Hey guys! Yeah what a surprise huh?! I know it's been a while! Okay it's been almost a year, but I'm back now! I'm so sorry I haven't posted in such a long time but as you know sometimes life happens! Anyway no more bubbling, let's get down to business cause Edward and Bella are waiting! Hope you'll enjoy this one! See you at the bottom!

Chapter 25

BPOV

Almost a month had passed since Halloween and we were now close to thanksgiving. Everyone was on the mood for celebrating and expecting Christmas that was now really close.

Mum and Esme were overexcited to have Ian and Emmett back for three days along with the fact that it was the first year we were spending thanksgiving all together once again.

We were spending Thanksgiving at the Cullen's so Esme was desperately trying to have everything perfect and in place. We were going to be all together and even Jasper was coming over for the day.

Alice had tried to persuade Esme and Carlisle to let her spend the holidays with Jasper at Seattle but Carlisle was adamant . So Jasper was coming here at Forks to spend the day with Alice and her family and they are visiting Seattle at Christmas instead.

The only person that wasn't happy at all about that was Adrian who couldn't make it and he was staying at NY with his family. To be honest I felt relieved that he would spare me all the drama and the competition between him and Edward but on the other hand I've missed him.

I hadn't seen him since September and it was close to December now. We had plans for Christmas though.

If I managed to persuade Charlie I would be visiting NY to spend two weeks with him. Honestly Charlie's not the only thing I'm scared of ruining my holidays but my relationship with Adrian's a mystery too.

I don't know if we'll last that long to visit him at Christmas. I am positive that if I go there we will be fine but I don't know if we'll make it there.

He hadn't made a scene again since before Halloween but he was always grumpy and making innuendos about me and Edward and in general he was getting on my nerves really often. And trust me, that wasn't a good sign at all.

There were nights even, that I didn't answer his phonecalls pretending I was already asleep, avoiding to deal with his bad mood.

Fortunately, nowadays that seemed to be the only problem in my life given that everything else was running suspiciously smooth. Alice was over the moon with Jasper who seemed to be as lovestruck as she was.

Rose had been a little grouchy the last couple of weeks because Emmett was annoying the hell out of her.

Since he saw her again on the Halloween party he hadn't stop sending flowers or cards filled with love poems along with gifts that Rose just had to send back. I had to give the guy credit for the effort he was putting on that.

He had done almost everything but Rose was stubborn as a mule. I guess what was going to happen between those two was just remain to be seen.

The morning of thanksgiving arrived at last as a really cold and dull day. Heavy rain was falling down all night long and it had turned to thin ice due to the extremely low morning temperatures. Ice… great!

It was what I needed exactly. To fall down on the first step and land on my butt embarrassing my self once more.

I heaved a sigh and put on a pair of black skinny jeans and a white plain T-shirt that I matched with a linen gray scarf and left my hair down in loose heavy waves.

I was almost ready sitting on the edge of the bed wandering what pair of shoes to choose: the comfortable flats or the chic high heels. I was a bit nervous about the whole thing today because I had a strange feeling of a strong déjà vu.

The last time we had all gathered at the Cullen's for an occasion like that was the Christmas before they left three years ago. I hoped that this time things will be much better but I was still a lot nervous and fidgeting like crazy.

"Don't think about it Bells just put the high heels on." I heard a familiar voice and looked up to see my brother leaning casually on my door frame making the feeling of déjà vu a lot stronger.

"Ian! You're home!" I exclaimed and ran to his open arms. "I missed you so much!"

"I missed you too, sis. Hey look at you, I think I see a woman here!" he said scrutinizing me.

"Oh come on don't be ridiculous it's been only two weeks since the last time you saw me! I haven't change that much!" I said blushing like crazy as I went to put my shoes on. "So what do you think?" I asked standing in front of him.

"Much, much better now!" he said winking at me playfully.

"You're not bad yourself either." I said teasing him as I was putting a warm coat and gloves on. That earned me an eyebrow raising.

"Come on handsome we're gonna be late." I said and took him by the hand to go both downstairs.

Fortunately the day ran perfectly pleasant. The meal was delicious, Esme had done her best, she was an excellent cook. Ian and Emmett were in a really good mood and made jokes all the time something that lightened up the mood a lot and helped me to relax a bit.

It felt so good to be with all of them, it felt like my family was whole again. Actually it was a lot better now given the fact that things between me and Edward had changed a lot and all the awkward and embarrassing moments of the past were long gone.

After dinner Alice and Jasper had gone for a walk, not before Alice apologizing a hundred times for leaving me, and Ian and Emmett had disappeared somewhere upstairs so I was left alone with Edward. We weren't on the mood for staying indoors but there wasn't much to do a day like this in Forks.

After a long conversation and after turning down all the options of going out at Forks, we ended up at my place. What a surprise indeed!

From the moment we reached home, we sat on the sofa and did nothing except staring at the closed television without talking to each other.

"God, I think my legs and arms are like jello right now." I complained.

"Yeah." It was the only thing Edward said and continued to look at the empty space in front of him.

"And I feel a little dizzy too.. I shouldn't have had that much of wine today." I complaint further.

"Yeah." said in the same dead tone. Did he even listen to me?

"Ah! For God's shakes say something or I'm gonna die from boredom here." I whined. That made Edward to wake up from his daydreaming and quite abruptly I think.

"Okay that's it! We're watching a movie, go make some pop corn!" he jumped to his feet pointing my face with his finger. I had to bite my bottom lip to stop me from laughing out loud, because he reminded me a lot of my mother when she was scolding us and especially Ian.

"Where did that came from? I started to believe you'll die on my couch and I'd had to burry your body." I said smirked at him.

"Ha ha, you're so funny tonight, jello. Well, we're sitting at the same position looking at a closed T.V for about a quarter, so how about we start using it? And as far as I can tell you don't have any better ideas, don't you?" he replied raising an eyebrow in a very sexy way, I have to admit.

Damn! Why am I the only one who can't do that?

"Okay, fine! Go find a movie and I'm making popcorn." I made my way to the kitchen and then I remembered I had something else to do.

"Oh shit!" I exclaimed.

"What?" he asked looking up from the D.V.D he was holding.

"I promised Emma to make her cinnamon cookies and totally forgot about it." I told him and brought my hands up to cover my eyes, really upset.

"Oh, that's it, and I thought there was a lion in the kitchen. So where's the problem?" he crooked smile at me and removed my hands from my face. When did he came so close?

"What do you mean?" I stared at him like he had grown two heads. He knows Emma, if you promise something to her, you better do it or else you should leave the country ASAP.

"Don't look at me like that. We were looking for something to do anyways so instead of watching a movie we're gonna make cookies for Emma." he said smiling brightly at me and dragged me to the kitchen.

I was standing in the middle of the kitchen staring at him. He was looking around the cupboards and taking out what we needed for the cookies.

"We're going...to make...cookies...together?" I was standing at the same spot trying to understand if he was serious about this.

"Yeah! Where's the problem?" he asked, still rummaging around the cupboards.

"Well, first of all you don't know how to cook and second I thought you hated it!" I explained raising my hands up for emphasis.

"Things change, my friend. Firstly, I learned how to cook, because mum was working most of the time in L.A. Secondly, it happened that I like it! It's not so bad, it's actually funny. Now that I answered all of your questions, can we, please, make those cookies?" he answered with a know-it-all expression, putting his hands in his waste.

"Okay, okay! We'll make them!" I laughed at him, because he was impatient and excited about cooking.

"Don't laugh at me! I love your cinnamon cookies, I can't find them anywhere else and I missed them!" he continued pouting. I shook my head still at him and bit my lip to stopped me from laughing.

We started looking around in the cupboards to find what else we needed for the recipe and we began with the mix.

"Did you mix that? Because..." I stopped talking, because I started to laugh.

"And can I have the honour to know why you're laughing now?" he asked confused.

"Your face! You're like a kid that just saw Santa!" I laughed.

"Ha ha!...you're so funny today! It's not my fault that I didn't taste your cookies for so long." he was so cute right now that I could kiss him.

"Okay! You cookie-lover! I get it now you love my cookies so much!" I smiled and rolled my eyes at him.

"Thank you." was all he said and we continued with the mix. About half an hour later we put the first pan in the oven.

"You know, you're a really good cook." I said while we made the rest of the cookies and placed them on a second pan.

"But you don't look like you work so hard like you actually do!" I continued.

"What do you me...?" he hadn't the chance to continue his phrase, because I had just put a little of the dough on his T-shirt.

"There you go, now you're all good!" I said looking proud for myself and trying to hold back the waves of laughter seeing his shocked expression.

"Now, you just didn't do that!" he tried to remain calm.

"Oh! I think I did!" I laughed.

"Then you better run as fast as you can!" his expression changed from shocked to evil in seconds. He took the bowl from the table and started taking tinny steps towards to me as I was backing away from him.

"Edward...please Edward...pretty please!" I smiled sweetly at him.

"That face won't get you anywhere this time!" he smiled and took another step closer to me.

Tell me about sexy looks! Bella get a grip! What you're thinking!

And then was when I felt something on my face and the food fight began!

Half an hour, a lot of food and a total messed up kitchen later, we ended up at the floor laughing uncontrollably!

"Say you surrender, say that you're sorry for what you did!" he had started tickling me.

"No, never!" I laughed so hard I couldn't breath and my belly was hurting, but I didn't really care.

"Okay, okay stop! Stop...I am sorry Edward, so sorry please forgive me!" I looked up at him as sweetly and as innocent as I could.

"That's better!" he smiled at me and started getting up. That was when I realized the position we were in. I was lying flat on the floor with Edward on top of me.

He got up and offered me his hand to help me up too. I took his hand but pulled him back down instead, covering his face with raw dough from the floor. The expression on his face was priceless and I was laughing once again.

"Oh! You sneaky little thing!" he said more amused than pissed of what I'done.

"Sorry...it was just such a temping thing to do!" I told him giving him my bright smile.

"I missed that. Your smile, your real smile. The one that make your eyes shine." he said quietly, brushing my cheek with his fingers.

"Yeah, it's good to be happy again." I looked around at the mess we had make, quite uncomfortable with the position we were in, and the rising heat between us.

"I think, we should get up and start with the cleaning, before anyone returns home." I said bringing us both back to reality.

"Yeah, you're right. It's a little messy in here!" he said and got up avoiding eye contact.

"Definitely! God what have we done in here? It's like the whole thing exploded everywhere!" I looked around desperately and then at him.

"Yeah.. let's start with the floor and the walls. Then the plates."

"Alright, let's start!" I said tossing him a dish towel.

We began to clean the walls and every surface until the mix had gone. After we placed the perfectly- thank God- backed cookies on a plate, we had to wash all the dirty dishes and bowls that made a huge mess in the sink. I was washing them and Edward was drying, and putting them into place.

"Finally, the last one!" I gave him the last plate and looked at him carefully. That's only what took me to start laughing again.

"What's this time Bella?" he was trying hardly not to show how annoyed he was by my non stop laughing tonight.

"Take a good look on your face and you'll understand."

"Oh! And you think you're looking better than me, huh?" he asked mockingly.

I looked down at myself and then back to him with a really stupid expression on my face something that made us laugh even harder. We were a complete mess, covered from head to toe with flour and raw cookie dough!

When we calmed down a bit, I took a good look at him and felt really bad about his face. I took a clean towel from the drawer and stepped closer to clean him up a little.

"Here, let me help you." I brought the towel to his face and started cleaning his cheeks. He sighted and I instinctively looked into his eyes. He had again this strange look that I couldn't exactly define. His eyes were so tense and bright that I could not look anywhere but them.

I was completely lost in that emerald green, when he brought up his hand and touched mine. I hadn't realised it but I had stopped cleaning his face and my hand was now resting on his face. Suddenly, it was like everything else disappeared. Like nothing else mattered.

I lost track of time, I forgot who I was or what I wanted. The atmosphere around us was so tense, so... and then the doorbell rang!

"The door." Edward whispered not taking his eyes of mine.

"I will...go open...it." I took a couple of steps away from him realising how close our faces were. I left the towel on the table and made my way to the door without a second look at him.

"Adrian?" he was standing on the doorway holding a nice bouquet of flowers, but as soon as he took in the scene in front of him his bright smile faded.

To say I was shocked would be an understandment. I was so confused too. I din't know how to feel or what to do I was just standing there on the doorway looking at him like an idiot. After a couple of minutes in a really awkward silence it struck me! Adrian was here standing in front of me flesh and blood!

"OH MY GOD! YOU'RE REALLY HERE!" I literally yelled and threw myself to him. Only now that I had him in front of me, I realised how much I missed him and how much I needed to see him and make things right again after all these stupid fights.

But unfortunately he didn't seem to feel the same way. He didn't hold me for long and he pushed me gently away after a quick moment.

I let him in and closed the door behind him.

"Did I interrupt something?" he asked flatly looking at me and then at Edward suspiciously. Okay we were both a mess, covered in raw food but there was nothing wrong or suspicious about that, right?

"No we were just hanging around we were bored at dinner and ended up here that's all." Edward explained shrugging his shoulders like it was nothing important, and it really wasn't. Apart from the fact that we'd almost kissed only seconds ago..

"Oh right, I see" Adrian commented with a flat uninterested tone that bothered me a lot.

"I didn't know you were coming, why didn't you tell me?" I asked happily taking the flowers he was offering without really looking at me.

I went to the all cleaned kitchen to find a vase and when I returned I found them both standing awkwardly in the middle of the living room as far from each other as they could and looking at completely different directions like total strangers. It was a really strange and at the same time a funny scene.

"I wanted to surprise you. I was supposed to be here early this morning to spend the whole day with you, but due to the bad weather my flight was delayed." He explained in a bit defensive tone. "But as it seems I should have warned you and your lovely friend here." He continued saying the word friend like it was a curse.

"Adrian, don't be ridiculous! Its just Edward, we were hanging around that's all." I said in a futile attempt to reason with him.

"Don't give me more bullshit Bella, I think I had enough!" he shouted out of control. I was petrified, rooted on my spot. That wasn't the Adrian I used to know, that was a complete stranger to me.

The Adrian I knew was kind and cared for me, he almost never lost his temper and most importantly he always trusted me. The man standing in front of me was blinded by his jealousy.

I wanted to say something, to make him change his mind and apologize for being so rude to me and Edward, but I didn't get the chance because a really angry Edward got in the way.

"She's your girlfriend you jerk stop treating her like she means nothing to you!" he was as much angry as Adrian was, his hands two tight fists in his sides.

"Shut up Edward that's none of your business! Look at both of you! Like children, playing what? Food fight? Did I interrupt the part where you're so happy and carefree when you lean down and kiss her?Life it's not a movie Edward, grow up! Maybe then you'll realize that Bella is with me." they were both standing face to face so close to each other, their noses almost touching and their faces had turned into a bright red colour.

I was standing speechless, looking at them not knowing what to do!

"Bella is my friend and I won't let you talk to her like that you bloody –"

"Maybe she's more than your friend huh? Maybe you're fucking her behind my back you bastard!"

"Adrian!" I was more than shocked to say the least!

"What Bella? Do you think I haven't noticed the way he's looking at you?!" he replied behind his greeted teeth, not taking his eyes away from Edward.

"You're just retarded! I've known Bella my whole life you idiot. You should have thanked me for being here for her when you made her life miserable."

"Why don't you just leave and let us work this out together as a couple then?"

"I'll only leave if she wants me to!" Edward answered in a lower tone, breathing heavily trying to restrain his anger.

I didn't know what to say or what to do. To be honest I didn't know how to feel about this whole situation. What did I really want? Did I want Edward to leave and remain alone with Adrian? Was that a good idea? Would I be able to face the situation alone?

They were both looking at me waiting for me to say something, to say if I wanted Edward to go, they were waiting for me to choose.

I met Adrian's angry gaze trying to find the love for me in his eyes but I couldn't, and then I turned to Edward. He was looking at me expectedly with worry filling his eyes.

I knew that Adrian was probably right about his feelings for me and I knew that what I was going to say would hurt him but I had to do it, I had to face this bloody mess by myself.

After all I was the one responsible for it. It was my responsibility to act like an adult and face my unreasonable boyfriend. Edward had to go, there was no place for him here right now.

"Go Edward, I can handle this." I found the courage to say, not actually believing my own words. He was surprised at first. He thought I was going to take his side but I had to fight one more time for my relationship. Maybe Adrian deserved one last chance.

With one last glance at me Edward turned his back to Adrian and walked proudly out of the house. I knew I saw pure disappointment and hurt in his eyes, but I had to do it. I was going to explain and he was going to understand.

He was my best friend, he''d had to understand. That's what I was repeating to myself so to find the guts to keep going that night.

Adrian sat on the couch and buried his face in his palms. I was standing right behind him not really knowing what to do or what to say. I had never imagined a scene like this especially when there was no reason for it. All that mess for nothing.

"I cannot do this anymore Bella…" I heard him mumbling still with his head buried in his hands.

"What?" I whispered wishing at the same time that I'd heard him wrong.

He took a deep breath and came to stand in front of me. "I said, I cannot do this anymore. It kills me Bella." he said looking down to his feet.

"What do you mean?" I even sounded stupid in my own ears but at the moment I had been paralyzed. Was he breaking up with me? I wish I had never left Edward go. I wish I had him here with and give me strength with only his presence, like he'd been doing for me all these months.

"I need time… I think it will be good for both of us to take a break." The moment the words left his mouth I lost it. Thick tears started falling from my eyes and my breath caught in my throat. No that wasn't happening.

He was here with me after months I've been waiting for him and he's telling me that he wants to break up with me! I hadn't realised it but I was breathing heavily gasping for air. All my courage and strength from earlier had left and I was helpless once more.

"Bella, please calm down! Breath Bella!" Adrian was frantic and took me to sit down on the couch.

"You're breaking up with me." I was repeating the sentence in a futile attempt to comprehend the full meaning of it.

He was crouched in front of me holding my hands in his. I looked into his eyes silently begging him to tell me that he was lying, that he was making a really bad joke even, pleading him to change his mind.

But no. In these bright blue eyes I saw only sadness and regret but at the same time I saw determination and distance. He had already made his decision and that was to leave me.

"Bella can't you see that we're falling apart? Not even four months had passed and we started fighting. We won't last long and I don't want to reach bottom. I want to have nice memories of this relationship because I love you, I don't want it to end badly and then we'll hate each other.

I care about you Bella even if you can't see it now and I do want you to be happy. And you cannot be happy when we fight all the time or when we see each other every three months or maybe more." he paused for a moment to take a breath and find the courage to keep going.

"I admit it, it was my fault that I didn't break up with you when I left for NY but I couldn't. And it was my fault again that we fought so much but I was- I am jealous Bella!Maybe you don't have feelings for Edward but I can see that he has great feelings for you and it's pure torture for me to be miles away from you knowing that you're in the same town with him."

"Please Bella, try to understand. Look what I did today, what horrible things I'd said about you and even about him! I can't think straight anymore Bella." He begged me to understand, his eyes glistering with tears. But I couldn't and I wouldn't understand.

"No," I shook my head desperately "I cannot understand Adrian!"

"Bella it's killing me every day to be away from you. Can't you see that things won't change? On the contrary it's going to be more difficult. Your dream is to attend Brown and I'll be attending Yale next year so we'll be apart again.

The odds are all against us, we'll be apart for more that three years trying hardly to maintain that relationship. I think it will be better for both of us if we put an end to it now."

My common sense was yelling at me that he was right, he was suggesting a way for both of us that we wouldn't suffer in the future for not be able to be together, but my heart was refusing to see the logic of it.

"Please go. I want to be alone right now." I managed to whisper, not looking at him in the eyes. I needed time to think and to put everything in order. Everything had come upside down in only an hour. This was supposed to be a happy Thanksgiving and it turned out to be one of the worst days of my life.

"No Bella, I don't want to leave you alone right now." He was sincerely concerned about me but he had just broken up with me. I didn't feel about letting him comfort me like we were best buddies or something. I simple needed some time alone to think.

"I'll be fine Adrian, I'm a big girl. I just need my time to come around. Everything happened so fast…" I took a deep calming breath, wiped my tears away and stand up.

His hands moved like he wanted to hold me, to comfort me in any possible way but I moved back showing him that his touch was the last thing I needed right now.

I'm sure it was pure sadness and regret what I saw in his eyes but from this moment on, something changed inside of me. I didn't care about him or if he was hurt because of this break up too, I cared about my self and only.

I had to look after me now, to find the strength to keep going, to find my old life again. Or even better to make a new life, a better one. I owed it to myself and to my friends and family. They had enough of me looking sad most of the time.

It was about time to change that situation and to be honest Adrian was offering a chance for me to succeed that.

I knew I was being selfish, for not caring about his feelings. I had feelings for him, I knew I did, but I was stubborn enough to see passed them and move one. After all he was selfish enough to make my life miserable for the last four months because he was possessive and jealous.

One the other hand I knew that there are great parts of him and we had a really good time but he was right. We couldn't make this relationship work no matter how hard we tried. And none of us was willing to put the other above their own self.

I went to the door and he followed me putting his coat on at the same time.

"I hope you have a nice weekend and enjoy the rest of the holidays here." I told him flatly and typically, opening the door for him and avoiding eye contact. It was so hard to behave like we weren't even friends. I knew that if I looked at him I would loose it so I tried not to.

"I'm not staying at Forks Bella, the only reason I came was to be with you but since…" he stopped not knowing what to say but we both knew how this sentence would end. "Anyway I'm spending the night on my place and I'm taking the first flight to NY tomorrow."

We were both staying at the doorway looking down to our feet not knowing what to say once more. It was so awkward, to break up with someone like that.

"Thank you Adrian, for everything." I managed to mutter. I was standing on the door with only my T-shirt and the snow was falling around me but I couldn't feel the cold.

"I will always be here for you Bella, whatever you need just call me, please." He said and hugged me. It happened so fast I wasn't able to react! It only lasted a second but it was enough to make me loose it. And as simple as that he left me..

In a blink of an eye, he was gone.

Sooo, it's finally over for Adrian and Bella! What will Edward do now? Will he forgive Bella? Review and he will be kind and thoughfull. ;) xoxo