Author's Note: So…remember, last chapter, Sharon tried to set up a matchmaking meeting for Bella. Epic failure, I know. But the same thing happens to Edward! Coincidence? Heh. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.


Chapter 40

Edward's Point of View

I walked into the cozy café, looking for my brother. This was an odd sort of place to meet. Why did he want to meet here?

"Edward!"

I turned my head and saw Emmett waving at me. There was an unfamiliar young woman sitting across from him.

I walked towards them. "Emmett." I sat down next to him and stared at the young woman who smiled at me pleasantly.

"What's up?" He went on without waiting for an answer. "I want you to meet someone. This is Violet Parker. Violet, my brother, Edward."

My eyes narrowed. I realized, too late, what he was trying to do to me. Again.

"Emmett," I started to protest.

He stood up hastily. "Why don't you get to know each other?" He leaned down to hiss in my ear, "Don't run away." He straightened, smiling innocently before walking away.

Now, I was stuck at a matchmaking meeting thanks to my never-listening brother. I was going to kill him later.

"It's very nice to meet you, Edward," Violet said sincerely. "I've been wanting to meet you for a long time now."

I stared at her. "What?"

Violet smiled. "Didn't Emmett tell you? I was a client of his. He told me about you. I asked to meet you, and he set all this up. I hope you don't mind."

"Uh…" I cleared my throat. "Of course…not."

Emmett had picked a good one this time. All the other girls I'd met had been strangely giggly and rather shallow. But Violet Parker seemed, not only intelligent, but also very nice and pretty. How was I supposed to get rid of her now?

Violet studied me. "Forgive me if I'm going too far on our first meeting, but you really are very handsome. I've seen you on newspapers, and even in the frame on Emmett's desk in his office, but you look better in real life. How old are you?"

"I'm…twenty-seven."

Violet laughed once, sounding embarrassed. "Wow, maybe I should've checked your age before I asked to meet you. You're younger than I am. I'm thirty."

I couldn't think of anything to say. I had never met an older woman before. She was so damn nice about everything. How was I supposed to escape?

"Emmett told me you're a lawyer too?" Violet asked. "What kind of a lawyer?"

"Criminal lawyer," I said reluctantly. I felt as though I was being rude, so I asked, "And what do you do?"

"I'm a high school AP Biology teacher," Violet answered brightly. "Did you know that red blood cells don't have a nucleus?"

I blinked. "What?"

She nodded eagerly. "As soon as they're fully matured, they squeeze the nucleus out. Isn't that amazing?" She began to prattle on about how red blood cells worked.

I was speechless. I'd thought that Emmett had finally come through and introduced me to a normal girl. One minute later, I find out that she was a total Biology nerd.

I needed to escape. How? Think, think.

I got out my phone discreetly from my pocket and hid it underneath the table. I fiddled with it until I found a random ringtone on my list. I tapped it, and it began to ring.

"Sorry," I apologized. I held the phone to my ear and pretended to be taking a call. "Hello? What? When? Okay, I'll be there. Bye."

I slipped the phone inside my pocket and stood up. "I'm sorry. Um, I have to go. It's an emergency, and I…um, need to be there. Sorry."

"But…" Violet started to say, but I was already out the door.

I breathed a sigh of relief as I got inside my car and locked it. I shuddered delicately as I backed out of the parking space.

When I saw that brother of mine, I was going to beat the hell out of him.


I was playing the piano while staring at the row of picture frames on my glass show case. It consisted pictures of Bella and me at our wedding, and on our honeymoon. I'd never gotten rid of them.

My phone started ringing, interrupting my meditation. Sighing, I pulled it out and saw that it was Emmett.

"Edward Cullen!" Emmett said exasperatedly as soon as I'd picked up. "How could you ditch her? I told you not to run away this time!"

"Emmett Cullen!" I said indignantly. "How could you keep doing this to me? Do you even know what she did to me? She treated me with a full lecture on how red blood cells work. Is that normal?"

Emmett started laughing. "Oh, damn, I forgot to warn you about her. She does tend to wander away from the situation and start spouting random information about Biology. Sorry, man."

I sighed. "I told you not to set me up again. You know that I'm just going to reject all of them!"

"Edward," Emmett protested. "You have to move on! Bella's not going to come back to you! You guys ended when she left New York eight years ago!"

I flinched as the truth of the words hit me. "Emmett, you can't keep doing this to me!"

"Look, bro," he said. "This really wasn't my fault. I told Rosalie about Violet, and she's the one that persuaded me to do it. Alice backed her up, and I had no choice. I swear, I took your side. I told them that you wouldn't like it, but they insisted. And…" He gulped. "You know how scary Rose can be."

I sighed again. "How can you be afraid of your own fiancée?"

He sighed too. "Ah, well. At least you're alive. Do you want me to come over tonight? How about a few drinks with Jasper? No girls."

I smiled. "I'd like that. Do you think Jazz will come though?"

"Of course."

"See you in a few then."

As I resumed my playing the piano, my gaze wandered back towards the glass shelf.

Bella looked so happy and carefree. Would she have changed, or would she be the same?

I looked down to see the ring still in place on my fourth finger on my left hand. No matter what happened, I could never forget about her.


"Where's Jasper?" I asked as Emmett came inside with bags of beer.

"He'll be here," Emmett said, shrugging off his jacket. "His shift ended late because he had a surgery."

I frowned. "Should he drink? Doesn't he have work tomorrow?"

"He'll be fine," Emmett said dismissively, sitting on the floor of the living room with the beer. "Come on, let's open a can."

We had barely sipped it when the doorbell rang again. I rose to get the door.

"Hey, man," Jasper sighed as he came in. "Is Em here?"

"Hi," Emmett said, waving at him.

"Aw, jeez," Jasper said, plopping down next to him and opening a can. "I'm so tired. I had two surgeries today."

"Should you be drinking?" I asked as I joined them.

"No," Jasper said, laughing. "But who cares? A cardiologist should have an off day too." He laughed again, sipping his beer.

The next few hours, we talked about our jobs and personal life. Emmett was having trouble with a certain case right now, but he was lucky to have Rosalie with him. Jasper had just seen a patient die under his care. He looked especially down today.

"I heard you escaped again," Jasper said, raising his eyebrow. His eyes flickered to my ring. "Why?"

I shrugged, not bothering to hide my hand. He knew anyway. "You should have seen her. She's so nice and pretty, but then, she starts spouting random facts about red blood cells."

Jasper smiled amusedly. "That's too bad."

Emmett burped loudly. He staggered to his feet, slightly drunk. "I'll be right back," he announced dramatically before trudging to the bathroom.

I shook my head. Typical Emmett. He was always the one to get drunk first. Jasper and I had more tolerance. We weren't a bit drunk right now.

Jasper's eyes flickered to my glass shelf. "Do you miss her, Edward?"

My gaze lowered slowly. I knew I had no right to face Jasper when it came to Bella. I'd failed to keep my promise.

He sighed. "I miss her. She hasn't called in four years. I haven't seen her in eight." He paused. "You know, when I was adopted by Charlie and Renee many years ago, I had no idea that I would gain a younger sister that I would care about for the rest of my life. I never once thought she was annoying. She was someone I would never get tired of. She still is."

I swallowed.

"I was adopted because they thought they were infertile," he continued. "She was someone that was born at the last minute. Charlie and Renee weren't going to have her, you know. I heard them talking about an abortion because Renee was afraid. It was the first time with a baby in her own body… But when they saw me lonely, they decided to keep her. And that's when I decided that I was going to protect my sister no matter what happened."

I couldn't look at him. I'd heard the story millions of times, but I was never tired of it. It was the way Bella had been born into the world.

Jasper looked like he was in a trance as he stared at a picture of Bella laughing happily. "I dropped the name, Swan, and I made my real last name mine so that I could carry on my family's lineage. So technically, I'm not related to her anymore. But I can't give up that brotherly responsibility that I've always had. Do you know why?"

I didn't answer.

"I've never seen her so broken," he whispered. "I could never forget that expression on her face after she got your signature on the divorce papers. How could I disregard her when I know how fragile she is?"

He lowered his gaze from the shelf. He looked at me. "I know how much you still love her, Edward. Though I still blame you for that incident eight years ago, I don't hate you. I've grown to understand your actions, and I forgave you a long time ago." He paused. "I trust you know what I'm talking about?"

I looked up at him. "You're saying that…I should move on."

Jasper smiled slightly. "I feel as though I may have stood in your way all this time. You were always afraid that I was still angry with you. And that guilt was part of the reason why you never moved on. But I think eight years of self-punishment is enough. You should forget about Bella now, and move on with your life."

"Jasper…"

"I'm sure she's moved on as well, Edward," Jasper said firmly. "You can't keep waiting. I'm sure she's dating tons of men now, and perhaps she's even considering remarrying. The point is, you two are history now. There's no reason to keep dwelling in the past."

He nodded towards the pictures. "You should put those away as well."

"You don't understand, Jasper," I said quietly. "I…can't. It's not just the guilt that's keeping me from moving on. It's her. I still love her."

Jasper looked thoughtful. "Love is irrational," he agreed. "But I'm sure Bella would want you to move on as well, Edward."

It broke my heart to hear him saying this. But it didn't matter that I'd gotten Jasper's reassurance that I could move on.

I didn't have any intention to do so anyway.


AN: Did you like it? Reviews, please!