Guest: Yes, Edward's not a nice [insert other colorful adjectives here] guy at all. We'll see more of the Cullen family sometime in the near story future, so stay tuned.

Guest: Nope, no wimpy, whiny Bella here. She did have a bit of a cry, which an emotionally charged conversation like that one would naturally evoke. But she won't go all zombie or depressed or anything like that.

Frekles: Thanks. I enjoy the challenge of taking the same canon background that everyone uses, and putting my own spin/twist on things. I'd admit that it's not a typical Bella who does what I've had her do so far. We'll definitely see a lot of her and Paul, and how they are the way they are. I'll be interested to see how this develops as well. I don't have a very solid plan for this one, so we're all of us at the mercy of my muse.

Laurzxx: gld u liked. Hope I didn't keep u w8ting 4 long.

Congrats to SassYNoleS for being review #150 for this story on FF.

Christy86: I hope this came soon enough. This story seems hit with a lot of writer's block, so updates are slower than I expected they would be when I got started on this one.

xxxxxxxxxxx

Bella POV

After a while, I sat up, wiped my eyes, and resolved to let that be the last time that Edward Cullen made me cry. I was going to move past this, move on and make a better life and future for myself.
So to start that, I got up from my bed and started unpacking my suitcase, after a quick trip into the bathroom to wash my face. My dad had brought my bag upstairs for me-probably while I was in the shower-but I wished now that he hadn't. I was going to have to carry most of the stuff in it back downstairs to the washing machine. After getting the first load started, I let myself get lost in the mindless activity of housework.

If I was going to have a better future, I needed to figure out what that was going to look like, or at least what I wanted in it. Nothing about the last couple days changed the fact that I was still in need of a job. I'd gotten a few rejections so far, and was waiting to hear back from others. And where I got an offer would determine where I'd be living. I'd been okay with living in Washington state for the better part of the past decade, but long-term? I just didn't know. I didn't want to necessarily stick around a place where Edward and his family were, but neither was I going to let them drive me away. Yet again, I wondered if he's actually been doing any applications or interviews this summer, or if it had all been a facade to cover up his cheating? I knew that his family, both blood and adopted, were well-off, even rich, so he might not have as much need as me to find a job fast; but everyone else in his family, including his mom, worked so he would have to as well, right? Still, Edward's family aside, I had to have a job and it was almost sure to mean moving somewhere else.

But what about Paul? The thought was involuntary. Well, what about him? Okay, so we had had some amazing—alright, incredibly mind-blowing sex—but did it really mean anything?

I'm okay with wrapping up this time. But we're definitely going to give bareback a try, Paul had said during our first time. Maybe it had just been said in the heat of the moment, but could he really have been serious? Did he really want more with me? Did I want it with him? I honestly didn't know. Yeah, the sex had been great, but even great sex wasn't enough to ensure a strong and lasting relationship—just look at me and Edward. Still, sex would have to be a line in the plus column of my mental decision chart where Paul was concerned. That I didn't know him at all was likely a negative; but you like everything you do know about him,my inner voice added. Which was true—I certainly didn't have anything against Paul or the simple idea of getting to know him better to see what would happen. But…the whole geography thing might end up being a deal-breaker here, too. If I moved for a job, and he was tied here with his own, we probably wouldn't stand any more of a chance than my last long-distance relationship had had.

A rumble from my stomach made me turn to look at the clock. Between Edward, the cleaning frenzy I'd embarked on, and all my thinking, the entire morning had sped by without much in the way of awareness from me. With the house now in order, I moved to the kitchen and started fixing myself something for lunch. It ended up being just a simple sandwich, chips, and the last of the bag of carrots—clearly my dad hadn't been to the grocery store while I was gone. So I started a shopping list while I ate.

My physical need for sustenance addressed, I wondered what else I needed right now. A moment's thought caused me to head back upstairs for my phone. I didn't want to be a rebound girl, just using Paul to get over Edward—Paul deserved a lot better than that, for one thing. I knew that I needed to get myself figured out before starting anything knew—or at least, before getting any further into what I'd somehow already started. My body traitorously tried to change my mind by reminding me of just how good Paul and I had been together. I wasn't going to deny it, but I also wanted to make sure that any future relationship I became a part of was the right one and for the right reasons. So I wasn't dialing Paul's number because I needed some fix, I promised myself. But I somehow figured he'd want to know how my confrontation with Edward had gone.

xxxxxxxxxxxx

Paul POV

I'd gotten funny—and knowing—looks from both my friends when I'd made sure my phone was handy when we took a break for lunch, or when I'd checked it a few times over the course of the morning—just in case Bella had needed me and called. She hadn't, though, so I hoped that today's meeting with the cheater had gone okay. A part of me was disappointed—I'd love it if she needed or wanted me to pound him into the ground, but she was strong enough to stand up for herself and make her wants known.

I also hoped that her wants would be the same as mine and bring us together again soon. I knew a little of what Sam's sister had gone through in her breakup, so it's not that I thought Sam didn't know what he was talking about with what he'd said this morning. But I wanted the words I'd spoken to Bella last night and this morning to be true, too: that we'd be having more of that unbelievable sex again—and soon.

Before I could descend into sappiness, my phone rang. A quick glance at the display confirmed that it was Bella calling me.

"Hey, B-ella," I greeted, only just barely using her name instead of 'babe'.

"Hi, Paul."

"Everything okay?"

I could hear her take a deep breath. "Yeah, I'm fine. Saw him this morning—he came over here pretty much like I expected him to, honestly. But I really stood my ground. Didn't even let him in the front door—" Bella broke off her sentence with a half-laugh, "and didn't even let him finish a sentence, either, I don't think."

"Good for you. All of it."

"You were right. I was strong enough to do it."

"Knew you could."

Jared's theatrics next to me made me jump down from my seat on the truck's tailgate to walk away for more privacy.

"How'd he take it?"

"He wasn't too happy, I guess. Tried all the standard tricks—or at least I think they're the standards: 'I'm sorry', 'it was a misjudgment', even the 'what about what you did?' bullcrap."

"Damn him," I muttered.

"My dad thinks it might be so that Edward can try and make himself feel better and have things appear to be about me and not about him. I'm not going to listen to it."

"Good plan. It isn't about you."

"Yeah. Thanks for reminding me about that earlier. I think it helped."

"You're welcome," I hesitated. We'd reached a natural end to what we'd been talking about, and for the life of me I didn't know what to do next. I didn't have much time left in my lunch break—and still had uneaten food—but I didn't want to end this call.

"So—" we both spoke awkwardly at the same time.

"Sorry," Bella apologized. "You first."

"Want to come over tonight?"

She was quiet just long enough to make me start to worry. "I'm not sure that's a good idea."

Shit! "You regret what happened, don't you?"

"No! I don't know. No! What we shared was amazing. It was exactly what I needed then, and I can never thank you enough. I'd be lying if I said I hadn't thought about the idea of what might happen next."

"So…? I was confused.

"It's all too fast. Two days ago, I was engaged to someone else. I can't—won't—rush into something in the grip of emotions. Yeah, sex was…unbelievable, but we hardly even know one another and—" Bella's voice had grown louder and her speech quicker, obviously getting upset.

"She was in that relationship for years, right?...think about what comes next. Maybe you both need to slow down and take things in order."

Sam's words from this morning popped back into my mind and I tried to make myself listen to them better, and to Bella clearly.

"Do you like me?"

Bella made some kind of noise.

"I'm not just asking as a lover—I already know the answer to that," I tried to tease and ease the tension, "—I mean as a person?"

"Yes. I think so. I mean, I like what I know about you," she replied. "It's just that I don't really know hardly anything about you."

"Would you like to? Would you like to get to know me better?"

"Yes. I think I do. But, Paul…I just don't know what I can promise. There's so much, I just don't know what to say or do about a lot of things—me, my career…It's not fair to you that I can't say, 'Two months from now I'll be ready', or something like that. And I don't know how easy it's going to be for either of us, what with how we just jumped into the deep end with this. Can we really go back to the beginning and start over and have it work?"

The tightness in my chest eased up a little when I listened to what Bella was saying. She wasn't opposed to the idea of me, just not sure how it would all work out. But at least it sounded like she'd be okay with trying.

"So, it's not a 'no', just a 'not yet'? Is that it?"

"Uh-huh. But—"

"I can live with that, Bella. At least I think I can. My best friend Sam…well, his sister Emily went through a bad breakup herself, so he kinda knows what it's like. This morning, he pretty much said some of the stuff you just did. I guess I know we took a leap off the high cliffs with—this—between us, but it just felt right, you know? And I want, need…hell, Bells, I know what my reputation's like. I know I'm the one-night stand, love 'em and leave 'em type—at least I have been. But…I know this is going to sound like some lame-ass bar line, but…you're different. I swear you are. And as long as you're saying that we've got a chance to see what this is, or will be, or could be, or whatever, then I want it."

"But, you…"

I gave a choked laugh that I automatically turned to check that my friends hadn't heard. I just knew what Bella was trying to say. "Yeah, okay, I'm not going to lie and say that being around you, knowing what we're like together when we're not going to repeat it—yet—is going to be some kind of hell. It will be. But it'll give me lots of motivation to help you get to where you're okay with it. After all," I let my voice drop low and sexy, "I've still got most of a house left for us to christen." Okay, so reminding myself of that fact might not have been the best idea. Still…

"Okay," Bells finally answered. "If you—we—can be patient, I think I would like to see what happens."

"Great," I grinned. "So, how should be start getting to know one another better?"

"Well, there's emails and phone calls…"

I groaned. "Bella, we live 30 minutes away from each other and we have common friends. I'm gonna try real hard to be patient, but you're killing me."

She laughed faintly. "Probably myself, too. Alright. I still think we should avoid the temptation of your house—at least for a while. But you're right that we can do things with friends."

I bit my lip to keep from groaning again. Yeah, so being with her while not being in her would be torture, so would not being around her.

"Are you busy tonight?" Bella asked.

"No!" My teeth gritted at how completely juvenile that had sounded.

"Maybe you could stop by here after work. My dad will probably want to meet you. Grill you about your perspective on Edward's visit to your place, your intentions toward me—all the good stuff."

Gulp. An interrogation by the Chief of Police. Joy. But for Bella, I had the feeling it was a gauntlet I was willing to run. "About six?"

"Sure. I'll set a place for you at the table."

Knowing I'd get fed in the bargain made it a much better deal. "Okay. See you then."

"Bye."

"Bye."

"Awww…" Jared's voice had me spinning around. "You sound so cute, Lahote."

"Shut up," I threatened. It must not have been very effectively, because my friend was still grinning.

We headed back to rejoin Sam and I put my phone back into the truck before we got back to work.

"So?" Sam asked.

"He stopped by her place this morning and she squashed him like a bug."

"And, you and her?"

"We'll see what happens."

"Ladies' Man Lahote going to take things slow and sweet?" Jared sounded stunned.

"Guess so," I replied. Both he and Sam looked a bit skeptical. "Look, okay, sure, is it going to be hell going from hot-and-heavy to not? Abso-fucking-lutely. But is Bella worth it if we can actually make this work? Again, abso-fucking-lutely."

Deciding that was going to be my final word on the subject, I bent over the blueprints and started making notes on a pad.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Bella POV

Charlie came home mid-afternoon. The wreck he'd been called out to had been a pretty bad one: a couple of cars filled with teenagers out racing when one car had gone off the road and crashed. Thankfully, none of them had been killed, but all of teens had been hurt and the road blocked for treatment, investigation, and cleanup.

He seemed proud of me when I told him about Edward's visit and how I'd handled it and him. He'd looked at the spare house key I'd passed to him, before crossing to the phone, and dialing a number he looked up in the town directory. Charlie came back to the table after having a conversation I didn't really understand.

"Steve from the hardware store is going to come by later this afternoon and re-key all the doors in the house, Bells."

"Why?"

"Call it me being a cautious cop, okay? No different from a house getting new locks when a new owner takes possession."

"But I got the key back."

"And nothing would have stopped him from walking into any hardware store or locksmith and getting a duplicate made, Bells. Not like they ask where keys come from before copying them."

"You think Edward would…" I trailed off, unable to finish the question.

"I don't know, Bells. I just don't know," Charlie ran his hand through his hair. "But I didn't think he'd use the GPS in your car to track you down, either. I just want you safe, okay?"

"Okay. Thanks, Dad."

"Anything for my girl. And on the subject of that car…I want you to be careful, okay?"

"Okay…"

"I looked things up, and it's a gray area, what Edward did last night. He bought the car and could have found you by following you directly. Car was out in public view, but it was on private property most of the time, and that Lo-Jack system is hardwired into the car, not some tracker stuck to the bumper. Plus, the car was a gift and the title's in your name."

The car became something else added to my list of things to think about. I'd pushed aside the fact that Edward had given me the car and it was certainly a big reminder of him. But I'd wait and try to think things through before making any decisions on it. Something I had made a bit of a decision on brought up something I needed to mention to my dad while I still had time.

"Paul's going to stop by after work," I announced.

"Bella!"

"Dad, I know, okay? I'm not going to rush into anything, I promise. But Paul was there for me when I really needed someone to listen, and I want to see if we can become friends. And down the road…well, we'll have to see."

"Hmm," Charlie was noncommittal. "Okay, Bells. Guess we'll see."

xxxxxxxxxxx

AN: So, so sorry that this took…gah, two months. I won't bore you with reasons why; just repeat my promise to never ever abandon a story completely. Come hell, high water, or uncooperative muses, I will see each story I start through to completion. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this latest installment. I'd love to know what you think.