Fade Into You: Chapter 8

We sat there on that sofa for…God, I don't even know how long. I wasn't counting. It could have been minutes, or possibly even more than an hour. Not many words were exchanged after that moment. They weren't needed. At this point she just needed a friend, and I just needed to be that friend.

I thought about how happy I was that I had seen her there, not really knowing the circumstances of why or how, and all she wanted to do was give me an out. Silly girl. An out was the last thing I was looking for. I wanted an in, and it turns out that's what I got.

Chuckling, I thought of a way to make her smile. I slowly disentangled her limbs from mine, and registered the hurt look on her face. Rolling my eyes under closed lids so as not to let her see, I realized that of course she would think I was leaving her for good.

"I'm not going anywhere…well, I mean, I am. But I'll be right back. I promise." She looked skeptical as I assumed she would, so I continued. "Trust me?"

"Of course." Came her hoarsely whispered answer, voice still scratchy from her tears and the lack of use.

Stood from her then, pulled her up by the hand and led her over to our chair. Her nose was scrunched up in adorable confusion and I couldn't help but smile. I sat her down and stood above her appraising her appearance. She was a mess, but with no harsh makeup on her face to smudge she looked merely red-faced and flushed. It was also very apparent that she'd been crying and my manhood screamed at me. Rosalie would fucking kill me if she found out Id made her cry. Fucking lovely.

"Okay. You stay here. I'll be right back" and with that I was gone, past the newspaper stand that Jasper had tried to rearrange before his sister had smacked his hand away, past the patrons coming through the door and outside into the damp Seattle day.

Gathering my wits about me, I knew I had to go about this the right way, as she was now probably freaking out in there because I told her to sit and wait for me and then bolted out the door like a madman. Looking back on my plan, I realized how fucking badly it could pan out. Way to think things through, asshole.

Once I was through with the deprecating thoughts, I blew out one last massive breath through my mouth before re-entering the coffee shop.

Bella was sitting basically at the edge of the chair just watching the door. She looked perplexed, desolate and rejected all at the same time. Okay, maybe this had been a seriously bad plan but I was sure it would make her smile, maybe even a little bit more comfortable.

I winked subtly in her direction as I went up to the cashier.

"I'll take two venti mocha lattes, please." The girl behind the counter tried her best 'come hither' look on me and I shook my head. I don't know where the appeal came from with me and the girls. Seriously, I mean I was awkward, kind of nerdy, and I still had that weird ass hair. It always got me what I wanted though. Never failed.

"Here you go, sir." She said as she set the two hot drinks in front of me along with a napkin that I could see the marker seeping through from the other side. Her number. I wondered if they'd ever learn, but gave up on that notion rather quickly.

"Thank you for the drinks, and I wont be needing that…sorry." I told her as I pushed the napkin back towards her side of the counter. As an after thought, I'd asked to use her marker that she labeled the drinks with. Her lips turned down in an over exaggerated pout and I huffed a little rolling my eyes. I turned back towards the coffee shop and pretended that I didn't see Bella sitting there in our chair until I turned around feigning surprise.

"Oh, excuse me miss. I do believe you are in my seat…" I said to her with a gentle smirk on my face.

"I-I…what?" she looked up at me stunned as if I'd lost my mind. Perhaps I had.

"Well, you see, I sit there every day because there's this pretty girl that leaves me letters. I don't really know anything about her, but I do know that you are in my seat, ma'am."

She blushed that cute scarlet Id grown accustomed to and ducked her head.

"Well then I guess I should let you have your seat then, shouldn't I? But I should warn you. There are no letters there for you, sir." She answered me with a small smirk of her own. It was like a smirk on training wheels and I felt a laugh threatening to rumble up through my chest.

"Oh? And how would you know this? Surely you couldn't have known to look for them before I got here and I haven't seen you check since I told you…"

"Because I'm the one that leaves the letters…" she whispered out quietly but still with a smile on her face. I could tell she was enjoying the game.

"Is that so?" I asked her as I eyed her up and down. "Can't be. My Mystery Girl wouldn't sit there looking so mischievous."

"Oh I assure you, sir. I'm the one that leaves those. My name is Bella, what's yours?"

It warmed my heart that she was not only comfortable enough to play along, but to realize what I was doing. I was giving her a fresh start. To make it feel to her like maybe the whole Forks thing just never happened. To allow us to meet for a first time that didn't involve tears or ambulances or anything like that.

"My name is Edward, and well, would ya look at that. This Mocha Latte here has your name written all over it!"

"No it doesn't," she scoffed.

"It does too! Look, it says 'MG' right there on the side. If you are indeed who you say you are, then I do believe this is yours."

I winked at her and her eyes sparkled. She took it from my hands and I watched as she blew into the cup cooling it down. Giggling a bit, she set it down on the table.

"So what do we do about seating arrangements then," she asked as she looked around. The coffee shop had gotten a fair bit busier since we'd started our little venture and all of the sofas were sat to capacity.

"Well, you are still in my seat, Bella. " I sternly told her in jest. "I still plan on sitting there, you know."

She looked like I just told her I was going to run over her dog or something and I was flabbergasted that she actually thought that I'd leave her without a seat. She stood and looked around flustered, not knowing where to put her hands, what to do with the light sweater she held in one. I took the seat and at first sprawled out in it as she looked at me expectantly, confused as hell.

I pulled her by the hand gently down to my lap. She stiffened instantly but once I moved her beside me in the large chair, she visibly relaxed. Not fully, but just enough. The fact that we fit in that chair side by side scared the shit out of me. She was too little, too fragile.

Her head rested lightly on my shoulder and I brought my arm around her to keep her close.

"Thank you," she whispered. "Thank you for not taking the out. And I really would like to be your friend. You seem like you need one too."

I gently squeezed her where I had my hold and placed a feather light kiss on the top of her head. This was a complete turnaround from the girl that was sorry for the way I felt…basically sorry that she was even alive. It warmed my heart.

"And for allowing a fresh start. Wait…why did the cup say MG?" she turned to me suddenly and my mouth turned up at the corners into a wide grin.

"Well, before I knew your name, I called you Mystery Girl. It just stuck I guess. I hope you don't mind." I really hoped that she didn't. I could see a fair possibility that I might slip up and call her just that in the future.

She shook her head no and nestled herself back into my shoulder. It was comfortable, serene even. I didn't really want the moment to end. Just sitting here, my arm draped around the shoulders of the girl who had taken over my world was almost enough for me. Almost.

"Ugh, you two are giving me diabetes and I've only just met you, Edward."

My bubble was contaminated by that voice. The one that gave me chills. The one that threatened to castrate me bit by bit if I fucked up. The one that snuck up on us totally out of nowhere and was attached to the sneer I was now receiving.

"Rosalie! Are you guys done already? I could have just met you at home, you know."

Bella pulled away from my shoulder and I instantly felt the loss. Curse the shrew and the perfectionist to ruin it. Granted, they were a bigger part of her life than I could ever hope to be, so I guess I just should have been happy they were there. Bella sneaked a peek at me up through her lashes and her cheeks were a bright pink at being caught. It wasn't as if we were doing anything wrong, but it was still probably more than she was used to. I liked what she was when we were alone.

"Have you been crying, Bells?"

Shit

"Was it this asshole?"

Double shit.

"Do I have to fuck him up for you?"

Shit on fucking toast.

My manhood seemed to crawl up inside me as if I had just jumped into the cold ocean. I assumed it sensed impending doom and was entirely grateful that it seemed to know the tuck and roll drill. Because only you can prevent forest fires, and all that noise.

"I swear, I didn't mean to-"

"Don't even start. What the fuck did I tell you? And what, we come in here to you trying to take advantage of her or something?"

Holy Christ. Who was this chick? More importantly, why was she acting like she was Bella's fucking mother? What the hell business was it of hers anyways? I got that she was protective and even understood kind of why, but why to this extreme?

"Rose…leave him alone. It's not his fault. I promise. I don't know what you would have shown up to if he hadn't stayed okay?" Bella finally piped in and I whipped my head towards her. That thought had never actually occurred to me. If she was half as invested in me as I was in her, and I had been a different person, less of a person and left…what the hell would have happened. The thought made me weak.

"Right," the shrew eyed me skeptically. "Anyways, we need to get going, are you-JASPER! LEAVE THAT COUNTER ALONE! What have I TOLD you about…"

Rosalie's reprimanding of her brothers need to exact revenge on the mighty clutter faded into the background as my eyes locked with Bella's.

"You have to go, don't you?" I asked her. I could just feel it. I could tell that our time was up before she even said anything. She answered me with a nod of her head and I nodded back to her.

"You're going to be alright, ya know? I know that's the wrong thing to say, because who really knows if things will be okay. And I know that not everything will be good, but you will be alright. You trust me?"

"With my life"

"Good. You'll keep in touch wont you? We're friends now, so I think it would only be fair." She nodded again. She turned into such a different person when those two were around. Almost submissive to Rosalie. What had happened to her? I had a feeling that I did not know the entire story, and what happened in Forks and what she'd told me was only the tip of a very large iceberg. Titanic sized.

"I won't force you to tell me, but I'm here if you ever want to talk about things. I don't really have a lot of experience with this, but I can learn."

"Thank you." She looked around to see Jasper and Rosalie arguing by the door, their attention sufficiently on anything but us.

She surprised the living shit out of me when she quickly moved towards me and gave me the smallest, sweetest peck on the cheek. She blushed furiously and blinked like she had no idea what had just taken her over. I didn't know either, but I was like a Twilight fan seeing a new photo shoot of that douche bag lead actor dude. I was giddy. She was showing me that she cared, and I was a little fan girl inside. Kill me now.

I grasped her face in both hands and she looked at me apprehensively. I knew she was nowhere near ready for a kiss, a real kiss, but her forehead, she could take that. She beamed up at me and I looked at her with pride.

We could do wonders for each other. I felt like there were no limits. I just needed to make sure that she would keep those guarding walls down just a little bit. Just enough so that I could jump over them.