Ch. 3 Those Nights

As I walked out the door I heard, "Hey Bella, wait" from a voice behind the door.

I suddenly stopped to see who it was and he almost ran into me. He was fast. I didn't think he was walking that quickly. "What do you want, Edward?" I said sternly. I was not in the mood to deal with anyone.

"Oh" He said and backed up. " I was worried about you. You looked a little upset in English.

I guess someone did notice. "No, I am fine really, just tired."

He looked at me to see if I was lying. I was but he didn't need to know that. "Are you sure?" He asked. He stilled seemed very skeptical.

"Yeah, I swear, just tired." I said.

"No you're not but that's okay. I was going to ask you something but I won't now. You don't seem in the mood for that."

He was rather perceptive. I will give him that. He was about to walk away when I said, "You can ask if you really want to." He stopped moving.

"I don't want to if it will not help our mood." He replied sincerely and looked me in the eye. It seemed like he did care if it upset me. Strange. No one has really acted like that to me before, besides Alice.

"No, its fine. Ask." I tried to sound like I wanted to hear his question.

"Well, my brother Emmet and his girlfriend Rosalie are having a party tomorrow night and I wondered if you are your two friends wanted to go. Rose really like Alice and Emmett said he wanted to loosen Jasper up really badly." He chuckled at his last sentence. "But I really want you to be there. It would be a group thing. Nothing that special but if you're free it would be nice to see you again."

He seemed so excited about it. Whenever he mentioned my name he smiled. I couldn't say no. It would hurt him. But I couldn't say yes. He already affected me so much and getting closer would only make it worse. But then again, maybe we could just be friends. I had to at least give him a chance of friendship. It was only fair. I misjudged him at the bar, so I owed it to him.

"Okay, I will ask my friends and get back to you. I have your number now" I answered and felt excited about it. "Sorry I never returned your call. I have been busty" I lied.

'Right busy" He said, skeptical. "Well, I have class. I just wanted to ask. I hope to see you tomorrow Bella"

"Yeah bye." I said lamely. I watched him walk away.

I walked back to my dorm slowly. I did not want to hear Alice's excited chirping about me accepting the invitation. Maybe she wouldn't be there when I got back. I put my key in the lock and turned it slowly. I couldn't hear anyone inside as I opened the door. I walked down our small hallway and turned the corner to see if she was on her bed. Damn, she was. She was flipping through a Cosmo.

"Hey Bella. How was class?" She asked without much interest in her voice. She never looked up from the magazine even when she spoke to me.

"Oh same old, same old., you know. I replied. "Edward Cullen was in my class." I thought saying that might get her to look up. But it didn't.

"Oh, that's nice." She calmly. Calmly? Alice is never calm. She always wants answers and gossip. Why was she no killing me to get more details?

"Alice, are you okay?" I asked.

"Fine. Why?" She continued flipping pages of the magazine.

I gave her a confused look. I thought the reason for my question was obvious. "You don't want to know anymore about my class with Edward?" I stressed the name when I said it. I continued looking at her but she wouldn't look at me.

"I don't have any questions about it I don't need to know anything about that anyway." There was a but of anger in her voice and she turned her magazine page firmly. She was mad at me. Probably because I didn't want to talk about Edward before.

"Oh, okay, I thought you would. I was going to tell you something but if you don't want to heat it, then I guess I will do some homework." I said trying to coax enthusiasm out of her. She could be childish sometimes.

"You can tell mw" Her tone was the same still and I was not going to tell her if she was acting like this.

I continued the slow coxing approach. "No, no its fine. You don't want to know." I had to tell her eventually, so she would be at the party with me, but this was more amusing.

She was now looking at me trying to hide her excited bouncing. "Oh will you just tell me!" She broke. She sprang off the bed and ran to my desk.

"That's my Alice. Okay so he waited for me after class." I started and then she squeaked. I looked at her annoyed and she pretended to zip her lips shut. I continued. "Now this was a very casual thing okay. He asked you, Jasper and me to a party this weekend. His brother and Rosalie are throwing. Would you like to go?"

She unzipped her lips. "Yes, YES, yes! You have to let me get you ready! This will be so much fun!"

"Remember this is completely casual Alice. This is not a date or anything like it. This a compromise with you. I am getting out but not going out with anyone. And I plan to keep it that way okay?" She looked away from me after I said that "Alice promise me you won't interfere." I moved myself so I was looking her in the eyes.

"Fine" She groaned. "But I am making you look pretty!"

"Alright, you can give me a makeover tomorrow. But nothing too much."

"Nothing is too much, Bella and you know I always make you look gorgeous." I just rolled my eyes but she seemed happy which I liked.

***

Alice had worked her magic. It took her 2 hours and a new large hole in the ozone layer to make me to her standards. After she finished, I had called Edward and told him we might be coming and that we needed the address just in case. I still was uneasy about the situation. But I promised I would try.

We first went to Jaspers to pick him up and then headed to the party. It didn't take us long to get there. I saw the apartment building and I realized that the Cullens were not poor people . It was very nice building with a door man and everything. It was an old style flat in the city. It looked like it was built in the 1920s and then restored and updated. The building was all brick with ornate details on every facet. There were two large windows with larges arches on each side of the all glass door that had the same detailing as the building. Alice, Jasper and I gasped at how beautiful it was.

We slowly walked toward the door and entered the nice lobby. It had an immensely high ceiling with crown molding all around it. The elevators were to the right of the door. They were gold and looked like cages. This was definitely a very old building. We stepped in one and pressed 4. Rosalie and Emmett's apartment was 412. As we climbed, I began to get nervous.

As I was in the elevator my heart started to race. What was I doing here? Why did he want me here so badly? This is not what I should be doing. All thoughts and other like them swirled in my head.

"Bella, you okay?" Jasper asked. "You seem kind of tense."

His voice brought me out of my head. "Huh? Yeah I am fine. Nothing to worry about." I smiled at him. He still didn't seem to believe me and truthfully he shouldn't. Alice was too excited to notice. She loved parties, getting dressed up, and meeting new people. I was glad she was already having fun.

As we reached the door, we saw a sign that said to go to the rooftop. The building wasn't too tall and the roof was only 3 more flights up so we decided to walk. We were on our last set of stairs when you could hear the music and the people laughing at the party. Then when we opened the door I couldn't believe my eyes.

The view of the city was gorgeous from the rooftop. You could see the whole skyline and even some of the water from where we were. The buildings glittered with lights and the water sparkled from the moon and the stars shining down. It was a very clear sky and even in the city smog you could see the stars and the moon, which was almost full. It was a magnificent night. Even if I have no fun at least, I get to look at this all night. I walked over to the edge of the roof to get a closer look at my favorite city.

I barely had time to stand at the edge of the roof. "You're here." I heard a velvety voice next to me. I saw him lean his elbows onto the edge of the wall out of the corner of my eye.

"Yeah," was all I said and I didn't look at him. I continued to stared at the city.

"Do you like the view?" He asked.

"Yeah, I have never seen anything like it." I said with a sort of aw in my voice, and I still looking only at the city.

"It's pretty but I have seen better." He said seriously. I could feel his eyes on me. I knew it was that same stare he always gave me. I looked at him now.

"I bet you have." I said and stared back at him. It was hard not to get trapped in his eyes. They were a beautiful emerald green and seemed to go on forever. But I quickly looked away. "If you can afford this then who know what other places you lived."

"That's not what I meant, but sure I have seen better skylines off a roof. But after awhile you stop noticing the scenery around you. That mostly stays the same."

"Huh?" I wondered if he was always cryptic.

"You want to know the sights I see." I looked at him so he knew I was listening. "See that building right there, the pinkinsh one. Look there, 2 floors from the top and three in from the left. That is Ms. Stanely. She comes home every night alone and puts in 1 of 3 different microwave dinners; rigatoni, alfredo, or mostaccoli. Then she watches the romance channel until she goes to bed. She dreams of one day finding her perfect man. Now look at the gray building close to it, top floor 2nd window. That is Mr. Meyer. He dreams of being a gourmet cook. He was married once but his wife left him for an old millionaire that happened to be his boss. Now, he never misses any of his favorite cooking shows and prepares a new gourmet meal for himself every night. Now my plan, my grand plan is to get Ms. Stanely and Mr. Meyer together. They both have broken hearts and the love of Italian food. Destiny."

How do you know all of that?" I inquired.

"I know all of that because Rose sometimes has to watch Ms. Stanely's cats and I have helped. And Emmett works in one of the stores that Mr. Meyer manages. So they talk." He responded. "Also I hate these parties, so I people watch. Those two are the most interesting."

I could only look at him for a long time puzzled by all I was just told. "You put a lot of faith in destiny and love. "

"Well were else can we put faith You can't see God but you can feel love and you see Destiny bring people together. So there is actually very little faith in this at all. For faith you need to have almost no proof but I have seen proof of everything I believe in."

"Right. But then you can feel love's pain and have destiny break people apart." I retorted.

"Well then that pain is there to teach something and the people that are apart were never meant to be brought together." He stated.

"Then why were they together at all if it wasn't meant to be. What is the need to go through so much pain when it ends. Why not just have them meet the one they are suppose to be with and not have a middle man at all." I was getting angry. It took a lot of strength not to go on a rant about how false and fake love is.

"The middle man is there because life is not fair and you need pain to realize what is truly good and great in this world. Every experience you have teaches you something and happens for some reason. I am guessing you have not figured out why you have had certain pain in your life, but you will and then you will be able to be happy."

I glared at him. "Who says I'm not happy?" What right did he have to say I was unhappy? He doesn't know me, or what I have been through. He has met me a few times and that's it. I was beginning to cry, I hate how I do that. Somehow anger triggered tears. I looked away to wipe them away so he wouldn't notice.

"Bella are you crying?" He asked, very concerned.

"No, I'm fine." I replied with a bit of anger and then quickly walked toward the rooftop door. I wanted to get out of the public to calm myself down. I didn't want anyone to see me like this. I am stronger than this. I don't need to cry over my past anymore. But before I got to the door Edward got in front of me.

"I am sorry I upset you. I didn't mean to bring up things that might hurt you. I never want to see you hurt Bella. Please don't leave." He pleaded.

I took a deep breath. " I wasn't leaving. I just need some time alone. I promise. Besides, Alice and Jasper are my ride so I can't leave anyway." I really wanted to go though. Now I was in a strange mood and I would ruin the party atmosphere for everyone.

"Why not ask them leave early with you? I think they would understand." He said

"I know they would but they are having a great time and Alice rarely gets nights off to do this. I want her to stay here and have a good time. Besides, then all night she would be worried about me, and I don't need her to do that. She worries about too many things as it is." I replied. I really did not want to worry Alice. She was such a great friend and she had way too much going on right now without my unnecessary drama. Her Mom was in the hospital and Jasper was having money issues. Her Dad is always away on business so she has to stop in on her Mom frequently. Plus, she has normal things like school and work to deal with.

"You're a good friend. But if you really want to leave I could take you." Edward offered.

"Oh no. Its fine. I mean this is practically your party too. I couldn't do that to you."

"The only reason I suggested Alice was because I thought you would say no to my offer. I really would not mind at all taking you home, if you want me to. Also, these are mostly Emmett and Rose's friends and they are not exactly my favorite people." He laughed. "I swear before the end of the night one of Rose's friends will be all over me drunk and one of Emmett's will be throwing up somewhere. I have seen this too many times before."

I thought about it for a moment. This could be bad but I really wanted to go home. I know he wouldn't try anything. "Alright. I guess you could take me home." At this point I just wanted to go and wallow alone in my room. I was actually contemplating a bus but it was late and the bus system got dangerous at night. I ran and told Alice I was leaving with Edward. She thought it was for other reasons and that was fine with me. Then she wouldn't worry about me.

Edward and I walked to the parking lot where we got into a very nice shiny silver Volvo. He went to the passenger's side door first. What was he doing? He then opened my door and gestured me to get in. That was different.

"Thanks." I said. "Wow a nice view and a nice car. How do you live?" I said sarcastically.

"Oh its very difficult." He laughed. I had never really noticed his laugh that much before. He did it mostly when I was mad so I ignored it. But this time I listened. It was like music. Everything about this boy was too perfect. "So if you don't mind me asking, why did you let me escort you home? I really thought it would take more convincing." He said.

"Honestly, I was ready to take the bus but this idea seemed safer." I replied.

"Yes, this plan is much safer. " The car then got quiet. It was uncomfortably quiet.

"Do you mind if I put on music?" I asked him.

"No go ahead. My ipod is in the glove compartment. Pick what you want."

I reached in the compartment and found it. It was black and 120 gigs. I went to artists to see what he had. It was like a music store. I could easily believe that he had filled the whole thing. Each artist had multiple albums and each song had different versions. "I can see you love music."

"Yeah, it's a bit of an obsession. I am a music major after all."

"Oh that's cool. What instrument do you play?"

"Piano. I am compose and play whenever I can."

When he said piano, I knew exactly what I wanted. I bet he had it too. I continue to scroll down looking for the song. I knew he would have it. I pressed play and Clair De Lune filled the car.

"You know Debussy?" he asked stunned.

"Not really but I love this song. It is one of my favorites of any classical composer. My mom used to play it around our house all the time."

"It's one of my favorites too." He smiled as he said this. "Another thing I have in common with the beautiful waitress." Now the smile was a smirk.

"You know that line didn't work the first time. Why do you think it will work now?"

"I like it and don't think it's a line. So I could care less whether you like it."

"But doesn't it matter if I like it? You are trying to woo me at this point correct? That is the stage we're at, right?" I asked.

"Did you just say 'woo you'?" He asked furrowing his eyebrows in confusion.

"Hey that's is what it is called. If you have a better name for it then by all means, say it." I smirked at him.

"I like to think of this stage as the getting to know you part." He replied to my absurd question.

"Well that is no fun at all." I laughed and he laughed too.

"I guess it is plain but I like it better than "wooing." It makes me feeling like were back in 1918 and have to follow the rules of courtship, and with you, I don't think those rules would work too well." He said.

"You have that right. I am independent and need no such rules." I said in an over-exaggerated way to make him laugh. I did like making him laugh. It brought joy to me in a way.

We continued talking animatedly like that the rest of the ride home. It went by in a blur especially compared to the ride there with Jasper and Alice. I was actually somewhat sad to leave his car. I wanted to continue talking. Since we weren't talking about love and relationships anymore we actually had a lot in common. We both loved dumb Adam Sandler and Chris Farley movies. We both played Nintendo Mario kart like it was out job when we were younger, but admit we stilled played it now. Our taste in music was roughly the same. We both spanned all genres except for rap and country, We both detested it. We were finishing our discussion of what Back to the Future movie was best when we were getting close to my dorm.

"I am telling you original is the best one. 'You are my density' That line is hilarious." I argued.

"No you have to go with the Second one. You get to see the future and the hoverboard is amazing" He argued back.

"Yeah its cool but nothing can beat the original. Without that there would be no second one. Besides the future is all wrong The cubs still have not won a world series like it said and there are no flying cars." I said smugly. He laughed. "You know we are never going to agree on this." I stated.

"Probably not. I am passionate about what movies are best, and I know what is best. So I will not change my mind." He said

"And I the same." We laughed.

"Um which dorm are you in?" He said somewhat glumly. I guess he didn't want to leave as much as I didn't.

"I am at Tremont. It's only a few more blocks on the left side." We were quiet for a while trying not to think that this car-ride was ending. "You know I seen the second one in awhile. Maybe you could convince me sometime that the second one is better." I said. This was completely unlike me, especially with him.

"Really?" He asked thoroughly surprised. I nodded. "Well that sounds great. I would love to convince you." A huge smile spread across his face.

"Of course there will be one condition." I didn't finish purposely. I wanted to see him react. To my disappointment he remained unmoved and calm.

"And what would that be?" He said calmly.

"That we would be we have to watch the first. So I could change your mind," I smirked again and we chuckled. He was looking at me with that intense look he always did. I couldn't look away. I liked it but I wouldn't admit it. Wait shouldn't he be looking at the road. I swiftly looked forward and realized we were parked in front of my dorm. I looked back at him and he had not stopped looking at me. I had to go. I was getting too used to this.

"Well, thanks for the ride. I owe you. I should get going." I said quickly.

"Wait, Bella."

I stopped and bit my lip. Can't I just go and forget how appealing you are. I paused and debated whether I should pretend I didn't hear him, but I turned back to him slowly. "Goodnight Bella," was all he said.

"Goodnight Edward." I replied and shut the door.

I walked to the door and collapsed against it when it shut. My body was exhausted from my mind. My head was going crazy. I tried to take a deep breath but my body wouldn't let me. It felt like the air was getting stuck in my throat. Too many memories and feeling for someone to process all at once. My body couldn't handle it. As I leaned against the door I thought back to a specific moment like this one yet nothing like it at all.

FLASHBACK

"Alice come on where going to be late!" I yelled. She had been getting herself ready for this party since 4 this afternoon.

She said, "Time is beauty." I glared at her in the mirror so she would see me. "Alright, alright, I am ready. We can go. Besides we want to be fashionably late anyway."

"Yeah Alice the party started 30 minutes ago. I think we will "fashionably" late."

We ran out to her Porsche she got for her birthday. It was canary yellow and she adored it. I can't believe she actually got it. Her parents were extremely rich but it is still her first car. The party was only a few minutes away but Alice sped anyway. She wasn't one for speed limits.

"So you think Jake will be there?" She asked in a overly sweet voice.

I blushed. I really hoped he was. It was his best friend Quil who what throwing the party. "I don't know. Maybe." I replied.

She turned to look at me for the first time. "Oh you're blushing. You want him to be there. Aw that is so cute. How much do you like him?"

"Alice!" She turned and raised her eyebrows at me. "Okay I like him, happy?"

"How much do you like him?"

"Too much!" I replied. It was true. I did like him too much there was no way he felt the same about me but I didn't care. It was too late.

"Oh Bella! I am so happy! You two would be so cute together!" She squeaked.

After she said that I saw an image of Jake and me as a couple. I smiled. I loved that thought. Us being close, him holding me. It was a dream.

We pulled up to the house and there were cars parked all the way around the corner. This was the biggest party I had ever been to. We had to park a few blocks away. As we were walking toward the house I got extremely excited. Jakes VW Rabbit was near the house. He was here. A huge smile spread across my face and Alice noticed.

"Bella why so happy all of a sudden?" I pointed to Jakes car and couldn't help but keep smiling. "Is that his car?" I nodded, and Alice started jumping up and down.

We entered the house. It was insane inside. It seemed like our whole school was there plus people I didn't know. I weaved through the crowd hoping to find Jacob. As I got to the living room I saw him on the arm of the couch talking with Embry and Sam. The drinks were right by were he was, so I casually walked over to grab one in order to get his attention.

I barely made it across to the table before he jumped off the couch. "Bella! I am so glad you're here. Guys you know Bella right?" He said in his deep husky voice.

They all greeted me and we talked for bit, but then they swiftly disappeared. I liked that. Now it was just Jake and I.

"So are you enjoying the party?" He asked.

"Yeah it's fun." I lied. "I am happy you told me about it." Parties really weren't my thing. It was loud, people were drinking, and there was just too much chaos for me.

"Do you want to get out of here?" he asked seeing through my lie.

"Yeah." I replied, relieved and exuberant that he wanted to be alone with me.

He then grabbed my hand and pulled me through the immense crowd and out the door. "Where do you want to go?" He asked still holding my hand.

"Uh, I don't know. I really didn't think about it." I said, realizing how stupid that was. I should have thought of something.

"Don't worry about it. I think I know somewhere we can go." He walked me to his car with his hand still holding mine. I didn't want to let it go. But when we got to his car he let it go to get in the drivers side.

As I got in the car I asked, "So, where are we going?"

"It's a secret." He said with a smile.

Forks was the smallest town. I knew everything. Where could we possibly be going that I had never been before? But I let him have his fun and waited to see where we were going.

We were heading south on I-10. There was only place that this road took you and that was the beach. How original. But I liked the beach and I liked him. I really didn't care where we went. As long as he was there, it was perfect. But it was still not that much of a secret. We drove for about 10 minutes more minutes and parked as far down the beach as we could.

"So the beach huh?" I asked smirking.

"Yes, the beach. I want to take you to my favorite spot." He answered.

We walked into the woods that led to the tide pools. It was not a great walk. I kept tripping and falling over rocks. I hated hiking, and I was bad at it.

"Bella, c'mon. This hike normally takes 5 minutes but with you falling every 5 seconds we wont reach it until morning." He said in a sarcastic cute way.

It took only a few more minutes to finally arrive at his spot. It was a large drift wood log that was big enough to seat two people on it. The log was twisted in a way that a person could actually sit and lean back on it like a chair. It was on top of a large hill; so the view was spectacular. A person could see the whole beach from up here. This was a surprise. He gestured me to take a seat, and I did.

"This place is beautiful Jake." I said amazed as he sat next to me.

Then he turned and looked at me. He stared right into my eyes. "Not as beautiful as you."

A smile crept onto my face and I began to blush. This was a perfect moment. We sat there for a long time. He was just holding my hand as we watched the waves crash. I never wanted this to end but I finally looked down at my watch.

"Oh shit!" That spoiled the moment.

"What?" He asked.

"It's 1 am. My Dad is going to freak." I sprang to my feet and gestured him to lead me back to his car. This time I ran and fell but we still made it back quicker than our way up. "Can you drive me home?"

"Of course." He said.

We hopped in his car, and he sped to my house. He knew where it was because everyone in town new where the chief of police lived. It didn't take long. Everything in town was only 15 minutes away. I thanked him for a great night and bolted for the door.

"Wait Bella!" he yelled out the car. I turned back to him. He gestured me to comeback to the car. I did as he asked. He then gestured again to come closer. I again did as he asked. But I could not have imagined what happened next. He moved his face toward mine and kissed me quickly but sweetly on the lips. "Goodnight Bella." He said and then drove away.

I ran inside my house completely excited. I collapsed against the door and took in a deep breath. This was the best night of my life. I giggled to myself and danced my way up to my room. Nothing could stop my good mood even the impending doom that was tomorrow.

END OF FLASHBACK

**The next chapters will not be up as quickly as these. I had already written these and just needed to proof read them. Hopefully I can get them up fast but I don't want to sacrifice the story I just to get them up faster. Thanks for reading!!**