Everyone knows that Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer, right? I mean, you wouldn't be here if you didn't...at least, I hope you wouldn't.

A/N:

So, of course by tomorrow I meant two days lol. I might have gotten this done yesterday and posted had I had access to the computer, but I did not, so don't yell at me. ;o)

Let me see, what do I have to cover? First and foremost, thanks to everyone who came back for the last chapter, and a double thanks to everyone who dropped me a line to let me know they had done so! I was relieved to see I hadn't lost everyone. :o)

Quick shout-outs...Happy belated anniversary to RieDonovan and her husband! I hope he outdid my chapter for you lol. missie33 - lol, no matter what, I will finish this story, I promise. And to everyone (and in particular, iLikeLlamas2011) wondering about the piano scene. Yes, he was teaching Bella how to play the piano, and yes, we will get to see some of that real soon. These last two chapters were more about getting us caught up, but we're there now so the fun can begin.

A big thanks to my friend and doppleganger, AmandaCullen84 for reading over this, catching a few mistakes and making me feel better about it as a chapter. Thanks, Amanda! As always, you rock.

I think that's it, for the moment. As usual, thanks for reading and reviewing! You guys are awesome. :o)

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Emmett

We were sitting around in the living room just relaxing and waiting to hear "The Story" from Edward and Bella. That's what I was calling it now, "The Story". With all the damn drama involved in it, I thought it needed some kind of title. "The Story" was the best I could do under short notice. I'm not the creative type, so what?

Rose was snuggled into my side so I knew she had forgiven me for our little spat out on the front lawn. I secretly wondered if she was letting it go because she was afraid of getting the others involved and having them agree with me. Nobody wants to hear that they're the worst god-awful driver to ever grace the road, after all. I wasn't dumb enough to ask if that's why she was letting it go, though. I may not be the smartest guy around, but I'm not the dumbest, either.

When everyone was settled in, all of our attention went to Bella and Edward. Bella, I could tell, wasn't so happy about this. She never was one for being the center of attention.

"So, details." Alice, like always, cut right to the chase. It was what we all wanted to know, anyway.

"Look, guys," Edward said as he ran his hand through his hair, already exasperated by us. "This isn't a big deal. Bella and I are together; can't we just leave it at that? We have more important stuff we need to cover right now."

I snorted. Everyone in the room turned to stare at me in expectation. I was surprised I beat Alice to the punch, actually. I figured if anyone would have been annoyed at Edward trying to skip the good stuff, it would have been her.

"Look, that's not going to cut it, Eddie boy. We deserve to at least hear a Cliff's Notes version of what happened. We've been waiting for the two of you to get your shit together for too long now, the least you could do is give us a little more than that," I said.

Edward sighed and leaned back into the couch, where he and Bella were sitting. He wrapped his hand around hers and raised an eyebrow at her, waiting for her decision.

Before Bella had a chance to answer, Alice finally spoke up.

"Bella, you promised," was all she said.

Bella and Alice had a little stare down for a moment, before Bella finally gave in, realizing that there was no way in hell that Alice would.

"All right, fine," Bella said, rolling her eyes at us as she spoke. "We're boyfriend and girlfriend. We have feelings for each other. We're very happy right now and feel all squishy inside. Now, can we skip the part where we all hold hands and sing Kumbaya together?"

Alice clapped her hands in delight and I gave a little laugh at Bella's sarcasm. She wasn't happy but, oh well, if the two of them had gotten this over with earlier, we wouldn't be so interested in them right now. It wasn't our fault they had to go and turn it into "The Story". Of course we were all focused on their relationship – we'd been waiting for it to happen for so effing long now.

"So, are you in love, then?" Alice asked, her eyes lit up with excitement.

"None of your business," Edward spat out, reaching the edge of his patience.

Alice pouted, knowing she wasn't going to get an answer from him. I could see, from the determination in her face, that she was just going to wait till she could get Bella alone, and get what she wanted to know from her then.

"Are you going to take her to the Charity Gala?" Rose asked.

I wasn't surprised that this was the first place Rose's mind went as she had been looking forward to the Gala for a while now. This was the second one of Esme's Charity Balls that we would be attending, but the first masquerade. Even I was looking forward to it a little - I figured, if nothing else, I'd get to see Rose all dressed up, looking hot. I was hoping her dress would be oh-so-slinky – now that would be worth the sacrifice of having to get all dressed up myself.

"I'm not going," Edward replied.

"We all have to go," Jasper shot back at him.

Edward shrugged, saying, "I didn't have to go last year, I'm not going this year, either."

"You didn't go last year, Edward, because you didn't have a date. Esme felt bad about forcing you to go alone," Alice snickered at him.

"Did she tell you that?" he asked, somewhat defensively.

"Dude, she didn't have to. Why else would she have forced the rest of us to go but allow you to stay home? She felt bad for your pathetic, dateless ass," I answered, unable to hold back my laughter.

"All right, whatever," Rose cut in, "last year doesn't matter, so just forget it. Now that you're with Bella, she's going to want you to attend, I'd bet money on it. So, the question is, are you taking Bella with you?"

I could tell that she was impatient but didn't know if it was because she wanted to start making plans or if she just wanted to know if her friend was going to be going with us. I knew how much she cared for Bella even if at first she had wanted nothing to do with her. Bella had definitely become one of her closest friends. I kind of thought she had been hoping that Edward and Bella would get together in enough time for him to take her with us to the Gala, all along.

Edward looked more than a little frustrated with all of us. Truth be told, I couldn't blame him, we had certainly put him on the spot. Finally he let out a big sigh and then turned to face Bella.

"Bella, would you be my date for the Masquerade?" he asked, simply.

She stared him down; unhappy with the way he had been forced into asking her, I was sure. Edward seemed to realize his mistake and quickly backtracked.

"I would prefer not to have to go to the ball, but if I'm going, there's no one I'd be happier to have as my date. You know me not wanting to go has nothing to do with you. I would just rather skip this sort of thing," he explained.

Bella laughed, enjoying his discomfort, I guess. Girls were like that, they always wanted the upper hand. They needn't bother; they were born with the upper hand, it just took them a while to realize it.

"I get it, Edward. Balls aren't really my kind of thing, either, so I can't blame you for not exactly wanting to go," Bella said.

Edward smiled at her, glad she wasn't making a thing out of it, I figured. "Well, Minx, will you go with me, then?" he asked.

"Tell me more about it. What kind of outfit will I have to wear? How much are tickets? When is it, again?" she asked.

"Whoah, whoah, whoah," I cut in, "Minx? You already have nicknames for each other? Bella, what's yours for Edward? Please tell me it's something fun, like, Pookie, or, oh I know, what about Tiny?" I laughed.

Bella was laughing along with me a little, though she was trying to hide it. Edward was definitely not amused. He would try to kill me if she started calling him Pookie, but it would be so worth it.

"No, Em, I'm afraid I just call him Edward," she answered.

Rose got us back on track by answering Bella's questions. "It's a masquerade ball, so we'll be in costumes, but it's not like party store costumes. It's more like colorful ball gowns with masks and feathers, that sort of thing. Esme purchases tickets for us. She wants us to attend to show support, but since she doesn't really give us a choice in the matter, she pays our way. I'm sure as Edward's date she'll buy your ticket as well. And it's two weeks from Saturday."

"Don't worry about the dress," Alice added. "I'll be taking care of that for you, if you come."

"Alice. No. There's no way I'm letting you buy me a ball gown," Bella returned. I could see her stubborn side kicking in.

"This is what I do, Bella. Consider it an early birthday present or something. But, I am buying you a dress – that way I know it's been Alice approved. And trust me, you'll look sexy," she said.

Bella blushed a little, saying, "Not too sexy, Alice. Promise me."

"If I promise, is it a deal?" Alice asked hopefully.

"What if you picked it out but I paid for it? Wouldn't that be the better way to do it? How much are ball gowns, anyway? I don't want you spending all of that money one me," Bella said.

"Bella, this isn't that difficult – just say, 'Yes, Alice, you may dress me.' Then show up Saturday, two weeks from now, and let me beautify you." I knew Alice was gonna win this round. That little pixie had her mind set; she was going to dress Bella. Nothing under the sun would convince Alice to back down from this one.

Bella sighed in defeat, "All right. Yes, Alice, you may dress me – as long as it's not too sexy. Or slinky. Or low cut. And, we're discussing payment after you get the dress."

"We'll see - later. You'll love the dress I have picked out for you, though. It's going to be perfect," Alice said.

I snickered to myself. I should have known she'd already planned for all of this and had something picked out for Bella. Leave it to Alice to shop ahead.

"For Christ's sake, everyone shut up and let her answer my question already! Bella, will you be my date?" Edward ground out, obviously annoyed by all the chatter.

"Yes. Love to," she answered as she leaned in and kissed his cheek. Even I got a little choked up at that little display of effection and I'm obviously not the kind of guy that gets choked up...over anything. Big strong dude walking, after all.

Alice started outlining her plans to Bella. "All right, perfect. Bella, I think you should come over that Saturday, early, and we can make a day out of it. Me, you and Rose will have lunch together and then we'll all get ready. I'll do your makeup and hair and make you look beautiful!" she finished, triumphantly.

"Alice, she already is beautiful, without any help from you," Edward admonished.

I had to agree with him on that. I thought all three of my girls were beauties. Of course, I thought Bella and Alice were beautiful in a sisterly kinda way, while Rose was beautiful in a takes-my-breathe-away kind of way. But, no one could deny that all three of them had been blessed in the looks department. I was proud that they all seemed to be blessed in the personality departments as well. Beauty wasn't everything, after all.

"oooooohhhhhhhhhh, you are so in love, Edward Cullen!" Alice sang out gleefully. I didn't know if she was serious or playing with him but, either way, I thought it was time to change the subject. I could see things degenerate from here if we let it go on and we still had some things to cover.

"Before this turns into one of your little sibling spats we're all oh so very fond of, we need to cover some business," I broke into their would-be bickering.

All eyes again turned expectantly in my direction. Sure that I had everyone's attention I explained.

"I just thought we should go over some of what we all heard today, post-fight. Strategize a little. The gossip wasn't terrible today, but that's just because no one has seen Bella, yet," I pointedly eyed Bella's still horribly bruised face. "But they will, and when they do we need to get it under control quickly, or we'll never hear the end of the gossip."

"Bella, do you plan on going back to school tomorrow, or waiting until Monday?" Jasper asked. I knew he had probably been thinking about the same thing I had been, all day - how to gain control over the situation.

Bella sighed and then sat quietly for a long moment, thinking it over. When she finally reached a decision, she said, "I guess I'm gonna go in. I'm feeling better. My face is still a little sore but my headache is completely gone. It feels cowardly not to go in. I might as well get it over sooner, rather than later – I think the longer I wait the worse the gossip will be. My face will look a lot better by Monday, but that'll give them three long days to imagine whatever they come up with; and I'm sure they're being creative. No, I'll go in tomorrow."

I stole a quick peak at Edward, to see how he'd take this. He didn't look happy, but he was keeping his mouth shut. I knew he'd want her to wait till Monday in hopes that her bruising would go away and the gossip would have a chance to die down some. Plus, I was sure he'd want to spend the day with her again, tomorrow. Besides Esme, who would be busy with Gala stuff, they'd have the house to themselves all day.

I had to admit, though, that Bella had a point. The gossip would probably pick up speed if she didn't show up tomorrow. Plus, while I didn't think it was cowardly, if it had been me, I'd probably just want to go in and get the worst over with, sooner rather than later.

I was impressed that Edward had managed to keep his mouth shut and not try to talk Bella out of going. This had to be her decision, and if he tried to talk her out of it, it just would have made him come off like an over-protective ass. He was an over-protective ass, sometimes, but it was their first day as an official couple, we didn't need Bella realizing that so soon.

Then again, when I thought over their history together, I figured she most likely had already figured that out.

"So, what were they saying?" Bella asked me.

Lost in thought, her question confused me. "What was who saying?" I asked.

"What were the kids at school saying? You said that the gossip wasn't terrible today, but that's implying there was gossip. So, what was it?" she asked.

I grinned in anticipation. This should be fun. I loved her like a sister, but that didn't mean I couldn't enjoy seeing her squirm a little.

"Oh, you know, Bells, just the usual. Let's see, what were some of the rumors I heard today? Oh, yea, now I remember - that you and Edward were a secret couple and you cheated on him with James. That you and James were a secret couple and you cheated on him with Edward. That the three of you were involved in a ménage à trios gone wrong and that jealousy got the best of James. And, by far my favorite, that Edward and James were secret lovers and you had managed to steal one or the other away," I explained, gleefully. Really, she hadn't been thinking it through when she had asked me, of all the people in the room, to update her on what was being said. Of course I would pick the juiciest rumors.

Her face had gone ashen and then bright red when she heard all of the different things being said. Edward's eyes looked like steel and I knew he wasn't enjoying the situation as much as I was but, oh well, if he ever managed to pull the stick out of his butt he'd find it funny, I was sure.

Bella looked around the room at the others for confirmation. They all either silently nodded, backing what I said up, or avoided her eyes all together. The wimps.

"You would think they would be able to come up with at least one non-sex related rumor. Our school is full of pervs," she finally said. She didn't look any less embarrassed, but she seemed to be handling it like a pro. Once again, I was proud of her.

Everyone laughed and some of the tension I hadn't even known was there left the room. Edward's eyes went back to normal and I could see that he understood there was nothing he could do about the rumors; especially not from home, which was where he would be stuck tomorrow.

"So, how do we deal with this?" Rose asked.

Jasper was the first to answer. "I think it will help that Edward and Bella are a couple now; we can use that to our advantage. We'll just tell them that James liked Bella and got upset when he found out that she was going out with Edward. Everyone knows how much Edward and James hate each other, which will also work to our advantage."

I thought it over and decided it was simple enough to be believable and yet offered enough drama to appease the rumor mongers. I was pretty sure it would work.

I nodded my head, giving me seal of approval to the plan. "Works for me," I said. "Bella, Edward? You guys okay with that?"

Bella gave me a nod, letting me know it was okay with her. I'm sure she was grateful that we managed to come up with something that hadn't involved her cheating on anyone. I had to wait a minute to get Edward's approval; I knew he was thinking the whole thing over, trying to see any problems that might arise. Finally, he shook his head in agreement.

That settled, we all relaxed a little. With business all done and covered we could all go our own ways, which I was happy to do – I hadn't managed to get my afternoon snack in yet, after all.

Before I went to stand up to head to the kitchen I saw Edward quietly signaling me. I stopped myself from getting up just as I had started to shift my weight forward, which left me a little more than off balance and fighting to not land myself smack dab in Rose's lap – a prospect I normally wouldn't mind if we weren't in a room full of people and if I didn't think I'd just end up squishing her. She gave me a decidedly strange look but as I couldn't think of a way to explain without giving up that Edward had caught my attention just as I was standing up, I just shrugged at her and pretended to be embarrassed.

When Rose looked away again I turned back to Edward to see what he wanted, though I was sure I already knew. He cocked his eyebrow at me and pointedly looked at Bella. Yup, knew what he wanted. I waited a second or two before I nodded slightly, just enough so that he'd get the message but not enough where else in the room would be wondering what the hell I was doing. Then, without waiting for his response, I got up and headed into the kitchen.

His message had come through loud and clear; I was to watch Bella's back tomorrow.

Not that I didn't think she could handle herself, I knew that she could. I also knew Edward knew that she could handle herself – I doubted he would fall for someone who couldn't. But I knew Edward was thinking the same thing I was…it never hurt to have someone you trusted watching your back.

I knew, if nothing else, that tomorrow should prove interesting. I was glad I wasn't in Edward's shoes – having to wait around by yourself all day while the girl you loved went off to face the rumor mill all by her lonesome would not be my idea of a good time.

Luckily, I wasn't in Edward's shoes.

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A/N:

So drop me a line, let me know what you think. It'll start getting better soon, promise.

Next update will come soon-ish, though I won't promise on a specific date. I'll start working on it today and hopefully it won't take too long, so keep your eyes open.

I've been thinking a lot about the sequel, planning some things out and what not, and I'm really getting excited to write it. It'll be a lot different from this one but I hope it'll end up better. As much as I love writing this one, it could have definitely done with some improving...especially in the beginning when I had no idea what I was doing. So thanks everyone for sticking by me through the mess! lol.

All right, thanks again!