Disclaimer: SM owns Twilight. No copyright infringement is intended with the posting of this outtake.

NGES Chapter 8

OUTTAKE

...BEN…

It was only a matter of time.

I knew Edward would eventually find out there were questions he needed answers to, regarding the summer Bella and I had shared together when no one else had been around.

Heidi is terrible at keeping secrets. This, of course, is only because she enjoys the drama that always comes after spilling them.

I'd already prepared myself for Emmett to be pissed about me hooking up with Rose.

Especially, after the very specific warning, he'd given me. Even though he'd managed to find his own way to get back at me before the summer had even arrived.

It's now completely obvious to me that I have zero feelings for Rose outside of the friend zone. Eventually, Emmett would realize that and then he'd forgive me, so I wasn't too worried about him. What happened between the two of us last summer was nothing like what had happened between Bella and me this summer.

With Bella… everything had been different… right from the start.

Because of that, once Emmett and his sister were gone I had no choice but to lie to their brother about what had happened.

For some reason, I thought it would be best if Edward believed everything had been my doing from the very beginning... that I was the one who had continued to pursue Bella and she was the one who had walked away willingly, with no regrets other than allowing it to happen in the first place.

Whatever points I could earn by taking the fall, I would gladly accept, and then I'd hold on to each and every one of those points until next summer... Or, possibly sooner if I could just talk my parents into believing Nevada had a few decent colleges to go visit.

I should've expected Edward to respond the way he did, saying he could never be mad at Bella.

That was the exact position he'd more than likely forever take when it came to her and the bond they've always had.

Going in, I knew I'd have to start from the bottom of a massive mountain Bella had already climbed with Edward, but that also meant she was his to lose, making her mine to gain.

For a short while, I'd sat at the top with her, and we'd created our own secret world together.

Our world was perfect.

We could get there again, even if only as friends, I'd accept that. It was going to take time, of course, but she would be worth the wait.

All we'd need was another perfect moment, just like the one we'd shared at the start of the summer... When we stood beneath her window after we'd sat under the stars together.

Another shove from destiny to send her back toward me again, forcing her to let her guard down.

A/N: Chapter 10 should go up on FFn Monday-Tuesday-ish *wink*