DISCLAIMER: Although I occasionally become delusional and think that Edward is being held captive in my closet as a love slave, I own nothing… It's just wishful thinking. : ) Wait… I own Jack… mwhahahaha…

A/N Ok, I know it's been a very long time since I last updated and I apologize for that. I know excuses won't cover everything but I've been going through some rough patches the last few months… We did statewide testing early, then I worked on my portfolio FOREVER… it was worth 500 points so I was scared sless about failing… And I have to pass that to graduate… Then my Grandpa went into the ICU and I had to drop everything and go out of state- he's ok now, thank goodness. Then a kid in one of my classes was killed in a car wreck (it really freaked everyone out), and my cat died… so yea these last few months have kind of sucked… so I'm sorry I haven't updated but I do have a new chapter, and we are getting very close to the end of this story… and the beginning of the sequel! Woot!

Ps. There will be a play-list!

Chapter 13-A Change of Heart

"How do you feel?"

It was Charlie's head in my doorway at 5:30 this morning.

I thought, "Well dad, my vampire boyfriend didn't climb through my window last night under the cover of darkness, so I slept horrible, thanks for asking." Instead I said "Fine."

He seemed satisfied by this and shut the door, the sound of his boots carrying all the way out of the front door. I listened as the cruiser pulled out of the driveway. I rolled over and grimaced at the clock. The absolute truth was that I felt dreadful, and not because I was sick, unless of course they discovered an illness resulting from boyfriend deficiency. What makes matters worse was that 1. My cell phone battery was dead because I failed to turn it off last night, and 2. I have to go to school today or Charlie will think I'm actually sick and that will result in a doctor's visit.

My attempts to fall asleep were feeble, so I gave up around 5:56 and stared at the ceiling for a good 30 minutes. I decided to take a shower hoping to pass some time. I was in complete mope mode, walking slow and dragging my feet behind me. Edward, my one reason for actually being happy in dismal Forks, was gone. I was too upset to even bother drying my hair or wear anything fashionable.

I pulled put a pair of black yoga pants courtesy of Renee and one of her many hobbies. I was hoping she wasn't counting on me actually doing yoga in them. I would end up as Bella the human pretzel with no hopes of untwisting, and that would definitely not be the highlight of my day. I accompanied the pants with a plain shirt. If I was going to mope properly, I had to be comfortable. I made my way down the stairs dragging my feet. I wondered if I would shock myself if I touched the doorknob.

To my disappointment it didn't work. I tore through the kitchen cabinets trying to find something suitable to eat. I would have eaten breakfast, had Charlie not ravaged all of my stale Pop-tarts. I made a mental note that unless I wanted to start eating cardboard boxes; I needed to go to the grocery store very soon. I then noticed the note Charlie had left me with a fifty-dollar bill attached asking me to go to the grocery. He must not like cardboard either, I thought as I stuffed the fifty in my wallet. I decided to leave early after my stomach growled angrily. There was nothing left for me to do at home.

There were more people at school than I thought there'd be. I got out of my truck and nearly screamed when I noticed Jackson standing right behind me.

He gave an impish smile. "Sorry if I scared you."

"It's ok."

"Listen, I'm really sorry about what happened yesterday." He paused and looked behind him as we headed into the main building, as if he were looking for someone. "Where's Edward?"

I frowned and I could tell Jack noticed. "He's got Pneumonia. He won't be back to school for a few weeks." I sighed.

Jackson's genuinely concerned face produced a sympathetic smile. "I hope he's alright."

"So do I." A question suddenly came to my mind. "How's Mike?"

"His ego or his nose?"

I couldn't help but chuckle.

"He's fine Bella. We'll there was a little bit of blood and his nose is broken."

So that was his definition of "fine?" "So he's really not fine then?"

Jack dropped his eyes. I guess you could say physically he's ok, mentally, he's really pissed."

Just as he said that Mike stormed past us sporting two black eyes and a scowl to match.

I decided to make amends. "Oh mike, I am SO sorry."

"Really Bella?" He snorted before I could answer. "Save it for someone who cares ok?"

He walked into the office slamming the door behind him. All I could do was stare at the door, mouth hanging wide open.

"He really shouldn't be that rude." Jack smiled. "I mean it wasn't your fault."

"Well it could be my fault. I am dating Edward."

"And what's that have to do with Mike?"

"He used to like me."

"Oh… That's why he said, "Cullen's a jerk. He's not good enough for her." He made quotes in the air.

Just then the bell rang. Jack eyed the office and then me. "I'll walk you to English if you want."

"No it's ok."

He looked at me curiously. "You sure?"

"Yes."

He almost looked disappointed, but he managed a smile. "I guess I'll see you at lunch then." He waved as we turned and headed in opposite directions. I was dreading the day ahead of me.

Sitting through school was torture. Without Edward there it seemed as if the day was going to last forever and I was in some freaky time lapse like in that movie "Groundhog Day."

When I approached the lunch table I frowned to notice it was empty. Where was Alice? To my horror I saw that she was sitting with Jessica and the lot of them, including a still brooding Mike who looked very determined to make his broccoli stand on end. I knew it was to keep him from looking at me. Everyone else was glaring back and forth from Alice to Angela, which made me realize that Angela was the one who had invited her to sit there. That was quite brave of you, I thought. At least her heart was in the right place.

Before I sat down next to Alice I also noticed that Jack was sitting quite close to Angela, which brought a smile to my face. As I sat down everyone acknowledged me accept Lauren (as usual) and of course Mike, who was still working diligently on his broccoli forest.

I sighed at his cold behavior. "Mike, listen, I'm…" he held up his hand and that was the end of that conversation. Jack gave me a sympathetic smile, and then turned his concentration on Alice.

"So you're Edward's sister right?"

"Yes. Well sort of… we were adopted."

"Oh that's cool. You must have an interesting family." I was stunned at how comfortable he was talking to her.

"Yeah I really don't think I could have picked anyone better to live with."

A few chairs down I heard Lauren mutter "serial killers" and Alice gave a dark chuckle.

"If you only knew," this comment sent everyone into hysterics except me, and Lauren who obviously thought no one had heard her. Smite me for saying this, but she deserved it.

"Where's Edward?" Jessica asked as she turned away from Mike.

"He has Pneumonia. He won't be back for a few weeks," Alice said as she smiled at me. She knew I was tired of explaining it.

I interjected with "he had a really high fever yesterday," to gauge a reaction from Mike.

"So that's what made him go psycho," he said sarcastically. He was hopeless.

The rest of the day was just as bad. Alice made it even worse when she pulled me into the bathroom after lunch and told me that she was going to have to play sick too because Carlisle wants her at home.

"Just until we find out what's going on." I frowned at this statement. Tomorrow I would be completely alone.

"Oh come on Bella, you have other people to keep you company." She smiled and then held up her index finger. "I just remembered that Edward told me to tell you to call him."

My face fell. "I can't now, the phone's dead. I'm charging it at home."

"Call him when you can, it's kind of important."

"What is it?"

"I think he needs to tell you Bella."

"Why?"

"He just does. It's not my place."

"Fine." I sighed.

"Oh Bella, don't worry, I'll call you too."

"Ok," I said glumly.

She sighed. "Bella, really, come on it will be fine. You'll get to spend time with your other friends. You should go see… what's his name? The one whose father doesn't like us?"

"Jacob."

"Yes, go see Jacob."

"I guess I could." To tell you the truth, I had completely forgotten about Jacob recently and now the guilt was sinking in.

Alice smiled. "See? You have things to do."

"Yeah, I guess." I didn't try to hide the disappointment in my voice.

She looked down at her watch; "We need to get to class." She gave me a kiss on the cheek and rushed out of the bathroom.

I stood for a second more. If I was going to be alone the next two weeks, I would need to find things to keep me busy. Grocery, and maybe even clothes shopping, and I could catch up with Jess and Angela. I could see Jacob and ease my guilt. Maybe things wouldn't be so bad after all.

The first thing I did when I got home was pick up the phone.

"Edward?"

"Today was so awful Bella. You can only play pool against yourself so many times before it gets old."

I smiled at his voice as he spoke again. "So how are you?"

"Wee, I had to sit with everyone today. I'm pretty sure Mike was plotting my demise the entire time."

"Probably mine more than yours."

"True. He was pretty mad, and his nose is terrible."

"Really?" I could here the smugness in his voice.

"Yeah black eyes and all. If he didn't hate me before, he certainly hates me now."

"I'm sorry Bella. I didn't mean for you to get hurt."

"Who said I was hurt? Mike was beginning to really get on my nerves anyway."

"Oh. Anyway, I need to talk to you about something."

"What?"

"Fall break starts next week."

"And?"

"Are you still planning to go see your mom?"

I gasped. I had completely forgotten about that. It seemed like I was forgetting a lot of things lately. "Yes, I'm still planning to go. Why?"

"I don't think it's a wise idea for you to go by yourself."

"I thought I was going to go to Florida by myself anyway."

He sighed and then hesitated with his reply. "I was planning to follow you."

"Why weren't you going to tell me?"

"Because I knew you'd react like this."

"Like what," I asked stubbornly.

"Like you can take care of yourself."

"I can. I mean sure, it would be nice if you went with me, but you don't have to sneak around about it."

"Well I'm not anymore, and it's not like I could go now anyway."

"That's ok Edward I am capable, I don't need anyone to baby-sit me."

"Bella-"

"No. I'm perfectly fine. Let me do something on my own."

"But I don't think it's safe."

"Why?" Ok, so technically I knew this was a dumb question.

"You always seem to get yourself in impossible situations."

"Stop worrying about me ok? I'm a big girl." I was really beginning to grow irritated so I tried another approach. "My tickets are non-refundable."

"I'll pay you back."

"No you won't. I'm going whether you like it or not."

"Please Bella, don't be childish."

That was it.

"Really? Since we seem to be tossing that word around a lot lately, who's really being childish?"

There was brief silence between us.

"I don't see a point in argu-"

"Well I do, and unless you find some catastrophic, end of the world reason I shouldn't go, I'm going. I haven't seen my mother in like six months. I haven't seen the new house. I've never even been to Florida!"

"Come on Bella, you can go when it's safer."

"You mean when you can play watchdog?"

He snorted. "What's gotten into you?"

"I just think I can take care of myself."

"This isn't about Florida is it?"

"Maybe."

"Bella-"

"Listen I have to cook Charlie's dinner." With that I snapped the phone shut angrily. I was going to Florida next week. I had to prove to him that I wasn't as breakable as he thought I was. Maybe then, he'd actually consider doing the one thing he didn't want to do: change me.

At around 8:50 the phone rang again. I was still pretty angry when I answered Edward's call. His voice surprised me.

"Listen I've been thinking. I acted stupid earlier. I shouldn't be so overprotective of you. I just really worry sometimes, maybe more than I should."

"Well I'm glad you've realized that," I said hotly.

"I think you should go to Florida. It still bothers me, but I think it would be good for you to go. Your mother misses you."

"Well I'm glad you see it that way."

He sighed, sounding very tired. "I'm sorry."

"It's alright," I said as a triumphant smile crossed my face.

"I have an idea!" Well he was certainly enthusiastic now. "When my prison life is over you'll still have two days left in Florida. What if I were to fly down and send them with you?"

I almost jumped out of my seat. "That sounds amazing."

"Good." I could almost hear him smiling. "I just need an address."

"Umm…" I began to rustle through my box of old letters. "It's 475 Birch Street, that's in Jacksonville."

"Ok, it's a date then."

At this I laughed, a smile replacing any anger I had felt.

"Bella, I'm really sorry."

"No, it's my fault too. I'm having withdraws. With you, apparently I get cranky."

"I know the feeling." I could then hear noise in the background. "Carlisle needs help with some documents he's filing."

"You have to go?"

"Yes, I'm sorry." He seemed to be saying that a lot tonight.

"It's ok."

"I love you."

"I love you too."

"Hang in there."

"I'm trying." I shut the phone feeling significantly better. The change in his mood and tone of voice was extremely startling. I wondered if anyone in his house had given him a talk. Whoever it was did an impossible task, I thought as I crawled into bed a little after ten o'clock. I had never seen him change his mind so quick, or so willingly. In fact, it was almost sort of strange.

A/N: Icky… I hate writing lots of dialogue... Sorry if this chapter was a little boring, don't worry we're getting to the good stuff I promise. This story should wrap up in the next three chapters or so, and then onto the sequel!! Please review!! Sometimes reviews are the only things that keep me going and I love reading them, and I love all my reviews dearly!! Thanks guys!!!- Laura

Ps. Keep going with those theories… some of you are really close and other not so much. :