." Austin was staring at Jessica's chest.

My heart sank. No, he won't be there; he said he was going to a business dinner.

"Okay. C'mon Bella, we've got time to have a drink, the session won't start for twenty minutes and there's always like another fifteen minutes of adds." Jessica linked her arm through Austin's and started walking towards the restaurant.

I have to see if he's there. I have to know.

I walked unsteadily behind Jessica and Austin as she asked him what it was like living in Canberra.

No, he won't be there. He loves me. He wouldn't lie to me. I could feel the anxiety creeping in a heated blush all over my body.

Riley Biers loves me. He split up with Victoria. He will not be at the restaurant. I have nothing to worry about. As if mentally chanting the words would make them true. I was consumed with dread.

"So, who else is going to be there?" asked Jessica flirtily.

I could tell that if she had one drink and got cozy with Austin there was no way we'd be seeing the movie tonight.

"Umm, I'm not sure. Riley organized the dinner; he wanted to give her a proper welcome home I guess."

I stopped dead in my tracks, my heart pounding. Jessica dropped her arm instantly from Austin's and turned to face me.

"Oh, sorry Bella; you used to have a crush on him at school didn't you?" said Austin.

NO NO NO NO NO, THIS ISN'T HAPPENING!

I felt Jessica grab my shoulders. I saw pity in her eyes and then I felt angry.

"Umm, let's just go Bella. I really want to get good seats in the cinema. You know I hate sitting at the front." She kept her hands firmly against my shoulders then glanced back at a very perplexed looking Austin. "See you Austin, umm, maybe next time you're up from Canberra you can call me?"

Jessica started pushing me backwards, her eyes pleading.

"I have to see him." My voice was expressionless.

"No Bella, you don't. You don't want to cause a scene. Please just come back to the cinema."

"Aren't you girls going to come in and say 'hi'? I'm sure everyone will be happy to see you." Austin had stepped forward to hold open the restaurant door.

I glared at Jessica. "I need to know; please, Jessica. Let go of me!" I could feel tears pooling in my eyes. I knew he was in there. I knew he was with her. I tried so very hard to walk away but, like the sadistic temptation of being a voyeur at the scene of a car accident, I had to see it for myself.

Jessica stepped back. I walked past Austin and into the restaurant.

"Hi, do you have a booking?" smiled the hostess.

"Um, yeah, we're here for Victoria Marshall's dinner," stated Austin cheerily.

"Certainly Sir, the table's not quite ready. Your party is in the upstairs bar, just go on up."

I turned and started up the stairs. Jessica grabbed my hand. "Bella, please."

I didn't acknowledge her. I needed to see him. I had to see with my own eyes.

"Is she alright?" Austin asked Jessica.

I felt the tears run silently down my cheeks. Austin didn't know about me. No one knew. Riley hadn't told anyone he was seeing me. No one knew that Riley had told me over and over again that he loved me, only me.

He lied to me! It was all a lie!

I gasped as I reached the top of the stairs, my stomach felt hollow, empty. My vision blurred as tears gushed from my eyes. I hastily brushed them away with the backs of my hands.

I looked around the bar and spotted him straight away. He was sitting on a bar stool, opposite Victoria, facing her, his legs parted, hers in between his. They were talking, leaning into one another. She laughed, her vibrant red hair hanging in loose flowing waves around her shoulders. She was stunning and he was smiling at her.

I froze. It was like dry ice had infected my heart: it was about to splinter, crack and shatter, fog spread through my blood, sucking the oxygen from my breath, freezing me to the bone, slowly killing me.

"Fucking bastard." Jessica whispered.

I felt like I was in some daytime soap opera. She's been back for three weeks! He's been with me everyday; he's been with her!

"Bella? Please, he's not worth it. Let's just go." Jessica was whispering, tugging on my hand, trying to get me to walk down the stairs. I couldn't feel my legs.

"Okay girls," Austin clapped hands together. He was trying to lighten the mood, oblivious that I was falling apart in front of him. "What can I get you to drink?"

"Um, sorry Austin. We're leaving." Jessica yanked purposefully on my hand and stepped down the first step. Then Riley looked over to me.

His eyes locked with mine, and my tears began to flow again. A pitiful sob heaved from my chest and I spun, stumbling forward, wrenching my hand from Jessica's. I ran down the stairs, and out of the restaurant.

I ran.

I ran.

I ran.

I heard Jessica calling after me.

I've never stopped running.

~0~

~~Edward~~

"Welcome. Your table is ready; please come with me." The hostess' eyes traveled from my face to my crotch and back again, then she licked her lips.

Fucking hell. This is going to be a long night.

I thought I heard Marc chuckle as he walked in front of me to follow the flirty blonde to a booth at the back of the restaurant.

"Please don't hesitate to call me over if you need anything, anything at all."

I didn't look at her. I should be used to this by now. Usually I'd play along and smile or say something flirty back, but right now, it was annoying, because all I really wanted to be doing was sitting in the VIP bar next to Bella. I pinched the bridge of my nose.

Focus! You want Episode on the soundtrack. You want it to be a done deal, so you can be with Bella.

"Edward, I think you have yet another admirer," Marc laughed.

Marc was cool. He was a great person, a compassionate and encouraging director and family man. He was funny as hell once he loosened up, which was normally just after a scene or when the cameras had been switched off for the day.

"Welcome to my life," I grumbled. The searing pain of a headache started throbbing in my temples. "I really need a beer." I croaked. I had been psyching myself up all day to have this one-on-one with the director, and now my energy had dissipated rapidly.

I looked briefly at the menu as a busty blonde waitress hovered over us.

"Drinks, gentlemen?" she fawned.

"We'll both have Heinekens," barked Marc in a sour gruff voice that startled me. "I'll have the Penne Alfredo as an appetizer, then the Wagyu Ribeye. Give me a serve of onion rings with that. Edward?"

"I'll have the same." I muttered.

The waitress leant to grab the menus, making sure both of us caught sight of her ample cleavage.

"If we need anything else we'll call you over, so make sure no one bothers us!" Marc sounded fucking scary, and she simply squeaked out a timid 'Yes Sir' and hurried away.

Once she was out of hearing range he chuckled. "That was fun. Now Edward, I know having dinner with me would not be at the top of your list of things to do on a Tuesday night, so why don't you get straight to it and tell me all about this song you've written?"

"Marc, sorry if I seem rude; it's just that those scenes were pretty exhausting today and I thought I could meet with you and the studio producers at the same time. I know how these things work and I don't want to be in a situation where they drag this on for months and months before they give me a definite yes. I fucking can't stand the bullshit politics of Hollywood, I just want to know, get the song signed, like yesterday!"

"You know I have no say in how long it takes them to fuck around with the contracts and negotiations and all that bureaucracy. You know I'll be straight with you. If your song is halfway decent, I can tell you if I want it, but you know the final say doesn't entirely sit with me. I don't know why you feel the need to hurry it along; I mean, the movie's not out until June next year. The soundtrack won't be definite until at least three months before. The sound is pretty much always the last thing we do in post."

I sighed and sat back in my seat, just as the blonde returned with our beers. She didn't speak or even look at me and she hurried off as soon as the glass bottles made contact with the table. I instantly felt better as the cool liquid chugged down my throat. I closed my eyes and imagined sitting in the booth next to Bella. I wanted to smell her floral perfume and watch her lips caress the lip of her wine glass. Fuck, I already miss seeing her.

"I know," I said. "I just don't want to drag it out. I can't wait until March for the commitment. I didn't write the lyrics, and my co-writer will be leaving Canada in January. I want everything sorted before then, like way before then."

Would I tell him about Bella if he asked? He was a decent guy. He was married and had two kids. I knew he missed them, he would fly back to LA on the weekends if filming was delayed due to rain, leaving general scenes up to the second director.

"My advice Edward is to just get your management to file the necessary copyright contracts for the song. All the soundtrack negotiations and the actual recording can come after that. All of that is a moot point anyway. What if I fucking hate it?" he laughed.

"Well, I suppose you'd better tell me then. I did a demo at my friend's home studio on Saturday. It's pretty rough, but you'll be able to get the idea." I proceeded to retrieve my Mac from my backpack, set it up on the table and unwound the cord on my M-Audio headphones. "I'd like a full orchestra backing if you wanted it. I'd need total creative direction. It has to be recorded the way I need it to be."

I smiled when he took off his fedora and put the headphones on; he looked all serious and dorky. I was pretty confident he'd like it, but, then again, I was biased. To me the song was exceptional, and personal; I was completely in awe of it, maybe simply because they were Bella's words and just thinking about her made me fucking emotional and sappy.

I waited patiently as he listened, my eyes finally taking in our surroundings.

Marc slowly pulled the headphones off and placed them on the table. "Well Edward, I've got to say that it's...fucking awesome." His smile was genuine and I felt all the previous tension in my body seep through my feet and into the plush carpet.

"I can use it in the lead up to the love scene with you and Rose in the woods. It will work perfectly, I'd probably only need sixty seconds of it though." he took a long sip of beer.

Having the director on my side was a bonus; now to convince the executive producers.

"It's a shoo-in Edward. I mean you're a star; you pull in money for the studio. They wouldn't be in their current position if it wasn't for that movie you did with them a couple of years ago. Sure, it made you a hot commodity, but you also do realize how much money that made for them, right?"

"Yeah, I know it was a lot, but that doesn't guarantee everything else I do will follow suit. I still have to prove myself and even though the fan base is awesome, if I'm crap, well, you can't really do it over." I mused.

"Edward, I've been making movies since I was in my early twenties. It's hard; it's a tough slog all the way. You can fight and fight to get the assholes not to cut the funds midway through filming, or not to fuck with a perfectly acceptable script, but at the end of the day, they do whatever they think they can get away with to it pull in more money at the box office. If your song is on the soundtrack, that's another outlet that they can promote to pull the money in. For fuck's sake, they've gone hard core on the merchandising; a song will pull in a truckload more money, especially this song. It has all the elements to be a worldwide hit, and it fucking fits the theme of the movie as if it was written specifically for it. Did your co-writer read your copy of the script beforehand?"

"No, she didn't even know I was here filming it." I let out a billowing breath, as I thought back to that night and Bella's complete look of mortification at recognizing me.

"She?" he raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, she's, well...She's a friend. She's here writing her novel and she'll have to return to Australia in January. That's why I need to get it sorted before she leaves." The throbbing ache in my head returned as I thought about Bella going back to Sydney and not being able to see her every day.

I have to see her every day that she's here. Every fucking day without fail. I felt like shit, because I did what I came here to do and now I felt like and asshole because all I wanted to do was make an excuse to leave and get in a cab to Angela's.

~0~

~~Bella~~

I couldn't focus on the movie. I kept thinking about what Angela had said. She thought that Edward would want to be in a relationship with me. My body wanted it to be true, but my mind kept thinking it was implausible.

Edward was the most desirable and amazing person I had ever met, and to think Angela would find me—plain and boring Isabella Swan from Australia—his 'type', just didn't compute. Okay, I wasn't ugly, but there was nothing about me that was striking or unique. I was just an ordinary girl. Why would he want me when he could have anyone— like I mean anyone? It didn't make sense that he would not be into Rosalie Hale. Angela said she was vain, and selfish. She didn't come across like that at all. I'd seen her on TV in interviews and she seemed lovely, definitely self-aware, but didn't all actors need to have some self-awareness to be able to practice their craft?

Angela handed me a bowl of ice cream and I laughed at the massive chunks of cookie dough. It was scrumptious and decadent—definitely beats Blue Ribbon any day.

She had just put on the second movie and we were chatting away over the top of it when I heard a distinct ringing from the bottom of my bag.

"That's my phone, I wonder who's calling me so late?" I had another mini anxiety attack, thinking Jessica maybe had another problem with Jake.

I looked at the screen, and my face lit up in the hugest smile. "Hi Edward!"

"Hi Bella, are you still at Angela's?"

"Yes, we're on to our second movie, eating the most delicious ice cream and you were right."

"Right about what?" he sounded confused.

"Angela is a fantastic cook, and we're watching a Johnny Depp movie!" I smiled at Angela as she waved her hand in dismissal, grinning and then giggling.

"Oh, well, I told you." He laughed.

"So? What did the director say?" I was eager to know what whether he would want the song.

"He loved the song, but he really couldn't commit to using it. I'll still have to meet with the studio producers. They have the final say."

"You sound disappointed."

"Well, it's just that I want it signed and sorted straight away. What's the point of dragging it on for months and months? It's really frustrating."

My gut ached again. Here I was, hoping that I could continue to be able to meet Edward every day in the bar, to discuss the song and moving slowly forward to recording it, but he just wanted to have it finished. If it was signed and then guaranteed to be on the soundtrack then our relationship would end. There would be no reason for him to want to hang out with me. I was conscious that Angela was looking at me so it took all my power not to let the hurt show on my face.

"Oh well, I'm sure once they hear it, everything will be okay?"

"I know; I'm just really impatient. I think we need get onto this as soon as possible. Bella, do you have an agent, or someone that looks after your legal affairs?"

I thought instantly of Irina. I'd worked with her at the publishing house; she had arranged the publishing contracts with their authors. "Um, yes, sort of. She's in Sydney, though. Why?"

"Well Marc the director suggested we just get the copyright to the song sorted as soon as we can, then the negotiations for the soundtrack can come after that. You'll need to speak to your agent. They can contact mine and together they can submit the paperwork. I was hoping we could talk about it tonight in the bar, I mean, if you're going to be back from Angela's soon?"

He wanted to get it all signed; I wanted to drag it on for a few months so he would spend time with me. "Um, maybe tomorrow Edward? Ange and I still have one more movie to watch."

"Oh, okay," He sounded disappointed. Fuck.

"I'll see you tomorrow night in the bar?" I was desperate to see him.

"Yes, okay, see you tomorrow and I'll give you my agent's details so he can contact yours to work out the details for the copyright."

"Sure, let's get that underway, good idea." As the words left my mouth I was cringing inside. Once we finalized the copyright to the song, there was no reason for us to meet, no reason he'd want to see me. I suddenly thought of ways to delay the process.

I wasn't ready for my friendship with Edward to end.

~0~