It was another week before Mr. Jonas could remain after school long enough that we could stay in the music room after school. However, he was more than happy to let us use it during lunch. I was all for it, but after my stomach made its presence known the first time, Edward would only agree if I ate something first. No, seriously, he was a tyrant about it! He would actually pick up a sandwich from the cafeteria and shove it into my hands, refusing to let me into the music room until I had wolfed it down. After my protests fell on deaf ears the first four times I eventually gave in and just ate the damn sandwich when he handed it to me.

We were moving through 'Spring' quite well. After we had managed to get through all the movements we continued tweaking to polish the sound. There's more to playing music than just putting out notes. There are dynamics of increasing and decreasing volume, subtle variances that are supposed to color the thoughts of the audience and, of course, every musician interprets a piece in their own way.

Which can, at times, cause problems.

"That's not how it was intended to be played."

"That's not how the person who wrote this arrangement intended it to be played, but that doesn't mean my idea is wrong."

Edward folded his arms over his chest. "The fact that your idea is wrong means your idea is wrong."

"The section is supposed to represent flowing waters, like in a creek bed or stream. The volume of flowing water isn't static. Pebbles, boulders, fallen trees, natural bends in the bed itself, all those things can cause changes in the speed of the flow and can make it sound softer or louder."

"The music isn't written to be static. There are changes in dynamics. The crescendos and decrescendos are already there."

Yeah, like I couldn't read that for myself. "I want to play it with a few more. And, at the risk of sounding like a pushy, stuck-up prima donna, since the violin is the 'star' of this arrangement I should at least be allowed to try it out."

Edward threw up his hands. "Fine. We'll try it your way."

"Thank you." I shook my head in irritation as he straightened up to put his fingers on the piano keys again. I let him count off as usual. It was easier to speak when you didn't have a violin under your chin.

We played the piece through, this time with me ignoring a good portion of the writing to add my own style. I closed my eyes and let the music take over, picturing a forest stream in my head, the water dancing and bubbling over smooth rocks and the backs of playful fish. There was no doubt in my mind that Edward would keep up with my changes. In spite of the occasional spat, he was a masterful pianist, as wasted in Forks as I. We would both likely bleed music were we to be cut.

We reached the end of the section and I let the last note fade before opening my eyes and taking Esmerelda from my shoulder. Edward's expression was a bit mulish. "Well?"

He flicked an annoyed look in my direction. "You were right." I almost missed the corner of his mouth twitching. A light went on inside my head.

"You!" He lost his fight with hiding his amusement and started to chuckle. "You were just giving me a hard time!"

Edward gave a shrug, looking completely unrepentant. "I was curious as to whether or not you'd stand up for your art." He flashed one of those perfect smiles that I really should have been getting used to by now, but wasn't. "We should pack up. It's almost time for class."

I checked the clock on the wall behind me and sighed. This was far more interesting than class, but I couldn't ditch. The sound of hard plastic clicking on wood brought my head back around. Edward had picked up my case from where I had set it down and opened it atop the piano so I could pack up. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." He started securing the sheet music as I put Esmerelda back into her case. When I latched the case I saw that he was watching me with something akin to hesitation.

"What is it?"

His mouth opened briefly before closing with a sigh. He took a breath and tried again. "My mother wants to know if we could come by your house for a visit so that we can play for her."

I blinked. "Oh." It shouldn't have surprised me, not after his sister had mentioned that their mother liked classical music. "We… don't have a piano." I gave a shrug. "I'm really the only one who was musically inclined."

"Ah… of course." He seemed relieved. Surely he was used to playing for Mrs. Cullen.

"Don't you have one? We could play at your house."

"I'm… not certain that's a good idea. It gets… hectic. Five teenagers under one roof… tempers fly."

It felt like a weak excuse. Charlie said that the Cullen children were all well behaved, never causing a lick of trouble, and I seriously doubted that Dr. and Mrs. Cullen were abusive towards any of them. Perhaps he just didn't want me in his home. The thought stung more than it probably should have.

"Well, we'll figure it out."

He nodded. "We will." He summoned a smile that I didn't quite believe. "Esme never lets me get by very long without playing for her. She enjoys it too much."

That sounded familiar. "My mom was like that. I think she had visions of me landing first chair in a major symphony orchestra."

"With the way you play, that wouldn't be a hard dream to hold onto." Now the smile was genuine. "You really are exceptional, Bella."

The pang over what I had perceived earlier as rejection was replaced with warmth. I could feel the blood rushing to my cheeks and my looked down quickly. The opinion of a teenager wasn't the same as the opinion of a world famous director, of course, but for some reason Edward's compliments seemed priceless to me. "I manage."

He chuckled. "You more than 'manage', but I'll stop embarrassing you before you go up in flames."

I scowled and tried to smack him with my copy of the sheet music. I missed, of course. He was always too quick for me. "Let's go before I give in to the urge to hit you over the head with my violin."

He laughed as he held the door for me. "You'd never do that."

"You're right. You're so hard headed you'd probably break her."

~***~

The rest of the day crawled by with excruciating slowness. Perhaps it was because of the seemingly perpetual grayness of the skies and the frequent rainfall. It was difficult for me to be anything less than down when I wasn't playing. If I did my own compositions, everything I came up with would likely be dreary and sad.

But all things must end, so soon I was able to escape along with the rest of the students. I stopped by the music room to grab Esmerelda and had just stepped out into the hall when a short figure stopped me. "Hi, Bella!"

I blinked. "Hi, Alice." My eyes darted to the blond coming up behind her. "And… Jasper, right?" He nodded. "If you're looking for Edward, I haven't seen him since Biology."

Alice gave a dismissive wave of her hand. "He's waiting for us at the car. It won't kill him. I wanted to see you. I got you something."

I frowned a bit. "You got me something?" Why? "You didn't have to get me anything."

"I know I didn't have to. I wanted to." She opened her bag and reached inside. A second later she was extending something to me. "Here. Edward mentioned you probably needed one of these."

I looked at the object in her hand. It was a black velvet back with 'Kun' printed on it. I accepted the bag and opened the drawstring to find a shoulder rest. "Oh… yes… I was planning to get one of these but I hadn't had time to go looking for one."

Alice gave a flick of her wrist. "I figured as much. I was shopping in Seattle and ran across a music store." She grinned. "So, will it work?"

"Yeah, it should do fine. I can pay you back."

She shook her head. "I wouldn't accept. It's a gift. Besides, I'm just happy Edward finally has a playmate. You're doing the whole family a great service already." Her smile returned as Jasper looked a bit uncomfortable behind her. Of course, he always looked like he might be in pain. "So, when are you two going to play for us?"

"We talked about that today, but Ch… Dad and I don't have a piano. And Edward didn't seem comfortable with inviting me over to your place."

A scowl touched Alice's usually playful and perfect features. I thought I heard her mutter something that sounded like 'idiot' before she banished the sour expression. "I'm sure it will all work out. Esme has been asking how things are coming along. Edward's great on his own with just the piano, of course, and he's got a good singing voice when he bothers to use it, but man cannot live by piano alone."

The paraphrasing made me smile and I had to break off a giggle. Alice seemed pleased that she had gotten that much out of me. "Jasper and I should go. Edward gets cranky if he has to wait too long. He might leave without us."

I blinked. "He wouldn't!"

Jasper nodded. "He would." It was the first time I had heard him speak. His voice had the same velvet quality as Edward's, only in a different pitch. "It was nice meeting you, Bella."

"Same here." I watched them leave, Jasper's arm around Alice's shoulder. She seemed delicate next to him, but I got the feeling that he would rather cut off his own arms than hurt the pretty little pixie by his side. The affection that they had for one another was almost visible in the air and I felt a stab of longing go through me.

My fingers pulled the drawstring of the velvet bag snug once more. I needed to hurry home so I could try out the shoulder rest. No more wilted dish sponges for Bella and Esmerelda.