Okay... I have to give a special thank you to SimplyDazzling for the most incredible review ever! This chapter is dedicated to her, and to everyone who reviewed or alerted the last chapter and added this story to their favorites. To Mandy, here's a quicker update instead of a review. :D (When I write your pen name, fan fiction won't save it.) And to twilightfan101, yeah, you better believe it. :)
You know one thing I like about writing for a Twilight fic? You're sure all readers are girls, so you don't have to worry whether you accidentally put 'she' instead of a 'he' when you address your readers. Does anyone know a guy who reads/writes Twilight fanfics?
Now, on to Edward's POV, since we haven't been in his head for a while. :) And just to be clear, let's just say three months passed before Edward and Bella started dating, and they have been dating for more than a year already, and they have never been closer. Except for now. Tee hee. This takes place… about a few days after the last chapter.
Starlight - Chapter 17: Busted
Edward's POV:
"Edward... are you sure about this?" Jasper asked. "Are you having any second thoughts? There's a chance that this might ruin everything, you know."
Before I could talk, Emmett beat me.
"Jasper, Jasper, Jasper." Emmett placed an arm around Jasper's shoulders, bag of potato chips in hand. "Edward is my brother. I've known him my entire life. You don't. So I know that once he makes a decision, there's no arguing with him. Right, bro?"
I nodded enthusiastically. "Yep. Never been more sure of anything."
"Still..." Jasper's brow wrinkled in worry. "Are you absolutely sure? If anything goes wrong, this could ruin your relationship with Bella. You don't want that, now, do you?"
I cringed at that thought. "Of course not. But then Tanya said-"
"Tanya says this, Tanya says that. Who cares what Tanya says? She's just doing this for the money. We're your friends. We actually care about you," Jasper pointed out.
"Ignore Jasper," Emmett advised, still crunching on a chip. "I know I do." I just stared at the both of them, one brow raised.
Jasper gave in. "Fine, fine. Seems like you've made your decision… So, when are you going to tell her?"
I shrugged. "I'm not sure yet. I want to pick the perfect time, since I know she will freak out."
"I'm not so sure about that," Jasper laughed. "She is head over heels in love with you. Who knows? Maybe things will go your way."
I wasn't so convinced. "Maybe… But then have you guys noticed? We've been kind of… distant lately."
Emmett nodded knowingly, waving a chip in the air. "Ah, yes. Ever since you've been acting all mysterious lately, she's been worried about you."
"Well, excuse me," I muttered. "But this isn't something I can just blurt right into her face."
"Still… I think you should have dinner with her," Jasper murmured. "I men, you do still love her, right?"
"Of course!" I declared indignantly. "I love Bella with all my heart! I see no point in living without her. Just because you don't see me making out with her in public so freely like Emmett and Rosalie doesn't mean I don't love her!"
"Oh boy," Jasper muttered. "Here we go with the speeches."
"But I think I might take your word on that… Yeah, I'll have dinner with Bella tonight," I decided.
Emmett suddenly groaned. "I still can't believe we can't tell anybody! I really want to tell Alice… she's going to explode. She'll be really pissed you didn't tell her about this… Man, she really will be mad at you." He stabbed a chip towards me dramatically.
"That's why I told the both of you," I explained. "This way, she, not to mention Rose, will take out their anger out on all three of us."
Both of them stared at me, speechless. Then, Emmett broke out into a wide grin as he ruffled my hair. "Aw… I'm so proud of you Eddie! I truly have taught you well. Here- have a chip."
I didn't know how to reply to this one. "Uh… thanks?" I got it from him and munched on it.
He just beamed at me like a proud mother. "My little Eddie, all grown up!"
"I think I'm going to cry," Jasper sniffled.
We both got pillows and hurled it towards his face.
"Peace!" he yelled. A few minutes after, we finally calmed down enough to stop throwing pillows around. (A/N: Can you imagine a pillow fight between the three of them? That would be so funny… You never know, Edward might bite one. :D)
"Okay, okay," Jasper wheezed. "So you'll have dinner with Bella tonight?"
"Yep," I confirmed. "That might lessen the impact of what I'm gonna say to her."
"Go, call her now!" Emmett urged. Laughing at his excited tone, I reached into my pocket to get my phone.
"Wait… where's my phone?" I asked, puzzled. "It's gone… Wait. Oh no. I forgot to get it from Alice! In our rush to meet Tanya, I forgot to get it from her!" I was horrified.
"Alice gave mine to me," Jasper announced.
"I got mine from her a day later," Emmett said. "So you never go yours back?"
I banged my head on the wall. "No…but then I don't frequently use my phone. I didn't even bother to think about it! Ugh! I'm such a scatterbrain! But then come to think of it, I wonder why Alice never gave mine back."
"Maybe she forgot?" Emmett suggested.
"Alice?" Jasper snorted. "Maybe she's sending out prank calls to everyone using your number."
"Maybe she's reading my messages," I suddenly realized. "I deleted every message Tanya sent me, but what if she sent a new one? Remember when I was supposed to meet her and she wasn't there? We walked around for a while, and when we checked back at the place where we were supposed to meet, she just arrived? And in her call, she specifically said to meet her at five. But then we never asked her why…"
"Do you think they know?" Jasper's brow was creased with worry.
"I hope not," I muttered. "But I need to get my phone back!" I stood up and went to Alice's room. She was on her bed, reading a magazine.
"Hi Edward," she said, not looking up from her magazine.
"Hey, can I have my phone back?" I asked.
I saw her hesitate for a second. Then she relaxed. "Sure. I was wondering when you would ask for it." She opened a drawer and rummaged inside. She got something black and tossed it to me. I caught it expertly.
"Thanks." I got out quickly before she could ask me anything.
"So?" Emmett asked as I went back to my room.
"Wait…" I hurriedly turned my phone on and went directly to my inbox. "Crap."
"What is it?" Jasper asked curiously.
"There's a message," I said. "Do you think they read it?"
"Duh! You're talking about Alice here, remember?" Emmett reminded us. "Well? What does the message say?"
My tongue grew dry as I read the message.
Hey Eddie! It's me, Tanya.
Listen, I know I asked you to meet me at five, but something came up. I'm going to be at least thirty minutes late. If I get stood up like the last time… ooh! You're gonna get it! :D hahaha… just kidding. But seriously. I'm gonna make it quick so I can meet you as early as possible. That way, your dear Bella won't suspect anything. I'll be waiting, and if you won't be there when I arrive, forget you even came to me.
Ok, bye!
Love, Tanya
Jasper groaned. "We are so busted."
Even Emmett was speechless. "Are there any more?"
I shook my head. "This is the only one. So I guess this clears up our little mystery. But then, this was sent a few minutes after we left. That means…"
"When it was sent, all three of them were there," Jasper said. "This is bad. Do you think Bella knows?"
"Well, only one way to find out," I muttered. We haven't seen each other for the last few days, since we had plenty of exams, and we were swamped. The last one was taken this morning. And then that was it. We're finished with college. (A/N: Is that right? I have no idea about college whatsoever.)
I dialed Bella's number and waited anxiously as it rang.
-0-
Bella's POV:
I leaned on my bed, trying to sort out my life. Rather, my relationship with Edward. Ever since I read that text, I've been trying to avoid him. I didn't know how to act around him when I knew that he's been cheating on me. I used the excuse to study as a way to avoid him, but now that exams were over, I knew I had to face the truth somehow. The more I ran away from it, the more my problems were going to grow.
Then I made my decision. I was going to confront Edward. I was going to tell him that I knew the truth. I'm going to force him to tell me the words straight out.
Yeah, easier said than done. I curled my fingers around my phone. It's now or never. Just as I was about to call him, my phone rang. I checked the number. It's him. I pressed the answer button.
"Bella?" His velvet voice came through the voice like bells.
"Hi Edward, what's up?" I stalled, trying to gain the courage to confront him. But my heart still got faster at the sound of his voice.
"Now, I was wondering. Since, exams are over, would you like to go out to dinner with me?" he asked, straight to the point.
"I'd love to!" I heard myself answer automatically.
He chuckled. "Pick you up at seven. Bye, Bells."
"Bye, Edward."
I snapped my phone shut and groaned. Why did I agree to that?
Because you love him, a tiny voice in my head said.
It's true. In spite of everything, I still love him.
Wow. A long chapter. Okay… in the next chapter, they should be on their date. Yay!
Can anyone think of the secret? Any guesses?
The answer to last chapter's question: It's the grandfather, the father, and the son. Two fathers, two sons. Get it? This chapter's question:
Carlisle has a challenge for his three sons. Whoever can win will inherit his entire property. This was his challenge: He gave each of them a coin, and told them to buy something that could fill the entire room. Eagerly the three of them began on their task. The eldest son, Emmett, bought a stack of hay and tried to fill the whole room. He failed, and thus burst into tears. The second son, Jasper, bought bags of feather with the coin. He too, failed. Thus, he turned emo and didn't speak to anyone. The youngest son, Edward, thought quietly and went to a store. He bought two small items and went back to the room. Soon, he had filled the entire room. Carlisle praised him proudly and he inherited his entire property. Now, the question: What were the two items that Edward bought?
Hehehe… Did you enjoy that? Emo Jasper and Baby Emmett. ;) Sorry for the long question… Can you answer that? If you can, you're like Edward!
And you know, last night, I had this weird dream. There was a war going on, and I was held captive by the enemies- together with the Cullens! Plus the weirdest thing? I was crying with Alice, because we both wanted Jasper to be set free. You know why that's weird? I'm not really team Jasper. Team Edward and Team Emmett, definitely. Team Jasper? Not so much. It's weird. Plus, I almost never cry. Do you guys have weird drams like that too?
Sorry for the long author's note!
Anyway, please tell me your thoughts! A chip from Emmett for every reviewer! Isn't it worth it? Don't tell me you can resist that! :)
Jen
