Oh my!, I feel ashamed for being away so long, but RL was weird lately, I had an operation in my arm, hence I couldn't write. So if you still there...thank you.

And thank you to Dina, great beta, great reader.

EDIT: ADDED A BANNER, YOU CAN SEE IT IN MY PROFILE :)

SUCH A LITTLE FAITH

…and then ran some more.

I kept running until I was tired and out of breath. Still, my home was at a good five-minute walking distance.

I tried to think, really think, not just be an emo bastard and sulk in my own misery. I did make a fool of myself I know that. Maybe I can fix this tomorrow. Say that I was in a bad place emotionally and that I was exhausted from work, I'll do that, but now I'm too tired to go back and explain, I'm so tired…

When I got home, there was a car outside, a black car with the headlights on. I saw the driver's door open, a man getting out only to stand by the side of his car. And even though I was just a few feet away, I still couldn't see him as it was too dark.

I approached the car and saw a man getting out of the car's back door.

"Mr. Cullen?"

"Yes?" I said.

"Can I speak with you?"

"About what?" I said in apprehension.

"Bella Swan, I'm her father." I stared at him and then I realized that there were more cars. Three more, all black SUVs. I understood. He was here to warn me to stay away from her.

"I… sure, just… let me get in." The man followed me, talking to one of the other men, but I didn't pay attention. I was trying to think of a way to handle this.

"You want to come in?" My apartment was not luxurious, but it was neat, simple and a bit small.

Bella's father didn't hesitate. I guess a man like him could never afford to hesitate. He sat in one of the chairs at the table.

"Would you like something to drink?" I was trying to be a good host, Mom taught me well.

"Let's cut to the chase, I know you are… working with my daughter, if that's what it is; I want to know exactly what you two are doing."

"I'm… we just play cards, she is teaching me." I said, still standing in the doorway.

"Please, sit, Mr. Cullen. What I'm about to tell you is really important. I don't want you to miss a thing, do you understand me?"

"Okay."

"I love my daughter, I do, but she has problems. She is an addict."

"She told me about her problem." I said.

"Did she, now? Did she tell you the length of her problem too? That she was in jail?" I was starting to think that her father was a real douche. He was saying these things about Bella, and she wasn't here to defend herself. I felt trapped and angry at the same time.

"She told me about being in jail, yes."

"You two are together?"

"Like a couple? No, we are not, she is a friend. Listen, Mr. Swan, what is between Bella and I is just that. Bella AND I. Excuse me if I don't feel like telling you more." He looked at me for a long time.

"You are not easily intimidated, are you?"

"I don't know what you mean. I'm trying to be polite here, but I don't like that you are questioning me about my relationship with Bella. I said everything that I could."

"Listen, Mr. Cullen, I'm not trying to threaten you, at least not yet. I just want to understand what Bella is doing."

"Why don't you ask her that yourself?"

"I did. She was… vague."

"She had her reasons then."

"I just want to know if she is gambling. She hasn't asked me for money, well, more than the sums she receives monthly. I was happy because it meant that she was recovering. But then agent Black told me about you, I thought that she was sucking you dry or vice versa."

"What! How do you think something like that?"

"Because she has done that before."

"The old men…"

"Yes… Freudian bullshit, if you ask me."

"No, Mr. Swan, she is not sucking me dry, I… I'm not wealthy."

"But your family is."

"She has never asked me about money, ever."

"Yet… look, I'm just trying to warn you. If she is not betting she is doing something related to it; I thought you two had a thing …" he said, almost to himself.

"We don't."

"So, what have you two been doing this past week?"

"If she is not telling you, I won't. I won't lose her trust just because her father doesn't trust her."

"I will find out sooner or later, it's better if you tell me."

"We are not doing anything wrong."

"Are you two playing, gambling or betting?" I didn't answer.

"I'll take that as a 'yes'. If you two are trying to do something illegal, I will stop you. And I will ruin you. Do you understand me? I know you work in a Casino and it's not coincidence that you know her. Maybe you two met there, she lured you, asking you for something. I don't know what it is all this secrecy, it's just bad news for my daughter, but I will find out." I didn't say anything.

Mr. Swan stood his mouth inches from my ear.

"She will destroy you, boy. You are not the first one; and believe me you are not going to be the last."

After Mr. Swan left, I put on my pajamas—really just boxers—and went to sleep. Well, I tried to go to sleep, but I couldn't. By twelve a.m., I was contemplating doing pushups to tire myself. But a knock on my door made me forget all my frustrated energy. The knock was almost inaudible, but my house was dead-silent. I stood up and went to open the door.

Bella was on the other side, her hair a mess, wearing a hoodie and big red eyes.

"What are you doing here?"

"You left this." She held up a piece of paper; my piece of paper from the ten-question game.

"And?"

"Can I come in?"

"Sure, sorry, come on in."

Bella looked around and instead of sitting in the chair at the table as her father did. She sat on the arm of the couch facing me.

"Well, I know it's late. But I want to ask you something, I couldn't sleep."

"Me too."

"You wanted to ask me something, too?" she said, smiling a little bit.

"No, I mean, I couldn't sleep."

"Right. Well, I… why did you leave?" she asked suddenly.

I didn't answer her. I just sat in the chair in front of her, thinking how to phrase this. She knew I was trying to explain, she waited.

"I don't know, sorry about that. I behaved poorly. Really, I shouldn't have done that. I apologize."

"Did I said or do something wrong?"

"No, nothing was wrong." Tell her, tell her, tell her.

"Why then?" The room was very quiet.

I couldn't tell her, not yet.

"It was a bad day at work" That's all I said, and I hoped that she was satisfied with the answer.

"Are you telling me the truth? I don't want you to feel uncomfortable if I said or…"

"No, really, it was all me. I was in a bad place. You came all this way to ask me this?" I said tired.

"No, really. I mean, I guess I did, but not only that."

"What else?" I was trying to decipher her face and motives, but her face was hiding behind the shadows of the room and the trends of her hair.

"The paper? Do you remember the questions, Edward?"

"Yes."

"Do you remember, do you… did you lie in your answers?" She asked, stuttering.

"Yes, a couple of times." Suddenly, I know where all this was going. The question number five.

She held the little paper in her tiny hands, on her lap, crushing it.

"Did you lie in the question about liking me?"

"Yes," I say without looking at her. My hands where sweaty and my heart has hammering against my chest.

"And you didn't tell me."

"No."

"Why?"

"Because…" I felt like a child, I couldn't speak in sentences with more than one word.

"Because, what?"

"What do you want from me, Bella?" I asked, standing up.

"The truth!"

"I'm telling you the truth." I was pacing in the room.

"I like you too." I stopped and turned around. She was there looking like a small child.

"Are you going to say something?"

"Why?" I asked.

"Because…" she smiled and I did.

She stood up and walked until she was in front of me. The shadows covering us, the light forgotten in the background. I felt comfortable here, in the cold darkness, where she couldn't see my face and my trembling frame. She first touched my hand, just barely, then she put her other hand on my other arm. I was stone cold, not with fear, but with uncertainty. The kind of uncertainty that you feel when you are always alone and someone touches you.

I felt her lips then, dry and chipped. Her body was so close… so I just stood there feeling.

"Edward?"

"mmm?"

"Something wrong?"

"No, why?" I said in a whisper.

"You are not kissing me back." I smiled against her lips.

"Your lips are chipped," I said.

"They are. Are you going to do something about it?"

And I did.

I kissed her back. I remember kisses, but hers weren't kisses. No. They were big bombs of pounding hearts and gulps of oxygen. I was so dizzy and my hands where everywhere, I don't believe I truly felt something so soft. Her hands where like little needles with anesthetic and her hair smelled like coffee and sweets. I was so entranced and lost, but at the same time aware of everything around me. I tried to feel everything and enjoy it, but my mind was so lost in all the sensations… overwhelming sensations and feelings.

AN: So if you like it, you know what to do :) Reviews are love