Disclaimer: The Twilight Series and its characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. Any other characters, settings etc. are property of their respective owners. No copyright infringement intended.

Chapter 14:

After lingering in the office for as long as I could, it was finally time to go home.

Once I parked my car I realized that I hadn't eaten, but with Edward gone I was not in the mood to cook. "I should've stopped at McDonalds," I murmured as I ascended the stairs to my apartment. Corn Flakes will do

I opened the door to my apartment and sighed; the darkness around me made Edward's absence more palpable. I turned the lights on, set my bag on the kitchen's counter and as I walked toward the bedroom the sound of voices next door stopped me in my tracks. There was some kind of activity going on at Edward's place.

Burglars? Possibly. I blamed Emmett for putting ideas in my head. Nevertheless I took off my shoes, grabbed my cell phone and tiptoed my way toward the wall dividing Edward's and my apartment, and pressed my ear against it, trying to figure out what was going on.

I heard a male voice; soft and gentle. But I couldn't make out what he was saying. I pressed my ear harder against the wall, and closed my eyes to concentrate on the conversation; it was obvious he was talking to someone —which meant there were at least two burglars.

A noise outside brought me out of my trance; I opened my eyes just in time to see a shadow leaping from Edward's balcony to mine.

I whipped around, and in my haste I dropped my cell phone, it fell with a loud clang on the hard wood floor. In that instant I faced an important decision: run and probably trip on my own feet or stay and confront the intruder. I chose the latter.

I bent down, grabbed my phone and turned around to strike him with it. But as I was about to spin out the phone —aiming for his head, I recognized the trespasser; it was Alice. I don't know how I stopped myself on time from flicking out the phone and smacking her in the head.

"Alice!" I cried, my heart almost leaping out of my chest. I sat on the floor and began to shake trying to breathe while the ringing in my ears slowly subsided. I could've killed her.

Alice stood in front of me, her hands on her hips. "Really, Bella. A phone?" She shook her head disapproving of my choice of weapon.

After a moment I collected myself and leaped on my feet. Ire mixed with relief being my primary feeling. "What were you thinking? You come into my home, in the dark, you jump across the balconies; scarring me half to death. And then I…I…could've… Killed you." My voice cracked.

Alice considered my words, and her lips dipped into a soft, little frown. She pulled me toward her and hugged me. "I'm sorry, Bella. I didn't mean to scare you."

I hugged her back fiercely. "Don't ever do it again. I could never forgive myself if I hurt you."

Alice smiled. "Don't give yourself so much credit. I'm pretty sure I would've dodged your weapon." Her smile became a grin. "See. I'm fast, and your hand-feet motions are…not well coordinated."

I shook my head. "Thankfully, we'll never know."

Alice nodded and grabbed my hand pulling me toward the balcony. "Now, let's eat. We've been waiting for you for the last hour." We?

I stopped at the doorway. "Alice, we could use the front door."

She released my hand and jumped over the railing, gracefully landing on Edward's balcony. "But this is much more fun."

I shook my head and followed suit —landing awkwardly on the other side of the railing.

The table was set and Jasper was sitting waiting for us. He was the male voice I'd heard. He looked at me and smiled. "Hello Bella, how are you?"

Better now that everything had been a misunderstanding. "I'm doing fine. How are you?"

"Fine, thank you."

"Okay. Let's eat," Alice said as she took her place at the table.

"You cooked?" I asked Alice and Jasper snickered.

Alice glared at him and answered. "No. Jasper picked up the food from our favorite Italian restaurant on his way from work."

"It smells delicious," I said.

"It's probably not as good as your lasagna. But it'll do," Alice said and Jasper proceeded to open the bottle of wine. When he poured it in our glasses I noticed the cursive emblem on the bottle: Cullen. I couldn't believe I had not seen it before.

We ate and talked amicably about the Cullen winery. Jasper led the conversation, explaining expertly the process of making and marketing wine. I'd never seen him talking that much; he definitely loved his job.

When Alice brought the dessert, we laughed about the earlier misunderstanding. "Seriously, Bella," Alice said. "Next time, call the police, run, and then figure things out."

"Alice is right, Bella. Why didn't you call the police?" Jasper asked.

"I don't know. I just wanted to make sure that there was really a burglary going on before I involved the authorities." And a good thing too, that I waited. I could just imagine the cops handcuffing Jasper and Alice and asking questions later.

Alice shook her head. "He is right," she murmured.

"Who is?" I asked.

Alice ignored me and continued eating her chocolate cake. I tried to explain my behavior. "Besides, if Emmett wouldn't have put ideas in my head, this would have never happened."

"When did you see Emmett?" Alice asked.

"He dropped by the office this morning to gloat about how he tricked Edward, misinforming him about an increase in the crime rate, so Edward would worry about my well being."

Alice leaned back in her chair, her expression one of complete shock. "Emmett knows about you and Edward?"

Was that a bad thing? I bit my lip, realizing that Alice also knew about Edward and me. "I guess Edward told him when he took him to the airport."

"Great! That's just great!" she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "I do all the work, and someone else gets to be the first one to know when everything unfolds."

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

She rolled her eyes and explained. "Why do you think I brought you to live here, next to my brother?"

"Because you're…nice?"

I beautiful laugh escaped from her lips. "Bella, Bella. You are so naïve."

I stared at her with wide eyes. She patted my hand. "Since the moment I saw you, I knew you and Edward were perfect for each other. So I set the wheels in motion by bringing you here. Of course, I was not counting on Edward taking so long in realize you were his soul mate. But what matters is the result; you guys are finally together." Alice sighed dramatically. "It doesn't mean I'm happy that Emmett got to find out before I did."

How someone who looked so angelic could be so Machiavellian? "You planned all this?" I asked in disbelief.

"Yes I did," she said proudly and even added, "and I think that gave me the right to be the first one to congratulate you, not Emmett."

I don't know what my expression showed, but Jasper quickly intervened. "Honey," he told Alice. "You probably initiated their encounter, but they still had to fall in love on their own. You can't control someone else's feelings."

Alice sighed and asked. "How long have we been married, Jasper?"

Jasper didn't answer. He just looked at me apologetically, like saying 'I did what I could; you're on your own'. Alice took his silence as an answer. "And you still don't know that I have a gift for knowing these things before anyone else?"

Alice looked so confident about herself. I wanted to burst her bubble. "For your information, Alice. Edward and I didn't meet here as you planned. We met at a bookstore before we even knew we were neighbors." There! Take that, Ms. Know-it-all.

"Oh, really. And during that encounter you guys fell madly in love with each other, that closeness was not necessary to flourish whatever feeling you developed that day?"

Gawd, she was right. Edward and I didn't even talk to each other that day. But she didn't need to know that. I opened my mouth to lie but my cell phone vibrated saving me from a surely disaster —I was such a bad liar. I checked the caller I.D. and the name Edward brightened the screen. "Excuse me, I need to take this. Thank you for everything. It was really good."

I stood up and walked toward the balcony. "Hey," I answered.

"It's Edward," I heard Alice tell Jasper. Must she always be right?

"Hey, you," Edwards' beautiful voice greeted me.

I climbed over the railing and went into my place. "How are you?" I asked.

"Not so good. I miss you tremendously."

"I miss you too."

"Are you busy? Can we talk?"

"I'm not busy. I just finished having dinner with Alice and Jasper."

That information didn't surprise him. "I'm glad you're not alone."

Suspicion crept over me. "Yeah. But you know… I never got the chance to ask them what they were doing at your place. I suppose you know?"

Silence followed a sigh. "House-sitting?"

"Edward, please don't tell me that you asked Alice and Jasper to come and baby-sit me?"

"Okay."

"Edward!"

"Of course you don't need to be babysat. You're an adult. But it doesn't hurt to have someone around, especially if you're going to be alone for over a week."

I didn't know if to be offended or touched by his protectiveness. So I settled in between. "I appreciate your concern, Edward. But it's not necessary," I said. "Didn't Emmett clarify that he made up the crime rate statistics?"

"When did you talk to Emmett?"

"He went to see me this morning."

"How nice. Did he talk to you about his birthday party?"

"You're changing the subject," I accused.

He sighed deeply. "All right. Although I don't share Emmett's crude sense of humor, I do agree that there is too much violence these days. I asked Jasper and Alice to stay close to you in case you need something during my absence. I hope you don't take offense by my actions; they're just out of concern for your safety."

Most of my life I always took care of someone; first Renee, then Charlie, and finally myself. Being on the receiving end was new and disconcerting. "Again, I appreciate it. But you can't disrupt Jasper and Alice's lives just so they can look after me. It's insane. I am perfectly able to take care of myself. I've done it most of my life."

"I understand that you're capable of taking care of yourself. But they're doing me this favor, so I won't go insane while separated from you. Please just let me do this, this one time. Please?"

How could I be angry at Edward for wanting to protect me? Even if I asked Alice and Jasper to go home, I was sure they wouldn't leave after the incident. So I let it go. "Okay. But promise me that this won't ever happen again."

"I promise."

"Okay. Now tell me, have you eaten?"

He laughed, and told me all about his day.

We talked for hours until I remembered the time zone difference. I really didn't want to let him go, but he had a busy schedule the following day while I had nothing to do. I wished him a good night a couple of times, and when he still refused to hang up the phone, I faked a yawn. Of course, Edward being the gentleman that he was reluctantly finished our conversation. And I went to sleep with emptiness in my heart and in my bed. God, I missed him so much.

~*~

I barely heard the voice but definitely felt the nudge on my ribs as I emerged from a dream in which I was doing scandalous things to my beautiful Edward. I instantly felt angry to have my fantasy interrupted. "What!" I shouted.

Alice stood next to my bed with a beautiful smile on her face. "It's a beautiful sunny day. We need to go," she said and pulled the sheets from me.

I grabbed the sheets tightly and pulled them back. "It's always sunny in California," I informed her and laid my head back on my pillows, and tossed the cover over my head. "Go away!"

Alice tugged the covers out of my tight grip. "Get up! The morning is almost gone. We have things to do."

I glanced at the bedside clock —six fifty-eight a.m. "You've got to be kidding!"

With hands on her hips she scowled at me. "Do I look like I'm kidding?" Nope, definitely not. "We have an appointment at the Spa," she informed me.

"Spa?" I said, stretching my legs —there was no use going back to sleep; God, she was so pushy. Besides, I had planned to have some waxing and exfoliation done but I had not told Alice about it. She really seemed to know things before anyone. "At what time?" I asked.

"At nine."

It gave me enough time for a quick shower. I got up and went straight to my bathroom.

At seven forty-five I was ready and even had coffee and waffles prepared for the two of us. Jasper had a meeting and had left early.

Minutes later we were on our way to being beautified.

We got to the spa, and it was an elegant, very-expensive-looking place. It was my first time visiting one, so I planned to enjoy the experience.

Alice had gotten us a full package, so in addition to the waxing, pedicure and manicure, we also got a massage; it was the most relaxing thing I'd done in my life. They even fed us while we were getting our treatments.

We spent most of the day getting pampered. Once we left —late in the afternoon— we went straight to the mall, to buy our outfits for Emmett's Birthday bash as well as his gift. Alice helped me choose some Marcus Allen memorabilia, Emmett's all time favorite football player from USC —his Alma mater.

We then chose our dresses, and drove home happy with our choices.

I went inside my home and Alice to Edward's. I put away my bags, changed clothes and jumped over the railing, just like the Cullen's like to do. Jasper had Chinese food waiting for us. We ate and Alice recounted our day to Jasper.

After dinner, I washed the dishes —the least I could do, thanked them, and went back to my apartment to wait for my phone call. Edward did not disappoint; he called and we talked about our day.

Around ten o'clock, he reminded me of the meteor shower. "I wish you were here with me to see it together," I told him.

"I know. What wouldn't I give…" he said and paused. "I have an idea!"

"I'm listening…"

"Let's link our web cams, and we could see it together."

"Excellent idea," I told him. "Give me a couple of minutes to get my lap top."

"Okay."

We hung up and I ran to get my laptop, a blanket and bottle of water, and sat comfortably out on the balcony. I turned it on and seconds later there he was, gracing my screen. "It's nice to see you," I said.

"Oh. The pleasure is mine."

We watched the celestial show together. But I only saw one or two flashes, because my eyes were fixed on the computer screen most of the time, instead of the sky. What better heavenly phenomenon than the angel projected on my screen?

That night I went to bed with Edward's beautiful face fresh in my mind. I made a mental note to get his picture and use it as my screen saver.

It would be the most beautiful screen saver ever.

A/N: Thanks to Marijee