Disclaimer- Stephenie still owns the usual suspects.

I own my original characters and original story.

**I got this out as quickly as I could. Enjoy!

****************************LRM****************************

14. A Life Preserver For The Drowning Man

I tried to stay awake all night by drinking soda after soda. All that accomplished though was to make me have to piss like a racehorse. Somewhere around 3am I dozed off.

I woke with a start and looked at my cell phone. 5:30am.

No missed calls. No voicemails. No text messages. Nothing.

In a zombie-like state, I stumbled into the kitchen to fix coffee. There was no way I was staying around here much longer despite Alice's advice. My thoughts ranged from flying up to Seattle and camping out in front of Bella's apartment until she listened to me, to traveling as far away as possible, perhaps Australia, and not returning until Tanya had made her statement.

I was screwed. There was no easy solution to this.

As I stood at my kitchen island with my head in my hands, I was pulled from my brooding by the voice of my sister. "Edward, I told you to keep trying. This will work out. Bella is having a perfectly natural reaction to all this craziness, remember that." Alice advised.

I looked up to see her and Jasper standing right in front of me.

Jasper cleared his throat before speaking. "Edward, I know this is a bad time to mention it but, you have a meeting at 10am with a couple of Plateau Studio executives. I can see you're not up to it, so I'll call to cancel."

Plateau Studios? The same fuckers that suggested Tanya and I have a phony relationship?

"No Jasper, I'll still be able to meet with them." I tried to affect a calm, disinterested demeanor.

Jasper's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "You sure?"

"I look forward to it." I answered flatly.

I'll be lucky if I'm not arrested after this meeting.

Jasper was a little freaked out when I refused to shower or change my clothes before the meeting.

Those assholes are lucky I decided to brush my teeth.

As I sat in the conference room, I looked around me. My eyes narrowed at the sight of Sal Gardener and Herb Palatine. They were key players in the establishment of my fake relationship with Tanya. There they sat like Roman Emperors surrounded by their assistants and various other lackeys.

Sal was babbling at me and I had to focus in order to understand his words.

"Edward, your upcoming projects are such promising roles. I've been informed that they were either hand-picked for you, or written with you in mind. Next year, as part of your contract renewal, we'll be proposing that you be given free reign to green light a project of your choosing. Our number one goal is to make sure you are happy."

This struck a chord. I started to laugh. Actually is was more like a cackle. The exact sound an insane person would make when someone in the room, either real or imagined, said something which they found to be extremely fucking funny.

"Happy?" I laughed as I held my stomach with one hand and ran the fingers of my other hand through my hair. "You want to make sure I'm happy?"

They nodded, a little dumbfounded at my reaction.

"You bastards are the reason that today is the unhappiest day of my entire miserable life!"

They looked at me, confused.

"Edward, please calm down." Jasper hissed at me and tried to place a calming hand on my arm. "I knew coming here today was a mistake."

I glared at him. "No Jasper, it wasn't a mistake. Letting these assholes manipulate my life was a mistake." I hissed back.

Alec was on the other side of me, grasping my shoulder. "Dude." He muttered in a way that made his confusion evident.

I need to calm down. I also need to tell these shitheads off and get the hell out of here.

After taking a few deep breaths and rubbing my face with my hands, I forced a smile for Herb and Sal. "I'm sorry gentlemen, I've been upset. Dealing with personal issues, you know." I said in a low voice while waving my hand as if to imply that the matter was inconsequential.

I watched as they seemed to breathe a collective sigh of relief.

"Sal, Herb, you mentioned that you just want to make sure I'm happy right?"

"Yes, of course Edward." Herb stated as Sal nodded in agreement.

"Well" I paused as I placed my elbows on the table and stared at the fingers of both hands as I laced them together.

"There's one thing that would make me extremely happy at this moment." I said quietly.

"You have only to name it Edward, and it's yours." Sal said with a big smile on his face.

I took a deep breath and stood up. "I would really like it if the both of you and your entire crew would go fuck yourselves."

I turned on my heel and bolted out the door, slamming it as I went.

Jasper chased after me, begging me to come back inside and apologize. I bit my tongue so I wouldn't curse him out, and got into my waiting car. I instructed the driver to take me home.

Once I arrived there, I decided to call Bella again. I wasn't surprised that the call went immediately to voicemail.

"Bella. I guess you hate me. If I were you, I'd hate me too. I can't live without you, though. It's too much, I hate it here. You know what I just did? I was in a meeting with some studio execs, and I told everyone to go fuck themselves and left. I don't care. I just want you. Please talk to me."

I sat and stared at my phone for a long time. When no response came, I got up and walked to my music room. Sitting down at the piano, I tried to play, but couldn't will my hands to move.

"How did things get so fucked up so fast?" I asked aloud of no one.

Even if Bella hated me, I knew I would love her forever. There would never be anyone else. I forced myself to recollect every happy moment we'd shared together.

I laughed out loud when I remembered how she blushed after spilling coffee on her shirt that first day.

I smiled as I remembered the conversations we had in my hotel suite. There was an ache in my chest as I recalled the look on her face after we declared our love for each other on my parents' boat.

My throat constricted and my eyes filled with tears when I remembered kissing her on New Year's Eve. My mind filled with the memory of every shared smile, every touch, every kiss, until I couldn't take it any more.

My cell phone sat ominously silent as I broke from my thoughts, and went to the liquor cabinet.

Nothing good ever came from drinking while upset.

I pulled out a bottle of Jack Daniels and a bottle of Wild Turkey, trying to decide on my poison, all the while trying to talk myself out of it.

This will not end well. I haven't eaten since lunch yesterday.

As I continued to debate whether I should try to eat something first, my phone chimed with a text.

Drinking will only make matters worse. Stay strong brother dear.

-Ali

I went into the kitchen, forced down a banana, along with some grapes and cheese.

Maybe I should be a little more patient. Alice said that Bella will listen to me. But how long is this going to take? It's been hours since my last text.

I looked at the liquor bottles again.

"Fuck it." I muttered as I reached for a tumbler and the Wild Turkey.

Just as I brought the glass to my lips, my phone chimed with another text.

Damn it. Alice is determined that I will not take a sip of this drink.

I reached for my phone. As soon as I glanced at the screen, the tumbler fell from my other hand smashing into pieces as it hit the floor.

Bella.

I could hardly stop my hands from shaking in order to read the message.

Edward-

I'll talk to you.

-Bella

I forced the shaking to stop in order to send a reply.

Beautiful-

Thank you, that means so much to me. I love you so much.

-Edward

She was going to give me a chance. It was all I had hoped for. I ran out my front door, leaving the mess on the floor. Mrs. Hernandez, my housekeeper, would not be pleased.

I sent a text to my temporary driver that I needed to get to the airport. He arrived less than five minutes later.

-LRM-

Fuck airports. Fuck airlines. Fuck airplanes. Fuck winter storms.

It turned out that some southern snow storm had held up a lot of the planes that were supposed to land in LAX. Something about connections being screwed up in Atlanta and Dallas. The airlines had to scramble to reaccommodate a shit-ton of passengers, and in the meantime, a lot of the direct flights from LAX to Seattle were diverted to other places.

The bottom line for me was that the flights I needed were sold out. Even using the Edward Masen charm got me nowhere.

Probably doesn't help that I look like shit right now.

The best I could get was a seat on a flight with a stop in Salt Lake City, that would put me in Seattle at 9:30 tonight. I had to sit in coach next to a dude that wouldn't' stop talking.

I kept having flashbacks to the movie Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. I decided to suffer in silence, instead of being a prick to the guy, like Steve Martin's character had been.

When we finally touched down in Seattle, I was tempted to kiss the floor of the airport, but thought better of it when I saw a couple of paps lurking around.

Damn it. Someone already alerted them to my arrival? Un-fucking believable.

I hopped in a cab and, before long, I was at Isabella's apartment building. It dawned on me at that moment that I never told her I was coming.

Oh shit, maybe she wanted to talk over the phone rather than in person.

Putting my self-doubt aside, I made my way up to her apartment. It seemed like a lifetime since I'd been there, but in all actuality it had been less than three days.

I knocked on Isabella's door and heard muffled cursing come from behind it, before it was yanked open.

"I should have know you'd show up here tonight. Lucky me." Rose sneered.

"Rosalie, I really need to see Bella." I pleaded.

Rose blocked my way. "She told me that she sent you a text. But you know what? I don't give a shit what she told you. I'm not letting you in here."

This is going to be more difficult than I anticipated.

"Please Rose, I have to talk to her. None of those reports are true, you have to believe me."

"I don't have to do anything Masen, except kick your sorry ass back to Hollywood where you fit right in with all the other phonies." Rose barked at me.

"I never lied to Bella, I'll admit I didn't tell her everything, but I was planning to tell her this weekend, I swear."

I've made a mess of everything.

"I'll do anything. Please Rose I can't lose her." I was not above begging. Bella was the most important thing in my world.

Rose seemed to consider what I'd said. "Alice called me tonight. For some reason she's on your side."

"Alice knows everything." I said in a quiet voice.

"Well then why don't you enlighten me Edward? I'm dying to know what the big secret is. I can promise you that it better be fucking impressive if you expect to get past me to talk to Bella."

At that moment, I spotted movement over Rose's shoulder. Suddenly my angel came into view.

"Bella" I whispered. She looked so broken. I wanted to run to her and take her in my arms and explain that it was all a stupid mistake.

"Stop Bella! Don't you move one step closer to him." Rose yelled at her. She was incensed. Bella didn't move.

Rose thought for a minute. "Masen, come with me." She then turned to Bella. "Bella, you stay here until I come back."

"Okay." I heard Bella whisper.

She looks so sad.

I watched Bella until Rose closed the door to her apartment.

Rose stood in the middle of the living room with her arms crossed over her chest.

"By all means don't make yourself at home." She glared at me. "Start talking Masen."

Before I got two words out of my mouth, Emmett burst into the room.

"Who the hell let you in here?" He yelled as he crossed the room headed straight for me. I braced myself for the ass-whipping of my life.

Rose stepped between us. "Stop Emmett."

Amazingly, he stopped at her words. "I need to speak with Masen alone. Go across the hall to Bella, it's better if she's not by herself right now."

Emmett looked at her incredulously. "What the hell Rose? Why would you need to speak to this liar?" The look on his face as he turned to me, was one of absolute hatred.

"Emmett just go. I need to do this." She said forcefully as she opened the door to the apartment and motioned for him to go across the hall.

"No one should be talking to him. I should be tossing his ass out onto the street!"

"Emmett! Go! I'll come get you in a little while."

He gave me one last glare and stomped across the hall.

Rose closed the door and continued to watch me. "Well?"

"Okay" I breathed out a sigh and ran both hands through my hair as I always did when I was nervous. "There is no relationship with Tanya, the studio invented it years ago, and we were encouraged to go along with it."

Rose's mouth fell open in shock. "What are you talking about Masen? Do I look like some gullible little bimbo that will believe your bullshit? You're about thirty seconds away from never seeing Bella again."

"Rose it's the truth! Just, let me start from the beginning and maybe you'll understand why I would agree to that stupid arrangement."

She narrowed her eyes at me, but didn't say another word as I told her of Meghan, and my ordeal seven years ago, and the emotional scars left behind.

"Actually Tanya said it correctly the other night when she referred to me as 'emotionally closed off'."

Rose got a disgusted look on her face. "And so we come to the reason we're even talking right now. Tanya Madison." She said with a sneer.

"Yes." I fidgeted nervously with the cuff to my shirt. "What I said was true Rose. Tanya and I have never been more than friends. We've never had a romantic relationship."

"From the beginning, the studio loved us as a couple. They promoted it. I didn't care because I didn't have any desire to have a real girlfriend, so a made-up one took the focus off the fact that I didn't date. I made it clear to Tanya that it could never be the real thing. I've never even as much as kissed her off-screen."

Rose looked skeptical. "Why the hell would Tanya Madison agree to this charade Edward? What exactly was in this for her?"

I thought about it. Would I be breaking Tanya's confidence by telling her the reasons for Tanya's acquiescence?

To hell with putting anyone else's feelings ahead of Bella. I've got to do what it takes to get her back.

"The studio convinced her. Tanya has done a few things in her past which she regrets. The studio acquired a video of her doing illegal drugs. They implied that the video could find its way into the hands of the paps if she wasn't cooperative."

Rose's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Oh"

"Please tell me that you'll keep that information to yourself Rose. Tanya's changed so much since she met Felix. I never understood it before, but now that I've met Bella, I can see how…"

"Felix? As in your bodyguard Felix?" Rose interrupted.

"Yes. Well, former bodyguard actually. Tanya and Felix got married last year."

Now Rose looked stunned. She sat down on the sofa, and invited me to do the same. We sat quietly for a few minutes.

"Okay so, providing all of this is true" She said as she shot me a worried look. "How can I trust you with Bella? I wasn't kidding Edward when I told you she was fragile. You know her history."

"I do Rose. I would never intentionally hurt her. This was a big fucked-up misunderstanding."

Rose bit the inside of her cheek as she thought. "Alright Edward, here's the thing. Your old girlfriend did a number on you, I get that. But then I find out that the one real relationship we all assumed you were in was a fake, so that leads me to realize that the only interaction you've had with women these last few years have been the numerous hook-ups reported by the gossip rags. You are what I would call a 'man-whore'. For that reason, I believe even more strongly than I did before that you're not the right guy for Bella. You may only be capable of meaningless sexual relationships. I can't let you do that to her."

Shit. I'm going to have to tell her everything.

I pinched the bridge of my nose with my fingers. "Rose, those 'hook-ups' weren't real. They were dates staged by the studio. The girls were all models and aspiring actresses. I barely remember any of their names, nothing happened between us."

Rose frowned at me, not believing a word.

"How can I say this so you'll believe me? After my breakdown, I wanted nothing to do with any kind of relationship. I didn't want to be intimate with anyone. I could never put myself in that vulnerable a position again. I admit to a couple close calls over the years, mainly brought on by my use of alcohol as a mood-enhancer. Thankfully, Alice always saved my stupid ass from making a drunken mistake. But no, there have been no sexual relationships, no sexual encounters, no one-night stands, nothing."

Rose was abruptly furious as she bolted off of the sofa. "You know, you almost had me. I almost fucking believed you Masen. You and your little sob story. But this last bit of bullshit just did it. I want you the hell out of here right now. If you're not gone in one minute, I'm calling Emmett back over here to fuck up your shit." She seethed.

I threw my hands up in surrender as I stood. "Rose, I'm telling the truth. You can call Alice, as I said before, she knows everything." Then I did something I thought I would never do, I collapsed to the floor my head in my hands, and pleaded. "Please, please I can't lose Bella. Please call Alice."

I was in fucking agony.

Rose watched me in silence for a moment as I dragged my hands furiously through my hair. She didn't say a word as she walked slowly to the coffee table, never taking her eyes off of me. She reached for her cell phone and dialed.

"Talk to me Alice." She said in a quiet voice.

I watched her face as she took in whatever Alice was saying to her. "Yes, he told me that. Okay. She's going to make a public statement? Well, it's good to know that part of the story wasn't a lie."

She listened again for a moment. "The high school girlfriend? Yeah, I know. If you're backing him up on that, I'll accept it. The part I can't accept Alice is this last bit of bullshit he just threw at me."

"He's trying to tell me that he never had sex with any of those stupid whores he's been photographed with, and I …."

Rose paused and listened for a moment. I watched as her eyebrows shot up in complete surprise as she stared at me. She didn't look pissed anymore, just freaked out. "Alice, I've know you a long time. You wouldn't lie to me about this would you? I mean Bella is so vulnerable, I can't risk her being hurt." Rose's voice cracked with emotion.

She was silent again. "I'm glad you feel that way about her already, she's very precious to us."

"Yeah, I'm beginning to see that. I really don't know what to say." She was almost whispering now. "I'm stunned." Then she laughed quietly.

"Okay, well, thank you. I'll give you a call later. Bye Alice."

Rose placed the phone down on the table and turned to face me.

"I can't believe I'm actually asking this question of anyone, especially of you Edward. It's really none of my fucking business but I'm having a lot of trouble processing what your sister just told me."

She sighed. "Edward, have you ever had sex?"

I looked her straight in the eye. "No Rose, I have not. I think the technical term you're trying to avoid is 'virgin'. I. Am. A. Virgin."

One fucking humiliated virgin.

"Wow." She said with a smirk. "Do you realize what it would do for my career if I broke this story?"

I frowned as I felt myself starting to panic. "But…"

She chuckled. "Relax Edward. I would never do that. Your secret's safe with me. However, you'd better never hurt her."

After breathing out the biggest relieved sigh of my life, I stood up.

"You're not in the clear yet Edward. You still have to explain things to Bella."

I smirked at her. "That should be a piece of cake after this. You really missed your calling Rose. You should really be interrogating suspected terrorists for the C.I.A."

Rose burst into laughter. "Come on. Let's go see your girl."

My girl. Let's hope she still wants that as much as I do.

As soon as we walked into Bella's apartment, we were met with the angry glares of her brother.

Rose spoke authoritatively. "Bella, after the events of the last two days, I find it hard to believe I'm going to say this."

"What Rose?" Bella whispered. It looked as if she'd been asleep.

"Come with me Emmett, we're going back to our apartment. Edward needs to speak with Bella alone." Rose commanded.

I noticed that Emmett and Bella both gasped in shock.

Rose turned to me and patted my hand. "Good luck."

At that moment, I realized I was going to need it.

*************************************A/N***********************************

A/N I hope that was everything you feared it would be. Lol

Thanks for all the encouraging reviews….I realized that you folks like a little bit of angst. Who knew?

I'm back to V&V after this, but reviews make me feel oh so appreciated. I show my appreciation for all of you by writing faster…hint hint.