Author Note: Thank you for the great response to this story so far! The previous chapter is current tied for the most reviews (with #5 and #20).

While some of you were upset with Edward (or Bella), most readers understood why Bella said no and why Edward reacted the way he did.

Thanks again to moosals for pre-reading. Stephenie Meyer owns all characters.

Chapter 25 – You Kill Me with Silence

When I still haven't heard from Edward by Saturday morning, I text him under the pretense that I'm heading out to the Thriftway and need to know if I should pick up the ingredients for a Sunday dinner.

I wait on pins and needles for a reply, nearly jumping out of my skin when my phone dings with an incoming message.

No. I'm sorry. I need more time.

"I guess it's dinner for one then," I mutter to myself.

I force myself to go shopping anyway, refusing to stay home and mope. List in hand, I grab a basket and make my way around the store. When I've found everything on my list, I decide to get in Leah's check-out line again.

"Hi, Bella," she smiles as I place my items on the conveyor belt.

"How's it going?"

"Can't complain," she shrugs. "Say, are you busy tomorrow afternoon?"

"No," I answer glumly. "Why?"

"Seth has been driving Mom nuts asking her to bring him over to see your new kitten ever since you showed us pictures last Monday," she says, rolling her eyes. "You know Mom, she doesn't want to impose."

"Doesn't Seth have a license?" I ask, confused as to why my 17-year-old future stepbrother would need Sue or Leah to bring him to my house.

"He does, but he lost his car privileges for a month when Mom found out he'd been drinking at a beach party during that week it was so warm."

"Oh," I chuckle. "Well, feel free to come over whenever. We'll be home."

"Sounds good," she smiles as I swipe my debit card. "We'll see you tomorrow."

It's around 4pm on Sunday when my doorbell rings. Swinging the door open, I can't help but notice that Edward's car isn't in his driveway. Where the heck could he be?

"Come on in, guys." I try to shake off the bad feeling as they step inside. "I heard you're a cat lover, Seth," I tease him.

"I love all animals," he replies as they follow me into the living room. "I'd really like go to veterinary school, but first I need to earn a scholarship to get a Bachelor's degree."

"Well, good luck. I know some people you can talk to about that at Forks High."

"Really?" he smiles. "That's be awesome! Thanks, Bella."

Sandy is curled up in a sunny spot on the back of the couch. I hate to disturb her, but she has visitors, so I scratch her neck until she lifts her head, yawning. I gently pick her up, then hand her to Seth as he takes a seat on the couch.

"She is adorable," Leah coos. "You said you found her at First Beach?"

"Yeah, I picked her up a week ago."

"Seth, maybe you should go down and look for her mama or any siblings. Mom might let you have a kitten of your own."

"That's a good idea," he nods, stroking her back.

"My dad is allergic," I warn. "Once you guys move in with him, any kitten you find will either have to stay in your room or outside. I always had to be satisfied with playing with Alice's cat."

"Oh," he frowns unhappily.

"How did you happen to spot her?" Leah asks. "She looks like she'd blend right in with the sand."

"It was actually Masen who spotted her first," I explain. "I was at First Beach with Edward and his son when Masen suddenly took off running down the beach! We chased after him and he kept pointing at something under a piece of driftwood."

"I can't stand most kids, as you know, but that little boy is so cute," she says with a smile. "They came through my line yesterday, a few hours after you."

"Oh?" What if Edward waited until he saw my truck back at home before going shopping, so he didn't run into me? That can't be a good sign.

She nods. "I saw him talking with Lauren's sister."

"Jessica?" I ask, my voice rising. After the way she gave me shit about Edward?

"It's not that I was trying to eavesdrop, but Jessica has kind of a loud voice," Leah laughs.

"Yeah, I know what you mean," I reply, trying like heck to act like I'm not dying to know what they were talking about.

"My turn, Squirt," Leah says, turning to her brother. He wrinkles his nose, but passes Sandy over to her. "Oh, you like my hands, huh? I swear I washed them after work today." I smile as Sandy chews on Leah's finger.

"Anyway, Masen was upset because Edward wouldn't let him have something from one of the display racks near the register. Jessica was behind them in line and gave Masen her keys to play with to calm him down. She and Edward were talking and I heard her volunteer to show him around Forks sometime."

"That'll take 15 minutes," Seth laughs.

"I know, right?" Leah shakes her head. "I guess she thought she'd have more luck with him if she didn't frame it as a date."

"Wh-what did he say?" I ask, holding my breath.

Leah smiles. "Unfortunately, he isn't as loud as Jessica, so I didn't hear his response, but she looked pretty disappointed. I assume he turned her down. He's a tough nut to crack, isn't he?"

"Edward is still grieving his late wife," I explain.

"She must've been some woman," Leah comments.

I frown. By all accounts, Bree was an amazing person — not to mention beautiful and accomplished. And now that she's dead, Edward has put her on a pedestal, like Jasper said. How could I ever hope to measure up to that?

After work on Tuesday, I visit Jacob at the garage to get new windshield wiper blades for my truck. He texted me earlier that the pair we'd ordered last week — he has to special order them — had come in.

"You know it's gonna be time soon to let me have your old girl for a few days so I can give her a full check-up," he says as Embry, one of the other garage employees, installs the new wiper blades.

"School will be out in two more weeks; you can probably have her sometime after that." Jacob always gives me a huge discount on the yearly checks since he's the one who restored the truck for my 16th birthday almost 10 years ago.

"And when can I have a date with you?" he asks, white teeth gleaming in the fluorescent lighting of the garage. I roll my eyes. We've been playing this game nearly as long.

"Ah, Bella, you wound me," he whines, hand on his chest. "Am I really worse than being perpetually single?"

"You really want me to answer that?" I grin.

Jacob laughs. "Hey, your neighbor was in today."

"Which neighbor?"

"Edward Cullen. According to his address, he lives right next door."

"Oh," I exclaim in surprise. "Yeah, he bought Mrs. Cope's old house last summer. What was he doing here?"

"Oil change," he shrugs. "Doesn't seem to like me very much. Weird, he's been in here before, but this time he seemed like he was constantly glaring at me."

"That doesn't really sound like Edward. What did you say to him?"

"Hey, I am Mr. Innocent!" he retorts, his hands up in surrender. I raise an eyebrow. "I… may have mentioned that we're old friends."

"And…?"

"And that I was waiting for the day you realize you're head over heels for me," he adds sheepishly.

I narrow my eyes. It's been a running joke between Jacob and me that we'll end up dating one day. With our dads being best friends, they often hinted at wanting that for us when we were teenagers. Jacob was two years younger than me though, which means there was at least five or six years of difference in mental age. At least he'd finally grown taller than me by the time I was 16, but by that time, I was usually hanging out with my friends rather than being dragged along to LaPush with Dad.

It's not that there's anything wrong with 23-year-old Jacob, per se. He's pretty much the epitome of tall, dark and handsome — even I can admit that. Perhaps if I hadn't known him as a child, if I didn't have those memories in my brain, I'd be interested in dating him.

But I did, I do, and I'm not.

The real question is, though, why should Jacob's joking around bother Edward so much? When we drove to the beach, he seemed almost jealous when I just casually mentioned Jacob. Is that why he was glaring at Jacob last week? Out of jealousy?

What does it mean if Edward is jealous of another man paying attention to me — however in jest that might be? Could he be interested himself? I feel like there's some physical attraction there, but could it be more than that?

"Bella!" Jacob yells, startling me. "Where did you go?"

"S-sorry, I was just trying to figure out why Edward would act like that."

"Do you know him well? I honestly don't know much about him other than he's got the kid that he had with him. I don't think I've ever seen his wife come in here."

"His wife died last summer," I explain, "before he moved to Forks."

"Oh! Shit. That sucks."

"Yeah. Edward mostly keeps to himself, but we're friends. I've helped him out with his son on occasion." I know I'm downplaying our relationship, but I don't feel like giving any more personal details to Jacob.

"Does he have a job?" Jacob asks. "He came by here in the middle of the afternoon. I would've asked him, but he didn't seem interested in chatting."

"He's a writer, so he works from home."

"Ah," he nods his head, "that makes sense."

"You're all set, Bella," Embry calls, walking over to where Jacob and I are standing.

"Thanks," I smile. Jacob rings me up and I wave as I walk outside to my truck.

Two more days pass with still no word from Edward, and it's again time for my dinner out with Alice and Angela. I imagine they'll both be ready to rip him a new one when they find out that I still haven't heard from him.

Both of my friends are already seated at the table when I walk into the diner. I put on a fake smile as I walk over to them.

"Well?" Alice asks as I pull out a chair. "Do I need to send Jasper to do some ass kicking?"

I sigh. "I haven't heard from Edward — wait, that's a lie. I sent him a text on Saturday and he did reply, at least."

"What did he say?" Angela asks.

"I asked him about dinner on Sunday and he said sorry, but he needed more time."

"Time for what, exactly?" she asks.

I shrug. "Your guess is as good as mine. Time to figure out if he ever wants to talk to me again knowing that I have feelings for him?"

Both girls frown as the waitress drops off our drinks. We place our orders, and then Alice steeples her fingers, appearing as if she's thinking hard.

"Maybe he needs time to come to terms with being attracted to someone other than his late wife," she suggests.

"That… could be," I agree. "I mean, I do think he's physically attracted to me… and he might be jealous of Jacob."

Alice bursts out laughing.

"I know, right? I just happened to mention hanging out at First Beach with him when we were kids, and he wondered if we'f ever dated. I said no, but when I saw Jacob this week, he told me that Edward brought his car in for an oil change last week and was glaring at him. You know how he always says I'm gonna fall at his feet any day now." I roll my eyes.

"If only he knew what a twerp Jacob was 10 years ago," she laughs.

"But what other explanation could there be? I doubt Jacob could've done anything to piss him off while changing his oil. If it wasn't about me, then why act like that?"

"Seems reasonable to me," Angela says with a smile. "Edward appears to be interested in you, but he has to convince himself that that's not wrong."

"It's more than that though," I grumble. "Even when the time comes that he feels like he's ready to move on, he's got Bree on this pedestal. I'm sure she was a wonderful person, but in death, she's almost taken on this saintly quality. No mortal woman could live up to that."

"Don't sell yourself short," Alice says with a frown. "I think you're pretty great."

"You have to say that. You've been my best friend for over 20 years."

She rolls her eyes. "That doesn't make it any less true. You're a great catch, Swan! I understand what you're saying, that any woman may compare unfavorably to Bree in Edward's mind. But there's really nothing you can do about that except be yourself. The memory of Bree may be your toughest competition, but it's still just her memory. She's not coming back. And a ghost won't keep him warm at night."

I give Alice a small smile. "I think we're getting ahead of ourselves."

Friday, still not a peep from Edward. After dinner, I spend the evening relaxing, watching TV with a glass of wine in my hand and a fluffy kitten on my lap. I stroke her soft fur and listen to her purrs, surprisingly loud for such a tiny thing.

When my phone dings with a new text message, I almost don't get up to check it, since we're so comfortable. It's probably just Alice, who said she wanted to come over sometime to meet Sandy. But what if it's Edward?

"Sorry to disturb you, baby," I whisper, setting her carefully beside me on the couch. I get up to retrieve my phone from the side of my purse and hit the power button.

Can you come over? – E

As I stand staring at the screen, another message arrives: Please.

A/N: After 12 days, Edward has finally reached out to Bella. Should she go see what he wants?

Sorry for no actual Edward in this chapter, but we know he (apparently) turned down an invite from Jessica and seemed once again to be jealous of Jacob. And hey, we've met Jacob, finally!

Do you agree with Bella's friends' assessment of the situation?

Next update on Thursday!