CHAPTER 2: IOU ONE GALAXY

Stars are out tonight

And you're the brightest one shining in my sky.

It's like every wish I ever made came true.

The day I woke up lying next to you.

Will you be my best friend

If I offer you my heart?

'Cause it's already yours.

We could hang out every night

And watch the sun go down.

As long as we could watch it rise again.

IOU One Galaxy – The Ataris

Edward and I had been best friends growing up. I fell for him, literally, the moment I laid eyes on him. As I toppled over in the crowd, he ran over to me, and saved me from being trampled at my very first concert. He had that hero thing going for him, so maybe he had an unfair advantage. Either way, when I hesitantly opened my eyes and they caught with his sparkling green ones, and the arms of the most gorgeous guy I'd ever seen wrapped protectively around me, it was all over for me. I was only fourteen, gawky, with terrible bangs and glasses, and I couldn't even fathom making a move on this beautiful boy, so we became friends.

The years passed and our friendship became more like family. His home life wasn't the best, so he spent most of his time at my house. My parents, Renee and Charlie, took to him like he was one of our own, and my little brother, Phil, idolized him. Edward and I often argued over who was a bigger slut as we worked our way through our group of friends, dancing around the obvious. Edward was gorgeous to the whole world, while I was cute, and tended to grow on people like a Hello Kitty fungus. I had my share of hookups and relationships, but nothing that compared to my easy relationship with Edward. Eventually, Edward and I were both single at the same time – so why not become friends with benefits? Because then all those messy, mushy feelings I'd been pushing aside all these years would come rushing back in a tidal wave, just like they did. He took me to my prom – because what good is a male best friend if they don't put on a tux and escort you to some stupid dance every once in a while? It was on that sticky June night, brave off of Malibu rum, the twinkling lights and the happy laughter of my friends, that I told Edward that I was in love with him, while standing under a streetlight.

He didn't feel the same way. I didn't get kissed on my prom night; I got driven home awkwardly at five in the morning. Somehow, I shrugged it off. I knew we'd be together eventually; I wasn't in a rush to start forever at that point. I was only seventeen. I didn't want a boyfriend in college, anyway. I kept on having the best summer of my life, constantly with my friends, between the beach, parties, bonfires and barbeques. After I drunkenly kissed Mike, and then Tyler the following week, I guess something snapped for Edward.

I was home, sick and miserable. Edward brought my cold remedy – Coke Slurpee and Capri Suns – and some chick flick DVD that he knew my mom wanted to see. I never let things get weird between us after prom, so this wasn't strange. We lay together on the couch while my mom rambled on about the movie. I had my head in his lap and he was giving me pleasure like I couldn't imagine – the arm thing, as I call it. I'm a total sucker for being pet, again, much like Jake (who wasn't even a little puppy zygote at this point). So he lay there with me, tickling my arm as we watched the atrocious movie and I very gracefully hacked my lungs out.

I was heavily medicated, and had fallen asleep. When the movie ended, Edward tugged me up off the couch and helped me up to my room. I sighed and fell into my cool bed, never even turning off the lights. Edward sat slowly next to me and rubbed my back.

"Bella?" he finally whispered.

"Mmm…" I mumbled, half asleep.

"I love you."

"I love you, too." I sighed. We always said the 'L' word to one another, so when I'd confessed my feelings for him, I'd had to be excruciatingly specific.

"No… I love you, love you."

"What?" Okay, I was awake then. I sat straight up and stared at him. "Stop fucking with me, Edward, I don't feel well and that's not funny."

"I'm not. I'm being serious, Bella. I love you. I'm in love with you." He rubbed my bare shoulder and grinned crookedly.

I gaped at him, opening and closing my mouth wordlessly, probably looking like a fish. A sweaty, greasy, snotty fish – this is when he loves me? Not when I was decked out in my Sunday best at the prom, under a glowing streetlight, like something out of a John Hughes movie. He tells me he loves me in my sickbed, while I'm delirious on Tylenol PM and wearing sweatpants I've had on for three days.

"You're an ass." I finally declared. He just smiled wider and scooted closer.

"Yes, but you love me anyway," he smirked, leaning forward to kiss me.

"I'm sick!" I shrieked, jumping back and covering my mouth. I wasn't concerned with getting him sick, I just knew I probably tasted like Chloroseptic and smelled like Vicks.

He rolled his eyes at me. "I. Don't. Care," he said, pulling me closer with each word. He kissed me, and it was like the universe clicked into place. Nothing else mattered anymore. It didn't matter that he'd dated my friend Lauren and she'd probably never speak to me again. It didn't matter that I wanted to go away to school unattached. I didn't matter that Tyler was calling me constantly and was actually someone I could date. Everything else fell away, and it was just this – him and me. We'd been put on this planet for one another.

When I was nineteen, he put a ring on my finger. It wasn't exactly an engagement ring. We called it a placeholder. It was silver, and the diamond was barely more than a speck. I didn't care, I was ecstatic. We talked about baby names – Angela Roselyn for a girl, Christopher James for a boy. We knew we weren't ready, so instead we got Jake. His goofy Pug face and his floppy Beagle ears won us over immediately. We were thrilled to be starting our family. Jake would probably wear a puppy tuxedo at our wedding and little Gelly and CJ would play with him in our yard. Edward wanted to be a doctor, and I was going to be a teacher. Things were perfect.

Edward was classically beautiful. Everyone knew it, even him. He could be cocky, but I knew it was only because of his transformation. When he was a kid, he'd been nerdy and chubby. He got teased and never really felt like he belonged. When he got a part time job at a gym in our town, he started spending all of his time there, changing his teddy bear body into an absurdly ripped and toned specimen of male perfection. He'd always had girls chasing him, but once he started changing physically, it became ridiculous. He started to become addicted to the attention. Every time he stepped out of the house, he looked impeccable. I never tried that hard. I wore sweatpants to class, had glasses and tended to pull my hair into an impossible poof on top of my head that made me look like a Fraggle. Waitresses would hit on him in front of me, and ask if I were his sister or cousin. I guess he realized that he could have pretty much anyone he wanted at this point, because that's when he stopped keeping 'little Edward' in check. It didn't matter who the girl was, how old she was, what she looked like – he would encourage their flirting. He was a spectacular liar – except to me. I was his best friend for too long, the one he'd go to with the truth, and I'd watch him lie to everyone else. I wasn't stupid; I knew something was different. I was however, a complete fucking moron, because when he swore he'd be true to me, I believed him. Things had gotten better – until now.

Edward stared at the picture, clenching his jaw.

"You're mad at her for putting the picture up, aren't you?" I asked, feeling nauseous. He didn't answer me, so I snorted. Finally, he looked back at me with the most awful, pained expression I've ever seen. He reached up to my cheek, and brushed some of the moisture away. I didn't even realize I was still crying; the tears were flowing so quickly and easily. I bit my lip and waited.

"Bella, I…" he trailed off. Suddenly, he stood up brusquely, jamming both his hands into his beautiful hair. I love that hair, running fingers up and down the back of his neck while he drives, pulling on it while he goes down on me in bed… no, I can't let my thoughts go there, or I'll never do this. I open my mouth to speak, but Edward interrupts me. "I met her at a photo shoot, she was another model. She lives in the city, but she was going back home in a couple of weeks, and I was going to break it off then, I swear. I - I don't know why. I don't know. I have no good reason for why I'm doing this, why I'm sabotaging our relationship. All I do know is that I love you more than anything in this world. You're my one, you're my only –"

I cut him off before he could finish the cutesy vow we made up to say to one another when we were apart. "I'm very clearly not your one or only anything, Edward. You can't finish our pact and say that I'm your everything or your always either."

"You're done," It wasn't a question. He almost spat it at me, like I was giving up on him. I stared at him, numbly. "Fine. I'll go," he continued to snap. "Come on, Jake." He patted his leg for Jake to follow him. That snapped me out of it.

"OH, HELL NO!" I screamed. I grabbed Jake and put him in his crate, standing in front of it protectively. "YOU do not get to have him, Edward! YOU don't get to leave me all alone! YOU left us! YOU ruined this family! Not me, not Kate," I choked on her name, "not any of these other girls. You flirted, and I understood. Or maybe I was pathetic. Whatever. But you've had another girlfriend for God knows how long, and that is where I get off this train wreck." I started twisting my ring, trying to take it off. Edward was breathing heavily, staring at the floor. He looked up at me, and saw what I was trying to do, and then next thing I knew, he was on his knees, clutching my legs, sobbing.

"Bella, Bella, no, no, please don't! Please, I can't live without you. You're my life, I love you so much, please Bella, please!" he begged. I just stood very still. My heart was already broken, but this was like someone took a hammer to the shards, and then once it was totally pulverized, they set the pieces on fire. I was shaking, or maybe he was shaking, I didn't know anymore. I clutched at his hair, and he pressed his face into my stomach. I felt his breath on my skin, and then he was kissing the patch of skin between my shirt and my pants. I didn't stop him; I was trying to memorize how his lips felt pressing to my body. He took that as a good sign, and started pulling at the drawstring on my pajama pants. I heard Jake whine behind me and I woke up. I took a step back.

"No," I whispered. "Goodbye, Edward."

It was exactly one week until my twentieth birthday, and my life was over.