I'm sorry, I know that it has been ages and that this chapter isn't that long, but I have been enjoying my holidays and whenever I am at the house, I never seem to feel like writing. On a brighter note, have a look at my new story life happens. Updates should be more regular then for this story, which kinda sucks because this story is my main concern, as far as my ff concerns go that is… Anyways, enjoy.

I sat on the uncomfortably hard wooden chairs at the over priced restaurant. I squirmed in my chair, uncomforted by the stares that I could feel from my family. Bella, either sensing my discomfort or seeing their stares, put her little cold hand on my thigh and gave a gentle squeeze. The action gave me a sudden boost of confidence, and I looked up from my lap to smile at her, before masking my face into an expression of indifference and turning my head to face my two cousins, Samantha and Alex, who sat across from Bella and I, and the people that they had bought with them, Nina, Alex's girlfriend, and Hayle, Sam's best friend. Alex, the oblivious moron who wouldn't know the meaning of tact if it came up and bit him in the face, was staring blatantly at Bella's chest, so I kicked the fuckers leg, enjoying as he almost fell off of his chair. Sam, his older sister, just looked confused. I guessed that she, like my old friends, was wondering how I had managed to get a girlfriend, how I managed to get a girlfriend like Bella and probably wondering why I even wanted one, considering that she always thought that I was gay. I could almost hear her thoughts 'Maybe he's paying her, maybe they are just friends, apparently gay guys make great friends for girls.'

Their dad, my Uncle Max, was also looking at the two of us, though much more discreetly. He seemed to be assessing the situation with his beady little eyes, before flickering his gaze to my mother, then his wife, then to Bella. I leaned over and kissed her hair, putting my arm around the back of her chair and running my fingers over the top of her arm. He shifted uncomfortably, then sighed in boredom. No doubt he wished that Allan, Caroline's husband was here, but he was currently serving for the army.

Mother, Aunt Caroline and Aunt Shelly were all sitting in a little group at the top of the table gossiping. I had long ago tuned them out. Caroline caught my eye and smiled at me, before looking towards Bella and winking. I grinned back timidly, still about awkward about the whole 'A vampire used your house to attempt to kill me' thing. I varied from wanting to hide from her, and wanting to laugh whenever she walked into the room.

I sighed in exasperation, tapping my foot and wishing that the kitchen would hurry up so that we could eat and then leave. This holiday was going to be fun, I was sure of that, apart form the days that we had to spend with the family.

"So Edward," Shelly said, the glint in her eyes reminding my of Jessica. "how did you and Bella meet?" Part of me wanted to make up some crazy over the top story to see if she would buy it, but I decided against doing so.

"We go to school together. Forks is so tiny that you can't help but to know everybody." I replied.

"Oh," She turned away, looking awkward. I grimaced, realizing that I had just made my relationship with Bella seem as if we were only together from convenience, because there was no one else. My mother shot me a glance, one that clearly said 'be nice and make your family think that you're functional'. I sighed, squeezed Bella's hand and smiled.

I realize that I probably seem completely over dramatic. So far, you probably can't see anything wrong with my family, can't understand why I have been bitching and spewing warnings at Bella about who to avoid, who was crazy and who I really didn't like. So far, we seemed pretty normal, right?

It wasn't just that I was a stuck up bastard who hated family just because I could. When I was younger, my cousins always singled me out to make fun of, my aunt and uncles always seemed to give me and my parents pitting glances when they witnessed my anti social behavior or whenever I did something different to their children. Like there was something wrong with me.

And no, I'm not traumatized or anything like that, definitely not. But my attitudes of running and screaming whenever something family related was about to happen and negative thinking towards the group just to avoid being picked on was ingrained into me. I didn't get picked on as much anymore (I hoped that this was because my cousins as a group had matured over the years and not just because they knew that I had grown up from being scrawny little 'Edweird' and could now kick their asses back, but I wasn't so sure) but now I was mostly just avoided like the plague. Sure, being avoided was better than being picked on, but still not something that I looked forward to.

Our food finally arrived, and I made pleasant small talk with the others, most of whom I could tell didn't really want to be there either. Sadly, there wasn't a way for Bella and I to swap plates without getting attention, so she had to result to hiding food in her napkin again. I was just glad that she didn't order soup.

When dinner was finally over, my aunts offered us a ride back to the hotel. Seeing as it was such a good night, with the stars shining brightly over the harbor, and after consulting with Bella, because I wasn't going to assume, we said that we would walk back to the hotel instead.

After assuring my mother that I knew where we were going and wasn't going to get lost, she drove off with the others and Bella and I started to walk. I was glad for the time to be alone with her. She had been oddly quiet, and not in the 'I'm shy because I'm with people that I don't know' kind of way, but in the contemplative, thinking kind of way. I wanted to know what she was thinking about.

We detoured around the board walk on the harbor, taking in the night and enjoying being able to walk at night without getting rained on or frozen.

"I smell ice cream." Bella said suddenly, pulling me from my musings.

"What?"

"Ice cream, over there," She pointed to a little cart. "want some?" She grinned at me.

I nodded eagerly, pulling her over to the cart with me and frowning when I realized that she didn't get any. I got a strawberry, which was my new favorite because it reminded me of the way that Bella smelt, the way that she tasted when I kissed her.

We walked round the harbor in silence, me eating the ice cream and wondering how to broach the topic. I thought that something more tactful then 'so what's wrong?' should be used, considering that she would more than likely just say 'I'm fine' and keep wallowing like she usually did. Maybe I didn't have to worry, maybe she would broach the subject anyway. Maybe I should just wait until she was ready. But then again, how long would that take, maybe she didn't think that this concerned me and didn't plan to tell me what was wrong. And if she did tell me, how long would I have to wait?

I finished the cone, sighing in frustration. She obviously was going to take a while to broach the subject with me, and I wasn't exactly what one would call patient. I threw the napkin in the bin, dragged Bella over to the fountain ( it was big, round and had those bits that squirt water up ) and helped her up so that she was standing in the ledge. With the water behind her, the squirts jumping up at random intervals, the lights that were in the ground shinning up illuminating her beautiful face with the stars and the Heavens above her, I couldn't help but think that this girl had to be more than that, more then just a girl and more than a vampire. Surely, somebody so beautiful, so loving and so pure had to be an Angel.

But here she was, standing on a fountain on a cool Chicago night with me. She was smiling at me questioningly, obviously trying to see what I was doing, and she had her hands on my face.

"Are you alright?" I assumed that she was questioning the awed look in my eyes.

"Yes, but are you?"

She looked startled, maybe she thought that she was being sneaky with her quietness.

"Yes." She said hesitantly.

"Bella, honestly." I sighed, frustrated and not understanding why she would not tell me.

"It's just," She sighed, closing her eyes and leaning her forehead on mine. "I know that you don't get along with your family, and I know that my family is your family too, but this is your real, biological family and nothing is ever exactly the same as that. I just, how am I supposed to take all of that away from you? I love you so much Edward, and I know that you love me too, but I can't take all of this form you." Oh no. "How could I live with myself after I change you and you and them can never see each other again?" Fuck!

"Bella, you just said it. You're family is my family, the family that loves my more than my own and the family that I have always been closer to than my own flesh and blood family. And I love you. I know that leaving my mother behind will be hard, but she has everybody else, being here has reminded me of that, she will be fine."

"But I can't take away your humanity! You will miss out on so much!" She wailed. She looked close to tears.

"No I won't! As long as I have you then I don't need human experiences that you all keep going on about. It'll be different for me than the others. They were forced into this life without a chance, but me, I am choosing this, I know what I am getting into, this is what I want! I want this for me, I want this for us!"

She bit her lip, the gold in her eyes swirling as she stared into my depths. I felt exposed, as if she was gazing into my mind and into my soul. "This should be about you, not about us, don't do this on account of me."

"But you're my whole world." I told her gently. I kissed her hand, stroked her hair and breathed in her scent. "Everything I do, it's because of you. I have no other purpose in life than to be with you."

Hr eyes snapped closed, and she took in a shuddering breath. I wondered if I had said to much, if I had upset her.

"Are you really sure that you choose this?" She hadn't opened her eyes yet, and I refused to answer her until she did. She needed to see my eyes when I answered this. She needed to see how sure I was, how much faith I had in her, in us. I stroked her cheek again, waiting until she got the hint.

She opened her eyes. "I choose you." I whispered. She snapped then. Her knees buckled, she threw her arms around my neck and buried her face in my neck, sobbing broken, dry sobs.

"Ok." She sobbed after a few moments, her voice a broken and chocked sound.

"Ok?"

"Ok, I will change you. No more arguments." She sobbed, but the sound was defeated, yet still hopeful, as if she was crying partially from joy and relief. I hoped that that was true, that she wanted me.

But I knew know, I was safe and secure in what we had now, in how our relationship would eventually progress. We would be able to be together as equals. She would change me, there would be no more arguments.