I'm sorry for keeping you guys waiting, I will update regularly now. Thanks for the reviews of the last chapters.

Chapter twenty-five.

"Are you sure you're ok, Bella?" asked Charlie concernedly.

"Yes dad", I told him nodding, "I'm fine. Now, Alice and Rose need to unpack. Come on, it's nearly half past two!"

Charlie watched me for a couple of seconds; studying my face closely then reluctantly he nodded and allowed us upstairs. I groaned when I realised Jessica was following.

I ushered Rosalie and Alice inside my room quickly and stood in the doorway. I didn't want Jessica here with me. I didn't really want her anywhere near me actually. I knew it sounded mean but she was seriously getting on my nerves and

I was sure that Rosalie was close to punching her anyway. That wouldn't make Charlie smile.

"Jessica can you do me a favour?" I asked her as I blocked the doorway. She tried to find a way to wriggle around me.

"Um…sure Bella", she said uncertainly, "after I help you guys unpack and things, alright?"

"No, right now", I told her firmly, "Listen, I've got to catch up with my friends. It's nothing personal but I just need some time with them."

"That's fine", she said cheerfully, but as I turned to back into my room, she followed.

"What are you doing?" I snapped, irritated. Didn't she understand the little conversation I just had with her?

"I'm…helping your friends unpack", she said in an obvious tone.

"No, you're not", I growled. Jessica flinched. Alice cleared her throat and Rosalie stifled some giggles.

"They're my friends", I explained to her, whilst trying not to punch her face, "and this is my room. Now, I'm going to catch up with my friends, in my room and you aren't going to be here. It's going to be me, Alice and Rosalie. Now get out and do not disturb!"

A moment's silence followed the slam of the door when Jessica had stumbled her way out. I turned around slowly to see Alice and Rosalie on my bed. They were both sitting Indian style with their legs crossed and staring at me.

"What?" I snapped, annoyed.

"Talk about harsh", muttered Alice, shaking her head.

"We see you haven't changed much, Bella", laughed Rosalie, getting up from the bed.

"And we like you that way", added Alice, stand up on my bed and beginning to jump up and down.

"I'm not harsh", I said turning my nose up, "I'm merely not gentle. Besides, Jessica's a right nosy bitch."

"We've noticed", said Rosalie going over to start unpacking her clothes. I made a little space in my rather large cupboard for Alice and Rosalie to put their things in, whilst they were staying here.

"So tell us about this Edmund Collins guy", Alice called out, still bouncing on my bed. I sighed and went to help Rosalie.

What do I say?

"Edward. His name is Edward Cullen", I corrected her, "and…there's nothing to tell you guys anyway."

"Oh come on", laughed Rosalie chucking some red bras over at me, "don't hold back on us, Bella. I know you've been bursting to tell us about your American Boy. And strangely…his horse. Hey, why does he have a horse?"

"Starlight", I told her, "her name is starlight. She's beautiful. I should show her to you guys sometime…"

My voice trailed off.

"Nevermind the horse, I wanna see the hottie", giggled Alice, hopping off my bed and fanning herself, "he must be extra gorgeous for you to be spending every night with him, alone."

"Every night?" repeated Rosalie, looking outraged, "seriously Bella? I didn't know he was that special."

"Oh he is", said Alice nodding importantly, "she told me that they sit together in school at lunch then after school, at night, she'd sneak out of her room and Edward would make her see stars…"

"Oh, which kind of stars?" asked Rosalie, raising her eyebrows suggestively.

And I wanted to cry. Because whatever they were saying were all past tense. There was clearly something wrong with Edward and me now. And I didn't know what it was. I didn't know if it was me. I didn't know what the problem was. All I knew was that I was absolutely in love with Edward Cullen. And he didn't feel the same way about me.

"You're not going to meet him", I snapped at them both, "or the fucking horse, alright?"

I ran over to Alice's suitcase and began emptying it to avoid their gaze.

"She wants to keep him all to herself", whispered Rosalie, loud for me to hear.

"Yeah, but the horse as well?" said Alice, "at least let us see the horse!"

I clicked.

"The horse has a name!" I screamed out, turning around to glare at my friends. They're shocked and silent expression repelled back onto me. The room was silent. I could hear my heart thumping though. I could hear my blood rushing. I could hear my breathing.

I had to calm down. I had to loosen up. I had to see Edward. To talk to him. I wanted to. I wanted to ask him what was wrong. Was it something I did? Something I said?

Did he love me?

"Who pissed you off?"

Alice was the first person to speak. I stared at her. Not glaring, staring. Then I sighed.

"No one, nothing", I told her shaking my head, "I just flipped out for no reason, sorry about that. Just flipped out for no reason…"

"Bella your hand is shaking", whispered Rosalie, her gaze fixed at my hand, which was holding a bottle of perfume. I placed the perfume down and went to sit on my bed. My friends watched warily.

I knew I had to do something now. There were two things I could do. I could become Bella. The London Bella. Give up on Edward. He didn't love me, doesn't matter. I could just be friends with him. Wave occasionally, never speak to. My friends were here now anyway. I didn't need him. I didn't have to go to Tifins forest. I would enjoy my life. London Bella.

Or…

Or I could become the changed Bella. The Bella that Edward had made me into. When he dazzled me with his gentleman manners, his white horse and his kisses. I was changed. He changed me.

I could become that Bella. I could go see him tonight, to ask him. To ask if anything was wrong. To ask if it was me. To ask if we were over or not. I could tell him my feelings…hoping he'd feel the same way. Then we'd be reunited. My friends could meet my prince on a white horse.

"Bella?"

A small voice made me look up. Rosalie and Alice stood in front of me. I looked around to see that all their clothes had been put away in the cupboard. Only two empty suitcases remained on my bedroom floor. How long had I been sitting there, thinking?

"You've already unpacked", I mused, blinking purposely.

"Rose and I have something for you", said Alice coming over to sit on my right. Rosalie sat herself on my left, holding a small box. She placed it on my lap.

"Open it", said Rose, smiling faintly.

"What is it? I asked them curiously.

"Open the fucking damn gift, Bella", Alice commanded. I saluted her and turned to the box.

It was a jewellery box.

I untied the bow that was wrapped around it and slowly opened the box. Inside was a necklace. With a big heart shape dangling at the bottom.

On the heart was some writing. I picked it up cautiously and read aloud:

' If you are alone, I'll be your shadow.

If you want to cry, I'll be your shoulder.

If you need to be happy, I'll be your smile.

But if you need a friend, I'll be me. '

"When the fuck did you two get all sentimental and gooey?" I demanded, turning to stare at Alice, then to Rosalie. "This is so fucking beautiful, I could cry. But the reason I would be crying, is because my friends have turned into slushy emotional-people."

Alice sighed, whilst Rosalie rolled her eyes.

"Yep! Still same old Bella", said Rose grabbing the necklace out of the box. "Let me help you put it on."

"Can I ask you guys something?"

"Ask away", said Alice holding my hair up.

"We're friends, why does the necklace have a heart?" I asked him curiously.

"Because we love you", said Alice, "in a friend-like way."

"No actually, because all the star shaped ones were sold out", laughed Rosalie tying the necklace and letting go.

"But we still love you, in the friend-like way", insisted Alice, shooting a look over to Rose.

***

"Of all the fucking places in all of fucking California, you decide to visit the mall?" I groaned, placing a hand over my face.

"Bella, watch your language", snapped Charlie. Oh yeah. Brilliant. Absolutely fantastic.

After helping Rosalie and Alice unpack we went downstairs to freshen up a bit. Then Amazing Alice decided that she wanted to 'check out' the shops and fashion trends here. Of course since Jessica was present, she told Alice about the mall.

Back in London, I never really cared about the clothes I wore. Rosalie didn't either. We could've walked around in rags and not be bothered. Unfortunately, it was Alice who dragged us around to the shopping centres, forcing us to buy ridiculously 'fashionable' clothes. Her motto was 'you dress right, you get treated right.'

Rosalie's was 'treat me right anyway or I'll shove my hand into your face.'

"What time do you kids want me to pick you up?" asked Charlie as he pulled into the car park. I checked my watch. It was half past three at the moment.

"In a couple of hours", Jessica answered for us, "we'll call you when we're done shopping, dad."

"Sure, sure", muttered Charlie rolling his eyes. He muttered something about girls and their clothes.

I sighed as we got out of the car. Jessica was 'accompanying us'. Great. Alice bounced along in the front even though she had never been here before in her life.

"Any buff guys around here?" asked Rosalie looking around as we entered the massive mall.

"If you know where to look", said Jessica nodding importantly.

I sighed as Rosalie rolled her eyes. This wasn't where I wanted to be right now. I knew I had to choose what I was going to do about Edward. I had never been broken hearted before. Never once had I even let a boy get so close to me for me to feel this way. But with Edward I had let my whole guard down. I had given and told him everything.

I wasn't even thinking about it. Being with him felt normal. Like breathing. And he was my air.

Edward's POV.

"It's not going to work", I muttered running my fingers through my messy hair. Emmett snorted and punched me lightly on the arm.

"Dude, you want to know what's wrong don't you?" he asked, crossing his arms.

"Yeah, but…she'll slam the door in my face", I exclaimed, rolling my eyes, "besides, her friends are here. I'm sure she'd want to catch up with them or something."

"What exactly happened last night?" asked Jasper to me. I sighed and went to sit on a branch. Emmett groaned.

"Do you wanna hear his stupid story again?" Emmett demanded Jasper, "look, Bella's obviously pissed off with something that you did or said. So now, you go to her house and apologise. She forgives you, and you live happily ever after, alright?"

"But I didn't do or said anything to…get her mad", I snapped at him, "not that I remember anyway."

"Yeah but girls always pick on the smallest things", Jasper pointed out. He came over and settled himself on the end of the branch; "it's probably something like you didn't compliment her hair or some shit."

"That doesn't sound like Bella", I mumbled to myself, "she doesn't care about that stuff. I think it's to do with her friends."

"What about her friends?" asked Emmett, "her friends can't not like you because they haven't met you yet."

"No, but I mean, her friends are here now", I explained, embarrassed about my little theory, "she'd want to hang out with them and…not me, you know?"

"I don't think Bella would ditch you for her friends", said Emmett quietly, "like you said, she's not like that."

I didn't say anything else. I stood up, with Emmett and Jasper right beside me, and walked out of Tifins forest onto Harrington Avenue. Bella's road.

Bella's POV.

"No. There is no fucking way that I am going to where that shit", I said firmly. Grabbing Rosalie's hand, we both stalked out of the shop, full speed. I breathed a sigh of relief and let go of her hand. I was holding a couple of shopping bags, so was Rosalie so we needed somewhere to sit down.

"By the fountain", said Rose, as if she read my mind. We made our way over to a large fountain with a couple of benches around it. Alice and Jessica were still in the shop.

"What time is it?" she asked, closing her eyes and placing a hand over her forehead. I glanced at my watch briefly.

"Nearly half past six", I groaned, biting my lip, "I think I'm going to call Charlie to tell him to pick us up."

"Oh please do…I'm in serious need of a shower and some low fat food", sighed Rosalie grabbing some water and gulping it down.

I called Charlie, my dad, telling him to get here as soon as possible. He would be arriving in twenty minutes. Somehow he sounded quite mad on the phone to me. He kept making impatient noises. That was odd.

"Bella", said Rosalie, gaining my attention. I turned to her. She smiled faintly at me. I realised how much I had really missed Alice and Rosalie. I realised how much I would miss them when they would go. I thought that maybe I would Edward to comfort me when that happen but now I wasn't so sure anymore.

"What's up?" I asked her, grabbing her water from her hand and drinking the rest in one go.

"Tell me what's wrong", she ordered softly. She wasn't commanding, she was requesting.

"What do you mean?" I asked her, feeling confused.

"There's obviously something wrong between you and Edward", she pointed out, "Is that why we haven't met him yet?"

"Hey, you got his name right!"

"Don't change the subject", she said, a bit more irritated now, "did you guys break…I mean, and you're still together with him, aren't you?"

I didn't know what to tell her. Was I still Edward's girlfriend? I didn't even know. If I was, why didn't he kiss me? Why was he keeping secrets? Why did everything feel silent and wrong?

"I don't know", I admitted to Rosalie, "I'm not sure anymore, Rose."

"Did you have an argument or something?" she pressed on, "if you tell me what happened, maybe I could help…"

"That's the problem", I sighed, "I don't know what happened! We were ok and then…we just weren't. The thing is…"

I didn't know whether I should tell her this. But somehow knowing that Rosalie would know made me feel better. She was my best friend. She was helping me.

"What?" asked Rose.

"I love him", I said aloud, "and…he doesn't love me, Rose. Can you believe that? I fall in love and the guy doesn't love me back."

Rosalie didn't hug me. She didn't rub my back soothingly. We didn't do that kind of crap. She was just there. She nodded. She didn't say anything else. She sighed. She stared at me. Then surprisingly, she took my hand.

"He didn't say that", she told me, "did he?"

"Say what?"

"He didn't say that he doesn't love you", said Rosalie to me, "that's just what you're presuming."

"But he didn't say that he loves me either", I said shrugging, "same thing."

"Did you tell him that you love him?" she asked.

"Fuck no! He'd just laugh in my face or something", I scoffed, rolling my eyes.

"Maybe he feels the same way", offered Rosalie, "maybe he's scared too."

"Hey, I'm not scared!"

"Whoa…check out the massive bouquet", she said suddenly. She was looking over my shoulder. I followed her gaze to a crowded area. But something was unmissable. There was a guy there, holding a massive bouquet.

"That must be for some lucky bitch", Rosalie muttered to herself. She was squinting to see who was holding it. Even I couldn't see. The flowers were that big.

"They're not roses…it's…white and pink lilies", she mumbled, trying to look closer, "seriously, that must've cost a fortune!"

"Hey guys!" Alice voice made me turn around. But Rosalie was still scrutinizing the guy with the bouquet.

Alice And Jessica was both holding about 5 or 6 bags each. I eyed them both and rolled my eyes. They settled themselves on the bench.

"That's a really big flower collection", said Alice, realising what Rosalie and me were looking at.

"That's for a really lucky girl", I added.

"That's made me all jealous now…" mumbled Rosalie, sighing.

"That's…that's Edward Cullen!" exclaimed Jessica.

Yes, Edward Cullen has appeared.

Guess why Charlie was 'impatient' with Bella on the phone...

Thanks for reading.

xXx