A/N: araeo is a goddess. Thank you for the beta-y goodness. She is total win, you guys. Seriously. Check out her fic Work in Progress. It is AWESOME. Also, check out Adair7's What Impossible Means...sweet Jebus, I cried.
I do NOT own Twilight, but I wish I owned Edward...in my bed... ;)
BPOV
I went to gym feeling aggravated and angry. I also couldn't figure out why this bothered me so much. I didn't even know him. So what if he didn't give me the time of day? It just made no fucking sense. I sat on the bleachers in gym trying to figure it out.
"Bella? Are you OK? You look pissed." Jessica Stanley, one of the students who had adopted me as her friend, asked.
"Yea, I'm fine." I decided that now might be a good time to try and get some information on Little Mr. Sunshine. Maybe I wouldn't have to bother Alice about it. "Hey Jess, do you know that guy Edward Cullen?"
"Yea, why?" Her body tensed at the mention of his name.
"He acted...weird to me today."
"Yea, that sounds about right," she said. I almost wanted to slap her because she said it with such venom in her voice that I felt the need to defend him. I had to remember my quest for information here, so I simply raised an eyebrow. She let out a breath. "He's a jerk. And he's trouble."
"Trouble?"
"He's been in and out of foster homes since he was, like, 8. Dr. Cullen adopted him when he was 13." This made no sense to me because I knew Alice by then. "But he ran away so many times, the state took him back." Ah-ha.
"So, why...or rather how is he back now?"
"I'm not sure, but I've heard that Dr. Cullen fought to get him back for four years."
"Wow."
"Yea. He mostly keeps to himself."
"He doesn't have any friends?"
"If anyone tries to be nice to him, he makes it perfectly clear that he doesn't want any friends." There was that venom again. I had a good idea that she was one of the people he'd shown that clarity to. I was going to ask more questions when Mike Newton, an annoyingly sweet and clueless boy I met earlier today, came over to us. Jessica blushed slightly at his presence.
"Hey Bella! How are you likin' your first day?"
"It's all right. It's school, so ya know...it sucks." He laughed and Jessica started giggling too. It wasn't that funny. I sighed internally.
"So, what are you gals talking about?" Did he really just say gals? Is he a cowboy?
"She was talking about Edward Cullen."
"Ah, the resident freak-slash-delinquent. Don't waste your time, Bella. He's not worth the trouble." Mike and Jessica fell into conversation while I sat there in thought. I would have to pester Alice for info. This just wasn't enough. There was more to this story, and I was going to find out what it was.
When I finally got home, I was fuming. I spent the rest of the day trying to figure out Edward's weird behavior toward me and kept coming up with nothing. I glared at the house across the street. I took my bag upstairs, threw it on my bed, gave myself a quick once-over in the mirror and stormed out the door past Rosalie and Em who were just walking in from school. I barely heard the 'What's her problem?' slide from Rosalie's perfectly glossed lips. I marched chin up, shoulders squared over to the Cullen house.
EPOV
I left the room thinking about how the universe must hate me. I decided to pretend someone doesn't exist, and the powers that be just plopped said person into the lab seat next to me. It was almost impossible to sit there and not talk to her. I had about a million questions. I caught her sniffing herself to see if she smelled bad, and I almost laughed. She smelled good, actually. Really good. Like freesia in the warm sunshine. It was a little intoxicating and I had a hard time concentrating on the lab. It had gotten to the point where it seemed like the room was filled with her scent and I was getting drunk off of it. I was grateful when the bell rang because I couldn't handle not talking to her any longer. I rushed out of the class as quickly as I could.
When I got home, all I could think about was the girl, Bella. I saw her on her way to gym and she looked angry, downright pissed, in fact. That was to be expected, though. I had acted like a douche-bag in Bio. What I wasn't expecting to see on her face, but was clearly written there anyway, was the hurt. She looked like someone kicked a puppy in front of her, and I felt awful. I spent the day trying to figure out how I could fix this while still maintaining my distance from her. How could I apologize to her without giving her the wrong idea, or explain to her why I was being such a dick in the first place? She wouldn't want to be burdened with my bullshit. What did she know of pain? I still hadn't come up with anything when a fast, hard knock came at the door. I sighed and walked to the front door while shouting to Alice that I'd get it. When I opened it, I saw a very angry Bella standing in front of me. Her eyes widened briefly and then her anger came back just as quickly.
"Is Alice home?" she asked, clearly agitated.
"Yea, she's upstairs." She made a move to just rush past me when I turned and grabbed her wrist to stop her and, honestly, to try one more time to get a glimpse inside her head. Nothing. She looked down at the wrist I was holding and then back up to me, eyebrows furrowed and looking even more angry. "Listen, Bella..."
"Oh. So you're talking to me now?" She was pissed at me.
"Bella, I wanted to..." She yanked her wrist away from me, spun on the ball of her foot, and stomped up the stairs.
Fuck.
BPOV
What the fuck?! Now he was talking to me? He even sounded like he was about to apologize. Maybe I overreacted? No. No! He acted like an asshole...but why the change just now? I got to Alice's room considerably less agitated, but even more confused. I knocked on her door.
"One sec!" she chirped. There door opened, and she beamed at me. "Hi Bella! What's up? To what do I owe this unexpected pleasure?" She made a show of curtsying which, on a normal day, would have made me laugh. She looked at me again and her smile fell a little. "What's wrong?"
"Can we talk in your room, please?"
"Sure, come in." She stepped aside and I walked through. I sat down on her computer chair and she hopped onto her bed and sat Indian style, facing me. "Spill."
I let out a breath and then took another deep one. "What is up with your brother?" I blurted. She tensed up and the look in her eyes became guarded.
"Why?" was all she said and I sighed.
"He was nice to me when we met, he was nice when you guys left for class. He ended up being in the same Bio class with me and when I said hi to him, he completely ignored my existence and flew out of the room when the bell rang. So...?" I left the sentence open as if to say 'What the fucking fuck?' She relaxed quite a bit and smiled at me sadly.
"He's been through a lot and as a general rule of his, he tries not to get close to people." She smiled brightly. "He must like you!"
"And your logic behind that is..?"
"Well, he usually shrugs people off. 'Hi. Nice to meet you. Kthxbai,' and that's it. That he even went beyond giving you his name surprised me." I blushed a little and her eyes widened a bit. "Why do you care anyway?" She smirked. I answered too quickly.
"I don't! It was just weird."
"Mmm-hmm." She wasn't buying it. Shit. "Tell me the truth." I sighed again.
"OK, but keep the 'you're fuckin' weird' comments until the end, OK?" She nodded solemly. "When he first walked into the lunch room, I already knew he was there. I felt him." She raised an eyebrow. "It was like...a magnetic pull, like when you touch an open wall socket and feel that little zap of electricity that pulls you in. When he shook my hand, I felt that electricity rush up my arm and wake up my body." She looked at me with a mixture of surprise and amusement.
"Is that the end?" she asked. I nodded. "You're fuckin' weird."
"Thanks, Al."
"Sounds like someone has a little crush." she giggled.
"See, I knew I shouldn't have said anything to you." I stood up and tried to walk out of the room. Alice grabbed my hand and tugged me back.
"No Bella. Please, I'm sorry. Don't go. Sit back down." I sat a little reluctantly. "OK, so you felt something. After that, Edward ignored you. Maybe he felt it too." She said simply and shrugged like this answered everything.
"And?"
She rolled her eyes at me. "Are you that thick, Bella? Maybe he got scared. Say he felt it too, and he has spent the majority of his life trying to avoid closeness with others. How do you think that must make him feel?"
"What happened to him?" I asked, not able to help myself. She bit her lip looking like she wasn't sure if she should tell me. After a moment she spoke. Slowly.
"His parents were...murdered." I gasped. She nodded.
"H-how?"
"He was 8. They had gone out for dinner one night. He had wanted ice cream afterward, and they took him to get some. When they began to make their way home, they took an alley as a short cut to get there. Someone held them up. His father reached into his jacket to get the money from his wallet, and I guess the guy thought he was pulling a gun and he...shot him. His mother began screaming and afraid of the attention the screams might bring, he shot her too. Edward stood there, frozen. He didn't say or do anything and the guy just ran off leaving him there. They found Edward the next morning asleep next to the bodies," she finished, crying a little. I didn't realize it, but tears were spilling down my cheeks too.
"Oh my God. I...I didn't know."
"You couldn't have, Bella. He doesn't know why you're back in town. He doesn't know about your mother." My hand went to the empty place on my chest feeling for the pendant automatically. I'm glad she didn't go into further details about my mother. Even though I had trusted her over the years and told her everything that had happened, I didn't like to talk about it. "So why would you know anything about him?"
"I guess, but...I don't know." Now I hated myself. "Maybe I should talk to him? Apologize?"
"I don't know if that's a good idea. Your sudden change in mood might make him think you're crazy or something." She smirked at me.
"Pfft. No crazier than him." I said standing up and moving toward the door. "Thanks Al. I'll talk to you later." She nodded and I opened the door. I looked down the hall to the left and noticed Edward walking lazily toward the staircase leading to the 3rd floor. "Hey, Edward!" He turned and looked at me warily. "Can I talk to you for a minute?" He looked at me for a moment, narrowing his eyes. My heart skipped a little when he nodded toward the flight of stairs he had been approaching. He began walking up; after a moment and a deep breath later, I followed.
EPOV
Shit.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
I had my ear pressed against Alice's door listening while she recounted what happened to my parents in an attempt to try explaining my weird behavior to Bella. I heard Bella let out a quiet sob. Then I heard Alice saying something about Bella's mother being the reason she was here. I made a mental note to ask Alice what she meant by that once Bella left. Then I heard them shuffling toward the door and I was about to run down the hall when I decided that would look too conspicuous. So I just strolled as casually as possible toward the steps leading up to my room. Bella called my name down the hall and the sound of it on her lips brought goosebumps up on my skin. I mentally berated myself for being so pathetic. I turned toward her feeling a little defensive.
"Can I talk to you for a minute?" she asked. My heart sped up because I could feel that weird sensation she gave off all the way down the hall. I nodded toward the stairs leading up to my room and began climbing them. She took the hint and followed me up.
What the hell was I doing? This isn't keeping distance from someone. This is closing it at light speed. I opened my door and stood aside to let her in. She hesitated a moment and then walked past me into the room. I shut the door and turned toward her. We stood there facing each other.
"I'm sorry," we said simultaneously. What the hell was she sorry for? I was the dickhead here. "I'm sorry for my...attitude earlier today, Bella. I just think it's better if we kept a distance from each other." She stared at me with those big brown eyes.
"Why?" she asked. I took in a deep breath.
"Anyone I get close to always ends up getting hurt for one reason or another. I just think this is better for you."
"I think I can determine what is or isn't good for me, thank you very much," she spat.
"Look, I'm just trying to look out for you, OK?"
"Yea? Well don't do me any favors." She looked at me a beat longer and then pushed past me and stormed out. As she slammed the front door, Alice looked up at me from the bottom of the staircase.
"What the hell was that?" she asked.
"She just doesn't understand. It's better this way."
"Maybe it isn't. Maybe...this was meant to happen."
I rolled my eyes at her. "Geez, Alice. Don't go all fortune teller on me."
"There's already one freak in this family with weird abilities, Edward. I don't do psychic. Think about it, though. Neither of you lived here before, not really. Yet the both of you came back to live here at the same time after years away."
"Now that you mention it, why did she move back here?" She bit her lip and looked worried.
"I don't think it's my place to tell you."
"Oh! But you have no problem telling her about my past!" I blurted. She gasped.
"You were listening?!" She turned red and I sighed.
"Yes, I'm sorry. I was curious about what she came over for. I knew she was angry with me."
"Edward, I'm sorry I told her, but she was so upset. I've never seen her so upset about anything before. She's really good at shrugging things off and looking the other way. It comes from experience," she whispered. "Look, whether you like it or not, there is something between the two of you. She felt it and I know you felt it too. You wouldn't be acting like this, and you wouldn't have touched her."
Fuck.
"Caught that, huh?" I said.
"Yes, Edward. Please, will you just talk to her?" I looked at Alice and the pleading look in her eyes.
"I'll think about it," I said while turning to go back upstairs, already knowing what my answer would be.
BPOV
I walked in my house and slammed the door.
"Um, Bella? You OK?" Emmett asked.
"Fine," I said, moving past him.
"Bella! What's wrong?" I let out a breath and met Emmett's wary gaze.
"Edward Cullen is what's wrong." Just as Em was about to say more, I turned and walked out of the kitchen toward my room. "I don't wanna talk about it," I said on my way out. I walked up the stairs allowing my feet to come down a little harder with every step than was entirely necessary. I went in my room and sat on my bed going over everything again and again.
"Ugh!" I grunted out loud. It was too early to go to bed, but I wasn't hungry and there was nothing to do. I decided to take a shower hoping it would relax me and help me think. I turned the hot water way up and stepped in letting it relax my tense muscles. I stayed in the steaming water for half an hour. When no epiphanies came, I sighed heavily and turned the shower off. I tied my hair up, got into my comfy pajamas, and plopped down on my bed. I was considerably more relaxed, though still confused. I closed my eyes and took some deep breaths. Before I knew it, I was asleep.
EPOV
I laid on my bed staring at the ceiling. I couldn't stop thinking about Bella. All I kept seeing were her eyes. Her angry, confused, hurt eyes.
I shot up into sitting position. I had to see her again, soon. Tonight. Now. I glanced at the clock and saw that is was after 10 pm. Shit. She was probably asleep. Then I remembered the tree outside her house that led right up to one of the windows. Maybe it was Bella's window.
What the hell was I thinking? Was I some kind of stalker? After several minutes of deliberation and continually seeing those questioning eyes, I decided that yes, yes I was. With a smirk, I put on my sneakers and hopped off my bed. I was out the door before I could convince myself that this was a bad idea.
A/N: Thank you for reading! Please review! Let me know how I'm doing!