Author's Note: Remember the first time you read Breaking Dawn (I'm betting here you've read it more than once;), remember how confused and maybe even a little mad you were when Alice just left out of the blue? It's similar to Bella's secret in this story, I know it doesn't make sense right now, but you've come a long way with me here, trust me it will make sense.

To answer another question, no, Bella is not Edward's singer in this story. Don't get me wrong he finds her very appealing (in more ways than one), but it wouldn't work with the continuity of this story. The first time Edward smells Bella, her head is cracked open and she's bleeding all over the place in chapter 1. Let's face it, if she was his singer the story would have ended right there, and that wouldn't have been any fun.

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight.

Highs and Lows

They say time flies when you're having fun. Well, it's entirely true. It was Thursday morning and I was utterly exhausted. We had settled into a pattern: Edward and his siblings went to school during the day while Esme and Carlisle stayed home with me. At night Carlisle went to work and I was left to the whims of the younger Cullens. We'd been hiking, shopping, to Canada and even to Seattle last night.

I pulled myself out of bed and into the shower. While we were in Seattle late last night, Alice had told me Carlisle would need me by eight this morning for tests. It was going to be a long day. After I was clean I made my way down stairs, following my nose. I could see Esme making me scrambled eggs and toast as I entered the kitchen.

"You poor thing, you look exhausted," she exclaimed.

"Yeah, I'm a little tired, but I'll be okay. I'm hoping Carlisle won't need me for long so I can go back to bed while Edward is away at school," I said as I started to dig into my food.

Carlisle walked in the front door just as I was finishing eating. "You look a little tired," he commented, "how late did they keep you out last night?"

"We got back around six," I answered truthfully.

Carlisle looked disappointed in me, it reminded me of my own father. "I'll have to talk to Edward," he said.

"No, no, it's not his fault. I agreed to it, figured I could sleep while he was at school. I'm really ok, not that tired. I can do whatever you need and rest later."

Carlisle still didn't look satisfied, but he directed, "Alright, take your time and finish eating. I'll meet you upstairs in the spare bedroom when you're ready."

I nodded in agreement and watched as he walked back towards the staircase and grabbed a rather large suitcase before climbing up out of my view. Joy- a suitcase, I rolled my eyes internally.

I polished off the five eggs and thanked Esme for the lovely breakfast. Then I lugged myself up the stairs and into the spare bedroom. Carlisle wasn't in there, but there was a hospital type gown folded at the foot of the bed. I took the hint and quickly stripped and put it on. I didn't hesitate to climb into the freaky hospital bed and pull all the covers up around me. Carlisle came in shortly thereafter and I sat up to see him.

"It's okay, you don't have to get up," he assured. I responded by letting myself thud back against the pillow. I heard Carlisle laugh a little under his breath as he pulled out and hung an IV bag. I groaned a little internally at the sight of it. Carlisle pulled up my left arm in the air and reached down with his other hand to pull all the blankets back up around me, just leaving that arm exposed.

"Well based on my research," Carlisle took a seat beside me and started to explain, "I've developed several trial treatments. I honestly don't know which, if any will work. They all have to be administered when the sickness starts; I have no way to safely test them until then. What I'm doing today is trying to slow down the Swan Sickness," he paused. "That's what I've coined it as: the Swan Sickness. Anyways, I need more than ninety minutes from when it starts to," he stopped again. "To be able to try as many possible remedies as I can," he continued. "So I'm going to see if I can force a shift to buy us more time essentially."

"If you're trying to force a shift, shouldn't I be in the water," I asked the obvious question.

"It shouldn't necessary. I'm giving you very minimal doses, the affect, if any should be mild. We could go down stairs if it would make you more comfortable, but I figured you would rather rest here. If there are any difficulties, I'll get you into the water fast, but I'm not anticipating anything," he assured.

I just nodded and watched lazily as he took out a needle and tube. I decided that would be a good time to close my eyes. "You can just rest dear, it won't offend me if you want to sleep. Like I said, it's all pretty mild, I doubt any of it will bother you at all."

I could feel him clean the inside area of my elbow and smell the burn of the alcohol. Thankfully I was out before I felt any prick. I'd have to remember to thank Carlisle for that.

I slept like a rock for what felt like a long time. It was one of those sleeps where I didn't really dream, I was just out cold. After a while I started to wake up and felt disoriented, I opened my eyes and Carlisle was in my view. He moved the hair out of my face, "How do you feel Bella?" he asked me.

I took a deep breath, "I'm fine." I brought my hand up to my face to wipe my eyes and then held my hand back in shock in front of my face. A thousand things raced through my mind at once. I wasn't ready, why was I not in pain, why was Carlisle just looking at me?

I didn't have time to voice any of these, "Bella?" Carlisle inquired.

"I'm okay," I almost asked. I felt fine, but sure enough my fingers were webbed and my skin held some shimmer.

"Yes, you're fine dear," Carlisle smiled at me.

"Huh, cool," I wiggled my fingers in front of my face. Carlisle laughed at my amusement.

"I'm all done, we're just waiting for it to wear off and I'll unhook you," he assured. I looked at the clock and saw that I still had two hours until Edward would be home.

"Mind if I just go back to sleep?" I asked.

"Not at all, please do," Carlisle encouraged.

The first thing I recognized in my half awake state was his scent. When I first met Edward he smelled sickly sweet. Over time though, I've grown accustomed to it. It was never a repulsive smell- it was just a smell that set off instinctual alarms. Now I associated that smell with Edward and it set off other reactions.

I felt his soft lips meet mine and wake me in the most wonderful way possible. I kissed him back and fluttered open my eyes to see his handsome face. Like I said before, Edward was the stuff fairytales were made of, things like glass slippers and sleeping princesses where the norm around him. He may think himself a monster, but he didn't have me fooled.

"Wake up my sleeping beauty," he mused as he pulled away.

I smiled back at him, "but I wasn't done kissing you," I complained. Edward climbed up on the bed and held himself above me as he brought his lips back down to mine. I wrapped my arms around him and drew him even closer to me. Edward gave in and slowly laid his body on top of mine as our kiss deepened.

After a few moments he rolled off of me laughing, "Bella you really like to push fate," he joked.

"You don't give yourself enough credit, I'm not afraid of you."

"You really shouldn't have said that," Edward pounced on me and started tickling me furiously. I screamed and laughed and cried all at once until he finally stopped.

Once I caught my breath I rolled out of the bed away from his reach and put my hands on my hips looking at in a playful yet angry way. "Uh, love you may want to get dressed," he commented modestly.

I looked down at myself in shock as I still had on the skimpy hospital robe. I could feel my face turn bright red. "You're lovely when you blush," Edward said as he stood up and walked to me planting a kiss on my forehead. "I'll start dinner and see you down stairs in a few." I smiled at him in response as he left the room.

I pulled on my clothes and went back to my room to freshen up before heading back down stairs. I saw my cell phone in my room and checked it for any missed calls. Sure enough, my parents' number was on there, I hit the call back button and my mom answered after two rings.

"Hi Bella, how are you?"

"I'm fine, having allot of fun. Carlisle is working hard and seems to be making progress."

"Bella there's something I need to tell you," my mom's tenor changed.

"What?"

"It's Lauren, sweetie, she didn't make it, she's gone."

I was silent as I processed the information. Lauren was only sixteen, younger than me. We weren't particularly close; she was more of an acquaintance than a friend. It was still saddening, she was just a kid, and there weren't many of us left.

"When is the funereal?" I asked.

"Honey, her parents are just doing a graveside service for the family, you can give your respects when you come back on Saturday." I knew the drill.

"Alright, pass on my sympathies," my voice was monotone.

"I will dear, take care, I love you so much," I could hear her voice cracking.

"Mom, don't do that. I'm going to make it; Angela and I are going to make it. The Cullens were brought into our lives for a reason. I believe this is going to work, I need you to have faith to mom."

"I do honey, I do, I love you, see you on Saturday," my mom squeaked out.

"I love you to," I disconnected the line. I really didn't know what to feel as I walked over to the vanity and stared into the mirror. I felt like I was on a rollercoaster. One minute I was at the highest peak as Edward kissed me in bed, the next I was back staring my own death in the face. I wondered why this happened, how could a good and loving God let little girls die. It wasn't the first time I had asked this question, I knew the answer. I knew that death and disease were a part of life, a part of free will. In the back of my mind I also realized that with out the evil, the darkness and despair that maybe we would never appreciate the wonderful, the light or love that also exists in the world.

It took me a few extra minutes to pull myself back together, but I did and I walked back down those stairs and acted like nothing had happened. There was nothing I could do for Lauren but live my life, I had to live.