A/N: I do own a copy of Twilight; however, I don't own the actual rights to said book … :(

A/N: I do own a copy of Twilight; however, I don't own the actual rights to said book … :(

This chapter is dedicated to TwilightVampire92 who actually looked up the Latin phrase! And mle30303 who woke up at 7:30 am during her spring break to read my story!

Chapter 12: Friends

BPOV

Jasper had been in our dorm for going on an hour now, with still no word from Edward. I sat on my bed, fidgeting with my fingers, wondering where he was.

Surely he doesn't take hour long showers, I thought heck I don't even take hour long showers!

"Bella," Alice said, interrupting my thoughts, "Jasper and I are going to head up to the library real quick."
"Ok," I replied.

"Want to come?" Jasper asked, being polite.

"Nah, I'll just stay here," I said, patting my bed.

"Why don't you run by Edward's room? I'm sure he's done with his shower and maybe you two can do something," Alice suggested.

I thought about this and then said yes.
We walked out of the room together, but diverged at the corner, Alice and Jasper walking straight while I turned towards Edward's building.

I quickly reached his building and after arriving at his room, just when I was about to knock on his door, a girl ran into me, a girl beautiful enough to give Rosalie a run for her money.

"Oh sorry," the girl said, and continued to walk down the hall.

"No problem," I replied. It was right after I said that when it dawned on me, that girl was just in Edward's room.

Alone.

Door Closed.

Where anything could happen, and by the looks of it, something did happen.

Suddenly all the pain from finding out Mike cheated on me came back. It was doubled, no tripled now knowing that Edward had already forgotten about our night last night. It wasn't like we were serious or anything, I mean, we had one date, but the fact that he had already moved on, a mere twelve hours later, hurt.

I looked up briefly at Edward and then turned around and ran, not wanting him to witness the pathetic breakdown I was on the verge of having.

"Bella, wait up," I heard Edward shout behind me.

That just encouraged me to run faster, faster then I'd ever run before, and for the first time he didn't manage to catch up.

I ran into my dorm room and shut the door immediately, locking it behind me.

Then I cried. I cried for Mike. I cried for Edward. I cried for myself. And then, I cried some more.

"Bella, open up," Edward said, banging on the door.

I quickly wiped the tears off my face, sniffled and said in the most normal voice I could muster "Edward, I'm tired, I'll call you later"

"I need to talk to you, now," Edward said through the door, "I'm not leaving until you let me in."

I sighed knowing full well that he would stick to his word and opened the door slowly, cautiously, to see a wild-eyed Edward staring back.

He walked in quickly and shut the door then opened his mouth, but I beat him to it "Edward, I understand, we went on a date, had a good time, but it was nothing more then that."

"It isn't what you think, Bella." Edward said ignoring me, running his hands through his messy bronze-colored hair. "Tanya, the girl you ran into, is just a friend from back home. She came by to say hi, nothing more."

"I don't need an explanation, really." I said to Edward, not meeting his eyes, "You have no reason to need to justify why she was in your room, just like I wouldn't need to justify if I had a guy in my room."

"But I want to tell you," He said, touching my chin gently to raise my face so I was looking directly into his eyes. "Bella-"
I interrupted him, "Last night was amazing Edward, truly amazing, I don't think I've had that much fun in a long time," I smiled up at him and continued, "but, especially after my breakdown over such a small thing, I don't think- no I know, I'm not ready to be dating again."

Edward sighed and dropped his hand from my face and looked down, "You really feel that way?" he asked quietly.

"I do," I replied, "Friends?" I asked pathetically, grabbing hold of his hand and squeezing it.

He looked down at our hands and then up at me and said softly "Friends."

"Alright, well I have a lot of homework, so I'll talk to you later?" I asked, coming up with an excuse to get him to leave.

"Yea, sure, see you later Bella," Edward walked over towards the door and left without turning around.

As soon as the door shut behind him, I began to cry again.

I was still crying when Alice ran into our room, slammed it shut and then said "We ran into Edward on the way back,"

I looked up at her and she continued, "He said you broke up with him, over some misunderstanding!"

"There was nothing to break up, Alice. I'm not ready to date again, not so soon after Mike." I sulked.

"Oh, don't you give me that," Alice said, raising her voice at me for the first time since I'd know her, "Edward really likes you Bella, and you really like him, so get off your high horse and go talk to him."

"I can't, I just can't," I said, wiping my tears off my face and standing up, "It hasn't even been a week since I ended a nearly TWO year relationship Alice. I think I deserve a little time to sulk, and if Edward does really like me like you say, he'll wait for me to be ready."

"That is the most- idiotic, selfish, stupid thing I've ever heard you say, Bella" she shouted, "Your hurting him, you know that?" she asked.

I paused, not sure how to respond to that.

Alice took a deep breath, sat down on my bed, pulling me down next to her, and in a softer voice asked, "Bella, honey, what's really wrong?"

"I-I just don't want to get hurt again, and if I'm already so attached to Edward that I freaked out when a girl was in his room, how am I not going to get hurt again?" I asked. "And Alice, you didn't see her, this girl was gorgeous. She's probably a model or something, but that's the kind of girl he deserves, not some plain girl like me."

Alice got angry at that again, "Bella, you're beautiful too. Do you think I don't worry about Jasper leaving me, or cheating on me? I do, all the time, but I trust him not to. Trust, Bella, that's what you need to have in Edward. You've known him since you were practically in diapers; don't you think you should be able to trust him?"
"I trusted Mike," I said, shortly.

"You can't even compare Mike to Edward; it's like comparing… black to white- absolutely no similarities."

"That still doesn't mean I'm ready for a relationship," I said.

"Maybe not, but you should at least explain that to Edward. He deserves to know, but think" Alice said, tapping her head, "before you talk to him. You don't want to loose him Bella, trust me, he's a good guy. I know these things."

"I did tell him," I said, "and he said we could be friends."

"Okayyyy" Alice said, dragging out the word.
"I have to get to class, talk to you later," I gave her an awkward hug then went to class, blocking out all my thoughts to focus on the lecture at hand.

EPOV (from when he started to chase Bella)

"Bella, wait up," I shouted, sprinting behind her to explain.

Why oh why had I let Tanya in my room? Why didn't I just go with Jasper when he asked? Why did I close the door? I asked myself all these questions, over and over again, while running after Bella.

Why is she so fast? I added to my repeated questions, I'd always been able to catch up to her, but not today.

I saw her in front of me run into her dorm hall, open her door and close it quickly.

It took me a minute or two to reach her door and once I did I banged on it and said "Bella, open up"

"Edward, I'm tired, I'll call you later," I heard Bella say from behind the door.

"I need to talk to you, now," I said, almost frantically "I'm not leaving until you let me in."

I heard a shuffling of feet and then saw the door open to a red-eyed Bella.

I quickly walked through the doorway, and closed the door. I was just about to start my explanation when Bella began "Edward, I understand, we went on a date, had a good time, but it was nothing more then that."

"It isn't what you think, Bella." I said, ignoring her comment to explain myself "Tanya, the girl you ran into, is just a friend from back home. She came by to say hi, nothing more." That wasn't the exact truth, but it didn't seem the best time to explain she was an ex.

"I don't need an explanation, really." Bella said, "You have no reason to need to justify why she was in your room, just like I wouldn't need to justify if I had a guy in my room."

Why would she have a guy in her room? I couldn't help but feel the jealousy ride up in me, "But I want to tell you. Bella-"
Bella cut in saying "Last night was amazing Edward, truly amazing, I don't think I've had that much fun in a long time," she smiled at me, but it didn't reach her eyes, "but, especially after my breakdown over such a small thing, I don't think- no I know, I'm not ready to be dating again."

"You really feel that way?" I asked quietly.

"I do, Friends?" she asked, grabbing hold of my hand and squeezing it.

I glanced down at our intertwined hands, and said the word I was beginning to hate more then any other "Friends." It was better then nothing.

"Alright, well I have a lot of homework, so I'll talk to you later?" she said.

"Yea, sure, see you later Bella," I said, not daring to make eye contact, and walked right out of the room.

I continued to walk in a daze, and nearly ran into Jasper and Alice if it weren't for Jasper grabbing onto my shoulder to stop me.
"What's up man?" Jasper asked smiling.
"Did Bella find you?" an eager Alice asked.

"Yea, she found me alright." I frowned.

"What happened?" Alice asked, now worried.
"She dumped me," I said plainly, wincing at the words.

"She WHAT?" Alice screamed.

"You heard me," I looked away.

"Why?" Alice and Jasper said in unison.

"She saw Tanya coming out of my room and freaked. I tried to explain but she said she just wanted to be friends," I spit the word.

"Were you…?" Jasper asked.

"Of course not!" I shouted, getting angry now.

"I had to ask," Jasper justified.

"Ok, let's not panic, I'll go talk to Bella, knock some sense into her," Alice said. She kissed Jasper lightly on the mouth and then took off at a brisk pace towards her dorm, leaving me standing, awkwardly, with Jasper.

"Really, man, I didn't think you would," Jasper said, noticing my anger.

"I know, I know, I understand. And if I ever did, I'd expect you to kill me," I said and tried to smile at Jasper.

"Oh, I will gladly," Jasper laughed and hit my back.

The awkward silence set in again, "Do you um, want to talk about it?" Jasper asked.

I looked at him, and shook my head, "I'm going to go for a run actually, clear my head you know?"

Jasper nodded and then I took off running.

A/N: Don't kill me for "breaking" ExB up please! My sister always commented on how Bella did so many things wrong in Twilight and no one even yelled at her – so I made Alice yell at her just for you Katie! :) And I know this chapter is short … I have a killer week in school but I wanted to post SOMETHING for you all! Anyways… I was wondering if anyone had any ideas of what they wanted Edward/Jasper and Bella/Alice to do during their rushing time period! You can suggest anything; I have a couple ideas, but want to hear from you! Also, don't forget to answer my poll if you haven't already! Lastly, please review - I write, you review, and we'll call it even!