The rest of the week continued with equal tranquility. Bella spoke every now and then, against my orders. Angela sat with us at lunch, rather than her normal seat, which was making Ben wonder about killing me. Like he had a chance.

And every day I never left Bella's side, except for Friday, when Angela invited Bella over to do homework together. I understood that she was just trying to help, but I still felt broken inside when I watched her drive away with my Bella. I was debating whether to follow and listen or to just go home. Of course, I trusted Angela with Bella, and...there wasn't a real...need to follow them. It was painful, but I ran home, and was through the front door in just a few minutes.

I sighed once, and turned towards the grand staircase to go to my room, but a fury of thoughts invaded my mind and stopped me cold. Alice zipped down the staircase in seconds, her face withdrawing inches from mine.

"You. Are. Taking. Bella. To a carnival...without me." she spat, "You know, just because she's six doesn't mean that you can just forget about you're little sister!" she threw her arms in the air.

"Alice-"

"No. I get it now. You hate me, right? Fine." she growled, spinning on her heel to stalk up the stairs again. I grabbed her elbow and forced her to stop. I didn't really...want Alice to be there; Bella and I rarely got free time together as it was. But it was just too hard to see Alice upset.

"You can come, Alice. I'll take you, too."

She cocked her head in my direction. "And you don't hate me?"

I shook my head. "No, Alice. No."

Two strong arms embraced my waist, an aray of dark hair under my chin. "Thank you, thank you! It's gonna be sooooo much fun! Me and Bella can..." she trailed off as she walked slowly back up the stairs.

I had a sick feeling in my stomach.

"Who lives in a pineapple under the sea? Edward Cullen! Absorbent and yellow and po...porousis he! Edward Cullen! If n...na..."

I filled in the word for Bella, "Nautical." She giggled.

"Right! If na...nautical nonsense be something you wish..."

Alice chimed in then, singing my name, "Edward Cullen!"

"Then drop on the deck and flop like a fish!"

"Edward Cullen!"

I felt like covering my ears. Road trips weren't all so bad; It was the singing that came with them. I've heard the song over thirty times. Alice and Bella both chimed in for the finale...again.

"Edward Cullen, Edward Cullen, Eddie-ward, Cull-en!" a chorus of giggles erupted from the backseat.

I quickly turned my CD player on, playing the music loud enough for them to realize that it wasn't the time for singing again. The CD, which I had not realized, was a recording of all of my songs. My compositions...a certain lullaby wafted out of the speakers. My eyes flew up to the rearview mirror, to see Bella in the backseat. Her face was white, her expression dead. A wave of panic hit.

"Bella?" I asked her, but she did not move. Her eyes closed slightly, and they took on a glassy, far-away look. Then her head hit the window she was sitting next to.

"Bella!" I yelled at her. She stayed still. after a moment or two, Alice shook her.

"She'll be coming to in a few moments. It's okay. I think...I think she fainted." she told me. And she was right, for within a few seconds, Bella's eyes fluttered open again.

"Bella," I sighed in relief. I could see the lights of the fair ahead.

"Oh." a voice said from behind me. At first I thought it was Alice, but even Alice's voice wasn't low enough to be the one I just heard...I looked back to see Bella's hand against her head, pure horror on her face. But then she shook her head a few times, and after a couple seconds, smiled, showing her teeth.

"Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?" Bella sang, a little girl's voice coming from her mouth. I sighed. Maybe I was just imagining things. That couldn't have been 18 year old Bella's voice...right?

"Wow, Edward! Look!" Bella's childish voice said as she grabbed my sleeve. Her free hand pointed to a large ferris wheel a few hundred feet away. It was a newer version, that had closed-in seats and windows. In each car there were two seats, one facing the other. Fancy. "Can we go on it? Please, please?" she asked me, tugging harder. I exchanged a look with Alice.

Okay, fine. Go ahead, she thought, I was thinking about going on that one, anyway. Her hand raised to point at a roller coaster.

"Thanks," I breathed, too low for Bella to hear.

No problem. I understand that you need your space with your human. Just be careful; the ferris wheel...it has close, conceded space. she thought, Kind of like a little room. Her smell will be grand. she warned, and with a wave of her hand, she was bouncing away towards the coaster.

"Come on," I smiled at Bella, and she smiled back, "Let's go."

We climbed into the small space, and I took my seat across from Bella, so I could see her face. The carnival worker shut the large metal door roughly, banging it shut. We began to ascend.

Sunset. The clouds outside the dirty glass were stretched across the sky in various rippling patterns, making the sun that was dissapearing over the horizon even more beautiful. Almost as beautiful as Bella. I moved my head slightly so I could look at her out of the corner of my eye. She, too, was staring out the window, out at all the rides, the buildings, the sunset.

"You know," she said, still looking out the window, "It's real pretty outside. I'm glad we came here today."

"Me too." I murmured. She turned her head to face me, and I did the same. But what I saw made me gasp.

The sun...I thought it was beautiful as it set. But as it set, it made Bella even more beautiful. Her skin tone had changed, and her hair took on a slight reddish tint. Her eyes were bold, shining it the dim light. I inhaled a low breath and kept it. No beauty could ever compare to hers at this very moment. Not Alice, not Rosalie. My Bella looked far more gorgeous than any vampire on earth.

Again, Bella repeated those three, amazingly set words, "I love you."

And even though her voice was childish, even though her actions were young, I felt completely comfortable with my reply. "I love you, too."

And I did. I loved six-year old Bella as much as I loved the eighteen-year old Bella. They were one, whole. I could not live without them both. If eighteen-year old Bella were to come back right now, of course I would feel relieved. But...I would also...miss the six-year old Bella. If the older Bella returned, what would happen to the younger one? Would she just dissapear?

And what would I do if she did?

"That was my favorite ride," Bella murmured into my shoulder, and then, shooting a warning glance at Alice, "It was the only one with just me and Edward."

"Hey, sorry," Alice muttered, throwing her arms up, "It's not my fault that I'm too adorable to leave at home."

I chuckled and wrapped my arms tighter around Bella's waist. "Hey, want to go look over there?" I asked her, pointing to a large display of Spongebob brand toys and games. Bella gasped, then smiled. She wriggled out of my grasp and took off running towards the display.

"Wait-" I said, grabbing after her, but coming up empty. She was already in the swarm of people passing by us. I started to feel panicky, and started to push my way through all the useless humans. Alice stood still, holding her breath. "Help me find her!" I yelled at her, but she just closed her eyes and became stiff.

"I need...I need to get out of here..." Alice muttered, her eyes flashing open. She was thirsty. Her irises has so suddenly gone from liqid gold to a hard onyx.

"Go, then, Alice!" I yelled at her, but I was already pushing through the crowd of people. Where did they all come from? Just a few seconds ago, there was barely anybody...

I reached the Spongebob display quickly, but Bella wasn't there. I asked the sales man, in a frantic tone,

"Have you seen a girl here? She had a bow and brown hair, and she's about this tall," I motioned with my hands Bella's height. The man shrugged.

"They're opening that new ride down there. She might have gone to that. I hear it's supposed to be real big." he gruffed. So that's where all the people came from.

"Bella?" I called out, running now towards the direction the man had sent me. "Bella?" I searched the minds of all the people around me, trying to see if any of them have seen her...A woman near the entrance was thinking about a girl with a bow in her hair that she saw in 'that field outside the fair.' She was telling her friends about Bella.

"She was just standing there, you know? Then all of a sudden she fell, like fainted or something. I wanted to help, but..."

I would have listened to more, but I was already darting for the pasture that I saw by the gates. Cars were parked there, including mine. Perhaps Bella had thought I would find her there?

I ran into the open feild, my eyes darting to find any sight of Bella.

And finally I found her. She was facing away from me, her hair lightly swinging in the breeze. I sighed in relief to know that she wasn't unconscious. Her hand rose to her hair, touching the bow with her frail fingers.

"Why am I wearing this?" She asked herself, unaware of my presence. But it was not the voice of a six-year old I heard. This voice was deeper, older. It was the voice of my 18-year old Bella. "It looks stupid..." she muttered, and swiftly pulled the soft pink bow out of her hair. It fell to the dew-sprinkled ground, and Bella did not turn.

"Bella?" I asked quietly. Was it true?

Was Bella really back?