Note: This is shorter than usual. So, I'm sorry. I also wanted to thank everyone who has added me on their alerts!

Bella's POV

Wedding Dress.

Shit.

Wedding Dress.

No. Crap. I couldn't not look at the damned dress. Alice had created that picture and got it onto her – Jasper's, really – laptop. She worked hard.

But, the thing was. Well, I wasn't planning on having an elaborate wedding. I mean, I just don't want all of that attention. It's not for me. Not now. Not any time in the near future and shit I wasn't going to change that now.

I took a deep breath and looked around the room at all of the expectant faces and lied, "Alice, its great."

It wasn't. It was elaborate and poofy and full of layers of white, although I had to admit it was beautiful.

Just not for me.

"But, I was sort-of planning on wearing my mother's wedding dress," I lied.

My mother had never married.

She'd been with Phil for years now, but she didn't want marriage.

"And," I said, "I'm not particularly superstitious, but I'm not about to chance my marriage. Edward's seen the dress and that's bad luck."

Alice had been looking dejected until I said the superstitious crap. She totally bought it. "Bella, shit! I didn't even think of that."

"Language…" Esme said softly.

"But, Bella, that was only design number one and I have roughly about twenty planned out…"

"Oh."

"And Edward won't get to look at any of them!"

"Uh."

"Alice, sweetheart," Esme said, "why don't you two discuss this another time? Alone."

"Yeah." I agreed. It would be a lot easier without everyone staring at us.

"Sure," Alice said easily.

***

"You don't have to wear her wedding dress designs," Edward told me. He had marched us into his bedroom after the happy dance.

"She's just trying to bond with me…"

"Where's the Bella I fell in love with?"

"Excuse me?" I blanched. Edward was never mean to me.

"I don't mean it like that."

"Define what you mean, Edward. I'm smart. I think I can figure it out."

"You're so headstrong, but with my family…"

"Alice's your sister, Edward. I'm just trying to make a nice impression. What do you want me to do? Drop coffee on the computer?"

"No," he laughed. "Bella, baby, no. I just want you to be you."

I sighed.

"Hey, now." He put his hands on my shoulders.

"Get off of me, Edward," I joked.

"You've admitted how much you like these hands."

"Yeah, well…"

He kissed my neck.

Damn it all. Being with his family was making me a doormat. I shoved him off of me playfully.

"Hey," he laughed. "I didn't mean for my speech to make you push me away."

I kissed him before hopping off of the bed, "I have some business to attend to."

***

I'm a chicken without the feathers.

"And if we can get the heals in this design," Alice began rambling again. She had spent a good hour explaining the joys of heals.

I'm still not convinced, but I tried.

Gah, I shouldn't be trying to appease Alice, I should tell her how I feel about her planning this dream wedding.

But, honestly, who am I to take that beaming light out of her eyes when she talks about shoes?

And she doesn't like me. Not really, anyway. She seemed to like Tanya and… I want her to like me.

"Girls," Esme said coming into the dining room where Alice set up camp. "You're going to need to put away these photos. We need the dining room for eating."

Alice began to pile the photos of inspiration away into a folder.

"Alice?" I asked.

"What?"

"Are you sure," I paused. "That you don't want to use these photos for your wedding?"

She dropped the folder, which just confirmed I hit the nail on the head. She picked the folder back up. "No, Bella. I just want a nice wedding for my older brother… and you, too."

She left the dining room.

Still a chicken. Maybe I'll start growing feathers soon.

Edward's POV

"Wow, Ma," Emmett commented coming into the dining room, "This smells great! I haven't had a decent meal in forever!"

"Ouch," Rosalie said sarcastically from her seat across Alice.

"Oh," Emmett said. "I meant I haven't had a decent meal in the past week."

"You just dug your own grave," Jasper laughed taking a seat next to Alice.

All of us sat down. Except, Esme and Carlisle were in the kitchen and Bella was, too?

I hadn't seen her since she left to talk to Alice, and looking at my sister now… well, she looked irritable. Obviously, they didn't come to an agreement.

"This is just like high school," Alice said, uncrossing her arms.

"Rosie didn't go to our high school," Emmett said.

"I know!" Alice said, exasperated. "But, when I was still in high school and you'd come home… this is what it felt like. You always brought Rose."

"Yeah," Jasper said. "This is a bit like high school."

"'Cept the same bedroom thing!" Emmett said.

"Gosh, will you ever grow up?" Rosalie asked.

"When you do," Emmett winked.

"And Edward has Bella now," Jasper commented.

"Where is she?" Rosalie asked me.

I shrugged. "I think she's in the kitchen."

"No, she's not," Jasper said. "I was just in there."

"I'll go find her," I said and stood up.

"Wait," Alice said.

"What?" I asked leaving the room.

"I don't ever see you, Edward," she said in a small voice.

"Alice," I groaned. "I'll be back in ten minutes."

"That's not what she's talking about," Jasper said.

"We all never see you," Emmett said.

"Whoa, whoa," I said. "Is this, like, an intervention of bring Edward home more often?"

"No," Emmett said.

"It would be nice to see you, though," Rosalie said.

"Without Bella hogging up all of your time!" Alice said.

And I would have sat down and talked to them and explained my hectic schedule, which only allowed me to have free time on the holidays, or how I was trying to get free time to see all of them, but Alice. Dammit, she had to bring Bella into this.

"It's not her fault, Alice. Lay off." And I stormed out of the dining room. Right into a wide-eyed Bella.

"Sorry," she said quietly.

"Don't say that," I said losing all of my anger. "How about I take us out to dinner?"

Bella just shook her head and her hair flipped over her shoulder. "No, but thanks." She got a smile on her face. "Let's go sit with your family."

She began to walk and when I didn't follow she grabbed my hand and pulled me through into the dining room. It was silent. They knew Bella heard everything.

And yet, she's still amazing. She doesn't yell or cry; she puts on a smile and walks back into the fighting ring.