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bot beta'd

storyline - beginning

prompt - Waiter

Bella settled in to the booth and picked up a menu.

Alice had called to say she was running late, but that was okay. For once, Bella had nowhere to be, nowhere to rush off to.

Hot chocolate looked good, even though it was getting warm outside. Bella continued scanning the beverages. Maybe a cherry coke; they made them "from scratch" here.

A waiter appeared, smiling down at her. "Can I start you with something to drink?"

"Sure…" Bella was momentarily distracted by Alice rushing through the door at the other end of the restaurant. "My friend's here, actually. Give us a minute?"

"No problem. I'll be right back."

Alice grinned, sitting. "Hallo."

Bella smiled back. "Hey."

"I'm famished."

"So am I. Hurry up."

"All right, all right," Alice said, glancing over her menu. "Mm, tuna melt looks good…"

"I'm having the BLT."

"With fries… yes." Alice nodded to herself and put the menu down. Clasping her hands, she leaned forward, focusing on Bella. "So. You're thinking of staying, after all?"

Bella nodded. "Yeah. I feel like, in terms of opportunity – I probably have more here than back home."

"And this has nothing to do with Edward."

"Not really." Bella shrugged, noticing the waiter on his way back. "It's something to consider, but no. It's not the main reason."

They placed their orders. It was nice to be waited on for once, Bella thought to herself. She'd always enjoyed her work at the café, but it wasn't exactly her life calling.

Alice, watching Bella, hid a smile. She suspected her friend's reasons for staying on after graduation, and the summer, had more to do with Edward than she cared to admit. She'd watched the two of them grow close again over the past six months, and had listened to Bella's accounts of the ways Edward had opened up to her.

Initially she and Jasper had been suspicious, even protective, over Bella but it soon became apparent that Edward was after more than just a sure thing in bed.

Especially since, according to Bella, they hadn't even been back to bed.

Bella swirled her straw around her soda, pushing the cherry down and then watching it make its way back up. "I hope everything is going okay between him and his dad. He was really nervous about going."

Alice patted her hand. "I'm sure it will be. I don't know his dad, obviously, but i think most people in that situation are anxious to make amends so they can go in peace, you know? It sucks that it came to this, and that it's taken so long but… it's better than nothing."

"Totally." Bella nodded vigorously. "I guess I'm like… weirdly protective over Edward these days. I don't want him to get hurt."

"Well you can't control that, but you can be there for him if it happens."

Edward called later, when Bella was getting ready for bed.

"Hey! I was just thinking about you," she said, leaving one small lamp on for light.

"Yeah. Me too. I've been thinking of you all day. Wish you were here."

He sounded glum, and Bella's stomach knotted. "Are you okay? Did you get to spend time with your father?"

"I did. It was good." Edward exhaled. "But it hurt, Bella. He didn't really have any reason for leaving us… he just…left. Part of me loves him, and it's making me sad to see him this way but part of me resents him. Like, I hurt for me more than I hurt for him."

Bella bit her lip, not knowing what to say. She wanted to so badly to let Edward know that she loved him, she wanted him, and she'd be by his side. No one deserved to feel abandoned.

But this wasn't her fight, and there was only so much she could do or say.

"I wish I was there too." She sighed. "But it's better you guys have this time. I'll be here when you get back, I promise. I'll always be here."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"What about the end of summer?"

Smiling, Bella slid further in to her sheets. "Probably after that, too."