The sun dappled the ground as I ran. The birds were singing, people where smiling, much like my first day at the Seattle Sun Times. Only now, my life actually seemed to be taking a turn for the better. My job was going well, my father was doing better, and I had a sex god for a boyfriend. Of course we had only been monogamous for a few days now, but I still got a tingle just thinking about him. My Edward.

I felt my face light up with a smile as I jogged up the last leg of my run. This stair case and almost everything in my life reminded me of some memory shared with Edward. I glanced down the alley next to my apartment building and saw the fire escape. I couldn't stop the chuckle. We had only known each other for a few months and already he was an essential part of my life.

Just this morning it took me three tries to get out of Edward's bed. It was getting harder by the day. I was addicted to Edward Cullen, body and soul. I am nowhere near a nymphomaniac, but something about Edward had me riled. But it was not just his body that held me in such suspense, even if it was perfection, we would talk long into the night about our childhoods or any trivial topic. I wanted to know everything about him and no detail was too small. And to my surprised and satisfaction, he seemed to feel the same way about me, firing off questions at any time. For instance, I now know that he hates anchovies, loves Thai food, and plays the piano and he knows that I have broken three bones, have a step sister, and my favorite book is Romeo and Juliet.

However perfect things seemed to be a small piece of my mind kept nagging at me, but I was blinded by adoration, intrigue, and lust. It kept warning me about telling Edward's family, about how this would impact Charlie and the ever present Tanya but those things seemed unimportant to the perfection of our time together. There was a cloud in paradise sent to torture my beautiful sunset, but I was trying to ignore it.

Come to think of it, I had almost gotten caught by Alice this morning as I went home. She was opening her apartment door as I came down the stairs. She seemed distracted enough locking her deadbolt so that she did not see me crouching on the ledge above. It was a good thing to considering I was still trying to find the proper way to tell her about Edward and me. When I saw her yesterday she couldn't stop smirking so I had a sinking feeling she knew something already without my confession.

The water of my shower worked at the aches in my back once I finished my run. I got dressed for the office then contemplating just saying 'Edward and I are together' completely straight forward instead of beating around the bush with Alice and Rose. My new cell phone chirped from the kitchen so I made my way to it. Maurice sat by the counter eyeing me. He was not happy that the few nights I had spent in the apartment recently I had company so he lost his bed rights. Edward would have to make a truce with him eventually I decided as I fed him.

I picked up my phone and read the screen.

I would rather be with you anywhere in the world than here right now. I smiled and sighed. Edward was already at practice since the first preseason game was next weekend. The couch was riding the guys hard but they were all excited to test themselves with new opponents. But Edward still missed me amidst his testosterone and football.

Even a Slavic prison? I pressed send and my message shot off into the air waves. I gathered my things and set off to work. As I exited my building my phone rang. I didn't recognize the number but I answered anyway. I hadn't had a chance to collect my past contact list so people I knew called and I had to guess by their voices who was who.

"Hello?"

"Bella! You finally answer! I have left you a million voice mails!"

"Amber?"

"No duh, why didn't you call me back?"

"My phone is sleeping with the fishes; I just got a new one and reactivated my number last night."

"Oh, well I guess that makes sense. How are you?"

"I'm well, walking to work actually. I spent most of yesterday writing the article about your band so I was going to pitch it to my boss. What's up?"

"I just wanted to talk to you about everything that happened the other night. Do you remember anything?"

"Not really, just when I woke up the next morning."

"Ok, I'll fill you in on the details. Are you free for lunch?"

"Sure that sounds great."

"Fantastic, I'll pick you up."

"Alright I'll see you later."

"Bye."

I continued walking to the Sun as flashes from the other evening flitted through my mind. I only vaguely remember being put on the couch by strong arms… I wonder if something else happened. Amber did sound a bit frazzled or excited about some unknown event. My curiosity was perked by the time I walked onto the floor.

Alice sat at her desk smiling at me. There was a glint in her eye that made me a bit uneasy.

"Why good morning Bella! I'm glad to see you!" Her smile was dazzling.

"Hey Alice. How have you been?"

"Oh, I'm fine. I made a few phone calls, got some work done, saved your love life." Her face lit up. My brows knit together. Edward hadn't mentioned anything, what was she talking about?

"What?"

"I talked to Joe for you, he knows the truth now." She smiled hugely again. My stomach knotted.

"Who's Joe?"

"Our codename for the guy you like remember?"

"Oh right." I bit my lip. "Alice?"

"Yes my dear friend?"

"Who do you think Joe is?"

"Silly Bella! I KNOW who Joe is. You thought you could keep a secret from me." She clucked her tongue in triumph.

"Please just, tell me, to be sure."

"Jacob of course. It was so obvious that you wanted each other that night at the jazz club and every time I see you together he looks like he wants to eat you for lunch." She wiggled her eyebrows at me. I felt my world tilt. I grabbed the edge of her desk. "Are you ok Bella? I thought I was helping." Alice looked worried as she hopped up and supported my arm.

I forced myself to take deep breaths to prevent hyperventilation.

"Alice, it wasn't Jacob." I closed my eyes and covered them with my hands. I could never face Jacob Black again, this was just to humiliating. Some part of my subconscious was shouting 'I told you not to get cozy!' while another was still shocked by the 'eat you for lunch' comment. Did Jacob like me in that way?

"What? That's not possible. The signs were there." Alice stuttered. Apparently she isn't wrong often.

"You couldn't have known who it was, because you have only seen me with him a handful of times and we were always careful around you. Well actually everyone. No one knew. We actually just got together this weekend." My cheeks blushed at my blatant pronoun use. I was still having problems with saying the name.

"If it isn't Jacob then who?"

"Edward." My hands were clenched into fists so tight my nails bit into my skin. Alice looked dazed from this news. She slowly lowered herself into her chair. Her eyes were wide and staring as if she was reliving the past with this new information.

"Edward met you in the closet at the reception didn't he?" I nodded. "And it was you that he wanted to call him after he broke up with Tanya wasn't it?" Another nod. "So it was you who slept with him that night. I still have your thong by the way." She sounded distant but it was slowly cracking. Finally she blinked once. Twice. Then she turned back to me with a big watery smile on her face. "Oh Bella! I can't think of a better person for Edward!" She stood and threw her arms around my shoulders dragging my torso down. I hugged her back still a little shocked from her reaction.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner Alice."

"That's ok, the more I think about it I'm surprised I didn't figure it out. Can we tell Rose?!" She got very excited very quickly and bounced where she stood.

"What about Jacob?" She stopped and looked pensive.

"Do you want me to go talk to him? I'm the one who couldn't keep my mouth shut so I guess I should go break the news to him that I was wrong."

"Well what exactly did you say to him?"

"That you wanted to be with him and were willing to try and make up for past mistakes. He looked confused by the second part but quite excited about the first. He really likes you Bella. He could only respond 'really?!'" She looked regretful. I closed my eyes and my phone chirped in my pocket.

Handcuffs could be fun… I couldn't help my smile.

"It's Edward isn't it?" I nodded yes and felt my face fall remembering my task.

"Alice, I'm the one who should talk to him, it's me after all who was too stupid to notice how he felt."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Can we tell Rose after?"

"That's fine, but don't go spreading this around, I don't want to hurt Jacob even more by flaunting my happiness." Alice nodded. I walked to my desk and dropped my bag. I sat down and rested my face on the cool wood. This was going to be awful.

OOOOOOoo

The elevator doors slid open and I felt my stomach flip. I could either defuse this situation with only mild hurt or lose a good friend forever. I plastered a friendly smile to my face before walking to Jacob's office.

"Knock knock." I peered in to see him under a computer tower propped up on carts. I could easily picture a car instead by the way he laid. He glanced up and flashed a million dollar smile when he saw me. I tried to swallow the lump forming in my throat.

"Hey Bella, what brings you down here?" The look he was giving me seemed to project the thought 'I'm harmless feel free to tell me how you really feel about me, you wouldn't regret it.' I gulped again.

"I actually need to talk to you." I bit my lip again and moved farther into the room. I must look like I was facing the executioner because Jake immediately tried to calm me down.

"Bells, chill out you look like I'm going to attack you or something." His eyes looked hopeful and I felt like the worst person in the world. Well why can't you be with Jacob Black? My mind began to argue with itself. Because I'm with Edward. But what if that doesn't work out. Don't sever all ties; we are definitely attracted to Jacob. But it isn't fair to give him false hope. OK, how would we react if he started to date someone else? I felt as if I was punched in the gut. What if Jacob started seeing someone? I had less than no claim to him, but I liked that he came when I called him. He didn't even ask questions when he helped me dye my hair. My heart was racing.

"Jake," it was a strangled sound as if I was forcing words around a noose.

He knelt in front of me; I had taken the only chair in his office. His warm callused hands helped calm me. He lifted my chin so I looked at him.

"You don't have to say anything Bella. I know already." He smiled a kind smile and I felt my insides trying to escape from my body cavity. "I like your hair this color better than that red." He slid a hand the length of my hair and then back to rest on the back of my neck. There was a warning in the back of my head but I couldn't move. He gently pulled my face towards his and kissed me softly.

His lips were velvet soft and just touched mine. It was more of a promise than a really kiss. I opened my eyes when the contact was broken and he stared back at me. His eyes were bottomless. They seemed to absorb everything about me and reflect back someone perfect, someone worthy of this man.

"Jacob, I,"

"Really Bells, Alice told me already. She told me to leave her name out of it but I don't want to see you agonize over this. Of course I want to be with you, I just didn't think you were ready." He pressed his forehead against mine. I felt a tear roll down my cheek. He caught it before it fell.

"You don't understand."

"I do, I knew you wanted me as much as I wanted you but I didn't want to push it too far. You seem so fragile that I didn't want to make you change anything for me."

"Stop."

"But Bella it's ok…"

"Stop Jacob." I needed to stop this before it got any worse. "I'm…" Say the words. Alice was wrong, or it was someone else, anything! "I'm not ready." If possible the concern in his eyes deepened. "Alice took things into her own hands before I could do things my own way; I'm just… not ready." It was as close to the truth as I could be without taking advantage of his vulnerability. I realize now that Jacob appeared every time I needed him. I could not hurt him this deeply. He cupped my cheek.

"It's ok; at least you know how I feel now. I'm always here Bella." He kissed my forehead one more time before helping me to my feet.

"Thank you for understanding."

"No problem." I have him a half smile and retreated. Alice, what have you done?