AN: Well here it is: Chapter 12. Please let me know what you think, and don't be afriad to be brutal! A thousand thank yous to those who favorited/alerted/reviewed me or this story. Encased is my first attempt at a "lime." I'm not sure if I like it, and I may take it out in re-editing, but let me know. It's in between the asterisks (*) if that's not your bag.

Chapter 12: Nothing Gold Can Stay

College was quickly becoming the easiest thing in the world for me. We had been here about two months and I was beginning to fall into a routine: wake up early so Alice could dress me, go to my morning classes, lunch with Edward, afternoon classes, dinner with the crew (which sometimes even included Angela), and a nightly movie. When we had papers to do, procrastinating in the living room or the library replaced movie time. On weekends, there was always a party that Alice knew about way before anyone else that we simply MUST attend. I was actually making a lot of friends, although our group stayed together more than anything else.

Things with Edward were getting better by the day. We still weren't officially dating, but if you asked anyone, we definitely were. He walked with me pretty much anywhere I went, we always ate together, we would meet up all the time, and we would steal kisses from each other whenever possible. All our interactions to date had been pretty PG-13, although we danced along that border into explicit material from time-to-time. Recently, our makeout sessions had gotten pretty serious, although we never got any farther than groping in our underwear.

***

Most notably was a few nights ago in his bedroom. Jasper was over at my apartment, helping Alice with her sketching class, which was really just them hooking up on the couch with a couple notepads scattered on the coffee table. That meant that Edward had his bedroom to himself, and he and I were listening to music on his bed. The night started out innocent enough, with a couple kisses in between discussing why The Beatles were quite probably the best rock band of all time, and a fiery feud about who was the better Beatle: John or Paul. In the midst of all this, "Why Don't We Do It in the Road?" popped up on his iTunes. Both of us stopped fighting and immediately looked at each other with seductive smiles. Edward leaned in for a kiss, instantly deepening it by pressing his tongue against my lips, parting them. As we explored each other's mouths, our hands started to explore as well. I found my hands knotted in his hair, and his hands found my waist. We continued feeling each other's bodies, parting only for the slightest second as he pulled my shirt off, revealing a simple blue bra. His eyes grew to the size of saucers and he moved his lips down my collarbone, finishing at my left breast. He scattered kisses across the fabric and moved his left hand to take my right breast and massage it. I made quick work of pulling off his shirt, taking a minute to marvel in his exquisite body before continuing kissing him all over his face and neck. We rolled around his bed pressed against one another until we were out of breath, and then curled up together, letting "Here Comes the Sun" lull us to sleep.

***

This weekend was our turn to throw a rad party, though. Of course it was Halloween, and we were expected to throw the best costume party Washington State had seen. Alice had been planning it pretty much since we all moved in, because everything just had to be perfect. Luckily for us, the holiday fell on a Thursday, and our party was set to start around 10:30 that night. However, Alice had roped me into decorating BEFORE my 9 AM class.

"Alice, you do realize that it's a college party, and no one is going to care about decorations, right?" I whined at 8 o'clock in the morning.

"Oh, stop complaining, Bella. When people are still talking about our party during spring semester, you'll be glad that we put in this extra effort. Now, help me with these lights," Alice lectured me. Luckily, my phone rang. Jacob Black? Shouldn't he be at school now?

"Oh, Alice I have to take this. Have the guys do the lights tonight. They can actually reach the ceiling." I opened my phone, a little concerned. "Jake? Is everything okay?"

"Of course, Bells. Why wouldn't it be?"

"I don't know, maybe because you should be in class right now?"

"What, and miss my favorite girl's first party? Nope, Quil, Embry, and I are playing hooky today and tomorrow and headed out your way."

"Oh, my God! Really, Jake? That's awesome! When are you leaving?"

"Right about now. We're just waiting for Miss Call to get all her luggage in the trunk." I heard what had to have been Embry yell "Shut up!" and a thud that was probably him hitting Jake. Oh, high school, I thought to myself.

"Well that's just perfect, Jake. Text me when you guys are close, and I'll let you know where to meet all of us."

"Can't wait to see you. Love ya."

"Love you too, bye!"

"Bye."

"Jacob and his friends are coming to our party tonight!" I exclaimed.

"Sweet, I gotta see if he picked up that part for me from the junkyard," Rose replied. Jacob and Rosalie had found something they had in common: cars. "Can you believe how much a carburetor costs these days? Ridiculous."

"Oh, yeah. They cost so much," I rolled my eyes; Rosalie expected everyone that she knew to be as versed in cars as she was.

"Shut up, Bella. This is for your truck. If you won't let us buy you a new car, at the very least pretend like you're interested in what's going on while I fix that ancient beast you insist on driving."

It was true. My baby was having some engine troubles that Rosalie and Edward were working on. I could only imagine that once the kids from the res got here, our curb would turn into a full-service garage. The only downside of this was that I wouldn't be able to spend as much time with Edward until my truck was fixed. No matter, though, while they worked, I got to hang out and watch trashy reality TV with Emmett, Alice, and Jasper. We all really got a kick out of the trainwreck girls and the crazy meathead guys. I liked it, too, because while I had found common ground with everyone in the group, I still felt a little more distant from Jasper. This gave me a chance to hang out with him and know him better.

I checked my phone as I got up from the table I had sat down at. It was 8:45 AM. "I have to get to class. I'll see you later today!" And with that, I hurried out the door to get to class on time. When I walked out the door, however, I ran smack into another body.

"Oh, I'm sorry," the blonde girl who I ran into apologized. She was exceptionally pretty, her hair having just a tint of red to it, and soft blue eyes. She was delicate-looking, with small features and a small frame, although she was on the taller side, probably around 5'8". "Um, you wouldn't happen to know Edward Cullen, do you?"

"It's no problem. I'm a self-proclaimed klutz myself. Yeah, I actually do know Edward. He's probably still in his apartment," I felt kind of proud to be able to tell this stranger all about Edward's habits, "Is he expecting you?" I was so intrigued. He hadn't told me that he was doing a group project or anything of that sort, but I figured that's what she must need him for.

"I'm surprising him. I'm his girlfriend."

WHAT?! Calm down, Bella. Collect yourself. I knew in that instant my face had betrayed me. I tried to bring my expression back down to a normal one, without a whole lot of luck. Could it be that this was Tanya the supposed, crazy ex-girlfriend? Was Edward lying to me, and they were still really dating? I was going to have to figure all this out, now. "Oh." I finally managed to get out. "Um, well, his apartment is right over there. Third door on the left." I pointed her in the right direction and turned right back into my apartment. "Guys," I said, weakly.

"Bella, are you okay?" Alice was perched on a chair trying to hang a string of orange rope lights around our living room. She jumped down and motioned for me to sit in the chair she was just using as she walked into the kitchen. "Rose, I think you need to get in here. Bella looks ill." She grabbed a mug from the cupboard and filled it with water.

"Um, does Edward have a girlfriend still?" Both their faces dropped, and they looked at each other, and then back at me, clearly confused. "I think I just met Tanya."

"Wow, Bella I don't think you realize what a loaded question that is," Alice started.

"I'm not going to class today. I want answers." I looked at both of them seriously.

"Okay. My brother is in a very delicate situation. One that you're going to have to talk to him about. I'll let you know basically what's going on, though. You'll have to get the details from Edward, though."

"I just don't understand. I mean, he told me about Tanya, but all he said was that she was just a crazy ex."

"Basically, that's true. She, um, had a hard time with accepting that Edward wanted to move away from their relationship. Basically, she's a woman obsessed."

"So, they're not actually dating then?" I was so confused; I could kill Alice for being so vague.

"See, that's where it gets complicated. In Edward's mind, he feels nothing for her, except maybe pity. But for Tanya…"

"They're still together. I understand." Ugh, dealing with Edward went from being so blissful and perfect to completely complicated in seconds. I needed to talk to him right away, but I wasn't sure if confronting him while Tanya was around was the best way to go about it. "I think I need to talk to Edward. Like, now."

"Bella, that might not be the best idea." Rosalie tried to explain to me, "Tanya's a little delusional when it comes to Edward. Blowing all this up in her face isn't going to help anyone."

"Well, what do you expect me to do? Just sit back and let Edward remember all the wonderful things about her?"

"That's not going to happen," Alice laughed softly, "He's so crazy about you, he's probably holding back from jabbing her eyes out."

"Or imagining your head on her body as she professes her undying love for him," Rose chimed in, cracking up at her own joke.

"I'm glad you guys think this is funny." I was sulking in my chair now.

"Trust me, Bella," Alice regained her composure, "Tanya Denali is nothing you need to worry about."

Rose broke in with a huge laugh. "Em just texted me: 'OMG Tanya's here! You should see Eddie right now…he's trying not to flip his shit."

I couldn't help but join in the laughter. Maybe she really was just crazy. I could definitely see how Edward could do that to someone. I was picturing Edward, always in control of the situation, having no idea what to do with himself when faced with Tanya's surprise visit.

"Okay, I HAVE to go over there," Rose exclaimed. "My dumbass of a boyfriend can't deal with this by himself. Plus, I have to see all this for myself."

My face fell a little bit. I was so angry that Rosalie was allowed to go be with Edward when I couldn't. I knew that as innocent as it would look to Tanya, it would put him into an unnecessarily complicated situation.

"Don't worry, Bella, I know Rosalie will do some recon for you." Alice gave her an angry glare for just a second, "Hey, how about we go get some Starbucks. I think an espresso brownie will do wonders for you right now."

"Shouldn't you be going to class?" I asked Alice, silently wishing that she would hang out with me instead of going.

"I have History of Fashion at 10. Please, you'll be doing me a favor by giving me a reason to skip class. There's only so much I can take about powdered wigs before I stab myself with my pen."

We all giggled; I was feeling a little better already. And I knew that being with Alice would help me forget all about the Edward situation—at least for now.

I walked to Starbucks with my pint-sized roommate, bundled up in a coat; I was beginning to hate Washington again, now that it was getting cold. When we got into the coffee shop, Alice insisted on buying my vanilla latte and espresso brownie, and we curled up into a couple overstuffed chairs in the corner.

"So, when is Jake getting here?" Alice asked me.

"Um, I'm not sure, probably around dinnertime. I think I'm going to make a giant lasagna tonight for everyone." I replied. I was actually really looking forward to cooking tonight; it would be a good distraction to everything that was going on. Ugh, I was dying to talk to Edward and figure all this out.

"Oh, that sounds so good. Can we have garlic bread, too?"

"Sure." I laughed. I still didn't understand how someone so small could have such an appetite all the time.

"Okay. So I need to talk to Sam and find out when he's bringing the keg. And we still need to get ping-pong balls and cups. Are you going to your other class today?"

"Yeah, I have Psych at 1:25. We can go to the store and get that stuff whenever though."

"It's okay, I'll just have Jazzy pick it up when he goes on his liquor run. He 'won't waste time fighting over cheap beer at my girlfriend's party.'"

"How's he getting liquor?" I didn't think that Jasper had a fake ID.

"His friend, Peter from one of his classes, is 21 and said that he would go on a run with him. He'll be there tonight and bringing a bunch of upperclassmen! Bella, this party has to be perfect. I refuse to go down in WSU history as the freshmen who threw a lame Halloween party!" Alice looked stressed and exasperated.

"Al, breathe." I curled up into my chair a little more and sipped on my drink, "I'm sure our party is going to be amazing. If anyone knows parties it's, Alice Cullen, right?"

"I guess you're right. I'm just nervous. I mean, with all the people we usually party with, it would be no big deal, but now, there's like seniors coming and I don't want to look like an idiot freshman who doesn't know what she's doing."

"Do you want to go back to the apartment and put up some streamers or something?" I asked, trying to be helpful.

"Isabella, streamers are so passé," Alice exclaimed as she rolled her eyes at me.

"Well, sorry!" I joked back. "Seriously, though. Let's go watch some Barefoot Contessa or something. I'm done with this brownie and I don't want to hang out here all morning."

Alice looked up at me from her phone as I said this, no longer laughing. In fact, she seemed a little panicked.

"Um, how good do you think your acting can be?"

"Not great. You know that, Alice. Why?"

"Well, apparently, Tanya's quite excited for the party tonight. Edward's silently having a panic attack, and Rose and Emmett are just beside themselves holding in laughter."

"How the FUCK does she know about the party?" Alice started to open her mouth to answer me, but I stopped her, "Let me guess, a certain bear of a man couldn't keep his damn mouth shut for ten minutes? Ugh, how am I supposed to deal with her in my apartment? She can't come. She just can't."

"Well, obviously, Bella. None of us would dream of putting you in that sort of situation, complicated as Edward's life is. But we need to get her out of here, and soon. So we were thinking about telling her that there's a really strict guest policy and that she won't be able to stay without any of us getting written up or something."

"Okay, but what does that have to do with my acting skills? Why doesn't Rose just tell her that?"

"Edward's having a conniption right now, and we think the only way he'll be able to calm down is if you're around. So do you think that you'll be able to pretend that you haven't been sleeping with my brother for two months?"

"Alice! You know Edward and I haven't slept together! We're not even officially dating."

"Yes, but whenever you two are in the same room together, you look at each other like you're mentally undressing each other constantly. That won't help the Tanya freak out."

"Okay, can I text Edward and let him know I'm coming? Because I know he'll be the one freaking out if I just show up unannounced."

"Yeah, yeah. Hurry up though. I wanna get over there and see all this for myself."

"You sound like Rose." I pulled my phone from my bag and found Edward's number.

Hey. I'm heading over with Alice. I know all about everything mostly so don't freak out. We're gonna get her out of there

Wow, that sounded a lot more confident than I felt. I had to get a grip because I wasn't sure just how nuts this girl was about Edward. I mean, she seemed normal enough, but she was pretty deluded into thinking that they were still dating.

"Okay, I'm ready to go," I told Alice, and we made our way to the apartment.

We got close to their front door, and I heard sobs, getting progressively louder. I let Alice open the door, trying not to look too comfortable in the apartment I had spent most of my time in these last two months.

"Heeey Tanya," Alice said slowly, clearly trying to get a handle on the situation. I, personally, had to stifle back laughter at the sight of the living room. Rosalie and Emmett were on the armchair, falling into each other, trying not to laugh. Tanya was standing dead in the center of the room, tears streaming down her face, hyperventilating and looking back between Edward and Alice and me. Edward was sitting on the couch, looking utterly confused at the whole situation. Either he didn't get my text, or he was a really, really good actor. I was thinking it was the former. A string of profanities went through my mind as I tried to avoid eye contact with the guy that I've been seeing since school started. I reminded myself to just keep calm, and we could get everything under control quickly.

"Hi Ally-Pop!" Tanya replied, and I heard a laugh escape the armchair that I knew to be Rose's. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Alice cringe at the nickname.

"Tan, what's wrong?"

"Eddie's saying that I can't stay here tonight. But I want to go to the party!"

"Well, he's right, actually. WSU has a really strict guest policy. Ever since there was a fight brought on by a couple kids who didn't go here like the second weekend of school, all guests that stay past midnight have to be signed in at least a week in advance. Right, Bella?"

"Yeah," I managed not to stammer. Jeez, I was really getting used to being prepared for anything with this group. I quickly made the decision that I would flex my, albeit poor, acting skills a little bit before anyone else said another word. "I'm actually an RA here, and it would be putting my job in jeopardy if I knew that you were staying on campus and you weren't a student. I'm really sorry." My lie sounded a lot more convincing than I thought it would.

"R-really?" Tanya looked like she was about to explode into tears, "But he's my boyfriend! Can't you make an exception just this once? I miss him so much and I wanted to surprise him! If I had known I would have called first!"

I faltered, and had no idea how to deal with that. I opened and closed my mouth a couple times to try and find words, but to no avail. Edward piped in and saved me at the last second.

"Tanya, we really shouldn't push Bella. I know that she would love to help, but she's just trying to do her job. It's not fair to drag her into a situation where she would get into trouble. What if we went to dinner tonight and then you can go see your aunt and uncle in Spokane?"

"Okay," she finally resigned, smearing her mascara as she tried to dry her eyes with the back of her hand. "Only because I would hate for my boo to get into trouble, and any of his…" she looked me up and down with a slight air of disgust, "friends."

"Please don't call me that," Edward sighed. "Now, you've had an eventful morning, and I have class soon, so why don't you take a nap in my room and I'll meet you back here a little later."

"That sounds good. Can you show me your room?" Her blonde curls bounced as she giggled following him into the bedroom. I wanted to kill her in that instant.

Edward walked out and asked me to get lunch with a whisper, and I nodded in agreement.

We walked to a little sandwich shop just off campus, and Edward, ever the gentleman, insisted on buying my sandwich and explaining everything.

"So, what do you know already? I'm guessing Alice told you most of it, since you handled yourself pretty well," he said.

"Yeah, I guess. Tanya's your ex-girlfriend who is actually insane, thinks you guys are still dating, and now thinks I'm an RA here. That's about the gist of it, right?"

"Did you come up with the RA thing, or was that the girls? Because it was brilliant."

"That was me. I figured she wouldn't be swayed by a bunch of regular students, so I decided to give myself a little power."

"So devious." He smiled that crooked grin that drives me wild, so I had to redirect the conversation back to the Tanya issue.

"Okay, but Tanya. So you guys broke up, right? Why is it that you play along with this façade? I know that it probably makes sense to you, but to me it's just fueling the fire."

"Tanya's story is pretty tragic. I don't know if it's right for me to tell you, but I feel like you deserve to know all about my baggage, and she's part of it. Near the start of our sophomore year of high school, Tanya's father left with another woman. It was really hard for her. She was always Daddy's Little Girl, and when he moved to Seattle with a girl 20 years younger than him, essentially Tanya's own age, it crushed her. She was in a really bad place, and in a small town, word travels fast. Everyone knew all about it and instead of rallying around her, a lot of people ignored her, or worse, talked about it behind her back. Our group really felt bad for her, and since Emmett and Kate were friends, we pulled Tanya into the group.

"Apparently, she took a liking to me. I had no idea for about a year, until Alice started talking about winter formal our junior year. Obviously Rose and Emmett were going together, Alice and Jasper were paired up, and Garrett and Kate were coming in our limo. That left Tanya and I dateless. Alice suggested that I take her, and I figured it was pretty harmless—we had been friends for a while. Well, over some time, it went from us just being formal dates to us dating. She is a really sweet girl, but she definitely never dealt with her issues with her dad. Instead, she projected all the insecurities about her dad leaving onto me. Her mom tried to get her into therapy and work out the issues logically and rationally, but she refused to go.

"Once senior year started to wind down, and she was going to U Dub and we were coming here, I tried to break things off with her. That just ended up upsetting her, and her telling me that I was leaving her just like her father. She was not giving up, and convinced herself that we were staying together and going to get married. All summer I tried to get her to see reason, but she just wasn't having it. Eventually, Jasper made her understand that there was a chance that we wouldn't get married and that she would find someone down the road. I guess, though, she still thinks that for now, we're still together."

"Wow. That's pretty nuts." I was at a loss for words. I wanted to be so mad at her, but I just couldn't. Her story made me want to cry. I knew that Tanya definitely needed help, but it was going to be difficult to get it for her. The only thing I could think of was institutionalizing her, but that seemed really drastic. Was Edward worth all this trouble? I mean, he was practically perfect, but this was a lot of baggage to deal with. I wasn't sure if I was ready to sign up for that. At the same time, though, I felt like I couldn't just abandon him. He's been through so much in his life already, and he needs to know that people aren't just going to give up on him. "This sounds unreal; I'm not going to lie."

"I know. And I wish I could tell you it is just a story. But dealing with Tanya is just one of the things I have to do. I understand completely if it's too much for you to handle. I just want to be honest with you about everything. I'm sorry that I wasn't upfront about all this from the beginning. I just liked you a lot and didn't want to scare you away right off the bat."

"Stop apologizing for everything, Edward. You're right, this is a lot to take in, but I'm not just going to go running screaming for the hills. Plus, maybe seeing that you have a new life here is good for her. Maybe she'll realize that there's really nothing between you two anymore." I was trying to remain calm because I knew that Edward was going crazy and I didn't want to add to that, but it was hard. I let my rational side take over and tried to keep my heavy emotions out of it.

"I hope so." Edward grabbed my hands and put them in his, his expression suddenly changing from distraught to, nervous? I wasn't sure what he had to be nervous about, but he stared into my soul with those green eyes of his. "Bella, I want you to know that spending time with you over the last couple months has meant a lot to me. I've wanted you to be my girlfriend probably since I almost ran over you with my car, but this whole Tanya mess has kept me from acting on it. I do want to end things more finally with her before I start anything new with you, but I want you to know what I'm thinking, and I don't want you thinking I'm just dragging you around with no intention of ever taking things farther. I know that it's selfish, but I want to ask you to wait for me."

"I really appreciate your honesty, Edward, and I want to help out any way I can." I could feel my emotions bubbling up, about to explode everywhere. I didn't care, though. I wanted Edward to know just how much he meant to me. "I'd always wait for you, although, I hope that it won't be too much longer." I couldn't help but laugh a little, and his melodic chuckle joined in with mine.