Hey peeps! Yup, it's a new chapter! =]

So, I've gone to the destists four times already, have three more trips (the last one being a freaking surgery!) to fix my broken tooth. Beware of killer M&M's people (they were the cause of my endless trip to the dentists - yes, plural). The good news is that I have more free time... seeing as I work as a teacher and it is required to speak (which's sorta difficult when your mouth is numb from the anesthesia), I don't have to work xD

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Nope, nope.

Enjoy!

Chapter 11

Time passed so fast. November was almost ending, and the Christmas spirit was here.

Jasper and Alice were now an item. They were always together, but they knew how to balance it out with all of us. I was scared I'd lose my brother and best friend once they started a relationship, but that didn't happen.

Jasper, Rosalie and I had a day we spent together. We did all sorts of things, from ice-skating to hunting. Sometimes the others joined us, but Rose and Jazz were not allowed to escape with their mates. The whole thing was supposed to be a 'bonding' day, to remind us what we meant to each other. We didn't want to lose our identities.

At the moment, we were getting ready to play baseball. It was going to storm, according to our own weather woman Alice, and everyone seemed eager to go. I wasn't all that enthusiastic, though.

Surprisingly, I was the first one ready, and sat down on the Cullen's living room couch to wait for the rest. Edward soon came down, and sat down next to me.

"Wow, Bella! All this excitement is driving me crazy." He said sarcastically. I just scowled at him. "Aren't you looking forward to playing?"

I just shrugged my shoulders.

"What's wrong, Bells?" He pressed on.

"I… I don't know how to play." I said in a whisper, fully aware that everyone else was in the house.

Edward seemed like he was holding back some laughter, and raised an eyebrow at me.

"Seriously? That's it? That's why you're so upset?" He asked. I only nodded in response. "I'll teach you how to play. You'll learn it fast. It's not that hard." He promised.

I sighed, but gave in. I knew it was childish to be upset because I couldn't play baseball, but I'd always been self-conscious. I was quite clumsy when I was human, and people made fun of me for it. Jasper tried to teach me how to ride horses, but I was hopeless. The only time I had any sort of balance was when he was teaching Rose and I how to defend ourselves; it seemed I did okay in a fight.

I never tried to play any sports as a vampire. Of course I had to participate in all Physical Education classes, but I never really had to try too hard, seeing as most of the times I went to school, P.E. was not co-ed. Girls were always more hesitant to play any sport that had any sort of contact.

I never really let go, though. Vampires playing any sort of sports would be a completely new thing to me. Jasper was really up-to-date with all sports, so he knew everything there was to know. I, on the other hand, knew nothing. It was quite humiliating.

"Thank you." I said in a whisper. He just smiled back at me and winked. A second later, everyone came down, all wearing the Cullen's baseball uniform. Jasper and I had won our own as well, courtesy of Alice.

Jasper came to my side and wrapped an arm casually around my shoulders.

"You'll do fine, lil' sis." He said. "You're smart, you'll figure out the game soon." He pecked my cheek before going to stand by Alice.

"We should go and set everything up. We'll have a lot of time to play, the storm won't let up until dawn. So Bella, you'll be able to practice a bit before the game." Alice informed us, giving me a smile. I couldn't help but smile back. At least they weren't making fun of me.

"C'mon, newbie. Let's go so I can kick your ass." Emmett boomed. Maybe I spoke too soon.

The Cullens guided us through the forest until we reached a clearing. It was wide and open, yet surrounded by trees. Emmett and Carlisle went ahead and started marking the bases. Or so I was told by Edward.

Edward and Jasper came to my side to try and teach me how to play. Jasper explained all the basic rules to me.

There were two teams, the batting and the fielding ones. The pitcher (from the fielding team) had to try and stop the batter from scoring. Each time a batter hit the ball, they'd drop the bat and run through the bases. There were four bases that formed a diamond-shaped field. If the batter saw that the fielding team had the ball before they completed the run, they may stop at the base they were current in, and run again when someone from his team got a hit next.

Each time a team batted and fielded was called an inning. To win the game, nine innings were necessary. The teams took turns with batting and fielding whenever the fielding team recorded three outs.

Apparently there were nine players in each team. Since we didn't have that many people, we'd be split in two teams of four. Esme acted as an umpire mostly, but she'd bat for her team as well.

"Got it all?" Jasper asked. I nodded my head, my brain still swarming with information.

"C'mon, then. Let me show you how to play." Edward said, pulling me to the field. He handed me a ball and came to stand by me.

"You hold it like this." He adjusted my arms to show it. "And throw like this." He showed the movement and had me copy it. "Good, that looks good. I'm going to go to the other side and you'll throw it for me, okay?" I nodded apprehensively.

He was on the other side in a second, and gesture for me to throw the ball. I tried to mimic his moves, but got it wrong. It got to its destination, but not with much precision.

"Try again." Edward said while throwing me the baseball back.

He showed me the right move again, and I mimicked it. After three more weird throws, I finally got the hang of things. I was smiling while throwing the ball back and forth with Edward. It amazed me that not once did Emmett make fun of me. I did look around, and found the reason.

He and my sister were a bit into the woods, completely oblivious to everything else. It was gross, accidentally seeing my sister and brother making out like two hormonal teenagers. I tore my gaze away quickly, regretting just thinking about Emmett.

"We'll have to wait until the thunder for you to bat." Edward brought me out of my musings again. I nodded in understanding. We were too strong, and the sounds would be so loud, humans would notice it in the town. The thunder muffled the sound considerably.

Edward widened the distance between us while we were throwing the baseball back and forth, and I got pretty decent at pitching.

"Would you like me to show you how to bat?" He asked.

"I thought we'd have to wait till the thunder?" I retorted.

He shrugged his shoulders. "We don't need to actually bat, just practice the movement."

I nodded. Edward went to where Carlisle stacked the bats. He handed me one, and I noticed it was made of steel. Obviously, a regular bat would turn into dust the first time it hit the ball.

Edward came to my side and smiled.

"Okay, let me show you." He said. "Bend your knees a bit." I did, "That's right. Put one leg slightly in front of another. That' it. Now, hold the bat like this." He showed me the right position. I mimicked it. "That's good. Now relax." He ordered me.

I held the bat with both hands over my right shoulder, and tried to relax. "Now swing it."

I did, but it didn't look right.

"Do it again, with a little bit more force." He said. I did as told, but it still didn't look right.

"Let me show you how you do it." He said, motioning with his hand for me to hand him the bat. I did, and watched.

He showed me slowly, exaggerating the moves so I would remember them. It took me a minute or so, but I got it.

A thunder resounded a few minutes later, which meant we could practice it with the baseball. Everyone else pretended to be busy, knowing I'd be slightly embarrassed if they were watching me learn how to bat.

Edward pitched and I tried to hit, but for some reason I missed all. I sighed, frustrated.

"I suck. Just give it up, Edward." I whined. He chuckled a bit, and came to my side.

"I'm not giving up, Bella. Let's do this in another way." He proposed. I nodded. He called for Jasper, and asked if he could pitch for us. Jasper agreed and went to the center of the field. I was still standing on the first base, and Edward joined me.

Instead of showing me, though, he went behind me, and slowly put my arms in the right position. His hands went over my own, and we both held the bat. His touch was sending an electric current through my body.

"Relax." He whispered in my ear. I suppressed a shiver and tried to relax.

"Keep your eyes on the baseball." He instructed. I felt him nod against my head, and Jasper prepared to pitch. I concentrated on the ball, and Edward helped me hit it at the right time. The moment the ball hit the bat, it made a loud sound that was masked by the thunder.

I squealed and turned around, dropping the bat and wrapping my arms around Edward's neck.

"I did it." I yelled. He laughed loudly, and spun me around.

"Yes, you did, my Bella." He whispered, and I gazed into his eyes. Why did he say my Bella? I swear these 'signs' that he kept sending me were driving me insane. First the heart, than the song, now this. He was always hugging me, or holding my hand. I couldn't tell if he wanted more or if he just did that because he considered me his sister.

"C-can we play now?" I stuttered, breaking the hug. My thoughts were too dangerous at the moment, and I needed a distraction.

"Sure." Jasper replied. Everyone else heard, and circled myself and Edward. Carlisle was the one to speak.

"Okay, the teams will be: Edward, Bella, Rosalie and Emmett against Jasper, Alice, Esme and myself. Esme will also be umpire." We nodded. Esme would never cheat for her team, she was a reliable person, and not competitive at all.

They sorted it and my team would be fielding first. Rosalie was the pitcher.

Jasper was up to bat first. He got it on the first try, and took off towards the next base. Edward was too fast though, and caught the ball as Jasper was heading towards third base. He was safe, though. Alice was the next to bat.

It was hilarious to see her. She was so tiny, and looked like she'd toppled over the weight of the bat. Logically she wouldn't, but it was still funny to see. Jasper raised an eyebrow at me, picking up my mood. I just shook my head at him.

Alice missed the first two pitches, Rosalie was good at blocking Alice's visions, but she got it on the third. It didn't go too far though. She only made it to second base, and Jasper ran home. Carlisle batted as well, and got a home run for his team. Esme batting was surprisingly good, but she wasn't very strong, and she was out before she reached third base.

The game continued like that, both teams taking their turn batting. I even managed to hit a couple of times, and even got a home run. Emmett didn't make fun of me after that, instead he gave me one of his bear hugs and said he was proud I was on his team.

I really laughed out loud at that.

We ended up playing throughout the whole night. We changed teams every time a game ended, and everyone had a chance to play against everyone. It was dawn when we finally stopped, having to get ready for school.

Luckily we had the speed on our side, because having seven people get ready in an hour would have been crazy. We were all dirty, mud and grass all over our hairs, skin and clothes.

We all hurriedly took showers and got ready for school. Jasper shared Alice's bedroom every now and then, and I had my own at the Cullen's home. I put on some jeans and a somewhat decent shirt, plus my converse. Alice may have gotten into my wardrobe, but I did not let go of my Chucks. She still complains about them.

I just didn't see why I should wear heels for school. I mean, I knew I did not get tired and all, but heels made me feel uncomfortable. We were all in the living room with ten minutes to spare. We got into three cars and drove. Carlisle had already left for the hospital.

Edward turned on the radio, and put on some old rock. We were still pumped up because of the game, and the rock music was just what I needed. I didn't want to relax.

I began singing along to the songs that went from AC/DC to the Beatles and even Metallica. Edward kept glancing at me and chuckling lightly.

"What?" I asked.

"I did not know you could sing so well." He stated. I lowered my head.

"I just like to sing along… it is not like it's any good."

"I have to disagree on that. You have a lovely voice." I would be blushing if I could. I looked at him from under my lashes.

"Thank you."

We arrived a few minutes later, and still had five minutes before the first bell rang.

Edward walked me to my first period as usual. We chatted until the warning bell rang. Before he left though, he did something unexpected. He bent down and kissed my cheek, lingering a few seconds, and left.

I stood there, open mouthed and in shock.

Now what did that mean?

It'd be too predictable if James showed up during their baseball game. It's just wrong lol... let them have their fun ;)

Anyways, all info about baseball I got from wikipedia so if it's wrong, I'm sorry! I'm more of a volleyball and football (soccer for americans) girl. Baseball is sorta weird lol

Reviews are better than M&M's =P