Ah, okay, so, sorry sorry sorry for the delay. For those of you on the east coast, my town got 'hit' by hurricane Irene. I say hit lightly because nothing actually happened...a few branches down and I lost power for a week. Have any of you read In your World...the fic about amishward? Yeah that was totally me for a week...no internet connection..no lights...no t.v...my phone kept dying...yeah. I would never make it as an amish person.

...ANYWAY...on to the story :)

Chapter 9

EPOV

"Why are you all here?"

And… that' s where I bow out.

We all looked to Alice who was blinking rapidly. I don't think this scenario entered her mind at all when she was planning her 'big surprise'.

"Uh, Happy Birthday!" she sang, forcing a smile. I resisted the urge to laugh. Alice and her crazy ideas.

As if timed, we all snapped our heads to gauge Bella's reaction.

She sat stoically on the couch, gripping her cup of water, before tilting her head slightly. "My birthday was in September."

Alice skipped over to her side and grasped Bella's hands, pulling her up and throwing an arm around her shoulder. "We know that, silly. But we wanted to celebrate with you!" Alice scrunched her nose up and looked down at the floor. "It wasn't supposed to happen like this. You were supposed to be surprised."

"Oh, I think she's surprised," my tone laced with sarcasm.

Alice hopped up and dragged Bella with her. "We got you a cake and everything. It's got three tiers and big candles that spell out Bella at the top. They aren't lit… sorry." She shot me a look, and I glared back at her. "Emmett picked up the balloons, and Jasper got the flowers. You didn't seem like a pink girl to me, so I went with light blue balloons and freesias, and cream colored Hydrangea's." Alice led the small girl around the room, bringing her hand up to feel everything as she explained.

"You," Bella bit her lip. "You did this all for me? Even though I can't see any of it."

"Of course we did Bella!" Alice chirped happily. "It's a party!"

I watched as a smile spread across Bella's face, and she opened her arms for Alice to hug her.

After a moment Rosalie, Emmett, and Jasper joined in, leaving me to watch the love fest from the side.

The moment was so sweet, I could've gagged.

Seriously. Did these people not care that the girl was having a panic attack five minutes ago? Which she still hasn't given us an explanation for…

I cleared my throat. "Um, hate to break up your little group orgy over there, but I've got shit to do."

I didn't really. But they were making me uncomfortable.

Bella swiped at her cheeks quickly as Emmett placed a loud smacking kiss on her head.

"Come on, let's cut the cake, peeps."

I rolled my eyes and walked into the kitchen to grab an utensil and a plate for Bella. The others could get their own shit.

I calmly strode over to where they were all standing- still linked- and cut off a piece from the bottom tier.

It all seemed a bit excessive to me. The cake alone probably weighed more than Bella did.

I stopped in front of her debating what I should do next. Gently, I picked up both of Bella's hands, placing the plate of cake in her left hand and the fork in her right.

I guided her hand to fork a piece before taking a step back. She didn't move for a minute, the bite of cake still suspended where I had left her hand. I briefly worried that I might have done something wrong, but before I could say anything, she lifted the cake to her lips.

I watched as her little pink tongue peeked out to savor the chocolate and whipped cream.

"Mhmmm," she moaned in appreciation. "This is amazing Alice."

Alice beamed, jumping up and down. 'I'm so glad you like it Bella!"

Together, she and Emmett led Bella back into the kitchen where they all sat down to enjoy a piece of cake.

I watched them for a minute, laughing and joking with each other. It all seemed so easy. I tried to imagine myself with them. Making jokes with Emmett about stupid T.V. shows, talking about sports with Jasper, or teasing Rosalie and Alice. Even before Bella, I couldn't remember a time when I was actually social with these people.

And here Bella was, already a part of something I could never be.

I took a step back to go up to my room.

"Edward?"

I stopped.

"Aren't you going to have some cake with us?"

Her voice was so sweet; she had never spoken to me that way before.

"Uhh…"

"Oh, Edward, you have to stay and watch Bella open her gifts!" Alice said. Right, gifts... even more of a reason to leave now.

"Gifts?" Bella questioned, turning back in the direction of Alice's voice.

"Yep, we all got you something."

Oh great. I was going to look like such a tool for not getting her anything. I mean really, why are they all buying her stuff, when its not even her birthday!

"You didn't have to do that. I hate people spending money on me," Bella mumbled, obviously not as enthused as before.

I let out a sigh of relief. Well that makes things a little easier.

"We know we didn't have to, but we want to. We care about you Bella." Alice said, patting Bella's shoulder before skipping off to grab the presents. "You're going to love mine!"

Well damn. Now it's going to seem like I don't care about her.

But you don't care about her. You don't even know the girl and you're debating whether you should be buying her shit?

Still, I didn't want to be put in an awkward situation.

I wondered what the guys got her. I mean girls get each other, so it wouldn't be a problem for them. I took a few more steps into the room and stood awkwardly on the opposite side of the island from where Bella was sitting.

Emmett walked over and pulled out the stool next to her. At first I thought he was planning on sitting down, but then he shot a look in my direction and backed away.

I stared at the stool for a minute.

"You can sit, Edward."

I blinked a couple of times. I noticed that Jasper and Rosalie were trying very hard to hide their amused smiles as I took tentative steps closer to Bella.

Carefully I sat down and laid my forearms on the counter, playing with my fingers. Her arm lay right beside mine, and I felt a strong urge to just reach out and touch it. Of course, right when I thought that, she placed her arm in her lap in preparation for the approaching Alice.

I watched as Bella opened gift after gift. Alice got her a few dresses and Rosalie got her some jewelry. She smiled politely as she fingered the different fabrics, listening as Alice described each item.

Jasper got her some old looking books apparently written in Braille. I had no idea what they were about but she seemed to love them. Her face lit up as she ran her fingers over the spine and through the pages.

I felt a pang of jealousy at how much she seemed to appreciate everyone's sentiments. Emmett even got her some music she liked.

She hugged them all, and I was suddenly wishing that she had a reason to hug me.

Before I even knew what I was doing, I was out of the kitchen and running for the door.

I knew what I could get Bella; I just hoped that she would like it.

Hmm...what's Edward got up his sleeves... ;)

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