A/N: Hi! So sorry this is a day late. I wasn't feeling too well yesterday and didn't manage to edit and upload this chapter! Anyway, here it is! Better late than never, isn't that what they say? I hope you enjoy!

Hello to my new story followers!

I hope you all had a wonderful Halloween! Can you believe it's already November, 'cause I can't!

Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight and all connected to it. I only own this story line and any characters not included in her original saga!

I'll Always Find Peace In The Meadows

Chapter Twenty-one: 'sit back and observe' (Edward POV)

Saturday 27 May 2017

Today is the first day Bella is coming to my house. She's coming to study, for me to tutor her. I'm nervous, not because I'm doubting my tutoring abilities, but because it'll be her very first time here since the afternoon me and my family arrived, since she first and last encountered my parents. Both of them are home today; it's my dad's day off and Mom decided to work from home. I'm nervous because I have no idea how today will play out. There are so many things that could go wrong.

In the almost two weeks since Bella suggested the idea of tutoring, we've had a total of one actual tutor sessions... and that's all thanks to both of our parents, who are being awkward about the whole thing. You'd think we were the adults in all of this, seeing as we're being more mature than they are.

Bella's mother has been reluctant to open her home to me. Apparently she doesn't want her boss's son to see her "messy" home - Bella seemed extremely pissed off when she relayed this information to me. And my parents... well... they've just been dragging their feet when it's come to agreeing to Bella coming over. In the number of times I've tried arranging it, there's always been some excuse. "Not tonight, I'm working late", "It's your sister's turn to have her friends over", "Not today, Bev will be cleaning", "No, Edward. Your room is a mess. It's not appropriate for company". It's been one excuse after another.

It was Memorial Day the Monday just gone - a day off of school. I thought that would be the perfect opportunity to have Bella come over for a few hours, but no. According to my parents, I couldn't have chosen a worse day for such an "unimportant" event. They decided to throw a huge party for some people in town. Some. They thought it was the perfect opportunity to host their first official party here in Forks. They invited everyone 'important' from town. I had asked if I could invite my friend, Bella, just as my sister had all of her friends attending, but to no surprise my parents didn't allow it. I had to survive through mingling with the "upper-class" portion of the town's population, making small talk and realising quickly that they all have the same views and standards as my uptight and snobby family. It was like all the previous parties my parents had hosted back in Chicago: boring and definitely not my scene.

That was the last excuse they gave me. I made a point of not asking if Bella can come to our house all week, up until last night. Then all through dinner I whined and moaned, the way Alice does when she wants something but it's not going her way, until they probably felt like they had to say yes just to shut me up. I'm telling you, Alice is onto something with that nagging shit she does... though it can be excruciatingly annoying when it's aimed at me. Most recently when she's been hounding me to sit with 'our', as she's taken to referring to them, friends during lunches, as well as pleading with me to hang out with them at Forks' Diner or somewhere in Port Angeles. If I didn't know the reason already, I'd be worrying as to why Alice is wanting me to spend time with her so badly recently. Most of the time she acts as if she can barely tolerate me. But, I do know the reason. It's all because of my friendship with Bella, and Alice's hatred of it and of her.

Now that people know I'm friends with Bella, we've been spending more time together out in the open. Lunches are no longer spent hidden away in the library... well, not every lunch. We still spend at least one lunch a week in the library, but mostly I'll sit with her at her table at the edge of the room, receiving horrid looks from most of the students in the room. We've also met up outside of school... well, only twice in the last almost two weeks.

Bella is very busy outside of school, something I hadn't realised until recently. She works every day after school and then claims she's too tired to meet up. I've tried arranging times for us to meet up, maybe at the Diner or just to go for a walk, but she's always too tired. I don't know... maybe she's embarrassed about an early curfew? I wouldn't mind if that were the case, but if it is something as trivial as that, I don't understand why she'd keep it from me.

Last Saturday, for a couple of hours in the early afternoon, we met up at the playground we were at the night of Rosalie's birthday party. We mostly talked, sat on the bench by the gate, Bella munching her way through another one of those awful bags of Haribo sweets. We'd have preferred sitting atop the jungle gym, well I would have at least, but some kids were playing.

On Sunday, Bella was called into work for the afternoon. I went to see her - no, I mean I went to get a new book - and we ended up doing some studying in the store room while the shop front wasn't busy. Angela, Bella's boss, didn't mind. She seemed all too eager to let Bella out of her work duties for a while. It's the only time we've been able to do any actual studying, the only time I've managed to tutor her, since we decided on it earlier that week. It wasn't the most ideal place to study, with the room being so small, but we made it work, using cardboard boxes as tables.

Now, today, we'll have the chance to study somewhere a bit more suitable. With proper chairs and tables and our actual textbooks, not some spontaneously sourced math equations off of the Internet on our phones.

Bella's teacher helped me draw up a plan for her. Well, I decided to go ahead and start one on my own, luckily knowing some of Bella's strengths and weaknesses from a time I watched her do some math homework in the library during lunch. She got a majority of the questions correct, though it wasn't too hard, and any that she got wrong were honestly stupid mistakes. The plan has been in place for over a week now, we just need the opportunities to actually use it and get some work done.

When ironing out all the minute details, we firstly approached her math teacher with the idea of me tutoring her. He was all for it; after all, she really does need the help. He almost fell over his own feet as he rushed to the other side of the classroom where he had some worksheets he'd been preparing for an after school study group he runs. Later that day, I asked Bella why she doesn't go to that study group, but her answer was simply because she works after school everyday. Her teacher had tried, and failed, on countless occasions to get her to join. No wonder he was so happy about this.

Next stop was my math teacher, who was also agreeable. He mentioned that it would be a great way for me to gain extra credit - which only happens if Bella's grade improves. No pressure.

I'm currently in the media room trying to watch a movie. All I want is to take my mind off of all possible outcomes of this afternoon, but it's no use. My nerves are too strong, and my poor hair folecules are taking the brunt of my anxiety.

I hear a loud huff come from behind me, but I don't bother turning toward it's owner. It's Alice. I can tell by the tone of her sigh. She huffs again as she walks further into the room, dropping herself down onto the chocolate brown u-shaped sectional that's in the center of the room. It's a large piece of furniture, spanning almost the entire width of the room, while leaving enough space to comfortably get round it, and is situated in perfect viewing distance from the giant TV that's built into the wall. Ten large beige fluffy cushions decorated the couch, and several blankets are always left folded at the ends, ready for use. The TV is a miniature movie theatre screen - though it's not really that miniature at all.

Just something else that makes me love this house even more than the one in Chicago; we didn't have a home cinema there. The walls, which are sound-proofed, are a chocolate brown with warm LED wall sconces spread out evenly along them. The carpet is a dark brown, too, adding to the boxed-in, but warm atmospheric feeling that the unison colour provides.

There's a snack bar by the wall that is in between both doors of the room, far behind the seating area. There's a black mini fridge filled to the brink with a variety of beverages, ranging from sodas to beers. Forming the main foundation of the snack bar, sitting above the mini fridge, is a polished black marble counter. A few large jars of sweets are neatly lined up in the center of the counter. A big popcorn machine stands beside the counter, too. There's a shelf above the counter, stacked with a selection of different sized popcorn boxes, and then a small cube-shaped cupboard on either side of the shelf; one filled with plastic bowls, and the other with glasses for the drinks. Underneath the counter, next to the mini fridge, is shelves lined with chocolate bars and bags of chips. It's perfect for a movie night.

This is the room Bella and I will use to take breaks from studying, and I hope many movies will be watched in here by the two of us on days she comes by to just hang out. And I plan for there to be many days like that, because I do not want the only reason she visits to be because I'm her math tutor. I won't allow my parents to restrict my friendship with her. Not again.

I can't wait to show her this room. It's one of my favourites in the entire house, besides my bedroom and the great room down here, which is where the piano is. Actually, to put it in simpler terms, the whole lower floor of this house is the best part about it, in my opinion.

Alice huffs again, and I finally look at her. She has chosen the end of the U on the right, a choice that puts her as far as possible from my choice of seat in the very center of the sectional. She has a permanent scowl on her face and continously huffs. I lean forward to grab the tablet that controls everything in this room - lights, sound and visuals - to pause my movie. She glances at me. "Something wrong, Alice?" I ask with all the kindness I can find.

"No," she grumbles, looking down at her lap to stroke the throw blanket she's placed over her legs.

"Well, if there's nothing wrong, could you keep the sighing to a minimum? I'm trying to watch something here," I say, a lot less softer than when I spoke a moment ago, before I press play. She huffs again a few minutes later, louder than the ones before. I try and ignore her but she does it again, and again, and again until I've finally had enough.

I pause the movie angrily. "Seriously, Alice! Shut up!" I very nearly shout.

"You shut up! Why are you even watching this film? It's shit!" she retorts.

"It's not shit. It's good. You're just too simple minded to understand and enjoy it," I argue back.

"Whatever, Edward. I understand it perfectly fine, it's just shit and I can't enjoy it for that reason alone. Can we put something on that I want to watch?"

"What? No! We can't. I'm in the middle of watching 'Seven', you can wait," I tell her, eager to get back to watching the amazing, not shit, movie starring Morgan Freeman, Brad Pitt and Kevin Spacey.

"But I'm behind on the final season of 'The Vampire Diaries'," she whines.

I stare at her blankly for several seconds. "Seriously? That's what you want to turn this movie off for?" Alice nods silently in response. I roll my eyes. "Oh my God, Alice. How you can say this is shit while admitting to enjoying that crap is beyond me," I say with a chuckle.

"Shut up, Edward. It's a fantastic show, you're just too simple minded to understand and enjoy it," she says, throwing my words back at me. I laugh loudly, my head thrown back.

"Alice, come on... you only watch it 'cause of those guys. What are they called? The Saltimore brothers?"

"It's Salvatore, and that's not the only reason. But even if it was, so what?" she replies angrily, crossing her arms. I chuckle, shaking my head as I turn back to the screen and press play.

"There's only a few episodes for me to catch up on before I've finished the whole series," she says after only five seconds. I groan in despair, hanging my head back with my eyes closed after I pause the film again!

"Cool," I reply after counting to ten to reign in my anger. "Go elsewhere to watch them. I'm in here at the moment," I say. She growls as she stands, balls up the blanket and throws it onto the floor like a petulant child. She stomps to the door before turning to glare at me.

"This is totally unfair! You get everything you want, but when I want something, I'm not allowed it. You have your friend coming here soon, Edward. Isn't that enough? You know Jasper won't come here to see me today because she will be here? I think the fact your friend is stopping my boyfriend from coming to see me should mean that I get to watch what I want, don't you? You can't have everything you want, Edward! The world doesn't revolve around you!" As her speech continued, she became more and more angry, and screamed the last sentence at me from across the room.

I sit and wait patiently for her to finish her rant, and then in a calm and quiet manner, I reply, "Firstly, I don't see how it's fair for you to say I get everything I want, Alice. I think you need to sit back and observe how some, no, most days play out in this house. I very rarely get what I want. And secondly, it's not my fault your boyfriend dislikes Bella so much that he won't come here when she's here. It's pretty childish if you ask me. I mean, how old is the guy? Five?" Before she can interrupt, and I know she wants to do so oh-so-terribly much, I hasten to continue. "And finally, I think I should point out that Jasper isn't actually your boyfriend, Alice. You've been on one date with him. Has he made it official yet? Has he declared himself as yours to your group of 'friends'?" I air quote around the word, smirking at the tightening of her mouth. "You must not have been living in the same town as me these past few months, must not have attended the same school as me, because I've heard that he takes a different girl out every weekend. He probably won't come here because he's seeing someone else today, not because someone he dislikes will be cramping his style."

I sit back, a satisfied smirk on my face as I watch Alice's face flare red and her hands close into fists at her sides. She breathes out between her teeth in anger, letting the moment of pause help her form a comeback, before speaking. "Whatever, Edward. You do get anything you want, you're just too greedy to realise it. And Jasper isn't childish; how dare you! He's the Mayor's son. He is never childish. And for you information, he asked me out again this weekend." She gives me a smug smile, and lifts her chin proudly as she tells me this.

I chuckle at her. "Good for you, Alice. Can he come and pick you up now? Get you out of my hair?" I ask.

"You're so rude, Edward. You're the childish one," she snaps.

"Back at ya, sis," I say ruefully. She makes a noise of anger in the back of her throat, kind of like a shriek and huff all rolled into one, as she crosses her arms over her chest in frustration. She turns on her heel and marches out of the room.

I chuckle humorlessly at her retreating form. She's always been difficult to handle, but she's never been this bad. It's as if Forks has had a negative affect on her, worsening her righteousness. She's not pissed off at the fact she can't have use of the TV, or with what I said about Jasper. She's mad at me. She's been mad at me since she found out about me tutoring Bella...

Friday 19 May 2017 - (8 days ago)

I don't think anything could remove the smile from my face. Today has been magnificent, thanks to mine and Bella's teachers approving our tutoring plans. That's actually why I've arrived in the cafeteria later than usual this lunch time. I've stopped by at my sister's table for a few minutes, but I'll be heading back to the library with mine and Bella's food as soon as I'm done playing catch up with these guys.

Even though I no longer spend much time with my 'friends' that sit at the center cafeteria table, I still have to make an appearance, to keep my parents happy... or happier at least. It is literally for a few minutes every lunch. I come and sit with them to briefly chat before I head back to Bella.

I was expecting more of a blowback after my declaration of friendship with Bella the day she was soaked to the bone by Rosalie's vicious acts, but it's been fairly calm. Both of the Hale siblings act distant toward me, though that seems to upset Alice more than it does me. But the others - Devils 1 and 2, oops, I mean Lauren and Jessica, as well as Emmett and Tyler - all seem fine toward me. My sister, well, she tries to keep high spirited, but her worry about Rosalie and especially Jasper's aversion to me clouds her attempted good moods more often than not.

"Hi," I say cheerily as I sit down between Emmett and Jessica. Emmett replies with his own "hello", while the rest offer varied mumbles of their own greetings and a couple grunts of displeasure, which I ignore. My smile doesn't fall, even as Rosalie glares at me for a split second and Alice huffs, crossing her arms over her chest. "How are you all?" I ask conversationally, not able to keep the grin from my face as I talk. I must sound happy, because Alice's next huff is louder than the last and Rosalie's scowl deepens.

"We're fine," Rosalie answers for everyone. "What's made you so happy today?" she asks, reversing the attention to me. I shrug, my smile growing even further.

"Just in a good mood, I guess," I say, grinning all the while. Her eyes narrow.

"He thinks the school will allow him to tutor his girlfriend so he can get extra credit," Alice speaks up, her words a hateful sneer.

"One, she's not my girlfriend. And two, I don't just think the school will let me. They already have," I reply, undeniable happiness filling my voice.

"What?!" Alice exclaims loudly, her voice ringing through the room, drawing attention to us.

"You're tutoring her? As in, you're spending time with her outside of school?" Lauren asks, her face crestfallen and tone disbelieving. I nod happily, not bothering to tell Devil 1 that I already do. It's none of her business.

"But, Dude," Tyler starts, "I asked if you'd tutor me when you first arrived and you said no."

My smile falls a bit. Huh, it seems something can make it go away. What Tyler says is true, and for a moment I feel guilty, but then I remember this is only happening because the people in my life can't accept who my friend is. What I said to Tyler all them weeks ago, about tutoring not really being my thing, is still true. But I don't mind doing this if it means I can see Bella in the comfort of my own home without, or at least with less of, the wearying lectures from my parents.

"I'm sorry, Tyler," I say sincerely. "I guess the idea grew on me."

"Awesome! So could you tutor me, too?" he asks hopefully. I shake my head slowly.

"No. Sorry. I don't have time to tutor more than Bella right now. Maybe next year?" I suggest, knowing full well he'll forget I ever offered to do it in a few months.

"Cool," he answers, grinning.

Alice is still glaring at me and Rosalie, Lauren and Jessica look displeased. Emmett looks bored and Tyler happy. Then there's Jasper. He's not even paying attention to the conversation, having lost himself in his usual appraisal of the room. How my sister thinks he likes her, when all he does is scour the room for girls to add to his never ending list of conquests, I'll never understand. The guy is a true player, which he does little to hide.

"Why would they agree to this? Can't they see its a waste of time?" Alice stresses, talking directly to Rosalie, who shrugs non-comittally. I watch, amused as Alice visibly struggles to contain her sigh at Rosalie's indifference. Her desperate, pleading gaze turns on Jasper, who's sat opposite her. I turn my eyes to him, too, and watch as he sets the front legs of his chair onto the ground and leans forward, ready to listen to my sister. I guess he likes her to some degree. "Jaz?" she says quietly. "Is there anything you can do about this?" At that my gaze snaps back to Alice.

"What? Alice, no, there is nothing he can do. What the hell do you mean?" Everyone at the table is staring at me now. Jasper's gaze is seething with anger, while Alice's eyes are full of unshed tears. Seriously? She's almost crying?

"Don't curse at me, Edward. You're the one that's making a mess of everything," she sobs, trying to contain her emotions as she stands suddenly and runs from the room, many eyes following her as she does. I look around the room, seeing people whisper and point.

"See what you've done now, Cullen? You've upset your sister," Jasper says, shaking his head at me as he too rises from his chair. When he is the one to follow Alice, the whispers turn to raised voices as a hum of shock and excitement sweeps across the room. Glares are aimed at me from everyone at this table, bar the guys - so basically just the girls.

"Fuck this," I whisper under my breath, picking up my stuff as I exit the room, glad to have thought to get mine and Bella's lunch before I sat down to be greeted with that mess.

End of Flashback

Once the movie has finished, I offer a rather short olive branch to Alice by hollering up the stairs that the media room is free, before I go to my room to give it a quick tidy up. When I enter, however, I find Bev already in there straightening out my bed. "Bev, I'll do that," I insist, rushing forward. She stands up and turns to face me.

"No need. All done," she says distracted as she looks around my room. "Let me just grab the vacuum. This floor could do with a once over." I step in front of her before she can take a step toward my door.

"You don't have to, Bev. It looks fine. Anyway, what are you doing here? I thought you were taking the day off to help Alan at the shop?"

"I was until I heard about this friend of yours is coming here today. I had to make sure this place was in the best possible condition. We want to impress her, don't we?" she asks with a tilt of her head and a raised brow, causing the tips of my ears to turn red with heat. I nod silently. "Well then, move out of my way so I can do my job."

I step aside wordlessly, my hand returning to my hair as I once again begin to think about Bella being here. Bev stops her walk toward my door when she spots my nervous habit. "Aaaaw," she coos, rushing back over to me. "Look at you, all nervous for her arrival. Come on, dear, tell me about her. Is she cute? Does she make you laugh? Have you kissed her yet?"

"Woah woah woah," I rush to stop my housekeeper slash former-nanny's word vomit. The heat spreads to my cheeks as I blush deeply. "We're not... we don't have that kind of relationship, Bev! We... she's... we're just friends." Bev smiles at my struggle to articulate my friendship with Bella to her.

"Mm'kay," she hums, not sounding the least bit convinced. "Well, ignore the last question then," she says, urging me to answer the rest of her questions. I sigh, reaching up to run my hand through my hair but I halt my hand half way there and quickly drop it down to my side.

"She's not cute. That's not the right word for her. She's... beautiful. And yes, she does make me laugh. She can be so serious at times, but then she can also be very funny when she wants to be." I find myself smiling as I speak these words.

Bev's smile is triple the size of mine and there's a twinkle in her eyes that's only just appeared in the last few minutes. "That's good. Laughter is a vital ingredient to make a perfect, aaah, friend-ship."

I narrow my eyes at her. "Bev," I begin, a warning in my tone. She steps back, smirking as she holds up her hands.

"I'm saying nothing," she tells me, walking toward my door. "I'll be back in a moment," she calls over her shoulder as she leaves my room. I sigh, shaking my head as I drop to the yellow chair by my desk. I'm glad my parents didn't come down to see me during that conversation. They'd have fired Bev just for what she asked about kissing, for sure!

A/N: I hope you enjoyed! Please leave a review and let me know your thoughts... did he handle the Alice situations well? What are your predictions on how Bella's visit will play out?

Next chapter will be Bella's return to the house, and her first time actually setting foot inside it! I was going to have that in this chapter but I decided against it in the end for 2 reasons. One, the chapter would have ended up being too long, and Two, I wanted to give you an insight into Edward's life away from Bella because I feel like there's been a lot of just those two in most recent chapters.

I'll be back on Monday! Have a lovely weekend and see you all next week!