Twilight and its characters belong to Stephanie Meyer

Standing in front of the stove, I impatiently waited for my pot of water to come to a boil. I had slept through my morning workout with Emmett—as well as breakfast—and stupidly decided to go for a run on the beach before eating. And now I was ravenous.

"Esme!" Alice swung into the kitchen—obviously expecting to see our mother—and stopped abruptly when she saw it was me standing at the stove instead. "Oh."

We had spent the past week carefully tiptoeing around each other, and neither one of us really knew how to handle that aside from prolonged, uncomfortable eye contact or rushing away. Since the events at the concert, I wasn't quite sure if we were back to being friends yet, but I wanted to be. Tentatively, I waved my white flag, "Hey."

"Hey," her shoulder bounced up with her greeting—which I took as a good sign. "What's in the pot?"

"The beginnings of mac and cheese."

"Kraft or Annie?"

"Uhhh…" I turned the box. When I grabbed it from the cabinet, I had only been looking for the word cheese, "Annie. White shells."

"The best kind," she approved. "Can I have some?"

"Sure." I hadn't added the noodles into the water yet, and I was sure I saw a second box in the cabinet. As I went to fetch it, Alice questioned, "Why are you getting another one?"

"That one's for me," I held up the second box, "This one's for you."

Alice frowned. "They're family-sized."

"That's a corporate lie."

She didn't offer any further arguments as I dumped the contents of both boxes into the pot. A snicker escaped from my lips as she set the timer on the microwave.

"What?"

"Nothing," I shrugged, "You absolutely seem like the kind of person who would time their mac and cheese."

She blinked. "Opposed to what?"

"Looking in the pot and testing a noodle to see if it's soft."

"That's barbaric."

I laughed. "Let me guess, you measure out the butter and warm the milk, too?"

Her eyebrows rose in alarm. "Obviously!"

I laughed harder.

"Edward. There are instructions on the box for a reason. You can't just ignore them and expect a good product experience."

"Here's the thing, Alice. Everything good about the product experience comes from this," I dangled the packets of fake, powdered cheese. "Nothing else matters as long as you got these."

Absolutely repulsed with me, she pushed my hand away and shook her head. "Barbarian."

Alice shoved me every time another snicker slipped through until they had fully dissipated. We stood side-by-side wordlessly watching the noodles float around in the boiling water, passing the spoon back and forth whenever one of us decided they needed a stir.

"I was surprised to see you at the concert last night," I noted, awkwardly.

"Jasper really wanted to go. So, like any good girlfriend would, I bought a bunch more tickets and invited a group of his friends."

I didn't gag hearing Alice use the word girlfriend in regard to Jasper. A pleasant surprise.

"Did he like it?"

"Loved it."

I nodded and mentally noted to lend Jasper a few more records.

After another stir, I struck up the conversation once more. "Thank you for standing up for Bella."

She shrugged, "It was nothing."

It didn't appear to be nothing to me. "What happened?"

"I was on my way back from picking up a few snacks when saw those girls cornering Bella. They were accusing her of being afraid of water, of all things." Alice scoffed. I hid my grimace under a laugh—it was the one rumor that couldn't be spread about Bella. "They were taunting her with a cup of water, trying to get Bella to splash in on herself. And, of course, poor Bella can't say anything to prove her point without doing what they wanted—she couldn't say anything at all! So, I decided Bella could use some backup. Surely, dumping water over her head wasn't the only way to prove she wasn't afraid of water." Alice smiled to herself, "Just like pouring Dr. Pepper on their heads wasn't the only way to prove they weren't afraid of soda."

I still couldn't believe Alice had the nerve to chuck her soda at Lauren and Jessica as we left. "Well, you certainly helped us squash that rumor."

"They deserved it."

It didn't feel great to outwardly agree—but inside I agreed. Wholeheartedly. "I have no idea why they hate Bella so much."

Alice snorted, startling me. "Are you joking?"

"Um..."

"They're jealous of Bella." Alice placed the spoon down on the counter so she could place her hand on her hip. "Did you really not know that?"

"They're jealous of her?"

"Oh absolutely. She's effortlessly beautiful, top of her class, has this whole shy and mysterious thing going for her without even trying. And on top of all that, she's genuinely nice. If Jasper was with a girl like that, I would hate her, too, because there would be no chance he would ever want anyone else."

I wasn't sure what to think of that. "Would you be mean to her, too?"

"Probably. But I wouldn't make it as obvious as they do."

I let that simmer along with the pasta as it continued to cook. I didn't believe it. Jealousy couldn't be the root of their torment. They worked so tirelessly to prove that Bella was too different from everyone else to deserve the barest shred of respect—there was no way they did any of that because they secretly envied what Bella had.

Once the noodles looked sort-of done, I fished one out of the boiling water with the spoon, blew a cooling breath, and tasted it. It seemed fine, so I drained the water. Alice already had the properly measured butter and milk ready, her raised eyebrow, daring me to make a comment. I said nothing and waited for her careful concoction to come together before dumping the noodles back into the pot. As she stirred, I grabbed two bowls and two spoons. Alice scooped a heaping helping into both bowls and I carried them over to the small kitchen nook.

We both took a few bites before Alice broke the silence with a question. "Why did you give those girls our tickets?"

"Ugh. We were supposed to meet a different couple at the concert, but they gave their tickets to Lauren and Jessica at the last second."

"What happened?"

"Well, they aren't technically a couple yet. This guy has this painfully obvious crush on my friend, and I tried to get him to ask her out by giving him the tickets. But, he either didn't gain the courage to ask her out, or she rejected him."

"Aw, that sucks," Alice said with as much feeling as someone entirely removed from the situation could muster.

"Yeah, he doesn't think he can be with her because he's too short." Alice snorted; I agreed. "I know. So stupid. I tried to convince him to ignore what anyone else thought or said and to just go for it."

"Sounds familiar," she grinned.

"Yeah," I laughed, then sighed. "And just like a short guy and a tall girl should get their shot, so should two people who met through less-than-ideal circumstances."

Alice scraped the bottom of her bowl so she had another place to look while she asked, "Do you really mean that?"

I wasn't repulsed by the idea of Jasper and Alice anymore, to my own surprise. Just like my love for Bella, it snuck right up on me. The words Bella spoke last week rung true: what they were doing wasn't illegal and it wasn't hurting anyone. Even if they were to get a few side-eyed looks, it was their right to make the decision to power through them. My own relationship with Bella was mocked mercilessly, possibly forbidden to other merfolk, and could actually get me killed. Yet, I wouldn't give it up for anything. If Alice and Jasper cared for each other the way I cared for Bella, they deserved to be together, too.

"I really do."

Chewed-up pasta spewed out of Alice's mouth as she whoop-ed. She immediately clamped her hands over her mouth—shocked at her explosion. Hunched over with laugher, I was unable to help her as she hurried to clean it up with her napkin. Once everything was back in order and we were composed, Alice thanked me with words instead of mac and cheese. "Finally! I am so relieved to hear that."

"I'm sorry I had to go through the five stages of grief to get to this point. I should have trusted you immediately."

"Yeah," she agreed, "you really should have."

We shared a laugh over her bluntness.

"You know, the whole reason I trusted you enough to tell you about Jasper and me was because of Bella."

"Yeah?"

She hummed her confirmation around her next bite. "Emmett would have laughed it off as a joke, and Rosalie would have told me to stick it where I wanted without much thought, but I thought I would get the best support from you. Not only were you the one to give me the advice in the first place, but Bella told me when you two started dating, she kept thinking something would be too much, and you wouldn't want her anymore. But, you kept coming back over and over." Alice laughed her light, wind-chime laugh, and I couldn't help but smile. "I pinned you as a hopeless romantic, who thought the pursuit of love was greater than everything else."

I snorted at the assessment. "I'm not sure if I would qualify as a hopeless romantic. I think I'm just an idiot who's obsessed with Bella."

"You can be all three things."

I wondered if I was a hopeless romantic. I doubted it. The lengths I went to for Bella were because of her, not because of anything I thought or did. It was because she was so charming, so irresistible, so… so… utterly and completely perfect. Any sane person would do anything and everything for her.

I loved her so much.

"I'm actually going to tell Bella I love her today."

Alice's spoon clattered into her bowl as she threw her hands onto the table, like she was bracing herself to be hit with something. "Tell. Me. Everything. When did you know? How are you going to tell her?"

"Um. There wasn't really a moment when I just knew… it sort of slipped out when I was talking about her to someone else."

Alice clasped her hands over her cheek and made a squeaky sound of satisfaction. "Oh, Edward! She loves you, too. I just know it! You should see the way she lights whenever you're brought up into conversation," she sighed dreamily, then stated matter-of-factly, "You're her whole world."

I felt my ears get hot from something other than embarrassment. "And she's mine."

Alice squeaked again. "So how are you telling her?"

"I was actually supposed to do it last night, but then Lauren and Jessica kind of ruined that…"

All traces of delight vanished from her face and dropped into dissatisfaction. "When were you gonna say it last night?"

"During a love song, I was going to say it to Bella along with the lyrics."

"At a concert she didn't even want to go to?" Alice stuck out her tongue and made a gagging sound. "That's stupid. I'm glad it got ruined."

"Thanks, Alice," I said, flatly.

"Do you have something better planned for today?"

I thought I did. Bella was on Charlie's boat for most of the afternoon, but we had plans that evening. I was going to find whichever beach her truck was parked at and surprise her with a picnic when she emerged from the water. With any luck, she would be at the beach at the abandoned shack where we first became a couple, and I would tell her I loved her. It seemed like a decent plan, but then again, so did my plan from last night. "I hope so…"

Alice's sweet grin morphed into sinister satisfaction as she realized she was about to partake in her favorite hobby: telling people what to do. "I'll make sure of that."

oOo

After an afternoon spent with Alice, I drove to each and every one of Bella's secret beaches that I knew of and looked for her truck. Naturally, it was parked at the last beach I checked, but it was at the beach I was hoping for.

I had no idea when Bella would arrive, so I laid out the blanket quickly. I tried to read to pass the time until Bella emerged, but I was far too anxious. Every time I heard movement in the water, I whirled towards the sound, only to see a bird or the water rings of a fish. By the time I had read the same page over a dozen times, I was ready to give up on reading entirely. As I set the book in the sand, another disturbance in the water caused me to bolt upright again.

This time, it was Bella.

She quirked her head in surprise at my appearance but looked pleased to see me. I ran down the sand and waded through the shallow water to get to her side, where she held out her arms for me, expectantly. Barely noticing the heavy weight of her tail because of mornings in the gym, I effortlessly lifted her out of the water.

"Hey," I greeted as she settled against my chest, "I know we were going to hang out at my place, but I thought we could enjoy a picnic alone instead."

Her answering smile was so startlingly beautiful, I almost dropped her. Despite my wobbly knees that had nothing to do with fatigue, we made it over to the picnic in one piece. Once she was settled, I handed her a dry towel, then wrapped a second around my own shoulders. Then, I opened my basket and pulled out the first item—a bouquet of lilies and freesia. Her hands flew to her mouth at the sight of them.

I held out my offering. "I realized I hadn't given you flowers, yet."

She snatched the bouquet from my hand and shoved her face into it, taking a big inhale. She set them down on her lap to sign, "I love them. Thank you."

A few petals stuck to her still-wet face. I laughed and brushed them off with my thumb, "I'm glad."

I proceeded to set up the rest of the picnic. First, I set up the fruits, crackers, and cheeses Alice had picked out for me at the store. Then, the raw shrimp on ice and thin slices of tuna I had slipped into the basket when Alice wasn't looking. Grinning at our spread, Bella crawled across the blanket and wrapped herself around me for a kiss. I gratefully kissed her back, even though the flowers she was still holding onto hit me on the back of my head. When she broke the kiss, she settled into my lap instead of returning to her spot on the opposite side of the blanket, which suited me just fine.

I put the flowers back into the basket where they would be safe from any more petal loss and waved my hand over the food, "Bon Appetit."

But Bella wiggled closer to me instead of going for the food.

She might have only wanted to cuddle, but I was ready to eat. Especially after spending an hour looking at the food beside me, unable to touch it until her arrival. I started with a strawberry, imaging myself tracing the plump berry across her gorgeous lower lip before feeding it to her. Apparently, Bella had a similar vision. She, too, plucked a strawberry out of the container but popped it into my mouth, top leaves and all. She got a real kick out of that and stuffed another one in before I finished chewing the first.

Then, she sat up and slid down my thigh, so she was sitting in between my legs. She began creating small sandwiches out of all the ingredients before her, using the crackers as bread, and fed those to me, as well. Some were just meat and cheese. Others had pieces of cantaloupe or strawberries shoved in there. She managed to get one with raw shrimp, gouda, and pineapple into my mouth before I saw what it was.

I would have put a stop to it, but the peck on the lips I received after each sandwich was enough of an incentive to let her continue. When she tried just about every combination imaginable, she grabbed the dish of shrimp on ice, set it in her lap, and lounged back in my arms. I looked down at her questionably, so she held up the bowl for me and opened her mouth. I nodded in understanding. Turned out, feeding each other was what Bella thought happened at picnics. The girl needed to cut back on her period romance novels.

"I feel like I'm feeding a porpoise," I muttered, lowering an uncooked shrimp into her mouth.

She accepted the food and smacked me on my shoulder, a wry smile across her face as she chewed.

After I fed her another, I leaned down and rubbed the tip of her nose with my own. "Now, can you balance a ball on your nose?" I teased.

She quirked her head to the side.

I fished another fish out of the bowl, "I guess you've never been to an aquarium, huh?"

She shook her head.

"Makes sense. They only exist so humans can get the smallest glimpse of your world," my voice quieted until the last two words were a quivering whisper. I thought back to what Alice had said earlier—that I was Bella's whole world.

Bella wiggled in my lap until she was sitting upright again. She watched her own fingers as she brushed them through the hair around my ears. The look on her face was almost reverent, as if she couldn't believe she was here right now, with me. When Alice said I was Bella's world, it seemed like a silly hyperbole anyone could say about their significant other. But, looking into her eyes as she continued brushing along my hairline to the nape of my neck, then up through my hair to the top of my skull, it felt like it could be true.

I recognized the emotion melted in those chocolate eyes of hers—I was sure the same emotion was reflected in my own green eyes. It was there, on the tip of my tongue, too. All I had to do was say the words. I love you, I love you, I love you.

I chickened out. "It's crazy that you'll be graduating in just a few weeks."

Bella didn't notice the skipped beat in the conversation. "It is."

"Do you have any thoughts on what you're going to do after?"

"No. I don't think there is much for me to do."

"What do you mean?"

She tapped her throat like it was an obvious answer.

"Bella, it's not like you're the only person in the entire world who can't speak. They'll be plenty for you to do."

She slumped her head onto my shoulder and popped another shrimp into her mouth.

"What about a librarian?" I suggested. "You would be the perfect candidate—those ladies are always pushing for silence."

That got her to smile. "You need a college degree to be a librarian."

"Really?"

She nodded.

"Then, we'll go to college."

"I can't go to college. I might have been able to sneak my way into high school, but I'll have to be an actual citizen somewhere to attend college."

"Okay, then we'll skip the library. I'll buy you your own bookstore."

"I don't know if I would be good at running a business."

"You wouldn't need to. I would go to business school and figure all of that out. You would just be the eye candy that sat up front, drawing in customers and recommending books."

"What if I wanted to be the one to go to business school?"

"Then, you'll go to online school under my name. You'll be the brain, and I'll be the eye candy."

She laughed again, this time tucking her wet hair behind her ears—a gesture I rarely got to see because her hair was always up in my ponytail. It was incredibly charming, Everything she did was charming; I loved her so much.

"You'd really want to do that with me?" she signed.

"Of course." Bella softened under the sincerity in my gaze and wrapped her arms around my neck. Likewise, I pulled her closer to my chest. "I can see myself doing a lot of things with you, Bella." I swallowed. "I love you."

I felt her stiffen in my arms.

I waited for her response with bated breath until I couldn't hold it any longer. Then, I counted Bella's exhales until we were well past fifty, and I realized with a heavy heart that she wasn't going to reciprocate.

"It's alright, Bella," I ran my fingers through the length of her hair. "I don't expect you to say anything back." Even though I really, really wanted her to.

Suddenly, she bolted upright, whacking the top of her head into my chin. "How do you know?" she signed.

"How do I know I love you?" I asked out loud, confirming that I understood her.

She nodded emphatically.

"Well…" I wasn't too sure how to describe it, other than the fact that I just knew. "Okay. It's like at the concert, when Tracy Chapman sang 'I'd climb a mountain if I had to. Risk my life so I could have you.' Oh! Or on the playlist I made for you. The one that you pretend to pay attention to?" She ducked her head, trying to hide the blush that colored her cheeks from being called out. I chuckled lightly and continued with my point, "When Percy Sledg sang 'when a man loves a woman, he'd give up the world for the good thing he's found.' Or when Roberta Flack sang, 'the first time I ever saw your face I thought the sun rose in your eyes and the moon and stars were the gifts you gave.'

"Bella, I know I love you because I would do anything for you, give up anything for you. I know I love you because when I look at you, I see everything that is good and beautiful in the world."

Her eyes desperately combed my face, searching for something. When she found it, she sucked in a breath—one of the only times I had ever heard her make a sound. Then, Bella crushed herself to me with almost all of her strength, nearly knocking out all of my breath, and I caught her in my own embrace. We stayed like that for the remainder of the sunset: Bella fiercely clinging to me as I held her and stroked the length of her hair over and over.

When the sun was just touching the horizon, she pulled back. Shyly, she signed, "Would you like to go for a swim?"

Relieved to have a chance to show Bella a sign of good faith that I wasn't upset with her nonresponse, I kissed her forehead. "That sounds great."

She gifted me with another beautiful smile, albeit a bit watery.

We hadn't gone swimming in the ocean together in what felt like a long time but couldn't have been much longer than two weeks. She had never gotten dressed, I realized with a start. Mermaids had a very different outlook on nudity, and, apparently, it was something I had gotten used to. Dropping the towel she held loosely around her body, Bella scampered towards the water and waited just out of the lapping waves for me to dress down into a bathing suit.

When I was ready, I sprinted the length of the shore, scooped her up into my arms, and crashed the two of us into a rising wave. Because I caught her, I pulled her in for a deep kiss—the rules to the silly game we played. The second her tail formed, she wiggled out of my embrace and disappeared into the water. I resurfaced for a breath and dove back down, hoping to catch her again. Keeping my back towards the shallow water, I looked out into the water searching for her. But, she managed to tackle me from behind and shoved me deep into the water. A trail of bubbles erupted from my lips.

The desire to keep me alive was stronger than the need for her kiss, so she pulled me back up to the surface to allow me to breathe. After I hacked out the saltwater I swallowed during her attack, she settled for a victory kiss on the cheek.

"Best two out of three?"

She nodded and sunk beneath waves again.

I swam to the shallow water where I could stand and waited for her to reappear. Then, back out into the deeper water, where I swam around for a while until I got tired and returned to the shallow water. I repeated the pattern several times, searching for her to no avail. I must have been swimming around for fifteen minutes before I finally spotted Bella in her human form perched on one of the larger rocks off the shore.

"Hey! How long have you been there?" I demanded.

She shook so hard with silent laughter, she curled over on her rock, then fell into a fetal position. I took that to mean she had been there the entire time, watching me swim around like an idiot.

Grinning and shaking my head, I swam towards her, planning to either splash her, drag her back into the water, or make out with her on her rock. I would decide which one when I got there. As I lazily butterflied through the water, a human hand wrapped around my ankle.