All characterizations, plot lines, backgrounds and details belong to the author. Plagiarism is theft. No copying or reproduction of this work in any language is permitted without the express written authorization of the author. Thank you. March 2010.

Thanks as ever to my extremely talented beta, xrxdanixrx. Check out her stories Hate Me and Here We Go Again. You rock, sister!

For all of you reading and reviewing-thank you! Hope you enjoy and as ever, let me know what you think…

Let's check in with our Bella, shall we...

BPOV

Chapter 5

As I pull up to the parking lot, Jake is already waiting, leaning against a bench and smiling as I emerge from the Jeep.

"Good morning. I'm surprised you're actually here," I say, nudging him in the shoulder.

"I told you I'd be here. I don't break promises, Bella." He smiles at me, and looks down to my leg.

"How's it feeling? You up for this?" he asks.

"I think the question should be, are you?" I raise an eyebrow at him, and he breaks out a wide smile.

"I don't have problems getting anything up with you, Bella." He smirks at me and walks into the open field.

I follow him, and we stretch for a few minutes in the dewy grass before breaking out into a slow jog through the park. It's relatively empty, the morning fog is just starting to burn off, ,and I'm grateful for Jake at this point. He's been pivotal in my gait training, and the reason I'm able to run at all. He matches me stride for stride, and soon, we are flowing at a good pace.

"Looks good," he breathes beside me. "Told you that you didn't need the cane. Why do you use that thing anyway?" he asks, sounding annoyed with me.

"I don't use it all the time. You know that. I haven't even been a week with the new prosthetic. I'm just being careful," I try to explain even though we both know it's bullshit.

"Whatever you say." He smiles down at me and I shake my head.

"Hey, I got your delivery yesterday. You didn't need to do that."

"What are you talking about? What delivery?" he asks.

"Right. You didn't send me flowers yesterday?" I ask, as he picks up the pace of our run.

"You got flowers yesterday?" He actually sounds shocked.

"Nice try. They're beautiful, but Jake, I'm not sure what they mean exactly."

"Hey, I'd be more than willing to take credit for whatever mystery flowers got sent to you, but you don't seem to like them, so I won't," he says sarcastically.

"Jake, stop it. We should probably talk about this." I stop running and look up at him.

"Talk about what, Bella? I didn't send you flowers," he says insistently.

"Seriously? You didn't?"

"No." He shakes his head at me. OK, now I'm totally confused. If Jake didn't send them, I'm not sure who would have. "What would be the big deal if I did anyway?" he asks, gazing down at me.

"Jake, you know how much you mean to me. But…"

"But what, Bella?" He place his warm hand on my arm. "Would this be so bad?" He runs his hand up my arm and behind my neck.

"Jake, please don't, ok? You can't do this. I need you, just not the way I think you're starting to want me." I stare up at him, and he squeezes his eyes shut.

"We've still got another 2K to go, Swan. Think you can keep up?" He opens his eyes and smirks down at me.

"I can try."

"Then, so can I." He breaks out in a run as the city wakes up around us.

xxxxx

"The flowers aren't from Jake," I announce, handing Rose over her double latte and sinking into the chair in the corner.

"What?" She looks up from her desk and furrows her eyebrows at me. "Then, who are they from?"

"I have absolutely no idea," I answer truthfully.

"You've got a secret admirer," she says, waggling her eyebrows.

"I do not," I argue.

"Whatever. Somebody likes you. We just need to figure out who." She taps her pen on the desk and stares back at me.

"Alright, Nancy Drew. I'll leave you to it."

"Oh, Edward Cullen is coming in today. I thought you might want to know, in case you run into him or something," she mutters.

"Why is he coming here?" I ask suspiciously.

"Relax. It's not another hook up attempt…although, he is good eye candy."

"Good eye candy? Rose!" I roll my eyes at her.

"He's an artist. A really good one actually. He does graphic design work on the side. He's been doing work for Emmett. I'm bringing him in to try to knock some ideas around with the nimwits we've got here. He should be here around ten o'clock or so." I glance down at my watch. "That gives you enough time to go get beautiful." She smirks at me.

"Don't even think about it," I warn her.

"We may need to stop by to talk about his fees. You know, make sure that we have enough in the budget to afford him." She smiles at me devilishly.

"You're going to hell. You realize this, right?"

"It's a fun, fun ride, my friend." She laughs.

I make my escape into my office and shut my door. Oh, fuck. This is the last thing I need right now. I'm so not in the mood to deal with this…with him. I shake my head and resolve that he's probably forgotten completely about me. I don't even know why I give a shit.

Just like clockwork, my phone rings at 9:30. "Hi, Mom."

"Am I that predictable, Bella?" She laughs.

"Only on Thursdays. How's the week been?" I smile as I wonder how she manages to call me at exactly the same time every week. Renee has always been a bit scattered. I remember opening my lunch at school several times to multiple types of cereal and bananas, both of which I hate.

"Good, Phil's team has made it to the finals." She sounds so proud of him and his team of bantam hockey players that he coaches. Phil is my step father. I hardly know him, but he treats her well and was there for her after Dad had a heart attack, which he never recovered from.

It was a difficult time for both of us. Charlie's heart attack came about six months after my accident. The stress of dealing with me, in my emotionally unstable state at the time, was too overwhelming for him to bear I suppose.

She spiraled out of control shortly after his death. She took to partying like a nineteen year old, out until all hours of the night, coming home loaded or high. I looked after her in the mornings, nursing her hang over, as I dealt with learning how to walk again.

She met Phil at some seedy biker bar a few months later. He had rolled into town on his Harley and was looking for a place to start over, from what, I'm not sure, but then I've not bothered to speak to him enough to ask either.

"The finals huh? That's exciting," I say dully.

"Oh, it really is! You should come. It's next weekend." I scowl at the thought of spending more time in a hockey rink. I played growing up and all the way through high school. I've had my fill of stale hot chocolate and freezing my ass off, thank you very much.

"Oh, I can't, Mom. Rose and I are getting together for the auction. You know, planning and everything." I roll my eyes as the concept of planning is completely lost on her.

"Oh, right, the auction. How's it coming along?"

"I think it's going to be good. We should be able to raise a lot of money."

"How's Jake?" she asks, switching gears completely.

"He's good, Mom. I saw him this morning. We went running."

"Oh you did, huh?" she asks suggestively.

"Mom, Jake and I are just friends." Oh I so wish she'd get off of her fantasy of Jake and I getting some white picket fence and living happily ever after.

"Jake is good for you, Bella," she says definitively.

"I know, that's why he's one of my best friends." I get up from the desk and stare out the window, wondering if I actually did the right thing with Jake this morning.

"Ok, well, I need to go. I'm off to my cooking class," she says excitedly.

"You're taking cooking lesson? Have you called the fire department to let them know?"

"Very funny. I'm taking Mexican cooking classes. How hard can it be?"

"Just be careful, ok?"

"OK. Love you, Bella."

"You too, Mom." I hang up and return to my faithful computer, diving into the riveting world of Google Analytics.

It's just before twelve when I emerge from my office. I glance down the hallway and see Rose hovering in the far corner with the design crew. High pitched laughter, , ,that I recognize immediately as Lauren's, comes ringing through the office as I see a mass of unruly hair over the top of the cubicles.

Oh shit! He's still here. I turn to sneak back into my office when Rose catches me.

"Bella! Come here." She motions to me, and I grimace at her. She's got that look again, and I know if I don't go, she's just going to come and drag me out. I opt for the less humiliating choice, and make my way down the hallway.

He lifts his head and breaks out a knowing smile as he stares at me intently. Jesus, he's beautiful. I take a deep breath and stop just in front of him.

"Edward, nice to see you again." I try to sound cordial.

"Bella, how are you?" he asks leaning towards me slightly.

"I'm fine, you?"

"I'm good. We're just going over some designs with the team. Would you like to take a look?" he asks, motioning to the table as our esteemed design team eye fucks him.

"No, that's ok. I'm not much of an artist, I'm afraid. I'm sure you've got it under control." He frowns slightly. "I'm heading out to grab some lunch. Rose, do you want me to get you anything?"

"No, I'm good. But why don't you take Edward with you and bring back some sandwiches for the team?" she asks, smirking at me.

I glare at her and shake my head. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize I was your personal caterer, Rose," I say sharply.

"Oh, don't be a hard ass, Bella. It's just sandwiches. I think you can handle it."

I swear to God I'm going to kill her. I narrow my eyes at her and turn pointing towards reception. "Edward, the cafeteria is this way." He smirks at Rose and walks ahead of me. I turn to give her the finger and see Lauren drooling after him, staring at his ass as he walks down the hallway. "You're going down for this," I threaten Rose.

"Oh, if anyone is going down, it's going to be you, my friend," she whispers and returns her attention back to the design table.

I mumble under my breath and join him as he waits at reception. He's grimacing as he eyes the vase of flowers. His expression changes as he watches me walk towards him. The man could give a fucking course in brooding stares designed to screw with your senses. I stop in front of the door to the stairwell as he pushes the arrow on the elevator.

"Cafeteria is only one floor down. What, have you got a broken leg or something?" I ask, cocking my head to the side.

He smiles darkly at me and takes a step towards me. "Lead the way, Bella."

I roll my eyes at him and push open the door, taking the stairs down to the bottom floor. I glance back over my shoulder before pushing the door open forcefully. He's stopped about half way down the stairs, just staring at me like he's frozen or something. Is he shocked that I can actually go down stairs? I shake my head, getting more and more pissed off at him as I make my way into the cafeteria.

Mike smiles widely at me from behind the counter, and this time, I return his smile. Mike asks me out every time I come to the cafeteria. I've given him lame excuses so far, because quite frankly, he just doesn't do anything for me. But right now, I'm feeling particularly bitchy due to Edward's inability to believe I can't navigate a simple staircase, and I think it might be a whole lot of fun to fuck with him.

So, I pull a page out of Rose's guide to flirting and listen intently as Mike tells me about the grilled panini masterpieces he's about to serve up for us. I know Edward is watching. I can feel him getting closer and closer to the counter as I continue to stare at Mike, pretending to be fascinated by what he's saying.

Mike leans across the counter towards me. "You should smile more often, Bella," he says. Oh, fuck. I feel like I may throw up, because now, he thinks I'm actually interested, and I feel horrible for using him just to piss Edward off.

If I'm being honest, Mike is fairly attractive, probably reliable, and maybe I should actually just bite the bullet and go out with him. I let out a nervous laugh as realization dawns on me that the only man I'm interested in right now, is standing beside me, glaring down at poor Mike like he wants to kill him or something.

Standing here, under the hum of the fluorescent bulbs in the cafeteria, the thoughts of dating Mike fade away the nanosecond I look up at Edward. I can feel the crack in the wall I've built up open up slightly and suddenly, I recognize that fairly attractive and probably reliable are just not going to cut it anymore.

Chapter End Notes:

Up next, Edward's messed up view of the world.

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Update next week...