Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or it's characters. Any unrecognized plot or characters are mine.

Bella P. O. V

Everything had been going relatively fine with Edward for the past few weeks.

After Volterra, I began to notice some things that really bothered me. Edward tried his best to control my movements, who I saw and talked to that weren't his family members or fellow teenagers is my small circle of friends.

Every time I confronted him, he would defend himself with the statement that it was for my own good. That he 'heard concerning thoughts' from this person or that guy, so he took control of the situation because he didn't want me to unknowingly endanger myself'.

I replied with these questions. If he didn't want me to unknowingly step into danger, why didn't he just tell me he sensed something unsettling from whoever? Why keep it from me and risk anything bald happening because he hadn't told me? If I'm supposed to trust him, shouldn't he also trust me?

The resulting argument did my head in.

It was nothing but chauvinistic, backward babble possibly designed to confuse me. Or at least to stop my resistance to his control over my life.

I became tired of arguing, so we agreed to disagree. Thus the strained state of kind of contentment began.

There was only one other snag in our 'contentment': Victoria was hell bent on killing me. She still managed to elude all attempts to capture her made by the wolves, much to their intense displeasure and Alice remained unable to see what Victoria's next move would be, to her mounting frustration.

My graduation was looming on the horizon, just a few days away. The date hung over my head like a sword suspended by a string, threatening to fall the moment I looked up.

I felt nervous and excited all at once, nervous because a gym full of people would stare at me while I crossed the stage. Excited because I didn't have to worry about school anymore, I could focus on my relationship with Edward and doing the things that made me happy.

I hummed, placing the package Alice gave me on the top shelf of my closet. Panic! At The Disco's Miss Jackson bounced around my brain on a loop as I got ready for school.

I smiled indulgently at the outfit Alice asked me to wear this morning, a long sleeved blouse and a pair of fashionably faded blue jeans, laid out carefully on my bed.

I knew she wanted me to look pretty today and have that package for later, because apparently Edward was going to surprise me with something 'super romantic' tonight. I hope whatever it is didn't involve another awkward date where he tried to micro manage me and I ate alone in a deserted parking lot because he didn't want to take the chance that the waiter may or may not try something. His paranoia was quickly becoming a point of contention between us, the boiling point had yet to be reached, but I may very well get there soon if nothing changed.

I dressed quickly, descending the stairs and walking to the kitchen without incident. I glanced at the clock on the back of the oven, I had just enough time to eat a pop tart before I had to leave.

I was on the road and headed to school five minutes later.

Edward waited for me in the parking lot, leaning against the drivers side of his Volvo.

I sighed, like I did every day.

I smiled when I caught sight of the lithe, bouncy form of Alice where she stood by Jasper a few spaces down. She was most likely clapping her hands in excitement right now, I thought with a fond shake of my head.

I parked my russet beast and turned the key, silencing its thunderous roar. Grabbing my bag, I slid out and walked over to my bronze haired vampire.

"Good morning, love. How was your drive?" He asked as we briefly embraced.

"Fine, no more exciting than usual." I replied with a shrug. Nothing to discuss. Clear roads, clear skies, no accidents, and nothing broke down on the truck.

"Would you like to tell me what you dreamt about last night?" He asked, a smirk on his face and a playful glint in his butterscotch eyes.

I frowned at him in confusion, I didn't remember any dreams. "What?"

"You have the habit of talking in your sleep, usually the content of your dreams plays a part in the subject matter you speak about. This is a rather adorable habit you have, quite useful, too." He said innocently, toying with a piece of my hair.

"What do you mean 'useful'?" I questioned, curious and confused by the conversation. I could hazard a guess as to why it would be useful. He wanted to know everything I did, everyone I spoke to and what I spoke to them of, so why would the subject I dreamed about be excluded?

The shrill ringing of the first bell cut off whatever reply he might or might not have been about to make.

I groaned, he wouldn't tell me now. He was stubborn and infuriating that way.

"What did you mean?" I tried hopefully, just to be sure.

"We should go to class, love, we can discuss this at a later time." He dodged smoothly, already gently steering me toward the building my first class was held in.

I fumed in silence all throughout the class period.

I had tried to talk to Edward when we had taken our seats, but he had completely ignored me. He had instead turned to our neighboring table, bearing Mike Newton, and started a conversation about the assignment yesterday.

I resolved to ignore Edward the rest of the day, if he wanted to treat me that way, I could dish out the same treatment.

The nerve, I thought angrily.

I was not a yappy Chihuahua that wouldn't stop yelping, I was supposed to be his girlfriend.

My silence was broken at lunch, when Alice approached me.

"Hey!" She exclaimed, bouncing up to stand beside me.

"Alice!" I hissed, reprimanding her. "Just a human, remember?"

She pouted. "You're not really upset, are you?" She asked, her butterscotch eyes wide and pleading.

I inwardly groaned, that face always made it hard to stay irritated at her. I sighed, feeling my anger soften. "No, Alice, I'm not angry with you."

She immediately changed her tune, clapping enthusiastically. "Yay!"

I blinked, my brain catching up with the sudden shift in her emotions. Before I fully recovered, the pixie had bounced to the table and sat with her husband.

I rubbed my temples, my head starting to pound. I skipped the line, opting to sit at our table. Today was going to be a looong day.

I glanced at the clock for what felt like the thousandth time, willing the hands to move faster.

"I don't think staring a hole through the clock will help, love." Edward commented, amusement laced his velvety voice.

I glared at the vampire who currently sat next to me, not by my choice, mind you.

If only stares could make them burst into flames, I thought spitefully.

"I don't think I care," I hissed, venom seeping from each syllable.

The bell cut off his response, I took the chance to exit the classroom and head to the parking lot.

Unfortunately, he caught up with me fairly quickly.

"Bella, love, what was all that about?" He asked, attempting the wounded approach.

"Don't you 'love' me! I am going to go home and you, you are going to be staying at your mansion tonight, I have no need of your presence." I wanted to smack him and other violent things born of anger, but I knew the consequences that would result. Namely, a broken hand from striking his marble like skin, maybe only a few broken fingers if I couldn't use enough force to break my entire hand.

Edward continued his efforts to make nice, but I wouldn't have it at the moment.

I asked Angela for a ride home, she happily agreed to drive me.

I really wasn't feeling like driving at the moment, or being alone after what happened.

We spent the time talking about her relationship with Ben, mostly the juicy kissing bits and his roaming hands. Once Charlie's was in sight, I sadly hugged her and said goodbye. It had been refreshing to ride home and talk about normal relationships with a fellow human.

I sat my bag on the couch and walked to the kitchen, I rummaged through the contents as I scraped together a menu.

I was thinking some kind of steak with a salad, a veggie side and mashed potatoes. Hmm, fresh squeezed orange juice sounded good and we still had an empty container sitting on the counter.

On the bright side, I could take out my frustration on the oranges, since the vampire I wanted to beat to a pulp was otherwise untouchable. I grabbed the oranges from the basket, cleaned out the container and drug out the juicer.

Edward was a jerk, he had deliberately ignored me most of the day and started talking to me again when he felt like it. I was not a mysterious goo on the underside of his shoe to be brushed off.

Angry tears stung my eyes, I blinked them back and snarled at myself for coming close to crying over Edward Cullen.

By the time the juice was finished, I felt lighter and even giggled a bit. I put the juice away and cleaned my little mess up, then lay the steak in the sink to thaw.

I had the chicken fried steak, chef salad and green beans nearly done cooking by the time Charlie came home. He made a show of looking around for Edward, I didn't find it funny.

"Where's Edwin? Shouldn't he be here by now?" My father asked as he seated himself at the table.

"He decided to spend some time with his family today." I replied as nonchalantly as possible, not even bothering with correcting him on Edwards name.

"Really now? He's been an almost permanent fixture around here since you came home from your little adventure." Charlie commented, sniffing the air. "Smells good, Bells."

"Some things change." I commented, setting plates on the table and that was that.

I served dinner and we talked about his day at work and how the world was going nuts if people were dancing around in grass skirts.

He grumbled about loony bins and nutters for a bit before going to watch his sports channel.

The rest of the night was spent doing homework, watching t.v. and dinner dishes. My last thought before I fell asleep that night was that I hadn't missed Eddie boy as much as he probably thought I would.