To my very awesome beta Capricorn75 - thank you so much for dealing with my inability to use consistent tenses. You are one groovy, patient lady.

To my very awesome readers - I apologize fervently for the MONTHSSS I have been away. I'm currently applying to Law School and was spending every waking moment studying for the LSAT... then I was spending every moment writing Law School Application essays. I'm not entirely finished, but I just felt absolutely rotten and wanted to get this to you all as soon as I can. Keep me in your prayers y'all. I'm stressed to the MAX! lol.

To my anonymous/sometimes just blatantly, unnecessary rude reviewers - #SorryNotSorry. I have 3 jobs, I'm in full time undergrad, and I'm applying to Law School. Clearly my priorities are already set. This is just something I like to do for fun and my enjoyment. Don't ruin it for me.

Also, if you didn't get a teaser last chapter, I feel absolutely awful. Like I said life happened and I had to step away, but please message me and I'll make sure you get an extra long one this time! ;)

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight. Or Archer (for those of you who may catch the reference below!)

...in which the truth comes to light

EPOV.

"Babe, what's wrong? You've been weird all day."

We're in our meadow, sitting down in the tall grass and looking up to the sky. I'm trying to find the right moment, the perfect moment, our moment. I want to make sure everything's great and amazing, so she'll remember this forever. But her current mood has me backtracking. I keep one hand in my pocket, fondling the box.

"Nothing," Bella answers quietly and swiftly, leaning back against my chest. I fold my arms around her stomach and pull her tighter against me. "I'm just tired, you know. Graduation and stuff."

"Yeah, it's all slightly overwhelming." I smile widely against her skin, kissing up and down her neck. "I can't believe everything that's about to happen for us. Maybe one day I'll be this famous singer and you'll be in the best orchestra in the country and everything will be perfect. Just you and me."

I kiss the back of her head and breathe her in, wishing every moment could be as perfect as this one. She stays silent, which for her is very strange. I turn her chin towards me, tilting my head to the side.

I shrug, frowning. "Bell, what's going on?"

"Nothin'." She forces a smile on to her face that doesn't quite reach her eyes. She stares deeply into my eyes and licks her lips. "I swear."

It's crazy that she thinks I don't know her, after all this time. I'm about to protest, when she grips me by the back of the head and plants her mouth firmly and passionately against mine. She pulls me impossibly closer and holds onto me for dear life. She pushes her tongue deep into my mouth, prompting me to suck on it. And we're making out like typical passionately-in-love teenagers. She traps my bottom lip in between her lips and nibbles at it lightly. I chuckle against her mouth. She knows that turns me on and she laughs when I growl, rolling on top of her.

"Edward!"

I deepen the kiss, trying to get as close to her as possible. She kisses back desperately. As if if she's dehydrated and I'm life-saving water. As if my lips hold the key to eternal youth. As if she'll never get the chance to kiss me again. A few moments later, I feel something wet touch the thumb I have cupping her cheek. I break the kiss and pull back slightly. Tears are streaming down her face, wetting her cheeks and rolling over my thumb. My eyes widen with concern.

"Bella!" I sit up swiftly, pulling her with me. Wildly, I search her face trying to figure out what's bothering her. I demand, "Tell me what's going on. Please."

"It's just - you know… the stress of everything after graduation and stuff. You know how my dad is." She states, wiping at her eyes.

I nod. "I do know how your dad is. But I also know you know how your dad is, so I'm surprised you're so worked up right now."

She shrugs, defeated. She wrings her hands. "I know. I'm just being silly."

I pull her against me again, her back against from my chest. "I am so excited for my future with you, Bella. I can't believe we're moving to New York together. I can't believe things are working out for us and we get to start the next phase of our lives together." I play with the ends of her hair and kiss the side of her neck again. "I am so fucking excited."

She sighs, grabbing my hands and holding them close to her chest. At her silence, I raise an eyebrow. "Are you not… excited?"

"I - I am - I - " She bursts into sobs. Okay, this has officially crossed over from possibly being usual Bella-neurosis into something that is actually worrying me.

"Babe, you're starting to freak me out now."

"I'm sorry. I can't - " She turns to sob into my chest and I rub her back slowly.

"Bella, tell me what's wrong. I don't know how to help unless you tell me. What's going on? What's wrong? What can I do?"

She pulls her head up, looks me in the eyes for a few moments and then gets out of my lap.

"Bella?"

"Edward," She starts slowly. "I am… I'm not going to New York."

I freeze confused and run a hand through my hair. "I'm sorry?"

"I can't," She shakes her head, tears falling down her cheeks. "I'm not going to Juilliard anymore. I don't want to move to New York anymore. I - "

"What!" I look at her wildly. We've had this planned for an entire year. We're signing the lease on the apartment in a few weeks. Plane tickets have been purchased. Where is this coming from? "What the fuck? I don't understand."

"I've been doing some soul digging and this just… I don't think I even like the violin anymore."

Now I know she's lying. She lives for the violin. "Bella." I glower at her seriously. "We're musicians. You don't just suddenly stop wanting to make music."

"Okay, you're right. It's you. It's not the violin. It's not New York. It's you."

My heart stutters and my world nearly shatters all around me. "Bella, what the hell's going on? What did I do?" When she doesn't answer, I take a shaky breath and ask calmly, "Bella, what the hell did I do?"

She stands slowly and huffs like this is tearing her apart. "I am so sorry."

I choke out, "I don't understand. I don't know what's going on right now." But, I do. Not why she's doing this or what I've done, but I'd be an idiot not to know what's coming next.

"I just," She starts crying harder, looking down at me. "Edward, this isn't working out for me anymore. This. Us."

"Is there," It almost kills me to spit out my next words. "Is there someone else?"

"No! Of course not!" She says emphatically. "I love you! You know that."

I place the heel of my hands against my eyes, attempting to force myself to keep from tearing up. The last thing I needed is to look weak in front of her.

"Then why are you doing this?" I ask, throat heavy.

"I d-d-don't knowww!" She sobs louder and covers her face with her hands. "Please don't cry."

I shake my head in confusion. I'm not following at all. She says she loves me, but she's breaking up with me. Where the hell is this coming from?

I stand up suddenly. I will do anything to keep Bella. She's the only thing I'll ever need and I know that to be absolutely true. And it cuts me to the quick to see her hurting so much like this.

"I don't have to go to New York. Babe," I grab her hands and pull them off her face. "Fuck New York. No, I'm serious. I don't care about that shit. Not as much as I care about you. If you need time to figure out what you want or who you are," I take a deep breath. "I'll wait with you. I'll wait for you. Bella, I love you so much and I know - I know without a doubt in mind that there is absolutely no one else out there - " She begins to pull away and I desperately hold on. "No, Bell, you're it. You're it for me. You're it! Please don't do this to me." I argue desperately, eyes watering again as I feel her metaphorically and figuratively slipping through my fingers.

"If you're feeling unsure, let me help you. Let me be there for you." She steps back a few steps and I cry, "Don't do this to me."

It's like a light goes off in her head at my words. She straightens up and wipes at her eyes. "That's just the problem. Edward, you don't give up your dreams. Not for me. Not for anyone. We're suffocating each other, you and I." I shake my head in disagreement and she continues, "No, we are. It's not healthy. I'm only 18, I shouldn't be making these life altering decisions with someone like you right now."

"Someone like me?" I place a hand on my abdomen, slightly offended. "What does that mean?"

"It means that…" She swallows, "Edward, you have so much potential. So much. And I cannot wait to see what you do with it. I'm so sorry, Edward. I wish - I wish our lives, everything we'd planned, I wish… I will wish everyday for that, Edward. But, unfortunately, you have to move on without me. I've got to figure out things for me here… alone."

She rushes up to me and wraps her arms around me tightly. "This is for you, Edward. I love you so much."

I wrap my arms around her fiercely and hold on for dear life. "I love you, too. I don't want anyone but you. I'd rather be alone forever. I just don't understand, Bella. Please explain it to me. What does that mean?" My eyes threaten to spill the tears that had collected. My heart's pounding against my chest like it wanted to burst out and plead a better case than I was making. I feel like I'm about to vomit. "What does 'this is for you' mean?"

"I'm so sorry, Edward. So sorry." She pulls away and walks a few feet away from me.

I feel so vulnerable, so confused. I don't know what to do, what to say. My life… it's over. "Bella, baby, you are breakin' my heart."

She starts crying again. "I know. I'm so sorry." And she runs out of sight, out of the meadow, and out of my life.

.

"What are you thinking about so intensely over there?"

Rose walks into the kitchen, catching me leaning on the counter, staring at a pile of unopened envelopes. They're letters from my mother. I haven't spoken to her in months and, according to my father, she is absolutely beside herself and feels utterly repentant for what she's done.

Well, fuck that.

Unless she can build a time machine and unbreak my heart, I don't give two shits. I'd been trying to work up the energy to open one, but when I think about all the pain she caused me, it becomes just too easy to slip it into the trash.

"Oh," I look around trying to get my bearings and slip my way back out of my feelings. "Uh, you know, taxes or something."

"Pfft." She scoffs, hopping onto a stool. "Yeah, right, Daddy Warbucks."

I roll my eyes and stand up straight. "So, your mom's giving us free range to do whatever we decide is best. Lisa will be back over in a bit."

Rose chuckles lightly. "I know. I'm surprised, too." She plops down on the stool next to the counter and sighs. "I think really she's just ready to put this whole thing behind her."

I search through the cabinets and pull out my NutriBullet. Carla is constantly moving things around in my kitchen. I never know where anything is. "It's definitely been an interesting couple of months."

Rose nods, screwing up her face and frowning at her phone. I laugh at the constipated expression that crosses Rose's face. Turning away, I throw some strawberries into the blender and ask, "What's with the face?"

"Nothing," She sighs loudly, frowning. "It's just that if I don't answer this FaceTime from Jess, I'm pretty sure she's going to fly here, find me, scream at me for keeping her out of the loop and then slaughter me until I'm dead. Dead and friendless."

I smirk at her dramatics. "Isn't slaughtering you until you're dead a little redundant?"

She throws me a glare. I wink at her, turning quickly to grab some more fruit. "She's the one who guessed, right?"

Rose scrunches up her face and nods, watching as I grab blueberries and tomato out of the fridge. I hate thinking that this situation is causing so much stress on her life, but I know in this instance, she can handle it.

"You gotta face the music sometime, sweetheart. Might as well do it now." I shrug slightly. "She's your best friend, right? And you trust her? You can give her the inside scoop."

She sighs loudly and scowls - whether it's at the thought of facing the music or me calling her sweetheart, I'm not sure. She slides her finger across the screen of the new iPad she swindled out of me the other day and tenses.

The minute her FaceTime connects, I hear a piercing scream that vibrates the iPad's speakers at a volume that no person should ever be capable of reaching. "You lying bitch!"

"I know." Rose sighs through clenched teeth.

"So, I'm right. I mean, like, I said - I said that he was your long lost father. Do you remember that? I said it!" The girl states passionately.

Rose nods in agreement. "I know."

"And you looked at me like I was crazy! Like I was making something up that was just so, so far-fetched."

"I know. I'm sorry." I watch as she bites her lip nervously, looking more ashamed than I ever thought possible for Rosalie. "I wasn't allowed to say anything."

"When" Jess shrieks and stresses slowly. "have you ever in your entire life given a single fuck about what anyone told you to do?"

The girl raises a very important point. I chuckle quietly and Rose throws me a quick side-eye.

"This is different, Jess."

"Whatever, bitch." Jess says quickly, clicking her tongue. "I'm still hurt. I mean, I'm your BFF. This is the exact kind of shit I want to know first hand, Rosalie."

Rose gives up on the kicked puppy dog look and rolls her eyes. "Don't first name me, Jessica."

Jess sighs loudly. "You know, people are going to put this together pretty quickly.

Especially with the news about him and your mother a couple months ago. It's not gonna be hard to connect the dots once somebody names you."

Rose rests the iPad on the case's stand, resting her elbow on the countertop and her chin in her hand. "Yeah. Well, fortunately or unfortunately, people just think I'm some slut right now so we're in the clear. I mean, I sort of am, but I don't want people thinking that."

"Rose, goddamn," I grunt, frowning at her over the rim of my smoothie. I hate when she says shit like that. Rose chuckles, shrugging. "Stop saying shit like that. I really don't need to be hearing that."

Jess gasps loudly for a solid four seconds.

"Was that him?!" Jess shrieks. I'm used to the fangirling so it doesn't freak me out. This is normal teenager behavior. Rose is a complete anomaly. "Oh my god!"

Rose smiles at her friend's mini-freak out. "Yeah, he's making some kind of weird fruit/vegetable smoothie shit. I don't know. Famous people are weird."

"Oh, okay! So, you're just sitting there. In Edward Cullen's house. In Edward Cullen's kitchen. While Edward Cullen's making a smoothie. FaceTiming me. Casually." She snarks. "Like this isn't a huge effing deal."

"You know, he can hear you." She smirks at the screen and then waves me over. I walk over to the other side of the counter and smile at Rose's very blonde friend over her shoulder.

I wave awkwardly and laugh out, "Hi. You must be Jess?"

Jess's mouth drops open and stares at us in silence for two beats, then switches to breathing heavily. She points at me and opens and closes her mouth a good three times in a row. Rose rolls her eyes, pushing me away from the camera.

"Jessica, stop getting all horny for my father. It's gross."

Jess laughs hysterically, shaking slightly. I'm out of view of the camera, but I can still see Rose's screen. "Edward Cullen knows my name?

Rose gives me a look, shaking her head. "He's not that cool."

I stick my tongue out at her as I walk back to the blender.

"But promise me you won't say anything, J. He's releasing a statement later this evening. So if anyone asks you any questions, tell them to shove it, 'kay?"

"'Course." Jess says assuredly with what sounds like a fierce sense of loyalty. "But, afterward, to make it up to me, you have to let me tell everyone I knew the whole time."

Rose giggles. "Definitely. You can tell them whatever you want, Jess."

.

BPOV

"Long day?"

Slowly, I turn toward the deep, husky voice to my left. A tall, dark-haired man, two stools down from me, smirks at me while taking a pull from his beer. I sigh and shrug. "How did you guess?"

"Well, firstly," He places his beer back down onto the counter, tipping it slightly at the one in front of me. "You're at a bar at noon."

I purse my lips slightly at his judge-y tone. Not sure I'm in the mood for conversation, especially since I might be getting fired soon. With no promises I won't be grumpy, using my beer, I point at his as well. "So are you."

He nods in agreement. "Yeah, but, you haven't smiled once since I've been watching you. And…" I roll my eyes which only makes him smirk more. "You keep checking your phone every five seconds like you're expecting some kind of call - nope, a message from aaa…" He holds up a finger and squints his eyes shut. "Hold on let me think… an ex-lover?"

I place the beer to my lips again and take a large swig. I wipe my mouth with the back of my hand and laugh slightly. "Yeah, I guess that's… that's kind of accurate."

I also keep checking my phone because I keep getting messages from people who recognized Rose in the stories printed.

He stands up, grabs his beer and stands next to the seat next to me. He holds out his hand and smiles broadly, "Marcus."

After a few quick beats, I place my hand in his. I could use an escape. "Bella."

"Bella." He says slowly, exaggerating the syllables. We both take a sip from our respective beers, watching each other. "What are you doing at a bar in the middle of the day, Bella?" He says my name in that exaggerated way of his again. I squint my eyes at him, trying to figure him out.

"What are you doing at a bar in the middle of the day, Marcus?" I mock, dragging out the syllables in his name as well.

He sighs heavily, frowning at his empty bottle. He waves down the bartender for another. "Avoiding work shit."

I nod. "Ah, yes. I'm familiar with that kind of shit. I'm in it myself, actually."

He laughs. "Ugh, it is the worst."

"For sure." I finish what's left of my beer and nod in gratitude when Marcus hands me another. "Second only to family shit."

He nods in sympathy. "Too true."

Silence takes over for a few moments as we drink our second beers. I'm debating whether I should get up and go back to my apartment and wallow in self-pity there when Marcus looks over and asks,

"You from around here?"

"Yeah, actually. You?"

He shakes his head. "Nah, I'm from the east coast. I'm actually here on work."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah, I have this demanding… client, I guess. He's really draining all of my energy. He really wants to work with this specific guy and I'm stuck flying all the way across the country to beg him to work with us. It's highly annoying."

"I can imagine. I know a thing or two about difficult bosses." I smile in sympathy. "Well, if it makes you feel any better, I'm pretty sure in about 10 hours or so, I'm gonna be fired."

He bites his lower lip. "Yikes." He laughs and motions at the bartender again. "We're gonna need something a lot stronger than beer. You a tequila kind of girl?"

I blanch, grabbing his arm. "What, no! I can't drink hard liquor in the middle of the day!"

He smirks again and I'm seconds away from punching him in the gut every time he smirks at me. "So, you're not a tequila kind of girl?"

"I'm not - I don't - I don't know, I guess." I stutter, biting my lip insecurely.

"What do you mean you don't know?" He laughs loudly. "Hold up," He tips my chin toward him, inspecting my face. "You're not underage, are you?"

"Pfft!" I blush furiously, rolling eyes. "Thanks for the compliment."

"Then what?" He points at the two shots of tequila sitting in front of us. His eyes are twinkling. "Church girl? Bookworm? Homebody? Tell me. How do you not know whether or not you're a tequila girl?"

"Easy, um." I point at myself and say the two words that usually make men run in the complete opposite direction. "Teen mom." His eyes widen, eyebrows shooting up into his hairline. "Yeah, so, I didn't really… I didn't really do the college or partying or, you know, anything really where I would have the chance to find out whether I was a tequila girl or not. I was a little busy."

"Ah, yes. Raising a child and what not."

"Yep." I finish up my beer and snort. "Alone."

"Yikes. In that case, this is definitely not enough." His smile broadens and he says loudly in the direction of the bartender. "We're gonna need a few tequila shots down here."

.

"And now my daughter's fa-sher - father, I mean - is being a total pain inmyash." I slur, holding on to Marcus's arm - essentially, leaning on him for support. "And, I just don't - I just I don't trust him! I don't trust him! That's it, I guess. I. Don't. Trust him. Or her. I don't trust him or her. But her - I mean, it's more understandable. She's a teenager and she lies all the time. She's kind of the definition of untrustworthy. But, him… God. I don't trust him. But, I have to, you know?"

"You shouldn't have to." He shakes his head emphatically in full support. "How can you? She's your baby? Your baby! You raised her?"

I throw my hands up in exasperation. Where has this guy been my whole life? He totally gets it. "Thank you!" I almost burst into tears. "Oh my god. I've been feeling like I've been this huge asshole to him because I don't think… I just don't trust him with my - our daughter." I take a large gulp of the drink sitting in front of him and frown.

But, that's just the thing. I keep thinking of Rosalie as my daughter, but she's not. She's ours. Mine and his. And I was definitely unfit to be a mother when I had Rosalie, but I learned. I adapted. I have to give him time to adapt, too.

I shake my head, pointing at Marcus so quickly that it causes me to lose my balance. He laughs and grasps my shoulders. I point at him again, slower this time and giggle.

"And you, you shouldn't let that asshole push you around."

He licks his lips. "You're right. You're so right. I shouldn't."

"Definitely. Not." I say, so sternly and intensely in fact that it startles both of us and we were burst into laughter.

We're drunk. We're so drunk. And, for some reason strangely comfortable with each other. I'm laughing so hard that I make myself dizzy. I'm getting so dizzy that my stomach starts to gurgle.

"Oh, no. I know that face."

"What face?" I ask him absent-mindedly, holding my stomach.

"The I'm-not-a-tequila-girl face." He laughs lightly and stumbles to stand up. He gains his balance and smiles. "Let's get you home."

"Uh uh." I shake my head, but allow him to pull me up anyway. "You could be a murderer."

He chuckles, settling our tab. "Very true. But I think letting you go home by yourself is an even worse idea. Someone other than me might actually murder you."

I roll my eyes. "It's only 1:00, no ones gonna murder me!" I state in my defense. He throws his arm around me and I'm leaning into him heavily with my forehead pressed against his neck.

"You do know that murder is not strictly a night time ordeal, right?" He holds me tightly as we walk out of the bar.

I click my tongue. "You seem to know a lot about murder for someone who claims that he is definitely not a murderer."

He chuckles and I stop him right as we get to his rental car. I struggle for a few moments to grab my phone out of my purse and when I do, I take it out and take a picture of him.

"Hey!"

"Shut up," I mumble, pulling up iMessage. "I'm sending this to my best friend. Or ex-best friend. Whatever. I'm telling him if he doesn't hear from me in the next two hours, I'm dead. And that you murdered me. And to send this picture out to all the local media outlets,"

He looks at me with that stupid smirk face again and I roll my eyes.

"Are you always this smirky or is it just the alcohol?"

He steps in closer to me and whispers, "Little from column A, little from column B."

My eyes dart back and forth as I try to stare at both of his eyes. The action makes me dizzy and I lean back against his car for support. "You're standing awfully close to me."

"That's 'cause I'm about to kiss you." He takes another step and his body is pressed completely against mine. And in this moment, I forget about everything - my job, Rose, Edward, Jake. My eyes widen as I watch him stare at my lips.

"You know, saying that you're gonna kiss me kind of sucked out all the anticipation."

His eyes flicker back up to mine and he raises one eyebrow. He squints his eyes and asks doubtfully, "Did it?"

I chuckle slightly as my cheeks flame. "No, I guess n-"

He mashes his mouth on top of mine and presses my body firmly against the side of his car. It only takes me a few quick seconds before I'm kissing back. I moan softly into his mouth as we continue to kiss outside of a bar in broad daylight. My hands make their way up his chest and grasp at his shirt. He pulls back abruptly staring at me through eyes half open.

"So, you have two options." I blink once and then again, confused as hell. Where is he going with this? He smiles brightly and continues, "I have to call a cab because I am too drunk to drive. When we both get in the cab and I make sure you get home okay, you can do one of two things. You can either A: invite me in," His look was so intense that there is not a doubt in my mind what he's insinuating. "Or B: say goodbye and hope that one day we'll see each other again and see if this, what we have here, could possibly go anywhere."

He stares at me for a few short moments as I mull over my options. I lick my lips slowly, eyes flickering down to the material of his shirt still bunched in my hands.

"Option A." I blurt out. We both grin at my eagerness. I bite my bottom lip and do my best to ignore the blush spreading across my face. "I choose option A."

.

EPOV.

Lisa stares at me and blinks twice. She turns to look at Rose for a few moments and then repeats this process two more times. Finally, she shakes her head.

"Ho. Ly. Shit."

Rose runs her hand through her long hair, much in the same way I typically do, and sighs. She looks at me and gives me a quick eye roll at Lisa's antics. "Is she broken?"

I smirk back. It is kind of unbelievable.

"I just, I mean…" She huffs, rubbing her temples. "You're sure?"

Rose narrows her eyes and opens her mouth, presumably to say something very impolite or vulgar. I grab Rose's arm quickly to quiet her. I nod at Lisa.

"Very sure."

"I mean, even if you are sure… we should probably get a - "

I frown, afraid what Lisa would say next would hurt Rose's feelings. "We don't need one. She's mine."

Lisa opens and closes her mouth a couple times. "Well, damn. Shit, Edward. This is gonna be big." She breathes out, shaking her head in awe. "I mean, it woulda been big anyway because you're you, and people are always in your shit, but…" She points at Rose. "Damn, Edward. She's gorgeous."

I wince. I was afraid of that. I really hoped this situation wouldn't lead to her being thrust into the public eye in a crazy, chaotic way and that the media would be more focused on me than Rose. But who was I kidding?

Rose scrunches up her face and looks over at me in confusion. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"It means," I sigh, and think my words through carefully. I never realized how nervous I was. I really don't want her to resent the fact that I am her father and change her mind about getting to know me. "It means that it's possible this won't just blow over like most scandals. It means that the media will be really interested in you. For maybe a while."

Rose's eyes flicker with an emotion I'm unable to discern – possibly fear, possibly excitement, possibly both.

Suddenly, Lisa looks up at me and purses her lips. "You said she's a singer, too, right?"

I nod, scratching my chin. "She's incredible."

Rose smiles widely, blushing slightly. She elbows me in the side. "Gee, thanks, old man."

I elbow her back lightly in response. Lisa looks at me and shakes her head, biting her lip. She's right. This is going to be big. Bigger than I'd originally thought.

"Listen, Rose," Lisa grabs her attention and looks at her firmly. "This is going to be different. And it's going to be big. The media – they already know Edward. But, you're new. And you're beautiful. And you're talented. If you let them, they will eat you alive."

"Lis," I warn, widening my eyes at her to stop her, but she doesn't notice because she's locked her eyes with Rose. "Don't scare her."

Lisa reaches out and grabs Rose's slightly shaking hands. "But, that doesn't have to be the case. I'll try to keep this as tame as possible, but it's gonna take some effort on your end as well. Drinking and partying and all those things that teenagers do looks ten times worse in the limelight. Do whatever you want. Just remember that. Growing up in front of cameras is not all its cracked up to be. Fame sounds fun and exciting, and a lot of the time it is. But the lack of privacy drives some people insane. Remember that."

Rose nods, carefully considering her words. She lets out a breath as Lisa lets go of her hands.

I lick my lips, clearing my throat. "So. Statement?" I scroll through all my missed messages on my iPhone. I had dodged a couple calls from Aro this morning. I knew he was probably going to scream at me for how I was embarrassing the label, or something of the sort, with my image. "Maybe something about respecting our privacy as we get to know each other blahblahblah. I mean, I don't care about the specifics, I just want to make sure they lay off Rose as much as possible and as soon as possible."

"I think," Lisa clicks her fingernails on the table. "I think that's a bad idea. I think – I think we should be just as casual about this as possible."

I scrunch my eyebrows together. "What do you mean?"

"You don't need to tell anyone that you just found out. That's none of their business right now. Besides, I promised TMZ an exclusive 2 minute interview, if they didn't release that video of you two arguing. Drunkenly." She gives Rose and me a hard look, and we both look away guiltily. "You can talk about it then. Together."

"What!" Rose exclaims, eyebrows shooting into her hairline. "I can't - I've never - TMZ, I can't - "

Lisa says sternly, "You can and you will."

Rose starts breathing heavily and suddenly, I'm afraid she'll leave and say 'fuck it!' to all of this - this life, to New York, to me. Rose is so strong-willed that I'm constantly forgetting she is only a 16 year-old girl. I throw a tentative arm across her shoulders. I feel her tense slightly, then turn to look me in the eye.

"We don't have to do anything you don't want to do." I promise quietly, hoping she can read the sincerity in my eyes.

"Edward," Lisa warns, crossing her arms over chest.

"No." I argue, bringing my eyes back to Rose. "If Rose is uncomfortable with it, we're not doing it. End of story."

Rose blinks at me a few times, her eyes wide with worry, then looks down at her hands.

Lisa huffs, "Edward, if you don't do this interview, they'll air the video. You can't hear everything, but it's very clear that you're both drunk. When it comes out that you're her father, what do you think they'll say? They'll say you're a shitty father. They'll say you have no business being around her. That you don't know what the fuck you're doing."

"I don't know what the fuck I'm doing." I admit, shrugging.

Again, she huffs. "They don't need to know that. They definitely don't need to see it! I can't even imagine that her mother wants to see that. If you want to stay in Rose's life." Lisa exclaims, hands spread out in front of her. "Edward, your image can't take any more shit. You could be ruining everything you've worked for. You're working on a new album. You don't want your sales to tank, do you?"

I cringe, considering her words. Finally, I shake my head. "Sorry, Lis. I - Rose is… For me, right now, Rose is most important." I blush slightly at my words and my face heats up even more when I notice the huge grin Rose is wearing. I roll my eyes and look away.

Laughing, Rose nods. "I'll do it."

"Rose, no - " I reach my hands out in front of me, shaking my head. "Don't let her pressure you into doing this, and don't feel guilty -"

"No, it's fine. Mom said we can do whatever we want as long as we agree - and I agree. I'm sick of this hiding bullshit." She brushes me off, then jokes, "I'll consider it a practice run for when I'm famous on my own."

I laugh slightly, rolling my eyes. Lisa smiles. "Great. So, like I said 'casual'. Nothing formal. Address it without really addressing it." She snaps her fingers, then points at me. "You should post a picture of you two together on your twitter or your instagram. You too, Rose."

We both nod. Rose lights up, smacking the table. "I have the perfect picture! It's our first picture together. Remember?"

I laugh slightly. She's referring to the selfie we took in Central Park, both of us in baseball caps and sunglasses. She's smiling, looking her normal effortless brand of beautiful and I had screwed my face up, sticking my tongue out and looked flat out ridiculous. I love that picture. "I remember."

Rose shows Lisa. Lisa rolls her eyes, but smiles slightly so I know she approves. She helps her draft a caption. They finally decide on a caption that is so totally a mixture of Lisa's creativity and Rose's sense of humor. It states: '#ThatAwkwardMomentWhen people think you're dating your father'.

Bella is going to trip over that one.

Rose sends the same picture to me and I upload it to my instagram captioning it: 'Acting as a tourist for the day. Taking my daughter to see all the sights! #FatherDaughterBonding'.

And I tag her in it.

I pause and look up at Rose, my thumb hovering over the 'send' button. She hasn't hit send yet either and we both sit there staring at each other. The magnitude of the situation not escaping either of us.

"We don't have to do this."

"Edward," She scoffs, looking back at her phone.

"No, I'm serious." I breathe out loudly.

"Send it, Rose!" Lisa advises, nodding her head in encouragement.

I panic. I run a hand through my hair and pull the phone out of her hand. I want her to take this moment seriously. I want her to really think it through. I know the media and I know fame. I know how nasty, cruel, crazy, and awesome it can be. I don't want her to regret anything, especially if it has something to do with me. All I could think about was how Bella was trusting me… with our daughter. I couldn't fuck this up. I didn't want to disappoint either of them. "Just - hold on, okay! Fuck! Don't hit send yet."

They both look at me sharply at my minor freak out. I pull Rose up by her shoulders and bring her a few feet away from Lisa.

"Look at me." I say firmly.

She blinks up at me, alarmed.

"Think about the things this will change. Promise me that you understand what you're doing, because I don't think you do." I bite my lip and sigh at the look of confusion on her face. "People will suddenly want to be your friend and it'll be for the wrong reasons. You'll have to second-guess everything and everyone because you don't know if they're doing it for you or because of what it will do for them. You'll freak out at night wondering if you even have any real friends. Sometimes you'll be surrounded by all these people and feel so fucking lost and alone. It's devastating. I mean, obviously, it's wonderful, but it's also devastating. And, Rose… It would honest to God destroy me if you ended up resenting me because of how my lifestyle affected you." I choke up slightly, and lecture myself on acting like a little girl. I place my hands on her shoulders. "I just want you to - I probably sound like a fucking idiot, but I just want you to understand."

Her eyes water slightly as she quickly wraps arms around my waist. After a few beats, I slowly wrap my arms around her back. She pulls back and smiles up at me.

"You've got some pretty words there, Eddie. I can see how my mom flipped her shit over you."

I roll my eyes, pulling away from her. "I'll take 'How to Ruin a Moment' for 200, Alex."

"My mom really messed you up, huh?" She says quietly and for the first time I see what might look like sympathy – or maybe it's just understanding - in her eyes.

I shake my head and look up at the ceiling. "Your mom and I… Our story... We're just – I think we're just in completely different books now."

Rose bites the inside of her cheek and shakes her head at me. "You know what? I don't think so." She lets out a loud laugh and shoves me slightly. "We're sending it. You and mom – whatever. You and me, from here on out, we're sharing our lives together. I know who my father is now. Finally. I don't want to have to lie anymore. If that's okay with you?"

I chuckle, walking over to the table where Lisa is staring at us oddly and, if I'm not mistaken, fondly. I pick up my phone and hand it to her. "It's okay with me."

"Here goes… everything." She smiles, pressing send on both of them at the same time.

She looks up at me with a smirk, then clenches her teeth in mock fear. "I should go call my mother. There's gonna be a shitstorm waiting for her back in Seattle. Oh, and probably also Uncle J."

"Good idea." I agree as she hands me back my phone, already lit up with hundreds of notifications.

It's going to be a long day.

.

BPOV.

A few hours later I'm awaken by the buzzing of my phone against the carpet. I groan loudly and roll over without opening my eyes. I rub a hand across my face and freeze when I hear a voice.

"Your phone's been going crazy for the last half hour."

My eyes fly open to find a man lying in bed next to me with his eyes closed and naked chest peeking over the duvet.

"Oh shit," I mutter. He opens his eyes and smirks at me.

"Do you remember who I am?"

I nod, sitting up slowly. "Marcus…From the bar."

He laughs lightly, stretching his arms out to the sides. "That's correct. I'm surprised, Miss Not-a-Tequila-Girl."

"Oh shit," I place a hand over my eyes and take a deep breath. The room was spinning slightly, but it wasn't unbearable.

"Hey," He quips. "You say that one more time and you're gonna start hurting my ego."

"No, no." I remove my hand quickly, staring at him. "It's not you. It's - this isn't me."

He raises an eyebrow in confusion.

"I mean, obviously, I'm me. But, I'm not this person." I rush to explain. "The kind of person who spends the early afternoon in a bar and then sleeps with a guy she literally met a few hours ago and shirks all of her responsibilities."

He sits up slowly, reaching over to the side table next to him to grab his phone, revealing more of his annoyingly and distractingly gorgeous chest. "I see."

"I mean, it's not that I don't like you. I like you. I do. It's just that - this is so… crazy, you know?"

He looks back over at me and runs a hand through my hair. "Bella, relax." He looks back at his phone and frowns. "Aw, shit."

"What?" I ask curiously, getting out of bed and searching for my clothes.

"Ah, nothing. Just the dude I'm working with. He's making life hell for his publicist right now and my company's freaking out on me." He scratches above his eyebrow. "Not that it's really got anything to do with me. That's outside the parameters of my job."

I laugh lightly. Not wanting to pry, I say nothing. "Do you need to go?"

"Unfortunately, yes." He gets up as well, grabbing his jeans and slipping them over his body. After he's dressed, he comes to sit next to where I'm sitting on the bed, grabbing my hand. "Listen, earlier at the bar you told me that you're a musician."

"What!" I say shocked. I shake my head. "No, I don't - That's not me anymore."

"Listen, if you were good enough to get into Juilliard, you're a musician." He says matter-of-factly.

I lick my lips and look down, my hand tensing in his.

"Anyway, if you're ever serious about starting up with the violin again - or even if you're slightly curious about it, I can make a few calls for you. Actually, it'd only be one, so it wouldn't be putting me out or anything. But, I know a guy who owes me a favor who is a genius with the violin if you wanna tweak your rusty violin skills." I look up and Marcus's eyes are twinkling. I blush, again. He gets a serious, intense look on his face and grabs my other hand. "Being a musician is a totally rare gift, something most people can't even comprehend. Giving that up - that's almost unimaginable to me. But I know you have your reasons. But you've stifled you're gift for way too long and that's why you're unhappy."

I start indignantly. "I'm not unhappy."

"You're unhappy."

"I am not." I tear my hands out of his grasp.

"You went to a bar and got plastered off tequila in the middle of the day."

I glare at him, folding my arms against my breasts. "You got me plastered."

"You slept with some random guy, who could've been a murderer, from said bar."

I scoff in disbelief, laughing slightly involuntarily. "You were the random guy!" I shove him playfully and he grabs my hand again, smiling as well. "I just wanted a minute – no, a second - to be reckless and irresponsible. I wanted a chance to do something that I haven't been able to do because of my kid and I don't know… I'm sorry. I kind of used you."

He shrugs indifferently. "You're unhappy." He insists again. "You took away the thing that makes you... you. That makes you special. And, I already think you're great. Imagine how much I'll like you once you're happy."

I roll my eyes, "Marcus,"

"Just think about it - while I'm gone. On the other side of the country."

I shake my head, running my free hand through my hair. "I can't ask you to call in your favor for me. We've only known each other for three hours. That's crazy."

"It's nothing. Besides, you moving to New York would make you closer to me and like I said - I really like you, so this is entirely selfish."

Moving to New York? Was he crazy?

He flashes a big, wide grin at me again and I stand up to walk him out. On the way he puts my number in his phone and texts me so I have his number too, while promising to call. He seems genuine enough; however, I still wouldn't bet any money on it. So when he promises to call, I do my best not to roll my eyes. Once at the door, he grabs me and firmly places his mouth over mine.

"I like you, Bella." He states simply as he breaks the kiss.

"I… like you, too." I sigh against his mouth and murmur quietly, "There's just so much going on in my life right now."

He smiles sadly, nodding. "I understand." Marcus kisses my cheek and heads out the door.

I head back to my room and sit on my bed, thinking about the crazy turn my day took. My phone buzzes again against the carpet and I finally get up to check it out.

It seems like millions of notifications light up my phone from random acquaintances all about Edward Cullen fathering my daughter. Rose and Edward must've called me about 15 times each. Two texts from Jake - one asking if I'm dead or not which I respond quickly to let him that I am, in fact, not – and the other telling me to call him, with a link to a celebrity gossip blog article. Additionally, there's a call from Aro, Mike, and strangely enough my father as well.

My eyes water slightly as I realize everything has come to light and there is absolutely no returning from here. I let out a huge breath and flop back on my bed.

.

Again, thank you so much for hanging in there with me. Please keep your fingers crossed for me that I get into the Law School of my dreams.

Let me know which part was your favorite and where you'd like to see each character go. I love your predictions!

Again, because this needs to be said and I don't feel like getting a bunch of variations of mean, unnecessary or rude "I'm not reading this anymore" reviews: I have 3 jobs, I'm in full time undergrad, and I'm applying to Law School. Clearly my priorities are already set. Writing is just something I like to do for fun and my enjoyment. Don't ruin it for me.

I love each and every one of you.