"When did you say Carol's replacement arrives?" I sighed, leaning against my desk and shouting through the open door of my classroom.

"After Thanksgiving," Angela shouted back. I groaned. Two more weeks of double classes. That is, double class sizes and extra classes thanks to one of our colleagues running off with some boy toy and living the life of Riley on a beach somewhere without even working out her notice. Not that things would really get much better with the rumours that the replacement was some doe-eyed, fresh out of college recruit that had never had at the front of the class in her life. Angela appeared at my door, coat on and bag over her shoulder. "How cruel do you think they'll be to her?"

"The kids? Or Admin?"

"Both?"

"Let's not even go there," I sighed and shoved the last of my files into my over stuffed linen shopper. It was filled with marking and planning I needed to get done over the weekend after running out of time this week. "You going to Billy's tonight?"

"Yep," Angela popped the 'p'. "Ben's mom is having the kids, he's off on a lads night and I assumed we'd be going for a few." I smiled and nodded. It had become a bit of a routine since Carol had left. We'd forget everything as soon as we'd said goodbye to the last child and then pile everything in the car's to go home, then meet up again a couple of hours later for bar food and beers.

"Who's Ben out with?" We talked as we walked.

"A few of the guys from work," She explained. "There's a new lad starting on Monday and I think they want to psych him out a bit."

"Ah!" I laughed. "The forever frat ways of surgeons."


3 hours later, I ordered my first drink at the bar and sat in our usual table waiting for Angela. She appeared not long after looking rather flustered.

"Hey!" I grabbed her arm to steady her. "What's wrong?"

"Okay -" She grabbed my drink and took a large gulp. "Remember I said there was a new guy at Ben's work?"

"Yeah?" I honestly couldn't see where she was going with this.

"Well -" She smiled broadly and sat down. "I've just seen him."

"Creeper," I chuckled. "Assuming he's fit then?"

"Oh-" She pushed her hand out in front of her, shaking her head. "Doesn't cover it - and isn't the best part!"

"Go on?"

"Edward." She bubbled with excitement. "It's Edward Cullen."

"Woah!" I could see why she was excited. Edward Cullen was the biggest enigma during our high school career. Him and his sister Alice. We'd been a little group - me, Angela, Alice and a girl named Lauren. He was literally every girls' wet dream and all the girls in our group knew how painfully large my candle for him was. But something went on with him in his senior year. He was there one day and gone the next. Alice kind of withdrew from the group after that. We all honestly assumed drugs or he'd hurt someone or himself. Neither Mr or Mrs Cullen ever mentioned things whenever you saw them around town but were still always their usual happy selves - which just confused small town Forks even more. "So he's not dead or in prison?"

"Apparently not!" Angela agreed. "Makes you wonder why he's come back though."

"Bigger fish, Ange," I still had to recover from another week on minimal staff. And as interesting as this all was, there was no way he wasn't married and at 36, I didn't have time to be chasing married men.


Another three hours into my Friday, and Angela and I found ourselves on the dance floor (really just a bit of space between tables close to the jukebox) dancing badly and laughing loudly. I could feel the eyes of a man I'd rejected an hour ago at the bar on me. Mike did this every other week after his divorce and it was getting both old and annoying.

"I'm going to get another drink." I shouted over the music to Angela, who just waved and and smiled at me never once stopping her dancing.

"Could I get another beer, Seth?" I smiled at the bar keeper, Seth Clearwater. He gave me a grin and waved his rag before moving to the other side of the bar to get my drink. I liked Seth. He was fun and didn't mind when some of us that were old enough to know better got a little giddy at the weekend. I think we broke the week up for him.

"Hey, Bells." Mike slurred as he slid next to me against the bar. I was buzzed, but Mike was completely wasted.

"Hi," I sighed, leaning on the bar willing Seth to go faster and finish his conversation with Dad's old friend, Billy, the owner of the bar.

"So, I've been thinking," He leaned closer to me. "That we'd make really pretty babies."

"I'm not interest, Mike," I moved away but he followed, putting his arm around my waist to hold me against him.

"Doesn't take much," Mike leered. "I wouldn't need much from you, come on, Bella,"

"I believe she said she wasn't interested." A rich voice I didn't recognize came from behind me. Mike's arm dropped and I span around.

"Why don't you mind your own business?" Mike sneered at the Greek god I was now face to face with. Or face to chest.

"It is my business when you are touching a woman even after she's said no." He ran a hand through his ruffled bronze locks.

"You have no idea-"

"Is everything okay here?" Seth broke the conversation, holding out my bottled beer.

"It's fine," I trilled squeezing out from between the men to grab my beer. "Isn't it?"

"Are you fine?" He looked directly at me now and my god those eyes still had the exact same effect on me now as when I was 16!

"Mmm... Yeah, I'm okay, really." I tripped over my words, flapping my hands around to show exactly how fine I was.

"Yeah," Seth didn't sound so sure. "Door's that way, Newton, you aren't welcome in this establishment." Mike tried to complain, but Ben and his friends had joined us from somewhere. Two of the lads grabbed Mike and helped him find the door. My savior stayed behind when the lads filled the stools at the bar, laughing between themselves.

"Are you really sure you're okay?"

"Mhmm," I nodded, trying desperately to keep my mouth shut.

"Listen, I don't trust that guy," He gestured to the door with a long fingered hand. Pianist's hands if I remembered rightly. "So when you're ready to leave, let me know and I'll walk you to your car. I'm Edward, by the way," He offered the same hand out in a handshake, that I weakly took.

"I know," He looked at me, confused, with those green eyes. "We... er... we went to school together." I tried not to sound like a creeper. And failed massively. But Edward just nodded, apologetically.

"Sorry, I can't say much of high school stands out to me anymore," He smiled that gorgeous little smirk he always did when trying to get himself out of trouble, but his eyes still searched my face making me self conscious. "Wait... You were one of Alice's friends, right?"

"Yes! I'm Bella," I smiled broadly. "How is Alice?" I hadn't heard much from her after leaving high school. But to be fair, by the end of senior year, she'd all but isolated herself from everyone which only poured gasoline on the rumours that Edward was selling drugs. To be fair, if he had been selling, he clearly put the money to good use. Now a well dressed doctor with a Rolex on his wrist.

"She's good," He chuckled, turning towards the bar and resting his forearms on the polished surface I was sure was slightly sticky. "She's opened a chain of boutiques over the last 10 years, once she came back from Milan."

"Milan?" I joined him at the bar, pulling one of the remaining stools to bring myself closer to his towering height. "Of course she made it to Milan!" I laughed.

"I don't think they really had a choice," He laughed with me, accepting the beer Seth handed him in exchange for a few notes. So he wasn't planning on staying for long then. He took a small swig from the bottle then looked over at me. "She's coming home this weekend. I'm sure she'd love to see her old friends." It felt like an invitation. But I didn't want to assume it was.

"Oh... We weren't exactly close when she left," I shrugged. A pained look flitted through his eyes and he dropped them to the beer in his hands.

"That is probably my fault." He sighed. "Look, I didn't recognise your face, but when you said school, I knew you were one of Alice's girls. She still talks about you. You and someone called Angela."

"Not Lauren?" He let out a single cruel laugh.

"Not Lauren." He confirmed. "She had the suspicion that that one was only coming round to catch Dad in his swim shorts. Two of you kept calling to check on her, inviting her out. One didn't." Well that explained that. "Anyway, what do you do these days, Bella?"

"I teach, over at the high school," His eyes lit up.

"My Libby is starting in the English department next week." So he was seeing someone. I hadn't spied a ring so he wasn't married. But she was 'his Libby'. "She was only meant to start a week on Monday, but she phoned this morning, I think staying at home with a toddler is destroying her ego." He laughed at his own joke. So they have a child together. Cute.

"Well if she can't cope with a toddler, she'll struggle with teens I'm afraid." I tried to sound sweet, but my undying crushing heart was bitter. Of course he had the perfect little family. I bet she was pretty too.

"Oh teens are fine! But our Willa is an absolute nightmare when she decides on something and, being three, there's zero reasoning with her." He shook his head and took another swig of beer. "Bit like her mother in that respect." I smiled along with him.

"What do you do then?" I asked leaning on the bar. "I mean I know you're at the hospital with Ben -"

"Who told you that?" He shot accusingly, but his eyes sparkled in mischief.

"Ah... Ange said Ben was out with a new co-worker... So...-"

"I'm messing," He smiled and waved my embarrassment away. "Back in Chicago, I was a consultant in the NICU. Before that I worked in the PICU as a specialist doctor and now I'll be split between the NICU, PICU and pediatric ward."

"Must be hard work being a doctor in those departments," I shivered at the thought of all those sick children.

"I'm head of department this time," He ducked his head, almost like he was embarrassed.

"Wow!" I gushed and quickly took another drink. He just nodded. "What made you go that route?"

"I saw something that can only be described as a miracle in a NICU years ago," he nodded solemnly. It felt like the end of that conversation.

"Well, Thank you for saving me," I nodded over to the spot were Mike had tried his luck. Edward smiled weakly and nodded. "I think I'm going to head off now, I've a pile of marking to do over this weekend."