A/N: Yes, I changed the title; Taking Chances didn't have a good feel about it for me, nor did it seem original enough. Sorry for any confusion this may have caused. Reasoning behind the title is at the start of chapter 1 :)

Previously…

"Sorry, I… um… here… let me…" Edward babbled.

I kept my eyes to the floor, studiously ignoring him. When I turned back a moment later, he was holding some of my things out to me, his cheeks tinged with a pink hue. I looked down at his hands, my blush deepening when I saw what he had picked up.

Edward Cullen; quite possibly the most beautiful boy I had ever lain eyes on; the boy who somehow turned me on just by glancing at him; the boy whose jaw I wanted to lick. And the boy who currently was handing me back three tampons. Which also made him the boy who would likely never speak to me ever again.

Fucking great.

"A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing." - George Bernard Shaw

The Dash In Between

Chapter 6 – Brother-Sister Time

Edward POV

All night I tossed and turned, worrying about facing Isabella Swan the next morning in English. But, just like the day before, my worry was unnecessary; I was the only one at our desk for the whole lesson.

For the whole lesson, I worried that Isabella had changed her whole schedule because of me. I wondered whether she hated me so much that she had even changed schools. It seemed like such an overreaction but we had moved halfway across the country just because there were rumours flying about me; I was hardly one to talk about being prone to overreaction. Okay, there had been a little more to our move than that, but whatever.

When the bell rang for the end of the period, I packed up slowly, making sure that the corners of my books all lined up in my bag, even though I knew that as soon as I lifted it, they would all move about. It wasn't until the classroom was empty, though, that I lifted my bag. I slung it over my shoulder and walked up to Mr Berty's desk.

"Um… Mr Berty?" I asked quietly.

He looked up, seemingly surprised that I was still there. "Yes, Edward?"

"Um… well… I was just wondering…" I hesitated and then sighed. "Is Bella okay? Isabella Swan."

"Why would you say that?" he wondered.

"Well… she seems sad. And I think I hurt her feelings yesterday… and I haven't seen her since."

A sad looked floated across Mr Berty's face. "She's okay," he replied, dropping his eyes to his desk. "She's just going through a bit of a tough time. I'm sure she would appreciate your concern, but…"

A knock on the door interrupted him. We both looked over to see a familiar face peering through the window in the door. The moment that my eyes met her dark ones, I dropped my gaze, feeling like a little boy caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

"It appears that your worries are unwarranted, Edward," Mr Berty said softly. "You should get to class."

It was clear that he wanted to speak to Bella alone for a moment, so I didn't bother telling him that I had no class to get to. I nodded and held my jaw tightly for a second before walking to the door. Bella opened it before I got there and stepped into the room, holding the door open for me. I nodded at her in thanks, passing her by. Other than those courteous gestures, we didn't acknowledge each other.

I started down the corridor, walking slowly as I wondered where to go for my free period. Both Alice and Rosalie were in lessons so I was alone. But, as I walked away, I felt like I was leaving something behind. I stopped in the middle of the deserted corridor, contemplating this. After a moment, the only conclusion that I could come to was that I owed Isabella an apology. And I knew where she was and I had time to apologise.

So I turned round, walked back down the corridor and leant against the wall outside of Mr Berty's classroom.

Minutes ticked by as I waited but eventually the door opened and Bella emerged, her shoulders hunched, her head down. She walked right into me.

"Oof!" she huffed as she stumbled backwards, her bag slipping off of her arm and the contents spilling on to the floor.

Instinctively, I reached out and grabbed her bare wrist to stop her from falling. The moment that our skin touched, it was like fireworks shot up my arm, exploding everywhere. The spark continued to ripple through my body as I stared dumbfounded at her; until she pulled her hand away, blushing furiously.

She avoided my eyes and bent down to start picking up her things.

"Sorry, I… um… here… let me…" I clamped my lips together to stop the babble and bent down to help her gather her things. I kept my eyes firmly on the ground and my own hands because I knew that not only would looking at her blush distract me but it would also give me a major fucking hard-on. Which would not look good. 'Hey Bella I'm totally sorry for whatever I did yesterday even though I have no idea what that was... And, oh yeah, please ignore the massive boner I get just from looking at you.' That was sure to win her over.

It wasn't until I held out her things that I realised that I had inadvertently picked up her tampons.

Great move, Cullen. You couldn't go for the books and leave them to her, could you? No, you just had to hand her back the things she is gonna stick up there and look like a complete pervert, didn't you?

Bella and I were both too embarrassed to meet each other's eyes for a few long, tense moments so I stood and took the third degree from my internal nagging machine until Bella broke me out of my own head.

"Um... Thanks," she said awkwardly as she took her things from me and hurriedly hid them away in her bag.

I watched her, unable to tear my eyes away even though I knew that I should.

Did I mention that my attempts to divert my hard-on had gone to waste? No? Well they had.

"I guess I'll see you around," Bella muttered eventually before turning and walking off.

I was frozen to the spot with mortification for a few seconds but then I got myself together and dashed after her, while thinking of my Gran in nothing but a tutu, and dead kittens to get my disobedient dick back in hand. Metaphorically speaking, of course.

"Hey, wait up!" I called after her as she went through the doors that led to the courtyard.

Bella hesitated a few feet in front of me, as though debating whether to ignore me or not, but she slowed to a halt and then perched on the seat of one of the benches, hugging her orange ring-binder to her chest as she watched me approach, her big, dark eyes conveying no emotion. She shivered a little as a strong breeze blew the light rain around even in the sheltered area of the courtyard and tapped her foot impatiently.

I stopped when I was in front of her and scratched the back of my neck nervously, suddenly unsure of what to say.

Bella's dainty fingers fiddled with the sleeves of her hooded sweatshirt which, I noticed, was clearly a boy's hoodie. I wondered whether it was her boyfriend's and whether she had nabbed it from him to feel close to him. That security thing that girls liked. I wondered whether it was Jasper's. I was instantly green with envy of whoever this boyfriend was; Jasper, or Emmett, or some other faceless moron. At the moment, though, I was picturing myself beating Jasper to a pulp because he was the most likely candidate, apparently. And, once he was out of the way, I wanted her to wear one of my hoodies... preferably my old football sweatshirt that had 'CULLEN' written across the back in capital letters. Anything that would label her as mine.

And then, because I was thinking about it (and probably because all of the blood that usually helped my brain to think had gone for a vacation down south), I stupidly blurted, "Are you wearing a boy's hoodie?"

Bella blinked up at me in confusion, and then looked back down at her sweatshirt. She shrugged. "I guess so." Then she frowned. "Don't you have a class to get to or something?"

Fuck, I was annoying her.

I shook my head. "I have a free period."

"Oh."

"Do you?"

"What?"

"Have a class to get to?"

She bit her lip and shook her head. "No, I have a free too."

"Oh."

Silence fell between us once again. I looked at my feet until I felt her eyes on me, and then I glanced back up to see her staring pointedly at me.

"What?" I asked.

"I was under the impression that it was you that wanted me to 'wait up', not vice versa."

Oh right, she was waiting for me to say something.

I eyed the space beside her on the bench but I didn't want to intrude any more than I already had so I remained standing. "I... um... I wanted to apologise for yesterday and... well, whatever happened. And I was wondering if maybe we could start over?" I looked at her hopefully. "You know, since we sit together in so many classes and all... Maybe be friends, or something?"

Please say 'or something'.

Bella looked at me cynically for a while. Then she sighed and looked sadly at the ground, her eyes glazed over. "Thanks. I... I wish I could but..." She stopped and scuffed her trainers against the ground like a little girl. "Look, I don't do... friends. I just don't. I can't tell you why."

"So we can't be friends?" I was disappointed, to say the least. And the sting of rejection hurt like a bitch.

She shook her head slowly. "It's better this way," she said quietly. "For both of us." Then she hopped off of the bench. She stood beside me for a long moment, looking as though she were debating something in her head, and then said in a rush, "I'm going to the library now. We can't really be friends but I'm kind of open to accidentally bumping into each other." She lifted her face and shot me a meek little smile, before dashing off.

I stood there, stunned. It was in that moment that I realised that I was yet to see Bella Swan really, properly smile. The tiny little one she had just given me was glorious in itself, but I could only imagine what a proper smile would look like on her lips.

And then her words sunk in: I'm kind of open to accidentally bumping into each other.

I smiled, and set off for the library. We couldn't be friends, but I'd sure as hell take whatever I could get.

I waited outside of the library for a few minutes, not wanting to appear too eager, and then I pushed the door open and went inside, looking down each aisle at each desk to see if I could find Bella. Finally, I saw her, tucked away at the table right in the far corner, furthest from the exit. I wouldn't have even noticed her had I not been looking. I went over.

She was bent over a textbook, copying some of it out. She didn't look up when I pulled the chair out with a quiet squeak, or when I sat down, dropping my bag beside me. I watched her work for a long moment. Then, because apparently I had come down with a bad case of word vomit, I stated (in a voice far too loud for a library), "Emmett and Jasper are your friends."

A hint of a smirk played on her lips, but she still didn't look up when she replied in a whisper. "That's different."

"Because you're fucking them," I muttered to myself, scowling.

Apparently I hadn't muttered quietly enough because Bella glanced up at me through her long lashes, the smirk widening. "No. I am not fucking either one of them."

Through the haze of my instantaneous relief, I wondered how she could talk about this so calmly and… well, not hate me for saying that, I guess.

As though she knew what I was thinking she said quietly, "Everyone thinks that. I don't really give a flying fuck what people say about me." She paused and then amended, "As long as it isn't true."

I frowned, confused as to what bad things could be said about this girl that were true. "So how are they different from me?"

Bella finally put her pen down and looked up at me, resting her chin on her hand. She stared at me for a long moment, looking confused. "Why do you want to be friends with me?"

Because you're an enigma I can't work out. Because you're beautiful. Because I feel like I've been shocked when I touch you. There are so many reasons, but not one of them I feel I can tell you.

I shrugged. "Because you seem lonely."

All remains of her smirk disappeared and she tangled her fingers together, ducking her head. "I'm not," she murmured. "I have Jazz, and Em."

"You can be surrounded by people and still be lonely, you know," I told her quietly. She looked so forlorn, and sad, and lost that I regretted saying that. I wanted to reach out and hug her, cradle her like a baby. No one had ever brought out such bizarre protection urges in me before.

Bella sighed and quickly deflected the conversation on to me. "You hardly seem like Mr Popular yourself."

"I don't roll like that." I sat back in my chair. "Why waste your time trying to get to the top of the social ladder when it's not gonna get you anything in life except for maybe some kind of plastic crown at prom?"

She blinked at me, surprised.

"What?"

The corners of her lips lifted slightly. "Nothing. I just didn't think that anyone else thought like that."

I smiled at her and shrugged.

She hesitated and then added, "You could get there, you know. Real easily."

That confused the hell out of me. "Get where?"

"You know… prom king, that guy who dates every girl in the school, the guy that everyone looks up to… It's kind of nice that you don't want it. Different, refreshing… you know?"

"You could too, and you don't want it either," I pointed out.

She exhaled sharply, rolling her eyes a little. "If things were normal, I'd probably want it as much as the next girl. I'd still be friends with Jessica, and the most important things in life would be which base you got to with your boyfriend, and what designer brand skirt you had on." She picked at a hangnail. "Believe me, Edward, I'd give almost anything to be able to be like that. I don't particularly want to be prom queen, or not have enough fingers and toes to count how many orgasms I've had in the past month… but I would give anything to have that kind of shit be the most important stuff to worry about in my life."

I sat there, my eyes wide and my mouth open a little. Not only had she just really opened up to me – however cryptic she had been – but she had also just said the word orgasm. And that shit went straight down south. Dammit.

Once I managed to shut my mouth, I opened it again to ask, "What do you have to worry about, then?"

She pursed her lips, clamping them together. She was silent for a long time, and then she said, "Do you have the notes from English this morning? Can I copy them up?" Her eyes met mine, pleading with me to let it go. Whatever the fuck 'it' was.

I stared at her for a long moment, and then sighed and bent down to unzip my bag. I pulled out the notes from English and passed them across the table to her.

"Thanks," she muttered, laying them out in front of her and starting to copy them onto some blank sheets of lined A4 paper.

I bounced my knee under the table as I watched her.

"You're pretty neat, huh?" she asked as she copied.

"I am?"

She glanced up at me, judging to see if I was being serious or not, before looking back down again. "Jesus. How can you not be aware of how freaking neat your handwriting is? Here." She lifted my first sheet up against what she had written and I looked at them.

My writing was neatly curved in all the right places, most of my 'o's perfect. Hers was a messy scrawl, but it was still legible. For some reason, messy handwriting fit Bella; it kind of reflected that wild look in her eyes.

"It's alright," I said.

Bella raised an eyebrow in disbelief. Then she shook her head and put the papers back on the desk to continue copying it out.

I went back to watching her. This time, though, some spatters of red on the sleeve of her grey hoodie caught my eye. My gaze travelled up her body to note more spatters just below the neckline. My brow furrowed. "Why is there blood on your sweater?"

"Huh?" She glanced down. "Oh. That. Um… I had a nose bleed." She shrugged. "No big deal."

"Oh." My conversational skills needed working on.

But Bella smiled slightly at my lack of eloquence, so I was happy. After a moment, I bent down and pulled my Food Tech textbook out of my bag to start on the homework. I was bored of it before I had even started; just thinking of answering question after fucking question was driving me insane. But I opened the book to the correct page and wrote my name at the top of a fresh lined page all the same.

Bella glanced at my textbook and seemed surprised. "You do Home Ec?"

"Um… yeah?"

"Cool." Then she went back to copying in silence.

I wondered what on earth was going through her head, before shaking my own and getting to work.

There wasn't a sound but the scratching of pens on paper as we worked in a companionable silence. It was odd how relaxed I felt around Bella, how easy it was to just be with her. Even though the only reminder that she was there was when we glanced up at each other when my knee accidentally brushed hers, I still knew that she was there. And her presence seemed to relax me. Being beside her seemed to settle something inside of me, like pouring water over a fire. It was calming, slowed things down. The only times I had ever felt anything close to this with anyone outside of my own family – or within, for that matter – was when I had been with Tanya.

Bella couldn't have been more different from Tanya, in looks or in personality, but they somehow had the same calming effect on me, and I felt drawn to both of them, though in completely different ways.

When the bell rang for the end of the period, I watched as Bella packed up hurriedly. "Where are you going?" I asked. "It's break."

She glanced at me, a little smile on her lips. "And I'm not allowed to have a social life?"

"That's not what I meant…"

Her smile broadened, and my breath was taken away. A real smile from the shy, introverted, moody girl who I was sure hated my guts. "I know," she replied. She picked up my notes from English. "Mind if I borrow these to finish up?"

I shook my head, frowning as I realised that she wasn't going to answer my question.

"Thanks," she said, slipping the notes into her bag. She slung her bag over her back. "See ya." She headed for the exit of the library, and I turned back to my notes.

A few seconds later, though, I felt someone tap my back. I turned round and looked up at her beautiful face. My heart thrummed an uneven beat. "Yeah?"

Her cheeks flushed a delicate, feminine shade of pink. "Thanks. Um… for… coming. Coming to the library, I mean." Her cheeks got brighter when she heard the innuendo leave her mouth. "And for keeping me company. And for the notes. And… um… just thanks."

"Anytime," I said truthfully. I hesitated and looked down shyly at her feet. "Maybe we can do it again tomorrow?" Once the words were out I looked back up at her face to gauge her reaction.

She smiled again, even bigger than before. "I'd like that." She was suddenly really shy, fisting her hands at the bottom of her hoodie. Her eyes met mine, and her movements froze. For a long, long moment we stood there (well, she stood and I sat), staring into each others' eyes. My skin was rippling with electricity, my pulse furious with adrenaline and my heart was beating through my chest. I think that we both stopped breathing for a moment because suddenly Bella inhaled hugely, and that broke the spell that we were caught under.

I dropped my eyes so that it couldn't happen again.

"See you in Biology, I guess," I heard her say softly.

I nodded, blinking rapidly. "Yeah."

She turned to leave again.

This time, I stopped her. "Bella, wait."

She looked back. "Yeah?"

"Where were you? Yesterday, and in English this morning."

Bella hesitated and then smiled slightly. It was a forced smile, though, not one that I liked. "See you later," she said, and then she was gone. Damn.

I exhaled a huge breath that I hadn't realised I had been holding in and flopped back in my chair. I sat there for a while, thinking about Bella and her beautiful smile and wondering where she had been this morning.

She scared me a little. Or not so much her as the prospect of her. I had come here with the intention of not getting close to anyone because the pain that being close to others resulted in was worse than anything I had ever experienced. But I had already blown that intention right out of the water.

But then I was tapped on the shoulder again. I looked up, and was disappointed when I met the blue, blue eyes of Alice. "What, Alice?" I asked, unable to keep my sudden bad mood out of my tone.

She raised her dainty eyebrows at my harsh tone and then moved around the table to sit in Bella's seat, smoothing her little floral-patterned skirt down over her black leggings as she sat. She stared at me for a long moment.

"What Alice?" I repeated through gritted teeth.

She smiled at me, her tiny, sharp features changing with the smile. "You're going to fall in love with Isabella Swan," she told me matter-of-factly.

I nearly fell off of my chair. "What?"

She laughed, reaching into her Louise Veyron (or something) bag and pulling out a compact mirror, checking her hair in it as she said, "Bella. I was watching you two for a little while; since just after the bell rang."

I sighed and pushed my fingers through my hair. "Alice, I'm not in love with anyone. I don't even know what love is."

Alice just nodded, placating me.

"What about Jasper?" I asked, narrowing my eyes as I attempted to take the upper hand in this conversation.

"What about him?" She played the innocent card. She even batted her fucking eyelashes.

"I've seen the eyes you make at him, Al," I told her, leaning forward across the desk. "Especially on the first day."

She pouted. "I'm getting over that because he's totally dating your Bella."

I scowled. "Oh, so now she's my Bella?"

"You know what I mean."

"Oh, and, FYI, they're not fucking."

"Says who?"

"Bella."

"She could be lying," Al suggested.

I was shaking my head before she had finished speaking. "No way."

Alice narrowed her eyes at me. "How do you know?"

"I don't know, I just do. She said that she doesn't care how many orgasms she has in a month…" I trailed off, not wanting to remember that and dump myself right in the same situation I had been in earlier.

Alice quirked one eyebrow. "Right. Bullshit. Every girl cares, no matter how much they downplay it. She'd care if she wasn't getting any. She just wouldn't say so."

I ignored the way that thinking of someone else – hell, anyone else – taking Bella in that way made my blood boil with envy, and want. "Well, whatever, she said that she wasn't fucking Jasper, or Emmett, and I believe her."

"Good for you. That still doesn't mean that they're not dating. They've got to be! C'mon, Edward, you said so yourself."

I remembered a few days earlier, when Bella and Jasper had gotten on the motorcycle together. They sure as hell had looked like they were dating then. But, then again, Tanya and I had been as close as that and there was no way in hell that we would ever have dated. We had kissed once as a dare and that had been a complete awkward disaster. We couldn't have dated. Ever. Maybe Bella and Jasper were just really close friends? I voiced my thoughts to Alice. "Maybe Bella and Jasper are just really close friends?"

Alice snorted, crossing her arms on the desk. "And maybe the pope's religious," she said sarcastically. She sighed and rested her chin on her crossed forearms. "I'm sorry. I… I don't want to set myself up for heartbreak, Edward. Yes, Jasper is gorgeous but I don't know him, and I probably never will."

"But if, according to you, I'm going to fall in love with Bella, then surely Jasper will be free?" Just saying that out loud felt ridiculous, by the way.

Alice looked at me sadly. "You'll fall in love with her, yeah. I'm sure of it. But…" She sighed, looking down at her well-filed fingernails. "Edward, there's something about her-"

We heard Rosalie's heels clacking against the floor as soon as the door shut behind her.

Alice cut herself off; we both knew to end this conversation with Rosalie around. "Look, you don't say anything about Jasper, and I won't about Bella. Deal?"

Rose didn't take well to fantasies and false ideals. She'd tell us that we were being ridiculous even thinking that this could turn out well. That was just Rosalie. She was a pessimist, a realist and a brazen truth-teller; she didn't sugar coat anything. And Alice and I knew that we wanted to stay in our little bubbles of denial for a little longer about our respective crushes. Even if we knew that that was all they were ever going to be.

I shook Alice's hand. "Deal."

Our clammy palms parted just as Rose came round the corner. She took the seat beside Alice and sighed melodramatically. "God. What is with the morons in this town? Some senior just offered to 'let me' blow him. Dude, I'll blow you if I want to, not because you let me. What a dick." Then she looked between Alice and I, her big blue eyes taking in our moods. "What? What's going on?"

"Nothing," Alice and I replied at the same time.

Rose narrowed her eyes but let it go. She dug into her bag to find her cell phone and check her messages from her friends back in Chicago.

Alice sighed and went back to checking her make-up in her little mirror.

I bent down to carry on with my homework.

For a moment, just a moment, things went back to normal.

~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~

So a little Edward and Bella interaction there, guys ;) And, don't worry, the awkwardness will go away in a bit; they're both a tad apprehensive about making friends and getting close to people at the moment.

Oh, there was a little confusion about a couple of things in the last chapter. Firstly, Bella wanting to die- she doesn't want to die (who does?) but she's getting kind of fed up with being sick. And past experiences in Phoenix (you'll find out later) have resulted in her wanting to keep her illness a secret, which isn't easy if you have to be an inpatient in hospital for at least six months. So she avoids hospitals. There'll be more about this later on :)

Second, Bella's relationship with her mum – that's a kind of on-off relationship because Bella's emotions are so all over the place that sometimes she just yells and takes her feelings out on the one person who understands and other times she uses her as a comfort. Since Renee is like the only person who knows, she's kind of Bella's crutch at the moment.

Twilight Trivia Time! I was really shocked that only four people got the question right! 'Twilightgirl.x', 'Bella'Swan'22', 'MrsSadhbhPattinson' and 'The Last Thing On Your Mind' all correctly said that Max is the name of KRISTEN'S cat :) She calls him Jella, but she doesn't know why ;) Hey, do you guys want a Twilight Trivia question every chapter? I can do that if you want to :)

Rec of the week: It Isn't Stalking if You Don't Get Caught by JustForkIt and LittleMissWhitlock. This fic has been totally pwning me this week. It's epically hilarious and their Emmett is just awesome, and their Edward is adorable, and their Jasper is… well, he's the same old laid back Jasper we know and love. This story follows Edward, Emmett and Jasper as they attempt to meet their celebrity crushes Bella, Rosalie and Alice and it is so, so clever and there are tons of references to things we all know; my favourite I think would have to be Bella making a film toward the end called 'Beer for Hippos' ;) It's a work of genius.

Next update will be next Monday and we're back with Bella in time for Biology ;)

Wow, I failed at not doing long A/Ns huh? :/

Reviews make Bella more open to talking… ;)

Thanks so much! :)

-Steph