Disclaimer: You all now by now that I don't own Twilight, (insert big sigh here)…if only!

Author's Note: Oh it is your lucky day. My kids gave me freedom last night and today to write and then my lovely beta Sihaya 9 was having a slow day at work today so you lucky people get an update already! Before we get started with the story I wanted to hit a few things first.

Okay, first of all I have to say that you guys are so totally awesome! This is most definitely the best response to a story I have gotten so far. The last chapter was accepted better than I had feared. Out of all of the reviews that came in there were only three somewhat negative ones, and those three weren't really mean…the worst being an anonymous reviewer calling Bella a baby. They pretty much ranged from being proud of Bella for standing up to Edward, not liking her reaction but understanding why she reacted as she did, to thinking she over reacted and was mean to 'poor Edward.' At any rate, No Tar, No Feathers, and mostly encouraging and supportive responses made me very happy. I have had so much fun writing angst. I've never done it before and it's quite thrilling! I do want to address a few questions that came in though.

1. Don't worry; I won't be dragging the angst out forever. Things are going to start to turn around very soon. Those of you who haven't read my past stories don't know this, but I'm a sucker for the fluff and will most definitely be heading in that direction soon.

2. I know some of you guys are getting anxious for the prologue to happen, and I promise you that it will before too terribly much longer, but it's going to be a crucial element in the personal relationships that are developing and so I feel like I need to set that up properly first or else it won't turn out as well.

3. Even though you won't be seeing the prologue quite yet, you will be seeing more SWAT action soon.

Anyway, hope you enjoy the update! Thanks for reading and as always I LOVE reading your reviews!

11. Roommates and Baby Steps

BPOV

I didn't get much sleep that night. I tossed and turned and stared at the wall for long periods of time between bouts of broken sleep. Always waking up again in tears when the dreams I kept having weren't real. Each one was a little different and yet all practically the same. Edward would say all of the beautiful things he said to me outside of Dooley's, but in a different location, under different circumstances.

In one he took me to dinner and led me to the dance floor and whispers the words in my ear like a quiet prayer. In another he showed up in the doorway of my bedroom asking to be allowed entrance then he knelt at my bedside and professed his affections. In the next we were be back in the living room the night before and instead of him chickening out he pulled me close and covered my mouth with his as he mumbled his vows of love.

It was heart wrenching and so completely pathetic of me. I was a lost cause. I loved that man so damn much it hurt and yet it was just all so screwed up. I kept trying to distract myself, to force myself to focus on something else…anything else…but it was all to no avail. Finally I pulled myself out of bed and stumbled to the living room around four in the morning, knowing that it was a waste of energy to try to get any more sleep. I had to wake up and get ready for my six o'clock shift in less than an hour anyway. I collapsed on the couch, pulling my knees to my chest and stared out the windows at the somewhat sparse early morning traffic while lost in my own thoughts.

I jumped when I heard Emmett's voice behind me moments before the couch cushion next to me sank. "You okay Bells?"

I shrugged. I wasn't okay, far from it in fact.

"Wanna talk about it?"

I shrugged again and reached up to wipe a tear that had escaped from the corner of my eye as it traveled down my cheek. I sighed and leaned into Emmett's shoulder as he reached his arm around me and pulled me close, rubbing my bicep and playing with my hair.

We sat quietly for a while before Emmett sighed. "Oh Bells, what happened? When we found Edward last night he was a total mess. We practically had to carry him home. He told me what happened between you two and that you slapped him and all, which is actually kind of funny…but I'm confused, if you slapped him and walked away then why are you acting like you were the one who got rejected?"

I felt my chin begin to quiver and a fresh torrent of tears begin to fall. My voice sounded dead and distant when I finally spoke. "He didn't really mean it Em. The only reason he's taken notice of me at all is because he's nervous about Trevor and is scared I'm going to go couple off and he'll lose his emotional whore."

"Uh, excuse me…his what?"

I chuckled darkly. "I'm his emotional whore Emmett. He used the skanks to meet all of his physical needs and he kept me around for all of the emotional companionship he was missing out on. I was sort of like his little kept emotional mistress…keep me single and at his beckon call for when he needed to have an emotional connection outside of the guys."

Emmett opened his mouth to argue, but I interrupted him and kept going. "But even that is beside the point, I recognize that he cares about me, but he simply can't let me in. Just like when he showed up night before last, he pulls me close but when things get too intense he shuts down, throws all of the walls back up, and leaves me on the outside again. If he were really ready to let me in, to mean what he said to me, he would have said them that night when we were here, alone, face to face. If he would have said those things to me here I would have grabbed hold of him, called Trevor right then to cancel, and never let go. But he couldn't. He can't."

Emmett sighed and pulled me closer, kissing my temple as my body shuddered with my cries and I broke down completely. After a few moments I pulled myself back together and took a few hitching breaths. "That bitch of a mother of his screwed him up so bad. Unless he perceives that he's going to lose something then he can't even say the words, and even then, when the smoke clears, he'll throw the walls right back up again. I…I just can't do it anymore Em."

"I get it Bells. I understand. I really think he's coming around more and more though. Maybe you shouldn't write him off just yet."

I sighed and reached my other arm around his waist, shifting my body to hug his side. "I love you Emmett, and I really need to talk about something else. Please?"

He smiled down at me weakly, not really reaching his eyes, but he was trying for me. "Sure kid," he said as he kissed my temple. "What do you want to talk about?"

"I dunno…uh…Oh…what did Rose say?"

"About?"

I reached over and smacked him on the arm. "Don't you even pull that…you're still out on your ass at the end of the month, one way or another so don't 'about' me!"

He chuckled, "Fine, fine…she was ecstatic. She said that she wouldn't mind at all if I moved into her place and you kept this apartment so you're closer to the hospital; especially since you have to spend far more time there than she does. Her place is a bit smaller than this one, but it'll do."

I smiled and stretched up to place a kiss on his cheek. "Good, I want you to be happy Emmett. No more pathetic Bella keeping you from doing what you should be doing in your life."

"How many times do I have to tell you? You are NOT pathetic!" I scoffed and rolled my eyes, gesturing at our current position and he chuckled. "Well, not most of the time anyway." We both chuckled a bit before he pulled me into a tighter hug and a frown marred his face. "It's just, well, I'm going to miss you kiddo. I don't see you that much as it is and I'll see you even less when we're not living together anymore. Oh and also, I'm not moving out until you know for sure that you have a roommate to move in here with you. I'm not leaving you alone right now….got it?"

I sighed and then smiled, "Fine, but I'm sure I'll be able to find someone quickly." I sat up and mumbled sarcastically under my breath, "Hey, I wonder if Trevor has a place to live yet."

"Over my dead body!" Emmett yelled and I laughed.

"Only teasing brother bear…only teasing."

Suddenly I remembered more of my fight with Edward last night outside of Dooley's and I had to ask Emmett. I needed to know the truth.

"Uh Emmett, last night while we were arguing Edward said something and I need to know the truth." I paused taking a deep breath and he looked at me expectantly, waiting for me to continue.

"Is it true that during the Femmes night out you guys saw Trevor checking out another girl's ass while he was dancing with me?"

I watched Emmett's face as I posed the question and his expression instantly gave me my answer. I groaned, dropping my head back against the couch cushion behind me and squeezed my eyes shut tightly a moment. Then I sat up and punched Emmett in the arm. He leaned away from me shouting 'Hey!' as he rubbed his bicep where my punch landed. It must have been harder than my usual punches because for once he acted as though the blow actually hurt a bit.

"Em! Why the hell didn't you tell me? I should have known something like that from the beginning!"

He sighed next to me, "Well, there really wasn't much time. We got called out for the night mission not too long after that and we got back so late; then you met him that day at work and he asked you out on that date before I ever had the chance to say anything." He rubbed the back of his neck frowning as he continued. "Hell Bells, you've been through so much of that shit, I didn't want to hurt you by telling you and so I was kind of hoping that the date would suck and then it wouldn't be an issue. I'm sorry. I should have told you…I just didn't know how."

I took in a deep breath through my nose and blew it out loudly in frustration. "It still would have been nice to know in advance, and then it sort of made things worse for Edward when he talked to me. He told me and I called him a liar because I didn't think you guys would let me go if that had happened. I thought he was just doing the whole 'keeping me single' thing again or something. I guess this means I'll have something else to apologize for next time I see him."

"Something else?"

I sighed again, "Yeah, I shouldn't have slapped him. Did he deserve every word I said with the exception of the liar part? Yes. Did he deserve to be left with my handprint on his face? No. I'm not ready to talk to him right now, but when I eventually do I know I'll have to apologize for that."

He smiled at me as he hugged me closer again. "You are a good person Isabella Swan…did you know that?"

I rolled my eyes, "Yeah I'm a damned saint, now if you'll excuse me I need to get my righteous ass ready for work." I tightened my arm around his waist before releasing it. "You know, you're a dumbass for not telling me about the Trevor thing sooner, but I still love you."

He nodded and watched me pad across the room down the hallway to the bathroom. I quickly showered, threw my hair in a french braid and got myself dressed and off to work.

Pink was just beginning to tinge the sky above the jagged looking horizon of the cityscape when I left my building and made the trek toward the hospital. The air was definitely getting colder and I found myself holding my coat tighter to my body as I rushed to get inside the doors of the warm vestibule.

I quickly got ready and met the girls on the floor to begin our day. I was most definitely on firm autopilot as I made my way through morning rounds and charting. As I sat surrounded by piles of charts, Alice slid into the seat next to me in the large doctor's lounge.

"Hey Bella, are you alright? You seem off today."

Not wanting to talk about it yet I shrugged off the question. "Yeah Al, I'm fine. Just tired."

"So what…" She got cut off when a large pair of hands covered my eyes from behind causing me to jump and squeak. I got a chill down my spine at the contact. I recognized the combination of smells before I heard his voice.

"Guess who," he whispered into my ear.

I pulled his hands away and turned in my chair to cast him a shallow smile. "Hi Trevor."

He slid into the seat on the other side of me with a wicked looking sexy grin and a twinkle in his eye that made my stomach churn with a combination of guilt over my actions last night and anger over what my boys had observed the night we met. "So, how was the rest of your night? Did you sleep well?"

I shrugged, "Not particularly. I was pretty upset when I left last night after the fight I had with my friend. It kind of kept me up pretty late."

I had noticed Alice's eyebrows rise pointedly as I mentioned the fight with my friend. I guess the news hadn't spread as quickly among the boys as I had expected it to. Her expression soon shifted back to her cell phone where she was typing rapidly on her keyboard, apparently texting with someone…most likely Jasper.

Trevor reached over with a concerned look on his face as he patted my arm. "I'm sorry to hear that. Are things better now with your friend?"

I sighed, "Not really, we haven't talked since the fight, but I just," I took in a deep breath and pushed it out in a huff, "I just really don't want to talk about that right now. Plus I need to finish this charting."

He smiled sweetly at me and reached to tuck a stray hair that had fallen from my French braid behind my ear. "That's fine sweetie, but if you want to talk, I'd be happy to listen."

I smiled and nodded a small thanks, hoping he would sense my lack of enthusiasm and move on. He continued to chitchat a while before asking me if we could do the tour of the city tonight after work since we didn't get to last night and I froze. I had no desire to spend more time with him right now between my brother's little revelation this morning and my own feelings about the whole evening and the turn of events. Even though what Edward had said about him turned out to be true, it still didn't change the fact that I didn't know about all of that last night when we kissed. Even if I had, it still didn't make it right to do that while on a date with someone else. On top of it all, my less than adequate sleep over the last four nights was catching up with me and I knew that I needed to get some rest tonight or there would be serious repercussions.

I yawned and rolled my neck. "I'm sorry Trevor, but I haven't had much sleep the last few nights and I can tell that if I don't go straight home and pass out tonight that I won't make it in to work tomorrow. I have to go get some sleep. I'm really sorry."

He smiled and reached a hand over rubbing my neck and shoulders. Any other time I would consider this gesture sweet, enduring, and quite welcome, but with all that had been going on this week, it just made me feel really uncomfortable. I tensed as he moved his hands therapeutically across my skin, hoping he would hurry and finish his ministrations so the nausea in my stomach could let up. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, he released my neck and said his goodbyes wishing me a restful night and hinting that maybe we could do the tour over the weekend. I nodded absently and waved as he exited the room.

In an instant Alice was at my side chattering and questioning me non-stop about the fight and what all happened with Trevor. I explained the events of the entire night with the overzealous pixie as she eagerly ate it all up, smiling like the cat that ate the canary when I told her about Edward's proclamations and the kiss. She giggled when I told her about slapping him and she brought my hand up to land a high five on it.

"You go girl. He should never have told you that while you were on a date with someone else, but I'm glad he finally told you. I've only known you guys a little while and it was getting painful watching you two avoid admitting that stuff. I can only imagine what the rest of the guys have been going through watching the two of you do this thing year after year!"

I rolled my eyes and tried to get back to my charting when I remembered something else I needed to focus on as well. I looked up from my charts. "Hey Alice."

She looked up questioningly. "You know anybody looking for a place to live? I'm kicking Emmett out of the apartment so he can go live with Rosalie, but he says he won't move until I find a roommate to live with me. Do you know of anyone I'd get along with that might need a place to stay?"

She smiled and began hopping up and down in her chair clapping. "I know the perfect person! How soon do you think Emmett will move out?"

"I gave him till the end of the month, so unless we can make it happen before, I'm guessing it'll be after he comes back from that training all the boys have to go to Minnesota."

"Perfect!" She screeched.

I set down my pen and looked over at her with a bit of worry now filling my chest. "So who are you thinking Al? I'd really like to meet them, get to know them, and see if we'd get along before committing to living with a total stranger."

She smiled at me wickedly before intertwining her fingers together and propping her chin on them. "Well….she's very fun to be around, addicted to shopping, works crazy hours, and is 4'11 with short spiky black hair."

"Alice, are you suggesting that you want to move in with me? Are you crazy? You live in a freaking penthouse apartment in the Hancock building for goodness sake! Why on earth would you want to slum it with me in my tiny apartment when you have thousands of square feet to spread out in with an amazing view of the city?"

She laughed and rolled her eyes. "You seem to be forgetting one crucial part of that setup…my parents live there with me. Do you know how hard it is to get any kind of alone time for myself, not to mention with Jasper, when you share an apartment with your parents? It's unbearable. Besides, I'd really like to get a taste of living on my own for a bit between living in my parent's home and living in my future husband's. This would be good for me. I think it would be perfect don't you?"

I smiled and nodded. "As long as you promise to tone down the hyper in the mornings I think we would get along just fine."

Alice squealed and jumped out of her seat running around the table to hug me around the neck nearly choking me as she jumped up and down in her excitement.

"This is going to be so much fun Bella! And we can finally decorate that dreary apartment a little better and make it a bit more you and me! And I can have my Jazzy over anytime I want and not have to always stay in his gross little bachelor pad. This is going to be the best Bella!"

I laughed before groaning with the realization that Jasper and she would be utilizing her bedroom pretty much every night. "One condition," I said and she looked at me curiously, "If you're going to be having Jasper over every night then you're going to HAVE to soundproof your room because I don't think I could handle hearing you two going at it considering Jaz is like my older brother in a way." I stuck out my tongue but then grimaced and shivered at the thought. She laughed and agreed hopping like a little jumping bean in her seat across the table from me.

She pulled her phone back out as her text alert chimed and she typed back furiously with a devious look on her face. After a bit more texting she walked to the door of the doctor's lounge and held the door open, talking to someone outside before stepping aside and gesturing for them to enter the room. My breath hitched in my chest when Edward stepped through the door.

EPOV

I woke up the next morning to find myself still fully dressed, curled up on the couch with a crick in my neck. I got up and shuffled to the bathroom taking care of business before looking into the mirror. I didn't even recognize the man staring back at me. Where the hell did the guy that looked back at me just a month ago disappear to? I looked tired and haggard and my left cheek had a slight discoloration to it from Bella's slap which had managed to land quite expertly on my cheek after I kissed her. I shook my head at my reflection when I remembered the half dozen bad decisions I had made over the last thirty-six hours, beginning with when I totally blew my chance to tell Bella how I felt and ending with my worst possible timing of admitting how I felt for her while she was on a date.

The Edward from a month ago would have been smart enough to know what kind of reaction that move would earn from Bella. Of course she would be pissed, now that my head was clear and I wasn't swimming in jealously and all out lust from her close proximity, I could see how totally stupid I was for blurting it out in that moment like that. She deserved to hear those words while on a fancy date as I led her around a dance floor to a string quartet or on a carriage ride along the lake front. She deserved it to be soft and reverent and full of the emotion that the words conveyed, not yelled at her while coupled with the words 'there I finally said it' like it was being forced upon me to admit my feelings for her. Christ I screwed things up so bad…yet again.

I set about the task of trying to make myself look halfway presentable. I brushed my teeth and attempted to tame my hair. I finally sighed, giving up and slid into a clean set of clothes before picking up my cell phone to call Andy. The phone rang twice before he answered.

"Well if it isn't FUBAR Eddie himself."

I sighed and swallowed past the lump in my throat before answering. "Hi Andy."

"Wow, you are at rock bottom if you're not even going to tell me not to call you Eddie. How you doing man?"

"Ugh." I couldn't even formulate words.

"Shit man, I told you to put yourself out there and take a risk, but I didn't mean before the damn date was over! Talk about your stupid moves. I'm glad she slapped your stupid face. You deserved it."

"I know. I need to fix it now. I need to do something right for once, so I'm calling for your help. Tell me what to do Andy. Obviously I have no clue what I'm doing on my own and there isn't exactly an instruction manual out there for this type of thing. I need the help of one of the two guys I know that's managed to have a healthy relationship with someone for more than a few months at a time, and I can't go to my Uncle since Bella is technically his employee, besides it would be really weird."

He chuckled, "About fucking time. The funny part is that it isn't that hard. Your mistake is that you've either been trying too hard or not at all. You're pushing for too much too fast. You need to work up to it slowly and make her trust you. You forget that she's been watching you mack on women nonstop for the past seven years. You need to show her that it's different with her…that you respect her. ..that you're going to do this on whatever terms she's most comfortable with. Start off with a slow gesture and a genuine promise that you aren't giving up and don't push so damn fast. You need to put out the first olive branch and then let her return the gesture."

Andy and I threw ideas back and forth of things I could do for the next hour. Finally armed with a plan, I sent off a text to my second secret weapon. My pixie spy Alice.

Alice, please tell me that you're still going to help me. I have a plan and I desperately need your help. -E

I paced the floor of my apartment waiting for a response.

Well I certainly hope your plan is better than the last one, because that sort of blew up in your face now didn't it? -A

I sighed before sending my response.

That's an understatement, but I've gotten some good advice and I'm going to follow it. I want to bring Bella some lunch and speak to her for a few minutes and then leave so she can eat in peace.

Can you help me find her when I get there and help me get a chance to talk to her in private? -E

I think I can do that. We're charting now and will probably do lunch when we're done. I'm guessing you have 30 minutes tops. Oh crap. Trevor just walked in. –A

I groaned, grabbed my coat and wallet and rushed out the door. I picked up an order of mushroom ravioli from Bella's favorite Italian bistro and high tailed it to find her at the hospital. I continued texting Alice along the way and was relieved when she reported that Bella seemed tense around Trevor and I hoped that she had finally started to believe what I told her about his actions the night that they met.

I ran the four blocks from the restaurant to the hospital. I texted Alice once I was in the lobby and she directed me to the doctor's lounge on the fourth floor, telling me that the two of them were alone in the room so it would provide us the privacy I had requested.

My heart was pounding in my chest as I rode the elevator to the fourth floor and stepped out walking in the direction Alice instructed, repeating what I wanted to say to her over and over in my head. I turned the corner and there was Alice standing outside of an open door smiling.

"Here's your shot Romeo, don't blow it this time or Juliet may just run off with Paris instead."

I rolled my eyes before smiling at Alice and thanking her. She ushered me into the room, closing the door behind her, which left Bella and I alone in the large doctor's lounge. Her eyes were wide with surprise, but I was relieved to see she didn't appear to be as angry as she had been last night. Matter of fact, she almost looked contrite as she nibbled on that beautiful pink lower lip making me want to run right across the room and suck it into my mouth...but I was going to follow Andy's advice and go slow. I was going to show Bella how much I loved her, even if it killed me.

BPOV

I felt a sharp pain shoot through my lip as I bit a little bit too hard at the sight of Edward standing in the doorway. He looked like he had gotten even less sleep than I had and yet he still looked so damn beautiful. I had never seen anyone in my entire life that was as absolutely gorgeous as Edward was in that moment. His eyes were lighter today than they had been. The last time I had seen him looking more like a grassy green than the deeper emerald I was used to. He had a small smile on his face as he stood there taking me in nearly as thoughtfully as I was observing him. Then I winced when I noticed his left cheek had a light purple bruise.

After a few moments he slowly crossed the room toward me holding a plastic bag in front of him gingerly. "I have a peace offering," he said gently as he quickly managed to make it to the table where I sat. I glanced behind him to see that Alice had left us alone and I couldn't help but chuckle now knowing her speedy texts were not with Jasper after all.

He set the bag down in front of me and I glanced at it, noticing the logo for my favorite Italian bistro on the outside. I smiled seconds before the delicious aroma of my favorite mushroom ravioli filled the air. I looked up at him and gave him a big appreciative smile at not only his effort but also the fact that he had been paying enough attention to know my favorite meal.

"Thank you," I finally managed to get out before gesturing to the seat next to me. "Would you like to have a seat?"

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes momentarily looking relieved before sliding into the seat next to me and we both sat and looked at each other in a slightly awkward silence. When we did start to speak we both started talking at the same time and then both stopped at the same time with a slight chuckle.

I looked him in the eyes and felt myself reflexively nibble on my now sensitive lower lip. "Please let me say something first Edward. I really need to apologize…"

Before I could say more he cut me off, as his eyes grew wide, "Oh no Bella, you have nothing to apologize for. I was the one who…"

This time I did the interrupting, reaching my hand out to touch his forearm as I locked my eyes with his seriously. "Please Edward." The second my skin made contact with his I instantly felt the warm tingly hum running through my body and I felt my breath hitch in my chest, noticing he seemed to have the same reaction. I decided to ignore that for now and revisit the topic later when I would have more time to think.

"Let me say this first. I do need to apologize…for two things actually. First of all, I talked to Emmett this morning and he leveled with me about what you guys saw when I was dancing with Trevor. I am truly sorry for accusing you of lying. I was just so angry at you and then add to that the inconvenient timing in which you chose to reveal it and my surprise that Emmett and or Jasper hadn't told me; I just sort of got a bit nuts about it. I think I always knew deep down you weren't lying, I was just too angry to listen to reason."

He sighed and ran his hand across the back of his neck looking sad as he nodded. "Thank you for that," he finally said in little more than a whisper.

I nodded back and then continued, "I also want to apologize for slapping you," I said raising my right hand to gently caress his lightly bruised cheek feeling horrible for having actually hit him hard enough to bruise him. My heart stuttered in my chest when he closed his eyes and leaned his head into my touch. I felt myself struggle to breathe a brief moment before pulling my hand away quickly, not wanting to feel those emotions while I was still trying to sort out the whole situation.

"I want you to understand that I meant every word, well except for the liar part obviously, but I should never have slapped you, especially hard enough to leave an actual bruise. I'm so sorry." I finally looked down from his face to study my hands nervously, my breath hitching once again when I saw his hands appear in my field of vision, covering my fidgeting digits.

"Thank you, but you really don't need to apologize for that." I looked up and met his eyes again taking notice that he never removed his hand from over mine. "And now it's my turn to apologize. I don't want to apologize for all of the things I said to you because I meant it when I told you that I loved you." I could feel his hand that was covering mine shake a bit as he held it. "I know I didn't do it the right way or in the right place. I should have said it to you at your apartment the night before when I wanted to, but I got scared and chickened out and I will forever be sorry for that. You deserved a lot better than the way I ended up saying it, but I just wanted to come here today and tell you that I meant it and that I'm not giving up on you."

I felt my mouth fall open in surprise; trying to process what he just said as he smiled sweetly at me and reached his hand over to tuck the stray hairs that had once again fallen from my braid behind my ear and my heart skipped a beat. The contrast between Trevor doing this and Edward's hand was so incredibly tangible. It was impossible to ignore as his fingers lingered on my cheek and the accompanying tingles that radiated from his touch.

"I'm going to start doing things differently. I have no clue what I'm doing which is why I keep screwing things up, but I got a little advice this morning that I'm going to try to follow. Just know I'm here whenever you are ready to talk and I'm willing to wait however long it takes for you to be ready. You know how to reach me and I promise that I'm not going to chicken out and run away again. I know what I want and I'm willing to wait to be with you on whatever terms you are most comfortable with." He stood up and took a step to come over to where I was sitting. He leaned down and placed a kiss on the top of my head before tipping my face up toward his and running his hand across my cheek again lovingly. "I love you Bella. I'm sorry I keep screwing things up, but I'm going to do my best to do things right okay?"

I nodded in shock feeling my eyes moisten as he turned and made his way toward the door. He was almost there when I heard my voice break the silence of the room.

"Edward?" He turned around looking at me questioningly. "Uhm," I looked down at the carryout container. "Have you eaten yet?" I asked gesturing toward the container.

He smiled, "No, but there's only enough for one there and I'm hoping you'll eat all of it yourself. Emmett's right, you are not eating enough."

"We could go get you something to eat from the cafeteria so I don't have to eat alone."

He smiled and seemed to be contemplating for a little while before he finally answered. "There's nothing I'd like more love, but according to Alice you don't have much time left before your lunch break is over and I need to be getting in to the station anyway. Tonight I'm having dinner with Aunt Esme and Uncle Carlisle, but tomorrow night is free. Would you care to have supper with me then?"

My eyes widened as my breath caught again. "That…that would be very nice," I finally answered, sounding a bit awkward.

He smiled brightly and his eyes seemed to twinkle. "Thank you Bella! Thank you so much!"

I smiled back before he told me to enjoy my lunch and walked through the door, closing it behind him. I sat for an immeasurable amount of time staring toward the door as my hands reflexively went to touch my cheek where his fingers had grazed. The warm tingle seemed to almost linger there. I was so out of it that I didn't even notice when Alice had reentered the room until I felt her little pixie arms around my neck choking me a bit. She jumped up and down babbling nonstop about how everything was going to turn perfect and Edward and I were going to figure things out, she just knew it. All I knew was that the affect Edward had on me was undeniable and I found myself simultaneously excited by it and terrified as well.

I ate my delicious lunch and made it through the rest of the day in a bit of a hazy daze. My last week had been such a whirlwind of emotional ups and downs. I had never considered myself an overly emotional female, but this week I was giving the biggest drama queens a run for their money. The one thing I did know is that today, for the first time in nearly three weeks, I felt better about things. Edward's words continued to haunt me and I couldn't help but smile and feel a bit of a thrill. Tomorrow night I was going to have…well was it a date? We didn't really specify that, but if felt like that was what he was asking. I was going to have a date with Edward, and not only that, he seemed to recognize what he was doing and was making a concerted effort to do things differently. I didn't now if it was even possible, but I couldn't help hoping that maybe he could.

When I walked into the house with Alice trailing on my heels chattering the entire time about color schemes and furniture styles, I found that all of the boys were there minus Edward, who I knew were eating at Carlisle and Esme's tonight. Alice skipped immediately over to Jasper, settling comfortably on his lap and immediately whispering in his ear as I went and sat next to Emmett who was halfway through playing Highway Star on the drums while Andy sang and Mike and Tyler were on guitars. Mike and Tyler didn't hang here often, so I was surprised to see them.

When the song was over Emmett looked over at me and smiled. "Wow sis, you look about a hundred times better than you did last time I saw you. What's up?"

I smiled at him as he wrapped his arm around my shoulder giving me a side hug and I curled into his side wrapping my arms around his waist. "It was a good day. Edward came and talked to me a little bit and I think we're doing a little better and I found a roommate today, so I might be shoving you out the door even sooner than I originally threatened."

"Already? Who is it? Are you sure you know this person well enough?"

"Well she better," Alice chirped from her perch on Jasper's lap across the room, "We've only spent the last four months together day in and day out at the hospital."

Jasper beamed at her from the couch with a darkened look in his eye that made my stomach churn a bit to think that I will no longer have the safe peaceful apartment I once had thanks to Emmett's vigilance to ensure that neither he nor the boys ever brought girls back here. Yes, my life once free of the fear of walking in on an awkward situation was definitely at an end, but if it meant that Emmett could move on with his life with Rosalie it was a sacrifice I was more than willing to make.

"Humph," was Emmett's only verbal response, but he smiled down at me knowingly, giving me a sly smile. I sighed and nodded my understanding of how much things would change for me with the new situation and my subsequent acceptance. Emmett leaned over and tightened his grip on my shoulders, placing a kiss on my temple.

"Okay kid, we'll make all of the arrangements and we can make the move official when we get back from Minnesota."

"Sounds like a plan to me. Does that work for you Alice?"

"Sure," she beamed from the couch. "There's no real rush for me beyond just wanting to get out of my parent's place. Take all the time you guys need."

"Thanks Alice," Emmett and I both said in unison.

Soon the guys went back to playing Rock Band trading out the original for Rock Band 2. I sat in a daze as I thought about the events of the past few days and then remembered something else with a slight twinge of guilt…Mama D. I still couldn't believe how dead Dooley's was last night. I have seen it busier at 2pm on a Wednesday than it was last night. I was really worried about our favorite hang out and I started thinking again about things we could do to bring people in, and that was when inspiration struck.

As soon as they finished their current song I got their attention. "Hey guys, do you think you'd get out of the house on a weeknight to go to a place if they had Rock Band nights or even like a Rock Band Tournament or something?"

They all looked at me appraisingly and nodded while shrugging. "Why Bells?" Jasper asked from his place under Alice.

"Well last night while we were at Dooley's it was really dead and Mama said it's been like that a lot lately on weeknights and she needs to think of a way to bring people in and while I was watching you guys it gave me the idea that maybe something like a Rock Band night there might work."

They all nodded again looking pensive and I couldn't help but giggle at the fact that they all sort of resembled bobble head dolls. I noticed the group all looking at me like I had finally lost it before tossing out their agreements that they could see that being a draw for Dooley's.

"It would take quite a bit to pull it off though Bella," Emmett stated from beside me. "You'd need the system, the instruments, one or more TV's large enough so that the people playing could see the notes to hit, and probably another one behind the group so that the observers could see it if you were doing a tournament. It'd cost quite a bundle."

I sighed. "Yeah, I didn't think about that part. Hmmm…but we could probably loan her the system and the instruments for the first time or two just to see if things would pick up and work out or not. Then, actually, what would be really cool and much cheaper if it did take off would be to put up a screen and buy a projector and project it on the wall behind the band with a TV in front for them to use. That could be really cool."

"Yeah, that would be sweet!" Mike chimed in from the far side of the room.

"I don't know, do you guys think it would work? Would it be enough?"

"I think it would," Alice chimed. "Oh, and we could enter the tournament if we had one. We could totally do girls against boys. Rose plays really well, you have a great singing voice Bella, I totally rock on the guitar on expert, and I bet Krista or Sabrina would be in," Alice squealed from where she was bouncing on Jasper's lap making Jasper shift a little with a distressed look on his face.

"Oh, you think you could possibly be better than us?" Emmett boasted from next to me with a cocky smirk. "We've beaten the world tour on expert twice. You guys wouldn't stand a chance."

"Oh well, I guess we'll just have to see about that. If we do a full on tournament in order to draw people in we'd have to make things interesting, get them involved in the voting, and actually do a little more in the way of showmanship or it would be totally boring. You won't be able to just sit there and play away, and if anybody can put on a show it would be the Femmes!"

I sat back on the couch with my arms crossed and a wide triumphant smile on my face as I watched them continue to argue over who would be the best. I didn't have to see the turn out to know this was going to work. Emmett and Alice were proving it to me already. A Rock Band night and eventual tournament would probably be at least a temporary answer to most of Mama D's problems.

I made up my mind to go see Mama tomorrow after work before getting ready for my date with Edward to see what she thought. My breath caught in my chest again at the thought…my date with Edward, I had a date with Edward. Was I ready for a date with Edward? Was HE ready for a date with me? I guess I wouldn't really know the answer to that question until we tried it.

I spent another hour hanging out with everyone before my exhaustion forced me to retire for the night and for the first night in well over two and a half weeks; I had a nice, long, peaceful night's sleep.

A/N: Hope you guys like it…and to those of your reading Chasing Shadows, I'm halfway done with the next chapter, so hopefully I'll be able to post it in the next few days. Thanks again to my speedy beta and to all of your readers for your support, reviews, and for adding this story to your favorites and alerts!!!! You guys are great!