A/n: Dudeeee – it's been a while huh?
I know I said the next chapter would be up within a month, but it's been a busy few months. I won't bother with the excuses because they're always the same lol.
Okay, so this is the next chapter. We're back to Bella's point of view. The only thing I ask is that you please pardon the ending. This is not the end of the fic, just the chapter and I do have a plan of where I'm taking it. So please excuse it; it's bit clumsy and very sudden.
Thanks guys! xx

Bella

Chapter 2:

Edward held my hand as we ventured further into the congregation of people. Did Edward's family really know this many people, or were some of these strangers related to Mike? I'd never met the majority of them before, and Mike had tried to make a point of letting me meet his relatives, so I guessed they were somehow tied to the Cullen family.

One voice I did recognise belonged to a friend of mine. I'd not heard from Jessica in a few months now, but we'd been quite close in high school. After college, we'd succeeded in making contact after every half a year, just to catch up and make sure we both knew what was happening. It suddenly occurred to me that she wouldn't know about mine and Edward's pretend relationship either. Edward had dated her in the past and I wasn't sure how awkward this was going to be.

I stopped mid stride, quickly getting Edward's attention. Turning to him, I locked my eyes with his, releasing his hand and taking only to staring at him. "Jess's over there. How bad do you think this is gonna get?" I gave him a contemplating facial expression.

"What?" Edward replied, totally gormless. He truly had no idea what I was referring to. Men.

I tilted my head. "Erm, you and Jessica? In high school?"

He showed only a small smile, speaking very quietly. "Bella, we only went out for a few months, I'm sure it'll be fine."

I shook my head, also clicking my tongue. "I knew you wouldn't understand."

His face was questioning, forcing me to continue without a word from him. "It's, like, an unwritten rule. You just don't date your friends' ex-boyfriends. It's not allowed." I was gesticulating with my hand again. As soon as I realised I was doing it, I stopped. It was an endless pet hate of Edward's.

"I dated her years ago! I can't even remember myself, surely she'll forgive you."

"She really liked you, though. Oh, my god, what if she's mad? What if she's seen us already?" The panic started again.

Edward smiled, snaking an arm around my waist. We were just touching bodies when he spoke. His voice seemed incredibly loud, the hairs on the back of neck standing on end. "Relax, Bella, I'm not gonna tell you again." With the way he'd said it, I knew he was smiling.

"I'm glad to know you're taking benefit from my awkwardness. Thanks for the support." My eyes were closed, so I felt a shock run through my body as his hand slipped back into mine, holding it to his waist. "What are you doing?" I asked, making sure I didn't sound too much like I wasn't actually enjoying myself.

He laughed. "Driving Jessica insane, I can see her face from here."

I shrugged from his grip, stepping backwards only slightly. It was over in a matter of seconds. "You're terrible!" I told him, hoping there wasn't a trace of amusement on my face.

Edward has closed the space between us before I even knew what he was doing. "Bella, you know that, logically, you're going to have to admit it to her." I didn't want to acknowledge it, but as he took my hands again, I knew he was right. "We might as well face the music now. If she's the only, one, person in the room that you're not going to lie to, she'll soon enough tell everyone, and then we'll have to go home. She loves to start rumours, and you understand that better than anybody."

I nodded. The many, many times Jessica had managed to convince the school I'd been in love with different boys, sometimes even the teachers, in high school was insane. She had a gift, whether it was good or not. "I know what she's like, Edward, but I can't even see her face and I know what expression she'll be pulling." I sighed, moving my eyes away from his stare. It was way too intense with his own arrogance for me to continue the façade.

He laughed, his body movements rocking my body. If this display couldn't convince anyone of mine and Edward's affair, then I didn't know what would. "Come on then, what's she doing?"

I thought through my answer before I said it, contemplating for longer than was probably needed. Jessica was like a book, interesting and intriguing at first, but she'd soon become just so predictable it wasn't even funny. I was still surprised that our friendship had lasted this long, she wasn't the type of girl I usually got on with. "I'll go with… erm, the balled up fists, the look of pure astonishment and the staged betrayal? There might even be a bit of interest in there, too; she just can't resist knowing that something extra about somebody else."

Edward chuckled again, a sound that made my gaze latch onto him. "Dead on." He was smiling. I couldn't help myself, and soon enough, so was I.

"You're right…" I smoothed my hands back over my dress before I continued. I knew exactly what Jessica was going to say, but I definitely couldn't avoid her for the rest of my life, let alone the week. "Let's get this over with." I turned so Edward was by my side, keeping his closest hand in mine. That would solve her first question.

Pulling him along with me, I set off towards her. Her face had cleared by the time I'd seen her, trying her best, no doubt, to keep her feelings to herself, but I knew it wouldn't last long.

She smiled as we approached, and it almost looked genuine. "Hey, Bella." Her voice was low, I was guessing with shock. "And Edward! It's great to see you again." She added, flirtatiously. Trying to steal my pretend boyfriend already… what could I say? I was not surprised in the slightest.

"Hi, Jess." I grinned at her, giving her a short hug. Edward did not let go of my hand, so the embrace was quite awkward and one armed. He nodded in her direction, recognising her greeting towards him.

Her face had dropped slightly, but she was still relatively pleasant. "It's been too long, Bella, what've you been doing?"

I wondered, silently, if the question was an invitation for me to reintroduce her to Edward. I didn't cave. "Not much, really." I shrugged. "Work's getting a bit stupid; it's getting to the busy season so I never seem to get a break."

The irritation at her eyes was only just noticeable. Personally, I thought she was doing quite well.

Jessica opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by a call of Edward's name.

The guy was just slightly taller than Edward, with long and curly blonde hair. He had the sort of smile that you just knew didn't get shown often. What better occasion to smile than at a wedding? His suit looked like it'd been worn before, which pleased me. I was glad I wasn't the only person in the room who couldn't afford to buy a new outfit for every time they went out.

"Hey, Jazz! It's been too long!" Edward released me to give the bloke a short hand shake. His smile was radiant. It made me want him to look that way at me, just so I could reply.

"Edward, dude, I know! Where've you been?" The man called Jazz gestured for him and Edward to take a walk, so Edward turned to me.

"Bella, Jasper and I are just gonna go and catch up, you mind?"

I shook my head. As if I could say 'no' to that pretty face, but it was sweet of him to think to ask me. "Sure."

Suddenly, Edward's face was covered with shock. "Oh, Jesus, Bella, where are my manners?" He took my hand once more, and I thought I saw Jessica's body stiffen from the corner of my eye. "Jazz, this is Bella Swan: my girlfriend."

Jasper's eyes fell on me, filled deep with comprehension, as if he was trying to work me out. I blushed from the attention and I felt Edward's arm tighten around my body. I hadn't even realised he'd moved. "Bella, this is Jasper." Edward was holding up his free hand towards this stranger Jasper. "He used to live next door to us when we lived in Washington. Rosalie's Jasper's older sister."

"Oh." I nodded, extending my hand. "It's nice to meet you, Jasper."

He put his fingers under my own, bringing my hand up to his mouth. He kissed my hand gently. I went an even brighter red than before.

"We'll be around somewhere; come and find me when you need me." Edward smiled, not waiting for a reply, but walking off into a quiet corner so he could talk to his friend. "I've been hiding." I heard him laugh to Jasper before his voice faded into the general speech of the room.

Reluctantly, I turned back to Jessica. She, of course, wasted no time.

"Like, oh my God." Her face showed her shock. I wanted to sigh, but knew she'd make some sort of comment about it, so I refrained. "When did all this happen?"

I smiled politely towards her, but attempted to show my expression as being modest. I didn't want to rub her nose into mine and Edward's relationship, nor did I really want to talk about it. "I don't know, a few months ago or something." I kept my voice low.

"Dammit, Bella, you could have told me." The way she'd said it sounded like she was relieved. She and Edward had dated for longer than Edward and I had, or supposedly. I guessed she was slightly reassured that we were relatively new together. "Is this the reason we've not spoken in ages?"

I didn't know quite what to say to that. I wasn't a good liar, so I decided to go with a partial truth. "A little bit, I've been really busy at work and sorting stuff out. I've barely seen Edward most of the time."

She nodded. "Oh. Right." Her face was comical, so interested yet mildly repulsed at the same time. "Oh, my God!" She suddenly exclaimed after a second or two of silence. "Like, how hot does Emmett Cullen look today?" Her face turned to me, and I wasn't sure how to reply. "That suit is just amazing, makes him look like some sort of movie star! Rosalie looks stunning… How come she gets him and I'm stuck with all the losers in town?" She quietened our conversation ever so slightly as Emmett, Edward's brother, sauntered past us, his arm firmly around his girlfriend's waist. I might have imagined it, but I could swear Rosalie had raised her nose slightly. Now I knew why Edward didn't like her. "Life isn't fair." Jessica added, her eyes following the couple and finally returning to me. She gave a small laugh. "Like, why I am asking you? You get to wake up next to Edward's face every morning, it's not like you're hard done by."

The attraction she felt towards Edward was still plain in her voice, but I knew hers was based purely on looks. She'd probably fancied him for years, before and after they'd dated. I'd always known everything about Jessica was superficial, forcing me to wonder why were such good friends, all over again.

I laughed, solely to break the quiet between us, throwing away the awkwardness. "He doesn't look all that sexy on a morning." I joked, smiling at her. I was sure he looked gorgeous first thing, but who was I to admit that to her? I'd never slept with him, so I wouldn't know.

"Yeah, like I'm sure." Jess played along, turning away from her staring at Emmett's backside to face me. Looked like I had her full attention again, fantastic.

"What's been going on with you, anyway?" I asked, trying to break the ice. "Who're these losers you were talking about?"

That seemed to be enough for her. She was off, talking and talking at me. All I had to do was nod and 'umm' in the right place, and she'd never know I wasn't listening.

I caught bits of the conversation, like her mention of sleeping with Tyler Crowley, and switching jobs recently due to a large conflict with her boss's secretary. I wasn't sure if I wanted to know what the disagreement was over. While my mind tried to keep up with Jessica's ranting about her most recent ex, my eyes wandered around the room. Trying to find Edward was like looking for a single strand of grass in a very large field.

Luckily, Edward's bronze hair next to Jasper's frizzy bouffant managed to get my eye. They were quietly tucked away in a small corner just opposite us, no more than one hundred yards away. Edward flashed his crooked smile, the one that always made me want to smile, showing his teeth as he expressed his delight at Jasper's comments. I tried to think, quickly, of a reason to leave Jessica standing for a minute, preferring the idea of talking to him over her.

I hadn't been contemplating my escape long, when the decision was made for me.

Jessica began squealing, tugging at my arm and doing small jumps on the spot. "Emmett's talking to Edward! We should, like, totally go over. You're dating him now, so it'd be perfectly ok for us to join the conversation, right?" Just as she predicted, Emmett's muscle-clad body strode confidently towards Edward's and Jasper's private discussion.

His greeting boomed across every person in the room. I'd met Emmett previously, and I knew he would never be considered quiet. "Eddie-Boy, you're actually here, Rose thought you were gonna ditch!"

Jessica fingers dug into my skin as Rosalie glided past them all to stand next to her boyfriend. She whispered something into his ear, her hand lingering in his hair for longer than I thought was necessary. He turned his face to look at her, smiled, and then nodded.

"Right, that's it, we're totally going over!" Jess's grip fell to my hand, which she used to drag me through the crowd.

I didn't have much time to think, but all I could tell was that Jess was either going to make a complete fool of herself, or fail to fit into the direction the conversation was taking, so we'd leave.

Edward caught my eye as we wandered towards him. The smile he gave me was warm, but sympathetic at the same time, like he understood that I wouldn't be able to keep this up forever.

He held out his hand to me as we approach; I let go of Jess in favour of him, and she didn't look overly pleased. Where as I could fit in here, being somehow related to Edward, a member of the family, she didn't have any real connections to the group apart from me. That meant my commitment to Edward rather than her had really hurt her.

I smiled at her, a small smile, and she inched her way into the circle.

Before long, her well opinionated nature would kick in and she'd forget all about me.

"Awww, look at that!" Emmett's goofy grin was strangely attractive to me. His gestured his hand towards me and Edward, turning to Rose and laughing. "Lickul Eddie-Weddie's got himself an ickul girlfriend!"

Emmett's teasing seemed to really bother Edward. I cringed as his face fell lopsided and his voice deepened below any tone he'd ever used with me. "Emmett, just because we're not all comfortable performing just short of sex in a public place, doesn't mean we can't get dates." Humourlessly, the jaws of half the circle dropped. I squeezed his hand, wondering whether it would register.

After an awkward few seconds, Edward gave a short and quiet sigh, giving back the pressure to my hand that I'd showed him. "Sorry, everyone, Emmett, Rosalie, this is Bella Swan." I could feel his body tensing beside me, wondering if his last outburst would change his friends' and family's reaction. I was glad he'd taken to reintroducing me; I wasn't sure how much of me Emmett would remember. The whole Cullen family had been highly popular in high school and I'd never aspired to join them. Rosalie would have no idea who I was. She didn't know anyone below her own self-perceived status.

Emmett's smile didn't waver; perhaps because he knew Edward was very touchy about his love life. He seemed to play on it, actually. "I know Bella, right?" He turned his head towards me, his grin still prominent and his hand outstretched. "Advanced Biology?" I shook his hand, nodding my head. He gave a low laugh. "You were always so much better at it than any of my year, and you were like, what, two years younger?"

I giggled along with him, glancing with the side of my eye to see Rosalie's face turn. She was definitely the jealous type. In my opinion, liking biology was completely innocent, if not slightly insane. "If I remember right, most of your class just thought I was strange for wanting to go forward two years in such a specific field."

"Yeah… I sucked at biology, to be fair. To this day I still can't recall the names of the bones in the arm, wasn't there like forty-five?"

I know exactly how many bones there are in the arm, and all the names, for that matter, but that wasn't something I was about to admit. "I enjoyed biology, but I work in an office, so what good it did me, I'll never know." I joked, smiling, and feeling comfortable with the company. Rosalie still didn't seem happy, what with her beloved actually having an innocent, but intellectual, conversation with another woman. I had a feeling we weren't going to get on.

"Anyway," Emmett continued to address the whole group. "Going back to what we were talking about, I remember, once, he called Mr Sanchez 'Dad' by accident, anyone remember that?"

Everyone laughed, including Edward. I could hear his soft chuckle clearly in my mind as he turned his head to me to explain the discussion. "Emmett's referring to Mike, back in high school. All those stupid things he used to do when he was younger."

"Oh." I smiled. I could remember Mike telling me about that specific incident. Bless him, Mike had been stood in the hall way at the time, and half of the school had heard his hiccup. "I've got one." I piped up, smiling and wondering whether I'd feel bad for enlightening the group about this. "It was back when we were dating in senior year. Mike tried out for the football team." I could already see grins appearing from different corners of the circle. It would seem that some people had already heard this story. "I remember he really wanted to be on the team and he tried so hard that when he was passing the ball it hit the head cheerleader, who's group was practising at the side of the field, right on her head. She had a bruise, one that she couldn't cover up with make up, I might add, across her forehead for about a month."

Edward apparently hadn't known about this. He was bending over, leaning one hand on my shoulder, in total hysterics. He wasn't the only one. I had to give a small giggle myself, just from the sight of everyone else.

"Hey, guys!" A voice shouted from behind Emmett's big frame. Two hands pushed between Jasper and Emmett's sides and drew them apart. "What's so funny?" It must have been Mike's innocent grin. The laughter that had just about drowned out boomed all over again.

He turned to me, his smile still large across his lower face. I saw in him what I'd seen for years. Whatever happiness that was still left in me, from Edward's touch or Emmett's recognition, was gone. I could see him as my boyfriend, taking me to the cinema, offering to pay just because he loved me, and falling asleep on my couch, watching the football with my dad. He had been perfect, and it'd been me that had ended everything. Looking directly at me, although surrounding by a group of five other people, he began to laugh with us. His laugh. Oh, I'd missed that. He had such an easy laugh, one that made you want to laugh with him. Mike was so simple, so easy to understand. Everything he'd ever done for me had been with the best intentions, and I'd always known where I was standing with him. There'd never been any bullshit, it was all spelled out. Alice was one lucky girl.

"Bella?" Edward's voice floated back into my thoughts and it leaked of humour. "Bella?" He sung my name this time, drawing out the 'a' sound as if I wasn't fully conscious.

I shook my head, facing him. The people around me were still focussed on Mike, but Edward must have seen the desperation behind my staring. "You ok?"

I was embarrassed by his concern and, against my will, began to blush a scarlet red. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Edward's face was filled with worry. I felt his fingers grasp at my arm as he pulled me away, forcing my vision to only see him. "What's wrong? Apart from your cheeks, right now, you look really pale." He sat me down and kneeled in front of me.

I looked down at him. Could I really carry on with this? "Edward…" I could feel a sadness ripping through my body and knew I'd have to tell him. "I don't know if I want to keep up this charade." Evading his eyes, I sighed. "I think I still l-love him… I don't know if I can pretend to be with anyone else."