Disclaimer: I own none of the characters in this story.

A/N: In this Chapter Edward and Bella watch RENT together. If you haven't seen the movie, the youtube links to the songs that are mentioned in this chapter are up in my profile. Also, when I first posted this chapt. the formatting looked horrible. I hope nobody read it that way, should be fixed now. Please R&R :)

I wasn't surprised that Rosalie didn't come back right away. She was pretty upset when she left and she wasn't the type of person to just let things blow over.

She came home sometime during the early morning while I was still in bed. I'd heard her start the shower, and later rustling around her side of the room.

I didn't dare let her know that I was awake. I couldn't face her after last night. I'd upset her yesterday, and she left because of me. Now that she was back, I didn't know if I could handle anymore of her yelling at me. So I laid quietly in bed and waited for her to leave again.

I couldn't believe how badly I'd managed to mess things up. Rosalie was mad at me and my relationship with Edward, which started out so innocent and honest had become filled with lies.

He thought I was messing around on him with another guy. Another guy who I personally couldn't stand and would have nothing to do with if I had a choice.

He said he would forgive me. He said that things would be fine as long as I was honest about my feelings for him. And I wished that were true, but I knew better. Even talking to him online last night, I could tell he wasn't the same.

I'd lost a piece of him, because he couldn't completely trust me anymore.

When I was certain she'd gone, I got up out of bed and drug myself to the bathroom. I brushed teeth. I washed my face. I was making my way toward my closet to pick out my clothes for the day when a knock on the door caused me to re-route.

Rosalie.

"Did you forget your keys?" I sighed as I flung the door open.

Oh my gosh.

"Edward!" I gasped, "What are you doing here?"

"I know it's early, but I was hoping to catch Bella before she left for the morning, is she here?"

Yes.

"N...no, she's not here." I looked away from him, afraid that he would find the dishonesty in my words. "I'll tell her you stopped by."

"Wait, Chloe, I wanted to talk to you too."

"Okay." I reluctantly agreed. There was something about the tone of his voice that made me uncomfortable.

He wasn't his usual charming self this morning. He looked drawn and tired as thought he hadn't slept in days. His eyes, which always held so much life, were sunken and dark.

I stepped aside and allowed him to enter. He took two steps into the room and then turned to face me. I closed the door behind him and stood with my back pressed against it.

"Why did you do it?" He demanded.

"What do you mean?" I whispered. I knew exactly what he was talking about, but I was too ashamed to admit it.

"You lied to me Chloe. You made me believe that she…that I…damn it!" He growled as he forcefully raked his fingers through his hair. His handsome features contorted in a mask of pain.

"I trusted you."

He wasn't angry, that I would have been able to deal with. If he screamed and yelled and called me names, it still wouldn't have hurt as bad as seeing him like this, seeing the sadness in his eyes, hearing the disappointment in his voice when he spoke to me.

"You can still trust me." I responded, my voice barely above a whisper.

I didn't lie to him, not really. Everything I told him yesterday was true and real. The problem was that he never got to meet the Bella I was telling him about. He only knew Rosalie's tainted version of me.

"I would never lie to you."

Again. I mentally added.

"You made me believe that she didn't have anything to do with him."

"The Bella I know wouldn't." I said with as much authority as I could muster.

We stared at each other unmoving.

It was as if he was looking deep into my soul, searching for some sign that he could trust me again. It was almost painful to look at him, but I couldn't look away.

Then, after facing each other for what felt like an eternity, he turned away. He walked across the room, sat down on the edge my bed and buried his face in his hands.

And my heart broke.

I never meant for any of this to happen. I never wanted to hurt him.

I knew what I needed to do to make things right again. I needed to tell him the truth.

But I couldn't, not now. It wasn't the right time. He was sad enough, and telling him about the lie now would only be rubbing salt into the wounds.

Edward didn't need that right now. He needed a friend.

I hesitated for just a moment before moved to Edward's side of the room. I climbed onto the bed so that I was kneeling beside him, and slowly circled my arms around his neck. I rested my head against his and whispered sweet comforting words of my feelings for him, and how much his friendship meant to me into his ear.

After a few minutes he finally started to relax. He dropped his hands away from his face and rested his head against my shoulder. I used the tips of my fingers to lightly massage his scalp at the base of his neck.

"I do trust you Chloe," He sighed, as he wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me tight against his body in an embrace. "There's no way you could have known."

"Will you be okay?" I asked shyly.

He shifted in my arms so that he could look at me as he responded to my question. His arms stayed wrapped around my waist and he leaned in to me, resting his forehead against mine.

"Don't worry about me." He said, avoiding an answer to my question.

"I can't help it. I always think about you." I admitted.

"Yeah, I'll be fine." He said as though he were trying to convince himself. "Thanks to you," he added "you always know how to make me feel better."

What happened next, I will never understand, because it came on suddenly and there was no forewarning. Maybe it was being so close to him. Or maybe it was the way his cool breath felt on my skin.

One minute I was comforting him, and the next all I wanted was for him to kiss me.

"Edward…" I spoke his name softly. Before I knew what I was doing, I leaned in to close the small distance between my lips and his.

"I should go." He said before our lips could touch. He gently untangled himself from my grasp and rose to leave.

"Do you have to?" I asked, flustered.

"I think so." He replied, getting up and moving across the room.

I leapt off the bed and ran after him. I caught up to him just before he reached the door. "Edward." I caught him by the arm, "Are we okay?"

"I don't know what I would do with out you." He brushed the back of his hand across my cheek before turning to leave.

The fight last night was the beginning of a power struggle between me and Rose. The funny thing was, I didn't know we were in a power struggle until Emmett came banging on my door later in the afternoon.

"Emmett what's going on?" He never came to my room unless Rosalie was here.

"What did you do this time Bella!" He accused. I hadn't seen him so angry since that night at Sparxx.

Oh.

"This is about Edward." I guessed.

"Rose said we needed some time apart so she could sort out her feelings."

"I'm sorry Emmett."

He explained that Rosalie spent the night with him after we'd had our little argument over Edward. Emmett was thrilled that Rosalie wanted to spend the night with him, and referred to it as one of the best nights of his life. That's why he was taken by surprise when today, Rosalie told him that she couldn't see him anymore.

I never though she take it that far. She gave up Emmett, so that she could command all of Edward's attention.

"What do you want me to do Emmett? You know first hand how hard it is for guys to resist Rose. He's never going to choose me now that he has her all to himself. It's over for us."

Emmett clenched onto my shoulders and looked me square in the eyes.

"Bella, I'm going to tell you something, and if you ever tell Rose I said this I will kill you, but you are a beautiful girl."

"Oh come on Emmett" I started to pull away from him. He turned me back to face him.

"I'm serious. Did you not see how every guy in the club was looking at you last weekend? You're an attractive girl. Your problem is that you're just so damn unapproachable, you scare guys off." He said.

"What's your point Emmett." I said annoyed.

"Why don't you fight for him Bella? I'll help you even, if it means getting Rose back."

"You're going to help me steal Edward back from Rose?"

"Yup. And we are going to start with your clothes."

"What do you know about clothes Emmett?" I rolled my eyes.

"Please, Bella, I'm a guy. Trust me I know what looks good."

"And changing my appearance is supposed to suddenly make Edward interested in me how?"

"He's already interested in you."

"No he's not."

"Yes he is." Emmett argued.

"No he's not! He hardly notices me." I pulled away from Emmett and this time he let me go.

"Yes he is! Do you think Rosalie would be doing this if he wasn't?"

I wanted to argue his logic and tell him that he was wrong again, but I couldn't. He actually had a point. Rosalie can have any guy she wants, whenever she wants. It made no sense that she would feel threatened by what little time Edward spent with me. Unless she thought there was a chance he would choose me over her.

I believed her when she said she had feeling for him, but even if she had no interest what so ever in Edward, she would still fight for him. Rosalie was never good at handling rejection, and she would never accept the fact that someone might not be interested in her.

"Come on Bella! You spend all day holed up in this room avoiding the world. How will he ever know what you want from him if you don't tell him? How will he know how much you like him if you don't show him? You like him don't you?"

"Yes." I answered.

"And I know he likes you too. All you two need is a push in the right direction."

I must be a desperate woman.

"Fine!" I agreed.

Shopping with Emmett was one of the oddest experiences of my life. Emmett and I both definitely had very different ideas of what constitutes "looking good." We argued over the length of the skirts, tight vs. comfortable shirts, and shoes.

It only took about 2 hours to come to a reasonable compromise on the clothes that we bought.

And just when I was starting to have faith in Emmett, he decided it would be a good idea to cut my hair.

"Absolutely not." I argued.

"Oh come on Bella. I promise I wont let them take away any of the length. Just add some layers so it doesn't just hang there. Your hair is so thick already; I bet you'll hardly even notice."

"No. I don't want to." I affirmed.

"You said you would trust me. Besides I'm not going to make you look bad. Do it for Edward."

It was a lame attempt at persuasion, but it worked.

"If this turns out bad, I am holding you personally responsible." I said while jabbing my finger at him.

We entered the salon that we passed earlier at the west entrance of the mall. I glared at Emmett the whole time while they primped and washed and snipped at my hair. He seemed to think it was funny. His response to my death glares was to smile and throw me thumbs up signs.

Finally, 300 snips and 2 hours later, they were done. The hairstylist turned me around in the chair so I was facing the wall mounted mirror.

"Wow." It looked amazing. Loose curls framed my face, and cascaded down my shoulders. I turned my head from side to side. My hair was bouncy, and it never looked so soft.

"I told you it would look good." Emmett Gloated. "Wait till he sees you. He won't be able to keep his hands off you."

"Do we have to do this Emmett?" He had spent the last 20 minutes, hanging out in my room, teaching me moves seduce Edward.

"Yes, we do." He stated, "You're competing against Rose. We have to pull out all the stops."

"Ughh! This is NOT a competition! Emmett please stop touching my Hair. It's creeping me out."

"Don't forget who bought you that hairstyle. I have to make sure its doing its job." He laughed. "Tell me what you learned, and I'll leave you alone."

I rolled my eyes. "Uh… 1.Be confident, keep my back straight, and keep my shoulders back because it will expose my chest and make him think about sex."

"Go on." Emmett pressed. He was enjoying this way too much.

"2. Make eye contact and then look away."

"It's called flirting Bella." He interjected.

I covered my face with my hands, in attempt to hide the blush that was creeping onto my cheeks. This is so dumb. The faster I get this over with, the faster I can get my room back. I took a deep breath and continued.

"3. Play with my hair. 4. Do anything I can to draw attention to my mouth 5.Touch him on accident and pretend I don't know what's going on. And 6.Show some skin. Are we done?" I responded.

"Ok, now that you got the basics down… on to kissing." Emmett stated as he clapped his hands together.

"Ok, I think we've done enough for one day." I said as I pushed Emmett towards the door.

"Wait!" He called out while looking back over his shoulder. "Nibble on his ear, he'll like that."

"Bye Emmett."

I opened the door and ushered him outside.

"And try and spice things up a little, use that laptop to your advantage." He yelled as I closed the door in his Face.

"See you at the party!" I yelled through the door, hoping he would take the hint and realize I was done with the 'how to catch a man' training.

It wasn't enough for Rose to just come home after spending all day and all evening with Edward. She had to come home and gloat about it.

Oh my God, Edward is so sexy. And Oh my God, Edward says the sweetest things. And my personal favorite: Wow! Edward smells so good, and he has the softest hands. I could just cuddle up next to him for days.

Over the next 24 hours, I'd seriously given a lot of thought about what Emmett said about "spicing things up" with Edward.

Why should Rosalie get to be the only one who is allowed to spend time with him? I wasn't going to sit back and let her dictate my relationship with Edward. I wasn't going to let her control me anymore.

Friday after all my classes were over I convinced myself to take a walk across campus and casually hang outside of the college of medicine.

I decided to wear a white tank top underneath a black halter vest. I paired it with a pair of sheer black leggings and a pleated mini skirt.

I pinned my hair up with hot rollers. When I took them out, my hair dropped down my shoulders in loose curls. I looked myself over in the mirror before I walked out of my room, and for the first time, I was impressed with what I saw.

From our conversations on the internet, I'd grown to know Edwards class schedule fairly well. His last class today ended at 3:45. I sat down on the wall that ran along the side of the new Nursing Building and pretended to be reading my copy of "The Daily Wildcat," the school newspaper I picked up on the walk here.

As the minutes ticked by, I started to get more and more nervous. How would I explain hanging out in front of his building without him thinking I'm a stalker?

I almost lost my resolve. But then I saw him, in his khaki pants and fitted T-shirt walking down the steps of the building. He looked so handsome. I had to do this. I needed to fight for him.

I put down my paper and walked in Edward's direction. My pulse sped up and my legs started to get wobbly.

Breathe.

"Edward" I shouted, using my arms to wave him down.

"Chloe." He said, although it sounded like more of a question than a statement. His eyes grew wide and as he appraised my appearance a slow smile spread across his face.

For the first time, I felt confident in what I was doing.

"Hey." I said, returning his smile.

"Hey." He answered. The expression his face held was warm and soft.

"I haven't seen you around here before. Do you have classes on this side of campus?"

Shoot.

"No I…uh actually I…um…I was looking for you."

"Really?" He asked.

"Uh yeah. I was thinking of, um… moving out of the dorm and renting an apartment next semester, and, um, I was wondering if there was any place that you might recommend."

Not a lie I convinced myself. I would move out of the dorms and get an apartment eventually. Just probably not for another year or two.

Edward spent about 10 minutes talking to me about all the student friendly apartments he knew of which were reasonably priced and close to campus. I enjoyed being in his presence, standing so close to him, watching his full lips move up and down as he spoke, but I had to move things along. We were getting no where.

"What about your place?" I asked, "Do you like it?"

"Of course" He chuckled, "It's a little farther away from campus than the others I mentioned, but you can't beat the price."

Ok. Here goes nothing.

"Maybe I could see it sometime?" I said, trying to keep my voice even.

"Sure." His voice was shaky and he actually sounded a little nervous himself. "When did you want to look at the apartment?"

"How about now?"

The plan had been set in motion. I, the shy, mousy, Isabella Swan, was going to seduce Edward Cullen.

Oh hell, what was I thinking?

I hardly remembered the car ride from the school to Edward's apartment. I was so hyperaware of Edward, I could barely focus on anything else.

Sooner than I expected, we pulled into the parking lot of his apartment complex. I unbuckled my seatbelt and stretched over the arm rest to collect my backpack from the back seat of his car.

By the time I turned back around in my seat, Edward had walked around to the passenger side of the car, and was holding my door open for me.

He started at me intently, studying my every motion.

"What?" I questioned, while swinging my legs out of the car.

"It's nothing." He answered.

Edward took hold of my hand and helped me out of the car.

He led me around the complex, stopping, at the laundry room, and then the recreation center before ending at his apartment.

I waited patiently while he fumbled around in his backpack looking for his keys.

"You'll have to excuse the mess. I wasn't expecting company." He said as he unlocked the door.

I stepped into the living room and my jaw nearly dropped. His apartment looked like something that belonged on an episode of MTV cribs (a show where they show you all the expensive stuff celebrities have in their homes).

The apartment itself was standard, white wall, beige carpet, linoleum tile and brown cabinets in the kitchen. But he had the most amazing stuff. A 40 gallon fish tank filled with the yellow, red, orange, and blue tropical fish sat against the west wall of the living room.

A cushy black L shaped la-z- boy reclining sofa, sat directly across from a silver wall mounted entertainment center. In the middle of the center, was a 52 inch LD flat screen tv, that was hooked up to a surround sound system.

"This is amazing." Was there anything about Edward that wasn't?

I walked over to the entertainment center and began fingering through his DVD selection. He had so many movies, action, drama, TV shows, concert series, documentaries, comedies, and… musicals! It took all of my restraint not to start jumping up and down and clapping my hands together.

"Musicals?" I asked, whirling around to look at him. "Are you kidding me?"

He averted his eyes and nervously rubbed his hand against the back of his neck. "I only have a few; I watch them mostly for the compositions." I could swear I saw a shade of red creeping up on his neck.

"Oh, no, don't be embarrassed! Do you know how absolutely incredibly awesome that is?! I love musicals and you have so many of my favorites."

"Yeah?" He said, relaxing a little.

"Mmm hmm." I answered. I removed a DVD from the collection. "Can we watch this one?"

"I thought you wanted to see the apartment."

I looked away from him, flustered. I did want to see the apartment too, but mostly I just wanted to spend time with him.

"Sure." He said, as he walked over to where I was standing and took the movie out of my hands. He popped the case open while smiling my favorite lopsided smile and winking at me. "It's one of my favorites too."

I ran over and leapt onto the couch. I threw my backpack off, setting it down on the floor in front of me, and folded my legs underneath my body. I clasped my hands together in my lap, waiting anxiously for the movie to start. Edward chuckled, shaking his head back and forth.

"Can I get you a soda or anything?" He asked.

"Umm…a coke?" I shouted after him.

While Edward sought out our refreshments, I dug around in my backpack for a hair tie. Okay. Time to set the plan in motion. Once I found what I was looking for, I pulled my hair up into a sloppy ponytail, exposing the curves of my shoulder and my neck. Ok, show some skin, check.

I arched my back a little, shifting most of my weight onto my left arm. Expose the chest, check. I felt like an idiot, posing on his sofa as if I were about to jump into a sports illustrated swimsuit photo shoot. If this didn't work I was going to kill Emmett.

Edward came around the sofa, wielding 2 cokes. He hesitated for a second, letting his eyes roam over my curves before handing me my drink.

"Nice shirt." He said, as he sat down next to me.

"Thanks." I answered shyly.

I took a long sip from my soda can. After I finished drinking, I took a second to lick the extra moisture off my lips. Ok, draw attention to my mouth, Check.

He wasn't even paying attention. He stared straight ahead, focused on the TV screen.

And I felt like an idiot. This wasn't working at all. I should have known better. Emmett was as good as dead the next time I saw him. I leaned over to set my soda can down on the coffee table.

"Ready now?" He asked, pointing the remote towards the DVD player and pushing play.

I nodded, crossing my legs Indian style and turning to face the TV. I abandoned my plan and decided to just relax and enjoy spending time with him.

Nothing beat watching RENT (the movie version of Jonathan Larson's musical about people in the 80's learning to deal with living with AIDS and falling in love) with Edward. We both knew all the words to songs and starting singing along with the actors during the first musical number. Soon after the 2nd number we assigned each other parts to sing.

"You should be the girls naturally." He argued, putting the movie on pause.

"Nope." I responded, "I can't be Joann and Maureen. Then I'll be singing to myself and that's no fun."

"Fine" He sighed, dramatically rolling his eyes.

"I get Maureen." I blurted out.

"Then I get dibs on Collins." He smiled.

"Woops, wait, I wanted Collins."

"Too late" He laughed. "And since I am Joann, you have to be Mark so we can sing "The Tango Maureen together."

"Ok, then you get Benny. Should we flip a coin to see who gets to be Roger and who gets to be Mimi?"

"I'll be Roger, smart alec" He teased.

"Ok 'Roger'" I said, grabbing the remote from him and pushing the play button, "You're up."

He started in on "One Song Glory" and left me in awe by the time the song was over. No one could sing this song as well as Adam Pascal (the actor who plays Roger), but Edward was pretty damn close. Was there anything he couldn't do.

"Wow…" I suddenly felt inadequate. I averted my eyes and nervously began chewing on my bottom lip. Edward grabbed onto my shoulders and turned me so that we were facing each other. He then brought his hands up to cup either side of my jaw, and gently, he raised my head so that our faces were level. He gazed into my eyes and began singing (light my candle) to me.

(Roger)What'd you forget? He started.

(Mimi) Got a light? I spoke, all enthusiasm absent from my voice.

(Roger)I know you? -- You're --You're shivering

His eyes never left mine; they were bright encouraging and reassuring. I felt silly for even thinking that he would be disappointed in me.

(Mimi)It's nothingThey turned off my heat

And I'm just a littleWeak on my feet

Would you light my candle?

What are you staring at?

I smiled at him. It was my silent way of letting Edward know that I appreciated his efforts to make me feel comfortable again.

(Roger)Nothing….Your hair in the moonlight

He walked his fingers along the side of my jaw, catching a loose piece of hair and tucking in behind my ear.

You look familiar

As he brought his free hand down from my ear, his fingertips lightly brushed against my neck, causing me to involuntarily shiver.

Can you make it? He smirked.

(Mimi)Just haven't eaten much todayAt least the room stopped spinning.Anyway.

I playfully pushed him in the chest as I sang my last line.

What?

(Roger)Nothing…

He smiled back at me. Y

our smile reminded me of - (Mimi)I always remind people of…. I playfully rolled my eyes.

who is she?

(Roger)She died. Her name was April

(Mimi) It's out again

I leaned closer to him and blew in his ear during the part where Mimi blows out the candle, electing my own shiver from Edward. It felt good, seeing him react to me that way. I couldn't stop the grin that spread across my face.

Sorry about your friend

Would you light my candle?

(Roger)Well…

(Mimi)Yeah…

I draped my arms over his shoulders and clasped my hands together behind his neck.

Ow!

(Roger)Oh, the wax - it's…

(Mimi)Dripping!

I like it - between my –

I tightened my grip on his neck and pressed my body against his.

(Roger)Fingers. I figured...

He stood up, pulling me with him. He unclasped my fingers from behind his head.

Oh, well. Goodnight.

Once my hands were loose, he held onto my arm and spun me away from him.

From this point on, we had gone from merely singing the lines, to dancing around his apartment and acting out entire scenes. Somehow, I'd managed to assign myself mostly fun loving, rambunctious characters who love to be the center of attention, while Edward had all the easygoing characters that got to relax and fall into the background. He was having too much fun teasing me about my choice of roles.

"Chloe..." He said, while spinning me around during the musical intermission of 'The Tango Maureen,'

"You're doing an excellent job, you really are, but for your next solo, I'd like you to put a little more feeling into it."

Ha! My next solo was Mimi's stripper performance. He grinned sheepishly while he dipped me. I let my head fall back, the tips of my hair brushed across the floor. He pulled me back up and held me against his chest as we danced through the rest of the song.

What in the world was I thinking? I could hardly walk without tripping over my own two feet, let alone dance. And here Edward was expecting an amazing performance.

He stretched out on the far end of the couch. I walked around behind the sofa, not wanting to stand in front of the TV and have Edward know how badly I was going to screw up Mimi's performance.

I started facing away from Edward, looking back at him over my shoulder as I sang. He had repositioned himself so that he was ¾ of the way facing me.

Whats the time?
Well it's gotta be close to midnight

I spun around so that Edward was now directly in front of me. I gripped the head of the sofa for balance while I lifted my knee to my chest and then slowly extended my leg, pointing my toe as I stretched, bringing my ankle to the side of my face.

My body's talking to me
It say,'Time for danger'

Edwards jaw dropped, and he stared at me with wide eyes. It was a good response. I had taken years of ballet lessons as a child. I was never able to do pirouettes, I was never able to do the leaps, but this was the one thing I could do. His reaction gave me the boost of confidence I need to continue my shenanigans.

I decided to hold my pose for a little longer than necessary.

It says 'I wanna commit a crime

As I brought my extended foot back to the floor, maintaining my grip on the sofa, and I leaned slightly over. I shimmied my shoulders back and forth, the movement causing my breasts to bounce up and down.

Wanna be the cause of a fight

Wanna put on a tight skirt and flirt
With a stranger'

I started with my shoulders, then allowed my breast, abs, and hips, to pop in face as I did four body rolls in his direction.

I've had a knack from way back

At breaking the rules once I learn the
Game

Get-up life's too quick
I know someplace sick
Where this chick'll dance it the flames

He continued to stare at me, unmoving. I smiled and winked at him before I released the sofa and took a step back. I crossed my arms and held myself at the waist while I shook my hips back and forth.

We don't need any money

I always get in for free

You can get in too
If you get in with me

Then I raised my arms above my head and spun around in circles.

Let's go ooouuut tonight
I have to go ooouuut tonight

Once I stopped spinning, I grabbed the hem of my shirt, and raised it up a little, playfully twirling it back and forth.

You wanna play?
Let's run away

We wont be back
Before it's New Years Day
Take me out tonight …

I did it! I finished Mimi's performance! And I actually had fun doing it. Eager to share my excitement with Edward, I forgot about the rest of the song, ran around the couch and jumped on the sofa next to him.

He turned sideways so that his back was propped up against the arm of the sofa. I folded my legs underneath me and positioned myself so that I was fully facing him.

"I did it." I said proudly.

"You were Phenomenal." He responded.

"Well you bring out the best in me." I said, as I lifted my chin and smiled at him. He averted his eyes and looked away from me.

"Hey what's wrong?" I said, lightly touching the back of his hand.

"It's nothing." He answered sadly.

Right.

"Oh Edward, aren't we past that?" I complained. This was the 2nd time in two days that he'd dismissed my questions and it was really starting to annoy me.

"You know you can tell me anything." I said more gently. I absentmindedly began stroking my fingers back and forth across his hand.

"I'm embarrassed to say." He admitted, meeting my gaze again.

"Don't be."

"Chloe," He sighed, "what am I going to do when you meet someone, and he steals you away from me? I feel so lost without you."

Are you kidding me?

"That would never happen." I climbed over his legs so that my knees were straddling either side of his hips and leaned down to embrace him in a hug. "No one could every take me away from you." I whispered against his ear.

"I wish that were true." He sighed. I felt the tips of his fingers lightly sauntered up my arms, leaving a trail of goosebumps everyplace they touched. "Don't you know how beautiful you are?" He asked as his hands molded around the curves of my shoulders.

I leaned back so that I could see his face and then I told him, "I'll always be here for you Edward, as long as you want me."

"Chloe." He whispered. His voice quivered as he spoke.

The look in his eyes was intense. It wasn't the same innocent encouraging look he gave me earlier. This time, his eyes were hungry and filled with desire.

"What is it?" I prompted.

His palms brushed across my collar, before his fingers walked up my neck and wove into my hair. The motion caused my ponytail to slip loose and my hair became unbound, cascading around his arms.

"You're so beautiful." He whispered.

Then he gripped the back of my head and gently pulled my face down to his. He used the tip of his nose to trace a path from my chin, up to my ear, and then back down across my jaw. The sensation of his movements caused my whole body to tremble.

"Mmmm…" He moaned as he nuzzled his face against my neck.

"Edward..." I breathed as I tangled my fingers into his hair. He was driving me crazy.

"Oh Chloe," He groaned, "I want to…."

He didn't finish his sentence. Instead, he placed soft kisses along my throat, just underneath my jaw.

"I really want to kiss you right now" he panted.

I pulled on his hair, forcing him to lift his head and look at me.

"Kiss me." I begged.

His hands slid out of my hair, and held onto my face. My heart pounded against the inside of my chest. The tips of our noses touched.

"Gawd Chloe, I want you so badly." He said, His arms trembled with the strain of holding back. "I…I can't…I can't do that to her."

I pushed myself off his lap, and moved away from him.

Edward rose to a sitting position. "I'm sorry." He murmured, "I should have never-"

No.

"Don't!" I said, feeling the sting of rejection.

"Chloe…" He said as though he were getting ready to lecture me.

This wasn't a mistake. I didn't care if he was thinking it; I wouldn't let him say it. I turned away from him and covered my face with my hands.

"I should take you home."