A/N: Hello everyone! I will probably be continuing to update nice and fast during this weekend, but starting Tuesday, I probably wouldn't be able to update again until Friday.

Anyway, thanks again to everyone who reviewed and special thanks to everyone who has reviewed more than once. You guys rock my socks! Well, I'm not really wearing socks right now, but you get the idea.

So… has anyone seen the movie or read the book "Tuesdays with Morrie" by Mitch Albom? I watched the first half of the movie in my careers class yesterday and it is so touching. Seriously. They guy sitting next to me started crying. I'm not even lying. Well, anyway, I know this was random, but it was on my mind.

Also, I got way more story alerts than I did reviews! If you think my story is good enough to alert, than please, please, please, drop in a quick review!

Here's the chapter you've all been waiting for, the Talk with Edward! So on with Chapter FIVE!

To my surprise, Edward stood on the other side, looking as handsome as ever, but also with a firm determination in his eyes.

"Edward-" I began, but he cut me off.

"Bella, we need to talk."

Chapter 5: Never too Late

I just stared at Edward, a little surprised. So soon? Sure, I was hoping he would approach me first, but I was never expecting him to so fast.

He looked at me expectantly, and when I didn't reply, a little worriedly.

"Uh, Bella?"

I snapped out of my silence. "Yeah?" I answered rather stupidly.

"Can I come in…?"

"Oh! Right. Uh, sure." I said sounding even dumber with every word. I stepped aside to let him walk in, blushing lightly at my stupid moment. Did I mention my ability to blush on demand? It was incredibly inconvenient when trying to hide something.

Edward walked in, well more like he glided in. Why did he have to be so graceful while I walked around like some weirdo klutz? Isabella Swan, my ass.

He sat down on the couch and waited for me to join him. I could tell he expected me to sit beside him, but I knew I wasn't going to. Shutting the door, I went and sat in the bowl chair, positioning the chair so I would be opposite him, facing his direction.

We sat there in awkward silence, waiting for the other to make the first move. It was so silent between us, the only sound in the room was the quiet ticking of the clock on the wall. Finally Edward broke the silence.

"Well… this is awkward." He said, stating the obvious.

"No shit Sherlock" I replied sarcastically.

One corner of his mouth twitched up, no doubt amused by my sourness. That just reminded me of his dazzling crooked smile. The one he used to only give me. It used to be my smile. But then I remembered how the night he introduced Tanya to us, he used that same smile on her, making me incredibly angry and jealous at the time. My mood turned sour again.

"You said you wanted to talk, so talk" I said a little annoyed. Who says they want to talk to somebody, and then be all silent?

"Right. I guess I just wanted to say…" he began a little nervously. I waited, expecting him to say something like I was horrible for leaving him. "I wanted to say… I'm sorry."

Huh? Well, that wasn't what I was expecting. I knew Alice said he felt guilty and upset, but in a way, I didn't really believe it. I was the one who felt immensely guilty and sad. I was the jerk for leaving so abruptly.

All of the sudden all my annoyance at him melted away and was replaced by guilt. I didn't mean for him to feel guilty and sad. I thought he would be fine without me. If he felt anything after my departure, I thought it would be along the lines of anger and disappointment.

"No," I said shaking my head. "I should be the one who is sorry. I left without a word to anyone but Alice, and that was at the last minute, on the phone! I-I" I took a shaky breath. "I should have told you all. I should have given you at least a proper goodbye."

"No Bella, don't be sorry," he said sadly, looking into my eyes. "It wasn't your fault. I should have told you about Tanya before I introduced to her to everyone. It was insensitive of me. I'm sorry."

"Although it was upsetting," he flinched at my words. "You didn't have an obligation to me to tell me about your girlfriends. I was being overly sensitive and I over reacted."

"You didn't over react. I may not have had an obligation, but you were still my best friend, and I was aware of how you felt about me at the time. I should have warned you before hand."

Edward shook his head, as if disgusted with himself, and looked at me pleadingly. Did he seriously believe there was a possibility I wouldn't forgive him? That was ridiculous.

"You should quit beating yourself up over it Edward. I'm not mad at you or anything. I never was." Well maybe a little bit when you showed Tanya my special smile…

"You aren't?" he said, looking surprised. Christ, wasn't he listening to me at all? I said I felt guilty, not mad. That boy seriously had a one-track mind.

"No, I'm not. I told you, I left because of… myself. I was angry at myself for feeling… that way. I thought I told Alice that I wasn't mad at you."

"You may have told Alice, but she never told me." He said, "She and Emmett were kind of harsh, to put it lightly. I don't think they spoke to me civilly for weeks."

I immediately felt doubly guilty. In no way whatsoever did I intend to cause family problems.

Seeming to read my mind without me even saying anything, Edward quickly amended, "No, don't apologize Bella. No-" he said as I opened my mouth to protest. "I know what you're going to say, so don't. It's not your fault. Besides, there was no permanent damage done by those two…"

I gasped, "Did Emmett beat you up?"

"Define 'beat up'."

Rolling my eyes, I said, "Did he punch you, kick you, pulverize you, put you in a potato sack and throw you off a cliff…?"

"Yes, yes, yes, and no." he said, chuckling dryly. "But it's all fine."

"I'm so sorry for causing you guys pain. I thought you'd be okay…"

"Bella, just because I didn't feel the same way about you as you did for me, definitely doesn't mean I never cared about you. You were my best friend."

"I know…" I said, my head down like a little kid who's being scolded.

I felt Edward's hand go under my chin, bringing up my head to look at him straight in the eyes.

"I just want you to know that it wasn't easy without you."

"What do you mean? 'Wasn't easy'?"

He sighed and dropped his hand, leaving my chin burning. That was strange…

"I mean," he hesitated, unsure of how to explain I supposed. "I mean, I missed you, and the guilt was pretty much eating me up. Not to mention Tanya was pretty annoyed with me." He chuckled a little at that.

He looked at me in a reassuring manner, trying to get me to not worry or feel guilty, but I still did.

Instead of apologizing, for I knew he would only tell me to not apologize, I whispered, "Alice told me you hardly played your piano after I left."

Edward sighed in exasperation. He probably didn't want Alice to spill that tidbit of information. Too late.

"I won't lie to you, Bella. Alice was putting it nicely. By 'hardly' she meant 'never'"

I gasped again. Edward not ever playing his piano was like… like… I couldn't think of an analogy at the moment, but it sure wasn't right. I remember Edward telling me that he took his inspiration for his piano compositions from the important people in his life. Could that have meant…

"Why?" I asked quietly, already afraid of the answer.

He shrugged, as if it weren't that big of a deal. I knew he was downplaying it for me so I wouldn't worry about him. "I guess I never felt like it without you. I told you before Bella, I missed you. I missed my best friend. Your fun and cheerfulness were often inspiration for me."

He added the last part, wearing his crooked grin. It automatically made my heart swell. But then I remembered he probably used that smile on Tanya on a daily basis, and my heart went back to its normal size, if not smaller.

"Wasn't Tanya inspiration enough for you?" As soon as the words were out, I regretted them. Especially since they came out harsh and that made me sound jealous. Which again I was not. I didn't mean to say it, it just came out of my mouth before I could think it through.

He looked sad again and I mentally slapped myself.

"Yes I had Tanya, but…" he trailed off.

I waited for him to elaborate, but when he was silent for a minute or so, I guess he wasn't speaking anymore on the Tanya subject.

"Sorry, I didn't mean for it to come out like that." I said quickly.

"No, it's alright. Bella…"

I looked into his eyes and saw the same sadness and hurt as I had before, but I also saw longing. Longing for what?

"Bella… I really want to be friends again. Please. I know I've made a lot of mistakes in the past regarding your feelings, and I guess mine as well, but I want nothing more than a second chance." He took a deep breath. "We used to be so close. You were my confident, and I was yours. Of course I betrayed your trust in me when I got a girlfriend without telling you, but I'm sorry. Please, can we go back to being best friends? I don't want to lose you again."

His voice was so sad and almost pitiful, that I felt hugging him with all my might. The truth was, I really wanted to be best friends again too. I wanted to forget everything bad and hurtful that had gone on between us, and go back to the way things were before.

But I knew that it wouldn't be the best idea. One reason was because I knew, no matter how much we tried, we couldn't go back to how it was exactly before this whole thing blew up.

I knew we could probably be best friends again, but something would always be… off. I wasn't sure.

But the other reason was because, as I thought over and over again, that it wouldn't be safe. I was a danger magnet, and I was attracting some very, very big danger right now.

So the logical choice would be to refuse him, and to stay away from most everybody else. But was that what I really wanted? I knew that was what's best for everyone, but was it right for me?

I really wanted to be best friends with him again. My heart throbbed for it. 99.9% of me was sure I was over him, but I really did miss our closeness, or friendship. I still cared for him a lot.

But I was being selfish. What was more important, that he was with me, or that he was alive? I knew the answer. It was obvious. But my selfishness wouldn't get out of the way. So I decided to go for a compromise.

I knew I was being stupid by not quitting him cold turkey, that I would probably regret it later on, but I couldn't help it. I felt a strange pull towards Edward that I couldn't deny. This so wasn't fair. All I wanted was to live my life alone where no one else could get hurt. He just had to show up and ruin my resolve. God, I felt like such a selfish bitch.

Edward could see the conflicting emotions on my face and in my eyes. He was always able to read me so well. His face scrunched up in sadness and pain.

"It's okay," he said. "I understand if you don't want to. I was a pig to you anyway…"

He started to get up and walk away. My mind was telling me, or rather, yelling at me to let him go. Not to stop him, but before I could think, I said, "Edward! Wait!"

He turned to me and I said in a rush, "I'm sorry, I was only thinking. Don't go."

He came back and slowly sat down, searching my face. I took a deep breath, ready to verbalize my compromise.

"I do want to be friends with you again," I started. His face lit up. "but I'm afraid we can't go back to the way things were." His face fell again.

"Can't or won't?"

"A little bit of both." I admitted. "Can't, because we've changed. You've changed, I've changed. We've grown up. Despite our efforts to forget what happened, there would always be remnants of it there. We can't just ignore it. You may be able to, but I can't." I'll admit, I was kind of exaggerating at the end. Of course there would always be that little "incident" between us, but it probably wouldn't completely stop us from being best friends. I didn't care though if I was exaggerating. It had to be done to put the seed of doubt in his mind.

"Won't, because I need to concentrate on school and… other things right now." Like not getting killed. "This whole meeting up here in Seattle was completely coincidental. If I had never met up with you again by chance, I wouldn't have contacted you for a very long time if at all. I never counted on this" I pointed between him and I. "happening.

"Don't get me wrong. We can still be friends, and you can still come to me if you need someone to talk to or whatever, but ultra close best friends just aren't in the cards for me right now. I'm sorry. Maybe in the future. But right now I still need a little distance."

Edward looked disappointed but he didn't push me. "I guess that's… understandable." He said finally.

"No, it's not because of what's happened between us, it's not because of you. I just have… higher priorities right now. But we can still be friends."

The "higher priorities" sounded harsh, even to my ears, but it was too late to take it back and it seemed to have the desired effect on Edward.

"It's not only you," I said. "It will be everyone. I'll be there with you guys, just not as close as we used to be." I paused for a second. "But don't hesitate to come to me if you need someone to talk to about anything, okay?"

"Sure." He said. I could tell he was hurt, even though he tried to hide it with casualness. It pained me to hurt him, but he would get over it. He had to. It was for his own good I was doing this. Not mine.

But I guess it was also a little for my own good. If I was being completely selfless, I would have refused friendship of any degree with him and the others, but I wasn't selfless. I just hated myself sometimes.

He stood up and brushed some invisible dust of his pants. "I, uh, I'd better go now. You know… Tanya's probably looking for me…"

I stood up too. "Where is your dorm room?" I asked.

"On the floor below this one. The building sorts the floors by boy, girl, boy, girl - you get the idea."

I nodded. We were taking a step towards the door when it suddenly opened. Someone who was definitely not Rosalie or Alice was at the doorway. I guess I didn't lock it. I probably should remember to if people are just going to burst in like this.

"Hey Rose, have you seen Edward? I can't find him anyw-" Tanya stopped speaking when she saw Edward and I standing in the room. Alone.

Her eyes quickly filled with anger as she looked at us. I could tell she was about to throw a fit about something that was completely innocent. God, we weren't even touching!

"What are you doing here Edward, with HER?!" she said, outraged, jabbing a red nail polished finger at me.

"We were just talking Tanya. Calm down." Edward said in a soothing voice as he stepped towards her. It was as if she was the lion and he was the lion tamer.

"How can I calm down when I find you ALONE in a room with that bitch?!"

Anger started to boil in my veins then when she called me a bitch. I didn't do anything to her! She was making a dramatic tantrum over nothing! I didn't even love Edward anymore… at least I was pretty sure I didn't.

"Tanya, please stop. And don't call Bella that. You're making a big deal out of nothing. We're just friends." Edward said, an edge of annoyance in his voice.

"Friends! Ha! Don't tell me you're on good terms with that little wench? After all she did to you?" Tanya then turned to me, he eyes full of hate. "Thanks to YOU, I was stuck babysitting a depressed little boy instead of hanging out with my boyfriend!"

The anger in my veins took over. "Forgive me if I'm wrong, but a good girlfriend would have comforted her boyfriend when he was in need, not complain about it!" I said.

"Why you little whore! Don't judge me!"

"Then don't judge me. I had my reasons for doing what I did." I replied, coolly.

"Oh I know about your reasons" she scoffed, "You had the hots for my boyfriend, and when he didn't like you back, you ran. You're nothing but a coward! I bet you don't even want all this "friends" crap with him. I bet you still want him! Well news flash bitch, you can't have him! He's mine! We're made for each other! He will NEVER like you! He loves ME! He won't even look twice in your direction if I'm around."

How dare she! She had no right to say what she said, she wasn't even that accurate. I didn't "want" Edward anymore! She was the bitch here, not me. I wanted to strangle her skinny little neck…

Before I could get on with the strangling however, Edward intervened.

"Tanya! What has gotten into you?! Never speak like that to Bella. You're being overly possessive. Stop it."

"But Eddie…"

"And I never said I loved you. How could I when you're being rude and disrespectful to my friends? If you can't accept Bella and be at least civil towards her, then I can never love you Tanya. Bella and I are friends, whether you like it or not."

His tone was cold and almost deadly as he looked, no, glared at Tanya. A part of me was celebrating on the inside, overjoyed Edward was sticking up for me. But there was another part of me, a much smaller part, that didn't want Edward to be defending me so forcefully. It meant we were getting attached again. It wasn't safe.

Why was nothing safe when it came to Edward?

Tanya looked stricken. Like a deer in the headlights. No doubt she was expecting Edward to back up and support her little outburst. She thought he would be all lethal towards me. She never expected him to get angry at her.

"I-I… Eddie, please… I…" she was speaking so pitifully that I almost felt sorry for her, but not quite. She was still an ass for saying those things to me, and Edward knew it.

"I think we need to talk Tanya." He glanced at me. "In private. I'm sorry for this Bella. I'll talk to you again soon."

His face still stiff and hard with anger and annoyance, he swiftly walked out of the room, taking Tanya's hand and pulling her after him, leaving me standing there, a little shell shocked over what just happened.

A/N: Once again, Hit or Miss?

So, I get over 310 hits for the last chapter, but only 9 reviews?! Come on people, you can do better than that! I'm not going to update again until I get somewhere between 15-20 reviews for this chapter. I know it's a bit of a stretch from last chapter, but I think it is perfectly attainable. In fact, I would love you guys even more if I got over 20 reviews! So REVIEW, REVIEW, REIVIEW!!!

So the Twilight movie is coming out in North America in… less than 2 weeks. Anyone excited? I am! WOOT! Although, I don't know about you, but I feel like the acting is… forced somehow. I just think it could be better. And is it just me, or does Kristen Stewart move/shake her head a lot when she talks? (But I loved her in "Speak"). Anyway, tell me your thoughts in a PM or maybe, I dunno, a review? I'd love to hear if you guys agree with me or not :D