A/N: Everybody ready for a long chapter? Grab a box of tissue paper … just to be safe. :)

Chapter-7: The Wall

"Why?" That's all she manages to utter in a broken whisper before the gravity of her sudden actions dawn on her. Did I really just let my anger blow up like that? She wonders. One look at the blotchy red mark on his cheek is all it takes to tell her that it isn't a horrible nightmare.

With a gasp, she starts running, disregarding the audience around them; her mind solely focused on getting away from him before the tears stinging her eyes made an appearance.

Apparently, Edward Cullen wasn't having any of that.

"Stop!" he calls after her, his feet moving fast to trace her steps. She runs faster, willing her feet to take her far away from there. She's not so fortunate though. He manages to catch up to her just as she's stepped out of the studio and into the streets basked in the hue of quickly approaching twilight.

"Damn it! Will you stop?" His voice is full of frustration as his hand closes around her wrist, stopping her in her tracks.

He sounds out of breath as he asks, "Will you at least tell me what I did?"

She feels the walls she has always kept around her chip away at the sound of resignation in his voice. Desperate to get her wall back in place, she lashes out without daring to look at him, her voice sounding harsher than ever. "You didn't do anything. It's just me," she says, trying to be nonchalant.

Her answer seems to ignite a fire in his eyes. He tugs on her hand, making her whirl around to face him. When he speaks, his words prickle her with the force of thousand needles. "Are you fucking kidding me? You're giving me the universal break-up line when I haven't even had the chance to take you out on a date yet? What the hell is your problem?"

Anger … white hot anger courses through her veins as she pulls her hand out of his, snatching it away from him. "I'll tell you what you did," she hears herself tell him, her anger matching his. "You fucking kissed me! That's what you did, Edward Cullen."

"What?" For a moment, he looks a cross between confused and angry before the anger in his eyes seems to win. "That's your problem? Well you didn't seem to mind my disgusting lips so much last night, Ms. Swan!" he snaps, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

More, a voice says in her head. Make him hate you. Push him away before you hurt him. Don't pull him into your darkness.

That little voice so deceptively like his, makes her lash out at Edward. "That's because I didn't know there were paps out there to grab the scoop!" she snaps back at him. "Our photos are plastered on every gossip magazine this morning."

A sudden thought occurs to her then. What if he was in on it? What if it was just a publicity stunt?

Narrowing her eyes at him, she asks, "Is that why you kissed me the second time? Because the first snaps might have been too hazy? Did they pay you to do that?"

Even though her rational mind tells her that Edward couldn't have had anything to do with this, she keeps hitting the nail harder, determined to build her walls back up again so that she'll be safe behind it. She takes a deep breath before speaking again. "You are a famous actor, Edward. This all might be fun and games for you, but not for me. Your little stunt just ruined everything."

"Stunt? Stunt?" he repeats, his voice full of shock and disbelief. "Isabella, if you think I would do anything to hurt you in any way, you really don't know much of the world," he says, words spilling out of him as if a dam has burst. "Do you think I would rush to in the middle of nowhere for just anyone? Do you think I make a habit of going around and kissing girls? No! I went to you because I like you, damn it! I kissed you because I wanted to."

Her breath catches in her throat as his words prod at the wall she has created around her, looking for a spot of weakness to get her to believe. A wistful look comes over his face as he closes his eyes and sighs deeply. "God! How I've wanted to kiss you since the first time I saw you, Isabella," he says, without opening his eyes.

That look on his face seems to be her weakness. She feels her heart break at that sight. "Edward ..." she calls his name pleadingly. "Don't do this please."

He opens his eyes at her words. Tilting his head to the side to meet her eyes, he asks in a quiet tone, "Do what, exactly?"

You're not making this easy, she wants to tell him. I'm not good for you, her battered her heart wants to whisper. Instead, she motions between them and says, "This. Don't … be here. You shouldn't be friends with me."

"Why?"

Even though she should have expected him to ask that, the question still manages to throw her off. Don't fight him, a voice very much like her mother's whispers in her head then. Let him in. Shaking her head and wishing she could shake away all her fears and misgivings too, she answers, "Because I've got scars that can't be healed, and I don't want anyone to see them."

"Am I just anyone to you?"

The question, asked in a voice so full of helplessness and the man asking it, makes her waver, For a moment, she stops breathing at the sight of utter honesty she detects in his eyes. He deserves the same in return, she realizes. So instead of lying through her teeth, she says honestly, "No, you're not. That's the reason I don't want you to get hurt, Edward. And if you stay with me, you'll only get hurt. I know it. I'm bad for you."

The feeling of something hot running down her cheek is what tells her that the teardrops she had tried so hard to keep at bay has spilled over by the time her rant is over. The sight of her tears seems to snap him out of his thoughts. She watches as he raises a hand, cautiously approaching her as if she was a wounded animal, he lightly taps on her chin, prompting her to look up at him.

When their eyes meet, she looks right into his piercing green gaze, searching for a hint of judgement … a sign of pity … anything to keep her walls up, but she doesn't see those. What she sees is compassion and understanding and a feeling washes over her as she looks at him … a feeling of rightness.

He reaches to place a hand on her cheek, making her flinch a little by his sudden closeness. For a moment, she wonders if her reaction will make him run for the hills, but then his hand is touching the dimple on her cheek, cupping it with something that feels like reverence. "Hey," he whispers to her. "Look at me please."

She can't help but comply and meet his eyes again. When their eyes meet, he says, "You say that you're scarred, but Bella, when I look at you, I don't see any scars; I just see an incredibly beautiful girl whose inside is just as beautiful as the outside. You are so perfect."

Bella?

The sound of another woman's name on his tongue sends a sting of completely irrational jealousy through her. Her eyebrows pull together in a frown as she asks, "Who's Bella?"

That brings the smile he always wears back on his lips. He taps the tip of her nose playfully and replies, "You are, pretty girl. Bella means beautiful, and you are my beautiful Bella."

In the fleeting rays of sunlight, she watches herself through his eyes, and for the first time in what seems to be forever, she feels beautiful because of the way he looks at her.

Slowly, he leans down, bringing their faces so close that their lips are almost touching and then, he whispers, "Besides, I don't want to be your friend, beautiful Bella," he whispers in her ear. "I want to be your first crush, your first blush, and maybe someday …your first love. Will you let me?"

With each word he speaks, the wall around her gets splintered until it crumbles into nothingness at his question. Her tears run freely then, as she decides to let him in … into her life and into her heart.

Seeing her tears, however, he seems to get worried. "Shit!" he curses before taking her face in his hands and dashing away at her tears. "Bella, I'm sorry. Forgive me if I embarrassed you. I never wanted to make you feel bad …"

Trusting her heart to guide her to where she's meant to be, she moves forward and cuts off his rambling apology with a kiss. Right before their lips touch, she whispers, "I will."

For the next few moments, time seems to stand still as they kiss; their lips speaking the words their hearts know, but are too early to be spoken out loud. When their lips separate to allow them to breathe, he says in a breathless whisper, "We're out in the open, baby. What if some other pap sees us?"

She looks into his worried eyes and all she sees is sweetness and adoration for her. That makes her lips pull up in a bright smile. "Let them," she says bravely before pulling his lips back on hers.

When she feels his lips smile against hers, she knows for sure.

She knows that Edward Cullen just gave her her smile back.

A/N: So … thoughts?

Share them with me and leave a review.

One more chapter and then the epilogue is left.

Thanks for reading.

Granma, hope you're enjoying your little pressie.

Take care.

Ann