Friend Boy

by Teeny Tiny Twilight

As if starting a new school away from her friends and family isn't enough, she has nuisance/captain of the football team Edward interested in her. “Hello, I’m Edward Cullen.” She took my hand, shaking it, “I’m not interested.”AH/AU Bella has better balanc

14. The Choice

The Choice

Teeny Tiny Twilight

Edward seemed more then happy to go for a run with me, but he insisted that I get a jacket. It was cold, as we had both felt earlier.

I tried to make him understand it was only that cold because we had just gotten out of cool water, but he didn't relent until I finally explained my current clothes situation to him. I didn't have a winter jacket yet.

I had expected Alice to have taken advantage of dressing me up by now, but there always seemed to be one thing or another that stopped her. This sounded stupid to me. The hounds of hell couldn't stop Alice from doing what she wanted. Only Jasper. And he very rarely abused his power over her.

Edward finally forced his jacket upon me. It was about three sized too big and smelled like Edward. Not a bad thing, but while I was discreetly trying to inhale the smell I almost fell down the stairs. Edward nearly fell too he was laughing so hard.

He started to look out at me from the corner of his eye every few minutes after that incident like he was wondering if I really was high.

He took my hand, claiming that I needed the stability to get down the stairs. "Edward," I sighed, "I can get down the stairs without your help. I just had a moment of…uhh." I racked my brain for something to say. I chewed on my lip while I looked for a half truth that didn't make me look insane. It was already too embarrassing; I didn't need to give him any more fuel.

He smirked at me, "Intoxication?" he asked with a cocky crooked smile.

"Yes!" I cried, grasping quickly at the truth. Then bit my tongue wishing instantly that I hadn't.

"So my jacket smelled that good?"

The fuel I'd been trying to keep away from him burned hot in my cheeks.

I stopped walking looking at him with mortification. He laughed and kept walking down the stairs. "What happened Bella? You were bouncing off the walls a minute ago."

A minute ago I was the only one who knew I was a freak.

I took a sudden interest in my footwear, continuing down the stairs. When I looked up again, Edward was grinning hugely, his already impossibly large ego inflated by my blunder.

I wrinkled my nose at him, finally having found an angle to argue from. "A gentleman would never have said that." I sniffed. I felt a little better now that I had gotten my word in.

"I never claimed to be a gentleman." He called after me, managing to get in the last word.

I let the doors close on his voice. I started stretching outside. The cool, rough brick of the building wasn't the most ideal place to stretch but it would work.

Edward was beside me again. "What do you think we have been practicing stupid?" I growled at him when he was in ear shot again. Apparently all of the lessons were a waste of time if he wasn't getting the gist of what I was trying to show him.

Edward grinned ignoring my harsh question, stretching up against the building as I did. "A Lady would never speak like that Bella. Tsk Tsk."

"Up yours." I muttered.

Edward's laughed echoed around the quiet campus, and I had to cover his mouth to keep from waking the entire neighbourhood.

"Shh!" I hissed, doing no better at subduing my laughter then he was. He chuckled through my hand, and then kissed my palm. Open mouthed.

"Edward that's disgusting!" I cried, wiping Edward slobber off on my pants.

He chuckled. "Okay, so where are we going?" he looked around through the dark. I could hardly see him in the faint light from the lop sided moon, missing a quarter of its whole.

I knew it was going to take my eyes a while to get used to the unnerving darkness. As much as I hated to admit it, I was glad I had Edward incase the boogie man jumped out at me. "I was thinking the running track."

I could see the faint ghostly outline of Edward's head nod in agreement. We started towards the track, talking in whispers even though our cover had, obviously, already been blown. "Do you think the grocery store would be open this late?" Edward murmured.

"I doubt it. You've been here longer then I have." I eyed him with shrewd speculation. "You don't have any food in the house, do you?"

He chuckled sheepishly. "You didn't give me much time to prepare for your visit. And Emmett already ate his quota of food for the week. Probably why Emmett went over to Rose's rather then her come over here." There was a menacing edge to his voice, and I knew he was thinking about exactly what Emmett was over at Rosalie's for.

"But you've come to terms with it now, right? You won't kill him or anything?" I averted my eyes from a sole jogger who saw us walking together, gaping at us incredulously. I didn't like all the stares I had been getting for being around Edward. Some looked incredulous while others actually looked a little angry, like I was personally offending them by being his friend.

Edward didn't notice the jogger. Instead he was knelt in front of something. I went over to see what he had found. There was an unremarkable red bud of a flower. He sat down in front of it, then gestured silently for me to do the same.

I went and sat beside him, wondering what he was doing staring so intently at the little bud, but I didn't say anything. I watched with him.

I gasped, rocking back on my heals, when suddenly the flower started to move. The pedals miraculously unfolded a brilliant red inside with streaks of white running through it. It was tiny but surprisingly beautiful despite its unremarkable outer skin. "Wow." I breathed, leaning closer to the startling little flower.

Edward reached forward and for one terrifying second I thought he might pick it but he just gently caressed the bottom of the petals.

"My mother has the same kind of flowers in her garden. They only bloom at night, then they die in the morning." I looked at him in shock. He was looking at the flower with a bored expression, contrary to the intensity he had been giving to it before. "You should meet my friend." He murmured quietly to the small flower. "I'll bet she could show you how to be pretty." His eyes flickered to my face, a small smile on it.

I laughed, finally seeing what he had wanted with the flower. I rolled my eyes at him, and then started to run when he made a grab for me. He grabbed me around the waist before we made the track, hugging me to him. "You're coat slows me down." I complained lightly.

He hummed a small tune by my ear, "I'm glad. You ready to run?" when I nodded he pulled his jacket off me, hanging it up on the fence. The cool night air felt nice now that I was warmed up.

I sighed, looking at the empty track. This was something I loved about running at night. The world was yours.

We sprinted around the track together until eventually Edward had to stop, he walked around the track behind me, his hands crossed behind his head as he tried to catch his breath. His eyes followed me around the track, wide with astonishment.

I kept running even when it felt like my lungs were going to catch fire, even when my legs were turning rubbery, when I could feel the blood throbbing painfully through me. After half a circulation around the track as a catch-up Edward was running beside me again. "I don't think you're human Bella. No one has stamina like this."

I shrugged, still running. I wanted to explain to him where it had come from, but I couldn't talk, too busy trying to get air into the blaze of my chest. I also knew that if I stopped now I wouldn't be able to find the energy to start running again.

Edward ran beside me until I couldn't keep going. I slowed to a walk, hands behind me head like he was now. "I—I" I was panting too hard to speak. I gave Edward the one second sign, catching my breath. "I used to have to run like that, when I was at my old school. I had to work so much harder then any of the boys on the team just to play on the court. After a while, you get strong." I shrugged.

"That's not right." He muttered.

"Sure it is. They can't just let me on the team; I have to prove that I'm strong enough to keep up."

He grimaced. "It's just not fair that you had to work so hard. I can't even do that kind of running and I have a bigger field to run." He shook his head. "Promise me that if anyone ever gives you any crap for playing boys basketball, you'll come to me. You have more then earned your place here." His beautiful face was solemn, his eyes smouldering with a new found purpose.

I smiled at him. "Thanks Edward, but I seriously don't mind the extra work. Anything worth doing is hard. And look how far I've gotten! I've made a kind of history here." I could feel the pride glowing out of me. It was good to know I had a place somewhere where I belonged.

Edward nodded, and then leaned his weight on his knees. "I'm beat Bella. Have you burned through all the sugar yet?"

I shrugged, "I was actually hoping you wanted to have a game with me? Football or Basketball? Your choice." I instinctively walked closer when he wobbled a little in a disbelieving chuckle.

Then Edward groaned, dropping his head on my shoulder when he realized I was serious. "How about we play 'pass out on the couch'? I know I told you that all your energy didn't bother me, and I swear it doesn't, but I need a second to catch up with you."

I grinned, dancing out from under him, "I thought you could go all night?" I goaded.

He raised an eyebrow at me. "Changed my mind. Let's go, football." I grinned at him, running to the bleachers and grabbing one the many balls that were always discarded there after practice. It always shocked me that no one stole them.

I saw an abnormal lump in the perfectly level field when I turned back towards it. Edward was lying flat out in the middle of the field, stalling for some time to recharge. I skipped over, lying down next to him. He put his arm under my head, acting as a pillow. "C'mon Edward." I nudged him.

"Edward died." He groaned grimacing up at the sky.

"Let's play. Just one game?" I rested my head on his chest, doing my best pout and puppy eyes combination to raise him from the dead.

He raised his head to look at me, and then dropped it back into the grass. "No! Bella that's cheating. Play fair. Besides, the ground is so comfortable."

"You're lying on a rock."

When he ignored me I tried again, "Please?" I breathed, trying to squirm further up into his arms. He groaned, shaking his head. "Please?" I breathed against his neck. I grinned when he got goosebumps, the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end.

He hummed in contentment. It was progress. "Keep that up for another eight hours and I'll think about it." He murmured.

I sighed. I went to get up, but Edward's groan made me stop. He had one arm thrown across his eyes. "I feel like a schmuck now." He muttered.

I laughed, pulling him up. He stumbled, nearly falling on me. That only made me laugh harder, he grinned tiredly back. I poked him in the stomach, startled by how hard it was. "Don't feel bad just because you can't keep up with a girl." I teased.

"You're not a girl." He mumbled, and I steeled my self for the next few words. 'You're some half thing.' "You're some sort of Goddess." He shook his head in wonder, starting back towards home.

That stopped me. My breath came out in a whoosh of surprise. "Huh?" I repeated his words in my head, trying to see what I'd missed, because he couldn't have meant that the way I'd interpreted it.

He grinned down at me, "That kind of stamina is god like. But since you're a girl it would be Goddess, right? Or are you some sort of higher being? I wouldn't be surprised."

I couldn't smile back. "Why do you spend so much time with me? Haven't I driven you insane yet?" I asked, only half joking.

He thought about that, "I don't know. Maybe it's your ass."

"Edward!"

He laughed. "I don't know Bella. You're fun to be with. And you don't mind that there won't be anything for breakfast tomorrow unless you want to boil the rug."

"Mmm, boiled rug."

He chuckled, "See? You're just an over all fun person to be with."

We walked home after Edward had warmed his jacket up, then given it back to me. We climbed the now dark staircase up to his room, having to look through keys in the dark since neither of us had the insight to look for the key in the moonlight. He finally opened the door, holding it open as I walked through.

"Thanks." I mumbled, grabbing my blanket from the bag in his room. I tossed the bag on the floor to give Edward room for his feet.

"Are you sure you don't want the bed?" he asked without much hope.

"Nope. I've taken a liking to you're couch anyways. It's comfortable." I smiled. I was impressed; maybe all the lessons were having some effect on him.

He smiled wearily back, "Have a good night then." I heard him close his door softly after I had started for the living room. I turned the light off and climbed into my 'bed'. It wasn't much of a bed, just a blanket that Alice had given me thrown over the couch. I slept in the opposite direction I usually did, taking preference to the side Edward had sat to watch the movie. I wondered if I was taking on the qualities of a stalker as I inhaled his scent against the arm of the couch.

I rolled over to look at the dark ceiling. I was tired enough to sleep, but my legs were restless, begging to wander. I didn't have too much energy—all those laps around the track had made sure of that—and I wasn't antsy to move. I rolled over on my side, trying to ignore the feeling. Instead I concentrated on how unbelievably soft the couch was under me. So comfortable…

For a moment I really thought I was nodding off, until my leg jerked from under the covers, rousing me from my almost sleep. I groaned inwardly, and then sat up. What use was it to try and ignore my compulsions?

I did my best to get up quietly, to not wake Edward as I wandered around his place, feeling more like a felon then a guest. Everything in Edward and Emmett's home was clean, all but for one outstanding exception. The floors were regularly vacuumed; no chips wedged into the couches, even the bathrooms were clean. I wondered whose sake all this was for. Alice or Rose I'm sure, Alice would freak if she dirtied her expensive jeans because someone dripped something on the couch. Lives would be lost.

I started to get sleepy as I walked and I thought I might just fall asleep on my feet. It took me a long moment, in my drowsy state, to realize I had stopped walking. I sighed contently, sure that I could sleep now. But as I went to turn towards the couch, I saw exactly where I had stopped, and was thrust back into awareness with surprising intensity.

I was standing in the dark hallway outside Edward's room.

My heart sped up.

I stared at the generic faux wood of his door that was the same as mine and Alice's doors back at her place. If I listened hard enough, I could almost hear his soft breathing inside. This was why I had stopped walking; I had stopped to listen to Edward breathe, to listen to him sleep.

This was stupid; Edward would think I was some sort of freak if he didn't already. I should just go back to the couch, close my eyes and count sheep. If that didn't work, then I'd stay up all night trying to sleep. Better then getting a restraining order called on me.

Edward's breath was such a peaceful melody, calling with soft sighs, and steady breaths. I touched the cool wood, pushing the door open. Edward's room was even darker then the hallway. I was instantly taken over by the subtle sweetness, along with a warm musky undertone.

My eyes flickered back to the hallway. My already racing heart hammering in anxiety, what if he woke up with some dark figure standing in the doorway of his room? Take a baseball bat to me no doubt.

I took a hesitant step forward, almost expecting to hear Edward ask me what I was doing. It wasn't too late to back out now, to campout outside the door where I could still be aware of him, while keeping a respectable amount of space between us.

I took another hesitant step forward. Then another. Even as my mind was making excuses, finding alternatives and compromises, I continued my slow steady pace forward. Finally I was standing beside him. I could barley make him out amongst the folds and piles of blankets on the bed, all except for a piece of a bare shoulder and his head. His hair fell like a shimmering halo around his head, black in the dark.

I reached forward tentatively, and then pulled back, undecided. This happened three or four times before Edward rolled over, his scorching shoulder brushing my outstretched hand. He hadn't noticed, but that contact was what had decided it for me. I pushed on his shoulder, knowing that if his skin was that warm, then my hand must feel like ice.

He gave a sharp breath of surprise; waking up. "Bella?" his voice was groggy. My heart jumped and my hands shook. I should have taken my chance to escape back into the hallway before.

"Hey," I murmured. My cheeks burned and I was suddenly grateful for the cover of the obscure darkness.

He propped himself up on his forearm, yawning. "What's wrong?"

"I couldn't sleep." I murmured embarrassed. I should have rehearsed this so I wouldn't have sounded like a four year old waking from a nightmare. Edward yawned again, rubbing his eyes. "Sorry." I whispered, "Go back to sleep. I'm just too used to Alice kicking me in the head at night."

As I went to back away from the bed, deliciously scorching skin wrapped around my waist, pulling me into bed with him. "Come here." He sighed, it sounded like he was smiling. He enveloped me in warm blankets, and then wrapped his arms around me, holding me against him.

"Thanks." I whispered, my eyes slipping closed contentedly. I could feel his warm breath saturating the sensitive hairs at the back of my neck as he chuckled lowly. I thought he murmured something, but it was lost on me.

--------- ----------------------- --------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------- --------------

There was a bright line of sunlight falling across my face that woke me up in the morning. My breath hitched in fear. I hadn't thought about this last night, but now I worried about how awkward this would be.

When I knew I couldn't stall any longer I cracked one eye open. He was there, grinning at me propped up on one arm. He chuckled, "Wake up, the sun has come to see you!"

I groaned, "Tell it I'll take a rain check." I muttered. I was distracted, more startled by his bare chest then I was by the brilliant sunlight streaming in the window just above his dark wood dresser.

He sighed, lying on his back. He snaked one arm around my waist hugging me close to him. "Careful," he murmured, "I think I'm getting into the habit of waking up next to you."

I rubbed my eyes, sitting up. He sat up too, and then grimaced, stretching his legs. I gave him a sympathetic look. "Stiff?" I had gotten used to the stiff legs so that I hardly even felt them anymore. Edward didn't seem to be at that stage yet.

He smirked. "Yup." He threw his legs over the bed. I saw—a little too late not to see—that he was only wearing boxers. He saw me turn away quickly. "Could have been worse." He warned me darkly.

I knew it could have been worse; I just tried not to think about it.

I got out of the warm bed, my stomach growling. "I'm starving." Then I remembered that Edward didn't have any food for breakfast. I sighed, joy.

"We will go grocery shopping first thing. Now scoot. I need to get dressed." He demanded with mock severity. He was rummaging through his pant drawer.

I looked out the window; it was just high enough above his head that I could still see his expression without catching too much. "But you look so good in green, Mr. Romantic. And you were on me about my dating fashion." I teased, leaning against the door jamb, grinning in smug satisfaction. "How were you expecting to get any in green boxers?" I snickered, remembering our conversation from last night.

Bella: 1,000,000,000 Edward: -20

"I could get laid in a purple jump suit. Now out—scoot, shoo." He waved me out with irritable amusement. His eyes out shone the sparkling sunlight.

I grinned once more before darting out into the hall. I sighed, remembering that my bag of clothes were in Edward's room. I went to the couch, wrapping the blanket I had forsaken on the couch last night in favour of Edward around me. It dragged on the floor and I knew I looked ridiculous. I didn't mind, as long as I was warm. Who was going to see me? Just Edward.

So far I had realized three important things about Canada. The water would always be cold, even if it summer, winter, fall or spring. Second, no one who valued the warmth of their bed should ever live in Canada. And finally, as much as I would rather have been lying on a warm beach with lots of palm trees, there was something surreal about the trees changing colours right before our eyes.

I quickly went to the bathroom, brushing my teeth, washing my face. The cool water helped wake me up. I stepped out and saw Edward's door to his room standing open. I quickly snuck in and got changed myself. It was just a lazy jean and long shirt ensemble, not like we were going to be doing much today. I pulled my big blanket up around my shoulders again, looking for Edward.

I found him in the kitchen; he was drinking a bottle of water from the fridge. I was about to make a sarcastic remark about all the water he had in the absence of food, but when his eyes flickered at the sound of my entrance his eyes popped open, and he spun towards the sink. He spit the water out, choking around his laughter. The kitchen, I noticed, was so much brighter, happier then Charlie's kitchen could ever be back in Forks. Even thought the kitchen was painted a darker blue, there were not sorrowful memories clinging to the bare walls. The stoves and fridge were stainless steal.

"What?" I asked, looking down at myself self-consciously. Had I forgotten something? I looked down to find that, nope I was still fully dressed. Even more so with the blanket.

"You're wearing the bed!" he laughed. He shook his head at me while I blushed; finally seeing what was so funny. "Will you make leg holes in my pillow cases next?" he snickered at the thought.

I tightened the blanket around me and, with a head held high, marched over to the fridge. I opened it, showing him its vast emptiness other then five bottles of water. You could defiantly tell that they played sports.

"I might wear the bed, but what are you going to eat?" I retorted, more annoyed that he had made me blush then his comment on my portable cocoon of warmth.

He smiled darkly, "You." He chuckled at my shudder. "I'm sure you'd be a delectable feast."

I laughed rolling my eyes. "Yum yum. Crème de Bella." He grinned a wide smile, showing his teeth. "Can we go grocery hunting? I don't want to find you gnawing on my arm." I muttered, shuddering again at his smile.

He saluted me, "Yes M'am!"

To my uttermost surprise Edward behaved himself all the way from the drive off campus to the grocery store until we reached the cooking oils. Edward had wanted me to make a list, claiming he would clear the grocery store out of junk food if I didn't keep him straight.

I had conceded, though I felt like he was getting a private kind of enjoyment from my writing a grocery list. Or maybe he was just really happy that he would actually be eating food soon.

All the students regularly had their fridges stalked once a week. If they ate through all that food, or wanted something different, they had to go get it themselves with their own money. Alice and I rarely had that problem, but sometime we used her car to go into town for some ice cream or pop corn. I could imagine that living with Emmett could get expensive.

We had managed to find most of the things on the list when he stopped in front of the olive oil, his smile turning mischievous. I sighed, already knowing he was going to try and annoy me. If there was one thing Edward loved more then football, probably even more then food or air. It was to annoy me. The sponge in my mind soaked that information up. Hiding it from further inspections.

"Girls are kind of like olive oil." He grinned holding two bottles, their labels facing away from me. I raised an eyebrow but otherwise said nothing. He wouldn't need any prompting from me to continue. He faced one of the bottle labels towards me. It was regular olive oil. "This is a girl." He turned the other bottle around. Virgin olive oil. "And this is a girl who hasn't has sex."

I rolled my eyes at him, while he put both bottles back on the shelf, taking out one last one. "This, Bella, is you." He handed me the bottle. I sighed, humouring him by turning the bottle around the read the label. Extra virgin.

"Ha, Ha. Very funny." I narrowed my eyes at him. "I'm a lot less innocent then you seem to think Edward." I sniffed, arms crossed over my chest. That was probably a lie, but I was tired of feeling like a thirteen year old around him.

"Really?" He sounded interested and sceptical. "Have you ever even kissed someone? Boy or girl?" I opened my mouth to tell that, in fact, I had. I wasn't about to say it had been him, because that one time on the couch was more of a brush of lips then anything. He interrupted me anyways, "Parents don't count. Neither does Alice unless there was tongue."

I made a face at that last thought. Not that Alice wasn't heart-breakingly beautiful, but I couldn't see her that way. So instead I threw the oil into the cart, and then moved so fast he didn't have time to react, I jumped up to quickly peck his cheek. "Ha!" I cried in victory.

Edward's face was beyond shocked as he stumbled back against the shelf behind him, knocking different things off the shelf before slipping on one of the bottles of oil that had broken open against the dirt streaked tiles. I winced as he fell, biting my lip.

Oops.

He blinked surprised. He just looked up at me with unreadable eyes as he sat on the floor. One crossed under the other.

For the first time since I had met him, his expression reminded me of a toddler. One that was beyond shocked that gravity actually worked against them. That they could be affected by a natural occurrence just like everyone else.

I knelt down in front of him, pursing my lips in amusement. "Did I sweep you off your feet?" I enquired innocently.

Edward stared at me like I was speaking a different language. My lips pull down at the corners, worried that he might have gone into shock. I extended my hand to help him up, watching to see if he was in pain. He just looked at my hand for a short second before finally snapping out of his daze, taking my hand. Relieved, I smiled.

The moment he was upright and stable, he knocked my legs our from under me with his arm. I gasped as I plummeted towards the hard, dirt stained floor I could already see the head lines in the news papers. Tragedy Found in Isle Three. Young Girl Found Brutally Murdered.

At the last moment when I curled into myself preparing for impact he swept his other arm to catch my shoulders, holding my bridal style in the grocery store, surrounded by bottles of spilt cooking oil. Only two or three glass oil bottles had broken, leaking its contents over the now deathly slick tiles. Others rolled harmlessly away from us.

"Did I sweep you off your feet?" he quoted me grinning.

I would have made a face at him if I hadn't been so terrified. "Edward, put me down. The floor is slippery, if you fall—." I didn't even get to finish worrying. Edward had—stupidly—taken a step away from the spillage, but our combined weight and his movement had set him off balance on the oily floor.

We booth fell, the tiles reclaiming me as their victim. Edward just happened to be around the wrong person at the wrong time. I probably should have already warned him about the bad luck that followed me around, wreaking havoc everywhere I went. I bit my lip to keep from crying out. The last thing I wanted was for anyone to investigate.

We landed painfully; I think Edward got the brunt of it since he had cushioned my fall. He groaned rolling me off him, "That wasn't supposed to happen." He muttered. He watched me get up, a little shaky, my heart still thrashing in my chest.

"Well, you definitely swept me off my feet." I grumbled, but I grinned to show him I wasn't hurt. He sighed in relief, "How about you? Did I crush anything?" I gently poked around his ribs, seeing if there were any tender spots.

He waved my hand away, rolling his eyes. "I'm fine. How about we get away from the scene of the crime?" Part of me wanted to get someone so some poor old lady didn't fall and break a hip, the other really didn't want to get in trouble. I nodded and we finished our escapade through the store before we destroyed anything else. We managed to get out in one piece.

I fried some eggs while Edward showered all the 'girl' off him. He had to go to football practice later today, and he obviously didn't want to go covered in oil.

His practice reminded me my of the big game coming up for the basketball players this Monday. I guessed he already knew about it, they had been selling tickets for the fans who wanted to join us on our trip. We were all going to be away for the whole rest of the week.

It was and wasn't the most important time of the season for us. It wasn't because it was just the beginning of the season and there would be a lot of rookies there. It was, because it was where we would be sizing up our opposition for the finals if we even got that far. I thought we would despite Tyler's pessimism.

Apparently having a girl on the team doomed them all. Most of the team didn't mind me, but I sometimes thought coach felt the same as Tyler. Not because I wasn't a good enough player, but because it would bring the gods of basketball down on him. He sometimes reminded me of the pirates on ships that freaked out if they found a girl on board their ship.

Edward in haled breakfast, just as hungry as I was, then threw his big football bag over his shoulder. While we walked to the field he was half taking to me, half texting someone on his phone. The exchange lasted no more then three minutes with who ever he was conversing with, but he had an air of victory when he put his phone back into his pocket.

I envied him the technological knowledge. I had a cell phone, but it was always either turned off or uncharged. I had no one to call and no one to call me. Besides, if someone really needed to reach me, they had mine and Alice's phone at our 'house'.

I didn't want to seem nosey so I bit back my question on who he had been talking too. Edward walked slower then usual after that, checking over his shoulder every few seconds like he was expecting someone. I finally lost it, "What are you looking for?" I snapped.

Edward shrugged, about to answer, and then something caught his attention from over my shoulder, "There you are."

I was instantly blinded by a black cloth covering my eyes. "What? Hey!" I started to struggle before the soft gentle hands were replaced by larger, stronger, rougher hands. I didn't know whether I should kick them or not. Edward wouldn't let anything happen to me, would he?

"Calm down Bella." I heard Alice chime impatiently. "We won't let anything hurt you, just let Jasper lead you."

I gave a low sigh of relief. "Wow, you actually made it out of the house today." I smirked, touchy from being ambushed. I thought I should have noticed them coming.

Jasper's hands stiffened around my wrists, offended by my teasing jab at Alice. Alice's tinkling laughter loosened his grip again. "Aren't you proud?" She asked in a happy little voice. "Come on now Bella or you'll miss it!" she half whined half squealed.

"Miss what? I'm blind." I muttered, but allowed Jasper to lead me anyways.

Jasper would never be able to get a job leading the blind. He failed to mention the stairs, the lift, and once he even tripped me with his own feet when he failed to mention we were turning a corner. He snickered when he let me walk into a wall.

Alice's laughter at my embarrassed blush echoed like bells off the walls, I knew we were almost out on the field, just under the concrete arch where some of the bleachers crossed over on top for home games.

I didn't think it was fair that, Edward, who was always cheering for me when I practiced, was having me blind folded for when he practiced. I wanted to cheer him on too.

Jasper sat me gingerly down on a wooden bench, trying to make up for manhandling me earlier, and then the wood bowed under his weight slightly as he sat down too. Alice was too light for me to feel sit down.

A few moments later I could hear some of the guys talking and joking on the field. And then they were doing drills. I could hear the whistle blowing, the pounding of feet on grass or the mashing of plastic gear against itself and the ground as they dropped, moving in synchronization.

When they started practicing plays I could hear Alice sigh, bored.

I was itching to see what was going on. I especially wanted to see Edward's playing now that it wasn't against me. To see how he fared. I had never concentrated on him before now, he had just been a name. An infamous name that always had one rumour or another circulating about him, but a name none the less. Now that I knew him, I was sure that most of those rumours had been derived from jealousy and retribution.

In the middle of one of the games the coach blew the whistle, and I wondered who had gotten a touch down this time. Instead of a victory cheer or a groan of defeat there was an apology, a few teases and then the coach, "Go take a breather Cullen. Get that under order."

My ears perked, and I found that after being blind for so long all my other senses had kicked into overdrive. I felt Jasper shift down on the bench after Alice had hissed something at him, and then the bowing of another weight was beside me. "So who's winning?" I instinctively knew it was Edward beside me now. I grinned in his general direction.

"Us. I'm an unstoppable force of nature." He replied cockily.

I rolled my eyes though he couldn't see. "Apparently not or else you wouldn't have been benched."

"Almost unstoppable."

The breeze blew towards me then, and I gasped. My head whirled and my stomach churned, it was easier to ignore then I thought in my state of panic. "Edward!" I cried, groping blindly for him.

"What? What's wrong?" he asked worriedly, giving me his hand. My hands followed up his bare arm, across his bare shoulder—apparently he had taken his gear off so he wouldn't stain his jersey with the blood I could smell now.

"What do you mean what's wrong? You're bleeding!"

"I thought you made sure she couldn't see!" Edward snapped at someone, Jasper or Alice. Then he was speaking to me again. "Don't worry; it's just a nose bleed. I wasn't paying attention to what I was doing." Though he sounded sheepish, I thought I heard an accusation in his voice.

Now that I was assured he wasn't really hurt, I moved away from him, the blood taking centre stage in my mind. He grabbed me, "Where are you going?" he asked, not letting go when I tried to shake his hand off. For some reason I couldn't comprehend, his voice was on the edge of panic.

"The blood. I can smell it; it's making me feel queasy." I explained, still trying to make him let go of me.

"Oh." His voice was surprised, he let my hand go and I shifted down the bench. After a second of thought, he wondered incredulously, "You can smell it? Humans can't smell blood." I heard the short laps in silence as he turned away from me to question Alice and Jasper, "Can either of you smell it or am I the freak here?"

They both must have shaken their heads 'no' because I didn't hear anything. "Huh. So that's why you don't want to be a doctor." He seemed distracted, lost in another thought.

Alice giggled, "No, Bella doesn't want to be a doctor because she would probably forget the knife inside the operative." She giggled again when I scowled in the general direction of her voice.

Edward went back onto the field no more then five minutes later, and the games resumed. I complained to Alice about the blind fold until she threatened to gag me and bind my wrists.

I shut up, but sulked the rest of the game, silently wallowing while Jasper tried to give me a play by plays. He was getting more out of the colour commentary then I was. Until Alice hit him to shut him up. I was secretly grateful to her. Another job Jasper could never do.

Finally at the end of the practice I could hear a big fan fare going on across the field. I didn't know what it was about but I could hear a bunch of hooting and clapping. "Alice? What's going on?" I asked, my hand twitching up to pull the blind fold down for a peek.

Her tiny hand stopped me from ruining whatever plan her and Edward had cooked up. I still couldn't understand why he would text her to come and blind fold me. "You'll see!" she sang happily. I pouted. Why was I the last to know? That wasn't fair.

"Why so glum?" a voice purred by my ear, his thumb smoothed out my pout.

I smiled, "Can I take the blind fold off now?"

"Yep!" Alice chirped, the bench shivered as she bounced excitedly.

I ripped the blind fold off, only to find Edward; his scintillating chest bear, shimmering with the sheen of sweat in the sun.

Oh my Edward. It's god.

Before my hungry eyes could take in all his hard muscled perfection, a blue shirt was thrust into my face.

"Huh?"I asked, dazed. Wow, no wonder Alice had blind folded me. I might have jumped him. I shook my head to clear it, so what if Edward's chromosome disorder gave him the smooth, hairless chest like he had just came out of a photo shoot for the 'Perfectly made man' calendar? So what if he didn't even have the under arm hair or even a treasure trail that the other guys had? I had to remind myself not to drool.

Didn't mater. I sternly told myself. He wasn't yours, he belonged to Mrs. X. I thought about the name a little. Maybe we should rename her to Miss. X. unless she was married, if that was the case Edward would a lot of explaining to do.

"Bella?" Edward waved a hand in front of my face, "You still in there?"

I reddened, "Yep." I took a better look at the shirt he had curtained between my eyes and his chest. It had his last name, and then above it, a capital 'C'. It took me a moment, and then I gasped. "You're captain!" I screeched, jumping on him.

He laughed, spinning me around. "Cool, huh? Not as cool as making history, but it's a start for me." He grinned, tightening his hold around me.

I snorted, "Who cares about history. You're captain!" I grinned slyly at him, "Want to play a little one on one? Captain to Captain?"

He laughed, "Oh no! I'm not getting my butt kicked in front of my team. Why not do a little one on one with…Brady? Brady!" he called. An average looking guy came over. Not tall or short, his hair a dull brown even in the sun.

"Sup Mr. Captain? Congrad's by the way." he slapped Edward on the back. Edward grinned back. "This you're girlfriend?" Brady looked at me confused, wondering why I was, one, hanging off his neck, and two, why I was so bellow his normal standards. I flushed; it was that same unnerving stare I couldn't get used too.

Edward grinned, "I wish." He ducked out of the way, expecting my physical retribution for his little tease. "No, this is Bella."

Brady looked at me like he had seen me before, but couldn't remember where. I extended my hand for him to shake, "Bella Swan. I play basketball with the boys." I smiled kindly, if not a little smugly from habit.

His eyes flashed with comprehension. "Oh! The he-chick! Man, I knew I knew you!" he laughed, shaking my hand.

My hand dropped, staring at him even though I knew he hadn't meant to offend me. The 'He-chick'? Was that what I was known as behind my back? "Nice to meet you." I mumbled, my eyes cast downwards. I tried to shake it off. I'd had worse nick names; it just felt like every new slur was a fresh cut. My flesh was already ravaged with them. What was one more?

Alice was by my side in a moment, Jasper trailing after her, an invisible chain connecting them. I smiled at Alice, quickly shaking off my hurt. She squeezed my hand but didn't smile back; instead she looked wearily over my shoulder at Edward. I turned too, and saw that Brady had become frozen, watching the furry rage across Edward's face.

I took a hesitant step towards him, remembering last night, how he had promised to protect me from this sort of scorn, the fire in his eyes when he had said it. I touched his arm. "Edward?" Nothing. He continued to glare with chilled fire at Brady, who had become unfrozen, slowly backing away.

"Edward, I'm fine. He was just kidding." I shrugged to show him how little it bothered me now, but he didn't see. It was as if my words had made it worse rather then better. His lip curled back over his teeth slightly in a menacing way I'm not sure he was aware of.

"Never call her that again." His voice was low, cold as the winter wind. The words, though seeming inconsequential held so much infuriation that it made my muscles lock down in fear when a shiver crawled down my spine.

Brady nodded, apologized quickly, and then pretended someone was calling him from across the field. If he could have, he probably would have pretended he was being called from half way around the world to get out from under Edward's black anger.

"I could have handled that." I finally managed after my muscles had thawed out and Edward didn't look so terrifying anymore.

He turned to me for the first time, "Oh, I know." He told me, a smile pulled his lips up. It didn't reach his jewel like eyes, and for the first time since I had met him, his eyes really were like jewels. Hard and very cold. I swallowed nervously.

I felt Alice shudder delicately beside me. I looked at her surprised, but she was looking at Jasper. His eyes were sympathetic to Edward's anger, and I remembered how very protective Jasper was of Alice. So protective she complained about it sometimes, but it was easy to see she really didn't mind. Edward's display of protective behaviour felt out of place. It wasn't meant for me.

Edward sighed from beside me, one aggravated huff of breath as he ran his hands through his hair, messing it up more. I was beginning to recognize this gesture of agitation and nervousness. He did it a lot when we talked about Miss X.

My voice was just bubble of air on my tongue, nothing but a whisper. I cleared my throat. "Maybe we should go back home. I'm sure you two are enjoying you're weekend alone." I grinned at Alice. She smiled back realizing my attempt to diffuse the tension with another subject.

Jasper's hand came up to trace the delicate cheek bones of her face, smiling gently, but with so much love I wanted to turn away from such a intimate moment. "Yes, we have. I expect you two have been enjoying yourselves too?" There was a secret dancing in Jasper's eyes. I could see it in Alice's too. She hid it better.

My eyes narrowed in confusion. Alice giggled, "We saw you two running around last night. Well we heard you first, but I was just curious to know why you were in your Pyjamas? Not that you didn't look adorable." She flashed her teeth in a winning smile, one full of innocence. She could get out of court with that kind of smile. Alice could murder someone and get away with it with that smile.

I could feel my cheeks burn. Edward laughed, regaining some of his previous good humour, though his eyes still pulled around the edges in subdued anger. "I tried to make her sit down for a length of time. With caffeine and sugar."

Alice winced theatrically, her look offensively sympathetic. "I would have warned you about that, but I thought it would be more fun for you to figure it out on your own." And then she grinned in a knowing way. "Emmett got you started on the sugar popcorn?"

My eyes narrowed in contemplation, "That's why you packed the pop corn." I murmured more to myself them anyone else. I supposed I should have seen that one coming.

Edward chuckled in response to my analysis. "If nothing else it was an exciting evening. Thank you Alice. Anything else I should know about Bella?"

She grinned darkly, "She talks in her sleep."

Edward returned the smile crookedly, "Oh. I know."

Jasper's eye brow shot up his forehead. I looked just as surprised, if not more red faced. Then I remembered the look he was giving me when I woke up on the couch with him yesterday. Oh, I realized with one of those slap-your-forehead moments that Edward had probably heard me narrate my dream to him. No wonder he looked so amused. I was probably rambling about nights in shining armour.

"Okay, well we have to go." I mumbled turning away. Edward chuckled, following me. He waved goodbye to the two love bugs that were itching to get back to the sanctuary of a private place. Any private place as long as they were together.

As physical as Alice made their relationship sound, I knew it was so much deeper then that. With only one look from either of them, the other knew exactly what was going on in the other's head. That, and the way that Jasper looked at Alice made me think his life meant little to nothing if Alice wasn't a part of it. Every once and a while, I would catch the small smile that would spread across Alice's face when she said his name, or got an e-mail and I knew Alice held Jasper in the same esteem.

I waited outside the change room, Edward's new jersey folded over my arm as I waited for him to come out. He had convinced me that he wanted me to hold it because the stench from all the football players might just stain it permanently yellow, but I saw the thrill it gave him for me to hold it. It reminded me of the same look he got when he can finally manage to persuade me into his jacket, or when he had gotten me to write the shopping list.

The sponge sucked it all up, leaving me with nothing but empty contemplation.

Edward was starting to look more and more like the old fashioned prince charming from my dream. I couldn't remember the last time he had cursed around me. Even when I had been lying shirtless under him, he had the appreciation to look away.

Edward stepped out of the locker room, taking a lung full of fresh air. He wasn't kidding about the smell; with just the breath of his exit I could tell that those players were ripe. I suppressed a gag. Edward chuckled at my expression and started walking back to his place.

"Don't you want you're jersey back?" I grinned, "Captain."

His smile was blinding, though he was trying to pretend that this was nothing, that he accomplished things like this all the time. As plausible as that was, I doubted he was anything but indifferent to this victory. "Why don't you put it on?" At my questioning expression, his grin widened, "Just want to see the size difference between you and me."

I shrugged the jersey on and true enough it came to my knees. I flushed while he howled in laughter. When he pulled himself together he just grinned, his eyes dancing with mirth. "You could wear it as a dress." He commented in a surprisingly blasé voice that made me wonder what he was really thinking.

I curtsied to him. He smiled, and then composed himself with an air of a refined noble man. "May I have this dance Mrs.—Miss. Swan." He stuttered over my title.

I delicately extended my hand to him. He bent down to kiss it, soft as a moth's wig. He grinned against my flesh as I felt a faint blush touch my cheeks. "Oh, but of course Mr. Cullen. I would be honoured."

He chuckled, and then he started to spin us around in a slow dance, a traditional ball room. It was hard to keep a straight face especially when one looked at our circumstances. We were dancing behind the gym, me cloaked in his jersey. Edward smiled when I did, but his expression was softer, and I could imagine who he wanted to be dancing with. I remembered then about the name change.

"Edward?"

"Yes?" He was trying to be funny by continuing to talk in the cadence of an earlier century. His head held in high esteem. His lips twitched at the corners.

"I was thinking that it doesn't make sense, Mrs. X, unless she's married or something. If that's the case you should really let me know about that right now."

He snickered as if the idea was absurd, "She's defiantly not married. So what are you saying? That you want to change her title?"

"Yes, to Miss. X, I think it flows better anyways." I shrugged easily.

I had expected a quick and simple agreement, instead his eyes narrowed. "No."

I had to do a double take. "No? Why?" Not that I was really itching to change her name but I was confused. He looked like he was willing to fight to keep the name the same. I studied his expression carefully, trying to find the reason there.

His face was very composed, revealing nothing. "Because it holds… a meaning. I can't describe it to you. Not yet." His eyes were apologetic. He stepped away, breaking our dance. I sighed, if there was one thing that drove me insane it was being on the outside of a secret. Especially when I was already so intertwined with it. It was like having blank spots in my memory that gave no hint to who I was.

"Okay. But you'll explain it to me someday? Once you two get together?" I asked. I wanted to be sure of this. I might just start a list to make sure he didn't forget anything.

His lips twitched again, but he put his hand solemnly over his heart. "Promise."

After much prodding and threatening he finally allowed me to take the jersey off and return it to him.

When we walked through his doors I sighed, glad to be home. "Would you mind if I took a shower after you? I still smell like lake water." And Edward's sweet musky scent.

He was about to answer, then he froze, and a devilish smile broke across his face. He calmed it quickly. "Go ahead of me Bella. I already showered anyways." Another grin, "And you defiantly smell like something worse then lake water." I scowled at him.

"Thanks." I snapped. Then stopped when I realized I didn't know where everything was. "Towels?" I asked.

He grinned, and then jerked his thumb towards a nondescript looking closet. I smiled ruefully at him. "Thanks." I said again, kinder this time.

I hurried my shower, not wanting to use all the hot water. I gladly used my strawberry shampoo rather then his sporty mannish shampoo. I was already too much of a guy. I didn't need to go around smelling like one too.

I tried not to be nosey, but I wanted to know how very vain Edward was. Did he use gel to get that 'just got out of bed perfect' look? The casual disarray that was too beautiful to be natural. I couldn't find anything though, no gels or sprays. And I remembered this morning when he had just woken up, his hair that perfect messy appeal. I sighed, giving up and getting out of the bathroom.

Edward was on the couch, flipping through the channels, waiting for me with a bored expression. "Hey." I grinned, plopping myself down beside him.

He grinned warmly back at me, and then gave me the remote. "Watch what you want." He leaned his head on my shoulder. I thought I heard him inhale the scent of my wet hair. He pulled away quickly when I looked at him out of the corner of my eye, smiling mischievously.

"Sure…How about…." I bit my lip, looking for something that Edward wouldn't be able to stand. "Desperate house wives, or gossip girl? Which do you want to watch?"

He went to steal the remote back but I held it away from his grasping hands. I tsked him, "You said I could choose." I grinned when he made another lunge for the remote. I just barely managed to keep it out of his reach.

"Not if you're going to be stupid about it." He muttered, nearly laying on top of me in his attempt to get the remote back. His one hand had me locked down against the couch so I couldn't wiggle farther away from his grasping hands.

I feigned hurt, "Ouch Edward. That hurts deep." I put my free hand—the one that wasn't holding his precious remote hostage—and placed it over my heart.

He rolled his eyes, not amused or convinced by my poor acting skills. His had finally managed to inch forward so he could just touch the remote with the tips of his fingers. So close, and yet so far. He groaned, "Bella!"

I grinned, "But you have to have you're shower." I reminded him innocently.

He froze, then leaned back and clapped his palm to his forehead. "Oh my…Bella you drive me insane." He grumbled, sitting up and going into the shower.

I was still smug from my billionth and one victory against Edward's negative twenty.

I flipped aimlessly through the channels until I found a cooking channel. I sighed, not really paying attention to it. I knew I would never put that much work into one of my meals.

Instead I let my mind wander. When Edward got out of the shower I had wandered into dangerous territory that I knew was none of my business. I was curious anyways. He came out, his hair I saw, was combed for the first time since I had known him. Weird. Never would have guessed Edward a trim and tidy kind of guy. Of course the minute he walked into the room and saw me he ran a hand threw his hair, looking around the room. It was back to its natural Edward style.

I pursed my lips, trying not to laugh at him. He grinned back, "What?"

I shook my head, dismissing it. "Nothing. I like your hair by the way." I grinned again. His eyes instinctively flickered up, and then he grinned wryly back as he realized it was already dishevelled.

"Do I get the remote now?" he asked, eyeing it on the table. He was such a stupid guy sometimes, he was leaving me open to steal it again, or maybe he wanted to wrestle for it like last time.

I snatched it, and saw the conclusion proven correct. A hint of an excited smile pulling his lips up, his eyes glowed with dark intent. "Only if you answer one of my questions." I teased him by displaying the remote.

"Hmm…Ask me first, then I'll decide." He sat beside me, looking very relaxed, all except for his weary eyes.

I started to toy with the remote, not so sure of my question now. "Would you…you don't have to answer this if you don't want to." I reassured him quickly, then took a deep breath. "Would you…you know, sleep with Mrs. X if she asked you? In the beginning, I mean." What I meant, was take advantage of naivety. I was sure he understood though.

He sighed, pursing his lips in thought. I already had the idea what his answer would be no, and he was going for an angle to bother me with. "I'm not sure." His voice turned dark, just as I had thought. "Why don't you ask me?"

I was about to roll my eyes and ignore him, but I had a better idea. I threw myself at him, splayed across his lap, "Oh Edward, take me now!" I burst into peals of giggles at his shocked expression. I got off him still laughing.

After a moment though, his shock melted into a playful look. He smiled the same way before he had launched his attack on me last night. I backed away; he slid closer, and then quickly snatched my waist with one arm. He pulled me to him and started to tickle my stomach again.

It didn't last long, to my great relief. He stopped, looking confused at the door. "What?" I gasped, looking towards the door too, even though I was hesitant to take my eyes off him. Not that he needed that advantage.

I could just barely make out the words. "No! Leave them alone!" It sounded like Alice arguing with someone behind the door.

"No way am I leaving Bella along in there with him. What if something happens and she figures it out?" Rose answered back. I stared at the door in confusion.

Then Edward let go of me and sprinted for the door before they could say anything else to compromise him. He threw the door open, his voice dangerous. "What are you doing here?" he snarled.

It was silent out in the hallway. Then I heard Emmett. "Dude. I live here."

Edward hissed something low that I didn't catch. Emmett responded with a laugh even though from just the tone I knew what Edward had said was in no way funny. "We were actually playing a little ring around the Rosie, but then her arms got tired so we decided to come here. Congratulations Captains." Emmett leaned around Edward to wink at me.

My eyebrows shot up. For some reason I didn't think that 'ring around the Rosie' was the children's game I remembered.

Rose suddenly pushed her way through Edward to see me on the couch. I smiled at her, she didn't smile back. Instead she glared. Even though Rosalie had always been a friend of a good friend, I sort of thought that we were friends. Or that was what I had believed before. My smile faded.

Alice danced under Edward's arm, saw the look Rose was giving me, and jumped up to smack her in the back of the head. "Stop being mean to Bella. If she doesn't want to spend time with you she doesn't have to."

"Too damn bad." She growled, "Come on Bella. We're all going to the library. I need to finish my report. And Emmett actually needs to start his homework." She had tried to give Emmett a reprimanding look, but it melted as soon as she saw his beaming smile.

I giggled. "Sure. Library sounds good."

"No!" Edward moaned. "If you bring her into the library you'll never get her out again!" I stuck my tongue out at Edward.

Jasper was standing behind Edward; he looked a little worse for wear, like he and Alice had been arguing. Something trivial, but arguing about anything with Alice always put Jasper in a sour mood.

Alice skipped back to Jasper, her eyes gloating, and some how apologetic at the same instant. She must have won the argument. Not that I'd had any doubts.

Rose didn't look nearly as happy, and I guessed that the argument had been mostly between Alice and Rose. Anything that upset Alice though, reflected directly back at Jasper.

I was reminded about the similar phenomenon between Edward and me.

"Do you have any homework?" I asked Edward, I had already finished mine with Alice.

Jasper would have lied had I asked if it meant he got to spend the rest of the day with Alice. Then he'd spend Sunday night doing it all last minute. It always amazed me how despite this he always had high marks. Alice was usually annoyed with it, even when she did the exact same thing when Jasper came over.

"Only that stupid English thing." Edward rolled his eyes. The fun assignment in English was getting a lot of groans.

Rose raised her eye brow. "Are you talking about that weird mythical assignment? We already did that, he doesn't tell you, but he gives you extra marks if you find a way to wedge a poem or two in there."

I groaned. I was a horrible poet, I loved to read it, but my tastes were so unconventional that even my teachers gave me odd looks. I tried to stay away from them. Edward pursed his lips, and then shrugged. "That's not so hard. Just make something rhyme, right?"

I envied Edward so much at this moment. "Can I switch brains with you?" I wondered aloud.

Edward chuckled. "Not sure about that, what do I get out of it?"

I pretended to think about it. "You get a girl's brain. You won't need any more lessons from me."

Edward wrinkled his nose. "But what's the fun in that? Then I'll have nothing to keep you around." He actually looked troubled by this. I felt a sudden warmth swelling in my chest at this. He wanted to keep me around, that was flattering. I could feel a smile pulling my lips up with out the conscious demand to do so.

Rose tapped her foot impatiently, "Can we go now? I'm tired of seeing my brother drooling over Bella. Along with every other girl on the face of the earth."

Edward rolled his eyes at the hyperbole. "Well I'm tired of having a bitter resentful sister who thinks I can't do anything right." Edward snapped back at her.

They glared at each other, and in that instant I saw the similarities between them I had never noticed before. They both had problems with their tempers, for one, but also the beauty. It was traditional beauty in some cases, like their straight noses and full lips, also Edward's green eyes and Rose's blue-purple eyes were deep and had a similar shape and spark in them. Edward also had very feminine ears. I had never noticed that before.

I laughed nervously, "Maybe we should just go?" Rose turned to glare at me next, and I flinched. A bubble of sound rose from Edward's throat, a low snarl at her antagonism towards me.

"Come on Rosie, Bella's cool! Don't be angry at her just 'cuz she's crushing on Edward." Emmett pleaded. He bent down a little so their eyes were on the same level, then he smiled, cradling her chin in his hand.

I'd never thought of Emmett as a romantic man until that one moment. He looked at her in a smug kind of way, wanting to show the whole world Rosalie was his, but there was also the softness of his eyes. He loved her.

I guess I should have kept my mouth shut, but his presumption on my feelings for Edward made me pipe up. "I don't like Edward." I said immediately, and then blushed when everyone turned to look at me questioningly. "I mean he's just a friend." I said much more quietly, looking at my feet.

Alice huffed crossing her little arms in front of her chest unhappily, while she glared at the floor. Rose chewed that over for a second, then raised her nose in the air and smiled haughtily at Edward. No one else reacted to my outburst.

Edward's face stayed smooth and emotionless. He turned away, "What the hell are we all waiting for?" he demand, walking out the door. Jasper's eyes widened in shock when Edward walked by him out the door, something on his face that I couldn't see.

Guilt slithered down my spine, burrowing into my stomach like a stone. I looked at my feet. Why couldn't I think before I opened my big mouth? Oh right, because I'm an idiot.

Rose looked even more pleased at the expression she had witnessed on Edward's face and my own spiralling guilt. I didn't look at her too long, already feeling the anger radiating through me, at her callousness towards her brother.

I lengthened my stride to catch up with Edward, then gave up and just jogged to catch up when I realized he too was walking faster. He had chosen to ignore the elevator in favour of the stairs.

I caught up with him at the landing. I slowed down beside him, his pace slowed too in habit to my shorter legs. I don't even think he was conscious of the decreased pace anymore.

His face was smooth again, everything except his eyes were casual. His eyes were mostly opaque, but I could see enough past the mask to see the smallest amount of pain that escaped his strict façade. I had to look away, unable to reap what I had sewn.

I wasn't sure what to say to him, now that I was here. Obviously not that I had lied. That was just too embarrassing to admit. He wasn't helpful either, refusing to start a conversation. I took a calming breath, and then very carefully touched the back of my hand to his.

It could hardly have even been called a bump, and I worried for half a second that maybe he hadn't felt it. His hand reacted like a trap, almost instantly snaring my hand into his. Unbreakable and inseparable.

I looked back again to see a true calmness about his face, a genuine serenity that I could feel even from where I was. He still wasn't happy but he wasn't hurt anymore. I could live with that. I could hear a faint humming coming from Edward. It wasn't something I recognized, it was a continuous stream of sound with dips and rises, only interrupted when he stopped to take a breath.

"What's that?" I murmured, loving the music.

He opened his mouth to answer but was interrupted when Rose very obviously moved between us. Ripping his hand from mine. Her voice was sharp and triumphant, about to take another victory. "Edward is such a dork. He's probably singing some patsy piano piece." She snickered like it was embarrassing.

Edward glared at her; his eyes were pulled in a way that made me think he was embarrassed though. "It's beautiful. I love classical music." I told Rose, trying to keep the edge out of my voice.

"Ha!" Edward barked into her face. He was the victorious one now. "Now why don't you go crawl under a rock you little bug?" He growled at her.

I turned away to giggle silently. She turned her attack on me. "What's wrong with you? You don't care that he has a chromosome disorder," Edward made a face. "You don't care that he is a selfish man whore, you don't even care that he not only listens to that classical crap, but that he writes it! You can't be female, you can't even be human!" she was obviously exasperated by my lack of normalcy. She obviously didn't know me well at all. Nothing was normal about me, I'd come to terms with that a long time ago.

"I don't care." I told her quietly, "Edward knows about my faults too. It doesn't bother him, so why should I be petty enough to be bothered by his flaws?"

Rose just stared at me like I was speaking Latin. Obviously Rose had never been confronted with the difficulties of over looking other people's flaws; especially since she looked so perfect herself. I wonder how she would react when she realized that even Emmett had faults. No one was perfect. Not even Rosalie Hale Cullen.

Clearly out of her element with what I had been saying, and still chewing it over, she slowed, waiting for Emmett to catch up with her I suspected. I was glad that she was big enough not to just give some offensive remark and walk off. She actually had the courage to step outside herself and try to understand something from another's perspective.

Edward grinned down at me. "You've found the shallow witch's weakness. Depth."

I grimaced, unhappy. I knew I was the cause of this family dispute. "Don't Edward. I can understand where she's coming from anyways, I'm not exactly you're usual company." I rolled my eyes.

He chuckled in agreement. The library was mostly empty, normal for a Saturday afternoon. I gravitated immediately towards the books, where I usually went in a library. Edward grabbed my wrist, pulling me in the opposite direction, towards the computers on the left side of the library. "Oh no you don't. If you go in there I'll never get you out again." he smiled at me.

I sighed, "Fine. Then what are we going to do in a library? Because reading is obviously not what you're supposed to do." He ignored the sarcasm in my voice, his eyes were far off. I nudged him, "Edward?"

"Hmm? Sorry, lost in thought." His voice still sounded a little distracted.

"People only get lost in thought when it's unfamiliar territory." I teased, nudging him again, impishly this time.

"Ouch! That smarts." He grinned. "You're just grumpy because I'm not letting you read. You can be so weird sometimes." But his smile widened, his glace appreciative as if he was giving me a complement.

"Um…thanks. What do you want to do?" I sat down in the computer chair next to him. He shrugged, booting his up. I did the same, and then amused myself through the wait by spinning around in the chair. I liked to see all the colours blend together, all except Edward. He never blurred into the back ground.

Edward typed something into the address bar, and then we came to a music site. "So you really like classical?" he asked as if he didn't believe it. When I nodded his eyes narrowed. "Prove it. Name one classical composer other then the obvious ones like Beethoven."

I gave him a look, about to tell him that I didn't need to prove anything, why would I lie? Then I sighed. "Debussy, Chopin's nocturnes," I grinned darkly, "And Beethoven." I added that last part just to bug him. "Is there a reason I would lie about my music preferences?"

He chuckled, running his hand through his hair. Nervous. "Some girls…like to find similarities with me. I guess it makes them think I'll like them more." He shrugged, looking away.

I snorted, "Because all I do is try to please you." I grinned as we both thought about all my tricks. "Throwing you into the lake, kicking you butt in your own sport, burying you in mine, and other wise threatening your life to get you off my back. Oh yea, bending over backwards to make you love me."

Edward laughed, "And somehow I do." His eyes were soft.

"And you say I'm weird." I muttered. "So what's with the music site? Want to go dancing again?"

He smiled. "Maybe. What kind of music do you like?"

"I already told you. Do you remember?" I wondered if Edward actually listened to me when I spoke.

"Hard rock. Anything else? And specifics." He didn't look at me, he was strangely focused on the computer screen, afraid I would read something from his face.

"Linkin park-ish music, my mom's new husband got me hooked. Other then that and classical I'm not very music savvy."

"So we have a classical and heavy rock girl. Interesting. Do you like any girlie songs?" he smirked.

I shrugged. "What's in the 'girlie' genre?" I leaned across my computer to look at his. He typed in bubbly then grinned when it started from the speakers, watching my face. I shrugged when the song ended. "I'd listen to it."

"But do you like it?"

I smiled, sidestepping the question. I didn't really like it, and if he found that out he's play it around me constantly. "Interesting. We have a 'girly' music kind of guy. Never would have thought it." He scowled at me, I smiled hugely at him.

Edward thought about that, and then typed another name in. Wait for you – Elliott Yamin.

Rosalie and Alice came running like their names had been called when the music started. It started with a bit of piano, and then a male voice started.

"I never felt nothing in the world like this before
Now I'm missing you
& I'm wishing that you would come back through my door
Why did you have to go? You could have let me know
So now I'm all alone,
Girl you could have stayed
but you wouldn't give me a chance
With you not around it's a little bit more then I can stand
And all my tears they keep running down my face
Why did you turn away?"

Edward sang his gestures over the top and obviously mocking. He even ran one hand down from his eye to track a tear along with the lyrics. I laughed, starting to follow the baby pink lyrics that flashed across the bottom of the music video with him.

"So why does your pride make you run and hide?
Are you that afraid of me?
But I know it's a lie what you keep inside
This is not how you want it to be"

I took Edward's hands, and we stood up, spinning around the room laughing. Edward's eyes looked a little resigned though. Edward interrupted me when I was about to sing the next line, singing it himself. I snickered at Rose and Alice, both of whom did enjoy the song giving us dirty looks. Rose was giving most of them; Alice just stuck her tongue out whenever I looked at her.

"So baby I will wait for you
Cause I don't know what else I can do
Don't tell me I ran out of time
If it takes the rest of my life
Baby I will wait for you
If you think I'm fine it just ain't true
I really need you in my life
No matter what I have to do I'll wait for you"

Edward tried to make his voice go up into a high feminine voice at the end, ending up cracking his voice and coughing. I snickered darkly. Edward might play music, but I'd heard better singers. I wasn't one to talk though. He sounded good next to me.

"It's been a long time since you called me
(How could you forget about me)
You got me feeling crazy (crazy)
How can you walk away,
Everything stays the same
I just can't do it baby
What will it take to make you come back
Girl I told you what it is & it just ain't like that
Why can't you look at me, your still in love with me
Don't leave me crying."

Edward managed to get his bearings, grinning he mouthed 'girl?' at me with a teasing look on his face. I grinned, "Yes, I like women Edward." I rolled my eyes.Our little conversation had made us skip a piece, and then the chorus started again.

"So why does you pride make you run & hide
Are you that afraid of me?
But I know it's a lie what your keeping inside
That's not how you want it to be

Baby I will wait for you
Baby I will wait for you
If it's the last thing I do"

Alice and Rose sang the last parts, obviously not wanting us to ruin the whole song for them. Edward managed to steal the last line from them.

"I'll be waiting." He murmured lowly. Then smiled when I tried to search his face. There was something off about him, especially in those last three words. There was so much emotion in those three words that it could only be one thing.

Or more specifically, one person. Mrs. X.

He saw the awareness flash across my face and pulled me into his chest, resting what I thought was his cheek against my hair, sighing. I wrapped my arms around his waist, just standing there for a long minute.

A slower music started, and we both looked up to see Alice grinning at us. Rose glared, then lunged for the mouse to change the music. Soon they were rolling around on the floor, the mouse swinging by the cord forgotten in the air.

Edward pulled away slightly, keeping one hand on my waist, taking my hand in the other. He started to lead us around the library, spinning and navigating around the tables. "We actually have music now." I smiled, speaking lowly to him.

He spun us around twice. Chuckling, "It's nice, isn't it? Dancing with out music makes you feel kind of silly." His eyes flickered towards where Rose had pinned Alice, still fighting, to the floor, and was just reclaiming the mouse to turn the music off. Oh well, thirty second dance was okay.

Edward looked like he was going to say something really nasty to her, so I interceded quickly. "Rose, do you mind if I try and show Edward the kind of music I like?" Edward closed his mouth with a sharp clicking of teeth, not willing to argue now. Not with me.

Her eyes narrowed slightly, and then she shrugged, stepping away from the computer, her face still hostile. I squared my shoulders. I tried not to let her see how much she intimidated me. I walked over to the computer, trying to keep my façade up.

I put a new song on. Bite the Hand that Feeds by Nine Inch Nails, Edward looked a little impressed. I guessed I had introduced him to a new band.

We spent the rest of the day looking up songs and discussing the pros and cons about bands, genres and just about anything else that came to mind. Much of the afternoon was spent laughing. The librarian had had enough when Emmett came to join us, laughing along with us in his ground shaking guffawing. She kicked us out of the library with a grimly triumphant expression. Her lips turned up in a tart little smile.

Probably for the better, we got out of the library in time to see the sunset over the lake again. This time everyone was with us. It might have been nice had Edward and I not been the only single couple. That's what made me feel the most awkward, Edward wasn't bothered at all, and I though I knew our friendship wasn't the normal kind—too many lines had been blurred—it still made me uncomfortable how he acted around me sometimes.

Jasper was resting his head in Alice's lap. She watched his face, running her hands through his golden locks rather then watch the bronzing sunset. Jasper was looking back up at her with a reverenced expression.

Rose and Emmett were kissing behind one of the fall tinted trees, every once and a while we would hear Rose giggle, or squeal. Edward grimaced, looking like he'd like to take a spoon to his head to dig the images out that were drilling themselves in there.

Edward had one arm around my waist, holding me to his warm chest as the chill of night settled on us. Edward didn't seem to think anything about this was awkward; he enjoyed it, smiling at me while the soft pinks and oranges of the sunset set everything on fire. In stead of the fire leaving harsh coals and colourless ash, it softened every thing it touched, making the world flash with colour. Even the sharp lines of Edward's jaw softened his green eyes flashing with their own brilliant, tender light. His own goodness becoming an internal sun. My sun.

Today had been such a long day. I sighed when the sun finally set, "Ready to go home?" Edward asked, stretching. The wooden bench we had been sitting on wasn't exactly comfortable.

"Sure. Don't you think someone should go get Rosalie and Emmett?" I asked, looking towards the trees. Maybe this one act of kindness could be something to help warm Rose up to me.

"No, they're fine." Edward grinned, Alice giggled lowly in agreement and we set off for home. I looked back at the bushes where Rose and Emmett were secreting them selves, I could still hear a faint giggle.

Whoever was in charge of siblings screwed up royally when they made Rose and Edward brother and sister rather then Alice and Edward. It was just so natural, the way they would joke, Alice's hand twined with Jaspers' while Edward's warm hand almost touching the small of my back every once a while. I wondered if he thought I would disappear in a puff of smoke if he didn't check to make sure I was there.

I had to smile at that. When we got home, even though I was just staying here for a short time Edward's home felt like it was mine too, the phone rang just as we walked through the door. "Wonderful timing." Edward grinned, his eyes bright like he already had an idea of who it was.

He put the phone on speaker, and we sat on the couch beside it. "Edward? Edward where are you?" It was Rosalie's voice, shrill with fear. "We thought we had gotten lost! How could you leave with out us?" The fear had subsided into a growl, and I was sure there would be pain when we next saw her. If she didn't hunt us first.

"Because you're a terrible sister. And you were making out in the woods when I was in ear shot. You're the one who's going to have to pay for the therapy to get that emotionally healed." His voice was teasing; he grinned, and then winked at me. I hushed a snicker, wondering what poor Rose had to listen through before they got their own dorms.

"I'll give you emotional scarring you little—" Edward hung up on her before she could finish her threat. We burst out laughing.

"You might want to lock that door. She might just kill you in you're sleep." I grinned, nodding towards the door.

Edward smiled. "I'll be counting on you to protect me while I sleep. We'll trade shifts at dawn."

"Ha! Dawn, good luck waking me up before dawn. Rose would have more to fear from me if that was the case." I shook my head, thinking about waking up at dawn. I'd rather go for an icy dip again in the lake.

The phone rang again. Edward rolled his eyes, hitting speaker again. "I'm not scared of you Rosie. You've been de-thorned." His eyes flickered to my face quickly to see if I thought it was funny. I shook my head sadly at him. He pursed his lips to keep from smiling.

"Edward?" That defiantly wasn't Rosalie's voice. My breath caught.

Edward's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Millie?" his voice had shot up too.

It felt like I couldn't breath, my lungs weren't expanding. I had a huge weight on my chest, too heavy to push off. It was crushing me. I already knew what she was going to say before she said it. The husky note in her voice before had given her away.

"You want to come over?" There was no question to what she was implying; her voice had dropped a few octaves.

"No." Edward sighed, leaning back onto the couch, flicking the TV on.

That was all. That one word gave me the strength to push the great mass off my chest. I sucked in a deep breath, revelling in the beauty of the air I could pull into my lungs. Everything was more beautiful, I felt so exultant that I thought I might just do a little touch down dance right here in the living room. Edward was bigger then this, he was in love. Nothing would get in the way of that.

Her voice was poutie when she asked again, "Please? I'm waiting for you." It was a purr, a come hither voice that had tempted many men to the same fate. It didn't surprise me that Edward's stubborn expression wavered. He leaned closer to the phone subconsciously.

"Are you?" he choked, his expression almost sceptical.

"Mmhm. I'm waiting. Naked."

Edward's breathing stopped. Then he composed his voice, it was darker, lower. "I'll be right over." He looked at me quickly, having evidently forgotten I was there when something so much better then my company had come up. I swallowed around the lump in my throat.

The line was dead, and Millie was waiting. He always hung up too soon when he was excited. "Sorry Bella. Do you mind if…?" he trailed off, and I knew that if I told him to stay he would. He would always listen to me.

"No it's okay." I choked; I forced a smile when he smiled brilliantly at me. "Just one thing. If you actually go over there, if you sleep with her, it won't be a one night deal. Get back together with her; actually try to make it work." My voice came out in a breath of pain.

He didn't even think about it. Didn't even listen. "Kay. See you later." He called, throwing his coat on. He disappeared out the door with hardly a backward glance.

Once he was gone the small sarcastic part of me laughed at myself. Oh he's in love alright. Just not in the way you thought.

I felt like the stupid gambler who had bet all their winnings on the horse with the lowest chances of winning because of a dream. And then watching it come in last, wheezing and panting across the finish line.

Already my mind was coming up for excuses for him. No one changes in a week. He's a man, what did you expect? Millie was the temptress; he never went to her that was an improvement, was it not? And then I felt even stupider because I wasn't angry at him.

I wasn't angry because I had fallen for Edward too. Not in the traditional way, I didn't have romantic love him. But I had fallen for his charm, for his good looks and good humour. I had fallen for his wits and his playfulness. I had fallen for his smile, for the way he always glowed.

The way he always wanted me around. How he never got tired of me, how even when I felt I'd messed up, seemed like too much of a guy, he always liked me that much more.

He was my best friend, and that's how I had fallen for him.

That's why I loved him.

--------------------------------------------- ---------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------

So I know that you all hate authors notes, so I'll keep this short. The reason it took so long to get this one out when I've had so much time was IT'S CHRISTMAS! I spent the majority of my time with my family, also I redid this whole chapter because it sucked and Edward was coming off as a complete stalker (It was scaring me). Which brings me to this point. If anything about this story really bothers you like I don't use enough describing words, or everyone grins too much, please tell me, especially if Edward is coming off like a stalker who scares you so much more then he makes you have that 'aww he is so pathetic' reaction that people seem to kind of enjoy.

Also, next chapter has a lemon. *Teenytinytwilight's Beta does the touchdown dance*

Wow. Well, this didn't turn out nearly as short as I had meant it too. Oops. Happy Holidays and a happy new year!