"Did you ever think we'd be together like this?" I ask Edward.

He leads me to the side of his parents' house, where there's a porch swing that Carlisle and Edward built together the summer before freshman year. After my mom left, I spent so much time on that swing with my head on Edward's chest and my feet curled beneath me. The only sounds between the two of us were our quiet breathing and the crickets in the grass.

This actually feels a bit like déjà vu; we're doing the same thing - the only difference is that this time, we're a couple. I feel the warmth of his hand in mine and can't help but think about how right it feels.

He takes a moment to answer. "I don't know. When we were teenagers, I had hoped that maybe one day we would, but now that I think about it, it's probably a good thing that it didn't happen until now. I'm much better equipped to deal with you." He teases me with a crooked grin.

"I am not that bad." I stick my tongue out at him in a moment of immaturity.

"You've turned into a five-year-old." He laughs at my awesome comeback.

"I'll have you know that I'm at least twelve," I respond.

"That makes me both a cradle robber and a pedophile. I'm not sure how I feel about that."

I can't respond because his hands are in my hair, gently pulling through the strands, and I am no longer thinking of a witty comeback. Instead, I'm fighting the urge to moan at his soft touch. His lips move to the shell of my ear and I shiver, not from the coolness of the night air, but from the feel of his lips.

"Edward..."

"Yes, Bella," he says, without removing his lips from my skin.

"If you want to keep taking it slow, you're going to have to stop that." I choke back a whimper as he nibbles on my neck.

"Right," he says with a sigh. "Slow."

"Don't blame me" I laugh, betting that he wishes he'd never created that particular rule. "That was all your idea."

"Well, how about we play twenty questions to keep us occupied?" His voice is rough from the obvious effort that it takes for him to stop.

"And you call me a twelve-year-old…" I shrug my shoulders. "Whatever floats your boat, Edweird."

"I'm going to ignore your name calling and go first," he says with a playful glare. "How'd you decide on the name Isobel?

"I didn't," I explain. "Jacob named her while I was still knocked out from the pain medication. I wanted to name her Elizabeth or Aria. That's why I usually call her Izzy or Iz." I was still a little pissed off about that too. I had felt completely blindsided. Jacob and I had talked about baby names right before I went into labor and we both agreed on Aria Rachel Black.

"Why did you decide to move back to Forks?" I quickly change the subject before Edward can ask any more questions, and to stop myself from getting angry all over again.

He stares out into the darkening forest. "Two years ago, we found out my mom had cancer. I quit my assistant principal job in New Hampshire and moved back. Luckily, there was an opening for a new principal at the high school."

"Esme?" I gasp in surprise and shoot up out of my seat, intending to knock on the door and talk to her.

Edward grabs my arm and pulls me back onto the swing. "Bella, no one is inside of the house. They're-"

"Why didn't anyone tell me? Where is she now? Is she-" I cut him off.

"She's fine, Bella." He covers my mouth with his hand. "She's been in remission for a year now. Mom and Dad decided to go travel the world while they still had the chance. Right now they're in Europe. They should be back in about a month."

"Oh, okay," I say in relief. "I'm so happy she's doing better. I've always considered Esme my adoptive mother and I don't know what I would've done if something had happened to her."

"Do you ever miss Los Angeles?" he asks me.

Hmmm, I think to myself. Do I miss it? Would I ever go back? No. LA means nothing to me.

"Not really," I answer aloud. "It's not so much the place as the people that were there. I miss our little trio."

Edward cocks his head to the side in a silent question. What trio?

"Leah, Alice and me." I sigh and shake my head. "It's so weird not talking to Leah. Sometimes I'll pick up the phone to call her and then I'll remember that I fucking hate her guts," I clarify. "I miss the three of us hanging out but I just can't see myself forgiving her."

I really can't. She betrayed me in the worse possible way. It doesn't actually have anything to do with Jacob because in hindsight, we just weren't right for each other and if it wasn't Leah, it would've been someone else. My issue with Leah is that she never told me. We talked practically everyday and had countless conversations. Even after Jacob told me, she never once apologized. She had listened to me complain about Jacob spending his nights elsewhere and soothed me when I swore he was cheating. She was my best friend and she tore my family apart without so much of an 'I'm sorry'. Best friends don't do that.

"Forgiving Leah doesn't actually benefit her, and hating her doesn't make you feel better," Edward says, sagely.

"Whatever," I say stubbornly. "It's my turn. Tell me about the last date you went on."

Edward's ears turn pink and I know this is going to be good. Edward isn't easily embarrassed- I can't wait to hear what happened.

"Pass," he says and I turn around to face him in disbelief.

"What? That's an easy question." I look at him suspiciously. "Who was she?"

He shakes his head and purses his lips, miming zipping his lips and throwing away the key.

It has to be someone here in Forks- it wouldn't be worth the pass if she were in New Hampshire. I mentally go over a list of datable women in this town and I just can't figure it-

"OH MY GOD!" The answer dawns on me after a moment. "Please tell me you did not go on a date with Tanya or Jessica!"

The look on his face says it all.

"No Way!" I burst out laughing and, in between tears, I manage to ask, "Which one?"

"Jessica," he says flatly, and I laugh harder.

"You. Went. Out. With. Suction. Stanley!" I gasp for breath.

"It was a blind date!" he defends himself. "Rosalie set me up!"

I finally finish laughing and wipe the tears from my eyes. "What happened?" I finally ask.

"Nope." Edward says, definitively. He even ignores my puppy dog face. I taught that face to Izzy and it always works! "You can pout all you want but I'm still not telling you. It's my turn anyway."

"Fine." I huff and settle myself back into his arms. "You suck, Cullen."

"And you blow, Swan."

I wave my hand dismissively at his comeback. "Ask me a question already."

Just as Edward opens his mouth to respond, my phone starts to sing "I'm Bossy, I'm the one girls love to hate. I'm the chick that raised the stakes."

I answer the phone, ignoring Edward's laughter.

"Damn you, Alice! Stop changing your ringtone on my phone!"

"Bella!" she says, frantically. "Thank God you answered the phone. You've got bigger problems than a ringtone, honey."

"What are you talking about?" I ignore Edward's questioning glance and pull myself up off the swing.

"I just got a tip from one of my insiders at People Magazine. They know where you are. Someone tipped them off. They have pictures of you with Edward and Izzy and even some of your dad. The article is running front page and will be released tomorrow morning. There's nothing I can do."

"What? They can't do that!" I yell.

"They can and they have, Sweetie. I tried so hard to stop it, but by the time I got a hold of the information, it was too late to do anything. I am so sorry, Bella."

I can't deal with this. I just got my life back on track after the first media circus. How am I supposed to deal with this one? Izzy has finally settled into Forks. She loves her school; she's even made a few friends. The last thing she needs is to deal with rumors and cameras following us everywhere.

Edward takes the phone out of my hand and talks to Alice for a minute before hanging up the phone.

"It'll be fine." He tries to soothe my panic and I shake my head.

"They're going to tear me apart. No. They're going to tear us apart!" I correct myself because they have pictures of the two of us together. "No stone will be left unturned. Izzy won't be spared and neither will you."

Edward grabs my arms and holds me still; I hadn't even realized that I was pacing.

"We'll get through it," he says with his arms around me. The fierceness in his voice, coupled with the security of his embrace, almost makes me believe him. Almost.

I've got less than 24 hours to prepare my dad, Izzy and Edward for what's to come before the vultures come to pick us apart.

I hope there's still a we after this blows over.

Hey guys, I'm sorry this took so long but RL (meaning finals) took over. I have a a bit of a bribe for you guys: we're at 164 reviews, if you guys can push it to 200 I'll post chapter 15 either tomorrow at 1:00 PM EST otherwise I'll send out teasers to all who review and post chapter 15 on Friday. thanks so much for reading and reviewing guys! I truly appreciate all of them! Thanks a billion to Astro2009 for being so amazing!