My first fanfic where they are all human. Starts out slow, like most of my stories do. Sorry about that! But let me know what you think of it. REVIEW too! It makes the next chapters go up faster.

Your Affect On Me

BPOV

Chapter 1: The Surprise

There was always an attraction there, for me anyway, but I never dared to act on it. I wasn't the type to do such things as initiate a conversation, or flirt, or get someone's number I thought was remotely good looking. That just wasn't me. I was too shy, stammering with my words, blushing beet red, and feeling like a fool. Of course no male would think I wasn't at all interesting. I wouldn't either, if I was me. Nonetheless, I had a crush on him. A very big crush and it was a secret. A very big secret.

Oh boy.

This was the guy who has been my friend since high school. Sometimes I try to think back to why I felt like this about him so much.

Because Bella. He's a nice, sweet guy. Plus, he's one of the only guys in school that ever spoken to you.

Oh yeah. Now I remember why.

I. Am. An. Idiot.

I held onto something so small and trivial, a fantasy, for so long. The one person of opposite sex speaking to me was just being nice and I start to crush on him like a obsessed stalker, but that was how I started to have feelings for Edward. Like I said, I'm an idiot.

I was the new girl at Forks High and I felt so… unwelcome. I hated that school. I had to move away from all my friends, my mother and her husband Phil, the lovely heat and sun that shone everyday in Phoenix. Not like Forks, where it rained continuously. The sky was rarely blue and it didn't have nice white fluffy clouds, it was usually dark and gray. Ugh. In Forks, sun was like the rain to Phoenix, Arizona.

Maybe it was because it was such a small town, the kids at Forks High didn't welcome outsiders. Who knows! But that was how I had felt about it. They didn't make me feel welcome, for some reason, and I hated it instantly. Two weeks in that hell hole and I wanted to run away back to Phoenix with my mother, but I couldn't. My dad, Charlie, and Renee, my mother had their own personal contract where I would stay with each of them for two years out of my four years of my high school years. To say the least, my mom won the "toss" and she got me for the first two years of starting high school.

I know it's not normal, but look at me. My life is nothing close to normal.

The sunshine that poked through the stupid damn clouds was Alice Cullen. She was that one sun ray that escaped through the thick gray clouds to brighten up my life in Forks. She was my first friend here. Alice had basically turned my distaste of Forks into appreciation. We became best friends instantly. Almost everything about her was lovable. Her friendly smile, personality, even her pushy stubbornness and odd quirkiness was amusing to me at times. There were times, of course, that she annoyed me. Still, I loved her, like a sister I never had.

Alice, also, was the reason I met her brother, Edward Cullen. My major crush that bloomed into a love that I could never feel for another in my life. Ever.

When we met, it wasn't an instant connection. It was a slow simmer of fondness and admiration into full blow love… and lust. It took years for it to grow into that, but he was a beautiful person. Just like his sister. How could you not love them both?

Like I said, he was the first guy who had spoken to me since I moved to Forks. Maybe Alice forced him to be nice to me, but I appreciated his effort of welcoming me. Since then, we three have been close, as the Three Musketeers. Weird as it may sound, that's as close to an infamous trio to what we were like.

Now three years later, here we are, still friends. Best friends, really. My feelings for him has grown into something more than a crush. Although, he doesn't know that. I plan to keep it that way too. I don't want to risk losing a great friendship over my stupid feelings, feelings that he most likely doesn't return.

Nevermind.

Not most likely. I know he doesn't return.

After high school, we went off to different colleges. It broke my heart to be without Alice, my sprite of a friend, and Edward, the love of my life. Edward had gone to Stanford University for pre-med, that being the closest to Washington and his family as possible. Alice headed off to New York City to attend Parsons School of Design. Her stubborn streak made up her mind going to that school, never considering how far it would be to her family. I, who had chosen to major in English, set in becoming a writer or journalist someday, moved across the country to attend Sarah Lawrence. At least I would be close enough to Alice. Edward on the other hand, I would only see on holidays.

At best, Alice and I had decided to move in together while attending our schools after a couple of months of starting, in the village of Pelham Manor. I was excited that I would at least be able to have a part of home with me everyday. My best friend, my "sister", Alice.

Pelham Manor was a village of the town Pelham. It had a population of a couple thousands more than Forks, so it almost felt like home. We rented a three bedroom, two bathroom house that had a somewhat cottage feel to it. It was cozy with a vintage look to it. It was perfect, but Alice thought it differently when we eyed it from the car. Then she changed her mind the instant she saw the massive closet, with a private bathroom, in the master bedroom. I let her have it with no complaint, happy for her excitedness.

Alice and I had been busy with our life in school, working at night to pay for rent, and Alice's addiction of shopping, and we felt almost content. All we were missing was our Edward. My reason was completely different from Alice's reason why she missed him so much. Besides that, we were enjoying our life as young women working for our future.

Though, I felt my future wouldn't be something worth enjoying if Edward wouldn't be mine. That depressed me everyday, of course, which I tried hard to hide away from Alice. I tried not to be a "gloomy gus" in front of her, but sometimes she caught me in the moments I fell into a funk.

"Bella, stop being such an emo!" Alice would joke with me a lot. It was funny to see her almost stomp her foot like a stubborn child at my moods.

"Leave me alone, Alice, so I can contemplate which blade to use to cut myself." I said rolling my eyes. She didn't appreciate the joke, sticking her cute, pink tongue out at me.

"That's not funny, Isabella Swan," Alice pouted at me. "Not when you would scar up your beautiful skin! And don't go off cutting your gorgeous hair into that hideous hairstyle where the bangs hang over your eye? It would be an eyesore for me to look at that all the time."

"You are so weird!" I told her, smiling incredulously. Only she would say or think of something like that to turn my mood upside down into amusement.

"But seriously, Bells-a-boo," Alice's face was now serious, looking concerned. "You've been acting odd lately. What's wrong?"

Bells-a-boo was a nickname Alice had made up when were younger. She had used it scarcely, usually at times when I looked down. Now, my eyes avoided hers. I looked at my hands that were beginning to fidget with each other instead. I wasn't about to tell her that I was down because I was thinking of something impossible. The possibility of Edward ever wanting or loving me was zero. So I tried to lie.

"I'm just… homesick, I guess."

I guess it was convincing enough for her because she pulled me into a gentle hug and didn't let go for a moment. I hugged her back, appreciating her concern.

"Oh!" she jumped in my arms. Alice pulled away and I saw a surprised look on her face. My face was crumpled into confusion, with my brows furrowed together at her sudden jerk.

"What?" I asked.

"I have a surprise for you!" Alice's face suddenly beamed at me, her white teeth glistening.

"Al-ice," I whined. I hated surprises and she knew it. Now it was me who started to act like a stubborn child, cocking my head back with my eyes closed, awaiting for the dreaded surprise.

"This is a good surprise, Bella! Edward is coming to visit!" Alice said quickly, jumping to her feet to clap her hands excitedly in front of me.

My head snapped back up quickly, eyes widening with complete astonishment. Alice definitely did surprise me, but this, this was a good surprise.

"Are you serious?" I asked, my mouth parted from the unbelievable, but incredible news I just heard.

"He's coming this weekend," Alice sat down next to me on my bed, placing her right leg underneath herself, while the other dangled off the edge.

My eyes widened even more, if it could get anymore wider, as the realization finally hit me. I smiled excitedly as she did and I started to jump up and down. She joined me, grabbing my forearms, bouncing along with me. We were like little school girls getting worked up over something silly. Although, this was not silly. This was Edward.

***

EPOV

"Edward."

My name sounded so far away. It almost sounded like a whisper, or maybe a murmur.

"Edward?! Are you listening to me? What time is your flight arriving?" Alice asked me over the phone.

Oops. I was zoning again.

We were working out the last details of my flight, driving arrangements to get to her and Bella's place, and what to do after I arrived. Alice was the type to plan everything down to it's last painful detail. So organized. Evil pixie. It was annoying.

"What? Oh sorry, Alice. I, uh, was reading something. I'll be there around 4:30 P.M.," I tried to lie about my diverted attention just a second ago.

I couldn't help it though. I was going to see my two best girls. I haven't seen them in, what… three and a half years? That's a lot of years. Not that I was counting. Okay, maybe I was, but excitement was an understatement of how I was feeling to see my sister, Alice, and our best friend, Bella.

Bella.

She was like a sister to Alice, but I didn't want to think of her that way. A friend, definitely, but it was beyond that. She certainly was my best friend, but I felt something there I've never felt before. Love? Of course, I loved Bella. That's where the brotherly love, but not really, kind of fit in at the moment. I was always confused about her and what she made me feel.

And I hated it.

"You're going to love Pelham Manor, Edward. It's so beautiful here! Not like Forks where it rained all the damn time," Alice praised on, interrupting my thoughts.

I could just see the pout that she was putting out on her lower lip right about now. I knew her well enough. It wasn't often that I heard Alice use vulgar words, so that just made me smile amusingly to myself about how she detested the weather of Forks.

"Alice? Where did you put the detergent?" Bella's voice was just loud enough that I could hear in the background.

Bella's voice was the sound of perfection. I could listen to it all day. My heart did weird skipping beats in my chest and I could feel heat rise onto my neck, which eventually spread down over both my chest and up my face. I closed my eyes and placed my hand to the spot where my heart was pounding.

"Hold on, Edward… It's behind the door in the laundry room. In the paper bag… Sorry." Alice told me.

"No worries. Just tell Bella I said hello and I'll see her soon," I said, trying to sound normal and hide the effects Bella's voice made on me.

"Okay! I have to go, but I'll see you tomorrow!" Alice practically squealed loudly onto the ear piece. I had to pull away to save my hearing.

I just chuckled at her action and said a quick, "Tomorrow. Bye," and flipped my cell phone closed.

Just twenty four more hours, or so, till I would see both my girls. Especially Bella. That's why I agreed to visit, after so long of not seeing them. Three and a half years, excluding the holidays, without seeing her timid smile I had found so adorable, her blushes, and the way she looked at me with her chocolate brown eyes. Rich brown eyes that I never thought were more beautiful before I met her. Brown eyes may be very common, but Bella's eyes were full of mystery, secret emotions that she held, and depth that I found entirely fascinating.

I knew Bella had a crush on me since we were kids in high school. It was so obvious when I caught her staring at me with her beautiful eyes, then there was that infamous blush that followed. It was annoying, at first. Then, I don't know, some sort of feelings started to build over time. I found it flattering. Over the years, watching her become comfortable around me and getting to know her like no one else did, besides Alice, had me gain an affection for her. Bella was different than most girls. She was smart, adorable, funny, stubborn, affectionate, and so much more that it was too much to mention all of them.

My suitcase sat on my bed with clothes strewn all over the place. I sighed as I picked up everything that I needed and folded as best as I could. A few minutes into it, I felt my agitation start to set in and I ditched the whole folding thing altogether. I picked up everything I could and dumped it inside my suitcase, plopping the lid on top, then pushing with all my strength to close the zipper around it. Alice was going to have a field day knowing how irresponsible I was about being organized with my belongings. Especially since half of it had been picked out by her.

I set it beside my bedroom door and began to get ready for bed. I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep tonight, knowing tomorrow that I would be leaving for New York to see Bella. And Alice, of course.

You know you're excited to see Bella. Don't deny it.

I shook my head from my thoughts and decided to put on some soothing music for relaxation. I didn't want to think before going to bed. I needed sleep. I could sleep on the plane, but the knowledge of seeing Bella, oh yeah, and Alice…

Yep, keep telling yourself that, buddy.

…but the knowledge of seeing Bella and Alice would make me too antsy to sleep.

The music on my stereo played the notes of one of my favorite classical pieces I had just happened upon recently. I laid down on my bed and listened intently. I usually liked the old classics of Debussy, Beethoven, a little of Chopin, but I also respected instrumental of different varieties. When the cello of Bach's Cello Suite No. 1 in G major began playing softly in the air, I closed my eyes and absorbed the beautiful notes in. It was just perfect. I felt my anxiousness start to slowly fall off of me and I could feel sleep quietly creep. Suddenly, it was cut off almost abruptly when the music ended, the last note echoing, until it was completely silent afterwards. It seemed so harsh for something that beautiful to end.

With a huff, I stood up, crossed the space between my bed and my stereo and punched a few buttons. I put it on repeat and returned to my bed. Again, the cello quietly hummed in the air and I closed my eyes to sleep.

I didn't remember when I fell asleep, but apparently I had. The music had worked because it was so easy to drift off unknowingly. Looking at the clock next to me, it was close to 4:27 A.M. in the morning.

"Shit!" I sat up quickly. I had exactly 30 minutes or less to get ready.

The music was still playing in the background and I hurriedly turned the stereo off, then peeled off my clothes and jumped into the shower. There was no time to wait for the water to warm up. I yelped at the freezing temperature, but it would help to wake me up. After five, okay maybe six, minutes of quickly washing myself and shampooing my unruly hair, I jumped out again and dried my hair with a quick shake over my head with the towel. I looked in the mirror and rubbed at the stubble. There was no time to shave. I looked at the clock and I had about 20 minutes to spare. I was cutting it close.

You idiot, Edward. You might miss your flight! Get your ass moving!

"I'm going, I'm going!" I said to myself like a moron.

There I go talking to myself again. I have been doing that a lot since Alice and Bella haven't been around. Finally after 10 minutes of hustling, I was out the door with everything I needed. The cab I called on my cell phone after I came out the shower was waiting patiently at the curb outside my apartment.

"San Francisco International," I told him quickly, closing the door beside me.

"Sure thing, buddy," he responded and took off quickly.

I was thankful that he noticed my rush to the airport. As if a miracle happened on this already hectic morning, the traffic wasn't so bad as I thought it would be. We arrived to the airport in good time and I gave him my fee plus a pretty good tip for his prompt arrival.

"Thanks. Have a good flight," he smiled, eyeing his tip.

I just nodded and went back to the trunk to grab my belongings. Within 30-40 minutes, I was up in the air, my nerves a wreck. My knees were tapping impatiently while I took in my surroundings. There was a screen on the seat in front of me, acting as a movie screen or information I needed during the flight. I tapped at it aimlessly, just trying to keep my hands busy instead of wringing them in my lap. After 10 minutes of finding nothing to get me calm, I pulled out my MP3 player and put it on repeat of the song I played on my stereo before I fell asleep. Again, I closed my eyes and I could feel my muscles relax and the tension roll off easily. I was becoming soothed by the sounds of the cello playing on my earpiece. Then, there was a tap on my shoulder that brought me back to reality.

"Sir?" The flight attendant tried to get my attention. I could just read the lips of the woman as she smiled politely at me. "I'm sorry to disturb you, but would you care for a drink? Perhaps a snack?" The dark haired, older woman handed me a menu full of drinks, which included mixed liquor on the list.

I took one of the earpieces off my ear and smiled back at her. "I'm sorry. Yes, can I just get a bottle of water?"

We exchanged the water and money and I was back to listening to my soothing music. It wasn't long again, that I fell asleep, with the music playing and the plane's engine humming beneath me. When I woke up, we had at least an hour and a half left on the flight.

Thank God.

I don't know how much longer it would be for me to go insane from this flight. It wasn't that plane flights made me feel so anxious. It was the fact that I was going to see Bella's familiar face again and feel Alice's excitedness overwhelm me, as well as my own, piled on top of that. This was going to be a fantastic break from loneliness. It will be just like old times. I couldn't wait for this flight to end already.