Title: Seven Minutes in Heaven
Author: Readingmama/Vampiremama
Beta: AcrossTheSkyInStars

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any of its characters. No copyright infringement is intended.

Continuity: AH/AU
Rating: M

Thanks to everyone reading, reviewing, alerting and lurking. I appreciate you all. Huge hugs to my beta Acrosstheskyinstars and to Chartwilightmom for prereading.

If you haven't checked out the amazing banner Mina made me, make sure you do. It's beautiful.

Ch 2

Bella Swan had cried on the weekend. She didn't like it. In fact, she hadn't remembered crying since she fell off her bike at six years old, when she'd scraped her knee. It had hurt like hell but she'd take that pain over crying after a stupid boy. The way Edward had kissed her was like nothing she'd ever felt. Her whole body tingled. She'd always thought people saying stuff like that was a bunch of bullshit; now she knew better.

How was she supposed to just go back to life as usual?

Anger built up in her after she'd finished crying. She'd never really thought much about how she'd behaved. Kissing a few boys led to touching, led to…well, a lot of seven minutes in closets. It had gotten her attention and, she thought respect, but now she wondered if Edward was right.

What if she did deserve better than this?

And now that she wanted better, would there be any guy that would look passed her past to give it to her?

Bella had never realized the armor she had built up around herself until Edward knocked it down with a single kiss. She wanted to punch him.

Already feeling raw from the weekend, Bella walked into school with her head down. She wanted to be left alone, feeling like she wasn't comfortable in her own skin anymore. It wasn't until she was at her locker that she saw the rose taped to it. She looked at the thing like it was about to bite her.

Glancing around to see if anyone else saw it, she reached out and pulled it off, a small note falling from behind it. She bent down and picked it up, turning it over and reading the elegant script on the back of the paper.

A lady deserves to get flowers.

Bella felt her defenses go up.

Yes, I got it, Edward, she thought, you don't have to keep telling me.

She found it cruel that he would taunt her with his ideals. He made her want more, but how was she supposed to get it now? It was like promising a reward to someone who had no chance of getting it.

Tossing the flower and note in her locker, she grabbed her books and headed to class.

~~7MiH~~

Edward had never received so much attention in his life. He hated it. Football players were patting him on the back. Girls he'd never even seen before were handing him love notes. He couldn't even fathom what had happened to make him so popular overnight.

"Nice, man." Another slap on his shoulder. He was going to have a bruise.

"Edward," another voice boomed, and he turned around to see Jacob Black, the captain of the basketball team, heading towards him. "You have to tell me, man. What did you do with Swan that has her panties in a twist?"

Edward flinched. So that was what this was all about? He glared at the other boy. "A gentleman never kisses and tells," he replied simply.

"Got it," Jacob replied with an exaggerated wink and took off down the hall, leaving Edward even more confused and irritated than before.

~~7MiH~~

"Edward's been telling everyone he went down on you in the closet," Jessica said as she sat next to Bella in the cafeteria.

"What?" Bella said quietly. It was the first thing she'd said to her friends all day.

"It's true. Jacob said he said he kissed you…down there. So, Bella, was he any good? You certainly left in a hurry."

What was Edward playing at? He told her that she deserved better and then he told this ridiculous lie about her.

Normally when a guy lied about her and how far they'd gone, she'd tell tales of his inabilities and shortcomings; however, this betrayal made her sick. Maybe because it was the first one she never saw coming.

"I gotta go," she said, getting up and leaving her lunch behind. She ran to the bathroom and locked herself in the first stall. Once again, Bella Swan was crying over a boy.

~~7MiH~~

The next morning, Bella felt even less like her old self. She couldn't pick out anything to wear, everything made her feel like she would be on display. She just wanted to hide. Edward wasn't the first guy to spread lies about her but he was the first one to hurt her with them.

After she'd had breakfast, she had gathered enough courage to head to school, but was immediately derailed when she opened the door and on her porch was a box of chocolates with a note attached. She stepped out onto the deck and looked around. Not seeing anyone, she picked them up and read the note.

A lady deserves to be spoiled.

"Son of a…" she turned and hurled the candies off the porch, watching as they opened and sprinkled onto the neighbor's bushes.

Edward Cullen was in for an earful today. She was going to tell him to leave her the hell alone. What was his problem, anyway? She'd offered him a blowjob, he hadn't taken it. Why should she be suffering now that he wanted to look like the big man? Screw him.

As Bella entered the school, she saw Alice chatting with Lauren by the school trophy display case. She marched over and grabbed her arm. "Where is your brother?"

"He's home sick today," Alice replied. "Why?"

"Why is he telling everyone shit about me?" Bella asked, sounding more vulnerable than she wanted to.

"I'll just see you guys later," Lauren said, taking her leave from the awkward conversation.

"What do you mean? What did he say?" Alice asked, confused.

"He told everyone that he went down on me in the closet."

Alice narrowed her eyes. "You heard him say this?"

"No, but Jake said that was what he told him. And then he gives me this flower and these chocolates and I can't figure out why he's torturing me."

Alice rolled her eyes. "Jake is an idiot. I can guarantee Edward never said that. He's not the type. And who is giving you flowers and chocolates? Jake or Edward?"

Bella was sniffling now. She was too confused to make sense of any of it. Why would Jake say that if Edward hadn't?

"This is so stupid," she replied. "Just forget it."

Bella was fed up with high school.

~~7MiH~~

The next morning when Bella opened her locker she wasn't even surprised when a note came tumbling out. She sighed and bent down to pick it up. On the outside it read: A lady deserves words as sweet as her. The note had been folded intricately into a triangle that required several tugs before she could get it open.

A simple smile, a tender touch.
To bask within it, means so much.
A girl as special a one as you,
requires a gentleman, to properly woo.

"What the…?" Bella said, staring at the note.

Enough was enough; Bella didn't want the rest of her high school life to be double guessed by a few words from a younger boy. What did he know, anyway?

Bella headed down the hallway of the grade ten lockers. She saw his mess of copper hair above the other students. She wondered how she hadn't noticed he was so tall, but then realized it was all girls around him. He had no less than six girls batting their eyes at him while he retrieved his books.

Marching herself right up to him, she huffed when she was blocked by two girls.

"Edward," she said with a hiss.

He looked over, surprise covering his features as he took in all the girls around him. She wondered if he really hadn't noticed them before she'd arrived.

"We need to talk."

"Oh," he said as he tried to move through the sea of girls. "Excuse me."

Edward followed her as she led him down the hall. Bella could hear the snickers of the girls behind her, but she ignored them, or at least she tried to until one called out.

"Slut, why don't you save some for the rest of us?"

Bella intended on ignoring that as well. After all, she'd been called worse, but it was Edward who stopped.

He turned and stormed back over to the girl who stood there, looking about as wide-eyed as Bella felt.

"Bella is not a slut. If you are trying to get my attention, hurling insults and resorting to name calling is not a good method."

"It's not name calling if it's true," the girl hissed back, now annoyed at being singled out.

"Oh," Edward said, feigning surprise. "In that case, you'll have to excuse me, bitch, I'm going to talk with my friend."

Bella covered her mouth to stop the burst of laughter that came from her mouth. The girl turned her attention back to her and narrowed her eyes but Bella couldn't have cared less, she was watching Edward as he walked back to her.

"That was awesome. Unnecessary, but awesome. Thank you," Bella said.

"I felt that it was very necessary," he replied simply.

When they found a quiet corridor, Edward stopped. "What did you want to talk about?" His bravado was quickly gone and all that was left was a nervous sixteen year old boy.

Bella couldn't keep up with his personality shifts. "What is your deal, Edward?"

"My deal?" he asked, confused.

"Yes, your deal. With the flowers and the notes and the candy? Do you think I'm going to just fall for you cause you're nice to me and you didn't want me to suck your dick?"

Edward laughed. "I never said I didn't want you to." He ducked his head as his face flushed from his admission. "No, Bella. I don't think you are going to fall for me." His tone was sad and it made Bella stumble again.

"Then what are you doing all this for?"

"I'm just showing you what you deserve, Bella. It doesn't have to be me. But it should be someone that respects you."

"But you respect me?"

"Yes."

His answer was so quick, and Bella felt almost angry. He didn't even know her, why would he respect her?

"I've been in that closet 12 times." She knew she was going for shock effect. She felt shocked at admitting it out loud.

"So?"

"You're the first one to say no to me."

He kept his eyes on her. "Oh."

"Still respect me?"

"Yes," he answered again without hesitation.

Bella let out a frustrated sound and turned on her heel, heading off down the hall. Edward was impossible to understand. How could he simultaneously make her feel so worthy and so unworthy at the same time? He made it sound like he didn't even want her, so why was he trying so hard to get under her skin? But then he said it should be someone that respected her. And he respected her.

But did she want him?

~~7MiH~~

Edward went over the conversation in his mind again and again. Why did he tell her it didn't have to be him? He was scared, and in high school a year difference is major, especially when the boy is the younger one. He sighed and ran his hand through his hair.

He wasn't exactly sure why he wanted to prove this point to Bella. Maybe it was because she reminded him of his mother, his real mother, the one that had given him up for adoption at birth. He didn't know much about her, only that she had been seventeen and had to give him up. He'd never really thought much about the kids in his school and their sex lives, but he'd always known that he wanted to wait. There were things he wanted to do before he was willing to risk becoming a father.

But with Bella in that closet, he suddenly became aware that she could end up just like his mother. He had no idea what she was like in school, if she was smart, but he knew it wouldn't matter either way if she got pregnant. Besides, the idea of her having sex felt like a punch in the gut to him.

The rest of the afternoon went quickly for Edward, he thought a lot about Bella. He wondered if she thought about him as well. It seemed that no matter what he did, though, he upset her. He couldn't figure out why treating someone with kindness and respect would make them so mad. There was a lot about girls he had to learn.

Edward walked to Alice's car, waiting for her to drive them home. She always took longer than Edward at the end of the day, taking time to find each one of her friends and say goodbye. Edward had a few friends but didn't search them out at the end of the day; if he saw one, they'd just give a nod and say, "See you tomorrow."

Yet another major difference between boys and girls.

He sat against the front of the Dodge, reading his book, when he heard Alice approach. He quickly scanned the rest of the page and tucked his bookmark in before looking up.

"Bella?" he said, surprised to see that it wasn't his sister.

"Do you want to date me?" she blurted.

"What?" Edward said, his mind screaming at him, wondering if this was a trick.

"Do you want to date me?" she repeated.

"Are you asking me out?" Edward hedged, still unsure if he was walking into a trap.

"Yeah…no. I mean, is that why you did those things? Did you want to go out with me?"

Edward sighed. She didn't want to go out with him. She still didn't see her worth; that was what this was about. "I would love to go out with you, Bella, but that isn't what this was about," he answered honestly. What did he have to lose at this point anyway? "I just wanted you to know how you should be treated, no matter who you date."

Bella huffed, and Edward flinched internally. What had he said wrong now? "Why can't you give me a straight answer? Who sends candy and flowers and then tells a girl to date someone else?"

"I didn't tell you to date someone else."

"So then you do want to date me….one word, Edward, yes or no." She stared at him intently, he felt like her eyes were looking deep inside of him.

"Yes," he replied.

"Okay."

"Okay?"

"Okay, let's go out."