Disclaimer: All is Stephenie Meyer's.
"Deal."Jasper said. Everyone said their goodbyes and quickly left so the guys didn't hurt somebody by breaking into a wrestling match on the hospital floor.
"So… What did you guys say about me?"
EPOV
I stared at Bella in shock. I knew she was insightful but sometimes she was too perceptive for her own good! I quickly composed my features and after a moment of deliberation decided telling the truth would be best, she knew me too well for lying. "They wanted to know when they will be able to be near you again and we talked a little about Renee and how Charlie hasn't been able to contact her yet. Emmett misses you." I couldn't keep the smile off my face when I thought off how Emmett had pouted like a child a while ago. Bella smiled too and sat down on the bed.
"That's all?" She asked curiously and I nodded. "Well, I guess it could have been worse." She thought for a moment "Do you mind if I read for a while? I don't want you to be bored." She said.
I smiled "I won't be bored. You read and I'll listen to music." I pulled my IPod out of my pocket as I spoke and Bella grinned, bigger than she had in days.
"Do you go anywherewithout your IPod?" She asked and I grinned crookedly at her a smile I only used when I was with her, she loved when I smiled at her like that. Her eyes softened and she sighed gently as she made herself comfortable on the bed, still looking at me. We just stared at each other like that for nearly a minute when we were interrupted by someone clearing their throat. We both looked to the source of the sound and there stood Alice.
"Hey guys!" She said in her high bell-like voice. "Esme wanted me to bring you some lunch so you didn't have to suffer and eat the hospital food." She smiled and handed me a bag with sandwiches in it as she sat down in a chair a couple feet away from the bed. We both watched Bella for a second but she seemed fine so Alice continued "Can I talk to you for a minute Edward?" I nodded and we both left the room.
Alice didn't beat around the bush but got straight to the point "You like Bella, don't you?"I was more than a little shocked at the topic of conversation.
"What are you talking about?"I didn't meet her eyes as she answered.
"You should've seen the way you looked at her when she left to go to the bathroom earlier and the way you 'protected' her when we came before, the way your eyes brightened when she came back into the room. And just a minute ago when you were both looking at each other, you didn't even notice when I came into the room! And I recognize that look… Oh my gosh, I know that look! That's how Jasper looks at me!" Her eyes brightened at her realization and a huge grin spread across her face. All of the sudden she wrapped me in a huge hug that almost knocked me over and cut off my circulation.
"Hug… too… tight, can't… breathe." I gasped out and she released her death grip on me. I took a few deep breathes before asking "What the heck was that for?"
Alice opened her mouth like she was going to tell me but then she slowly closed it again and her eyebrows pulled together. "Maybe I should let you figure it out on your own." She mumbled to herself.
"Tell me! Because I am thoroughly confused, I have no idea what you're talking about!" I exclaimed and she looked at me with pity.
"You really can't see it, can you? I don't think she sees it either…" Alice trailed off in thought.
"See what?! What am I supposed to be seeing?" I asked, outraged and confused.
Alice thought for a long moment before responding "Think about what I already said to you and you should get it at some point. I'm not going to just tell you, this is something you need to figure out by yourself." She went back into Bella's room before I could react. I huffed and followed her.
Bella was laying on the bed holding her book in one hand and a half-eaten sandwich in the other. She looked up when we came in and her eyes brightened when I sat down next to her again. Alice grabbed the other sandwich before I could and started eating it, leaving me with nothing. I scowled at her and she just giggled while Bella's eyes danced with amusement. I rolled my eyes, at least I wasn't very hungry I could have an earlier dinner today and just go without lunch. Alice updated us on what was going on at the house and on Emmett's latest shenanigan's, apparently he'd won the last wrestling match at the price of two of Esme's side tables and the next two weeks of his freedom.
Alice left after a while and Bella and I went with our previous plan. She returned to her reading and I made myself comfortable in a chair as I put my IPod buds in my ears and turned on my music. I thought about what Alice had said earlier as I closed my eyes and listened to Jim Brickman's Lake Erie Rainfall. She had asked if I liked Bella then continued on and talked about the way we looked at each other and how we hadn't even noticed her when she had arrived. Then she said she recognized the way we watched each other, that she had seen Jasper look at her like that, of course she attacked me in a death grip hug after that and said she wouldn't tell me what she meant with all of this. I sunk deeper into the chair and thought about all of this for a long time. For some reason, the part about Jasper seemed important and – Wait… did she mean Bella and I liked each other? No, no that wasn't possible. I loved Bella but, there was no way I was in love with her. Was there? Things had seemed to change between us lately and I knew that I always cared about Bella but loved her? She was what made my day bearable, she made me want to be better and I didn't need to try around her, I could just be me and it was good enough, is that what love is? Missing her when she's not around and feeling her pain as though it were my own and wanting to protect her from whatever was out there in the world, what about that charade (chapter 2) we played whenever someone hit on me or her? Oh my gosh… Did I, Edward Cullen, really love my best friend Isabella Swan? (I almost stopped here)
I opened my eyes to look at Bella with new eyes. She was slowly falling asleep as she read, her eyelids drooped lower and lower as the book fell flat on her lap and they finally closed. I smiled, she was so
beautiful and peaceful in sleep, she looked like an angel. I watched her for a few minutes, still contemplating my epiphany. It amazed me that my thoughts were so conflicted and she could still be asleep as a time like this, when I just realized that I loved her. I finally drifted into my own fitful sleep. My last thought was that maybe, just maybe, she could love me back.
A/N: And there you have it! With a little help from Alice, Edward finally gets it! Please review and I'll try to keep updating like I have been the past couple days! I'd like to give a shout out to all-hail-the-jello, xxBloodxxLustxx, and mudpie94, Hey guys! XD Now, go pries that little purple button that says "Go" remember, if you distract it with a cookie I promise that it won't bite ;)