A/N- hey! Just a quickie here (I won't keep you from the story for long), however there is a song mentioned in this chapter. The link is provided on my user profile and I highly recommend you give it a listen! :) Sorry, this is a shorter chapter.

EmmettPOV:

I didn't care that Liz and Alice could foresee my plan or than Edward and Liz could read my thoughts, I was going to start a snowball fight after school that day. I would take it easy on the mortals, but my siblings were going to get it. Really, it was unfair to have this much snow and not be able to have fun. And it wasn't as much fun at home, without witnesses to my awesomeness. I laughed in my head and Edward-the-buzz kill shot me a look on our way to lunch. Oh, this was going to be too good. Oh, and think of how much fun it would be if Bella got angry and started trying to pelt me with snowballs! The look on her face would be…PRICELESS! Oh, this was great!

ElizabethPOV:

Jon walked me to lunch. He was going to eat at our table today and I was really hoping he wouldn't comment on the fact they didn't eat. If he said anything that forced Rose to eat human food she was going to make me pay for it. However, I knew I could just bribe her with a night of clubbing or something. He held my hand as we walked and smiled brightly at his friends as we passed them in the halls.

"Damn Jon lucked out on that one… the one single Cullen, or whatever that one's last name is, girl…" one of them thought.

He sat next to me and the others eyed him suspiciously. Bella, ever polite and innocent, sat next to him.

"Hey, Jon," she said sweetly.

"Hey, Lizzy, you haven't told me what song you've got lined up for the talent show yet. Have you picked one?" he asked me.

"No, I'm torn between a few good options at the moment," I said, and it was true in so many ways.

"Well, if you're having trouble deciding, you should come over to my house after school. I can play your accompaniments and offer my opinion." "And maybe…"

I forced the shield over him quickly. Projecting was still hard, just as Bella had described (hers was a complex gift). Edwards foot reached out from under the table and kicked me hard. However, I could still hear Jon's thoughts from under the shield.

"And maybe… more."

"I suppose I could. You would mind picking me up from Jon's house afterwards, would you Edward?" I asked, decided it was not yet time for Jon to see the Cullen residence.

"I'm not sure that is the best idea…" he began. "Do you honestly want to go there? What if you kill him?"

"So much for my snowball fight," Emmett thought.

"Oh, come on, Edward," Alice enthused and for once it didn't tempt me into thoughts of clothing-related revenge.

He squinted at me and gave a single curt nod.

"Cool," Jon said, before enthusiastically digging into his plate of fries. "Want some?"

"Um no thanks…" I said, trying to think up a plausible excuse. "All those trans fats. I mean what would the doc say?" I joked.

"Oh, yeah. I guess," he said, eating the fries at a much slower pace.

*******

Jon drove me to his home in his Saturn ion. The car ride was a little awkward for me, but I never let it show.

"Grandma's at her red hat ladies meeting today," he said. "House all to ourselves… no Cullens and Hales watching to keep her from kissing me more than just a casual peck."

"Oh, she doesn't mind you having company over when she isn't around?" I asked, my voice increasing slightly in pitch.

"No, she's actually really chill about everything to do with me," he said, smiling as we pulled into the driveway of a house that was decorated to resemble an alpine cottage. It was the normal décor in these parts.

He let us into the house and I sat down tentatively on the couch in the living room.

"So what are the song choices?" he asked. "Oh, one sec, let me get my keyboard… or do you need a guitar?" he asked.

"Keyboard," I managed to say and he ran off somewhere to retrieve it.

The whole situation was making me nervous. I was in too deep; much much much much much too deep. He was back though, before I could run… that was if I had wanted to run.

"So?" he asked, reminding me about the song question.

"Um, I have a few different ideas actually. I think songs should mean something but I can't find one that really fits me emotionally right now."

"Okay, well give me the short list," he encouraged. "Wow! sweet, pretty, perfect, and deep and meaningful... Where does it end?"

"Save Me From Myself, Near to You, Passenger Seat, and a few others," I said.

"Ballads?" he asked. "She doesn't really sing a ton of happy music…"

"Figured I'd stick with my strong suit."

"Well, why don't you play me one," he offered. "I'm not really familiar with any of those, otherwise I'd play the accompaniment. You do play right?"

"Yeah, sure. I'll give it a shot," I said sitting on the floor, facing the keyboard he had placed there. "Which one should I start with?"

"Any of your current potential emotional state songs about me? If there is, play that one," he suggested with a playful grin.

Oh, my. Poor mortal, if he only knew that they all related to him. I had been battling back and forth, trying to figure out message I wanted to send with my song. He would be the sort of person who would read into my song choice. I decided it was best to go with something sweet, seeing as how he had me here… alone… and as I hadn't yet fled, my heart was winning over my head. I played a few chords before I began to sing before his enraptured eyes.

"It's not so easy, loving me. It gets so complicated all the things you've got to be. Everything's changing… but you're the truth. I'm amazed by all your patience, everything I put you through. And when I'm about to fall, somehow you're always waiting with your open arms to catch me… You're gonna save me from myself… My love is tainted by your touch, cause some guys have shown me aces, but you've got that royal flush. I know it's crazy, every day. Well tomorrow may be shaky, but you never turn away. Don't ask me why I'm crying, cause when I start to crumble, you know how to keep me smiling… You always save me from myself. I know it's hard… but you've broken all my walls… You give me strength so strong. And don't me ask why I love you. T's obvious your tenderness is what I need to make me a better woman to myself," I sang, meaning the words.

I finished my song, letting my voice drift off, knowing that I had sounded good even to vampire ears, let alone his. He walked behind me, pacing the floor, letting the lyrics sink in. Then, he crouched behind me and wrapped his warm fragile arms around my granite body. It was a comforting embrace and I felt my tension loosen. I turned to face him, to gauge his reaction because his thoughts were incomprehensible. His hands moved from my waist to my face. He stared into the depths of my eyes and I wondered what he saw.

"You are perfect, Elizabeth," he whispered. "I love you."

He leant in and kissed me slowly, but there was passion building behind it, strong yet tender. I gave in, abandoning any pretence of self-preservation for my heart, keeping only enough physical restraint not to harm him. Soon, I leaned back, laying on the floor beneath him as he lavished kisses on my forehead. So sweetly, he never once thought of taking things further, and I was thankful because I wasn't sure I could refuse in my current mood.

"I love you," I said.

That was it. Years of resistance, self-control, avoidance, everything… crashing down, falling to pieces in three little words. I waited for my heart to crack, for some marbleised shard to break off; for my mind to scream at my betrayal of earlier love. Conflict rose in pools of sorrow and waves of joy. Suddenly, it was as if the whole gamut of human emotions resided within my cold dead heart.

BellaPOV:

Edward serenaded me with a newly written ballad, a love song, in the living room. Jacob and Reneseme were out hunting. Emmett and Jasper were having a snowball fight for the ages outside. Alice had Rosalie had volunteered to pick Elizabeth up after their shoe shopping expedition. I wondered how she was doing, because I knew it broke her heart to be near Jon, it must have reminded her of her dead soldier. However, Edward and I had the house to ourselves and that was enough to distract me from any logical thought.