A/N: I own nothing! All characters belong to SM.

Chapter Thirteen

Age: Seventeen

Year: July 2012

"Oh come on, Bella! Just jump in!" Alice called out.

"Yeah, the water is great!" Jasper encouraged. The family decided a nice day out would be fun before Bella's dance audition. She was auditioning to get the lead role the Seattle winter show, "The Nutcracker".

If she got the role, she would be making constant trips to Seattle throughout the week, but her grades have always been impeccable and as long as they stayed that way, Rosalie and Emmett found nothing to fight against it. She was feeling nervous about it, so Rosalie suggested going to the large pond that was just outside of the estate.

Esme and Carlisle were sitting by themselves on a blanket. They weren't going to swim, but Esme made sure to bring snacks for Bella. Rosalie and Emmett had ran off on their own, Bella cringed to think about what they were doing. Her parents gave her the sex talk when she was thirteen and when she turned sixteen they felt more at ease by leaving her alone to… do other stuff, without their daughter.

Alice and Jasper were tickling and splashing each other in the bright blue pond. Bella wasn't entirely sure where Edward was, but Edward knew where she was. He always knew where she was. After the Tyler incident, he held her a lot closer than he used to. He didn't care if she hated him, but he needed to make sure she was safe at all times. He thought his constant hovering would cause her to reject him, but it was the opposite that happened.

She seemed so comfortable and at ease whenever he was in touching distance. He would find himself casually guiding her with his hand on her lower back or he would swipe a piece of hair that would fall into her face. He felt like he had to be touching her in some way at all times. And Bella loved that, but she was still trying to keep some sort of distance, not physically but emotionally.

Bella was looking cautiously into the water, unsure if she wanted to actually jump in or just put her feet in. Edward was leaning against a tree beside Bella, but she couldn't see him because he was at least a half mile away. He was a little late for the family outing, since he wasn't sure if he should go.

He was glad he was there now.

Bella was wearing a dark blue bikini, which Edward really liked. He tried to ignore the feelings she was stirring in him, but when he saw her pale skin in the little bikini, his thoughts went out the window. He was trying to remind himself how young she was, but God, it was hard.

Her hair was falling down her back and as the sun shined down, it was appearing darker. It was a rare day for the sun to be out and for the weather to be warm enough to go swimming, but Bella would never forgive herself if she didn't at least get her feet wet. She was about to walk off the rock when she felt two, cold hands rest on her waist. She stiffened for a second before she heard Edwards calming voice.

"Let's jump together?"

She just nodded her head and let him grab her and jumped. She let out a squeal and then they were under the water. Edward looked at her and became mesmerized as her hair flowed in the water and her dark, brown eyes met his. She looked back at him, smiled, and then grabbed his hand as they swam back to the top.

They broke the surface of the water and Bella almost doubled over with laughter. She loved water but it was very rare that she was able to spend any time in a body of water larger than her bathtub. Edward's face lit up with a smile identical to Bella's and he lifted her in the air.

Bella was laughing even harder as Edward spun her in the water and Jasper with Alice on his back made their way over to the couple.

On the other side of the pond, Carlisle stared at the interaction between Edward and Bella, he was intrigued. He had a feeling that there could possibly be something more than just a friendship between the two, but he tried to keep his opinions to himself. It would be a lie, however, if he said he wasn't worried by it. Especially after seeing them grow even closer over the last couple of months.

After that day in school when Tyler cornered his granddaughter, Carlisle was furious, but not as mad as Emmett was. Emmett was in an uproar and threatened to sue the school and to haunt Tyler until the end of his days, Rosalie had a more simple method at revenge. She suggested waiting until Tyler was alone and torture him, she alluded that death might result.

Bella thought everyone was overreacting. She knew that what Tyler did was wrong, but it was also immature. She did go to the principal, with Edward by her side, and reported the incident to Principal Greene.

Tyler had to formally apologize to Bella, and he was suspended for the rest of the week and was not allowed to attend prom. Mr. Greene ensured Bella that nothing like that will happen again to anyone and threatening a student would not be tolerated.

Carlisle wasn't entirely pleased with the decision, he thought more should have been done; but Bella was his granddaughter and he thought of her as a porcelain doll, everyone in the family did actually. They all acted like Bella was breakable and should be protected. This was slightly true, since Bella was the only human in a vampire family, but she hated that she was so weak.

So, she convinced Jasper and Rosalie to help her learn how to defend herself. Jasper was a soldier before he turned and helped multiple newborn vampires learn how to fight and Rosalie told Bella what happened before she turned and how she got her revenge against her rapists.

"Darling, what are you thinking about?" Esme saw how her husband was slowly getting lost in his thoughts.

"Bella…" Carlisle started.

"And Edward?"

Carlisle looked down at his wife. Esme was sitting beside him as he let his legs sit out in front of him and he rested his hands out behind him. Esme was leaning against him as her legs bent to the right side of her body. She was his everything, especially his rock and confidant.

"So you noticed it too. What do you think about their… relationship?" Carlisle gently pushed a piece of hair away from her face and placed it behind her ear.

Esme sighed but smiled, "I think they are good for one another, but she is young. Bella just turned seventeen, all she has ever really known was Edward. She is very naïve, and even coddled sometimes, by all of us. We need to let her on her own, so she knows who she is."

"Do you think that Edward would tie her down too soon? Do you think that their relationship could turn toxic?"

"Edward coddles her the most, but he also coddles himself. He doesn't let himself feel what he wants because he's scared for her. Do you remember when Alice told us about her vision? The one where Bella and Edward got into an argument because he wouldn't be honest with her or even himself? If he keeps her in the dark about his feelings, he is going to lose her. But, he needs to know that it's okay to have feelings like that toward Bella. He doesn't realize it yet, at least I don't think he does, but he loves her. It's a consuming love, which could break a person beyond repair…"

"Or it can put them together and be unstoppable." Carlisle finished with a sigh. He looked back towards his granddaughter and saw how happy she was, not just with Edward but with Jasper and Alice. It broke his heart to think that Bella could be destroyed by the people she loves the most.

Carlisle looked down at his watch and noticed it was almost three o'clock, Bella needed to be in Seattle by seven and she still needed to shower and eat dinner. Rosalie and Emmett made their way back to the group and grudgingly everyone packed their belongings and started for the cars.

XXX

"Bella, you did phenomenal! There is no doubt in my mind that you got this role!" Emmett enthusiastically picked his daughter up in a hug as she walked out of the audition room.

"Dad, you are just saying that because you're my dad. You weren't even allowed in the room!" Bella laughed out.

It was a closed audition, so there really was no way for Emmett or Rosalie to know how Bella did, but Emmett knew his daughter and how wonderfully she danced. He was very optimistic. Bella, on the other hand, was more pessimistic, she didn't want to jinx anything, and Rosalie knew that so she quickly changed the subject.

"Your father and I were thinking about staying the Seattle for the night, would you be okay at home by yourself? If you want you can stay with us, but Edward said he would pick you up and take you home. Grandma and Grandpa are at a hospital charity event and Alice and Jasper took a late plane to Paris for their anniversary, so you would be home alone."

Bella usually didn't like to stay alone overnight, especially since the family had been talking about a wolf pack increasing in numbers over the last year or so, but when she heard that Edward would come and pick her up, she was suddenly liking the idea of alone.

XXX

The main menu kept playing softly in the background of living room in the main Cullen home. Bella convinced Edward to watch a movie before she went home, and Edward was starting to regret and love that he said yes. He wasn't entirely sure what they watched, but Bella was enthralled. Edward really tried to pretend he cared about the main characters on the screen as they slowly grew to love each other but somehow lost one another then got back together.

But he just kept watching Bella. She would mouth the character's lines and even teared up when they broke up. The two were sitting on the longer couch, and at the beginning of the movie they were at least an arm's length away from one another, but by the end of the movie Bella was leaning against Edward right shoulder and had fallen asleep.

At some point, Edward wound his arm around her shoulders and just as he was about to get up to carry her to her house, she softly said his name.

He thought she was sleeping, but when she didn't look up at him or make any sign she had woken, he learned that she was actually sleep talking. She was dreaming about him. Edward then relaxed and let Bella cuddle herself tighter against his body.

The TV illuminated her face and made his dead heart almost ache as how stunning she truly was. She never wore too much make up, today she had just put mascara on and she look so soft. He knew watching her sleep is creepy, and if she woke up she would surely freak out, but he was captivated by her.

Edward just sat there holding who was supposed to be his best friend, but now the word friend was the farthest thing from his mind. He knew that as soon as she had started to back away from him all those years ago, he was slowly losing a part of himself. He was losing his heart, and that alone scared him.

He was slowly becoming dependent on Bella's happiness and he knew she wouldn't want him to drown himself in her, but a part of him tried explaining it was dependency he was feeling. He wasn't tying himself to her emotionally and following her around like a lost puppy, he was letting her emotions and reactions to her world strengthen him. He was feeding off of her happiness and was trying to give his happiness to her in return.

It was in that moment, at one o'clock in the morning as Bella slept in his arms, completely unaware of the epiphany that was slowly eating at Edward's brain and heart. He felt that a light bulb had turned on and pieces of the puzzle were finally fitting together.

He was in love with his best friend.

He was in love with Bella.

Hey everyone! Here are some numbers for you: 14, 83, 54, and 86.

14 is the number of chapters (including the prologue).

83 is the number of amazing reviews you leave for this story and keep me wanting to post.

54 is the number of favorites my story has.

86 is the number of followers.

I say this every week, but you guys are simply amazing and I love you all so much… because of the support you show for this story, I want to keep posting and I even get excited for you to read the next chapter. Speaking of, I have a very good idea of show long this story will be, but I don't want to divulge that just yet because we aren't there yet and it's kind of a sad thought lol

But I wanted to explain in the only way I can (by using numbers lol) how much you guys impress me… you are amazing and I really hope you liked this chapter. Please, keep doing what you are doing, and I will see you next time! xx