Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight. I do however, own my OCs, this storyline, and more clothes with Jack Skellington on them then I care to admit.

A/N: As always, thanks to the most wonderful beta in the world, readingtime. Loves ya, BB. I've had a lot of people ask me for reading recommendations, so I'm going to start putting one per chapter in my author's notes. The first one is Ascension by changedbyEdward. It is a fabulous alternate BD story that will make you wish that's the way SM wrote it. It's on my favorites list.

Oh, and one more quick thing. Please understand that I do not condone or encourage underage drinking. I just accept it as a natural occurence in college life. It's one of the human experiences. Adrian and Bella are both responsible about it, for what it's worth.

Edward's POV

"Good Morning, Beautiful." Bella barely lifted her head to acknowledge me as she dragged herself to the couch and slumped into it. I supposed it was too much to hope for that the kiss we shared last night would have completely snapped her out of this. She probably didn't even remember kissing me back. In her state of mind, she may have even imagined that it was Jasper. I swallowed back the disappointment. Bella needed a friend now. I poured her a cup of coffee and put some french vanilla creamer in it, just the way she liked it. I put the steaming mug in her hand and kissed her forehead before moving to sit on the other end of the couch.

"He didn't call. He didn't come back," she muttered, more to herself then to me. "I thought he loved me."

"Bella? Please look at me." Bella didn't move. "Bella, please?" Finally, she lifted her head and turned to me, her face sallow and exhausted. If I didn't know better, I wouldn't have believed she got a wink of sleep.

"I don't agree with what he did, but I would be a hypocrite if I didn't point out to you that just because he left, it doesn't mean he doesn't love you." Bella cringed, but said nothing. "Try and see it from his point of view. He probably felt as though he were going to go insane from the onslaught of emotions crashing into him from all sides. Should he have left, sacrificed your last two days together? No, of course not. I'm beyond angry at him right now for doing that to you. But can I understand it? Yes, Bella, I can. There have been times when I felt the need to run away from a situation because everyone's thoughts were crushing me. I would imagine that to actually feel what we were all feeling had to have been torturous."

Bella took a sip of her coffee and gave me a weak smile. She sat there silent for a few moments, then nodded her head. "You're right. I can see that. I just need to let him work through this. I shouldn't be reacting so selfishly."

"I never said you were selfish, Bella. Far from it."

"Thank you, Edward."

"You're welcome, Bella. Now, how do you want today to go? There's the USC game, we can meet up with Alice and go if you're feeling up to it, or if you're not ready to venture out yet, we can just hang out here."

"No, I'd like to go to the game and cheer on Adrian." Bella's voice sounded a little stronger, and she took a larger sip of her coffee. Her face suddenly shot up, filled with panic. "Edward, will I still be able to see Adrian? We can still be friends, right?"

"Yes, Bella. The Volturi aren't going to expect you to not have any human friends. We just have to make sure that he doesn't give them any reason to suspect he knows we're vampires or that he has anything beyond a platonic relationship with Alice." Bella let out a breath and relaxed visibly. "Why don't you get a shower? I'll call Alice and see if she wants to meet us here."

"Are you trying to tell me I stink, Edward?" Bella teased as she stood up. Progress. I walked next to her and lifted a lock of hair, twisting it in my fingers before bringing it to my nose and inhaling deeply. Bella held her breath and stood still as an oak tree.

"Not a single whiff of strawberries…shameful," I teased back, letting her hair fall back onto her shoulder. Bella looked at me in shock and then scrunched her nose at me in false anger before storming off to the bedroom. It might have been convincing if not for the giggles.

I picked up my cell phone and went to call Alice, but found a text message from her waiting for me. I'll be there in an hour. Well, that was easy.

Bella came out a short time later, dressed simply in an OSU sweatshirt, blue jeans and tennis shoes. Her hair hung loosely around her in slightly damp tendrils, and she had foregone any makeup. She looked beautiful.

She sat at the counter and I stepped behind her, pointedly smelling the top of her head. "Much better," I said, laughing as Bella tried to spin around and smack me as I jumped out of reach. I went into the kitchen and placed a toasted everything bagel with cream cheese in front of her and poured her some orange juice. She smiled at me gratefully before taking a bite. As she lifted the bagel to her mouth, my eyes focused on my mother's ring. It fit Bella perfectly. It looked so natural on her finger. My mind was just starting to wander into one of my many fantasies of mine and Bella's wedding when Bella's voice snapped me out of my reverie.

"So…how is all this going to work, Edward? I mean…you…and me…and pretending to be a couple?"

I took a deep breath and sighed. "Well, from what I understand, they'll be watching us at all times, so even when we're here at home, we'll have to keep up the charade. And we have to be convincing, we can't give them any reason to think that we're not still in love." My voice shook on the last part, and Bella looked up at me, remembering something.

"Last night, when you were talking about using meditation to block your feelings from Jasper, you said you did it so you didn't have to stay away from me. What did you mean by that?"

Damn. I was hoping she wouldn't bring that up. It wasn't something I wanted to go into detail about. It would only serve to cause me more pain, and possibly Bella, too. But there it was, and I wouldn't lie to her.

"I was in terrible pain and was jealous beyond words when we broke up. It wasn't like I could just stop loving you, Bella. But you didn't want Jasper to have to deal with that, and I didn't want to have to be away from you, so I had to hide it."

"Oh, Edward!" Bella looked at me with pity, and I hated it. "I had no idea. I always just thought that you had accepted it, that you took it all in stride. I'm so sorry." Bella looked up at me, realization overtaking the pity in her expression. "This is going to be really hard on you, isn't it?"

I walked around the island and took her hands, beckoning her to stand up so I could wrap my arms around her. "How do I put this, Bella?" I bent down and was about to kiss her when I felt her quivering and thought better of it. I kissed her cheek instead before whispering in her ear, "I'm looking forward to regretting this." Bella wrapped her arms tighter around me and pulled me closer. I melted into her and relished the warmth from her embrace. When she released me, she took me by the hand and squeezed it.

"Let's just try and relax and have some fun today. We'll figure everything else out along the way, okay?"

Alice burst through the door. "Come on guys! We're going to be late!"

When we got to the stadium, Bella was looking around, trying to be inconspicuous and doing a lousy job of it. She was looking for Jasper. I glanced over to Alice, who shook her head slightly. He wasn't going to show up. I put my hand on the small of Bella's back. "Come on, love. Would you like something from the concession stand before we take our seats?"

"Yes, actually, it's a little chilly. I could use some hot chocolate," she smiled at me gratefully, and I pulled her closer to me, putting my arm around her shoulders as we got in line.

"Okay, I'm confused," a voice from behind us said. We turned around and came face-to-face with Kelly, her brow wrinkled in confusion. So, she left Edward for Jasper, which was stupid on her part, but whatever. Now here she is, with no Jasper anywhere in sight, and she's getting cozy with Edward?

"Kelly," I started, cautiously. We had to handle her delicately. She could be an issue if the Volturi questioned her. "Bella and I have…reconciled. She and Jasper have broken up. Jasper has gone back to Alice."

"So what happened to Adrian in this little game of musical chairs?" Her tone was biting and it was directed at Bella. These guys are both my friends, and she seems to hurt them a helluva lot. She needs to make up her freaking mind and quit leading them both on. I started to reply, but Bella put her hand on my chest to stop me. Holy Shit! Is that an engagement ring on her finger?

"Kelly, I appreciate that you are confused, and I'm sure that both Edward and Jasper appreciate your friendship, but this really doesn't concern you," Bella stood firm, and I had to admit, I was proud of her for handling this with her head held high. It would have been easy for her to hide her head in shame from the misconceptions people were bound to have about her with this ruse.

"Fine." Kelly turned from Bella to me. "So are you still able to help me with my composition tomorrow?"

I looked to Bella. "I'm sorry, Bella, it completely slipped my mind. I had invited Kelly over to our house tomorrow to help her with that music project I told you about. Would you mind if she still came over? If it would make you uncomfortable, I could meet her in one of the practice rooms in the music building instead."

"No, Edward. It's fine. I'll finish unpacking while you're working, and then we can have a quiet evening together once she's gone." Bella's indignant tone surprised me, but not as much as what she did next. Bella stood on her tippy toes and kissed me. It was just a quick peck, but still, it shocked me, a fact that, unfortunately, Kelly did not miss. "Thank you for the hot chocolate, Edward. We should catch up with Alice and get in our seats." Bella glanced over at Kelly. "We'll see you tomorrow, Kelly," Bella summarily dismissed her before taking my hand and leading me away from the concession stand.

After we were out of Kelly's hearing range, Bella changed her tune. She let go of my hand and wrapped her arms around her waist, curling her shoulders in. "Everyone's going to think I'm a tramp, Edward, just like she did, I know they are."

I bent down to look in her eyes. "First of all, she's really the only new person we've made friends with since we've been here, so you really don't have to worry about what everyone thinks. Not that you really need to worry about what Kelly thinks, either. We know the truth, that's all that matters," I gave her a soft smile, encouraging her to do the same. I was so glad when she did. We made it to our seats just in time to cheer the team on as they run onto the field. Adrian looked up at our seats as he came out of the tunnel, and I could tell from his thoughts that he was distracted. He wasn't thinking about the game, he was thinking about Ally and this whole mess.

Three sacks, two turnovers, and one missed field goal later, OSU was losing to USC 7-10 with less than a minute left to go. Adrian finally got his head in the game and focused, driving the team down the field with three first downs in a row before throwing a Hail Mary touchdown pass with three seconds left on the clock. Final score 14-10, OSU. Both girls jumped up and down cheering for Adrian as the team lifted him up on their shoulders.

We picked up Adrian outside the locker rooms after he'd showered and taken his turn on the podium answering questions from the press. They decided they wanted to go to BW3's and get some burgers and wings for dinner. Adrian told us he'd managed to get his own room in the football dorms and had put most of his stuff in storage, along with anything that would point to Bella and Jasper's relationship, photos and the like. He would be spending one more night at the house and then he'd start staying at the dorms on Sunday. Adrian couldn't keep his hands off of Alice, and while both Bella and I understood, it was starting to make us both uncomfortable, so Bella ate quickly. We dropped them off at the house, and Adrian and Bella shared a meaningful embrace before we left.

When we arrived back at home, neither of us seemed to know what to do, or how to act. It was odd, the comfortable atmosphere of Bella's nights here when it was 'Hotel Edward,' or even from this morning, was gone. Instead of taking steps forward, we seemed to have taken a step back. I was a bit perplexed about how to fix it. An idea came to me. I wondered how she'd take it.

"Why don't we start small, Bella. Remember how we used to cuddle on the couch and read together? Why don't we try that…we can even read your diary together so we can continue our conversations from last week. It might actually work out well – it'll save me a lot of time highlighting and writing in the margins!" Bella chuckled and nodded her head. I popped her a bag of popcorn and poured it into a bowl for her while she changed into her favorite flannel pajamas.

I sat down on the couch and spread my legs so Bella could sit between them and lean back on my chest. She threw the blanket over our legs and I put the bowl of popcorn on her lap. The whole thing felt awkward and forced. I guess this was why Alice said it would take two weeks to get the kinks worked out of our little deception. That's not to say it didn't feel wonderful, because it did. It took everything I had to not let my body have a very apparent reaction to Bella's close proximity.

"So, where did we leave off?" Bella asked as I put my arms under hers and held the book open and leaning against the popcorn bowl as I flipped to the bookmark.

"The day after the meadow…" I said as I started to read.

This morning I told him I loved him and he told me I was his life. Sigh! Then he said it was breakfast time, so I covered up my throat and pretended to be all scared. He didn't think it was funny, but I did! He rephrased, careful to say 'for the human,' then the barbarian threw me over his shoulder and carried me downstairs. He said he wants me to meet his family later on today. They had actually TAKEN BETS on whether I'd make it out of the meadow alive! I wish I knew which ones thought I was going to be dinner. I hope they weren't disappointed when they lost. I'm really nervous about meeting them. I hope they like me. Edward acted kind of weird when he said Alice saw me coming, I wonder what that was about.

"What was that about, Edward? Had Alice seen James?" Bella tilted her head to ask.

"No, she saw…" my voice drifted off. Bella waited a moment, then prodded me along.

"She saw…what?"

"She saw you, as a vampire," I admitted, much to my chagrin.

"You still hate that idea, don't you?" Bella asked, sounded sad and hurt.

"No, Bella, at least not as much as I did then. Losing you made me reconsider a lot of the beliefs I used to hold firm to. That is just one of them. Obviously, I would prefer you to stay human, but it falls well below your safety and happiness to me in the grand scheme of things." Bella seemed satisfied with that answer, and turned back to continue reading out loud.

Edward wants me to introduce him to Charlie as my boyfriend. Boyfriend! That word seems so completely insufficient to describe what he means to me. He said he would be here as long as I want him. I told him I'd want him forever (DUH!). That seemed to make him sad, I don't know why.

"I guess that was because of Alice's vampire vision, too?" Bella asked. I nodded my head.

"Bella, I was wrong to think that way. If I had to do it all over again, I would never have squandered the chance to spend forever with you," I whispered. Bella sniffled a little and nodded her head.

March 13, 2005 (Part 2) – After I got ready to go meet Edward's family, I tripped down the stairs and Edward, of course, caught me. He kissed me and I fainted! SO embarrassing…

I got to meet almost everyone. Dr. Cullen (still as gorgeous as ever), who asked me to call him Carlisle. His wife, Esme, was very sweet and made me feel like I was talking to Snow White, live and in person. Alice kissed me on the cheek. Edward didn't seem to like that, but I thought it was nice of her. Jasper, Alice's husband, is more tall and leonine than I remembered him from school. He didn't shake my hand, but I had this feeling of ease come over me, and it made me feel very comfortable. It was impossible to feel awkward around him, even though he was keeping his distance. I wonder if it had to do with his powers.

I smirked at Bella's comment about Carlisle, then cringed at her description of Jasper. Bella must have felt it, because her voice dropped a little lower as she continued reading.

Edward played the piano for me, a beautiful song that he said I inspired. I felt so extremely insignificant. Is there anything he's not perfect at? I cried when it was finished, and he did something really weird. He caught a tear with his finger, and put it in his mouth.

I realized they can talk to Edward where I can't hear. They say things in their thoughts to him and he responds by nodding his head or whatever. I caught Carlisle doing it. Edward said Carlisle was telling him that Alice had a vision of other vampires in the area, ones that drink humans.

Edward told me all about Carlisle and the life he'd led. Edward told me all about his own vampire youth, and the years where he drank from evil humans. I think he expected me to be freaked out. I told him to quit waiting for the running and screaming, that I wasn't afraid of him. So he growled and pounced on me, and we flew into the sofa so fast it hit the wall! Crazy vampire… I'm going to go watch them play baseball later.

Jacob and Billy were waiting for us when we got back to the house. Edward called Jacob a child. Grrr… if he sees Jacob as a child, then he must see me as one, too. That's the second time that's come up. I'm going to have to say something about it next time. Right then I was more concerned with getting Billy to keep his mouth shut around my dad so I'd have time to get ready before Charlie comes home and Edward comes over. Speaking of which, I'd better get going! I have no idea what I'm going to wear…

"Bella, I know that I've mentioned this before, but I really am sorry that I ever made you feel as though I saw you as a child."

"I know, Edward. It's okay. You don't see me as a child now, do you?" My eyes smoldered as I chanced a pointed glance down her frame and back up. The thin blanket and flannel PJ's did little to hide her curves. When my eyes made their way back to her face, she was flushed with embarrassment. I smirked a little and nuzzled her ear with the tip of my nose.

"I thought I told you this once already, Bella. You are most definitely…all…woman." Bella's heart rate went through the roof and I laughed.

"You did that on purpose!" She accused.

"Yes, well, I wanted to distract you. I've read enough of the diary for tonight. The next few entries are not going to be very much fun." I thought back to the baseball game, and the time we were separated while she was in Phoenix, and then of my angel at the mercy of James in that ballet studio. I shuttered at the thought.

"I think you'll be surprised reading it. Here, let me show you," Bella said tenderly.

March 14, 2005 – Okay, I'm a little freaked out right now, so I'm going to try and calm down so I can get everything down. Everything went fine with Charlie, Edward knew exactly how to charm him. We took Emmett's monster Jeep to the end of a road by the side of the mountain, then Edward needed to carry me from there. He knew I wasn't looking forward to doing THAT again, so he decided to distract me. He touched his cold lips to the hollow at the base of my throat, then drew a line up the skin of my throat to the point of my chin with his nose, then he kissed my eyelashes, then down my cheek before finally kissing me. He was driving me crazy with desire. I couldn't help myself, I wrapped my arms around him and parted my lips, hoping he would take it further. His response? "Damn it, Bella! You'll be the death of me, I swear you will!" I tried joking about the fact that he was indestructible, but it didn't work. He explained later that he wasn't mad at me, he was mad at himself for not being able to stay away from me. Then he said He Loved Me! EDWARD CULLEN LOVES ME!!!!!

I watched the baseball game with Esme, who was playing referee. I like Esme a lot. She told me how she jumped off a cliff to kill herself after her baby died, and Carlisle saved her when he changed her. It seems like Edward really filled her need for a child, even though he's technically older than her. I thought it was really a sweet story. The game was amazing! They hit the ball so hard it sounded like thunder, and it would fly way into the woods and Edward would disappear, then reappear with it in his hand. I'd never seen anything like it! Edward was showing off a little bit, I think. He's so perfect at EVERYTHING!

Then, it all went to hell…

Three red eyed vampires showed up, their names were James, Victoria, and Laurent. Long story short, James wants to eat me. Everyone protected me and got me out of there, but now he's chasing us. I had to make Charlie think I was going back to Phoenix with Renee so that James would leave him alone. One brief kiss was all I got before they were gone. Now I'm sitting here in the back of Carlisle's Mercedes on our way to Phoenix, Esme and Rosalie are off somewhere with my truck trying to throw James off my trail while Edward, Carlisle, and Emmett try and track him down to kill him before he kills me. All I want is for this nightmare to be over, for the Cullens to be safe, and for me to be back where I belong – in Edward's arms.

I looked down at Bella. In my arms. I couldn't help but think that she was right. It was where she belonged. And now here she was, and all I wanted to do was love her. She looked up at me when she finished reading, and we just stared at each other for the longest time.

"Bella, may I kiss you?" I whispered to her. Bella nodded her head.

"I guess we have to start sometime, right?" she whispered back, reminding me that even though she was in my arms, her heart belonged to another. I froze. I couldn't do it. I couldn't kiss her knowing she would be thinking about Jasper. Bella put her hand on my cheek and looked at me imploringly. I was certain the pain shown through my eyes as I got lost in hers. I could almost pretend I saw love there. Almost. I drew my face slowly away from her hand and kissed her palm before scooting her forward so I could disentangle myself from her and stand up, turning away from her.

"It's late, Bella, and it's been a long day. I don't want to keep you up any longer." Bella stayed still for a moment or two, then silently retreated into the bedroom, closing her door behind her.

A/N: The Naked Cullen Boys are going to Disney World! You can see them out and about in Orlando, FL, where they will be doing house calls to my favorite reviewers delivering Tonga Toast, Dole Whips and hot oil massages... I'm still way behind on review and PM replies...forgive me and love me anyway, please?