"Dad?"

"Of course, Bella, who else?"

My head was spinning with confusion.

"H-how did you know I was here?"

"I'm a cop, Bella. I can find out pretty much anything."

"Right."

"Which means I know about the other night..."

"Charlie...I had nothing to do with that. I've changed since the last time I saw you..."

"They told me they took a blood sample, it better be clean, Missy."

"Dad, I haven't touched a drug in over a year. I don't want to go back to that. That's why I left everything behind."

"You can't leave your family behind, Bella."

"Mom sure wasn't helping, and you weren't even there, so yes, I can leave my family behind."

"Bella, I'm sorry I haven't been there for you. As for your mother, she finally agreed to go to rehab to get some help. She'll be better in no time."

"Right." I said again, not believing it.

"The reason I called was to let you know, that I'm going to be the new Sheriff in Shilo."

WHAT!

"Uh...come again?"

"You heard me. I think it will be a great way for me to be involved in your life again."

Oh, hell no!

"You're the one who left us in the first place, and now all of a sudden you move here to wiggle your way back into my life."

"Bella...I just want another chance."

"I can't do this right now. I have work to do, and I need to think about things."

"Well, I'll see you soon. Bye." He said, hanging up before I could protest.

Son of a bitch...

I hung the phone up and placed it back in it's holder, resisting the urge to bang my head on the nearest wall.

"Are you okay?" A voice said from behind me, making jump.

I whipped around and found Edward cautiously entering the room.

"God, you scared me..."

"No, it's Edward. But I can see how you'd be mistaken." He teased.

As much as I fought it, a smile still broke across my face as I shook my head at him.

"So, are you okay?"

"No." I sighed.

"What's the matter?"

"My dad, he's...going to be the new Sheriff here."

"And that's a bad thing?"

"He left my mom and I when I was young. He only called a handful of times a year, and I haven't even seen him in over three. Now he calls and acts like he's entitled to be in my life without my permission."

"Oh, I see."

"If he asked to be in my life, rather than tell me, I might have had a different reaction."

"I see why you are upset, but I think everyone deserves a second chance, don't you?"

"Yeah, but...I don't know. Lately with the drug thing, and now this...it's like everything from my past is coming to bite me in the ass for a second time. But enough of my overly dramatic and complicated life, how's it going with you and Jake? I haven't seen him since the other night."

"Because you've been spending all your time with Alice. But, Jake and I are actually going on our first date tonight. He's going to come pick me up and take me to a nice restaurant in Diablo City."

"Nice as in...dress up nice?"

"Yup! And if I do say so myself, I clean up rather nicely."

"I bet you do. I hope you two have a fabulous time!" I teased.

"That's cute." He said before grabbing me and tickling my sides.

I fought him for a few seconds, trying to take control, but he was too big and strong.

"Uncle! Uncle! FOR GOD'S SAKES, UNKLE!" I yelled as I gasped for air.

He finally let me go, and by that time, we were both in a fit of giggles.

"So this is what you two are doing instead of working. Why didn't you invite me!"

We both looked up to see Alice in the doorway of the living room with her arms crossed over her tiny body, fake pouting.

"Well, I came in to make a phone call, Eddie was the one that started the tickling..." I said before giving him a quick slap on the arm.

To which he just stuck his tongue out at me like a five year old. Alice took advantage of my distraction, and the next thing I knew, she was on my back, reaching around to tickle my sides.

"No!" Was all I got out before I busted out laughing again when her small fingers poked at my ribs.

I fell to my knees trying to cover my sides with my hands, while Edward joined in and started tickling Alice from the back. She squealed before I fell all the way to the ground in front of her. Turning around to Edward, she tried to get him to stop, but with like me, he was just too strong.

"Okay! I'm done, I give up!" Alice said as she giggled.

Both of them collapsed to the floor too, out of breath from all the laughing. Alice's head rested on my stomach, while Edward was a few feet away, resting against the wall. I pushed a wisp of her hair out of her beautiful face, and before I pulled my hand away, she grabbed it and kissed my fingers lightly. I blushed, even though I'm sure Edward could care less about us, it still was weird to show affection in front of someone.

"What are you three doing?" A voice said from behind us.

I froze in panic for a second, not knowing what to do.

"We got in a tickle fight, and now we're resting. Problem?" Alice asked as she let my hand go.

"You know there is work to be done around here. I suggest you get up and help."

This time I identified the voice. Of course, it was the ever so not delightful, Rosalie.

"Who put a bee in your bonnet?" Edward asked, not moving.

She didn't answer, just huffed and stomped past us, and left the house without another word.

"She's right though." I said, breaking the silence. "There is work to be done."

"But I don't want to get up." Alice protested. "I'm really comfortable..."

I smiled, not wanting to move either, but we were supposed to be working at the moment. They weren't paying me to lie around on their living room floor, after all.

"Yeah well, you've made me get up when I didn't want to, so this is payback." I said as I sat up. "Come on."

She finally sat up too, by this time, Edward had already made it out the door, and it was just me and her. Before she got up, I wrapped my arms around her waist, and pulled her into me, hugging her from behind. I turned my head and kissed her neck shyly, burying my face in her hair afterward.

"Now I really don't want to get up."

I inhaled her sweet scent, savoring it before letting her go and standing up. After helping her to her feet, she took my hand and led me outside, back down to mulched trail to the construction site.

/-/

"Seriously?" Alice asked, her voice raising an octave as she screwed in a nail.

"Yeah. He gives me what, a days notice before he gets here? I can't believe it..."
"Least you won't have that jerk on your case anymore. If you're dad is the new Sheriff, he'll be more inclined to stick up for you if something else comes up, right?"

"I don't know. He didn't seem to believe me when I told him that I've changed. I think he is worried that my blood test will come back positive, even though I told him I haven't touched drugs in over a year now."

"When the test comes back, then he'll now that you were telling the truth. And if he spends enough time around you, then he'll see that you aren't the person you used to be anymore."

"Well, right now I'm too irritated to see him. Thinking he can weasel back into my life like nothing has happened..."

Before Alice could respond, Esme voice carried through the air.

"Alright everyone, we're done for the day!"

I hadn't noticed it had started to get dark, Alice and I had been talking the whole time, so it went by rather quickly. After we put our tools away, Alice drug me into the house again, making me wait in her bedroom as she took a short shower. I took this time to look around her room more carefully, having more time than yesterday. I fingered different little objected and books that sat on shelves, before sitting on the end of her bed to wait for her.

She came out in her towel, hair and body still wet, testing my control. She looked...sexy. I watched her as she ran another towel through her short hair, using both hands, the one covering her body was slowly sliding down. I felt an unfamiliar heat between my legs, so I looked away, focusing my eyes on the floor for a few minutes before she spoke up.

"Want to spend the night?" She asked hopefully.

"Uh...I shouldn't. It would probably be weird for everyone, having the help sleep over."

"Oh..."

Her disappointed face was like my kryptonite. I would do anything to make it disappear, and be replaced with her smile that I loved so much.

"But, if you don't mind slumming it, you can stay with me again..."

Her face lit up at my words, before she went over to her closet and grabbed some clothes, and went back in the bathroom. She changed at an unbelievable speed, and was standing in front of me in what seemed like seconds.

"Let's go!"

"Okay, Speedy." I said as I put my hands up in surrender before heading out her door and down the stairs. "But I'll have to take a shower when we get back too, I'm sure I stink..."

"You don't stink, silly. You're just...musty."

"And that's better?"

"I find the scent of must sexy, actually. Is that weird?"

"Coming from you, no." I teased.

I felt a slap on my arm from her before she giggled, wrapped her arms around my neck, and hopped on my back. I carried her down the rest of the stairs before she got off and went to find Esme. Once she found her and told her where she would be for the night, we rode back to my cabin on her four-wheeler.

She parked in the grass before we got off. It was quiet, but the living room light was on, so I figured at least one of the girls was still up. Nonetheless, I unlocked the door quietly, just in case, and was surprised at what we found. Both Heidi and Jane were on the couch. Jane was straddling Heidi as they kissed, their hands all over each other...until they heard us come in. They both froze, eyes wide like deer in headlights, not knowing exactly what to do.

"Whoops, sorry to interrupt!" I grabbed Alice's hand. "Don't mind us, go back to what you were doing." I said as I pulled her down the hall.

When we made it into the safety of my room and closed the door, we both let out a chuckle.

"Took them long enough..." Alice said. "Jane's been pining over Heidi since she got here."

"I'm just glad that Heidi's focus is finally off me, and I can be with you without worrying about her trying to get in the way."

I quickly picked out some night clothes and headed to the bathroom. Not even waiting until the water got warm, I jumped in and soaped up, not wanting to spend too much time away from Alice. This was a weird feeling I was having, I never had grown so attached to anyone like this before. It scared and confused me, but it also excited me.

After rinsing my hair out, I turned the water off and dried myself off. Quickly blow drying my hair to get most the wetness out, before whipping on my P.J.'s and heading back to my room. The doorknob creaked as I turned it, opening the door and finding Alice already in bed, her back facing me, looking like she was asleep. I closed my door and turned off the lights before getting in bed with her, keeping my distance in case she was awake and turned over.

"Alice?" I whispered.

But I got no reply. I leaned in closer and heard her even breathing, she was indeed asleep. I stared at her back for a few moments, wanting to get closer to her, but nervous to at the same time. When I finally got up enough nerve, I scooted towards her, moving the bed slightly. When I got near enough that I could smell her and feel the heat radiating off her, I couldn't hold back now.

Closing the distance between us, I pressed my body against hers softy, not wanting to wake her up. My hand lingered for a few seconds before rounding her torso, caressing her stomach with the palm of my hand. I had to resist the urge to hook my fingers under her shirt to touch her warm skin. As if sensing me, she leaned back further, snuggling as close to my body as she could. After she stopped moving, she let out a small content sigh, and I couldn't help but smile.

With my face buried in her vanilla scented hair, I tingled everywhere we were touching. I matched my breathing to hers, letting the movements lull me into a peaceful sleep.


A/N: Bella's getting there folks! Next time, Charlie comes to town. DUN DUN DUUUUNNN!

P.S. - Do you guys like it better when you have to wait a bit for a chapter, but it's long? Or when I update more frequently, but it's shorter? Let me know.

P.S.S. - I found a reference picture for Alice's bedroom, although not exact, it's the closest thing I could find. Links are on my profile.