A/N - Thank you all so very much for your kind reviews and words and other correspondence! I always jump for joy every time I see a new message in my inbox, whether it is from review or an add or a favorite. I have tried to visit each person's home page as a 'get to know you better' sort of thing, but I know I have missed a few people... Sorry! Please know that you are all loved!

On to the story

Disclaimer - All characters belong to SM, I am just playing with them a bit.



Alice's POV

"Penny for your thoughts." Edward offered as I skipped up to the Volvo.

"Not a chance buster! I want to watch this unfold before my eyes just like everyone else." I scolded him. Well, I tried too anyway. I was trying to keep my laughter from my tone, with no success of course.

"What's your plan, Romeo?" Jasper asked as he snaked his arms around my waist. I tilted my head up and gave him a wide smile. Edward may be trying to play Bella's Romeo, but I already had my Romeo, and Jasper was a far better lover and husband than Juliet could have ever wished for.

Edward tried to ignore him and quickly jumped in the car. Jasper and I followed suit. I slipped into the back with Jasper rather than the front. I got odd looks from both men, but they knew better than to question by now. Emmett wasn't going to be joining us today, but no one needed to know that just now. I felt an arm wrap around my shoulders.

"I'm guessing by the lack of response, you don't have a plan." Jasper mused as though to himself. I knew where this was going even without my psychic gift and joined in.

"Well, we can rule out the dance scene. Bella couldn't even walk before she had the cast, so much as dance." I pointed out as I grabbed Jasper's hand in my own and left them in his lap.

"The next scene was the balcony. I'm sure falling into Romeo's waiting arms and another ER visit would be her perfect idea of romance." Jasper countered.

"Oh, what about the marriage? That was sweet!" I asked.

"Yes, but the only minister we know is Carlisle, and I'm pretty sure he would not go with it. I wonder if we could get Emmett to get one of those online licenses?" Jasper asked out loud.

"Or they could just skip straight to the wedding night." I mused, leaning in closer to Jasper.

"Or maybe we could re-visit ours instead." Jasper whispered in my ear. I love the way this man thinks! I giggled and turned to kiss him.

Edward cleared out his throat after several very short moments. "Could you please refrain from doing that in my car?" He asked in a not so polite voice.

"Think of it as lessons for how to woo a woman." Jasper said huskily before he turned back to me. Rather than return to our kiss, we did respect Edward's wishes and just got lost in each other's eyes instead. I reached up and traced his jaw line with my hand, but before I could trace much further I felt Rose get in the front seat and slam the door.

She was pissed.

Jasper and I pulled away from each other as Edward quickly pulled out from the school and started the short drive home.

"Don't worry Rosalie, he's not replacing you. Listen to him tonight and you'll understand." I promised her. She shot me a glare, but I noticed that her eyes lost some of their intensity. I nodded to myself. Now that I had set up the stage for Emmett he better not change his mind.

I needed him to be available for tomorrow nights games.

Now I needed to set everything up for Rosalie to talk to Bella tonight before Emmett got home so Emmett would have an audience.

I knew that Esme was planning on going hunting as soon as we got home. Carlisle was working an extra shift since one of the other doctors had called in sick. Emmett was going to stay at school until around 7 pm. That means I had to get Edward and Jasper to go hunting with Esme. I would go as well so there was no excuse for them not to talk.

"Jasper, I've noticed your eyes are getting a little dark. Do you want to go hunting with me when we get home?" Almost as though it were an after thought I added, "you too Edward. If you're going to be playing Romeo we better make sure you don't eat Juliet."

Jasper broke out and even Rosalie cracked a small smile. Edward just glared through the windshield. He'll come around.

Sometimes it gets exhausting trying to set things in motion without anyone realizing that I was orchestrating everything, but it did give me something to do.

The rest of the car ride was quiet, but luckily it was short. I bounced out of the car before it had even stopped and waltzed in the house to say hi to Bella. I saw her lying on the couch with a book in hand.

"Hi Bella!" I said as I jumped on the couch just below her feet. Her head shot up in surprise as her heart suddenly started to race. I smiled.

"Oh, um, hi Alice." Bella finally managed.

"How was your day? Did you have fun staying home from school? What did you and Esme decide to do with your room?" I spilled. I just got a confused stare back.

"Wait, one at a time Alice! And how did you know what Esme and I were doing?" She asked.

"Psychic, remember?" I told her, pointing to my head for emphasis.

"Oh. That. I forgot." She said somewhat faintly. I barely registered the fact that my siblings and husband had made their way upstairs for to do their own stuff.

"Don't worry. I get that all the time. Well, only from other vampires, never from a human, but it's the same thing, right?" I didn't want to overwhelm her further, so I stalled from telling her that everyone but Rosalie was leaving for a moment by looked at how she was doing. This included an inventory of her clothes.

"Bella! Are you really wearing sweat pants!?" I asked, startling her and everyone else in the house.

"Yes? Is there something wrong with that?" She questioned.

"Everything is wrong! We must go shopping soon. I will not let you wear sweats while you live in this house." I told her sternly. Did she not know anything about clothing?

"If I'm only sitting here, then what do my clothes matter?" Now she was confused.

"Because you never know who is going to be looking at you nor do you know when you are going to be making a trip to the ER." I sized her up again. It was somewhere she was going to be getting well acquainted with, even with my family looking after her. There was only so much seven vampires could manage.

She pouted, "My sweats are just fine."

"Bella, I was going to get you a new wardrobe anyway. Now you just get to help me pick it out." I told her. I already had so many ideas of the clothing I was going to get for her and where all we would go.

"What is up with you people doing all this stuff for me?" She huffed. "I'm not that special." She whispered to herself.

"Bella, yes you are special. No other human would willingly sit here with a vampire at her feet. No other human has been able to wriggle her way into our vampire hearts. Just by that alone you are very special." I told her. Before she could try to argue with me, I jumped in with another thought. "We'll continue this later, right now Edward, Jasper and I are going to, um, hunt. Will you be all right here with Rosalie and Esme?" I asked her sweetly.

"Esme was at the couch as soon as the words left my mouth. "Actually, I was planning on hunting when you all got home as well. Maybe I could join you?" I nodded, probably a bit too quickly, but really did not care. "Bella, you'll be fine with Rosalie." I could hear the rest of that sentence without being the mind reader of the family - I'll make sure of it.

"If you think so." She said hesitantly. She really did not trust Rosalie at all. Hopefully that will change in an hour or two.

"I'll go talk to her right now and let her know what's going on." Bella just nodded her head and picked her book back up. Esme gently patted her shoulder and ran up the stairs to do just that.

I smiled and gave Bella small kiss on her forehead before I went up to change. A few minutes later Esme, Edward, Jasper and I were running through the backyard. I could only hope that Rosalie would take advantage of the time with Bella.


Rosalie's POV

They all left me with the human and even had the nerve to ask me to watch after her.

I felt betrayed by my family. Jasper and Edward had stopped saying that she shouldn't be here. I was the only one who saw how much of a danger she was to us, but no one would listen to me. They kept trying to make her comfortable and change how we lived to do so.

We could not just do whatever we wanted to at night; we had to be quiet now. We had to make and smell human food. Edward and Jasper were hunting more. Esme and Alice were spending more time making things easier for her. We had to have so many more family meetings because of her.

All of that was but a single flame in comparison to the two things that hurt me the most.

She was still human and she took my Emmett away from me.

The first was no different from just about every other creature that we came in contact with. They were all fault-ridden humans. But they didn't know what I was. They never knew that the beautiful goddess they worshipped when they looked at me was a false mask for the demon creature that I am.

The second though, that action I could not forgive her for. Emmett was mine, and I would not let anyone take him away from me whether they were human or vampire.

Rather than just stand and stare at the door like an idiot, I grabbed the TV remote and sat on the couch as far away from Bella as possible. I saw her shudder when I walked past her which made me smile. At least she was smart enough to realize that I was something to fear.

I began flipping through the channels almost too quick for me to even see what was on. I had to stop myself from glaring at her as her heart was racing and I could smell the adrenaline rushing through her blood.

Her tantalizing human blood. I could imagine what it would taste like as it slid down my throat. How easy it would be to reach over and open an artery with a fingernail and just let it flow into my mouth. Only after her heart started to give out and stopped pumping her blood would I sink my teeth into her and drain her of all of it. It would be so gratifying to hear her final gasp when my teeth punctured her skin…

I shook myself from my waking dream and nightmare. And not a moment too late either.

I was hovering over Bella and saw her eyes opened as wide as they could get, un-blinking. All the blood had drained from her face, making her look as pale as I am. Her mouth was open and her chest rising and falling so fast that I'm sure there was no oxygen making it into her blood stream. Her heart was pumping so fast as to be fluttering.

Groaning, I pulled myself away from her and ran to a window, yanked it open, and breathed in the clean air. I had to get her scent out of my nose and start thinking clearly again.

Minutes later, I turned back to her. "Now do you know why you don't want to live with vampires?" I spit the last word out. I hated what I was and what I had come so close to doing. I had a perfect record. I had never tasted human blood. And she almost ruined it for me.

"Because that's what we are. One stray thought, one moment of not paying attention and then 'oops, there goes Bella.'" I yelled at her. I was pissed at what had almost happened and it was her fault. Her fault that I had almost killed her. Her fault that our family was almost exposed. Her fault that my record would no longer be clean. Everything was her fault. No it's not, Rose, and you know it. I ignored the little voice whispering in my head. I knew it was right, but it was easier to blame her.

"I know Rosalie." She whispered hoarsely. "But… I have no where else to go. No other reason to try for more." She shrugged. I narrowed my eyes at her. No other reason to try? She had everything! She had her life, she could get married and have babies and eat and drink and sleep and die! Did she not realize what she had? She had everything!

"Please hear me out." She begged. I only nodded to indicate I would hear for now. "My father died two years ago from a stroke. I lost my mother and step-father in an accident two weeks ago. When I lost her, I lost my best-friend as well. I have no other family. I had no close friends, no one that I saw outside of school." Her eyes begged me to understand. "I don't do anything great or wonderful. I am not all that smart. The only things I do well are to read, tech, and fall over anything."

"Why should we care then? Why should we try to keep you alive?" I asked her bitterly. I wanted to hate her, but she was trying to make me like her or at least feel pity for her.

"I don't know Rosalie." She looked at me with tears falling down her cheeks before she looked down at her lap again. "I was just putting one foot in front of the other with no intention of looking forward. Now, here, with your family," she bit into her bottom lip at her pause, "I think, um, I think there may be something that may be worth looking forward to." She rushed through the last sentence and her cheeks were bright red. Her shoulders were hunched and she braced herself for whatever my response might be.

I looked down at her, my finger tapping on my lip as I thought about what she had told me.

"So you would rather live with a family, a coven, of vampires than try to live with humans." I clarified.

"I guess so." She shrugged.

I changed tactics; she had still taken my husband away from me.

"What are you going to do now that you are here?" I pushed. Rather than answer right away, she took her time to think. I recognized it as the same face she had used last night when she was trying to understand that we were vampires.

"Well, I was just hoping to make it through graduation." She finally answered. All that time she took to think and that was all she came up with? Is she stupid?

"Is that all?"

"Considering what Alice was telling me, that's quite an accomplishment." She shot back at me. Oh, there was some fight in her still. I smiled internally. If we had maybe met under different circumstances I may have come to like her.

"If that's all then why do you have to drag Emmett with you to your little play dates?" I sneered.

"Is that what all this is really about Rosalie? You think I'm stealing Emmett from you?" She huffed. "For your information, he can't stop talking about you and how much he loves you and can't wait to get home to you." She suddenly stopped and appeared to think better of snapping at a vampire that had only minutes before struggled not to bite her.

"He's like my big brother and treats me like his little sister. He said he wanted to do something new since he was the only one without a 'thing'. You have your cars, Edward has his music, Esme has her designing, Jasper has his philosophy, Alice her fashion, Carlisle his medicine. All Emmett has is his love for you and his pranks. He wants to do more, to have more to offer." She looked like she was finished, but added as an after thought, "he has not told me this, but I think he also wants to be able to show you something he accomplished and have you be proud of him."

I stared at her. Was that why he was still willing to go to the damn theater even if I wasn't there and Bella wasn't there? Did he really feel like he needed to do something to prove his worth? Was it not enough for him that I loved him and everything about him, even his childish pranks?

But what Bella said made too much sense for me to just dismiss it out of hand.

"Why do you think that Bella?" I asked, genuinely curious.

"Well, he is always so proud of you. Everything you say or do he just grabs onto it and relishes it. I can guarantee that right now, he is trying to think of a good way to bring himself back into your good graces. I'm assuming that since you all came home from school and he's not here that he stayed for rehearsal, and you are not happy about that. He's prepared to deal with the consequences now of you not being happy if it means that a few weeks from now he can show you everything he's done and you may be proud of him."

Damn, this girl was insightful. Even though she knew I did not like her, she was still trying to make me feel better and ignoring the fact that I may get even more pissed at her for seeing that when I did not.

"Doesn't he know that it's enough for him to just want to stay by my side?" I wondered out loud. I could not say anything more to let her know whether I thought she was right or wrong, but I had already decided that I would stop treating her as a leper. I may not be able to see her as part of my family yet, but I would not hold it against her if everyone else did.

That was apparently the cue for the end of this conversation as we both returned to our earlier tasks, me watching TV, and Bella reading her book. But now the silence was more tolerable. We were waiting for the same thing, for our family to return home.


Edward's POV

My mind was racing as I tried to hatch out one scheme after another to woo Bella. Each one ended in disaster in my head and I was getting more and more frustrated.

I found my hand was running through my hair. Again. It must be standing on end from the number of times I have done that today.

Even running and hunting did not soothe me like they normally did.

Edward, man, stop the worrying! You're gonna scare her away from the madman look you're sporting. Jasper's thoughts invaded my own.

I looked like a madman? I took a look at myself from within his mind and cringed at what I saw. Einstein's hair had nothing on mine and my eyes were wide and darting. Just as if I were mad.

Jasper felt the change in my emotions and started to laugh. That's better at least. He cocked his head to the side. Since when does the cool and collected Edward have trouble with nerves around a little human girl?

"Since I cannot know what she is thinking. That's when." I muttered. She was such a mystery to me. Especially now that she had not run away from us. Her thoughts would be fascinating to listen to, different from any one else's but I would never know. I could only try to piece it all together from what she said, but what she said never made sense!

Edward! Snap out of it dude. Worrying again. I gave Jasper a sheepish grin. "Thanks bro."

We were approaching the house and I listened carefully to Rosalie's thoughts to see if anything had happened. All I heard was her inner turmoil about what she was going to say to Emmett when he got home in a few minutes. These thoughts had a different tenor to them, but I could not place my finger on what was different. I made another sweep through to find Bella's thoughts, but for all I could tell, she may as well not even be there.

I shied away from Alice's mind as she was singing the entire Moulin Rouge soundtrack and the song of the hour was Sparkling Diamonds. It inspired all new reasons for me to despise musicals.

Jasper's thoughts were more interesting though. They both feel… content and a little pissed and… relieved, but not comfortable. What happened while we were gone? I looked at him and he shrugged, that was the best he could give me.

It was better than what I could have expected. When we had left I was not expecting the house to be whole, nor Bella to be alive. Some very small part of me would have been relieved so that I would be let off the hook for the bet. But the rest of me would have been hurt and dismayed and murderous. Even that little bit would have felt that way too, just with relief thrown in as well.

Why would it have hurt so much to lose Bella? How does this girl have such a strong hold on me? I wondered again.

I had to stop thinking like that and put my thoughts to this new challenge. The Bet.

I had one week to woo the one girl in the world whose thoughts were a mystery to me. I did not know what she would enjoy or even what her favorite color or flowers were. This turned from being such a trivial pursuit to being a huge pain.

We slowed down as we walked in the back door. Jasper and I took the opportunity to get re-acquainted with Bella's scent.

It hit me again like a ton of bricks as venom automatically coated my teeth and tongue, and the burn in my throat that I had just sated began to smolder. The feeling was similar to having swallowed a hot coal and having it lodge in the very back of my throat.

A few more carefully controlled breaths and I felt that I had the monster under control. I still thirsted for her blood, but would be able to control it. As long as she did not somehow manage to prick herself with a needle or fall upon a knife or break a toe nail or whatever else Bell could manage to hurt herself.

Alice and Esme had already run up front to see how everything went with Rosalie and Bella. Without having actually heard her thoughts - damn soundtracks - I was certain Alice had set all this up so Bella Rosalie would speak and get rid of whatever they harbored against each other. I couldn't help but smile at my sister. She would never expect a thank you or any response from us, but she always did little things to make our lives easier. Just in this case it was a bigger thing.

Jasper and I joined the women in the family room and took our respective seats. In this case it meant that I was sitting on the last cushion of the couch Bella was laying on.

"Hello Bella." I greeted her. She looked up from her book with a startled expression upon her face and her heart skipped a beat. I laughed, "Is it so surprising to get a hello from me?"

"N-no, I had not s-seen you walk in. Hi Edward." She stuttered. I watched in fascination as the blood rushed and turned her face the most delicious shade of red. I groaned internally and heard it echoed by Jasper. Her blushes were adorable and made me feel protective of her at the exact same time that they made her so much more appetizing. I shoved my monster away again and was about to tease her for stuttering when I heard her stomach rumble.

"Oh! Let me go make your dinner." Esme rushed out of the room, the rest of her thoughts chagrined that she had forgotten to get Bella's dinner ready before she left to hunt.

"So, um, how'd the hunt go?" Bella asked in a small voice.

"Did you just ask us about hunting?" I asked incredulously. She nodded. "Bella, you are the oddest human I have ever met." I shook my head. Of all the small talk she could have chosen, she decided to ask about our 'meal.'

"Don't worry about him," Alice glared at me, "he's just a fuddy duddy." Bella startled to giggle.

"I am not! Just because she asks the most ridiculous questions does not make me a fuddy duddy." I huffed. Alice just rolled her eyes.

"And to answer your question, unlike some people, it went fine." All we got was a nod in response. I get insulted and Bella was only trying to make small talk. Great.

"Oh, Bella?" I had seen her book on her lap and it reminded me that I had picked up her homework from her teachers. She looked back at me, "I just remembered that your teachers had given me your homework assignments."

Her eyes opened wide and she shuddered. Did I say something wrong? "I forgot all about that. Now I'm two days behind and it'll only get worse." She muttered. "Um, I guess I should get started on it tonight so I don't get too far behind." She said louder. She obviously had not meant for anyone to hear the first part. Knowing your family had supernatural hearing and breaking old habits were two different things.

I grabbed her assignments from my bag and ran up to her room to get her backpack and ran back down to the couch. I pulled the coffee table closer to the couch and moved another chair so that I was sitting at the corner where her head was. We had more or less the same classes so I could go over the different lessons with her and it would just be easier near her head than near her feet. Or so I was trying to convince myself.

"Knowing you all can move like that, and seeing, are two completely different things." She motioned at me from where she sat.

"I would guess so." I laughed at how similar her thoughts were to mine earlier. "Do you want me to refrain from vampire speed or strength when around you?" I had to ask, hoping she would say no.

"Of course not Edward!" She sounded shocked. "This is your home first. I'm the intruder, remember? Do whatever you normally would." She thought for a moment, "Except, warn me before you pick me up or race around while holding me. My brain cannot keep up with the speed quite yet." She blushed again.

Luckily Esme came in with her food. It smelled horrible. I took the opportunity to get settled in as her tutor and went over her classes and the homework with her for hours.

I missed Emmett getting home and Rosalie going upstairs with him.

I missed Carlisle coming home and leaving with Esme for their bedroom.

I even missed Alice and Jasper find their way to their own room as well.

It was just Bella and I downstairs and it did not feel as uncomfortable as it should have.

I was enjoying a joke with her at our biology teacher, Mr. Banner's expense, when I noticed her yawn. I immediately sobered up and started closing all the books and moving the furniture back to how it had been.

"Does Esme do an inspection to make sure everything is perfect before she goes to sleep?" Bella joked.

I gave her my crooked grin and noticed the little hiccup in her heart again. "No, but you are getting tired and your body is still trying to recover from quite a bit of trauma. You need to get some sleep." I answered her.

"But I don't want to go to sleep yet." She may have even convinced me of that, except she yawned just before I was about to say 'fine, have it your way.' Instead I smiled and gently picked her up.

"Now you close your eyes, Bella." I whispered, much too deep for my liking. Having her this close to me… it was heavenly. She was so warm and smelled so wonderful. She also trusted me completely because she closed her eyes when I asked. It was that moment of trust the made sure the monster never managed to show his face before I shoved him away again.

I took a moment to enjoy the feel of her in my arms. I even thought I felt the shadow of an electrical current humming through my body. Bella started to yawn again and pulled herself up a bit and hid her face in my chest, one hand curled against her stomach, the other resting on my chest above my dead heart. If I had been in heaven before, now I was flying above cloud nine. I smiled down at the top of her head before I began to move up the stairs.

I managed to pull her blankets back without waking her and gently, oh so gently, kissed her mahogany hair before I laid her down in her bed. I tucked her under the covers, my hands hovered above her shoulders waiting to make sure did not wake up. After a few lengthy moments, I turned to leave her room. I turned back towards her when I heard her shift and whispered, "Edward? G'night."

I smiled at her, "Good night Bella. Sweet dreams." I closed her door with a quiet click and wandered down the hall. Rather than make it to my room, which was my destination, I found myself at my piano bench downstairs. I did not question how as this sometimes happened when I needed to work through my thoughts.

My hands found their way to the familiar ivory keys and began to trace a strange new melody. I did not know where it was going, so I let my heart lead while my brain pondered the new mystery that was Isabella Swan.


A/N - So there be chapter 9 - please let me know what you think about it. What do you love, what do you hate, what do you want to see? I'm working my way up to some fun fluff, so please enjoy Edward's confusion as it is here, because I find it to be one of those cute "aw" moments personally. Again, thank you all so very much for reading, for adding, for reviewing, whatever. It's has been great to see! I hope to see you all soon at chapter 10 :-)