As always: Everything and anything related to the Twilight saga belongs to Stephenie Meyer. This is a work of fiction based on her writings. No harm is meant by it.

Special thanks and much adoration to my beta freakyhazeleyes, who still managed to find time to look this over with her hectic last couple of days.

Chapter Three: One Down, Twenty-Five to Go

It had only been about an hour since Bella had fallen asleep but suddenly she awoke with a start, waking Edward up in the process.

"Bella, what's wrong?" he asked frantically as he rubbed at his eyes, trying to ward off the sleepy haze clouding them. He had fallen asleep twenty minutes after Bella. He had had too much on his mind.

"The candles! We didn't blow out the candles. The house is probably on fire!" she screamed and jumped out of bed, banging her knee against one of Edward's night tables.

"Oww," she groaned, grabbing at her knee as she fell back down onto the bed. Edward chuckled as he sat up and flicked one of his lamps on.

"Dumbass!" he chided. "I blew out all the candles right after you conked out. Did you honestly think I would let the apartment burn down with us in it? I'd of ran out of here, a long time ago," Edward laughed as Bella scoffed in shock.

"Thanks, Edward. I feel so loved and safe." Edward turned toward Bella to face her as she still rubbed at her knee, trying desperately to distribute the pain.

"I will always keep you safe, Swan. You should know that." He was as serious as he could get, which was quite frightening at times if Bella was being honest. Bella smiled at her best friend.

"I know, Cullen. I think James's face knows that too." Bella chuckled and Edward joined it.

It had been the first time he had hit someone, really hit someone. Yeah, he and his older brother, Emmett would fight, but that was mostly reenactments of what they saw Hulk Hogan do every Monday night on television.

Edward and Bella had been fourteen and James was Bella's first boyfriend. He was a junior, and a complete douche bag if you would have asked Edward then or now. He was an ass to everyone, except for Bella, at first. After a few months together, he started to try to push Bella around in their relationship, not in the sense of abuse, but trying to move their relationship into more explicit actions. It was the last thing Bella had wanted. She was only a freshman, and didn't want to tarnish her reputation, the little of it she had, nor did she want to end up pregnant.

It was at the annual Cullen family Halloween party when James had taken things too far. Edward had watched him lead Bella up to one of the bedrooms in the massive estate. He followed diligently behind them, hiding amongst the scattered people and shadows, going unnoticed by the two. Bella was naive to say the least. She followed James eagerly, thinking all he wanted to do was kiss. Edward watched as she held James's hand, laughing playfully with him as he pulled her into the first bedroom he found, Edward's.

It was Bella's cries of distress that put Edward over the edge. He had barged into the room to find James forcing himself on her. It was instinctual to just pull James off of her and pummel him into the ground. Edward was a laid back person; nothing truly bothered or angered him, but never, never, mess with his family or friends. James could account for that. Edward wanted to kill James, every ounce of his body as he punched and kicked him yelled at him to finish James, but he didn't. He had never seen or heard from James after that night, but if he were ever to encounter him somewhere, he might just finish what he started.

Edward was pulled out of the memory by Bella's cry of pain.

"You okay?" he asked, concerned. "Do you need a bandage or something? Ice?"

"No, I'm fine. I just dinged up my knee pretty good, but what else is new?"

"You would think that with age your coordination would improve even the slightest bit, but no. You've gotten worse with age," Edward teased, laughing heartily as Bella hit him. He stopped Bella's assault by grabbing her wrist. He let his finger trace along the vivid red scar that graced her arm.

"I'm so sorry, Bella. I will always be sorry for this," he murmured, gently rubbing the mark. Bella sat up and gently brushed the hair that had fallen into Edward's eyes away, carding her finger in the locks.

"I've told you to stop apologizing for that. We were young and stupid. We're supposed to have experiences like that. It's all a part of growing up," she comforted.

"Still," Edward persisted. "You've could've been killed! I don't know what I would do without you." Bella smiled wistfully as she hugged Edward. She didn't know what she would do without him, either.

They were eighteen when she got the scar. To this day, Edward still apologized profusely for it. It was his fault in a sense.

The two had ditched school for the first time. It wasn't really that big of an occasion though. It's not like they cut school during the middle of the term or what not. They waited until all of their advanced placement tests had finished, and there was only three weeks until graduation, but it was ditching none the less. The two had managed to sneak all the way out to the Quileute Reservation, right to where all the Quileute kids jumped off the mountain side. It was a way to test your manhood. The higher up the mountain you jumped off from, the better.

Bella had seen the kids jumping countless times, but never had she had the urge to join in on the activity, neither had Edward, but that day was all about the adventure, carpe diem, que sera sera and all that jazz.

Edward had been the one to suggest it, and had also been the first to jump, looking positively graceful the entire descent. Bella watched from the top as he hit the water, his head popping out of the water; he was all smiles. He had shouted up at her to jump, taunted and prodded. She complained how the water would be too cold, that they would get caught when they got home because their clothes would be wet, but eventually she plucked up the courage and jumped.

Edward watched horrified as she fell. The closer she got to the water the more alarmed he became. She hadn't jumped out far enough to avoid the rocks, and Edward knew she would hit her head against them the moment she stepped off the ledge.

It was a sound he would never forget, the sound of Bella hitting the rocks, and her whimpering as he swam to reach her, screaming out her name. He would never forget that day. All the sounds and images are engraved in his memory. Her tears, her sobs, the blood running down her arm as he carried her to his car; everything was vivid in his mind. Her eyes closing, her heavy breathing, her passing out in the back seat. These things haunted Edward whenever he caught a glimpse of the scar.

When he arrived at the hospital, carrying an unconscious Bella in his arms, it had been his father, Carlisle, to take her to get checked in the emergency room. He informed Edward that Bella had been lucky that the only thing that happened was that she had broken her arm. Because Bella had anticipated the contact as she fell, she had covered her head with her arms.

Edward remembered her steady breathing as she lay in the hospital bed, the beeping of the monitors, her groggy voice as she woke up dazed. He remembered the lecture both he and Bella had gotten not only from their parents, but from their principal. It had been his fault, and he would always remember that.

"Aww, Edward, don't get all sullen on me. It's the girls' job to get emotional after sex," Bella laughed, trying to lighten the mood, but halfway through her sentence she yawned loudly.

"Very funny, Sleeping Beauty. Go back to your snoring!" he teased, lightly pushing her down onto the bed.

"I don't snore," Bella protested, covering her naked self with the bed sheets. Edward quickly made a grab at them.

"Don't hog all the bed sheets, Bella. It's my bed," Edward whined as he yanked at the sheets. Bella lost the grip she had and rolled over toward him, knocking her chin against his chest.

"Fuck Edward!" she yelled, repeatedly smacking his arms. He pried her hands away easily, pushing her aside.

"I don't snore," she argued, still.

"You sound just like that old truck of yours!"

"Aww man. My truck! My baby! I miss that thing," Bella reminisced, yawning again.

"That piece of crap. I can't believe it lasted as long as it did," Edward yawned through his sentence. Yawning was contagious.

"Hey, that car was a classic!"

"Just because a car is old, does not make it a classic. A Thunderbird. A Mustang. Those are classics—your truck…not so much."

"Whatever, Edward. Goodnight!"

"Night Bells. Sweet dreams."

=x=

Edward was the first to wake up, but that was common. Even during the work week he was always the first to wake up. His body wouldn't let him sleep past a certain time. It was frustrating sometimes because he'd only get three hours of sleep.

It was ten, which was later than Edward was ever up, but last night had tired him out. It had been odd to say the least. Staying in character had been difficult. He had wanted to rip the damn fangs out of his mouth the moment he glued them on, but seeing Bella's face light up as he addressed her properly, made him change his mind.

The entire week after she picked out the letter, Edward had debated running into her room and calling the whole thing off. It was stupid. One of them could get hurt, but Edward didn't want to end it. He was excited at the prospect of exploring this… whatever it was with Bella.

He had no shame in saying his best friend was beautiful. She was stunning, really. She had the softest hair he had ever had the chance to run his fingers through, and those deep brown eyes he always got lost in. She had a tight little body, and legs that were longer than a girl her height should have. His mother had always teased Bella about it, saying she was all legs. She was intelligent and she was funny. She was his best friend through and through. She was an important part of his being. She was there when his grandfather died, and when he received his wait-listed letter to the school of his dreams. Bella was always there for him.

Edward went about cooking breakfast, trying to distract himself from the situation, but there was an unnerving itch to run into his room and pick out the letter of his choice. He wanted to be able to actually have an opportunity to wow Bella and that was hard when the letter was chosen at random. He stopped himself though. It would be unfair, plus there was no way to go about grabbing the letter without waking Bella up in the process.

Bella walked into the kitchen twenty minutes later as Edward was flipping the last pancake.

"Are those chocolate chip?" she asked groggily.

"Yep, your favorite," he replied dropping some onto a plate and handing them to her. He took some for himself and poured two glasses of orange juice for the two of them.

"Do you ever sleep, Edward?" Bella asked through a mouthful of pancakes.

"Didn't your mother teach you not to speak with food in your mouth?" Bella scoffed, swallowing her food and giving Edward the finger all at the same time.

"You're such a lady, Swan!"

"God, you're an ass, Edward, and to think I brought the hat out with me so that you can pick the letter out already, so you're not whining all day about it, but I think I'm going to make you wait now."

"No, Bella! I'm sorry. Come on! Let me pick! Please!" Edward begged, actually down on his knees. He spotted the hat under Bella's thigh. That's when he noticed what she was wearing. All she was wearing was the white button down shirt that had been a part of his costume. It fell to just above her knees as she sat. He smirked a little; he couldn't help it. There was just something incredibly sexy about a woman wearing a man's clothing.

"You look sexy there Swan," he goaded, massaging her left leg.

"I know what you're doing, there Cullen. It won't work," she tried to keep her voice steady, but it was proving to be difficult. His hand traveled higher and she shivered as he brushed his fingertips on the back of her knee. She jumped slightly and Edward quickly took the opportunity to grab the hat.

"A-ha! I win, Bells!" he cheered, victoriously, holding the hat high above his head. Bella popped out of her chair and started to jump and try to reach the hat. Edward just watched amused as the shirt she wore revealed almost everything.

"Come on Edward! Give me back the hat. I'll let you pick out your letter," Bella negotiated, smiling cunningly. She knew she would win. Edward conceded, dropping the hat into Bella's hand.

"How did you know where to find the hat?" Edward asked as he reached into it. He thought he had hid the hat quite well, but she had still managed to find it. He felt around for the biggest piece, but Bella had been smart and had folded all the pieces the exact same way.

"I have my ways!" Edward raised an eyebrow quizzically as he pulled out the letter. He unfolded the paper, placing a hand behind the paper, so Bella wouldn't be able to read it. He studied the messy scrawl.

What am I supposed to do with this? He wondered.

"Good letter?" Bella asked, raising her head to peek at the paper. Edward noticing quickly folded the paper back up, nodding.

"One down, twenty five more to go, Swanny."

"Bring it on, Cullen!"