A/N- Yay new update! We're terribly sorry we suck at updating. Vacations and not being online at the same times has gotten in our way. But we made this chapter extra long; our longest yet, so we hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer- Stephenie Meyer owns all, including us.

Every Heartache Makes You Stronger

EPOV

"I love you Edward."

I held my breath and slowly turned my head to see Bella peacefully sleeping. Her lips were pulled up into a smile as she repeated my name, "Edward…" She sighed and turned her beautiful face away from me. She was dreaming of me. She was dreaming of me and had said she loved me. This day was getting better and better.

Bella was known for her sleep talking, she had been doing it her whole life. But it was usually incoherent strings of words, which is what she did for the rest of the car ride home. As she muttered things about mountain lions and armadillos I, as same people would call it, overanalyzed.

One, Bella was sleeping. Peacefully. She hadn't been doing that since her almost-fiancé, and my best friend, died. Second, she had said she loved me. I'm sure she hasn't said those three words since Jake and my name definitely never paired itself with them. Third, she had smiled and sighed. Not a forced smile or an exasperated sigh, genuine and carefree. To sum it up, Bella was making a huge improvement after spending a day with me. A comfortable smile glued itself permanently to my face.

I started to laugh at how cocky I was beginning to feel as I pulled into the driveway. Parking the car, I shook Bella awake.

"Bella? Wake up sleepy head!" I was feeling a whole lot more optimistic than usual.

She glanced at me sleepily and spotted my permanent grin. "What's got you in such a good mood?" she asked curiously before we both climbed from the car.

My grin got even bigger, if that was possible. "Oh nothing at all. It's just such a wonderful day. Don't you think?" My optimism coated voice surprised myself but Bella just looked at the meadow surrounding our house, analyzing that slightly wet flowers and grass shining from the rare sun. The smile she wore proved that she, too, was impressed with the weather.

No other words were spoken because the little pixie I hate to love decided to run out and ruin my high. She ran straight toward Bella squealing with delight, "Bella! Bella! Oh, Bella! You're never, ever going to believe where we're going this week!"

I felt my smile falter as the realization that Bella would be taken from me hit me. Hard.

"I'm going to take a guess and say it had lots of stores and boutiques," she said. I tried to keep my face composed but I could tell that Bella, who had looked at me with a small smile, saw through my mask.

Her own smile disappeared and I immediately felt guilty. It was only a week. A week couldn't change the progress we've made. At least I hoped it couldn't. Alice's squeal brought me back to reality as she said, "How'd you know?! The three of us are going to Canada!"

Bella turned her attention back to Alice, "The three of us are going where?! And three who?"

Alice never stopped bouncing, making her short and sporadic hair splay every which way. "You, Rose, and I of course," she made a face that read "obviously" and continued, "And because we're not going to France, that's why we're going to Canada! I need to do some shopping. Come on, Bella! We have to go pack, we're leaving in a couple of hours." She ran back into the house and Bella turned her attention back to me.

"Well. Guess I'm going to Canada. No point in arguing with Alice, eh?" Not even her Canadian humor could bring me out of my sudden depressive state. I gave her a quick goodbye kiss on her forehead mumbling, "I'll miss you" and followed the pixie into the house and up the stairs into my room.

I basically locked myself in my room like a thirteen-year-old girl mad at her parents for not letting her go to the mall. I stayed there the whole night, moping, pacing and over analyzing. Finally, I restlessly fell asleep.

BPOV

"Bella? Wake up, sleepy head!" Edward shook me awake just as we arrived back at his house. I looked up at him and he had a cocky grin plastered to his face.

"What's got you in such a good mood?" I asking questioningly as I opened the door to step outside and stretch- I'd never ever realized I was this tired.

"Oh nothing at all. It's just such a wonderful day. Don't you agree?" Another grin spread across his face. I took that chance to glance around the meadow-like area of their house. It really was a beautiful day today- an odd thing in Forks. There was no rain, and you could even hear the birds chirping. I turned back to Edward and flashed him a grin of my own.

Alice chose that moment to run out of the house, bounding down the front steps heading in a bee-line straight towards me. I braced myself for the impact and-

"Bella! Bella! Oh, Bella! You're never, ever going to believe where we're going this week!"

"I'm going to take a guess and say it has lots of stores and boutiques?" I looked over to Edward with a small smile on my face, but lost that smile when I saw his own expression. It was a mix between heartbreak, disbelief and curiosity.

"How'd you know?!" Alice broke in, "The three of us are going Canada!"

"The three of us are going where?! And three who?"

"You, Rose and I of course. And because we're not going to France, that's why we're going to Canada! I need to do some shopping. Come on, Bella! We have to go pack; we're leaving in a couple hours." Alice squeaked before she ran back into the house to gather her own belongings. I walked back over to Edward, who still didn't look content.

"Well. Guess I'm going to Canada. No point in arguing with Alice, eh?" I was already getting into the Canadian spirit. He only responded by ducking in and putting a soft kiss on my forehead, before walking into the house after Al. Although I was fairly sure he mumbled something along the lines of 'Miss You.'

"Rose! Get in the car right now or we're leaving without you!" Alice shouted from the front seat at Rose who was outside trapped in her fiancés arms. She continued to stand outside, before Alice started hitting on the horn like the mall was about to run away from us. With a final kiss, Rose pilled in the passenger's seat and before anybody could say a word, we were off.

"So why are you guys making me come with you?"

"Why wouldn't you come?"

"To get your mind of Edward, of course," they both said at the same time. I started at them both, my eyes demanding an answer when Alice started to explain.

"I'm sorry I lied, Bella! I didn't mean it! I just wanted to protect you, and make you forget about him," she said with a small smile, "plus, it's always fun to hang out with just us girls." Her small smile turned into a full-faced grin as she turned on the music and started bobbing her head along with the beat.

Alice's 'forget about Edward' plan wasn't really working as well as she thought. Different words in the songs kept reminding me of him or things we had gone through together. I sat remember old memories until I drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

"Bella!" An excited Alice called from the front seat, "We're here!" She pulled me from the back seat before I had time to even register a though. We walked into a hotel across from the mall where we found Rosalie getting our room keys. Once we had them in our hands we walked to our room where a bellhop was standing outside with our luggage.

The rooms we rented were stunning. When we walked into the main room, there was a large bathroom to your left, with a mini-bar to your right. There were two couches in front of a wide screened TV and a stereo system in the corner. The three bedrooms were to the back and to the left. I could hear Alice and Rose's room claims as I headed towards my own room. It had blue walls- my favourite colour- and a queen sized bed with a headboard that reached the ceiling. There was a closet on the far side of the room as well as a TV on the wall beside my bed.

"I got this room just for you, I knew the colour was just right." I gave Alice a small smile as she skipped off towards the mini bar to mix us some drinks.

EPOV

I woke up the next morning to a loud rapping at my door. "Edward!" Emmett's banging voice called. "Get your butt out of this room! Jasper's busy planning his trip like he has turned into Alice and Carlisle's at the hospital. I need some freaking testosterone!"

I moaned and reluctantly got out of bed to face him. "I swear Emmett, if you ever wake me up like that again I'll be sure to knock all the testosterone out of you."

He stared at me for a minute and then burst into a fit of laughter. "Get dressed and comb your hair. It looks like you grew a mane."

"Emmett, I'm really not in the mood to do anything right now."

"When are you ever in the mood to do anything but play your dainty piano or mope about Bella? Get dressed."

"It's not dainty," I grumbled, closing the door on his face.

"You better be getting dressed Edward," he warned as I heard him head down the stairs.

"And you better protect your testosterone," I mumbled to myself as I began to get dressed.

"Emmett! Dammit, what are we doing here?!" I, of course, had to give into his whining and agreed to go hiking with him.

This was far from hiking.

"Emmett, you're engaged!"

"And you're mopey," he countered.

"I'm not mopey. Stop saying that."

"Fine. You're sulking, yearning, pouting, whatever, you're getting on my nerves acting all Grumpward all the time."

"Did you just call me Grumpward?"

"Yes. Grumpy plus Edward equals Grumpward."

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever. I just really don't think a strip club is going to do either of us any good. If Rosalie found out about this..."

"Okay. Stop right there. Rosalie is not going to find out about this."

"Right. Because this," I pointed to the neon signs and beat up building, "is not happening."

"Yes, it is." Without saying another word, he climbed out of the car and started walking toward the building. I watched as he swung open the slightly rusted double doors and hustled his way in to the club. That's when I noticed that the lot, besides Emmett's jeep, was vacant.

Well, that's odd.

I dragged myself out of the jeep toward the building. Peeking through the window, I noticed that the inside was the opposite from the beat up exterior.

It was dimly lit but I could make out most of the interior. Round tables were placed around the area. Plush, dark purple couches lined the edges of the club, pushed up against the walls. The tables were accompanied with chairs that matched the couches. In the middle of the room, there was a stage. Against the far right wall there looked to be a bar. Standing next to the bar was Emmett, talking animatedly to a man dressed in a black suit and purple tie that matched the chairs and couches. His hair was slicked back, making him look very important. To the right of the wall was a set of stairs, leading to a higher level that was lit up.

Slicked hair man put his hand on Emmett's shoulder and pointed to the stairs, saying something I couldn't make out via lip reading. Emmett nodded his head and they made their way toward the stairs.

What the hell.

I pulled open the door and strode in before they could disappear up the stairs. "Emmett, what the hell?!" I was rather confused. He turned around to look at me with a grin and dimple filled face.

"Decided to come in huh Eddie?"

"First, don't call me Eddie. Second, what the hell?"

"Did you really think I would bring you to a strip club? You're all strung out on Bella, you'd be no fun. And Rose keeps me occupied enough, you should know, we share a wall."

"Ugh, Emmett. Why do you think I play the piano so much? Sharing a wall with you can get a little… loud."

"Exactly," he said, winking while I pretended to gag. "Anyways, this is Demetri. He owns this place and is going to rent it out to me so I can throw a party for my Rosie to celebrate our engagement."

"And you said Jasper was acting like Alice..."

"I'm just throwing a party. But, f I start bouncing uncontrollably or squealing anytime I see something shiny, please slap me."

"I'll definitely keep that in mind," I said. "So... why'd you drag me here with you?"

"Well, first, you seriously need to stop moping." He continued, ignoring my growl. "And, I want this to be special and I don't think I can do it myself. I'd ask Jasper, but, like I said, he's making up for the absence of the little pixie."

Sighing, I nodded my head. "Okay, I'll help you. What do you have planned so far?"

He got an excited grin on his face and I made sure to threaten him with an acting-too-pixie-like-slap, "Emmett... I'm not afraid to slap you."

"Okay, okay. So, Demetri here," he paused as I shook hands with slicked hair man. "He owns this building and rents it out for parties and such." He bent lower to me, so only I could hear, "it's only a strip club on Tuesday nights you dipshit."

"Anyways, so we're just finalizing everything right now. We were heading upstairs to the office before you decided to grow a pair and come in."

I ignored his immature comment and asked, "When's it gonna be?"

"The day after the girls get back from Canada."

"Canada, eh?" Demetri finally said something, his scratchy voice made me uncomfortable. "I hear it's quite colourful there."

"Uh... yeah," I said. "They're just doing some shopping..."

"Ah, girls and their shopping."

"Mhmm," I barely hummed out. This guy was strange. It seemed all that gel he used to slick his hair back seeped into his brain. "So, shall we go close this deal?"

Emmett and Demetri nodded and shuffled up the stairs with me on their tails. I helped Emmett decide on a few more details, like the time and music. A couple signatures and a few more odd comments from Demetri later, we had the space for the party and were on our way home.

In the car ride home, Emmett explained more details of the party to me. "It's going to be a surprise. So I'm not telling Bella or Alice till the day of the party. So far, you're the only one that knows but I'm planning on telling Carlisle and Esme and Jasper later today. Demetri has basically set everything up, he's going to set up everything the day of and I'll tell Rosalie we're going to dinner or something. Everyone will be there before we arrive. Then we'll just party it up and get drunk!"

"Thank God for that last sentence because I was beginning to wonder where Emmett had disappeared to. You sound so… proper."

"Oh shut up. I just want this to be perfect for her."

"I don't want to sound like a girl or anything, but... I'm happy for you Em."

"Thanks, Edward," he said. Then he smacked me on my back. "Alright, that's all the Hallmark moment crap I'm participating in with you." We both laughed and settled into a comfortable silence the rest of the way home.

Not long after we got home, Emmett cornered Jasper and made him stop planning long enough to tell him about the party. Then he told both Carlisle and Esme and she immediately dove into more planning with Emmett. Carlisle had to go work so I was left with myself.

I lay on my bed awhile, trying to read a book, Independent People by Halldór Laxness. I loved how clever and entertaining it was and yet still had pure meaning and depth. But, I couldn't focus, which was unusual for me when it came to literature.

Huffing, I rolled off my bed and pulled out my cell phone to call Alice, hoping that she could give me an update on a certain chocolate brown-eyed girl...

The phone rang four times before it went to Alice's voicemail, "Hi!" she said in her bubbly voice. "I'm not available right now. Or, if you happen to be named Edward, I might just be ignoring you. No offense. LOVE YOU JAZZ!" Then I heard the beep signifying me to leave a message so I hung up.

"She's hilarious," I muttered sarcastically to myself.

I put my phone back into my pocket and headed downstairs, passing the kitchen where Esme was sitting with Emmett most likely planning the party.

I made my way to my piano that had been gathering dust in the foyer. Sitting on the black ebony bench, I grazed my fingers along the top of the piano. Lifting my hand, I saw a collection of dust on my fingers. It made me frown, seeing the neglect I had been giving what used to be my precious baby. I lifted the lid to reveal the ivory keys, using my fingers to caress them. Sighing, I played middle C, then cringed hearing how out of tune it was.

After quickly tuning it, I decided to warm up, playing the major and minor scales and then Claire de Lune. I always played that song before anything else, it soothed me and gave elegance to my fingers. It felt as if I had never stopped playing. I didn't feel rusty or unpracticed, I just felt at home and whole. I had forgotten how comforting this escape was for me. I could let out my feelings just by running my fingers over the beautiful ivory keys. Tapping my foot, closing my eyes, lightly pressing the keys- I was at ease.

As I stroked the keys, I thought about how uneasy I became when Alice announced that she was snatching Bella away for the week. The easy music I was creating comforted me to no end and I realized, that I had overreacted. A week wasn't long and, even though I would miss her, she probably needed that space. Sure, she had said she loved me. But she was unconscious and wasn't aware that she had said it. She- we- had lost Jacob not too long ago. She needed time. We both needed our time.

As I finished Claire de Lune, my fingers immediately continued into a soft tune. For the first time in a long time, inspiration hit.

Smiling, I thought of all things Bella- her deep chocolate eyes, heart shaped face, silky brown hair, and caring heart- and poured it into the tune. I thought of the way she said I love you, the way she had sighed my name. It was soft but complex, just like her. My fingers bounced over the keys, moving more and more into the higher range as the song progressed. Delicately increasing the speed of my fingers. As soon as I got to the highest point, I began a retreat. Slowing my fingers and pressing softer and softer until nothing... the music faded into the peaceful air.

As my fingers came to a stop, I felt a pair of hands rest on my shoulders, gently massaging them. I felt comforted and looked behind me to see my mother grinning down at me. "It's been a while since I've heard you play. That was beautiful, Edward."

"Thank you, Esme."

"It's Bella isn't it?"

My heart squeezed. "Pardon?"

"The reasoning behind what you just played. She's the reason for the beauty once again flowing from your fingers."

"Bella is the beauty."

Frowning, she looked me straight in the eyes. "Edward. Whatever's happened... I don't want you getting your hopes up. I don't want to see my son heartbroken."

"No worries Esme."

Kissing the top of my head, she rejoined Emmett in the kitchen.

BPOV

"Alice! This is perfect for you!" Rose called out as I stood in yet another dressing room trying on yet another outfit they had picked out for me- although I couldn't complain about this one. It was a pair of faded jeans that fit perfectly on me and a black halter top with a knot in the front, which gave off a slight gold shimmer when in the right light. I stepped out of the small room just as Alice and Rose were entering, more clothes pilled in their arms. Alice let a small squeal escape her lips and dropped the clothing onto a nearby chair. She ran over to me and gushed about how good it looks on me, insisting to let her buy it for me.

As Alice and Rose continued to try on clothes I sat and began thinking about my new shirt. I thought about the gold, and how it reminded me of someone's hair. I always thought that-

"Are you listening to us?!" Rose shouted inches beside my ear, which caused me to flinch.

"Sorry. I was… thinking."

"That's it! We're leaving!" Alice half-shouted impatiently. She stormed off with piles of clothing stacked in her small arms, and quickly paid for it all with a swipe of her card. Rose grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the store and back across the street to our hotel. Rose then informed she she'd be right back while Alice spread a blanket down in the middle of the room.

"Alice… what are you-"

"You might want to go get some comfy clothes on, we could be here a while." She then walked out of the room and returned with three spoons, throwing them onto the blanket.

"What do you think-"

"I'm back!" Rose stormed into the room, throwing a brown bag onto the blanket as well. Can a girl not get a word in around here?

"Bella, come on. We're having a talk." Rose informed me as she returned from her room, wearing a pair of sweats and a loose t-shirt. I glanced over at my new-found best friends with a confused look on my face as the plopped themselves down on the blanket.

"We know your still thinking about Edward. What's up with you two?" Alice ordered, not at all beating around the bush.

"I don't know guys…"

"We've got plenty of time," stated Rosalie as she opened up the brown bag and pulled out a tub of chocolate ice cream, sticking her spoon into the cool dessert, "I can sit here all night." She licked the spoon clean.

"I don't feel comfortable… just talking about him. You understand that, right?" I told them timidly.

"Will it help if I talk about Emmett?"

"Oh! I can talk about Jasper too, if it helps." Alice added in. Their ideas made me feel better about spilling my own guts, and Rose soon started to dive into the details. She continued on explaining everything about Emmett- from his humour, to how he can be serious and caring when needing to be. He was putting everything into their wedding as he possibly could be, and it made me miss Jake even more then I already was, but I tried to push the feelings back by shoving some ice cream into my mouth.

Emmett was the topic of conversation for the next hour or so, Alice and I putting input when we felt it was needed. We had ran out of ice cream a while ago, so I had made a quick run to our small kitchen where I found chocolate and peanut butter, we were in luck.

"So then, we were sitting there in the middle of dinner just about to tell Esme and Carlisle we're engaged when some random group of people comes up to us, asking if-"

I was hangin' in the corner with my five best friends,
I knew that you were trouble
But I couldn't resist.
I make them good girls go-

"Perfect timing, Edward." Alice muttered to her phone as she pressed the ignore button. Rose gave me a face when I looked back at her.

"What was that about?" She asked curiously.

"What was what about?" Both Alice and I asked at the same time.

"Oh, come off it, Bella! Your eyes completely lit up when Al said his name."

"You miss him! You miss him!" Alice started chanting in a sing-song voice.

"And so what if I do?!" I shot out defensively, my tone being a bit more harsh then I had meant it to have been.

"We're not saying that's a bad thing, Bella." Rose told me compassionately, "I mean, I know you're nowhere near over Jake yet, who would expect you to be? But there's no harm in missing a… friend?"

"Yeah. I guess I get that. But I have something to ask you guys?" I told them before I lost my courage.

"Shoot." Rose called and Alice told me, "We're here for you."

"Okay. Well, Alice, you might know. When we got home after lunch and you said we were going away his attitude had changed from how we used to act together, to sad or even almost depressed."

Their reactions had not been what I was looking for. Rosalie's face turned into a gigantic grin and Alice let out a small squeak; I stared at them suspiciously. What am I not understanding?

"You're not understanding what this means, Bella!" Rose beamed.

"I said that out loud?"

"Of course you did. We're having a conversation, in case you hadn't noticed," stated Alice, sarcasm coating her voice.

"Well, that doesn't make me understand this situation any better."

I was hangin' in the corner with my five best friends,
I knew that you were trouble
But I-

"It's Jasper. You don't mind, do you Bella? Really, it'll only take a second?" I nodded my head and placed a smile on my confused face before Alice bounced away talking adamantly to Jasper.

"You really don't get it, Bella?"

"I don't have a clue."

"Not a single idea?"

"Rose! Come on! Please tell me."

"He loves you."

"Well, I know that. He told me. You know that too, I told you as well."

She stared at me with a look of disbelief on her face. "He loves you. He's in love with you. He wants to be with you forever. He'll do anything to be with you. He-"

"Okay, Rose, I get it. But do you really think so? I mean, I know he told me he loved me, but… I didn't think it was like that." And truthfully, I didn't.

"Seriously? By the look in his eyes I can see the way he loves you. I can see the love for you in his eyes." Rose could dig pretty deep, I must give her credit. But-

"I still don't believe it. I refuse to believe it. Why would he love someone like me, I can't seem to comprehend."

"Oh, Bella. Don't even. You are beautiful, you're smart, you're compassionate and he cares for you endlessly. Don't you understand this?" Alice questioned as she returned from her bedroom.

"You're calling him to tell him you miss him." Rose demanded.

I choked on my drink. "It's official. You two are batshit insane. I am not calling him. You can't make me; I'm not going to do it!"

"Yes you will."

"Your both crazy," I informed them before storming off into my bedroom and not granting their wish of calling their brother.

The next couple days went by in the same fashion. Alice and Rosalie taking me out on more shopping trips I have ever been on in one week, going for dinners with my wonderful friends, and them all the while nagging me to call Edward and tell him I missed him. I really didn't understand what such the big deal was, but in their minds, there was one- and they were persistent on making me complete this goal.

"Bella, we're buying you this shirt." Alice told me as she brought her items to the register, including the shirt they demanded they buy me.

"Oh, also, you're calling Edward tonight. He needs to know how you feel. I bet he's going insane without you. Probably crying himself to sleep at night. Nobody to love and joke around with... All by him-"

"Rosalie! Would you just… fine. Let's go back to the hotel. Alice, give me your phone."

EPOV

The next couple of days were about the same- I was an optimistic pessimist. I thought a lot about Bella, played my piano, and even helped Emmett with his planning. I was focused enough to read and even play chess with Carlisle in his office. Jasper was absent for a good part of the week, locking himself in his room because he didn't trust anyone to keep the details of his trip secret.

Two days before the girls were due back home I was lying on my bed reading when my phone began vibrating on my bedside table. I picked up the dancing phone from the dark wood and rolled my eyes, annoyed when I read the lit up screen: Alice.

"Thanks for calling me back five days after I called you," I said bitterly.

"Oh," a nervous voice said. "Sorry Edward, this is Bella."

I shot off my bed excitedly and walked over to my window, appreciating the view before saying, "Oh! Hey Bella!"

Chuckling, she said, "Hi, Edward. If you need to talk to Alice—"

"No, no," I interrupted her. "I actually only called Alice to talk to you… anyway, how has Canada been?"

"It's been good, the hotel is beautiful, Edward. You'd love it. I was forced to go shopping, which was exp-" I heard muffled voices in the background that I recognized as Alice's and Rosalie's. "Alice, shut up! Oh my god, Rosalie, there's no way in hell I'm going to say that…" There were more muffled voices and then Bella continued, "Well maybe if you left me alone!" And then the muffled voices slowly faded to nothing as I heard a door close.

"…Bella? You okay?"

"Yeah yeah, sorry your sisters are very persistent and demanding women."

"I know what you mean. You should try living with them for 21 years, your descriptions of them would not be as nice as you made them out to be."

Her gentle laughter floated from the phone, making me smile. "So how has your week been?" she asked as her chuckles died down.

"Pretty boring and lonely but better now that you've called. But, seriously, I swear Alice has been rubbing off onto Jasper; he's planning this trip like it's the last thing he's going to do before he dies. And Emmett… well that's a secret that has also been keeping Esme occupied as well as himself. And Carlisle has been working. So really I've just been reading. And I've been playing the piano; I finally got some inspiration."

"That's great Edward!" She sounded genuinely happy and excited. "But, I need to know about this secret."

"Nope, my lips are sealed."

"Edwardddd," she whined. "Please?"

"I promised Emmett I wouldn't tell!"

"But, but, Edwardddd! I won't tell anyone! And I'll act surprised when Emmett reveals his stupid secret and everything!"

"Bella, you're a terrible actress. He'd see right through you!"

"I'll stand there emotionless, or just trip over something; it won't be hard for me to act like a klutz to distract him. Please will you tell me?" I could just picture her standing there, all pouty faced and adorable.

I caved.

"Okay, fine." Then I told her all about the party.

"I never knew Emmett was such the romantic," she commented when I finished describing the party. "Rose will love it."

"You can't tell her. Emmett would kill me. And I really wouldn't like that, my life is getting better and better every day," I said, thinking of the past few days and what her sleeping figure had said.

"I promise I won't, I wouldn't want to ruin the surprise."

"Good. So, tell me, how was the shopping with the persistent and demanding women?"

"Very persistent and demanding… I did get one shirt," she paused.

"Bella?"

"Oh, sorry. I was… thinking."

"Don't hurt yourself."

"I'll try my best," she teased back.

"You're having fun right?"

"Of course! Al and Rose can act, well, you know. But, all in all it's been nice. I just miss you."

I sat on the windowsill I had been standing next to. She missed me? Looking through the window at the flowing water in the river that ran through our backyard, I sighed and told her, "I miss you too." I paused. "Come back to me soon?"

There was a silence and then her whispered voice said, "Always."

Again we were silent. "I'll see you in two days, right?" she asked me, with a hint of doubt in her voice.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world," I assured her, almost inaudible.

"Good."

"Bye Bella."

"Bye Edward. I love you."

And she hung up.

I froze. Did I hear that right…? Who says I love you for the first time and hangs up?! I zoned out completely, looking at nothing though my eyes were fixed on the view outside my window. At first I felt angry that she hung up, betrayed that she didn't give me the chance to react. But the more I sat there, the more her words soaked in and I felt my features upturn into a smile.

BPOV

What. Did. I. Just. Say.

"OHMIGOD! Did you just say what we think you said?!" Alice chirped as her and Rose ran back into the room, breaking their positions from listening through the door.

"Oh god, I think I did… What the hell did I do that for?!"

"Well you obviously love him. We know that now," Rosalie smiled.

"But… I didn't mean to say it! It just kind of… slipped out at the end. I don't know if I'm ready for this yet, girls. I love him and all, just…" I started to hyperventilate. "Should I call him back? What am I going to tell him?!"

"Bella, it'll be okay sweetie," Rose comforted me as Alice wiped the tears I didn't know I had been crying, "I know you two. You'll be able to work it out."

"How could I betray Jake like this?" I whispered, mainly to myself.

"Here's the thing Bella. The way you loved Jake, I don't think it's the same way you love Edward. And you may still love them both, but I think the stronger love for Edward has always been there. You just haven't realized it until you've been away from him for more then a night. Jacob was always the main focus of your feelings, which isn't a bad thing of course as you were together, but you hadn't been paying attention to your feelings for Edward that were hidden underneath your current relationship. But now that you and Jake are no longer together, you've been able to think about this… this connection with Edward that you've never noticed before." Alice finished with a smile. And the truth was, everything that she had just said makes complete sense. The stronger love for Edward has always been there, and now I can focus on that aspect of my life.

I rose off the couch and practically bounced into Alice's arms, surprised I didn't trip over anything, and said, "Thank you so much. I know what I need to do now." I gave Rose a tight hug as well before going back to my room, putting on some music and looking through all the clothing they had bought me this week that I could never really appreciate until now.

"Alice. How much stuff did you have to buy?! Get a move on! I want to leave before you get the idea of another shopping trip into that head of yours!" Rose was standing beside me, suitcases in tow, "We're going to put our bags in the car. Hurry or we're leaving without you!"

Rose and I went downstairs, putting our bags in the back of Alice's yellow Porsche, wondering how Alice was going to be able to fit all her own suitcases in, before she came bouncing across the parking lot.

"I started trying to bring my suitcases to the elevator, but then I kept dropping one, so a kind man told me he would bring them down for me. Can't miss the bright yellow car!" She winked.

Once Alice's bags were in the trunk, and some in the back seat, we were finally on our way home. What was I going to say to Edward? I wasn't sure. Everything happens for a reason, was now my new motto.

On the way back home I fell asleep, thinking it would make the trip less short, which infact it did. I only woke up when I noticed a change of terrain under the car- we were almost home. I sat up and peered around Alice's headrest where I could see the house coming into view.

Edward, Jasper, and Emmett we're all on the front step waiting for us to arrive back at home. I was out my door and in Edward's arms before Alice could even put the car in park. Rosalie was with Emmett as well.

"I missed you." I smiled up at him.

"Missed you too." He pressed a small kiss to my forehead.

That was when I noticed Alice had still not turned off the car, and could faintly hear Shania Twain lyrics before the car was shut off and Alice was in her loved ones arms.

You're still the one that I love
The only one I dream of
You're still the one I kiss good night

I'm so glad we've made it
Look how far we've come, my baby.

A/N- Yes. Shania Twain inspires us. We're any of you obsessed with her, or is it just us?

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