Edward followed me through the large wooden doors into our lecture hall and took the seat next to mine. I looked up from unpacking the measly learning resources I'd stashed in my bag: dog-eared notebook, chewed up pen, second chewed up pen. Edward was already unpacked, everything thrown kind of haphazardly on the writing bar above his knees, everything shiny and new.

"I feel like I gained a stalker."

He smiled brightly. His mouth pulled up in the most endearingly lopsided way when he smiled. "I feel like I gained a stalkee."

"Oh boy."

Before he could respond a pair of boobs thrust into my periphery vision, blocking Edward's face. I followed their trajectory in reverse until I found the face attached to them. Jessica. I met Jessica at one of the first frat parties I ever went to. I was there courtesy of Mike. Jess was rushing a sorority, or pledging... communing? Anyway, she was there.

Jess used to be a chubby girl with acne and bad orthodontia who went by Jessie. Then in the summer between high school and college she discovered GHDs, dropped the puppy fat, got her braces off (Seriously? A senior with braces? Life could be so cruel.) and finally hit the right combo with her doc to clear up that skin. Now the only large part of Jess was her chest. Despite the transformation she was my type of people—over-achieving and bookish, even if she was super, super nice.

Unlike Mike people had been mean to her all through school. I figured she deserved to have someone super cynical to make sure all the Chlamydia-infected jocks who now wanted to get into her (much smaller) pants didn't take advantage.

Yes, this is a lot of information about Jess but she really likes to talk now that people will actually listen to her.

So when the double Ds attached to her size four frame interrupted Edward and I, I knew it was not a slut move. She just didn't realize how far those things jutted out compared with the rest of her.

She tapped my shoulder, nodding towards Pretty Boy. "Bella, who's your new friend?"

"This is Edward. He stole my coffee then tried to buy me off with fifty bucks. He's new. MC, this is Jess. She's good people."

Edward's mouth gaped open as he tried to formulate a response. "I have so many objections to that introduction."

I shrugged. "Sometimes it's hard to realize how people really see you."

"Hi Jess, nice to meet you," he delivered mostly to her boobs.

This was not entirely his fault since she was on the raised row behind us and they were pretty much eye level.

"I didn't understand any of that. But hey, I guess you didn't piss off Bella that bad or you guys wouldn't be sitting together." She grinned at Edward.

"She threw an iced coffee at my face," he deadpanned.

"It was empty! Just a tiny bit of melty ice."

"Bella! Why do we even let you out in public?"

I huffed. Twirling my first chewed up pen between my fingers. "Whatever, Jess. He started it and I didn't break any laws, unlike Klepto."

"Uh, hey, hey, hey, what about assault? You could have blinded me."

"Yeah, that would have made subsequent throwing easier. I'm pretty sure you'd duck in time if I tried it again. Clearly, time to think of new punishments."

"Truly, the start of a beautiful friendship."

Edward rolled his eyes at Jess' boobs.

Then we had to be quiet and learn. I've never been the note passing, secret giggling type of girl in lectures. One time I lay down along the bench seats and took a nap. The raised writing platform in front hid me from the Prof and surprisingly no one was enough of a brat to rat me out.

Sadly, I was too close to the front for any napping. Also, I had a feeling Edward would be the kind to stab me in the arm with his biro until I woke up. Surprise wake ups in class never go unnoticed. I think it's the gasping and sitting bolt upright that does it.

Class ended quicker than anticipated. The Prof had a more pressing appointment than a class full of people who were paying for him to educate us. Unsurprisingly, no one cared that we were missing out on thirty minutes of really expensive intellectual stimulation.

"Alright, MC, you coming with me?"

Edward looked up to where I was standing. "What?"

"I figured since you have no friends you'd be tagging along with me some more."

"No, well yes, but no. Wait, what did you call me?"

"MC. Masen-Cullen. Since we're at that point in our relationship where we give each other stupid nicknames."

"They're my initials, not a nickname."

"So you got off lucky. I happen to think they're hilarious enough."

He rolled his eyes at me. This seemed to be the beginning of a trend.

"Jess, tomorrow, library, yes?" I asked over my shoulder.

"Sure thing, Bella."

"Do you want to come do... whatever we're doing?" Edward asked Jess, able to speak to her face now that we were all standing.

"Food probably," I added.

"Oh, that's sweet of you to ask. I need to go drop off a paper though, it'd be cool if I could just get it done now, y'know?"

I tutted disapprovingly at Jess. "Sure, choose academia over deliciousness."

"Only one's gonna get me a job." She shrugged, grinning.

"Oh, laugh now, my future career as a food taster is going to be very fulfilling."

"I'm scared to see what might happen if you don't get fed regularly, let's go," Edward piped up.

Pretty Boy really was kind of a smart-ass.

"Yeah, well, you've seen what caffeine deprivation does to me. Let my blood sugar drop at your own risk."

"Pastries, stat," he declared.

Jess waved us goodbye.

Edward let me walk through doors first, carried my really heavy text book, topped me up with one more muffin as we walked to the nearest diner and chatted affectionately the whole way. It was like I had accidentally fed a stray and he'd decided that he now belonged to me.

I couldn't even bring myself to be freaked out by the thought. If he wanted to be my pretend boyfriend then I would accept the groveling, smart-assery, free coffee and the eye candy. Boy was definitely, definitely pretty. All clear skin and long lashes, thick hair and shiny warm eyes.

He was wearing a zip-up hoody and I sort of wanted him to zip me up in there with him.

I was really glad that I was a virtuoso at keeping my thoughts to myself. Suddenly the stalker title was in danger of changing hands.

"You realize you just ate three muffins, right?"

"Yeah?"

"Okay. Just didn't want to get the blame for your inevitable carb overdose."

I shrugged. We were both quiet for a while. I sipped my subpar coffee (with lots of cream and sugar) while Pretty Boy drank his black. We had both ordered a stack and side of bacon and although he had barely touched his, Edward let me steal pieces of bacon from his plate.

I couldn't explain the strange sense of calm around us. I didn't feel nervous or self-conscious. I knew I was being overly familiar but it didn't seem to bother Edward. It definitely didn't bother me, which was weird. Weirder still, he was acting the same.

When my foot accidentally bumped his leg under the table he nudged the sole of my pump back with his sneaker. Everything about our impromptu brunch felt like I had known him forever.

"So, how come you switched college?" I mumbled around a mouthful of bacon.

He looked down at the pitted, grimy tabletop. "Eh, I'd had enough of being away from home."

"Aw, mama's boy," I teased.

"Something like that."

He was quiet again. I finished chewing and asked, "Where were you before?"

"New York. I used to visit my sister there when I was in high school—loved it. It's totally different living there."

"Esme?" I asked, trying to remember any names he'd offered earlier.

"Rosalie," he corrected.

"So she's the youngest sister, right?"

"No, that's Alice."

"Wait, how many sisters do you have?"

He grinned at my confusion. "Four. Esme, Tanya, Rosalie and Alice."

"In that order?" I licked syrup off my lips and tried to not notice him watching me.

He nodded.

I took a sip of my orange juice and joked, "Man your mom is a machine."

"She was a pretty amazing mother."

"What and now she's basking in empty nest syndrome?"

His brow creased for the smallest moment before he smoothed out his expression. "No, she's dead. My dad too."

I froze, all my moments halting half-way through. I think my heart stopped from the awkwardness alone. "But I thought— you said—"

"I moved back so I'd be closer to Esme and her husband," he explained softly.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm such a douche."

He smiled and my heart started up again. "You're not a douche."

"I am," I insisted. "I have the sensitivity of a rodent."

"Don't worry about it. Seriously, it was a long time ago." He took a long drink from his tepid coffee. Pretty Boy didn't look like he was about to have an emotional breakdown. On the other hand I was pretty sure I was sweating maple syrup and latte as the embarrassment flushed hot through my whole body.

"Yeah?" I asked tentatively.

He quirked his mouth and nodded. "Yeah, I wasn't even one."

"So your sister, Esme—"

"Is pretty much my mom," he cut me off. "It's weird, I know."

"It's a little Party of Five, but not weird." I tried to stop myself from saying anything else ridiculous or inane, but 90% of what I said in life fell into one of the two categories. I fished in my brain for something sensible—and not offensive—to add. "So she looked after you?"

"Yeah. She was twenty-one, Tanya was like twenty. They figured it out."

"Wow, that's really sweet. I bet they spoiled you." I could imagine a tiny Pretty Boy, still just as pretty and probably almost as obnoxious. Little kids are always obnoxious. I would totally spoil that kid. I bet his eyelashes were even longer then.

"Why I'm such a brat, right?"

I pouted deliberately, trying not to laugh. "Stop it. I officially suck as a human being."

"Only a little," he agreed with a warm smile.

"I need to eat my pancakes. Keeping food in my mouth keeps my foot out of it."

It was deathly quiet at our booth. My fork sounded like a sledgehammer against the plate. I was sure I could hear my own breath.

Finally Pretty Boy spoke. "You can ask questions if you want."

"That obvious?"

White, white teeth flashed behind his lips when he grinned. "You look like you might burst. Could be all the pancakes though."

"Ass," I muttered into the remains of my food.

"Now you're calling orphans names, nice."

I stuck my tongue out swiftly. "Just the one and he's kind of a smart ass."

"Go on." He made a motion with his hand for me to continue.

"So they adopted you?"

"Esme adopted me. With her husband, Carlisle. He's older and a doctor, it helped things along."

I nodded and took another drink of orange juice. "What about the rest of them?"

"Well, Tanya didn't live at home. Her and Esme both moved back right after the accident but T lives just outside LA and she headed back not long after."

His hands wrapped around the mug of now-cold coffee on his side of the table.

"Rosie was a senior—or about to be a senior—I can't remember. Anyway, she went to college in New York and never really came back 'cept for vacation."

I licked my lips and nodded for him to continue.

"Alice was almost in high school. She was around a lot and she stayed nearby for college 'cause I was just starting kindergarten. This is second-hand info by the way 'cause I was like six months old when the accident happened," he finished wryly.

"Wow." I wanted to ask him what the accident was but that seemed inappropriate, even for me.

"Meh, it's normal for me."

"So, who went to your high school stuff—football games or recitals."

"Whoever was free, all of them if they could. Guys in my grade started calling them my 'hot moms' when I was in middle school."

I tried not to laugh. My lips twisted up against my control.

"You'll be glad to know that followed me all through high school until graduation."

I smirked. "How fun for you."

"What about you?" His long fingers were still wrapped around the coffee cup and I was busy committing them to memory, digit by digit.

"Oh, nothing exciting, I don't really talk to my parents. The odd call to check when I'm coming home for the holidays or which I'm visiting. They're divorced."

"Huh."

"Yeah, your family sounds way more functional. Renee and Charlie don't fight but I figure the next time I get them in a room together will be if I get married. If I ended up in prison they'd take turns visiting."

"Wow."

I shrugged. "Normal for me, too." The silence found its way back to our table. "Can I ask more questions?"

He inclined his head in what was either a shrug or a nod. Either way I figured it was okay to keep going with my interview.

"So, Esme's married—"

"From before I was born," he finished. "She was like nineteen or something."

"Whoa, how about everyone else?" I swirled the last mouthful of my orange juice around the bottom of the glass a couple of times. The bits stuck to the side of the glass and got lost again on the next swish.

"You're really nosy." He nudged my glass with his mug.

"I prefer curious… or interested."

"Sure." He grinned. "Okay, Tanya's seeing some guy but whatever, she'll probably never get married. Rosalie's engaged but she was married to this complete asshole when I was a kid. Alice got married a couple of years back to her college boyfriend. He's really cool. Surprisingly, I am not married."

"Oh good, that was my next question." I smiled. "Sorry, I really am nosy. I should be like a sociologist or something."

"Or a historian," he agreed.

"Nah, that would drive me insane—being so far away from the answers. Not being able to interrogate people to find stuff out."

"You don't talk about yourself much."

I shrugged and leaned across the table to skewer his last piece of bacon with my fork. "Not much to talk about. Before I got here I lived the most boring, most sheltered life imaginable."

"Boring's good sometimes."

"Yeah, I guess. Gets kind of old when it's all you have though."

"I can't imagine you being boring."

My mouth twitched into a self-deprecating smile. "You don't have to, you're experiencing it."

"Hardly. You really think all this is boring?" he prodded.

"Well no, but it's not like epic drama or comedy or something."

"What's so great about epic?"

"The fact that it's epic?"

"Sometimes the small stuff is better."

I looked around and saw myself eating pancakes with a pretty boy who was funny and polite and had really shiny hair. I supposed I got what he was saying.

"So, I guess this makes us friends then."

He cocked an eyebrow at my non sequitur.

"Stalking usually involves more bushes and less conversation," I clarified.

"You want me to go across the street and take pictures of you eating with my cell phone?"

"Nah, we can just be friends."

"Okay, Duckling." His answering smile made me want to hide my face inside my scarf.

AN: Again, thank you, thank you to all who are reading. It makes my day to know someone other than me is enjoying this story.