Disclaimer: All recognised characters, settings etc etc belong to Stephenie Meyer not me. Thank you Stephenie Meyer. (Although I'm not entirely sure if it is ethically correct to say she owns Forks....)

The Twelve Days by bays1

Day One - Bella

It was only for three days. What was that out of an eternity? But still, every time Edward left me to go hunting a small, constant ache would begin in my chest. As if my whole body was reacting to the reminder of that time. A distraction was exactly what I needed and when Alice called and offered to take me to the Boxing Day sales, I jumped at the chance.

"Was that Edward again?" Charlie asked me suspiciously over the newspaper as if Edward's phone calls were about illegal substances rather than reassurance that he would slaughter a few animals then return straight to me. Then again, telling Charlie that probably wouldn't go down to well either.

I put his breakfast down on the table and he gave a silent chuckle when he noticed the particular arrangement of his bacon and eggs.

"No, it was Alice. She wants to take me shopping." My relaxed tone caused me to receive a quizzical look. I popped a piece on toast in my mouth and started to lace my sneakers on the chair beside him.

"And you agreed?" Charlie gaped at me. Surely I wasn't usually that predictable? I lifted my foot down and nodded before rolling my jeans back down over my shoe. He kept staring at my like I had suddenly grown fangs. I lifted my snack out.

"What?" I asked. Charlie shook his head, a small smirk was on his face before tucking into the eye of my edible smiley face. A quick honk sounded outside, Alice was here.

"See you later Bells. Have fun," He said last statement as if there was a double meaning. It almost sounded sarcastic. No. Charlie being sarcastic about fun? Of course not. He went back to reading his newspaper but the smirk was still playing on his lips, only this time it was accompanied by a small slither of yellow yolk.

"I will," I called to over my shoulder as I closed the door. I could have sworn my departure was followed by the sound of his laughter but I didn't concentrate on it. I had shopping to do and it seemed Alice sensed my eagerness.

"Hi Bella." She chirped musically before I had even fully opened the passenger door. "I hope you're prepared for some serious shopping. I know I am." She flashed me a perfectly aligned grin and I couldn't help but smile back. With a beep and squeal of tyres we were off to get our bargains.

I hate shopping. Why I would have ever fooled myself into thinking I would enjoy one day of it, I don't know. It was all atrocious, with the crowds, the endless queuing, the over eager sales girls and most of all the trying on of millions of outfits (none of which I planned to or could buy). How could I ever find that more appealing than rereading Wuthering Heights? Although having Alice make jokes on the edibility rating of the shop assistants did make it slightly more bearable.

My heart began to beat faster as Charlie's house came into view. Finally, rest time. My body's eagerness to get home was understandable, I can only take so much standing and walking. I looked over at Alice. She was still sulking because I wouldn't let her buy me a very expensive handbag for a belated gift. I started to drum fingers against the seat as we got closer and closer.

"Well that's interesting," In the reflection of the window, I saw Alice's lips lift up from her frown as she hummed a hauntingly familiar tune. "Enjoy it Bella."

I whipped my head around to face her.

"Enjoy what?" I demanded but she just continued to hum the tune and that's when I saw it. A tree and a cage sitting on the doorstep and it hit me just what song it was. A Partridge in a Pear Tree. The Partridge wasn't exactly in the pear tree but it was there alright. My breath whistled out of my lips as I realised what the presence of the two could mean. It was a nice sentiment but not good. Not good at all. What would I do with them? The car rolled to a stop but I didn't make any show of moving. Alice gave me a stern nudge.

"Go on, get your present," She giggled. I reduced my eyes into the smallest possible slits and glared at her. Alice's laughter chimed again. "Oh Bella, you are so cute when you're angry."

This only infuriated me more. I ripped off my seatbelt and stormed out of the car, slamming the door behind me and only narrowly missing my foot in the process. Ignoring Alice's continuing giggles, I trudged up to the front door and the delivery. I refused to think of it as a present, that would mean claiming it as my own and that would mean having to accept it ungraciously from the giver. A rev from behind me revealed Alice was preparing to leave. I turned and gave her a sarcastic wave and as she drove off I definitely saw the flutter of her own fingers in response, almost in the 'have fun' manner. Either that or I was just coming to odd conclusions in my head.

The things were still on the doorstep. I had slightly hoped that would have magically disappeared by now but that was unrealistic. Problem presents don't just disappear. I childishly poked my tongue out at the bird. It was gazing at me curiously with its head tilted to one side. However it didn't take long for the snowy bird to lose interest and go back to preening its feathers close up it was actually quite a nice looking bird. The only imperfection was a small black smudge of dirt on its feather and it was already working on removing that.

I took at wary step closer. The bird didn't react and nothing jumped out to bite me. Another step. Still no response. Another and another. I sighed in relief. I didn't know what I was expecting, a tree full of needles ready to attack? There was a tiny note dangling from one of the branches, just below a particularly juicy looking pear. Elegant black ribbon lined the innocent pink cover of the card and diamantes were glittered in the shape of a heart. Slyly, I looked to my left and right for any onlookers then snatched the card. Nothing happened. No explosions, alarms sounding, catapults fired or any other sort of crazy boobie-traps.

I didn't recognise the writing but the way they had signed the letter caused my heart to skip a beat. A Gift From Your Truest Love. A deep frown crinkled my forehead. That wasn't right, it wasn't right at all. Edward was my truest love. That position was filled. I knew the note wasn't from Jacob either. I had memorised his writing from his crumpled previous note in my top draw. There wasn't anyone else. At least, not that I knew of. Certainly I would know if someone new joined the "Let's compete to win Bella" club?

I never knew someone could write so much about a bird and a tree. Most of it was babble but some made sense like…. I stared in horror at the final line. Just wait for tomorrow morning's gift.

No! Another present? Wasn't the lovely bird and fruit enough? According to my watch tomorrow was only seven hours away. I crouched down and looked at the bird eye to eye. I suppose it wouldn't be so bad to have a pet. Cautiously I poked a finger through the shinning metal bars to pet the bird. I had to give the thing a name. I definitely wouldn't want to be referred to as 'that Partridge' for my whole life. The feathers were even softer than they looked. It was like stroking pure silk. I really could learn to like this bird business.

I raised my finger to pet it once more but before I could get even close, that demonic little Partridge slashed out at me with its beak, gashing a small hole in my finger. Blood piled over. I let out a hiss of pain and stuck my finger into my mouth in an usual method to stop the hurt.

The bird was watching me again, only somehow the gesture didn't seem as innocent as before. It cooed mockingly as if it knew that it had won a battle against me and that soon I was to have, if my assumptions were correct, two turtle doves join my zoo of Christmas pets. It cooed again. Oh, it was definitely mocking me.

"Shut up. You idiot bird. At least I'm not in a cage." I snarled at the stupid creature.

"Bells? Why are you insulting an animal?" I looked up. Charlie was standing in the doorway visibly biting his cheek to restrain his chuckles. I felt deep crimson blood rush to my cheeks. Every time I tried to explain all I could manage was incoherent stutters. "You know what? I don't want to know."

"Bring that poor bird inside before it freezes to death." I didn't react. Charlie raised an eyebrow. "Or if you'd like to hold your little grudge…"

If possible my cheeks went even redder and I began to mumble more uninterpretable sentences involving the words stupid, blood, dead and bird. Noticing my state of temporary insanity, Charlie took care of my unexpected gift and I marched upstairs. Just because I didn't know who my mysterious giver was didn't mean I can't give them a piece of my mind and was I ever; in the form of a slightly irate note.

Dear Mystery Gift-Giver,

As much as I appreciate the gesture, your gift of a partridge and a pear-tree was entirely unnecessary. Although I have to admit, it's hard to imagine buying pears from a store any more. Could you have possibly chosen a less evil partridge though? I am leaving the bird with this note in the hope I will never see it again.

Thank you anway.

Yours affectionately,

Bella Swan

Okay, the note wasn't as violent and threatening as I intended but the original draft copies were! The person was coming in the morning. It didn't say what time exactly and so I had no choice but to assume it would be early when I wasn't awake to catch them red handed. Charlie promised he would put the caged bird on the doorstep despite the odd look he gave me when I first asked him to do it. Now, all I had to do was sleep and hopefully awake to the lack of bird noises.

A/N: It's December...I couldn't resist. That is the only explanation I am giving for this piece of work. Sorry to all the readers of my Claire/Quil fic but I cannot get this song/story out of my head. Until I do, all my other work is temporarily delayed. However, the next chapter is almost ready for posting.

I hope you enjoyed this so far. Make sure to review so I stay motivated hehe and know what you wanna see (or if you spot a mistake).

~bays1