I own Edward.

No really I do.

He’s small, plastic with movable arms and my husband and kids roll their eyes every time they see him

What I don’t own is the real (fictional) Edward nor Twilight.

Chapter 1 A Change Is Gonna Come

BPOV

Too bright! Way, way too bright! I tried throwing the pillow over my head but that just caused the throbbing to start. Why did I let Alice talk me into the shots? Damn evil little pixie and her "just one more and if you don't meet someone we'll go home." I lost count of 'one mores' after four and that was on top of a couple mixed drinks. How the hell her little body can handle that much alcohol is beyond me. Now the morning sun is filtering through the curtains and I have to get up and get this day started with the hangover from hell.

I laid in bed awhile longer thinking over the previous night. Alice had insisted that I go out with her and Rose. She had a good feeling that I was going to find my Mr. Right very soon and no one argues with Alice and her freaky future feelings. Even though I know I am not going to find Mr. Right when I already lost him four years ago. Now there will only be Mr. Never Call Back and Mr. Please Be Gone By Morning.

Emmett and Jasper sealed my fate when they bought a new game for the play station and wanted uninterrupted playing time, thus freeing Alice and Rose for the evening. So the three of us dressed up and went out for the evening. We have this little ritual we do when we go out. It starts with getting a mixed drink, scoping the place out, doing a shot together and then dancing. When we weren't dancing we spent most of the night at a back corner table with Alice and Rose pointing out every guy in the place. Most nights none of them appeal to me but last night there was one. I first noticed him standing at the bar smoking. In general I don't like smokers but when they look like sex on fire I'll make an exception. He was the epitome of the classic bad boy, all wrapped up in a leather jacket and dirty Levis. Not my normal type at all but maybe now was a good time for change. Of course being me I couldn't just go up to him and guys like that don't seek average girls like me out. Needless to say it surprised the hell out of me when he came up to me on the dance floor and started dancing with me. After a few dances I spent some time talking to him but for the life of me I can't remember his name this morning. It was something like Joe or John or Jim. Hell, I can't remember. I will have to call Alice and ask her.

I looked over at my alarm clock and saw that it was just after ten. I had to get moving if I was going to be into work by noon. I wasn't like Alice and Rose who came from wealthy families and didn't have to work while in school. Even though my education was paid for I still had rent and life expenses to pay for. My part time job at the campus book store barely helped keep me afloat but the schedule was flexible and close to the apartment which was great since my truck finally died this past spring.

I got up and headed to the fridge to grab a pop and then the cupboard to grab the Tylenol. I twisted the lid to match up the little arrows but couldn't seem to get the damn thing to pop off. I finally tried using my teeth which only sent fresh waves of pain coursing through my already sensitive head. Frustrated I threw the bottle at the wall and headed to the bathroom for a long hot shower.

The combination of the caffeine and the shower had me almost feeling human again as I headed out for work. I pulled the apartment door shut behind me and paused for a second to fish my sunglasses out of my purse. The large window over the stairs was letting way more light in than I could handle at that moment. I put them on and let my head fall back against my door that's when I noticed the door across the hall was propped open. That place had been vacant since May. I knew from Alice that it had been rented in May but the new tenant wasn't moving in until the end of summer. I guess that was today. I'm sure Alice will know all about the person by the end of the day. It had been killing her all summer not knowing anything about the renter of apartment 304. She knew everyone else in the building. Of course that wasn't hard there were only twelve apartments in our building and I was in 303, Emmett and Rose were in 203 and Jasper and Alice were in 201. As if to confirm my suspicions there was a moving truck in the parking lot. I gave it a fleeting glance and saw a shadow on the ground behind the truck. I would just have to meet my new neighbor later, for now I had to go the opposite direction to work.

EPOV

It's too fucking hot. When the hell did Washington get so hot? Why didn't I listen to mom and hire movers? "Well Dad, this is the last of the boxes now it's time for the heavy stuff. Do you want a beer before we start in on that?" I sure as hell needed that beer and a shower. The sweat was dripping off me. I long since abandoned my shirt hoping that would help cool me down. It didn't and it would be awhile longer before I could get one.

"Sure. Good thing you brought those in first so they'd be cold. I'll just wait here while you go get them." Dad had taken the day off to help me move. I moved back in with them for the summer. It had been a hard decision to leave Dartmouth to attend med school at UW but dad seemed to really want me to come back home and eventually intern at his hospital. Mom was thrilled having me home this long for the first time in four years. At first she even wanted me to stay living with them but I wanted to be closer to campus and avoid a daily commute. Mom eventually gave in and found this apartment for me last spring. She said it would be perfect, close to campus, small with good security, seemed to be quiet with nice neighbors. From what I could tell she was right on all counts except I hadn't met any neighbors yet. I grabbed the beers and headed back down.

My dad was standing by the door shaking hands with a really big guy. He had to be a football player, he was big enough to be one. There was blond guy standing by them too. He was almost as tall but not near as brawny as the first. Both were dressed similar to me, in basketball shorts and shirtless. As I came out the door my dad turned to me "Here he is now. Edward, I just met a couple of your neighbors." I handed the open bottle over to my dad and turned to shake their hands.

The big one reached out his hand first "Hey man, I'm Emmett and this loser here is Jasper." His grip was hard on my hand like he was testing my strength.

The blond guy switched a basketball over to his other hand and reached out for mine. "Hi. You only won because you cheated. Just a warning if you ever play ball with this guy, he cheats." He had a bit of a southern twang to his voice.

"I'll keep that in mind." Both of them seemed pretty friendly.

"So Carlisle was saying that your moving into 304 today. Do you need any help?" Emmett offered. "We happen to have the rest of the day free and can help you out."

"Wow that would be great. We got all the boxes in already now it's just the furniture left. We were going to start on that when we finished these" I said motioning with the bottle.

"That will be perfect. I will go put this in and tell Alice. I'm sure she'll be out here right away to meet you." Jasper said as he headed into the building.

"That guy is so whipped." Emmett laughed.

"I heard that. I'm going to tell Rose." Jasper called back.

I looked at Emmett as if to ask who Alice and Rose were. Emmett was already answering "Alice and Rose are our girlfriends. Alice has been wondering about you all summer. It kills her when she doesn't know everything. I'm sure she'll be out here and have your whole life story before you finish that beer."

Dad and I drank our beers while Emmett told us more about the place. It seems that mom was right on all of it. Emmett said the five of them had been living here for the last two years. I was getting ready to ask who the fifth one was when Jasper came back out.

"The girls went shopping so we really do have the afternoon free. When they go shopping they're gone for hours."

"That sounds like women." Dad added. "So what do you say we get this truck unloaded?"

Emmett and Jasper were awesome. With their help we were done loading in no time. Dad offered to take the truck back to the rental company and have mom pick him up there so I could unpack. It was too hot and I just didn't feel like it so I invited Emmett and Jasper to stay for a beer. I learned more about them. Emmett was from Tennessee he did indeed play football but blew his knee out in his third year and after that switched his major to Sports Medicine. Jasper was from Texas and was in the graduate program for History. He hoped to teach at a college one day. They were roommates their first year and lived on the same dorm floor as their girlfriends who, coincidentally, were roommates too.

While they talked I kept thinking back to the girl I saw before I met them. She looked so much like Bella. But then I had been seeing Bella in every petite brunette I've had a glimpse of for the last four years. There was no way that she was still here at school. Last I knew she was planning on teaching and she was sure to be done with that in four years. And if she wasn't, well it's a big campus the odds of running into her couldn't be in my favor. Get over it and move on, she has. I had to keep reminding myself of the last time I saw her.

It was over winter break my first year away. I was home for the holidays and ran to town to pick stuff up for my mom. I parked out front of the Safeway and headed in only to remember I left the list in the car. I turned to go get it and saw a guy walking across the street with his arm around my Bella. My heart froze. It was that moment when I realized I could never go back like I had dreamed. I had lost my Bella for ever. I got back into the car and didn't go back into town again. In fact that whole break I barely came out of my room and left early to go back to Dartmouth. Fortunately before summer break my dad took a job in Seattle and I never stepped foot in Forks again.

We just finished off our first beer and I was getting ready to offer them another when Emmett's cell phone rang. "That would be Rose. I bet the girls are back and wondering where we are." Jasper guessed.

Emmett hung up and confirmed it. "So, Eddie, man thanks for the beer. You will have to stop in later and meet Alice and Rose. That is if the pixie doesn't come up here to meet you first."

Jasper said his goodbyes too and I promised I would meet up with them sometime tomorrow. I turned and looked at the mess of boxes and decided to take that shower before I started to unpack. Unfortunately I had to find the box of bathroom stuff before I could do it. I had labeled all the boxes carefully when I packed them so it was just a matter of finding the right box. I plugged my ipod into the docking station and turned on Chopin and began the search. It didn't take long to find the right box and head to the shower, again thinking of the girl and of Bella.

BPOV

Work sucked. I hate this time of year. All the lost freshmen stumbling around looking for their books. By my four o'clock break my patience was long gone and my headache was back in full force. I stepped in the back room just to get off the sales floor and take a breath. I pulled out my cell and checked the missed calls. Three from Alice and one from a number I didn't recognize. I skipped over Alice's and went right for the mystery number. It was from a guy named James. Apparently James was the name of the man from the bar last night. I was close. At least I had the J right. I hadn't recalled giving him my number, but then I didn't exactly remember his name either. He wanted to know if I was free for a late dinner tonight. I called him back. We settled on eight and I gave him directions to pick me up. Now I had something to talk about with Alice when I called her back. But that could wait until after work. I took a deep breath and headed back into the chaos for a couple more hours.

I called Alice back on my way home. "Bella, you have to get back here. Your neighbor moved in across the hall today and Emmett and Jasper met him and they said that..." she was talking so fast. I knew I wouldn't be able to interrupt her until she had it all out so I let her continue. "He lives alone and he's in med school and he was really nice. When you get here we need to go see him and say hi. It's the neighborly thing to do, you know."

"Sure it wouldn't be more to enlighten your curiosity?" I teased.

"That too. Aren't you curious?"

"No. I have other things to keep my mind occupied. James called and asked me to dinner tonight."

The squeal she let out was like an ice pick to my head. "Oh, Bella see I told you I had a good feeling it was time for you to meet someone. You will have to invite him to the picnic this Saturday. And.."

I cut her off. "Stop now. I just met him. And yes, I am going out with him tonight but that doesn't mean he will be around by Saturday." My track record with guys staying around longer than a week wasn't good. There had only been three or four boys that I'd dated for longer than a month since he left. I broke it off with all of them. Mostly I settled for one night stands or friends with benefits. If I didn't get attached to anyone it wouldn't hurt when they left. The quick turnover rate was starting to wear on me and lately I found myself watching my friends in loving relationships and wanting one for myself.

"I will come up to help you get ready. Then we can go see Eddie before he..."

"Eddie? Who is Eddie?"

"Oh, that's what Emmett said the new guy's name is." I froze. It couldn't be. "We can stop and say hi..."

"Alice I have to go." I hung up while she was still talking. The panic came back along with the hollow feeling. It's not him. It's just a name. There are lot's of people with names that can be shortened in to Eddie. I'm being ridiculous to even entertain the idea that it's him. I took a few deep breaths to calm myself down. Yet it still all came back.

"Bella it's not working." Edward was looking over my shoulder. He couldn't even look me in the eye.

"What's not working?" My body went instantly cold with fear. I knew where he was going but I couldn't believe it.

"Us. I thought it would, but this is not what I want. I'm ready for a change and I need to be free for that to happen."

The pain was ripping into me. The lump in my throat had me choking on my words "but...but...I love you. You love me." The tears were falling now and I just want him to wrap me in his arms and tell me he didn't mean it. "What about the last four years? Are you throwing that all away?"

Edward was pinching the bridge of his nose. When he finally did look at me I could see the pain in his eyes too. "No, but it's time to end it. I want to move on. I have plans for my life and you don't fit into them anymore." I tried to take his hand but he pulled away. "Bella I have to go." He leaned over and kissed my forehead and turned to walk away. I tried to grab on to him but he just shrugged me off and kept on going. I just stood there numbly watching my love walk away as my world shattered.

I took another deep breath, I am past this. It is not Edward. He is living the life he wanted. He is not here. With that thought I started back home. I turned my mind to tonight and James.

As I walked down the hall to my apartment I could hear the strains of classical music coming from across the hall. My breath hitched and my heart ached in memory. I repeated 'it's not him' over and over until I had myself believing it. I couldn't live through Edward Cullen again.