A/N: Thanks so much for your response to our story! If anyone wants to get the flavor of the Seattle Christmas Ships, try these YouTube videos: youtube dotcom/watch?v=LiyhmLyavIQ or youtube dotcom/watch?v=8zC57HVo6RE (replace the dot, remove the spaces).

Edward gripped the icy balcony rail and gazed across the lake, not even feeling the cold. Laughter rose from the Beach Club below. More ships sailed into view around the point, decked out with red, green, blue, and orange Christmas lights lining their rigging. The mist had cleared and the lights reflected off the opalescent clouds hanging low over the lake.

"It came upon a midnight clear, that glorious song of old…"

Something about the singer's voice stirred his heart. She had a beautiful voice. But for some reason it made him incredibly sad. It reminded him of that time, back in Forks, when he had—

"Alice," he said abruptly, "let's go down to the dock."

She put her hand to her chest in mock astonishment. "What? Edward, I don't think you've ever been to the Beach Club, much less to the shore of Lake Washington. Wasn't it you who said it was a waste of time to go to the beach since there was no wi-fi?"

Edward glared at her. "I'm not nearly as much of a stick-in-the-mud as you make me out to be. I went to Matthews Beach just last summer."

She shook her hair out of her eyes and laughed. "Only because one of your clients had a party there and you had to attend. As a matter of fact, I remember very clearly someone complaining. Now let me see." She put a finger to her mouth. "Oh yes." She deepened her voice. "'What idiot decided to hold this party at a public beach? It's sure to be muddy, and there will probably be dogs, and worse, small children throwing frisbees.'"

Edward scowled at her altogether accurate imitation. "Well, I want to go to the beach now. I want to hear the singing close-up."

Alice raised her eyebrows. "You actually want to do something outside of work? I'm not missing this for the world. You get dressed. I'll run and get the car."

He went into the bedroom to put on his clothes. But he made sure to leave the balcony door open so he could listen to the music while he dressed.

"The world in solemn stillness lay, to hear the angels sing…"

-x-

"Psst. Cullen," said the kid across the aisle in the seventh grade choir classroom at Forks Junior High. The teacher's back was turned as he wrote a set of lyrics on the chalkboard.

Edward was staring out the window, watching raindrops slide down the glass. He hated rain. His dad had recently taken a position at the local hospital, their third move in only six years. Back in Arizona, when his dad had started complaining about incompetent staff, backbiting colleagues, and overly demanding administrators, he knew another move was coming.

Normally he didn't mind moving. His mother had loved living in San Francisco, but now that it was just him and his dad, there never was anything that made one place better than any other. And given how rainy Forks was, he shouldn't have minded the inevitable upcoming move, but this time, he didn't want to leave. There was something different in his life now.

He had a friend.

"Hey! Idiot!" The kid's voice got a little louder.

Edward stirred abruptly and jerked around to face him.

The kid rolled his eyes and passed Edward a small square of paper, folded many times.

Across the room in the soprano section, a petite girl with a mass of brunette curls raised her hand just barely above her waist, gave him a tiny wave, and grinned at him.

Edward's gloomy thoughts vanished in an instant and a wave of warmth washed over him all the way down to his toes, as though the sun had come out. He smiled back and opened the note.

"E—want to go for a walk after school today? I found something I'd like to show you. B."

Edward dug out his pencil.

"B— sorry, I can't. My dad wants me to go to some program at the hospital. E."

He snuck a look at her as she unfolded the note. She looked disappointed for a moment, then perked up, licked her pencil, and bent her head to scrawl something else.

"E— I'll see you at the library tomorrow, then, right? B."

He caught her eye and gave her a thumbs-up and a wide grin. He still couldn't believe his luck, finding a best friend who actually enjoyed meeting him at the library.

-x-

After school, as he got into his dad's Mercedes, Dr. Cullen asked, "How did you do on your biology test?"

Edward held out the graded test, complete with a smiley face from the teacher. "I got a 97. Second-highest score in the class."

Dr. Cullen took it and flipped a couple of pages. He grunted, tossed the test on the seat beside him, put the car in gear and pulled out of the parking lot. "Only second-highest? What did you get wrong?"

Edward squirmed. "I just got two of the stages of mitosis mixed up."

"What? How could you miss something so easy?"

"It's not a big deal, Dad, only three points. A 97 is an A. A high A."

Dr. Cullen's hands tightened on the steering wheel. "Son, I'm disappointed in your attitude. As a future doctor, you're going to be held to a higher standard than everyone else. Is it really acceptable to allow three out of a hundred of your patients to die?"

Edward slumped lower in the seat. "I'm sorry, Dad," he mumbled. "I'll try to do better next time."

"That's my boy. Make me proud of you, son." He turned smoothly into the Forks General Hospital parking lot. "Now, I've gone to a lot of trouble to arrange this internship for you. Very few visitors are allowed to attend surgeries, but when I told them what a serious student you were and how eager you were to enter the medical profession, they made an exception." He set the parking brake with a snap and beetled his brows at Edward. "Make sure you don't faint this time. Don't embarrass me again, son."

Edward stared at the tips of his shoes. "Yes, Dad."