BPOV
"Time to go, I guess," Alice said after we heard a honk from outside.
"Are you sure it's okay that Jake and me are coming?" I asked her for the millionth time, my voice still quivering a little.
We walked outside as Alice replied, "Of course it's okay. You guys were my best friends, and I will spend as much time as physically possible with you while we're still here."
I turned my head away from her to see what would be taking us to the show tonight. A nice, black stretch limo. That won't attract any attention from the neighbors, not at all.
I had told Charlie about this show tonight yesterday. At first he wasn't thrilled, but when I mentioned Alice in town and going, I thought he would've made me go.
Charlie didn't know all the details about James, just that it was a hard breakup. Which wasn't true, but it made my emotions a little more normal at the time. If Charlie knew the true story, he would hunt him down and kill him.
"Are you going to be okay?" Alice asked right before we approached the car, if you could call it that.
"I'm going to be fine. I've dealt with it for almost a year now, I can for one night. Let's just not talk about it tonight, I don't want to start crying again," I said wiping away my last tear.
The car was already half full with Edward, his brothers, and another girl. Somehow, I got stuck next to Edward. Jake was on the other side of me though, so as long as I could sit almost on his lap -and away from Edward- I was fine.
Alice got right to introductions. "This is Jasper, Emmett, and Rosalie, you already know Edward. Guys, this is Bella and Jake. They were my best friends when I lived here."
"Good to meet you," Jasper said and outstretched a hand.
Jake shook his hand, but I froze.
I hated contact with males. That was my one thing. After James, it took a lot for me to warm up to someone. Jake was different, and I got used to my dad. I didn't know this guy though. I was sure he was fine, I mean, Alice picked good guys. I just couldn't do this.
Why had I come to this show? They were going to think I was a freak.
"She doesn't shake hands, doesn't like germs," Alice spoke up.
Thank God. I could kiss her. I told her thanks with my eyes, when I noticed someone else's eyes on me.
Edward was staring at me.
"What?" I asked, with annoyance leaking into my voice.
"Nothing. Are you okay?" He asked.
"I'm fine. I don't like germs, like Alice said."
"Yeah, I heard her. You just froze or something, I dunno."
After a couple tense seconds, everyone started talking again. So I turned to Jake and he whisper-asked if I was okay.
I gave him a weak nod, and we were finally there. Everyone got out in couples, so me and Jake got out lagging a little.
"Are you sure you're okay, Bells? You honestly looked scared. I haven't seen that look for two months," Jake whispered into my ear as we followed the rest of them.
"I'm fine, I promise. Everyone at school left me alone, they knew me. Now these new people and I just… I don't want them to think I'm some freak, Jake! You saw how Edward was staring at me. I don't even know why I came. Alice would've understood. I wanna go home, Jake," I said, with my voice breaking. I didn't want to start crying again.
"Listen, Belly. If you really want to go home, I'll take you home. They aren't going to think you're a freak, I promise. Edward was staring at you because he was worried about you. You know it kills me to say this, but he likes you. He likes you a lot. I can tell. I used to look at you the same way."
"You know what?" I asked him, looking into his eyes. "You always know the right thing to say. Thank you, Jake. I don't know what I'd ever do without you."
I gave him a huge hug, and we walked together into House of Blues, where the show would be.
Alice gave me a small smile as we came in, and I returned her with a bigger one.
After warming up their voices and tuning their instruments, the guys were ready to go on stage.
"Are you ready?" Emmett asked his brothers.
They nodded and they walked out. We were hanging backstage during the show, as it was sold out.
I couldn't believe I had never heard them before. Edward's voice, it was like an angel. It sounded like velvet, but rough around the edges. The roughness worked for him, it gave him an edge. I never wanted to stop listening.
They had played a few fast songs, before Edward stopped to say something.
"Alright, guys. If you don't mind, we're gunna slow it down a bit for this next song." Screams. "Okay, this song is for a very special lady that I met yesterday. I hope she likes it just as much as you."
Alice, Jake, and Rosalie snapped their heads around to stare at me. What? He couldn't be talking about me…could he?
"Was he… talking about… me?" I asked in a small voice.
Rosalie looked at me like I was stupid, Alice nodded, and Jake looked like he wanted to go kill Edward. Geeze, he was worse than a dad. Maybe that's why Charlie liked him so much.
I stopped focusing on them, and started focusing on the song.
It must've been a new song because the crowd wasn't singing along. Could he have…wrote it about me in the first place? It was one thing if it reminded him about me, but for me?
Either way, the song was gorgeous. The best song of the night, by far. It was a bit more rough, but it worked. The whole room got into it, even if they hadn't heard it before. It was, in one word, amazing.
The guys walked off the stage when the show was over, and Edward gave me a long stare before going into his dressing room.
"Well, aren't you going to go say something to him?" Alice asked me when the three of them had left.
"I don't know what to say! I mean, that song was…amazing and really sweet! But I'm not ready for a relationship right now, Ali. You should understand that. I don't want to hurt him by leading him on, but he's kind of hard to get rid of," I cried in one breath.
"Of course you aren't ready, B. But whether you believe it or not, Edward will understand. You forget he got out of a really bad relationship a couple years ago too. Not as bad as yours, but he'll wait for you."
"I can't tell him! He'll think I'm a freak. It was hard enough to tell you!"
Alice looked at me hurt. "Bella, we were best friends. You were like a sister to me."
"Yeah, I know. It's not you, it's everyone! Charlie doesn't even know!"
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that. You went through a lot, and it's your choice who you tell. If you don't want to tell Edward, you don't have to. But whether he knows what's going on or not, he'll wait for you. I've never seen him look at a girl the same way he looked at you."
I hugged Alice, letting her know I forgave her, just as the guys walked out.
"How did you guys like the show?" Emmett asked us while he walked over to Rosalie.
There was a chorus of amazings and greats.
"I really liked it," I whispered staring at Edward.
He gave me a small smile.
"Alright, we should probably be heading out. Don't want to get Charlie mad at me when I just got home," Alice said.
"Where do you need to get dropped off at, Jacob?" Edward asked him.
"I'm going to Bella's," he said, not realizing how it sounded.
My dad and Jake's dad, Billy, have been best friends since high school. Billy was like my second dad. Well, Jake's mom had died when he was little and Billy got remarried about two months ago. Sue was great and all, but she had two kids of her own.
Leah was a 14 year old girl, and then Seth who was only five. They were great and all, but I didn't blame Jake for getting sick of them. Leah was hormone crazy, screaming and needing everything. Seth was adorable, but he never left Jake alone, or me when I was over.
A lot of days, and sometimes night, Jake stayed with us. We had a guest room, and Billy understood as long as he was nice when he was home.
I swear I heard Edward growl, but I sure hoped it was my imagination. He was not going to growl at Jake for coming over to my house. He didn't know what was going on.
I could already tell that Emmett was the person in the group who voiced all his thoughts. "Wait, are you two dating?" He asked, confused.
"No," I said with a light laugh. "We used to, but not anymore. We're just friends."
EPOV
It almost killed me when we dropped Bella and Jake off at her house and they were holding hands. Just friends, my butt. He was going over to her house at 11:00 at night! I shouldn't have invited her to the show. I shouldn't have played that song. It was all a big mistake. She didn't feel the same way.
"Was that as weird to all of you as it was to me?" Emmett asked when we drove away.
"For sure. Dropping them both off at Bella's, and then they were holding hands. She wouldn't shake my hand because she doesn't like germs, but she didn't seem to mind my germs," Jasper added in.
"And then she says all that crap about them just being friends. They sure didn't look like friends to me!" I said angrily.
"I didn't like her to begin with," Rose said simply.
"Will you guys all stop?" Alice yelled. "You don't know Bella, and you don't know what she's been through! Edward, ten minutes ago you were in love with her! You couldn't take your eyes off her, and you freakin' wrote her a song! Stop insulting and criticizing her when you don't know half of it! Maybe it was weird because she can't trust any of you, and I don't blame her!"
The entire car was silent. Alice had never ever exploded like that. Ever. She was always so nice and never yelled. That was something new for all of us.
We pulled up to our hotel at that moment, and Alice stormed out of the limo slamming the door. The rest of us stayed in the car for a minute.
"I feel horrible. I can't believe I said all of that stuff. Alice is right, I am in love with her. It just kills me to see her with that Jake kid. What do you think Alice could've been talking about?" I asked, mainly to myself.
Rosalie quietly got out of the car and ran after Alice. She knew something I didn't.
I didn't get a second of sleep last night because I felt so bad. How could I have said those horrible things about Bella? I needed to find out what was wrong with her. I needed to help her. Whatever it was, Jake, Alice, and possibly Rosalie were the only ones who knew. I'd figure it out.
