New chapter time! Now, before you get to read some more of my crap writing, I want to thank you for all of the reviews. The story is now just about at 100! The person who hits that mark gets a response filled with "thank you"s. xD

And I want to give a shout out to the following people, in no particular order, for their continuing reviews of awesomeness:

HorseyGal23

Someoneyoudon'tknowprobably

Moonprincess92

Fangirl12

And as well as everyone that has been with this story from the very beginning. Your dedication surprises me.

Oh, and to twilight me forever, your review of the last chapter had me in tears from laughter. Just thought I'd let you know here, since that was an anonymous review and so can't be responded to.

On to the crap writing!

BPOV

I walked back into the living room cautiously, afraid of Alice's reaction.

It wasn't as bad as I thought.

She was sitting on the couch, Jasper still by her side as he whispered something to her. She seemed very calm.

Thank heavens for Jasper and his calming methods.

She noticed me then, and I could sense a certain sadness in her eyes as she looked over.

"Is everything okay?"

"Ummm...." I stalled, fidgeting with my shirt. "I think so. But it doesn't look like Edward is up for any planning today."

"Oh," she nodded. "When would be a good time?"

"I'm not sure...."

She was silent for a moment before nodding again, and standing up.

"That's okay."

"I'm really sorry Alice."

"No. No, Bella, I should be the one who's sorry here. You didn't do anything wrong."

"But - "

"No buts! You weren't the one who barged in uninvited," she said in an oddly calm way. I began to fear for her sanity.

"But Alice, you know I love seeing you, you don't need an invitation..."

"Sure, you love seeing me. But what about Edward?"

"He... just wasn't prepared for your level of excitement this morning."

"Hm," she scoffed, glaring at the bedroom door as if he could see her through it.

"Well, I won't bother you any more. I just wanted to help, but I can see you don't need any from me."

The bedroom door opened then and Edward stepped out, his hair more of a mess than usual and the darkness still in his eyes. I cringed at the hurt I saw all over him.

I have a feeling this won't end well.

"Alice..."

"Yes," she responded suspiciously, her eyes narrowing.

"I'm sorry."

"Huh?"

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have reacted so harshly, when it's clear that you were only trying to help. I hope you can forgive me, and we can put it all behind us."

"Of... of course," Alice nodded. Edward smiled politely, though I can tell that it was forced. Her eyes narrowed at that. "Okay, fine. I'm sorry, too. I should have at least called ahead of time, and not been so, well, pushy."

He smiled for real this time.

"Well! That was stunningly formal," I exclaimed, clapping my hands together loudly, causing Edward to flinch. "Sorry," I muttered, crossing my arms and stepping back, afraid of doing any damage.

Edward just chuckled and held his hand out to Alice.

"Well, though your visit was horrifying at first, I'm now glad you came so we were able to settle things out properly."

"Hm. Same here," Alice smirked, shaking his hand roughly. I noticed Edward's eyes tighten as she released it, before he hid it behind his back and hung his head slightly, flinching.

I forgot to warn him of Alice's tight grip.

I stepped forward very subtly, and carefully took his hand in my own, caressing it. He let out a sigh and lifted his head back up.

"It was nice seeing you again, Alice."

Impressive. I wasn't that composed the first time Alice crushed my hand after we got in a fight.

"You too, Edward," she nodded, heading for the doorway. "We'll do this again soon."

Once she turned her head away, Jasper began to shake his head "no" back and forth furiously, making me and Edward snicker.

"Jasper!"

Jasper turned around sharply, and found Alice directly in front of him, a fierce glare in place.

"Sorry..."

"Nice one, Jazz," Edward laughed. I nudged him sharply in the ribs. "Ow."

Alice smirked, grabbed Jasper by the hand and tugged him out the door.

We spent the next three weeks in solitude.

Well, as much solitude as we could get when away from work.

At least Carlisle was giving Edward a bit of a break when it came to shifts, only making him work a few days out of each week.

I wasn't so lucky.

Mrs. Newton had me work nearly every single day, only giving every other weekend of; and the hours were so long.

Edward was the only thing keeping me sane.

I made him aware of when Jessica wasn't at the diner, and he'd always stop by, spending as much time as he could without causing problems.

There was just one problem - I think Mrs. Newton had developed a bit of a crush on him.

"I don't like the way she looks at you," I hissed, after a very long, awkward moment between the two sometime in the middle of week three.

He shuddered.

"You and me both. I swear, she was about ready to eat me alive or something."

"Don't joke about that. Knowing how creepy she is, I'd say it's a very distinct possibility."

He looked over my shoulder then, and flinched.

"What is it?"

"She's staring at me," he whispered, looking visibly frightened.

I growled and leaned to the side slightly, attempting to block him from her vision. Edward whimpered dramatically and crouched down, so low that he was nearly covered by the table.

"Is she still looking?" I hissed, not wanting to turn and see for myself, for fear of... well, just fear.

"I think so. Man, isn't she married or something?"

"Well, I'm betting her husband isn't nearly as attractive as you. I'm glad I managed to snatch you up when I did, or she might now be Mrs. Masen!"

"Bella. Ew."

"Bella!" Mrs. Newton shouted suddenly, causing me to let out a shriek of surprise.

I could swear I heard Edward giggling from under the table.

"Um, yes Mrs. Newton?" I asked, after glaring daggers at the table and then turning around to see what she wanted.

"I don't see any cleaning going on at that table."

"Well you would know, you old bat, you've been staring at it nonstop since I came in," Edward mumbled. I shoved one foot under the table, getting him in the shins with my heel.

"Ouch!"

"I'm sorry, i'll get right on that!" I nodded, rushing over to go behind the counter to get some cleaning supplies.

She eyed me suspiciously for a moment before finally exiting into the kitchen.

I let out a sigh of relief as Edward popped his head out from under the table.

"Is it safe?"

"Yes, you big baby, it's safe. But I'd better get some cleaning done fast before she comes back and has an excuse to yell at me."

He frowned.

"You know, I really don't enjoy the thought of you working here. Especially when I'm not around."

"Don't worry, she's harmless. But I could beat her in a fist fight, if worse comes to worst."

"As much as I love you and would love to offer my support, I'm afraid i'll have to disagree on that one. Remember the spider from last night?"

I flinched, remembering it all too well.

But in my defense, I'm terrified of spiders, so it was probably just nerves that made me completely miss my target and end up hitting myself in the face with the newspaper.

I placed a hand over my black eye and huffed in annoyance.

It had to be the Sunday paper...

"You see? There's no way you could take on a fellow human being. They're much bigger than bugs."

"That spider was crafty, he caught me by surprise!"

"I believe you caught yourself by surprise," he sighed, walking over and placing a hand on my cheek, right below the black eye.

His beeper suddenly went of then, making me flinch. He seemed to be expecting it, though.

He picked it up, looked at the new message, and frowned.

"You have to go," I stated, already growing used to it.

"I'm sorry."

He looked over my shoulder for a moment, and then gave me a quick kiss.

"I'll see you tonight."

"Yeah," I nodded, as he headed for the front door. "Tonight."

"Oh, one more thing..."

"Yes?"

"Please promise me that you won't attempt to kill any sort of bug while I'm away. I don't want to have to see you where I work."

"There won't be any hospital visits, I promise."

"And no bug slayings."

"Fine," I grumbled, crossing my arms. He just grinned and strode out the door.

"Bella!" Mrs. Newton shouted from the other room. I closed my eyes and let out a harsh sigh.

This is going to be a long day.

As I arrived at Edward's place I cringed, hearing the shouting from all the way outside.

I cautiously made my way to the front door, opening it up a crack and peeking in.

Alice and Edward were glaring at each other, hands balled into fists, in a fighting stance. Jasper stood in the corner on the room, hands in his pockets, looking at his feet uncomfortably.

"It all needs to be taken care of sometime, Edward! Or do you just want to call the whole thing off?!"

"NO, I don't, and stop tossing accusations like that around, I'm really getting sick of it!"

"Then man up! Start making some decisions, some planning, some anything! Do you want Bella to think you can't commit?!"

"This isn't any of your damn business, Alice, when are you going to see that?! This doesn't concern you, so just leave it the hell alone!"

"No, I refuse to watch my best friend get hurt!"

"Who says I'm going to hurt her?!"

I rolled my eyes and pushed the door all the way open. It slammed against the wall loudly, making the room fall silent as everyone turned and looked at me.

"Can someone explain what's happening here?" Edward and Alice opened their mouths at the same time. I held up a hand to cut them off. "Without shouting and causing a big scene, please."

Edward shot a frighteningly harsh glare at Alice, and strode over to me.

"She used Jasper to get her inside and wait for me to come home from work," he growled. "It was an ambush!"

Alice scoffed. Jasper shot her a warning glance, then resumed looking at his feet.

"Well somebody had to light a fire under your butt, and God knows nobody else was going to," she sighed, crossing her arms.

"That doesn't give you any right to invade my home - "

"We didn't invade your home!"

"What do you call this!?"

"QUIET!"

Everyone stopped and turned over to me again, shock plastered on their faces.

"I'm sick of this! Every time you two are put in the same room together, you act like wild animals!" I turned to Alice. "Why do you think Edward and I have spent the last few weeks away from it all?"

She sighed dramatically and crossed her arms.

"Fine. I'm sorry."

"Thank you."

".....But he still has to - "

"Alice!"

"Okay, alright, sorry!"

"Good."

Edward grinned smugly. Alice stuck her tongue out at him.

"Alice," I warned.

"Fine, i'll go," she frowned, shooting one last glare at Edward. "But this won't be over until he starts making an effort."

"Fair enough," he shrugged.

Alice smirked, and walked right out the door.

"Later," Jasper chuckled, pounding fists with Edward on the way out as they both rolled their eyes at Alice.

Once the door was closed, Edward locked it and peeked out the window, as if waiting to be sure they'd left.

"What are you doing?"

After a minute he turned back, and ran a hand through his hair.

"Alice was right," he sighed, looking defeated.

"Um... What?"

"Alice. She was right. I haven't been doing anything at all concerning our engagement."

"Edward, you don't have to - "

"I already did," he grinned.

"What?"

He reached a hand into his jeans pocket, pulling something out.

"Is that what I think it is?"

He just continued to grin as he strode over to me, and handed it over.

I looked down at the little black box in my hand, suddenly growing full of nerves.

"Open it," he whispered, staring intently at me.

My hands began to shake as I lifted the lid and looked inside.

An engagement ring.

A gorgeous engagement ring.

A gorgeous, expensive looking engagement ring.

"Edward," I gasped, taking it out.

I must have dropped the box, because it was no longer in my hands as I gazed at the ring.

It was amazing. Gold, with a large, green heart shaped jewel.

I noticed some sort of etching on the underside. I turned it, trying to see better in the light.

"I had it engraved," he shrugged.

With this ring, I hope to symbolize my full, undying love for you. My heart is forever yours, Bella.

"It was all that would fit," he blushed, running a hand through his hair again.

"It's so... beautiful."

"Do you like it?"

"It's perfect..."

I looked up at him, tears starting to roll down my face. He reached up and placed a hand on my cheek, wiping some away.

"Try it on," he urged.

But I was frozen in place, just staring up at him helplessly. He chuckled softly, and slid the ring on to my finger himself.

"Perfect," he grinned. "Now you'll always have a part of me with you."

He raised the hand up and placed a kiss on my knuckles, before pulling back to admire the ring, the smile never leaving his face.

"I... I love you so much," I whimpered.

It was the only thing I could even think of to say.

He'd left me speechless.

"You are my life," he whispered, kissing me softly and pulling me into a hug.