Chapter 3

My head was pounding, but I wasn't ready to open my eyes. I could hear everyone trying to figure out what had happened to me. Edward sounded absolutely frantic. I didn't want to upset him, but I had to know exactly what everyone had seen.

"Newton, I swear if you hurt her, I will rip you apart."

"Back off, Cullen. I just came up behind her and she jumped, so I apologized for scaring her. Then she collapsed."

I felt relieved that Mike was the person who whispered in my ear. I was so afraid that he was here. Now, I just needed to find an excuse for fainting. After a few more minutes I had an idea. I slowly opened my eyes and found myself still at the Sub-Free Dorm. I was on a couch and Edward was crouched on the floor next to me.

“Welcome back, Bella. How are you feeling?”

“I have a headache.”

“You scared me to death. What happened?”

It was hard to concentrate with Edward staring deeply into my eyes and rubbing soothing circles on the back of my hand with his thumb. I needed to pull myself together to pull off a lie to avoid the truth of my panic attacks being revealed.

“Alice and Rose were so busy playing dress-up Bella that I didn’t get time to eat. I tend to pass out when my blood sugar gets too low.” Luckily it was the truth. I was only telling a lie of omission so my voice did not waiver. Edward believed me.

“Sorry about that. I will make sure that you’re properly fed from now on. I think it’s time to get you home.”

Alice, Rose, Jasper and Emmett stayed at the party. Edward took me back to my dorm, and we ordered a pizza. He set up Alice’s TV/DVD comb in my room so we could watch movies while we ate. All of the day’s events had completely wiped me out. The last think I remembered was laying my head on Edward’s shoulder before my eyes closed and I was lost to my dream world.

***

That first week of school seemed to pass by in a blur. Edward met me at my room every morning to walk me to my first class. He was in our room when he wasn't in class or at soccer practice. My week fell into the comfortable pattern of classes, sleep, and Edward. By the end of the week I knew everything about him, but I was still reluctant to tell him too much about my past. I knew I would have to open up to him if I wanted our friendship to grow.

I woke up Saturday morning to the smell of coffee brewing. Edward was sitting on my window seat reading my copy of Dark Lover. He had a rather shocked look on his face.

"Morning, Edward. Are you OK?"

Edward shook his head like he was clearing his mind. "Hey, Bella. I'm fine, just a little shocked at some of your book choices. I never expected to find something like this."

"Edward, haven't you learned by now that I tend to not be what people expect. Just because I’m an English major doesn’t mean that I only read classical literature. I do enjoy my fair share of romance novels. I can't resist the Brotherhood. There is something to be said about sexy vampires in leather pants."

He looked at me like I told him I wanted him naked in my bed. I was always shy and reserved, so I guess my comments about sexy vamps caught him off guard.

"Wow. I will definitely have to remember that. Anyway, today is our first soccer game. I would love for you to come."

"Of course I’ll come. I don't know a single thing about soccer, but I think I should be able to keep up."

"Great. Game starts at two. Alice and Rose will be there so they can fill you in if you get too lost."

Edward returned my book to its place on the shelf, gave me a quick hug and left for his room. I decided it was time to do a little research on soccer so I wouldn't be completely lost at the game. Tommy was online, so I decided to fill him in on my latest episode.

book_worm913: hey t

t_man: how was party

book_worm913: good and bad. edward was great. i helped him fight off a skank. then we talked most of the night. i had an episode

t_man: what happened

book_worm913: creepy guy mike came up behind me, wrapped his arms around me and called me sugar. i passed out. edward was there when i woke up and took me home and i fell asleep watching movies with him

t_man: does creep not know the meaning of personal space? maybe him and skank should hook up.

book_worm913: i think they did. she wasn't happy that edward brushed her off for me. she kept giving me nasty looks all night

t_man: maybe mike can belt that girl, or tie her up... or feel her marshmallows...SOMETHING

t_man: feed*

book_worm913: lol

t_man: feel her marshmallows...

book_worm913: let's not go into how wrong that sounded

t_man: didn't mean it that way!

t_man: XD

t_man: have you had your marshmallows felt lately?

book_worm913: lol, no comment. thanks for making me feel better. i've got some research to do. i'll talk with ya later. love ya!

t_man: relax and i think you will start to have fewer episodes. i'm here if you need anything. love ya too.

I felt much better after my chat with Tommy. I love how his typos always give us such interesting conversations. I spent the next two hours learning all I could about soccer. Now I could at least keep up with the game a little.

I met Alice and Rose at the game. They were sitting front and center behind our team's bench. Edward gave me his crooked grin and a wink when he saw me sit down. My heart skipped at beat when I saw him. He looked beyond amazing in his red and white jersey and black shorts. Edward had told me that his position was striker, Jasper was a center forward, and Emmett was the goalie. The only one I knew anything about was the goalie. Edward told me that he and Jasper worked together to score the goals. I couldn't wait to see him in action.

Edward and Jasper were all over the field. They seemed to communicate without words. All they needed was a simple look to convey what their intentions were. The other team had a hard time keeping up with Edward. He was the fastest on either team. Edward scored two goals and Jasper scored one by half time. Emmett had kept the other team from scoring. Edward walked up to the fence separating the spectators from the field.

"Hey, Bella. Enjoying the game?"

"Yeah. I don't fully understand the rules, but I definitely enjoy watching hot guys run up and down the field chasing a ball."

"Hot guys, huh. I'll make sure Jasper and Emmett know you think they are hot."

He walked away smirking before I could try to save face. I couldn't help but ogle Edward as he walked back to his team. He was perfection. Seeing him sweaty and panting was almost too much to bear. I almost passed out when he lifted his jersey and wiped the sweat from his face with the bottom hem. I got a delicious view of his sweaty abs and chest. Perfection.

Neither team scored again the rest of the game. We ended up winning three to nothing. I enjoyed watching the game and looked forward to the rest of the season. Alice, Rose, and I waited for the guys to shower before we headed out for the evening. We decided to head into Portland for dinner and a movie.

We ended up at Chili’s for dinner. I was terrified they were going to choose some fancy restaurant that would make me feel out of place. It turned out the guys aren’t big on the fancy restaurants. Alice and Rose pouted. They were upset because they never got to any place nice. We had just ordered when Emmett decided it was time to embarrass Bella.

“So, Bella, you think I’m hot?” Emmett waggled his eyebrows as he asked.

Alice and Rose shot me a confused look. I gave them a mischievous grin and a wink before I turned back to Emmett to answer.

“Em, I’m an eighteen year-old girl with hormones coursing through her blood. Of course I think your’e hot. What girl in her right mind wouldn‘t?” I slowly got out of my chair and walked over to Emmett. I sat in his lap and leaned in to his ear.

“Want to have a little fun and tease your brother? He took it upon himself to take a general statement and focus it on you, so I think it is time for a little payback.” I leaned back to see his reaction. Emmett leaned into my ear and began to whisper. ” Hell yeah! I always love payback, especially when it’s aimed at Eddie.”

I glanced at Edward and noticed how tense he was. He obviously did not like me sitting in his brother’s lap and whispering in his ear. This was going to be so much fun. I just hoped that Rose would understand this was all a show.

“You know, Emmett, I don’t know how much longer I can control myself around you. You drive me crazy. I can’t stand to be in the same room as you and not be able to touch you.”

Emmett shot a glance to Rose, asking permission to go along with me. I noticed her give him a slight nod. With Rose’s permission, we continued the charade.

“Bella, I know I’ve got Rose, but I can’t fight the feelings I have for you. I can’t stop thinking about you. I’m a selfish bastard, and I’ve decided I want to have two girlfriends. Do you think you could share me with Rose?”

I looked at Edward. His jaw had dropped, and he was looking at Emmett like he was insane. I held in my giggle and looked at Rose. She looked like she was ready to die laughing.

“Rose, do you think there is enough of him to share?”

“I think we could work something out. Aren’t friends supposed to share everything anyway?” She got up and walked over to Emmett and me. She hugged both of us at the same time. “I’m so happy. We can be one big happy three-some.”

Edward had finally reached his limit. “What the hell is wrong with you three? That is wrong in so many ways. There is no way Emmett can have both of you.”

“You’re just jealous, Eddie. I am definitely the man and you aren’t,” Emmett was looking at Edward with a smug smile.

Edward’s face was bright red, and he looked like he was ready to pummel Emmett. “Bella, be reasonable.”

I got off of Emmett’s lap and walked over to Edward and leaned into his ear, “Payback’s a bitch, Edward.” I gave him a kiss on the cheek and sat back in my chair.

“You two are evil. I didn’t know you had it in you, Bella.”

“There is a lot you don’t know about me, Edward. Stick around, I might surprise you even more.”

The rest of dinner was nice. We talked about the game, our classes, and the gang told me some more fun stories about each other. The theater wasn’t showing anything good, so we decided to head back to the dorm and watch a movie in our room. We headed off to our own rooms to get changed into our pajamas and agreed to meet back in Alice’s room in 15 minutes.

Alice was busy getting the TV set up while I went to my room to change. I closed my door and froze. Sitting on my desk was a bouquet of blush roses. I slowly walked to my desk to read the card that was attached.

I've missed you, Sugar.

The tears started flowing, and my breathing became erratic. He had found me and had been in my room. I didn't know what to do. I picked up the flowers and threw them across the room. They hit the wall and the vase shattered and I dropped to the floor and pulled my knees up to my chest. I don‘t know how long I laid there curled in a ball crying before I felt strong arms pull me off the floor. Edward sat on my bed and pulled me into his lap. He was rubbing my back and rocked me like a child. I slowly relaxed into his embrace.

"Bella, what happened?" Edward barely spoke above a whisper.

I was terrified. I didn’t think I could put off telling Edward about my mother any longer. I didn’t know how I was going to tell him. I kept my head tucked under his chin and continued to cry.

Edward grabbed my chin and lifted my face until our eyes met. “Please don’t hide from me, Bella. Why are there flowers and glass all over your floor?”

I took a deep breath and tried to put on a brave face. “Edward, I know we have talked a lot this week and have become good friends. I haven’t told you a lot about my life. I think it is time I tell you a little about me. I don’t know how much I can get out now, so please be patient with me.”

“Bella, I don’t want you to think you have to tell me anything. I’m happy to learn what I can at a pace that is comfortable for you.”

Where did this guy come from? No one from school back home was ever this caring. They always demanded answers from me. Edward was truly a gift from the gods.

“Something terrible happened to me when I was fifteen. A guy basically stalked me and made my life a living hell. My life was irrevocably changed because of him. One of the things he did was send me blush roses. Those are the flowers you see on the floor. I panicked when I saw them on my desk. I don’t know how they got in my room or who sent them.” Edward continued to rock me and rub my back while we were talking.

“Bella, I’m so sorry you had to go through something like that. I promise I will keep you safe while you are here. Anyone that wants to get to you will have to go through me first. I think the first thing we need to do is get some new locks on yours and Alice’s doors.”

“Thanks, Edward. It is nice to know I have such good friends. I think I’m ready to watch a movie now. I’ll just clean up my mess and finish changing.”

“You get changed, and I’ll clean up the mess. Knowing you, we would probably end up at the ER with you needing stitches if I let you attempt to clean up this glass.”

Edward gave me hug and reassured me that he wouldn’t let anything happen to me. I quickly ran to the bathroom to change. When I got back, the mess was clean and Alice was ready to start the movie. Edward had a place saved for me next to him. I sat down, and he wrapped his arms around me. I felt so safe in his arms. I wish we could be more than friends.