PROLOGUE

Cooper

I knew as soon as he called that this meant trouble. Cooper had been my friend, maybe even best friend, since the second grade. Other than Renee and Phil, he was the only regret I had about moving to Forks. I missed him. For me Coop was like Edward with out the all consuming love. He was my rock, confidant and companion. We did everything together. Neither of us ever really dated so we were always pairing up to do the things you can't do alone: dances, movies, etc.. No matter what we did we had fun. I had only had that kind of fun with one other person: Jacob.

I had a feeling that Coops upcoming arrival in town was not going to go over well. I knew as soon as I heard his plan to visit that I wanted to spend that time alone with him. This would give me a chance to be my old carefree self again. The same self I could be with Jacob, without the werewolf angle. But I didn't see Edward going along with it. This would especially be true if he found out that Cooper and I tended to get into trouble when together. When Cooper was around my bad luck was multiplied. Usually not dangerous, more funny than unsafe. He always said I was the most unintentianlly funny person he had ever met. Edward would never, not in all of eternity leave me in the care of someone who just laughed when I fell and got me into situations that could involve slight bodily injury. So much as a tiny little glimpse of a memory from Cooper could potentally give my fiancee a heart attack. An impressive feat when dealing with a vampire. Just as my love was always asking me "What am I going to do with you?", I found myself asking the very similar "What am I going to do with him"?

Chapter One

Scheme

"Alice?"

"Yes, Bella?"

"Do you think you could do me a favor?" I asked as pleasantly as possible.

"Depends, ask first and then I will decide."

"Well, do you think you or one of the others could take Edward out of town for a couple of days?" I kept myself from looking away guilty because I wanted to reassure her I wasn't up to anything.

"Why do you want me to do that?" Now I had her full attention. Her eyes never left mine and in that span I time I knew I couldn't lie to her. She would see right through it and never play along, fearing for my safety from this unknown secret.

"Ok, so here is the deal, an old friend from Phoenix is coming to visit. I have known him since I was 8. I just want to be able to spend time with him and not have to worry about making Edward.." I trailed off not quite knowing what to say. Was I worried he would be jealous? Or was I worried that he would just stifle us from his unnecessary protectiveness? I guess I wasn't entirely sure what his reaction would be, I just knew in my heart of hearts I didn't really want to find out. To face what it could mean.

"Making him what Bella?" She was looking impatient.

"Well, I just don't think it will be much fun for him hanging out with us, and I really would like to catch up with Cooper."

"I will see what I can do, but you know him. He worries about you every second he is away, I don't know what will convice him to stay away for days." She replied looking at me like I was asking for a miracle.

"You are the cleverist vampire I know, if anyone can do it you can." I hugged her. "So are you staying for dinner?"

She laughed. " I will hang out with you guys for a little while, then catch something to eat on the way home!"

Of course I had to laugh.

I hurried upstairs after doing the dishes. I knew Edward was already waiting for me. I went to the bathroom to wash up. I decided to go ahead and shower. I knew if Alice had come up with anything he would want to talk to me about it, making for a late night. I ran through some possibilites that she may have tried. Things I had thought of myself but knew he would never take them seriously coming from me. But as I was finishing up, my mind went in another direction. What if I just told him the truth. He would respect the request wouldn't he? No, I wasn't sure he would. And thats when the light bulb went off. I was afraid to tell him, because I knew where it would lead. He had told me no a hundred times. Maybe even a thousand. But somewhere I knew this would be different. This would cross the line. This would take it from adorably protective to scarily possessive. With this revalation I knew I would go in there and tell the truth. Let things unfold. Hope that he loved me enough to trust me. Allow me to have control over my decisions. Could he do that?