Disclaimer: The characters, over-arching plot and even the settings belong to Stephenie Meyer. Good thing too.

And here we go!

Chapter 1

It was March, the middle of Bella's last semester of High School. She walked up the sidewalk to her house with care, as the snow of a few days before had melted down to icy patches. She hated ice.

Stopping to collect the mail from the box beside the door, Bella froze. For the last few weeks there had been an unusual number of letters with her name on them; nearly an equal number of acceptances and rejections from various schools around the country. Bella had mostly ignored them all, since nothing had yet arrived from Vermont and that was the only school she cared about.

But this one was different. This one was clearly an acceptance, judging by the size of the package, and the name in the top left corner was one she recognised with a sinking feel of dread.

'Bella?' Edward asked. He'd been following behind her up to the porch to make certain she didn't slip and fall on the ice. She'd completely forgotten he was there and his voice startled her so much that she dropped the small pile of bills, letters and the acceptance.

Edward caught them before they hit the ice strewn cement. When Bella glanced up at him he was smiling in a way that explained why he'd been so secretive all day – more so than usual at least – and why Alice had been grinning more than usual too.

'How long have you known?' Bella ground out; teeth clenched.

Edward smiled in a very honest way. 'Alice only told me this morning.' There was a distinct pause before he continued, 'but I think she's known about a week, since the Registry Office mailed it.' Bella's look sharpened and Edward had to spare a brief moment of sympathy for his sister, who was going to get a talking to tomorrow from an itty bitty and very angry human.

'And yours?'

'At the house. All three of them.'

'Gah!' Bella exclaimed and jammed her key into the door with more force than was strictly necessary. She pushed the door in so hard it slammed against the back wall. Edward winced as she stomped into the house. 'This was all a set up! I should never have let you even send that application in! Of course this was going to happen! Well, fine. It's what you all wanted. You'll be happy at Dartmouth.'

Edward read between the lines with unusual ease. 'Vermont hasn't come in yet,' he reminded her and immediately regretted it.

'Well it will! And I'm going. And it's closer to the house anyways!' Bella stopped short, realising she'd been yelling unconscionably loud, considering the situation. 'I'm sorry. I just hate it that my life is all planned out by you.'

'It's not, Bella. I had no idea – Alice had no idea – if you would be accepted. The rest of us wanted to go and I want to go to the same university as you. I can't bear the thought of being apart all day every day.'

Her looked had softened somewhat. 'Either do I. You haven't got Vermont yet either?'

Edward smiled. 'No. It'll be in tomorrow; for both of us,' he went on.

That calmed Bella down more than anything else. 'Then we can go there?'

'If you truly want to attend Vermont, Bella, I'd be happy to go there with you.'

Her eyes narrowed. 'But you'd really rather I went to Dartmouth, right?'

He couldn't even pretend to lie to her. 'You were accepted, Bella. I think you would like Dartmouth, if you gave it a chance.'

She sighed deeply, and he knew she'd reached her limit of being mad at him. 'I'll think about it.'

'That's all I ask. And on a slightly happier topic, this means we can plan that trip out to the house. We're just in time for Spring Break.'

Bella huffed as she finally pulled her jacket off and tossed it on the clothes hook, ignoring the fact that it missed and Edward caught it for her, before plodding into the kitchen to dump her bag. 'Totally planned,' she whispered under her breath, well aware that he could hear her.

He grinned, following her into the kitchen. 'Maybe a bit. But it is planned by the schools and not us. I can't control when an acceptance comes in.'

'So when are we leaving?'

'Saturday morning at ten.'

'And is Alice packing for me?'

Edward didn't bother answering the question. They both knew it was rhetorical.

Bella took a deep breath and then let it out slowly, her body finally relaxing from the annoyance of a few minutes before. 'Right; is everyone coming?'

'Carlisle has to work this weekend, but he'll fly out for a couple of days next week. But otherwise, yes. And Rose and Emmett will join us for a few days as well.'

Bella hesitated. 'How are they doing?'

The two had taken off for New York almost as soon as they returned from Hawaii at the beginning of January. They'd been back briefly in February for a few days to visit, but Edward knew they were enjoying having a place to themselves for a while. 'They're enjoying New York,' he finally said. 'But I think they're both looking forward to some time together with the whole family as well.'

Bella didn't look convinced. She and Rosalie still weren't on the best of terms, though Rose was at least civil after the Christmas trip. A week in constant company in sunny Hawaii was enough to soften even the blonde's mood.

'It'll be nice to see Emmett,' she decided.

'It will be nice to be together, the whole family, in our new house,' Edward expounded. He reached for her and Bella came willingly, cuddling into his cold arms.

'Our house,' she whispered into his shoulder; but he could hear the smile in her voice.

Edward kissed her hair gently, smiling himself. 'Why don't you come over after school tomorrow and we can discuss things. I'm certain Alice will have it well in hand by then, but the point is that we all have input. Maybe you and Esme can talk about what you'd like to help with?'

'Was she serious about wanting my decorating input? Because I really have no idea about any of that stuff.'

'You don't need to. But Esme would like the help. I have to say, despite Alice's design obsession, she prefers clothes. Esme's the decorator. It might be something the two of you could do together,' Edward reasoned.

'That would be nice. I mean, spending time with Esme.'

'She'd like that too. And you can certainly decorate our bedroom,' Edward went on.

Bella froze. Slowly, she turned her head to look at him. 'I can?'

'Well, I'm not going to do it. I don't decorate,' he stated matter-of-factly, looking like such a statement affronted his manly sensibilities.

Bella laughed, shoving him away playfully. 'I doubt that. There's nothing you can't do.'

Edward arched an eye. 'That almost sounds like a challenge. I'll have to ask Alice for help,' he decided. 'There must be something I'm not good at, at least!'

Bella snorted. 'Right,' she said, and set about making herself a cup of tea. It was bloody cold outside for March and being pressed against Edward's cold body hadn't helped. The last thing she needed was to catch a cold or something and be miserable the entire trip to Vermont. Edward leaned against the back wall and watched her, as he often did. She didn't understand what he found so fascinating, but he obviously enjoyed it, considering how often he engaged in the activity.

When she had her tea made, he followed her into the living room. Bella grabbed a blanket and made herself comfortable on the sofa, half leaning against Edward's chest.

'I'm thinking blues,' she announced suddenly.

'I'm sorry?' Edward blinked unnecessarily at her, obviously confused.

'For our room, silly,' she said; tongue firmly in cheek.

'Ah, right. Blue is nice. Dark blues, though.'

'Not baby blue?'

'Definitely not!'

'I was thinking dark blues and chocolate or dark wood. And maybe cream walls,' Bella went on, trying to picture it in her head. She really had no idea about interior design, but it sounded like it would work.

'I like it,' he agreed. 'The colours are rich, but elegant. Actually, that was the colour scheme in Esme and Carlisle's room at the house in Alaska.'

Bella was surprised by that. 'Really? Dark blue and brown? I don't see it.'

Edward snorted softly. 'Well, it was mostly Carlisle's choice. Esme got so busy with the rest of the house that she told him he could pick out their room.'

'Learned her lesson, did she?'

'Quite. Dark colours like that don't suit Esme at all. Even Carlisle hated it after a while.'

Bella pondered that a moment. 'Their room here suits them. The beige and golds.'

'It does. But I think dark blue and chocolate will suit us. And I'm sure Esme has some pictures of the room in Alaska around, so you can take a look. It might give you some ideas,' he went on.

Being careful to test the tea's temperature first, Bella took a sip of the hot liquid. 'This might actually be fun,' she admitted. 'And at worst, it gets us out of Forks for a week.'

'How true,' Edward agreed.

There will be new chapters every 4-5 days (and no sooner) until this is finished. I've estimated about 11-12 chapters (including the prologue).