Friends with Benefits

Chapter Seventy-Two

Things I own: my sanity (though, that's debatable at times), not enough time to write and incredible friends and family!!

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

Chapter Seventy-Two

BPOV

Shortly after I got home, I could hear Edward's angry footsteps trudging up the stairs. I feigned sleep when I heard him open the door to my bedroom. My nose was buried in my pillow so he couldn't see the tear stains on my cheeks. When I heard him leave my room, I just lay on my bed, trying to make sense of my feelings. Sleep alluded me.

Early the next morning, I could hear Edward puttering in the kitchen. I was almost tempted to stay in my room, but I had to get my coat out of his car, plus I needed to go to the store to pick up some necessities, like chocolate, tampons and strong alcohol. Deciding not to delay the inevitable, I put on a pair of workout pants and an oversized hoodie. Trudging downstairs, Edward barked out. "Freeze, Swan!"

"Shit," I spat, turning on my heel like a chastised child. Looking at him, I saw Edward's swirling, angry green eyes. "Before you start yelling..." He pointed to the couch and I slunked to the seat, drawing my knees to my chest.

"Bella, why did you leave? Did you know how worried I was?" he asked, clawing at his messy hair. "You could have been hurt or killed!"

"You had that blonde girl to hold your attention," I said, trying to keep the bitterness out of my tone.

"That blonde girl was Tanya. She was meeting up with the party. She frequents Alice's store," Edward said. "We were talking about her relationship with Irina."

"Oh...I thought she was supposed to date you," I said, looking up at him in confusion.

"Yeah, I was a front. Tanya loves Irina, but her family is incredibly conservative and doesn't understand why their baby girl loves women," Edward replied. He pinched his nose, his glasses hanging from his other hand. "Bells, I'm really confused. You say you don't want a relationship, but then this..."

"I'm a mess, Edward. Just ignore me. That'll probably be your best bet," I snorted humorlessly.

"I won't ignore you," he said. "I can't do that. Bella, I meant it when I said I would wait. Do you believe me?"

"I do, but I don't know how long it's going to take my brain to filter through all of this," I grumbled. "It's best that we just stay friends. Forget the possibility of ever being more, Edward."

He pursed his lips, narrowing his green eyes at me. "Fine. There was something I was going to ask you, though."

"What?" I asked, looking at him miserably.

"I won these tickets to Mesa to see the Cubs at training camp at the benefit. Originally, I gave them to Emmett for a Christmas present. He can't go. I know you like baseball and it's over your spring break. We can take the trip together. As friends?" he asked.

"I just told you that we should stay as friends...and you're...Edward, you're one confusing dude," I sputtered, trying to wrap my head around his logic.

"It's either we go or I'd give the trip to Jasper and you and I both know that he'd get nothing out of it," Edward countered, arching a brow.

"I don't know," I shrugged. "I've been nothing but awful towards you and you want to take a trip with me?"

"Perhaps this trip will rekindle our friendship," Edward suggested, smiling shyly. "Bells, I've been as much at fault as you. Yes, what we had was some really great sex, but we are better as friends." He smiled crookedly, but there was a tightness around his eyes. "Out of everyone that I know, you'd probably enjoy this trip the most. It'll be fun."

"Okay," I said, nodding slightly. "But, at least let me pay for half of the trip. I know it was one of the silent auction items. I'll add a couple hundred bucks extra to my rent checks until it's paid off. Okay?"

"Seems fair," Edward shrugged. "Now, I want to hang out with my best friend today. Can we do that? Watch a movie? Go grocery shopping? Something?"

"I've got some errands to run. I was going to go to Target," I said, blushing slightly. Edward hopped up and picked up his keys, swinging them around his finger. I got up as well, following him out to his car. I was still as confused as ever, but had a little bit of hope that I wouldn't lose my best friend.

But, did I want him in other ways?

A/N: Yeah, this was a rough chapter to write. I am struggling with Bella's wishy-washy-ness. She's immature and lost, but eventually, hopefully, she'll get it together. Now, we're going to move forward in time. We're going to get closer to Bella's spring break so we can get to the trip.

Leave me some...please?