A/N: Apparently, this is shorty chapter week. Welp. Hope your week goes well.

Bella covered her face with her hands, trying to ignore how nervous she was. She grabbed at her phone to distract herself.

Bella: There is caffeine EVERYWHERE. I want it all.

She tapped her fingers idly on the table, watching the three dots bounce at the bottom of the chat box.

Alice: You're looking at this the wrong way. This is the perfect excuse to get the chocolate croissant you always deny yourself.

Bella: ...I knew I liked you.

Some minutes later, Bella was doing her best not to make porn star noises as she devoured her favorite coffee shop dessert. She was so involved that she didn't process the familiar form that went striding by her table. She did, however, notice when the form came to an abrupt halt. She sucked in a breath as he walked slowly backward until he was facing her.

"Uh, hey." Edward the barista-guitarist cocked his head, his slow, sexy smile curling up at the corner. "Bella. Hi."

Bella put a hand to her mouth, chewing twice more and swallowing hard. Her throat was tight. Her heart was pounding a mile minute, and the delicious chocolate croissant threatened to make a reappearance. "Hey," she managed.

"I've thought about you." His cheeks tinted pink and he rubbed the back of his neck, his sheepish expression making him look so young. "Sorry. You surprised me. I'm just saying it's cool to run into you."

"Right." Bella took a deep breath, flashing him a tight smile. She sat up straight, tilting her chin up. "It's not a coincidence, though."

"No?" The grin was back in full force—a beautiful smirk that made a chill run down her spine. "You stalking me?" His tone was full of intent rather than horror.

Now, it was her turn to smirk. "Calm down, stud." She sighed, her grin fading. "Actually, there's something I needed to talk to you about. I'm not trying to be a creeper. I wanted to talk to you in person so I asked Jasper—he was the groom at the wedding—to talk to your bandmate, Peter. He's the one who told me your schedule. You have a few minutes before your shift?"

He took hold of the chair across from her and spun it, sitting down on it backward. He rested his arms across the top and leaned forward. "Sure. I have a few minutes for you."

Here goes nothing. "So. I guess there's no easy way to say this, but…" For chrissakes, Swan. "I'm pregnant. It's yours. I'm sure."

At first, he only blinked at her, mouth agape. The words had come out in a rush, so she didn't blame him. She pressed her lips together. She didn't want to have to repeat herself—saying it once had been hard enough—and she didn't want to start babbling the half a million things going through her head. Her defenses were up; there was every chance he was going to turn into an asshole in the next two seconds, but she didn't want to put her foot in her mouth.

"I...You…" He ran his hand through his hair, looking off to the side. His skin had gone bone white. "Oh, man. Oh, man. But how? I mean, we used..." He gestured helplessly.

"They don't work if you don't put it on right." This was her theory, but she didn't want to sound too accusatory. "Maybe it leaked and we didn't notice."

"Oh. Oh, jeez. Oh, man."

Bella counted to ten before she spoke. "Look, I'm not here to demand anything from you. This wasn't supposed to happen. I've decided to keep the pregnancy, and I can take care of a baby." Her heartbeat fluttered. She wasn't entirely sure about that last part, but at least she could pay for a baby. "I'm just letting you know. If you don't want it—"

"No." The word came out too loud, and Edward looked around the shop, his cheeks turning red. He bowed his head, tugging at his hair. "That's not what… I mean…" He huffed. "Fuck. My parents are going to kill me."

Now it was Bella's turn to blink at the top of his head. Her first thought was that the comment was the epitome of immature. Then, she stopped her judgment and reevaluated. She knew firsthand what a terrible shock her news was, and people tended to do and say strange things when they were shocked. Also, just because she'd grown up not overly attached to her parents didn't mean other people didn't have a different experience. Plenty of people her own age still angsted out when they didn't get their parents' approval. It was an honest reaction; that was all.

"Cullen," an irritated voice called out. Edward's head snapped up, his lithe body jolting as he looked toward the counter at a harried-looking man. "You got two minutes to clock in."

"Yeah." Edward's voice cracked. He cleared his throat and spoke louder. "I'll be right there."

Bella grimaced. "I probably could have timed this better. I'm sorry. I just felt like I owed it to you to talk to you face-to-face." And to be perfectly honest, she'd wanted to meet him in a public place in case his reaction was violent. You just never knew. But, she could have come after his shift.

"No. No. Yeah." Edward ran a hand over his face. He laughed—the sound slightly maniacal. "Shit. I've lost my ability to word."

She had to smile. "Don't think about it now. Think about it after work."

He scoffed. "Sure." He stood up, still looking anywhere but her. "Um. Can I...I guess, can I have your phone number?" He shook his head, the smallest of smiles tugging at his lips. "I was going to ask you, you know."

"Ask me what?"

"For your phone number. Before." He glanced at her quickly and then away. "But you were gone when I woke up."

Now it was Bella who blushed. "Ah. Yeah. Sorry." Awkward. She rummaged through her purse. Luckily, a reporter always kept a steno pad and pen handy. "Here."

Edward took the paper she offered and did a weird, nervous little nod-bow movement before he hurried away, to start his shift, no doubt. Bella blew out a breath. She closed her eyes, willing her heart to stop pounding. Then, she gathered up the remnants of her croissant.

She'd gotten only a few steps into the parking lot before his voice stopped her. "Bella!" Edward came jogging out to her, dressed now in an apron and matching hat. "I should have asked. How are you? Is everything… Are you okay?"

That melted her a little. She opened her mouth to simply say she was fine, but instead, the truth came out. "I'm exhausted. All the time. Weird smells make me woozy, and I throw up a lot. I'm overwhelmed. This is the last thing I needed in my life right now." It felt better, somehow to say out loud. Especially to him. "But...I'm okay."

He nodded a little too emphatically. "Yeah. That's...Yeah."

She gave a small laugh, and he smiled sheepishly. Then, he sighed. "I'm sorry. I don't know if that's the right thing to say, but I'm really sorry."

"Yeah. Me too."

The door to the coffee shop came open and Edward's scowling boss was there again. Bella gave him what she hoped was a friendly, apologetic smile and looked to Edward. "You better get back before you're out of a job."

"Yeah." Edward looked between her and his boss. "I'll call you."

Watching him disappear back into the coffee shop, Bella wondered if he really would. She'd given him the out, after all. Part of her still hoped he would take it. There were just so many variables in her life right now. She could stand to have one of them magically go away.

Then again, there was that traitorous part of her that wondered what he would look like holding a baby. It wasn't a bad image.

~0~

"Wait, wait, wait," Jessica said, sitting down at Alice and Jasper's table as Bella started to relate the story of how the meeting went. "First, I had a lot of alcohol at the wedding."

Alice scoffed. "A lot of that going around apparently."

"The point is, my memory's a bit fuzzy." Jessica reached across the table and took Bella's hand. "Please tell me he's as smoking hot as I remember him."

Bella shook her head, grinning. "Girl, you're shameless."

"What? I'm living vicariously through you so I don't have to have a baby. Come on. Look at you. Your kid was always going to be amazing, but mix you with a sexy musician?" She whistled. "Come on. This child is going to be incredible. Smarts and musical and…" she leaned in, waiting for Bella to fill in the blanks.

Bella gave in. "And Jesus God who do I have to bribe to make sure they get his eyes?" She sighed. "Green. And I like the shape of his mouth."

"Yeah, that's what got you in trouble." Alice grinned wickedly.

"I thought it was his fingers that got her in trouble." Jasper sipped his beer, his face the picture of innocence.

Alice and Jessica cackled. Bella threw a grape at him, which he had the audacity to catch with his mouth. He winked at her.

Bella rubbed her temples. "He really is young though. I was hoping I'd been generous, but he really does look mid-twenties. Lower mid-twenties even."

Alice rubbed her back. "But employed. And talented. You had a good head on your shoulders even at that age."

"He was nice. I mean, he was reduced to Neanderthal noises in lieu of speech, but I think that was only to be expected." Bella let relief wash over her. "He wasn't an asshole. That counts for a lot."

Bella had decided some days before that she was going to take this thing in stages, dealing with one thing at a time. Telling the stranger baby daddy was out of the way, and it hadn't been horrible. As far as Edward went, she was done. It was his move. Hopefully they'd be able to have another conversation at least. Hopefully she had a little time before she had to ask questions about his family genetic history. That was going to be a fun conversation.

But she didn't have to think about that yet.

~0~

Bella was pulled from sleep by the too-loud ring of her phone. She usually put the ringer volume down before she went to sleep, but this wouldn't be the first time she collapsed before she completed her nighttime ritual. She reached for her phone only to encounter unfamiliar territory. She sat up, blinking in the never-all-the-way dark of the Southern California night.

This wasn't her bedroom.

She grabbed her phone, groaning as she did. She must have fallen dead asleep at Alice and Jasper's table. Jasper had probably carried her upstairs. Of course, she would miss that.

"Hello?" she said into the phone, groggy.

There was a pause on the other end. "Shit. I'm sorry. You were asleep."

It took her addled mind another two seconds to figure out the voice on the other end—smooth and soft and just deep enough—was Edward. "I'm always asleep. What time is it even?"

"Ten."

"Fuck." Bella sighed. "That's just sad."

"No. It's… I mean, it's late-ish."

Bella had to smile. "Sure. I'm just used to being a night owl."

He hummed, and a silence fell between them, tense and loaded. Was she supposed to speak? But what would she say? It really was a strange juxtaposition. Her deciding to have this baby was an all or nothing thing. It was hers—her body. Her every move, every choice, every thing she put in her body affected by the presence of this thing she couldn't see or feel.

Edward? He was free of the thing. Separate from it. No wonder it was so easy for men to walk away. The concept of the baby was alien to Bella, who only believed with the pregnancy tests told her because she knew her body had changed. For a man, it must have felt more like a fairy tale—a figment of her imagination.

On the other end of the line, he sighed. "I'm sorry. I still haven't figured out what to say." Another sigh. "I don't know what to think."

"I get that," Bella said gently.

"But I did want to say I was sorry I was so weird earlier. I just wanted you to know I'm not a deadbeat. I'm not…" He swallowed audibly. "I'm not going to walk away. I'm not that guy."

Bella let out a shuddering breath. Her heart pounded hard against her chest.

There it was. She was stuck with him.

What the hell that meant in the long run, she had no idea.

"Do you have a picture yet? The weird, blurry one?" he asked.

Her eyes stung with tears she didn't quite understand. She hadn't really thought about the baby in terms of what it was. What it looked like. Fucking weird at that stage, but growing. It was creepy and amazing and…

It was a lot.

"First doctor's appointment is next week," she said. "I think that's when you get the first blurry picture."

"That's cool." Another gulp. "You'll show me?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I can do that."

"Okay." There was a rustle. Was he lying on his bed? "I should let you get back to sleep."

She yawned right on que. "Yeah. Okay."

"Goodnight, Bella."

She smiled. "Goodnight, Edward."

A/N: So now he knows.

And now the fun begins, non?

*maniacal author laugh*