AN: Well, this is the companion piece to Bella's Story - A Little piece of My Heart

Even though he's behaved like an idiot, I thought you'd like a little insight on why

This will post on Saturday's and will finish at around the same time as it's companion story. Hope you like it. If you do, or you don't please leave me a review

My thanks to MeteorOnAMoonlessNight, annaharding and Midnight Cougar for checking and correcting and generally making sense of this story. Without their help it wouldn't be nearly as pretty

Disclaimer: Even if Stephenie Meyer never publishes Midnight Sun, she'll still own Twilight and all it's characters

The Missing Piece Chapter 1

Summary

Companion story to 'A Little Piece of My Heart' from Edward's Point of View

A bad decision causes Edward to make a mistake that could lead his life down the wrong path and cost him everything. The girl he didn't even know he loved left town with a piece of his heart.

In denial, will he realize that she held the missing piece all along?

Chapter 1

How could an evening out have come to an end like this? I loved Kate; I really did, but she was driving me insane. Every day the subject of her parents buying us a house so that we could live together caused an argument. Eventually, I lost my temper, and the fight I'd just walked away from was the biggest we'd ever had. I wasn't sure if we could come back from this.

I met Kate during our orientation week when I started college. I met Bella Swan there, too, but it was Kate who caught my eye. The two girls were like chalk and cheese—Kate being outgoing and the life and soul of any party, and Bella being a quiet girl, but sarcastic, witty, and very pretty. Kate was blonde-haired and blue-eyed and had an electric personality that drew everyone to her. She and Bella had been paired up to share a room, and Kate had lasted a week before she headed back home. Her parents were loaded and she didn't like having to do for herself. She'd never done her own laundry or cooked anything; although, in no way was she ashamed of it.

An old friend of my parents had made some good investments over the years. They owned a number of properties in Seattle and had offered me a two-bedroom place for half the usual rent. Gratefully, I'd grabbed it with both hands, rather than sharing a room in a dorm. Kate and Bella had both become important to me, and after Kate moved back into her parents' house, and the new girl that had been assigned to be Bella's roommate proved to be a nightmare to live with, I offered her my spare room. Maria had parties that went on into the early mornings most weekends and sometimes during the week, too. Not to mention the different frat boys she brought back with her every other night. Bella ended up staying at my apartment at least half of each week just so she could get a decent night's sleep and some quality study time in without having to spend all of her time in the library.

She had insisted on paying half the rent, and in retaliation, I insisted she should be on the lease. We shared the utility and grocery costs, and even Kate was okay with us sharing. After graduation, we saw no reason to make any changes. Kate had a guaranteed position in her mother's design company where she could work as little or as much as she wanted. Bella had been offered a job at a local gallery where she had interned the previous summer, and I started work at a major advertising agency as a website designer. I'd quickly risen in the ranks until I was awarded the position of Project Manager.

Kate and I became girlfriend and boyfriend in our second year, and up until graduation, the three of us remained friends. Sometimes just the three of us went out to clubs and restaurants, and for a couple of years, Riley, Bella's boyfriend, joined us. He was an okay guy, even though I thought Bella was too good for him, but on the whole, we all got on fine.

In the past year, Kate had become more vociferous, clamoring for us to move in together, and eventually, it had to develop into a full-blown fight, ending with us screaming at each other outside the restaurant where I'd planned a romantic dinner.

"What's so wrong with me wanting to spend more time with you, Edward? You know I love you, but I need you, too. More than Bella does."

"What do you mean, more than Bella? She's my friend. I love you both, just in different ways. You have no reason to be jealous of her, ever. You're my girlfriend, my lover, and I love you. You know I do."

"Well, that's not how I see it. She's always around, and I want you to myself. I know you're not exactly comfortable with my parents buying a house for us, but if you loved me, you'd understand me, too. Can't you see it would give us a chance to get even closer? You're being selfish."

Kate had been really pushing my buttons this week, and this sudden open jealousy of Bella wasn't something I'd expected. My temper flared and my voice lowered. "Me, selfish? If anything, you're the one being selfish. You want all of my time, so much that you're expecting me to ignore my principles. I want us to move in together under our own steam, not because we're being pushed into it. Bella has nothing to do with this. It's you and your need to control everything. Can't you just let it go until we're both ready?"

"Maybe you don't love me half as much as you claim. Did you ever think of that?" Kate's temper matched mine, though her voice had risen.

"Now you're being ridiculous." I turned my back on her, trying to rein in my temper.

"Ridiculous?" she shrieked. "It's not ridiculous to want to spend your time with the one you love. The fact that you don't want to says everything to me. Maybe we should spend some time apart."

I whirled around and stepped toward her. "I think you're right. Call me when you're ready to be reasonable." I dialed a local taxi company, knowing that the romantic evening I'd planned wasn't going to happen. Silence enveloped us while we waited for it to arrive, and when it did, Kate didn't wait for me to open the door for her and slid into the back seat, slamming the door without saying goodbye.

Instead of calling another taxi, I walked ten blocks home, trying not to think about the nasty words we'd spoken and tried to work out how the hell we could come back from this. I wasn't even sure I wanted to. I reached home after midnight and heaved a sigh of relief as the door closed behind me.

As always, Bella was there to put me back together. After a few beers, I felt a lot calmer. Tiredness was beginning to overtake me, and I turned my back toward the television and settled my head in Bella's lap. Her hands running through my hair had my eyelids closing, the sound of the movie receding into the background. My arms encircled her waist, and I buried my head in toward her body. After the three beers, I was feeling buzzed, and the scent and feel of Bella's warm skin was all girl. I inhaled, my lips finding the fine soft down of the skin along the lower edge of the shorts she wore. Suddenly, I was more aware of her than I'd ever been, but forced my body not to react. I could feel Bella's body tense and willed myself into an almost sleep state, not wanting her to feel uncomfortable.

With my mind empty of thought and halfway between waking and sleeping, I became aware of her letting out a breath I realized she'd been holding. Involuntarily, my eyes flicked open to meet her gaze, dropping down to her barely covered breasts as she took in a deep breath. Neither of us said a word as my eyes roamed across her chest and the evidence of her arousal. Aware of my scrutiny, Bella crossed her arms in front of her body, and my eyes flicked back to her face to see her cheeks color.

A reflected flash of light caught my attention. "When did you get this, B?" Pulling myself into a sitting position, I ran my finger around the belly button piercing I'd somehow missed. I couldn't resist pulling on the bejeweled 'B' dangling from the ring.

Bella murmured something about Riley, but I wasn't really listening. "It's sexy; I like it." My voice was quiet and husky, even to my ears, and her quiet gasp drew my attention back to her face. Without taking my eyes from hers, I slid my hand between her skin and the waistband of those ridiculous shorts she wore to bed. Until this moment, I'd never really taken much notice of what she wore to bed, but now I couldn't take my eyes off the amount of skin they left uncovered.

The film credits that had been rolling came to an end, and the television screen turned blue, bathing us both in its light, leaving us surrounded by a different sort of tension; one I hadn't felt before.

I had an irresistible urge to take that piercing in my mouth and see what reaction it brought. Without much thought, I lowered my head, watching her face until I could no longer keep my eyes from my prize. I felt rather than heard Bella's gasp as my lips closed around the piercing and I sucked it into my mouth, telling me she was feeling the same connection I was at that moment.

Raising myself up, my lips left her piercing and crashed against hers. My hands slid along her thigh and between her legs to the heat of her pussy, dipping under the edge of her shorts. She shifted under my hands, giving me greater access to the wet heat under the thin layer of clothing.

Bella's hands in my hair, pulling on the strands, and the throaty moan spilling from her mouth under my lips told me all I needed to know—that she wanted me to touch her.

Her hands were everywhere, my cock responding to each touch and sound she made. I hadn't thought it was possible for it to get harder after having seen that piercing, but she was proving me wrong in every way.

Running on lust and instinct, I leaned back against the sofa and dragged her willing body over mine until she was straddling my thighs and grinding against my cock. My lips crashed against hers again, and my hands smoothed over the bare skin on her arms then down her sides, brushing against the outside edge of her breasts. I wanted to feel their weight in my hands, but before I could reach the lower edge of her top, her hands slid into my sleep pants and wrapped around my cock.

"Oh, fuck," I breathed out. My heart raced in my chest as she slid her hand from the top of my cock to bottom and back up again, spreading the leaking pre-cum already there as lubrication. In reciprocation, my hand made its way back up the inside of her thighs and under the material of her shorts.

She was so wet, I could feel the warm liquid from inside her cover my fingers, and I used it to brush over her clit, circling and rubbing it gently. Her hands tightened around my cock and our lips met again and again, her hips tilting up in invitation. The wet heat of her pussy surrounded the two fingers I thrust inside her, her inner muscles clenching around them as I searched for that special spot that would bring her to orgasm, something I really wanted to see.

I added a third finger easily, pushing them inside her over and over, feeling each clench of her muscles. She threw her head back, and I watched her as she moaned and panted in front of me. It was such a beautiful sight. The column of her neck invited me to lean forward again, sliding my other hand under the heavy weight of her hair, and my lips searched out the skin from her collarbone to her ear, raising goosebumps under each kiss.

Bella tilted her head sideways to give me more room, her breathless voice close to my ear. "I'm really close, Edward. Please, don't stop."

Her hands were pumping and squeezing my cock, my hips rising with each downward stroke, and I knew it wouldn't take long for me to come. My fingers moved in and out of her faster, pushing her closer to the edge.

The ringing of the phone on the coffee table behind Bella pierced through the sexual fog in my brain. Within seconds, I realized it was Kate's ringtone and my fingers stilled inside Bella. I raised my head away from her skin and leaned away from her.

We both looked at the phone, seeing Kate's name and picture flash across the screen before it stopped. I slid my fingers out of her and gave her an apologetic look as the phone rang again. I closed my eyes for a second, shame washing over me even before I opened my mouth.

"I'm sorry, Bella, I have to get that."

She shifted off my lap to the seat beside me, keeping her eyes lowered, and I stood, grabbing my phone and answering it at the same time I left the living room. I shoved the door to my room open and slammed it shut behind me. I felt sick at what I'd almost allowed to happen.

Taking a deep breath, I answered the call. "Hi, sweetheart." I wasn't really in a fit state to talk to her; my cock was still hard and throbbing and I could smell Bella's essence on my fingers, reminding me with every movement of my hand how stupid I'd been.

"What took you so long to answer, Edward?"

I wondered why she bothered to call me if she was still as angry as she sounded.

"Sorry, I was almost asleep and couldn't find my phone for a second," I lied. "Are you all right?"

Once she had my attention, she calmed down. "Yes, I'm fine. I was just worried. I'm sorry about tonight, Edward. I was such a bitch to you, and I don't want to lose you."

I listened to her apologies and murmured my own, my mind not really on what she was saying. My cock was slowly softening, and I tried my best not to think of Bella. I really didn't want a long, drawn-out conversation with Kate right now and interrupted her. "Why don't we go away for a few days, sweetheart? We need to take some time to talk things through and reconnect, don't we?"

The squeal from the other end of the phone told me I was on the right track, and we said goodnight with my promise of finding a decent hotel for a long weekend break.

Eventually, I slid under the bed covers, listening to the sound of Bella getting ready for bed. I heard her shower turn on and guilt wrapped around me. I was a bastard for walking out on her, but I'd already picked up the phone before I'd really thought it through. I supposed I should have been grateful we hadn't gone all the way, but somehow that didn't make me feel any better or less guilty.

Sleep was a long time coming as ways of making things right with Bella swirled around in my head. I couldn't lose her friendship; it was too important to me.

~ oOo ~