A/N: We move the action a little in this chapter. One of the things that I've tried to do from the beginning of this whole "Littles" experiment is not have there be any real "bad guys," (Except Nick Parsons, cause that was just too too fun! Lol!) but have the people who do bad or mean things have it grow organically from their immaturity and life experience. So, that's what I want to show for Eddie in this chapter. He's just one of those guys who always got what he wanted so when he didn't or couldn't get everything he wanted, he didn't know how to deal with it. For him this story is going to be learning to deal with it.

Disclaimer: I own nothing

We were both young when I first saw you
I close my eyes and the flashback starts
I'm standing there, on a balcony in summer air – Taylor Swift, "Love Story"

"What's wrong baby?" Eddie Cole turned and saw Bella standing in the door of the small terrace attached to his room at his grandmother's house.

"Nothing," he said, "just thinking."

"Well stop thinking and come back to bed, silly," she kissed him and took his hands and walked him back to the bed. They kissed for a while. "This was a good idea to come here." They kissed again and he slid her clothes from her body. "God, I love you," she groaned as he worked his way inside of her.

"I love you too," he said. "I'll always love you."

"Eddie!" He snapped awake, from the beautiful dream he'd been having most nights. The memory of making love to Bella in this bed was haunting him. He shook his head, feeling the bed bounce, and then a flick against his face. He heard a giggle and looked up, seeing a little girl with blond curls and big blue eyes. "Good, you're awake."

"Hello Aileen," he said, sweeping the six year old off her feet. "When did you get here?"

"A few minutes ago," Aileen said. "Daddy said I should wake you up."

"Wasn't that nice of your Daddy," Eddie said carrying her downstairs.

"Is Bella here too?" Aileen asked.

"No," he shook his head. "Bella is not here. Bella's not my girlfriend anymore Aileen."

"Well, that's dumb," Aileen said. "Bella is very pretty."

"Yes, Bella is very pretty." He nodded when they got to the kitchen. "Hi Uncle Brad, thanks for the wakeup call."

"Not a problem," Brad said. "How's it going kid?"

"Fine," Eddie shrugged. "Do you want coffee or something? I got Grandma and Devon to actually start keeping caffeine and preservatives in the house while I'm staying here."

"That's OK," Brad said, "we planned ahead and got coffee on the way from the airport." Eddie nodded.

"Hello Eddie," Elena Vanderbilt walked in.

"Hey Aunt Elena," he said, leaning down and kissing her on the cheek. He'd always called her "Aunt Ellie" before, but now he wasn't sure he could. "How's East Coast living?"

"Pretty good," she smiled. "Aileen, come here." She took the girl. "Is Bella here?"

"Don't people in this family talk to each other?" Eddie said. "Bella and I broke up."

"Well, I know," Elena shrugged, "but I figured you'd be back together by now. I know you're not still dating Jimmy's daughter." She stopped and looked at him. "Are you?"

"No," he said. "And Bella and I aren't back together either."

"Oh," Elena said. "Well, that's too bad. Rick was counting on you two for the whole, we'll all be family plan he came up with in high school."

"Yeah," Eddie said. "But no pressure or anything." Elena laughed.

"Hey, it used to be on me and Jimmy," she said. "Your turn."

"Eddie," Aileen said, "will you play with me?"

"Of course sweetheart," Eddie smiled taking her hand. "I'm all yours this week Princess." She smiled.

Bella sat in her room running a brush through her hair and looking through her jewelry box to figure out what she wanted to wear on her date with Gordon. She stopped as her hand rested on the tiny silver pendant that Eddie had given her before they went into high school. Each side was engraved, one with her initials, "ALR" and the other with his "EAC."

"Mrs. Edward Alexander Cole," Bella giggled, age sixteen standing in front of the mirror in her debutante dress.

"We're not getting married," Eddie laughed, "it's just a debutante ball." She looked at him. "You do look beautiful though."

"Aunt Tammy made it for me," she said. "And I'll wear a dress like this one when we get married."

"You're forgetting that I've never asked you to marry me," he pointed out. She looked over her shoulder at him.

"That's a formality," she said. "And if you keep being mean we won't get to pretend it's our wedding night after cotillion." She pouted and walked over to him.

"God, I cannot wait to marry you," he smirked and kissed her.

She sighed and shoved the pendant under her mattress. She didn't want to see it or think about it.

"Hey," Eva, her older sister wandered in. "Whatcha doing?"

"Figuring out what to wear tonight," Bella said and stood up, holding a little black dress against her body.

"Oh, sweetheart," Eva laughed. Bella looked at her. "You're not dating Eddie Cole anymore."

"What does that mean?" Bella frowned.

"I mean that the little black dress is not typical datewear with most teenage boys," Eva laughed again. "Jeans and a polo usually works."

"Oh," Bella said. "Right, yeah, I knew that." Bella sighed and sat down. "This is crazy right? I mean I don't know anything about him."

"Yes, most people get to know people while they're dating," Eva said, "not in the thirteen years prior to it." Bella looked at her. "I know, I was shocked too." She stopped. "You could call Dean and ask about him. They're friends right?"

"Maybe," Bella shrugged. "I don't really know much about Dean's friends. We don't have many friends in common."

"You know you might be the shittiest best friend in the world," Eva laughed. "Dean is so good to you, and you don't even know who his friends are."

"Dean's very popular!" Bella crossed her arms. "Do you know who all of Mikey's friends are?"

"Well, that's fair," Eva frowned. "But still, call him."

"She said yes?" Dean Norris said on the phone with Gordon. "God, that's my girl!"

"Yeah," Gordon laughed, "I'm surprised she didn't call you."

"Oh she has no idea that we're friends," Dean laughed. "That would require her to pay attention to me. She's not so good at paying attention to other people. It's part of her charm."

"Oh," Gordon said. "Yeah, right. So like, where should I bring her?"

"Um, Eddie used to buy her like fancy foreign dinners," Dean said. "But I doubt she's expecting you to do that. She really likes the mall, you could take her there."

"The mall?" Gordon said.

"Yes, buy her things," Dean said. "Bella is absolutely the kind of girl whose love can be bought. My brother and Mike Gaffney used to bribe her to let them into Eva's bedroom."

"Yeah, look Cyrano," Gordon said. "I've got the date now, stop with the stupid ideas."

"So, you called me, asked my opinion," Dean said. "And you're telling me my ideas are stupid."

"You called me," Gordon said. "I told you I was going out with Bella, and then you got all queer and rambly, so I asked your opinion."

"Oh," Dean said. "Right, well, like I said. The girl can be bought, if you want to go down that road."

Bella walked downstairs nervously. With Eva's help they'd settled on a simple pink sundress that she'd found in a thrift store in New York that winter. She'd lucked out time wise since as she stepped off the stairs the door bell rang. She smiled and opened it. Gordon smiled.

"Hi," he said. "You look really pretty," she smiled.

"Thanks," she said. "Let's go."

"Annabelle Leigh," she sighed hearing her father call.

"Shit," she mumbled, "I'm sorry, I thought if we rushed out we'd miss this part. I'm sorry."

"Um," Gordon said. "I don't understand."

"I'm just sorry," she said. "Follow me," they walked into Rick's study. "Hi Daddy," she smiled. "This is Gordon Conway. We're just going to go now."

"Stop," Rick said. "Where are you going?"

"Oh," Gordon said, "um, I figured we would just go to the mall and hang out, maybe see a movie."

"Alright, so that's done," Bella said. "We're going to go."

"How's your father doing Gordon?" Rick said. Gordon clenched his hand into a fist.

"Daddy," Bella said, barely whispering.

"He's doing fine," Gordon said. "The state championship is safe, don't you worry about that."

"Good to hear," Rick smiled. "Tell him I say hi."

"Alright," Bella said. "Bye Daddy, we'll be in by eleven." They walked outside. "Like I said, sorry."

"It could have been worse," Gordon smiled. "So where do you want to go?"

"I thought we were going to the mall," she said.

"We told your father we were going to the mall," Gordon grinned. "He's terrifying by the way. We can really go anywhere you want."

"Really," she said. "The mall's fine, we can eat and then see what happens." He smiled.

"That sounds good," he said. "And eleven? It's summer. You're curfew can't actually be eleven!"

"You're a boy," she said as he opened the car door for her and she climbed in. "And one who they don't know to boot. You're lucky they didn't send my sister with us as a chaperone." He laughed.

Charlie Conway walked downstairs.

"Where's Gordon?" He asked. Connie looked at him.

"Oh, he's out," Connie said and took a sip of the tea she was drinking. "He had a date with some girl he met while he was working."

"Mm," Charlie nodded. "Did you catch her name?"

"Uh, Bella Riley," Connie said. Charlie looked at her. "Don't give me that look!"

"Bella Riley?" He said. "Last I checked Julie and Jimmy's daughter was named Elisa."

"You know perfectly well that she's Rick and Cassie's daughter," she said. "My guess is you could pick her out of a line up too."

"Why is he going on a date with her?" Charlie said. "Aren't there any girls he can date who's parents don't bankroll my job?"

"Rick and Cassie don't donate that much to the boosters," Connie shook her head. "Cassie runs the club, but you know it's mostly Tom who writes the checks." Charlie groaned. "And he's going out on a date with her because he's a seventeen year old boy and she's a very beautiful seventeen year old girl who said yes."

"Isn't she going out with Eddie Cole?" Charlie said. "This all seems off to me."

"Don't care," Connie said. Charlie looked at her. "I'm serious, I don't care. Repeat the following phrase Charlie, 'As long as my son is happy it doesn't matter if his girlfriend's family is insane.'"

"As long as my son is happy it doesn't matter if his girlfriend's family is insane," he groaned. "What about Tammy? She's Bella's godmother! She hates us."

"Please," Connie rolled her eyes, "Tammy hasn't hated us for years."

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