A/N: Why am I nervous to upload this chapter? Eck, anyway, thanks Laura. You are my hero. I want to smother you in hugs and kisses until your bones ache and your skin is red raw.

Chapter 4.

Edward.

There was something wrong with Bella. I thought we cleared everything up the night before, but judging by her odd, disconnected mood, we obviously hadn't. I wanted to ask her what her fucking deal was, but I didn't want to pry. Maybe it was something completely unrelated to me, and she was just PMSing. Yeah, that was probably it. We sat together in lit, and I was forced to actually pay attention. I had nothing else to do.

Bella was doodling on her notepad, some squiggly drawings and flowers. She wasn't paying attention. And I realised I was no longer, either.

"You smell like smoke again" she muttered. Yes, I did. I bet I reeked of cigarettes. I'd taken up smoking again, because I fucking needed it. But it wasn't like it quit smoking in the first place. It was more of a two day hiatus.

"Your point?" I didn't mean to sound so ticked off, but I did. She didn't answer, and continued to scribble. I sighed and messed up my hair in frustration.

Women.

"We need to talk at lunch" I said curtly. She nodded. Good. I was getting answers.

I realise how much of a stalker I must have looked like. Caring so much about somebody I hadn't even know a week, hugging her and visiting her at two in the morning through her bedroom window. All I needed now was to steal a pair of her underwear and a lock of her hair and I was an outright stalker. I wouldn't mind the hair part. It smelled so fucking good…

"Mr. Masen?" asked Ms. Logan. I shot my head up and looked at her in confusion. Had she asked me a question that I completely missed?

"Excuse me, Ms. Logan?" I asked in the most innocent voice I could muster. It must have worked because Logan sighed and shrugged it off. I escaped her wrath.

"That wasn't fair on Logan" pointed out Bella. I raised an eyebrow at her.

"What do you mean?"

"It's like you're using your looks to get your own way with her" she said bitterly.

"I have looks?"

"Oh, don't pretend you don't know" she said.

"I'm not pretending" I admitted. What was her fucking deal?

"I get it" I said after a moment of thought. I smiled at her smugly and laughed, "You're saying I'm attractive."

"No shit, Sherlock" she muttered, resuming her doodling.

That was all we said to each other for the whole class. I was happy not to talk to her, because she was in a foul mood. I was also content with being alone with my thoughts. Bella thought I was attractive. I truly didn't think I was, so yes, I was getting a little arrogant at hearing her admission. I didn't see the appeal in somebody who looked like me. I looked like an alcoholic who didn't take care of himself. And that's exactly what I was.

Maybe that was just Bella's style.

Her style? What was I going on about? She was my fucking friend. Not even that, come to think of it. We were more than friends, but also less than friends at the same time. Our relationship was screwed. I barely had a clue what was going on between us.

I hadn't been so confused until I hugged her. There was a strange electricity flowing through us when we touched, but I was too cowardly to admit it. And admitting that I liked her would fuck everything up. I couldn't lose her, or I would fall back into that robotic, cynical Edward that I loathed so much.

I floated through the morning classes, barely paying attention and just hanging for lunch time when I would finally get to talk to Bella. Maybe her mood would be improved? I hoped so. Bitchy, moody chicks shitted me up the wall. I already had to put up with one unpredictable woman in my life, and I really didn't need more. But who was I kidding? Bella wasn't disposable. If she got too moody, I couldn't just shove her out of my little fucked-up life. I wouldn't be able to. I was too dependent on her to go back.

Oh, how on Earth did I let myself trust another person? I could have avoided all of this confusion days ago. I could be my old self again, with no confusing 'friend', no girl issues, and no stabbing feelings in my gut whenever I saw Bella Swan approach me. Yeah, I could have avoided it all.

But the thing was, I didn't want to be my old self. For once in my life, I was excited. I was feeling something other than anger and negativity.

I needed to make up my mind about Bella. Did I want to keep her as a sort-of friend, or did I want her gone?

She was already at the tree when I walked across the courtyard at lunch. She didn't have food. I didn't either; just my packet of menthol smokes and my iPod.

"Hey" I said, sitting down in my usual place, leaning against the harsh bark of the tree cascading over us. She nodded at me and waited for me to talk. Her brown eyes were filled with an emotion I couldn't pick out. It wasn't a good one. She was troubled. Her hair was silky but looked weak, and she had accumulated slight eye bags over the space of a few hours. Something was really bothering her.

"Um" I said stupidly, "Want to tell me what's wrong?"

She sighed and played with the hem of her jeans, "Charlie…my dad…told me things this morning."

"What things?" I asked, suddenly anxious.

"About your mother."

My heart sank. She knew about my mother. But how much?

"What about her?" I said, trying to keep my voice as steady as possible.

"That she's sick in her head. She's not well. She's tried to…well, he said she's done some things…" she couldn't finish her sentence. I stared into the distance for a while, scared to look into Bella's gorgeous eyes. I heard sniffing and looked at her in alarm.

"Why are you crying?"

"It's sad" she said simply, wiping her cheeks with her hands.

"I don't want sympathy" I said angrily. She looked at me from under her thick, long lashes.

"I'm only human."

I sighed, taking a cigarette out of my pocket and shoving it in my mouth. It was okay to smoke here, nobody could see. It was very secluded behind the tree. Only the other students might be able to see, and I doubted they cared that Edward Masen was smoking in school. I was nearly invisible to everybody. And the people who would want me to get in trouble, would most likely rather have me beaten than suspended.

"You shouldn't smoke" she said as I lighted the cigarette and breathed in the soothing chemicals.

"I shouldn't do a lot of things" I admitted. She smiled at me – the first sign of her being happy the whole day. I couldn't help but let my lips curl into a small smile in return.

"I won't ask about your mum" she added, "I understand that there are some things you would rather not tell."

I was grateful for her understanding. She hit the nail right on the fucking head. But how the hell did she know? Was there some dark secret in her life, too? Judging by her unexplainable shy and withdrawn nature, I guessed there was. But I wasn't going to bug her, since she had just shown me that same respect.

"Let's listen to some music?" I offered. It was something to pass the time, as we were both just sitting in silence doing nothing. She nodded and moved closer to take an ear bud. I played some up-beat rock music and watched her bop her cute little head along to the beat.

I wanted to bop too, but I didn't want to look like a dick.

**

I stood beside Bella's truck, waiting for her to get out of class. I had skipped last period; it was only Trig; boring as hell, and not that hard at all. I could make up the time at home. I needed something to do there, anyway, since mum was getting into increasingly worse moods than ever before. I didn't mind locking myself up in my room and studying math for hours on end. It would be a relief.

I put my cigarette out with my foot and kicked the wasted bud aside. I looked up to see Bella walking with her head down towards me. She was trying not to trip over. I had to laugh.

"I'm just a walking circus to you, aren't I?" she joked.

"Of course."

She scoffed and threw her bag into her truck.

"What are you doing after school?"

"I've got some Trig shit to do later, but other than that? Nothing at all."

"Hm" she mused, "Want to come over? You know, so I can return the favour. I'm not promising an award-winning dinner or anything, but I do make a mean toasted cheese sandwich."

I laughed at her.

"I would love to come over. I can do the Trig shit later" I admitted.

"Don't fall too far behind on your awesome Vesper" she teased. I blushed and walked in a huff over to my ride. She didn't know it was all I could afford. I had to stop myself from snapping at her.

Taking deep breaths, I mounted my Vesper and followed her spluttering truck to her luxurious house.

Bella.

I don't know what came over me. I invited Edward to my house. That was not something I would have done usually, but he looked so sad. I wanted to try and cheer him up. Maybe a dip in our pool, or watching a bad horror movie would make him smile.

Ugh. Why was I trying so hard to impress and please Edward? I barely knew the guy. And here he was, following me home to chill with me.

Not that I was complaining. Any time with Edward was good, as weird as it sounded. We just had this connection, like we sort of understood each other. It was hard to explain, even to myself, but we just clicked.

And boy, was he hot. I'd been stupid enough to let him know how attractive I thought he was, and he acted like he had never been complimented in his life. It struck me suddenly, as I turned down my street, that he probably hadn't been complimented in a long time. I swallowed back tears and pulled up into my driveway. He didn't want sympathy, so I would forget about his past. I would just focus on what was going on in the present. And that was…Edward at my house; meeting Charlie. And, of course, my mission to cheer him up.

"Have I told you how much I like your house?" Edward asked, taking off his helmet and admiring the place I lived. I had to admit, it was very nice. But it was empty and reminded me of my mum, even thought I didn't have anything to be reminded of. Just knowing that she had once seen this house and fell in love with it made me sad. She loved the house more than she loved me.

I ripped my thoughts away from my mum and turned to Edward. His eyes were tight, like he was suppressing some seriously bad emotions. I put my hand softly on his shoulder.

"Let's go inside."

He looked taken aback by my sudden touch, but smiled and followed my inside nonetheless. He swore in admiration once he saw the interior. He had only ever seen my room, and that wasn't much to look at. Inside, my house was simple yet elegant and although it was messy, it still looked good to him. I remembered his tiny house and wondered what it must be like for him to see how privileged I was. He was probably fighting back envy, and that made me sad. And that sadness was elevated once I recalled the many times I had teased his Vesper. It was probably all he could afford.

"Dad!" I called out, trying to fight of the gloom that was lingering in my head.

"In the living room!" he called out.

"He's probably watching football" I said to Edward, rolling my eyes. He chuckled and let me lead him to Charlie.

"Fuck" Edward said under his breath as we stepped into the living room, "I didn't know you had a home cinema."

"It's not a…" I began, then paused. It actually kind of was. The TV was larger than any I had ever seen, and surround sound speakers were placed everywhere around the room.

We probably looked like snobs to Edward.

"Dad, this is Edward Masen" I said, turning to Edward, "And this is my dad, Charlie Swan."

They said their polite greetings and hit up some small talk. Edward mentioned that he didn't much like sports, and Charlie's face hardened. The small talk died, and I glared at Charlie for being so rude. Anybody male who didn't like sports was a fool in his books. I thought that, being a police officer and all, he would learn to accept other people. But no. He was as rude as half of the students at Phoenix Union.

"Sorry about that" I said to Edward as we walked to my room. He shrugged.

"It wasn't that bad" he smirked.

"Well, this is my room, but you already know."

"Yep."

We stood in the doorway of my room in an awkward silence, until I pushed him over to my large bed and flopped down beside him.

"You have a comfy bed" he said, wriggling into my mattress. I giggled at him.

"How are you feeling? You look a little down" I said cautiously. He turned his head to face me and smiled genuinely.

"Better now I'm here."

"Want to go swimming?" I asked out of the blue, hoping it would cheer him up further. He sat up and looked at me in awe.

"You have a fucking swimming pool?"

"Yeah" I said with a blush.

"Then what are we waiting for? Anything to escape this heat."

I didn't think it was that hot, but I kept my mouth shut and led Edward through the kitchen and the dining room to the back door, which was a large sheet of glass. I slid it open and Edward swore again in admiration.

"That pool is unbelievable."

It was, to be honest. It was a large, oval shape with white tiles and blue-tinted pool lights. They were on, creating the illusion that the water in the pool was an unnatural, bright blue colour. It was almost enchanting.

"Race you in" he said with a grin, shedding off his clothes and jumping into the pool wearing nothing but his boxers. I stood, frozen at his sudden near-nakedness.

"I have to…get changed" I spluttered out, and raced to my room to find my bikini. Oh, God. A bikini. Why didn't I have a nice, modest one-piece? I slipped into the skimpy bathing suit quickly and looked at myself in the mirror. I wasn't fat, I was quite the opposite. I was really, really skinny. Some people would say I was looking almost skeletal. Well, that's only what I said. I thought my body was disgusting. It needed curves. I pulled a baggy, white t-shirt over me had and, satisfied with the lack of skin showing, ran back to the pool.

Edward was floating on his back with his eyes closed, his tanned skin shining in the blistering sun. His bronze hair glowed. He was beautiful. Like a Greek God.

I suddenly felt rather ugly with my scrawny body and plain features. I leaned over the edge of the pool and splashed water at Edward's face. He rolled onto his stomach and resurfaced with drenched hair. The water dripping down his face only made him more captivating.

"Are you going to just stand there?" he asked, wiping water out of his eyes. I giggled and dove in with all of the grace I could find. I wanted him to be captivated by me, for some reason, which was stupid considering we were pretty much strangers. Though, I did know a lot about him; I knew about his past, his interests, his fears and favourite things. We weren't much strangers after all. But I still didn't trust him fully, not just after three or four days.

I broke through to the surface and gasped for air. I'd stayed under for longer than I anticipated. Edward laughed and sent a wave of water at my face.

"Now we're even."

I stuck my tongue out at him and leaped over to his smug face, dunking his head under water with all of my strength. I felt his cheek graze the top inside of my bare legs and blushed profusely, pushing myself away from him and letting him float to the surface.

He was as red as I felt when his head popped up. He was looking at me in shock and…pleasure? It couldn't have been.

"Er…sorry" he muttered, turning his face away from mine.

"It's not a problem" I said quickly. The air had gone thick with awkwardness. Of course it would be awkward, the guy's face had just been almost in between my legs. We sat in the awkward pool water for a while longer until Edward sighed.

"I should probably dry off and head home now."

"That's alright. Trig work?"

"Yeah. I skipped."

"Why would you skip?" I asked him with a frown.

"Hey, I've been skipping for years. One trig class isn't going to hurt" he defended, raising both of his hands innocently.

"Why, though?"

"I just needed a break from everyone" he muttered, climbing out of the pool. The wet material of his boxers clung to his manhood, leaving little to the imagination. He didn't notice, and slung a nearby towel over his shoulder and began to dry off. I tried not to look at his boxers, but every now and then, I couldn't help it. I climbed out of the pool, staring at his bulk. I hoped he hadn't noticed me.

But, I realised he was too preoccupied staring at my top. Was there something on it? A bee? Oh, no, not a bee. I was allergic.

"What are you…?" I began, then looked down to my chest to see the top had turned completely see through. My bikini clad breasts were easily noticeable, as were my nipples that were hard from the cold water. I turned the deepest of reds and grabbed my towel, wrapping in around my body. We dried ourselves off in another awkward silence. Edward put his clothes back on and I led him back through the house.

What an awkward afternoon it had been.

"Thanks for coming over, Edward" I said sincerely. He smiled softly and cleared his throat.

"Goodbye, Mr. Swan, you have a lovely house."

Charlie mumbled back a goodbye and I walked Edward back to his Vesper. He looked like he was expecting me to tease it, but I held back.

"I had a good time" he said from under his helmet, "We should do that again. The swimming, I mean."

I laughed, "See you tomorrow?"

"Yeah. Tomorrow."

Something about his voice made me feel uneasy. I put it to the back of my mind and focused on his retreating figure on his small Vesper. I sighed and trudged back into my house, ready to give Charlie the lecture of his life on his manners.

He barely looked up at me from the TV screen, so I stood in front of the large plasma with my hands on my hips and my lips pursed. He groaned.

"Bells, I'm trying to…"

"Dad" I said sternly. He stopped complaining and paid me full attention. He looked a little scared, even.

"Edward is a good person, and you completely shunned him today."

"Oh. That. I just wanted to watch the game, Bells" he defended.

"That's not good enough. He's really a nice person."

"I know he might be, and I'm sorry. You know how I am with sports. Now, can you move?"

I glared at him for being rude, yet again.

"What's with you, dad?"

He sighed, "I'm just not comfortable with you bringing you boyfriend around and…"

"Boyfriend?" I asked in shock, "Dad, he is not my boyfriend! We're friends."

"Didn't look like that to me" he grumbled. I crossed my arms over my chest and allowed my gaze to bore through his thick skull. He bit his lip nervously.

"Alright, Bells, I'll be nicer" he admitted defeat. I smiled cheerfully and stepped out of his way.

"Thanks, dad" I said, running to my room to start on my French homework. But I couldn't concentrate. I had a great time with Edward. I tried my very best to complete my work, but all the while the fact that Charlie thought Edward was my boyfriend left me blushing a deep red, and I couldn't stop thinking about how much I had seen of Edward physically that afternoon.

I liked it. A lot.