Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Twilight. But give me a 9 iron, some peanut butter, and some rope, and that's a totally different scenario.

A/N: Can it be? Another chapter? But there was one just a few days ago. This can't be!

Why, yes it is! It is indeed another chapter! I don't want to tempt fate or anything, but I think there has been a crack in the writer's block. AND I'M FREAKING ECSTATIC! Thank you for all of the wonderful reviews, I love you all and you all make me smile and feel warm and gooey inside. I'm like a giant Cadbury Crème Egg. Awesome. And a super special thank you to my amazing beta, oceanwaters2006, whom had to put in extra work on the last chapter that she didn't have to do. But she did it anyways because she's amazing. Now, go forth my lovelies, and enjoy!

Longest chapter play list ever!: Mind Control by Tantric, The Slightest Trace by Epidemic, Battle-Axe by Deftones, Love Is Dead by Kerli, Circle by Flyleaf, Waves and the Both Of Us by Charlotte Sometimes, Answers by Submersed, Lies by The Pierces, Needs by Collective Soul, Bitemarks and Bloodstains by Finch, Enjoy the Silence by Lacuna Coil

Chapter 7-

I stood in the doorway of my room and just watched Edward as he moved the mats around on the floor. He must have felt my eyes on him because he looked directly at me and smiled.

"Are you ready to get started?"

I nodded my head and waited for the butterflies to stop moving in my stomach. Slowly, I made my way into the living room. Edward stood in front of me and smiled.

"So, do you have any prior knowledge of self defense?"

"A little, but not enough to keep me alive."

"Okay, what do you know?"

I pursed my lips and thought for a second.

"I know how to run."

Edward's musical laughter filled the room and I thanked God that I had a good sense of humor. I planned on using it to hear that beautiful laugh over and over again.

"Well that's good. But I was talking more along the lines of physically going toe to toe with someone. What do know?"

"I've been told I have a good right hook."

"Show me."

"Excuse me?"

"Show me. I want to know for sure."

"You want me to hit you?"

"I want you to try to."

For some reason, that comment didn't sit well with me.

"And what do you mean by try to? You think I can't do it?"

"I'm not saying you can't, I just think it'll be hard for you."

My inner feminist stood up to protest. Who in the hell did this guy think he was? Someone had to put him in his place, and that someone might as well be me. I took a step back and swung my arm at Edward. He quickly side stepped, grabbed my shoulder and pushed me to the floor. I landed on the mats with a thud. I picked myself up off of the floor and glared at Edward. He had a smug smile across his face.

"You look very pleased with yourself."

"I just like to be right."

"You're kind of an ass, aren't you?"

"Sometimes."

"So is this when you turn into Mr. Miyagi?"

Edward's mega watt smile lit up his face. I internally sighed.

"Try it again."

I positioned myself into a fighting stance. I swung my arm at Edward again, but this time I didn't put all of my weight into it. Edward easily dodged my arm again. He was so focused on moving out of the way of my right arm that he didn't see my left arm coming towards his chest. I threw my weight into my left arm and connected it with Edward's chest. Edward was caught off guard and began to fall backwards, grabbing onto my arm as he did so.

Edward crashed to the floor and I landed on top of him. I heard the air rush out of his lungs when my weight pushed down on him. His face was a bright red and his eyes were huge. I clambered off of him and got back onto my feet. Edward didn't move from the floor.

"I'm so sorry! Edward, are you okay?"

"Yeah, just got the wind knocked out of me. I'll be fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, just give me a second."

"We could always wait until later to do this."

Edward sat up and placed his hands on the floor behind him. He worked on steadying his breathing as I looked him over.

"It's okay, Bella. I'm fine."

"Really? Because you look like shit."

Edward shot a glare in my direction before getting up from the floor.

"I think we're just going to go directly into teaching you the maneuvers. I think you proved you can free ball it."

"I said I was sorry."

I crossed my arms and strategically placed them under my cleavage. I was more than aware of how low cut my tank top was. I noticed Edward's eyes gaze lower and then quickly looking away. I fought to keep the smile from my face. I couldn't let him know I was playing with him. Edward cleared his throat and looked into my eyes.

"Let's just start with the basics, like not killing me."

"You are such a baby. I barely even touched you."

"You landed on top of me! After doing an underhanded move, nonetheless."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize I had to fight fair when my life was in danger. Next time I'll remember to brush up on the rules."

"That's not what I meant. You can do that when you're in actual danger, but this is just training. So please, have mercy on me."

"Fine, but you're a pansy."

"Really?"

"You're the one begging for mercy, thus pansy."

Edward stepped closer to me, maintaining contact the whole time.

"You really think I'm a pansy?"

"Yes," my voice came out a bit softer than usual.

"That's very interesting."

Edward stepped closer to me, but I refused to budge. He was now only a foot away from me.

"I know what you're trying to do."

"Do you now? And what exactly is it that I'm trying to do?"

Edward took another step.

"You're trying to intimidate me and it's not working."

"I think it is. You're breathing faster and your pupils are dilating."

"That doesn't mean anything. Pupils dilate for other reasons."

"Well the light hasn't changed. And one of the only other reasons I can think of is if you see something you want."

I swallowed uneasily, but I stood my ground for just a few seconds until Edward swept his leg behind mine and knocked me to my back. The mat squished under my weight. I stayed on the ground and stared up at the ceiling. There was a sudden squeaking noise in my ear. I rolled my head to the side and saw Kirby standing by the mat, staring at me contentedly with a chew toy in his mouth. I looked back up at the ceiling and let out a groan. Edward's green eyes came into view.

"Are you going to get up or should I grab you a blanket?"

"You suck."

I slowly rolled into a sitting position. Edward offered his hand to help me up. I happily took it.

"That was low, Mr. Cullen, very low."

"You questioned my manhood. I go to a dark place when people question my manhood."

"I'll remember that for the next time."

I stood in the kitchen and watched as Edward moved the furniture back into place. His muscles rippled under his skin and I could feel my heart rate pick up. My thoughts wandered back to earlier this morning when I woke up with those arms around me. I felt so safe and at home in his arms. My thoughts quickly returned when I realized I was blatantly staring at Edward. I looked away and went back to cutting up vegetables for lunch. My arms were already starting to hurt. I knew I was going to be sore for a few days. I was used to falling on my ass, just not that many times in a row.

"You should take some ibuprofen. It will help with any swelling."

"Yeah, I'm accident prone and therefore know very well the benefits of ibuprofen. I'm pretty sure I'm single handedly keeping Tylenol in business."

"Well after today, I think it's a tie between the two of us."

My phone started ringing before I could say anything witty or charming or something that I would probably embarrass myself with. The caller ID flashed and I smiled when I saw that it was Alice.

"Hey! How are you?"

"You're Agent McHottie Pants screwed me!"

"What are you talking about?"

"It's so not fair! You get a total hottie and I get a chick! I mean, yeah, she's really pretty and if I were really drunk, but that's another story. How did you get the hot guy? I think I'm going to write a letter."

"I don't think they take requests, Alice. I think it's just whom ever is available."

"Can I just come bunk with you? I just want something hot to look at."

"Then go online and look up pictures of Ryan Reynolds. You'll survive. You've gotten by without live in eye candy before and you can do it again."

Alice let out an exasperated groan.

"Fine. So how are you doing?"

"Okay, I guess. I don't think it's actually hit, you know? I just keep thinking that I'm going to wake up and everything will be back to how it was."

"Me too. There's another reason why I called, Bella."

"What is it?"

"I talked to Jessica's parents. They've already planned her funeral."

I suddenly felt sick.

"Did they tell you when they are doing it?"

"They are planning on Thursday."

"Thursday? But that's three days away."

"I guess Jessica made them have plans incase anything happened. You know how Jess was."

Was. She was past tense now.

"Yeah. She would always say a good girl scout is always prepared."

The line went silent.

"I miss her, B."

"I do too."

"Okay, I'm gonna go. I'll call you if I hear anything else from her parents. I love you."

"I love you too. And Alice?"

"Yeah?"

"Stay away from the booze. I don't know if your body guard would appreciate you coming on to her."

Alice let out a little giggle.

"I have to entertain myself somehow."

"Just try to behave."

"I make no promises."

"Bye."

"Bye, Bells."

I closed my phone it placed it on the counter. I hadn't even thought about Jess' funeral. I had gotten to the point that I was just trying to keep myself in self preservation mode.

"Are you okay, Bella?"

"Um, yeah, why?"

"Because you look very pale."

"It's just that Alice told me that Jess' parents already have her funeral set for Thursday."

"Yeah, that seems about right."

"What do you mean by that?"

"It's just that she was a cop. Most cops have plans set already. Funeral home, casket, flowers, grave plots, everything."

"I guess I'm still in shock. It doesn't even feel like she's gone and her funeral is already set. It's just a lot to take in."

"I know. I'll make a few calls to make preparations so you can go, safely."

I nodded and moved away from the counter.

"I'm not really hungry anymore. I think I'm going to just go sit outside for a little bit."

Edward gave me a concerned look.

"Okay, let me know if you need anything."

I mustered as much of a smile as I could and walked outside. Kirby's collar jingled as he ran out the door after me. I looked around the backyard and took it all in. It was incased by a huge brick wall, blocking out the view of other houses. There was a hot tub and pool fenced into the corner of the yard and gorgeous landscaping through out. The patio had overstuffed furniture and a fire pit. I walked over to the chaise that was nestled in the shade and sat down with no amount of grace. Kirby jumped up beside me and looked at me with sad eyes. It was almost like he knew I was upset. I scratched behind his ears and he climbed into my lap. I smiled when I thought back to when Jess first got him.

~April 2009~

"Bella! Come here! You have got to see this!"

I looked around at the shoppers that were glaring at both Jess and I. I loved Jess, but she really needed to work on her indoor voice. I made my way through the pet store and saw Jess holding a tiny ball of fur to her shoulder.

"What is that?"

"He's a morkie. Isn't he precious? I just picked him up and he fell right to sleep."

The tiny puppy was nestled into Jess' hair. I scratched one of the small tri-colored spots on his back and his little head popped out from Jess' hair. He was adorable. His big brown eyes looked into mine before he yawned and burrowed back into her hair.

"He's so cute. Are you going to get him?"

"I have to. He's the perfect fur child. And he won't get very big."

"Can I hold him?"

"Of course. He's going to be your fur godchild, so you better get along."

I took the small ball of fluff out of Jess' hands and looked into his sweet little face. He looked me over before he decided he liked me and licked the tip of my nose.

"Aw, I think he likes you."

"So what are you going to name him?"

"Kirby."

"Kirby? Where did you pull that out of?"

"Kirby, like the vacuums."

"How does that even apply?"

"He low to the ground, like a vacuum."

"I can see how you made the connection."

"I'm pretty clever."

"After all of these years, I've noticed."

I handed Kirby back over to Jess and she made her way happily through the store, holding on to her new fur child.

Kirby looked up at me with those same glassy eyes.

"I know, I miss her too."

I stared out into the yard and leaned back in the chair. All of the sounds of modern suburbia filled my ears. The kids playing, lawn mowers whirring, and cars buzzing by. It all seemed so surreal. A small group of people were trying to cope with the loss of a loved one, while the rest of the world went on with out a clue. Their world was still the same, but mine had changed completely.

I felt the tears start to build again. My resolve was slipping. The patio door slid open and Edward walked towards me holding a bottle of water in each hand. He stopped a few feet from me and held one of the water bottles out to me. I took it from his hand and smiled up at him.

"Thank you."

"Are you okay?"

I pursed my lips together and nodded, avoiding looking into his eyes.

"Bella, it's okay to cry if you want to. You don't have to hold it in. And if you need to be alone, just say the word and I'll go back inside."

"No, it's okay. I actually don't mind. You offer a distraction from thinking of what's going on."

Edward ran a hand through his hair. I tried not to notice that it glistened in the sunlight.

"I don't mean to sound harsh when I say this, so please forgive me if that's how it comes across. But, you're going to have to deal with this eventually. You can't keep distracting yourself and hope that that will fix it."

"I know. But can I just pretend for a little while longer? It would be nice to hold on to her for as long as I can."

Edward sat in the chair beside mine and said nothing. We sat and listened to the world outside of the brick wall go on, completely unfazed.

A/N: And y'all thought I was going to have Jasper assigned to Alice. Bet you weren't expecting that. ^_^ And I know that the self defense part probably wasn't what you were all hoping for, but that will come later. How else am I supposed to keep you all reading if I don't tempt you with things? Another question was answered as to what type of dog Kirby is. I had always envisioned him as a Morkie because they are flippin adorable! So, another chapter down. The next one is already brewing in my head. Leave me some lovin' and do yourselves a favor and go to iTunes to check out those songs on the play list. There are some really good ones in there this time ^_^ I LOVE YOU ALL!