Author's Note: Thank you for those of you who reviewed! Hopefully, I did not miss anyone while replying.

Oh! And I apologize… I forgot to say Happy Hanukkah in my last chapter to those who celebrate it! I hope your holiday was wonderful!

So here's the reunion and it's probably not as exciting as y'all hoped :-P

These characters are not mine. They belong to Stephanie Meyer. I just like to mess with their heads.

Chapter 2: Having So Much to Say

What hurts the most
Was being so close
And having so much to say
And watching you walk away
And never knowing
What could have been
And not seeing that loving you
Is what I was tryin' to do

"What Hurts the Most" – Rascal Flatts

When Alice had invited Edward to the dinner party at Bella's apartment, Edward was wary of accepting. The way Alice talked, it seemed as if these dinner parties were intimate and consisted of a close-knit group. Although he belonged to the group in a manner of speaking, he hadn't seen all of them together since the Christmas in Tahoe.

"And that's exactly why you need to come, Edward!" Alice exclaimed. "It will be a reunion! Everybody will be excited to have you there! Besides, if you don't come, I will kidnap you myself. After all, you live in the same complex as Bella."

"I do?" This was news to Edward. When Alice told him of his new home, she never once informed him about near whom he would live.

"It's how I knew that this place was affordable, yet a very nice place to live." Alice's voice turned to a whimper as she begged, "Please Edward. Come and join us."

With a sigh, Edward finally relented and agreed to go to the party. So two days later, he found himself holding a bottle of wine and facing a stranger in what he thought was Bella's doorway.

Clearing his throat, he questioned, "Is this Bella's?"

The blonde man furrowed his eyebrows and opened his mouth as if to speak. He was interrupted, however, by Emmett knocking the unknown man out of his way.

"Edward! I didn't know you were coming!" he boomed with his loud voice. Edward looked towards the stranger again, which seemed to tell his cousin he was looking for an introduction. "Oh! Edward, this is Mike, Bella's fiancé. Mike, this is my cousin Edward. He just moved here from Chicago for his residency."

All Edward heard, though, was "Bella's fiancé." He knew his cousin had told him a while back that Bella and this Mike character were practically engaged, but he never heard that it became official. He was thrust out of his thoughts, however, when the new acquaintance held out his hand to shake.

"Good to meet you, man," Mike greeted, oblivious to the workings of Edward's mind.

"Likewise."

Suddenly, Jasper appeared between Emmett and Mike. "Hey! Why are y'all standing in the middle of the doorway? Come on in!" Putting a hand on Edward's shoulder, Jasper took the bottle of wine and led Edward into the apartment, where he spotted another unknown face, who was staring at him curiously.

"Eddie, this here's Ben, a co-worker of Bella's. Ben, this is Edward, my long lost cousin." Everybody chuckled at this description, and it must have been rather loud, because an instant later, they heard a woman's voice asking what was going on. All four men turned around to face the source of the voice.

It had been four years, but Edward knew from whom that voice came before he even turned around. But when he laid eyes on her, he could not help but admire her beauty. In the four years since he had seen her, it seemed as if Bella developed some curves. Her face lost its roundness, and her wavy hair was cut to her shoulders.

In the moment Bella first spotted Edward, she noticed changes in him as well. His face become more angular, and his shoulders more broad. It appeared as if he began to work out more. Not that he needed to, Bella thought, remembering the body she knew.

Before she could mentally kick herself for her thoughts, the sound of the wooden spoon hitting the floor knocked her out of her daze.

"Edward?"

The said person shuffled his feet, as he looked down. Finally looking up, he greeted, "Hi, Bella."

Instead of a polite reply, all she could do was ask, "What are you doing here?"

By this time, the women who were congregated in the kitchen arrived to see what all the fuss was about, and the men were frozen in their places, wondering what was going on. Both Emmett and Jasper believed that after four years apart, Bella and Edward would have no issues between them, while Mike and Ben obviously did not know what could cause the strange interaction between Emmett's cousin and Mike's fiancé.

"Alice invited me. She said it was okay."

"Alice invited you?" she turned to the friend in question, raising an eyebrow. Addressing everybody else, Bella excused herself before dragging Alice by the wrist into another room.

"Um, well, yeah," Rose muttered, "I'm going to check on the food."

"Me too," Angela added, turning to follow Rosalie back into the kitchen.

The men stood in silence for a moment until cheers from the TV distracted them.

"Woohoo!" Emmett yelled. "Home run Mariners!"

FMO

In Bella's bedroom, the atmosphere was a lot tenser. Bella did not speak for a while; all she could do was glare at Alice.

"What are you not telling me?" she finally asked.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Cut the crap, Alice. A blast from my past just showed up in my living room and he says that you invited him. So what's going on?"

Alice shrugged as if it wasn't a big deal. "Yeah, I invited him. I thought it would be nice for him to join us."

Bella sighed and rolled her eyes. "So what? Is he here for a visit?"

"No." Alice paused until Bella raised an eyebrow at her. "He just moved here last weekend. He's doing his residency at the children's hospital."

"How long have you known?"

Alice looked down, tracing an individual design with her shoe. "Two months."

"Besides you and Emmett, I suppose Jasper and Rose know, too? Were they all in on it?"

Her friend shook her head. "They all knew he was back in town, but I didn't tell anybody I invited him. Nobody suggested it, either, seeing that it was your engagement party. Are you mad?"

"Of course I'm upset!" Bella threw up her hands and sat on the bed. "Why, Alice? What was the big secret that you couldn't tell me? At least you could have warned me that you wanted to invite him. I wouldn't have minded."

At least, that's what Bella told herself. She was a happily engaged woman, and she would never deny Edward the ability to hang out with his cousin and friends just because of their past history.

"I thought you would," Alice sighed, sitting next to Bella and taking her hand. "Please don't be mad at me. I didn't mean to upset you."

Bella looked down to see the puppy-dog expression Alice always donned when she was begging for forgiveness. Truthfully, Bella believed that there was something more to the explanation than Alice related. However, Bella also knew that Alice never meant to upset her, and so she could not keep a grudge. And besides, she wasn't about to ruin a perfectly good dinner party by pouting.

"It's okay, Alice. Just don't keep information from me on purpose.

Her friend squealed as she tightly hugged Bella. "I promise!" Alice jumped up from the bed and grabbed Bella's hand. "Now let's go have a party!"

FMO

Dinner passed without any further drama. When Alice and Bella left the latter's room, Bella gave a small smile and slight wave to Edward, and then a grin to her fiancée before disappearing into the kitchen to finish making dinner.

At the table, conversation flowed freely. At first, Edward was quiet, but as he became comfortable with his friends and three new acquaintances, he began to converse more. He found it difficult, however, too stop his gaze from going to Bella. Especially when she and her fiancée shared loving looks and touches. He couldn't help but mentally kick himself when he realized what he missed.

And the fact that Bella did not feel anything.

Unbeknownst to him, that was not exactly true. She did feel a spark of something. She couldn't deny still being attracted to him, especially with the changes in his appearance over the years. Memories did flash before her eyes of times with him – both in bed and out, but she forced them to the back of her mind.

After all, she was with Mike. She made her choice, and she would not back out of it because she was attracted to a man from her past.

Because they hardly spoke directly to each other since Edward arrived, he was surprised when after dinner, she approached him.

"Hey Edward," she gave a small smile. "Sorry about earlier. I was just taken by surprise."

"I can see that. I apologize…"

Bella shook her head. "Don't. You had no idea that I had no idea. Besides, you're part of this group now, since you're sticking around. Congratulations on graduating, by the way."

Edward gave her his signature crooked smile which almost took her breath away. "Thanks. You too."

For a moment, Bella almost asked him why he was congratulating her, but the sudden arm around her waist pulled her down to Earth. Looking up at Mike's face, she grinned before turning her attention back to Edward. "Thanks."

"So Cullen," Mike interjected during the gap in the conversation. "Coming to poker night tomorrow? I think it's at Emmett's this time around."

Edward's eyes quickly turned to Bella before going back at Mike. "Count me in. I'll bring the beer."

"All right!" Mike extended his arm to give Edward a fist bump. "Bring extra money, too, because I will clean you out."

Bella rolled her eyes. "Don't listen to him. He's thinks he's some big poker champion."

"Babe!" Mike whined. "You truly stung me with your cruel words."

"You'll get over it," she laughed, patting his cheek.

The sound of a clearing throat brought their attention back to Edward. "Well, I better be going now. Thank you for dinner, Bella."

She smiled in return. "No problem. I guess I'll be seeing you around."

"I guess we will."

Bella watched Edward say good-bye to the remaining guests before making his way out the door.

Once he was gone, she turned back to her fiancé at her side only to see him giving her a look that only said "We'll talk later."

FMO

"So who's Edward?"

Bella and Mike were washing dishes once all the guests had left. She knew this question was coming, but she still was not sure what to tell him. He needed to know the truth; however, how much of the truth was still in the air.

"Emmett's cousin."

Mike rolled his eyes. "I know that. But what's he to you?"

"Nothing," she shrugged before turning to face him. "A little over four years ago, we all went to Tahoe for Christmas, and Alice pulled a stunt."

Mike smirked. "She set you guys up?"

Bella chuckled as she remembered the day Edward walked into her bedroom. "Yeah. She booked us both in the same hotel room."

"Are you serious?"

"Yup."

"Did it work?"

Bella pressed her lips together, contemplating how to answer it. Finally, she decided that Mike needed to hear all of the truth. It was safest for him to know it right off the bat before he found out from another source. "It started out as a joke. We wanted Alice to be confused if it worked or totally backfired, so every day we would switch up our attitudes to each other. But eventually, yeah," Bella's eyes turned downward, "it worked.

"Did you sleep with him?"

Bella nodded. She didn't know what to expect of Mike's reaction. He was so laid back, but she knew men could have a jealous streak. Therefore, she was surprised when she felt his gentle hands on her chin, pulling her face up to look her in the eyes.

"What happened?"

She shrugged again. "The vacation ended, as did our fling. We didn't even keep in touch; I had no idea he even moved here. I promise."

Mike playfully flicked her nose. "Relax Bella. It was obvious you haven't spoken in a long time."

"You're not mad?" she looked up hopefully into his eyes.

"Are you going to be mad at me for every other relationship I have been in?"

"No, but..."

"No buts. It's in the past. Just thanks for telling me."

"You're welcome." Bella reached up to wrap her arms around Mike's neck before giving him a kiss, causing a smirk to grow on his face.

"Now let's finish these dishes so I can remind you who has you now."

This time, it was Bella who smirked. "The dishes can wait."

"Awesome." And with a squeal, Bella found herself over Mike's shoulder as he ran into her bedroom.

How can you just walk on by
Without one tear in your eye?
Don't you have the slightest feelings left for me?
Maybe that's just your way
Of dealing with the pain
Forgetting everything between our rise and fall
Like we never loved at all

"Like We Never Loved at All" – Faith Hill feat. Tim McGraw

Author's Note 2: I just wanted to let everybody know if there is any confusion, this story does have angst in it. Bella isn't just going to dump Mike for Edward. I don't expect it to be extremely heartbreaking – just not as lighthearted as the first part. So just stick with me… There is a reason why I did not stop at the end of Part I.