Disclaimer: The usual. I don't own Twilight, any of its characters or Two Is Better Than One.

AN: Hey guys, thanks so much for your reviews for the last chapter! I've had a few questions from people about the story and I've answered them in a note at the end of the chapter for y'all. Thanks so much for reading! And now, without further ado, onto….

Ch. 21: Two Is Better Than One — Boys Like Girls (feat. Taylor Swift)

I remember what you wore on the first day
You came into my life and I thought
"Hey, you know, this could be something"
'Cause everything you do and words you say
You know that it all takes my breath away
And now I'm left with nothing

So maybe it's true
That I can't live without you
Maybe two is better than one
There's so much time
To figure out the rest of my life
And you've already got me coming undone
And I'm thinking two is better than one

I remember every look upon your face
The way you roll your eyes
The way you taste
You make it hard for breathing
'Cause when I close my eyes and drift away
I think of you and everything's okay
I'm finally now believing

That maybe it's true
That I can't live without you
Maybe two is better than one
There's so much time
To figure out the rest of my life
And you've already got me coming undone
And I'm thinking two is better than one

Way to listen to me, Edward.

Alice's disapproving thoughts rang clear in my head as I drew nearer to Bella's house.

She was clearly unhappy with my decision to act on my own and not wait for her signal.

I ignored her thoughts though, way too gleeful to care.

I did have the decency to knock first, and wait patiently while Alice took her sweet time answering the door.

"I don't know if she's ready to talk yet, Edward," Alice said quietly, the opposite of her usual gusto.

"Trust me, it'll be fine."

Something in my tone set Alice off. Giving me a curious look, her eyes glazed over as she searched the future. I watched the vision play out through her mind, even more ecstatic with the guarantee of Alice's sight that this would turn out well.

Alice popped back to the present, a shit-eating grin stretched across her face.

"Oh, this is perfect!" She squealed, clapping her hands together. "Hang on just a moment."

Alice disappeared from the doorway, leaving me to stand on the front porch alone.

I heard her dart up the stairs to Bella's room.

"Bella, Edward's here," Alice said softly.

"Will you tell him to go away?"

"Trust me, Bella. You're going to want to hear what he has to say."

I heard Bella huff, before muttering "fine."

"Call me later," Alice told her as she made her way back down the stairs to stand before me again.

"Don't screw this up," she threatened, her eyes narrowing darkly.

"I wouldn't dream of it," I promised.

Alice patted my arm on her way out, before making a dash for home.

I stepped inside the quiet house, shutting the door behind me. The slight click of the door sounded deafening in the silence.

I made my way up the stairs, careful to make plenty of noise so Bella would hear me coming.

Standing at the threshold to her room, I took a deep breath before pushing her door open all the way.

"Bella?" I called out tentatively, poking my head around the corner.

Bella sighed loudly, making it clear she wasn't happy about me being here. But she told me to come in anyway.

Walking into the room, I took note of the drawn shades, the balled up tissue dotting the floor sporadically and the rumbled bed sheets. All the classic signs of the aftermath of a lovers quarrel. Or at least according to Hollywood.

Bella slid off the bed the instant I entered the room. She faced me, feet planted firmly on the floor and arms crossed across her chest, looking ready for Round Two.

"Bella, I'm not here to fight. I'm here to apologize."

Bella dropped her folded arms, her eyebrows raised in surprise.

"Well that was fast."

"I don't like fighting with you. Not even for five minutes."

"Well you should think about that the next time you want to be a…a…a selfish jerkface."

I couldn't help but smile at her childish retort. She was obviously not used to insulting people.

"Bella, what I was trying to say earlier is that I don't want to doom you to this life, if that's what it can even be called." Bella opened her mouth to argue, but I held up one hand, signaling her to let me continue. Surprisingly, her mouth snapped shut with a click.

"And the reason I don't want this to be your fate is…is because I love you, Bella."

Bella's eyes widened and she gasped but I continued, wanting to finish what I had to say.

"You are my sole reason for living, for existing. You are my world. My shining light in a world of darkness. I don't want you to become a vampire, not because I don't want to be with you for all eternity—I'm certainly selfish enough to want that—but because I want to save you from becoming a monster. I wouldn't wish this existence on anyone, much less someone I love."

Her eyes became watery as she closed the distance between us, throwing her arms around me.

"I love you, too, Edward. It's like you're the other half of my soul. I can't bear to be away from you. That's why I was upset: I want to be with you forever and I thought you didn't want me."

Stroking her hair, my heart soared at her words. I had no idea it was possible to be so happy.

"Silly Bella, I always want to be with you. You are my soulmate. I want to be with you until the end of time."

Bella pulled back in my arms until she could see my face.

"Who's time? Mine, or yours?" I heard the bitterness creeping back into her voice.

"Bella, can we discuss this at another time, please? We just confessed our eternal love for one another. There's something else I'd much rather be doing with our mouths."

A slow grin spread across her lips, before she leaned forward and attacked my mouth with her own.

I slowly began to back Bella toward her bed, our passionate kiss slowly melting into a tender and gentle one, as we expressed our newfound love for one another.

Once Bella felt the edge of the bed, she sat down, scooting backwards across the mattress so I could join her, our lips never leaving one another.

Bella fell back onto the bed and I followed, leaning over her and planting my arms on either side of her slim body to brace my weight.

Our gentle kiss quickly escalated into a heated one, as Bella's nimble fingers found the hem of my shirt and tugged it upward, her warm fingers tracing the planes of my stomach and back. My lips left her mouth as I trailed kisses down her slender neck to the hem of her shirt, following the same path several times, causing Bella to release a sexy moan beneath me.

My hand found its way to the buttons holding her shirt together. I slipped the bottom two through their holes, sliding my hand across Bella's flat stomach. Her back arched slightly at my touch, both of us panting heavily.

I returned to the third button, and had just released its hold when we both heard the front door open and slam shut.

Our movements froze as our wide eyes found each other, staring numbly.

"Bells?" Charlie's loud voice boomed from below, spurring us both into action.

I rolled away from Bella until my feet were on the floor, pulling my shirt down as I stood.

"Oh my god, you have to get out of here," Bella hissed as she shot up into a seated position, clumsily trying to refasten the buttons on her shirt.

"Just a minute, dad!" Bella shouted out, watching me with panicked eyes.

I couldn't believe I was about to be caught in the midst of a heavy make-out session by my girlfriend's father. How many cliché teen movies had I just mimicked?

I reached forward to help her with her shirt but she swatted my hands away, shoving me toward the window instead.

"Go!" She whispered urgently, as we heard the heavy tread of Charlie's boots on the staircase.

I slid the window open and jumped through the opening with practiced ease.

Bella slammed it shut behind me, giving me one last look through the glass before turning away and disappearing from sight.

I darted into the woods, but remained close enough to listen in and watch through Charlie's mind.

"Dad!" Bella greeted, throwing her arms around her father, who welcomed her embrace. "You're home!"

"Hey, Bells. I missed you, kiddo." He swept a kiss across her forehead before pulling back to look her over.

"You alright there, Bells? You look a little flushed." He gently pressed a palm against her forehead. "You feel pretty warm, Bells. Are you feeling okay?"

I chuckled as I watched Bella push her father's hand away, fussing with her shirt hem while she tried to hide her renewed blush. "I'm fine, I promise. I just really missed you, Dad. I'm so glad your home." Bella finally raised her gaze to her father's, her love for him evident in her eyes.

"Me too, Bells, me too. So did I miss anything while I was gone?"

There was a slight pause from Bella.

"Nope, not a thing."

I entered the house, whistling a random tune, only to find my family seated around the dining room table.

Six pairs of eyes with six variations of grins shot up to stare at me as I walked into the room, casually taking my seat at the table.

"Dude, Edward looks like he finally got some," Emmett smirked across the table at me, leaning so far back that his chair was only resting on two legs. "It's about damn time you became a real man."

Without so much as a twitch to reveal my intentions, I hooked my foot underneath Emmett's chair and lifted it just enough to cause him to tip over.

My brother's face was priceless as he and the chair toppled backwards with a loud CRASH, the chair smashing to pieces under his weight.

"What the fuck?" Emmett hopped up, shaking his head slightly, his eyes narrowing as they landed on me. "Oh, it's so on."

"Edward Anthony Masen!" Esme shot up from her seat. "You will be replacing that chair immediately!"

I gave her a sheepish grin, nodding my head, as the rest of my siblings broke out into giggles and chuckles.

It was so worth it.

Esme sighed as she sat back down, shaking her head at the antics of her children.

"Well where am I supposed to sit now?" Emmett whined as he stood, towering over the table and each of us.

Esme sighed again. "Edward, go find something for your brother to sit on."

I smirked as I thought of the perfect thing.

Dashing into the kitchen, I came back with the pale pink stool Esme kept in the pantry.

"Aww, man," Emmett groaned when he saw it. "I'm not sitting on that!"

Rose rolled her eyes at her husband. "Emmett, just sit down," she hissed.

Emmett crossed his arms and muttered a fine, taking the stool from my hands.

He sat down gingerly on it, sending us into a chorus of laughter.

Despite his size, only Emmett's head was now visible above the table since the stool was so short.

His eyes blazed challengingly at me.

You better watch yourself, Eddie. You're not even gonna see it coming.

I just smirked triumphantly at him, ignoring his threats. It was nearly impossible to sneak up on a mind-reader.

Carlisle, who'd been silent while our antics played out, cleared his throat to finally draw our attention.

"Alright, assuming the jokes are out of our systems now," he said, glancing between Emmett and me. "Let's move on to more pertinent matters."

My father's eyes swept the room, locking gazes with each of us briefly.

"Now is the time for each one of you to make a decision. We discussed it a bit before, but I wanted each of you to have some time to think about it. To really consider what the consequences could be. We are keeping a secret from the Volturi. We will be outright lying to them, and we all know how this could end. But it is your own choice to make. We all will understand completely if you no longer wish to be a part of this. You will not be judged for your decision and you will still remain part of this family, whatever you decide."

Carlisle reached over and clasped hands with Esme, as they shared an affectionate smile.

"Esme and I are staying and will continue to protect Bella."

He turned to me next.

"Edward?"

I almost scoffed. "You don't really have to ask, do you?"

Carlisle nodded, before moving on.

"Alice?"

"We're staying!" She chirped.

Carlisle's gaze slid to Jasper, who confirmed this with a quick nod.

"Rosalie?"

My sister's eyes flicked to Emmett, as they entered a brief, silent conversation.

"We're staying, too." She finally said.

"Yeah, someone's gotta keep the rest of you guys in line!" Emmett added.

Esme smiled brilliantly now that she knew her family was sticking together.

"Alright, then. We're all staying. I'm proud of each one of you. But we're going to have to be on our guard. Alice, I know this goes without saying, but could you keep an eye on the future and check it frequently."

She nodded cheerfully. "Of course, Carlisle!"

As if to prove her commitment, her eyes glazed over as a new vision played out.

I frowned as I watched it along with her.

Alice's eyes came back into focus as the vision ended, the corner of her lips turned down into a slight frown that matched my own.

"Aro's going to call in about an hour," she said softly.

Carlisle nodded, his features suddenly grim.

"So it begins."

As much as I wanted to return to Bella's side, I hung around the house, waiting for Aro to call. I wanted to be able to listen in on this conversation.

"Jesus, Edward, just go to your room or something!" Rose finally exclaimed as I wandered around the living room in endless circles, driving my family crazy as I waited for time to pass.

I ignored her, wandering over to my piano and playing a few notes before roaming back to the couch where my siblings were watching a movie. Everyone was trying to be casual, knowing Aro would be calling very soon, and I knew I wasn't helping.

Emmett hurled a pillow at me, smirking when it hit me square in the face.

I opened my mouth to retort about his maturity level when I heard the chorus of Poker Face ring out from Carlisle's office.

Can't read my, can't read my, no he can't read my poker face…

"Emmett, what did I tell you about touching my cell phone?" Carlisle called out, trying to sound angry but failing miserably.

Alice was laughing, Jasper was smiling and shaking his head, while Rose just rolled her eyes at her husband's antics.

I raised my eyebrows and looked at Emmett, who shrugged his shoulders trying to appear innocent. But the triumphant grin stretched across his features gave him way.

"It's the perfect song though, right?" He said confidently, obviously proud of himself. I just wondered when he had managed to swipe Carlisle's phone to change the ring tone in the last hour. My brother had some strange talents….

I ignored him though, making a dash to the hall outside Carlisle's office, wanting to ensure I heard this conversation word for word.

"Hello, Aro."

"Ah, young Carlisle, my friend. How are you and your family faring these days?"

"We're great, thanks for asking. How are things in Volterra?"

"Oh, same ole, same ole. Taking care of disobedient vampires. Ensuring our existence is kept a secret to the human race. The usual."

"Nothing much ever really changes, does it old friend?"

"No, it never really does."

There was a slight pause from both ends.

"Now Carlisle, you know why I am calling. How is our dear little Bella doing these days?"

I clenched my fists at the possessive way he talked about my Bella. She didn't belong to him.

"I wish I had more to tell you, Aro," my father began the lie that could possibly one day spell our downfall. "Nothing has really changed. Her senses still seem to be heightened, but there haven't really been any further developments."

Another pause from Aro's end.

"Nothing, hmm? Well, that's certainly disappointing."

Aro sighed sadly. "Well, would you mind continuing to monitor her? I was so sure she would be one to exhibit these abilities."

"Yes, of course, Aro. And I'll let you know if anything changes."

"Excellent. Well, take care old friend. Tell the lovely Esme that I said hello."

"I will. Give my regards to Sulpicia."

After saying goodbye, they hung up.

Carlisle's office door swung open seconds later.

"Well, how do you think that went, Edward?"

I grinned. "I think he bought it."

Thoughts? Comments? Questions? Thanks so much for reading! And now, to answer your questions….

Q: Does Jacob come into this at all?

A: I debated bringing him into this story when writing almost every chapter because I just love his character so much. But, sadly, I don't believe I will this time because I don't feel like he'd fit into this particular story as well. I could write him in, but at this point I think it would just distract from the storyline. So sorry Jacob fans! I don't believe we'll be seeing him at all this time around. But don't worry, I've been working on a few new stories and he's present in all of them. : )

Q: Whose side of the family did Bella get the vampire traits? Charlie's or her mom's? Does the trait only follow the female side or can it be carried through the males also?

A: Wonderful question sagajunkie. I'm kind of surprised no one had asked me about this before. I was always planning on explaining it more somewhere in the story but guess I just forgot, lol. Anyways, for some reason I decided that the trait was only passed through females, and that it came from Renee's side of the family (although Renee nor her mother—Bella's grandmother—had any special abilities themselves, more distant female relatives down the family line did). There's no specific reason for why I chose one over the other; it's just what popped into my head when I first came up with the idea for this story and stuck. Hope that answers your questions!

I think I've answered everyone's questions for now, but let me know if I missed it or if you have more. And once again, thanks for reading! Have a wonderful day!

Until next time,

Lizzieloo