I think this chapter is what most of you have been waiting for. I couldn't wait 'til tomorrow to post.

I don't own Twilight. I do own a fabulous collection of used catnip toys and some slightly stoned cats, dude.

Chapter 13

Bella sat in her living room staring at the television. She had turned it on after school but had no idea what was on. Probably some sports channel her dad had left on. All she could do was think. She thought how angry Tyler had been. The look of horror on Mike's face just before he ran off, his secret revealed. Poor Mike. Was it really the only solution for him to ostracise her rather than just ask her out? Misguided twit. She never would have dated him but she would have let him down gently. She would have been much nicer to him than he had been to her.

Hopefully the weekend would give everyone time to think and they could all start fresh on Monday. Bella wasn't sure what she wanted from the school population. Tyler had laid into them fairly well. She was sure there would be some who would try to make themselves feel better by being nice to her. She didn't know how to feel about that. Should she let them assuage their guilt and put up with it? Or should she let them have it? None of them were innocent in this. Bella herself just accepted the situation and did nothing to try to stop it.

She didn't want to be petty and treat them like they treated her. While it was nice to fantasize about making them grovel, it just wasn't in her nature. She couldn't bring herself to be vindictive. She decided to let them apologize, if that's what they wanted to do, and then carry on as before.

Bella reminded herself to be a bit more wary of her classmates. The asskissers and the sycophants would line up to see who would be first to befriend her. The next few weeks would be agony. She'd be the centre of attention, the last thing she wanted to be. Oh well, at least the week after next was Thanksgiving which made for a shorter week.

Bella was just starting to think about what to make for dinner when the doorbell rang. She got up hoping it was some Girl Scouts. Today, of all days, she really needed cookies. But as long as it wasn't some one selling religion she'd be happy. At least that's what she thought until she opened the door.

"What do you want, Edward?" She couldn't believe he was here at her house. She really would rather he'd been a chipper girl scout.

Edward smiled at her.

"I'd like to talk to you, Bella. Can I come in?" He looked at her expectantly.

"Sure, I guess." Shock led her to politeness as she moved aside to let him in. He walked into the living room and looked at the television.

"Watching a game?" He asked her, amused.

"Umm, yeah, just waiting for the half-time show."

"Bella, that's not football, that's Cricket. There is no half-time show." He tried really hard not to laugh at her.

"Really? Shit." She bent down to grab the remote and turned off the set.

"So, umm, what do you want?" She waited for him to get to the point and leave. Her day had been hard enough without adding Edward into the mix.

"Oh, I wanted to see how you were after today and I brought you something." He held out the bouquet.

"You brought me flowers? Why?" She took the flowers from him and looked at them. They were the cheesiest bunch of flower she had ever seen. They looked like they had come from a gas station. They smelled like they had come from a gas station.

"Well, today was hard on Tyler so I can just imagine what it was like for you. I wanted to make sure you were okay." He looked at her, waiting for her to thank him for his concern and to relieve him of some of his guilt over the way he had treated her.

She just blinked at him. Was he for real? What the hell did he care that today was difficult for her? He never gave a rat's ass about her before. In fact he had been a jackass to her many times over.

"I'm fine. Thank you for asking and thanks for the flowers." She moved past him to open the door so he could leave.

He reached out a grabbed her elbow to stop her from leaving the room. Bella stopped suddenly. She looked at him and then at her arm. He let her go almost as quickly as he had grabbed her. He held up his hands.

"If you're sure then. I hope everything is better for you at school now." He had hoped to stay and talk to her more but she didn't seem in a chatty mood. She looked at his face for a moment then narrowed her eyes at him. That smug look was back, the one he had in the library this afternoon.

"You asshole." She shouted at him, raising the bouquet of flowers up and beating him with them.

"You jerk, you smug shithead. You did it on purpose, didn't you. You manipulated Tyler so that he could see what was going on at school. You let him do all the dirty work cause you read that note and felt sorry for me." She had added it all up. After two months of sitting in the same seat in the cafeteria and a few days after finding out Bella's torment someone comes riding in on a white horse to rescue her. But he didn't do it himself, no, he hid behind someone else. He hid behind the kid he was supposed to be looking after. He used Tyler to assuage his own guilt.

"How could you do that to him? You made him yell at his friends. You have no idea what could happen now. You fucking idiot. What if they start bullying him? What if they start in on poor dumb Mike? Did you even think of what you were doing? Why did you do that? You could have just left well enough alone. I don't need you to fight my battles for me. Who the hell do you think you are?" She punctuated every other sentence with a smack of her floral weapon. Petals and tiny baby's breath flowers were showered all over her living room.

"Stop hitting me! Shit, I did it for you. I'm not supposed to get involved with the students, not supposed to interfere unless it has something to do with Tyler. I just...I just couldn't let them ignore you any longer. It's not fair." He didn't think that he had used Tyler, had he?

AN: Edward is very thankful that carnations do not have thorns.

I have been totally remiss in replying to reviews. I appreciate every one of them and each person who takes the time to leave one for me. I'm sorry I am being lazy, let's call it winter hibernation. Thank you for your support. It means the world to me.

sbc