AN: Wow I can't believe I forgot to thank people for reading and reviewing in the last chapter. So Major extra thanks-you!! And as for the 'T' rating; I'm never sure what exactly will happen as the story progresses so I feel it's better to be safe than sorry.

Chapter One: part three

"And speaking of languages; how'd your week go?"

I swallowed loudly thinking back on the past week, mostly thinking about Alice, wondering what I would feel like in her situation. I looked down at my notebook; my hair cascading over my eyes, irritatingly tickling my bare skin. I flipped a few pages, trying to focus on French.

"Avez-vous des enfants?" I asked only slightly avoiding his question.

He laughed, "Non, je n'en ai pas, je ne suis pas marie," he answered.

My brow crinkled in confusion. "No you don't, you're what?"

He laughed again. "You asked, 'do you have any children' and I answered. 'No I don't have any, I'm not married.'"

"You hardly have to be married to have children," I pointed out.

His head shook as he leaned back, to me the way the chair angled looked precarious, but he didn't seem to notice any danger. He closed his eyes before he replied. "What's the difference?" His voice sounded deeper than usual, "That's the thing about our time, this time; it doesn't matter if you're married, single, male or female. Well… in some cases it matters I suppose," His eyes slid open and he blinked at me, "but the marriage should mean something. Right?*" He righted his chair and the full force of his eyes fell on me.

"Uh…"

"Sorry," he cut me off before I could think of anything substantial to comment back, "Not the point; not the point at all."

I opened my mouth once again, pushing back my hair so that we could really look at one another but again he interrupted, "What I mean is sometimes I get off track. What about you. Est-ce que vouce etes mariee?"

He wanted to know if I was married, I could figure that out from his last French spout, "Oui, mon femme est la-bas."

He chuckled like I'd expected him to. "Where's your wife; over where?"

I pointed, "Vers la gauche." I had told him to the left, or at least that was what I assumed I'd told him. I shrugged after I turned to examine the left since there wasn't a single person in sight. "Invisible," I added.

By the time I turned back he had a new odd expression twisting his features. "Un petit ami*?" He asked seriously.

"Uh, do I have any short friends?"

"Not quite." Biting my lip I turned to my notebook, desperate to figure his question out. His hand came out of nowhere pulling the book to him. "Don't worry about it. We're not there yet. So tell me about your wife; what colour are her eyes?"

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"Do you know when your next test is?" He asked, his head leaning lazily against his hand.

"I think next, next Monday." I paused in thought, "Yeah, that's right," I concluded.

"So, if you can, could you meet me here this Saturday? I'm not saying you're behind, I just think, if you'd want, we could progress faster twice a week."

I avoided looking at him, instead focusing my attention out the window behind him. It was so dark already only the lights around the building illuminated the scene. There was snow an inch on the ground and the light shone against the tiny bits that had melted during the day. Some would say it looked like the world had been kissed, grazed, by an angel, but I would say it looked menacing. It made me think of freezing on the side of the road and tripping on the icy paths.

"Saturday works for me. What time were you thinking; same as usual?"

"The library closes at six pm on Saturday, so the usual wouldn't work," he sighed as papers being shifted sounded. I was too busy looking at the claw-like trees that were more grey than brown against the winter, to switch my attention to him, though secretly I wanted to.

The trees looked run down, a shell of their former selves, which in many ways they were. I always felt embarrassed for the trees*, being completely barred for the majority of the year. They were humiliated and at full attention, growing taller each year to make it more dramatic. "Would you rather get together earlier, in the morning at, uh, like ten am, or in the afternoon?"

"I don't have any preference," I told him, "Either's fine."

"Are you a morning person?"

I finally unglued my eyes from the industrialized nature to examine him. "I'm fine in the mornings," and I was, I was used to waking up early to wake up Renee. I was used to cooking breakfast for her, putting the coffee on and retrieving the newspaper. I was Renee's caregiver.

"Me too; so ten this Saturday?"

"Yeah sounds fine." I watched Edward put his coat on, the skin on his belly showing a fraction when he extended to put his arms through. Why did it send sparks through me to see this tiny hidden part of him? Why did I know I was going to obsess about it for the three days it would take me to see him once more?

"So, yeah, have a good night," he stood awkwardly giving me another look that I couldn't interrupt any better than French. His lips curled into a small smile that disappeared only when he turned.

"You too," I mumbled when he was out of range.

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The walk home was colder than I'd imagined it would be. It was much colder than the walk over, of course the walk over had contained the last of the day's sun, but that wasn't the point. I didn't want to waste my mother's gas; and by gas I mean gas money, so I'd ignored her offers as the temperature dropped. Soon I wouldn't be able to deny myself the luxury.

I turned my key in the lock and to my surprise found that I wasn't locked. I didn't panic, I wasn't living on the higher crime end of the city, but it was frustrating to know as much as I tried to prevent a break-in my mother just closed the door. I rolled my eyes in annoyance. Renee had had her teacher student parent meetings tonight so she'd left after me. I'd locked the door, effectively, for a whole four minutes, one day that would get us into trouble.

"Hello," I called as I hung up my coat and shuffled out of my shoes.

"Hey, Hun," my mother called. She sounded like she was laughing. Confusedly I followed her voice, which was murmuring along, to the kitchen. Our kitchen looked new, it was a light tan, maybe a heavily creamed coffee colour and the cabinets were newly painted a subtle white. The table was semi round, a slight oval made from a beautiful medium colour wood. The four chairs' backs were high and rounded and currently two of them were occupied.

"Bella, hey this is Phil," Renee told me, smiling larger than, I think, I'd ever seen.

"Hello Bella," Phil answered, he turned to see me and I was a little surprised. He was good looking, well for an older man, well older than me, with an athletic build. His hair was a touch lighter than Renee's brown and he was smiling just as largely as her.

He offered his hand and I took the two steps closer and gave him mine. "Nice to meet you."

His shake was firm, powerful and his hands were warm and rough. He let go easily, "Do you want to join us?" He asked, "We're talking about baseball, I'm not sure if that interests you…"

He trailed off, and I took my attention off him to give Renee a look. Her eyes were bright and she looked a little pleadingly from me to the stairs. "Uh, that's okay. I have some, ah, homework that I want to review," that was a lie. Edward and I had finished the last bit of the day's homework.

"Okay," he took rejection very well; I could only assume that was because he wanted my mother alone. It wasn't the first time she'd had men over and I really wasn't uncomfortable, I just wished I'd had some notification.

"I met Phil at the meeting tonight," Renee interrupted my internal thoughts. I walked to the fridge to grab a water bottle, figuring that wouldn't seem too intrusive and I was thirsty.

"So you have a kid?" That made me slightly uncomfortable, I knew it was hypocritical, but if Renee was really into this guy and something did happen, though I knew how unlikely that would be, I didn't exactly want to have to integrate with a new young child.

"Uh no," Phil laughed.

Renee spoke before he had a chance to, "It's a funny story actually," I opened the fridge door, found the water and closed it as she spoke, "Do you remember Jill?" Jill was a little girl in my mom's class that could paint like a pro. She was creative, silly and my absolute favourite. I leaned against the cool door waiting for the rest of the story, "Well Jill is Phil's best friend's kid.*"

That sounded more complicated than it probably had to. "Oh?"

"And he got called in for a business meeting tonight," Phil clarified, "Her mom is visiting relatives in California this week so neither could make the meeting." He laughed like it was to be expected.

I nodded, "That's, uh, unfortunate for Jill."

Renee giggled, actually giggled, "Oh, no, no, no, Phil's great with Jill and I can talk to her parents any time." I walked past the table and lingered on the stairs because even though they seemed eager to tell the story they were really just telling each other. "Actually," my mom's eyes flew to me once more, "She, Jill, I mean, is asleep on my bed, tuckered out. While you're up there can you keep it quiet?"

"Yeah, no problem," I smiled at her childish happiness, it was nice to see. "It was good meeting you," I finished turning to Phil.

"Sure, sure, it was real nice meeting you."

I turned from the two obvious love birds and walked the stairs up to my room.

My room was painted a light lavender with neutral carpet. There were two windows, one that showed the front of the house, and one that viewed the neighbour's house. The only time the sun was present in my room was in the morning which effectively lead to thick black curtains. My bed frame was black wrought iron and a twin*. My room had basically been the same since I was twelve, pink jewelery boxes and forgotten stuffed animals.

My comforter was a light green, which probably didn't go well with the rest of the room but was so soft that it didn't matter at all to me. There was a bookcase in the corner and the first thing I did was to go and grab 'Tuck Everlasting' from the bottom shelf. I had the same volume* Edward had been reading from earlier, it was just coincidence.

I laid it on the bed, took off my jeans and put on black yoga pants before plopping down on my comforter and opening the book. I flipped to the last page first re-reading the last line before starting from the beginning in earnest. I had done the same thing after the last session with Edward, only with 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.'

I knew it was silly and maybe a little creepy, stalker to read whatever he was but it made me curious. What was the appeal in these books to him? Did he like the characters; the plot; everything? Why was he reading books most people forgot as they grew older?

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My alarm clock sounded at six thirty am. I awoke with a start, still wearing yesterdays t-shirt and bra. I'd fallen asleep over the blankets with my head literally in a book. I groaned when I stood, my neck was sore. I stretched my arms over my head and yawned.

Without bothering with a shower I put on a new outfit for the day, just boring dark wash jeans and a thick red shirt. I brushed out my hair and put it into a pony tail because I didn't want it to look unwashed, though of course it was just that.

When I got to the kitchen I started making coffee, leaving it running as I scrambled three eggs all the while waiting to hear the tell tale sounds of Renee coming down; hoping I wouldn't have to wake her up. I put two pieces of bread in the toaster and placed the margarine on the table with a butter knife while the eggs sizzled. By the time I returned to the stove and gave them one final stir they were ready. I put them on a separate plate, turned off the element, and set them beside the margarine along with two plates.

I finally heard Renee as I cut a grapefruit in half. She was yawning as she came down the stairs, still wearing her PJs. I put one half of the fruit on her plate and the other on mine. The toast popped as Renee sat down; I grabbed her plate from under her and gave her a slice. "Thanks Hun," she mumbled.

"Mhmm," I returned walking past her to the front door to grab the paper.

I placed it beside her before getting her a cup of coffee "You are a lifesaver," I laughed as she gripped the cup.

I got my own cup, black just like how my mother took hers, along with my slice of toast.

Sitting down, finally, I leafed through the 'Arts and Life' section of the paper Renee had taken out for me. We had our mornings perfectly in sync. "So did you like Phil?" she asked pulling me away from an article on local electric music.

"I think the more important question is did you like Phil?"

I took a sip of coffee as I watched her face, she rolled her shoulders back and her smile was wistful. "More than any other man I've met in the past five years."

"More than Ted?" I asked surprised, Ted and her had dated for a little over a year and had only broken up four months ago. They seemed pretty happy together but selfishly I was glad he ended up not being her one.

"A lot more than Ted; not even in the same league," she snorted.

"Phil seems a bit young don't you think?" I hadn't wanted to bring it up but I needed to shake her confidence, make sure she was sure, if you will.

"I'm not that old, Bella," she frowned, "And it's all in how you act, like me for instance, I act say, maybe, twenty, don't you think?" she didn't wait for me to answer, "While you, dear, no offense, act forty."

I couldn't help it I laughed, "Yeah you do act twenty," I allowed.

"But that's not the point; you liked him? Right? He seemed like a good guy?"

"Yeah he seemed really nice."

"Yeah," she self assured herself. "He's a minor league baseball player, isn't that interesting?" She announced excitedly before mumbling out quickly, "But that also means he's not in town a whole lot."

"So when are you going out?" I asked cutting to the chase.

She practically glowed when she answered, "This Saturday."

"Oh! That reminds me, I'm meeting for another tutor session this Saturday."

"An extra one? You're still struggling?"

"Well Edward, my tutor, said I was keeping up fine, but you know, I have a test coming up." I finished my toast, chewing slowly, "So a few extra sessions would really help."

"Edward, hmm? And he wouldn't just want extra time with you?" She gave me a knowing grin.

"Mom! It's not like that."

"Sure it's not Hun."

I took a long swing of my coffee, savoring the addictive caffeine, "So when do you think Mrs. Nord is coming back?" Renee was substitute teaching right now, she'd started the school year off with the class since Mrs. Nord had taken time off for her pregnancy. Renee had been worried that Mrs. Nord would come back early and take over.

"She's coming back at half year," Renee scowled, "I'm going to miss the kids so much."

"When'd she announce that?" I wondered, surprised she hadn't complained to me earlier.

"Last night principal Kenndy told me before the meetings started. God, I was so pissed. I mean how could he tell me that right before I had to swindle and enchant parents? I thought I was going to cry." She laughed now like the memory wasn't even bitter, "But then I met Phil," she dragged his name like a promise, "And it didn't seem so bad. You know if it works out I might even go to some of his away games, he invited me. I mean already, you know, we hardly know each other…"

"That does seem kind of soon," I relented.

"Now Bella, I know it's hard on you to see me living irresponsibly when you're such a saint, and don't get me wrong, I love you for it, but this guy is different. I really, honestly, whole heartedly think so. He didn't even bat an eye when I told him about you and your dad and you know how men are."

"Men are scum*," I voiced only repeating her mantra back.

"Most men are," she altered, "But we'll see."

I raised an eyebrow, "Just be careful, okay?" I got up to put my dishes in the washer. When I returned I patter her shoulder, "But it's nice to see you happy."

Notes:

* Kids and marriage: So Edward's rant was basically him saying he thinks people rush into love and kids and don't respect marriage and its constrictions. If you don't agree with him, that's totally fine, I don't know if I even agree with him. But I thought that was kind of how Edward was, you know, wanting to wait for marriage and true love.

* Un petit ami: Now this is supposed to translate to boyfriend, but I'm not 100% sure that's what the full translation is because none of the, literally, 28 books I have teaching me French had this word translated so I had to use the internet and two websites gave me two different translations. One was boyfriend the other was sweetheart but both of those work… so if you speak French and I'm making a mess, give me a heads up.

But Dude, Edward asking about her personal life so soon? What's he thinking?? I don't know but what I do know is that I wrote out a different start to this chapter where they had not so innocent banter and that seemed too soon, so I re-wrote but I still wanted to show some progress therefore Edward got too personal too soon. That darn kid. ;)

* Embarrassed/humiliated for trees: This is a reference to 'Benny and Joon' from the part where Joon talks about how raisins are humiliated. I didn't want to do the exact same thing but I found it funny, and yeah, I know my sense of humor is in need of a tune up but…

* Phil: I had no idea how Renee actually met Phil; is there an actual documented way they met? I don't know, so I just made it up.

* Room: Yeah that is definitely my room at my parent's house. I'm too lazy to be creative.

* 'Tuck Everlasting:' Volume is: thirtieth printing, 1975. Hardcover with water colour painting on cover.

* Men are scum: Again my sense of humour, I just think it's funny that Renee schools Bella in the way of men by simply telling her that they're scum.