That last chapter was LONG. _

Anyway, enjoy! :)

P.S. I've got an obsession with cars, so... I just had to put in the Cullen cars :D

-MW-

Chapter 5

"My Heart – Paramore"

"Emergency – Paramore"

Edward POV

"No. Freakin'. Way."

"You like it?"

I was pretty sure that my mouth was hanging open in shock. I stared at all the sports cars that were neatly lined up in a lot of rows that took up most of the space on the inside of Bella's "garage", and I immediately started naming the only ones I could see the moment.

Mercedes S600 Guard.

2008 Jaguar S-Type.

Ferrari F430.

Mercedes S55 AMG.

Aston Martin V12 Vanquish.

BMW M3.

Porsche 911 Turbo.

But it wasn't exactly the cars themselves that had made my eyes go wide and my mouth feel dry from being open for so long. It was how many she had of them.

"Did you know that this can go from 0 to 62 in 3.7 seconds?" I asked her, examining the Porsche more closely.

She giggled and said, "And 0 to 99 in 7.8."

I looked at her incredulously. This girl knew something about cars? The only other girls that really knew about cars – in my opinion – were Alice and Rosalie. So it was a real surprise to me when she knew the performance of the 911. I smiled, this was going to be fun after all.

"Why are there so many?" I asked her.

She immediately began to look nervous, like she was this little girl who broke her mother's antique vase or something. She took a few steps towards the Vanquish and bit her lower lip.

"After my father died," she put her hand on the hood, "You could say I sort of went through a phase."

"So… You don't really like cars, then?" For some reason, this sort of bothered me. It would have been nice to date a girl that actually knew something about cars and not just their brand names. Maybe the 911 trivia earlier was just something she picked up from when she bought it.

"Oh, no, I love cars." She said smiling, "and it did help me when I was buying all these. They were wonderful distractions." She said dreamily.

We continued talking more about cars and our lives but never really danced around the topic of her father. This girl sure took extreme measures when it came to her "distractions". She told me how she'd come home from her expensive shopping sprees, I tried to get her to tell me just exactly how expensive they were, but she said I'd probably get a heart attack if she told me.

The night had come to an end, and as we were saying our goodbyes, I took one more look at Bella.

From where I was standing, the moonlight created a soft halo around her head. Her eyes were looking straight ahead, but I could see something new in them. They looked so full of life, and that must have been why a smile graced her delicate features – it wasn't a full smile, it only reached her eyes just a little bit, but it made her look like she was keeping a secret or like she just heard the most pleasant thing in the entire world. To top it all off, the light touched every inch of her skin, making her look like she was glowing – she looked almost ethereal.

I shook my head and smiled to myself.

Bella Swan sure could make a guy go crazy sometimes.

(.The next day.)

Alice POV

"I just don't get it," I said, pacing back and forth.

"Maybe you should sit down, Ali," Jasper said.

There was something I couldn't understand at all.

I know Bella, like the back of my hand. She's kind, sweet, smart, and very much like a sister to me. She's never intentionally done anything life-threatening or stupid, she knows better than that. Her instincts are sharp too, so…

"Why did she bring Edward as her date last night?" I thought out loud, ignoring Jasper's earlier statement.

"It was her party,"

"No, no, no, that's not what I meant, Jazz. I meant, why did she bring Edward to her party last night?"

He sighed in frustration. I knew that this was getting the best of him, but I just really could not put my finger on it.

"Maybe he was the one who asked her," he said standing up and walking into the kitchen.

He was the one who asked her?

Edward asked Bella?

Edward made the first move?

Edward and Bella…

I'll admit: that did have a nice ring to it. But that wasn't enough to distract me from what I was focused on earlier.

"Jazz, do you think Edward's strange?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, has there been anything out of the ordinary lately?"

He thought about it for a moment and then started to shake his head.

"Hmm… Not really. Maybe he's just acting weird because of Carlisle again."

"My dad?" I asked in mild surprise, "What does my dad have to do with this?"

"Well, he's always complaining about how hard work would be for him, especially because of Carlisle, according to him."

"Did he say why?"

"Hmm… No, not really." Then his phone rang and he immediately answered it.

"Yeah, I'll be there in 10." He said then ended the call, "I'm sorry, Ali, I have to go. Something came up in the company."

"Alright, take care, okay?"

"I will." He kissed the top of my head and went out the door.

I sighed and slumped onto the couch, landing on a few throw pillows on it.

"Carlisle…" I said to myself.

This mystery obviously wasn't going to solve itself, so I got up and decided to pay a visit to my dad.

I knocked on the door to his study and waited for him to speak. I heard a faint "come in" from the other side of the door and I opened it, walking straight to my usual spot which was the seat in front of his desk, where he usually sat.

"Alice, how are you?" he asked, not really looking up from his paper work.

"I'm fine, daddy."

Long pause.

He looked up from his desk and smiled at me.

"Is there something you need?"

I took a moment to answer, making sure I phrased and worded this properly.

"Edward accompanied Bella to her party last night," I started. He suddenly looked happier and sat up,

"Really?"

"Yes."

"How did it go?"

"They had a wonderful time."

"Did Edward say anything?"

This made me grow suspicious. "No," I said slowly, "I haven't had the chance to speak with him yet."

"Did he look happy?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, uh…" I am so on the right track. "Did he have a good time?"

"I suppose so."

I started to grow tired of this so I drummed my fingers on his desk, knowing that it would irk him, and hopefully, get him to tell me what was really going on.

"Alice, there's somethi– "

"You know why Edward was with Bella." I interrupted. I tried to keep my face as stoic as possible.

He sighed, and brought his hands together, putting them under his chin.

"I'm giving the company to Edward."

"I know that, dad," This can't be just it. I studied his face more and pressed on, "Is there something more you'd like to say?"

He sighed again and let his hands fall on his desk.

"I told him I'd sign it over to him… under a condition."

I did not like where this was going.

"What condition?" I said slowly.

"You know how after Tanya died… It was like he died along with her," he ran his hands through his hair and exhaled, "I couldn't bear seeing him like that. I wanted him to start living again." He paused, looking at me. I nodded once, signaling him to continue.

"I was going to give him the company anyway, Emmett didn't want it, and you don't either. So, two years ago…" and he began to tell me what happened back then.

"…and now, he must finally be moving on, with Bella." He finished.

I swore my left eyebrow was aching from being raised for so long.

Edward never saw the world as rainbows and sunshine. Apart from us, his family, he was never really nice to anybody. He didn't like it when people invaded his privacy and it's always been clear that his goal was to acquire Cullen Corp. as his own. He was always the suck-up. I even remember him telling dad once that he'd do anything to be able to work in the company. He was, essentially, a selfish creature.

"He's using Bella?" I said incredulously. I didn't give Carlisle time to answer as I stood up and walked briskly out of the room.

I was going to have a talk with my brother.

I stormed into the building, making my way towards the elevators. I furiously pressed the button and tapped my foot impatiently against the floor, waiting for it to reach the floor of Cullen Corp.

Before the doors could completely open, I was already out, making my way to Edward's office.

"I-I'm sorry! Mr. Cullen is not availa –," Lauren, his assistant, tried to stop me but I just pushed past her and walked into Edward's office, where I found him, leaning back on his chair with his hands behind his head, staring at something across the room and laughing out loud.

I leaned over and slammed a thick book on his desk.

"We need to talk."

He immediately stood up, shocked from my abrupt appearance.

"Alice! What are you doing here?"

"I know what you're doing with Bella," I said, cutting to the chase, "and I'm warning you, Edward; don't even think about it."

"Think about what?" he said, looking dumbfounded.

"Using Bella! To get the company! That's low, Edward, even for you." His face turned into that calm mask I recognized. He always did that when he had to lie.

"Alice, I'm not using her." I snorted.

"Right! And Carlisle taking your trust fund hostage has absolutely nothing to do with it!" I said sarcastically. His face was still calm.

"Stay away from her, Edward. I'm not having this." I said walking away.

"What if I'm not just using her? What if I actually like her?" I stopped in my tracks. I spun on my heel and made my way to my earlier position then I just stared him in the eyes. I couldn't tell whether or not he was being serious because I couldn't see any emotion in his eyes – nothing at all.

"Is that so hard to believe?" he asked.

"Is it – Is it so hard to believe that I might like the way she blushes? That I like the color of it? Is it so hard to believe that merely being around her leaves me at a loss for words? That when she says something funny, I laugh? And, I'm talking about a real laugh here. The kind that makes people around you stare at you and make them think that you're crazy. Is it so hard to believe that I can't stand the way she makes me feel, but whenever I'm not with her, I just want to be with her? Is it really that hard to believe?"

I could feel my eyes begin to soften, and I think I started to believe him. I shifted my weight and sighed.

"Edward, I just don't want to see her get hurt. She's had it pretty rough the past couple of years. And I'm not just talking about her dad." I explained.

"I wouldn't do that to her, Al." he said.

I sighed. Bella really did not need another guy coming into her life and lying to her again. It's only happened once before, but considering everything that happened during that time with Jacob, her ex-boyfriend, it was actually more than enough to make any woman almost swear off men for the rest of their lives.

I can still remember her throwing out all of his stuff from her house. It wasn't a pretty sight.

Those poor Gucci shirts…

"She makes me feel like I did when I was with Tanya… But… In a different way…" he said quietly.

I looked at him with my eyes wide.

Now this was a real surprise. Not only was Edward acknowledging how he felt about Bella, but he was describing to me how he felt as well, even bringing Tanya into the picture.

I sighed again and folded my arms across my chest.

There really was nothing else to say, was there?

"You have my blessing." I said in monotone.

He finally broke out of his mask and smiled.

"Thank you, Alice. And I'd really appreciate it if you didn't say anything to Bella."

I rolled my eyes.

"Do you really think my mouth is that big?" I said sarcastically. I forced a smile and started walking towards the door.

"Bye, Edward. I'll see you at home."

"Bye, Alice."

I couldn't help but feel that something wasn't right.

Edward POV

I sighed in relief and sat down, rubbing my temples. Alice could be really sneaky sometimes.

"Thanks a lot, Emmett." I said into the earpiece.

"No problem, man. You're just lucky that one of Rose's romance novels was lying around the place."

"Yeah. Listen, I gotta go. I'll see you, man."

"Bye!"

I highly doubt that Alice believed my little monologue – I could see some of the doubt she had in her eyes.

I took the earpiece off and recalled what had happened earlier.

"Is it really so hard to believe?" I said to myself quietly.

I liked writing this chapter, for some reason... XD

R&R, please! :)

-MW-