From now on, I should update every other Friday. If I have a schedule set in place, then there shouldn't be any more months without an update. My review of New Moon should be going up on my profile. One thing, though—I officially am in love with Jackson Rathbone!

Music: I Caught Myself (Paramore) Things We Go Through (Hawk Nelson) Freak Out (Avril Lavigne) Let The Flames Begin (Paramore)

Jasper and Rosalie arrived at six forty-five to take us to the airport to meet Breaking Dawn. I wasn't exactly in the greatest mood. I think I had a cold coming on.

"Good morning, Alice!" Jasper said as soon as he saw her. "I saved shotgun for you."

"Oh, thanks, Jazzy!" Alice pecked him on the cheek and slid in to the van.

"G'morning, Rose, Emmett, Edward," I mumbled. I got in the back with Rosalie.

"Hey, Bella," Rosalie said. "How are the wedding plans coming?"

"Oh, fantastic!" I said enthusiastically. Finally, something I was excited about! "Hey, there's something I wanted to ask you about that, actually."

"Okay." Rosalie crossed her legs and folded her hands in her lap. "Shoot."

"Well, I know I haven't known you for that long, but Rose, you're already a really good friend. So, I was wondering if you….if you wanted to be one of my bridesmaids?"

"Oh, Bella, I'd love to!" Rosalie's eyes sparkled. "Thank you so much!" She flung her arms around my neck.

"Edward? Emmett?" I asked.

"Yeah?" Edward shook Emmett to wake him from his half-sleeping state.

"You guys'll be at the wedding too, right?" I asked.

"I'll be there. Eddie will be too, right, bro?" Emmett asked.

"Don't call me Eddie," Edward said wearily.

"But you will be there?" Rosalie pressed.

"Uh…yeah. I guess. Maybe," Edward stuttered.

"Good." I smiled.

"We're here," Alice interrupted. "Are you guys ready to meet Ren, Seth and Leah Clearwater?" Alice asked.

"It doesn't really matter if we're ready," Rosalie contradicted. "We're here anyway. We're going to pick them up."

Edward opened the door and got out of the van. "Come on."

"Hey, Bella," Alice said as Emmett followed Edward out. "Isn't that Jake's car?" She pointed across the lot. Sure enough, the old Rabbit that Jacob had fixed up all by himself was parked in front of the airport. A tall, russet-skinned man leaned against the trunk, looking around.

"Jake!" I leaped out of the car and ran across the lot to Jacob. He swept me up and kissed me.

"Good morning, Bells," he said breathlessly.

"Better now that I've seen you," I replied. "Why are you here?"

"I don't think the Hale's minivan is going to fit all nine of you. Anyway, I need to defend you from Seth Clearwater." Jacob bared his teeth.

"Defend me? From Seth? Why?"

"Oh, Bella. You silly, naïve, beautiful girl." Jake laughed. "Because you attract boys like honey attracts bees. You're too beautiful for your own good."

"You really think so?"

Jake smiled. "I really think so."

"Well then, you need to get your eyes checked."

Jake snorted. "Trust you to ruin a romantic moment like that."

"Bella? Jacob? You coming?" Jasper called.

"Yeah. Hold up," I answered. I grabbed Jacob's hand. "Let's go meet the Clearwaters." I ran over to the entrance where Alice and the rest were waiting.

"What took you so long?" Emmett asked.

"Why is Jacob here?" Edward countered. Even though he didn't hate Jacob (he was more resigned than anything else) he still wasn't exactly friends with him, either.

"Jake is going to drive some of us because Rose's car won't fit all of us and the Clearwaters," I explained.

Rosalie checked her watch. "And those Clearwaters aren't going to be very happy if we're late," she announced. 'We have ten minutes. Come on!"

We pressed our way through the early-morning friends and relatives awaiting their loved ones until we got to the exit for Flight 2033. We waited expectantly until the intercom blasted, "Welcome to Phoenix International Airport. Flight 2033 from LaGuardia Airport, New York, has arrived. Have a nice day."

"They're here!" Alice whispered excitedly. "Breaking Dawn is in Phoenix!"

"Look!" Rosalie pointed. "There they are!"

A collective tremor went through the crowd as they saw who was coming through the crowd. And then the shouts began.

"It's Breaking Dawn!"

"REN! Ren Clearwater!"

"Leah! Over Here! Cam I have your autograph?"

"WE LOVE YOU, SETH!"

"HEY, PEOPLE!" Seth yelled. "Fans!"

It was suddenly silent.

"Thanks. Look, Ren, Leah and I are here to record some music for a movie. Any of you ever heard of Midnight Sun?"

Girls began screaming their heads off, and even Seth couldn't quiet them.

Ren, the youngest by the looks of it, jumped on a chair. "Please be quiet!" she shouted. "We're looking for Rosalie Hale?"

Rosalie raised her hand.

"Okay. We're coming through, people," Ren yelled. She hopped off the chair and elbowed through the crowd until she, Leah and Seth were standing in front of us.

"Welcome to Phoenix," Rosalie said wearily.

I got my first real look at the members of Breaking Dawn. Leah seemed the oldest, at about twenty-one or twenty-two. She had short black hair cropped almost to her ears, and her eyes were a deep, warm brown. She didn't look overjoyed or anything, but she gave us a weak smile.

Seth stood next to her. Even though he must've been almost as old as his sister, his face had a certain boyishness. He grinned at me, and Jacob put his arm around my shoulders possessively.

Ren Clearwater, though, was different from her siblings. Her hair was long, auburn and curly, and her big eyes were chocolaty brown. She was short, about Alice's height, and a light spray of freckles was splattered across her nose.

"Hey," Edward greeted. "I'm Edward. This is Rosalie, Emmett, Bella, Jacob and Alice."

"I'm Seth, and this is Leah and Ren," Seth said.

"You guys need to pick up your bags, right?" Jasper said.

"Yeah. Our instruments are getting shipped over separately, though," Seth explained. "I mean, there are a lot of people who wouldn't think twice about stealing them and selling them on eBay. Anyway, our luggage pickup is over there." He pointed.

"Okay, then. Come on!" Alice grabbed Ren's hand and laughed, and then seemed to remember who Ren was and dropped her hand. Ren, however, giggled and grabbed Alice's hand back, pulling her towards the luggage belt. I could immediately tell Alice and Ren were going to be friends.

"So. Bella, right?" With a shock, I realized Leah had fallen into step beside me.

"Yeah."

"So, Bella, who do you play in the movie?"

"Kristen Stewart," I answered.

Leah smiled. "Kristen was always my favorite character. She's the most independent."

"Really? I always favored Nikki, but that's probably because she's the only one not playing damsel in distress. Kristen always seemed…I don't know…kind of weak, sometimes. I mean, Rob is always swooping in and saving her. And then, in the sequel, she's so needy. She can't do anything when they all leave."

"Well, if it was you, what would you do?" Leah countered. "If your best friend of forever, not to mention your true love, was torn away?" Her voice held a hint of…what was it? Passion? No, stronger than that. Something like…empathy. But how could she empathize with Kristen Stewart?

Then I thought about her question. What would I do Alice and Jacob both left me? If Alice left, I'd be heartbroken, but Jacob…I would be beyond repair. But I was not going to admit that to this celebrity. "I would try to put my life back together, like how it was before they were even here," I said carefully.

"But what if you couldn't? I mean, your best friend just betrayed you, and you'd known them since you were born. And if you were really, truly in love with the guy…." Leah trailed off. "Do you honestly think you could just go back to how things were before?" Her voice was laced with pain, and I got the feeling she wasn't referring to Rob, Kristen and Ashley anymore.

"Leah?" Ren called. 'Come on. The bags are coming!"

Leah looked at me. "Just think about it." She seemed to be trying to convey something important with her eyes.

I nodded. "Okay." As Leah went off to get her bags, I realized I'd actually had an in-depth conversation with a famous singer. Well, there goes the theory all celebs are bubbleheads, I thought.

"What are you thinking about?" Two arms wrapped around my waist and I spun around.

"Oh, nothing," I answered Jacob.

"Well, we're ready to leave. Ride with me?"

"Of course." I smiled. "Who else is with us?"

"Leah and Ren," Jake answered. "We're dropping them off at their hotel and meeting them for lunch tomorrow, okay?"

"Yeah," I answered. "Let's go."

We reached Jake's Rabbit and I went around to the passenger door, pausing to see if either of the Clearwater girls wanted shotgun. They didn't, since they slid in the back together.

Jake revved the engine. "So what do you think of Phoenix so far?" he asked, looking at Ren in the rearview mirror.

Ren blushed. "I think all the people here are very friendly…and handsome."

Jealousy seeped into my thoughts. She was worse than Edward! Jacob was engaged! She knew that! And yet she still flirted blatantly with him! And with his fiancée in the same car!

"Leah?" Jacob asked.

Leah looked out the window. "It's beautiful out there." She jerked her thumb out the window. "And yeah, the people are interesting. And it's very hot." She laughed.

I laughed too. "That's what I thought when I came here, too."

"Really? Where do you come from?" Ren asked.

"Forks, Washington," I answered. "We're going back there soon."

"Washington?" Leah looked surprised.

"Yeah. Forks is a tiny town about an hour away from everything else. It's kind of close to Port Angeles."

"I know," Leah murmured absently.

"You do?"

"We came from Olympia," Ren declared. "It's in Washington, by Forks, too."

"I know where Olympia is," I snapped without thinking.

"Okay, okay." Ren held her hands up. "No need to get mad."

"Why are you mad, Bella?" Jacob asked. "She didn't say anything."

The unfairness of it all overwhelmed me. I was Jacob's fiancée, and yet he was defending a stranger, a celebrity stranger, over me. And of course, the stranger had to be extremely beautiful. And of course, said stranger had to seem to be interested in my fiancé.

And so I burst out, "Fine. Go on. Defend her!"

"Bella?" Jacob asked, his voice colored with worry.

And just like that, my bad mood evaporated. "Sorry, Ren. Sorry, Jake," I mumbled, ducking my head.

"It's fine." Ren smiled a dazzling smile, and an involuntary, matching smile spread across my face. I couldn't help it. It was hard to be mad at Ren. She was just too innocent.

"So, we're meeting you for lunch tomorrow?" I asked politely.

"At one, at La Bella Italia," Ren confirmed.

I snorted. I couldn't help it. A full-grown laughing attack was coming on, and I had to stop it somehow.

"What?" Leah asked.

"Alice picked the restaurant, didn't she?" I asked. Ren nodded.

"Is there something wrong with it?"

"No," I said carefully. "That's just where we went the night we first met Jasper, Rosalie, Emmett and Emmett."

"And we went there for New Years'," Jake prompted. "Remember?"

"How could I forget? That was the night you proposed." I laughed. "And our first date was there, too. Remember how awkward that was?"

Now it was Jacob's turn to laugh. "You sat there staring at the pasta like it was the most interesting thing in the world."

"And you were so overly chatty," I reminisced.

"I was so nervous, I was running off at the mouth," Jacob added.

"Uh…Jacob?" Ren asked.

"Yes?"
"I think you missed the turnoff."

Jacob's eyes widened, and he looked out the window. Then he looked backwards and swerved, gaining a few honks from the people behind him. But he made it into the drive leading up to the Marriott Courtyard. The Hales' big silver minivan was pulled up along the curb, and everyone was pouring out. Emmett was unloading bags from the trunk onto the sidewalk.

Jake pulled up behind the van. He opened his door and quickly walked around to open the Clearwaters' and my doors. He then went over to Emmett and Edward to unload bags.

'Well, I hope Phoenix is hospitable," I said to Leah. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"All right. Thanks for giving me a good first impression of Arizona, Bella. I hope most Phoenix citizens are as nice as you. But then, that's probably our Washington blood, isn't it?" Leah winked.

I laughed. "Take care, Leah. I really enjoyed meeting you."

"See you around." Leah walked up to the front doors of the hotel.

"Bella?" Jasper called. "Want a ride?"

I turned to Jacob. "Is it all right if I get a ride with them?"

"Fine, I guess," Jake answered. "Have fun."

'Okay. Bye!" I waved as I hopped in the van.


I woke up at five the next morning with a 103-degree fever and a pounding headache. "Flu," Alice declared after taking my temperature.

I groaned weakly. "I'll have to miss lunch."

"Are you sure you'll be okay here by yourself?" Alice asked.

"Of c—"

"Wait. Don't answer that. I'll get someone to come over." Alice ran out of the room, me protesting as loud s I could. I heard the buzz of the TV and Alice speaking into the phone. Then the phone clicked off and Alice reentered my room.

"Someone'll be here at quarter to one," she announced.

"Who?" I asked wearily.

"A friend," Alice said evasively."

"Oh my God, Alice. Who is it?"

"It's a surprise!" Alice sang.

And so twelve forty-five found me laying o the couch in my pajamas watching reruns of House when the doorbell rang. Alice sprinted out of her room, hair dripping, and wearing only one shoe.

"Hey, Edward," I heard her say.

"Edward?" I croaked.

"Wow, Bella. You sound terrible," Edward said.

"Is that any way to greet me?" I asked.

"Well, you do!" Edward defended.

"So what? I'm---"

Edward stepped around the corner, and I was once again struck by how impossibly handsome he was. That's what happened just about every time I saw him. I usually managed to keep the swooning to a minimum, but I think the flu was messing with my head, because I couldn't seem to talk.

"You're what?" Edward prompted.

"Sick," I finished weakly.

"Have fun, kids!" Alice waved happily as she came out of the bedroom. I hadn't noticed she'd left.

"You're leaving?" I asked.

"Of course. What else would I be doing?" Alice asked rhetorically.

I looked at Edward. "Aren't you supposed to be going to La Bella Italia too?"
"I'm skipping," Edward said. "Alice'll tell the others that you're sick and I volunteered to take care of you. Anyhow, I didn't want to go. Not really."

"Why not?" I asked.

"The Clearwaters just don't seem very interesting."

"Leah was," I defended.

"You talked to Leah?"

'We were discussing Kristen Stewart and if she was weak or not." I intentionally left out the part about the heartbreak.

"I haven't read the series. Explain, please." Edward sat down in the old leather ottoman by my head and leaned his chin on his hands.

"All right. See, there's a sequel to Midnight Sun, and all the vampires leave…" I heard Alice shut the door as she left, but I plowed on with my explanation. "…and that means Rob leaves too. Kristen is obviously heartbroken, but even though she could try to move on she doesn't do anything until five months later. It's a little pathetic."

"I don't think it's pathetic," Edward said softly.

"Why not?"

"Well, it seems like Kristen is hopelessly in love with Rob. Right?"

I nodded.

"So if you loved someone, truly loved them with all you had, do you think you could just get over them?" It was the exact same point Leah'd been trying to make, except hearing it from Edward, who hadn't even read the book, was somehow more believable. It wasn't logical for me to be so opposed one second and then believing the opposite the next, but I whispered, "You're right."

"I mean, think," Edward said. "Let's say a boy met a girl, and he fell madly in love with her. But the girl didn't love him back, because she loves someone else. Do you think he could just get over her?"

I had an odd feeling it wasn't Kristen and Rob he was talking about anymore. HE and Leah really did have a lot in common.

"I think the boy could heal…in time. Maybe…maybe he could find someone that loved him, and was just waiting in the wings for him to see her."

"And if his brother loved the very same girl?" Edward asked softly.

Oh.

Well, that was a problem.

"Well, doesn't Emmett have a girlfriend?" I asked, forgetting we were speaking rhetorically.

"He broke up with her. Emmett can't hold a relationship with someone he doesn't love," Edward said.

"Well, what if…" I trailed off. "What if Emmett asked out Ren?"

"Ren?" Edward asked.

"Unless you think he should try Rosalie…"

"No. HE already did, and Rose said no. But the Emmett and Ren idea is worth a shot…" Edward pulled out his phone.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Calling Emmett."

"Why?"

"To tell him to ask Ren out."

"Now?" I squeaked.

"Why not? No time like the present." Edward held the cell phone up to his ear. "Hey. Emmett?"

Buzzing came through the phone.

"Of course it's Edward, doofus."

More buzzing.

"You should ask out Ren Clearwater."

There was silence, and then Emmett was yelling so loud, I could hear him clearly through the phone. I hope he was in the parking lot or something. "Are you crazy? Ren Clearwater? Where the hell did that come from?"

"Well, seeing as Rosalie isn't interested, maybe you should try someone else," Edward responded coolly.

The phone buzzed angrily.

"Calm down! It's just a suggestion!" Edward said. "Just try, okay? Try to be happy for once. Maybe you'll like Ren, you never know."

Emmett said something, and Edward responded with, "Okay. Bye." He snapped the phone shut.

"Well?" I asked.

"He's asking her out."

'See? Problem solved!" I said happily. "Now I have Jacob, you have Rosalie, Alice has Jasper and Emmett has Ren."

"I have Rosalie?" Edward responded flatly.

"Ask her out or something!"

"And if she says no?"

I rolled my eyes. "She worships you, Edward. Of course she won't say no."

Edward sighed. "I really hope you're right. For everyone's sake."

Happy Thanksgiving! R&R!