Chapter Four - The Truth

Author's Note: First of all thanks to the people who actually take the time to leave reviews. It's so annoying when people favorite you as an author and favorite your story but they don't leave a review. But hey, me saying that in past stories I've written hasn't made people listen so why is it going to now? Anyways here's another chapter.

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The next day I worked alone. Suzanne had an all day conference to go to. She had scheduled me to work a full day, so Sylvia told me that she'd bring me lunch and hang out at the library for awhile.

Things were quiet like they always were. There were a few students in the lounge, but other than that, it was only Barney and I.

I took the stack of books on the top of the rack outside the lounge and put them on the cart. I rolled it over to the stairs and took a few of them up to the second level. It made me smile when I got to use the moving ladder to put two of them away.

But as I was putting one of them on the shelf, I suddenly felt as though I was being watched. I looked down and tried to keep my composure when I saw Edward standing in the middle of the rows looking up at me.

For a long time we both stared at each other. My eyes never left his, and his gaze never wavered from mine. It was odd. Normal people looked away when they got caught staring. But here he was, showing no signs of embarrassment as his eyes bored into mine.

The electricity flowing between us was almost tangible. I wanted to reach out and touch it with my fingers, to wrap my hands around it and hold onto it tight so it couldn't escape.

But my mind wouldn't let my heart feel those things for long. Images of Edward's brusque behavior and slight rudeness flittered through my head.

I blinked and pushed my glasses up the bridge of my nose to break our stare.

"Can I help you with something?" I asked quietly.

"Yes actually." Edward came closer to the ladder and looked up at me. "I wanted to introduce myself to you after our brief encounter the other day. I also wanted to apologize to you for the way that I acted."

I was stunned into silence. I hadn't noticed that I was still holding onto the book that I had put on the shelf five minutes ago. I let go of it and cleared my throat.

"Would you do me the honor of coming down so that I can introduce myself properly?"

I slowly climbed down the ladder, carefully moving my feet so that I didn't trip. When my feet touched the ground, I looked up and realized that Edward was over a foot taller than me. I hadn't noticed the last time we'd been that close.

"My name is Edward Cullen." When he spoke, a crooked smile played across his lips. The sight of it was enough to throw my coherency out the window.

"I…I'm…my name is Bella. Bella Swan." I said breathlessly, extending a shaking hand towards him.

Just as quickly as before, my mind overshadowed my heart when I saw the hesitation on Edward's face. He looked down at my hand like it was a disgusting rat that I was asking him to pet.

"Okay. Just forget it." I retracted my hand and walked right past him to go back down the stairs to the cart for the third level books.

When I was walking back up the stairs to head to the third level, Edward was standing at the top waiting for me. I looked down at the floor when I got close, and kept walking up the next staircase without looking back.

"Bella."

I jumped at the sound of his voice and all of my books went tumbling to the floor. I hadn't even heard his footsteps behind me.

"What is it with you and making me drop my books?" I asked, an annoyed edge to my tone. I got down on my knees and starting picking them up.

"If I recall correctly, you ran into me the last time that I was here." Edward's tone mirrored mine, except his voice was enticing although he was being a jerk.

I stood up and turned my back on him to continue on my way.

"I'm sorry Bella. That was rude of me."

"Look, unless you need me to find a book for you or something, why don't you get on with your business? I have a lot of books to shelve."

"I won't get in the way of your work I promise."

I stopped and turned to look at him. Now that we were both level, I took the time to look at him. He looked just as beautiful as he had the other times I had seen him. The sight of him sent my mind and heart into war with each other.

"Why do you want to follow me around anyway? You practically ran away from me after you helped me with my books and now you won't even shake my hand."

"I'm sorry about that." Edward frowned. "Can we start over? Please?"

"Well that's easy for you to say right now - my hands aren't free." I nodded to the books in my arms.

He chuckled. His laugh was just as musical as his voice was.

"Here." In a flash, Edward had collected all of the books from my arms and held them under one of his like he had done the other day. "My name is Edward Cullen."

He stuck his hand out.

"Bella Swan."

I slowly reached out and placed my hand into his. His skin was just as cold as the other day. His hand barely tightened around mine, and he was already releasing me before I could revel in the smoothness of his skin.

When I had looked into his eyes during that brief moment, he had looked like he was concentrating very hard on something. His jaw had been set and his eyes were far away from me though they were looking into mine. He had almost looked like he was in pain.

"Now may I follow you?" Edward asked, a brilliant smile replacing the pained expression on his face.

"S-Sure." I shook my head as if to physically shake some sense into myself.

I turned around and started walking towards one of the rows. I walked very slowly. I felt self conscious knowing that Edward was following me, that he was watching my every move.

I wondered how I looked to him. I wondered what a man as incredibly handsome as he was saw when he looked at me.

When I looked in the mirror, I saw a girl with pale skin and a pair of lips too big for her face. I saw a girl with long, dark hair and a pair of matching, dark eyes. I saw a plain Jane. I saw those things and I wasn't unordinary exquisite. I was average.

"Bella." Edward raised his voice at the same moment I felt his hand on my shoulder, jerking me backward. The coldness seeped through the material of my shirt and I shivered underneath his hand. It vanished instantly.

I looked up and realized that I almost run into a wall.

"Oh god." I muttered, my cheeks aflame.

As I turned down one of the rows, I heard Edward chuckle from behind me.

"It seems like you enjoy bumping into things…and people."

"It's not that I like it." I pushed a book into its proper place, still hiding my red face from his eyes. "I guess I'm just good at it."

"Apparently so." He was silent for a second before speaking again. "What were you thinking about?"

"Hmm?"

"Well you had to have been thinking about something to have not been paying attention to where you were going. What were you thinking about?"

I stopped dead in my tracks. Slowly, I turned around to face him. When I did, I almost gasped audibly but couldn't find any air to intake.

His golden eyes were smoldering. It was as if there were flames dancing in them.

"Tell me." His voice was lower than I had ever heard it, and very serious.

It was as if the combination of the tone of his voice and the entrancing look in his eyes cast a spell over me. My lips were moving before my mind could stop them.

"I was thinking about what I see when I look in the mirror."

"Why?" Edward raised an eyebrow and the simplicity of the action was enough to take my breath away again.

"I…" My voice was lost in my breath.

Being around Edward was hazardous to my health. Whenever he was around, I lost oxygen for short periods of time. I was going to get brain damage. But I didn't care about that. What I cared about was how stupid I must have looked.

"You…?" Edward took a step towards me.

"I…don't want to have this conversation." I turned away from him, breathing heavily but as quietly as possible. I rushed into another row.

I wasn't surprised when Edward followed me.

"Why not?"

"Why are you following me?" I asked, turning towards him. "I can't figure you out. It seems like you don't want to be anywhere near me, but then it seems like…"

"Like what?" Edward asked quietly, taking a step towards me.

I felt his cool breath fan across my face. The scent filled my nose and I took an impossibly deep breath to fill my lungs with it.

"Like you can't get close enough." I dared to raise my eyes to look up into his. I hadn't realized how close his face was to mine and I froze.

"Does it bother you?" He asked, his voice even quieter than before.

"N-No." I answered, my voice barely audible. I wasn't sure he had heard my answer until I saw the smoldering look in his eyes flicker away.

My brow furrowed. It looked like my answer made him mad.

For a few moments we stood, our faces only inches apart, staring into each other's eyes. His expression never thawed. But still he remained there in front of me.

"Hey Bella! Sylvia's here!" Barney called. "Bella!"

I didn't answer. But Edward suddenly walked past me without a word.

I turned around and watched him walk away from me. I couldn't find my legs to move to go after him. I just stood there.

A few minutes later, Sylvia was turning the corner and coming down the row I was standing in. She was biting her lip.

"Bella…please…please tell me that I didn't interrupt anything between you and Edward." She grabbed both of my arms. "Bella?"

"No," I assured her with a small smile, "no you didn't interrupt a thing."


For the next week, there wasn't any sign of Edward. I worked a few half days, but mostly full days. But when the weekend came, I was free.

Sylvia had spent all of Friday trying to convince me to go out with her that night. She hadn't been pushy, she had been a concerned friend. It had been pretty clear that I had been upset about Edward.

I decided to go with her. She had been really great and hadn't ever pushed me or forced me to go out with her. She was really happy that I decided to go.

"Do I have to dress up?" I asked with a groan.

"No. You can wear whatever you want Swan." She assured me as she applied mascara. "You can wear your pajamas if you want to."

"I just might."

"Well go get ready. We'll leave in a half hour okay?"

I left the bathroom and went into my bedroom to get ready. I opened my dresser drawer and started to pull out a pair of jeans.

But then I thought about Sylvia. I had seen her go out at night before and she always wore something nice. I didn't want to rain on her parade and make her unapproachable by wearing jeans. But I also wanted to be comfortable.

I settled on the pair of high-waisted, black dress pants I had worn for my last interview with Suzanne. But I did wear my Linkin Park band T-shirt, and tucked it into my pants before slipping on my flats.

"You look good!" Sylvia said happily when I came out of my room to go into the bathroom. She was using my curling iron on her already wildly wavy hair.

"Thanks. What are you going to wear?" I asked as I pulled the brush through my hair. I reached into the plastic case and pulled out a clip to fasten most of the front sections of my hair back.

"I have this little black dress laid out on my bed." She put down the curling iron. "In fact I'm gonna go put it on. Want me to curl pieces of your hair for you when I come back?"

"No thanks."

I studied my face in the mirror. I pulled off my glasses and swapped them out for contacts. I hadn't worn them at all that week.

"You look great." Sylvia said reassuringly as she appeared.

"Wow Sylvia." I looked over at her and realized that she hadn't been kidding about her black dress being little. I almost blushed just looking at her and wondering what something like that would look like on me.

"You know, I've never seen you wear any kind of makeup." She commented as she resumed curling her hair. "Do you ever?"

"Not really. I'll dab on some concealer every once in awhile."

"Concealer doesn't count." Sylvia said with a smile. "I mean like lipstick. I would kill to have lips like yours."

"They look goofy on me. My face is so little and then my lips are huge." I looked in the mirror at them and swept my fingertips over them.

"Trust me - you don't look goofy."

"If you say so Sylvia."

I hung out in the bathroom while she finished her hair and applying the rest of her makeup. After she was done and had put everything away, we were out the door.

"So where are we going?" I asked as we walked down the street. The sun had already set and it was getting darker by the minute.

"About five minutes from here to The Red Lion."

"I've heard of that place. Haven't a lot of musicians gotten big from playing there?"

"Yeah. Dana Fuchs got her start there."

When we got to the place it was already crowded. It was so loud that I couldn't hear Sylvia when she was talking right next to me. And it was impossible to move around without having to squeeze past the dancing, sweaty masses.

"Bella! Bella do you want a drink?!" Sylvia shouted near my ear.

"I'm good! You go on!" I shouted back.

"Okay! Stay put! I'll be right back!"

I leaned against one of the walls and waited for Sylvia to return. I figured she was probably going to get a beer. I looked around at all of the people there. A band was playing on the stage, jumping around and yelling. The girls in the audience were barely dressed.

I suddenly regretted my decision in going out with Sylvia. I felt uncomfortable and I knew that my discomfort was going to be obvious. And I didn't want to ruin Sylvia's good time. I decided to tell her I was going home when she got back.

"Hey!"

I looked up to see a guy standing in front of me, leaning forward. He was holding a bottle of beer in one hand, his other was pressed to the wall above my head.

"Hi." I mumbled, looking down at my shoes.

"You're cute! You're really cute!" He gave me a smile.

"Thanks."

"I really like the band that's playing! They're great aren't they?!" He nodded towards the stage.

"I guess."

"So do you want to dance?!"

"Um no thanks. I was actually leaving." I ducked underneath his arm and headed towards the door, phone in hand. I typed out a message and sent it to Sylvia's cell phone.

hey I left. I got a headache all of a sudden. you have a good time though!

I started walking down the street towards the apartment. As I was walking, I looked up and across the street to see Stanley's. The lights were still on in the large, glass window of the garage.

Curious, I looked both ways before scampering across the street. I looked in the window to see that the place was empty except for a dirty taxi. As I looked it over, I saw someone's feet sticking out from underneath it.

I hadn't ever stopped to look at Edward's shoes so I couldn't tell if it was him.

I watched the window for a good ten minutes before my phone vibrated in my pocket. I pulled it out to read the text from Sylvia.

ok. are you sure you don't want me to come 2?

I typed out a response before shoving my phone back into my pocket.

no really have fun. sorry to be a dud

When I looked up from my pocket, my eyes met Edward's. I froze to the spot. All I could do was stare back at him. His eyes wouldn't release mine from his gaze.

But after a moment, I felt the blood flooding my face and I turned and started walking quickly back across the street.

"Bella! Bella!" Edward called after me.

I kept walking down the sidewalk, hands shoved into my pocket and my head down. I could feel my cheeks getting hotter as I heard his hurried footsteps getting closer.

"Bella wait a second." His voice was in unison with his hand wrapping around my arm gently. I shuddered against his cold touch and he pulled his hand away from me. "What are you doing out here alone?"

I couldn't help the dry laugh that came out of my mouth.

"That's why you came after me? You didn't want to yell at me for watching you through the window?"

I started walking again, but his hand found my shoulder, which was covered by a sleeve. I turned around to face him.

"Well I don't really feel like I'd have the right to be mad at you. I did come into your place of business the other day and follow you around like a lost puppy."

Edward released my shoulder, but he flashed his brilliantly white teeth at me.

"That's true." I would have been dazzled by his smile had I still not been so embarrassed. And if the smile hadn't faded from his beautiful face so quickly.

"You still didn't answer my question. What are you doing out here alone?"

"I was walking home from The Red Lion." I pointed down the street in the same direction as the club.

"You didn't strike me as the type of girl that went to clubs." Edward raised an eyebrow.

It was hard to breathe when I noticed Edward's eyes traveling over my body. I began to blush when I tried to imagine what he was thinking about.

"I…I don't."

"I don't follow." Edward's eyes flickered back up from roaming my body to meet mine. Even with his eyes on mine, I found it difficult to breathe.

"My roommate." I breathed quickly, almost immediately sucking in another breath before I had finished my sentence. "She likes to go out."

"I see. Well then why don't you stay home?"

"She wanted me to go out with her. She knew I was…" My voice trailed off and I looked away from Edward's gaze.

"Was," I was surprised to feel a finger beneath my chin, tilting my face up gently, "what?"

When I looked into his eyes, they were like melted honey. I couldn't hide myself from him, especially when he was gazing intensely into my eyes. It was as if I was stripped completely naked in front of him without any way to cover myself.

"She knew I'd been…upset this past week." I finally murmured, as if it were a secret and there were hundreds of people listening in.

"Because of me?" He asked without hesitation, his eyes still soft.

"Because you never came back."

In a flash, Edward's finger left my skin and his eyes had hardened. He visibly set his jaw before taking two long strides past me.

"I'll walk you home."

I scurried after him, but I didn't dare speak. I looked over at Edward. His jaw was still set, and his eyes were directly ahead. His fists were balled and jammed into his coat pockets. I had seen that look before. He had looked that way after I had told him it didn't bother me when he got close to me.

"Why do you get mad at me for telling the truth?" I asked suddenly, trying to keep up with his quick pace.

"I don't." He was somehow able to look over at me and still keep striding forward ahead of me. "I get mad at what the truth is."

"Why?"

Edward whirled around and looked at me with his hard eyes. The melted honey had frozen and become solid. I shivered and he wasn't even touching me.

"Because. You should not like me being close to you." His musical voice had withered away and become the closest thing to a growl.

"B-But I do." I reached out, unthinking, to grab his wrist, but in a flash, he had moved back several steps.

"You shiver whenever our skin touches."

"Your skin is cold."

"It's because you're scared. Your subconscious is screaming at you and your body responds to it."

"Why would I be scared?" I asked, daringly taking a step towards him.

Edward's brow furrowed. In a second, his hand was rubbing out the lines and creases etched into his marble skin. He closed his eyes for a few moments.

"You're home. I have to go."

With that, he was walking past me in the direction of Stanley's. I looked up and realized that we were, in fact, in front of the apartment. But before Edward could escape from me in the blink of an eye, I lowered my gaze.

"Edward!"

He stopped. Slowly, he turned around.

"Do you feel it?" I took a few steps towards him but didn't allow myself to get too far. "Do you feel the electricity between us?"

I watched him from where I stood. I was going out on a limb by asking him that question. But I had to know how he felt.

"Yes." He turned and kept walking.

I sighed, from both holding my breath and out of relief. I reached for the door when I suddenly realized something.

Edward had walked me home…without me ever having told him where I lived.