And See, She Flies

by LilyCullen1121

His purpose was survival. Hers was perfection. His goal was escape. Hers was independence. His secret was dark. Hers was complicated. His heart was scarred. Hers was bruised. When two people, the gangbanger and the princess, are thrown together by high school, though, they have no choice but to recognize themselves in each other.

4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

"Congratulations, guys. We made it through Day One!" Sean shouted, and cheers erupted through the leadership room. He grinned and waited for it to die down before adding, "And we've only got one hundred seventy-nine to go."

Bella laughed and took a sip of her coffee. On Sean's left, Trish sat forward, her eyes bright. "How'd it go for everyone yesterday?"

Leanne, the senior class president, shrugged. "Okay. But there are already the usual rumors circulating through the freshman class –"

"There should be a rule," Kate interrupted, flipping her hair over her shoulders. "Sophomores need to be gagged for the first few days of school so all the frosh don't run screaming for the hills."

"And," continued Trish, glaring at Leanne like it was her fault she'd had to give a bad report, "somebody already asked me when the freshman class elections were going to be held. She was texting while she did it, by the way."

"Was she wearing excessive amounts of eye makeup?" Keith asked.

"Yeah. Why?"

He nodded, looking satisfied. "Queen bee. Wants a popularity contest, and that's it."

"Well, of course." Leanne looked at him like he was crazy. "Freshman class elections are only about popularity. I think we all know that by now. It's how I won."

"Then," Bella allowed. "But I highly doubt you won senior class just by being popular."

"No, I won it because I've won every class presidency since then, and old habits die hard."

"Anyway," Bella went on, turning to Keith. "I think you're judging. You can't peg everyone by stereotype."

"Mr. Whittier, are we doing anything today?" Trish asked loudly, leaning her chair back on two legs so she could see into his office. Bella guessed she got bored with a conversation that was turning moralistic.

"Yeah," he called back. "Go around campus and make sure that the posters of the campus maps are still up, with all those 'You Are Here' stickers. And then I printed out the budget for you – go over it. There's a student senate meeting coming up, and I want you people to put together some sort of list of talking points."

Trish grumbled and let her chair fall back with a crash.

Bella looked up at Traci, the SACBE – which, she'd learned during elections last year, stood for Student Advisory Council to the Board of Education – whose job it was to attend every meeting of the school board and then come back to the school and report. "When's the next board meeting?"

"Next week," she answered. "They're talking budget cuts again."

Bella sighed. "Isn't it bad enough that we have forty people in each class because they keep firing younger teachers?"

"Apparently not."

Whittier cut off this depressing conversation by shouting, "Why do I not hear anyone leaving to check posters?"

"Because we're going right now?" Sean replied sheepishly. Bella sighed and got up, following everyone else to the door. "Go in pairs," he told the others, before taking off with Brittany.

Cathy, the commissioner of clubs, and Bella turned and headed in the opposite direction. One of the security guards whizzed past them in his little golf cart. "Cathy, you were in ASB last year, right?"

"Mm-hm. Soph class president. Why?"

"So… is Whittier always that disengaged?" As she asked the question, she glanced over my shoulder, worried that he could somehow hear her.

Cathy shrugged. "Yeah. I mean, on one hand, it kind of feels good to know he trusts us that much. On the other, it's kind of like…. We don't know what we're doing sometimes. And we don't want to learn at the expense of anyone else. He's got tenure, though. What does he care?"

Bella laughed, a little uneasily. "Mutinous."

"Get used to it."

There was absolutely no activity on campus, unless you counted a couple of stoners who'd ditched zero period to make out in the amphitheater.

Bella glanced at Cathy again, who was texting somebody. "Is it always this quiet?"

"The campus during zero period or leadership in general?"

"Either. Both."

She shook her head as she put the phone back in her pocket. "No and no. Enjoy this while it lasts, because once we get to Homecoming you won't remember what sleep feels like. Oh, wait. I forgot who I was talking to. You already don't remember what sleep feels like, don't you?"

"I seem to recall something about leaving spots of drool on a pillow."

Cathy smiled, and they kept strolling around campus, pretending to be productive. As they walked around, checking up on the posters, the campus filled. It was interesting, the way the noise level increased.

They decided to go back to the student center about five minutes before the bell rang, and, since Whittier wasn't paying attention, they slipped back out early to go to their lockers. Just as Bella reached hers, the bell rang for the end of zero. She was entering her combination when Alice caught up to her.

"Hi. What're we doing in physics?" Bella tucked her chem stuff into her bag and secured her Spanish book in my arms.

Alice waved her hand impatiently. "Just notes. Second day of school and they're already giving us notes. Listen, was that thing for APUSH due today?"

"No. Thursday."

Alice exhaled, tilted her face to the sun, and raised her hands as if this was the most blessed piece of information that she had ever received. Bella couldn't resist. "But that essay we have for English is due today."

"Essay?" she panicked, looking at Bella with her blue eyes wide and frantic. "What essay? I don't remember an essay!"

"Oh, yeah," Bella said, making sure to keep her face straight. "A thousand words on why we chose to take her class, where we think we want to go to college, what we think we're going to major in–" And she couldn't hold it anymore. She burst out laughing at Alice's expression. When she realized Bella had been joking, she hefted her binder in two hands and whacked Bella's shoulder. Repeatedly.

"That wasn't funny!"

"It was incredibly funny." Bella lifted an arm in defense, gasping. "You should've seen your face."

"Apologize!"

"No." Bella looked around. "Where's Jasper?"

At once Alice calmed, her eyes turning serious. "He found an excuse to talk to Maria without The Boyfriend present."

Bella grimaced. "Uh-oh."

Alice's eyebrows raised and her lips pursed. "Yep." The letter 'p' popped off her lips. She sighed before changing the subject. "So it turns out that my dear brother is in my calc class."

"Really? That's cool. You'll have someone to help you, then." Everybody knew that Riley was brilliant. His plan was to apply to Cornell early decision, and Bella for one would be astounded if he didn't get in.

"Yeah. Oh, speaking of classmates," she added, nodding towards the student parking log. Bella followed her gaze and saw, through the crowd, Edward Masen entering campus alone. "How's your lab partner?"

Bella exhaled slowly, remembering his cold stare. "Um. I think he was having a bad day yesterday."

Alice raised her eyebrows. "Is that Bella-speak for, 'he's an asshole'?"

"He's not an asshole," she said, unconsciously lowering her voice. "He was just… this can't be easy for him. You know, new place, new family, new… everything. And I was acting kind of stupid around him anyway."

Alice rolled her eyes as the bell rang. "Why are you determined to give everyone the benefit of the doubt?"

"What's my alternative?" Bella retorted. "Always assume the worst of people?"

She was glad that the tide of students heading to first period swept Alice away before she could answer.

But despite what Bella had told Alice, and what she'd resolved yesterday, she was nervous as she walked towards chem. Almost without trying to, she reviewed every word Edward had spoken in her presence, whether directed to her or not. He hadn't been impressed by Chris's posturing, but then who would be? It had probably been more of some testosterone-fueled pride thing than any desire to defend her. And admittedly, when she had said something that bothered him the first time during their conversation yesterday, and he'd snapped at her, he'd quickly apologized, and it seemed like he really felt bad about it. But later…. Bella shook her head at the memory.

Unbidden, a wave of sympathy washed over her as she walked into class and took her seat at their as-yet empty lab table. How hard his life must have been, if all he knew was to interpret an innocent remark as insult. It really was no wonder that he'd replied the way he had.

Either that, or Alice was right and he was just an asshole.

But no, Bella thought, as the classroom filled around her. She didn't really believe that. Rosalie clearly liked him – and she was a pretty good judge of character. And notoriously hard to please.

Bella leaned over to extract her text and notebook from her bag, and as she did, she heard the scraping of metal on linoleum that meant that he had arrived and was pulling his stool back to sit down. She took a deep breath, mentally told herself not to be a coward, and sat up to face him.

Edward waited a second before sitting down next to her, wondering if she was gonna give him crap again like she had yesterday. He hoped not – he really didn't want to deal with that.

He put his pack down and she looked at him with something in her eyes he'd never really seen in a girl – it took him a minute to realize that she was nervous, almost scared of him.

He had scared her.

That set Edward back a minute. Any of the girls from his past would have toughened, shrugged, cussed – anything but admit to any vulnerability. Because that was the way you survived. You didn't show weakness, and you sure as hell didn't show fear. But that kind of girl worked for Edward – he didn't want somebody with emotions, because if you gave your emotions any strength they always came back to bite you in the ass. He liked girls with no tear ducts.

So why was this girl – this soft, weak girl next to him with fear in her eyes – why was she making him feel more guilty and ashamed of himself than anyone else'd ever managed? What the hell?

He opened his mouth to say sorry and he don't know what else, but Miss Somerset stood up at the front of the room. Immediately, with discipline Edward guessed came from years of practice, Bella faced front and held her pen over her paper, ready to take notes.

The lesson was pretty basic – a review of polyatomic ions that even Edward could follow. Hell, if this was as hard as it ever got, he might just survive.

Eventually, Miss Somerset finished the lecture and shut off her overhead before flipping on the overhead lights again. "You have about ten minutes until the end of the period to work on your homework. If you don't have your book, share with the person next to you, but don't be moving seats all over the room. And you can talk, but remember, there are classes in session on either side of us."

A low hum of voices started up through the room, slowly getting louder, as Bella opened up her textbook without looking at Edward. He took a deep breath, but then realized how stupid that was. It wasn't like she could hurt him.

"Bella?" he asked. He didn't want to make her more nervous. She looked up at him slowly, but her expression was guarded now – he couldn't read her face anymore. "I'm sorry," he told her.

She relaxed a little, putting her pen down and sitting back. "It's okay," she said, studying him now, like she was trying to figure him out. "You were having a bad day, weren't you?" She paused and sort of tilted her head to the side. "I mean, you're new, right? To everything. I'll bet it's not easy being you right now."

Edward laughed once, without humor, and she looked at him curiously. Not easy being me right now… if she only knew. Edward tried not to remember.

But he'd been quiet for too long. He had to answer her. "I guess not," he muttered, looking away.

She shifted so her whole body was facing him now, and he glanced back up at her face. Her expression changed now, understanding: it was like he'd just proven a theory of hers or something. "What?" he asked, maybe a little harsher than was necessary.

"Nothing." She hesitated, then asked, "Is there anything that you miss about Tucson?"

Edward laughed again at that. His whole life there'd been getting shot at and drug runs and girls throwing themselves at him and constant suspicion for not sticking a fucking needle in my arm.

"What's funny?" Bella asked, smiling.

"Nothing," he told her. "I hated Tucson. Everything about it. I mean–" But he cut himself off. If she heard even half of his problems, she'd probably never talk to him again. And it wasn't like he really liked thinking about half of what had happened in Tucson. "I don't miss anything about Tucson, just like I don't miss anything about Flagstaff, or Mesa, and I barely remember Tempe or anything before it."

Bella looked shocked. "How long – how long have you been in foster care? I mean, if you want to tell me," she hurried to add, like she was worried she'd bother him.

Edward shrugged. "Since I was about four." That was when his birth mother got arrested for possession for the fourth time, if his paperwork was right. "I've been moved around a lot since then, and most of my foster families were okay; it's just they needed the money more than they wanted a kid to take care of." Bella put her hand over her mouth, and goddamn, Edward could see pity starting in her eyes. He fucking hated pity. "But it doesn't matter," he went on. "I turn eighteen next summer, so I just got one more year of this."

"Wait, what?" she interrupted, her eyes wide. "You're just going to… what, drop out?" She said the words like they sounded weird to her, which they probably did.

"I don't know," he replied, secretly enjoying her surprise. "I thought about the military, but I haven't seriously considered it or anything. I just don't want to be dependent on anyone." Every time he tried, look at what had happened. He always got fucked up somehow.

Bella opened her mouth, then closed it, studying him again. "But that sucks," she said quietly, staring at him like she was seeing him for the first time. "Everybody needs other people."

He shrugged, packing his stuff up. He wasn't gonna waste time arguing with her. But he knew the truth. And it was stupid, just stupid, to think sticking him in a doctor's house with his golden boy football player would just fix his life up. It was more trouble than it was worth. It always was.

The bell rang and they stood to leave. "Where you going next?" he asked Bella, feeling like he had to be polite.

"Front of campus. AP Spanish. You?"

"Physiology." He noticed she fell in beside him without seeming to think about it.

They didn't talk as they walked, but she smiled and waved at everyone who said hi to her. Edward thought it was kind of weird how much attention she was paying to his life, but whatever. Her opinion didn't matter.

He glanced down and saw her eyes were distant, like she was thinking hard about something. But she didn't say anything, and he didn't ask.

They were almost at the Physiology room before she looked up at him again. "Listen," she mumbled. "It's none of my business, and you can totally tell me to go to hell if you want–" she bit her lip like she wasn't sure if she should keep going "–but I really think you should stay in school – not drop out, I mean," she hurried, blushing. "You're smart. It'd be, I don't know, a waste–"

Edward laughed; he couldn't help it. She glanced at him, looking really embarrassed. "I'm not gonna tell you to go to hell," he assured her, not admitting it'd actually been his first instinct, like it usually was when people tried to mess with his life. She smiled a little bit as he continued, "But you don't know me. You got no way of knowing if I'm smart. Besides, what's the point, to go to college? Even if I could get into college, there's no way I could pay for it. Thanks, but I got this."

"Oh. Um." Bella stuttered, looking like she was wishing she'd never got into the conversation. "Just… just think about it, okay? See you." And she turned and almost scurried off.

Edward laughed again as he walked into the classroom. Uptight princess or not, she was definitely funny.

"What's up with you?" Emmett asked him when Edward dropped into his seat next to his in Physiology.

Edward shrugged, and Emmett stared at him for another second before some other guy started talking to him.

But Edward thought of Bella's face, of the way she'd flushed red when she got uncomfortable. He shifted, staring at the whiteboard without really seeing it.

Maybe she just needed to figure out that not everything went the way she thought it should. Then they could talk.

"¿Dijiste qué?" Alice demanded of Bella in second period, after she'd rushed into class looking more than a little flustered and had been bullied by Jasper into telling the two of them what had just happened.

Jasper raised his eyebrows at Alice. "¿Qué? ¿No estabas escuchando?"

Alice shot him a glare that seemed to say that of course she had been listening, she'd just like a little clarification. "No te entiendo, Bella. I mean," she switched back to English without seeming to notice, "you start what has the potential to be a really deep, possibly relationship-forming conversation with him, and then you let him kill the subject."

"The whole world's not a love story, Alice. And anyway, it was none of my business," Bella whispered back, one eye on Mr. Molina as he made his way to the front of the room. "I don't know what I was thinking, it's just that college has always been such a real future for me–"

"Lorena, ¿tú hablas en inglés?" demanded Mr. Molina without looking up.

Bella switched back to Spanish immediately. "Claro que no, señor." She turned back to her friends. "Sin embargo, no debé creer que él quería mi opinión."

"El bullshit-o," Jasper interrupted. "Sabes que no tienes actuar como todo es tu culpa, ¿sí? Y si te lo olvidaste, él empezó hablar contigo sobre el futuro. Querías ayudarlo. Él no quisó tu ayuda. Fin." He glared at Alice. "No es tan grande cosa."

The bell rang and Mr. Molina opened class before Alice could snap back that yes it was a big deal, and Bella was grateful. She thought back over what Jasper had said, but she disagreed with him. Edward bringing up the subject definitely wasn't an invitation for her to volunteer her opinion, and it had been a mistake for her to see it as such. She sighed. Maybe it really would be better if she kept her opinions to herself.

And, contrary to Jasper's opinion, she wasn't trying to act like everything was her fault. She was just trying to claim ownership of how she'd messed up.

There was a difference.

~oOo~

Because Bella had to stay late to run orientation for the peer-tutoring program, which didn't end until four-thirty, Renee actually beat her home that afternoon. It was the first time Bella had really seen her mother since school started; the previous night she had just left my management plans on the counter and had come down the hall this morning to find them hastily signed. Notes on the counter were actually how they communicated best.

But now, Renee stood up from her seat at the kitchen table, plastered a big smile on her face, and came over to hug her daughter, only narrowing her eyes slightly at Bella's jeans-and-a-T-shirt outfit. "Hi, sugar. Come, sit down, tell me how your day was."

Oh, God. Bella ignored the sound of Alice's voice in her head, asking what Renee had done last Saturday night, that she felt the need to absolve herself at Bella's expense. Instead, she perched in a chair opposite her mother's, shifting a pile of her kindergarten class's management plans out of the way. "Any weird parents this year?"

Renee sighed and passed a hand across her eyes. "Aren't there always. But I've already gotten an angry email from one saying that the Magic School Bus poster next to my whiteboard frightened her kid." Bella laughed with her. Renee leaned forward and motioned to her. "But come on, I want to hear everything. Does your schedule work out for you?"

Bella nodded, wishing she had a cup of tea or something so that her hands wouldn't be just sitting limp on the table. "Yes. Leadership's zero period, which is a little stressful, and I have English last. But then, I also have two classes with Jasper, and one with Alice."

Renee nodded, her affected interest waning. "And is Jasper going to play baseball again this year?"

Bella fought the urge to roll her eyes. "It's Alice who plays softball, Mom. Jasper plays basketball. But yes, they both made varsity this year." She didn't add that Alice had been varsity last year, too, and already had college scouts looking at her. She picked at the skin of her cuticles.

Renee sighed. "I like talking to you. It's such a pity we don't get to do it more often."

Bella sat up straighter, feeling an odd mixture of happiness and guilt. She could easily make more time for her mother; why did she get herself so wrapped up in school? "Well," she hurried to come up with suggestions. "I have homework tonight, and a show on Friday, but we could go out on Saturday – have dinner and catch a movie or whatever." She looked up hopefully.

"What?" Renee looked startled. "Oh, no. No, I have a date with Martin for Saturday, and I'm going to be absolutely swamped with papers this weekend–"

Bella could literally almost feel herself deflate, but kept her face still as she stood and grabbed her bag.

"Oh. I'll leave you to it then," she said, trying to keep the coolness out of her voice, not that Renee noticed. She just waved Bella off before turning back to her gradebook, and Bella stared at her for another moment, trying very hard not to be disappointed, before turning on her heel and pacing down the hall to her bedroom. Once there, she swung the door hard, but caught it before it slammed, closing it softly.

She pulled out her books and started her homework. There was nothing like calculus to dispel a bad mood.

She almost laughed at herself. God, she was pathetic.

~oOo~

"Any hot dates this weekend?" Bella asked Edward, smiling, when they were waiting for the bell to ring at the end of chem on Friday.

He didn't even bother to laugh, but he thought he better say something, just so he wouldn't be a total asshole. "Uh, Emmett's dragging me to Talbot's tonight," he told her, naming a sort of club thing he had never been to but Emmett and Rosalie really liked. "There's some band made up of people from our school playing tonight, and Rosalie wants to go. 'Cause it's the end of the first week of school, or something."

Bella looked at Edward funny, like he was messing with her. "What?" he demanded.

She opened her mouth to respond, but the bell rang, and she apparently rethought whatever she'd been going to say. "Um, nothing," she mumbled, before leaving for her next class.

At eight that night, Edward was sitting at a small round table in a crowded dark room with Emmett, Rosalie, and a bunch of their friends in the chairs around him. Or almost everyone was in the chairs and Rosalie was in Emmett's lap; the two of them kept taking breaks from the conversation to make out. Edward tried to keep his attention on Riley and everyone else, and ignore the occasional slurping sounds from behind him. Riley rolled his eyes and said, "They do this all the time. You'll get used to it."

Rosalie flipped him off without breaking the kiss, and he laughed. Edward wondered if Rosalie and Emmett were having sex. Probably.

He hadn't been paying attention to the stage or the band setting up there, because their table was towards the back of the room, but then a quick, heavy drum intro started. He looked up as everyone else began to clap, Rosalie coming up for air. Edward folded his arms across his chest and waited to be underwhelmed. Already, he could tell this wasn't his type of music.

But as the guitar and bass added in, he noticed how familiar the lead singer looked … curly red hair, pale skin, small stature.… Oh. It was Bella.

Edward turned to Riley, who stared back at him, looking as confused as he was. "You didn't know?"

"No, I didn't–" Before Edward could ask him how the hell he was supposed to know, Bella started singing, and he shut up.

"It's been three weeks now since you dropped the bomb, and the radiation didn't last. I don't know what you expected, but don't wait anymore, it's a waste of your time." The tempo was quick, but she enunciated every word, with a smile he'd never seen before on her face. She looked happy. Hell, she looked beautiful.

Jesus. Where did that come from?

Edward shook his head and scanned the rest of the stage. He saw Alice playing a bass, a guy named Nick that Edward knew from pre-calc on guitar, someone he didn't recognize working what looked like a synthesizer, and Jasper sitting at the drum set at the back of the stage.

He wasn't surprised he hadn't recognized Bella right away. She was wearing eye makeup (he realized, kind of surprised, she was probably the only girl he knew who didn't wear makeup every day), which he guessed was to make her eyes stand out in the dim lighting. Jeans tucked into boots – and the boots had heels. Another first, at least as far as Edward knew.

And damn if she couldn't sing. How could anyone have a voice like that and be so quiet in normal life?

He heard Rosalie inhale sharply, and figured she was impressed by the song or something – which was getting a lot of the people in the room to dance and clap and shit – but when he glanced at her she was looking at him. "What?" Edward asked, a little defensive.

She leaned forward, crossing her arms on the table, and said quietly, so not even Emmett could hear, "Oh, my God. You like her."

Edward shrugged. "Sure. She's nice."

"Oh please, don't insult either of our intelligence. You like her."

He looked away, back at the stage. How stupid.

"Fine ignore me," she said, even though Edward wasn't looking at her, "but you know I'm right."

"Rosalie, shut up," he snapped. "Jesus."

Now her face turned smug. "Defensive. It's okay, you can say it. She's hot."

"What is your problem?" Edward demanded, leaning away from her. Before she could say anything else, Emmett stood up and pulled her wrist, leading her to the dance floor. But she glanced back at Edward once, like she was measuring him, before they totally disappeared.

Nobody at the table talked for the rest of the set, but the others kept getting up to dance. They always came back after a couple songs, though, because the place was packed, and Edward guessed it was hot out there. He ignored the two girls who asked him to dance with them.

Since he didn't wanna talk to Rosalie, he faced Riley instead. "Is this place always this crowded?"

He shook his head. "Just when And See's playing."

"Who?"

"And See, She Flies," he nodded up at the stage. "I think Bella picked the name, but I can never get Alice to tell me what it means."

Edward nodded and joined in the applause that'd suddenly started. Bella smiled and said something he didn't hear into the mic; he thought he got the word 'break.' Then Nick said something to her as he took off his guitar, and she turned to him and laughed.

"Is that jealousy?" Rosalie asked Edward, a self-satisfied smile in her voice, and he snorted. How old were they, twelve?

Because Rosalie made him, Emmett stood and waved Bella and Alice over. Once the two of them pushed through the crowd around the bar, Rosalie and the other girls took turns to hug each of them. "That was great, you guys," Rosalie said warmly. "But where's the new stuff?"

Alice shrugged and sat down. "Either still being refined or being saved for Firebird. A sort of charity competition thing," she explained to Edward, before he had to ask. "Bunch of Southern Arizona colleges put it on the week between Christmas and New Year's, small scholarships awarded to top six bands. It gets a lot of attention – talent scouts were there last year. Is that yours?" she added to Rosalie, indicating the glass on the table in front of her.

Rosalie nodded. "Sprite." She pushed it over to Alice.

"Is it spiked? I can't go back on stage if I'm buzzed."

"I promise you it's not spiked," Rosalie repeated, and Alice, satisfied, lifted the cup and took a sip.

"And," added Riley, "didn't you guys do really well last year? Second?"

Jasper, who'd just come over to the table with Nick and the other guy whose name Edward didn't know, said, "Yeah. We probably would have gotten first, too, if somebody," he scowled at Bella, "hadn't gotten a cold at the last minute and been unable to do vocals, so I had to do it, and she had to be taught the percussion for everything."

Bella smiled faintly. "Not that you're still bitter or anything."

"Hell no. Of course not." Jasper shook his head vehemently. "That would be petty."

Edward was about to laugh along with everyone else when something got his attention in the corner of his eye. He leaned back, craning his neck. And… there he was again. Shit. Not here – Emmett was here, and Bella–

Edward got up, muttered something about the bathroom, and started after the Padres sweatshirt dodging through the crowd. The guy went out the door, and Edward pushed through the line and past the bouncer to catch his arm just before he crossed the street.

"Peter."

"What the–" He started, turned, his hand went for the waistband of his jeans – he'd had a gun in there, where Bella was on the stage, in front of God and everyone. "Tony! Hey, man, what–"

"What the hell are you doing here?" Edward asked, barely noticing how low his voice was. Peter had been his friend, he'd been jumped into the LR a couple months before Edward had, he'd been the one to really show him around. But Edward had thought he'd left him, and everything connected to him, in Tucson.

The damn cocky grin faded from Peter's face. "Nothing, man, I was just–" He shrugged. "My sister's boyfriend said there was a band here tonight, and the girl was cute, so–"

"Last I checked, your sister was knocked up by Lucky and he was gonna marry her," Edward growled. "Don't fuck with me. Why are you here?" Peter shook his head, even though Edward was pretty sure Peter could tell how damn pissed he was. When he still didn't answer, Edward glanced at the sweatshirt again. "You got that stain out."

Peter winced. He was supposed to. Because the last time Edward had seen him, and this sweatshirt, was in the dark glow of a streetlight and the red-and-blue flash of a cop car. Peter'd stayed back after the siren had scared the rest of the attackers off that last night; he'd pulled this sweatshirt off and pressed it up against the huge cut on Edward's back as he lay facedown in the alley. But when the cop went to arrest him, Peter took the jacket and ran, and the cop hadn't wanted to leave Edward to go after him.

"It wasn't that bad," Peter said now, defensive.

"I see the scar every time I take a damn shower," Edward retorted. "I know how bad it was." He waited, but Peter didn't look him in the eyes, so he asked, feeling his chest tighten, "They're looking for me, aren't they? And they sent you here?"

"Uh–" Peter shifted his weight. "Yeah."

Edward started to panic. Not for himself, but for Brian, and Emmett, and – Jesus – Marianne. If they found Edward, they'd find them, and…. "Peter, you can't tell them," he said, urgently, knowing if he had to he would beg, and hating himself a little for it. "Don't tell them I'm here."

"Shit, Tony, you kidding?" He took a step back, looking incredulous. "You want me to lie to James?"

Edward froze. "That's who's in charge now?" James had been holding the biggest knife at Edward's attack, and Edward still remembered his face as he came at him.

"He'd fucking kill me, man. I mean, you're my friend and all that shit, but you ain't worth my life." He shook his head frantically. "Hell no."

Edward opened his mouth, but he knew he'd probably sell Peter out just as fast, so he closed it for a second. "Will they ask you?"

"What?"

"If they don't ask you, you won't just tell them, will you?" he took a step closer to him.

"Uh." Peter scratched his buzzed hair, which, along with short stature, always made him look about six years old. "He sent guys into Corona, and Riverside, and I'm not the only one in LA."

Shit. "He really wants me found, doesn't he?"

"Tony, the way he sees it, you owe him your life, and you bailed." He glared at Edward. "Or did you forget what it means to be jumped in?"

"But I was fucking jumped out," Edward almost shouted, before remembering that there was a bouncer about ten feet away.

Peter shook his head. "They don't see it like that. But yeah, I'm the youngest guy looking, and I don't think he thinks I'm real reliable anyway, but–" he hesitated. "A'ight, fine. If it doesn't come up, if I'm not asked, I won't give you up. A'ight?"

Edward narrowed his eyes. "You promise?"

Peter sighed. "Yeah, I guess. You happy?"

Not really. But Edward didn't say that out loud. Instead, he said, "Now get the fuck outta here, Peter."

Peter nodded once, not smiling, before pulling the hood of that sweatshirt up and hurrying down the dark sidewalk. Edward didn't look away from him, making sure he was gone, before he turned to go back in. he was ready to tell Emmett they were leaving, now, and have Jasper make sure they took a back doorway when they left, before he stopped, almost making a girl with a cup in each hand run into him.

They couldn't go yet. If Peter was watching, and he saw Edward leave with anyone, then those people were in danger. And if he told Emmett to leave without him, he'd want to know why.

Dammit, Edward couldn't tell him. He'd tell Brian, and Brian would send Edward back to the system. And suddenly, Edward knew he didn't want that. He probably wasn't any safer there than anywhere else, but… Marianne, at least, seemed like she wanted him around. It was nice, for the first time in seventeen years, for someone to want him around.

So it was selfish as hell. But at the first sign Peter had squealed (dammit, Edward should have made him swear to tell him if he'd been forced to sell him out), Edward would leave. He'd get out, and make sure that the Cullens didn't know where he went. He could do that.

He took a deep breath and started back towards the table again, trying to keep his expression under control as he went. He heard her voice, and glanced up to see Bella back on stage. Either the song was sadder, or she was getting tired, but she just didn't look as into it as she'd been before. Edward could tell Alice had noticed by the way her forehead wrinkled and she kept glancing at Bella, and over her shoulder at Jasper.

"Where'd you go?" Riley demanded as Edward resumed his seat without looking at anyone.

He shrugged. "Bathroom. Like I told you."

He could tell from Emmett's skeptical expression that he was going to say something about a pretty big dump, but Rosalie caught his eye and shook her head. Emmett shrugged, and took her hand to lead her back out onto the dance floor. Once they were gone, though, Riley leaned over to Edward and said, "Bella was really disappointed, by the way. That you weren't back before they had to go back on."

Edward nodded once without looking at him, but he was now sure all over again that Bella Swan needed to spend as little time with him as possible.

~oOo~