I want to thank all of you for the wonderful reception the last chapter received. I read every review and with the exception of the guest reviewer, who without fail leaves me the obligatory death threat,(bless your heart for being so willing to add to my review count) every word warmed my heart and brought a smile to my face. I can't tell you how much it means to me that you're enjoying my story. Thank you!

One of the guest reviews asked for a recap on the character's ages:

Bella- 18

Edward-17 He's a year younger than everyone else. Remember that due to his intelligence, he was moved up a year in school.

Jasper-18

Emmett-19 The Great Ballet Incident of 2001 (chapter 4) caused Emmett to miss a year of school.

Much love to my beta, Mullet86, for looking things over and never calling me an idiot for my punctuation fails. Word to the wise, I tweaked this chapter a bit after she sent it back to me. All errors are mine.

Disclaimer: SM owns the original, but this story is mine!

Reflections

Chapter 26

"I don't know about this…" My voice trailed off as I looked into the mirror. The dark blue dress that Alice had picked out was a bit clingy for my tastes.

"Are you nuts? You look stunning," Alice walked up and handed me a pair of muted silver heels. "Here, these will look make your legs look fantastic."

"Heels? Are you nuts?" I shake my head and moved away from the clearly insane girl.

Alice sighed in frustration at my display. "Will you stop being a baby about this? Look, it's a low heel, a toddler could walk in these things." She gently placed the offensive shoes on the dressing room bench.

"First, a toddler could NOT walk in those things and yours and my definition of a low heel differ greatly."

Her eyes narrowed and her lips twitched. I was instantly on alert. "If I can find you a lower heel will you consider wearing them?"

"Maybe..."

"Great! Here." She produced another pair of heels from behind her tiny back and ran out of the small room.

Dammit!

"Bella! We're waiting!" I could practically hear the stomping of her size five feet. My shoulders slumped in acceptance. I slipped on the shoes and walked slowly out of the curtained doorway.

"See, Rose? Didn't I tell you the blue would be better than the peach?" Rose rolled her eyes at our over-excited friend.

"Yes, oh wise one. I bow down to your superior fashion taste." I laughed as Rose bowed deeply.

"You know, I don't think you really mean that." Alice's eyebrow hitched.

Rose grinned and shrugged her shoulders, all but confirming Alice's suspicions.

"Guys, I don't think I can do this." My head fell forward as I remembered the disaster that was my last attempt at attending a dance in Forks. I would have no place to run this time. Renee and Phil were still in Italy.

I felt comforting hands on my shoulders as Alice and Rose came to stand on either side of me.

"I know, what happened was awful. But this won't be like last time." Alice promised.

"How can you be sure?"

Alice turned me away from the mirror and lifted my chin so I could meet her eyes. "Because you'll be with all of us and we're going to have tons of fun..."

"And Emmett will continue the ass kicking he started in September, if Edward so much as farts in your direction." I'm sure Rose's comment was meant to lighten my mood, but I winced at his name. The pain was dulling, but it was still there. And I hated that the relations between the two boys were so strained because of me.

In the end, Alice got her way and in my bright red Macy's bag resided the silver heels and the dark blue dress. I would be wearing the aforementioned items at the Forks High School Winter dance. That's if I survived my upcoming finals and driver's test.

"I think we all deserve a treat." Alice exclaimed, dragging Rose and me in the direction of the Cinnabon stand.

"Oh my God! These things are better than sex!" I giggled as Rose's eyes rolled back into her head. She was practically inhaling her cinnamon bun.

"Rose!" Alice admonished. "There are children here." It was only a week until Christmas and the mall was full of families hustling from store to store in search of just the right gift.

"Oh please. You tell me that just the smell of these decadent buns of sweet bliss doesn't make your thighs clench and your panties…"

"Stop!" Alice clapped her hand over Rose's mouth.

Rose pushed Alice's hand off and went back to devouring her treat.

"So, Bella, do you want to give your opinion?"

"Huh?"

"Are these better than sex?" I choked on my bite of bun.

"Rose, are you trying to kill her?" Alice smacked me on the back and handed me her glass of water.

"C'mon Bella, spill your guts. Is it true what they say about redheads?" I spat my water out onto the table.

"I give up." Alice exclaimed, throwing up her hands and slumping into her chair.

"Ignore her. Is Derick a good kisser?" Rose's eyebrows arched, as she licked the sweet icing off her fingers.

"You don't have to tell her a damn thing, Bella." Alice promised.

"Um, I don't know. We've um, we've never kissed." I pushed the rest of my bun away and began fiddling with my paper napkin.

"What the hell, Bella? You guys have been dating for over a month. Is he studying to be a monk or something?"

I shrugged at Rose's question. My relationship with Derick was so confusing. I knew we were friends. We enjoyed the same movies, music…I introduced him to comic books and he introduced me to Settlers of Catan.

Was he my friend? Yes. Definitely.

Occasionally we held hands and I always looked forward to spending time with him. We sat together at lunch, we studied together and he was well liked by the rest of the gang.

But was he my boyfriend? No. I didn't think so. It was complicated.

"Bella, it's okay. Everyone moves at their own pace. The worst thing you can do is allow yourself to be pushed into something you're not ready for. Slow is good."

"Bullshit. Don't let yourself be pushed, Ali, is right on that account. But c'mon, have a little fun, girlfriend. What's holding you back? " Leave it to Rose to cut to the chase.

Her question was valid. What was holding me back?

~~~EPOV~~~

"I think we'll give all of the cousins gift cards. That'll be okay, right?" I shrugged at mom's question and readjusted the three thousand bags I was lugging through the Port Angeles Mall.

"I'll get the boys Sports Authority certificates and the girls cards from Victoria's Secrets. Wait, is that an appropriate gift? Kayla is only ten years old. Does she even wear a bra?"

That's it! "Mom, for the love of all that's holy! Can we not talk about whether or not my little cousin has boobs?" I repressed the urge to vomit.

"Aww, c'mon. We're almost done."

"Almost? Almost?! We've been in this collection of horrors for six hours! My back hurts, I think I'm dehydrated, my feet are swollen and you haven't let me stop for a snack since lunch over three hours ago!" I threw myself onto the nearest bench.

"Dramatic much, Edward? Fine, you sit here like an old woman and I'll run into Vicki's for the cards. You know, when you offered to help with the shopping, I thought you'd be more fun." She flipped her hair over her shoulder and walked away towards the brightly lit pink and even pinker store.

Now I understood why my father had looked as if he'd won the lottery this morning when I said I'd go with mom. He could have given me a little warning about what I was getting into before he'd run off like a three year old at Lego Land to watch football with Emmett. Not that I blamed him. I would've escaped too if given the chance.

Judging from the previous afternoon's events, I had at least thirty minutes to relax before mom made it back to my bench. I rearranged the bags so I could stretch my legs and settled in to people watch.

The incessant droning of Christmas music had nearly lulled me into a coma when I saw them.

They came around the corner of the food court swinging their bags as they window shopped.

I had to smile. She looked so happy, strolling through the mall with Alice and Rosalie. Even though I'd ruined our friendship, I was grateful that she'd found a few friends here in Forks. I knew how hard it was for her in Phoenix.

As they got closer, I put on my baseball cap and huddled into the mountain of bags like a stalker hiding from his victim in the bushes. In a way, that's what I was, a stalker.

After I'd opted out of Drivers Ed, I'd pretty much given up my only chance to see her. Seeing her now only made me regret my decision to beg my parents to allow me to skip the class and just take the driving test. I told them and myself I was doing it for her. I knew my presence made her nervous in class; though I will admit most if it was me pushing her buttons to get her to talk to me.

The smile that had been on her face vanished as Alice and Rose began pulling her towards a trendy clothes store. I watched as she vehemently shook her head at whatever Al and Rose were saying. They finally gave up and entered the store without her.

I continued to watch her from my bench, as she strolled through the crowd.

Finally, she came to a stop in front of a store window. The giant cutout of Batman and other superheroes was easily recognizable as the comic book store, Mayhem.

Mayhem was mecca for comic book aficionados like Bella and me.

The smile returned to her face as she peered into the brightly lit window. Having spent twenty minutes of today lingering in front of the same window, I knew what she was likely smiling about.

They were showcasing a rare series of Batman comics. The much sought after, "The Last Arkham" Batman: Shadow of the Bat, series. They had book number two and three. I know this because I was the owner of books one and four after inheriting them from my grandfather three years ago. They were in amazing condition and I'd already plunked down a hefty deposit for the other two books to complete my collection. I would hopefully be making the last payment as soon as I was able to access my trust fund in June.

By the time my grandfather's estate was finally settled, Bella had already run back to Phoenix. I couldn't wait to share my comic books with her. I'd waited and waited for her to come back, only to be cut out of her life instead. Watching her stare longingly at the window display of my favorite store renewed my desire to share my treasured books with her.

My only problem was that she hated me. For a moment, I thought about getting up and going over to talk to her. Surely she wouldn't ignore me in a mall?

Of course she would. And I wouldn't blame her.

Still…

"Hey, aren't you that pitcher from Forks?"

I nearly jumped out of my skin at the sudden voice beside me. The little dude was ninja quiet.

"Geez, kid, you scared the crap out of me!" He shrugged his small shoulders and continued to stare at me through wide blue eyes.

"What?" I demanded. The staring was getting kind of weird.

"Are you that guy?"

"What guy?"

He pointed to my Forks baseball cap. "Pitcher dude for the Spartans."

Pitcher dude?

"Um, yeah, I guess I am."

"I watched you play all summer. My dad even took me to watch you play in the state tournament. You were awesome!"

"Thanks, man."

"Sure, sure. I'm a pitcher myself," he stuck his chest out a little at his boast. "Only they limit the number of throws and types of pitches I can throw in a game. It sucks!" I chuckled as he slumped dejectedly onto the bench.

I had to hold in my laughter as he stuck out his lips in a pout. He looked like Donald Duck with his lips all pushed out like a duck's bill.

"Hey, can you teach me to throw a split-finger fastball?" A scuffed up baseball suddenly appeared in my face.

"Here? Now?" I asked, pushing the ball and the scrawny arm holding it, out of my face.

"Well, there's space over by the hallway." My eyes followed his finger as he pointed across the busy mall.

Bella was still standing in front of Mayhem. If I hurried, I might be able to at least say "Hi" before she kicked me in the nuts and left me screaming on the floor.

Worth it.

"Hey, do you think you could sit here and watch my bags for a minute?"

His face scrunched up, making the freckles that speckled his face stand out. He closed one eye and tapped his bottom lip in concentration. "What will you give me?" He finally asked.

Give him?

"You can't just do me a favor?" C'mon little dude, I only need a minute. I watched as Bella began checking her phone.

"I'll do it, if you show me how to throw a split-finger fastball and a curve ball."

What the hell? Was this a kid or a mini extortionist in a chocolate stained t-shirt?

"Fine, fine. Whatever." I absently promised, getting up from the bench.

"Wait! We have to shake on it." Now his shirt made sense. The hand he held out had chocolate and what looked like waffle cone bits stuck to it.

I pushed back the ick factor and shook his grubby little hand, and immediately began rubbing any residue onto my jeans. Yuck!

"Ha! Now you have to help me. It's a done deal. Geez, you have a lot of bags. My mom always comes home from the mall with lots of bags. Are you sure you're not part girl." I rolled my eyes at the little conniver.

"I'm not a girl! These are my mom's bags." Why was I defending my manhood to this kid when my best, ex-best friend, geez, that concept was hard to take, was standing not two hundred feet from me? I had more important things to worry about.

He shrugged in response and leaned back onto the bench with an annoying smirk on his face.

I gave up on him and turned towards Bella. I'd made it maybe twenty feet when Rose and Alice came barreling out of Lulu's. Their presence stopped me dead in my tracks.

They strolled right over to Bella, pulling her away from the comic book store and down the hallway.

My chance to speak with Bella was gone.

Disappointed, I turned back towards the kid.

"Hey, stop that." I yelled as he lifted his grungy little face out of one of the bags from Macy's.

"Dude, there's colored boxers in here!" I wrenched the Macy's bag away from him and plopped back down onto the bench.

"Didn't your mom ever teach you it's not polite to go through other people's things?"

"Hey, you left me in charge of this stuff. If you'd never made it back, all of this would be mine. Girlie undies and all."

Who was this kid?

"So, when do we start our lessons? I'm pretty busy right now, you know, with Christmas coming up. And I have to be home every night by six for dinner, no exceptions."

"Lessons?"

"Uh, yeah, we shook on it. I think I might also want to work on my fastball. Maybe you could also teach some of my friends? Mom will probably make you also coach my older brother, Max." He said his brother's name the way I used to say Emmett's name, with a mixture of disdain and embarrassment.

"Kid, I don't think…"

"Edward, who is your friend." Several glossy pink bags landed at my feet.

"Hello, Mrs. Cullen. My name is Alexander Noah Smalling, but you can call me Alex." He stuck out his hand to my mom.

"I'm pleased to meet you, Alex." How mom resisted the urge to disinfect her hand after touching the little gangster was beyond me.

"I've just been sitting here keeping Edward, company while he was girl watchin'." He winked and leaned over to nudge me in the side with his bony elbow.

Who was this kid?

"How kind of you, Alex." The kid, Alex, beamed at mom's praise.

Bella wasn't just some girl. "I wasn't girl watching." I protested, glaring at the smirking Alex. Mom ignored me and began going over her Christmas list.

"Edward, I think we're finally done," she tucked the list and her pen into her purse.

"How does burgers at Red Robin sound for dinner?"

Never ending fries and stacks of succulent beef patties cooked to perfection? I'm in!

I jumped up off the bench and began gathering the bags for the trek to the car.

I was already on the move when I heard mom address the kid.

"Alex, where is your mom? I don't feel comfortable leaving you alone."

"She took my brother over to the shoe store," he pointed to the Foot Locker. "He has ginormous feet. We have to special order them." Mom and I both chuckled and nodded our heads in understanding. Mom had been special ordering Emmett's shoes since he was twelve years old.

"Well, then we'll sit here and wait with you." I groaned and assumed my previous position on the bench. My Black Pepper Pub burger and overflowing basket of sweet potato fries were on hold.

"Thank you Mrs. Cullen." He smiled at her and scooted closer to me, making room on the bench for her. This kid was sickeningly polite.

"They shouldn't be long. And then Edward and I can exchange contact information."

"Um, why are we exchanging information?"

"So we can set up our coaching schedule. Duh." He shook his head at me as if I was a complete moron.

Time to nip this in the bud. "Look, Alex, there's not going to be…"

"What coaching schedule, honey?" Alex perked up and turned towards my mom.

"Edward promised to coach me and my friends on pitching. Our team could really use the help, especially from the best pitcher on the whole Western seaboard."

Laying it on a little thick there kid.

"Hey, I didn't really mean I would coach…"

"Edward, what a wonderful idea. Coaching would look great on your college applications and let's be honest, you could use the distraction after the whole Bella thing."

Okay, I wasn't ready for that to be brought up.

"But mom," I'm not going to lie; there was a definite whine to my voice. "I have my own training schedule and what about my school work? You wouldn't want my grades to suffer this close to graduation." Take that kid! No way would any mom be okay with taking time away from schoolwork.

"Please, you and I both know that your schoolwork isn't going to suffer. And I'm sure we can manage to find a little time in your week to help out the next generation of Spartan baseball." The kid's face shone as if he'd just won the lottery and was being paid out in candy and video games.

"Excellent." Holy crap! The kid sounded like one of those old time movie villains with the curly moustaches and evil laugh.

I scooted a bit away from the kid. "Um, mom, I don't think this is a good…"

"Mom! Over here!" The kid jumped up suddenly and waved wildly to a petite, dark haired woman and what I think was a kid, though he looked more like a tall, skinny, kid-like creature.

Mom stood up and tucked her Christmas list into her purse while smoothing down her hair, waiting for The kid's mom to get to us.

The kid started hopping around on one foot excitedly as his mother and brother made their way through the crowd to our bench.

"Mom, look! It's Edward Cullen." He pointed excitedly in my direction.

Alex's, mom smiled. "I see him, sweetheart." She put a hand on his shoulder to stop his dancing. "I hope you haven't been bothering him."

"Nope. I did him a favor. And now he owes me." The kid's eyes sparkled with his declaration.

"Hi, I'm Esme Cullen. It's lovely to meet you." My mom and Alex's mom shook hands.

"I'm Julie Smalling, I see you've already met Alex. This is my other son, Max." She motioned to the kid standing next to her.

He raised a giant hand and muttered "Hey" through his extensive orthodontics.

"Mom, Edward needs our contact information so we can set up a coaching schedule." The kid spewed out at light speed.

"He needs what? For what?" The kid's mom asked quizzically.

My mom laughed and turned to Julie, "Allow me to translate." The two moms' moved away from us to talk, leaving me alone with The Kid and his brother.

"So, this is Max." Alex pointed to his brother. I nodded in response as the two brothers side-eyed each other. It was a look I was quite familiar with.

As the two boys gave each other the stink-eye, I took a moment to get a good look at them. Alexwas almost the opposite in appearance to his brother. Where The Kid was dark headed and had a light tan complexion, his brother was red headed and had the skin tone of Casper the Ghost. He was also taller than Alex. From my six foot-two frame, I'd guess him at somewhere around five-six, five eight. He was easily three to four inches taller than Alex and his mother. Both boys had blue eyes, though Max's stood out brightly against his pale coloring.

I felt a small kinship with Max. I had spent time as the red-headed, pale, gangly kid. From their mother's appearance, I deduced that Max took after their father.

For the first time since the little dude appeared at my side, he wasn't talking a mile a minute. I wondered if maybe he was broken.

As the oldest, I decided it was up to me to break the uncomfortable silence.

"So, Max, what position do you play?"

"Everything." He grunted.

Well, that was helpful.

"Kid, I mean Alex, do you only pitch?"

"No. I also catch and play short-stop. In fact, I'm probably the best catcher in the whole league." Little dude was not lacking in self-esteem.

"You are not!" Max blurted out, his voice cracking a little as he denied his brother's claim.

"Am too!" Uh, oh.

"I'm just as good at catcher as you are and I know I'm a better pitcher, PLUS, I play first base. You're not good enough to handle that position!" Max taunted and wiped the drool off of his chin with a sly grin.

Oh, shit. Little dude's left eye started to twitch and his hands balled up into fists.

If these two decided to throw down here in the mall, I didn't want it to be on my watch.

I glanced over to the moms for help. They were completely oblivious to the death glares the boys were throwing at each other, as they checked each other's phones. My heart sank when I realized they were probably going over schedules.

"You take that back Max!" The kid ordered, advancing a few steps towards his brother.

Max straightened up, took a step forward and loomed over his brother. "What? You can't handle the truth?"

"Take that back Max!" Alex ordered.

"Make me, shorty!" Max practically snarled. I swear the drool was dripping out of his mouth like venom.

Oh God! This was really happening. These two little animals were going to fight right here in the mall. Right here with me in the middle of it all. I felt light headed.

The Christmas lights twinkled and the holiday tunes buzzed around us as I stood witness to a Saturday Smackdown between the two brothers. Brothers, who, if my mother had any say in it, would be soon taking up all of my free time.

I had to do something to stop the upcoming brawl.

"Guys," I stepped in between them. "Stop!" Surprisingly, both boys' heads snapped up at my command. "Look, I'm sure you're both great players, we don't need to fight it out here in the middle of the mall." Max's light blue eyes narrowed and Alex pursed his lips together in restrained anger, but they both took a step back. Thank God. I didn't know what I would do if they actually started to fight.

"Boys! What's going on?" I felt my whole body relax as their mother came rushing back.

"I raised you both better than to come to blows in public. Alex, you've just lost video games for a week." The kid's eyes went wide and I swear his bottom lip started to tremble.

"Max, you've lost your phone and no camp-out this weekend." She handed out their punishment like a practiced veteran. Both boys groaned loudly after hearing their sentences.

"But mom, Max started it…" Alex's argument was shut down with one icy look. The older boy remained quiet but the look on his face clearly stated that he and his little brother would be continuing this conversation later.

"I'm so sorry, Esme…"

Mom held up her hand and stopped her. "Please, remember I have two boys. This behavior is nothing new to me." Mom promised Mrs. Smalling, patting her arm in reassurance.

The two moms shared a look of understanding.

"Boys, thank Mrs. Cullen and Edward for spending time with you today. Grab our bags, it's time I got you two animals home."

Both boys immediately grabbed her bags and turned to my mom, thanking her with sincere smiles plastered all over their faces. The change in their demeanor was startling. They'd gone from snarling, rabid animals to little angels in seconds.

I was so confused.

"Edward, thank you for watching them," she leaned a little closer, lowering her voice. "And thank you for stepping in, you know, before things got worse. I knew they'd listen to you. You're a hero to them, especially Alex." She leaned back and put an arm around the kid. "Alex, thank Edward for consenting to coach you."

Consent? There was nothing consensual about this deal, I thought bitterly.

"Thank you Edward." The kid smiled up at me and held out his hand. Knowing there was no way I could get out of touching his filthy digits, especially with my mom standing here, I once again shook his hand.

I nodded and muttered a "You're welcome" while kicking myself for not choosing to sit on another bench, any other bench in this enormous building. Anywhere that wouldn't have put me in the path of this little con-artist. Of course, that would've always meant I'd have missed seeing Bella.

This bench was the right choice.

The older boy grunted something that sounded like, thank-you and they all turned and began walking away.

"Oh, stop looking like it's the end of the world." I shot mom a glare, which set her off in a fit of giggles.

After she'd collected herself, we grabbed our own bags and started the walk to the car.

"So, Red Robin?" She asked after we'd packed the car.

As much as I wanted to go home and sulk over my missed opportunity with Bella and my bad luck of running into a mini-gangster that wanted to learn how to throw a fastball, my mouth watered at the thought of a juicy, bacon cheeseburger.

"Please!" I practically begged.

Mom chuckled and put the car into gear. My head fell onto the car window as we left the parking lot of the mall and headed closer to civilization.

"This is going to be good for you Edward. I see a lot of you in Alex." I glanced over to her from my seat.

No! She didn't just compare me to that mini-gangster in a Deadpool t-shirt.

"Take that back." I muttered, sullenly.

She laughed. "No, you're just like him, smart, tenacious and willing to work for what you want. You've been graced with amazing athletic ability, but you wouldn't be where you are now if you hadn't had the benefit of your coaches and training counselors. Teaching those boys is your chance to give back to the community. They're going to be the future of Spartan sports. And know they'll have the benefit of being tutored by the reigning star."

Wow! Her words shocked me. Mom and dad never allowed Emmett and me to think of ourselves as stars. They always insisted that we were part of a team, not the stars.

Maybe she was right. I owed it to the community to give back.

"You know what else? Those boys also play football." The corners of her lips turned up into a knowing smile. As her meaning became clear, I couldn't contain my own smirk.

If mom had her way, Emmett had coaching in his future.

A/N

Not a lot of BxE in this chapter. Sorry, it needed to be done. Don't worry, we'll return to our normal programming with the next chapter. Having said that, what did you think of The Kid and Max? Those two are patterned after two boys in my life and will assist Edward to grow a little as we move forward.

Again, thank you all so much for your support. I appreciate all of you very much!

ruinedbyrob