Chapter 3: Can you say awkward?

A/N: Oh my God. It's been over a YEAR since I updated. A whole freaking year. I HATE authors who start a story and then just abandon it for ages and I promised myself I would never be one...but that kinda failed. I'm REALLY sorry it's taken so long to get this chapter out! People who were reading this have probably lost complete interest in this and probably don't even remember what happened. I promise I won't take as long to get the next chapter out! Anyway, for those of you who have actually stuck with this story, here's a little recap of what's happened:

Bella Swan has been sent to live with the Cullen family as her foster carer is too old to look after her. Bella and the Cullens share a history...and NOT a good one. When Bella was younger, she and Edward used to be enemies and used to have 'prank wars'. One day, the prank wars got slightly out of hand as Bella put pink hair dye in all of the Cullens' shampoos, effectively turning their hair pink for a long time. It's safe to say the Cullens never forgot about that day and now Bella is back. How will they all react to seeing her again after all these years? And feelings seem to be sparking between Edward and Bella. The last chapter left off with Esme cooking a big dinner for the whole family to have together with Bella. It's the first time they're all seeing her since that fateful day and Bella's just a bit scared.

If you guys want to read the previous chapters to remind yourself of the story in greater detail, then go ahead. Anyway, ENJOY! And please review! I love reading the reviews I get :D I can't believe I got 17 reviews for just 2 chapters! Seriously. I thought I'd get something like 4. I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR REVIEWING!

And yes, I have made Alice COMPLETELY OOC. So don't leave me a review saying 'BUT ALICE ISN'T LIKE THAT! YOU RUINED HER'. This is my story, and I've decided to make Alice bitchy.

BPOV

The delicious smell of tomatoes and garlic wafted through the house as I ransacked through my suitcase, contemplating on what I should wear. It was just dinner right? I mean no one dresses formally for a nice, family dinner do they? But this wasn't just a nice, happy, family dinner. It wasn't just old friends reuniting and having laughs and chatter. This was the long, awaited altercation between the Cullen family and Bella Swan.

I exhaled in frustration as I had so far, unsuccessfully, found nothing to wear. My room was now splattered with dozens of piles of clothes strewn across the floor as I was now delving deeper into my suitcase, clawing at any sight of clothing, frantically. This was not like me at all. I was never one of those girls who spent hours in front of the mirror, staring at her appearance only to look for the faults that she would inevitably find, resulting in her changing outfits for the umpteenth time. I was perfectly comfortable with just throwing on a pair of comfy jeans, a tank top and skipping along happily. But I knew that tonight I had to come across as a confident, sophisticated girl who had put all matters in the past behind her and was ready for a mature relationship with the people whose lives she so blatantly...ruined. Oh God, that doesn't sound too appealing. I flopped back onto my bed, sighing miserably. I guess this whole dinner is going to be a complete and utter fail.

"Bella? Are you ok? Dinner's going to be ready soon and you've been a while up there' I heard Edward call, worriedly, from outside my door.

His smooth, velvety voice brought around a whole new bunch of nerves. It occurred to me just then, that Edward would in fact be present at this dinner. As stupid as it sounds, I had been so preoccupied with what I was going to wear, that I completely forgot about Edward. Now I was even more nervous about what I was going to wear. I didn't want him to think I was some kind of hideous troll! Ugh...this was just all too much for me to be handling at the moment. I struggled to make my voice chirpy and happy.

"Yep, I'm fine, thanks. Tell Esme I'll be down in a couple of minutes' I said, plastering a smile on my face though I knew he couldn't see it. It still helped make my voice a fake, cheerful tone.

"Alright then..." Edward trailed off, awkwardly. It was silent for another 5 minutes so I assumed Edward had left.

How had everything become so uncomfortable between us? It seemed like yesterday I was running stealthily across the garden, hiding behind the bushes for the perfect aim to throw my water balloons at Edward. It seemed like yesterday Edward was chasing me around the park with his ice cream in hand, ready to use it as a weapon at me. Now all of a sudden, it was as if we were trying to avoid each other. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I was aware that the sudden changes for all this were my newfound feelings for Edward. I didn't fail to notice how my heartbeat quickened every time I saw him. I didn't fail to notice how that when he looked at me, I blushed immediately. All these new feelings were making me completely uneasy around him and I knew I was to blame for this awkwardness. I mean it wasn't like he even reciprocated these feelings.

It was getting late and I knew I had to pick out something to wear soon. It was then that the perfect outfit caught my eye. How I failed to notice it before I don't know, but it was gorgeous and perfect for the occasion. It was a beautiful, sapphire-blue dress that stopped just above my knee and had a black strap across the waist. Miss Graystone had bought it for my 16th birthday. At first I had refused to accept it, insisting that it was too much a gift to give me, but now I was grateful for Miss Graystone's expert persuasion skills. I carefully put on the dress, relishing in its beauty, and slipped on some indigo-blue pumps to go with it. Brushing out my hair, gently, I decided I looked at least decent for the dinner. Ok Bella, here goes nothing. I took a few deep, calming breaths and headed out the door, making my way down the grand marble staircase.

As I neared the kitchen, my heartbeat increased rapidly and a whole new batch of nerves washed over me. I smoothed down my dress and hair, taking a deep breath. Come on, Bella, stop being such a wuss. It's just a dinner, for God's sake. I hesitantly pushed the door open, bracing myself for multiple evil glares to be shot my way. However, I was extremely surprised (nonetheless completely relieved) as the only person in the kitchen was Esme, who was alternating between stirring something in a sauce pan and grating cheese. The food smelled delicious and my mouth watered at the sight of it all. Hearing my entrance, Esme turned around and smiled kindly at me. At least that's one person who won't be shooting me hateful glares I thought, trying to calm myself, though that thought didn't comfort me as much as I thought it would.

"Ah, Bella. Sorry, but dinner isn't quite ready yet. I'm a bit of a perfectionist" she said, smiling, as I just looked appreciatively at the food.

"Wow, Esme, the food looks amazing!" I replied truthfully, taking in the huge plate of pasta and the garlic bread lying beside it. "I haven't had food like this in...a while" I said, my stomach making embarrassing growling noises. I blushed deeply, unable to control the hungry sounds that were emanating from me.

"Everyone is in the living room if you want to go say hello to them, dear" she said brightly, but I could hear the fearful and slightly nervous undertones that were creeping through her voice. "Carlisle just got back from work so he's changing into something a bit more appropriate for dinner but all the children are sitting there watching TV and I'm sure Emmett and Alice will be eager to see you after all these years!" she continued, focusing on the different pots and pans before her and avoiding eye contact with me. I could tell she was also aware of the fact that no one would be all that keen on seeing me again, but I admired her for at least trying to make me feel at home. I wrung my hands together nervously, and attempted a smile that I'm sure resulted in a look of either constipation or complete madness. Smiling when I was scared shitless wasn't exactly the best idea, I thought a bit too late.

"Err..yeah, sure" I said apprehensively, feeling the butterflies fluttering around in my stomach. "I'll just...err...I'll just go say hi now" I finished, my palms sweating and my stomach feeling not-so-good. I left the kitchen and headed towards the living room which had its door shut. It was quite clear I wasn't wanted but I knew I had to face this sometime. It was inevitable; I couldn't exactly go avoiding them all forever. I placed my hand on the handle, ready to push it open, however froze when I heard voices inside.

"Guys, I know we're not exactly her biggest fans but I don't think we should be too hard on her. Just...try to be nice" I heard a smooth, silky voice say and my heart stopped for a second as I realized it was Edward and he was actually...defending me. I was filled with a warm feeling and felt a smile appear on my face, which I couldn't prevent from coming. I couldn't believe he was actually standing up for me after what had happened.

"Edward, I don't care if she says she's sorry or says she feels bad. She's a stupid bitch and there's no way in hell that I'm going to be forgiving her anytime soon. Do you have any idea how mortifying it was for me to go to school with a pink...bush on my head?" I heard another, slightly nasal, voice reply. I felt a pang of hurt from those words, but I also knew they were kind of...just slightly true. I'm guessing that was Alice who just spoke.

"Yes, Ali, I do have some sort of idea. The whole family was affected by that, remember? But still, it's been 10 whole years. There's no point in holding a grudge for that long so you need to stop being a stupid brat about the whole situation and start acting mature" Edward replied angrily, and I felt even more surprised that he was sticking up for me so adamantly. But why? Why on Earth would Edward be defending me after all that's happened? It couldn't be humanly possible that he was doing this because he reciprocated my feelings...no that was just impossible. So why was he doing this? I had heard enough of their little conversation and as a surge of confidence washed over me, I pushed open the door without hesitation. Edward shot up from his chair immediately and stared at me. Alice was looking down at her nails, refusing to look at me and Emmett was still sitting on the sofa, looking at me with an expression of annoyance on his face but his glare didn't emit half the amount of anger I could feel radiating from Alice. An awkward silence loomed in the air and I decided to break it before we just ended up standing there for God knows how long.

"Er...hey," I said, shifting uncomfortably under all their scrutinising glares. Edward's eyes still seemed to be transfixed upon me, making me feel even more uncomfortable as I just stood there awkwardly.

"Wow Bella...you, erm, you look..." he trailed off, waving his hand in the air as a gesture to describe what he was trying to say. "You look amazing," he finished, opting to use an actual adjective this time. I felt my cheeks heat up instantly, and I averted my eyes to the ground, too embarrassed to look Edward in the eye.

"Um...thanks. You, uh, you don't look so bad yourself," I replied lamely, instantly feeling like berating myself for replying with something so cliché and ridiculous. I heard Emmett snickering in the background as Edward shot him a glare that seemed to say 'shut up, idiot" and I looked over at him, bracing myself for many different insults. I was surprised, however, when I saw him smile slightly at me and I decided to give a tentative smile back to him. He stood up and walked over to me slowly, holding his hand out.

"Hey Bella," he said, grimacing slightly when he said my name but I was still amazed he was actually making an effort. I grasped his large hand in mine and shook it gently, smiling. "It's been a while, eh?" he continued, laughing slightly and I simply blushed again, not wanting to remember the memories I was almost certain he was thinking of. He had such a large build and seemed to exert an exterior of complete strength and robustness that it was kind of comical how his personality completely contradicted his looks. He had short, wavy black hair that ended just at the top of his neck.

"Yeah...I guess it's too late for apologies now, isn't it?" I replied, smiling hesitantly, just in case Emmett's good mood was short lasting. Before Emmett could reply, a loud scoff sounded from the other end of the room. I turned my head around, already knowing who the sound had come from, and wasn't surprised when I saw Alice shooting me a look of complete annoyance and anger.

"Yeah, you think right, you stupid idiot," Alice said, glaring at me. I was never one to be good at confrontations and fights but the way Alice was treating me was starting to piss me off. I was at least making an effort to try and put things behind us but Alice was obviously too immature to do such thing. Before I could reply with my new sense of confidence that I had manage to obtain in the heat of the moment, Edward cut in.

"Alice, stop being such a drama queen. Bella's said she's sorry and at least she's actually trying here. You're just acting like a baby now. Drop it," he said, a firm and authoritative tone to his voice. I just stood there, gaping at how Edward was still defending me. I mean, really; why was he doing this? I admired him and felt a strange sense of emotion toward him but I just didn't understand why he kept defending me. I shot him a strange look which he must have saw because he simply smiled back in return. I felt a smile of my own twitching at the corners of my mouth.

"She's a stupid bitch, Edward, and I'm not going to just sit here and act as if nothing happ-" Alice was shouting angrily, however was cut off when the door suddenly opened and a tall man appeared, seeming to be in his mid 40's. He had light blonde hair and an extremely handsome face. It was clear, due to the expression on his face, that he was aware he was interrupting something but he simply shook his head, smiling warmly when his gaze flitted over to me.

"Ah, Bella, my dear!" he said as he entered the room, walking up and holding his hand out toward me. I was always embarrassed to shake someone's hand because my grip wasn't strong at all and my hands were so small, making me seem like a weak little girl, though I hesitantly held out my hand and shook his as firmly as I could. "It's great to see you," he continued, still smiling. I wasn't exactly shocked at his kindness as he was an adult and I wasn't really expecting Carlisle to be rude to me however I was glad he wasn't just trying to act polite and was genuinely happy to see me.

"It's great to see you, too, Carlisle," I replied smiling back at him. There was a short silence in the room and you could sense the tension that was filling up the air.

"Right, well, Esme just wanted me to come tell you all that dinner's ready" Carlisle said in an attempt to alleviate the awkwardness that had comfortably settled in the room however it made no difference and I could still feel Alice's glare fixated upon me. Carlisle narrowed his eyes at Alice, as if to convey a message silently but Alice simply rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest, looking the other way.

"Bella, how about I show you to the kitchen," I heard Edward's soft voice say, making me turn around and smile gratefully at him, just thankful I was being taken away from the disastrous predicament I was currently in. He walked toward the door, leaving me no choice but to follow him and escape Alice's glare that still hadn't seemed to leave the back of my head. As we walked out of the room, I leaned against the wall, closed my eyes and sighed.

"Thank you so much for saving me back there, Edward," I said, opening my eyes and smiling at him thankfully. I still couldn't get over the fact at how good looking he had turned out to be. His tousled, bronze hair was glistening in the light and I just wanted to run my hands through it because of how soft it looked. He looked over to me and returned my smile.

"No problem, Bellie" He smirked, using his old nickname for me that I positively hated. I simply rolled my eyes at his use of that name. "It seemed like you needed some help. Alice can be a little..." he trailed off here, obviously searching for a word that could describe the monstrosity that is Alice Cullen. "...blunt about things. And she tends to hold grudges for a while. Just give her some time to cool down and things'll be fine".

"Some time? Edward, it's been 10 years and if she needs more time than that, I highly doubt she's ever going to forgive me," I replied miserably, dropping my head in my hands. This was exactly the kind of drama I was hoping to avoid. I guess it was naive for me to think that they'd all just suddenly forget about the past and jump at the thought of me coming to stay. Yep, stupid Bella. "I mean, I'm extremely grateful that you and Emmett are at least trying to be nice, but you guys haven't really forgiven me either, have you?" I continued, voicing the thoughts that had constantly been lurking and swimming around in my mind. As much as I wanted Edward to have truly forgiven me, I really don't think he had. At this, Edward lifted his head up and gazed at me with an unreadable expression upon his face.

"Bella," he said my name clearly, "I might have been a bit pissed off at first when I saw you," he smirked a little at that, "but honestly, I don't see the point in holding a ten year grudge. I mean, most people have forgotten about that...incident as we like to call it and I know you feel terrible about it so, why bother? I can't speak for Emmett though. He isn't as mad as Alice but he is still a little peeved about the whole thing. He had to go through all the jocks calling him a 'pink little fairy' so it might take just a bit longer for him to warm up to you" he finished, smiling a small smile at me. "So, just to make it clear, I don't hate you. Well, not too much anyway," he grinned at me and I couldn't help the smile that appeared on my face after hearing those words from him.

"Thanks Edward, you have no idea how much that means to me. The fact that you've actually forgiven me," I say without thinking, but then instantly freeze. Shit, I basically just confessed that he's the only one that matters to me which might lead to him to pick up on the fact that I've been having just a few more than friendly feelings towards him. Crap. I need to fix this. "I-I mean not that you're, you're special or anything" I said hurriedly, trying to throw him off track. He's simply standing there, smirking that really annoying smirk of his and his eyebrows are raised expectantly. "In fact, you're pretty boring. Mundane, even. I don't care about your opinion. So...yeah," I trail off, embarrassment and stupidity flooding over me as my cheeks burn fiercely. Fuck. So instead of throwing him off track, I just made him think I was a total retard. Nice going, idiot.

"Right, well, I'll keep that in mind, Bella" he said, trying to keep a straight face but I could see the laughter struggling to stay in. I simply stood there like an idiot, my cheeks refusing to return to their normal colour.

"I know what you're thinking but I just want to say you're wrong," I said suddenly, then immediately wanted to curse myself again. Seriously Bella, what's with the constant stupid comments? Fuck, shit, crap, damn it. Edward simply raised his eyebrows some more and looked over to me, amusement dancing in his eyes.

"Oh really, Bella dear? And what is it that I'm thinking?" he asked, folding his arms across his chest and standing there looking as perfect as ever.

"That I like you". Oh shit. I have no fucking idea what nudged me to actually say that out loud. Edward mustn't have thought I would've actually have said it out loud as a look of surprise is etched on his face. "I just wanted to say, well, I don't. In case you were thinking I do. Which I don't". Oh God, now I'm just rambling. There's a moment of silence where I'm standing there blushing furiously and Edward is just standing there, a look of surprise, amusement and confusion upon his face. Finally, after God knows how long, he actually said something.

"Well, that's nice to know. I don't like you either. Just in case you were wondering," he replied, confirming my suspicions. "Well then. As much fun as that little conversation was, I think it's time we better be heading to dinner now," he continued and abruptly turned around, stalking off in the direction of the kitchen without so much as a glance back in my direction leaving me standing there like an idiot. I sighed, cursing myself for even bringing up the dreaded topic of 'liking each other' for I had just made things infinitely worse and more awkward. This will sure be one hell of a dinner, I thought as I headed to the kitchen.

A/N: YES, YES, I KNOW I DIDN'T PUT THE ACTUAL DINNER IN THE CHAPTER. I just wanted to post SOMETHING for you guys and I really couldn't be bothered to put the dinner in here as I felt my writing was just getting worse towards the end of this chapter so I didn't want to write a really crap dinner scene. I PROMISE that in the next chapter, the wonderful long awaited dinner scene shall finally be. Anyway, I know this chapter pretty much sucked but like I said before, IT'S BEEN OVER A FREAKING YEAR, so I just wanted to get something out. Anyway, PLEAAASEEE review :D It makes me really happy to see a review and always gets me in the mood to start writing again when I see one. So please review :D Hope you guys liked it! And I really have no idea how long the next chapter will take to get out. But I promise I will try my best to get it finished and posted SOON.