Chapter Seven

Edward's Point of View

The night went by fast. Emmett told us some of his new jokes about "grizzlies". They were so "unfunny" that we laughed. He was pleased…

"Okay okay… Here's another one… this one is SOO funny, I guarantee that your head will explode…" he excitedly.

"Emmett, if you KEEP going with the lame grizzly jokes, yeah you're right, my head WILL explode." Jasper grinned.

"Aww Jazzy! Don't be jealous! Just because you don't have a sense of humor, doesn't mean you have to take it out on the rest of the family," Emmett challenged him while making a face. I couldn't help but snicker.

"If you keep on going Emmett, I'll make sure personally, that…" Jasper was getting frustrated.

"You know that you can't beat me Jazz," Emmett interrupted. "So don't try before you hurt yourself. And if I do hurt you accidentally, I'm gonna have to face Alice, and god knows what will happen?" he pretended to shudder.

"You wanna take this outside?" Jasper got up.

"My pleasure, I was bored anyways…" Emmett got up too.

"Boys… boys… sit back down. Stop this… we have a guest present," Esme said looking at Bella's direction.

"We don't consider Bella as "guest", she's practically family," Emmett replied in an as-matter-of-fact tone. It was very nice of him. I could tell Bella was pleased with that, she smiled widely. Paige pouted.

Carlisle stepped in to stop the madness, "Listen to your mother. You two are just bored to death aren't you? Picking on each other everyday…" he shook his head.

"We don't pick on each other everyday; we pick on Edward too…" Emmett said proudly. I grinned at him.

Then we just stared in silence. "Sorry mom," Jasper and Emmett apologized automatically. This is part of their daily routine. "Just don't start it again," Esme was too forgiving. We all laughed. They were laughing along as they smacked each other on the back of their heads.

Bella yawned. "Oh it's already 11:30," Bella stared at her watch.

"I'll take you home, come on Bella," I helped her up.

"It was nice to see you. AGAIN." She smiled. "You too Bella, the family hasn't been the same without you, visit again soon," Carlisle said animatedly.

"Yes, Bella, do come back…" Esme planted another kiss on her cheeks.

"Don't worry I will. I'll probably visit you guys so often, you'll just get tired of me and kick me out," she joked.

Paige made a face and pretended to gag.

"I doubt that we will Bella, we might just keep you here and tie you to a tree, so you won't leave," Alice said humorly. Bella chuckled.

"Night Bella, hope we didn't scare you," Jasper said playfully as he hi-fived Emmett who let out another booming laugh.

"Don't worry Jasper, I've seen scarier things," she rolled her eyes. I suppose she's right. With all the near-death experiences, truly, I don't know what she's afraid of.

"Later sis," Emmett gave her another hug. She choked out, "Good…night… Emmett…" then he put her back down, suddenly remembering what happened a while ago. "Oops," he scratched his head.

"Bye Bella, See you tomorrow! Don't forget, 9:30!" Alice winked.

"Don't you have school tomorrow?" Bella asked innocently.

Alice snorted, "Shopping is WAY more important than education." Bella grinned.

"I'm sure Edward's skipping tomorrow, he's going to go hunting…" Bella looked at me and I nodded.

"Bye guys…" then we were out of the house.

We got in the car, I reminded her to buckle up. "I'm not going to lose you like this," I joked. She snorted.

"So, you didn't tell me there was a new addition to your family," she said conversationally, a few minutes after we drove away.

"Does it bother you?" I asked worriedly.

"No silly, I just don't think she likes me very much," she admitted, looking out in the window.

"Don't worry Bella; she doesn't like ANYONE in the family but Rosalie. I guess you could see why," I rolled my eyes.

She laughed, "She likes you too," she said quietly, still smiling at me.

"How's that suppose to be good news? Do you have ANY idea how obnoxious she can be?" The thought of her annoyed me.

"No I don't. Hopefully I'll see it next time," she said playfully.

"Yeah, that'll be great," I answered sarcastically. We stared at each other's face and laughed.

"Shopping with Alice tomorrow huh?"

"Yep." she smiled.

"You look happy for the first time. I thought you had this thing against shopping."

"No, I have this thing against any of the Cullens spending money on me." She replied in a protesting tone.

"So what do you guys do besides shopping? I mean you can't possibly look at cloths over and over again for hours," I was always curious. But I didn't want to hear it from Alice, who would have probably given me a speech about the rules of "shopping".

"Don't worry, nothing dangerous," she rolled her eyes. I could tell that she was hiding something.

"What do you do? Tell me please?" I leaned closer to her. I could feel her heart beating faster by the second. She blushed and finally gave up.

"We chat about our lives and…"

I looked at her, "There's an and?" I asked suspiciously.

"And you." She finished casually.

"Really?" I said, impressed.

She blushed, "Of course," she said feeling slightly embarrassed.

"By the way, thanks for saying yes to Alice. That was nice of you, and you, Bella, are the life savior for the family. Imagine what would have happened if you hadn't, I mean… she would be pouting for days…" I chuckled.

"You're welcome. I love to hang out with her, as long as it doesn't involve makeup…" she shuddered.

"How can someone so small be so annoying?" I sighed.

"Well, that's Alice." She smiled, helplessly.

It was a short ride. We were there in her apartment, and she didn't even notice it at first.

"The night went by so quick, it's utterly unfair," Bella complained softly.

"Don't worry; I'll always be here for you Bella. I don't think that I can stay away from you anymore, now that I've broken my promise to myself," I sighed.

"Your promise to yourself?" she asked.

"I promised myself that I would never, ever, hurt you in any way again after we left Forks. A while ago, when you cried for me, it broke my heart…" I admitted.

"Then don't stay away," Bella whispered.

"I'm the most selfish creature aren't I? Risking your safety for my own desire," I shook my head. She threw her arms around me.

"No you're not. You are simply granting my wish," she smiled sheepishly and kissed me on the cheeks.

"Thank you," I whispered to her.

"Edward, can I have a selfish request?" she asked softly.

"Anything Bella," I replied.

"Stay with me tonight," she leaned against my shoulder as she wrapped her hands around my arm.

"My pleasure," I kissed her hair.

She kissed my cheeks and gave me a hug to thank me. I could picture myself with a huge smile across my face, grinning like a complete nitwit.

Then, I got out of the car and held the car door for her. She practically ran to the door for it was incredibly cold. She took out her keys, but just like the Bella that I knew, she dropped them on the ground. I caught it and handed to her, before she even moved an inch.

"Thanks…" she trembled.

"Anytime," I smiled. How I missed her lovable klutziness.

Please tell me what you thought of the chapter. I appreciate all of you guys for reading my story and reviewing... I hope you enjoyed it!