A/N: Aww, you guys are seriously too cute! In case you haven't already figured it out I love you all so freaking much for your reviews, cause really, they keep me going most of the time. So I got a few requests for a run down of what happened between Alice and Jasper on there date, and their, um, hallway activities. I can do it in a one shot, but only if you guys want it…so PM me or let me know in your reviews...cause you know how much I love to hear from you!! =]

And you guessed it! I don't own this; all Stephy Meyer

Chapter 14

BPOV

I woke up the next morning in a tangle of sheets with a huge tee shirt on. But I can't say that I minded; it smelled just like Edward. I moved slightly and winced at the dull ache that spread through my muscles. Now, I know I'm not a virgin, but it was only that one time over a year ago, and Edward's…well, he's….let's just say, there's a reason he was so popular. I shifted over to plant my feet on the floor.

Holy Hell I need an Advil.

Now.

I checked out the situation behind me, and I was a little worried once I saw that Edward wasn't there. Uh, oh. I listened really, really hard to see if I could hear him moving around somewhere, but there was only silence.

Crap.

I got out of bed and tiptoed into the guest room and changed into my own sleepwear. It probably wouldn't do to get caught in Edward's tee shirt. I grabbed a hair tie and pulled that mess on my head into a pony tail as I tried to find the kitchen. The first thing I saw was Jen, standing at that wonderful stove of hers flipping pancakes, then my eyes travelled to the island, where Jasper and Edward were sitting side by side, but something was…off.

Oh, Good Lord.

Japer had a bag of frozen peas attached to his cheek bone, and Edward looked like the cat who caught the canary. Seriously, you leave the boy alone for two minutes…

"Hey, B! How'd you sleep?" Edward said, as if he didn't know.

"Oh, good morning, dear! Take a seat next to the boys, and I'll have some pancakes for you. Do you want chocolate chip, blueberry, banana walnut or strawberry?"

Holy crap, I died and went to IHOP.

"Uh, blueberry, I guess. Thanks, Mrs. Cullen."

I hopped onto the stool beside Edward, and he kissed my temple lightly, before quirking an eyebrow in my direction, then clicking his tongue and going over to the cabinet and grabbing me the advil bottle and a glass of orange juice. That's when I really saw Jasper.

"Jasper, what happened to your face?"

He looked over at me, pulling the bag off of his cheek bone to expose the neat black and blue mark that now resided there.

"I…uh…I fell?"

Edward nodded in approval. God, he's such an ape.

"Well, Jasper, I think I'd be a good idea to have Carlisle look at it; it still looks awfully angry for getting it last night."

Jasper sighed, and replaced the bag, "Yeah, that's probably for the best, Mrs. Cullen."

Just then, Alice bounded down the stairs, her black hair sticking up in any and every direction with the biggest smile I've ever seen plastered across her face. Which immediately deflated once she saw Jasper's peas.

"Oh My God, Jazz, what happened?"

I saw him shake his head ever so slightly, as she went over to him, placing her small hands on either side of his face.

"This is what happened last night…when I tripped over the curb, remember?"

I'm pretty sure I heard Jen snort at that one.

Alice's eyes widened even more if that was possible, as she took in everything Jasper was saying with out actually saying it, then they narrowed as she shifted her stare toward Edward.

"Never going to father children. Ever." She hissed, taking the seat beside Jasper, and running her hand soothingly across his broad shoulders.

Amazing, the strides one night can make.

Jen put that plate of pancakes in front of me, giving me a small wink. "So Bella, I heard you were interested in working at the library?"

I nodded at her through a mouthful of pancake.

"Well, if you're really interested, I can put n a good word for you? They're looking for a secretary in the Teen department."

"Sounds good, Mrs. Cullen. I really appreciate it."

She smiled kindly at me, "Anytime, dear."

We all sat at the island in relative silence eating these heaven sent pancakes, when Alice suddenly called my name.

"Bella, come get dressed. We have to go shopping."

Oh, no.

"Alice, I…uh….I…." I looked up at Edward for help, but he seemed too worried about his future children to challenge his pint sized sister. He pressed his cheek against mine and whispered an apology. Oh yeah, you'll definitely be sorry, sweet cheeks.

"fine."

Alice squealed, grabbing my hand and taking me back up the stairs. We paused in the hallway, and she took both of my hands in hers. This was suddenly getting a little too "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood" for my liking.

"You will tell me everything about last night except for the gory details and I will tell you all about mine, deal?"

I just nodded.

"You have twenty minutes to pull yourself together. Go."

Umm, okay, General Pixie Pants.

I went into the guest room, and avoided the bed at all costs. That thing was seriously freaking me out. I headed into the bathroom and turned on the shower, letting it warm up before stepping in. I was reaching for my shampoo bottle when I felt two hands snake around my waist.

"You could have used my bathroom, you know." Edward peppered kisses down my shoulder and I could feel his hard on pressing into my back. We really couldn't be doing this right now. Alice would kill me…Alice would kill him.

Oh, I go it.

"What the hell did you do to Jasper's face?" I spun around to face him, and he kissed me full on the lips.

Deflection, typical.

"Hey, seriously; what happened?"

He shrugged, my favorite crooked smile spreading across his face, "He tripped into my fist?"

"Try again."

"He, ugh, he ummm…he…shit. Fine, Bella. I got up to grab some breakfast and I caught him sneaking out of Alice's room, so I decked him."

"Oh My God."

"Please. He should be happy it was me and not Emmett."

This is true. Jasper wouldn't have a face if it had been Emmett. Edward leaned down and kissed me again, and I'll admit, I got a little carried away and I let my fingers trail down his stomach and tangle in the wiry bronze hair that was currently sheltering my new best friend. Edward moaned a little and pulled me closer, and I accidentally squeezed my shampoo bottle and squirted a little of it onto him. That reminded me why I was in here.

"Hey…hey, seriously, get off me. I gotta go out with your sister, remember?"

"Do you really have to?" Oh, crap; he started pouting. I watched the water as it fell across the top of his head; darkening his hair and making it hang into his eyes from the weight of it, and then trace rivers across the chiseled features of his face. His green eyes were piercing into my brown ones, begging with all of their might not to go. I almost caved.

Almost.

"Hey aren't you supposed to be like a slut or something? Shouldn't you want me to go so you can..I dunno…slut it up?"

I promise I was joking. So what if a little bit of my insecurity flared up? He smirked at me and said, "Baby, I'm reformed, dontchca know."

"Yeah," I snorted, "We'll see."

He sighed, and cast his eyes downward, "Bella, I don't want to fuck up."

Crap.

Insert foot in mouth…now.

I put my hands on either side of his face, and ducked down to catch his eyes. They were impossibly sad.

"Do you mean that?"

He nodded once.

"Then you won't. It's as simple as that, okay? I'm sorry, though, I was only teasing."

He shrugged a little and I dropped his face so that I could wrap my arms around his waist. At first, he didn't do anything, but then he sighed, and I felt his check rest on top of my head and his arms wrap around me.

I really, really wanted to tell him I loved him, then. But I knew that it wouldn't be right. Even though I'm pretty sure that was what I was feeling, I didn't want to freak him out and send him running for the hills. I wanted him to stay with me; even if that meant biting my tongue.

"Hey, seriously, I need to get ready, so if you're going to shower with me, let's get to it."

He kissed my hair and exhaled, "Okay, Bella brownie." He released me and we started to, ya know, bathe. Not each other though, because honestly I didn't trust myself to keep it PG.

When he was done, he reached behind me and shut off the water, then helped me out of the tub, throwing a towel in my direction. He wrapped his around his waist, and headed for the bathroom door, but I grabbed his wrist.

"Hey, don't be mad at me, please. Please? Forgive me."

I hated this; this moody détente we had going on. I wanted to be his again. I don't like feeling like I'm on the edge.

He smiled my favorite crooked smile and lifted the hand was still wrapped in my own to my cheek, "There's nothing to forgive, Bella. But if it makes you feel better, there isn't anything you can do that would make me not forgive you."

Then he leaned in a kissed me. Not hard and urgent like he usually does, but soft and tender; like he actually meant what he said. Like he wants this as much as I do.

I guess I just have to accept the fact that God on earth Edward Cullen wants to be with me.

What is a girl to do?

"Bella. I am letting you know you currently have eight point five minutes."

Go shopping with his slave driver of a sister, that's what.

""kay Alice."

Edward gave me another quick kiss before letting me get dressed in peace, which I did at a frenzied pace. I didn't want to see what Alice would do if I wasn't ready in exactly eight minutes. I made it down the stairs just as Alice was grabbing her keys off the table.

"Ready?" She asked, then heading toward the door, not waiting for a response. We got into a Mercedes SUV and Alice pulled out of the drive way and started to head toward the high way. And she didn't say one word the entire time.

"Alice? Are you okay?"

I saw her jaw tense a little, but then she sighed. "Do you think Edward is upset about Jasper and me?"

"Well, I mean, I guess…not. It's only because you're his sister; he'll never think anyone is good enough for you."

"Yeah, okay fine. I expect that shit from Em, you know? But my twin and I…God I just wish he would treat me like an equal and not a damsel in distress all the time."

I sighed, as she pulled into a parking space at the mall and got out, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Alice, he's only that way because he loves you. And give him some time, you know? He just has to get used to the idea of you and Jasper. I mean, you should have seen the look on his face when he heard you in the hallway—"

Whoops.

Alice's eyes went wide as she white knuckled the steering wheel. "He heard us?" She hissed.

"Uh, yeah…we were, um, watching a movie? And we kind of, well, I mean we sort of…yeah."

She nodded, as if piecing something together in her head, "So that was your bra I found on the floor?" Then she gasped, because she just realized what finding my bra on the floor meant.

"Oh my god! Did you get lucky last night??"

"I am so not telling you details of your brother's sex life."

Crap. I think I just did.

Alice rolled her eyes, "Please, I'm so used to it, it's insane. But trust, I don't want to know anything more than that."

I rolled my eyes, "So tell me about your date. Was it what you expected?"

Her eyes glazed over and I saw her attempt to suppress a smile, "We had the best time. And we didn't even do anything spectacular. He just took me to dinner and a movie. And Bella, ohmigod when he kissed me? Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh. I thought I was going to melt away and die."

I giggled. That's exactly the way I feel when Edward kisses me.

"I just feel like an idiot for waiting that long, you know?"

"Yeah. But I bet you feel better now that you've done it."

She smirked, pulling a dress off the rack, "Oh yeah. I feel much better."

I rolled my eyes at her, "Oh, Alice."

EPOV

I went into my room to get dressed and decided to spend yet another Saturday alone in my room doing my homework. I was flying through it, though, and before I knew it, it was done and Bella still wasn't back. I sighed, looking around my room for any kind of a distraction. All I saw was my piano, taunting me from the annex. My piano, which now made me hard as a rock think about what Bella and I had gotten up to last night.

I went back over to it and sat on the bench, just hanging out there and letting the memories of last night flood over me. Then other, less recent ones began to invade my mind. My eyes lifted to the picture of my mother and me at La Push when I was a little kid. It was so fucking easy back then. There wasn't anything to worry about or even think too much about. I just had fun; she was always making sure that I had fun.

And now there's Bella. Bella, who doesn't ask too much of me, and can't stand it when I'm even mildly frustrated with her. Perfect, beautiful, ridiculous, silly Bella. And she's mine

Mine.

I started tapping the keys when I heard a soft knock on the door. I looked up, half expecting to see my brown eyes, but instead I saw my fuck up of a best friend. Holy Shit, he looked like hell. His cheek bone was a nice, deep shade of purple and swollen.

Yeah, I gotta mean right hook.

"Shit, Whitlock…"

He laughed and gingerly touched the bruise. "Yeah, Cullen, you're tellin' me."

I shook my head. "Look, I'm sorry. I know I told you to go for Alice but, I just never—"

"You never thought I'd grow a pair and do it." He said, cutting me off.

I just nodded.

He sighed, running a hand through his hair, "I get it. She's you're sister, but ass wipe, you're my best friend. You should know that I wouldn't hurt her."

I just nodded. All of this emotional shit was taking a toll on me. I know I'm reformed and shit, but fuck. A guy can only take so much.

"Whatever, Whitlock, it's done. Just, please, don't let me catch you doing that with my sister again, okay?"

He nodded, then looked back at the piano. "I haven't seen you in here in ages."

I nodded at him and my fingers started to roam over the keys, arcing into a soft melody. "Bella wanted to hear me play."

He just stood there listening to what I was playing for a while, before his eyebrows knit together in concentration.

"What is that? It doesn't sound like Esme's."

"It's not. It's just something I wrote for Bella."

"For me?"

Her voice hit me like a ton of bricks. I wasn't finished with it, and I sure as hell wasn't ready for her to know it was hers. I couldn't speak, so I just shrugged a little at her. She kept right on staring at me, and I kept on playing. Her eyes were starting to glisten in the dimming light of the twilight sun, and her bottom lip began to quiver. A sly smile crept across Jasper's face as he looked back from me to Bella.

"Hey, I think I'll go find Alice."

Before I knew it he was gone, and it was just me and my brown eyes. Just as it should be. She came over and sat beside me, and I couldn't bring myself to look at her again. I wasn't really sure if I could take it if she didn't like it, because it was everything of me that belonged to her; it was everything. I watched as her tiny hands slipped on top of mine, stopping their movement.

"Edward, I…no one's ever done anything like that for me. I…I love it."

"Really?"

"Yeah, it's beautiful. How could I not?"

I shrugged, "You never know."

There was a beat of silence and we both just kind of sat there, not wanting to break the peace.

"Edward, can I tell you something?"

"Uh huh."

"I know I shouldn't even be thinking of this yet, and I know it's super early, and there's a very good chance you'll freak out, but I've gotta say it or I might explode." She took a deep breath and I got a little bit nervous.

"Edward, I love you, tentatively."

Wait, what?

"huh?"

"The feelings that I have for you are so much more than like or infatuation; or even loke—"

"Wait, loke?"

"Loke: in between like and love."

"Uh, okay."

That was a new one.

"So anyway, I don't want to freak you out because I know we've only been together for, like, a week, so I'm saying that I love you, tentatively."

My brown eyes were searching mine, waiting for me to freak out I bet. Unfortunately for her, those were the three words I wanted her to say. So I laughed lightly, and smiled at her, cupping her face in my hands, and kissing her softly.

"Bella brownie, I love you too, tentatively."