A/N: Okay! Let's take a little walk with Edward…. Shall we? There will be a lot of explanation for why Bella and Edward broke up. I also have a song for this chapter!

Song

Breakeven- The Script

You should check out the band. They have shmexy accents, great songs, and they're gorgeous in general.

Chapter 9

I climbed into my beloved car and maneuvered it out of the parking garage. I missed being able to kick the speed up to unfathomable heights and swerve around the backcountry roads. All we had in New York was the constant flow of traffic and profane words.

I pulled out into the mild traffic for the time of day and headed toward the tuxedo place. Who would have ever thought Jake would make me a groomsmen? I remember when Jake use to hate me. I remember how he bolted Bella's windows shut and how I had unbolted them. Come to think of it, the only thing we had ever agreed upon was that Bella should take the scholarship to Stanford.

I reached down to fumble with the radio. There were talk stations, crappy music stations, retards attempting poetry stations, and various others. None of them caught my ear. Giving up, I turned my attention back to the road.

Reality toyed with my head. Bella seemed only a dream in a sea of nightmares. I knew that this couldn't last. One of us was going to break. We had been through so much together to just let it all slip away now. I loved Bella but reality was, I still loved Rachel.

Rachel had taught me how to truly be myself. She taught me the value of my soul, my identity, and my heart. She showed me the impossible possibility that some day I might just enter into an eternity of blissful happiness. She was a ray of sunshine in a field so dark. She had helped me through a lot. I knew that being with Bella meant being susceptible to the pain of reality.

Bella on the other hand was indescribable, uncontainable. In just a few hours she had become my everything. Could I allow her back into my heart when the pain had just subsided? I still remember the night I felt as if my whole world had stopped.

It had started with my schedule. It was mostly my fault. I was so busy with practices, rehearsals, and concerts. I was working for extra money by playing concerts for the high schools and even some of the professional singers. By the time I got back to my apartment at night it was too late to call even for her in California.

At first she called three or four times a day. I didn't answer, I didn't have the time. The messages went from bored to lonely to angry. I could tell she was missing me but I didn't have time to miss her. I was always on the go. She deserved to be put on a pedestal and loved. She deserved to be the center of one man's attention. She deserved the time of day I didn't give her.

It went from calls to breaks. I was supposed to go over to California for thanksgiving. I cancelled last minute for a concert. The concert got cancelled so I spent thanksgiving with Rachel's family. Bella was neither surprised nor happy.

To make up for missing Thanksgiving I paid for her to come to New York to visit for a couple of weeks. I forgot to tell her my plan and she had already promised Billy she would spend Christmas with him, Jake, and Conley in La Push. Guess what? Yeah, I had a concert.

In an attempt to bring Bella and me together, Alice had signed us up to work at Camp Hardee for the summer. That just took things from bad to worse. Bella saw how close Rachel and I had gotten. Rachel was my best friend, confidant, and supporter. Bella didn't understand that nothing was going on. Finally she just blew; however, I didn't blame her.

I shook off the horrid memory and pulled up to the curb. I looked both ways before opening my door and quickly jogging around to the entrance of the small shop. The bell rang letting everyone in the store know I was here.

Conley frowned at me. "You're late."

I shrugged. "What's new?"

She rolled her eyes trying not to smile and pulled me around the racks of clothes. The first thing I noticed was the yellow color all around me. Nancy and Rachel were in strapless yellow dresses that flowed down just below the knee. Guilt flowed me when Rachel's eyes lit up.

"Edward!" She spoke excitedly. "What do you think?" She twirled around letting the material flow around her.

I smiled. "You look beautiful." And she did.

Conley grabbed my arm once again and pushed me toward a dressing room. She shoved black material at me and I stripped down pulling them on. If I could love Bella again, could she love me?

We left the shop satisfied that everything fit.

"So," Conley started, "where do ya'll wanna do lunch?"

"Pizza Villa?" Rachel suggested.

We all nodded in agreement and headed toward Pizza Villa.

BPOV

I expected to see a reporter of some sort looming behind me waiting to pounce. Instead, I found the kind face of a stranger. She looked to be in her later forties with laugh lines apparent in her face. She had short, curly, black hair and hazel eyes.

"Mind if I sit?"

I scooted over giving her room to sit beside me. "No, by all means go ahead."

She smiled. "Why thank you."

I nodded a little weirded out by her blatant question. I sat quietly no longer able to work on my speech for the ceremony. I wasn't sure who this lady was, or how she knew me. As I examined her from the corner of my eye, I took note that she wasn't young enough to be a reporter but not old enough to be a senile old woman. She knew something and my guess was that she wasn't going to reveal it without a little prodding.

"So." I started. "I guess you know me, but may I ask who you are?"

She nodded. "I'm Charlotte Turner."

Bingo, I had my answer. This was Rachel's mother. "Oh." I whispered out.

She nodded. "Oh indeed."

(A/N: I was seriously going to end it there. Lucky for you the chapter would have been super short if I did.)

She paused. "Rachel doesn't know that I'm doing this." She spoke softly. "I'm coming to you solo, as a mother."

I nodded telling her I understood. It was a complete lie though. What did Rachel's mother want from me?

She seemed to study me for a second. "You're a pretty girl Bella."

I raised an eyebrow at her sudden compliment. "Uh, thanks?" I asked completely unsure of her motive.

"Isabella, Rachel loves Edward." Her voice had grown almost ancient. "I know for a fact that Edward loves Rachel."

I nodded. "I don't know what you're getting at. I'm just here for Jake. I didn't even want to come."

She shook her head slowly. "Isabella, I know why you're here. I also know that you weren't expecting to fall back in love with Edward again." How did she know this stuff? "I can see the guilt in your eyes. Guilt for what though? Are you feeling guilty for cheating on your boyfriend? Are you feeling guilty for helping yourself to another woman's man?"

I didn't like this woman one bit.

She shook her head. "Isabella, you're such a pretty girl. You have a boyfriend that loves you." She paused. "You love him too don't you?"

I didn't say anything. I refused to satisfy her by letting her know she was exactly right.

She shook her head slowly again. "Just don't ruin a good thing for you, or for Edward. I know you two have been through a lot together but you're risking the happiness of others by being with him. Edward's a busy man who has a lot going for him. Do you really want him bogged down by a girl with emotional baggage?"

She stood up looking behind me. "I suggest you go back to California after the wedding. Maybe it'll be a test for him." She paused. "Will he follow you?"

With that she walked off into the direction she came from. She left me there staring at the laptop with a lot to think about. As much as I wanted to hate her for saying that to me, I knew she was right. I was compromising the happiness of four people. Edward did love Rachel as I loved Riley. Would he follow me?

A/N: So not the paparazzi huh? Most definitely not.

Don't hate me for the shorter chapter. My older bro's 18th was the 11th so we went down to Myrtle Beach woot woo! Well I wanted to get some kind of update. So here ya go!

PS: I NEED IDEAS! I can't seem to think of anything for Jake's bachelor party. It has to be "semi" clean fun because of Rachel and Conley. So, any ideas?

Review!!!!

Kayla XD Happy Easter! He's alive!