If You Only Knew Chapter 14: A Meeting, a Lady Friend, and a Sick Kid, a twilight fanfic

.: disclaimer :. i don't own any of the twilight characters

.: special thanks :. thanks to tina31 | twilightnaley19 | xxxxdarkangelxxxx | twilighteyes85 for going back and reviewing every single chapter! you guys are awesome! and thanks to twilighteyes85 for adding me in the community addicted to all Things twilight fanfiction, VronniePantz(i'm guessing it was you?) for adding me in The Sparkleteers Treasue Chest, libra-bc for adding me in twi-nutters! please go check these communities out if you have the time! they have some great fanfics there :) oh, and before i forget, thanks to libra-bc for suggesting that i put the end of the previous chapter so it saves you guys the trouble of going back to read it again!

.: note :. i know it's been a while since i last updated, but if you have forgotten what has happened please feel free to go back and read the previous chapters! i'm so sorry for the wait guys! but school was just SO busy...i'll explain everything at the bottom since you guys must be wanting to read what happens next and not me ranting on ;)

PLEASE READ WHAT I HAVE TO SAY AT THE BOTTOM! IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT!

Previously on chapter 13...

Yesterday, which was Saturday, was the usual. Edward had to go to the hospital so it was only me and Ryan at home. Alice and Jasper went house hunting because they wanted to be prepared if they decided to move here; Rose and Emmett slept in because they had the party going on into the middle of the night.

And today was Sunday. Ryan's "Dada" was coming by in the afternoon to take us to the park. As Ryan was playing with his toys in the living room, I opened today's paper. After scanning the headlines, I flipped through the sections. My eyes landed on a certain line of big, black letters across a page. Suddenly, I came up with an idea.

I dialed Alice's number quickly, and it didn't take long for Alice to answer. "Alice, is Jasper there?" Once I heard a "no" from the other end, I continued excitedly, "I think I've got the perfect idea on how to persuade him to put a ring on your finger."

BPOV

"You think it'll work?" Alice asked hopefully.

"It's worth a try." I said, my eyes still scanning the "Commitment" section in the Sunday papers.

"Okay then! I'm in!" Alice announced. "Have you told Rose yet?"

"Not yet. I'll give her a call later."

"So, you guys are friends now?" Alice asked.

"You knew all along? I thought you didn't!" I was shocked.

Alice laughed. "Of course I did, you silly! You guys are my best friends, how could I not have noticed? I kind of guessed the reason why Rose was so against you, but I didn't say anything to you because I didn't want to make the same mistake again." She said sheepishly. "So I had you two talk about it at lunch on Friday. It worked well, didn't it?"

"You're evil and full of plans, you know?" I commented.

"I'll take that as a compliment. Oh, Jasper's here, I gotta go."

"Good luck!" And we both hung up.

"Play! Play!" Ryan tugged on my hand.

"Okay, sweetie. But not right now, Mommy has something important to do. I'll play with you later, alright?"

"No!" Ryan whined.

"Ryan, I'll be real quick. And then we can play." I persuaded.

"Play!" And he tried leading me closer to his pile of toys.

I hope Edward and I aren't raising Ryan up the wrong way. We try to make him happy, and that probably means we say 'yes' to his every demand. Ryan has never been this stubborn about wanting his way before, but now that I think of it, it was because either Edward or I stay with Ryan when we are both in the house.

In the end, I had to play with a car with my left hand and hold my phone with my right. I told Rose my idea, and she thought it was worth giving it a try.

Edward brought lunch over during noon. We had a happy meal together at the table, and after Ryan had his nap, we were off to the park.

"Did you get the notice yet?" Edward asked as we pushed Ryan in his stroller on the sidewalk together. I covered one of Edward's hands gripping the handle of the stroller with my own.

"What notice?" I asked.

"I went back to the hospital yesterday, and I got a notice saying that I have to attend a medical teaching session next Friday." Edward explained.

"Is it for a whole day?"

"Yeah. It starts in the morning and goes well into the evening. The hospital already signed the papers saying I'm going to be away that day. You probably have one, too. You didn't go to the hospital yesterday and you might not have seen it yet." He added.

"Maybe." I said disappointedly.

"If you're not going, I promise I'll go over to your place once I'm finished first thing, okay?" He said softly.

I looked into his eyes, and I knew that he knew what I was thinking. And he cared. "Promise?"

He nodded. "Promise. Besides, I don't think I can handle not seeing you for one whole day, either."

"You know me too well." I smiled. We kept on walking, and suddenly, I realized that we were nearing the tree we kissed under before, and I blushed.

Edward raised his eyebrow. "Penny for your thoughts?" I shook my head quickly, there was no way I'd be able to explain what I was blushing about. And he probably didn't even remember it was that specific tree anyway. "Let's go sit down over there." Edward suggested, pointing to that tree.

I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. As soon as Edward halted the stroller, he pulled me into his arms. His eyes glinted, "You thought I forgot, didn't you?" Before he gave me a chance to answer, he kissed me softly on the lips. "How could I forget our first kiss?"

I pulled back, delighted that he remembered. Then, I recalled where we were at. We were kissing in public! I pulled back and whispered, "Edward! Anyone could have seen us!"

"And that's a bad thing?" Edward sounded hurt.

"No! That's not what I meant." I said hurriedly. "I mean, we haven't told anyone about our relationship and…I don't know." I had no idea how to explain my feelings.

"Okay." Edward replied, and he went to pick up Ryan from the stroller. Ryan was trying to catch the leaves that were falling from the trees although a ton of them landed in his seat already.

I pulled out a picnic blanket, and sat down. Edward put Ryan between us as he sat, too. However, Ryan was energetic today, and was standing up and running about in no time. "Horsie?" Ryan asked us, pointing to the playground.

"You coming, Bella?" Edward asked, looking at Ryan and not me.

"You guys go, I'll go find you guys later." I replied, afraid of meeting his eyes.

"Mama?" Ryan asked me when he realized I wasn't getting up.

"Mommy might be coming later. Come on, Ryan. Let's go find a horsie for you." Edward pulled Ryan up into his arms, earning a squeal from the one-year-old. My eyes followed them until Edward put Ryan on one of his "horsies". It was actually one of those playground facilities that were shaped like a horse, though painted with different kinds of colors, and had a spring underneath it. The kids could hold onto a handle and rock back and forth. Ryan couldn't climb onto them yet, so he always asked Edward and I to accompany him. Which was a good thing, because he still needed adult supervision when playing on those.

I looked away from Edward and my little kid, and stared into the open space in front of me. I saw the occasional parents and kids or jogger pass by on the sidewalk. Sometimes the wind picked up and tickled the tress until they gave in, sending leaves falling from the branches. The air was arm, yet the breeze gave it a chill. I shivered, but I didn't think it was because of the wind that breezed my arms.

I was afraid. Really afraid.

Did Edward want to make our relationship public? What would my answer be if he questioned me someday? If I said no, would he go find someone else? I shook my head to myself, I couldn't even bear the thought of him hanging out with another lady.

Was I ready to take this enormous step in our relationship? It was more like whether I was willing to take this big risk in our friendship.

I was so deep in my thoughts that I didn't notice Edward and Ryan approaching. "Mama!" I heard Ryan yell when he was close enough. I saw him towing Edward behind him. He let go of Edward's hand, and ran to me.

I opened my arms and Ryan came running in. I hugged him and asked, "Did you have a good time with Daddy?"

"Yes!" He grinned widely.

"It was getting a little tiring, so we thought we should take a break, didn't we, buddy?" Edward said as he sat down beside me.

Ryan nodded fervently. Then he pointed to Edward, "Tired."

I burst out laughing. "Daddy's tired? I bet it was because you were running everywhere and he was chasing behind you, right?" Ryan giggled, and I took that as a 'yes'.

Edward leaned towards me and whispered, "Try chasing him for a few minutes yourself, hun. I don't know where he gets his strength. He's like this ball of energy that never runs out." He added, "Besides, my back aches terribly from all the bending. I can't wait until he grows taller."

I felt my heart swell at the simple statement. He was going to stick by us, and watch Ryan grow up! I touched his back gently, moving my hand in soothing circles, "About here?"

I heard him let out a sigh. "Yeah, right there." I felt Edward relax at my touch. Ryan was leaning against my legs, and was quietly looking at things happening around him. He has got to be tired too or he wouldn't be this quiet.

After a few moments of silence and me soothing Edward's back, I said, "Let's go home. I think Ryan's had enough."

And we drove back to my apartment. The evening was peaceful, and we had Ryan go to bed early though he was fighting fatigue. Edward didn't bring up the 'relationship' subject again, and I didn't either. But when he gave me a goodnight kiss on the lips before he left, I looked into his eyes, and realized they were hopeful.

The subject would be brought up again. But the lingering question now is just when and where.

xXx

"Edward! Guess what!" I said giddily into the phone the next day.

"Alice and Jasper got married?" Edward joked.

"No. Though I do wish that would've been my great news." I answered. "I got the notice! I can go with you!"

"Great! Now all you have to do is find someone to look after Ryan that day and we're good to go!" Edward was enthusiastic about it, too.

"I'll ask Ryan's sitter tonight before she leaves." And then we said our goodbyes over the phone.

The rest of the day went by quickly. I soon found out that Edward and I were one of the few people in the hospital who got chosen to go to the teaching session, or should I say "meeting". Unfortunately, things never go as planned. Ryan's sitter said she was busy that night, and when I called Jessica and Angela, all I got were the same answers. Suddenly, my phone rang again. Thinking it was one of them calling to say they were free Friday night, I grabbed the phone quickly. My heart sunk when I saw the caller ID.

"Hello?"

"Hey Bel—what's wrong?"

"Oh nothing." I tried to cover up my disappointment.

"There's got to be something, and I'm not giving up." Alice persisted.

"Well, I'm supposed to go to this meeting this Friday. But I can't find anyone to look after Ryan."

"Have you tried Edward?"

"Uh…actually, he's going to the meeting, too."

Alice answered, "Ah…I see. If you don't mind, I could watch Ryan for you."

"That would be perfect! You're a saint, Alice! Thank you so much!"

"Oh, it's nothing. Besides I want to see the little guy again."

"You could bring Jasper if you'd like."

Alice laughed. "You could practically read my mind!"

After we talked more about the details for Friday, I finally put down my phone. I was definitely looking forward to some alone time with Edward!

Strangely, the rest of the week dragged by incredibly slowly. But perhaps that was because I was constantly looking at the clock, wondering whether the time has passed yet.

Friday finally came. And everyone was up at the crack of dawn, except Ryan of course.

It was six in the morning, and Alice and Jasper had already come. Alice was listening intently on the instructions for Ryan I was giving her; and Jasper was dozing off in the living room, I think. I know Ryan is in capable hands, but this has been the first time I left him alone with someone else other than Edward.

I heard voices coming in from the hallway.

"Hey Bells, ready to go?" Edward asked.

"Just a minute, I'm almost done. I didn't hear you coming in." I said in a rush.

"I knocked, and Jasper heard me." Edward answered in a matter-of-fact. I nodded. I had such thoughtful friends, Alice and Jasper called me when they were at the front of my building, and Edward knocked—they all knew that as Ryan wasn't awake at this ungodly hour of the day as to not use the doorbell.

After a few more minutes, I was still racking my brain for stuff I might've forgotten to tell Alice. I felt an arm wrap around my shoulders, "I'm sure Alice and Jasper will be fine. And we should hit the roads, I know that I drive fast, but not that fast." Edward said lightly.

"Ugh, then we should definitely be on our way, I can't imagine how fast you'll drive this time," I made a face at him, and Alice laughed. "Lemme go say goodbye to Ryan first, then I'm good to go."

Edward smiled and gave me a nudge in the direction of my bedroom, "Go," he said softly, "I'll wait for you up front."

I tiptoed into my bedroom and stopped by Ryan's crib, "Ryan sweetie, mommy's going to go somewhere for a very, very long time, and will be back late today. Be good for Alice and Jasper, okay? Love you, hon." I kissed Ryan's forehead gently hoping it wouldn't wake him, and crept out of the room.

After the goodbyes and hugs from Alice and Jasper, Edward and I were finally on our way.

xXx

"God Edward," I moaned, "you surely weren't kidding when you said you were going to drive fast. I'm never getting in a car where you're the driver again."

"Then how are you going to get back? Walk?" Edward asked innocently.

"Don't give me that look! And yes, I'll walk if I have to." I narrowed my eyes and poked my forefinger into his chest.

"We'll see about that." He grinned.

"Smartass." I said under my breath. He chuckled. So he heard.

We hurried into the convention center, signed our names at the reception and retrieved our name tags to hang around our neck.

"Here you go, Dr. Swan and Dr. Cullen. You may go in now. The meeting's starting in a few minutes." The lady who was responsible said with a smile and motioned for us to go on in.

The meeting was the usual, and Edward and I were two of the few young doctors attending. The modulators and speakers were all known doctors, and the topics were pretty interesting, unlike some other meetings I've attended before. After the not-so-long lunch break, we were back in the conference room again. When I stood up from my seat at five o'clock in the evening, I was exhausted.

I turned to look at Edward. He seemed tired, too, but not as fatigued as I was.

"The welcome dinner will start at six at the hotel banqueting hall. There are buses outside waiting to take doctors back to the hotel. We hope to see you all at the formal dinner tonight. Thank you for attending the meeting today." The host said.

Since we drove here, we decided to follow the buses to the hotel in our car. Two hotel rooms were provided for us although we weren't staying overnight. However, most of the doctors were, because a lot of them were from all over the country, or all over the world, even.

Edward and I washed up and changed in our rooms respectively. I wore a black Grecian evening dress. The dress had a jeweled detailing and a dramatic decollete neckline which dips down to meet the jeweled waistband. The straps of the dress meet at the center of the back and join with a cloth straps to create a elegant back detail. Just as I finished putting some finishing touches on my make-up, there was a knock at the door. I grabbed my evening handbag and opened the door to find Edward dressed in a tux, all smart and handsome. I couldn't take my eyes off of him, and I figured that the other females in the room later at dinner couldn't, either.

"You look lovely, hun." He smiled.

"You don't look so bad yourself." I grinned back.

We took the elevator down to the second floor, where the banquet hall was. While we walked into the banquet and searched for seats at the round tables, I heard a female voice say, "Edward?"

Edward and I both spun our heads in that direction. I saw a blonde dressed in a sweetheart neckline sequin dress stand up from her seat. When she started walking towards us, I finally saw her whole dress. The dress was made of light airy fabric, and had a high front slit that showed off her long legs with every step she took. She was gorgeous, and I felt intimidated.

Edward smiled and said politely, "Dr. Denali, I never thought I'd see you here."

"Oh, Edward, how many times do I have to tell you? Call me Tanya. First name basis, remember?" She said coyly. "And this is…?" She looked at me curiously.

"This is Dr. Isabella Swan, my colleague. Bella, this is Dr. Tanya Denali; a friend I met during my time in Chicago." Edward introduced.

"Nice to meet you, ." Tanya said as she put on a fake smile and held out her hand.

"Nice to meet you too, Dr. Denali." I didn't even want to correct her and let her call me Bella. I could tell she was bad news from first sight. I returned the handshake. However, what made my heart fell wasn't because I wasn't as pretty as she was, it was how Edward introduced us—I was only his colleague at work, and she was his friend?

"Come and sit at our table! There are still empty seats." Edward and I followed Tanya back to her table. Actually, it was me following them since Tanya was talking excitedly with Edward.

"We've got so much catching up to do, Edward! Surely you'll sit next to me, I want to know all about your hospital practice in Seattle." She gushed. "Oh, and there's a seat over there, Dr. Swan." She pointed to a seat across from Edward's seat. Strange, I thought wryly, I live in Seattle, too. Why not ask me, eh?

And so Tanya was constantly smiling and talking to Edward throughout the meal. Edward smiled back at some parts, and they had a conversation flowing themselves. The doctors sitting near me introduced themselves, and we all just chatted about our practices in our hospitals. I tried really hard not to glance at Edward's way. I felt that if I kept sneaking looks at him, he would think that I was keeping tabs on him. And I had no right to do that. I wasn't his girlfriend.

During the middle of the meal, laughter burst from the two who were sitting across from me. I felt heartbroken. Tanya was everything I wasn't. She was beautiful, charming, and great at these formal events; I was just plain Bella. No wonder Edward would choose her over me. I decided that until dinner was finished, I wouldn't look at Edward again.

Suddenly, my phone vibrated in my bag. The caller ID blinked, "Alice" and I tensed. Something must've happened, Alice knows our schedule today.

"Excuse me. I got to take this call." I said apologetically to the person talking to me. I took my bag along with me to answer the call outside of the hall.

"Alice, what's wrong?" I demanded.

"I need you to calm down first, I've got everything under control. Just hear me out. Ryan was starting to feel uncomfortable during the evening, and he ate very little of his dinner. He ran a fever half an hour ago—" I cut her off.

"He has a fever?" I asked worriedly.

"Let me finish. I called Angela immediately, and she gave me some instructions as to which medicine to take and stuff. If it makes you feel better, she should be arriving anytime soon actually." Alice finished.

"Thank you, Ali. So…how's Ryan doing now?" I said gratefully.

"He's better. His fever's gone down, and he's sleeping now. Jasper and I have been taking turns watching him."

"I can't thank you enough. I know you're handling everything perfectly over there, but I still feel I should go back home to Ryan now."

"Of course you do." Alice said warmly. "Has the banquet finished yet?"

"Not yet. I'll ask Edward if he's ready to go; if not, I'll just find a way home." I said firmly.

"See you soon then." Alice replied.

"Yeah, soon. Thank you so much Alice."

"It was nothing! Now go and ask Edward!" I heard the dial tone and just as I turned to walk back to the banquet hall, I saw Edward standing a few feet away from me.

"Were you listening?" I accused. I really wasn't in the mood to talk to him right now, but I desperately needed a ride home.

"Yeah…I saw how worried you were when you took the call, so I decided to…you know, check how things were…" He trailed off. "Is Ryan okay?"

"Alice says he is, but I still want to go home and see for myself." I said.

"Of course. Let's go back and tell the others we're leaving, and we can get going."

"You sure you don't want to stay a bit longer?" I tested him.

"No." He looked at me weirdly. "Why would I want to stay?"

"I don't know…since you have a lot of catching up to do."

"Oh that, yeah we're done catching up." He replied.

I nodded. We went back to our table and apologized for having to leave early. I could tell Tanya wasn't so happy about Edward's sudden leave, and hating it even more since it was because of me. I couldn't tell how Edward felt about leaving Tanya—his face was unreadable.

We packed up our stuff quickly, since there really wasn't much, and started our drive home. It was the first time I didn't complain about Edward's fast driving. In fact, I was grateful for it. Neither of us talked, he might've thought it was because of me worrying about Ryan. The truth was, I had a thousand thoughts running through my mind. Ryan, Tanya, him…I don't know how much I could take. So instead, I kept silent and looked out the window, staring at the streetlights outside zooming backwards.

xXx

As soon as I opened the door, Alice shot out of the living room.

"How's Ryan doing now?" I asked.

"He threw up a few minutes ago and started crying. He kept saying 'mama' and 'dada' over and over again. His temperature came back up. Angela's still in there." Alice said in a rush.

"Thanks Alice." I gave her a small hug and walked towards the living room. Apparently, the doctor in me had kicked in.

However, the second I saw my baby boy in Jasper's arms, my heart broke. His nose was running and he was hiccupping because of all the crying. Jasper handed Ryan over to me, and the poor little guy clung to my jacket. Ryan then seemed to realize that Edward was in the room, too, so he started reaching one of his arms toward Edward. Edward came over and let Ryan hold on to his fingers.

The five of us talked for a short while about Ryan's conditions. It was getting really late, and Alice said, "We should leave now. Ryan needs his rest." Angela and Jasper nodded.

"I can't thank you guys enough. I know I'm a doctor and everything, but this is the first time that he's had a cold, and—" My voice trailed off.

Angela came over to hug me from the side as to not disturb the sleeping Ryan. "We understand, Bella." Alice gave me an understanding smile.

"I'll walk you guys out." Edward said and turned to me as if asking me if it was alright.

"Thanks." I replied. Edward then pried Ryan's fingers away from his.

After the door clicked close, I heard Edward walk back to the living room. He stayed at the entrance instead of resuming his seat beside me on the couch. "Um…do you want me to leave or…?" He shifted his feet and wouldn't look at me.

"Stay, please," I whispered, "I'm not sure I can handle this alone…"

Edward nodded, "Go change out of your dress first, I'll hold Ryan for you."

After changing, I asked, "Why don't we move to bedroom, it's warmer there. And I think Ryan would sleep better in his crib."

Ryan didn't even stir when we put him in his bed. It must be because of the meds that Angela gave him, I thought. I looked at him sleeping peacefully, and realized that I was tired as well.

"I'll watch him for a while. You should go sleep first." Edward said gently.

"Wake me up when it's my turn." I said as I yawned. The last thing I remembered before I closed my eyes was Edward staring at me while settling into the lounge chair in the room.

xXx

I think I dozed off eventually, but I couldn't sleep well. I opened my eyes and saw Edward fighting fatigue in the chair. He was trying really hard not to sleep, but he must have been even more tired than I was. I glanced at Ryan. The little guy was still sleeping like an angel.

"Edward. Edward." I shook him awake.

"Huh?" Edward blinked his eyes a few times. "I'm so sorry…I shouldn't have fallen asleep—" Edward said nervously.

"It's alright. You should go take a rest. I'll stay up for a while."

"No, you should rest. I'll be fine." Edward insisted.

I figured the only way to get Edward to sleep was that I slept, too. I checked on Ryan one last time. No fever, and the runny nose was a lot better. "I think Ryan's okay. I don't think we need to keep watch."

"You sure about this?" Edward asked thoughtfully.

"Go sleep. You look like you need it, and I do, too." I said with a small smile.

"Uh…could I sleep on your couch? I'm not sure if I'm in the condition to drive home." Edward asked hesitantly.

"Of course. Goodnight, Edward."

"Goodnight, Bella."

After hearing Edward close the door behind him, I laid in bed thinking of everything that happened tonight. Strangely, I couldn't sleep. After tuning out my thoughts, I was still tossing and turning in bed, and the blankets were getting all tangled up. Blankets? Oh no, I forgot to get Edward one! He must be freezing!

I hurried out of bed to find extra blankets stuffed in my closet. I tiptoed out to the living room to see Edward out like a light. He must have been really tired. I gently covered him with the blankets I held in my arms. I watched him for a few more seconds before returning to my bedroom.

xXx

Saturday passed quickly. Edward and I were so busy with Ryan that there was hardly any time to do anything else. Our friends called during the day to ask how Ryan was doing and if they could do anything to help. I was grateful that they asked, but Edward and I could handle everything just fine. Alice and Rose called to ask if tomorrow was still on.

I had completely forgotten about the "Sunday plans". I figured that Ryan would be okay by tomorrow if we held a small gathering in the living room. Besides, coming over to see if Ryan was better would be the perfect excuse to drop by.

Not surprisingly, it was Edward who came by first on Sunday morning. It wasn't long before Alice, Jasper, Emmett and Rose piled into my small apartment, too. After they were all done cooing at Ryan, we all resumed talking to each other in the living room. I was flipping through the Sunday newspaper with Ryan, pointing at several interesting pictures and telling him the story behind it.

Apparently, Alice seemed to be paying attention to Ryan and I's side of the conversation. When I got to the commitment section of the paper, she suddenly gushed, "Oh my gosh! I love that dress on the bride! With the lace flowing down the side of the gown…it's perfect!"

Of course, that got Rose's attention, and she broke away from the boys' conversation and joined us. She complimented the bridesmaid's hair. Soon, the three of us made it seem like we were engrossed in our own fashion bubble. The boys were very curious as to what we were up to, and scooted over as well.

"Hey Rosie, what are you girls looking at?" Emmett asked as his arm wrapped around Rose's waist.

"Alice was telling us about her dream wedding dress." Rose said, exaggerating of course. Alice actually didn't say anything about the dress other than the lace comment.

"How'd you guys get there?" Emmett scratched his head. "I thought we were talking about cars a few minutes ago."

Rose laughed, "You big oaf, we were looking at this." She pointed to the paper in front of us.

It was Edward this time that was surprised. "Commitment? Which one of you are getting married?" He grinned at Jasper and Emmett.

"Definitely not me. Though I'd love to have Rosie as my wife." Emmett said sweetly.

"Oh my god Alice! How come you never told us you were engaged?" I pretended to be surprised.

Alice blushed, "I'm not! I just like to look at clothes and dresses…that's all." Her eyes could hardly meet Jasper's while she said that.

"Looks like you should hurry up, bro." Emmett grinned and slapped Jasper on the back. "You know, put a ring on the girl before she gets snatches up by some other guy." Edward patted Jasper on the shoulder too as if to show his support.

Rose and I smiled; Edward and Emmett were having the time of their lives teasing Jasper about getting married before Alice decides she wants to be an old maid. Alice…well she was still blushing like crazy.

"The girl looks pretty, wonder what's the story behind the couple?" Rose wondered out loud. I scanned the article quickly, "Seems like the groom's side of the family is extremely wealthy. It doesn't say much about the bride's family though. In fact, almost the whole article is about the groom's family. You know, the great-grandfathers and the old family money…" I said.

"I thought the dress looked pretty expensive." Alice nodded.

Rose asked, "So you'd like that kind of dress for your wedding, yes?"

"You'd get swallowed by that thing." Emmett laughed.

Alice glared at Emmett, and that shut him up. I grinned; Alice was scary that way. "I'm not saying I have to have that dress. I just want one that represents me. Besides, that dress is way too expensive." Alice replied.

"The person marrying you would be one lucky guy." Rose hugged Alice. "You'll get your chance to pick your own dress someday, Ali."

"I hope so too." Alice said softly.

I sneaked a peek at the boys, who were still looking at the paper and making comments to each other. I looked at Jasper closely, and by the look on his face, I knew he heard the last sentence that Alice said.

"Rosie, this girl has your hair!" Emmett said, pointing to another picture in the paper.

Rose whacked him on the head, "Em, that's a black and white picture. Her hair could be purple for god's sake."

"But it's long…" Emmett tried to reason with Rose. We laughed.

"She has your eyes." Edward whispered beside me. "Though yours is prettier."

I blushed. "They all look the same, Edward."

"No, yours is different. Your eyes have a different light." With that, his eyes locked with mine. I don't know how much time passed before Ryan began to fuss. Thank god for Ryan, I don't know what I would do if the others found out that Edward and I were staring intently at each other. It wasn't exactly easy to break away from his gaze. I desperately wanted to believe that he only had his eyes for me, but the events from Friday night came rushing back, pulling me out of my daydream.

We decided that it was getting too much for Ryan, and we should all get together for lunch or something some other day. The house was soon just the three of us again.

"Ryan's dozing off again. I'm putting him back in bed." I told Edward.

After putting Ryan in his crib, I went to the living room to find Edward flipping through the newspaper. I stared into space for a while, wanting to catch my breath since everything has been happening so fast lately.

Edward folded his newspaper he was looking at neatly in a pile and said, "I think we should talk about what happened on Friday."

"What is there to talk about?" I asked, pretending to be uninterested.

"Something's been bothering you. And you were fine until Friday evening." Edward said firmly.

"So something's bothering me. Why should it matter to you?" I shot back. I knew it would hurt his feelings, but every time I thought of him and Tanya, it hurt. A lot.

I could tell Edward was trying to keep his temper down, "What did I do wrong?"

More silence.

I couldn't handle it anymore, so I let my heart do the talking, "Seriously, colleagues? That's all we are? We've known each other since forever, and you meet that gorgeous girl and suddenly she's your friend and I'm not? Then what am I?" I could feel the tears threatening to pool over. This was getting to be too much. "You know, forget about it. I shouldn't even be telling you this." My voice broke.

I started to stand up and turn away, but Edward was faster. He grabbed my wrist and said, "There's something I'd like to tell you."

So...what does Edward have to say to Bella *laughs evilly*

Til next time!

A/N:

I cannot express how sorry I am for leaving you guys at a cliffy for such a long time :(

but i just couldn't handle school and writing at the same time~sorry!

this is longer chapter i've written yet...so phew~

i'll be updating once a week from now on(until school starts of course)...sometimes even more frequently if you guys review more maybe? lol

it's been quite a while since i last wrote, so there might be a bunch of mistakes(you might've noticed already lol)

i haven't been reading fanfic since forever, so i'm going to start reading and reviewing your stories again!

i've read all your reviews you guys left last time, and some of your ideas are so great that i was tempted to use them...hehe

as for the outfits part, i'll be putting it up, but just not right now since i still need to catch up on my writing ;) wouldn't want to keep you guys waiting any longer, would we?

oh, and i need you guys to do me a favor. when you review this chapter, please:

1. tell me which question that you have about the story answered. i've popped about a ton of cliffies in this story, and I want to know which one of those do you want answered first! if you guys don't have any comments on it~i'll just go with whatever i have in mind!

2. if you want to be a beta for my story, plz tell me in your review! the details will be at the bottom of the page, plz read through them! thanks!

last, plz plz plz leave a review! you guys would make my day!

thanks :D

born2bmyself 2011.01.24

BETA SEARCHING

Would you like to be a beta for my story?

I figured that if I wanted to keep my readers happy with the constant updates throughout my schoolyear, I needed to write FAST!

So, I'll be writing lots for the next four weeks, and I'll definitely need someone to edit my writing(or give me ideas if you feel like it) for me

if you want to be my beta, please tell me so in your review! i'll try to be in contact with you asap!

thanks again!