"Shit!" Bella whispered in a panic before raising her voice enough for Charlie to hear. "It's just Edward, Dad. He came to… Help me with my Algebra." She looked at Edward apologetically, "Quick, get the rest of your clothes on."

"Algebra? Since when do you need help with Algebra?" Charlie was asking whilst wearing a confused expression just as Bella started walking down the stairs; Edward following behind her. As Charlie clocked who it was, Bella could see as he stared at Edward warily.

"I've had a bit of trouble with it since I was off school, ill. Edward's the year above me so he said he could help," Bella explained as they reached the bottom of the stairs.

"All done now, is it?" Charlie asked, his eyes trained on Edward suspiciously.

"Absolutely, Chief Swan. Bella only needed a small amount of help, she knew what she was doing once she got into it."

Bella looked at Edward out of the corner of her eyes, smirking inwardly at his double entendre.

"Does your brother know you're here?"

"I didn't make a point of telling him, Chief Swan. I shouldn't imagine he would mind too much, considering it's only homework."

"Well, Mr Cullen. I don't want this to cause another rift between yourself and Jasper, so next time, if there is a next time, you'll keep it downstairs in the kitchen or living room, ok?"

"Of course, Chief Swan. I apologise for not considering that before."

"Your parents will be expecting you home soon, will they not?" Charlie asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Yes, I was just on my way back home now, Chief Swan. It was nice to see you again," He smiled and nodded his head as Charlie frowned and walked past both of them on his way to the kitchen presumably.

Bella turned to Edward after following Charlie's path with her eyes, she smiled teasingly at him.

"What?" Edward asked with a smile.

Bella pushed him out of the front door and shut it behind them.

"What was that?" She laughed, "Yes, Chief Swan. No, Chief Swan. I've never heard you so polite!"

"Well the last time I saw your Dad I was really rude to him, I thought I'd try and change his opinion of me."

"And what do you think his opinion of you would have been if he knew what you just did to me in my childhood bed?" Bella teased, taking a small step towards him.

"What would he think of me? What would he think of his little girl?" Edward smirked, snaking an arm around her waist as she got closer to him. "Can I come back later?" He whispered, almost begging.

"I don't know, Edward. I mean, the tree? Are you sure?"

"At least me try," Edward bent his knees slightly until he was level with Bella. "Please?"

Bella nodded silently and watched as Edward smiled brightly at her, leaning forward and capturing her lips with his own. Bella pushed him away quite quickly, although smiling apologetically.

"We were lucky with Charlie just then, let's not risk it."

Edward nodded and turned to hop down the stairs happily. "I'll be in touch, beautiful…" He grinned at her, rubbing his hands together to shield him from the cold.

"Get out of here, you creep! Thanks for the help with the Algebra, by the way."

"Maths will be the least of your worries later, little girl." He grinned again before climbing into his car and pulling away from her house.

Bella turned and walked back into her house, going through to the kitchen to sit with Charlie.

"You didn't tell me you were having trouble at school?"

"It's not something I like to admit, Dad. It's sorted now though, Edward explained it all and I'm fine now."

"That's another thing, Bells. I didn't tell you this the other day because I didn't think it was something you necessarily needed to know, but there was an incident at the Cullen's house earlier in the week."

"Dad, I-"

"Listen to me, Bells. What I saw… What those two boys did to each other was awful. I don't know what it was about, but I don't want you getting into the middle of it, ok?"

"I won't, Dad," Bella frowned but kept her eyes trained on the table. "I've spoken to both of them, I think it's sorted as much as it can be. They've come to an arrangement of sorts."

"I'm not going to get into their argument, I just don't want you to be the cause of any of it. I think you should be careful with Edward, Jasper took quite a beating from him."

"Dad, Edward would never hurt me like that, I understand what you're saying though, I won't get involved."

"That's all I ask; That you're careful."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx E xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Is the Chief asleep? Xxx

He went to bed 30mins ago. B xxx

I'm on my way now. Xxx

Bella smiled at the screen on her phone before putting it down next to her. She was surprised when it vibrated again only minutes later.

By that I meant I'd been waiting round the block for an hour, and I'm now standing beneath your window looking at this beast of a tree. Xxx

Bella jumped up from her bed and rushed to the window, opening it up and pushing her head outside, glancing down and searching the dark night to see Edward's tall figure standing next to the large tree.

"Edward," She whispered, loud enough for him to hear.

"Bella, this tree is huge!"

"I told you it was risky!"

"I'm nothing if not determined, though," She heard him chuckle through the dark night and it sent a shiver down her back.

"Please don't hurt yourself!" She called to him as he made the first step onto the trunk of the tree, "It would be a dead giveaway to Charlie if he found you broken on the floor in the morning!"

"Have a little faith please, Babe. I've never done anything like this for a girl before."

Bella stayed silent then, making little gasps when Edward seemingly lost his footing or seemed a little unsure about his balance. Eventually, he made his way to the branch that was level enough with Bella's window that he should be able to make his way into her bedroom.

"Does that look secure to you?" Bella whispered uncertainly.

"You better hope it is," Edward said shakily as he took small, tentative steps towards Bella and her open window.

"I can't watch," Bella gasped and turned around, facing away from the window so she wouldn't have to watch an almost inevitable fall.

"Bella," She heard Edward whisper, and turned around to come face to face with Edward. She gasped and flung her arms around his neck. "Looks like the branch held out for me after all."

"You're an idiot," Bella sighed, pulling back from their embrace and kissing him on the lips quickly. "Don't scare me like that again, ok?"

"Only on the way back down later, Babe," He smiled and kissed her with a little more passion, wrapping her in his arms and pulling her scantily clad body close to his. She sighed into the kiss and opened her mouth to his willing tongue, letting it caress hers in a way that only he knew. He slowly walked her back towards her bed, sat her down on it and then crawled up onto it after her following her body as she moved further back onto the bed.

His lips found her neck and kissed her gently, running up to her ear and down her jawbone. Her body arched up to his in response, her gentle sighs the only sound in the room. Her hands roamed up and down his back, her hips pushing up into his and her hands squeezing his waist as he bit down lightly on her neck.

Edward let out a quiet groan at her response, "You make me want you so much," He said to her quietly.

"Not with Charlie in the house," Bella gasped when Edward pushed his hips down onto hers more firmly.

"I know, I know…" Edward chanted almost to himself, "Not with Charlie in the house," He climbed off her and lay next to her.

"You're stopping?" Bella asked breathlessly.

"If I carried on I wouldn't be able to stop… Not with Charlie in the house, remember?" He smiled and stroked her hair back from her eyes. He turned his body so he was facing her and she did the same, resting her hand on his waist just before he leaned forward again and rested his forehead against hers. He looked deep into her eyes and smiled before kissing her softly, "Are you pleased I'm here?"

Bella nodded before moving her head forward to kiss him again, he caught her wrist and pulled her hand up to his mouth, kissing the inside of her wrist and then up her arm a little before looking at her again.

"Tell me how you feel about everything," Edward asked quietly.

"What do you mean?" Bella asked, diverting her eyes away from his intense green ones for a second to compose herself.

"Everything," Edward reiterated. "I think you're hiding something. You're not as okay with it all as you want people to think."

Bella shifted her body closer to Edward's, flicking her eyes up to his. "It's nothing about us, if that's what you think."

"I just want to know what's worrying you," Edward reasoned.

"It's Alice. I just… She was supposed to be my best friend, you know? And she slept with my boyfriend and then pretended for months that everything was normal, she's never actually apologised. She tries to talk to me about him sometimes as well, before anyone found out about us… It's just weird."

"Do you think you should talk to her about it?"

"I don't think I have much to go on. What I did was pr-"

"It's not about you and me. This is about your relationship with Alice, not anyone else."

"Hmm, maybe. Can we not talk about it anymore, please?"

Edward smiled, glad that Bella had opened up to him and nodded, moving to kiss her again. She took the opportunity to move her legs either side of him and pushed him onto his back so she was straddling him.

"Oh, God…" Edward sighed, scrunching his eyes shut. "I'm getting flashbacks."

Bella giggled quietly and Edward's hands gripped her hips, puling her down against him. "Do that again," He groaned, Bella looked down at him in confusion and giggled. "Ugh, that feels so good. Shit, Bella. You're going to have to get off," He whispered harshly, pushing at her hips and making her land on the bed next to him.

She looked at him dejectedly, sitting cross-legged on the bed as he paced the room, scrubbing his hands over his face and grabbing his hair.

"It's so difficult not to fu- I feel like I can't get enough of you. This never happens to me."

"Edward, come back. I won't do anything, I promise… We can just sleep."

Edward looked at Bella softly, suddenly she seemed like a little girl, sitting innocently on the bed. He went back to her as she pulled the comforter back for him to climb under. He lay down and put an arm around her waist, pulling her back towards him so her back was pressed close to his front. He kissed her neck gently before whispering goodnight into her ear.

Bella felt his body sag slightly when he was clearly asleep and smiled into the darkness, knowing that things finally seemed to be going right for them.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx E xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Bella woke up alone the next morning but it wasn't unexpected, as Edward had known he wouldn't be able to stay the entire night. She was slightly disappointed that he hadn't woken her to tell her he was leaving but she knew she would see him at school in a few hours. As she rolled over in her bed she felt something on the pillow next to her. It was a piece of folded paper from the pad that was on her desk. She unfolded it and read its contents…

I couldn't wake you when you looked so beautiful sleeping. But to me you are always beautiful, every day. Thank you for trusting me with yourself and your heart. I seem to be a completely different person when I'm with you… I think I love you.

Edward xxx

Bella dropped the note on the bed with a gasp, Edward loved her. She jumped out of bed quickly and had a shower, she got ready for the day and dashed out of the house without eating breakfast. She heard Charlie call to her as she closed the front door after herself but didn't hear him. Instead, she ran to her truck and pulled out of the driveway. She decided to drive straight to Edward's house, as she was still very early for school because of the speed at which she'd gotten ready.

As she was driving to Edward's she saw a car familiar to Edward's drive past her on the other side of the road. She stopped on the side of the road and was happily surprised when the car turned and pulled up behind her.

She climbed out of the car and jogged to Edward's just as he opened his door, he stood and was immediately jumped on by an over eager Bella who kissed him like her life depended on it. His hand held her in place with his grip firmly situated on her ass when he turned them so he could lean her against the side of his car.

When Bella finally pulled back for a breath, she rested her forehead against his and a smile as wide as her face graced her features, making Edward chuckle and kiss her cheek.

"Good morning, Beautiful…"

"You think you love me…" Bella breathed before kissing him again.

"That note was the soppiest thing I have ever written. Please don't hold it against me, I was in a little Bella bubble when I wrote it…" Edward grimaced as he spoke but Bella giggled and kissed his cheek softly, he pushed his face into the crook of Bella's neck and placed soft kisses there making her wriggle and squirm in his arms. "I meant it though. As soppy as it was…"

Bella slowly looked up at him, a girlish grin on her face as she looked into his sparkling green eyes she opened her mouth to speak but Edward pushed her further against the car and brought one hand up to her mouth, silencing her.

"Please don't say whatever you're about to say… It would be too much right now."

She nodded silently and wrapped her arms around Edward's neck, kissing him once more quickly and grinning at him.

"School?"

"Do we have to?" Edward groaned, rubbing his hands over her ass he was still holding. He pushed his hips into hers even further, making her eyes flutter closed and her mouth open in silent appreciation.

"Re- Scho- Need to- Class…"

"What was that?" Edward asked smugly and he kissed Bella's neck, leading down to her collarbone.

Bella suddenly realised that they were still on the side of the road and that any passing car would think they were putting on a free show. Her head snapped up and her hands found themselves on either side of Edward's face, pulling him away from her cleavage.

"Edward, stop. Look where we are…"

"Shit," Edward groaned in a whisper, letting her down from the car. "School?"

"School…" Bella nodded.

Bella started to walk towards her car, unwilling to let go of Edward's hand as he held hers. As she got further away he stretched a little to hold onto her but eventually let go as she turned around laughed at him.

"What happened to the bad boy from yesterday?"

"Fuck know's," Edward shrugged. "I'll try and find him again, this shit is ridiculous! You drive me crazy…"

"Go to school, Edward. I'll see you there."

"Will you?" Edward asked, clearly searching for an answer from Bella about how she wanted them to interact.

"School, Edward!" Bella laughed again, climbing into her car and driving off.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx E xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Bella pulled up into her usual space in the school parking lot and climbed out, she could see Alice and Jasper on the other side of the lot. They were standing close and talking intimately, she turned her head when she heard a car pull up behind her and smiled when she saw that it was Edward. He got out of his car and immediately looked over to Jasper and Alice as well, almost as though he knew exactly what was on her mind.

"Are you going to talk to her today?" He asked quietly as he casually leant against the side of her truck next to her, crossing one leg over the other.

"Maybe if I get the chance, I don't know," Bella shrugged.

"I think you should try, it's important to you."

"I know. I just don't know what I'm supposed to say," Bella said keeping her gaze on her best friend.

"You'll know when you start." Edward replied before changing the subject, "I've got to go to practise tonight after school…"

"Oh, yeah. I forget you play football."

"I don't talk about it much," Edward shrugged. "It's just a bit of fun, really."

"You should try telling that to the rest of the team, I bet they'd love that!" Bella laughed.

"Tell me about it," He chuckled before looking panicked and beginning to turn away. Bella turned her head to see Angela getting closer to them, "I'll see you later, ok?"

"Edward, wait," Bella called but he was already jogging towards Emmett and Rosalie who were standing with some of the football team.

She sighed and leant her head back against the truck just as Angela arrived next to her.

"Was that Edward?"

"Yup," Bella turned to her with a smile.

"He went off in quite a rush…"

"He went to see his friends," Bella said, flicking her eyes to where he was now stood, looking at her every couple of seconds.

"I think he likes you, you know?" Angela grinned at her. "The way he looks at you, he's just… Transparent."

"No," Bella shook her head adamantly, "That's not true. We're just good friends."

"That's how it all starts, Bella. You know, I don't think Jasper would mind, he seems pretty in to Alice."

"He is in to her," Bella answered, looking to see that they were both on their way to class. "Come on, Ange, let's get to class."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx E xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sorry about earlier. B xxx

No worries. Can I see you at lunch? Xxx

I was going to see if I could talk to Alice at lunch… B xxx

After? If you have time. Xxx

Obviously. I'll let you know. B xxx

Bella sat in her class texting with her phone under the desk, hoping not to get caught. She had already spoken to Alice, asking her if they could talk together at lunch without Jasper or Edward with them so she knew that her lunch would be full of pressure and that Alice could talk until the sun went down so she wasn't sure if she'd have time to see Edward, as much as she'd like to.

She looked across at Alice who was sitting near the front of the class, next to Jasper, what used to be Bella's seat. She felt someone nudge her under the table and looked up to her left to see James smiling at her.

"You ok? You look lost in your own world there…"

"Yeah, I'm fine thank you. Just thinking."

"About how you're going to tell them about you and Eddie?" James asked with a glint in his eye.

"They know. And his name is Edward."

"I've gotta say, B. I was surprised, you don't seem the type." Bella raised her eyebrow in question and James smiled again, "A slut?"

"If this is your way of trying to get me to leave Edward for you then you're going about it completely the wrong way."

"Sooner or later, B. Sooner or later…"

Bella gave him a look of disgust before turning away from him and carrying on with the rest of her class. When the bell rang she got up as quickly as she could and walked out.

When lunch came around she walked to her truck where she had planned on meeting Alice. She was already stood there, Jasper talking next to her. As Bella walked over Jasper looked up and noticed her before smiling and walking off towards the cafeteria.

"Hey, Bella! How's your day been?" Alice chirped, getting up on to tip toes and hugging her tightly.

"Oh, you know… same as," Bella rolled her eyes.

"Do you want to go somewhere for this talk or…?"

"We can just sit in the truck if you like? Have you got lunch?"

"I got a couple of slices of pizza from the cafeteria we can share."

Bella smiled and they both climbed into the truck.

"So what do you want to talk about?"

Bella looked out of the window thoughtfully before looking back at Alice who was just taking a bite of pizza.

"Why did you never tell me about you and Jasper?"

Alice stopped chewing suddenly and looked at Bella wide eyed.

"Bella I-"

"I mean, I'm not really that mad about it… More hurt than anything else. I thought you were my best friend…"

"I am your best friend! I made this huge mistake and I didn't know what to do. I liked Jasper, really liked him… But you… You were his girlfriend, and my best friend. I was so confused."

Bella looked at Alice warily, taking a small bite of the pizza Alice had bought for them.

"Every time you spoke about him my heart would break a little bit knowing how much I'd hurt you. I didn't want to admit that by giving in to my feelings for Jasper that I'd ruined things between us. I knew you'd hate me…"

"You realise that if things hadn't happened the way they had that I might have slept with him? What would you have done then?"

"I would have never set out to break you both up. I wanted you both to be happy. Jasper said he wanted you and I agreed with him because I felt so guilty. But then everything happened with you and Edward and… Oh God, Bella… I'm so sorry!" Alice sobbed, "You must think I'm the worst friend in the world!"

Bella, hating seeing her best friend in such a state, put her hand on Alice's shoulder in a comforting way.

"It was a pretty shitty move, but I know how you feel, I was the worst example of a girlfriend that I've ever known…"

"I guess we're pretty much suited as friends then," Alice laughed humourlessly through her fading sobs.

"I guess so!" Bella said as cheerfully as possible, hoping to make Alice feel a little better. She looked straight ahead and saw Edward standing outside the school building chatting to Emmett and smoking a cigarette.

"Does he make you happy?" Alice asked quietly after noticing where Bella was looking. Bella looked back at Alice quickly and smiled.

"Yeah, he does," She looked back towards him quickly and then back to Alice. "How about you and Jasper?"

"You're ok with me talking about him?" Bella nodded with a reassuring smile, "Bella, I like him so much… I'm glad we're both happy. Can we be proper friends again? No more lies or secrets?"

Bella nodded and grinned, "I'd love that, Alice!" Alice squealed and jumped across the cab of the truck, hugging Bella to her tightly and rocking her from side to side.

"Do you want to come over to my house for dinner tonight?" Alice asked after sitting back in her seat.

"Are you not seeing Jasper? I wouldn't want to intrude."

"Pfft. He can cope without me for one night, I'm sure! And Edward's at training tonight, right? I heard from Mike that he's been getting hassle for not going enough…"

"Really? He never said anything."

"I'm sure it's fine. He's going tonight, right?"

"Yeah, he told me earlier."

"Cool, well come to mine after school and we'll have a proper girls night in. DVD's, junk food, gossiping… It'll be amazing!"

"Ok!" Bella agreed enthusiastically before they both jumped out of the car for the last 10 minutes or so of lunch and started walking up towards school. They walked past Emmett and Edward, not wanting to interrupt them, Bella smiled at Edward timidly. As they walked past and to the doors though, Edward reached for Bella and took hold of her wrist gently, pulling her back and away from Alice. Alice turned but looked at Bella with a smile, "See you later, Bella!"

Bella turned once Edward had pulled her back to his side, "You think you can just walk past me, hey?"

Bella looked between Edward and the imposing form of Emmett who was standing next to them.

"Sorry?" Bella offered as an apology but ended up sounding more like a question.

Edward smirked and threw a glance at Emmett quickly.

"It's ok, I'm going. Rose has probably forgiven me by now… hopefully."

Emmett grinned at Bella and Edward and then ran through the door that Alice had gone through.

"What was that about?" Bella asked, looking after Emmett.

"Just Emmett being Emmett. Rose loves it really; she just enjoys being a bitch. Anyway… Are you trying to avoid my question? Walking past me, Bella? You could easily hurt my feelings…"

"I smiled?"

"It's not enough," Edward whispered, putting his hand on Bella's waist and pulling her a little closer to his body while his mouth grew ever closer to hers. "Are you going to make it up to me?"

Bella grinned and put her hand on his chest, feeling the ridges of his firm body underneath his clothes. "Here?"

Edward nodded and moved his lips even closer to hers, his breath was warm on her face and smelt of coffee, her eyes fluttered closed and she puled herself up onto tiptoes to get closer to him. Her mouth opened ever so slightly as their lips connected, beginning a delicious pushing and pulling against each other. Edward's hands got a little carried away and snaked around her waist, pulling her hard against his body as he angled his head so he could kiss her more deeply.

"Put your tongues away, you're in public…" Bella heard a smug voice behind them. She pulled away quickly and spun around, her hair flicking Edward in the eye and causing him to hiss as it stung.

"James, can you please just leave us alone?" Bella asked in an irritated tone.

"Well I'm sorry for exiting the building through this particular doorway… I didn't realise that it wasn't allowed. It wasn't on orientation."

"Look, James… Maybe you can just move along?" Edward said.

"Maybe you should find a new place to make out…" James said bitterly as he walked away.

"Urgh…" Edward sighed as he ran his hands down Bella's sides and grabbed hold of her hands. "He's such a douche!"

Bella laughed at him and pulled her hands away from his as someone walked by.

"So I'll come and pick you up after practice and you can come over to my house…"

"I'm actually going to Alice's tonight. Girls night."

"Things are good with you both now then?"

"I think so… No more drama, no more secrets, all good."

The bell rang, telling them it was the end of lunch and their time together for the rest of the day. As Bella went to walk away Edward grabbed her quickly, spun her around and kissed her deeply.

"See you tomorrow…"

"Hmm… bye, Edward," Bella smiled and walked away, looking back at him constantly as he stood watching her.