The Spotlight is On!

32

This is the longest chapter I've ever written, so you better love it! Lol

Disclaimer: I don't own anything Twilight.

Previously...(BPOV)

I felt his body get thrown away from me, and he grunted as he fell to the floor. I opened my eyes and saw Edward standing over him.

EPOV

I opened the back door of Bella's house, and I heard her and Jake talking. What was he doing there?

I tiptoed around the kitchen and hid behind the wall.

"Shut up, okay!" I heard Bella shout. "You don't get to come into my house and disrespect me. You don't even know me."

"Oh, I know you," Jake said. "You lost your parents when you were fifteen. You started singing when you were five. Your favorite color is purple. And you've been in love my best friend since you were thirteen."

I closed my eyes in frustration. He knew all of that from our hangouts together. I shouldn't have told him all that if I knew he was going to throw it in Bella's face.

"What? Are you stalking me now?" Bella's annoyed voice made me listen again.

"No, but I like you," I heard him say, and his footsteps were slow. "And I think I'd be a much better man for you." All of a sudden, my blood coiled in anger. He actually liked her? No, he couldn't like her; she's supposed to like me!

Wait... What did I just think?

Before I could figure out what just went through my head, I heard Bella yell, "Let go of me!" I heard a thump, maybe against the wall, and I heard her shout, "Jake! Stop! Jake!"

That's when I lost it.

I ran from behind the wall, heading quickly to the scene of Jake hurting my girl, and I pulled him off of her. He hit the floor with a loud thump, and I towered over him.

He crawled to get away from me. Good.

"Edward, hey, I-" he spoke, but I cut the coward off.

"Don't speak. Don't even breathe," I said calmly, lowly.

"But-"

"Get. Out." I snarled the command.

He got up and stumbled out of the house. I heard the back door shut, and I exhaled.

When I turned around, my anger towards Jake turned into worry. Bella was sitting on the ground near the wall, her body curled into itself, her head buried in between her legs. I could feel her shaking, even from far away. I walked slowly towards her and knelt down.

"Bella?" I voiced gently.

She shook in surprise and lifted her head. My heart broke for the second time that night when I saw big, fat tears in her brown doe eyes. She crawled to me and wrapped her arms around my body, sobbing.

I sighed sadly and held her close, letting her cry. I carried her to the living room couch and sat her on my lap. After about ten minutes, her sobs turned into sniffles, then her sniffles into deep breaths. I looked down and saw that she fell asleep.

Gosh, she was beautiful. Her brown hair, which used to be tied together in a knotty ponytail, was now framed around her face; her fine face was streaked with leftover tears that cascaded down her cheeks; her eyelashes were still wet, and her full lips pursed out as she sighed in her sleep. Why have I never noticed how angelic she looked? It took an asshole like Jake for me to finally realize...

I was starting to have feelings for my best friend.

I touched her cheek, wiping her tears away. "I'm sorry," I whispered, taking my hand away.

Bella's eyes flickered open. "Don't be," she said, her hand falling on mine.

We stared at each other for a long time until Bella finally sat up.

"I have to tell you something," she said timidly, "and you may not like it."

"What is it?" I asked. "You can tell me anything." I rubbed her back.

"Um, inviting Jake to prom was my idea. Well, it wasn't my idea, but I went along with it. Anyway, I called him, and the whole thing was a plan to make you jealous," she whispered.

"What?" I gently lifted her off of me and stood up. "So all this time I've been saving you and helping you, just so you could get me to like you? Was that your plan? Was Jake coming over here just now and basically assaulting you part of that too?" I couldn't hold back my anger.

"No," she insisted, "I had no idea he even knew where I lived. I had no idea he was coming over here."

I scoffed, "Yeah, okay, sure."

"Edward, I'm sorry. I never should have gone along with it. It was stupid and selfish, and I'm just really sorry." She sniffled again, wiping her eyes. "I guess I was just, I don't know, so desperate for you that I was willing to do anything for you... because I love you, Edward."

I ran my hands through my hair, frustrated, my walls shattering again at Bella's stare. "I have to go, I can't be here-"

"No, stay, please?" she pleaded. "I'm all by myself. Rose and Alice left for your brothers' afterparty, and they won't be back until morning. So please, stay. For me? Please?"

I looked back at her and sighed deeply; I was putty in her arms. "Just swear you'll never do that to me again."

She nodded, tears falling down her cheeks. "I promise. I swear."

Because I absolutely hated those tears, I pulled her close to me and sighed.

"I'm so sorry," she sniffled.

"It's okay," I said, kissing her hair. "Oh, and guess what?"

"What?"

"The principal asked us to write a song for graduation yesterday." I smiled.

"Really?" she smiled, pulling away to look at me. "That's so great."

"Yeah," I smiled, "but when will we have time to write it, bring everyone together to rehearse, and everything? And get ready for actual graduation?"

"We'll find time. We didn't think we'd get 'How to Love' and 'Two is Better Than One' done, but we did!" she laughed.

"Yes, we did!" We high-fived, and she yawned. "Tired?"

"Yeah..." she trailed off, looking at the couch.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"I don't want to go to sleep, so you can leave." She looked down. "I know you're probably still mad at me."

"Hey," I lifted her chin with my finger. "I'm not going anywhere."

She nodded and smiled. We both lay on the couch, and she fell right asleep.

-An hour later-

EPOV

I was watching Bella sleep, again, just taking everything in when I heard it.

"Edward..." she murmured. I turned to her, thinking she was awake, but her eyes were still closed. Ah, she was talking in her sleep again. She curled up against me, murmuring, "I love you, Edward."

I smiled and kissed her forehead. "I like you, too, Bella."

A/N: Awww so FINALLY our guy is starting to have some feelings! It's still going to take some time for him to say the L Word, though. Baby steps, you guys!

Reviews are better than Edward telling you he likes you while you sleep! ;)