Disclaimer- I do not own Twilight, and this story is no where near finshed.

How does this happen? Do you just wake up one morning and realize that the one you're meant to be with is your best friend? It might have been like that for some people, but not for me. I'd always loved Edward, since the moment I met him.

Our mom's met in college, and they found out they were pregnant around the same time. Edward was exactly one month and three days older than me. So we spent our whole lives in each other's backyards. He was the one who taught me how to throw a football, and took me to my first jr. high dance. He was also the guy who punched Mike Newton in the face last year for trying to put a move on me, or more accurately my chest.

I was the girl next door type, completely ordinary. The fact that someone like Edward spent his time with me amazed the entire student body of Forks High School. I was plain and he was not. He was so handsome that if I stared at him to long I would drool. He had a confidence about him, that wasn't arrogance. He had these peaceful but fierce green eyes that held a shadow of mystery. His hair, where do I begin? If I didn't know any better, I would be positive that he had dyed it. No one I had ever known had a natural hair color that was that bronze. His hair had always been messy, since he ran a brush through it before he went to sleep and not when he woke up in the morning. Plus he had a smile that made every girl freshmen through senior, including me, melt.

I pulled on my green blouse, Edward's favorite color, over my blue jeans. I applied the typical coat of mascara and lip gloss, and then I waited. My car was in the shop after I had been involved in a hit and run last year. Most mechanics can't fix a car that is older than them, and my truck was ancient. Edward had been taking me to school and dropping me off at home since the end of sophomore year, not that I minded. I loved seeing him before I had been up for an hour. He always knew just what to say to make me laugh.

The doorbell rang interrupting me from my thoughts. I flung myself off the couch, with uncontrollable enthusiasm. I took a quick peek in the mirror, as I did everyday, praying that today something would be different and he would see me as more than his best friend. No such luck so far, I thought bitterly.

I opened the door. There he stood, one day he might cease to stun me when he smiled. It was doubtful.

"Hello Bella," I loved the way his voice sounded when he said my name. It gave me goose bumps, which I tried to ignore.

"Hey," I replied shyly. Not the most romantic greeting, but it would have to do.

"You ready?" He asked. I nodded and he grabbed my hand. My hand was the only part of my body that I could feel. The feel of his hand in mine seemed to electrify my entire arm. Does he feel it too? He opened my door for me, like the gentleman he was. His manners were just an added bonus.

He climbed into the driver's seat. He turned down the radio, which was playing the latest one hit wonder's single. "So how was your night?" I asked. Sometimes I would have a very difficult time focusing on Edward's words, the only thing that I saw was his lips but rarely did I manage to hear the words he put with them. I stared into his eyes, the shockingly beautiful shades of green stunned my heart. I thought back to the first day that I had seen his eyes up close. It was two years ago after my mom had died.

I was curled under the covers after my mom's funeral. She had gone to the grocery store to grab a gallon of milk, and she never came back. It had been raining really hard and she couldn't see…her car flipped and she wasn't wearing her seatbelt. That was the thing that bothered me most; she always made a point to tell Edward and me to wear our seatbelts.

I heard my door creak open, but my head felt too heavy to lift it and see who it was. I heard his voice "Bella?" Edward, I thought. For a moment, all of the pain disappeared.

Before I could ask him what he was doing, he crawled under the covers with me and wrapped his arms around me. "Hey buddy," He whispered in my ear, "It's gonna be okay. I promise." That was all it took, the tears were uncontrollable. I twisted in his arms so that I was facing his chest. He pulled me closer as I sobbed into his shirt and moaned how unfair it was.

"I know," Was all he responded. He was being so strong for me. My mom's death had been hard on him too; she was like his second mom. But I never saw the pain from him; he just pulled me close and promised that everything would be okay. I looked up into his face, which had never been closer, and his eyes drew me in. I never noticed that his eyes had so many colors in them.

He stayed with me all night, my dad didn't object. He knew that Edward would never do anything he wouldn't approve of with me. Occasionally Edward would tuck my head under his shoulder and kiss my hair. He didn't know that these simple gestures gave me hope that life could be okay again.

"And so that's what went down at my house last night," He laughed and so did I. I loved his laugh.

"Ooh, this is a really good song, turn it up!" I squealed. He did as I requested and rolled his eyes.

"Realize by Colbie Caillat? Seriously?" He asked, rolling his yes again. If only he would listen to the message in the lyrics, then maybe I wouldn't beg him to turn it up every time it came on.

"If you'd just realize/ what I just realized/ than we'd be perfect for each other/ and we'd never find another/just realize what I just realized/ we'd never have to wonder if we'd missed out on each other now." I sang loudly. He laughed his angelic laugh again.

"Yes, I'm tone deaf you know that." I said with mock seriousness. He laughed again.

"I love the way you sing." His voice was dripping with sarcasm. I knew he was just joking, but for a moment I had hope that he could actually love something about me, maybe even a lot of things about me.

"Hey is it okay if I come over to your house after school? Alice and Emmett are driving me up the wall." He asked. How could I say 'no'? Alice and Emmett were his older siblings. They were twins that looked nothing alike. Emmett was a giant and Alice was about 4'1". Sometimes I wondered if they were adopted, but quickly dismissed the thought.

"Sure, come over any time you want." Anytime, I thought. We pulled up to school and Edward ran to open my door for me. I love when he does that.

"So what are you doing this weekend?" He asked. He already knew the answer, we spent every weekend together. This was probably one of the reason people thought we were secretly more than friends. Another reason would be that Edward didn't date, and I was never asked. Edward on the other hand had rejected nearly all the females (and the occasional confused male) that had ever shown interest in him.

"Why did you say 'no' to Jessica Stanley?" I asked him, hoping he would say something like 'Because I'm really in love with you Bella."

"Because she's annoying and self centered." He responded as if it were obvious.

"And what about all the other girls who asked you to homecoming this year?" Sometimes I felt awkward asking him about his dating life, since mine was non-existent.

"I don't know," He said while running his fingers through his hair, making my heart do a double take. "I just don't feel like wasting my time with a bunch of immature wannabe's. Almost every girls dream here, is to be the popular girl, and quite frankly it's annoying.

"You know if you don't say yes to one girl by graduation they are all going to think you're gay. Not that that is a bad thing, and I would accept you completely if you were." I amended quickly. Holy crap what if he is gay, the panicked thought ran through my head.

He laughed putting my troubled mind at ease. "Bella, I'm not gay. I just like spending time with you more than those other girls." I smiled triumphantly, he liked me best. I know it didn't mean the same thing to him that it did to me, but my heart was soaring.

"Bella? Earth to Bella?" Edward asked waving his hand in front of my face. How embarrassing, I thought.

"S-sorry," I stuttered, "What?" He nodded and pretended to be annoyed. I smiled sheepishly.

"Well before you zoned out on me, I was asking if you wanted to see a movie with me tonight."

"Sure. What do you want to see? Haven't we seen everything that's playing?" I laughed.

"No there's that new Stephen King movie that came out Wednesday." I hated horror movies, but I loved Edward enough to endure nightmares for a couple of weeks.

"Okay, sure, that'll be awesome." I said trying to convince myself. He saw right through me.

"Bella, we don't have to see it if you don't want to." He was so sweet, but he had been talking about this stupid movie for months when the trailer was released.

"Edward, you are going to take me to this movie and we are going to have an awesome time. Plus you can help me with my biology homework before we leave for the movies." He laughed and muttered something about compromise.

Edward and I walked into first period (we had all classes together except for gym, thank God). We had been learning about famous ships in history and after arguing with the school board for weeks, Mrs. Brown was allowed to let us watch the movie Titanic in class. I had seen it at lease once every year since it had come out, I almost had it memorized. I thought back to the first time that I'd seen it, Edward was there. Although he appeared to be watching me more than the movie.

The tears fell as Rose watched her lifeless Jack drift under the frigid waters. A warm hand brushed them away. Edward hated to see me cry. He had his arm around me and my head was tucked under his chin. It could have been considered romantic, but I knew he was just trying to make me feel better.

The movie ended and as the credits rolled I asked Edward a question that I had wondered about forever. "Hey Edward?"

"Hmm," He responded sleepily. Three and half hour movies always wore him out.

"Do you believe in love?" I whispered. I tried to prepare myself for any answer that he could respond.

"I do," My heart soared, "But I'll never fall in love." And then my heart crashed. New tears welled in my eyes, that had nothing to do with the movie. I laughed to try and hide the pain. Every night since then I prayed to God that he was wrong.

Looking back on it now, we were almost seven years old and weren't supposed to be watching that movie, so of course he would have said that he didn't want to fall in love. Maybe now his answer had changed. Suddenly I felt Edward nudge me in the ribs, my head shot up.

"Isabella Cullen, I mean Swan!" Mrs. Brown screamed, all the girls giggled. Edward smiled, I blushed. "What year did Titanic set sail?"

"1912" I responded quickly, trying to hide my embarrassment. And then the film began. Too soon, the bell rang and we had to go to Algebra II