Gahhh I know, I`m a horrible person :( But these summatives are CRAXY I tell you, crazy! I promise though, give me until the end of June, and then you'll have me for updates regularly!

Exciting isn't it? I love the end of the year.

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Happy reading.

Sadly the calm didn't stay for long because before I knew it I was being shoved away from Jasper and was being pulled in a different direction. I nearly lost my footing and went crashing to the floor but was stopped by strong hands at my waist.

At first I thought I was back with Jasper, but I quickly realized that I wasn't. I looked up slowly and gazed into tawny eyes. I shot a quick look to my left to see Jasper and Rosalie dancing away with grins on their faces. In fact, I realized as I looked around, all of them were grinning.

What the hell.

I caught Edwards' eye over Alice's head as we danced by each other and he raised an eyebrow at me and looked pointedly between the two of us. I narrowed my eyes and turned away.

God, he was so annoying.

"Tell me about it," came Alex's voice in my head and I smirked and looked up at him.

"Brothers." I thought to him and he looked down at me with his own smirk as he shook his head slightly.

Without much notice that I was doing it, my arms slid up over his shoulders and locked behind his neck as we moved gracefully together. At the same time, his hands slid around my waist and came to rest at the small of my back.

Neither of us noticed the flashing camera's around us. We were both consumed by each other, and the thoughts of annoying brothers.

Chapter 26

"...can't be as bad as the time Damen came with me on this date that I had got stuck with after a charity people auction gone wrong. Let's just say that he can be pretty embarrassing."

His quiet chuckle reverberated in my ear as he lowered his head slightly, bringing his lips frustratingly close to my ear.

I didn't know if he noticed or not, but in the past 10 minutes he's been making our embrace more and more intimate. And I didn't know if he was aware of how it made me feel.

Who was I kidding? He probably did and was doing it only to annoy me.

Idiot.

But of course I couldn't admit how his close proximity to me made me feel antsy out loud so I had to stay in his arms and pretend my indifference. If the beaming smiles from the rest of the family were any indication, I was doing a pretty damn good job of it too.

"Definitely. You get an A plus." Came his patronizing voice in my head.

"Yay," I thought back dryly. Why me?

"'Cause you are the chosen. Pun intended. And because you're not afraid of me. The one and only."

I bit my lip to keep from sighing and dipped my head so that no one would see me roll my eyes. I knew that there was a catch when he had seemingly forgotten about what happened at his house a few weeks prior.

"Did you really think that I'd forget?"

"I could wish,"

He laughed again and brushed his lips lightly against my jaw. One of the hands that I had draped over his shoulders fisted. Oh how I wish I could just ram my fist in that stupid face of his... and not break my hand.

"Not much you can do about that kiddo,"

"Urg, shut up. And cut that out," I snapped as his lips drifted across my cheek.

"Why? Does it make you nervous? Scared?" I ground my teeth together and looked up into his smirking face with a tight smile.

"No. Definitely not."

"Then what's wrong?" He asked and brought his lips back down to cruise lazily along my jaw once again.

"I don't enjoy being assaulted." He pulled back slightly and grinned.

Oh. My. Lord...

"It's not assault if you want it," he replied and his lips returned to my skin.

"I didn't say that I wanted it."

"You didn't have to." His lips were now getting uncomfortably close to my lips. "I can read your mind."

"I`m not thinking about that."

"You are now," he thought, and dammit he was right. I was definitely thinking about him kissing me now. I was also thinking about how much I didn't want him to do it. I wasn't too sure that I'd keep from embarrassing myself if he did.

But then again, the fact that I was so completely against a guy kissing me was already a frustrating blow to my usual indifference when it came to the male gender.

Fuck my life.

He pulled back again to give me a quick smug grin then his head dipped down towards mine. My eyes widened slightly and went pale blue as I stared up into eyes that were laughing at me. His nose brushed against mine and my heartbeat kicked up.

God Arabella, get a grip. It's just a kiss.

Easy to think, but hard to actually pull off. How did I know even before his lips met mine that this wouldn't be 'just a kiss'?

Call it female intuition or some shit, but I wasn't ready for this, wasn't ready for a kiss to mean something. Even as I was thinking it, his lips touched the corner of my mouth and my eyes fluttered closed against my will.

"You can't do this..." I commented weakly.

"Watch me." My eyes flashed open a second before his lips descended.

And then my bra started to vibrate.

At the exact same time Edward appeared behind Alex and put a warning hand on his shoulder. Alex pulled back from me, startled, and turned to glare at his brother. The music stopped and the dancing couples froze.

And my phone continued to ring and vibrate.

Fuck.

I reached down into the top of my dress to pull out the phone I had put there and had forgotten to take out. I caught Rosalie's smirk at my antics and gave her a quick grin. I looked to Alex and Edward again to see both of them staring at me. When I met Alex's gaze I felt my heart clench as I remembered how close he had been to kissing me.

"Answer the phone," said Edward quietly.

"Uh, yeah. Sorry, excuse me. Hello?"

"He's an ass. Hot as hell, but an ass." I opened my mouth, closed it, then looked around the room at 8 amused vampires and a giggling little girl who was soon hushed by her mother.

"Um, I`m just going to take this somewhere else," I said to them then hurried out the door.

"A?"

"Yeah, yeah. Give me one second."

I hurried down a marble floored hallway and when I came to the staircase made my way up them. I was now up on what I assumed was the third floor and I was walking down a wide hall with a bunch of doors. The one on the end was open and I didn't think twice before pushing the door open and closing it behind me.

"Arabella, come on."

"Sorry, sorry. What's up Erica?"

I walked deeper into the huge room and made my way to the full-wall window to look out at the forest that surrounded the house.

"You tell me, that was pretty intense."

"I really wish you wouldn't spy on me like that you know."

"Me? Spying on you? Says the portaler."

"Oh hush, you know what I mean," I replied with a grin.

"Well it's not like I`m always doing it. It's not every day where you're overwhelmed enough to let me see through your eyes."

"Yeah, yeah."

"Oh baby, you're not still upset that he tried to kiss you, are you? I mean come on, do you blame him?"

"Too bad you can't hear his thoughts too."

"What do you mean?"

"He didn't actually want to kiss me Erica. He was trying to get back at me for what I did before I came home."

"Oh come on."

"I`m so serious."

"I think you're looking for a reason to push him away."

"Am not. I can hear his thoughts, remember? And besides, I thought you didn't like him."

"I didn't say that I didn't like him, exactly. I said he was a son of a bitch, but I didn't say that I didn't like him."

"It's the same thing," I said and laughed.

"It's not. Nate can be a son of a bitch sometimes, but that doesn't mean I don't like him," she said and I could hear him protest playfully from somewhere in the room.

"That's different, you love Nathan."

"You're right," She said laughing. "I do love him. Just like you love Alex."

"Yeah, but you—wait what? I don't love Alex. What the hell are you saying?" I was studying a picture of Rosalie that was set up on the nightstand by the bed and was concluding that I was in her room and didn't register what Erica said until a moment later.

"Can't lie to me kid, you like him."

"I—no I don't."

"Then why did you get so worked up over a silly little kiss?"

"Because... because I didn't want him to kiss me."

"Since when did you not want to kiss a hot guy? It's never mattered to you before."

"It's... different. His reasons for kissing me were different."

"Honey didn't you see his face right before he put his lips on yours?"

"I did, he was smirking."

"And behind the smirk?"

"I... I wasn't paying attention."

"Mmm hmm. Well let me tell you, his reason for wanting to kiss you at that moment was the same reason why Nathan kisses me."

"You're crazy." I said and sat down on the end of the bed.

"Normally I'd agree, but not right now. You know I`m right."

I didn't say anything.

"What are you afraid of baby?" She asked quietly and I closed my eyes.

What am I afraid of?

"Him," I whispered. "I`m afraid of him."

"Why?"

I sighed and bit my lip.

"Because he's... him. I don't know. I`m not afraid of him, exactly. I`m—"

"Afraid of how he makes you feel." I grimaced at her words.

"You make me sound like some emotionally unstable teenager."

"Well you are a teenager and you people are always emotional."

"You people? It's not like you're much older than I am Erica." I said, hoping to ease the conversation away from where it was currently.

"Stop trying to change the subject."

Damn. She knows me too well.

"I'm not."

"Mmm. Course you're not. All I`m saying is that maybe you should you know, see where this leads you."

"It leads me nowhere."

"You don't know that."

"I can take an educated guess. He's not going to want anything to do with me. And so I`m going to save us both some time and save me eventual heartbreak and not associate with him."

"Do not tell me you're still on that."

"On what?" I asked even though I knew. I heard her sigh frustratedly from the other end.

"On him. He was a jack ass."

"He was not."

"Anyone who breaks up with a girl because of some stupid legend is a jack ass. It's just like you to fall for an idiot the one time you actually opened yourself up to dating."

"He had every right not to want to be with someone who had an expiration date," I said quietly.

"Do not say that, do you hear me? Do not justify what he did and do not talk like that. It's just a stupid old story."

"You know as well as I do that this shit is as real as it gets. It isn't some stupid story, it's my life."

"You're right, your life. And you shouldn't live it guarding your feelings just because the one guy you dated was a complete fuck up. You know, for a girl who is so bad ass, you are a complete wuss when it comes to relationships. And you—oh shut up Nathan, she needs to get it through that dense head of hers."

There was some rustling on the other end, some cursing and yelling.

"Dammit Nate, cut that out. I`m talking to her... no wait stop! Fuck, ow. You ass." Her voice started to fade away and I could barely hear her.

"Honiahaka? It's me."

"Yeah, I figured."

"Listen, about what Erica was saying, she's just trying to look out for you. She just sounds like a bitch doing it."

I laughed slightly.

"Yeah, I know. I know she wants the best for me, but Alex isn't it. You know? I don't think a guy is what I need."

"You know, I agree, but only because I think of you as my baby sister and because I'd rather you not be with any guy. Especially not with him." I sighed and fingered the dark brown bed sheets.

"And I... fuck. Erica's trying to break down my damn door."

"It's alright. Go save your door, I have to go."

"I—damn Erica. Cut that out. Shit, I'll call you later okay?"

"Yup."

I stared down at the phone in my lap thinking back on the conversation when something caught my eye. I leaned forward to read the writing on the hot pink sheet on the table. It was a homework assignment from my biology class.

But what was Rosalie doing with it? She didn't take biology, and neither did Emmett. In fact, the only one who did was...

"So, you're not afraid of me, right?"

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