A/N: Hey, faithful readers (and any new readers…yeah, YOU)! Thanks for clicking and reading. Thank you thank you thank you.

I had over fifty hits. Why only two reviews? Please, please. I really need self esteem. I feel like I'm turning into this Bella from the beginning of the story...for different reasons. Reviews make me happy.

Disclaimer: Yeah, yeah, I know, I don't own Twilight or any band references I make…-sigh-

Chapter 21: Banters and News

(RECAP)

I stood, clearing the idiotic ramblings in my head, and darted down the stairs. I peered through the peephole, and suddenly I saw stars.

I shrieked.

(BPOV)

I quickly yanked open the door. And there stood Jason, Ryan, and Matt.

"GUYS!!" I screamed. I was really glad that the cruiser was gone, or Charlie probably would have had an aneurism. I stumbled into their arms, sobbing and hugging all of them at once – and tightly.

After the initial sobbing stopped and the tears ended, I pulled back and looked at them. Boy, had they changed…except for Matt. He always remained constant. His honey-colored hair was still spiked, and he was as muscular as ever…the only difference was that he was a little more tanned from helping Leah at her ranch. He wore a black, long-sleeved shirt and jeans.

Ryan's beautiful dark brown hair had been styled into an emo cut – bangs framing his face, hair spiked out in the back. He had some reddish highlights in it. He wore eyeliner and all the stereotypical emo clothes (band shirt, tight black pants, and Converse). If we weren't like brother and sister, and I didn't have Edward, then I'd be under his spell.

Jason's light brown, short-cut hair was longer – past his chin - and his left ear was now pierced. He had a Slipknot shirt on, along with some lighter (not heavy like some) Tripp pants.

"Guys," I sputtered again. "Come in," I said, yanking them in the house and slamming the door shut behind us.

They all had wide smiles. "Bella!" They each crowed. Tears started streaming down my face once more.

Were my eyes EVER going to stop producing rivers of salt water?

"You're a mess, Bella…" Matt said, looking me over.

But I could tell that Ryan and Jason were, too. Jason wasn't as visible about it, but Ryan sure was.

"Yeah. Well, Ryan, Jase, you guys are too," I said, punching their shoulders lightly. I dried my tears, and invited them to my room.

It suddenly occurred to me that I had no clue where Edward was. I frowned at this thought as I trotted up the stairs.

"So, how'd you guys get off school?" I asked, motioning for them to sit wherever. I sat on my bed, Indian style. Matt sat on my rocking chair, Jason stood, and Ryan sat beside me on the bed. He gave me a small smile.

"It's spring break, remember?" Jason said in a tone that questioned my sanity.

"Oh yeah!" I smacked myself in the forehead. "Hey, I just remembered that this morning, give me a break."

"Yeah, and you already forgot again," Ryan said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

"Typical Bella," Jason added jokingly.

"Ha, ha," I said, rolling my eyes at Jason and sticking my tongue out at Ryan playfully.

"So, what's been going on here?" Matt asked. I frowned slightly, and retold everything that had happened in Forks…editing out Edward, at least for now. These guys were really protective of me. And Edward could do more damage to them then they could him.

"Hey, I thought of a cool band name," I smiled. "The Islanders."

"Hey, that is cool," Matt said, pleased. Jason and Ryan nodded in agreement. I jumped up, remembering.

"I have a journal of lyrics I've come up with, here," I snatched up a purple notebook I bought at Hot Topic, which had a faerie on the cover. I handed it to Ryan. He read through it. "Hey, this is pretty good, Bells. I like it." He passed it to Jason, who sat on the floor to read.

XxXxXxX

Time passed quickly. It was eleven before I grew worried about Edward once more. Was something wrong? Was he okay?

And what was worse…was he coming back?

I shook my head, stopping the thought there. Edward loved me. He told me so. And besides, why else would he put up with me, a pathetic human?

Ryan's cell rang, and he walked out of the room. Before he walked out the door, his eyes met mine, and they had a twinkle in them.

"So, Bella, Ryan found a record signer that'd be interested in us," Jason said after several minutes of silence. I looked over to him, smiling.

"Really?" I asked, my smile widening.

"Yeah, and he seemed really enthused. I arranged for us to meet with him in five hours." Ryan said as he walked into the room. His smile was contagious.

I grinned, and looked at the clock. It read 11:17. "Crap, we have to get ready and be at Seattle by 4:30?!" I gasped. I jumped up to get dressed and ready.

I grabbed my latest outfit, one I ordered off of the Hot Topic website. It consisted of a "school" uniform – a plaid skirt with a white button-up shirt, and a tie that matched the skirt. I also got some matching knee-high socks. I quickly brushed my teeth, dressed, and pulled my hair back into pigtails. My chin-length bangs still hung down the side of my face. I glanced down at my nails; the black polish was beginning to chip, but I didn't have time to worry about it. I put on some random silver earrings, and my nose ring. I quickly applied eyeliner and eye shadow to my face, and after deeming myself presentable, I ran back into my room. I pulled out my platform boots and quickly slid them on.

The boys raised their eyebrows at me. I merely shrugged and grinned goofily. This was definitely the gothiest I've ever looked. They chuckled, and all stood.

"Let's go!" Ryan said excitedly. I had to remember, this was just as exciting for them as it was me.

As we went down the stairs, I decided to leave a note on the table in case Charlie or Edward came looking for me. As I rounded the corner, I noticed a folded paper on the table.

I walked over to it, and my heart sped up. In his scroll-like, neat font, it read, See you in Seattle.

I shook my head, smiling. Of course he'd know. He either listened or Alice had a vision. Then I swallowed nervously. Today, we could be signed to a record company. I fought to keep my nerves as I walked out (and locked) the front door. The boys rented a black 2007 Mustang. I got into the passenger's seat. Ryan was patiently waiting in the driver's seat. Matt was his usual quiet self as he waited in the back seat, while Jason fiddled in the seat directly behind Ryan.

"Can't you at least put on some music?" he begged. I jumped out of the car quickly, grabbed my keys from my cloth purse (that was smothered with band buttons from Hot Topic) and unlocked my truck door. I re-locked it, and quickly got back in the car.

I slid in a disk, not letting them see it.

The hypnotic guitar of "Shut Me Up", by Mindless Self Indulgence, started playing, off of their CD "You'll Rebel to Anything". I heard the guys groan. They loved MSI, but I listened to them A LOT!

"The bass, the rock, the mic, the treble, I like my coffee black just like my metal!" I sang, mimicking Jimmy Urine's high-pitched voice. "I can't wait for you to shut me up, and make me, hip like bad ass! I can't wait for you to shut me up, SHUT! IT! UP!"

XxXxXxX

We drove straight to Seattle, only stopping to quickly grab lunch at a Subway. We went through the MSI CD, the AFI CD Decemberunderground, Dark Light, by HIM, and many others.

By the time we got there, we were all relieved. We followed the directions to the record company, a three story building on the outskirts of downtown.

I checked myself in the car's mirror, and took a deep breath. This was it. And suddenly, a flash of bronze caught my eye; I looked up, and Edward was leaning against the side of the building, smiling hugely. I screeched in happiness and ran, flat-out, to him. Only, I tripped because of my heavy platform boots. Before I could kiss the concrete, two cold, stone-like arms wrapped around me.

"Don't fall before your big break, love," he whispered sweetly in my ear. I smiled slightly, as my vision started to spin.

"Thanks," I muttered, embarrassed.

"Hey, who are you?!" I heard Jason yell suddenly. I heard hurried footsteps as the guys ran over to help me.

"Boys, it's okay. This…umm…" I had to break the news to them at some point, that their "innocent" "sister" was not single anymore. Would they be happy for me?

"This is Edward," I said, and then mumbled quickly, "He's my boyfriend."

"I'm sorry, what?" Jason said, blinking. Ryan's mouth was slightly parted, and Matt just smiled.

"Edward, this is Jason, Matt, and Ryan. Jase, Matt, Ry, this is Edward. My boyfriend." I said, strongly this time.

"It's nice to finally meet you," Edward said. I knew he was reading their thoughts, so I watched his eyes; they seemed pleased with whatever Ryan and Matt thought, but they hardened slightly at Jason.

"Bella, why didn't you tell us?" Jason asked quietly.

I shrugged. "I wasn't sure how," I said truthfully. "I WAS going to, though, trust me." I added. Jason seemed slightly more relaxed. "Umm…we have an appointment, right? Cuz I think it's in one minute."

This seemed to break him from his reverie. He walked quickly to the door, followed by Matt, who smiled at me. He was happy that I finally found someone.

Ryan trailed behind to walk next to me. He smiled. "I'm really happy for you," he said gently, in a brotherly tone.

I fought back tears. "Oh, Ry!" I quickly removed my hand from Edward's and hugged Ryan around the neck. "Thank you," I whispered in his ear.

"No problem, sis," he smiled. "Now come on, we have a CD to make!"

I took Edward's hand in mine once more, and stepped through the threshold of the door…to my future.

XxXxXxX

I stood breathing through a paper bag, trying to even out my oxygen intake. The world spun, causing nausea to wreak havoc in my stomach. Tears streamed down my face.

"Bella! You coming with us?" The guys called from the Mustang.

I shook my head. I reached out and clung to Edward's hand.

"She's going home with me," Edward called lightly. He picked me up and carried me to the Volvo.

"Okay," Ryan said, getting in the passenger seat while Jason got in the driver's seat. Edward gently placed me in the passenger seat of the Volvo, and stroked my cheek lightly with his thumb.

Matt quickly ran to Edward, handing him something. "Here, this is hers. We'll be in Forks' only motel," he chuckled, and ran back to the car.

Edward placed something beside my feet, and then shut my door. I then noticed it was my CD case.

Edward and I sat in the car for several moments, before he finally started back to Forks.

"There's going to be a thunderstorm tonight, according to Alice. We decided we're going to play baseball. You can come if you want."

"Sure," I smiled slightly. The nausea was now gone, and I was no longer spinning.

After a moment of silence, Edward spoke again. "You know, it's not very fair. You look entirely too tempting right now."

I remembered my outfit, and blushed crimson. "Thanks," I muttered. He chuckled lightly, and took my hand.

We were silent for several minutes. Maybe even an hour. Hell, I didn't care. Finally, Edward spoke again.

"Are you okay?" he asked quietly, sweetly.

"Yeah," I said.

And how could I not be?

We were SIGNED!

A/N: Hey everyone! So, how did you like it? I estimate there being three more chapters plus an epilogue. Then I'll post the playlist, then the sequel! The sequel will hopefully be better…

New poll up on my profile…check it out. Also, check out the link on my profile to my new Vampire Freaks account! Haha, it's fun there. Talk about goth-o-rama. And emoness. -in heaven-

Is it just me, or would it be fun to dress like Bella did? I want to! lol...but I like emoness/gothic-ness, so...

Please review! I see so many people adding my story to their favorites/alerts…but only two reviews? –cries- Even if you just say, "Love it!" or, "This is CRAP!", I don't care. Haha. Seriously, though.

Thanks for reading!