Stephenie Meyer rules the Twilight Universe.

Playlist for Chapter Seven – "Leave the Memories Alone" by Fuel, "Endlessly" by Muse, and "God Put A Smile Upon Your Face" by Coldplay

Chapter Seven - Leave the Memories Alone

So here I am with my thoughts of you

And this world I've left for me

Stoic faces when I think of you

And how I once believed

So now you call me

But you know I won't let you through

I've myself to deceive

So leave the memories alone

I don't want to see

The way it is

As to how it used to be

Leave the memories alone

Don't change a thing

And I'll hold you here in my memory

- Fuel, "Leave the Memories Alone"

~Edward~

I ran straight to the treehouse after I took Alice home from school. I had never experienced emotions like the ones that nearly overtook me earlier when I was around Bella. What I had felt for her had always been pure, but now my feelings were tainted with something unknown and unfamiliar. In all my years as a vampire I had never been interested in a member of the opposite sex – vampire or otherwise. But the sensations that I had experienced with Bella after meeting her this time were dangerous. I desired her, to feel her satin skin, tangle my fingers in her silky hair, and touch her soft lips with mine. I had to find a way to push these foreign sentiments aside and return to the feelings of my memories. I wanted them to remain unchanged. Thinking of Bella any way other than I had in the past was unacceptable and unforgivable.

I tried to block today's Bella from my thoughts by working on the restoration of the treehouse to its former glory. The years of my absence had taken their toll on the once-beautiful structure. It was overgrown with vegetation, the roof was in disrepair, and some of the steps and railings were missing. It looked more like a fitting abode for a brooding vampire than a magical forest palace for a princess.

When I had done as much as I could without purchasing the necessary building supplies, I gave up trying not to think about Bella. It was an exercise in futility anyway, as everything around me reminded me of her. In my mind's eye I could see my little Bella there, her tiny form racing up the stairs, her laughter filling every corner of the little home I had built for her. I saw her shining eyes as I wished her happy birthday, and felt her presence dancing across the floor of the treehouse.

Unable to withstand being away from her any longer, I ran to her house. From the adjacent woods I could hear her crying softly in her room. I knew I had upset her by leaving her at the gym instead of walking her to class as I had arranged. My treatment of her had been reprehensible. It tore at my chest to think that I had done this to her, but what was I supposed to do? I could not become involved with her romantically, so it wasn't right to lead her on and build her hopes falsely.

So now I waited outside of her house until she and Charlie went to sleep. As soon as I was certain no one in the house was awake, I moved to my familiar perch in the tree outside of Bella's room. I peered through her window and saw her lying on her bed, her mahogany hair spread across her pillow, her long lashes fluttering against her cheeks as she dreamed. She breathed out a little whimper and cried, "Edward, save me! Don't let him get me. He's trying to hurt me!"

A night from over a dozen years ago came rushing back to me with vivid recall, when I had climbed through her window to comfort her from a similar nightmare with a lullaby. Before I could register the action, I had slid the window open and was sitting next to her, stroking her hair and humming softly. She reacted immediately, her breathing evening out and her heart rate returning to normal. A little smile flitted across her face and she sighed, "Edward."

My dead heart threatened to jump from my chest.

She rolled over and snuggled down into her covers and whispered, "Can we live here forever, just you and me?"

I smiled at the memory of the day she first saw her treehouse, at the way she had filled my life with happiness.

Watching her sleeping form, with her hands tucked under the side of her face on her pillow, I could still see the little girl who had captivated me from the moment I first saw her. I whispered to her, so softly that I knew she wouldn't hear, "I wish we could, my Bella."

I knew without a doubt that Bella would hold my heart for the rest of my existence. You'll never know, but you are everything to me and I will love you endlessly, I thought. I will protect you forever, even from myself…

YOU CAN RUN BUT YOU CAN'T HIDE, Edward Anthony Masen Cullen. Alice's thoughts interrupted my reverie.

"What do you want, Alice?" I asked through my clenched teeth, my irritation evident.

"Come down here now! I need to talk to you, face to face," she demanded. I've put this off for as long as I can stand - it's time for an intervention.

I released an annoyed sigh and jumped down to where Alice stood waiting with a furious look on her face, hands on her hips, tapping her foot impatiently.

"Ooh, I hate you right now! You are by far the most obstinate, pig-headed creature on the planet! I'd love nothing more than to knock some sense into that supernaturally thick skull of yours, but I'm afraid I'd only knock out what little you have left."

"Alice, what are you talking about?"

She narrowed her eyes and glared at me. "You know exactly what I'm talking about, Edward."

"No, Alice, I honestly don't. Every time you start to think about something that involves me or Bella, you fill your head with nonsense and I can't tell what you're seeing," I told her. It was past the point where it frustrated me to no end.

"I swear you are emotionally handicapped! I'm talking about the way you treated Bella in school today. You have no idea what you've done to her, do you?"

I took a deep breath before answering. "Alice, I did what I had to do. I didn't want to hurt her feelings, but there wasn't any other way. I can't get too close to her. I am experiencing emotions that I must never subject Bella to. The only way I know to keep Bella safe from these… feelings… that I have for her is to stay away from her."

"Jeez, Edward, you can be such an IDIOT EMO VAMPIRE! I know that I'm wasting my breath right now, but someone has to point out the obvious to you because you'll never get it otherwise. You really are clueless! You and Bella are meant for each other. She's your mate, for crying out loud!" she growled with frustration.

"What the hell?!" I shouted back. "How can she possibly be my mate, Alice? She's human, in case you haven't noticed. It could never work with a vampire and a human… it's unheard of."

Always so negative, Edward. You're only saying that because no one ever has.

"No, it's just not possible. I am Bella's protector, her 'guardian Angel' as she used to call me. She couldn't be my mate, unless she becomes a vampire, and I will NEVER take her life. She is far too precious, so don't get your hopes up because there is NO WAY that is going to happen, Alice. I WILL control my emotions and Bella will be safe."

"How you can miss what is right in front of your face I'll never understand, Edward," she said, shaking her head. I can lead the horse to water, but I can't make it drink, although at this moment I'd much rather drown it! You are SO damn stubborn!

"Right now the only control you need is damage control. You have to apologize to Bella for being a complete ass, first thing tomorrow. I honestly don't know what your excuse is, but come up with something to earn her forgiveness," Alice urged.

"Just be there for her as a friend. Don't pressure yourself to be anything more, and for God's sake don't try to be anything less. She needs you Edward, and as much as you don't want to admit it, you need her. Please, please make things right," she said gently, taking my hand. You're my brother and I love you. I just want everything to work out for you, and I can't stand to see you screwing it all up.

"I don't see how this can possibly work out, but I promise I'll apologize to her tomorrow."

"Thanks, Edward, that's all I'm asking for. Now get back to Bella," she called softly as she ran into the woods.

~Bella~

I woke up feeling renewed and hopeful. I had wallowed in a pity party for myself the night before, and now it was time to get over it and take some action, although what action to take I had no idea.

Part of me wanted to confront Edward and ask him what the hell his problem was. The non-confrontational part of me had always heard that it was best to pick your battles, and in this one my weapon of choice was avoidance.

At the conclusion of my internal debate, I decided that I would take the "wait and see" approach for now. I knew that there was something there when we talked during gym. I saw it in his eyes. The connection between us was undeniable. I just had to prove somehow to Edward that it was worth the effort.

I completed my morning routine in record time and pulled into the school parking lot twenty minutes before the first bell. Edward was already there, leaning against his shiny silver Volvo across the nearly-empty lot, as if he had been waiting for me to arrive. As soon as I put the truck in park, he was walking in my direction.

I took a deep breath to prepare myself as I watched him approach. He was so gorgeous as he made his way to my side, I forgot to exhale. His tawny gold eyes drew me in and scrambled all semblance of intelligent thought.

"Good morning, Bella." His honey-smooth Angel's voice caressed my ears.

"Good morning, Edward," I breathed, freeing the air that had been trapped in my lungs since he first started toward me in a single whoosh.

"I wanted to apologize for yesterday… for not walking with you to Calculus," he said, breaking our gaze to stare at his feet. "I shouldn't have left you waiting, but Alice needed me to unlock the car so she could get something she'd forgotten to take with her earlier. Since I was already over near our classroom, I went ahead to find a seat. If I'd come back to the gym, we would have both been late. I know it was inexcusable, but I hope you'll forgive me."

"Really, Edward, it's no big deal, there's no need to apologize," I told him, smiling to let him know I that I meant it, my breakdown of epic proportions from the night before forgotten.

"I have Mr. Wood for advisory, who do you have?" he asked.

"Mrs. Wagner. I love her. She's one of my favorite teachers. She actually manages to make World Studies fun. I think you'll like her class."

"I'm sure I will. Can I walk you there on my way to Mr. Wood's room?"

Speechless, I nodded and we headed to class.

All through English class I could feel Edward watching me. Whenever I turned around and caught him, the corners of his mouth lifted into a crooked smile and my heart would skip a beat while he held me in his gaze. It was a good thing that I knew Romeo and Juliet by heart, or I'd be at a complete loss as to what was covered in class. Breathe, Bella, breathe. Focus on the Capulets and Montagues.

Angela kicked my chair and whispered with a grin, "Earth to Bella… Someone's got it bad."

I suppose I did.

I grinned back and asked, "So how's Ben?"

"He's good. Nice subject change, by the way," Angela said, laughing quietly, trying not to draw Mr. Berty's attention.

We turned our attention back to the subject, but as Mr. Berty droned on my mind drifted to a certain beautiful boy sitting at the back of the room.

When the bell finally rang signaling the end of English, Angela and I walked together to our next class, with Edward following closely behind. We took our seats at our bench in Chemistry, and Edward slid into the bench in the back, the only student in the room without a partner.

I felt the back of my head heating up and turned to find him staring at me again. I made a silly face at him and swiveled quickly back toward the front of the room. I could hear him chuckle softly and let the sound wash over me, elated to be its cause. Mr. Wood glared at him for a moment and Edward's laughter faded out. I could still hear the echoes of it in my mind and it made my heart happy.

~Edward~

Friend. I could definitely be her friend. Years ago I had been her best friend, and I'm sure I could find that place in her heart again.

When Bella made faces at me from her Chemistry bench, I couldn't contain my laughter. Laughter. I hadn't been happy enough to laugh in eleven years. But here, in her presence, my chest bubbled with it. It was amazing how the coordination of Bella's facial muscles could evoke such a response in me. I let the feeling of contentment settle through me as I basked in the glory of Bella.

She seems so happy. Angela's thoughts of Bella were filled with kindness. I really hope he likes her; she of all people deserves happiness.

Angela remembered Bella being teased frequently by Jessica and Lauren over the years, and felt a sense of pride for Bella's inner strength and integrity. She pictured Bella helping her father by cooking and cleaning at home. She recalled how Bella had held Jacob Black's hand at his mother's funeral, offering her support to help him through his grief. I bristled slightly at that particular memory.

Class passed quickly as I learned more about Bella through Angela's thoughts. I was thankful that Bella had Angela's friendship. I couldn't have picked a better friend for her myself.

After Chemistry, Angela and Bella parted as Angela left for her World Studies class, and Bella and I joined Alice in Spanish.

Thanks, Edward, for doing right by Bella. Alice winked at me. She is positively radiating happiness. If Jasper were here he'd be getting a contact high from her.

I tilted my head slightly to acknowledge Alice and smiled.

And I can tell that you're happy too, brother of mine. It looks good on you. She grinned widely.

Señora Goff started the lesson and Bella focused on the subject. I watched as she conjugated the verbs listed on the board in her loopy scrawl. Even her handwriting was endearing to me. Every so often she would pause and raise her head to look at me. I could feel the warmth of her smile from my seat.

The period passed too quickly and we headed to World Studies, with Bella's favorite teacher. Bella sat in the front row, near Mrs. Wagner's desk, and Mike Newton had placed himself behind Bella. I had taken a seat near the back of the room so I could observe Bella, but now I wished I had chosen to sit in Newton's spot.

"Hey girl, how's it going?" he asked her with a cheesy smile. Wow, her hair smells amazing. I wonder what it feels like. He toyed with the idea of reaching out and tucking a loose lock of her hair behind her ear.

I fought the urge to keep from launching myself across the room and pinning Newton by his throat against the wall. So help me God, I would gleefully remove his hand from his body if he so much as touched a single strand of her hair.

Bella turned around to face him. "Great Mike, how are you?" she replied politely.

"I'm always good," he answered smugly and winked at her. I'm hoping you'll get to find out just how good I really am.

I suppressed the growl that was building deep in my chest. Fortunately I could see Bella roll her eyes, so I knew she wasn't interested in finding out "just how good" he was. If he kept this crap up, I wasn't sure that he would make it to the end of the day, much less to graduation.

Thank God for the bell. Class started and Bella concentrated on Mrs. Wagner's lecture, taking meticulous notes and studiously avoiding the suggestive remarks Newton kept making under his breath.

Bella was right about Mrs. Wagner; she definitely made the class interesting. She didn't just regurgitate the information from the textbook, but added information from other sources and anecdotes from her own experiences as well. She had traveled around the world extensively, and actually spent quite a bit of time in several of the countries she was teaching about.

Time seemed to pass much faster and it seemed like only a few minutes had passed when the bell rang to start lunch. I heard Alice's thoughts from outside the classroom as I gathered my things and headed to the cafeteria.

Come sit with me at lunch today. If you sit with Bella she will wonder why you aren't eating, and it's too soon for that particular discussion.

I joined Alice at her table in the lunchroom. Bella sat at a table across the room, with Angela and Ben, talking animatedly about a movie that Ben and Angela had seen over the weekend.

"Steve Carell is a comedic genius. That was one of the funniest movies I've seen in a long time. The scene where he was getting his body hair waxed was hysterical! I was almost crying from laughing so hard," Ben said, wiping a tear from his eye for emphasis. "I mean, really, can you imagine a guy making it to 40 years old without ever having sex?"

Bella and Angela both chortled and nodded their heads in agreement.

Alice snorted. Yes, as a matter of fact, I CAN imagine a 40-year-old virgin. I happen to know a 104-year-old virgin!

I rolled my eyes and shook my head. "Very funny, Alice. There's nothing wrong with being a virgin. I've just had better things to do with my time."

"Right, Edward. Keep telling yourself that. You can't know that the things you're doing are better if you have no basis of comparison. Trust me. Sex is much better than sulking in your room with your stereo."

"I can't help it if I haven't found anyone who interests me enough to take that step," I snapped.

Uh huh, sure you haven't, and de-Nile isn't just a river in Egypt.

I opened my mouth to argue as a vision flashed through Alice's mind, but as I'd come to expect, the moment it started she began blocking me out in some extremely annoying fashion. This time she was singing a medley of disco tunes. I hated disco with a passion the first time around, and now I felt violated, my head polluted with mindless garbage set to a monotonous beat that were it possible would have made my ears bleed.

"On that note, I think I need to get something from the car before gym," I told her as I pushed away from the table. I headed to my car where I could cleanse my mind with real music, like Debussy, Coldplay, or possibly Linkin Park.

Alice was still laughing as I left the building.

A/N: Happy Thursday everyone!!!! I hope this chapter has revived your spirits; it's time to break away from the angst for a while. My girl Alice comes through in a clutch!!! She had been waiting to give Edward a piece of her mind for quite some time – it's been hard for her to hold back, but she could see the outcome if she didn't. He can be so hard-headed.

Hugs for my beta, A Little Distracted, who wanted me to end the chapter on a cliffie for what's to come in the next chapter (since she knows what lies ahead!). But I decided to play nice because I wanted to leave you with, as Coldplay puts it, "a smile upon your face."

Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, put the story on alert or added it to their favorites – I love you all! I tried early on to answer all the reviews, but RL is keeping me so busy that I'll never get caught up. Just know that I appreciate them more than you'll ever realize!

I'd also like to thank two of my RL high school teachers for inspiring my Twilight FF ones… (I aced my Freshman Chemistry class in college thanks to one of them!)

The link for the playlist for My Imaginary Friend is on my profile, or here is the web address:

www(dot)playlist(dot)com(slash)playlist(slash)19366254859