Chapter Three, hope you guys like it.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the Handbook

Chapter three: Bad break-ups can be sticky

The Bad Dater's Handbook

Edward Cullen:

I sighed darkly and ran a hand over my face, reaching up and pulling at my bronze colored hair.

Tanya

Just the thought of that name made my heart ache, and my breathing come to a shaky halt.

Tanya had been my life, my confidante, and my lover. She had betrayed me, choosing to cheat on me with the next door neighbor. I had walked in on them on my way over to her house to check on her…supposedly she had been sick. Sick of me I bet. I had ended our eight year relationship immediately, no matter how much it hurt to let her go. She had been everything to me; we were even planning to get married as soon as we were out of college.

I sighed once and decided to go to the park, where Tanya and I had first met, no matter how masochist it was. I needed something to remind me of the happy times that we had shared. So I quickly gathered a jacket out of the closet in my dark apartment – there hadn't been much light in it since Tanya left – and a book to keep me occupied, then I left the apartment to begin the torture.

And then I saw her.

I had been sitting on the bench in the park, the one that I normally sat at, when suddenly she came bounding around the corner, a work of art.

She was jogging down the path, her arms swinging in front of her gracefully, her ocher brown hair pulled back into a high ponytail, and her dark brown eyes focused on the path in front of her. Her hands were clutching a blue I-pod and she seemed to be singing the words to the foreign song under her breath.

I let out a small gasp when I first saw her, and from then on my breathing, along with my heart, just…stopped…everything just stopped like in a movie, when the future lovers see each other and then, bam, they're hopelessly in love with each other. What was that called? Ah, yes, love and first sight.

I mentally willed her to meet my gaze, so I could look deeply into her warm eyes. Finally, when she did meet my gaze, it's like time stopped completely. She stopped jogging and just faced me, both of us just staring at each other.

And finally after what seemed like to short of a time, she sprinted away after giving me a apologetic smile, running much faster then she had before.

I sighed sadly, how could I foolishly believe that it was love at first sight? The possibility of that ever happening was slim, to none. I shook my head, attempting to rid it of the brown haired goddess, but failing miserably.

I decided to leave the park, to dumbstruck to stay there any longer, I had to go to work anyway. I walked dejectedly back to my apartment.

When I got to work, I could see that it was going to be another long day, the coffee shop was practically empty, leaving me with nothing to keep my mind busy, allowing it to wander and drift back to Tanya…and the mystery girl, whose name I didn't know…

"Can I have one Latte please?" I heard someone ask me. I looked up to see who was standing at the counter and was shocked to find a pixie like girl standing there.

She had jet black hair that was spiked in every direction, and was extremely short, though her facial features suggested that she was eighteen or older. I craned my neck downwards some so I could look her in the eye. I couldn't stand when someone was looking at you, and they wouldn't look at your eyes, they'd look anywhere but directly in your eyes.

"Sure coming right up." I said lightly, plastering a fake smile on my face.

I set to work filling up a to-go cup up with her order, barely paying attention to anything anymore.

When I set the cup in front of her, she pulled out her wallet and paid for it, and while she was waiting for me to put it in the cash register, she asked me;

"Say, what's your name?"

"Edward?" I said, but it came out as more of a question, probably because she was the first person that I had talked to today.

"I'm Alice! I was wondering, would you mind to much if I set you up on a date with my best friend, Bella?"

I was quite shocked by her forwardness; she didn't know anything about me! Yet there she was, waiting for my answer. I inwardly sighed and decided against it, that wouldn't be wise, to go out with someone when my head was still filled with Tanya, and of course the mystery woman from this morning. I tried to be polite about it; something about 'Alice' made it to where I didn't want to hurt her feelings, like a little sister.

"I'm sorry, Alice, but I recently broke up with my ex-girlfriend, and I'm not ready to see anyone yet."

"Ah, that's a shame, give me a call if you ever change your mind, I'm sure she'd love to!"

She quickly grabbed a napkin and jotted down her name – Alice Brandon – and her phone number before slipping it back to me.

"See ya later Edward!" She waved over her shoulder before exiting the café.

That was strange. Completely, and undeniably weird. She didn't even know a thing about me, and she was willingly setting me up with her best friend, and giving out her number. For all she knew, I could be a stalker. Oh, well, there's nothing I can do about it.

My shift ended early that day, I got to trudge back to my gloomy apartment and try to make myself feel better. I walked up the flight of stairs (My apartment was on the second floor, so there was no point in taking the elevator) but oddly, when I got to my front door, it was slightly ajar. I immediately set up my guard, preparing to fight someone.

I hesitantly entered the apartment, looking in all directions for the intruder…but I didn't have to look far.

There she was, standing in the middle of the room facing my bookshelf, which held pictures of us that I couldn't bear to take down, it hurt to keep them up there, but it hurt worse to take them down, like they never existed.

She reached over a touched one briefly, letting her fingers slide down the dusty frame to the shelf. A tear slid down her cheek, and I wanted nothing more then to wipe it away, and hold her.

"Edward…" She whispered quietly, I almost couldn't hear her from my position at the doorway, my feet frozen to the ground.

"Tanya…what are you doing here?" I asked quietly, no longer able to look at the provider to my suffering.

"Edward…I-I know that this won't change anything, but I've missed you…and I'm terribly sorry…for…for what I did to you."

"Tanya, why are you doing this to me?" I asked quietly, meeting her gaze for the first time, my voice cracking and tears welling up in my eyes. She couldn't just do this, break my heart and then barge right back into my life again.

"Because, Edward, I can't sleep at night without you there! I can't look at myself anymore without thinking about what I've done to you! I want you back…" She turned completely to face me and started taking steps towards me. "I want what we used to have back!"

I fell to my knees, my shoulders curling in on themselves like a shell. How could she say that after all she's done to me? It didn't look like she wanted it when I last saw her a month ago. I voiced my thoughts.

"How could you say that Tanya? After all that you've put me through, you have no idea!"

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