Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or any of its characters etc, and I wish SM didn't own them either.

Chapter Eight – She Takes a Baby Step

The next morning, her truck was back in the driveway when she woke up, and Bella had never been happier to see it. As she climbed into the cab and inhaled the familiar smell of worn leather and cloves, she could have cried in joy. It was ridiculous to be so excited over something as broken down as her truck, but it was her truck, and it meant no more confusing rides with Jasper, no more annoyingly loud jam sessions with Alice, and no more hurt looks from Edward.

It also meant she didn't need to come up with an excuse for where she'd gone if she wasn't there after school. Alice had left a message for her with Charlie and acted nonchalant when Bella returned the call. Still, she knew her best friend and she knew she was dying to know where she'd been and who she'd gone with. She also knew her former best friend, and he was smart enough to puzzle out the answer to both of those questions.

Bella rumbled into the parking lot fifteen minutes earlier than usual, parking in her usual spot before heading toward the attendance office. The breeze was crisp and cool as it blew across her face, the smell of impending rain lingering in its wake. The scent was refreshing, and the promise of a clean start was enough to keep her good mood intact all the way to Mrs. Cope's desk.

"Bella! You feeling ok, honey?"

"Yes ma'am," she replied, biting her lips. "I'm afraid I missed some classes yesterday. I must have eaten something funny."

"Oh, sweetie. Sure you shouldn't be home resting?"

"I don't want to miss anymore class than I have to," Bella replied with a half smile, inwardly berating herself for taking advantage of Mrs. Cope's good nature. "If I feel bad again, I'll go home."

"Of course."

"Oh, I almost forgot. My truck's been in the shop, so Edward Cullen gave me a ride home. He was walking with me to – "

"How thoughtful of him." Mrs. Cope gave her a genuine smile before whispering conspiratorially. "I hear he's a real looker."

A blush lit up her face before Bella could stop it. "It was awfully nice of him to drive me home. I just don't want him to get into any kind of trouble. He was just trying to be nice and he's new and all and…"

"Don't you fret, pet! I'm taking care of it right now. You come see me first if you have to leave again today, all right?"

"Thank you, Mrs. Cope."

As she stepped out the door, she saw Alice's vibrant figure leaning against Jasper's tall one near the front door. Bella began moving in their direction but hesitated when she saw the black Volvo pull into the lot right by her side. Without being able to help it, she paused, turning to watch it pause by her truck. A broad smile stretched across her face as she watched Edward take the parking space three spots down from her. She stood waiting, watching him park seamlessly and climb out into the windy gray. His eyes were already on her, a crooked grin taking all the heat out of the glare he was trying to send. With a laugh, she waved, waiting for him make his way over to her.

"Are we off the hook?" he asked.

"Well, hello to you too."

Edward rolled his eyes, and Bella noticed that the guy-liner was again missing. As stupid as she thought it was, she couldn't help but missing it – now she had nothing to distract herself from the way his look made her insides feel like goo. Instead, she focused on his wardrobe, taking in his ratty blue and black flannel and dark wash jeans. He still wore the skull and chain shoes from the first day, but he seemed a little less scary…a little more himself.

"Earth to Bella," he said, waving his hands in front of her face.

"Um, sorry," she stammered, taking in the chipping black polish still on his fingers. "What were we talking about?"

"You were mocking me for not saying hello," he replied.

"Right, well…you should say hello. And we're off the hook. I told you it'd be fine."

"What were you thinking?"

"Nothing," she replied.

"Come on. Please?" he asked, turning to face her, his hands on her shoulders as he dropped down to her eye level grinning.

"Your clothes are different," she said, glancing over him to see a huge group staring at them.

Her face flamed, and she knew he had to notice it, but aside from a slight tensing of his fingers he gave no indication that he knew her attention was elsewhere. "They aren't. I told you that I didn't really change my wardrobe."

"I just…" she paused, trying to focus on the green of his eyes and not the death glares coming from across the courtyard. "I didn't figure you for a scruffy look, I guess."

"So what…I'm a boring beige and weird cream colored turtlenecks sort of guy?"

Bella laughed. "Definitely not," she said. "At least, you better not be."

"It wouldn't matter, you'd like me anyway. Come on, I'll walk you to English."

As his arm slid around her waist and she felt the softness of his flannel on the tiny sliver of exposed skin on her back, she couldn't help but tense. Immediately, he started moving away from her, but she quickly grabbed his hand to stop him.

"No," she whispered quickly, before reason could weasel its way into her thoughts. "Don't stop."

Edward gripped her waist more firmly, but didn't say anything else. They walked in silence to English, and Bella didn't look up from the ground the whole time. She hated herself for not being able to just throw herself into the walk, but she just couldn't. There was too much still there. Too much baggage to walk forward unencumbered. The only question was how to dump it all…how to get rid of it.

When they arrived at the classroom, they separated. Bella sensed Edward's reluctance to let her go, and a tiny shiver trembled through her as his fingers trailed across his skin. She shot him a look and found him grinning, so she knew he'd done it on purpose. Sliding across the hard plastic of the chair, she immediately missed his warmth. He winked at her from his seat across the aisle and she stuck her tongue out at him. Even the sight of Jasper, tall and imposing as he paused in the doorway, wasn't enough to erase her good mood.

Maybe ditching her burdens wouldn't be as hard as she thought.

Maybe Edward was the answer she'd been looking for.

Maybe it was going to be as easy as she'd always wished it would be.

A light tug on her hair told her that no, it was never going to be as easy as she wished it would be. For a second, she hesitated. If she ignored Jasper, it could be, at the very least, easier. But she couldn't. As aware as she was of the pull she felt toward Edward, that happy feeling that swept over her when she saw him and that tiny tug that drew her to him, she was perhaps even more aware of the pulsing presence of her former best friend radiating out from behind her.

There was another tug, and this time it was more insistent. Bella turned around, but it was out of annoyance rather than desire. Jasper had the decency to not look entirely smug.

"What?" she whispered.

"Alice is looking for you."

She just stared at him. "That is the single dumbest thing I've ever heard. She saw exactly where I was. She knows where my first class is."

"You know – "

"Do we have to talk about this now?" she asked, glancing meaningfully around the almost full classroom.

"Fine," he grumbled, hitting his chair with a quiet thud as he slid down in his seat.

The sudden silence that descended over the class told her that class was about to begin, forcing Bella to turn back to the front. As she watched Mr. Mason begin scribbling keywords for the day's discussion on the chalkboard, she contemplated the shocking ease with which she'd caused Jasper to back down. For the rest of the never-endingly long period, she thought about it. Edward must have sensed her distraction, because the smiles he flashed her were reassuring.

When class finally, mercifully ended, Edward was immediately by her side again. He walked her to the door, helped her back into her jacket, and slid his arm around her waist once more. She could feel Jasper's eyes on her back, but the reassuring pressure of Edward's hand was like a shield to the fear she normally would have felt.

They trooped into Miss Robbins' room just as the rain began, and Bella took her seat, surreptitiously sliding a novel between her textbook's cover. She almost felt bad. Miss Robbins was pretty much the most genuinely sweet teacher Bella had ever met, but her lectures were painfully dull. Most of the class was engaged in some form of distraction. Edward had a piece of paper he was doodling little squiggles on, though it was difficult to make them out from across the room. Jasper, too, had a book tucked between the cover of his text, and she couldn't help but smile knowing that it was probably a history of some kind anyway. He caught her eye, and she immediately looked away.

When the bell rang again, she looked up, startled. Her book had proven incredibly effective, distracting her so thoroughly she'd almost forgotten she was in class. Again, Edward waited by the door, and, again, she slid her jacket on and let him guide her to their next class.

Alice was waiting outside the door to their math class. She looked positively normal for a change, sporting skinny jeans and boots, a t-shirt splattered in feathers, sequins, and glitter, and her favorite leather jacket. Bella couldn't help but grin as she watched a brilliant smile overpower Alice's delicate features as she bobbed up and down on the balls of her feet in eager anticipation.

"I hope you realize the agony I'm going to have to endure now," Bella sighed, glancing up at Edward's amused expression.

"She does seem awfully excited."

"That's because she is."

"Of course," Edward chuckled as they reached the door. "She's all yours," he said to Alice, relinquishing Bella to her best friend before she had a chance to question him about his previous comment.

Alice looped her arm through Bella's and positively tugged her back to their desk. They got situated just in time to watch Jasper stop and stare at his desk in disgust. Alice buried her face in her hands to mask her giggles, earning her a glare. Bella, however, merely frowned.

Edward was clearly going out of his way not to antagonize Jasper. It was obvious before school that he was trying to keep his focus entirely on her. In English, he didn't make a single snide remark about her whispered conversation. But now, sitting at the desk in front of her as Jasper looked suspiciously between them, she couldn't help but notice that he was looking more than a little smug. The sympathy she felt for Jasper left her, as always, a little disgusted with herself.

Hadn't he always gone out of his way to subtly rub in the fact that he was with Alice?

Hadn't he always made it clear that he had absolutely no interest in her?

She stubbornly told herself that the answer to both of those questions was an emphatic YES!, but the answer no longer seemed definite. As Mr. Varner began his lecture, Bella began putting the pieces together in her head. There was the very fact that he always managed to look at her when he and Alice were together, the way he'd touched her hand on Edward's first day, and the note he'd written her. There was his reaction to Edward and his general possessiveness. There was the motorcycle incident and the buildup to it. And then, there were her conversations with Emmett and Edward. And that was all in the last week.

"Earth to Miss Swan."

Bella jumped in her seat. "Um, what?"

"I will give the entire class an A on the final if you can tell me what I just said," Mr. Varner explained, standing over her.

"Something about math?" she questioned, eliciting snickers from her friends and groans from her naïvely hopeful classmates.

"This is the second class in a row you haven't been paying attention, Bella. You know what the third time means," Mr. Varner warned.

"Another opportunity for you to try to embarrass a student?" Jasper offered.

"Excuse me, Mr. Hale?"

"Oh, I think you heard me just about right the first time," Jasper replied, the barest hint of a smirk forming as he relaxed in his chair.

Alice elbowed Bella in the ribs, a confused crinkle forming between her perfectly manicured eyebrows. Bella could only shrug, too dumbfounded to say anything. Even Edward had joined in the shocked glances of the rest of the class.

"I expect an apology. Immediately. Or else – "

"Or else you'll send me to the principal?" Jasper asked in mock innocence.

Alice choked on a giggle. Other muffled gasps and snickers sounded from around the room. Edward was rolling his eyes, but Bella just stared at the back of the blonde head in front of her. With one comment, Jasper had completely deflected Mr. Varner's attention from her and sacrificed himself. All she could think was that if the now fuming mad teacher didn't throttle him, she would.

"No," Mr. Varner laughed. "Contrary to your apparent belief, I am a creative disciplinarian. You'll apologize, or the entire class will be assigned fifty vector problems which must be turned in to me by tomorrow. For a test grade."

The snickering immediately ceased as everyone focused their angry glares on Jasper. Bella couldn't help but be impressed. Mr. Varner only gave three tests a semester, including the final, so they took up almost the entirety of everyone's final grade. Jasper, of course, always got an A.

"Which fifty problems?" he asked.

Mr. Varner's whole body tensed. "Chapter Thirteen. Problem sets A through D."

"But sir!" Lauren Mallory whined. "We haven't even started that chapter!"

"Well, class ends in five minutes. If Mr. Hale apologizes to me before the end of the period, all will be forgiven."

Silence rang in Bella's ears, interrupted only by Jasper's amused snort.

"I hardly consider this fair, sir" Edward said after two minutes had passed. "You're playing chicken with everyone's grades. That's a flagrant disregard – "

"I'm the law in this classroom, kid."

"Great," Edward replied. "Since you're the law, you'll have absolutely no problem speaking with my father's attorneys – or my father for that matter – regarding why the smart mouth of one asshole is letting you play Russian Roulette with the grades of a bunch of juniors who are about to have to apply to college. Because I'm pretty sure that's gotta be a violation of some sort of state regulation or something."

Mr. Varner faltered. "I could use a six month paid leave," he finally said with a contrived eye roll.

"Or you could use a six month struggle of trying to find a new job, only to fail because termination for harassment of students doesn't look so hot on your resume and so you have to give up and flip burgers."

"Mr. Cullen – "

Hushed whispers were breaking out in the class as every single pair of eyes in the room alternated rapidly between the minute hand of the wall clock, Edward, and his sparring partner.

"Look, I wouldn't have said anything at all, but you know as well as I do that this asshole," he said, jerking his head in Jasper's direction, "gets off on this sort of thing. Are you really going to let him win?"

Mr. Varner smiled as the bell rang. "Fair enough, Mr. Cullen. No problem sets. Mr. Hale, please remain behind a moment."

Bella sprang from her chair, ignoring Alice as she hurried to Edward's side.

"You have single-handedly won the devotion of an entire class, including me," she said.

He laughed as his arm wound its way around her waist. "Yours I'll take."

"Mr. Varner is such a grouch," she complained as they walked. "He always does that sort of stuff, just never that bad."

"I figured by the way he reacted."

"Don't look at me," she said quickly. "I couldn't tell you what his deal was for a million dollars."

"Next time just pay attention. I could have used that A," he teased, squeezing her hip gently.

"So, it's…it's lunch time."

"I know."

"Do you – "

"Oh my god. That was amazing. The single most awesome in class throw-down of all time!"

"Alice, come on," Bella pleaded as her friend skipped to her side.

"No, I'm serious. It was epic. Epic."

"You're repeating yourself," Bella warned.

"I don't care," Alice replied. "I'm Alice, by the way," she said, turning to address Edward. "I introduced myself the other day, but you were all cold and broody so I thought I'd give it another go."

Edward frowned, shifting awkwardly from one foot to the other and loosening his hold on Bella. "I remember," he finally spoke.

"So you should sit with us at lunch," Alice said with a bright smile, twirling a lock of her insanely shiny, dark bob around her finger.

Bella cast a worried glance up at Edward. "Actually…um, we're going to eat in my truck," she told Alice, shooting her a meaningful glance she could only hope would be properly misinterpreted.

Alice's smile turned impish. "Gotcha. Well, poo," she pouted. "I guess this means I'm eating in the library."

"Nah," Edward said, squinting back toward the classroom. "Your troublemaker just got out."

"Fantastic! Later, losers," she called as she took off in Jasper's direction.

"Sorry," Bella sighed. "She's easily excitable."

Edward was silent, pulling her along to the parking lot.

"I mean, she means well and all, she just…"

She trailed off, biting her lip and fidgeting with a loose thread on her cardigan. "She doesn't understand why – "

"Would you quit apologizing," he grumbled, his free hand raising to run roughly through his hair.

"Sor…oops."

He breezed right past her truck, pulling out his own keys and beeping his car open. She followed, waiting silently as he opened the door and shut it with a click.

"I don't like your friends," he said as soon as his own door had shut behind him.

"You don't know my friends," she pointed out.

"I know enough."

"Please," she said. "You don't know anything. And you don't want to. I get that. But they are my friends, Edward."

"I know that, too." His eyes were scrunched shut and his fingers were pinching the bridge of his nose.

"So what do you want me to do?"

He tensed all over before releasing a deep sigh and glancing at her. "I want you to not be friends with them anymore."

Bella bristled, biting the corner of her lip. "That's not fair."

"I know it isn't," he said, watching the tiny raindrops mist all over his windshield, though he didn't bother turning on the wipers.

They sat in silence for a long time, until their vision was entirely obscured by the water.

"I can't do it."

"I know you can't."

"So why the hell did you even ask me to do it?"

"Because it was worth a shot," he replied.

His long fingers reached out, toying with the ends of her hair. Not bothering to analyze what was happening, Bella tilted her head down so her cheek was pressed against his palm. He brought his other hand up so that he was cupping her face and leaned in. Her eyes slid closed, but his lips never made contact. Instead, Edward rested his forehead against hers, the tip of his nose brushing her own. Neither moved to break the embrace until, in the distance, the shrill warning of the bell system told them that they would be late for Biology.

"Come on," he said quietly. "Time to go."

"We could skip again?"

"I don't think so, Bella," he chuckled. "Besides, I have you all to myself this period, so it's unnecessary."

"You haven't spent enough time with Mr. Banner," she mumbled as she climbed out into the rain.

Edward waited for her to reach him and tucked her into his side as they began a brisk walk toward their class.

"Try not to trip and fall on your face," he warned her. "I'd prefer to make it to class as dry as possible."

"How would you know about my tripping," she scowled.

"My father works at the hospital. Everyone warned him."

"You mean Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Mallory warned him."

"He just said everyone," Edward smiled.

"Ugh. I hate my life."

Biology passed quickly, and Edward again walked her to her next class, a class they were supposed to share but he'd managed to weasel out of. As they stood outside the gym, he grinned his crooked grin at her as he slid a folded slip of paper into her hands. He walked away backward, smiling the entire way, until he reached the corner. With a small wave and a mimed reminder to open the slip of paper he'd given her, he disappeared behind the building.

Bella stood for a long minute after he'd gone before remembering the paper in her hands. As soon as it was opened, she started to laugh. There, in a neat little square, was the answer to her second greatest problem. She practically skipped with glee to the Coach, handing the get-out-of-jail free card over. Coach Brian couldn't stop the relieved expression that spread over his features. With obvious excitement, he sent her to the library to pass the period.

"This is the best thing anyone has ever done for me!" she exclaimed as soon as she walked in the door.

Edward looked up with a grin from the book he was buried in. "I'm pretty much amazing," he agreed.

"How did you get this?" she asked, waving the piece of paper around.

"My dad is a doctor, Bella. I asked him for it."

"And he just gave it to you?"

"It was actually easy," he admitted. "He has this total thing about the uselessness of high school gym class as a beneficial…you know, you can ask him about it sometime."

"What?"

"I was thinking, maybe you'd like to come over to my house tomorrow after school." Sensing her hesitation, he plowed forward, talking too fast for her to interrupt. "I'll come and pick you up in the morning so you don't have to drive, since my house is pretty much impossible to find if you don't know where it is. And I'll take you home after. And my mom, she'll be there, and I swear she won't try to speak to you in Italian. She'll probably stuff you full of homemade baked goods of some kind, but I kind of doubt you'll care about that and…and…just say yes so I can shut up, ok?"

"Ok."

"Ok?"

"Ok, Edward. I'll come over."

"So I'll pick you up at seven?"

"That's fine."

"I'm going to read my book now," he said, holding up a worn copy of The Fountainhead.

"Ew. You and Ayn Rand."

"Talking about it yesterday made me want to read it again," he shrugged.

Yesterday. The word rattled around Bella's mind, and she couldn't quite believe that it was only yesterday that she'd spilled her guts and told him her whole, sordid history. It was both incredible and terrifying.

"I have a book, so it's fine," she said, brandishing her own worn copy of Wuthering Heights.

"You so don't get to judge," Edward said, pulling out a leather cord that had marked his space and recommencing his reading.

Bella let him have the last word, burying her own nose in the familiar story. They sat together, reading for the entire period. Occasionally, Edward would chuckle or frown, and she found her eyes drawn from the pages to watch him. When she let out a tiny groan at a particularly cruel remark from Cathy, she noticed his eyes flitting toward her as well. Even with the distraction he caused, she found reading with Edward soothing and comfortable.

When the final bell rang, Edward walked her to her car. She could feel the eyes on her, but already cared less than she had that morning.

"See, today wasn't so hard," he said.

"I suppose," she said, wrenching open the door to her truck and ignoring his exaggerated cringe.

"Tomorrow morning," he said, smiling and pinching her cheek.

"Bye, Edward."

When she got home, she threw together a shepherd's pie and put it in the fridge to let the flavors marry before dinner. She spent the next several hours lost in the English Moors, surfacing only to put the casserole in the oven and listen to Charlie describe his thrilling hearts victory over deputies Mark and Steve and Mrs. Crowley, the FPD assistant. Bella laughed in all the right places and gratefully accepted Charlie's offer to clean up.

As she climbed back up the stairs, her confusion over Jasper's reaction to Mr. Varner returned. With a violent shake of her head, she attempted to expel him from her mind. She exhaled through her nose in annoyance, shutting her bedroom door behind her and heading toward her laptop. Her fingers drummed in impatience as she waited for an internet signal to finally come through. When one finally did, she immediately opened Google and started looking for tutorials in Italian greetings – if she was going to be meeting Edward's mother, she better do some sucking up.

Charlie called a goodnight, and she glanced at her clock in surprise, goggling at the swiftness with which the past several hours had flown by – and how incredibly focused she'd been. She shut down her laptop and changed into her shorts and a sweatshirt. Almost as soon as she reached for her lamp, she heard a tiny thunk outside her window. A smile stretched unbidden across her face, and Bella crawled out from under the covers to kneel on the end of the bed in anticipation.

Soon, though, her smile disappeared. The fingers that opened the window had no polish on their nails. The hair that slowly emerged was honey blonde and not bronze. The eyes that lifted over the sill were cool gray instead of warm green. And the expression was a scowl instead of a smile.

"Jasper?" she gasped.