Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. I don't own Twilight, clearly.

Thank you, Wendy (beta) and Jen (prereader) for putting up with me and just being awesome.

This is probably one of the less angsty chapters... or not. You tell me.

· - ·

CHAPTER 7 – Magic

June 24th—Tuesday

I was having breakfast with Charlie since he had the night shift. I was feeling beyond ecstatic about my previous weekend and then I felt guilty for that. Because if everything went well, my plan would succeed, but I wouldn't be there to see how it turned out. Actually, it wouldn't turn out to be anything at all. However, I'd made up my mind, and I wouldn't change my plan, no matter how bad I felt sometimes. I had the opportunity to have something good in my last weeks of life, and it was too good to let it escape.

I couldn't stop thinking about Edward: how he made me feel in the dock, in the water, in the car… on my dad's couch. He had everything a girl could hope for: very good looks, great family, nice job... And, on top of that, he seemed like a good man to keep by your side. At first I had been surprised he didn't have a girlfriend, and I had considered asking him, but then I thought I wasn't in the position to demand he left his girl for me, so I chose not to care about it. He didn't seem like that kind of guy, anyway.

Of course, I had questioned my plan before coming here to Forks. Am I being selfish? Will I hurt those who care about me? Well, I certainly would hurt them whether I wanted to or not when I passed away, and I had always been selfless and thoughtful about others. I thought it was time to live for myself. So when I woke up that morning, it became clearer than ever to me that it was what I was going to do. Plus, not everything in my list was 'selfish.' I wanted to feel loved and cherished, but I also wanted my father to have a normal, happy family, too.

The kitchen phone brought me out of my thoughts. Charlie put down the newspaper he was reading and picked it up.

"Jake! It's nice to hear you, son," he said happily. I could understand how much he loved Jacob. He was like a son to my father, and I considered him like a brother, too. "That's great… Yeah, she's here with me… Okay, hold on." Charlie turned to me and handed me the phone with a smile.

"Hey," I said to the receiver.

"Bella! Hey, I just took your truck to the shop. I have so much work right now, but I'll try to have it fixed by Friday. I need to buy some pieces and everything, so… I'm sorry I can't get it done sooner," he said, sounding worried.

"Oh, don't worry; my Dad can be my chauffeur for a few days or I'll just stay home," I explained.

"Well, then tell Charlie I'm sorry," he chuckled.

"Are you bringing the truck back or should I pick it up on Friday?" I asked, still smiling.

"Actually, I was hoping we could have lunch together in Port Angeles before you get the truck?" Jacob sounded strangely insecure, which made me laugh.

"Sure, Jake," I said. "I'll have Charlie drive me there by noon or I'll just take a bus."

"Perfect!" I could hear a smile in his voice. "See you then, Bells."

"See you, Jake. Bye." I hung up as Charlie walked in the kitchen. I hadn't realized he had disappeared. "Jacob will have my truck ready on Friday, and we'll have lunch afterwards, so I'll kind of be depending on you to get around. Where were you?"

He tried to hide his nerves to the question.

"Oh, just talking to Sue on my phone," he said, nonchalantly, and I smiled.

"Really. Just talking to Sue, huh?" I inquired.

"That's what I said."

"You know, you could invite Sue and her kids for lunch tomorrow," I said, mimicking his nonchalance. He met my eyes with a shocked expression.

"You serious?" he asked.

"Dad, I know what's going on, okay? I love you, and if you care about the woman, then I want to meet her and her kids; that's all."

"Fine. I'll invite them tomorrow for lunch." He walked away muttering, "There's nothing going on." But I saw how he tried to cover his grin by rubbing his mustache.

· - ·

I cradled my phone to my ear while I scanned the aisles of Radio Shack. "Hello?"

"Bella."

"Hi!" I smiled, feeling giddy.

"I was just thinking about you."

"Really? What about me?"

"Your eyes, your smile… your legs, your—"

I chuckled. "Okay, okay, I get it."

He laughed along. I loved it. "I wanted to hear your voice, more than anything."

Now I really couldn't concentrate in what I was looking for.

"You're adorable," I said.

"Adorable? Pfft! Guinea pigs are adorable. How about irresistible?"

I knew he was teasing me, just like the first time we met. He really wasn't that arrogant.

I moved aside from my position in the center of the aisle, so that I wouldn't be in anyone's way. I had stopped in the middle of an aisle. I wasn't going to find anything until I got off the phone with Edward.

"What I mean is, I adore you," I explained. "You're just so… amazing."

"Wow." He sounded genuinely surprised.

"And irresistible."

There was silence for a moment.

"Let me take you out on a date," he finally said.

I couldn't wipe the smile off my face. "Okay, when?"

"Are you free Thursday?"

· - ·

I hid my new recorder, blank tapes, and stickers in my underwear drawer in my bedside table. I would need to start taping my goodbye messages soon. I was terrified of not having enough time to record all of them, but at the same time I was dreading the task.

Charlie left for work after dinner, and I settled in my room. I put batteries and a blank tape in the recorder then pressed the red button. It ran for a whole minute with me being unable to speak. I sighed deeply. This was going to be more difficult than I thought.

I decided to make another list. I wrote the names of all the people I knew and cared about. Still, I wasn't ready.

· - ·

June 25th—Wednesday

Teaching Charlie how to cook wasn't easy, and it was even more difficult when he was so nervous about bringing a woman at home to meet his daughter. I tried to be patient; I understood the situation. But my patience wore thin when I had to repeat the steps of making a simple sauce multiple times. I exercised ultimate self-control to resist the impulse to take the bowl off his hands and finish myself.

It was kind of endearing, though.

I kissed his cheek when the doorbell rang and walked after him to the front door.

Sue Clearwater was a very pretty woman. She didn't look younger than her age. You could definitely see some gray in her long, braided hair and some wrinkles in the corner of her eyes and her forehead, but still she was stunning. Charlie had told me she really suffered with the death of her husband.

Seth was a cute teenager and struck me as a very easy going kid, much like Jacob. Leah was beautiful, with sharp features and intense green eyes that reminded me of Edward. She had a hard expression on her face, though. I didn't like that very much. They were all russet-skinned and taller than average.

After the introductions were made, we all helped setting the table for dinner.

"Oh, you cooked?" Sue asked, surprised, after she tasted the beef stew.

"I taught him how to prepare it," I said, pleased that she liked it.

"It's actually better than Mom's," Seth said, smiling. I doubted it, but I smiled back. Leah snorted and I had to fight the urge to roll my eyes.

She didn't talk much during dinner, but the rest of us enjoyed it. They were really good people, and Seth's high school stories were very funny. I knew he was friends with Jacob before, but I didn't know they were so close. Seth talked about him like he was his big brother. It was just perfect.

Leah helped me clear the table after the second course—by Sue's request, mind you—and I took the opportunity to get to know her a bit more. She was hard to crack at first, but when she finally opened up, she confessed that she actually liked Charlie, but it was weird for her knowing our fathers were friends once. She told me she had taken a year to work and make money to be able to go to college, probably in Seattle. She didn't want to go too far. I said it was a great idea. I hadn't had that opportunity myself.

We finally returned to the table with dessert, to Seth's delight.

I watched them for a moment like I wasn't there. Seth teased Charlie about his moustache while Sue reprimanded him playfully and Leah laughed at the scene. They all seemed so happy. I wished that for my father. I wished that this would be what his life looked like after I was gone. After a few minutes of me observing, Leah's green eyes landed on mine. I noticed how my involuntary smile mirrored hers, and she nodded almost unnoticeably. I nodded back, both of us silently approving of this new bond between families. Our parents made each other happy; that was what mattered.

I added Sue, Seth and Leah to the list of names in my tape recording task.

· - ·

June 26th—Thursday

Edward came to pick me up at six thirty. Charlie, who had the day off, opened the door before I could get downstairs.

"Hello, Chief," Edward said, shaking my dad's hand.

"Edward, good to see you. Are you here to take my daughter on a date?" Charlie asked, faking a serious tone.

I walked up to them and stroked my father's back lightly and pecked his cheek. "Dad, be nice."

When Edward's amused eyes focused on me, he took my breath away. It seemed like in the few days we had been apart, I had forgotten how handsome he really was. My memory didn't work properly, apparently.

"Hey," I said to him, smiling.

"Hey yourself."

"Okay, we're out," I said and stepped forward, taking Edward's hand. "Bye, Dad!"

"You take good care of her, boy!" Charlie said from behind us in his best cop voice.

Edward chuckled loudly, but I saw him nod.

· - ·

Edward parked his shiny Volvo in the outskirts of town, at the dusty parking lot of the Clallam County Fair grounds. My face lightened instantly. My parents used to take me there when I was a kid, and I lot of times Jacob came with us. This place brought back some of the best memories I had of my mother. My heart melted for Edward a little bit more in that moment.

I was out of the car right away, and Edward chuckled at my enthusiasm.

"I take it you like our date already?" he said, approaching me.

"I love the fair!"

His lips found mine even before he embraced me. I felt at home. I had missed him.

"Let's go then," he said when we finally disentangled ourselves from each other and he took my hand in his.

We had the best time. We ate hot dogs, we shared pink cotton candy, and we walked around for hours. I loved the smells, the happy sounds and, most of all, the feeling of Edward beside me, wrapping his arm around my shoulders, or behind me, circling my waist and kissing my neck… He only failed at fishing yellow rubber ducks, which I found highly entertaining to watch.

"And I thought you were perfect at everything…" I teased.

"Only at the things that really matter," he whispered in my ear, gently pinching my butt and making me squeal and blush.

"C'mon." He took my hand and led me out of the main fair grounds to a little gypsy caravan decorated in burgundy and gold.

I vaguely remembered my mother taking me to this place. She really got in to that kind of thing—the mystery and the cosmic unknown. I stopped dead in my tracks, making Edward stop and turn to me.

"Edward, no…" I said, shaking my head.

"Why not? It's fun!" he said, smiling sweetly.

"I don't like witches and magic," I responded lamely.

"She's not a witch, she's a fortune-teller gypsy, Bella. Nothing to worry about." He cupped my cheek with his free hand. "She's just going to take a look at us and say there's a happily ever after in our future."

That was my problem. I didn't really believe in those things, but what if she saw through me? Or what if she didn't, but said something bad was going to happen? That would upset Edward.

"I don't know…" I said in a low voice.

His happy face fell. Did he think I wouldn't want a happily ever after with him? I could see my reaction made him upset and I hated that.

"It's fine, we don't have to…" he said, slightly dejected.

"No! No," I said, pulling him closer and kissing his jaw. "Let's go in."

"You sure?"

"I am." Not.

· - ·

"What are your names?" the woman asked. She had what seemed like hundreds of rings on her fingers and bracelets on her wrists, really dark brows, and a prominent nose. She was pretty.

"I'm Edward and this is my girl, Bella," he responded, smiling at me. My girl. I smiled back.

We were sitting in front of her in a small round table. The whole place was decorated with colorful glass beads, gold details and a few little LED lights.

"I see… Edward and Bella," she said in a mysterious breathy voice while looking at me intently. "Give me your hands and close your eyes."

We formed a circle with our joined hands, and Edward gently squeezed mine reassuringly as we closed your eyes.

"I can feel your energy flowing through me," the gypsy woman said. "Hmm…"

I started feeling uncomfortable after a moment of silence, and I thought Edward had fallen asleep or something. I slowly opened one eye, then the other when I met the woman's stare. She had a weird expression on her face that softened in a second.

Does she know?

I panicked, and I guessed she sensed it.

"I can tell that what you have is very new, but very intense. That is good," she said. "I see a future full of happiness."

· - ·

Back in the car, Edward kissed me for a long time. I responded enthusiastically, but my head was still spinning.

"See?" he said, starting the car and pulling out of the parking lot. "Happy ever after."

That wasn't exactly what she said, but I wasn't about to burst Edward's bubble. Ever. I was satisfied with what she said, anyway. I knew we were going to be happy for as long as it lasted. I was going to make sure of that.

"Edward, take me to your house." I put my hand on his knee. "I want to take a swim."

As we approached the Cullens' home, I realized that the gypsy woman was probably bluffing—performing her act. She sensed my nervousness and used it to her advantage. It was all a mysterious, cryptic act. She never said a thing about me specifically. She couldn't know.