A/N: I don't own Twilight. Any similarities or references belong to their own persons.

For the past hour, the pearly white smooth surface of our ceiling has been the only thing I've registered from the comfort of the sofa that Charlotte's parents had given us at our housewarming party. The spiral notebook and jet-black ink pen that I've been carrying around for the entire day lie flat on my stomach, untouched, much like my now-cold coffee sitting atop of the coaster on our dark wood coffee table.

"You're seriously depressing me," Charlotte notes from the couch across, glancing at me over the top of her iPhone.

"Sorry."

"This is about the funeral?" Charlotte asks, not making it sound like a question at all. To which I just raise an eyebrow. Funerals usually upset people, right? "I'm just saying, B. You love Christmas. I've never seen you like this. Ever. And it's Christmas Ever. You're starting to scare me."

"My love for Christmas comes from spending so many Christmases at the Hale home." I explain. "It just seems weird to be celebrating when she'll never have another Christmas."

"Would she want you to be depressed and pouty on Christmas Eve?"

I sigh, knowing that it would come to this. "Probably not."

Charlotte shoots me a triumphant look and runs her hands through her hair. "You know what you need? Some Christmas spirit! Let's go camping."

I stare at her incredulously. "It's December." I glance out one of our many windows and note, "It's snowing. And, I don't know about you but I certainly don't have a tent."

Charlotte laughs. "No, like, let's camp out here in the living room all night tonight. You know, watch Christmas movies, drink hot cocoa, Christmas-carol karaoke and make s'mores! Then we can open presents the next day!"

As much as I hate to admit it, the thought of it sounds fun and Charlotte's cheerfulness is contagious. "Just us girls?"

Charlotte shakes her head. "I know you want to spend some time with Edward, and I really want to hang out with Peter too. We can invite them, tell Kate to invite Garrett and leave Irina and Tan with a plus one."

I grin and pull out my cellphone, quickly sending a quick text to Edward inviting him to our impromptu Manhattan-style camping trip.

Charlotte bites her lip hesitantly and speaks up. "You know, you can invite Rosalie and Jasper and them… if you want."

I cock my head to the side, confused. "Why would I do that?"

"Well, I assumed with how things went at the funeral that your friendship with Rosalie had been rekindled – I don't mind!" She adds quickly. "Neither do the girls, honest. As long as you don't, like, completely forget about us." Her face, though she tries to hide it, clearly shows that she's somewhat worried. Within moments I am on the same couch as her, wrapping her in my arms.

"Char," I coo. "No one could ever replace you girls." Taking on a more serious tone I lean back onto the side of the sofa and sprawl out on the rest of it, throwing my legs on hers. "My friendship with Rosalie is not rekindled. Her mom died and she was crying right in front of me. She may have hurt me but I'm not heartless. I mean I'm not mad anymore. It's been years. I'm over it."

"I'm thankful for the years of friendship that we had, my childhood was amazing and I owe a huge part of that to her. Friendships end, ours did. Because of that, I have you and this amazing life now. Rosalie is not someone I can ever trust again. She and I will never be friends again. I just can't do it. Jasper and I were never close; comforting him was like comforting a crying stranger. But, both of them mean something to Edward. I can't be with him if his entire family and I are constantly at war. It's not fair to him to make him choose between the two of us."

Charlotte stares at me. "Since when are you all grown up and mature?"

I pause to think about it. "Um. Grad?" I answer, confused. To which Charlotte bursts out laughing and shoves me. "Rhetorical question, B. Duh."

I huff in mock-anger. "Whatever, Char. Let's set this camping trip up, yeah?"

"I refuse to watch that."

"We can't not watch Miracle on 34th Street on Christmas Eve, Tanya." I argue heatedly, much to Edward's amusement.

"It's old."

"It's either that or To Grandmothers House We Go." I inform her.

"Which one is that one again?" Kate asks from her spot in Garrett's lap.

"The Mary-Kate and Ashley one."

Tanya instantly groans. "Fine," she says begrudgingly, at which I release a happy squeal before going to pop in the DVD and coming back to the sofa I share with Edward.

He leans down and gently kisses my temple. "I love being here with you, and your friends."

"Family," I correct him. "These girls are my family."

"And Charlie?"

"Also family." I answer. "Family is so much more that blood and DNA, Edward. Renée? She's not family. She's just the person that gave birth to me."

"Do you miss him?" Edward asks. "Charlie," he clarifies.

"Sure," I shrug. "But I call him every week and visit him once or twice a year."

"That's it? Aren't you scared, living on your own?"

I frown at him, not sure where he's coming from. "I've been doing just that since I was 18. I wasn't scared then and I'm not scared now. I'm an adult, I need freedom and my own space and the ability to not wear pants all day if I don't want to with nothing and no one to tell me what to do."

"I'm envious."

I glance up at him. "You can have it too."

We turn our attention back to the movie, but I doubt Edward is even watching it. He seems lost in thought, and I leave him there being familiar with that state of mind and the peace it requires.

Soon enough, the movie ends and before popping in the next one, I insist on s'mores and hot cocoa.

"I'm hungry," Irina announces promptly. "And as delicious as s'mores are, they are not a nutritious dinner. I say we order some food, and save those for dessert."

"It's Christmas Eve," Peter says slowly. "What's open on Christmas Eve?"

Immediately, all of us having lived in New York for quite some time start to laugh at his question. Charlotte giggles. "Babe, this is Manhattan. Who isn't open on Christmas Eve?"

Peter recently moved to Manhattan from Texas and is still taking some time to adjust to the wonders that the city that never sleeps brings to the world. He's an amazing guy, and absolutely perfect for Charlotte. Although she won't admit it, I'm almost certain that she was first drawn to him because of how much he reminded her of home. Out of all of us, she's probably the one who misses her hometown and family the most.

Garrett pipes up. "What should we order?"

"Pizza." I answer.

"Italian."

"Greek."

"Steak."

"Chinese."

"McDonald's," Tanya answers excitedly, causing us all to stare at her.

"You want to eat McDonald's on Christmas Eve?" Edward asks, stifling his laughter.

"Edward, please." I scold. "It's a wonder T wants to eat McDonalds at all!"

"Yeah, T. What happened to your vow against McDonald's?"

Tanya bites the inside of her cheek. "I miss it."

Charlotte, Kate and I erupt into laughter and vicariously agree that McDonald's would be our meal for the night.

"Does McDonald's even order?" Edward asks.

Charlotte and I turn around and reassure him. "We know a guy."

Peter snickers. "You have a McDonald's dealer?"

I huff in mock-irritation. "This is Manhattan, Peter. You need to have connections everywhere."

Peter promptly flips me the bird to which I respond my sticking my tongue out and cuddling closer to Edward as Char start's taking everybody's orders.

Tanya gets up and walks towards the kitchen but stops at our couch and leans over to whisper in my ear. "You feeling better?"

I chuckle at her worrisome nature. "How can I ever feel down when I'm around you guys?"

She doesn't have an answer but the blinding smile on her face as she leans back and walks towards the kitchen says it all.

Five hours later and our camping trip is already on its way to becoming an annual tradition. Because of it, I know that Edward loves Elf almost as much as I do, that Tanya is obsessed with McDonald's fries and that Garrett has absolutely no musical bone in his body, and somehow managed to screw up singing Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer.

Eventually, the presents under the tree became much too tempting for us to glance at occasionally to wait the next day to open, so the present opening has been long done. I got gift cards to the spa and to Saks from Peter and Garrett who didn't feel like they knew me well enough to give me a proper present. Two pairs of Christian Louboutin's from Irina, an entire set of dresses from Kate, Three designer handbags from Tanya and a limited edition Hermes scarf that I've had my eye on for a while from Char. Edward gave me a beautiful set of diamond earrings from Tiffany's that I immediately demanded he return, much to his displeasure. Eventually, I caved and they are now my favourite earrings that I own.

As much as we all enjoyed the childish appeal that a camp out on Christmas Eve brought, we all agreed to venture off to our own rooms for the night as opposed to having a semi-decent sleep on the living room floor just for the sake of things.

With my head on Edward's chest, and tucked warmly under an array of fleece blankets, I'm almost certain that this new tradition will fast become one of my favourite ones.

"Bella?"

"Mmm." I say, sleep slowly taking over me.

"I think I want to move out, get a place of my own."

I immediately feel wide awake and glance up at him. "Edward? What brought this on? I hope this isn't about what I told you before."

He shakes his head. "I've been wondering what it would be like for a while, all this time spent with you has made me realize how much I really do need my own place now. I love my family but I feel like we need to separate if we're ever going to keep getting along. I need my space."

I nod slowly. "Okay. The Denali's dabble in some real estate and know a few good agents. We can go apartment hunting this weekend."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah.

"Okay. Bella?"

"Yeah?"

"I lo- nothing."

"What?" I ask drowsily.

"Nothing, babe. Goodnight."

A/N: There you have it, sorry for the late uploads! School just started and college is getting pretty hectic, I'll try to upload as much and as fast as I can.

Reviews are awesome as always. Be nice.

Love, A.