5

"Is the coast clear?" Bella asked.

Edward cracked the door open, peeking through the small slit. "I think so."

Bella hummed, but didn't say anything as she shoved her English Comp book into her backpack. "Did you take your meds?"

"Yep," Edward replied, closing the door and turning back toward her. "So I'll meet you at the caf for lunch?"

She smiled and slung her backpack onto her shoulder. "With bells on."

"Really?" Edward smirked, wiggling his eyebrows. "You're wearing bells?"

"It's a figure of speech, dumbass," she scoffed, placing her hands on his chest before leaning up on the tips of her toes and pressing her lips against his. "I love you."

"I love you, too," he replied.

Bella took a deep breath as she opened the door to their apartment and stepped into the hallway, her eyes searching for Victoria and James. They had taken to conveniently being around when either she or Edward left for class every morning. More than once, Bella had to bite the tip of her tongue to keep from lashing out at them. She knew they only meant to help, but the last thing she or Edward needed was for them to be in their faces. They may the girl with cancer and the boy with the broken heart, but they were survivors.

Bella had just reached the front doors when she heard her name being called. Groaning inwardly, she turned and saw Victoria hobbling out of hers and James' apartment with trying to shove her arms into her leather jacket. Her red hair had been twisted into a messy bun on the top of her head.

"Ugh, I'm having the hardest time getting going this morning," she grumbled, but smiled. "Why don't I walk you to class? I'm working in the Writing Lab this morning, so it's on my way."

"Sure," Bella muttered, dryly. "Why not?"

She pushed the door open and walked outside, shivering from the cold morning air. As they set off across campus, Bella could feel Victoria's eyes on her, watching her, waiting for her to fall apart and need help. It made her think about Esme. Her sister had taken to texting several times throughout the day, talking about the plans for her and Carlisle's wedding.

A smile pulled at the corners of her lips at the thought of her sister and her fiancé. Bella had never seen her sister so happy. For too many years, she'd had put her own happiness aside to take care of her and Emmett, but now, she was finally content. They were planning a Christmas Wedding, and Bella couldn't think of any better way to celebrate the holidays.

"So, I told him," Victoria laughed, grabbing Bella's arm, "he could clean the kitchen, since he was the one who burnt dinner!"

Bella tried to laugh as she tugged her arm out of the woman's grip. "Haha, that's funny."

"You weren't listening, were you?"

Biting her lip, she shook her head. "Sorry."

Victoria smiled. "Don't be. I babble a lot."

Bella wasn't sure what to say. She liked Victoria, but she hated the way she and James hovered over them. They had spent too many years with siblings who governed their every move. This was supposed to be their chance to grow up, to be adults. That's all they wanted.

"Well, this is you, I guess." Victoria pulled the glass door open and turned to face Bella. "Maybe I'll see you after class."

"Can I say something without coming off as a bitch?" Bella asked, but instead of letting Victoria respond, she continued. "You need to stop."

"Stop what?" she asked, dumbly.

"Stop trying to keep us from getting sick," Bella argued and before Victoria could say anything more, Bella went on to say, "We know you and James know about our health issues, but when you and James, and everyone else who looks at me and Edward and sees nothing but a couple of sick kids, makes it really hard for us to put ourselves out there. We're not those people anymore, or at least we're trying like Hell not to be them. It's taken a lot of time and a lot of tears, but we've fought to be here. And with you hovering all the time, just makes it harder to breathe."

Victoria blew out a deep breath. "I'm . . . I'm sorry. We just wanted to help."

"I know," Bella admitted. "And it's not that we aren't appreciative, but we have brothers and sisters who annoy the fuck out of us. We just kind of thought you and James might be friends. We need friends, not caregivers."

Victoria laughed and nodded. "We can do that. Or we'll try, at least."

"Thank you," Bella said with a smile. "Anyway, I'd better get to class before Ms. McCoy locks the door."

"Oh, yeah, she can be a bitch," Victoria snickered as Bella left her holding the door.

She made it to her classroom just as her teacher was reaching for the door. Giving her a look, Ms. McCoy allowed her into the room and Bella settled in her usual seat in the front, feeling better having told Victoria how she felt. Hopefully, things would start settling sooner, rather than later.

—WH—

By the time Bella arrived at the dining hall, she had a splitting headache, which she thought was from a combination of sitting through a lecture on using the databases the library provided for their research papers, listening to her History professor drone on about the American Revolution, and hunger. She should have grabbed a protein bar that morning and tossed it into her bag.

Edward was already seated at their usual table with two trays filled with food. He had taken to gathering both their lunches, so she didn't have to wait in line. She never wanted him to feel he had to wait on her, like a servant, but today, she was grateful. She needed food, sooner rather than later.

"Hey," she said, sliding into the empty chair next him and leaning over to kiss him. "How was class?"

"It was cool," he said, grinning. "I'll tell you about it after you eat."

"That gross?" she grimaced at the thought of what he had done in his biology class. Where Bella loved her books, Edward loved science and had taken a shine to his biology class, where he had already dissected a frog and a starfish.

"Yep," he chuckled, pushing the tray with a salad, turkey club, bowl of mixed fruit, and bottle of lemonade. "Is this okay?"

"Looks delicious," she groaned, reaching for the sandwich, but pulling her hand back when her cell started chiming with a call. Sighing, she dug her phone out of her bag. "Oh, it's Jasper."

Sliding her finger across the green arrow first, she brought the phone to her ear and said, "Hey, Jas."

"Is this a bad time?" he asked without as much as a hello.

"Just interrupting my lunch," she grumbled, picking out a grape from her mixed fruit and tossing it into her mouth. "What's up?"

"I, um, I wanted you to be the first to know, besides Alice of course, but I got the job. I'm going to be an apprentice at Twilight Tattoos."

"Awe, Jas, that's great," she cooed, smiling. "When do you start?"

"Next week. Gotta do a background check, drug test, and an assload of paperwork so I can apply for my license," he rambled, and she could hear the nerves in his voice. "It'll be nice to be making some money, though. Actually help with bills and shit."

"I heard that," Bella muttered. "Alice okay? She liking her classes?"

"It's . . . it's been kind of hard on her," Jasper muttered. "Harder than she thought. I don't . . . I don't know how to help her, you know? She . . . she doesn't sleep, and I don't know."

Bella nodded and bit her lip, shifting her attention to Edward, who was watching her with anticipation. Without a word, she held her phone out to him.

Edward took it, frowning as he brought it to his ear and said, "Hello?"

The sound of Edward's voice must have set Jasper off on a long rant, or plea for help, because Edward just leaned back in this chair, nodding and saying, "Yes," "Uh Huh," and "Okay" every few minutes.

Unable to stop herself, Bella began scarfing down her lunch, while watching her husband and best friend talk. They hadn't always gotten along. In fact, most of the time, Jasper and Edward avoided each other with the common knowledge that they were taking care of her and Alice.

"I know it's hard, Jasper, but you're doing everything right. Just remember that as long as you're eating, she will, too. And don't let her push you away; that's her defense mechanism, because she's scared."

Once more, Edward fell silent, his head bobbing up and down as he nodded. Bella lifted her bottle of lemonade off the tray, unscrewing the lid, and tossing it onto the tray before taking a swig.

Edward smiled, his eyes flickering to Bella as he said, "She's putting on a brave face, but she's a fucking mess."

"I am not!" she muttered under her breath.

"Yeah, okay," he snickered. "Hang on."

Edward held the phone out to Bella. "He wants to talk to you."

Rolling her eyes, she took the device from him and placed it back at her ear. "I'm fine, Jas."

"Yeah, okay, darlin'," he scoffed. "Look, I've gotten run, but thanks for being here, okay? I really needed to hear your voice."

Bella smiled. "I needed to hear yours, too," she admitted. "Give Alice our love, okay? And we'll get together soon. Promise?"

Jasper mumbled a rushed yes before ending the call. Bella dropped her phone back into her bag and picked up the last of her sandwich. "I worry about them."

"Me, too," Edward admitted, pushing his pasta salad around on his plate.

Bella reached over and slid her hand across his arm, causing him to look up at her. "I'm sure Alice is okay."

"Yeah, I know," he agreed, leaning over and kissing her. "I'd better go. I'm going to be late for lab."

"Okay." Bella watched as Edward walked out of the dining hall before gathering their trash and tossing in the waste bends. Hoisting her bag onto her shoulder, Bella started across campus to the bookstore. When she and Edward sat down with Jessica Stanley, the Director of Financial Aid, to discuss their work-study, she had hoped to get a position in the library, but those were reserved for upper level students. So, she accepted a job working in the bookstore, while Edward worked in the administration office. He said he mostly sorted mail, made copies, and sat staring at the wall, but they agreed it was better than busting dishes.

Bella suspected that she and Edward had been given special treatment once again, but she was too tired to argue with anyone about it. She hated that they saw the two of them as charity cases, but what could she do? Being pissed wasn't helping.

"Hey, Bella," Maggie called. Maggie was the manager of the bookstore. Petite, with thick, curly red hair, pale ivory skin and a face covered in freckles, she looked to be about sixteen, when in reality, she was almost thirty. Maggie had taken over the Bookstore after earning her Master's Degree last spring.

"Hey, Maggie," Bella murmured, storing her bag under the counter. "Been busy today?"

"God, no," she whined, looking up from the stack of invoices she was scouring. "It's been so quiet."

"That's bad, I guess," Bella murmured, and walked around the counter, standing on the other side and looking down at the boxes lined up. "What are these?"

"New T-shirts, towels, pajama pants, socks — all with the school's logo on them. I'm thinking about rearranging the store, so I haven't unpacked them yet."

"What are thinking about changing?" Bella asked, turning and looking at the store. To be honest, the space was not well organized. A dozen shelves lined the back wall and were filled with text books, while the rest of the store was a mixture of clothing, office supplies, and miscellaneous.

"I don't know," Maggie said, walking around so that she stood next to Bella. "We can't really move the shelves with the books. I mean, we could, but I'm not going to. They need to be out of the way, but I think the rest needs to be better organized. What do you think?"

"Um." Bella bit the inside of her lip as she looked around. "If it were up to me, I'd put the clothes toward the front, so that the school's logo can be seen by those walking by. And, um, then, I'd put the office supplies toward the back, next to the text books. They kind of go together, right?"

"That they do," Maggie agreed. "Sounds like a plan. Should we get started?"

"Um, yeah, okay," Bella said, eagerly.

Unlike Charlotte in the administration office, or Jessica in financial aid, Maggie didn't treat Bella like she would fall apart with the slightest tough. She had Bella working hard, earning her money, and for that, Bella didn't mind the sweat that came with moving racks of clothes, tables filled with pens, pencils, and binders, or unpacking the dozen boxes with new merchandise. Bella felt normal, felt alive. Her only wish was that her mother and father could be just a phone call away.

Thank you for all the reviews. I'm not 100% in love with this chapter, but it is what it is. Please do me a favor and leave me a few words, even if you hate it.