Hi, yay. I've been complete review reply/teaser fail lately and I'm sorry. :( I love your love so much, though. Thanks to Capricorn75, as always. And to killerlashes for sticking around even when I'm a pain IRL. ;)

Blind Ambition – Chapter Eleven

"You want to grab a cup of coffee?" Edward asked, trying to be nonchalant as he wiped his face with a towel.

Leah's eyes widened as she looked at him, afraid to answer.

"Um…"

"If you don't have any other patients, I mean," he added, sensing her hesitation. It wasn't like he was asking her out on a date. He just wanted to grab a cup of coffee with her and maybe talk about something that didn't have to do with his recovery or the crappy stuff going on in his life.

"I don't," she told him, and watched his face drop. "Have any other patients, I mean."

"So…coffee?"

Leah laughed quietly, "Yeah, coffee. Let me just grab my bag, do you have all of your stuff?"

"I'm good." Edward nodded and slipped his messenger bag over his shoulder. His crutches were gone, and he was one week away from being fully cleared by Dr. Clearwater. Basically Edward was feeling pretty good about himself, despite the whole "fiancée leaving him for another man" thing, of course.

"Ready?" Leah asked, appearing at his shoulder.

"Lead the way." He grinned and gestured in front of him. Leah led him out of the building and smiled when he held out his elbow to her. She slipped her hand under his arm and moved closer to him.

"No help, huh? You're getting pretty brave."

"I have a cane in my bag," Edward said with a shrug. "It's kind of Daredevil-ish, but I use it sometimes. I just know where I'm going today."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, there's a Starbucks on every corner of this city. Oh, and my phone tells me where to go," he explained, holding his phone out to her. Their fingers brushed as she took it from his hand, and she repressed a shudder and wondered why she was even feeling it in that moment.

"Fancy," she laughed and handed it back to him.

"It's kind of amazing what technology can do these days, you know?"

"How did you find out about them?"

"Jasper, mostly. He loves stuff like this," Edward explained with a small smile. "He's my blind-person-app go-to-guy…I need someone to help me download them," he added sheepishly.

Before Leah could reply, his phone chimed, alerting them that they'd reached their destination.

"See? Now, if it could only get me in line and help me pay, then we'd be golden…"

"I'll help you out," Leah teased, opening the door for both of them and leading him inside. Edward went first, ordered his coffee, and pulled out his phone to pay.

"Starbucks app. Not limited to the blind, you know." Edward grinned.

"I'm very in with the times, sir," she snorted quietly.

Edward good-naturedly made a face at her, "Oh, and whatever the lady's having," he told the cashier with a nod to Leah. He figured she shot him a glare before she ordered, because once they'd received their drinks she elbowed him gently.

"You didn't have to do that."

Edward laughed, and cautiously took a seat in the crowded coffee shop. "Hey, you got me on my feet again. It's my way of repaying you. Now I just owe you about a couple hundred more, right?"

Leah smiled to herself at the thought of coffee with Edward for a few more times. "Yeah, just a couple hundred more. You'll be done with me soon enough, you know. How will we keep this up?"

She watched as the tips of his ears turned pink and he opened and closed his mouth a few times.

"Um…well," Edward cleared his throat.

"I'm kidding, Edward!" She giggled quietly, but was secretly enjoying his reaction. "Besides, you're my patient. It's against the rules."

"What is? The way I see it, it would just be coffee between two consenting adults," he said with a shrug, after he'd regained his composure.

"Would you...want to do that?" Leah almost whispered.

"I think I might," he replied, just as softly, and stared at the floor.

Leah didn't reply, she just sat contemplating her warm paper cup, not sure how to respond. Truthfully, she didn't know how she could keep the hopefulness out of her voice at the prospect of spending more time with him outside of the gym.

"I'm sorry," Edward said after a moment. "It's just- it's nice to talk to someone who isn't my family or isn't too close to the situation I'm in. It's nice to talk to you."

"Oh." Leah nodded slowly and sipped her coffee, then spoke again. "I'm always here if you need to talk. I did-"

"Yeah, you minored in psych." Edward offered a small smile. "I don't want to burden you with anything, though. Like I said…I just like to talk to you."

"Is everything okay? Are you and Bella…" Leah let her sentence trail off, not quite sure what she was going to ask anyways. Selfishly, she didn't want everything to be okay between them. She only knew bits and pieces surrounding their breakup and wasn't really sure if she wanted to hear that they had reconciled or not.

"No, nothing is okay between us. I'm doing okay, though. I guess," Edward answered honestly.

"Can I ask why?"

"Why what?"

"Why isn't anything okay? There's no chance that you two will-"

"No," Edward's answer came out harsher than expected and he rubbed his fingers over his forehead. "Sorry. No, there's no chance. She's uh, she's pregnant. It isn't mine, there's not a snowball's chance in hell that it would be. So, no. No chance at us getting back together."

Leah felt a sudden rush of anger toward a woman she had only met a handful of times and clenched her fist tightly.

"I'm so sorry, Edward."

"It's okay. Really, I'm okay," he said, feeling Leah's skeptical gaze on him. "Fine," he laughed. "I will be okay. Just another hurdle to get over, right? And, thanks to you, I'm back on my feet and ready to do that."

"Still…that sucks," she murmured, at a loss for the words to rightly describe his situation. "How long were you together?"

"Seven years," he told her. "We met at NYU and then moved back here to be closer to my family. Her mother lives in Florida and her dad passed away years ago. My brother had just gotten married and was starting a family and we wanted to be close to them."

"You have a brother? Older?"

"Yeah, Emmett's the oldest, and Alice is the baby. He's in Afghanistan right now, but he's coming home next week." Edward smiled widely.

"He has kids?" Leah asked.

Edward sipped his drink and nodded. "Chloe is three. I was just starting to lose my sight when she's born, so I really only see her as a baby. She's loud and smart, though."

"I bet she loves you," Leah mused, and Edward grinned.

"She does."

Edward was quiet after that, his eyes focused out the window of the coffee shop. He could see the shapes of people moving around, but everything else he made up in his head: happy couples window-shopping as they strolled; parents and wiggly, impatient children; businesspeople oblivious to everything but the screens of their smartphones.

"You're good," he said after a moment, turning back to Leah.

"At what?" she asked softly.

"At making me forget."

"Good," she answered, and Edward could hear the little bit of pride in her voice and maybe, just maybe, some hope for something more.

He was pretty okay with that.