Chapter 11:

Whirlwind

I sighed, drumming my fingers anxiously on the tabletop as I watched the popcorn bag grow in the microwave. I snuck another look at the clock on the wall and cursed myself for being so pathetic. I really shouldn't have called Alice and Rosalie so suddenly like that; I'm sure they both had much more important plans on a Saturday night—but I've seriously missed the two of them and I seriously need some time with the two girls in Forks who know me better than anyone.

Just as I was dumping all the popcorn into a bowl, the doorbell rang. I could hear Alice and Rosalie calling for me to hurry up before the rapist came and took them away. I rolled my eyes (I wonder if I really should've told them that…), but my stomach churned, nonetheless. I couldn't stop picturing Kate—and then the thought of Alice and Rosalie going through that broke my heart.

"Hey!" Alice chirped, hugging me tightly when I opened the door. "We came over as soon as we could, Bells." She said, pulling away so Rose could hug me and the two of them could step inside out of the cold night. I quickly shut, locked, and bolted the door behind them.

"The news is giving you the creeps, too?" Rosalie asked with a shudder as they followed me into the kitchen. "Ooh, popcorn!" she said, picking up a piece from the bowl and popping it into her mouth.

Alice sniffed, taking a couple Skittles and popping them into her mouth. "This is just terrifying. What kind of person does something like that? It's so gross…" she said, shivering.

I nodded, shoving a handful of popcorn into my mouth. "I know." I mumbled, the secret of Kate's weighing down on me heavily. "But let's not talk about that anymore. I'm sure they'll catch him soon. Help me take all this junk to the living room. I've got a box full of movies for us to watch," I said with a grin, picking up a bowl of licorice and candy from last Halloween (that was still surprisingly good).

Grabbing everything that we could, we marched into the living room, closed the blinds and turned off the lights before popping in a DVD.

We started light—watching sappy romance movies and then emedies, talking in between about nothing.

"I absolutely love 'Titanic,'" Alice said quietly as we watched Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio (Rose and Jack) run for their lives as the R.S.S Titanic began to sink into the Atlantic. "It's so sad, but it's so good!" she gushed quietly.

"I had a dream that Emmett and I were on the Titanic once." Rosalie said, staring off into space. "Only, in my dream, I was Jack and he was Rose…" she said.

We were quiet, staring at each other, Rose and Jack's voices in the background.

And suddenly, a picture of Emmett, in a dress, telling Rose that the back of the boat was where the two of them first met flashed in my mind. I couldn't stop laughing, and neither could they.

Tears sprung into our eyes as we leaned against each other, unable to stop picturing Emmett in a dress. Emmett…in a dress!

"It's something he would do!" Alice giggled, munching on a licorice.

"Emmett in a dress…as frightening as it is, I can totally see him parading around Forks in a dress." I chuckled, leaning back against the couch, shoving a handful of Skittles into my mouth.

"I think that's what I'll make him do next Halloween." Rosalie said, wiping the tears out of her eyes as we turned back to the TV and watched the movie. "I'll make him go as that Rose chick. Give him a wig and everything. He'll look pretty sexy, don't you think?" she joked.

Our laughter drowned out the words from the TV. Once it died down, Rose turned to me, a sparkle in her eye.

"Speaking of lost loves, Bella, how's the secret admiring going?" she asked smartly, a wry grin on her face.

I sighed and flung a piece of popcorn at her head which missed her by a miserable mile. "You suck. You couldn't let me have one night? Really?"

Alice giggled and ate the popcorn that had missed Rose's head. "Aw, Bella, it can't be that bad, can it?"

I harrumphed and made a point to get back in tune with Titanic. Both of my girls sighed.

"You know you want to tell us, Bella," Rose taunted, tugging on my hair playfully as I stared pointedly at the TV screen. She continued to yank on the same lock of hair as I continued to ignore her. Soon, Alice joined in by poking my arm.

"Tell us, Bella, tell us," she chanted, her finger jabbing my arm repeatedly. It was okay the first few times, but after about a minute, I could feel that spot becoming sore, a bruise forming in Alice's finger's wake. I was determined to hold out and to make them be the ones that gave up, but after five minutes of continuous poking and pulling, I flung my arms out, making both of them fall onto their backs, giggling.

"Alright, alright!" I exclaimed, rubbing my arm and turning to glare at them. "So what do you want to know?"

"Okay," Alice said excitedly, bouncing back up into a sitting position like a spring board. "So, you're pretending to date Jake, right?"

I sighed and nodded as Rose propped herself up on her elbows.

"To make Edward jealous, correct?" she clarified, peering up at me.

I nodded again.

"But Jake doesn't really like you in that way just as you don't like him in that way. But then…who does he like?" Alice asked, looking thoughtful as she considered it.

I rolled my eyes. "It's not that hard of a guess, Alice."

Rose's eyes widened. "He likes Tanya too?"

Alice whistled and leaned back on her arms. "Ooh, now that's what I call drama."

"You four—including Tanya—are weaving yourselves a soap opera," Rosalie announced, looking half-amused. "So, you like Edward who likes Tanya who is the new girl in town. Jacob, Edward's and your best friend, and you are pretending to date each other because you fell in love with Edward and Jake has a thing for Tanya. Am I missing anything?"

"Don't forget the fact that when I called Alice on the phone earlier tonight, I'd interrupted her alone time with a certain Mr. Whitlock," I teased, trying my hardest to turn the attention onto Alice.

It worked. She turned as red as I do when I'm in the sun for more than two hours.

"Bella," she whined.

"Mary Alice Brandon!" Rosalie yelled, jumping up off the floor, her face wide with astonishment.

"Shhhh!" I begged. "Charlie's sleeping!"

Rose ignored me and continued on with her loud rampage. "Why the hell didn't you tell me!?"

"Rose," Alice said, shocked by the intensity of Rosalie's voice. "I was gonna tell you, but we just sort of got together tonight. I—"

"OHMIGOD, I'M SO HAPPY FOR YOU!" Rose squealed, dropping to her knees and wrapping her arms tightly around Alice's shoulders as I chuckled. Alice had a rueful and relieved expression twisted onto her face as she glared at me over Rose's shoulder. I'd pay for this, I knew.

"Well, at least you're not gonna kill me." Alice chuckled.

Rosalie laughed and pulled back. "And have Jasper come after me? I don't think so." She said. "But, back to Bella's issue."

"Right." Alice said, an evil pixie grin on her face.

I gulped and popped a handful of Skittles into my mouth.

Alice rolled her eyes. "Don't think that'll stop us from getting the answers out of you, Isabella Marie!" she said, wagging her finger in my face in a very intimidating way.

*

The next morning, I was surprised to wake up to the smell of pancakes.

Squinting against the light—or what little light we got in Forks—seeping through the window, I lifted my head up from my pillow and looked around the mess Alice, Rose and I had made in the living room.

Blankets and pillows were scattered all over the place. Bowls were over turned, some of the junk food we'd been eating was scattered around the floor. Rose was buried under a blanket, her blond head covered by a pillow.

I chuckled as I stood up from my makeshift bed and stumbled into the kitchen, stretching the soreness from my joints.

Alice was humming happily as she flipped a pancake off the pan and onto a plate full of pancakes. She stopped humming when she heard me and looked up, smiling so wide I thought her face might split in half.

But then I realized that this was Alice and she usually always smiled like that when she was in a good mood.

"Morning!" she chirped.

"You're up early," I said, yawning as I plopped down into a chair by the table.

She shrugged. "Well, you didn't seem to be getting up any time soon—and I don't trust Charlie to make breakfast. And Rose can't cook unless it's something that can be popped in the microwave." She giggled.

I chuckled as I rested my head on my arms. "How'd you sleep?" I asked.

Alice shrugged. "I was fine…for the most part."

"What do you mean?"

She rolled her eyes and turned off the stove before walking over to me with the plate piled high with pancakes and two more under it. "You kept talking in your sleep. It was nearly impossible for Rose or I to get any shut eye." She said.

I blushed as I grabbed a plate and fork and picked off two pancakes from the pile. "What…what did I say?" I asked wearily, buttering my pancakes.

Alice shrugged again. "Oh, you just said Edward's name a couple of times."

I groaned. She laughed. "It's not funny!"

"Of course it is!" she teased.

"Has anyone ever told you two how loud you can be?" Rosalie grumbled as she walked into the kitchen. "Ooh! Yummy, food!" she said, grabbing a plate and fork before plopping into a chair at the table with us.

"We were just talking about how Bella kept us up all night," Alice chuckled.

Rosalie snickered under her breath. I turned a beat red. "Aww, don't be embarrassed, Bella." She said, popping a piece of pancake into her mouth. "It was cute…you know, until it sounded like you were going to die if you didn't have your precious Edward." She said, to which Alice started sniggering.

"It's not funny!" And it wasn't. Even in my sleep I was tortured with thoughts of separation from him. How could they see any humor in that?

"I'm sorry, Bella. It was just one of those you-had-to-be-there moments." Alice said.

"Are you ever going to woman up and tell him?" Rose asked, raising an eyebrow at me as she popped another pancake into her mouth.

I sighed. God I wanted to tell him. I wanted to tell him so bad that it hurt. But I couldn't because rejection would be worse than longing, and I didn't want to go through that. "I can't," I said, staring down at the syrup puddle on top of my pancake. "What if he doesn't like me back like that?" I said, never looking up at them. "And then I'd have made a fool out of myself for telling him how I feel about him and then the two of us would never be friends again." I said with a sigh.

Rosalie sighed and reached for my hand. "Bella, sweetie, I love you to bits and pieces, but seriously? You need to take charge. You make it seem like we're still in the 1800's and we have to keep hinting at the men to make a move. We're in a whole new century, here. Women can make the first move if they want—Emmett and I wouldn't be together if I hadn't taken charge," she said with a wink.

I laughed, remembering how Emmett and Rosalie became one of the hottest couples at Forks High.

"I made the first move with Jasper." Alice declared, and then blushed.

"Ooh! Tell!" Rosalie said, blue eyes sparkling with interest.

Alice looked away. "Oh, er…well, we were doing our homework and everything. You know how I'm in drama class and we're doing this thing with Romeo and Juliet?" we nodded, urging her to continue. She cleared her throat. "Well, we were reading through the lines. And the way he read through them—it was like it came so easy to him. And every word he said was like music…" she sighed, staring at me, but not at me. I got a little weirded out.

"Alice! Tell us how it happened!" Rosalie snapped, snapping her fingers in her face.

She jumped then chuckled nervously. "Oh. What?"

"Tell us!" Rose demanded, starting to get cross.

Alice rolled her eyes but grinned goofily. "Well, we were reading through Romeo and Juliet lines—"

"Yeah, yeah, we heard that part. God, Alice, you're so brain-missing when you're in love."

I laughed to myself as I watched Alice's reaction to Rose's accusation.

"Anyways," she said, "it was sort of silly. Um…he was reading lines, talking to Juliet as Romeo, you know? And suddenly I got this idea….He finished up his part and looked to me to start reading with his eyes. And, god, they're just so blue, you know? I could get lost in them."

"Alice," Rosalie groaned.

"Sorry, sorry," Alice replied, giggling. "Well, I started to read my lines to him as Juliet…but instead of calling him Romeo, I said his name. He got all quiet when I didn't say anything else and we were just sitting there staring at each other…" she blushed. "He reached over slowly after a while and grabbed my wrist, averting his eyes to look at my hand. Then he kissed it…and I don't know…" she bit her lip, searching for words as me and Rosalie stared at her with open-mouthed smiles. "I asked him if he could do it again…but instead…"

"Oh no he didn't!" I exclaimed, eyes wide, as I laughed once. "Jasper Whitlock? Our Jasper?!"

Alice shrugged while Rosalie laughed too. "He brought me in and kissed me for the first time. And then we just kind of exploded."

"Wow," I sighed dreamily, imagining that sort of simplicity with Edward and me. "That's the kind of stuff you only see in movies. You're life is perfect, Alice. I hate you."

She laughed at my mock-bitter expression. "Oh, Bella, you bring your complex issues upon yourself. Edward already loves you…if you could only show him that he's in love with you…"

"But you don't know if he is or not!" I exclaimed.

"Ugh, Bella," Rosalie said reproachfully. "You are so whiny about all of this! What did I tell you last night? Suck it up and frickin' tell him already!"

This was the worst part about Rosalie. If she was annoyed enough at you, she could make you feel like she hated your guts. I grimaced as she lashed out at me and shrunk into my chair, dropping my fork into the syrup on my plate. Great. Just what I needed, sticky fingers.

"I'm sorry, Rose, okay?" I said harshly as I glared at my nearly untouched food and my fork becoming immersed in the thin, brown liquid. "I'm sorry I'm not as brave as you. I'm sorry I'm so whiny. I'm sorry I can't own up to Edward and just 'frickin' tell him already'," I quoted sullenly. I looked up at her and was surprised to see her looking slightly rueful. "But I'm not that strong."

"Well," she said, meeting my gaze. "Have you tried?"

I laughed, my voice slightly angry. "What do you think?"

Suddenly, the phone rang and Alice's hand shot out and picked it up, declaring, "Oh! I'll get it!"

"Hello?" she answered as Rosalie and I kept up our staring contest. We were best friends, really we were, but we could piss each other off easily. Still, we were girls and our personalities were so completely different that it was only natural. But I loved her anyway, and she loved me.

"Oh. Hi Edward!" Alice chirped, a mischievous glint in her eye that I caught when I looked wildly and sharply at her.

"Alice, gimme the phone!" I demanded, my voice slightly hysterical. God, I didn't even want to imagine the damage that would be made if Alice talked to Edward right now in my house in my presence.

She giggled. "What? You want to talk to Bella?"

I stared at her, Rose laughing silently in the seat next to me at my open-mouthed horror.

"Ooh. What did you want to tell her?" she inquired, making Rosalie laugh even harder and my horror grow even deeper. "Fine," she said crossly after a short pause. "You're no fun. Here she is." She extended her hand towards me and rolled her eyes. "'Alice, just give Bella the damn phone'. Ugh, what do you see in him?"

"Shhhh!" I hissed as I took the phone from her hand and pressed it eagerly up against my ear. "Hello?"

"Bella?" Edward answered.

"Hey, Edward," I responded, feeling my face break into a smile at the sound of his voice. It was awful hard to be depressed with the sweet melody of his words, the orchestra of symphony he was capable of making with his mouth. I could listen to him talk forever and be happy with doing nothing more than just listening.

"Hey," he replied, a smile in his voice. "How are you feeling? We still good for visiting Jake today?"

"I'm good," I said as Alice and Rosalie stared at me. I furrowed my eyebrows and stood, making my way up the stairs. I was bound to say something stupid and regrettable if I talked to Edward with them watching me so intently. When I reached my room, I shut my door and locked it. "And, yeah, we're good."

He sighed blissfully. "Good. I thought you might have made other plans with the girls since you had them over last night."

"I wouldn't reschedule us, Edward," I said truthfully, wondering if he could read just how truthful I was being. "Besides, I need to do a few things with Kate this afternoon anyways."

"That's right," he said, his voice acquiring a guilty tinge to it. "I didn't…you know…do anything wrong, did I? I feel so bad about grabbing her wrist after she reacted that way..."

"It wasn't you, Edward," I assured him, cringing at the sound of noisy footsteps on the stairs. Good thing I'd locked my door.

He breathed out a sigh of relief. "Just making sure. Bella?"

"Yeah?" I answered distractedly, watching my door as the feet approached it. Someone started pounding on it.

"Do you…want to do something after we see Jake?"

"Isabella Marie Swan!" Alice shrilled. "If you do not open this door in five seconds, Rose and I are going to murder you!"

"Go away!" I yelled.

"What?" Edward asked, hurt.

My heart hammered in panic. "Oh, no, Edward not you. Alice."

He chuckled nervously. "Oh, okay."

"What did you say again?" I asked politely, now glaring at my door as one of my friends continued to beat upon it.

"Bella!" Rosalie shouted sternly.

"Would you like to do something with me tonight? Just the two of us?"

"Shut up, Rose!" I demanded as my heart stopped dead. "Wh-what did you have in mind?" I asked Edward breathlessly thankful that the rude noise on the other side of the door had ceased for the time being.

"Well…just like, a drive around or something," he said, his voice adorably anxious. "Nothing too exotic. Just something…"

"Something that defines us," I smiled happily at the words as I said them.

"Yeah," he said, his voice suddenly warm. "Exactly like that."

"I'd love to," I replied.

"Good. And Bella?"

"Yeah, Edward?"

"Nothing. I just wanted to hear you say my name. See you at five."

"Pick me up at Kate's house?"

"Sure thing."

"Later."

"Bye Bella."

I sighed and smiled to myself as my back met the wall of my bedroom and I slid down it, biting my lip. He wanted to hear me say his name. He wanted to spend alone time with me. I hit the end button on the phone and dropped it to the floor as my knees met my chest.

"Guys!" I exclaimed suddenly, bursting with joy.

"Bella! Open the goddamn door!" Rose insisted loudly.

"Guys!" I said, ignoring her. "Guys, guys, guys!"

"What, Bella?" Alice asked.

"I'm gonna need help with finding something to wear for today," I said excitedly as I scrambled up off the floor and stumbled in a rush to the door. I unlocked it and yanked it open, letting the shocked faces of my girlfriends drink in my blissed out expression.

"Why?" Rose asked, her eyes incredulous. I never asked for a makeover.

"Because," I smiled dazzlingly as I pulled them into my bedroom and closed the door. "Edward asked me out on a date tonight."

*

"Ohmigod, Bella, tell me again, exactly what he said," Alice gushed as she brushed my hair back painfully.

Rosalie rolled her eyes and continued to coat my fingernails in a clear polish, making them healthy and shiny looking.

"Well, he asked if I wanted to do something tonight after we go to see Jake. He said, 'Would you like to do something tonight? Just the two of us?' and you two were pounding on the door like a bunch of maniacs," I recalled as I thought back. We'd spent two hours squealing like little school girls before finally going to look through all my expensive, unused clothing that Rose and Alice had given me before. That took an hour all in itself. Now we were in my bathroom as the girls started to do my hair and makeup. And let me tell you, beauty is pain.

"Yeah, I'm not really sorry about that," Rosalie said. "You should have let us in."

"But I wanted privacy," I insisted, trying not to flinch as Alice ran a brush through my bed-head tangles.

"Shhhh, Rose," Alice reprimanded eagerly. "What did he say after that?"

I blushed which made the two of them giggle. "Well, I said yes and he sounded happy. And before we hung up he said, 'Bella?' and when I said, 'Yeah, Edward?' he replied, 'Nothing. I just wanted to hear you say my name.'" I sighed dreamily.

"God, Edward is like, the perfect man," Rose sighed.

I looked down at her, startled by her bold words. I had to admit, I was a little jealous when she said that too. She was so much more beautiful than I was. What if… "What?"

"Oh, relax, Bella, I'm in love with Emmett. But seriously? He's never—well, hardly ever—romantic. Edward is just that perfect guy who can be funny and serious. Cute and sexy. Cynical and romantic. Em is just funny, cute, and cynical."

Alice laughed. "Well, nobody's perfect."

"Except for Edward," Rose and I said in unison, making us burst into a round of giggles.

Alice shook her head as she finally got through the last tangles in my hair and set the brush down. "Nah. He's too temperamental. Like when I wouldn't give you the phone earlier today? He went nuts."

"Because he wanted to talk to her, Alice," Rosalie said.

"Because he wanted to talk to me," I repeated with a blissful sigh.

"Bella, sweetie, you gotta sit up a little more if you want me to do your hair right," Alice said with amusement clear in her voice.

"Sorry," I murmured and sat up straight. I smiled at the bright-eyed, glowing faced girl in the mirror looking back at me. Maybe Edward was into me like that. Maybe things would just sort of fall into place without any effort. I knew that Kate said I should lay off obsessing, but it was so hard to do. I decided that for the day, I'd be my normal, Edward-obsessed self before giving that part of me up. Because today, Edward and I had a sort of unofficial date, and there was no way in hell I was just going to ignore the way his voice had sounded when he'd spoken to me. There was Tanya to remember, but she hardly seemed relevant at the moment. Right now, I was in my happy place, and not even the pulling of hair or the grating of my skin could suck me out of it.

*

"God, you look beautiful," Rosalie sighed as she put down the lip gloss and stood back. Alice was beaming at me in the mirror, looking as pleased with herself as ever.

"I know, Rose, we are fabulous," she added gleefully, grinning from ear to ear.

I stared at my reflection, glad that I was seeing me…and not seeing me. My hair was parted to the side with curls that flowed down the middle of my back and my face was lightly dusted in makeup. I don't know what Rose had done to my eyes, but whatever shadow and eyeliner she'd used, they really stood out. I didn't know brown eyes could be so…pretty. I was dressed in a casual blue jean skirt that went halfway down my thighs and a red shirt that swung from the side of one shoulder to the other with three-quarter sleeves. After a long argument, Rose finally sided with me against Alice and they let me wear my black converse.

In other words, I was ready.

"You…" I started, my awed face breaking into a smile. "I look like me."

"That was the point!" Rose exclaimed. "See, it would be too much if Edward knew you dressed up just for a drive around, so it was only logical to keep you looking as casual as possible."

"The glow coming off your face certainly helps, Bella," Alice said slyly.

I jumped up off the chair they'd dragged into the bathroom and hugged them both quickly. They hadn't even gotten dressed yet and were standing in their pajamas and bed-hair, even though it was nearly two o'clock in the afternoon on a Sunday.

"Thank you guys so much!" I exclaimed as I pulled back.

"You call as soon as you step foot in this house tonight, you got that?" Rose demanded with a stern look in her eyes, contradicted with the happy smile on her face.

"I promise," I replied, grinning. "Now I gotta go; meeting Kate for a little while at her place. Don't you two have to go shopping with Tanya or something?"

"Shoot!" Alice shrieked as she darted from the bathroom and into my room where her overnight bag was laying.

Rose shrugged when I turned to look at her. "I bailed, but Alice was still supposed to go. I think she's picking Tanya up at two-fifteen."

I laughed as I looked at the clock on the counter. "She has ten minutes to get over there."

"I know. But Alice is never late."

Alice came streaking back out of my bathroom fully clothed, hair brushed, and lip gloss applied. She shot down the stairs with Rose and me in tow, gathering her things hurriedly and throwing on her coat.

"Thanks for reminding me, Bella! I'll talk to you toni—!" she cut herself off as she slammed the door behind her and ran out to her yellow Porsche. In seconds she was completely gone from sight.

"Holy crap that girl knows how to move," I said after a few moments of surprised silence between Rosalie and me.

She giggled. "No kidding. Hey, you get going. I'll clean up the mess in here before Charlie gets home from fishing."

I smiled at her gratefully. "Thanks, Rose."

"No problem; now move!"

"Going!" I chirped. I grabbed my purse and keys and stumbled out the door. Rosalie waved at me from my window and I gestured back once I was in my truck. I started the engine and ten minutes later, I was pulling up to Kate's house.

She was waiting on the front porch steps, her face set in a stressed out mode. I felt my blissfulness start to drain as the reality of this situation started to sink in. If Kate's test was positive…

"Hey, Bella," she called out to me as I approached, my rain coat shielding me from the downpour.

"How are you doing, Kate?" I responded as I stepped under the roof of the porch and slid my hood off of my head.

"…Nervous. What's got you all fancy?" she asked as she stood and opened the front door, sneaking a suspicious glance at me over her shoulder.

I shrugged, trying not to appear too happy. "Edward and I are going to hang out after we see Jake. After we get done here."

She smiled sadly at me as I shut the door behind me and shed my coat. "I'm glad you have time for me."

I smiled back as I hugged her briefly. "I always have time for you, Kate."

"Good, because you're the only one I've ever been able to confide in. By the way, when are we going to see Gran again?"

I laughed. "Sounds like it'll be a party next time. So far you and Edward are eager to go."

"Don't forget your boy toy," Kate added clandestinely with a secretive grin.

I rolled my eyes. "Jake's got mono, remember? He won't be going anywhere for at least a month."

"And you sound so depressed about that as you gloat about your date with Edward," she retorted playfully.

I blushed. "I can't just stop obsessing over him, Kate; it's not as easy as you said."

She shrugged. "I understand. It was just a suggestion. Might come in handy someday."

I rolled my eyes as I really hoped not. "Okay, where's the pregnancy test?"

Kate flinched. "In my room," she muttered.

I sighed as I took her arm. "Let's just do it, then. It's like a band-aid. One foul swoop and we're done."

"But, Bella…what if…"

"Shhh!" I commanded as I started to pull her up the stairs. "We won't consider that alternative."

"There's a fifty/fifty chance though," she mumbled.

"Stop being a Debbie Downer," I scolded as I pushed her through her bedroom door. I walked to her bed and picked up the unopened box, flinging it at her. She barely caught it and when it was steady in her hands, she held it up with just a thumb and forefinger.

"Ugh. Fine," she stuck her tongue out at me and marched back out the door. I collapsed on her bed and stared up at the ceiling immersing my mind in images of tonight.

He'd drive up here after we found out that Kate wasn't pregnant and smile at me through the rain and the windshield. I'd wave at a beaming Kate and run out, hop in his Volvo, and watch his beautiful face as he said hello. He'd reach over and take my hand as I replied and we'd go to Jake's. After making sure he was feeling okay, Edward and I would go on a drive around the area. When night fell, he'd—

"Bella," Kate's voice interrupted my daydreaming shakily as she reentered the room, her face broken and puffy from forming tears. I wondered how long I'd been so out of it because I knew taking the test took a little longer to get the results back than a few seconds.

I sat up in her bed, my eyes growing wide in alarm as shock started to immobilize my understanding. Wow, I'd had one heck of a whirlwind of emotions today, and I had a feeling it wasn't over yet. "Kate, what's…"

She held up the little test before dropping it with her trembling hand to her cluttered bedroom floor. "I waited for ten minutes, Bella, but it didn't go away."

"What?" Suddenly, I wasn't repressing bliss; it was sucked away by the natural fear and panic that threatened to reach out of Kate's shaking body and swallow me whole.

Her voice broke as she stumbled to me and fell in my lap, burying her face against just above my knees. "Bella…tell me it's just a nightmare," she started to sob, her agonized voice wavering. "Please tell me it's not real!"

I smoothed her hair back with a shaky hand. "Kate—"

She looked at me through teary eyes, her voice desperate and watery with longing and pain. "Bella…Bella…Please tell me that I'm not really pregnant."


Taylor: Honestly, we got this done sooner than I ever expected. I've been so wrapped up in my own novel, that I never even realized that I was eager to keep writing on this too. I love where me and Nicole are headed with it and I'm excited to get it out of us and onto this site so that all you lovely peoples can read and review it. Hopefully, you'll love it just as much as we do…if not more? haha. Love y'all :)

Nicole: Ehh…ahem. I really have nothing to say. I have no excuse for why the update took so long. I was sick, and I had a lot of writer's block. Haha, that's about it. Anyway, we've already got a plan for another story—but I think we'll finish our prior commitment (Technicolor) before we go on with anything else. Um…yeah, so…REVIEW!