A/N: This is a special chapter.

I thought seeing a view of the evening from another character's POV would be a little treat for readers.

It would allow you to see Edward and Bella from an outsider.

There were many POV's that I had in mind, but I felt everyone would enjoy Ben's the most. I hope you enjoy.

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Chapter 9

Ben Cheney's POV

Angela was putting on the final touches of her make-up before we would leave for the department dinner at the Cullen estate. She was so beautiful in her satin forest green dress and I was still coming to terms that she had married me.

Quietly, I snaked my arm around her waist from behind. "You are simply ravishing, my beautiful wife." I placed a kiss softly at the base of her neck between her shoulders.

"You're not so bad looking either, my sweet husband." She twirled around under my touch and kissed me on my lips.

"We should get going. Ed's probably on his third panic attack by now." I looked at my watch and we had about ten minutes before we needed to pick him up.

Angela finished putting on her lipstick and looked solemn as she put it away in her bag. "I feel so sorry for him, Ben. All these years we've known Edward, it hurts to see that he tortures himself like this, throwing himself to the wolves. He deserves better in his life."

"I know. I would say that maybe if he got a girlfriend he wouldn't be so bad, but that's not an option." Angela nodded at that.

We both met Edward Cullen during our senior year of our undergraduate program, having been selected as part of his research team. He was new to teaching at the university, and was a nervous wreck outside the lecture halls. It took him weeks before he spoke to us like an educated human being rather than a programmed anti-social robot. By the end of that year, Angela and I decided we would continue with our Master's and Edward had opened up to us as a friend and was asking us to return as leads on his team under his direction.

The last time that I could remember him going on a date was about four years ago. Ang and I set him up with a mutual friend and that went so well. From what I was told, they made it up to placing their food order when Edward suffered from one of his panic attacks and left our friend there, having her pay for both meals. It took several weeks for Lauren to return our calls of apology and Edward had vehemently refused any dates from then on out. Edward attached a lot of women, and they would always throw themselves at him, but his nerves always got the best of him. I knew it had been several years, maybe even eight or nine, since he had even had sex. I could never imagine going that long, but understood that physical closeness was a major factor in triggering his attacks.

When we finally arrived at Edward townhouse, Ang got out to drag his ass into the car. After she rang the bell, she turned and waved back at me as she waited for him to answer. Finally he flung himself from the door and locked up his fortress of solitude.

Once he sat in the back seat and belted himself in, I turned down the radio so it would help calm his nerves. I felt the bouncing of his leg shack the car as we drove. I kept looking back at him as we got closer to the dinner, making sure he was still ok, and that we wouldn't need to pull over so he could have a mini breakdown. Angela kept quiet and would casually check him over her shoulder every now and then.

When I turned into his parent's mile long drive, his leg bounced like a humming bird's wings flapping. If I wasn't already aware it was him doing it, I would have sworn something was wrong with my car.

One final look at him in the mirror and I saw his eyes shut tight. Here we go. I took Angela's hand to alert her and she frowned. We sat parked for a moment in the drive, waiting for Edward to collect himself before we went in.

Everyone was already seated in the dining hall as we entered. Ed followed behind Ang and me as we stepped through the double doors. As the wait staff was closing them behind us, I took Angela's hand in my own once more and walked in the direction towards Dr. Jennings who was trying to catch my attention. When she pointed to the two empty seats at her table I realized that was our assigned seating. I pulled out Ang's seat for her then took mine just as the waiter offered me a dinner roll.

I looked around the room. There were a few people I didn't recognize mixed with the faculty and their spouses. When I found Edward at his table, I was surprised to seeing him just standing behind his chair. He continued to stand there for about a minute, his face had a look between confusion and shock.

"Hey, Hun, Ed is acting strange, so I'm gonna keep a close eye on him tonight."

"If he has a moment, I want you to make sure he's ok. We can leave if he needs to get out of here quickly." She whispered back and I took her hand and kissed the back of it. She cared about him just as much as I did.

I looked back at Edward sitting at the table with his family and it looked like he was fine now, so I started to dig in to the meal.

The food was, as always, unbelievable. Esme Cullen always served the best and would never settle for anything less. After a few bites of the prime rib, with melted in my mouth, Dr. Jennings asked Angela and I if we had met the Cullen Fellowship recipient, Isabella Swan.

"I'm afraid not yet professor. Ang and I just got back from our honeymoon this afternoon." Dr. Jennings looked like she just remembered this information.

"That's right. Congratulations again, I hope you had a lovely time."

I tried to swallow the savory meat before I replied. "We did. Took lots of pictures."

"Well you will have to stop by my office and show me when you can." Ang and I both agreed we would do so. "Anyways, that recipient, Ms. Swan, she's quite something. She's a little reserved, but I think that will be just fine for your research team. She sure is intelligent enough. Dr. Cullen would probably appreciate that." She took a bite of a carrot from her dinner and chewed.

"Where is she seated tonight?" Angela looked around the room to find Ms. Swan.

"Over at that table. She came with Jasper Hale; he's the brother of Emmett's fiancé." I followed the direction Dr. Jennings pointed to.

Seated next to a young blonde man I didn't recognize, was a younger, attractive woman. Her hair was pulled back and her face was flushed red as she bent over her food, poking at it and hardly eating. She was trying to pay attention to the dinner conversation at her table, but her eyes would dart over to the other side of the room as if she was expecting someone to come over.

"She looks so young." I stated as I turned back to face the table.

"Mmhm. But from what I hear, she was top of her class with her during her undergraduate program and has a couple years experience in counseling centers."That was all that was said about the Swan woman for the remainder of the dinner services.

When desert arrived, a loud sound of chair being pushed back suddenly met my ears.

"Ok, so who had money that he wouldn't make it through dinner?" Jane Benedict looked around the table and I saw a few timid hands raise. She and her brother Alec laughed and went back to wolfing down their deserts.

I turned to see if it was Edward who they were talking about. Sure enough, he was walking quickly to leave the room. His fists clenched and he shut his eyes just as he passed the table Ms. Swan sat at, and I found it odd that her eyes followed him so closely.

"Hmm, that's odd." I mumbled

"What's that?" Ang asked.

"Nothing." Edward was throwing himself from the room and I heard the sound of him running down the hall before the doors slammed shut.

"I'm going to let him have a head start, but I'll go after him." I reassured Ang after seeing her worried face.

I finished the soufflé and threw back half of my wine before I excused myself from the table.

I walked into the hallway and I saw the front door was left open. I stepped outside and closed the door behind me. It was a bit chilly tonight. I couldn't see him, but a faint rustling sound around the house caught my attention. I walked to the direct of the sound and saw an old greenhouse close by and a small billow of smoke drifting up behind it. Great hiding spot there, Ed.

Sure enough, he was sitting on the ground, cigarette in hand when I rounded the corner.

"Can I bum a cig?" I asked after I sat down next to him.

He place one in my outstretched hand along with a Zippo lighter. "Does Ang know you smoke?" he took a sip of something that looked like a bottle of expensive scotch. Even when he had his panic attacks, Ed had good taste with liquor. I quickly lit my smoke and inhaled.

"On occasion, during times of stress. Spring semester of my senior year with my undergraduate degree, I must have gone through a pack a day." I put the lighter on the ground between us when he offered me a drink. "Thanks. So, is it really that bad for you in there tonight?" I leaned back and looked up. I thought about the look on his face before he stormed out of the room. He looked like he was in a lot of pain, physically and emotionally. I exhaled the smoke.

"I'm just not feeling so well right now, and I had to get out of there." He took an extremely unnecessarily long drag of his cigarette which I knew would not feel good. He let out a loud cough.

"I hope the scotch helps." I took another sip from the bottle and handed it back to soothe his coughing.

He took a big gulp and when he put in on the ground I saw the bottle was already half gone. There was a long silence between us as we sat there. I thought of something that could possibly take his mind off the dinner party. There was something he had been looking forward to.

"I got a chance to see the fellowship recipient, Isabella. She was sitting next to Rosalie's brother. Dr. Jennings pointed her out to me and Ang." His eyes widened briefly then he composed himself again. "She's a lot younger looking then what I had imagined." He continued to just sit there and nodded without speaking. "I hope she's up for the challenges she'll have to deal with for the next few years." He closed his eyes and I realized I wasn't helping. I took another drag of my cigarette and saw he had stopped smoking his and it was just burring down past the filter.

"I don't think I can hide out here the rest of the night." He sounded like he was surrendering to some unknown antagonist. "Esme will be livid if I don't at least try and make an effort to be courteous and sociable." He took one last hit of his smoke and then extinguished it. When he stood up he swayed slightly and I knew it was his medicine mixing with the large amount of scotch that sat in his stomach.

I put mine out and joined his on his walk back, shaking off the dirt from my pants. When we got to the front of the house, several cars were gone meaning people were beginning to leave, and I knew this would make it a little easier on Ed.

Though we had been drinking outside, I followed Edward to the bar to order another round. When I got my drink I noticed that he had stepped away and was now holding an old book in his hand.

"Hey Ben, I'll be back in a moment. I have to put one of my mother's books back in the library. I'll be down in five minutes, and then we can get out of here." I nodded and raised my glass to him as he walked towards the staircase.

After Edward's departure, I found my wife speaking with the Carlisle Cullen, Emmett Cullen and his fiancée, Rosalie Hale. I walked over and joined them.

"You're back. Where's Edward?" Ang took my hand in hers when I approached.

"He had to put something away, he'll be back soon. He wants to leave." She agreed that sounded fine.

"I think Rose and I should get going too. We have to get an early start in the morning." He gave a sly wink to Rose who smacked his chest in return. I don't think and early morning was on his itinerary.

Esme Cullen was joining our group followed by Rose's brother, Jasper.

"Are you taking off too, sis?" He had coats in his arms and a small Tupperware container in his hand.

"Yes, my dear brother. It was good to see you again. Sorry we couldn't talk a lit tonight. We'll have to get lunch together soon. Give me a call we'll set up something. And be a gentlemen when you take home that poor girl you came with tonight. I saw you looking at her. Tisk, tisk." Rosalie gave her brother a quick hug as he laughed.

"Scouts honor, I'll be on my best behavior. But if she starts anything, I'll let her take the lead." He winked.

I felt a bit sorry for Isabella at the moment. Jasper seemed like a nice enough guy, but she seemed like the type of girl who wouldn't be so impulsive and make a move like that. Especially with someone she had just met.

We all wished Emmett and Rosalie good night, and I was getting concerned that Edward wasn't back. I looked at my watch and saw it had been about a half hour since he went upstairs.

Jasper hugged Esme goodnight and promised he would visit her soon. I shook his hand and told him it was nice to have met him.

Angela and I were the only ones left with Dr. Cullen and his wife when Edward finally joined us. He had a content and almost euphoric smile on his face. Angela and I looked at each other, but we were both at a loss for words.

"Edward, my boy. You look like you are feeling better." Carlisle had smile at his son and took a sip from his drink.

"Yes, a little bit. I think I just ate too much today. I needed a quick walk and it felt better." He looked at me, asking me silently to agree to that and I nodded I would.

"That's good to hear." His mother took his arms and held on to them lovingly. "Did you get a chance to meet Ms. Swan before she left? I was going to introduce her to you when I continued the tour of the manor, but Jasper said she was exhausted from today and needed to get some sleep. The poor dear has had a busy day." This was probably not a good thing to bring up with him. He looked tense when I spoke with him about her earlier.

I was shocked with his reply. "Yes, I was able to meet her before she left. She seems really nice." He continued to smile, and it looked like he was fighting the urge from breaking into song. I raised my eyebrows. "I think she will do just fine with the team."

"Where's Emmett?" It was obvious he was trying to change the subject and looked around the room.

"They took off about a half hour ago, something about an early start in the morning." Angela answered him and yawned. I knew it was an act on her part so to remind him that he wanted to leave earlier.

He didn't notice her acting skills like I did. "You look like you are getting a little sleepy there Ang. Are you going to be able to drive?"

"I'll be fine, besides I'm the only one here that didn't have a drop of alcohol, you boozers." I couldn't contain my laugh at that, even Esme was amused.

I started to move to the door when Esme stopped us. "Before you go, I had Maria pack up some leftovers. Jasper took some for Bella after he told me she hardly ate tonight, so I figured I could send some off with you all."

We said good night to Dr. Cullen before we followed Esme to the kitchen. My eyes bulged when I saw all the containers on the counter.

"I know you two don't have any food in the house right now, so I packed up a bit of everything." It was true, being away for over two months, our fridge was bare. Angela thanked her as the large shopping bag of food was handed over.

We made our way to the car after Edward was given his leftovers and said his goodbye to his mother. He was a little sad when we left her in the kitchen, but that was always expected since she was the one person who he was the closest with.

When we loaded the trunk with the food, Edward looked like he remembered something. "Hey Ang, go ahead and warm up the car I'll be back in a moment." He darted back to the direction of the house but instead of going in, he went around to the greenhouse.

The car was warm by the time he returned and when he got in, I shifted to see he was holding the scotch we had left behind earlier. I gave him the thumbs up.

We were on the main road when Angela spoke. "So what was Isabella like? I wish I had a chance to meet her tonight, but I didn't see her after dinner." She made a turn.

"Like I said, Bella's very nice. She didn't speak a whole lot, but I think she was just overwhelmed with the whole night. I did most of the talking anyways." He voice was very soft and sounded as if he was recalling a dream

Wait a minute. He did most of the talking?

"You did most of the talking?" I was shocked. "Edward Anthony Cullen controlled the conversation?" Ever since I had known him on a friendship level, Edward never liked to be in charge when speaking to anyone. It was like pulling teeth to get responses from him. Especially with anyone he had just met.

"Um, I guess so. Yeah. What's the problem with that?" He sounded taken aback, as if this was news to him.

Something occurred to me at that moment. One thing that could possibly create this change in Edward's behavior. I had noticed he stopped calling her Ms. Swan, and was instead calling her "Bella" which was very informal for him to do so. It was all clear then. Edward Cullen was attracted to Bella Swan.

"Nothing, I guess there's nothing wrong with that." I looked at Angela then and I saw she came to the same conclusion as me and we shared a knowing smile.

"When are you going to be stopping by the lab on Monday?" I figured I would change the subject since I knew he would never admit to his attraction.

"I don't know. I meet with the board of trustees at nine and then I think there is a quick brunch and meeting with the heads of the departments around ten thirty. I'm thinking I'll be by around noon. You think the rest of the team will be able to get in then?"

"Angela and I looked over the schedules that the team sent in, and it looks like that should be a good time. Newton will be done with his adventure hike before nine; I know Yorkie doesn't have anything that day until after six. Tyler is free all day and Alice and Bella should be done with the RA introduction meetings by eleven." I put a slight emphasis on one of the names and sure enough he reacted as I expected. A smile showed on his face at the simple mention of her name.

"Perfect. I think I'll order lunch for all of us. We can meet at the lab, give everyone a quick review of responsibilities and the stations and then the food can be here by one."

Angela squeezed my hand then and I looked at her roll her eyes. He already had it bad for her. I turned and scratched my head. "Wow Ed. What the hell happened to you? Usually you aren't this nice to the other members of the team until the semester starts. Not that I'm complaining or anything. Just, what's the deal?"

He would always be a bit rude and more robotic when the year started with the research team. He told me once he did this because he wanted to make sure that the new members would take this seriously. No shenanigans.

"Well, I want to try something different this year. We always seem to replace people at the beginning, so maybe if I started off nice, people wouldn't need to be replaced, and they'd actually do what's expected." He tried to sound convincing, but Ang and I could see through it. He was going to try and impress Bella.

Angela parked the car in front of his house when she spoke, "Or maybe a certain wound-up Neuropsychology professor has a certain fondness for a brunette from Washington?" I could hear his fingers fumble with his seatbelt being caught off guard. I suppressed a laugh.

"I have no clue what you mean there Ang, but I can assure you that I have nothing but a professional respect for all the members of the team." It was my turn to roll my eyes.

"Whatever you say Edward." Angela opened the trunk for him when he got out. I saw he was still holding the bottle of scotch. Someone wasn't finished drinking tonight. When he closed the trunk, he stepped up to my open window.

"Thank you again guys for driving. I want you to drive safe and I will see you at noon on Monday."

"Night Edward." We called out before Angela drove us away.

"I think this semester is going to be quite interesting"

"How long do you think it will take him to grow a pair and make a move?" I asked.

"I'm not sure. I've never seen Edward like this. We are all in new territory here." It was true, no one knew this Edward.

"If he doesn't act on it after a month, I think I'll have to have a talk with him. Man-to-man."

When we pulled into the car port and Angela shut off the car, I leaned over and gave her a sweet kiss on the mouth. I pulled back before I stepped out of the vehicle and I saw she was slightly frowning and she let out a sigh.

"What's wrong babe?" I reached for her hand.

"I just hope he's not a fool and by the time he does make a move, it's not too late. Jasper Hale is already setting up some groundwork. I don't know if Edward would be able to handle it if she started seeing someone else."

"We just have to keep an eye out then, and if anything happens, we'll be able to be there for our friend."

She squeezed my hand tightly. We stepped out of the car and made our way upstairs to the apartment. As she unlocked the door I scooped her up quickly, bridal style.

"Ben! What are you doing?!" She smacked my shoulder as hard as she could, but I could hardly feel it.

"I'm being a good husband, and finally carrying my bride across the threshold." As I walked through the door she wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled my face to hers to kiss me.

I had a few readers ask me some questions lately and I thought it would be nice for me to share with everyone else.

First: How old are the character's in the story.

Here is the list of characters so far:

Bella - 25
Edward - 32
Jasper - 29
Rosalie - 29
Emmett - 34
Jacob - 24
Alice - 23
Tanya - 23
Esme - 54
Carlisle - 56
Charlie - 54
Billy - 54
Ben - 26
Angela - 26

Second: What is the meaning behind the title, "Breaking the Barrier"?

Well when I started to write, the title was actually in reference to Edward's research neuroscience and hypnosis. When I attended college I was a participant in a hypnosis experiment and the process involved relaxation and required me open my mind to the research team that was conducting the experiment and therefore breaking the barrier I had that guarded my mind from others. However, this story has evolved on it's own and it seems the title covers more barriers then I had originally planned. There's the virginity issue with Bella, the comfort level for Edward with his anxiety, the barrier Bella has up regarding her mother, and finally crossing the lines of professionalism while working with someone you are sexually attracted to.

If you have any other questions, please let me know. you can send it in a review or send me a PM. Again thanks for the Reviews and you continuing encouragemnet and support.