AN: It's a double-update Friday...YAY!! Okay..I realize that a lot of you are curious about the whole A/J/Em situation...we're getting there and the end of this chapter is the beginning of that journey. Enjoy!


Disclaimer: As always, I own nothing related to Twilight..SM owns it all.


A Sneaky Boyfriend & Accidental Collisions

BPOV

I woke up the following morning around nine. I hadn't slept that long in ages, and I couldn't remember having a single dream when I opened my eyes. As promised, Edward was still in bed with me, even though the others had apparently been long gone, and had even cleaned up their mattresses. I stretched all of my stiff muscles and curled back into Edward. Apparently he found something quite amusing about my actions that morning.

"Good morning, love," he chuckled. I looked up at him and smiled as I gave him a one fingered wave.

"Come here, love," he said as he tried to pull me up on top of him. I realized immediately what he was going for and I shook my head and covered my mouth with a horrified expression. He laughed and then quirked an eyebrow at me.

"Bella, I don't care about morning breath. It's been twelve hours since I've kissed those lips. Please?" he pleaded with a pout. I shook my head again and tried to climb over him to dart off to the bathroom and brush my teeth.

"Belllllaaaa," he whined as he pulled me back toward him. I started squirming and shaking my head with everything in me as I laughed silently, still trying to get away.

"Come on, just one peck and I'll let you run up to the bathroom to brush your teeth if it bothers you so much," he pleaded with me. I let out a gust of breath into the floor as I gave in to his pleas and started shifting around so that I could give him a quick kiss and then bolt.

He smirked at me as I lowered my head down to his. A moment later he tangled his fingers in my rat's nest of hair and pulled me to his lips. I made to pull away, but he held me there and ran his tongue over my lower lip. My eyes shot open as I realized that his breath was minty fresh...unlike mine.

NO FAIR!!! Damn cheater!

I held my lips together tightly and he grunted which caused me to smirk and chuckle silently.

"Think you're funny huh?" he whispered against my lips. I felt one of his hands trace its way down my back and I tensed.

He wouldn't dare!!!

Bella...haha move! He's going for it!

A moment later he smiled against my lips as he started tickling my side. My mouth shot open as I started to laugh in silent hysterics and he took the opportunity to swoop in to steal what he wanted so desperately. The moment his tongue entered my mouth, I couldn't fight him anymore. It felt too damn good.

We both chuckled into our kiss which caused a really funny sound to emit from the seal of our mouths as the air pushed its way through, causing us to chuckle even more. We gave up after a minute and laughed as we broke apart. I mock glared at him as I lifted myself off of the mattress. He smiled smugly at me and I shook my head at him.

"Sorry, love. I couldn't help myself. You're too damn kissable for your own good," he chuckled as he winked at me. I blushed and smiled as I made my way to the stairs.

I quickly showered, brushed my teeth and hair, dressed and made my way back down the stairs. I checked for Edward in the living room, but he wasn't there, and neither was our mattress. I figured he might have ventured into the kitchen, but when I got there I could only find Esme.

"Good morning, dear. Did you sleep well?" she asked with a warm smile. I smiled and nodded to her as I sat down at the kitchen island counter.

"Would you like some breakfast, honey?" she said as she rose from her seat. I nodded to her before I looked behind me to see if Edward had returned yet. He hadn't.

"What would you like to eat?" she asked me as she stood across the island from me. I looked toward the ceiling as I thought and once I decided I signed to her.

'I'll just have cereal, but can we talk about something for a minute?' I signed to her nervously.

"We can talk about anything, sweetheart. What's on your mind?" she asked encouragingly. I twisted my fingers together for a moment as I worked up my nerve.

'Mom, I think I want to go on birth control.' I signed to her quickly. She chuckled quietly at my overly nervous state for a moment before responding.

"Are you sure you two are ready for this step? It's awfully soon after everything that has happened, honey," she replied cautiously.

'No we're not ready yet, but I want to be prepared for whenever that time comes.' I responded with relief that she wasn't angry or upset over the topic.

"I can see your point there. Okay, I'll make an appointment for you with a gynecologist sometime this week so you can discuss your options with them." I smiled gratefully and nodded to her.

"Now, what kind of cereal would you like for breakfast?"

'Cocoa Puffs.' I spelled out for her. She nodded and turned into the kitchen. She placed it in front of me only a minute later and sat back down aat the counter with me.

"You know, Bella. I'm glad you came to me today about your decision instead of feeling like you couldn't talk to me about it. I'm happy to see that you're making good decisions for yourself and your relationship with Edward," she said sincerely. I put my spoon down and turned to her.

'After everything that happened last night, I couldn't doubt that I could talk to you about this. Plus I really want you to know that we're being responsible. I know how much you worry about me, and I wanted to make this one less worry for you if at all possible.' I replied honestly.

"Honey, I'll worry regardless. It's just in my nature to do so. Please don't worry yourself over that. Just always remember that nothing you can ever do will ever make your father or I love you any less, and that all we want for you is for you to be happy. As long as you're making decisions that make you happy, we're okay with that. And seeing how you're making decisions that are right for you, it relieves me greatly when it comes to my worrying, but don't think for a minute that I'll ever stop worrying. I am utterly incapable of doing so, just ask your father," she chuckled and I laughed. I gave her a quick hug before finishing up my cereal.

Edward still hadn't returned by the time I had finished eating, and I was starting to worry that he had left. I turned to Esme who was working on her Sunday edition of the daily crossword puzzle, yet again, and tapped her on the shoulder.

"Yes, Bella?" she asked with a smile as she turned toward me.

'Where's Edward?' I asked with a worried expression.

"Oh... he cleaned up the living room and then went to take a shower right before you came down. He should be back down any minute seeing as how he's been up there for a while now," she said with a slightly confused expression.

'How long has he been gone?' I asked getting worried as I had already been downstairs for over a half an hour.

"I suppose about forty five minutes or so...does he usually take that long in the shower?" she asked curiously. I shrugged because I really didn't know. I decided to go and see if he was alright upstairs. I was hoping that he hadn't gotten suddenly ill or something. I told Esme I was going to go and check on him and she nodded before going back to her crossword puzzle.

I hurried up the stairs and checked all the rooms, but they were all empty. I started to feel a slight panic start to rise in me that something had happened and he had to leave in a hurry. I walked back down the stairs and decided to check and see if his car was still parked in the driveway. I was just about to reach for the door handle when it flew open and hit me right in the face. I stumbled backwards and my hand flew to my face.

"Oh shit! Bella, love.. are you okay?! I'm so sorry, love. I didn't know you were behind the door," Edward said in a panic as his hands flitted around my face in a frenzy. My eyes were stinging and tearing as a sharp pain shot through my nose and a throbbing sensation began in my lips.

Fan-freaking-tastic!!

I stomped my foot on the floor as the pain only increased, and my tears flowed down my face.

"Oh God... Love, you're bleeding," he said with a panicked tone. He swooped me up in his arms and walked quickly toward the kitchen.

"Esme, can you get me a towel and some ice for Bella? I accidentally hit her with the door when I came in," he said in a rush as he placed me on top of the counter.

Esme shot out of her seat and ran for the drawer in the kitchen that was filled with bar mops and hand towels. She tossed a few to Edward and turned around with another one toward the freezer.

"Love, let me see," he said gently. I shook my head.

"Bella, please let me see it. You're bleeding pretty badly and I'm worried that I may have broken your nose," he said pleadingly. I let out a gusted breath and slowly removed my hand, keeping my eyes trained on his. He flinched and grimaced immediately and my hand flew back up to my face.

"Sweetheart, I'm so sorry. I had no idea you would be on the other side of the door. Move your hand love, let me clean you up," he said gently. Esme came back and stood next to Edward and gasped as she finally took a look at the damage. Their reactions terrified me to no end.

I flinched as Edward passed the warm rag over my face. The pain in my nose was subsiding, but my lips hurt like hell. He finished wiping off the blood that had covered my face, and he even washed the blood off of my hand.

It amazed me that he was able to do this without feeling even nauseous or dizzy. When I was a kid, I would feel faint at the sight or smell of blood, but that all changed after Phoenix. I think it's impossible to experience something like that and still be affected by the simple sight of a bloody nose.

"Dear, are you alright?" Esme asked worriedly. I nodded slightly as Edward tried to stop the blood from pouring out of my nose.

"Tilt your head back just a little bit, love. Your nose doesn't seem to want to stop bleeding. Esme can you call Carlisle. I'm not sure what to do if it doesn't stop soon," he said with a worried tone.

She nodded and ran off to get the phone. I faintly heard her in the living room speaking to someone moments later.

"Jesus, Bella. I can't believe I hit you that hard with the door. I should have known better than to push it open with so much force," he said with an extremely apologetic and regretful expression. I waved my hands in front of me dismissing it. It was an accident after all, but I was curious about something.

'Edward? What were you doing outside anyway?' I signed curiously as he applied gentle pressure to my nose.

"Rosalie blew my phone up when I was about to get in the shower. I got dressed and stepped outside to call her back real quick...only it didn't turn out to be a very short conversation. She stopped by my house this morning and my mom told her where I was. She was ecstatic to say the least. She told me to thank you for her. She said she's proud of you for taking the risk of believing her when she knew you didn't have to," he responded sincerely. I nodded slightly, not wanting to cause myself pain with him holding my nose.

"Edward, Carlisle says that if it doesn't stop within the next ten minutes to bring her down to the hospital. They may have to cauterize the vessels in her nose to make it stop," Esme said gently as she rounded the corner to stand next to Edward again. Edward nodded to her.

"Is it still bleeding?" she asked with a worried expression. Edward tilted my head back just slightly and removed his fingers from holding pressure on my nose. He wiped away any of the blood that was there and they both watched and waited for a few moments.

"It seems to have stopped. Does it hurt much when I press on it?" he asked with a worried tone as he gazed into my eyes. I shook my head slightly as it didn't really hurt very much anymore.

"Okay. I'm going to call your father back and let him know you're alright, and then I'm going to run to the grocery store. Do you want anything specific while I'm there, honey?" Esme asked kindly.

I couldn't think of anything so I shook my head. She kissed my cheek and patted Edward's shoulder before leaving the kitchen. Edward turned back toward me and his eyes traveled down toward my lips to inspect the damage and he hissed as his expression became pained.

"Oooh, Bella. I busted your lip up pretty good, it's even more swollen now than it was a few minutes ago. Does it hurt badly?" he asked as he ran his finger under the edge of it. I shook my hand as if to say 'so-so' and he frowned.

"I'm so sorry, baby. I never meant for this to happen to you. Emmett and Alice just ticked me off and I wasn't thinking about anything but getting back to you when I barrelled through the door," he said with a pained tone as he cupped my face and caressed my cheeks. I shot him a confused expression and mouthed 'Emmett and Alice?' to him.

"Yeah, while I was speaking to Rosalie, Emmett stole the phone from her and basically tried to tell me that if I wasn't speaking to him than I shouldn't be speaking to his girlfriend either," he replied with a slightly angry tone. My eyes were as wide as saucers in surprise of his extremely forward comment.

"Rosalie smacked the hell out of him, I actually heard the slap through the phone, and she told him that if he thinks he has any right to call the shots on who she talks to, then he could forget about her talking to him either as she stole the phone back from him," he chuckled and I found myself chuckling silently with him.

Go Rosalie!!

'Alice?' I mouthed to him with a raised eyebrow.

"She's a real piece of work...," he trailed off as he shook his head. His expression clearly angry.

"I was just about to come inside after getting off the phone with Rosalie when I saw her crossing the front lawn, approaching the front of the house. I turned to face her and she glared at me and asked me what I was doing here. I didn't really feel justified to give her an answer to that question with the way she was eyeing me, so I asked her the same question in return and she basically told me that what she does outside of school is none of my business," he said with an frustrated expression. I placed my palm against the side of his face and he leaned into it and kissed my wrist before continuing.

"I told her that when it comes to you, it is most definitely my business. I then asked her why she was coming here after I explained to her that you needed some time to sort through everything. She got angry and told me that I had no room to talk as it appeared that I was stalking you as well. I laughed and she got even more infuriated with me. She asked me what my problem was, and I told her that my problem was that none of them ever stopped to think about anyone but themselves. That none of them ever bothered to realize how badly you, or any of the other people that they didn't even realize had been affected by it, were hurt by everything that happened," he shook his head in disbelief as he spoke.

"Anyway, she scoffed at me and by that point I'd had enough. I turned to come back in the house and she grabbed my arm and asked me where I was going. I spun around and told her that I was going back inside to spend the rest of the day with my girlfriend," he chuckled at the last part and I smiled slightly.

"Love, you should have seen the look on her face when I said that...it was priceless. I couldn't tell if she was more angry or shocked by it. Either way, she finally gave in and told me that her parents sent her over here to invite you all to a bar-b-que at their house today. I told her I'd relay the message and she reluctantly thanked me and stomped away scowling," he said, his voice laced with amusement.

It was only a few moments before the guilt of losing my friendship with her crept up on me.

"Bella, what's wrong, love? Why do you look so sad?" he asked me with concern as he ran the backs of his hands down the sides of my face.

'It's just hard sometimes. I really miss her friendship, but I can't forgive her when she doesn't even realize why what happened hurt me so much. Yes, she apologizes constantly, but it just doesn't seem like she really knows what she's apologizing for, which doesn't make it any better. Emmett and Jasper haven't even tried to apologize, and that bothers me too. What bothers me the most about them though, is how they treat you. The two of them treat you the same way Alice does me. They apologize, but they really don't understand why what they did was so wrong in the first place.' I replied honestly.

"Angel, I'm sorry that they haven't tried to apologize. I told them to stay away from you the night of that party. I was enraged with them, and the thought of them saying something stupid that would hurt you even more terrified me. Their not apologizing to you is my fault, although I don't see how much good it would have done when I agree with you that they have no idea why they're even apologizing. They don't realize that it's more than just having deceived us," he said soothingly. I smiled just slightly and mouthed a silent 'thank you' to him.

"For what, love?" he asked in confusion.

'I would have gone insane if there had been three of them chasing after me instead of just Alice...she was bad enough as it was.' I replied sincerely.

"Bella, your happiness, and in this case sanity, is the foremost thought in my mind every second of every day. No matter what happened between us, I wasn't about to let them make it harder for you if I could stop it," he replied with a comforting tone.

I leaned forward and tried to kiss his lips gently, but the throbbing that ensued as I puckered my lips made me grimace and pull back quickly.

"I guess I deserve the punishment I'm getting right now," he chuckled as I fingered my lip tenderly.

'What punishment?' I signed to him with a confused expression.

"Not being able to kiss those perfect lips of yours the way I want to right now," he said with a smile. I rolled my eyes and swatted at him playfully.

"Rosalie asked me to ask you if it was alright if she stopped by this afternoon. She's heading back to Seattle tonight and she wanted to get to spend some time with us before she left. Is that alright with you, love?" he asked sincerely. I smiled and nodded to him.

"How about we go settle down in the living room and relax for a bit while we ice down your poor face that I brutally attacked?" he chuckled. I laughed and swatted him again before I raised my arms for him to help me down from the counter.

He lifted me up and placed me down on the floor. I hugged him tightly to me for a moment before picking up the toweled bag of ice and heading for the living room. He followed closely behind me and helped me settle down into the couch when we got there. He gave me the remote to the tv, put the quilt from the back of the couch over me, and even arranged the pillows comfortably for me. I looked at him in confusion, wondering where he was going to sit if he wasn't going to be laying behind me like he used to do.

"I'm going to call Rosalie in just a second and then I'm going to take a quick shower since I haven't been able to do so yet. I'll be back in fifteen minutes tops, okay?" he asked with a gentle tone. I nodded and made to place the bag of ice on my throbbing lip as he bent down and kissed my forehead.

"I love you, Bella," he said, his voice full of emotion as he spoke. I moved the bag and mouthed a silent 'I love you too' to him. He smiled and gently pressed his lips to mine and I pouted slightly as he pulled away.

Dumb stupid throbbing lip!

He chuckled as he caressed my cheek.

"I'm sorry, love. The pain will go away soon, I promise," he said soothingly. I nodded and he got up off the couch and made his way toward the stairs. He pulled out his phone and dialed a number as he walked. I watched and listened as he spoke with Rosalie while he ascended the stairs until I couldn't see him anymore. I turned toward the tv after that and turned it on.

I tried desperately to focus on whatever was showing on the channel that it had last been on, but I found myself unable to do so. Too many thoughts were swirling around my head concerning Alice, Jasper, and Emmett. It was enough to drive me insane.

What is their problem?! Why can't they understand what made us all so upset? Even Rosalie understands it, and she doesn't know me from a hole in the wall!

Bella...sometimes when people only think of the pain that they're in or the guilt that they feel they don't acknowledge how others are feeling. I shouldn't have to tell you this...

My situation was different!

How so?

I didn't lie to anyone to cause myself to feel guilty and then ignore their feelings. I didn't fail to put my faith in anyone when they gave me their trust. I didn't try and baby them or sugar coat everything in anyone's life in an attempt to make them feel falsely secure in their surroundings.

Okay, I see your point, but for one minute just try and see mine. For years you were lost within your own despair and unable to even notice how anyone else around you felt. Don't you think that maybe they are feeling at least slightly the same way? I'm not saying to the same degree but at least just a fraction of it...

I suppose so, but that doesn't make the way they're acting right. Emmett was down right vicious to Edward today...he had no right to be that way. Alice had no right to act that way to him either. He didn't do anything! Where do they get off treating him that way?

Bella, you of all people should know that sometimes people act out irrationally when they're upset over something. Do you happen to recall all the times you lashed out at Esme and Carlisle in the beginning over absolutely nothing that they did? How many times you hurt their feelings because of how helpless you felt? Think about it, Bella. They're probably tearing themselves apart now that they've had time to think about how they acted today.

I never meant to hurt Esme or Carlisle's feelings. I just didn't know how to express myself and when it built up to a point where I couldn't tolerate it anymore...I lashed out.

They probably didn't mean to lash out at Edward either, Bella. People do irrational things when they're distressed.

Ugh...this is a mess...

Yes it is...and I'm sorry to say, but it isn't going to get better if you keep running from it.

What am I supposed to do? Just act like nothing ever happened?!

I didn't say that. What if you and Edward wrote them letters explaining to them how they hurt everyone..including Esme, Carlisle, Liz, and Ed Sr. Maybe that will help them to understand why what they did was so wrong. I think they're under the misapprehension that you both are only angry because they deceived you. Maybe explaining to them that the deception isn't really the issue will help them to understand it.

Maybe...but that doesn't mean that I'm ready to be friends with them again. Edward can if he wants to...whenever he wants to. I hate knowing that their friendship is in ruins after so many years of being as close as they were.

Leave that decision to Edward, Bella. He needs to come to terms with his anger towards them before he can decide whether or not to forgive them. I know you miss Alice terribly. Maybe writing that letter will help you find the forgiveness for both of your actions that you've been looking for.

I'll talk to Edward about it. If I'm going to write one to Alice than I want him to write one to Emmett and Jasper. I can't do this alone...

I understand that, and it will be good for him to do so as well. They need to understand where he's coming from instead of just believing that he's only angry over how they deceived him. Hopefully, if he writes the letters, it will help him put down what he feels towards them as well so that they can return to being friends.

We'll see what he says....Hey I have a question for you..

Shoot...

Was that you that pushed your way through and whispered his name yesterday or was that me saying it?

That was all you, Bella. If it had been me it would have been louder than a whisper, chickadee.

But then why did I panic when we were kissing?

Uhhh...yeah that was me...sorry about that. You kind of overwhelmed me with all those emotions and thoughts that were flying around here...my bad.

It's okay..I was just wondering. You wouldn't happen to know how I managed to do it without panicking would you?

That I would not, unfortunately. I have a theory though...

Spill it!

I think you were so overwhelmed with emotions that the panic didn't have a way to rise which allowed you to let the whisper slip. It's just a theory and I'm not quite sure how accurate it may be, but it's definitely something to think about.

Well....that kind of sucks, really. How messed up would it be if the only time I could speak was when I was overwhelmed?

I've thought about that a lot as well. With all of the emotions that have flown around here recently...have you happened to notice a few that are missing?

Umm..no why?

It's occurred to me recently that I have yet to see more than a flash of anger fly through here, and even as a flash it's only happened once or twice to my recollection. Why don't you ever get angry?

I'm not sure.... I don't really recall having been angry at all in years..that is strange... Doesn't frustration count as anger though?

Not really..it's a completely different sensation. When you're frustrated it's usually because you're feeling hopeless or defeated about something or even just exhausted with trying to push your way through something. It's completely different from you being angry at something. When you were a kid you would get angry and I swear it would glow red in here when something would enrage you...it's been nothing but black in here until recently...sometimes it's kind of bluish.

There's colors in there?!

Not really...it's like the lightbulb analogy. When something finally clicks it's like a lightbulb flicking on in your brain? Ever hear of it?

Uh yeah...I'm still not getting it though...

Well it's something like that for me in here. When your emotions shift the environment in here shifts along with your emotions and thoughts. Depending on what they are, it's almost as if a lightbulb is casting a dim glow of a color associated with it to me. It's what makes me so dizzy when your thoughts and emotions are flying all over the place. It's like being tortured with a color changing strobe light.

Weird....I really am a freak...

Bella...some people describe it as an aura that surrounds you. Some people even claim to be able to see them around people and they change depending on how the person feels. It's really not all that strange...

Whatever...you tell me I have a multi-colored strobe light that acts as a rotating disco ball in my head and you're trying to tell me it isn't strange?

Ugh...forget I said anything about colors...ever. So are you going to write that letter?

Yeah...maybe I'll write it in multi-colored crayon...

Smartass...

Wasn't aware that asses could be smart...

You're on a roll today you know that?

What can I say? I'm in a good mood for the most part...casting aside being hit in the face with a door and Alice and Emmett attacking Edward...this day's been pretty perfect so far.

Sorry..I don't mean to laugh..but that was pretty hilarious. Only you could be a magnet for something like that to happen. It was probably karma exacting its revenge for you making it down the stairs in one piece...

Oh, ha....ha....ha! Who's the smartass now?

Oh come on...admit it. Even you think it's funny now. I hear you stifling those snickers..

Okay fine! It was pretty damn funny after the pain subsided some...

He feels horrible you know...he only made a joke about it because he wants you to think he's not beating himself up over it, but he is.

I figured as much... he's always been so damn hard on himself whenever I've gotten hurt.

That's because he feels like he failed to protect you, and it's even worse now because he knows that it was him that hurt you this time.

It wasn't his fault though..it was an accident.

I know that...and he knows that too, but it doesn't stop him from feeling the way he does.

And people say I'm the stubborn one!

You're quite the pair aren't you? Both stubborn jackasses!

Ugh...thanks...I've always enjoyed that term for a mule!

Anytime...Edward's coming back down..talk to him Bella...about the letters as well as the accident.

Uh huh...

Bella...really...

Okay, okay!

Thank you.

Yep yep.

AN: Reviews are better than getting hit in the face with a door! R&R PLS & TY! ~Jersey~