DISCLAIMER: As always, I do not own Twilight or any of the characters, they belong to SM.

Chapter 13 – Calm

BPOV

The next several weeks went by quickly. I spent a great deal of time with Edward and we were growing closer all the time. I knew that I was falling in love with him but there was no way that he would feel the same about me so I tried my best not to let him see my feelings. I didn't want to scare him off and chance losing my other friends as well.

The weeks also brought me and Rosalie closer together. Despite the tough exterior she exuded, Rose was a really sweet person and I often found myself enjoying her company. We could sit together for hours just talking about inconsequential things and I found myself relaxing around her.

Sadly, however, the time did not help mend my friendship with Alice. I tried my best to give her the benefit of the doubt, but I couldn't seem to relax around her. I still did things with her and Rose but I never did things with her alone. After what happened while we were shopping I couldn't bring myself to be alone with her and it scared me because I was afraid Edward would stop wanting to spend time with me because Alice and I weren't close.

I was so lost in my thoughts of everything that had been happening that I jumped when someone came up behind me. I looked up and couldn't contain the smile on my face when I saw Edward standing behind me.

"What's up," I asked him.

"Nothing much, just thought I would see how the studying is going," he replied with a smile.

Just then I remembered that I was supposed to be studying for my literature exam and I sighed. "Truthfully, not well. My mind keeps wandering so I really haven't gotten too much studying done."

"Good thing the exam isn't until next week then isn't it." He winked at me and I giggled.

"Yeah I guess it is."

Suddenly Edward's face got serious and he took a seat next to me. My heart started beating faster and I tried to wrack my brain to figure out what I had done to cause this change in his demeanor. Fortunately I was able to keep my face from betraying my thoughts and Edward didn't notice my panic. We sat there in silence for a few minutes and the anticipation was killing me. Just as I was about to break down and question him about what was going on he cleared his throat.

"Bella," he said and I looked up into his emerald eyes. "Over the past several weeks we have spent a great deal of time getting to know one another better," he paused and the panic started to rise.

"Edward," I started but he put his hand up to stop me.

"I have to get this out," he told me.

"Okay," I said and dropped my gaze to my hands on my lap.

The next thing I knew Edward took his hand and gently pulled my face up so that I was once again looking him in the face. "Bella, these last several weeks have been some of the greatest weeks of my life. I love the time we have spent getting to know one another and how you have put forth the effort to let me and the rest of our friends in but as much as you are letting them in I feel you are holding yourself back as well. Bella I want to get to know you, I mean really get to know you without the distractions of our friends." He stopped and I wasn't sure if I should say something or not, but before I could say anything he continued. "Bella, what I'm asking is will you go out with me?"

I wasn't sure I was hearing him correctly. Surely Edward didn't like me that way, I was nothing special. Before I had a chance to process my thoughts Edward continued.

"It's okay if you don't want to. I am okay with just being friends with you. I'm sorry if I put you in an awkward position."

I stopped him before he could continue. "Yes Edward I will go out with you."

"Are you sure? You don't have to feel obligated," he told me.

"Believe me when I say I feel far from obligated. Your question took me by surprise is al. I would love nothing more than to go out with you." I told him as I felt my face flush. I looked away not wanting him to see me blush but he wasn't having it.

"Thank you Bella. You don't know how happy you have made me." He told me sincerely. "Now let's get out of here and I will give you a ride home."

The ride back to my house was quiet. I still couldn't believe that Edward had asked me out. I knew I would have to call Rose to get her help on what I should wear but I tried not to worry about that now. Too soon we pulled up in front of my house and Edward stopped the car.

"Would you like to come in?" I asked him.

"I would love nothing more, but I have to get home. I promised my mom that I would help her load up the stuff she is donating to Goodwill."

"Okay, well thank you for the ride." I told him as I went to get out of the car. Before I got the door open Edward stopped me. I turned back to him with an expectant look in my eyes. He leaned forward and gently took my face with his hand. I didn't want to hope too badly but I so wanted him to kiss me.

He leaned forward slowly and gently brought his lips to mine in a gentle kiss. All too soon he pulled back with a big smile on his face. "I have wanted to do that for a while now," he told me.

I smiled back at him not wanting to tell him that I have wanted him to do that for a while as well. I moved to get out of the car and started walking toward the door when I heard Edward roll the window down. I turned back to him to see what he needed.

"Is it okay if I pick you up again in the morning," he asked.

"That would be great."

"I will see you in the morning then. Have a good night." He told me.

I entered the house and didn't notice right away that Charlie was already home. I was dreamily walking toward the kitchen when I was brought out of my daze by his voice.

"Hey Bells, how was your day?"

"It was pretty good. I did some studying for my lit test next week." I told him. I knew I needed to tell him about my date with Edward but I didn't know how to begin.

"That's good. Did Edward give you a ride home?"

"Yeah he did. Umm…Dad, Edward asked me to go out with him. I think we are going out on Friday. Is that okay?"

"Well Bells, as much as I don't like the idea of my little girl dating, I like Edward. Go out and have a good time," he said with a smile on his face.

"Thanks Dad. I am going to go start dinner now."

I went into the kitchen and started pulling the ingredients to make stir fry out. I busied myself with the task as I thought about the kiss Edward had given me. All too soon dinner was done and I was pulled from my daydream.

"Dad, dinner is ready." I called to him.

We ate in companionable silence. After dinner I cleaned up and excused myself to go study. I sat in my room and lost myself in my studying. Before I knew it there was a knock on my bedroom door. "Come in," I called.

"I just wanted to wish you a good night." Charlie told me. "And I forgot to give this to you earlier," he told me as he handed me an envelope.

Not expecting any mail I furrowed my brow as I took the envelope from his hand. "Thanks Dad. Goodnight." I told him as I looked at the envelope in my hand.

When Charlie left the room I just sat there staring at the envelope in my hand. It was from my mother. I knew I needed to open the letter but I wasn't ready for my good mood to be broken. I took the envelope and stuck it inside my Physics book and told myself that I would open it tomorrow. Tonight I was just going to go to bed and hopefully have good dreams of my upcoming date with Edward.

I drifted off to sleep and thankfully the nightmares did not come.

EPOV

I couldn't believe that Bella said yes. I have wanted to ask her out for a while now but I didn't want to push her so I had been putting it off. I was finally convinced by Emmett to just man up and ask her out.

The change in Bella over the past several weeks was phenomenal. She was opening up to people so much more. She and Emmett were getting closer and he protected her like a sister. The rift between her and Alice was difficult for everyone because nobody wanted to take sides, but Bella had done her best not to make people choose sides and she was cordial around Alice although it was obvious that she was not at all comfortable around her former friend. It was good to see though that she seemed to be forming a friendship with Rose.

I was excited about our date and I couldn't wait. After dinner I excused myself to my room so that I could plan where I am going to take Bella on our first date. I got lost in my thoughts of Bella until I heard a knock on my door. "Come in," I called.

I was a little surprised to see my sister poke her head in my door. She hadn't been talking to me very often since the whole shopping thing went down. "What's up Alice?" I asked her.

"Not much, just wanted to chat with my brother and see what has you so happy," she replied.

"Well, things are going good for me. Actually, I asked Bella out today and she has agreed to go out with me." I told her.

"That's great," Alice replied with a sad look on her face.

"Really," I cocked an eyebrow at her. "You don't seem very happy about it."

"I am happy for you. I guess I just hate that everyone else is close to Bella and she won't give me a chance."

"Alice, I love you and you are my sister but do you really expect her to give you a chance after how you have treated her."

"But, I have explained what happened," she sighed.

"Actually, you have looked at it from your perspective. Have you ever tried to look at it from Bella's?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, while I don't know what happened in Phoenix I do know that something did happen. Bella doesn't trust people easily and it is hard for her to open herself up. Bella obviously wasn't comfortable going shopping that day, but she went because she wanted to have a chance to get closer to you and Rose. She put herself out there and despite that you ended up yelling at her and treating her bad because she wasn't as enthusiastic as you wanted her to be. You basically played on her biggest insecurities and fears."

"I never thought of it that way. But how do I fix it?" she asked as tears started to escape.

"I don't know Alice. You could try talking to her, but you have to understand that it isn't going to be easy. I do think if you show her that you want to be her friend and that you are sorry about what happened that she will give you a chance." I told her.

"Okay. Thanks for the advice and if you want any help with your date let me know. You guys are good together and I hope it goes well for you," she told me as she gave me a hug before she left my room.

I spent some time thinking about what I told Alice and I resolved I would help her win her friendship with Bella back. My thoughts were of Bella and our upcoming date as I drifted off to sleep.

The next morning I couldn't wait to pick Bella up for school. I was still feeling good about her agreeing to go out with me. When I got to her house she was out the door before I could get out of the car. I might have worried if it wasn't for the big smile on her face.

"Good morning, you look happy today," I said to her when she got in the car.

"I am in a good mood. I got a good deal of studying done and had a good night's sleep," she replied.

We talked about her upcoming exam on the way to school. Part of me wanted to bring up my conversation with Alice, but I didn't want Bella to think she needed to fix things with Alice on my account so I decided that it was up to Alice to talk to Bella.

Once we got to school we parted ways. I knew that I would see her a couple of times throughout the day but I hated that we didn't have more classes together. The day drug by until we were finally together in Physics. When we got to class there was a substitute who told us to work on the assignments we had been given the day before. Bella had apparently finished hers the night before so she decided to use the time to study. When I went to get my book out of my bag, I realized that I had forgotten it at home so I asked Bella if I could borrow hers.

"Hey Bella, I forgot my book can I use yours since you already finished the assignment?"

"Sure, not a problem," she said as she slid the book over to me with a smile.

Bella turned back to the notes in front of her as I opened the book. As I flipped through to find the page I needed something fell out and onto the floor. I bent over to pick it up just figuring it was part of the assignment but when I grabbed it I noticed it was an envelope.

I turned toward Bella with the envelope in hand. "Bella this fell out of your book."

Her eyes got big as she went to grab the envelope and she seemed to panic. "Oh thanks, I forgot I put it in there," she stammered.

I noticed the return postmark on the envelope as I handed it to her. I was from her mom in Phoenix. Part of me wanted to question her about her reaction to the envelope but I didn't want to embarrass her or make her mad. From what Emmett had told me, I knew there was something not completely good about her relationship with her mom but I didn't know what it was. I hoped that one day Bella would feel secure enough to confide in me.

I put the envelope out of my mind while I worked on the assignment for the rest of the class period. The rest of the day went by quickly and I couldn't wait for it to be over and I could spend some more time with Bella.

I gave Bella a ride home and she invited me in. We sat down to watch a movie but I noticed that Bella seemed preoccupied and biting her lip. I debated whether to call her on it or not and decided that I needed to know what was going on in her head.

"Bella, what's bothering you?" I asked her.

"Uhhh…nothing. Why do you ask?"

"You just seem preoccupied. Did I do something to upset you?"

"Oh it's nothing Edward. I was just thinking about my test coming up. You have done nothing to upset me," she told me with a small smile. I knew by how she wouldn't look in my eyes that there was something bothering her but I wasn't going to push her to reveal what it was. I knew I needed to trust that she would tell me if it was something that I had done that was bothering her.

After the movie was over I knew I needed to get home for dinner but I didn't want to go. I was worried about whatever was bothering Bella but I was starting to think that it had something to do with the letter from her mom. It wasn't until I handed her the envelope that she started to get distant. I wanted to make her day a little better before I left, and mine too of course, so as I got up to leave I pulled her to me and gave her a gentle kiss.

"I can't wait until our date Bella," I told her. "I can't tell you how happy I am that you have agreed to go out with me," I told her as I gave her another kiss.

"I can't wait either," she responded with a smile.

I gave her another quick kiss and a hug as I headed out the door. I was still worried about Bella but I knew that she was going to be okay. The rest of the night went by in a blur. I spent some time with Alice and she seemed to finally be starting to understand what she had done wrong with Bella and she seemed to genuinely want to fix the situation. I told her she was going to have to be patient with Bella and she agreed. We discussed my date with Bella and Alice gave me some ideas on how to make it special.

My anticipation and excitement over the upcoming date continued to grow as the night went on. As I prepared myself for bed I found I couldn't relax. I needed to talk to Bella again. I knew she was likely spending time with her dad so instead of calling her I settled for sending her a text message.

I just wanted to wish you a good night and tell you I am thinking about you – E

I didn't have to wait long for a response.

Well good night to you too. I hope you are thinking good thoughts - B

Always Bella. The only thoughts I ever have of you are good. I can't wait for our date – E

After I sent this text I started over thinking it and hoped that she didn't get freaked out. I didn't have to worry long because her response came quickly.

My thoughts of you are always good as well. I can't wait either. Have a good night and sweet dreams – B

My dreams are always sweet when you are in them – E

Again I panicked. Where was this coming from? What I was telling her was all true but where did the courage to write it come from. I tried not to over think these things as I waited for her response and imagined the blush that was probably on her face as she read my words.

Awww…thanks. - B

Apparently I didn't scare her; at least I hope I didn't. I couldn't wait until tomorrow when I got to see Bella's beautiful face again. As I told Bella, my dreams were sweet that night because she was starring in them.

A/N

I just wanted to apologize for the delay in the chapter. Real life has left me with no attention span so sitting down and typing what has been in my head has taken longer than normal. I am already working on the next chapter and hopefully it won't take as long to get it out.