The Twilight Twenty-Five
thetwilight25[dot]com

Prompt: High School

Pen Name: Mcgt
Pairing/Main Character(s): Bella/Edward
Rating: M

This will be a multi-chaptered story.

Photo prompts can be viewed here: thetwilight25[dot]com/round-six/prompts

A/N

Thanks toLittleRedScientist for helping beta this for me and Jenequilter for her prereader skills. I did add some after it was beta'd so additional errors are all my own.

Chapter 21 – High School – I'll Be

Alice called the morning after I'd taken Edward to the airport asking me if I'd mind stopping by school in the afternoon.

Telling Esme I'd be back in an hour, I drove over the high school not sure of what I'd find. Alice had been teaching art at Port Angeles High School for the last few years and really loved what she did. I'd been so wrapped up in work and Edward lately, I hadn't really had much time to catch up with my good friend.

Pulling up to the school, by now most of the buses and students had left a while ago, allowing me to find a parking spot relatively close to the front entrance. Walking in I was surprised to see a large group of kids standing around her classroom. Some were painting, others drawing, and some were typing frantically on their laptops.

"Hey Ally, what's going on?" I asked, wandering over to where she was overseeing a group of students huddled over some kind of large painting.

Standing up, she rushed over giving me a big hug and tugging me along to where she'd been.

"I asked you here to show you a little project that the kids and I have been working on. Since I ran into Angela last week, she told me about your new frequent buyer program and I decided to run a little contest for my kids."

My ears perked up at her mention of my store's newest promotion, wondering exactly what she'd done. Since the accident Alice had been gently pushing me towards being more open to others including accepting help and charity, even though I was still extremely uncomfortable with it. I had a feeling this was her way of helping in a non-monetarily way that would allow me to more readily accept her gesture.

Leading me over to where the kids were she pointed to the table where a huge banner was touting my shop's newest incentive in colorful and bold letters. "This was the winning design that we've all worked on this week. I think it would look fabulous right above the door facing the street."

I dragged my fingers over the picture depicting a mug of coffee and smiled. It was beautiful. Turning towards the expectant faces of the students surrounding me, I thanked them all for their hard work.

Tears pressed against my lids but I brushed them quickly away. My heart bubbled over in gratitude at their thoughtful gift. I hadn't even thought about putting up a sign figuring word of mouth would take care of itself. I was amazed by all the wonderful ideas that had come from my friends once I'd allowed myself to be open to it.

"I love it. Thank you." I enthused going around and shaking each of their hands. "Alice, who was the winning designer?"

Pointing to a timid looking brunette with a streak of pink running through her hair she replied "Katelyn was. Isn't it fantastic?"

"Well Katelyn, congratulations and thank you. It's gorgeous. I'd love to reward you for your hard work. How about a free book from my shop? And to the rest of your assistants who helped paint it, you guys get one too."

We stood around talking and I learned all about the Find your Muse Club that Alice was running. It was a club dedicated to creative people who just wanted some extra time doing what they loved. The club met three times a week. On Mondays they hung out in the music room allowing anyone who wanted to work on a song or tinker with an instrument after hours to do so. On Wednesdays they stayed in Alice's art room working on painting, drawing, or sculpture for anyone who liked that kind of art. Then every Friday they would have an open mike event in the auditorium giving the musicians and writers a chance to showcase their work to the other kids in the club and the art work would hang in Alice's room for the week until the next projects had been finished.

After a while, Alice and I ended up alone by her desk, chatting about what had been happening in our lives since we'd last spoken.

"I almost forgot... How did the meeting with the bank go? Are they giving you an extension on your loan? What about reimbursing you for what was stolen. What's going on?" she asked in a constant stream of questions.

Smiling at my pint-sized friend's enthusiasm, I told her how I'd been refunded for the majority of money Aro had stolen, and they'd given me an extension on my loan once they realized it was only late because I'd been waiting to get reimbursed. "The police forgot to send over their report, so it was a big waiting game. Anyhow, it's resolved now. I won't get my stuff back, but at least my life's savings are intact. Hopefully with these new incentives my sales will grow enough to keep me in business."

Hugging me again, she told me how happy she was to hear that life was looking up again for me. "Word on the street is that a hunky doctor might be helping you along on your road to recovery," she teased, reminding me the ache in my heart over what Edward was probably going through at this very moment.

Shrugging non-committedly, I wasn't quite ready to share what was going on between Edward and I, especially since it was so new and felt as fragile as a butterfly's wing.

Alice huffed, accepting my non-answer for now. "We need to go out and have drinks soon. It's been too long since we had a girl's night." Winking she added, "We'll make Emmett be the designated driver."

"Absolutely." I'd forgotten how much I missed hanging out with her. She was always a positive and encouraging force to have around, and I vowed to see her more often.

Realizing I'd been here for almost an hour, I turned to the group and told them all I needed to go. I handed out business cards to the five people in the group writing 'good for one free book' on the back of each of them. "Just give that to whoever is ringing you up and thanks again. I can't wait to put this up." Rolling up the banner I carried it out to my car, still overwhelmed by their thoughtful and creative gesture.

Arriving back at the shop I told Esme to go home for the night deciding that I needed an evening alone to do some restocking and organizing. These mundane tasks usually helped clear my mind and bring about new ideas among the repetitive motions.

As soon as I was alone however worry crept into the recesses of my mind like a nagging feeling of dread. I wasn't sure what it was but something felt off. I tried to shake away the feeling and continued my organizational bonanza on the shop but when I heard a banging on the door I knew perhaps my intuition wasn't wrong.

Standing in the rain knocking on my door was a soggy looking Edward, his coat pulled tight around him to try and ward off the storm and holding his suitcase beside him.

I rushed over to the door unlocking and letting him in. Not caring if I got soaked as well, I hugged him fiercely not realizing how much I'd missed him over the day and a half.

His face was drawn and tired, an expression of great sadness written upon it. Cupping his cheeks in my hands I ran my thumbs over the bruised coloring beneath his eyes, willing his exhaustion away. A flicker of pity ran through my mind the instant I realized he'd returned from his trip two days early.

"What happened?" I whispered, kissing him softly before tugging off his coat, and pulling him inside. "Can I get you some coffee to warm you up?"

"Decaf or I probably won't sleep." Flopping into a chair, he held his head up with his hand and watched me as I made him a pot of coffee, letting the silence settle around us. I knew he'd tell me what he needed to eventually but based on his appearance it didn't go well.

Setting the steaming mug on the table beside him I knelt before him, tugging his hands away from his face. His eyes searched my own, but for what, I was uncertain. Kissing his knuckles I urged him to tell me what was going on. How his trip had gone and why he was home so early.

Gently grasping my forearms he tugged me into his lap nestling his head into the crook of my neck and let out a choked sob, clutching me tightly to his chest.

"They set me up," he cried into my shoulder. "My father's pharmaceutical company is failing after their last drug trial was pulled by the FDA. They wanted me to sign my trust over to them. They didn't even ask how I was doing. They sat on the other side of the conference table and let their lawyer do all the talking. Acting as if I was just some obligation they needed to deal with so they could go on with their everyday lives."

I ran my fingers through his hair and tried to comfort him as best as I could, cooing soothing words into his ear. "What did you do?" I whispered, curious to hear the rest of his story.

Pulling back, his bloodshot eyes gazed into mine before kissing me gently at first, but it swelled into an urgency neither of us had experienced together yet. Gasping for air he smoothed down my hair, mumbling an apology before asking, "What would you have done Bella? Handed it to them? Six years ago I wouldn't have even hesitated. Now?" His voice was so bitter, so hurt.

I felt the soft pads of his thumbs as they slid softly down my cheeks before cupping my face, his eyes never leaving mine. My mind reeled at his question. If faced with a million dollar question would I be able to hand it over to someone who I once loved and trusted? Shaking my head, I didn't have an answer for him and could only kiss him reassuringly.

"They basically disowned me five years ago. What would you have done? What would you have done?" he repeated over and over until he broke down again, his tears streaking down his cheeks and I could do nothing to soothe his ache of betrayal by his family.

A/N

There you have it. I hope to have another chapter for you tomorrow, but it might be unbeta'd. You've been warned.