Three

*Edward*

I turned the key in the lock and pushed through the door, stuffing my keys in my jacket pocket and carefully eyeing the side of Bella's face as she sat in her chair behind the front desk.

Carlisle had given me a key to the office – as he'd given one to everyone, apparently – just in case I needed to come in early to get some work done. And since I'd been rudely interrupted last night before leaving and hadn't really had the energy to open my briefcase again once I'd made it home, I made myself get up and come in an hour early.

I'd seen her car out in the parking lot, but hadn't thought much of it. I wasn't a morning person and no matter how many cups of coffee that I'd poured down my throat after my shower, I was still looking out at everyone through half-lidded eyes and probably scowling at just about everything that got in my way.

When she didn't look at me, I sighed and shook my head, slightly annoyed that everyone else knew what the hell was wrong with her and yet, I was left in the dark about all of it.

Okay, yeah, I'd been working here for a grand total of one damn day, but having someone tell me something about the girl before I met her would've been nice.

Setting my briefcase down by my feet, I shrugged out of my jacket and hung it up on the pegs, running a hand through my hair as I bent down.

"Good morning, Edward."

I stood up quickly, slowly turning to see that she was now standing by her chair, playing nervously with a piece of paper and biting her bottom lip as she shifted her weight on her feet.

"Morning," I grumbled, blinking at her once before bending down and grabbing my briefcase again.

"How are you?"

I blinked at her again as I straightened up, still standing in the doorway and reaching up to run my hand through my hair again.

"Fine. And you?"

She shrugged and I nearly fell over in shock when I got a small smile from her.

"Fine."

I nodded, taking one step towards the front desk and watching as she – even though we were still feet apart – took one back and the smile fell from her face. I watched her eyes widen and watched as the paper in her hands crinkled as she tightened her fingers into fists.

Now I was just fucking confused. She can save me from the clutches of Tanya yesterday and be in the same room with me then, but today we're separated by Plexiglas and she looks like a scared rabbit.

"I-I made some coffee," she stated, her voice shaking as she untangled one hand from the paper and pointed over her shoulder. "And I, uh, I made some brownies. I mean, it's kind of early for chocolate of any kind but…"

She folded her bottom lip into her mouth and looked down, dropping her arm back to the paper and nervously trying to fold it back into place.

"If you wanted some, you're more than welcome," she said softly.

"Thank you," I replied just as softly, nodding at her even though she wasn't looking at me.

I was beginning to think that she'd never look at me for more than a few minutes at a time. Maybe she found me absolutely revolting and couldn’t stand to look at me without feeling sick.

I smirked to myself and shrugged.

Maybe that wouldn't be so bad after all. If she couldn't look at me because I was that revolting to her, then there was no need for me to get involved in all of this drama that seemed to be surrounding her. It was as good of an excuse as any.

"I just… I need to make some copies." She looked up at me, her eyes carefully avoiding mine as she held up the crumpled paper. "Would you mind?"

"Why would I… oh." My shoulders slumped forward and I sighed heavily. That was still my office. "No, not at all."

"Esme keeps her promises," she offered, her voice a little lighter than before. "Your office will definitely be done by the end of the week."

I smirked at her and nodded, watching as she hastily turned on her heel and took off out of the office. Sighing, I reached up and ran my hand through my hair once more, unsure of whether or not she'd jump through the ceiling if I followed her.

Like I was actually going to work in there anyway. I'd discovered that my elbow was extremely sensitive to the lightest touch this morning when I had used it to slam the refrigerator door closed and was in no hurry to make it any worse than it already was.

Quickly slipping through the lobby and through the doorway, I walked the few short steps to the office door and pushed through it, quickly walking over to where Angela had been sitting the day before and placing my briefcase on the counter.

We'd worked together fine before Tanya had shown up yesterday. There was no reason why we couldn't do so again.

I eyed the door anyway, slowly sitting down in the chair before flipping open the locks on my briefcase and pulling out the files I hadn't gotten to last night. I grabbed another pen from the smiley mug in front of me, pushing my briefcase onto Alice's side and resting my elbows on the counter.

"Fuck!" I yelped, dropping the pen, twisting in the chair and carefully cradling my over-sensitive elbow in my hand.

"You all right?"

I looked up, my bottom lip caught tightly between my teeth to see that Bella was cautiously standing in the doorway, the fresh copies in her hands.

"Sore," I squeaked.

She nodded, setting the copies down on her side of the counter before turning and walking out of the room again. I released my bottom lip from my teeth, huffing and gently rubbing my elbow.

Okay, maybe we couldn't work together after all.

Turning back to the files, I let go of my elbow and picked up the pen, resting my other hand in my lap as I flipped open the top and started writing down the notes that should've been done by now.

"Here."

I jumped, turning to find that Bella was standing next to Alice's seat, a small square of beige fabric in her hand. I looked up at her, raising an eyebrow. She shrugged innocently, licking her lips and holding it out to me.

"Put it underneath your elbow," she said quietly. "It won't hurt as much to lean on it."

I dropped the pen again, reaching out and taking it from her. She quickly snatched her hand away the minute I had a grip on it and took a step back, offering me a nervous smile before turning around and walking over to her chair. I stared at the back of her head as she sat down, blinking rapidly and really fucking confused.

"Thanks," I mumbled.

"Mhmm."

I set the fabric on the counter, carefully resting my elbow on it as I turned back to my files. It still hurt, but it wasn't as bad as it had been on the bare surface. Breathing out a sigh of relief, I once again picked up the pen and looked down at the papers in front of me.

We worked in silence until I heard an annoying, twangy, muffled song coming from somewhere on her side of the office and looked up as she sighed.

"Go away Jake, damn," she whispered, snatching her purse up from the floor underneath the counter. "I don't wanna talk to you."

I held back a snort and watched as she pulled an orange phone from her purse, immediately hitting one of the buttons on the side and thankfully cutting off the person singing about tractors of all fucking things.

"Boyfriend?"

She snorted and I couldn't help the smirk that lifted one corner of my mouth. Something about the way she snorted always left me feeling amused. There hadn't been very many women in my life who would willingly let anyone hear them sound so un-lady like.

I thought it was all bullshit. Sound however you want; it's not gonna matter in the grand scheme of things.

"Right," she grumbled. "No. He's the best friend that won't stop calling."

"Ever think of answering the phone?" I asked innocently.

"To listen to him kiss my ass and make himself feel better about what he said to me? No," she snorted, throwing the phone back into her purse before shoving it back underneath the counter.

"Well, what'd he say?"

I turned around completely, once again abandoning the charts I needed to fill out to kick my legs out in front of me and cross my ankles.

She was quiet for a while and I sighed softly, shaking my head and pulling my legs back. Right. Let's not clue in the new guy to anything going on.

"He said that he didn't know me anymore," she finally said softly, "and that he couldn't live with me like this anymore."

So something had happened to make her like this. She hadn't always been this way.

"Oh."

"And he was supposed to be the one person outside of my family that didn't judge me for anything." She laughed humorlessly and I found myself swallowing hard at the pain laced through her voice. "Shows what I know."

"I'm sure he…"

"Do you want some coffee?" she asked abruptly, quickly standing up and walking out of the room without waiting for my answer.

"Sure," I answered to the empty room. "Black, two sugars. Thanks."

I rolled my eyes and turned back to the charts, snatching the pen up once again and shaking my head.

And that was the exact fucking reason why I should never try befriending my co-workers.

~*~

I ended up standing outside of the front office door again at the end of the day, my files in one hand and a mug of coffee in the other as I looked cautiously down the hallway.

Tanya had been throwing innuendos at me every chance she got and I really didn't want to be vulnerable enough to be alone in a room with her at any point during the rest of my life.

I was going to get some work done today, damn it. And I was not going to do it in the supply room with that damn copier laughing at me each time I hit my elbow on it. At this rate, I was going to have a permanent mark on me from the side of it.

I tapped my knuckles against the door before pushing it open a little with the toe of my shoe, poking my head in to see Bella sitting there with her hands in her hair and her eyes wide at the computer screen.

"You okay?" I asked quietly, pushing through the door.

"Every damn day," she mumbled, pulling her hands from her hair and framing the computer monitor. "It's like the printer knows when I need to print this out for tomorrow morning and it doesn't want to work!"

I laughed and relaxed from the tense position I hadn't realized I'd been standing in. I wasn't sure why I was tense the minute I walked in here and saw her – maybe I'd been subconsciously preparing myself for a mental breakdown of some sort. She sure looked like she might be on the verge of one half the time.

"Is it installed properly?"

"It's been working fine all day!" she exclaimed, slapping one hand down onto the top of it. "But the minute I'm alone with it and have to print out the patient sheets for tomorrow morning, it stops working!"

She hit it again and I laughed, quickly walking over to Angela's side of the room to set my stuff down before walking over to her. She moved out of the way, sliding her chair away from me and I bit back a sigh as I lifted the lid of the printer.

Well, at least she was talking to me and initiating conversation today. I really couldn't ask – and shouldn't expect – more than that.

"That wasn't there before!" she insisted when I started laughing at the obvious paper jam. "It was working fine!"

"Okay."

"I swear!"

"I believe you!" I laughed, grabbing the mangled piece of paper from the wheel in the printer and yanking it out.

It immediately started printing the sheet she needed and I looked over at her, pressing my lips together when I saw her face burn red and her eyes narrow at the printer.

"I hate this thing!" she exclaimed, slapping her hand on the top of the printer and snapping it closed. "And it hates me!"

"I'm sure it doesn't hate you."

She looked up at me, her lips pursed and her eyes narrowed.

"That was not there before! It's… magic! Or something! It hates me!"

"Okay," I nodded, clearing my throat to keep from laughing again.

"Thank you," she finally managed, huffing before turning back and facing her computer screen again.

"You're welcome."

I went back to Angela's space and sat down in her chair, grabbing a pen and tapping it against my lips as I smirked at the back of Bella's head.

Against my better judgment, I wanted to know what had happened to her. I wanted to know what had made her supposed best friend say those things to her and what had happened to make her the way she was now. Why she flinched away from me, couldn't look into my eyes for more than a few seconds at a time, or seemed to struggle to be natural with me unless she was pissed off at the printer.

I wanted to know why the girl sitting across the room from me, still mumbling and cursing under her breath, merely seemed to be a shell of the girl that I saw in the picture with the blonde guy wrapped around her. She was definitely nowhere near as happy as she had been in that picture and fuck it all, I wanted to know why.

I might regret that later, but for now, I wanted to know.

Shaking my head at myself, I turned back to my work and actually managed to get through two files before Tanya showed up, sat down in Alice's seat and asked me to her place for dinner.

"Are you ready, Edward?" Bella asked, quickly shutting her computer down and grabbing her purse from the floor.

I think I might love this girl.

"Again?" Tanya screeched, actually stomping her foot and balling her hands into fists as she jumped up from the chair.

"Yes," I said quickly, nodding as I set the finished files to the side and gathered the other ones, sticking them in my briefcase and standing up.

As I looked up at her, with the too-tight colorful M&M scrubs, too much make-up slapped onto her face and the pout on her incredibly thin lips, I couldn't even muster up the apology I should've spouted off to her.

"Showing him around," Bella said, standing up straight once her computer was off. "He needs someone who won't try to infect his goods every second."

"So he'd rather take the damaged, broken, stone cold bitch?" Tanya hissed.

I watched the color drain from Bella's face and quickly stepped in between them, placing my hand on the small of Bella's back and starting to push her towards the door.

"Maybe some other time, Tanya," I said quietly, having to put actual force behind my hand in order to get Bella moving.

It was like she was stuck there, her eyes centered on Tanya's face and her hands clutching onto the strap of her purse so tightly that her knuckles were white.

"If she doesn't break you too," she sniffed, turning on her heel and stalking out of the office.

I led Bella out into the lobby and over to the door, stepping away from her to grab my coat and hand hers to her when she merely stared at the wall in front of us.

"Bella?" I asked softly, gently tapping her arm. "Bella, your coat."

She kept staring at the wall as she finally dropped her hands from her purse strap and reached out, her hands shaking as she took her coat from me. I slowly shrugged mine on, watching as her purse fell from her shoulder and landed on the floor with a thud. I picked up my briefcase, carefully watching as she slowly shrugged her coat on and bent down to retrieve her purse, her eyes never leaving the wall.

Hell, I don't even think she blinked.

I let her walk in front of me as I opened the door, nervously staring at the back of her head as we walked out into the frigid night air.

It hadn't snowed yet, but the temperature had dropped considerably and the cold wind was biting as it whipped around, sending Bella's long hair up around her face.

"Do you want to get some coffee?" I asked softly, taking one large step so that I was next to her.

"No," she answered, her voice extremely quiet and withdrawn as she shook her head. "Thank you."

"Are you okay to drive home?"

"Fine."

"Bella, I…"

"Bells!"

I looked up when I heard a deep voice coming from the parking lot to see a tall man with long black hair standing next to an ancient car parked by Bella's Neon. He was wearing a dark blue jacket and greasy blue jeans, one of his hands raised above his head as he took a step forward.

"I have to go," she said quietly, her voice still detached. "Thank you, Edward. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay."

I watched as she walked over to the man with her head down and her hands clutching onto her purse strap. I fought against the urge to follow her and dug my keys out of my jacket pocket, taking slow, measured steps towards my own car and watching out of the corner of my eye as the two of them talked.

Her head was down, her eyes on the ground as she stood in front of him. His hands were on her shoulders and his head was bowed a little, his eyes undoubtedly trained on the top of her head.

Maybe he was the best friend she'd been avoiding this morning. It was easy to tell when a guy was trying to apologize to a girl in his life – I'd done my fair share of it in the past and could easily recognize the signs.

Sucking in a deep breath, I shook my head and finally unlocked my car, throwing my briefcase into the back and plopping into the driver's seat. I stuck the key in the ignition and leaned back in the seat, still watching out of the window as Bella nodded and let the guy wrap his arms around her shoulders.

She turned her face in my direction as she rested her head on his chest, her arms limply hanging off his waist, and I cringed. She just looked so… broken and defeated; like she had the weight of the world on her shoulders without any hope of it letting up.

I grabbed the steering wheel and tapped my fingers against it, watching as she backed away from him and crossed her arms over her chest, her head still bowed as she nodded.

I don't know why I was still sitting here. I had no rational reason to still be sitting here and watching the two of them make amends. I could be halfway home and maybe working on the files that never seemed to get done the way they should've, but instead I was sitting here, watching my co-worker.

Maybe I was the stalker.

"Fuck, Edward," I breathed, gripping the steering wheel tightly and shaking my head. "Go home. Put the car in gear and go home."

I dropped my hand to the gearshift in between the two seats and put my foot on the brake, my eyes still trained on Bella as she shook her head and finally looked up at him. I licked my lips, shook my head and shoved the car into drive, slowly lifting my foot from the brake. I stopped when I saw the guy lean forward and kiss her forehead before disappearing into his car and driving off without a second glance at her. I watched as Bella leaned against the front bumper of her car once his car was out of sight, one hand rubbing her forehead while the other wrapped tightly around her waist.

Sucking in a deep breath, I pulled up in front of her and stopped, pressing the automatic button on the panel next to me and rolling down the window. And my jaw dropped when she merely took one step forward, grabbed the door handle and climbed into the car on her own.

"Do you," she started and I watched as she looked up, her eyes trained on our building, "do you still want to go for coffee?"

She looked down at her hands in her lap, her purse still hanging off her shoulder and I saw her start to gnaw on her bottom lip.

"I'm sorry, we can-"

She reached for the door handle and I quickly locked the doors, rolling up the window and shaking my head.

"No, we can go. But can you, uh…" I cleared my throat as I cranked the heat. "Can you tell me how to get there?"

She snorted quietly and I smirked, pulling up to the exit of the parking lot and waiting for her to give me the directions.

The short car ride to the small café she directed me to was silent except for when she spoke up about where I needed to turn and I parked on the side of the street, quickly unlocking the doors as she reached for the handle. I pocketed my keys as I got out of the car and walked over to her side, closing the door behind her as she climbed out and stood off to the side.

We walked in silence up to the front door and I let her go in first, stepping into the warm building and looking around at the crowded café filled with every type of person I could've ever possibly imagined existed. Obvious artists, coffee fiends and people with bright pink streaks in their hair were prominent as they littered the round tables. But the environment was welcoming and comfortable as we walked up to the counter. People looked up when they heard the door open but quickly went back to whatever they were doing or whomever they were talking to; no one stared as we walked by them.

"Go get a table," she said quietly, pulling her purse in front of her as we got in line behind a few people. "I've got this."

"No, Bella, I've got it," I said quickly, shaking my head and reaching for my wallet.

"Edward," she said quietly, looking up at me. "I'm sorry about this morning."

Huh?

"Black coffee, two sugars," she said quietly before turning her back to me.

Oh.

My jaw hit the floor and all I could do was turn and walk to the first empty table I saw over in a corner, slowly shaking my head in stunned silence as I shrugged out of my jacket and hung it on the high-backed chair. I slid up onto it, resting my elbow on the tabletop – quickly remembering that my other one still wasn't up to par quite yet – and rested my chin in my hand as I watched Bella move up in the line. She was looking down at her feet, stubbing her toe into the line in the unique stone flooring and only looking up long enough to see when the line was moving up.

I couldn't even begin to explain to myself why she'd changed her mind. I'd only planned on asking her if she was really all right to drive home when I pulled up to her; I hadn't been expecting anything else.

If I'd learned anything about her in the two days that I'd been working in the same office as her, it was that I couldn't expect anything when it came to her. She was the biggest mystery I'd ever encountered and in all honestly, I wasn't sure what the hell to do with her.

She was always surprising me. I didn't think that she'd talk to me at all this morning when I walked in and then she initiates an actual conversation. I'd been hoping, but not expecting, for her to save me a second time if Tanya showed up and she thankfully had. She'd shot me down for my invitation to coffee the first time; I wasn't expecting her to take it back and be the one to flip it around on me.

And I sure as hell hadn't realized that she'd heard my coffee preference this morning. Now I kind of felt like an asshole for being sarcastic. She wasn't supposed to hear it.

I watched as she finally made it up to the counter and quietly ordered our drinks, having to repeat to the barista a few times, it looked like. She handed over her money when all was said and done and I noticed that her cheeks were flushed red and she was fiddling with her purse strap as she waited for her change.

I continued to watch as she squirmed in her spot, anxiously looking around the café and carefully avoiding my eyes each time she looked in my direction. I tapped my fingertips against my thigh, twisting my lips to the side as I watched her.

She didn't seem to be very comfortable in her own skin. Like she was perpetually nervous and slightly twitchy around a group of people that she didn't know or in a group that was too big.

The barista finally handed her our drinks and I sat up straight as she walked over to me, setting the cups on the table before placing her purse next to them and shrugging out of her jacket. She jumped up into the chair and slid one of the cups over to me before wrapping her hands around hers and staring down at it.

"So was that your best friend?" I asked quietly.

She nodded, licking her bottom lip before lifting the cup to her mouth.

"He apologized."

"You forgave him?"

She nodded again, setting the cup back on the table and turning it in circles.

"He said that he was just having a bad day."

"You believed him?"

She scoffed and shook her head, looking over her shoulder and licking her bottom lip again before pressing her lips together.

"No," she said quietly, looking back down at her hands.

"So why'd you forgive him?"

She shrugged one shoulder and looked up at me briefly before averting her gaze to the wall behind me.

"He's my best friend," she said in an almost whisper. "Best friends always forgive each other, right?"

"Unless they're in the wrong which he apparently was."

She shook her head again, taking a deep breath and tapping her fingernails against the lid to her coffee cup.

"But he wasn't," she whispered. "I deserved what he said."

I rolled my tongue along my teeth and finally picked up my own coffee cup, sipping from it and very impressed that it was actually good before setting it back down and leaning in to her. I watched her eyes dart to mine quickly, alarm clear in them before she seemed to force herself to relax and looked down at her coffee cup again. I brought my other arm up to the table, carefully keeping the weight off my elbow.

"Why don't you tell me about this guy?" I suggested, wrapping my hands around my coffee cup.

"Why do you wanna know?" she asked quietly, her voice slightly defensive.

Huh. He could hurt her, make her feel like shit and with one easy apology, she was clearly back on his side. A-fucking-mazing.

Well, she was nothing if not a completely loyal and protective best friend to someone who may or may not deserve it.

I wonder if she was like that with her boyfriends.

I shook my head, cleared my throat and shifted in my seat.

Don't care.

"Maybe I can shed some light on your situation." I picked up my coffee and took a sip from it, eyeing her over the rim. "Give you a fresh perspective, if you will."

"What are you? A therapist?" she laughed nervously and shifted uneasily in her seat.

"I thought about it, but I like being able to have a simple conversation with people without reading too much in to everything they say." I leaned back in my seat, watching as her shoulders relaxed. "I won't tell anyone else if you don't want me to, Bella."

"Aren't you the least bit curious about what Tanya said?" she asked in a rush, looking at me briefly before looking down at her coffee cup again.

Fuck yes I was. But with as twitchy as she was around me on a daily basis, there was no way I was going to make it worse at this moment. She'd asked me to coffee – in a roundabout way – and I wasn't going to ruin it.

"When – or if – you ever get around to telling me, I'll listen. But I won't ask if you don't want me to know."

I heard her small sigh and covered my smirk with my coffee cup.

I was getting there. And for the life of me, I couldn't understand why the fuck I was so smug and satisfied about it.

Don't care.

"Thank you," she said quietly, her tongue poking out of her mouth to lick her bottom lip again.

I merely nodded at her, drumming my fingertips against my cup.

"I met him in college," she started softly, her eyes trained on her hands as she played with the lid. "We clicked immediately, even though we're complete opposites."

"Did you two ever date?"

"No." She smirked and shook her head. "I had a mild crush on him, but he never felt that way about me." She flicked her thumbnail on the bottom edge of her cup. "No one ever does."

Her voice was even quieter and the pain was back. I shifted again in my seat and she sighed, shaking her head once.

"He was so easy to talk to and we were quickly each other's best friend. He knew everything about me and vice versa." She took a deep breath. "Then we finished college – it was a technical college and we were out in under a year – and Jake met Jean a few months ago." She smiled softly. "She hates me and has created a very big rift in our relationship. We're not the same anymore." She shook her head. "He left to go see her after he apologized." She snorted and lifted the coffee to her lips. "She had a dinner party planned for their families and the best friend just doesn't count as much as she used to."

"You shouldn't have forgiven him," I said evenly, shaking my head. "He doesn’t deserve your forgiveness. He doesn't deserve to have you as a friend if he's going to run back to her when you're clearly hurting."

She flinched and I sucked in a deep breath.

Too much, Edward.

"I’m always hurting," she whispered, her eyes – while avoiding mine – looking the exact same as they had the first day I'd met her. "He's used to it."

"Well, then he should be helping you through it instead of running off to her. Bro's before ho's."

Her eyes snapped to mine and held, staring at me for what felt like an eternity before her lips quirked into a smile and she started laughing. It wasn't sarcastic by any means and I couldn't hold back the smile that immediately lit up my face as I listened to her. Her laugh wasn't anything like I'd expected; it was loud and squeaky, spiking higher the longer she laughed.

"You all right?" I asked, laughing a little as she placed a hand over her mouth and leaned back in her chair.

She nodded, waving me off with her other hand and taking a deep breath, blowing it back out and pressing her lips together.

"Sorry."

I shook my head, still chucking a little as I lifted the cup to my lips again.

"Don't apologize."

She sucked in another breath and blew it back out again before dropping her hand, leaning forward and grabbing her cup.

"It used to be that way," she continued, nodding slightly. "He dated a few girls in college and he kind of did the same thing to me then, but it wasn't as bad as this. Jean's got her claws in deep, I guess." She shrugged one shoulder, back to avoiding my eyes as she sipped from her cup. "I've never been enough to make anyone stay for long."

I raised an eyebrow at her and tapped my fingers on the top of the table.

"What do you-?"

"Too soon," she said quickly and quietly, leaning forward a little so that her hair fell in front of her face.

Progress. At least she was talking to me and telling me when I should keep my mouth shut – albeit in a very nice way – instead of darting from the room as she'd done this morning.

"Sorry," I said quietly, nodding and wrapping my hands around my cup again.

"It's not you, Edward," she sighed heavily, shaking her hair away from her face and briefly looking at me, "it's me."

It was my turn to laugh and I watched a small smile light up her face as she brushed her hair completely over her shoulder and stared directly at my nose.

"Breaking up with me, are you?" I asked, shaking my head and smiling at her.

She snorted and rolled her eyes, smirking at me.

"I meant it in all seriousness, you know."

I shrugged one shoulder and lifted my coffee cup again.

"I know."

She nodded, her eyes shifting back to the wall behind me as she began to gnaw on the plastic top of her coffee cup.

"You're wasting your time," she said after a few moments of semi-comfortable silence.

"With?" I asked evenly, raising my eyebrow as I watched her slowly set the cup back on the table and lean back in the chair, wrapping her arms around her waist.

"Talking to me."

"Why do you say that?"

I leaned in again, watching her jaw tense and her arms seem to tighten around her middle as I did so. I bit back the urge to sigh and waited as her eyes roamed the wall behind me.

"I don't trust you."

I blinked at her. Wasn't expecting that. Wasn't expecting the stab to the gut that accompanied her words, either, but there it was.

Well, I couldn't fault her for being honest at least.

"Oh."

"It's not…"

She took a deep breath and leaned in as well, our knuckles barely an inch apart as she wrapped her hands around her cup. The tattoo on her wrist caught my eye again as her sleeves pulled back and I was only able to make out that it was letters, or maybe a saying of some sort twisted into a design in black ink. It wasn't big at all and obviously easily hidden for when she needed to be at work.

I looked up at her face as she began speaking again, reminding myself to ask her about it when I got another chance.

If there ever was another chance. She seemed very intent on keeping me at a distance.

"I don't trust anyone new. And I very rarely trust men." She looked up and met my eyes. "I'm a pain in the ass, Edward, and you're just wasting your time trying to get to know me."

I licked my lips and nodded.

"Tell me this," I said quickly, watching as her eyes darted away from me again. "What woman isn't a pain in the ass?"

She raised an eyebrow but kept her gaze on the wall and her hands firmly around her cup.

"Honestly. Every woman that I've ever had in my life has been a royal pain in my ass. Including my own mother. And you may not trust me now, but I'm not so sure that I trust you yet either. So," I said easily, leaning back in the chair and tapping my fingertips against the table, "even trade."

She slid her eyes back to mine and I watched as she smirked, her shoulders relaxing as she sat up a little straighter in the chair and let her hands fall to her lap.

"Okay."

"So, since we're not trusting each other," I started, clearing my throat and shifting in my seat, "would you want to not trust each other tomorrow after work?"

"Doing what?" she mumbled, one of her eyes narrowing at me.

I shrugged and looked around.

"This?"

She started chewing on her bottom lip and I inwardly sighed, shaking my head.

"Never-"

"Okay," she said quickly, her hands gripping the edge of the table tightly. "I, uhm, yeah. That'd be… I could… we could…"

"Bella, you don't have to."

"No, I want to," she said, nodding once and pursing her lips. "I…" She tilted her head, a strange look on her face. "I want to."

"We don't have to if you really don't want to."

"No." She shook her head, sucking in another deep breath and looking up to meet my eyes. "I want to."

I nodded, smirking a little at her before she looked down at her cup.

"Okay, then." I tapped my fingertips against the top of the table again, twisting my lips to the side and watching as she fidgeted. "Can I ask you a question?"

"No promises that I'll answer it, but yeah, sure."

She lifted one shoulder in a shrug, playing with the plastic top of her coffee cup again.

"You don't trust me, but you got into my car."

"You don't trust me, but this was the second time you offered to take me somewhere after work," she countered quickly, her eyebrow quirked up as she looked up at me again.

I grinned and nodded, leaning back in the chair.

"Touché."

She nodded, fidgeting with her cup and chewing on her bottom lip.

"Thank you," she finally said quietly, looking up at me briefly before looking back down at her hands.

"For what?"

She was the one that had saved me from Tanya and paid for my coffee; what was she thanking me for?

"For this."

"Well, you're welcome," I mumbled, shifting in my seat. "Thanks for saving me from Tanya two days in a row. And for the coffee." I toasted her with my half-empty coffee cup. "I'll buy tomorrow."

She nodded and sucked in a deep breath, lifting her coffee cup to her lips again.

We spent another fifteen minutes in a slightly tense and awkward silence before we finished off our coffee and decided to head out. I drove her back to her car, pulling up next to the driver's side door and shifting into park.

"I'll see you tomorrow," I said, clearing my throat and looking over at her.

She looked up at me quickly, offering me a small smile before she grabbed her purse from the floor and grabbed the door handle.

"Tanya won't give up," she said quietly, facing the window. "And if you ever need an excuse, I'm always a good one."

"You're not an excuse if we're really going to do something tomorrow after work."

She shrugged before pushing open the car door and stepping out.

"We'll see," she said quietly before stepping out of the way of the door. "Thank you."

She closed the door behind her and I watched, waiting until she got into her car and drove away before closing my eyes and resting my head back against the headrest.

I didn't want to care. I didn't want to care about that damn tattoo on her wrist, or why she was so easily accepting of an apology that she shouldn't have rightly given. I didn't want to care about why she couldn't look me in the eye for longer than a minute at tops and I didn't want to care about why she said that I was wasting my time talking to her.

But I did.

And I hated it.

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