Hey, guys! Sorry it took a while to get this up, I've been busy lately, even without school. I'll try to get the next one up quicker, but I can't promise.
It's hard to believe that school only starts in a month. Only a month left of summer, and I'm freakishly busy! *Sigh.
Thanks for all the reviews and reviewers!

Me: I own the Twilight Saga! Yay!
Disclaimer: You know that this is just your dream, right?
Me: No, it's not!
Edward: Yes, it is.
Me: Nuh-uh! If it was a dream, then I would own Midnight Sun, too!
Emmett: Pinch yourself, if you don't believe us.

Me: ~Pinches self and wakes up in bedroom with tears on face~ Nooooo!

Chapter 3: Trust is Earned, not Given
BELLA POV
Kenzie and the Cullen's followed me outside, to the cars. "Bella, we need to talk," Alice begged. I didn't turn, and instead kept walking.

"Talk." I heard a couple of sighs from behind me. They better start talking... I was almost to my car. I smiled slightly – my car was my baby. It was a pretty dark blue, with white stripes, and very glossy. A Shelby Mustang GT Cobra.

"...come over to our place tonight, to talk and catch up?" oops. Maybe I should pay better attention.

"I'm sorry, I blanked out, what?" Rosalie rolled her eyes, and Alice repeated what she'd said.

"How about you and Kenzie come over to our place tonight, to talk and catch up?" I looked over at Kenzie. She shrugged, eying me. It was obviously my choice. I sighed.

"Fine, what time?" Alice grinned, ecstatic.

"How about around 6 or so?" I glanced at my watch and raised an eyebrow.

"Alice, that's only 10 minutes from now." She grinned, nodding.

"Exactly – that means that you won't have a chance to escape! Please, Bella, we really need to talk to you. You deserve an explanation, and we haven't seen each other in nearly half a century. We just want to catch up. We've all really missed you." I sighed.

"Fine, I'll be there. But not until 6:30 – I need to stop by my place and grab something. Do you still live in the same house?" they nodded. "Okay. We'll be there."

"Yay! Thank you, Bella, you won't regret it!" practically skipping, she turned and led her family towards a bright red convertible. I smiled. Some things never changed, no matter what. Alice will be Alice, and Rosalie will have her convertible. I wondered if Edward still had his Volvo. Shrugging I got into the car. Kenzie was already there, in the passenger seat, messing with my iPod, which I'd plugged in. She set it to some random song and then turned to face me.

"Are you sure about this, Bee? They really hurt you," I mentally groaned. So this was the conversation that seemed inevitable, was it?

"I'm sure. They just want to talk. Besides, it's not like I'm getting back together with Edward, Kenz. He hurt me, and as much as I love him, that doesn't mean that I can stay with him. Sometimes, Kenzie, love isn't enough." I parked the car and hurried upstairs to grab two of what appeared – to the untrained vampire eye – to be wine bottles. Kenzie grinned when she saw them.

"Yum! What flavors?"

"Uh... shark and wolf," I replied, glancing at the bottles. Yes, my friend – bottles of blood. Kenzie licked her lips, smiling.

"Yay, shark!" Shark was rarer than some types of blood, but Kenzie loved it. She said she liked the salty tasted it added. I personally preferred the more woodsy flavor of the wolf, but we all had our own opinions.

We continued driving in silence until we reached the white house.

"Whoa... they live here?" Kenzie asked. I nodded. "It's huge!" I stared at her.

"Uhm, Kenzie? Ours is practically the exact same size," I pointed out. She shrugged, still awed at the house. I rolled my eyes good naturedly. Kenzie's mind was hard to unravel. A blur of white and black appeared on the front step.

"Bella! Kenzie! You're here!" I smiled at Alice's enthusiasm.

"We told you we would be," I pointed out. Alice just shrugged, her smile never fading. After hugging Esme and Carlisle, we all sat down. Kenzie came out of the kitchen, 9 wine glasses in hand. I rolled my eyes, smiling, and pulled out the bottles.

"Anyone want some? We have wolf or shark," I told them, pouring my own glass of wolf blood.

"Blood? You buy bottled blood?" Rosalie asked, amused. I could tell she was also impressed. I nodded, smiling at her slightly.

"Yep – our friend, and my fiancé, Nate, came up with the idea, along with his friend – practically brother – Jonathan. It's ingenious, really," Kenzie replied. "We don't have to go hunting near as often. By the way, Bella – when did Nate tell you they'd be coming back? Tuesday, right?" I nodded.

"Yeah – Nate told me to tell you he loves you, and that he's really sorry the deal didn't go as quickly as planned." Kenzie shrugged it off, but smiled when I told her he loved her. "So what do you want to know?" I asked the Cullen's, taking a sip of my blood.

"What happened to you when we left? How'd you get changed?" Emmett asked.

"Victoria." I replied briskly. That time of my life wasn't something I liked to revisit often. They seemed to notice, and soon enough the conversation consisted of easier topics. All too soon, Edward was asking me to take a walk with him.

"What do you want, Edward?" I sighed. Wasn't the fact that they were here hard enough? Did he have to make it harder?

"I just wanted to talk," he replied, seeming a little hurt. "I've missed you."

I snorted. "Oh, yeah, because if you like somebody enough to miss them when you leave them, then you leave them in the woods after telling them you don't love them anymore, and you're going off to play with distractions, and that it will be like you never existed, even though that's a promise that's broken as soon as you make it, Edward!" I hissed, my voice laced with pain. His eyes were sorrowful.

"I didn't mean to hurt you, Bella. I just wanted you to be safe." I snorted again, this time louder.

"Yeah, and what are you going to lie about next, Edward? You going to tell me that you love me? Because we both know that's a lie," he winced.

"But I do love you," he insisted. I was practically laughing, though my heart was ripping again.

"So, if you love someone, you rip their heart out and stomp on it, before going off to play with your distractions – which, by the way, wasn't left out of the conversation when you lied at least six times, while simultaneously telling them you don't love them! Yeah, that's love!"

"Do you still love me? I'll understand if you don't. Heck, if you do, it's more than I deserve." I could feel the pain in my expression when I replied.

"Of course I still love you Edward, but I just don't trust you. I don't know that I can. It's against my nature to be hurt for nearly a half century and then just trust again. Trust is earned, Edward, not given." with that, I walked back through the forests, to the house. After a few seconds of standing out in the snow – which had started falling during our talk – I made my way back home.

I'd deal with this another day.

Sorry it's not very long, I'll try to make the next one longer.

I'm also sorry the other chapters are better – I knew I needed to get it up, but I have horrible writers block right now. I also knew that if I didn't write it now, it might take a month to finish.

So what did you think? Good, bad, wonderful, horrendous? Review, review, review! Pretty please with whichever Cullen you want on top! I'd really appreciate any reviews, even if it's to tell me you don't like it. If you don't like it, can you tell me what you don't like? It's hard for a reader to grow without constructive criticism. : )

Thank you!

-Jazzy's Pixie Seer ---,--'--()