Chapter 3: Secrets

A/N: Sorry for the delay. . . first of all I've only had time to write in the mornings before I go to work, and even then I'm multitasking with my schoolwork, too, and secondly, I was almost finished writing this chapter and I got up to get some orange juice and I came back to find my laptop had died, taking most of this chapter with it. So I had to re-write. The moral of the story? Save. Save often. To my reviewers:

Lenne - Yeah, she is, just a little bit. Funny, though, because she's a character I originally created for a comic book I was writing with a friend of mine, and she's just always been extremely cheerful and goofy. And I can't shake the disturbing air of Mary-Sue-Ness around her. Working on it, though.

Phantom of the Rock Era - Nice name! Thanks ever so much! I'm glad you enjoy it so much. And let's hear it for endless energy! ;)

Darlene - Wow, once again with the info. You're awesome! I should be getting the DVD for my birthday. . .if I don't, well, then I know what the money my grandparents are sending me is going to go for! But if you notice anything else, feel free to let me know! Any help is appreciated!

(This A/N brought to you by exclamation points!)

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Mandy woke up slowly. The first thing she noticed was that sun was streaming into her eyes. This annoyed her somewhat, and also keeping her from falling back to sleep. The next thing she realized was that she was not in her own bed. She was not even in her own room. This woke her up quite a bit more. She opened her eyes to see the broken roof of the Mansion on Castle Hill looming above her. This confused her for a moment, but everything from the previous night came flooding back. She'd spent most of the night talking to Edward, before falling asleep mid-sentence. She smiled happily up at the ragged ceiling. She'd spent an entire night with Edward Scissorhands. He existed! And she'd talked to him!

Once she had finally gotten Edward to warm up to her, she had gotten a lot of stories out of him. She now knew about his "father" and what he had created Edward to be. She knew the true story of the Incident when he'd come down with Peg Boggs. She also learned a lot about Edward himself. Many of the things she'd heard and believed were wrong. Edward was peaceful, and not at all fierce like the stories always portrayed him. He was a gentle, sweet kind of guy. But what impressed her most was his innocence. He was intelligent, to be sure, and he was an artistic genius, but he was like a child, full of wonder. It was as though he was untouched by any bad thing in the world, while at the same time being full of darkness. Edward was a very confusing guy. Speaking of which, Mandy realized she hadn't heard word or snip from her new friend yet. She sat up and looked around. Edward was nowhere to be seen.

"Edward?" Mandy called. She stood up and stretched. She located her boots and pulled them back onto her feet. She shoved everything that she'd dumped out the previous night back into her bag, then looked at her watch. 8:40. Mandy frowned in dismay. She'd have to leave soon. She really didn't want to, she was in the middle of her greatest adventure yet. But if she didn't go, her friends would freak, and then her mom would freak, and that would bring people up here, and she knew that was a bad idea. Before she left, however, Mandy had to find Edward so she could say goodbye. Slinging her bag over her shoulder, Mandy inspected the corners of the room for Edward. He wasn't lurking in any of them. She headed for the doorway.

"Edward!" She called again, her voice echoing off the walls. "Hey, Edward!"

Mandy went down the stairs. She stopped in the front hall, her mouth falling open in surprise. There was Edward, following the progress of a conveyer belt with interest and what seemed to be delight. One of the large machines was humming warmly, and the room smelled of. . . was that cookies!

"Woah! What's going on?" Mandy wanted to know, setting her bag on the floor. Edward turned, then looked down, smiling shyly. Mandy was sure the if he could blush, he would be doing so right then.

"The machines still work." he explained in his quiet, polite way. "I. . . made breakfast." Mandy laughed, walking over and inspecting the conveyer belt.

"Cookies?" she said questioningly. "That's definitely not part of your complete breakfast." Edward's smile faded.

"You. . . don't want it?" He asked in a voice that sounded absolutely heartbroken. Mandy studied him silently for a moment. As a matter of fact, she usually skipped breakfast. But he looked so desolate at the thought of her not liking his surprise breakfast that she couldn't turn him down. She smiled at him.

"Of course I do! I was just teasing, silly." She skipped over and poked him in the side, making him jump. He still wasn't crazy about physical contact. "You need to lighten up, dude." Edward's nervous smile returned to his face. He pointed with one hand to a bin at one end of the machine.

"They come out there." He said. Mandy reached over and grabbed a big star-shaped cookie. She gave it a wary look. After all, it had come from a machine which had until very recently been covered in dust and cobwebs. And she had no idea where the ingredients had come from. But it seemed to be a perfectly fine cookie. She glanced up at Edward, who was watching her expectantly. She took a big bite of the cookie, prepared to fake a yummy-face. To her great surprise (and relief, for that matter) she didn't have to fake it. The big sugar cookie was one of the best she'd ever tasted. She stared at Edward, who had a pleased little grin on his pale face.

"This is really, really good." She remarked. Edward nodded.

"My father only made good things." He said. He gave her a meaningful, wistful look. Mandy got it. She'd heard enough the night before to catch his drift.

"I kind of figured that. Made you, didn't he?" She said, shrugging.

"Yes." Edward replied politely, though he sounded doubtful. Mandy looked at her watch. She needed to leave now if she was going to make it down the Hill by 9:30. She looked up at Edward.

"Hey." she said, walking right up in front of him. "I gotta go home now." Edward's face fell.

"Don't go." He said pleadingly. "Please?" Mandy bit her lip and ran a hand through her short hair. She really, really didn't want to go at all. For a fraction of a second, she considered bringing him down with her, but she knew she couldn't do that to him. Not again. She sighed.

"I wish I didn't have to, but I do. I promised my friends I'd meet them at the gate." she said. "Besides, I have to work today. I told you I worked at the library, right? Putting all the books away?" Edward nodded, still looking forlorn. Mandy felt absolutely terrible for leaving him behind.

"I had a ton of fun, Edward. This is the coolest sleepover I've ever had. And those were awesome cookies." She said, trying to cheer him up. Edward didn't smile. He looked, if possible, even sadder. He was quiet for a long time. Finally he looked up, his big brown eyes doubting, but sparkling with the smallest hint of hope.

"Will. . . will you ever come back to see me?" Edward asked in a very small, very young voice. His mind told him she wouldn't. Just like Kim, who said she loved him, but never came back after she'd saved him from the bad people of Suburbia who wanted to hurt him. He'd never seen her again. And he'd probably never see this girl, Mandy, again, either. She'd leave him alone just like Kim did.

Mandy's breath caught in her chest at the loneliness in Edward's voice. She couldn't help it: she threw her arms around him with a half-sob. He was very surprised at this, and stood very rigid, not sure what to do. Mandy quickly stepped back, remembering how he felt at being touched. She mentally scolded herself for going girly on him.

"Of course I'll come back. We're friends now." She said. Edward just looked at her, not sure whether to believe her. Kim had loved him. . . and she'd left him alone. Would Mandy do the same? Mandy saw the uncertainty in his face and made a quick decision. She pulled the long chain out from under her shirt. On this chain was a heavy silver ring with scorpions etched all around it. It was her father's Scorpio ring, which he'd given to her before he'd died. Mandy stood on the tips of her toes and slipped the chain around Edward's neck. She held up the ring for him to see.

"Look," she explained gently. "This means we're friends, okay? As long as you've got this, we're friends, and I'll come back to hang out, 'kay? I'll even bring my dvd player and some movies next time." Edward finally smiled. He understood.

"Thank you, Mandy." he said. Mandy grinned, shrugging.

"Hey." She said. "It's what I do. I'll try and come back after work, okay?" Edward nodded.

"Goodbye." he said, sounding more cheerful.

"See you later, Edward!" Mandy called, going out the large door. She smiled, shaking her head. This was insane. But she was loving every minute of it. She began her trek down the hill, glancing backwards only once, to see Edward standing in a large window, watching her go.

Mandy pulled Levi's camera out of her pocket, going through all the pictures. She frowned. She'd taken them as proof that Edward existed. But now that she knew him, she couldn't use these just to win a bet. It wouldn't be right to him. . . it would be better if no one knew he was still alive up in that castle. As much as it pained her to do so, Mandy deleted all the pictures except for the ones which proved her staying the night. She smiled a little at the irony. She'd come up looking for proof, and now that she had it, she couldn't do anything with it. She had the best story of any she'd ever told, and she couldn't even tell it. She put the camera away, looking down the hill. All three of her friends were standing there, as well as Brian. What was he doing there? Jamie noticed her and waved. Mandy waved back. Suddenly, she lost her balance and slipped in the snow, sliding halfway down the hill.

"Genius, Mandy!" Brendan called. Mandy stood up, shivering.

"Shut up, Brendan! That was freezing!" Mandy replied, finishing the short trek to the Gate, and slipping out. Jamie smiled at her.

"You made it!" she cried admiringly. "Are you okay?"

"No, J, I'm dead." Mandy said teasingly. "Nah, I'm good. It was a little cold, but I got some junk and built a fire, so it was cool."

"So, where's the proof?" Levi held out his hand. Mandy hesitated, but handed over the camera. Levi flipped it on, and the others gathered around.

"Woah, what is that?" Brendan asked, pointing. Mandy peeked over his shoulder. It was the picture of the hand in the middle of the garden. Whoops. She'd forgotten to delete that one.

"Uh, it's a shrubbery." Mandy said. "Duh?" Levi laughed.

"Yeah, you know. Shrubbery!" He raised his voice up high, Monty-Python style.

"You must bring back a Shrubbery! One that looks nice!" Brendan chimed in.

"And not too expensive." Levi added.

"So no Scissorhands?" Brian asked out of the blue. Mandy sighed, shoving her hands in her pockets.

"Nope. No Scissorhands." She said. Well, she justified to herself, That is true. He's not Scissorhands. Just Edward.

Just Edward.

Mandy turned and looked up at the house once more, biting her lip. She didn't know it, but Brian was watching her. She didn't know he was wondering what she'd really seen. Nor did she know that he was just as interested in what was in that mansion as she was.

Edward watched Mandy walk down the hill, looking at the small camera. He wondered what she was doing. He noticed a group of people at the bottom of the hill. Mandy's friends. He wondered if they were like Kim's friends. He took an instinctive step backwards, remembering Kim's friends. Remembering Jim. He wondered if Mandy was telling them about him. He hoped not. Not if they were like Jim. He didn't want them coming after him, or trying to hurt him. He didn't want to hurt them, either. He didn't want to hurt anyone at all. He didn't even want to hurt Jim. As much as he disliked him. Edward's father had taught him not to hurt people.

He smiled, remembering Mandy's interest in his father. She asked lots of questions. She made him talk a lot. But she looked as though she really wanted to know. She even took notes in the book she had about him. She seemed to like him. He liked that idea. Very much. He looked down at the ring hanging on its long chain.

This means we're friends, okay?

Friends. Edward had a friend. And she promised to come back and see him. Maybe even today. Because they were friends.

And that, Edward decided, as he found a new block of ice to carve, was a very good thing.

End Chapter Three

I know, it's short. But I wanted the next chapter all to itself, 'cos it's important. This is just sort of a bridge from point A to point B. Something I'm not very good at doing within the story itself. Lessee, do I have anything to explain? Oh.

How Edward Got The Stuff for the Machines - Let's just say that he has his sources. And you know, I'd imagine his scissors would work sorta like all-purpose tools, wouldn't they? Well they do now. Lol.

The whole ring issue - yes, I know it's cheesy. I was watching X-men 1.5 while I was writing that particular part and so I stole the scene where Logan gives Rogue his dogtag. I happen to like it.

My birthday is on Sunday! Reviews would be like presents, you know?