A/N: This is a major upgrade after several years of letting it rest. Coming back to it is really fun and it's brought a new path for this story. I've done some upgrading and rearranging of the story so hopefully its improved and better from here! Thank you so much!

In one fell swoop, gym went from being in my top three favorite classes to all the way near the bottom, just above Trig.

It was the beginning of basketball, the sport that I hated yet everyone else seemed to love. Even Tanner was excited as he sat next to me on the bench. We were given one day respite while listening to the rules that Coach Riker had established and how the teams would be split up. Tomorrow, though, the torture would begin.

Abby was waiting to make an ambush of her own out on the sidewalk after school came to a close. She hopped up to me, frowning. Why didn't anyone smile anymore? The days weren't that bad.

"Did you get my text?"

"Uh." I looked down at my wrist where a faint blue light was flashing. Oops. I had completely forgotten about it and all reminders were on silent. "I saw the alert in class, but I didn't get a chance to read it."

Abby groaned in frustration. "What were you two talking about?"

"The project," I lied nonchalantly. There was no need to ask for clarification on who "you two" were.

Abby placed her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow. "No, you weren't. It was way too intense to be talking about the stupid project. There had to be more."

She wasn't going to let up and, too be honest, I didn't know how to answer her. It felt too personal, even for her. Lips tight together, I walked past her, careful not to break out in a run. All that did was confirm her suspicions.

"Come on, Sloane," she whined as she kept up with me. "Why are you keeping this from me? What's the big deal?"

"Nothing!" I snapped. Then immediately regretted it. It was too harsh a response for her general curiosity. And she was my best friend. I stopped walking, turning to face her. "Look, I talked to Edward on Monday and he got crabby with me. Today in class, he apologized for it."

"That's it?" she questioned skeptically.

That was where I wanted to leave it. I couldn't explain everything to her, not the thought process behind it, at least. That was the more complicated – and more important – part. She wouldn't understand, no matter how hard I tried. Or she would read way too into it and draw a very wrong conclusion.

"We talked about the presentation." Not a total lie. "And we talked about being friends."

Abby's jaw went slack. "Are you serious?"

"We talked about it," I emphasized, deflating. I wish I had been able to get more of a confirmation on Edward's part. There was a very big chance I would never get one. "It's not going to happen. I don't think so, anyway. He's used to being on his own." I didn't know if that was the real reason, but it seemed the best fit.

"What about his family?"

"I don't think they count."

She didn't fully buy into it, but I was able to escape to home. A break for the evening.

Mom was already there when I walked through the door, on the phone with one of her girlfriends while she arranged clean dishes in the cabinets. After waving to her to let her know I had arrived safely, I set up in the living room to do my homework. It kept me busy well after Dad came through the front door.

When dinner was eaten and plates left with only scraps to discard, Dad turned on the news for background noise while he went through paperwork. Mom looked over some more renovation plans as I pulled out a book and sat lengthwise in the recliner, feet dangling freely. Whatever tragedy or political rant was on was nothing but garbled babbel. Not a single word made it to my ears with clarity. A normal evening in the Summers' household.

I was the last one to tap out around ten, dragging my feet up the stairs to shower and brush my teeth before sliding into my warm bed.

I didn't talk to Edward on Friday. It wasn't from lack of trying. Somehow, I had slept through my alarm and barely made it to the parking lot and into my desk in Mr. Rosner's classroom before the final bell rang. Mr. Rosner gave me a quizzical look from the out-of-character action. My answer was to sheepishly sink down in my seat and hope that he moved on quickly. To my relief, he did and my photo finish was quickly forgotten. By most of my fellow students.

As my bravery grew and I sat up in my desk, I felt eyes on me. Glancing up, Alice was twisted in her seat, gaze locked on my own. She shined a bright, enthusiastic smile towards me and winked.

Wait. Winked?

The mischievousness that twinkled in her golden eyes refused to dwindle even as she turned back to the front.

What was that about?

Surprisingly, Abby had missed the entire interaction. Her focus was on her tablet, flipping through the downloaded copy of Expectations to the chapters we were supposed to be discussing this period. Unfortunate, since her view of the scene would have been helpful to figuring out what that could have possibly been about.

Alice didn't look at me again for the rest of class. When we were dismissed for our next class, she all but skipped out of the room before I could even zip up my bag.

The rest of my day was plagued by Alice's wink. The meaning behind it, what could have caused it, what Edward would think about it; all of it bounced around so harshly and consistently that by lunchtime, I had a pounding headache. Who knew a small, simple gesture could cause so much havoc?

I didn't bother satisfying my usual lunchtime curiosity. Pressure was building in my forehead. The harsh overhead lighting stabbed at my eyes like dozens of needles pushing in at once. Closing them, I laid my head down on my folded arms, not bothering to get any food from the line.

"You okay?" Abby asked gently.

"Mmmh," I moaned back. "Headache."

"Oh, shit. That sucks." Despite her wording, there was sincerity in her sympathy. She made sure that the others at the table didn't raise their voices too much, a difficult feat where Jackson was concerned. It didn't matter much, though, since she couldn't tell the rest of the room to shut up.

All of those voices still buzzed around my ears in a single hum. My headache had evolved into a pounding numbness that had no beginning or end. I shoved my face deeper into the crooks of my arms to hide from the light and noise. It didn't work. Too much still leaked through.

A nap. That was what I needed. A nice long nap and then I should be able to get rid of this headache. All I had to do was get through the rest of the day and I could collapse in my bed, the blinds shut and a blanket over my head.

I groaned again.

I'd have to get through basketball first.

A hand softly patted my shoulder.

"Hey, we have to get to class," Abby said in a soothing, soft voice. Oh, bless her, but was it really that time already?

I pushed myself up, flinching at the reappearance of the fluorescents. Sighing, I straightened out the chair and followed Abby to the exit.

"Sloane!"

I glanced over my shoulder for the high, twinkling voice, accidentally glaring at them to protect my eyes. No offense was given, though. Alice came to a stop in front of me. Her hands were outstretched into the small space between us, a water bottle in one and the other one loosely clenched.

"You look like you could use these," she said with a smile and tilt of her head. Her voice was low, as if she were trying to keep from adding to my piercing pain.

"O-oh. Thanks." I took the bottle and waited for the contents of her other hand with my empty palm up. Two little white pills landed with a soft bounce against my skin. Pain reliever. I smiled at her. Tears were threatening to appear over something so small. "Thank you, Alice. Hopefully this helps."

"It will," she said confidently. Not waiting for my second round of thanks, she skipped out of the cafeteria to her next class.

I threw back the pills and swallowed several gulps from the bottle as Abby kindly guided me towards the science building. Like an old world familial escort, she didn't let go of my elbow until I sat down at my desk near the front. Not the best position to be in when your head was pounding, but seating arrangements were all but set in stone after stakes had been claimed at the beginning of the semester. I would just have to hope and pray that Alice's help kicked in soon.

Elbow resting on the desk, I massaged my right temple with my fingers. I couldn't let my eyes close for more than a blink. The goal was to remain unnoticed by Shetler. The last thing I wanted was to be sent to the nurse's and miss a complicated lesson. Then again, I wasn't sure my physically being here would help much in that regard.

Shetler started the lesson the moment the bell faded out, bringing up the examples on the projection board without missing a beat. I tried my best to follow along. My stylus scribbled across the tablet, some words legible, others not so much.

Around fifteen minutes into the hour, my headache began to fade. I could tear up from relief. I needed to come up with a way to thank Alice for the beautiful relief she gave me. Something more than just words. No longer bogged down with a pounding head, I scurried to catch up in the lesson.

Class soon came to an end. I gathered my supplies in a hurry, still free from any threat of a rebound headache. Edward was just about out the door when I called out for him. Miraculously, he stopped, moving out of the way of the other students as he waited for me to catch up.

I nearly tripped over my own feet before I made it to him. "Can you tell Alice thank you? For the medicine?" Though I wanted to pay her back in another way, I also wanted to let her know that it had worked, exactly as she said it would.

His neutral expression flickered into a frown for a microsecond, then smoothed out into nonexistence. A heavy sigh pushed out of his lips. He didn't seem thrilled at playing the messenger. "I'll let her know."

"Than–"

He spun on his heels and disappeared into the hallway.

"–ks"

Alright, then. If I tried to figure out what that reaction was all about, the headache would return with a vengeance. So, I let it go and left the classroom for the gym, sure that he would pass it on to Alice, whether he approved or not.

Monday morning brought a feeling of uneasiness after a weekend of nothing. The hot and cold, up and down that was constantly sent my way by the Masen siblings was starting to have an effect on me. I never knew what mood either would be in or how they would respond to my approach. The last thing I wanted was for a thick, impenetrable wall to come slamming down, blocking me from any other attempt to try and establish a friendship.

Alice was the easier of the two, less caution needed. I could wave, say hi, tell her to have a good day and receive pretty much the same in return. On Wednesday, I had been on my way to the library when I passed Alice, strolling down the sidewalk, hand in hand with Jasper. Though the latter hadn't taken any notice of me, Alice certainly had.

"Hello, Sloane!"

"Hey, Alice!" A smile always spread across my face when I saw Alice. There was an energy that emanated from her so infectious that any other reaction felt wrong.

I barely registered her shoulder twitching when Jasper cleared his throat. "Hello, Sloane."

The tenor of Jasper's voice surprised me. I had never heard him speak before and the barely-there accent of the south caught me off guard. Each word was strained and sharp. In my wonderfully awkward way, I lifted my hand and moved it in a motion that could be considered a wave. "H-hi, Jasper."

Jasper inclined his head. Everything about his face and shoulders was strained, overly controlled. His nearly black eyes tensed. After a silent exchange between him and Alice, he gently tugged her along the sidewalk.

"Have a good day in physics!" Alice called over her shoulder.

I waved goodbye, more confused than ever.

And no clarification was given to me in physics later that day. Part of me had hoped that Alice's comment meant that Edward was going to reach out, but they were dashed as soon as I caught sight of his withdrawn shoulders and deep rooted frown. My confusion was only heightened when neither were in class on Thursday.

It happened every once in a while, the Masens taking an excused absence. All five at once, never only one. Curiosity killed me as to why. What were they doing when they weren't in class? Did they all just decide to ditch together and spend a day in Seattle or at the beach? With the sky so clear and blue, I couldn't really blame them. If I was brave enough to take advantage of these rare beautiful days that nearly always came during the week, I would jump at it in a heartbeat. But that was a fight with my parents I would rather avoid.

Friday morning, I thought that maybe I could ask Alice or Edward what they had been doing outside of school, but again, they didn't show up. An empty desk in English, an empty table at lunch, an empty desk in Physics.

Was it because, just like yesterday, the sun was shining without a cloud in sight?

No. I doubt it was merely the weather that kept them away. Family emergency, maybe? That could be likely, especially since they weren't from the area. Anything could have pulled them away from coming to school. None of the teachers seemed overly concerned about it. Not a single one of them asked if we knew why they were gone despite doing the same for other students.

Abby had asked me if I knew why they were gone, but all I could do was shrug. Her curiosity was more for our physics project than anything else.

"I thought maybe one of them would have mentioned it," she said.

I sighed. "Not to me." We weren't that close. And surely Abby knew that. I was as equally on the outside as everyone else.

Nerves started to get to me. When everyone else moved to work with their partners, I was left on my own. There wasn't a single thing I could do on my own. The essay was done and Edward had the example problems. I could try to outline the presentation, but I needed to leave work for us tomorrow when Edward came over. If he came over. What was I supposed to do then? Could we try for a day after school?

By the end of the day, I was panicking, practically being crushed over the uncertainty of tomorrow.

This was why I hated group projects.

All of this felt rather pointless. With no way to contact Edward, I couldn't be fully confident that he would show, even as I meticulously put on my makeup and checked that not a single hair was out of place. Thankfully, my parents were going to be gone most of the day. I wouldn't have to deal with the horror of my hovering mother while Edward and I tried to focus on the project.

My alarm went off at eight in order to give myself a full two hours to eat breakfast and make myself presentable without looking like I used the full two hours. The constant wrestling with my inner femininity to dress up was exhausting, but I didn't want to come off looking as if I had expected this to be a date. It wasn't and I didn't think of him that way. But there was something about Edward that made me want to shock him, or impress him, or simply get some sort of awe out of him. A nearly impossible task, but one I secretly wanted to achieve anyway.

What a stupid line of thinking.

Wiping off the makeup, I started over. Keep it simple, I told myself. Like any other ordinary day. Act as if it was EJ who would ring the doorbell and not Edward.

That, surprisingly, helped. I finally settled on something that I would wear to school and not think twice it simple. This was nothing, in the grand scheme of things. Repeating that fact continued the trend of relaxation. The debate graciously moved on to whether or not to even put on shoes since we weren't going anywhere when the doorbell echoed into my room upstairs. I froze. Was it really that time already?

One look at my phone confirmed indeed it was.

Taking a deep breath, I slowly made my way down the stairs, not wanting to appear too eager. As nonchalantly as possible, I opened the door. It was cloudy again today, making the ten o'clock light seem still like early morning. Edward stood there, framed within the doorway like a painting by Michelangelo.

Maybe that was a little over the top. He was only a person after all. Just one that happened to look like he didn't really belong on my front porch, even in his simple sweater and jeans.

"Good morning, Sloane," he said softly, the slightest hint of an upturn in the corner of his mouth.

I crossed my arms, trying to put on the annoyed girl act. But it felt too forced and now that he had shown up, my earlier frustration completely evaporated. He was here, that was all that mattered. I drop my arms with a sigh. "Good morning, Edward. Come on in."

Stepping out of the way, I motioned for him to enter. He did so cautiously, looking around as if he was taking in every little detail. The sorrowful look was back in his eyes, though a bit more subdued now. His steps were slow and deliberate. Minutes had gone by before he was far enough in that I could close the door.

"It's nothing grand," I said, breaking the strained silence, "but I like it. Almost like a mix of the past and present."

Edward let out his usual, humorless short laugh. He turned to me and stared. I stared back, refusing to be the first to break away.

"Sloane?"

"Yes?"

"Are we going to start?"

"Start?" I'd nearly forgotten the reason he was here. "Right. Um… hold on. I left my stuff upstairs." I headed in that direction, with Edward right behind.

"No faith that I would actually show up?" he guessed.

I shook my head. "No. My mind has just been other places this morning."

"Such as?" His steps were light, even on the wooden stairs that needed some serious sprucing. They were probably next on Mom's list.

Shrugging, I pushed open my bedroom door, thankful that I had taken the time to clean it the night before. It had been a nice distraction from constantly worrying about today. "Oh, here and there," I evaded.

The entirety of my side of the project was in my backpack that was resting in the chair next to my desk. I slung it over my shoulder and turned back to face Edward, my eyes growing wide.

He had actually entered my bedroom and began inspecting it with obvious curiosity. A microscopic smile began to shine as his eyes trailed over my pale blue walls. Taking a closer look at the south wall, he peered at every little photograph that coated it like wallpaper. They were sloppily tapped together, overlapping to the point that it was hard to see where one ended and another began. What helped them stick out against each other was the varying size and type of film. Some were Polaroids, some with the newer 3-D effect, while others were old fashioned, plain and static.

"You're talented," he noted, only giving off the slightest hint of warmth in his voice.

I shifted on the balls of my feet, uneasy about this inspection of my personal sanctuary. Not even EJ had spent this much time in my room. And that wasn't without effort on his part. Keeping him out was nearly an Olympic sport. Edward was staring particularly hard at a picture of the guys I had taken about two hikes ago. They were their usual goofy selves, pulling faces at the camera when all I had wanted was a simple smile.

"Friends of yours?" Edward asked.

Nodding, I stepped closer to him. "Yeah, some guys from the rez. They're annoying as hell, but I love 'em. Not like 'love-love', you know. Just as friends." My brain was beginning to stumble over itself.

Edward's answer was merely a nod.

"I guess we should probably get started."

Without waiting for him to acknowledge my suggestion, I headed downstairs and started unloading my work onto the kitchen counter. He settled on the right of me, careful to keep several inches of space between us even as I fired up my tablet and opened the presentation software, turning the screen so he could as well.

"Honestly, I'm pretty sure this presentation is just going to write itself." I tapped my fingers on the granite counter. "I think the easiest way would be to follow the flow of the paper."

Elegant hands folded under his chin, Edward made a muffled sound in agreement. He connected his phone to my tablet via Bluetooth and we poured over his charts, going slide by slide, debating with each other on where to best put the information. Almost every time, he relented to me. I tried not to let it bother me, his lack of suggestion or fight back, as insignificant of details as they were.

When we finally finished the first draft of the presentation, I jumped up from the stool. My throat was dying of thirst. After pulling a glass out of the cabinet for myself, I wiggled a second glass at Edward. "Thirsty?"

He barely glanced at me before shaking his head. "No, thank you."

Sitting back down, I threw back about half the water before deciding on being nosey. "So, how come none of you were at school the last two days?"

Edward's eyes flashed at me before turning to his phone. "We went hiking."

"During the school week?" I snorted.

He continued his pretense of being occupied by whatever he was doing on his phone. "Yes. Esme likes us to do activities that keep us bonded."

"Esme?" I echoed. "That's your adoptive mom, right?"

All I got was a hard nod. I frowned. He was doing it again. I might have been prying, but it wasn't as if I was asking for blood type and specifics on his schooling history. This was the longest amount of time we had spent together and I wanted to take advantage of it however I could. But he was already trying to patch up whatever little cracks I had successfully been able to pick at.

"You don't have to keep pulling away, you know." I hadn't meant to say it out loud, but one little slip and suddenly, I couldn't take it back. Better to be out in the open, I guess.

Ignoring me, Edward reached for the worn copy of Sense & Sensibility currently sticking out of my unzipped bag. "You read a lot of Jane Austen."

I tried to snatch the book back, but his grip was steadfast. Annoyingly so, considering the lack of strain evident in his hands. Gritting my teeth, I grunted, "I'm just a persistent romantic. And I like fancy speech."

Sighing, he finally let go, the book nearly catching my face with the unexpected momentum. "I'm not going to come riding in on a white horse to whisk you away."

For the second time today, I snorted. "I'm not asking you to. I just want to be your friend, Edward. Someone for you to talk to. I'm not expecting a fairytale."

What was it with guys and automatically assuming a girl wanted them? Yes, Edward was handsome, but I wanted more than a pretty face. And I hardly knew the guy to really develop anything beyond surface level attraction. Could I someday? Maybe. But I tend not to set myself up for pain.

"You truly just want to be my friend?" Edward questioned, raising an eyebrow at me.

I nodded earnestly. "Is that so wrong?"

Frowning, he answered in a defeated voice, "No, I guess not."

"Good," I unlocked my tablet that had gone black during our little detour. "Now, let's get this done so I can stop freaking out over my physics grade."

"Physics is the least of your worries," Edward murmured cryptically.

Edward's strange comment kept lingering in the back of my mind even as we finished up the slides and declared ourselves done. My stomach growled at my audacity to ignore it for so long. Sliding off the stool, I opened the fridge to peep at what was inside.

"You hungry?" I called out.

"No, thank you."

I paused. Edward's answer hadn't come from behind me like it should have. Leaning back, I searched past the refrigerator door to find him in our living room, studying the different movie titles along the shelves. Curious, I joined him, looking back and forth between him and the discs that he was finding so fascinating.

"Find anything interesting?" I inquired. It was a very old-timey way for entertainment but it was the only way to have the more obscure and less popular titles. Plus, studios these days had a bad habit of constantly changing their movies after release. I wanted the pure form.

Running a finger along the plastic casings, Edward looked down at me, "Do all of these belong to your parents?"

I could feel the blush forming on my cheeks. "Actually, most of them are mine. The few in that corner are my brothers. My parents don't really care to buy movies."

Edward looked down at me, his eyes burning with curiosity. "It's such a wide variety. They really are all yours?"

"Yeah," I replied quietly. I had never been embarrassed of my collection before, so why was I being so flustered now? Edward had been in my house for hours and yet I still hadn't gotten completely used to it. And the way he seems so at home and familiar with the rooms was a bit unnerving. "I like… stories. It doesn't matter what kind."

"Even the sad ones?"

The slight upturn of my lips contrasted my answer. "Even the sad ones."

A long, exasperated sigh fell from Edward's lips. His eyes dropped to look at nothing in particular. "I should go."

"Are you sure?" I didn't want him to go. I had too many questions, too many details of Edward that I wanted to explore. And there was no telling when he would pull back again, disappear into the night like a cold winter's breath.

Not looking at me, Edward nodded and then turned on his feet, heading back to the kitchen. His things were already packed up by the time I reentered.

"I'll see you at school on Monday."

"Will I?" I questioned with a raised brow.

He paused in a near perfect stillness. His back to me, I wished he would turn around and deliver the fatal blow. Now would be the time when he told me that, after this project was over, we would never speak. That we would go back to silent strangers. But he surprised me once again.

Over his shoulder, I could see the slightest lift in his cheek, hinting at a hopeful expression. "Yes."

My heart leapt at the confirmation. I didn't fight the joyful grin that spread across my face. Edward didn't say anything else he left me behind, closing the front door on his way out.