Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight.

A/N: Once again, I'm taking a short break after this chapter due to my crazy schedule. I apologize for all the delays; it's the end of the semester and can't be avoided as I wrap everything up. It'll probably be about two weeks before an update, but after this I've got time off so I'll get the chance to write more frequently without distractions. Enjoy…

Best Definition of Good Intentions

24 – What Fuels the Magic in the Meantime?

It was only a few hours later when Bella woke to the cool sensation against her skin. Groggily, she lifted herself from the tile and took in her surroundings as the fresh memories of the night flooded her brain. Stumbling as she moved, she washed her face and brushed teeth, remembering when she had repeated these same tasks only hours before, prior to the second round of nausea overtaking her.

She recalled the party at First Beach as she avoided her reflection in the mirror before her – her first real conversation with Rosalie, their newfound friendship, Lauren's verbal assault, Tyler's defense on her behalf, Emmett's beer pong game, her and Edward's first kiss, the game of skipping rocks with Mike and Tyler, Alice's chase after the boys, Jasper's sudden and unexpected appearance, and, of course, the usual ending from those she would call her favorite boys at the moment. It was an amazing display of emotion that was meant only for her and was lost on everyone else. From Jasper, she expected it every time there was a guitar handy, but Edward – why had Edward? What could he have possibly meant by that display?

And then Bella remembered making out with Edward in the parking lot, against his Volvo with their bodies wrapped around each other. What could she possibly have meant by that?

Boy, were there a ton of mixed signals being thrown around.

And knowing Edward as well as she did at this point, she knew he wasn't going to let this go. She knew he was going to ask her as soon as he got the chance.

Which was why Bella needed to get out of there as fast as she could. Because she didn't have the answers that Edward wanted and she couldn't afford to look so weak while she tried to figure it out in front of him, especially after all the weakness she'd given into that night. But, more than anything else, Bella didn't want to hear Edward's answers to the same questions. Her family had already broken her heart that month and it was enough to last a lifetime. How could she expect someone who'd she met only days before to care for her well-being more than her parents?

Straightening out her clothes, Bella prepared herself. Very quietly she would leave. She would turn off the bathroom light, slowly open the door and walk down the stairs to her room – all without waking Edward. Then, in the morning, she would leave without Edward seeing her. Maybe she'd get a ride from Carlisle on his way to work, or maybe she'd borrow Alice's car. Anyway, she wouldn't give Edward the chance to ask her the questions she wasn't ready for. She wouldn't give Edward the chance to hurt her. She wouldn't let herself be hurt. She would be strong.

And that's exactly what she did. Bella turned off the light and slowly opened the door. Edward's room was dark and she allowed her eyes to become accustomed to the lack of light. Her pupils dilated as she focused on the faint streak of light passing under the door. As she went to take her first step in that direction, she saw it.

Or, more accurately, him. He was on the floor, slumped over, resting against the foot of his bed.

Suddenly, Bella couldn't just leave. She couldn't leave Edward lying on the floor, facing the bathroom, obviously waiting for her exit. He'd fallen asleep on the floor of his room, waiting for her. And she couldn't leave – she couldn't leave him like this.

After a gentle shake of his shoulder, Bella realized he wasn't going to stir and he deserved the sleep, too, after the exhausting night. Squatting to get the best grip on his arms, Bella lifted his all her might. She was hoping that with help in his movements she could lead Edward to bed. She strained against gravity, feeling the ache settling through all her muscles. Regardless of Edward's normally muscular stature that towered over her own and was acting as dead weight now, Bella wasn't able to guide him to his feet. Her body was too weak and dehydrated caused by her purging.

Instead, she settled for pulling a blanket from the foot of the bed and draping it over the shapeless form his body portrayed in the dark. Satisfied in her gesture, Bella continued to make her way to the door and onward to her room. But she only got as far as reaching out to the door handle when Edward stirred.

"Bella," he said with closed eyes.

"I'm right here, Edward," she said turning toward him. She couldn't keep herself from asking, "What are you doing on the floor?"

"I just wanted to make sure you were okay." His voice was heavy with sleep, his words mumbling together.

"I'm fine, Edward; there's no need to worry. I'm going to my room to sleep. How about you get in bed?" Bella made her way back across the room and to Edward's body on the floor. He hadn't moved in an inch during the entire exchange. His arms, limp against his body and floor, were tucked under the blanket and his legs, from the his knees down, peaked out beneath the covering. Again, Bella tried to help lift him in his sleepy state, hoping to have more luck with his cooperation. This time, he still didn't budge.

"I wanted to make sure you were okay first," he repeated, his lips barely moving as the words escaped.

That's when Bella realized he was still sleeping.

Giving up, she said, "You're too sweet to care about me the way you do."

At the moment, there was no greater truth that Bella understood. Edward did care about her, or at least about her physical well-being. And he really was too sweet to do it. She hadn't given him a single reason, over the course of their friendship, for him to trust her, to care about her. Sure, she'd shared things with him and trusted him with those things, but in the larger scheme, that wasn't what mattered. The trust they had earned from each other didn't count. The only thing that was of any importance was what she had done with that trust.

She'd given him half-way answers to questions she didn't want to answer. And she hadn't even had the decency to be honest in her denial. Deep down, she knew that he would have understood, but still she'd begrudged him that. Last night she'd given in to her self-pity. She'd wanted to feel wanted and Edward had happily, or so it seemed, obliged. Who knew why, and Bella hated her herself for being responsible for that wonder.

There she stood, planning to leave him, after all that he'd already given her. All because she was afraid to answer the questions he deserved to ask. Bella wanted to be strong, but how could she show Edward how strong she was if she ran away?

Bella moved the blanket resting over the back of the couch out of her way. Pulling it over herself, she curled into the comfortable cushions and gave in to the sleep.

After a night broken apart into smaller segments, Bella woke for the last time. The soft, black leather of the couch caressed her skin. Beyond, in the depths of her body, Bella felt hollow. Her muscles were sore and moving on autopilot. Her stomach was in knots and there was a heavy pounding in her head. Sitting up, she glanced around the room in search of a clock for the time. She wasn't sure whether she should really be making the huge effort waking up was requiring. On a normal day, It was hard enough to remove herself from the warmth and comfort of her bed, but after the night she'd had, difficult took on a whole new meaning.

Something was missing.

During her inventory of the room, Bella saw that Edward wasn't there. Figuring that mean it was a decent hour to get up, Bella dragged her feet to the wall-sized window. Draped across the window were dark, heavy drapes made to compliment the room. Bella reached up to find the middle and pulled the two sides apart.

And as soon as the bright sun shined its first bit of light into Edward's third-floor room, Bella scream out in pain, shutting her eyes and turning away from the window.

Edward burst out of the bathroom, clad only in jeans and carrying a towel in his hand.

"What's wrong?"

"The light," she groaned.

Edward laughed, rubbing the towel over his dripping wet locks. Droplets scattered across his chest and his eyes sparkled at the prisms the light reflected in the water.

"Not so loud." Bella was now covering her eyes to prevent even more light from causing pain.

"I figured you might feel that way." Edward threw the towel onto his bed and picked up the glass of water and aspirin sitting on the night table. He handed it to Bella and as she swallowed the pills with shut eyes, he closed the curtains tightly.

The liquid relief automatically calmed Bella's stomach, but still the pounding in her head droned on. All she wanted was to crawl back into bed and sleep the day away, but she didn't think Edward would appreciate it if she claimed his couch as her new bed. Vaguely, Bella wondered how Alice was faring. She'd been drinking last night, too, Bella remembered. Was she in as much pain now?

"I'm going to go track down, Alice." Bella replaced the water glass on the night stand and, for what seemed like the 100th time, straightened her clothes. She was still wearing the same jeans and t-shirt she'd carefully picked out for the party. Some twelve hours later, it had lost the appeal it held to her the previous night. Bella moved to the door, walking carefully with half-lidded eyes.

"Wait a sec, Bella," Edward called out rather quickly as he walked towards her. "I wanted to talk to you."

As Edward made his way toward her, Bella tried to focus entirely, preparing herself for the conversation she'd been expecting all along. She'd made the decision during the night not to leave, which meant she couldn't finagle her way out of it now. She needed to face this head-on to prove, to at least herself, she could be strong. However, once she'd fully opened her brown eyes, they only thing she could focus on was Edward's sculpted torso drawing closer and closer to her. She first took in his hair, darkened with moisture. It was the only time she'd since it not sticking on ends. Instead, it swept across his forehead and hung over his left eye. The damp ends were relinquishing droplet after droplet onto his impeccable facial structure, only enhancing his already prominent cheek and jaw bones.

Bella's eyes followed the path of a water droplet from where it started beneath his bright, green left eye, down his cheek, and dropping from jaw to chest. She stalled once her eyes rested on the smooth, pale skin of Edward's chest. Underneath his clothes, she had always been able to tell that he was muscular and had a nice body, but it her imagination had nothing on the real thing. She took in the trace outline of his pecs and abs all the way to his jutted hipbones, forming a defined "V," and disappearing under the waistband of his jeans. Peeking out from underneath the denim material, was a pair of gray boxer briefs, not helping Bella focus on the matter at hand.

Pink flamed across Bella's cheeks as her eyes returned to Edward's face. A small, half-smile met her gaze and, immediately, pink flamed against her skin.

"Uh…why don't you get dressed first?" she suggested, while trying her hardest to maintain eye contact.

Edward merely nodded and disappeared into the bathroom, which only gave Bella the opportunity to bestow his backside with the same attention she'd given his front.

Without a half-naked Edward in the room, Bella was able to focus her thoughts. Again, the entire evening came flooding back to her mind, specifically her kisses with Edward. She felt so stupid and embarrassed for giving into her desires at those moments at First Beach. She couldn't even imagine what Edward was thinking she had meant – well, she could, but she didn't want to imagine all the possibilities.

She was regretting having stayed around long enough to give Edward the chance to tell her himself. As much as she had enjoyed kissing Edward, it wasn't something that she could let happen again. There was no denying she felt an attraction toward him, but allowing that physical relationship to bloom, was only inviting the emotional relationship to bloom as well. And that would surely lead to a heart broken Bella. She didn't know how many times she could feel her heart bend and break until it was beyond repair.

Bella was better off without the possibility.

Now, the only challenge was convincing Edward it had all been a big mistake and that she didn't mean anything by it. Even though she hadn't meant anything by it at the same and she was merely giving into what she wanted in her altered mental state, Bella understood that there was a reason for it. But Edward couldn't know that, because if it wasn't reciprocated, her heart would break. She wasn't about to let that happen.

Never having had much practice lying, due to the fact that she was rather awful at it, Bella was expecting the worse. She could just picture Edward walking out the bathroom, fully clothed, and calling her out on her crap.

That couldn't happen. She wouldn't let it.

It seemed like hours passed as Bella ran through every possible combination of words to express herself before Edward reappeared. She'd been so focused, that when considering the pounding in her head, it seemed a miracle that she'd even heard she approach.

Her voice caught in her throat as she turned to face him. Thankfully, he was fully clothed, but his beauty still amazed Bella. How had it taken her so long to really appreciate it – to take notice? Drawing in a deep breath, she noticed the sadness behind his beauty, which only made it more breathtaking, and heartbreaking. A person that beautiful should never suffer through such pain and sadness as was apparent in Edward's eyes.

"I know what you want to talk about, Edward," she said quickly, shutting her eyes. Bella knew that once she'd started talking, she wouldn't stop. It was only a few words, she repeated in her mind. Only a few words and then she'd be done. "I'm so sorry, Edward. I –"

"Bella," he interrupted. "You don't need to apologize."

"No, I do. I'm so embarrassed by my behavior last night. I know I can't take back anything I did, but, please know, I never meant to put you in an uncomfortable or awkward situation, Edward. I've really appreciated getting to know you these past few days, and I enjoy being your friend – I would never want to put that at risk. So, please, let me apologize. Last night was a mistake. I was overwhelmed by everything and I let that be my excuse to get drunk. Something I don't do, something I've never done before. And then I just continued to do one stupid thing after another. Please forgive me?"

The entire time Bella spoke, Edward's face remained impassive. During no point in time, did he ever express a hint of emotion. His eyes were guarded as he spoke, "Of course, Bella. Though there's nothing to forgive. Consider it forgotten."

"Thank you," Bella said softly, wiping at a lone tear that threatened to expose itself.

Edward pulled her into a hug, enveloping her in his scent, and placed a chaste kiss on her forehead. He spoke into her hair, "I'll let you go find Alice now."

Without another word, Bella left his room and went straight to Alice, who was still nestled into her own bed. After stepping one foot inside Alice's room, Bella changed her mind and turned around. She continued to the next door on the hall and changed out of her clothes before returning to Alice.

"Scoot over," she commanded as she pulled back the sheets.

"Umphfff." Alice could barely acknowledge her best friend's presence, but nonetheless she moved over on the bed.

Bella crawled in and quickly succumbed to the sleep her body so desperately needed.

While Bella and Alice continued to sleep, Edward sat alone in his room. Not having to worry about Bella's pain any longer, he threw open the curtains and let the sun shine through. Absently, he wandered around his large space. For some time, he stared at the rows of CDs against the one wall. For another length of time, he mindlessly fingered keys on his piano, without sitting down. He straightened his room, sprayed air freshener in the bathroom. All with his mind on Bella, and more specifically, with what went wrong.

He'd wanted to talk to her, but instead she'd done the talking. She'd only let him forgive her for something that didn't need forgiveness. He couldn't understand what was going through her mind. Did she really think it was all just some big mistake? Had she really not meant any of those feelings she'd portrayed through their kisses? Had every word she'd told him been a lie? Had she ever really trusted him?

Had he been wrong to ever trust her?

Edward was sitting on the floor, leaning against his couch with his guitar strap draped over his shoulder. During his senseless activities, he'd dragged the barely-used Fender out of his closet. For awhile, he'd merely sat, idly pulling and pushing his fingers across the strings. But, as time went on and he grew more and more frustrated by his thoughts, he'd began to tune out his constant narration and pull notes out of the air.

Last night, he'd loved the feel of the tension as he plucked string after string, and he'd even made note to remember to write guitar accompaniments to his piano compositions. But, now in the light of day, he realized he'd been foolish. Of course, what could make him so happy at one point, wouldn't last. It never would. His parents and his family hadn't lasted. His original interest in the instrument hadn't lasted.

Bella hadn't lasted.

Giving up writing, giving up being himself and doing what he wanted, he began to work his way through the songs he knew. He vowed to himself, he wouldn't lose interest. Not this time. He wouldn't be to blame for it – not this time.

He was pulled from his self-loathing when he heard a knock on his door. Hoping it was Bella coming back to talk, he shouted a welcome, but was pleasantly surprised to find Jasper walking in.

Jasper had been somewhat helpful the night before. At least he knew what had transpired – well, not all of it, but that could easily be remedied. Maybe he had some advice he could offer, like the insight he'd tried to offer last night that Edward wouldn't listen to.

"What is with y'all today?" Jasper asked sitting on the couch.

"What's with who?"

"All of you." Jasper was so exasperated, he couldn't elaborate.

"I'm going to need you to be more specific if you actually want an answer."

"Everyone in this house! It's noon and you're all just lying around! Bella and Alice are downstairs in her bed – they kicked me out, told me to come back later. They were too busy sleeping to talk to me. And you're sitting here sulking. I never thought I'd say this, but where's Emmett when you need him?" Jasper's head shook as he ranted, but his blonde hair seemed to stay in the perfect position across his forehead.

"I'm not sulking."

"The hell you are. What were you just playing – Dashboard Confessional?" Jasper couldn't help but laugh at Edward's denial. And, somehow, that forced Edward to find the humor in the situation.

"Alright, I'm sulking."

Jasper waited for an explanation but was met with silence.

"You gonna tell me why?" he finally asked.

"I'm sure you can guess," Edward said, handing the guitar to Jasper as he sat at his piano.

"Bella."

It wasn't a question, but still Edward felt the need to confirm. "Yea."

"What happened? I'm guessing you never got to talk to her since she was too busy getting sick all night. So why are you worse off this morning than last night?"

"Well, she wasn't exactly getting sick all night," Edward hated talking about anyone like this. His parents had raised him to be a perfect gentleman and that did not include kissing and telling.

"Shut up! Seriously? When? Please tell me she brushed her teeth first!"

"Really, Jasper? You're as bad as Alice sometimes."

"Tell me something I don't know." He shrugged it off. "Now tell me what happened."

"After you and Alice took off, Bella claimed she was fine. So we were just hanging out, killing time and she kissed me. But then we stopped and I tried to figure out what was going on and she told me we were just having fun. Then she kissed me again."

"Man," Jasper whistled under his breath. "Bella – who would have thought? But I'm not seeing the downside."

"This morning she claimed it was all a mistake and apologized," Edward couldn't escape the pain those words had caused him.

"So what'd you say?"

"That it was okay." When Edward saw the look on his friend's face, he asked, "What?! What was I suppose to say?"

"You were suppose to tell her what you were thinking! That's when you're supposed to say it wasn't a mistake, that you want it to happen again! Wait – what do you think? Was it a mistake or not?" Jasper suddenly remembered that Edward never answered his "friends or more than friends" question.

"I don't know."

"That's not a choice," he pointed out.

"But it's the truth. I really have no idea. But it wasn't what I was expecting. At the time, kissing her just felt right. Say what you will about that, but I don't regret it and I don't think it needs apologizing for. But that doesn't mean I want it to be anymore than what it was – a kiss. How am I suppose to explain that to her?" Edward ran his fingers through his hair before replacing them on the keys before him.

"Maybe just like that?" Jasper offered with a laugh.

"But what if that's not what she wants to hear?"

"Edward, I don't know what to tell you. Either way, nothing's going on. So what does it matter? Just move on."

"I don't know if I can. Trust me, I've tried – all morning. And look where it got me! Sulking, remember?" For some unknown reason, Edward was stuck. He couldn't stop replaying every interaction he'd had with Bella. Playing most often were the most recent, but occasionally, he'd remembered specific things she'd confided in him and wonder why she had.

"You know? I think I might just know what you need," Jasper said, thinking.

"What's that?" Edward asked, bright eyed at the possibility of a remedy.

"Come on! Let's see if we can get Emmett to come along, too."

Jasper wouldn't say where they were going. Edward left a quick note to Alice and Bella since they were now by themselves before following Jasper.

"You'll want a jacket," was the only thing Jasper advised Edward as they climbed into Jasper's Jeep and made their way to Rosalie's house to collect Emmett.

Knowing Emmett would love to partake in the activities, Jasper wasn't worried about interfering in his time with Rosalie. After all, they'd have all next year to themselves at school.

The title comes from "Can't Finish What You Started" by Motion City Soundtrack.