Wow! You guys amaze me with your awesome reviews! I can't thank all of you enough… Thanks to RoRyJeSeAdDiCt for all her help! Chapter's dedicated to you. And here it is! The confrontation! (Finally!) :D Replies to the anonymous reviewers:

twilightfan101- Did I mention that you're not a great reviewer? It's true, because you're an AWESOME reviewer!

Erin- Tsk Tsk Tsk. Very lazy of you… but who am to judge, I'm also lazy. :D And yep, you got the answer right! Anyway, thanks for the review, logged in or not!

twilightfan101- Did I mention in my other reply that you're an awesome reviewer? No? Well, you are! :D Thanks for the two reviews again! They are so awesome! And this is your favorite story??? Seriously??? *eyes grow big* Thank you!!! You're one of my favorite reviewers as well! Well, why wouldn't you be? :D


Starlight - Chapter 22: The Confrontation

Edward's POV:

I anxiously knocked on Bella's door, praying she would be there.

Tap, tap, tap.

I waited impatiently. Was she there or not? I knocked again.

Tap, tap, tap.

I blew out a gust of air. Great. She's not there. Feeling stupid, I turned around, but before I could take one step, I heard a weary voice call out, "Come in." Relief instantly washed over me. I opened the door and stepped inside. It was dark, very dark, even though it was in the middle of the day. I realized that all the lights were off and the windows drawn. Was Bella a vampire afraid of light? I almost laughed at the thought.

I switched the lights on, and saw Bella leaning on the headboard of her bed, grasping a pillow tightly in her arms which looked like it was about to explode. She looked depressed and furious at the same time. I couldn't help but notice that she was wearing the same things she was wearing a while ago. Her feet dangled, the wedges almost slipping off. Holy juicebox, she was beautiful. (A/N: Hey Alice! The line made it into the story, lol.)

I instantly rushed to her side. "Bella love, what's wrong?" I laid a hand on her shoulder, but she instantly jerked her shoulder back, and the depressed look on her face was replaced with fierce anger.

"Stay away," she hissed.

I slowly backed away from her until I was standing near the door. "Bella, why are you acting this way?" I asked, hurt. She was my girlfriend, for God's sake.

She remained silent, staring at the floor. Why was she acting this way? I recalled what Emmett had said back in my room. Did she actually think that was true? Didn't she know me at all?

I took a deep breath and forced the words out of my mouth. "You said you wanted me to come here. So what is it? What do you want?" The words came out harsher than I intended.

She mildly flinched at my tone, but she kept her fierce expression. "A confession," she said flatly.

"A confession?" I echoed, confused.

"A confession of how I thought you loved me, but it was all a lie." She kept the angry expression, but I could see the hurt that was also in her eyes. "A confession of how you cheated on me. I want to hear you say it, direct from your lips."

"B- But Bella," I stammered. Emmett was right. "That's not true- I- I'm not!"

"Oh really?" she asked icily. "Look at me in the eyes, Edward. Tell me that you're not hiding anything from me, and that you still do love me."

She had me there. I was keeping something from her. "Bella, I truly love you," I said honestly, staring into her chocolate eyes. "And I- I-" I couldn't do it. I couldn't lie and tell her I wasn't.

"I knew it," she said softly, looking sad. "Just say it, Edward."

"Bella, this is not what you think it is. I'm not, nor will I ever, cheat on you!" I exclaimed.

She instantly got mad again. "How dare you? I give you one chance to say everything, a clear opening, and you have the nerve to lie to me? You claim you're not, so explain this." She thrust something towards me, and I caught it expertly. It was her phone, with the picture of Tanya kissing me on the cheeks. I winced. So it was her.

"Bella," I said desperately, setting it down. "You don't understand-"

"You're right," she seethed. "I don't. Explain it to me so I will."

"I can't," I cried in frustration.

"See?" she yelled. "You can't because you're LYING!" And on the word lying, she accompanied her anger by throwing one of the wedges to my face. I barely ducked in time, and it hit the wall instead, leaving a little mark. I winced. If I hadn't ducked in time…. I shuddered at the thought.

I looked back to her face. "Bella…" I started. She glared at me sullenly. I sighed. "Okay, I will tell you as much as I can."

"Go on," she muttered.

I sighed, and told her everything- well, as much as I could without revealing what I planned. She was going to find out soon anyway, and I just pray that it will all go well.

-0-

Bella's POV:

"Bella, Tanya and I aren't in a relationship," he began slowly. I stared at the floor, while listening intently on what he was saying. "Nor will we ever in be one. She's just a friend, Bella. I knew since we were six. We became friends, but when we were eleven, she transferred to Florida. We lost contact, and we never met again, until about a few weeks ago. We caught up after all these years. That kiss you saw was just a friendly one." He paused, then opened his mouth, as if he was about to say something else, but then closed it. I briefly thought about what he said. It all made sense, and I felt stupider than ever. But he was hiding something else, I was sure. I didn't want to push it; since I was lucky he even said the things he said a while ago.

"So Bella, why were you stalking me?" he finally asked.

"I prefer the word 'following'," I muttered, avoiding his gaze. "I just wanted to see who Tanya was, because when I read the text message, you two seemed very close." I briefly saw his mouth open a bit, but then he closed it. I forced the words out of my mouth. "I also wanted to make sure you weren't seeing anybody else, since I thought that maybe you were seeing several different girls at the same time, and our relationship meant nothing to you." I now felt ashamed of myself. The plan that I once thought was genius, now seemed stupid.

"Bella, look at me," he commanded. I stubbornly ignored him. I felt his hand tilt my chin up, and I found myself staring into his sparkling green eyes. "How can you ever think that I thought our relationship's a joke? It means the world to me, Bella. I value you more than my life." He said it with such sincerity, that I felt surer than ever that he was telling nothing but the truth. It was all my fault. I had made a big issue out of nothing.

I broke away from his hand, and buried my head in my hands. "Edward," I moaned. "I'm so stupid. I'm sorry, for everything." A few tears streaked down my face. "I should have known better. But everything, the message, the kiss, the meeting- it all seemed so real. You seemed so happy."

He gently wiped the tears away and tilted my head again. "How can you say something like that? Bella, you are not stupid. You have nothing to apologize for."

"But I- I doubted you! Us!" I wailed. God, I was an idiot. How could I have transformed so quickly from a cold, angry person, to a blubbering baby?

"Listen to me, Bella. It's true, I was happy with her. I was reunited with an old friend." I didn't miss the emphasis he put on 'friend'. "But that happiness is nothing to how I feel when I'm with you."

"Edward, I don't deserve someone as understanding as you are," I said.

"No, Bella. I don't deserve you." With those words, he gave me a sweet kiss.

The tears dried fast. How could I have ever doubted him?

-0-

Edward's POV:

"So, is it over?" I asked a few seconds later.

"What's over?" she asked, confused.

"You know. The confrontation." I grinned.

Bella smiled. "Yeah, but…" She paused. "One last question, I promise: What's the secret?"

She knew? She was smarter than I thought she was. "Secret? Uh, what secret?" I asked, acting oblivious. Keyword, 'acting'. I knew she could see right through my act.

"You know," she mimicked me. "I read it in the text message. What do you and Tanya know that I don't?" Jasper and Emmett, too, I added silently, but she didn't know that.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," I bluffed.

"That way, your dear Bella won't know anything," she quoted from memory. "You already know what my first guess was, and I turned out to be completely wrong. So why would she write that unless there is a secret, one that I have no idea of?"

"Uh, I don't-"

"Save it, Edward," she cut me off. "I can see right through you. So you can A.) Tell me the secret; or B.) I force it out of you."

"Yeah right," I scoffed.

"You're right," she admitted. "I probably won't be able to. But I can probably force it out of Jasper, or especially Emmett." She smirked at my shocked expression. "How did I know about them knowing?" She took the words right out of my mouth. "Edward, you underestimate me."

"Okay, fine," I finally said. "You win. But-"

"No buts," she said firmly.

"But," I continued, ignoring her. "I am going to tell you tonight."

"No, now," she insisted.

It took me all that I could to persuade her to wait. She finally agreed, but she wasn't happy about it. I sighed. I had to call Tanya, Jasper and Emmett tonight. I needed all of their help. Why?

Because tonight is the night that I'm going to propose to Bella Swan.


Dun dun dun dun!!! (FYI, that was supposed to be wedding bells and horror music at the same time, lol.) So were you guys shocked??? You should have picked up the hints I gave...

Answer to last chapter's question: yesterday, today, and tomorrow. This chapter's question is:

A father and the son are in a car accident. The father is left in the car, while the son is brought to the hospital. The doctor who is supposed to operate on the boy says, "I can't operate on this boy, he is my son!" How can this be when the father is still in the car?

This question is very easy. :D Now, review review review!!! Don't you want me to immediately post the next chapter? Aren't you dying of curiosity? Huh? HUH???

Jen