Author's Note: I had a reviewer mention that to act more like teenagers, of course there would be chores and interactions with the rest of the family, etc. That is absolutely right. One important thing to note here is that not much time has passed. The first 8 chapters were actually only one single weekend.

I think you'll like how the story starts to progress with this chapter and I appreciate the constructive criticism. It did encourage me to add in a few more normal activities for them later on. This is mostly my stress-free story that I write for fun to ease up writer's block on my other stuff. I like doing lemons way too much. haha. Enjoy!

EPOV

Bella enjoyed herself scheming with Alice. They didn't decide on any concrete plans just yet other than making sure Charlie saw Bella and I working on our homework together so he would know that it was still being done. That was easy enough.

While they planned, all I could focus on was the feeling of Bella's soft hand in mine and how amazing it felt when it was on my cock. I did the best I could to hide my arousal from Jasper, but it was pointless. He felt it in my emotions and was highly amused. Hey kid, this is much improved over the usual self-loathing. he thought.

I hid my face against Bella's shoulder and closed my eyes, resting. I started composing symphonies in my thoughts, mentally reciting all of the major and minor scales, anything to not just carry Bella upstairs and admire her naked body some more, even if that was all we did. She was so beautiful inside and out.

We drove her home and I reappeared in her window the second Charlie was asleep. I told her how much I loved her and brushed her hair with my fingers. She easily fell asleep laying on my chest.

I loved her so much more than words could ever tell her. The fact that she trusted me enough to let me hold her as she rested was everything. We were relaxed and happy. I loved everything about her, especially the way she softly smiled in her sleep when she felt me with her.

I reluctantly left around sunrise to get ready for school and return with my car to pick her up.

"I missed you." she said when I arrived.

"I missed you too. Did you sleep well?"

"I did." She smiled softly and got comfortable as I opened her door for her. I kissed her hand and got in the driver's seat. It was going to be a long day at school, especially the classes spent away from her.

Emmett was standing proudly outside of his Jeep when we arrived, ready to show Bella his newest achievement. He held the large pink paper out in front of her when she stepped out of the car. "A speeding ticket Emmett, really!" she was laughing.

"Well, it should have been reckless driving. But because he-" Emmett did air quotes with his fingers "respects my father so much…that he knocked it down to speeding." He laughed his booming laugh and people looked our way. "Oops."

Bella laughed and shook her head. "As long as you don't go pulling stuff like that."

"Never." I assured her. He would never be able to see me, let alone catch me. Emmett only allowed himself to be caught to make Charlie a little less suspicious about our 'perfect' family. I certainly wasn't going to taint my reputation with him any further.

I walked Bella to her homeroom class that she shared with Alice and reluctantly went to mine. Emmett made Charlie's whole morning. Alice thought. He's feeling pretty proud of himself for catching his teenage nonsense and giving him a stern talking to.

I smiled, glad that Charlie had something to smile about for the day too. I liked him, and wanted him to like me as well, but also understood his reservations about me after all I had put Bella and thus him through. Him gaining a relationship with Emmett, even as a father figure, was a great start.

My homeroom class was allowing time for silent study, so I checked on Bella through Alice's thoughts.

"Alice, what other trouble are your brothers planning to get in? Just so I can mentally prepare myself."

"It's no fun if I tell you. I can tell you what you and Edward will be doing later though."

"Gross, no! I don't want you seeing that."

"You don't want me seeing you both doing your homework and debating about a book when Charlie gets home?" She recalled her vision of us mildly disagreeing about some of the more important plot points of The Grapes of Wrath for a book report.

"Oh." Bella blushed. Alice giggled.

"Pervert."

"I am not!"

"You are too." Alice said, making Bella blush deeper and look down at her notebook. "Even if you don't realize it yet. That's OK. We still love you." She giggled again. Bella was so lovely. I was a lucky man.

"What else is Emmett going to get into?"

"Don't worry. He's going to lay low for a few days now. It's Rosalie's turn!"

"Rosalie?!"

"Don't act so surprised. She loves you too, you know. You did save Edward, after all."

"So did you."

"He's my brother. It's expected."

"I'm surprised she wants any part of this."

"She wants to make things up to you a bit."

"What's she going to do?"

"Nope. Not telling." Alice said. I know you're listening, brother. You'd best focus on that homework you forgot to do last night or else you're going to get lunchtime detention.

"Shit!" I whispered, quickly doing the ten math problems that had completely slipped my mind the night before, thankful for perfect recall of how to do them. Maybe it was best if Charlie saw me and Bella doing our homework together more.

The rest of the school day continued slowly, much the same. When I was with Bella, we held hands or took turns adding a few lines at a time to a ridiculous drawing in her notebook. When I wasn't with Bella, I listened to her in the thoughts of others, her gentle, normal discussion about mundane things with Angela being one of my favorite parts of the day. I made a mental note to thank Angela more often for what a great friend she was to Bella.

Lunch time finally came around and I made a large salad for Bella while she got some books out of her locker. She joined us with a smile, and I felt whole again. I kissed her on the cheek and slid her food in front of her as she sat down.

"I can get my own lunch you know."

"I know."

"Thank you."

"My pleasure."

"So, Bella…" Emmett started. I groaned and hid my face, not even having to pay any attention to his thoughts to know it was going to be something dirty. "Chill, Eddie. I was going to ask Bella if she would like to be my checkers opponent later."

"Uh huh." I said.

"We're going to my house to do our homework after school today, but I would love to some other time."

"I'm holding you to that." he said.

"Alright." She answered with a smile.

The rest of lunch was uneventful. Thankfully, she kept her hoodie on in class today, so I wasn't tempted any more than normal, although she knew she was my every thought. She smiled when she caught me looking at her and I didn't try to hide it. I wanted her to feel loved and admired every day for the rest of our lives, thankful that I was the one allowed to love and admire her.

When school was finally over, we rode to her house together. She tossed some laundry in the washer and made herself a snack while I spread our homework out on the coffee table and placed some pillows in the floor for her to sit on. She sat down beside me, brushing her fingers over my cheek, and pulling me to her for a kiss. It was hard to let her go and focus on our work. "I love you so much."

"I love you too." she answered, kissing me again as I ran my fingers through her hair.

"Maybe we should focus for now. Fun later?"

"I'm holding you to that." She smirked. I had to put great effort into not fixating on that little remark, instead writing my name and the date on a piece of paper and starting my homework.

I heard Charlie's thoughts approaching as we were working on our book report, just as Alice had predicted. Perfect.

"Hey kids!" Charlie called.

"Hi dad!"

"What are you two doing in the floor?"

"It's easier to spread out our homework." she answered, holding up the book in her hands. Huh. Homework for real. Well alright then. I could get used to this.

"We have a huge book report due soon."

"That sounds….fun." he said, taking off his jacket and gun and sinking into his recliner beside us. "I-uh…gave your brother a speeding ticket this morning."

"Jasper?"

"No, the big one. Emmett."

I shook my head. "I'm sure he deserved it."

"Well, he was doing about fifty in a twenty-five. I didn't really have much choice. I hope your parents aren't upset with me." He had no idea how slow that really was to us. He was trying to get caught.

"Trust me, it's Emmett they will be upset with. They have a great respect for the law. They've always told us to follow it."

"Good parents." Very good parents. I could get used to that. Maybe they really didn't mean all this drama. Teenagers. he scoffed. "Bella, Jake says you aren't returning his calls. He called me at work today. Would you call him?"

"Sorry, but no. I don't want to talk to him right now."

"Whatever he did can't be that bad."

"He made Edward think I was dead." She said flatly.

"I'm sure it was just a misunderstanding." Jake's a good kid. I wish she would spend time with him again. He's so much better for her than-

There was the unmistakable sound of a motorcycle approaching the house. Of freaking course Cullen would be here. He probably thinks she'll leave his sorry ass if he isn't always with her. Good, maybe I can talk some sense into her and teach him a lesson at the same time.

"He's on his way here." I told her.

"What?!"

"Isn't that his motorcycle?" I asked, but she knew what I was implying.

"I really don't want to see him right now."

"Do you want me to tell him to go away?" Charlie asked. "Something tells me that isn't going to work."

"No, I guess I'll deal with it."

"I'll stay right with you if you want." I said.

She nodded and went to answer the door. Should have brought her motorcycle. Might have gotten her grounded and not able to see the bloodsucker of hers. Oh well, that's always something for next time. I made a mental note to try to get Bella to tell Charlie about that ahead of time to soften the blow and answer his questions before Jacob could try anything. I stood close behind her as she opened the door.

"Hi Bella!"

"I don't want to see you, Jacob."

"Too bad. May I come in?"

"No."

"Bella!" Charlie shouted.

"Fine." She stood aside, opening the door for him. He smirked at me as she led him into the living room.

"Hi Jacob! Well, think I'll go chop some firewood." Charlie said, going into the kitchen. Going to give Jake a little privacy to talk to her. This should be interesting. "Care to help me, Edward?"

Jacob was pleased with this. "Sure!" I said, kissing Bella on the head and glaring at him as I followed Charlie. "I won't be far if you need me." I would listen in his thoughts and make sure he didn't hurt her, faking diarrhea if I had to in order to run inside and check on her. Bella would get a giggle out of that.

I listened to them as I helped Charlie, thankful that the physical activity didn't require much talking.

"How you been?" Jacob started.

"Better."

"You haven't returned my calls."

"I've got nothing to say to you!"

"That's not what you said before. Jacob you can't break up with me!" he said in a high-pitched voice. The desperation of how she looked in his thoughts from that day nearly broke my heart.

"You know I meant as friends!" Given a few more days, we'd be a lot more than friends. So much more. I wanted to go punch those filthy thoughts out of his head but thought of Bella's face to stay calm and not show my real strength in front of Charlie.

"Do I? I think you would be happy with me. Much happier than with him. Bella, I can offer you so much more. A normal, human life-" His memories of how broken she had been in my absence were incredibly painful. It took a lot of effort to not grip the axe too hard and accidentally snap its handle.

"Except that you're a werewolf!"

"I don't have to be. I can control it. I can still go anywhere you want, be anything you want. We can go to college, have kids…" He had spent way too much time fantasizing about this.

"You can't be Edward." My heart swelled with love.

"Because I'm better." Way better than that filthy leech. He's got nothing on me.

"What do you want?!"

"You." he said, leaning towards her. I saw his intention in his thoughts and ran into the house, explaining things to Charlie be damned. That could be dealt with later. This couldn't.

"Don't you dare touch her!" I growled, tossing him into the floor just a split second before he was going to force a kiss on Bella. "Don't you ever touch a woman against her will, but especially not Bella. Do you hear me?!" I held him down, breathing heavily, nearly lost in my rage.

Well, this works too. Maybe Charlie will see him punching me and ban him from the house.

"You fucking wish." I growled, standing up so he could stand up too.

Charlie was watching shocked from the doorway. Maybe I should break them up. This doesn't look good. Wonder what the hell happened?

"Sorry." I said to Bella, wrapping my arms around her. "I didn't mean to curse in front of you. Are you alright?" She was shaking.

"I'm fine." she answered quietly.

"What the hell is going on here?" Charlie asked, looking at all of us, incredulous.

"I wasn't going to hurt her."

"I know that." Charlie said. "But what were you going to do?"

"Uh-" he ran his hand through his hair. That wasn't a complication he anticipated.

"He tried to kiss her against her will." I said, holding Bella close to me.

"And you knew this how?" Charlie asked.

"He probably heard me screaming." Bella said, thinking quickly on her feet. I nodded. He's got good ears. I didn't hear a thing. Damn, I'm getting old.

"Is this true Jacob?" Charlie asked.

Jacob looked down at his feet. "Not exactly against her will…"

"Did Bella ask you to kiss her?"

"No."

"Get out, Jacob. You aren't welcome back here."

"You don't understand!" he insisted.

"Alright, what don't I understand?"

He debated telling Charlie everything, but didn't want to risk breaking the treaty. "He's not good for her! He left her! You saw what he did to her! And you're just going to let him come back like everything is alright?"

"He makes her happy." Charlie said simply. "He's apologized. I believe him."

"He's going to ruin her life! She's already wearing his diamond!"

"It's just a necklace, Jacob." Bella answered, annoyed with him, and still trembling in fear. She hated confrontation. I held her a little tighter. "And you better go. You were my best friend. I did love you, but not like you think. You could never even come close to replacing Edward. And you tried to tell him I was dead! Is that what you wanted? For me to lose the love of my life forever so that you could try to fulfill some sick fantasy?! Just go!"

"You're dead to me." he said, slamming the door as he left, hopping on his motorcycle, and speeding away. He couldn't comprehend her choosing a leech over him. Bella cried, hiding her face in my shirt.

"Hey, you alright?" I asked. She nodded and held me tightly. "Come on." I led her to the couch and sat down, pulling her into my lap to hold her properly. Charlie quietly slipped outside to finish chopping the firewood, hoping that I could calm her down. He wanted to take out some rage himself. Apparently, the speed of my running hadn't even caught his attention. He had simply followed me, worried about her.

"I love you."

"I love you too. I'm sorry."

"What could you possibly have to be sorry for, sweetheart?"

"I shouldn't have gotten close to him. I didn't mean to lead him on."

"Bella, I left you. You had every right to have friends. I told you to move on even. If you had fallen in love with him it would have been entirely my fault, not yours. Besides, even if you had somehow led him on, it doesn't give him permission to kiss you if you don't want him to."

"I'm so glad you were here to stop him."

"Me too."

"Is this really a diamond necklace?"

"It is."

"You lied to me."

"No, I didn't lie. But you didn't ask." I smiled into her hair.

"I'm not mad."

"I know."

"I don't want to know what it cost, do I?"

"I didn't lie to you about it being my mother's. I really didn't spend anything on it myself. I'm sure it was reasonable…probably a hundred dollars or so."

"Oh. That's not so….wait! In 1910s money….wow."

I laughed. "Silly girl. Money means nothing to me where you're concerned, you know that. I'm not sure what it cost. My father got it for my mother as a gift and I wanted you to have it. I was just so happy that you accepted a gift from me that I didn't feel the need to bring up its value. It's not usually something you care about anyhow."

"I don't. I love it. I just don't want to lose it or anything."

"You won't. And if you do, it's insured." I joked. She smiled.

"Will you help me start dinner? I'm sure Charlie will be hungry after all of that chopping."

"I would love to."

I followed her in the kitchen to help her start cooking. I wasn't going to leave her alone until I had to, just to see that she was safe and calm, even if that meant choking up some disgusting human food later. It would be worth it.