A/N: Soo, a new chapter. This one is also un-beta'd. I decided I might as well continue writing without getting the chapters beta'd. If the tense and grammar mistakes become unbearable, then let me know.

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Edward

I decided I needed to be honest with Bella, about everything. So, I took a spur-of-the-moment decision and dialled her number. It was close to 6:30 in the evening and I hoped she was done for the day.

"Hello?" She picked up after the first ring.

"Hey, it's me," I said.

"Hi, Edward," she muttered shyly.

"Um, are you finished working? Is it okay if I pick you up?" I asked tentatively.

She cleared her throat. "Well, give me another fifteen minutes. Can you get me after that? Or is that a problem?"

I shook my head even though she couldn't see me. "No. I'll be there in twenty minutes."

Like the previous evening, I parked my car on the opposite side of the road where Bella's office building stood. I started wondering if this would become a routine for us. For some reason, I liked that idea a lot more than I should have.

At five minutes before seven, the main door of the building swung open and Bella walked out. She spotted me easily and her face broke into that devastatingly beautiful smile that had been making appearances a lot lately.

With some sort of new spring to her stride, she crossed the road within seconds and soon she was standing next to me, a little out of breath, her hair a little mussed up and her face a little flushed. Yet, she looked breathtaking. I tried to make myself focus on what I had planned to tell her. I couldn't let anything distract me.

"Hi," she breathed and smiled a little.

I smiled back and wordlessly, opened the passenger seat door and held it out for her. She blinked once, looking a little perplexed but nevertheless, got inside the car.

I too got in and before I started the engine, I began, "Look, this might seem a bit odd to you, me picking you up from work every day."

She faced me squarely and replied calmly. "No, it's not odd at all. As a matter of fact, I like it. You picking me up, that is," she said meeting my eyes for once. I was surprised to hear the confidence in her voice, though there was the sign of a tell-tale blush creeping up her pale neck. At least, that's what I could see in the light from the lamppost.

I started the ignition and removed my eyes from her inquisitive ones. While keeping my focus on the road in front of me, I asked her, "Why?"

"What do you mean?" she asked, sounding genuinely surprised. From the corner of my eye, I could see her tucking the usual loose strand of hair behind her ears.

I sighed audibly. I might as well be open and ask her about it. "Why do you like the fact that I come and pick you up from work?" I muttered, through gritted teeth, wondering if she was intentionally being dense.

"Oh, I-I," she began stammering, Bella's usual sign of nervousness. I tried to give her more time. "We're almost here. Let's take a walk and then maybe you can explain it to me?"

She looked around, with uncertainty in her eyes. "Why are we here, at Central Park?"

I removed my seatbelt and before getting out, I replied, "Because this is a good place for us to talk."

Bella obliged and started following me as I walked through the park entrance. I kept walking at a moderate pace, to make sure that she could catch up with me easily. I slowed down even more when I reached the Great Lawn so that now we were walking side by side. Bella understood the gesture and began talking.

"Really, Edward? You need to ask me this? Are you really that clueless?" she asked, with bitterness in her voice.

The sun had set a few hours ago and the Park was immersed in moonlight. Smell of the freshly mowed grass hit my nostrils and I breathed in the fresh scent to calm my nerves. A few crickets chirped once in a while, breaking the uncomfortable silence that ensued after she stopped speaking.

I took my time in answering her. Of course I wasn't clueless. I was not blind and I could see the way Bella acted whenever she was around me. Yet, it took me a long while to admit what I had known all along. My brain had long ago registered this fact, but somewhere in my heart, I still didn't want to believe it.

"Oh come on! You are going to make me say it, right? Do men get some kind of sick pleasure out of making women admit their true feelings?" she said, huffing. When I didn't reply, she threw her hands up in the air in frustration.

"Edward!" she screeched and stopped walking. I, too, stopped and averted her gaze. "Stop sending me these mixed signals! I am tired of trying to figure you out. Your hot and cold nature, to be honest, is absolutely driving me insane!" She practically screamed the last line and I knew this was what Bella Swan looked like when she was mad angry.

I kept my eyes fixated on her brown boots. "I wish you would give up, you know. I wish you would stop trying to figure me out," I replied in a soft voice.

"But that's the whole damn problem! Believe me, I have tried. I have tried way too hard to leave you alone. And this has never happened to me before and so, I don't know how to handle this sort of things. Moreover, the situation is not made any easier if the object of your affection keeps having these mood swings." She panted, her chest heaving up and down in a steady rhythm that matched with my heart rate.

My head whipped up at the choice of her word. Affection, she had said.

I looked up to see her eyes shining brightly, burning into mine and knocking the breath out of me.

"But why, Bella?" I pleaded. "Why do you care so much? You know everything. You know the horrible past I bring with myself. Then why are you so darn stubborn about feeding life into someone who has no reason to…."

"Shut. Up." Bella said, clamping her palm over my mouth, in an authoritative voice.

I was momentarily distracted by the soft skin of her palm pressing against my lips. She left it there while I tried to work the wheels of my mind. My vision seemed to have fogged up. If my mind was clearer, the first thing I would have done was remove her hand from my mouth. However, since my brain was on some sort of a mini vacation, I let her hand remain where it was.

"Who do you think you are benefiting with all that self-loathing? The people around you or yourself? I hate to disappoint you by saying this, but no good is going to come out from that. The only thing you'll achieve is be miserable yourself. You think Angela would want to see you this way? Frankly, Edward, I am quite disheartened. I thought you were better than that."

My brain finally resumed functioning and I gently removed her hand. Her words had struck a chord. "So, what do you think I should do? Forget my ugly past completely?"

"No. You won't be able to do that even if you wanted to. I just hate to see you tear your hair out for every bad thing that has happened to you." I ran my hands through my hair as I thought about what she said.

"And I mean that both figuratively and literally," she huffed.

I dropped my hand with a resigned sigh.

She took a deep breath and moved a step forward. She took one of my hands in hers and willed me to meet her eyes. "You don't know what it's been like. These past years…" I trailed off.

"I know. I can't imagine what you have gone through," she replied in a quiet voice. She seemed calmer now than before and in better control of her temper.

"No, you can't," I snapped back a bit harshly.

A slow smile tugged the contours of her mouth. I had no clue what was so amusing all of a sudden. "But I want to know. If you want to talk, or not talk, either way, I am here," she said, emphasizing her words by gently rubbing her thumb against my palm. I fought the shiver that ran across my spine.

I sighed for the fiftieth time. "I really wish you would .."

"Give up?" She shook her head and smirked this time. "Not so easily, Cullen. You will have to work a lot harder than that to get rid of me," she said and smiled mischievously.

I could feel a sly grin creeping upon my face as well.

I decided voicing a thought that had been on my mind ever since I decided to take a walk with her in Central Park, of all places. With my hand still sandwiched between hers, I asked, "Do you remember the last time we were here?"

Bella looked up and I could see pain in her eyes. Her hands stilled and she removed them from mine. As a precaution, she took a step back. Slowly, her head bobbed up and down once.

"I also remember you leaving me standing here, alone, in the rain," she replied in a whisper, with anguish in her voice and wrapped her hands around herself. Classic Bella-Swan-self preservation-technique.

"You know why I didn't kiss you that night," I reasoned in strained voice.

"Do I?" she challenged me, her voice shaking slightly. I also heard her sniff once.

"God, Bella, you needed to know certain things about me before you made any decision. I wouldn't have been able to live with the guilt if I had kissed you that night, while keeping you in the dark about my past." That thought made me shudder.

"Edward, I will say this only once: your past doesn't bother me, not even a little bit. It was an unfortunate incident that happened."

I placed one hand over my eyes and rubbed them in an attempt to clear my still fogged mind.

"You must be tired. I can get a cab from here. You should drive back home before you start feeling drowsy."

"No, Bella, I am fine," I said, removing my hands from my eyes. "Besides, I want to take you home, unless you have any objection to that?" I raised an eyebrow questioningly.

She shook her head and replied, "I wouldn't be here if I had any."

A/N: So, what do you think? Do you still feel like punching Edward now? I know, he's being difficult but he'll come to his senses, and soon!

Meanwhile, here's some fic recommendation for you: Nicknames and Rumors by suitablyironicmoniker, The University of Edward Masen by SebastienRobichaud (it's so good!), Playing Footsie by Scarlett71177 (a fluffy one-shot) and Hydraulic Level 5 by Gondolier.

Also, if any of you wish to talk about anything even remotely related to Twilight, tweet me at .com/ScienceGeek91, because, honestly I have no friend in this fandom *cue pouty face*

Finally, review please?