Friends with Benefits

Chapter Thirteen

Things I own: my sanity, not enough time to write and incredible friends and family!!

Things I don't: Twilight, Edward and Bella (Damn. It.)

Chapter Thirteen

BPOV

When I got home, Edward had called me, saying he had to stay late for this new case he was going to be working on with Eleazar. They needed to begin researching or something. I was secretly glad since I hadn't had much of a chance to think about the downfall of my relationship with Paul, Jasper's words at lunch and Alice's and Esme's constant matchmaking.

As I was eating my leftovers from dinner, I knew that Paul and I were doomed from the start. We had met when he was a TA in one of my English classes in college. I thought he was cool. An older guy who had his shit together.

There was a reason why he was still a perpetual student at the age of thirty-six. He had no clue what the fuck he wanted to be. So, he completed his undergrad and started graduate work, in several different areas of study: Shakespeare, Romantic Poets, Post Civil War history and when I met him, Transcendentalism. Hell, he still was in school, but as a professor now. He finally graduated while I was student teaching with a masters in English Literature. University of Illinois at Chicago offered him a teaching position and he took it.

How he's still employed completely baffles me.

I wrote most of his lesson plans, really. He had no business standing in front of a bunch of impressionable, young minds and trying to teach them about Shakespearean sonnets.

Paul was a big kid. With a little dick and horrible hygiene issues. With my rose-colored glasses, I thought he was amazing. I was dating a man twelve years older than me. He would take care of me. At twenty-two, at the time, I thought I was set for life.Two years later, at the ripe old age of twenty-four, I was back to being single, living with my best friend. I suppose things could be worse. Besides, Paul could barely take care of himself.

The man didn't know how to wash his own clothes. He shipped them home to his mother so she could wash them. She, like the dumbass she was, shipped them back. Perhaps, he needed all of the help he could get in cleaning his underwear. The man had the smelliest ass I'd ever encountered. His boxers had a permanent stain up his crack.

I was fucking desperate that I was dating a gross, foul, disgusting frat boy, minus the frat.

It was like a breath of fresh air with Edward. My God, the man was fastidious. He irons his undershirts. Edward always smellsnice. Even after he works out, which is like all of the time, he smells like a proverbial rose.

One time, Edward invited me to go to his gym when I was on one of my many diet kicks. I was walking on the treadmill. Walking, mind you. Apparently, I wasn't paying attention because the next thing I knew, I was on the ground with my leg facing one way and my body being pulled the other way. Edward had to drag me, sobbing and screaming like a banshee, to the emergency room to get my jacked up knee and ankle x-rayed. A sprained knee and a bone chip in my ankle later, I was on crutches and off of work for a week.

I was also banned from the gym.

Not like I was going back. In addition to falling on my ass, I left my desire to work out on that floor, along with my pride. I'll stick with yoga. I can do that in my room.

Maybe once a year.

Can you tell that I'm not the athletic type?

Getting up from my bed, I put in my yoga DVD and began stretching out as the promos cycled through. As I mindlessly did my yoga, I thought back on what Jasper said about Edward and me. Edward as my boyfriend? Unlikely. Edward probably doesn't even see me like that. He saw me at my worst.

Bad perm.

Boobs too big for my body.

I was the epitome of ugly duckling. When I was a senior in high school. I finally grew into my body, my perm had grown out and the braces were gone. I still had acne, but it was under control with medication. Edward probably still remembers that girl when she was fourteen, not twenty-four.

Now, Edward, he was always gorgeous. When I was fourteen, I had the biggest crush on him. But, he was nineteen and in college. Why would he notice a nerdy girl like me? He was tall, lean, much skinnier than he was now but his face was still the same. That angular jaw line, bright green eyes and unruly bronze mop that was always covered with a baseball cap. I was so glad he lost the baseball cap. Unlike most guys his age now, twenty-nine, Edward had all of his hair and he definitely needed to show that shit off. Regardless, Edward was my best friend. He always looked out for me, just like he looked out for Alice. He's still my best friend. I'm probably closer to him than I am to Alice, now.

Though, I don't talk to Edward about girly issues. I'm pretty certain that Edward doesn't need to know about my trials and tribulations with birth control or how my tits hurt when I'm about to get my period. Hell, he hates it when any girl cries. I'm shocked that he didn't have a heart attack when I came home last weekend when Paul dumped me.

As I finished my 'workout,' I realized three things. One ~ my floor is really hard and hurts my ass. Two ~ I'm not flexible enoughto do yoga. Three ~ I'm not willing to risk my friendship with Edward just to have a relationship with him. I can't lose that.

I'd be lost without him.

A/N: Bella, she tends to ramble. (Like me!). Up next will be some girly bonding time with Alice, choosing Bella's dress. Up on my blog/tumblr/Facebook group are the dresses. Which one should she wear? Links for my tumblr and blog are on my profile and you can search Tufano79's Twilight Fanfiction Appreciation on Facebook. Leave me some!