I Can Tell That We Are Gonna Be Friends

By the time Bella arrived at his house, Jasper and Edward had already set their computers up in the rec room. They got situated, Jasper and Bella playing on tray tables on the couch while Edward sat on the floor.

As soon as Edward got Bella's computer open, he whistled lowly. "You weren't joking. This thing is ancient."

"Beggars can't be choosers," Bella answered mildly. "I told you there was no help for it."

"I didn't say I couldn't do something with it. I said it's ancient," Edward answered with a grin he was sure was cocky. It lasted all of five seconds. When she looked up at him, he felt his face flush and he ducked his head back to her computer.

Though part of him wanted to be the one guiding Bella through the game, most of Edward was glad that Jasper was around. As it was, Edward had very little patience when it came to people playing the game wrong. He couldn't count how often he'd shouted, "Freakin' newb!" at the screen when someone did something stupid. Jasper, on the other hand, had a great deal more patience for that kind of thing and took the time to talk Bella through creating a character.

It allowed Edward to enjoy listening to Bella's questions. He'd half expected her to do the girly thing. Once, he and his in game wife had decided to make alts - low level characters - to mess around on rather than their mains - the characters they spent the most time and effort on. It had taken Meawene the better part of two hours to decide on the right combination of facial features, and by then Edward was bored of the whole idea.

Bella, on the other hand, seemed to be paying rapt attention as Jasper explained the classes, their roles, and abilities. It amused Edward to no end that she wasn't rolling her eyes at the Dungeons and Dragons-esque ideas of skill point distribution and spell trees.

Bella had just decided on a night elf wizard when the three teenagers were distracted by the sound of the garage door.

"Did you tell your parents I was coming?" Bella asked.

"Not yet," Edward admitted. "But don't worry. I'll take care of it."

"Edward!" Carlisle called from the hallway. "What is all this?"

"Ah, hell," Edward muttered, scratching the back of his head and feeling stupidly nervous. He'd hoped it was his mother who got home first. "Stay here," he said to Jasper and Bella.

Though he was slowly learning to let his teenage side lead, Edward would have enjoyed reclaiming his adult status right then. Begging his father to allow a co-ed sleepover was annoying. He'd been sleeping over with girls for well over a decade, after all.

Then again, he reminded himself, if he had been an adult attempting a sleep over with a 17 year old girl, what he would have been was arrested.

But his body was 17, so it was okay for his body to be with her body.

Wait, that doesn't sound right...

"What are you up to now?" Carlisle asked as he came into view. Edward felt guilty for a moment before he realized his father was staring, hands on his hips, at the cables hanging from the second story.

"I asked for a wireless modem, but you said no," Edward replied automatically.

His father blinked at him. "I'm waiting for something that makes that sentence make sense, Edward."

"Well, if I had a wireless router and modem, there wouldn't be any wires," Edward responded, though in the back of his mind he had no idea why he was being sassy. Among other things, neither Jasper nor Bella had a wireless modem so the point was moot. But more pressing was the fact that he should want his father to be in the very best mood possible if he was going to ask him for a favor.

Carlisle arced an eyebrow. "I've told you before, son. If you want something so badly you can do what your brother did and-"

"Get a job, I know," Edward finished for him. It took all of his minimal willpower not to roll his eyes. "Jasper is here. We set up a LAN in the rec room. I needed to get the connection down here. I know it's messy, but it's just for one night. I'll clean it up tomorrow."

"What's wrong with your room? You've had a LAN," Carlisle said the word as if he were speaking a foreign tongue and Edward had to repress a laugh, "before and your room was fine then."

"Well," Edward hedged, trying to resist the urge to fidget and failing. He sighed. "Dad, will you do me a favor?"

Looking at Edward carefully, Carlisle sighed, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall. "Why do I get the feeling you're trying to give me ulcers?"

"It's just that Bella is here and she wants to play with us. The game," Edward said quickly, the words tumbling out fast the way one might rip a band-aid off. "She wants to play the game with us and, well, I'd appreciate it if you'd call Charlie Swan and ask him if she can stay the night."

Carlisle balked, a thousand expressions crossing his face one after another. He settled on incredulity and laughed as he clapped a hand over his eyes. "I take it back. You're not trying to give me ulcers, you're trying to kill me. You want me to ask Charlie if it's okay for Bella to spend the night with two boys?"

"Come on, Dad," Edward said, his voice dangerously close to whining. "It's a wide open room. You and Mom are going to be home all night and we're going to be on computers. That's not exactly conducive to committing any nefarious deeds."

Carlisle seemed amused at his son's choice of words and smiled slightly.

Years of practice in the boardroom meant Edward knew when he was close to cinching a deal. Carlisle just needed a little push. "You know Jasper and I will probably crash on the couch. She can sleep on a whole other couch...or the guest room if it's better."

Carlisle sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. Again he studied Edward for a moment and nodded. "Fine. I'll call him."

Edward couldn't help his grin then. "Thanks, Dad."

"Just remember," Carlisle said seriously, pointing a finger at him. "She's the Chief-of-Police's daughter. The fact that you saved her life will only get you so far and the man carries a gun."

"I'll keep that in mind," Edward said, rolling his eyes and returning eagerly to his friends.

When he got back to the rec room, Jasper was laughing so hard he was clutching his stomach and Bella was red in the face, scowling at him. "What's going on?" Edward asked.

Bella looked up and quickly looked back down again. "It's really not that funny," she groused.

"This girl is a magnet for trouble, Edward," Jasper said between titters. "Her screen barely came up before some stupid newb had trained a whole heard of level ones on her." He sucked in a breath. "Then, no sooner does she get to her body than the one red con in the zone wanders by."

"What's a red con?" Bella asked.

Jasper calmed considerably as he answered, slipping back into teaching mode seamlessly. "See, you click on a mob - that's a monster by the way. Don't go to it, just click on it. And if you type in /con it will come up green - which means it's below your level, yellow - which is right at your level, or red - which means if you try to kill it, you will probably die."

"'What would you like your tombstone to say?'" Bella read the text.

"Right. The newbie zones - that's where you are - only have one monster high enough to kill you instantly and you found it," he chuckled.

"Anyway," Bella said, feigning irritation. She looked up at Edward, smiling sheepishly. "Did you talk to your dad?"

"Yeah," Edward confirmed. "He's fine with you staying. He's calling the Chief now."

"Sweet," Jasper said, his eyes teasing as he looked at Bella, "'Cause at this rate, it's going to take until at least midnight just to get her out of the newbie zone."

~0~

The night progressed better than Edward could have predicted. Bella was amazingly easy to hang out with. He appreciated a girl that could take a joke. Razzing came with the territory of gaming and Edward knew a bunch of boys who would get pouty and butt-hurt over Jasper's continuous assault.

Bella was up for the challenge.

"You play like a girl, Bella," Jasper said when Bella got confused about her spells again.

"Your character has twin pony tails and a vagina, you know that right?" Bella shot back. "You know what they call tails at your age and stature?"

"What's that?"

"Reins," she quipped, grinning wickedly.

Edward, having just taken a swig of Mt. Dew, spewed it all over himself in his surprise. He coughed, red in the face as Bella and Jasper laughed at him. "Ugh," he said, trying to shake off his embarrassment. "I'm all sticky."

"I bet you are," Jasper muttered and Edward threw his now empty soda can at his friend's head, hoping Bella hadn't caught his comment.

Dinner brought on another revelation: parents - mothers in particular - were embarrassing as hell.

"What good is being a mother if I don't get to give you a hard time the first time you have a girl over?" Esme asked when Eward hissed at her to cut it out.

"Mom!" Edward groaned. "You're not John Stewart. Cut it out."

"Who?" Esme asked. Jasper looked confused, too.

Edward sighed. He knew that The Daily Show was on in this time period - he'd seen it. It must not have caught on just yet. "Nothing. Just leave her alone, would you?"

"It's okay," Bella said quickly. "I don't mind." She rolled her eyes, smiling fondly. "My mother would be a thousand times worse."

"It must be difficult, leaving your mother after spending most of your life with her," Esme said softly.

Looking up from under his eyelashes, Edward caught the brief flicker of pain that crossed Bella's features before she smoothed it out. "I miss her," she admitted. "But she's having a good time with Phil - that's her new husband." She shrugged slightly. "And I don't think my Dad has had a decent meal for 17 years, so..."

It struck Edward, not for the first time, how lucky he was. It was obvious Bella was more the parent in her relationship with her mother and father. She was the one putting up a brave front to make them happy. He frowned slightly, thinking it wasn't fair. He hadn't exactly wasted his teenage years being too adult for his own good the first time around. Now he was being encouraged by Alice to be a kid yet again.

Bella deserved to be a kid, too. After all - this was the only lifetime she would remember.

Edward pushed his food around his plate, a plan forming in his head.

He liked spending time with Bella - that was becoming increasingly apparent. What was more, Jasper seemed to genuinely like her, too.

There was, Edward realized, a chance to kill three birds with one stone. He could enjoy this second chance at being a carefree teenager. Surely even in and around Forks there was something three teenagers could do that didn't include getting drunk off their asses. He had a vivid imagination. And if he couldn't save Jasper, at least he could make the last year or so of his life full.

Edward was pleased with himself. It was a compromise that let him have a goal to work toward - and he did love goals - while still obeying Alice's order to live his life. It gave him some control over the situation, even if it was imagined.

~0~

"Have you two been to bed yet?"

Edward and Bella looked up guiltily as Carlisle stepped into the rec room looking still half-asleep. It was seven in the morning and no, neither of them had closed their eyes yet. Jasper was sprawled in the reclining easy chair, fast asleep since about four that morning.

"I finally got rid of all the viruses on Bella's computer," Edward said at the same time Bella blurted, "I just need one more fire beetle eye."

Carlisle slapped a hand over his eyes, shaking his head slightly. "My son is a bad influence," he said under his breath. He looked over at them again, trying for a stern face but only managing to look amused. "Your eyes are bloodshot. Get some rest before I have to send you back to your father in a zombie state." He chuckled.

As Carlisle ambled off to the kitchen, Edward turned Bella's computer off, rubbing his sore eyes. He peered over her shoulder as she stubbornly plugged on, intent on getting the fire beetle eye she needed to complete her quest.

"Not bad, newbie," Edward complimented, noting that she'd gotten the hang of the game rather quickly. He yawned, staring blearily at the screen. "You're a hot chick," he mumbled. When she turned to stare at him, a little wide eyed, he woke up a bit. "I mean... your character is hot. I mean...not that you aren't. I mean... fuck."

Bella bit her lip, looking like she was trying not to laugh, but she failed miserably. He rolled his eyes as she giggled. "Maybe we should go to bed," she said, her voice husky from sleep.

In his sleep deprived state, Edward took that exactly the wrong way. Her voice was so low it was sexy. She was a pretty girl who was into gaming. A brave, selfless girl with a sharp tongue and thick skin, and her face was really only a few inches from his.

"I mean..." she stumbled, realizing what she'd said. "I mean. We should sleep."

She was blushing. She was so cute when she blushed like that. Even with red, bloodshot eyes she was cute.

"Right," Edward mumbled. "Sleep."

He was afraid to sleep. Alice said he was on vacation, but how long would this vacation last? He didn't want to go to sleep and wake up on a different day.

But his eyelids were leaden.

The couch in the rec room was huge and L shaped. It would have been easy for one of them to move, going to the opposite end of the couch to sleep. Or for Bella to head to the guest room that Edward told her about, his words beginning to slur. Or even for him to head up to his room.

Instead, they both kind of fell in opposite directions. Their feet tangled - completely innocent - in the middle, and they slept.

~0~

Something was tickling Edward's nose. He slapped at the disturbance, grumbling as he rolled over, trying to furrow deeper under the covers. Instead, he found himself falling a short distance and landing on the floor with a huff.

Bewildered, Edward opened his eyes. Jasper and Emmett were cracking up, and Bella was looking like she was trying hard not to. Emmett was leaning over the couch, a feather in his hand. Edward was completely confused until he realized his hand was covered in something foamy.

Shaving cream.

Edward touched his face, quickly figuring out what was going on. Sure enough, there was shaving cream on his nose and forehead.

"Emmett, you dick," Edward said, standing and launching himself at his brother.

"Whoa!" Emmett cried, knocked to the floor in surprise.

The boys wrestled for only a handful of moments before Emmett got the upper hand, locking Edward's arms behind his back. "Fuck," Edward grunted. "Okay, okay, let go."

Emmett laughed as he released his brother's arms. "Good effort, Freakazoid."

"Shut up," Edward muttered, embarrassed. He went to run his hand self-consciously through his hair, realizing too late that he still had quite a bit of shaving cream on his fingers. He sighed in exasperation as Jasper and Emmett cracked up all over again.

"Field trip to Port Angeles?" he asked Jasper and Bella once they'd all stopped giggling. "I think now is a great time to research martial arts classes," he said, glaring at his brother.

"Hang on. Let me get my boots so I can shake in them," Emmett quipped, guffawing again as he headed for the stairs.

Edward only rolled his eyes and looked at Bella and Jasper expectantly.

"I'm game," Jasper said agreeably. "Anyway, I need to scope out the restaurants. There's no decent date place in this town."

"You called Maria?" Edward asked.

Jasper grinned at him. "You should have seen me, dude. I was so smooth." He hip checked Bella. "Tell him I was smooth."

Bella screwed up her lips, contemplating. "I would, but my parents raised me not to lie." She looked to Edward. "There was a lot of stuttering, but I think he managed to ask her out in between all the uh-uh-uh-uh'ing."

"Oh! Low blow, Swan. Low. Blow. See if I power level your newbie ass now," Jasper said, shaking his head. He looked over at Edward. "Go take a shower. You look ridiculous."

"Thanks," Edward said, but he headed upstairs for a fresh change of clothes.

~0~

The afternoon in Port Angeles was surprisingly fun given that it was miserably cold outside. The trio stayed bundled up, walking beneath the awnings of the shops and restaurants they passed to stay out of the freezing rain.

"What about this place?" Bella asked, stopping before the large display window of an Italian restaurant.

"La Bella Italia," Jasper snorted. "No wonder you like it."

"No, but it looks like a nice date place," Bella protested. "See.. lots of cozy corners." Her voice sounded a little far away, her eyes slightly unfocused as she spoke. "It's a warm looking place. Like you would be comfortable no matter what the weather was like out here."

"Yeah, the food looks pretty tasty too," Jasper agreed. "What do you think, Edward?"

"Hmm?" Edward asked distractedly. He was too busy entertaining strange notions. He wondered, suddenly, what Bella's skin would look like in the low light of the room. He imagined watching her twirl pasta around her fork, and the way her lips would wrap around it, pulling the coil into her mouth-

A heavy thunk against the back of his head drew Edward back to reality. "Hey!"

"Are you a complete idiot?" Jasper asked.

"What?" Edward asked eloquently, rubbing his head and looking around. He furrowed his eyebrows, noticing belatedly that Bella was missing. "Where's Bella?"

"She went to check on something in that store, Space Cadet," Jasper answered, pointing at a store a few doors down. "Something about Charlie's birthday. Don't change the subject."

"What's the subject?"

"Hello! McFly!" Jasper said, snapping in Edward's face. "If you didn't notice by the way she was looking at you, that girl was practically begging for you to ask her out. Here." He gestured to the restaurant.

"Jesus, will you get off it. I told you-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Jasper cut him off. "Whatever, man. Have fun being a virgin forever," he laughed, walking off in the direction he'd indicated Bella had gone.

Edward idled behind for a few more minutes, rubbing his head absently. Though he was thoroughly irritated by Jasper's insistence that he should act on this stupid, school boy crush, Edward was more interested in his claim that it was what Bella wanted.

That was an insane thought, wasn't it? Just a few weeks before, she'd hated him.

Edward glanced back at the restaurant, wondering if it was true. If he asked, would Bella say yes... to a date... with him? The idea, he found, brought up that giddy, bubbling feeling from the center of his chest. Suddenly, the freezing temperature hardly effected him at all.

But that wasn't part of his plan. His plan was friendship. Three birds with one stone - that was the idea. Not two birds and his stones.

Edward grumbled, once again lamenting how often sex entered into his thought process. Think with your little head much, Edward?

As he caught up with his friends, Edward tried to put it all to the back of his mind. Either way, he wasn't going to ask her out right then. Their friendship was brand new and tenuous. It was logical to get to know her a little better.

It was hard to remember that when he entered the store and Bella looked up, a shy smile lighting her face as she spotted him. In spite of his resolution to keep things uncomplicated, Edward found himself wondering if Jasper's observation could be true.

He sighed, lamenting the fact that it seemed he would have to learn the handy skill of mind over matter all over again.

A/N: That was fun. What's also fun is listening to you all guess what's going to happen. Very accurate, some of you are. But I still have some tricks up my sleeve. *Evil laugh* So I hope you enjoyed vacation.

You know who I love. Barburella and jadedandboring and all of you.