Since I haven't said it in awhile: Twilight isn't mine. Neither is Austin Powers or any other pop culture reference.

The Twilight Twenty-Five
Prompt: Awe
Pen name: LightStarDusting
Character POV: Bella
Rating: M

Chapter 20 – If I Fell

2000

It's funny (and by funny, I mean interesting funny, not haha funny) how different relationships evolve. Not just romantic relationships, but all relationships.

When I originally met Lucy, I would have never imagined how far our friendship would have evolved in a year's time. She and I were two totally different people but somehow we worked well together. I reined her back at times but more often than not, I was pushed by her in both attitude and actions.

Jasper had come to my rescue with a pencil and a wink and when we were friends, that dynamic between us had been completely right. But we obviously missed something very crucial along the way which caused the disintegration of us and ultimately led us to where we were.

My opinion of Alice when I first saw her in the basement of the fraternity house wasn't exactly what one would call positive, although she didn't know it at the time, but we came to a mutual love for each other through Edward. However, as his sister, there are things we don't talk about. Things that are better left unsaid because if they were spoken aloud, they would only hurt Alice and possibly me.

As for Edward… well, things with him just clicked. The ease with which he grabbed my hand outside the bookstore, the comfortable flow of the conversation as we walked toward the Science Building (even though I had no clue what we'd be doing there and he was being secretive at the time), it was like pieces of a puzzle snapping together to make an entire picture. The evolution of us worked, right from the start.

We approached the building hand in hand. He pulled his keychain from his pocket once we were outside of the building and waved a key fob near a sensor before leading us through the double doors of a side entrance. As he led me through the low-lit corridor, I didn't stop to second guess or falter, the trust was there though I barely knew him.

We neared the soda machines at the end of the hall and after a brief conversation regarding choice of beverages, we both had our sodas. He bought an extra one too, dropping it into his bag and vaguely mentioning it being for a friend. Then, reclaiming my hand, he pulled me along past classrooms and toward the center of the building.

Our clasped hands dangled between us and I didn't have the wherewithal to think about the possibility of my hand being hot, cold, or anything. A sideways glance and a small smile graced his lips. "Are you ready to find out our secret mission?"

I looked around as though the hallway might give me a clue. "Do we have to choose to accept it?"

"Well, I have to choose to accept it. I'm hoping you will too."

"Mmmmhmmmm. You're making me nervous here." He wasn't, for the record. "Does it involve burying a body? I'm afraid my digging skills are kind of weak."

Edward pretended to think about it for a moment before shaking his head. "No bodies to bury today. I do that on Tuesdays. Today I have my paying job to attend to."

Well now, that was a hint. "Your job? Won't you get in trouble if I'm there?"

"Nah. No clock to punch, no boss to check-in with. Living on the edge over here." He smirked at me as we continued to make our way down the hall.

"At the… Science Building."

The smirk turned into a grin and I couldn't help but think what a nice smile he had. "Right. Wild and crazy at the Science Building. That's me."

He started to say something else but a petite reddish-blonde girl walked toward us, looking at her watch. Edward dropped my hand and held up a finger, indicating that he'd be right back before walking toward her with arms open. He wrapped his arms around the top of her shoulders and leaned back, picking her up off the ground.

Her voice was muffled as she pushed against his shoulder with her face. "I was wondering when you'd get here. The show's set up from last night when I was on. I was just playing around with the music but you've got time to make it your own again." My ears perked as I drew closer to them, listening to her statements for context clues. Curiosity might have killed the cat, but it wasn't going to get the best of me. "For fuck's sake, let me down." She shrieked, wiggling out of his grip, and looked over at me before sticking her hand out to shake.

I reached around him and leaned toward her, holding out my hand. "Hey, I'm Tanya. Are you joining Cullen for the show tonight?"

I looked at Edward with raised brows, not exactly sure what show she was talking about and wondering exactly who this girl was (other than "Tanya") and if there was a boss to worry about after all.

Edward smiled easily at Tanya before slinging his arm over my shoulder. "No worries, I'm on it, T. By the way, this is Bella."

I smiled at my name, grateful for his stepping in with my lack of manners. I turned my attention to Tanya, while tingling at the contact of his casual embrace. "Show? What show?" I asked, thinking I could possibly get more information out of her than him. He caught on and just mock frowned while shaking his head at her, indicating that she shouldn't give any information away.

She shrugged apologetically at me and mouthed sorry, all the while looking curious but not asking anything. Edward swung his backpack toward the front of him and fished out the soda he'd bought moments before.

"Grabbed you a soda. You headed out?"

She took the soda that he offered and spun the cap. "Yeah, I would stick around but it looks like you two have each other for company and I have some work for Jenks I need to get done. There's pizza in the booth up for grabs. Just ordered it not too long ago."

Edward glanced at his watch and looked toward the windows, where darkness had completely blanketed the campus from when we walked in the building. "Where are you parked?"

"Small lot across from the library."

His eyes flashed to his watch again and then down the hallway. "We've got time, we'll walk you."

I chimed in. "Yes, we'll definitely walk you there. It's not a good idea to walk alone in the dark." My mind briefly visited that conversation in the courtyard with Jasper extolling the words of wisdom once. "We'll be your personal escorts." I didn't know her well but I could tell she was a good friend to Edward, which made me not want her to get abducted by any squirrels.

"You don't have time. But don't worry about me. I'm meeting Kate in the lobby."

As she walked away, her hips swayed slightly and I saw her toss her hair over her shoulder. From the corner of my eye, I picked up on her pointing at me and giving me the thumbs up to Edward.

"Okay, sci-guy, where we going?"

"Have you seen the laser light show here before?"

I hadn't. I told him that I'd heard about them and even talked with Rosalie and Emmett about coming to the show at one point but we'd never been able to get our acts together.

"Well, Emmett's made his way here before and has hung out with me in the booth. I was thinking that you might be interested in hanging here… with me?" He looked just the slightest bit unsure of himself, as though I might say no.

"You have a 'laser'?" I asked in my best Dr. Evil voice, complete with air quotes.

"Yes, actually, I have quite a few, but don't worry about me punching a hole in the 'ozone' layer. I've heard that's already been done. Still working on 'frickin' sharks with 'frickin' lasers attached to their 'frickin' heads.'"

"Well, that's good to hear." I said dryly as I followed him into the round planetarium. I looked around with wide eyes as we made our way to the center of the room. "Can I help with anything?" He opened the door to the booth and pressed a button causing music to lowly pipe through the speakers around the room.

"There's really not too much to be done. Tanya was playing with the music because we are started a new show in a few weeks but since we usually just go through a cd, we are pretty much ready to go after I tweak a few of the faders and change the set."

"Right. Tweak and change the set. Obviously." I had no idea but he made it sound easy enough. "What show is tonight?"

"Weezer's Blue Album. We're working on Radiohead's OK Computer for the next run."

"Nice, two of my favo-" I was interrupted by static and a girl's voice coming through a speaker.

"Cullen? You there?"

Edward gave me an apologetic look before locating and speaking into the offending radio. "We'll be ready in about ten, Irina."

He held up the radio and explained that it was the ticket office at the front of the building.

"All these people call you 'Cullen.' Should I do that, too? Do you prefer the last name thing?" I figured I should ask since it seemed that everyone we'd encountered referred to him by his last name.

"Nah, I'd rather you call me Edward." His tone implied something special, something more. For some inexplicable reason, it made me blush.

He made his way to where the box of pizza rested next to the mixer and found some paper plates on a shelf below. Doling our slices, he told me to start eating and he'd join me once the show was underway.

I waited for him.

Soon the auditorium was filled with both people and fog from the smoke machines that lined the perimeter of the floor, rising up to the dome of the ceiling. After everyone was settled in their seats, Edward grabbed the mic and did a very rehearsed-sounding schpiel, to which I raised my brows in appreciation. Then the lights blinked out, the music was cranked, and the lasers were cutting through the fog.

A small blue reading lamp lit the booth and we sat on the floor of the booth, watching the colors dance overhead as we settled with our pizza and soda. Holding out his bottle, we clinked the plastic together, toasting our dinner.

We sat next to each other, our backs resting on the paneled booth. I leaned toward his ear and, once again, marveled at how right this felt. "So, how do you and Tanya know each other? Do you have classes together?"

"We're in the same major so we have a lot of core classes together. She's also my ex-girlfriend, we dated for about a semester."

I was in awe at the nonchalant tone of his voice, but furthermore the fact that it wasn't an act; he truly was comfortable interacting with his ex in such a manner. There was no stuttering and stopping, no awkward pauses, no hiding, and no running. Furthermore, I was surprised by my own reaction. I was curious as to what happened, but not in the least bit threatened, because he was clearly interested in me. So when I asked, it didn't come across as anything but that.

"We were better friends than we were girlfriend and boyfriend. We both realized it so we decided to go back to friend status." He shrugged. "Plus?" Edward leaned even further toward me, his lips brushing my ear as though he was sharing a great secret, "she eats her pizza with a fork and knife."

"That's grounds for dismissal, huh?"

He laughed. "I like a girl who isn't afraid to get her hands dirty."

Well, let's hope he likes a girl who isn't afraid to get her mind dirty, too, since mine flew straight to the gutter.

We continued to talk throughout the show and I told him of my short-lived relationships, in great detail, at that. I continued to be surprised at how easily and naturally the conversation flowed and how I didn't think twice about sharing my high school relationship with James, the vagueness and awkward end of my quasi-relationship with Jasper, and the quick rebounding experience that was Jacob.

"All J names, huh? Maybe you need to branch out to another letter?"

"Yeah, this is true." I tapped my finger against my head as though I was in deep thought. "I was thinking of going for X or Z next," I teased.

"Sounds like you haven't had a good middle ground relationship. Either it's too quick, too slow, or no spark."

"Are you good with middle ground?"

"Oh Bella, I'm all over the middle ground. It's my domain." He smiled wickedly as he puffed out his chest. I giggled and my mind raced at the thought of being in a relationship with him. "Isn't this better than pizza alone?" His eyes glowed in the darkness, illuminated by the glow of the lasers. Even in the dark, I could see that he had a bit of pizza sauce on his chin. My fingers itched to reach out and assist him.

And surprisingly, I let them.

"Definitely better than pizza alone."

"If I fell in love with you, would you promise to be true and help me understand?" – The Beatles

Hey all – I usually keep my A/N's short but I wanted to peek my head in.

So… I've sort of been MIA with the updates and for that I'm truly sorry! I had the amazing opportunity to travel to CA to meet up with some other FF authors last month – it was incredible! Between that, family vacations, kidlets being ill (nothing serious), and just summer in general, it's been over a month since I updated. GAH! Not cool, LSD, NOT COOL!

The good news is - I don't foresee it happening again. I'm sticking with my plan of 25 chapters, so we've got 5 more after this. I'm so appreciative of each and every single person that has joined me thus far, so THANK YOU. I have chapter 21 written and once it's done visiting with my lovely pre-readers (ElleCC, Miztrezboo, TheHeartofLife, and LoreliD), it will be posted. I usually post teasers at Edwardville on Tuesdays too, if you're so inclined.

Other projects that I work on included writing with the lovely LoreliD under the penname LightHeartLoreli. We write Roseward. That's Rosalie and Edward. Together. If that's something that interests you (or something that totally scares you) swing by and check us out!

IdPattThat wrote a lovely rec of HT&E at BFFFers of Fan Fic that made me blush and squee simultaneously. It's been established that I'm keeping her forever and ever. If you'd like to check it out, here's the link. bfffersoffanfic(dot)com/ipts-humpday-rec (change the dot to a... dot!)

KrisBCullen is my beta, my sounding board, and my therapist.

Once again, thank you for reading, reviewing, alerting, favoriting, everything-ing.