Hey guys! After a long awaited week or so, the first chapter to the sequel of People Throw Rocks At Things That Shine is finally up! It took forever to write, but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

Before we get started, I just wanted to say, hi! If you're new to the story, that's great! Thanks for reading! I really suggest checking out the story before this one… ;) If you are returning… then thanks for coming back! I love you guys.

There I go, rambling on again. Sorry, I do it a lot. Anyway, here is the first chapter to Life Makes Love Look Hard!

BPOV

I stared out into the sea of people, my body shaking with nervousness. This was the moment I had waited my entire life now; the moment I had literally dreamed about for years. I had fought for this moment, and now that it was finally here, I was on the top of the world.

The hands of hundreds of parents, teachers, friends, and family clapped in the audience as I held up the bottom of my long, black gown - the heels that Alice had made me wear clicking on the hardwood floor - and walked towards the podium.

I stood behind it, my lips inches away from the microphone. I opened my mouth to speak, but no words came out. I tried again, speaking more loudly, and tapping the tip of the microphone. Everyone in the audience smiled back at me, as though everything was going as planned. I shook my head, not understanding. I tried for a third time, only to find my words being overpowered by an ear piercing scream.

My eyes shot open and I instantly looked over at the clock, which was still too early for me to even think about being awake. I rolled on my back and covered my eyes with my hands, trying to block out the cries from Aveline.

Aveline is my one week old daughter. She's the most beautiful baby I've ever seen, and the fact that she's mine is still having a tough time sinking in. Her green eyes are a mirror image of her father's, but even at her young age, her facial features resemble my own.

Edward Cullen - her father and my boyfriend - and I had experienced the very long journey of bringing her into the world a little differently from everyone else. We're still in high school, so the impression that she was just another mistake was taken by many people, even though that is most certainly not the case. We had planned on having her, just like any other couple who wanted to have a baby.

"Aveline…" I moaned, kicking the blankets off of my body and turning on the bedside lamp. Since it was a school night, I had told Edward to sleep downstairs so that he wouldn't have to be up every hour with the baby (though weekends were an entirely different story). I would be going back to school eventually, just not now. Edward and his sister, Alice, brought me back my school work every afternoon and would bring it to the designated teachers the next morning.

I walked over to the bassinet where she slept and picked her up. She continued to scream, her pale skin glowing bright red. I sat on the bed, propped my knees up, with my back leaning against the headboard, and rested her on my knees. She screamed even louder, squeezing her eyes shut, tears falling down her cheeks.

"Please, baby… let mommy sleep…" I pleased with her.

She only screamed louder.

I tried not to cry myself, and scooped her up into my arms. Holding her close to my chest, she seemed to calm down a bit. In between her screaming, she would stop and cough and open her eyes, only to close them and resume her crying.

"Are you hungry?" I asked her, desperate for her to stop. "Do you want to eat?"

I tried feeding her, but she pushed me away with her tiny hands and continued screaming.

"Do you need me to change you?" I questioned, mostly to myself, though I already knew the answer. She was completely dry. I had just changed her diaper the last time she had woken me up screaming - an hour ago. Either way, I took the clean one off of her and put a new one on. Of course, since she hates having her diaper changed, she cried even more.

I didn't even try dressing her again; I left her in her diaper. I then picked her up and walked back and forth in the small room.

I knew that babies were supposed to cry a lot, but this was excessive. She never stopped. The only time she stops crying is when I'm feeding her or she's asleep. Other than that, the Cullen house echoes with the loud screaming of a newborn baby.

"Shh…" I soothed, bouncing her up and down slowly and rubbing the back of her head. Her voice bounced with my movement; when I went up, her wails got higher. "Shh, baby… shh…" I tried again.

I tried humming a lullaby to help her fall asleep, or at least calm her down, but her voice overpowered mine. She was so loud that I could hardly hear myself think anymore. Though all that I could think about at the moment was sleep.

There was a small knock on the door, followed by it slowly pushing open. Edward walked in, looking like he had just woken up. His bronze hair was messy and his eyes looked full of sleep. He wore a pair of long, blue pants with no shirt, but at this point, I didn't have the energy to appreciate his perfect, God-like body.

"You okay?" He asked, drowsily.

"She won't stop crying."

"Have you tried - "

"I've tried everything!" I exploded. "I tried feeding her, I changed her diaper, I gave her a bath earlier. I held her, I bounced her, I rocked her, I sang to her…" My shaking voice faded to nothing. I turned away from him, still holding the screaming baby in my arms.

"Let me take her." Edward offered.

"No." I said, stubbornly. "I can handle it."

He sighed heavily. "Bella."

I still stood with my back to him; determined to get this baby to stop crying on my own. Despite my stubborn, protests, Edward came up behind me and rested his hands on my hips. I tensed up, not expecting him to approach me like that. He turned me around so that I was facing him and looked me in the eye with a pleading look. Without even asking, Edward reached for the baby in my arms, and in defeat, I handed her to him.

He held her against his bare chest, supporting her little head with his hand, and very lightly bounced her. When she still hadn't quieted down, he one handedly opened the door, and walked out. Curious as to what he was doing, I followed, only to find that he was slowly pacing up and down the hallway, whispering in her ear to soothe her.

I simply shook my head, and dragged myself over to the bed, where I buried my head into the pillows, and sprawled my body across the gray bedspread.

It had been such a long week. Not only had I gotten less than four hours of sleep every night, but with Edward gone to school and cross country every other day, I was practically alone in all of this. And on the days that he didn't have cross country, he still came home late. Since he was offered a paid internship at the local hospital, the administration switched his study hall to last period so that he could leave school and go to work for a while. Of course Esme, Edward's mother, would watch over her when I wanted to take a shower, or get myself something to eat, but other than that, I took care of Aveline on my own.

I'm not mad about that, and I'm not upset about it either. I love my daughter, but this is the outcome of the choice I made. I knew that it would be hard when she was first born, but I had never imagined anything like this. Now here I am, struggling to get sleep, doing my homework with a baby screaming her lungs out, and somehow managing to ace everything.

It's exhausting.

I covered my head with a pillow, in an attempt to drone out the sound Aveline for about half an hour, when suddenly - as though some sort of gracious blessing - it stopped. I sat up on the bed, sitting with my legs crisscrossed and looked out of the door.

Edward stood in the doorway, holding Aveline in his arms with a look of relief washed over his face. I closed my eyes and fell back on the bed, knowing that an hour or so of well deserved sleep was awaiting me. After putting her in her crib, Edward walked over and plopped himself right next to me.

We both lay in silence, and let the exhaustion from the night wash over us.

Then, like a rain cloud covering my little piece of heaven, Aveline whimpered softly, and, once again, her screams echoed throughout the room. I covered my face with my hands and sighed, then looked over at Edward who simply said:

"Your turn."

"Say goodbye to daddy!" I called out the next morning, holding Aveline in my arms as Edward and Alice rushed to get out the door. She had just woken up from her very short two hour nap, and she was very fussy. Not necessarily screaming like she was last night, but she was cranky; crying and refusing to do anything other than be held.

Edward came over and kissed her on the top of her head, then gave me a quick peck on the lips. I smiled at him and put my hand on the back of Aveline's head, as she continued to whine.

"Have a good day at school." I said.

"And you have a good day at home." He smiled and kissed me again. "I'll be home as soon as practice lets out."

"Go run a mile for me." I teased.

Edward laughed and said goodbye one last time before he was rushed out to the car by his sister. Since they were running a little late, I didn't try for another kiss before he left for the day. Instead, I walked out onto the front porch, and watched as they drove away.

I sighed heavily, realizing that Aveline was now hitting her fists against my back and beginning to cry. This was a normal routine for her. She knew when it was time to eat.

"Okay, I know, I know, you're hungry."

I took her back into the warm house and closed the door behind me. I then grabbed one of Aveline's soft, pink blankets that was draped over the back of the couch and took a seat. Sitting against the luxurious, leather couch instantly made me sleepy. I closed my eyes for a brief moment, trying to get at least another five minutes of sleep, but Aveline reminded me that she was hungry by fidgeting in my arms and beginning to cry.

I sat up and brushed my finger along her head. She barely had any hair, but the small amount that she did was dark brown, just like mine.

I covered her with the blanket, some of it covering my shoulder, and fed her. While feeding her, I grabbed the remote with my free hand and turned it on. There weren't many good shows on at this time, so I settled with the morning news.

"… Forks teen Lauren Mallory is still reported missing. After dropping a friend off at the emergency room, she allegedly left to go and get her friends family, but never showed at the house, and never returned to the hospital. It's been a week since the disappearance, and no one has heard anything regarding the case. Search parties have been sent out to search the forest in Forks and all surrounding areas."

So many thoughts ran through my head. Had she run away? Was she living among the trees? Was she alive? Or was she… dead? No. I quickly changed the channel, shaking my head. This was the last thing that I wanted to hear about right now. I was too tired to even try and figure out what had happened to Lauren.

Aveline was done eating now, so I picked her up and put her over my shoulder, then patted her back softly. She fussed loudly until I had successfully burped her, and once I had, I cradled her back in my arms, and she looked up at me with big, watery green eyes.

"Shh… don't cry…" I whispered. "Baby… shh…"

She started screaming again. I sat there helplessly, trying to calm her down. Her face turned bright red, just as it had last night, and she kicked and hit me with her little arms. I stood up and walked around the entire downstairs, bouncing her with each step. She started out crying as loud as she possibly could, then, slowly, it died down. She had cried herself to sleep.

I rubbed her back slowly, simply standing in the middle of the living room, swaying back and forth. My eyes were closed and my entire body felt exhausted. She was asleep, and that meant that I could sleep as well.

Being careful not to wake her, I walked up the stairs and put her down in her crib. I looked at her for a minute, making sure that she wasn't going to wake up, then fell onto the bed, and snuggled underneath the warm blankets. The sun was beginning to rise outside, but at this point, I didn't care. I took it. Sleep was sleep.

The moment that my head hit the pillow, I was out. I was so tired that I didn't even dream. My body welcomed the rest, and I know that I did too. Getting even the smallest amount of sleep was essential to me right now.

I don't know how long I slept for, but it felt like it had only been five minutes when Aveline started crying from the other side of the room. It took me a minute to wake up, and once I did, I looked at the clock.

"Five hours?" I mumbled to myself, shocked. That was the longest I had slept all week. Aveline, obviously not too happy at the moment, was screaming again. I got out of bed, feeling much better than I had before, and walked over to her crib.

I picked her up and brought her into the bathroom where I set up her little baby bath in the bathtub. The water was a fairly comfortable temperature - not too hot, not too cold - for a newborn baby. I undressed her and put her in the bath, which I know that she hates.

I washed her soft, porcelain pale skin with the super sensitive tear free body wash we had bought not too long ago. She was entirely bubbly, and even though she was crying, she looked so cute. After I rinsed all of the bubbles off of her, I wrapped her in the towel that was sitting on the countertop, and I walked back into our bedroom.

I put a clean diaper on, and changed her into one of the many outfits we had bought - a long sleeved white shirt with a blue dress. But before I dressed her, I fed her again, knowing that her clothes would be ruined if I did so afterwards.

After making sure that Aveline was fed, cleaned, and dressed, I put her down in her crib for a quick minute to change. I didn't shower, even though I really felt like I needed one. I changed underwear, put on a new pair of sweatpants, and a big, comfortable t-shirt. I then picked Aveline back up, and slowly walked down the stairs.

"Bella!" Esme exclaimed with a welcoming smile on her face as I walked in. "How are you feeling?"

"Well…" I began, laughing at how chaotic everything was right now. "I'm doing alright. Exhausted, but good for the most part."

She wiped her hands on the kitchen towel. "The first few weeks are almost always the hardest. You'll get through it, I promise."

I knew that it would get better. It was just very difficult adjusting to everything. I'm not used to the sleepless nights, not going to school, and even the sound of a baby! Despite all of the articles and books I've read to prepare for this, I know nothing about what I'm doing right now. Absolutely nothing.

Esme walked over and took Aveline from me while I got myself a quick something to eat. I poured myself some coffee from breakfast and heated up the leftover steak quesadillas from the night before. Even as I ate, she held her, and even though I had just fed her myself, she fed her one of the formulated bottles we had laying out.

"It's good to feed her a lot." Esme said as she handed Aveline back to me. "She needs the milk so that she can grow."

"Thanks." I said quietly, smiled at her, and walked into the living room, where I comfortably positioned myself on the couch,. I grabbed one of the baby pillows from the floor, and put it on my lap, then comfortably placed Aveline atop of it. She was quiet for the time being. I knew that she was awake, but she didn't make a sound. I looked down at her and she looked up at me.

Now what?

Rather than sitting and staring at each other until Edward got home later tonight, I turned the television back on - ignoring the news next time -, and decided to watch a marathon of some random crime show marathon that was going for the next six hours.

For the remainder of the day, that's exactly what the two of us did. I noticed that Aveline was relatively quiet for the day; possibly tired from screaming all night. Which was good, and bad. It was good because the house was finally quiet, but bad because I had to wake her up to feed her every so often, and change her diaper when needed. This, of course, irritated her, and every time she started crying, I had to pause the show so that I could pace around the house until she calmed down. The thing that did worry me a bit was that she had been sleeping so much during the day, I had a bad feeling that she would be up all night…

Around four thirty in the afternoon, when Aveline had finally fallen back asleep, my phone vibrated. I froze, praying to god that she wouldn't wake up. She stirred, but didn't open her eyes. I sighed in relief, and looked at the new text message from Edward.

Hey, I just left practice. How has she been all day? I was going to pick up some dinner for the two of us. I'm sure you're hungry.

I texted back with one hand, using my thumb to press the keys.

She's been pretty good. She slept a lot today, but I had to wake her up to feed her.

I sent that then opened up a new message.

I'm starving. If you could pick something up, that would be great! Maybe if we put Aveline to bed we can watch movie and have some alone time.. (:

Knowing that Edward was on the way home instantly lifted my mood. He was also bringing me food. And we might be able to spend some alone time together tonight. It was Friday, so I didn't have to worry about him sleeping away from me, or how sleep deprived he would be at school the next morning. It was just the two of us.

The three of us now.

I looked down at my baby and smiled. She looked so precious and peaceful in her sleep. Soon it would be time to give her another bath and dress her in her pajamas. Maybe tonight she sleep. Maybe tonight we could sleep. Not that I should let my wishful thinking get to me, but it would be nice.

Within the next fifteen minutes, I saw headlights pull up into the driveway, and I knew that Edward home. Excitement washed over me, as I heard his footsteps echo in the chilly November air.

"Bella?" He called.

"In here!" I called back, completely forgetting that Aveline was practically in my arms. She jumped awake, her green eyes flashing open. I bit my lip, feeling so stupid that I actually forgot that she was on my lap. She stretched her tiny little arms and legs, and whined.

Edward walked into the room, looking sweaty from cross country practice. He put the plastic bag on coffee table and walked over to us. He gave me a kiss and positioned himself so he was looking down at Aveline.

"Hi Aveline." He whispered, a smile playing on his lips.

"Look who's home!" I said in a higher pitched voice to Aveline, then looked over at Edward. "She just woke up." I told him, laughing at how she tried to stretch her body. I lightly grabbed the bottom of her foot and helped her pull her legs out. "You've been a good girl today, haven't you?"

Just then, her chest rose, she opened her mouth, and she hiccupped.

"Oh!" I exclaimed, then laughed. "Uh oh… someone has the hiccups!"

Edward laughed too. We both watched as she continued to stretch her arms and legs out wide, then hiccup. Every time she did, her eyes would widen, and she would look around the room as though she were confused. It was adorable.

As much as I wanted it to last, it went away within the next minute.

"So… what did you get for dinner?"

"I almost forgot." He said, reaching over to the coffee table and grabbing the bag of food. He pulled out a container and smiled. "Sushi."

"You know me too well."

"I know." He agreed, and leaned in to kiss me on the lips. "Anyway, I was thinking that we could get her ready for bed and enjoy a very romantic dinner in my bedroom while we watch a movie."

I laughed. "You're so cheesy."

He winked at me. "Are you in, or not?"

I nodded my head. "It's a date."

Edward took Aveline from me, and when he did, I noticed that she had drooled all over the pillow she had fallen asleep on. That meant more laundry to do, but I found it more cute that irritating. With his other hand, Edward grabbed the bag of sushi and walked up the stairs, with me trailing shortly behind him.

While I set up the bath for Aveline, Edward showered himself. He said that he felt disgusting from practice, and I didn't blame him. After running nine miles you should feel like that. So, with Edward only feet away from me in the shower, I grabbed a towel, the same baby soap, fuzzy pajamas, and some nighttime lotion for babies.

"Are you almost done?" I asked.

"Yup. Just getting out now." He said, then turned off the water. He reached his hand out from the curtain and grabbed the towel that hung from the rack. I left the bathroom to go and get Aveline from her crib, and when I came back, Edward was standing there wearing absolutely nothing.

I froze.

I had only seen Edward naked one time, and that was almost nine months ago. We had agreed that we weren't going to be sex crazy teenagers who loved only off of lust. We did what we had to do to get what we wanted: our baby. The moment was still perfect, and I couldn't have imagined it in any other way, but it's not something that either of us think that we need right now. We set our limits to making out, and no further.

Edward acted as though it was no big deal that I had walked in on him like that. He simply smiled and pulled up his boxers, then his sweatpants.

"Bella… are you okay?"

I shook my head slowly, then struggled to get my words out. "Uh… yeah, of course."

He smiled at me again, and I smiled back, still in a bit of a daze. But despite the awkward moment I just witnessed, I managed to push it to the back of my mind and focus on what was happening now… my family. Edward and I washed Aveline together, being very careful when we put the soap on her. He washed what little hair she had while I washed her body.

When I was putting more soap on the washcloth, I accidentally squirted some onto Edward's shoulder. I stared at the glob of clear, baby soap on his arm and giggled.

"Oh, so this is funny, now is it?"

"No…" I tried to stop laughing, but failed at it. "Okay, yes."

"Well, then you're going to have to pay!" Edward said loudly, grabbing the bottle of soap and squirted it all over my shirt. I shook my head, trying to hold back my laughter, but, instead, ended up fighting back. I put some soap on my hands and rubbed it all over his bare chest.

Before he had time to react, I ran out of the bathroom and down the hall.

Sadly, Edward is much faster than me. By the time I reached the staircase, he was right behind me. I squealed when he squirted the remainder of the bottle on my head, and grabbed me by the waist, throwing me over his shoulder like a football.

"Edward!"

"I have officially won this war!" He exclaimed as I beat on his chest.

"No!" I cried. "I want a rematch! It's not fair; you're faster than me!"

"Maybe next bath time." Edward said, putting me back down on my feet. "Come on, we have a baby to get back to, now don't we?"

We had only left her for about three minutes, but it still wasn't a smart move. The moment I got back into the bathroom, I made sure that she was alright. After finding nothing wrong, we finished bathing her.

I handed Edward the washcloth to wipe up the soap from his skin, while I bundled Aveline up in her fuzzy, towel and brought her back into the bedroom to put a clean diaper on her, and change her in her pajamas.

"Why don't you go shower?" Edward suggested.

"I'm fine, really." I said, grabbing a clean diaper and putting it on Aveline.

"With soap all over your head?" He teased.

"I mean… but… it's…"

Edward came up behind me and kissed the side of the forehead. "Go shower. You've had a long day. I'll get her ready for bed and hopefully get her to fall asleep."

I took the opportunity to take a shower. I grabbed a big t-shirt to wear to bed, like I usually did, and went straight to the bathroom, which was already steamy. I turned the water as high as it would go and jumped in.

It had been ages since I had been able to finally appreciate a shower. I could wash my hair, and slowly rub the soap on my body. I could actually stand in the hot water and let it release some of the stress I was feeling.

I stayed in the shower until the water was freezing cold and my fingers looked like prunes. After drying my body off, and getting dressed, I went back into the bedroom, only to find Edward standing by the bed, swaying back and forth with Aveline in his arms.

"Is she having a hard time going to sleep?"

"I think so. She's crying. Not screaming, just crying."

I frowned and walked over to her. Sure enough, there were tears in her big green eyes and her pink lips were puckered out. She was breathing heavily and looked tired.

"Here, I'll take here while you get dinner ready."

He handed her to me and once she was in my arms, I started walking around the room, rubbing her back slowly and kissing her. Edward came over and draped a blanket over her, but said that she was still crying.

"Oh, baby…" I said to her and took a seat on the bed next to Edward. He opened up the multiple boxes of sushi and even pulled the chopsticks apart for us. "Do you think maybe she's hungry?"

Edward shrugged. "Maybe you try feeding her while I go pick out a movie."

I nodded, and he went downstairs to grab a movie. I tried feeding her while he was gone, but she didn't seem to be hungry. I burped her afterwards, and continued to rub her back after I was done.

I grabbed a pillow and set straight in the middle of the bed, then put Aveline on it. I sat on my knees, being careful not to knock over the sushi, and rubbed her belly softly. Tears still rimmed the edge of her eyes, but her breathing seemed to calm down. Whatever I was doing was apparently doing some good to her.

"I grabbed the first thing I could see. How does Inception sound?"

"Anything is fine with me." I said softly, with a smile.

Edward set up the DVD, and put the sushi around us. After turning the lights off in the room, he sat on the right side of Aveline, while I sat on the left. He stretched his arm over to my side of the bed, and put it around me. I scooted closer to him and played with his fingers with my hand.

I didn't pay much attention to the movie. I was too focused on the delicious sushi, my wonderful boyfriend, and my beautiful daughter. But the second that the movie was over, sleep was the one thing on my mind. Edward turned the television off, and brought Aveline to her crib, the snuggled back next to me in bed.

I was just beginning to drift into sleep when the screaming started.

Here we go again.

And that is the conclusion to the very long chapter one! I hope that you guys liked it. I spent quiet some time on it. I'm hoping that maybe, possibly this story can get more reviews than the prequel? That would be beyond amazing! But, please, tell me what you think! Review… ! Oh, and don't forget to check out the trailer for this story on Youtube; my username is halleyandtaya13. (:

Xoxo,

Halley.