A/N: I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!!!! YAY! So sorry about the wait, I know I hate it when people don't update. Thanks to my awesome reviewers who I can't thank enough for taking the time to do so! I hope you like this chapter! Let me know :)

BPOV

It was close to marking the one hour anniversary of our new roommates, and I could already tell I was going to regret this decision. I tried falling back asleep after they went downstairs, but the incessant ringing and sound effects coming from the game room kept that from happening. Next time, I'm making every room soundproof, or at least putting in thicker walls. So in an effort to rid myself of the migraine in my skull at the moment, I retrieved a warm wash cloth from the bathroom and went to lie down on the sofa in the entertainment room. Resting my head on the arm of the sofa and putting the cloth over my eyes and forehead, I was finally starting to relax a little bit.

Apparently that was too much to ask for.

The front door then swung open again and closed, footsteps getting closer and closer. I didn't know who it was, and I honestly didn't even care enough to get up and see. Suddenly, two cold hands were on my face, and that honey voice I longed to hear was whispering in my ear.

"Bella, sweetheart, what are you doing up so early? Are you feeling all right? Is there anything I can do?"

I slowly lifted the cloth from my eyes, letting them rest on the Greek god before me. "Yeah, I'm okay. Just a little headache, no big deal. As for why I'm up, go downstairs and you'll find the reason." He gave me a glance of confused reluctance before eventually complying with my request. As he ran downstairs—determined, I'm sure, to regain the peace and quiet—I realized with extreme mortification that I had just opened the door to let Edward's brothers in while wearing my pink 'BRADY' jersey and gray sweatpants. This, by itself, would not have normally caused my embarrassment, except that this time it was accompanied by a pair of pink "Sweet Feet" fuzzy bunny slippers.

EPOV

What the hell was she thinking?

I don't know what I expected – maybe a wire gone awry, causing the incessant noise? Perhaps a blown fuse, effectively causing the electricity to malfunction? What I most certainly did not expect to find was the ping pong battle between my brothers, each playing one- handed while they simultaneously played pinball with their free hands.

"What for the love of all that is holy are you two imbeciles doing at five in the morning?!" I never truly yelled at them—but seriously, I was pissed.

"Dude, take a chill pill."

"Yeah, you're giving me some serious anger vibes right now."

"Hmmm, I wonder why?!" I was actually glad that Jasper could detect my intense frustration with them at the moment. Although it's not like he did anything to alleviate it.

They proceeded to tell me what had happened and how Bella said they could stay with us, at which point I started to sincerely be wary of her mental health. Then again, she was in love with a vampire, so I guess I shouldn't be that surprised.

When I returned upstairs, Bella was putting on her jacket and looking for her car keys.

"What exactly are you doing, love?" I could not come up with one solid reason she would be driving so early – in a state of exhaustion, no less. She gave me an irritated look and said, "I'm going out for a little bit to do some errands. I'd ask you to come, but I don't think you'd have much fun. Plus, without our little weathergirl, we don't know if it will be sunny today. I might be out for a couple hours, so don't wait around. You should take the McLaren out for a spin, or do something with Emmett and Jasper if you want." Something was off about her voice. Her whole posture was actually verging on defensive, as if I were about to attack her at any moment. With that final suggestion, she planted a kiss on my cheek and bolted out the door.

BPOV

It's weird how sometimes you can feel guilty, even when you know you aren't doing anything wrong. It's even weirder how sometimes that unjustified guilt can sicken you, so much so that you can feel physically drained because of it. Maybe that was why I've been so tired lately. I knew I lied about where I was going, but I just couldn't risk it. I needed this alone time. I needed this silence.

I needed to not be asked what was wrong every time I didn't have a smile on my face.

Where the hell did that come from?

I honestly don't know what my problem was. I don't even know why I felt so guilty about going where I was going. It's not like I was being unfaithful. It's not like I was scoping the town for boyfriends. I was simply trying to relax. Is that really too much to request?

Pulling the car into the small abandoned area, I got out and went to the trunk to grab the bag I stashed there. I pulled out the small silver key from its side pocket, putting it in the lock and turning the knob to open the old cabin that I had transformed the inside of to match my pastime. Just walking through the doors relieved some of my stress.

I went behind the long accordion changing screen with the beautiful white blossoms painted across its golden canvas and changed into the set of clothes stored in the bag. Strolling across the polished hardwood floor, I made my way to the padded bamboo mat. After going through my normal routine to block all sounds from my mind, and then contorting my legs so they were perfectly folded upon each other and placing my knuckles on my knees while pinching my fingers together, my meditation began.

Ahhhh, serenity.

Finally, silence.

***

After all of my tension had melted away, I changed back into my normal clothes and left my hair in the twisted bun I had put it in. Now I needed to actually do some work. My clients had given me their deadlines, and if I wanted to meet them (and meet them with good designs), then I had to get started today. I already had a few sample drawings that I needed to construct so I could send pictures to the designers in order for them to see the concept first, and for this I needed fabric. Off to Mood, it is.

The drive to Seattle was smooth, thanks in large part to the early time. I had gotten many rolls of fabric, which barely fit into my car. The drive back was a bit longer, since most people were on their way to work. This only let all of the stress stemming from the upcoming weeks steal my focus once again.

By the time I had pulled into my driveway, I was one big ball of irritable tension. This was not helped at all when I opened the door to my humble (okay, not so humble) abode.

My eyes widened, and I'm pretty sure my mouth was catching flies with the way it was dropped to the floor. After a few minutes of recuperation, I pulled myself together before slamming the door closed. I wouldn't be surprised if steam was coming out of my ears.

I could not tear my eyes away from the chaotic disaster that was my marble floor. In fact, the original texture of the flooring couldn't even be identified through the layers of dirt, grass, and blood stains that tainted its beautiful surface.

The door was apparently heard because in walked Emmett and Jasper, followed by an Edward whose expression could only be described as pure mortification—and fear, lots and lots of fear.

In the calmest voice I could muster, I asked them, "Does anybody want to tell me why my parlor floor looks like the last location of a rugby game?"

To this, no one responded. But hell if I wasn't going to make them talk.

"Tell. Me. What. Happened." As I enunciated each word, they all gave each other looks that said 'you tell her'. After another round of these glances, Emmett pushed Jasper forward, forcing the blonde vampire to speak first.

"Well, you see Bella, we went out hunting. Well, we got a little teensy-weensy bit carried away," those last five words were said in the highest soprano voice I have ever heard come from Jasper, "and ended up having a contest of who could take down five different animals the quickest. So, we…ummm…we kind of got into a fight…and, well, you know how we get. And we're gonna clean it up, we promise. We just didn't know what to use. So, that's it."

"And if it helps, this isn't half as bad as the entertainment room."

"Emmett!" Both Jasper and Edward scolded Emmett for revealing this little tidbit of information.

"What do you mean, 'not half as bad'?" I was about to blow a freakin' gasket, which I'm sure Jasper could sense. But once he tried to use his calming powers on me, I shot him a threatening glare and he immediately relinquished the influence.

I sped into the entertainment room despite their attempts to block me, and I swear I had a mini heart attack.

"Tell me… that I am not looking at blood stains on my carpet." My voice was kind of scary, even to my ears.

"We're sorry." All three of them said at once, which would have been funny had I not been completely focused upon the catastrophe in front of me.

"You know what? It's okay." My voice was very high and squeaky—and should not be trusted.

"It's only a carpet. A white carpet. A white, forty-thousand dollar, one-of-a-kind, Sotheby's carpet. That is now decorated with red and brown blotches." Tears of either anger or mourning were working their way up to visibility, and my voice was so unsteady that I almost couldn't make out the words.

I refused to look at them—the only punishment I could think of at the moment—and ordered them to clean everything up.

"Yes, ma'am." I wonder if this is how they speak to Esme?

***

A few hours later, I was up in my office working on the collections and constructing some designs. I had come up here immediately after the carpet fiasco, and thankfully had not been disturbed since. However, it did take me quite a while to get all of the fabric upstairs because of the long detour I had to take through the back entrance of the house.

I had accomplished one construction so far, and as long as I kept going at this rate, I should be done without any issues. After all, who needs sleep?

Edward, as sweet as can be, came in shortly after I finished the first construction with hot chocolate—to appease me, I'm sure.

"Hi, sweetie." I gave him a smile to let him know that I was very happy to see him, and also that I wasn't mad at him.

"Hello, love. I brought you some of your favorite hot chocolate if you want some." I drank from the cup happily, letting him know he had outdone himself with it. With a quick kiss on the lips, he left me to my work.

***

The next couple of days went by in a blur. Emmett and Jasper had quieted down; although I kept waiting for the day that another incident would ensue.

I barely saw Edward, only when he came up to demand that I sleep. At which point, I would say that I'd sleep eventually, but I had to get my work done. This he did not like, but being the supporter that he is, he always left with a simple "love you."

I was on my sixth day of designs when Edward came in early with that crooked smile I loved so much.

"Hey, do you want to go out somewhere with me? We can go to our meadow if you'd like. You deserve a break after working so hard." He started rubbing my back gently and his voice was so hopeful; I hated to let him down.

"I wish I could, Edward. You have no idea how appealing that sounds, but I can't afford to take any breaks." I put as much genuine regret in my tone as possible.

And just like that the smile fell.

"But Bella, I feel like I haven't seen you in days."

"I know, honey, I know. It's just that I have to get these done on time or else I'll lose some of my biggest clients." I hated to sound like a workaholic, but this was my passion and I couldn't stand to lose it. He removed his hand before walking towards the door and I felt the loss instantly.

"I know it's important. I just miss you, that's all."

And he walked out of my office with the saddest look I had ever seen.

***

I finished my constructions the next day, thank God, and immediately fell asleep on the floor with a thud after cutting off the last string on the hem of the final dress.

EPOV

I knew I was overreacting, but something felt very wrong between me and Bella. I hadn't talked to her—I mean really talked to her—in a whole week. I knew she was working hard, but I couldn't help but feel a little bit rejected. So I decided I would make a date night for when she was finished—and well rested. She was sleeping now, finally, after a very long sewing marathon she held in her office.

I had walked in after hearing a subtle thump from upstairs, and found her passed out on the floor. Trying my hardest to not go the whole "I told you so" route, I took her upstairs and laid her gently in my bed, for hers was still unmade from the day she let my brothers in our home.

Emmett and Jasper were off somewhere keeping themselves entertained—I had bribed (okay, threatened) them to stay out of Bella's way so they wouldn't bother her and keep her away from me longer.

Being freed of my brothers, I laid down beside Bella—something I hadn't been able to do for a long time.

A/N: Again, sooooo sorry for the massive and unacceptable update wait-- I promise I'll do my best to update faster. The next chapter is already started! :) Please review to let me know you still like me...or at least are still reading.