An Occasion

Disclaimer: all characters and copyright belong to SM.

A/N-thank you very much to everyone who kindly read and reviewed the last chapter.

Part Five-Argument

Of course, Edward was there, in her room, standing against the far wall in the shadow by the open window. His face was hard, his posture tense. He glared at Bella wordlessly as she drifted over to the bed and sat down.

"Hi." She greeted him lamely.

His face could have been carved from stone from all the response she got from him.

"Er…I'm sorry about the whole ditching you at prom thing…but you knew I didn't want to go. So, it's your own fault at the end of the day. You forced me to take action." Bella continued awkwardly.

A growl rumbled low in his chest, but his expression didn't change.

"Hey, you sounded just like that wolf." Bella quipped, attempting to lighten the atmosphere. When he just continued to glare at her, she started to become irritated. "Look, no harm was done, really. So can you just relax and let it go. I'm okay. Jacob's okay. You're okay. Billy seemed fine, so there's no reason to make a big deal out of all this." She insisted with a shrug.

Edward finally moved. His eyes closed, and he pinched the bridge of his nose between the fingers of his right hand. "Bella, I can't believe you are making light of all this. Do you have any idea how much danger you put yourself in because of your reckless behaviour?"

Bella rolled her eyes. "You're being overly dramatic. I wasn't in any danger. Jacob told me they would be watching at the prom. Of course, I didn't know exactly how they planned on doing that…. but…wow…the whole wolf thing blew my mind!" She mimed an explosion with her hands. "But I've got to say I think its so cool."

Edward ground his teeth together. His hands balled into fists at his sides. He was still standing against the wall, his back pressed tightly to it. "If he'd hurt you- "

"Enough!" Bella cut him off impatiently. "There's nothing to worry about. Billy isn't dangerous. He was making a point that's all. So, you better just leave Jacob and his dad alone, do you hear?" She declared emphatically.

"Bella." Edward carried on sternly. "You aren't exactly the best judge of what is or isn't dangerous."

"I know I don't have anything to worry about. Just drop it, Edward."

"I will not!"

"Look, Edward, I am sorry I made you anxious, but that's all I'm sorry for." Bella took a deep breath, and hobbled across the room to stand in front of him. "I'm going to La Push tomorrow. I'll smooth things over with the Black's then. I'll apologise on your behalf and tell them you didn't mean to act like an ass." She patted him smartly on his hard chest and smiled condescendingly.

"You will not be going anywhere near La Push again, Bella. I absolutely forbid it." Edward retorted angrily. "You can't expect me to let you – "

"Oh, yes, I can. You are in no position to be making demands." Bella interrupted him fiercely. She had reached the absolute limit of her patience with him, especially after the stunt he'd pulled with the prom.

"This won't happen again."

"That's right! Because you're not going to overeat next time."

"Because there won't be a next time. Wolves constitute a risk."

"I disagree."

"I'm not negotiating this, Bella."

"Neither am I."

Edward's hands were balled into fists again. "I won't tolerate this rebellious streak in you, Bella. You are being childish."

His words hit a raw nerve. Bella looked up at his face, at his defensive eyes. She was so mad that she wanted to slap him, but she knew it would be a pointless exercise-she would only end up breaking her hand. "Its time for you to leave." She said through gritted teeth.

Edward stared at her through narrowed eyes. "Make me." He challenged.

Maintaining eye-contact with him the whole time, she reached for the zip on her ridiculous dress and slowly began to pull it down.

"What are you doing, Bella?" Edward frowned, suddenly looking a tad nervous.

"I'm stripping." Bella said in a hushed whisper, she slowly pulled the sleeve of the dress down in a suggestive manner. "Do you want to stay and help unwrap the rest of me, Edward?"

Bella had never seen Edward move so fast. The curtains fluttered in his wake as he disappeared out of her bedroom window. "Prude!" She muttered under her breath as she yanked the ridiculous dress the rest of the way down her body.

It was a Saturday.

Bella woke from the best nights sleep she'd had in a long while to the sun shining in her eyes. The sunshine had a warmth in its brilliance, reflecting a shimmer from the ends of her eyelashes, deep brown though they were. She wished there was a word for the feeling it brought, for now she decided to call it "sunjoy."

Bella pulled herself up into a sitting position, immediately reaching for her cell phone which lay beside her on the small cabinet by her bed. She pulled up Jacob's number and counted the number of rings it took before her call was answered. "Good morning, sunshine." She chirped happily.

"Is it?" Billy's gruff reply startled Bella.

"Oh, um…. hi, Billy. Its Bella. I thought you were Jacob."

"You don't say." Billy said grumpily. "I hope you're not calling to interrogate me. I've had enough of that from Jacob last night."

"I wouldn't do that." Bella replied, feeling completely flustered.

"Yeah, right." Billy muttered sarcastically. "I suppose you want to compare notes with Jacob. Wait a minute. I'll get him. JACOB! PHONE!" He bellowed.

Bella winced at the loud sound. Billy's voice became muted. She could hear him arguing with someone-presumably Jacob. Then, finally, Jacob came on the line. "Hello." He yawned.

"Hi, Jacob. Its me."

"Hi, Bella. Its really early."

"It's eight o'clock."

"Exactly. Like I said…early." Jacob complained good-naturedly. "What's up?"

"You weren't supposed to interrogate Billy. I thought we were going to be subtle." Bella chided him.

"How is spying on my old man and his idiot friends subtle? And how did you propose to do that? You can't even get around properly with that bulky walking cast. So, I thought, why not just come straight out and ask." Jacob tried to stifle another yawn as he spoke.

"From Billy's sour mood I take it didn't go so well." Bella responded in exasperation.

"I told him I thought it was cool and that I was completely fine with the whole turning into a wolf thing. I even joked that the colour of his fur matched his name…. but he wasn't impressed." Jacob revealed. "He just told me to keep my wisecracks to myself and to think again."

"Is that it?" Bella shook her head in disbelief. "You didn't prise anything out of him at all?"

"Nope." Jacob popped the P.

"So, what do we do now?" Bella asked, crestfallen.

"I don't know yet. But I'm sure, between us, we can come up with a plan." Jacob hesitated for a moment. "I mean…you're still coming over today, right? You did promise last night that you would."

"Duh? Why do you think I'm calling you so early? I had to make sure you were up." Bella quipped.

"Very funny." Jacob chuckled.

"I'll bring food." Bella added as an afterthought as she remembered the way Jacob had demolished Billy's pizza the night before.

"And I'll supply the soda." Jacob promised.

"Great."

"Yeah…. great. So…. I should go."

"Yeah."

"Yeah."

"You first, Bella."

"K.'"

"Okay."

"Yep."

"Right."

"Um…maybe you should hang up first?"

"No, you go."

"No, I think you should."

"K.'"

"Okay dokey."

"Will one of you just hang up the damn phone already? Sheesh!" Billy yelled in the background. "Kids!"

In an instant Bella felt her cheeks turn rosy with embarrassment. She was glad that she was alone in her room so no one could see. "You didn't tell me that Billy was listening." She said irritably.

"He's right next to me." Jacob apologised. "I thought you knew."

"How would I know that? We're not a video call." Bella complained. "Jeez, Jacob!"

"Sorry." Jacob apologised sheepishly. "That's what you get for waking me up so early."

"Goodbye, Jacob." Bella declared as she finally ended the call.

At breakfast Charlie served up burnt eggs and toast. "Don't give me that look, kiddo. I tried my best." He said defensively as he kept his eyes on his own eggs while she scrutinised her own. "What are you up to today?"

"I'm spending the day in La Push with Jacob and Billy." Bella pulled a face as she gnawed one corner of the burned toast. It tasted like charcoal.

"You're hanging out with Jacob again?" Charlie couldn't hide his surprise.

"Yes." Bella glared across the table at him. "Do you have a problem with that?"

"No. Just surprised that's all. You're normally attached at the hip to that boyfriend of yours." Charlie replied eagerly, clearly pleased that she was ditching Edward in favour of his best friend's son. "Its time you widened your social circle. I can drop you off if you like."

"Thanks." Bella muttered. "What are your plans for the day?"

"Harry and Billy are coming over to watch the game with me on the flat screen. He was going to give Billy a ride up…but I can do that now."

"Maybe they can run over on all fours." Bella mumbled under her breath.

"What was that?" Charlie glanced up at her.

"I just said that's a great idea." Bella smiled brightly, dipping a piece of her burned toast in the ruined egg yolk. At least her problem of getting to La Push was solved.

A/N-thanks for reading! Please review.