Title: To Be or Not To Be

Written for: Cruiz107

Written By: MarieCarro

Beta/Pre-Readers: Alice's White Rabbit/LaMomo

Rating: NC-17

Summary/Prompt used: Enemies to Lovers. Two people with a common passion should get along fine, right? Unfortunately, classically trained actor Edward Cullen and self-taught actress Bella Swan didn't get that memo, and the two are notorious enemies. But what happens when they're both cast in the same stage production as lovers?

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CHAPTER 8

"How much of a dickhead have I been? And don't hold back."

James chuckled and shoved a slice of pizza into his mouth. "Well," he mumbled around the food. Then he chewed deliberately slowly before continuing the sentence. "You've always been a bit of a pretentious prick, but I must admit you hit the jackpot with this one."

I groaned and knocked my fist against my forehead. "I'm gonna go to Hell for this. Or I'll have to perform a sacrificial ritual to Dionysus to reset the bad karma I've most definitely accumulated now."

"Not only did you just merge three completely different religions there, but I also don't think making a sacrifice to the god of theater will help you with this at all." He pointed at me with the neck of his bottle of Coke. "And not to be that person, but I did warn you about judging someone who takes the chances they're given."

"Yeah, I know." I wasn't about to defend myself or make excuses for my behavior. Least of all to James, who'd see through that bullshit before a complete sentence left my mouth.

"Look at the bright side though," James said as his smirk grew in size. "You no longer have to feel disgusted with yourself for having wet dreams of her." He lost the fight against his own bubbling laughter, and I threw my balled-up napkin at him.

"I knew it was a mistake to tell you about that."

"Oh, you know it," he admitted without shame. "I won't ever let you live that down. That's priceless intel."

"But what am I supposed to do now? I can't go back to detesting her for accepting a second chance at the life she always wanted, but if I completely switch, I'll look like the most disingenuous bastard out there." I was stuck between a rock and a hard place, and it was all of my own doing.

James wiped his mouth, his appetite not at all affected by my whining, and I appreciated him for it. He had no qualms about calling me on my shit while at the same time letting me be myself. He was a true friend. "C'mon, Edward. You're an educated guy. This isn't a difficult problem to solve. What would you have done if they'd cast a stranger as Norah?"

I shrugged. "I would've been polite. Then got to know them over the course of rehearsals, and I would've suggested meeting them one-on-one so we could discuss and analyze our characters and what they meant to each other."

"Exactly!" James exclaimed in a tone that conveyed how obvious the solution was. "So that's what you've got to do now. And she lives across the hall from you, which will make the entire thing ten times easier because you won't even have to leave the building."

"It sounds so easy when you put it like that, but I'm not convinced Bella is open to a fresh start," I said, sighing. "She definitely didn't want to accept my apology."

"You can't blame her. From her perspective, all she knew was that her neighbor, out of nowhere, started hating her. Then, she realized it's for a petty reason like jealousy. Would you accept an apology from a person like that?"

"No."

He threw his hands out, cementing his point without saying the word.

"I guess I'll just have to go about it slowly."

{(=((¤))=)}

"Angela, you'll have to rehearse as Norah with Edward today," Carlisle said. "Bella called in sick."

I did a quick scan of the room and confirmed that Bella was, indeed, absent. As her closest neighbor, I knew she was never sick, so it worried me that she claimed to be now. I didn't want to be egocentric enough to believe I was the cause—a week had passed since our adventure in the costume vault—but that was where my mind jumped.

We had a somewhat functioning truce going between us. It was far from comfortable at all times, and there had been some awkward exchanges in between scenes, but the rehearsals had improved. They weren't perfect yet, but improvement wasn't bad.

Most of the time, we still kept to ourselves, but I'd made an effort to say "good morning" at the start of the day, and "see you tomorrow" at the end. Whenever we met in the hall, I always said "Hi" or "How are you?". In essence, I was polite to her in the same way I would've been to anyone I worked with.

While Bella had reciprocated with all the same phrases, she still looked at me every time as if she were waiting for me to say "psyche" and go back to hating her guts.

As the cast and crew dispersed to get everything ready for the day's rehearsals, I hurried over to Carlisle before my pride could stop me.

"Mr. Cullen, did Bella tell you how sick she was?"

He looked at me with obvious confusion. "Don't worry, Edward. I'm sure you haven't caught anything."

Embarrassment washed over me in an instant. He knew Bella and I didn't get along on the job, but he was most likely aware of far more than that. Of course, he'd think I was only asking for selfish reasons.

Come to think of it, I was surprised he'd even allowed me to be cast in the production to begin with. Unless Bella hadn't told him the depth of our enmity.

"Sorry, no, uh, I—" I stuttered as my nerves got the best of me. "I didn't mean it like that. Bella's my neighbor, and I thought I could check up on her after rehearsals."

He raised a skeptical brow. "I must admit I didn't expect this from you," he said. "You haven't made it a secret you two don't get along."

I cleared my throat, but it did nothing for the stutter. "No, I know, but, uhm, well, I—" I was at a loss. My mind was blank, and I felt more ridiculous with every passing second. Then, I decided to come clean in case Carlisle did know all the sordid details. I took a deep breath to calm down and met his eyes as steadily as I could. "Mr. Cullen, to tell the truth, I haven't been fair to Bella, and I'm trying to right the wrongs."

Carlisle straightened up and looked me up and down, appraising me without trying to hide it. "I've heard a lot of great things about you, Edward. Great actor, responsible, hard working, likable personality. Those were the traits I expected when you got cast." His blue eyes bore into mine, and sweat broke out on my hands. "I don't make it a habit to involve myself in Bella's day-to-day life, so I don't know what's going on between you two. But let me tell you this"—he took a step closer to me, and I had to swallow—"she is more like a daughter than a niece to me. I'm not the kind of man who threatens someone's career over personal issues, but slow down my production because of petty drama again, and this is the last time you'll work with me. Understand?"

"Yes, Mr. Cullen," I replied and nodded, my eyes cast down to the floor.

"Good. Bella called in sick because of period pains. She'll be back by tomorrow. Now, get to rehearsing."

Without delaying for a second, I did as he ordered and got myself onto the stage. Unfortunately, I had a difficult time concentrating as the dreadful realization sank in that I could've caused the death of my career. For some reason, I hadn't considered the consequences of being in a feud with Carlisle Cullen's niece.

Not that it would've changed much if I had considered it. I wasn't the type of person to brown-nose my way into influential circles, but perhaps I would've held my resentment under tighter wraps while at work. That would've been the smart thing to do.

Angela was a pleasant acting partner, but there wasn't a whole lot of chemistry between us. With Bella, even at the height of our conflict, there had always been a tension that made the stakes in every scene feel more pressing. And as bad as the rehearsals sometimes got, no one could say that they didn't feel the enormity of everything unsaid between our characters when we played opposite each other.

Esme was pleased with the day though, and after she gave me a couple notes to think about, I headed home. I stopped a few times along the way to pick up some items, and soon thereafter, I stood outside Bella's door, hyping myself up to knock.

Once I plucked up the courage, I still fidgeted like an over-caffeinated suspect in an interrogation room.

"Edward?" Bella was taken aback when she saw me. "Are you actually knocking on my door right now?"

My face burned. "Yeah, I heard at work that you weren't feeling well, so I got you a few things … to make you feel better." I offered her the bag with my arm extended, and she looked at it for a second with deep-rooted suspicion.

I didn't blame her. I'd never done anything unpleasant to her in the physical sense, but she was within her rights to question me and my intentions.

With great uncertainty, she accepted the bag and looked inside.

"You got me snacks?" She met my eyes with barely withheld amusement. "And herbal tea?"

"Your uncle told me it wasn't a cold, and Google said those are must-haves during your period." I couldn't believe I was standing outside Bella's door discussing her period. I was sure my face showed my utter embarrassment as well. "I didn't want to assume you wouldn't already have everything else."

Bella looked into the bag again and her brows knitted together in wonderment. "What's this?" She reached inside and pulled out the book I'd bought for her. "Respect for Acting by Uta Hagen and Haskel Frankel?"

I nodded and attempted a smile. "Every actor should own a copy of that book. It's been an invaluable tool for me many times."

She looked at the book in awe, then up at me, then back at the book, and finally back at me. "Thank you," she said.

I shrugged as if it wasn't a big deal even though we both knew it was. "Feel better," I said, then turned around to head into my own apartment.