A/N: Oh my god. An update?! I know. Thank you for your patience, ducks. My brain went on hiatus for a bit, but I think I'm back.

Edward got her flowers. He got the most obnoxiously big arrangement he could find. All kinds of flowers; everything but roses. As he'd placed the order, he hadn't been able to stop cackling.

He knew Bella. She wasn't the type of person who could be charmed by the cliché flowers routine. In fact, he knew her well enough to guess that if he were anyone else trying to woo her, flowers and chocolates would be a point in the negative column: a follower, unoriginal.

The more time went by, though, Edward began to wonder if she would get the joke. He was teasing her. That had to be clear, right? He was arrogant, but he wasn't so cocky as to find it inconceivable he could turn her off. That was what dating was all about.

He ran the whole scenario by Emmett, looking for advice. If nothing else, his brother-in-law would laugh at him. That would break the tension.

When he was done, though, Emmett hadn't even looked up from his cell phone. Edward scooped up a handful of Cheetos and threw them at his friend.

That got Emmett to look up. He looked pissed too. If Edward didn't know him so well, he might have been scared. "Dude, what the fuck?"

"I asked you a question," Edward said.

"Man, like I have time for your teeny-bopper drama. Take it to Tiger Beat or better yet, TMZ. Benjamin would love it. Your fans would eat that shit up."

Edward stared at Emmett, stung. "What the fuck is wrong with you?"

To his surprise, Emmett picked up a nearby throw pillow and tossed it across the room with such force, it thunked against the wall loud enough to make Edward jump. "I'm missing something," he roared. He got to his feet and started pacing. "It's right in front of my face; I can feel it. I'm missing something, and it's going to get you killed, or it's going to get her killed."

"Em, Jasper is on Gianna like white on rice. The cops are everywhere. Come on, man. The good thing about going public with this whole thing is that there are a million eyes on us. It's a damn circus."

Emmett grunted, but he threw himself back down in the chair. He rubbed at his chin, his expression far away.

"Seriously, man." Edward went to sit on the bed, across from where he was sitting. "What's got you so uptight right now? Last week, you didn't want all the cops and attention. Last week, you still wanted to lure this jackass out."

"I don't know," Emmett muttered, rubbing a hand over his face. "Gut feeling. It makes me nervous that the police didn't find anything solid on anyone. That was the benefit of having them involved—they can search everyone's space. They have the resources for background checks." He shook his head. "But they didn't find anything, Edward. Which means, in all likelihood, this person is close and probably pissed."

Edward shivered. He rubbed the back of his neck. He didn't want to be afraid, but he couldn't help but be just a little bit creeped out. Generally, it still felt like all of this was just getting blown more and more out of proportion.

"Okay, man. You need to take a breath. If I'm going to die, today isn't going to be that day."

Emmett glared at him, but after a moment, his look turned more curious. "What happens today?"

"I've got one scene to shoot, and then we're heading out to where they've got the train set up." He swallowed hard, his fear instantly shifting elsewhere. "The stunt crew is packing up to leave as we speak."

"Bella's going to shoot her stunt today, huh? The one on top of the train?"

"Yep." Edward did his best to sound like he knew filming a fight scene on top of a moving train was a totally normal thing. Which it was, in Hollywood. Fucking action movies.

"So rather than watch you die due to my own incompetence you want me to be there for you while you watch Bella die in a tumble from a moving train?"

"No one is going to die!"

Emmett cracked a smile. Then Edward did. He tossed another handful of Cheetos at his brother-in-law.

"You're such a primadonna bitch, Edward. You know some assistant has to clean that up."

~0~

For the most part, Edward tried not to think about how damn flexible Bella was. He was trying not to be tempted by what he knew her body could do.

The stunt team had set up a practice area where Alec—Edward's double—and Bella were going over their moves. The choreography was complex—a dance of gymnastics and martial arts. Edward had been there once when they first started practicing, when each move was slow and measured. Now, they were lightning quick. Kick, punch, dodge. Alec grabbed her. She propelled him onto his back. He tried to kick her in the stomach, but she flipped backward.

Edward was of three different minds here.

He was turned on. How could he not be? This woman, this lithe, beautiful woman, wanted him. How could he watch her body and not think about having her wrapped around him? He could be in her so deep.

Then, he was proud. She was ridiculously talented. He'd always had an appreciation for the work the stunt doubles did. It was athleticism, choreography, and just plain old bad assery all rolled into one.

And he was terrified for her. Watching her duck and weave, flip, wrestle, on the ground, on a mat, was one thing. In a few minutes, she'd be doing that on top of a moving train. He didn't care how many safety precautions were in place. There weren't enough.

He leaned up against a trailer, watching. If he won the right to call her his, he'd have to get used to this. Have to be fine with the fact she was going to get hurt now and again. He would have to support her through that.

But then, he was getting ahead of himself.

Edward snuck up to the mat slowly, while her back was turned. Alec saw him coming, but he covered quickly when Edward put a finger to his lips, signaling quiet.

He almost felt bad. He made a loud noise close enough to her ear that it startled her. She went tumbling down to the mat. Alec cracked up.

Edward, smiling, went to offer his hand to help her up, but she did that crazy move where she drew back her legs and hopped straight onto her feet. She was in his face a second later. "What the hell is wrong with you, Cullen? I was in the zone. Do you know what that's like? You don't move someone out of the zone. You know if you did that when I was like, mid-flip, I could have fallen on my head or something."

He chuckled. He couldn't help it. She was going all Christian Bale on him—an artist disrupted from her process. He could understand it. Her passion was just one more thing about her he admired.

"Are you laughing at me?" she demanded.

He held up his hands in a placating motion. "Whoa. You're right. I'm sorry. I had nothing but good intentions. I swear."

She crossed her arms. "What good intentions could you possibly have that include screaming like a moose?"

"A moose?"

"Yeah, the sound you made did sound kind of moose-ish. If it were dying. Slowly. Painfully," Alec said, grinning. He threw his arm around Edward's shoulders. "But that's not important. What is important is you and me discussing what you're going to give me in return for this video on my phone."

"Alec," Bella said, but he ignored her.

"Content of the video?" Edward asked.

"One Miss Bella Swan being razzed by the entirety of the department. There's stammering and a whole lotta huffing. And oh my God, I was unaware a person could turn that color red. It is, as the kids say, amaze-balls."

"Alec! Bros before hoes, man. Come on," Bella said.

"What? You gotta realize what a rare sight that was. Cool, collected Bella Swan—professional ballbuster—felled by flowers." Alec shook his head. "The man has earned the right to see your reaction."

Bella harrumphed. "You know what, I'm regifting the flowers. The flowers and the date. They're both yours now."

Alec's eyebrows shot up. "There's a date? Oh, now this is news. Tell me more."

"Oh, for Chrissakes," Bella muttered while Edward did his best not to chortle. She was turning a rather delightful hue of red, and he was enjoying it. He might have been nervous, but the furtive glances she was giving him told him she was more pleased than annoyed.

"What in the ever loving hell is going on here?"

A chill went down Edward's spine. Likewise startled, Bella and Alec both whirled as Charlie Swan strode over to them.

It was, unfortunately, Alec who answered. "Edward and Bella were just discussing their upcoming date, boss."

Edward winced. "Alec, what the fuck," he muttered under his breath.

Bella snorted. "Oh, sure. Now you think he's a brat."

Charlie narrowed his eyes at Edward. Before Edward could think of what to say, the other man spoke. "Listen, Mr. Cullen, my people are working right now. Maybe it would be best to let them do their jobs. "

Now it was Edward who turned red. "Right," he said. "That's my bad."

Still, as eager as he was to get out from under Charlie's glare, Edward wasn't ashamed to reach out for Bella. He took her hand and pressed her knuckles to his lips. "We still on tonight?"

Her face gentled into a smile. "Yeah, stud."

~0~

About an hour later, Alec and Bella's practice had moved to the top of the train. It was only one car, being pulled along a small stretch of track for each piece of the scene. It was going to be pulled forward for a shot, reset and repeat until they got it. Then they would move on to the next section of track, the next few seconds of the scene. It was a crazy amount of work for a fight scene that would last a few minutes, but there it was.

Emmett stood with Edward, still more tense than usual. He looked like he wanted to enjoy the show, but he couldn't relax. He kept a watchful eye on the perimeter and gave anyone who got near them a thorough once over.

"Dude, you look like you're eye fucking them," Edward said when one of the assistants walked off quickly.

Emmett snorted. "Yeah, that'd be the highlight of his week."

"Modest as always."

Emmett's phone chirped. He glanced at it, then connected the call. "Hey, short stuff." He listened for a moment, then craned his neck, looking around. "Yeah, I'll come get you."

"What's up?" Edward asked when he put his phone back in his pocket.

"Alice was bored at the studio. Like you said, Jasper is all over Gianna, so he's not paying too much attention to her. Apparently, the scene they were doing was boring, so she wanted to check out the stunt work."

"Can't blame her," Edward said, flinching as he watched Bella jump backward. "This is much more exciting, even if it is the same tedious thing. Do one move—one three second stretch of film—and reset." He winced again as he spoke. There was a platform that had been built to go up and over the tracks right at the place the train stopped at each take. Bella kept leaping up and dragging herself onto it to sit between takes. He was pretty sure she wasn't supposed to be doing that, but no one was calling her on it.

"I'll be right back," Emmett said, heading over to the perimeter to get Alice past security.

Things were calm for the most part. Setting up a train car to do what one wanted it to do took a while, so there was plenty of downtime. Edward was distracted, making flirty eyes at Bella, so it took him a while to notice that Alice wasn't her usual bouncy self. The girl was forever chatting his ear off about what it was like to be on this set or that. It was always novel to become friends with people who had known him for a long time through his work.

He bumped her side. "You okay, kid?" he asked, noticing she was staring too. She was staring at Bella. That made sense. He looked over there so often, she had to be wondering what was so damn fascinating.

"Yeah, I just have a lot on my mind," she said.

She sounded troubled. Edward paused a moment, looking to Emmett. His brother-in-law knew Alice better, after all. But Emmett was distracted himself, his arms crossed over his chest so tightly that his muscles seemed particularly large today. Woe be to the asshat who tried to attack Edward right then. They would be annihilated based on pure tension alone.

Edward turned back to Alice, offering her a smile. He tried to be an understanding, caring person with his friends, but he really didn't know her well enough to probe. If she wanted to talk, she would.

"Hey, there's some kind of commotion going on. Probably some set-related catastrophe, but I'm going to check in with my team at the perimeter," Emmett said, getting Edward's attention. He had his fingers pressed to the earpiece he was wearing today, listening in on the chatter from his team. "Don't wander off. Stay in my vision."

Edward made a face. "Don't worry, Dad. I know how to be a good boy."

Emmett shook his head but didn't comment. He walked off without another word as Edward grumbled under his breath.

"Are you okay?" Alice asked.

"Yeah," Edward said with a sigh. "I'm being ungrateful. I know this thing is serious, but I hate it when my life gets turned into a bigger circus than it already is."

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry you're hurting," she said.

Edward quirked an eyebrow, glancing at her. "I mean, it's not a huge deal."

She shook her head. "Always so gracious."

Edward let that go without comment. He didn't have much time to think about it. Bella and Alec were clambering down from the platform, dropping onto the train car so they could ride it back to the first marker. He would much prefer if she sat her ass down while the train was in motion when she wasn't midshoot, but of course, she didn't. She remained standing. She and Alec did a couple of quick moves as the train rolled.

When they parted and the train rolled to a stop, Bella looked out over the set. A smile brightened her face when she spotted him. It looked like she was laughing at him. She crossed her arms tightly and hunched her shoulders, pointing at him to let him know she was teasing. A smile tugged at the corner of Edward's mouth. He made a visible effort to relax, rolling his shoulders back.

"So… you and Bella," Alice said, drawing his attention back to her. "That's happening? I thought you said nothing happened in my bathroom."

Her voice was tight. Not mad, just kind of stressed sounding. Awkward. "Uh, nothing did happen in your bathroom. I mean… we talked." She didn't need to know the details of how physical that conversation had been. "We talked about things happening."

Alice furrowed her brow, and Edward couldn't understand why she looked so troubled. "Can I ask you a question?"

Another awkward question? He did his best not to sigh. "Of course."

"Why her?" She tilted her head, studying him. "You are who you are. You could have anyone. Someone much more worthy of you. Why her?"

Edward pressed his tongue to the roof of his mouth, checking his automatic irritation. It was a fact of his life he was long used to dealing with. Whenever he made a new friend, there was always a period of time where they had to get over who they thought he was. Even those who hadn't known him or his work very well through the media still had a perception of actors in general, and Alice was had proved herself very familiar with his work.

So he took a deep breath before he answered, reminding himself she was only human. "Bella is smart, ambitious, hilarious, talented, passionate, and gorgeous. Why not her?"

"But she's always making fun of you. Undermining you. Laughing at you. She's antagonistic."

Edward fought a laugh. He could almost understand why she would think that, but didn't she see that he enjoyed the hell out of her teasing? According to everyone else in his personal life, his attraction to Bella was obvious. He looked over to where she was standing on the train, ready to take her place. Her hair was blowing in the light breeze. She looked strong and heroic—damn sexy. "It's a friendly kind of antagonism, and besides, I do it right back to her."

"I've seen you get exasperated with her though," Alice pressed.

"Well, sure. I mean, she doesn't make it easy." He chuckled, watching as the second unit director called action. His heart leapt into his throat as it always did when the train started moving, and Alec flung himself at Bella. "Sometimes she's a pain in my ass," he mumbled, speaking automatically even though his attention was elsewhere. He didn't finish that thought, caught by surprise when Alec backed Bella to the edge of the train. He sucked in a breath.

"Yeah. You know, you can be straight with me."

"What?" Edward asked, distracted again. He breathed easier when the train rolled to a stop and both Alec and Bella took a step toward the middle of the train.

"Jasper told me about the ruse that bitch made you go through."

That caught Edward's attention. "What?"

"Gianna." There was a strange look in Alice's eyes. "She ruins everything. Or maybe… maybe is it that it was Bella all along? Bella wanted you, and Gianna made it so that you had to do that whole thing with her? Had to take her out? Had to pretend you were falling in love with her. Maybe you're still pretending."

"Alice, what the fuck are you—"

She looked at him then, looked him right in the eyes, and there was a weird gleam there. The expression made his blood run cold. "Don't worry," she said. "I couldn't get close to Gianna, but I can take care of this. I can do that for you."

It all happened very quickly then. Edward's brain hadn't quite accepted what was about to happen before it was happening.

Alice drew a gun and aimed. Aimed at Bella who was pulling herself up on the platform. "No!" Edward screamed. He lunged, but too late. The gun went off before he could wrench her arm back.

It went off, and Bella fell from the platform. She struck the side of the train and fell to the ground. Motionless.

A/N: Soooo…. Hi?