*Waves* I know! How dare I show my face?! It's been a hell of a few past months (nothing I wanna bore you with), but I'm back on track with fic. Hope you guys enjoy.

Thanks to SunflowerFran3759 for her beta skills. Any mistakes are mine for adding stuff at the last minute.

Chapter 8- Medicine

I'm a firm believer that everyone that makes an appearance in our lives has a reason to do so. It doesn't matter if they don't last in your life very long. Only the memories matter. What you take from them will count at the end.

Some friends you meet and love and think they'll be around forever, but soon enough, distance or even life itself end all ties to these people. You can't explain what really happened. It hurts, and you wonder what it was that you did wrong, but you're gonna move on and make new friends.

But the memories. Those don't go away too easily.

It's been months since that night I spent with Bella. Six, long months. She has not spoken a full sentence to me since then.

No, she ain't rude or mean as hell to me anymore, but I sure as hell prefer that Bella over this quiet one. At least before she talked to me; it's like once the sun came up the next day, the fun and carefree Bella we all got to meet, disappeared.

I give up.

I throw in the towel.

She obviously has plans of her own and those plans don't include me.

The day after that night, I went into the office with an excuse that I needed to talk to the boss, but I really just wanted to see her. Once she looked up at me with those brown eyes of hers, all full of cool indifference, I knew it was over.

If it ever began.

I could feel a strange ache in my chest, but it was quickly replaced by anger and frustration. Instead of shoutin' I simply thanked her for her short answers and walked away.

I decided at that moment I was no longer gonna force myself into her life. I decided that I would let her be.

Let God help her.

Yeah, I was pretty pissed, but determined to find something new.

But the memories.

The memories of how she let me hold her that night after we danced to her birthday don't just disappear. We sat on the back of my pickup truck listenin' to Emmett, Rose, Jasper and Alice laugh the night away. She smelled so nice and felt even better. She hummed into my chest and curled her fingers in my hair, and I'll never forget the rush I felt.

After I dropped her off at her house, I swear I drove back home still feelin' her body heat against mine. Before she walked inside her gated home, she turned around, kissed me firmly on the mouth … twice, and then left.

I curse at myself. I should have made it last a little longer. Maybe I should have asked her to keep kissing me.

I don't know.

I don't know what I should have done differently. I just wish I could have more time with her. I knew that would be the last of her and me, but I didn't fight for more.

I'm a goddamn idiot that's for sure. Knowin' she didn't want me, I go and get my heart broken.

I'm a fool.

I haven't seen her in two weeks. I've been traveling around West Texas, Houston and Dallas attending conferences with Jasper and other crews. It turns out that I, Edward Masen, am the newest team lead.

Not even that news granted me a word from Ms. Swan. But it didn't matter, I told myself. I got drunk for the first time in ages with Emmett, Rose, Jasper, Alice and some of the boys from work. It was a shitload of fun, but the next mornin' I remembered why I had given up the heavy drinkin, and cursed my headache away the rest of the day.

Today is my first day back home in weeks. I avoid going into the offices, but I know I have to meet with Charles to discuss the new jobs we have to complete. He can be a prick, so I muster up the courage and walk into the office.

She's the first person I see, and my heart starts poundin' in my chest. She's lookin' down at some sheets she's signing. Her hair looks longer and lighter. I hate that she's made this complicated. Maybe it was my fault too. I should've known better.

"Excuse me, but is Charles available?" I ask.

Her head snaps up so quickly and I'm sure she's a little dizzy now. Her tired eyes widen, but no words escape her lips.

So I repeat myself, tryin' to act cool.

She clears her throat and says it'll be a moment.

She looks tired and small, but so damn beautiful, and I hate myself for givin' a shit. I stomp my way to the waitin' area and try my damn best not to look her way.

As I wait, I can feel her eyes lookin' in my direction, but I don't try to think much of it.

"Masen, Charles is ready," she finally says, her voice low and weak. This isn't the mean girl I first met six months ago.

I'm not so pretentious to think that it's because of me, but I ain't gonna try to find out. It never does me any good.

But goddamn her and her beautiful face and those eyes full of sorrow. I chance it and glance her way catching her starin' at me. I give her a stern look and turn my eyes in the other direction, but her stare is now engraved in my memory.

Damn memories.

She looked as if she was almost pleading to me. I don't know what she would be pleading about. Maybe I'm confused.

I sigh and head over to Charles' office.

I have to move on.

~RN~

"Mike! Get your fuckin' ass movin!" Emmett shouts, before turning to me and giving me an apologetic look. He runs over to me, covered in black oil and naked of shame. "Sorry, man. I keep forgettin' you're the one to do all the shoutin' now. Jasper was never an ass to us, but Mike sure as hell needs someone to be."

I shake my head and pat him on his broad shoulder. "Don't worry about Mike. I'll take care of him. Why don't you head out for lunch?"

I walk over to Mike, who is still struggling after working here for so damn long. He straightens up when he sees me approaching. He's been more on the 'respectful' side ever since I got my promotion, but he ain't foolin' me. I know he hates my guts.

"Mike, what's the problem now?"

He steps back and rubs his red neck. "I just … I'm just …"

"Slow?"

"Um, yeah, I guess."

I sigh.

"Look, Mike, I know you have a kid and a wife. I know this is why you're workin' here, and I admire that. But I don't admire that you're draggin' your goddamn feet while getting' paid the same as these other men that are breaking their backs," I say. "Either start sweatin' harder or start lookin' for another job. I heard McDonalds is payin' sixteen bucks an hour."

He glares at me. "You know I'm tryin' my best," he says.

"Well, try harder. I ain't about to put up with your bullshit," I mutter and walk away.

I blame the Texas sun and the long week, but goddamn it that boy is maddening. He is one crazy motherfucker if he thinks I'm gonna be easy on em.'

~RN~

"If you don't learn, you're an animal."

"Yes, sir."

"Jesus is lookin' down at you right now and shaking his holy head."

"Yes, sir."

"Speed it up! Do you want me to take off my belt and whip you into better shape?"

"No, sir."

"Then hurry up!" He jabs my shoulder and stumblesforward. I dig into the dirt with the shovel and grimace when the sweat on my forehead stings my eyes. My hands are bleeding from working all day, but I don't dare tell him that.

My back still hurts from three days ago when he whipped me because I told him I was tired. I'll never make that mistake again.

"The Lord gave me a son so I could teach him the ways of the bible. Hard work, Edward. That's what it takes."

~RN~

Alice and Jasper love to bicker, but when they're not pullin' each other's hair out metaphorically speakin', they're being lovey dovey and all that bullshit. I don't know which one I prefer to be quite honest.

Today they're being lovey and I roll my eyes as they flirt while ordering from the menu. I give the waitress an apologetic look, smile and smiles at me.

She even winks.

She's quite cute, so I wink back. I'm about to start a conversation with her when Alice interrupts with her order.

The waitress seems to forget we were about to flirt and walks away. I grumble a few curse words and aim a deadly glare at Al.

"You always be takin' us to these fancy restaurants, Alice. You could at least let me talk to the girl," I tell her.

She giggles and throws a piece of bread at me. "Since when are you this big flirt? I remember the days when Edward Masen was a quiet and peaceful man."

I give her a smirk and stuff my mouth full of free bread. I remember how Bella laughed at me that day she had lunch with us when I asked if the bread was free. No wonder she doesn't want anything to do with me. She probably thought I was a loser.

We're obviously from different worlds.

I start lookin' at my hands, not remembering the last time they weren't callused, and I wonder if Bella found them too rough. I don't know how I could change that. I've been working since I was a kid. Soft hands- I've never had. She probably wants one of them businessmen that sit inside all day, breaking no real sweat. That's what her fiancée probably did. I never did see him around the oilfield with his dad. Bella will probably find another rich man and marry him. She'll have some cute kids with him, and they'll have a big house on the nice side of town.

She probably didn't think she would have gotten that with a poor fool like me.

It's her.

As if she had heard me, she appears.

I snap my head up, lookin' around the restaurant like my mind wasn't trickin' me.

She's here with the same blonde women that weren't so good of friends to her on the night of her birthday. There is also a clean lookin' man, dressed in suit pants and a button down.

Yeah, he's probably rich. He's that businessman I said she would find.

I quickly sit up and put my dirty baseball cap on the seat next to me, away from view, as I begin fixin' my hair.

I look up and find Alice givin' me a small smile, and I quickly feel embarrassed. She wasn't meant to catch me.

"Don't you dare laugh, Allie," I warn her. "Anyway, she's seems pretty busy to notice me anyway. Ain't I stupid?"

Bella is talkin' to the guy with a smile on her face and I bitterly put my baseball cap back on and go back to pickin' at my hands.

"Don't feel bad, Masen," Alice tells me. "Bella just doesn't know what she wants right now. She's kinda lost. Just give her some time to think."

"What for? She don't want me around. It's been six months, and I haven't had more than a few sentences with her."

She doesn't know what to answer and instead looks down. Jasper rubs her back and takes a sip from his beer.

"Masen, I thought you was over this girl."

"I am."

"You lyin' son of a gun."

I ignore him and turn to look at her. She's beautiful as can be. Compared to the few glances I've had of her in the past months, she looks refreshed and relaxed today.

She hasn't noticed or looked our way, but I ignored Alice and Jasper's knowing eyes as I continue to look at her. She giggles with Suit Man. He must be a funny fellow.

I'm too serious.

While growin' up, my friends always told me I needed to relax. I guess I'm used to livin' life as a tensed up wreck.

I pick at my food for a while, and when I decide I'm finished, I wait for Alice and Jasper.

"Bella!" Alice shouts all of a sudden. I turn and find Bella and her friends walkin' our way.

She smiles at her friend, but when she notices me, she nervously looks away, and that pretty smile disappears.

It stings.

And I'm a goddamn fool.

"Hey, Al," she says, still not lookin' at me. "You remember Tanya and Kate right?" She points back to her table where the women are at.

Alice just nods. I take it she ain't a fan of theirs.

Bella clears her throat and gestures towards her man friend. "And this is George … he's a friend. George this is Jasper, he works for Daddy and that is Alice, a good friend of mine."

She stops, and when the man is done shaking their hands and turns and looks over at me, she doesn't gift me with an introduction.

I don't quite know why this makes my blood boil. Back in my young and crazy days I would have punched the wall out of rage and gotten myself hurt. My temper would have gotten the best of me, but this time I hold back. I'm trying to be a different man.

She finally looks right into my eyes, and I hope to God she can see how pissed I am. She gulps, and the awkward silence becomes unbearable.

"Jasper … Al," I say securing my hat over my head and throwing my part of the bill on the table. "I'll see ya'll outside."

I get up, and without another word, walk away.

~RN~

"You're doing a great job, son." Carlisle tells me. He's always been a kind man.

When I first started workin' here, I didn't have a place to stay. He recommended me some people that might help, and thanks to him I have a roof over my head. Even after life dealt him a shitty hand with his son dyin,' he ain't changed a thing. His eyes are sadder, and he's much quieter, but he ain't mean or bitter. I respect that about him.

"Well, thank you, sir," I answer him as he continues to complete some paperwork for me. I look around and chuckle at his fishing pictures. "You like fishin'?"

He smiles and nods. "There ain't no water in Odessa, Texas, but I do like to travel to East or South Texas to find myself a nice lake. Catch a few fish …"

"I love it too. It's so peaceful; it feels like you can think without anybody's hassle."

"I always tried to get my son, Peter, to go with me, but he was more of a city boy."

"Well, that's too bad."

"Yeah," he sighs. "It's my fault. I never did have time to take him and his mother out to the lake or outside of this town. I was too busy with this damn place."

"Ah, don't blame yourself. I'm sure you were a great father," I tell him.

"How about you, Masen? You like goin' fishin' with your old man?"

I hold my breath and look down at the decorations on his desk and nervously shake my head. "I don't talk to my pa. I haven't talked to him in years. I don't know if I should feel guilty, but staying away from that man has been the best decision of my life."

He stays quiet for a bit, but he always knows what to say. "That's quite all right; I didn't talk to mine either, and I turned out just fine. Sometimes, a man has to find his own influences and promise to one day be that great father that he didn't have."

I smile, knowin' one day I will be a great father. I won't make my son or daughter live with the guilt like mine did.

He hands me the paperwork, and I walk out of his office, ready to face Bella once again. I didn't talk speak to her when I came in. She was busy makin' copies or somethin', but I'm sure she's back.

I can see her brown hair at the front desk with her hair up in a ponytail. I'm supposed to give these papers to her to sendmail, but I ain't wantin' to face her. I feel like an idiot. I'm tryin' to avoid a girl like a goddamn kid.

Before I get to her, the office door opens, and to my surprise the waitress from the restaurant walks in.

"Hey, you!" She says when she sees me. I didn't think we had time to bond back at the restaurant to be this friendly, but she must think otherwise. "I didn't know you worked here."

"Yeah," I mumble, 'cause I'm a baboon that can't say anything else. I suddenly realize she's a girl, and she has no business around here, so I wonder if she's married. Maybe she's visitin' a husband. I'm curious, so I ask. "You visitin the husband or somethin'?"

She giggles.

She's pretty with her baby blues and blonde hair. But she ain't my type. She's the obvious pretty. The kind you see in magazines or TV. Not the kind of beauty you find once in a rare moon, or when you least expect it. Like the brown eyed girl standing behind the desk to my right. "Oh, no," she says, after her giggle fit is over. " I ain't married. My daddy works here. You know Leonard Watson?"

"Oh, yeah. Ol' Leo. Great man and a hella good cook. He grills us some great steaks sometimes. That's your old man?"

"Yeah, I'm his daughter, Christy. He asked me to bring him some lunch money. He forgot his wallet at home," she giggles again.

"You off work?" I ask, and I can feel another pair of eyes starin' at me.

"Yeah, I was just gonna drop his wallet with the secretary here and head out. I'm kinda hungry."

"Oh, what a coincidence, I'm starvin'."

She smiles with a blush and bites her lip. "You wanna go … I mean … you should probably ask that ... not me…"

She's nervous and shy, and not comin' at me a million miles per hour like some other girl I know.

I laugh at her silliness and nod.

"Sure thing … how about some Chinese?"

"Excuse me, may I help you?" A very strong and intense voice asks, and I know that voice can only belong to one person and one person only.

We turn and find Bella giving us the death glare that I know has scared poor Christy. But I'm used to those angry brown eyes, so I just sigh.

"Yes, I'm here to drop this off for my dad, Leonard Watson. Can you call him, please?"

"Yes, I can, but next time you need to tell me what you need right away. This isn't a social hall," Bella barks as she snatches the wallet from her small hands, and gives me another glare.

I chuckle, place the papers she needs to send off on her desk and start headin' out the door. "I'll wait for you out here, Christy," I say and Bella turns a darker shade of red than she already was.

She huffs and roughly sits on her chair before I finally make it outside feelin' smug.

Must feel awful tastin' your own medicine. That young girl needs to learn a lesson, and I'm happy to teach her.

I take Christy to lunch.

We have lots in common, but I ain't that interested. She's too young for me, and I know I'm being a hypocrite since Bella is six years younger than me, but some people act older than their age, and Christy ain't one of them.

We say goodbye and I sorta promise to call her. I hate being an asshole, but I already know it ain't gonna work out. Why waste her time?

I head back to work.

It gets real cold in the winter. Not many will believe this hell hole gets cold, but it does. The wind cuts like knives and punches your lungs.

Mike is draggin' his feet, and I sigh. He's gotten better in the past few weeks, but it seems the cold weather weakness him.

Son of a bitch.

Emmett clowns on him and I let him. I ain't got time for them.

"You goin to the New Year's Eve party, Ed?" Em asks as we clock out.

"I don't know," I mutter.

"Why the hell not? The company is throwin' it, and you know how Mr. Swan loves buyin' us booze. It's the only time we like him around here. Oh, and the 4th of July. He buys us booze and ribs to celebrate our goddamn Americanism. Son ah bitch knows how to butter us up for a heated summer," he says with a loud chuckle.

"Booze sounds good."

"Yeah, and he hires some shitty country band to play for us gringos, and some Mexican singers for our amigos. You gotta come brother. Maybe you'll get yourself drunk and forget all about that spoiled brat. Or better yet, you'll hook up with another spoiled brat and get your dick su…"

"Okay, Em. I'll come," I sigh and he lets me be. He ain't much of a romantic when he talks.

As I walk over to my truck, I look up and find Bella starin' at me from her car. She's waitin' for it to heat up, but she's takin' the opportunity to glare at me. I guess she's back to hatin' me.

Good.

I think that's better than feelin' like maybe she was pushin' nice feelings for me away. This way I know for sure she hates me and maybe I can finally just let her go.

Maybe I can rip her out of my goddamn chest and mind and move on.

That damn rich girl!

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