Hello my wonderful readers! People wanted to keep reading, so I wanted to send this out for the few that actually wanted to read it. So thank those who said wanted me to continue.

Honestly, I have no excuse except for exhaustion. I will try to be more frequent in my updates; I don't want to let you guys down.

Hope you enjoy the chapter!

Disclaimer: (See before chapter...)

Bella's POV

18 years old

"Kill. Me. Now." I exclaimed, plopping down onto the nearest couch in the dressing rooms.

I'd known that agreeing to this blasted shopping trip was a mistake, yet here I stood, or rather sat, in this horrible mall, going from store to store, missing my Edward terribly.

My Edward.

Ever since we'd had that talk about 2 years ago, we had been as strong as ever, spending every moment we could with each other. I loved him now more than ever. He'd taken me to everywhere from amusement parks to scary movie to the zoo and everywhere in between. He seriously was everything I'd hoped for and more. The waiting period dimmed and seemed far away from where we were now.

"Oh, Bella!" Alice called from somewhere inside the store. "We have more outfits for you to try on."

"Why me?" I muttered, rising from my spot.

Honesty, is what you need, it sets you free, like someone to save you. Let it go, but hurry though, there's undertow and I don't wanna lose you, now. My phone sang.

Oh, thank goodness. Whoever that is just saved my sanity.

I hastily dug in my back pocket, pulling out my cellular device.

"Hello?"

"Hello, beautiful."

"Oh my God, Edward, I love you." I praised. His smooth laugh could be heard on the line.

"I love you, too, but what's with the sudden use of this sentiment. Not that I'm complaining. What? Not having fun on your shopping trip?" He teased.

"Har, har. Make jokes all you want, but remember I'm your date tonight." I reminded him, looking around, hoping Alice wouldn't find me hiding. I'd ducked behind some clothing carts in the hopes of staying unseen. Yeah, we'll see how well this goes...

"Ok, ok. I'm sorry. Well, I just called to make sure you were alive." He joked.

"Yes, my body is very much so intact. Thanks for being so concerned." I said, sarcasm dripping from my tone.

"Oh, no problem. It's my job." He replied, smugly. I could see that smirk he'd be wearing and the way his eyes smoldered. It was his typical teasing expression, and he wore it daily, seeing as how he made fun of me everyday. Ugh! How I hated him, yet I love him so much.

Oh, the tangled web I weave!

"Jerk." I muttered.

"Love you, too. See you tonight, love."

"Yeah, yeah." I answered and closed the phone.

Why had I agreed to the triple date? If I hadn't, I'm sure Alice wouldn't have dragged me to this horrid place. It seemed she had a guilty pleasure for making me feel bored out of my mind and tired at the same time. Apparently, it was amusing for her to watch me suffer. And it's not just me that she does it to. Oh, she does it to everyone else, I'm just the only one who despises it immensely and speaks my mind profusely, telling her every single time how much I hated it.

"What do you think you're doing?"

I jumped from my hiding space and placed a hand over my racing heart. What the hell was her problem? Alice had snuck behind me while I was on the phone, then proceeded to scare the begeebers out of me. That girl was evil. She knew that I was the scariest person...ever. It was so easy to frighten me. I could be sitting in broad daylight, in front of a window, where there were witnesses, and Emmett could pop out in a white sheet and yell, "boo!", and he would still scare the hell out of me. Pathetic, I know, but it was true, and everyone uses it to their advantage, scaring me every chance they got.

"N-nothing." I assured her, looking toward the ground.

"Mmhmm." She mumbled, and I could've sworn she'd murmured something along the lines of, "crazy, irrational girl" as she flitted away. She walked a couple of meters, but then turned back around when she found that I wasn't following suit.

"Well?" She grumbled, impatiently. "We haven't got all day."

"I'm coming. No need to get your panties in a twist." I vowed, waltzing quickly to her side.

She huffed, but turned around and made her way to Rose.

"Don't worry, you'll be able to spend time with your precious Edward in a couple of hours." Rose mocked, sticking her tongue out at me.

Real mature.

"You're real funny, Rose." I pointed out, eyeing the big stack of dresses they'd piled up. Were all of those for me?

"I know." She commented, turning back to the dresses we were browsing through; well, they were browsing through.

I'd refused to take part in any of the "shopping" aspect. I would only try on clothes. It drove Alice and Rose crazy to no end, and that was the only reason why I enjoyed doing it. Other than that, shopping was a pain in the-

"...as I was saying, he insisted that we- Bella? Bella! Bel-la! Yoohoo!" Rose was waving her hands frantically in front of my face, trying to get my attention.

"What?"

She blinked. "Did you even hear a word I said?"

"Sure I did." I assured her though I hadn't heard a word.

"Oh yeah? Then repeat what I just said." She challenged, placing her hands on her hips. Oh, it was like that, was it?

"Well, you just said...Umm...You said..." Damn, come on, Bella. Think!

"You were saying...you were saying that-!" I started. Damn, why couldn't I think of anything.

"See, that's exactly what I was talking about." She teased, throwing a smirk my way.

I sighed. Figures. I wasn't listening anyway.

"And for not answering the question correctly," She continued, in an annoyingly horrible imitation of a sports announcers voice. "You get the luxury of trying on all of these lovely dresses."

"Yay me." I muttered sarcastically. She was so corny, and too much like Emmett for her own good. She'd been spending too much time with him. I fear that if she spends any more, she'd grow a huge set of muscles and when she smiled dimples would suddenly appear.

"Go, go, go!" Alice urged, pushing me into a stall.

"I hate you guys, you know!" I yelled just as the door was being closed in my face.

My only answer was some dresses being thrown over the stall door.

I huffed.

Great!

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*

"Oh My Jasper." Alice squealed, jumping up and down while clapping her hands. "This is the one."

I gasped. "The one, Al?"

She rolled her eyes, but answered anyway. "This is most definitely the one."

I had waltzed out of the stall, after trying on what felt like 200 different dresses, and I'm pretty sure that they had given me 200 dresses. After throwing in the initial 20, they would leave and come back, throwing dresses over the stall door, and making me try on all of them. Seriously, did they think I was a machine? I didn't run on gas, I was a human being, but they didn't seem to think that.

"You like?" I purred, jokingly swaying my hips from side to side in what I hoped looked like a seductive manner, but knowing that I'd failed miserably.

Rose rolled her eyes and shook her head at my attempts. Hey, you can't kill a girl for trying, right?

"Ok, now are we done?" I asked, impatiently. We'd been at this all day. I was tired, irritable, and my nerves were at an end.

"Fine. I guess that's enough 'torturing Bella' for a day." Alice allowed, crossing her arms across her chest and huffing.

"No, that's enough for the rest of our lives." I mumbled under my breath, while calmly creeping into my stall.

"What was that?" Rose asked, raising her eyebrows. Damn her and her good hearing.

"Oh, nothing." I sang, closing the stall in their faces. I smirked. Maybe they would leave me alone.

I quickly got changed, throwing on my clothes, blindly. I really didn't care what I was doing, all I wanted to do was leave that place, quickly. But, in all my hurrying, I'd hit my knee against the little bench that they kept in the stall.

"Ow! Sweet Jesus, that hurt!" I exclaimed, hopping up and down in the small space.

"Bella?" Rose's concernced voice came from outside the door. "You okay in there?"

"No!" I roared, glaring at the cursed bench.

"Well, what happened?" She asked.

I gathered my belongings, sending one more glare toward the stupid bench, and swung the door open.

"I hit my damn knee. It hurts so bad, and now I have to hobble around like a penguin." I whined. I knew I didn't have to limp, but it seemed that way.

"Wow. You are seriously so clumsy that you're disabled." I heard Alice mutter from behind Rose, which she answered with a chuckle.

"I knoooow!" I kept whining. I should seriously have a sign hung over me that read, "Danger! Keep away from!"

I pushed past them, and dramatically limped up to the check up counter. I figured my mood could not get any worse than that. Although some might say that I was being incredibly over dramatic, but they hadn't hit their knee. And, my God, did it hurt.

"Hey, sweetie pie." I heard from the cashier behind the counter.

I frowned. Why does that voice sound so familiar? Oh, please, please, please, Lord up above, let me be imagining that horrible voice. Let this just be a sign of me going crazy and that voice was just in my head. Please, please, please, please, pl-

"Um, Bella? Are you gonna pay for this dress?" The vile Michael Newton asked. Yes, he was Michael now. He didn't deserve to be called Mike; not after he's been trying to break Edward and I up for the past 2 years. He was just that cruel.

"No."

But it wasn't my voice that trilled that reply. Thank God Alice was there.

"Bella, would you please go tell our dad, Chief Swan, that we're almost done here?" She asked politely. She turned toward me and winked, telling me that she had everything in control.

I nodded and happily obliged. I didn't argue this once because I was tired of having to deal with Michael.

I spun on my heel, and high-tailed it out of there. I was never, repeat, never, going back to that place. Once I passed the threshold, I took a deep, calming breath. This day was just too much. I had to cheer myself up. Yeah, I'm just weird like that. I have to cheer myself up because apparently nobody else wants to do it.

Quickly, I whipped out my phone, and dialed the only number that I knew would help me.

"Hello?"

My sigh of relief was almost inaudible.

"Are you ok?"

"You have no idea what I've been through." I confessed, leaning back against the bench I'd sat down on and letting myself relax.

"Oh really? I bet I could guess." He hedged.

"Oh, I bet you could, but what fun would that be?" I teased.

"You're evil, Ms. Swan." He laughed.

"So I've been told." I shot back, enjoying this.

"Oh, really? By who?"

It's time to cheer myself up.

"Oh, you know. By Mike Newton...as he whispered my name in the janitor's closet where he works." I could hear him choking on the other end of the line. I knew this would get him riled up, and that's just what I needed. It was so much fun messing with him, and he wasn't the only that could do it.

"What? Bella, you can't be serious?" He spluttered. I was having too much fun.

"I can be serious, Edward, very serious." I giggled out.

"Bella, this isn't funny." He whined.

"But, I'm laughing." I wheezed out in between guffaws.

"Bel-la."

"Ed-ward." I mocked.

"You are gonna be in so much trouble when you get home." He warned.

"Ooh, I'm so scared. I'll go alert the police." My mood was so much better now. I knew calling him would cheer me up. He always did. That's one of the things I loved about him. He was always good natured and kind, and sometimes playful. The perfect mixture.

"Be afraid, be very afraid."

Was he serious? Who says that now-a-days?

"Goodbye, Edward. I love you." I laughed.

Laughing on his end as well.

"Until later, my love."

I let my head loll onto the back of the bench and my eyes close. I couldn't wait to get home to him.

"Alright, let's leave this shithole and get home." Rose announced as her and Alice were gliding out of the store.

"I think that's the best thing you've said all day." I said, rising from the bench I'd been occupying.

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*

"Hoooooneeeeey, we're home!" Alice called, rather loudly, as we entered our house.

"Oh, girls!" Our mother strolled in casually. "It's about time you got here! Those boys have been harrassing us all day!"

"Oh really?" I started. "Well, let's go see them...now." I hopelessly begged to no one in particular.

"Please do! I was 10 seconds away from strangling them." Mom confessed, hanging her head, the ghost of a smile appearing on her lips.

"We will." Rose spoke up from beside Alice. "Just not now." And with that, she dragged me, Alice, and our mountain of bags upstairs to get ready for our triple date.

Throwing a quick, "Help me!", to mom, they flew, I kind of just stumbled, up the stairs to my room. I trudged to my bed and flopped down.

"Ok, so I-" I started.

"Shh, wait. I have to check if they're in his room." Alice declared, trekking over to the window and peeking through. With a confirming nod, she pulled the curtains closed and turned on her heel back to us.

"Coast is clear." She confirmed with a salute. Dramatic much?

"Ok, now, we all found dresses, and shoes...so, I think we're ok to get dressed?" Rose started, taking charge of our situation.

"Ma'am, yes ma'am!" Alice answered, keeping up with her military charade. I rolled my eyes and shook my head.

"Good. Now, Bella, here's your outfit..." She started. I opened my mouth to say something, but she swiftly cut me off. "No objections!"

I huffed.

"And Al, yours." She handed hers to her, and with a parting glance from both of them, they departed from my room. I sighed a heavy sigh of relief, but looked longingly at my window.

When was I gonna get to see Edward today? Those girls were mad if they thought I was gonna stay away from him for that long. But, should I do it? Should I sneak out and see him before our 'wondrous' date?

It only took me a split second to decide. Yes, yes I would.

With a sneak peak at the door, I made a move for the window. I was so excited, I hadn't seen him all day, and believe me, that was a long time.

Just a few steps more and I was home free...

One more st-

"STOP!" Alice cried from my threshold.

Damn! Stupid, intuitive, nosey sister!

"You're coming to get dressed in my room. I have to make sure you aren't gonna do any funny business." She declared, coming to my side, grabbing my wrist and yanking me into her room, where she proceeded to throw on huge, plush, fluffy bed.

"Now, get dressed, no complaints!" She demanded, turning on her heel and waltzing off into her bathroom.

I huffed. Stupid, all-knowing sister.

I hesitantly got dressed, thanking God that I wasn't going to die of humiliation, at least not tonight, from Emmett's relentless teasing. Alice and Rose had wanted to put me in some kind of skimpy dress that showed way too much thigh and had my breasts hanging over the edge of it. I'd refused profusely, all the while blushing at the image of even wearing such a horrid thing. I mean, really? Me? I can't pull anything like that off.

This dress wasn't that bad. It came to about mid thigh, it was strapless with blue with black at the bottom, under and between the bust area. It was a very pretty dress, and got my stamp of approval, much to Alice's and Rosalie's pleasure.

As I was smoothing down my dress, Alice came prancing out of the bathroom in her strapless white and black ensemble. It was mid thigh, black at the top, a mixture in the middle, and white at the bottom. I'd liked that one; for her of course.

"Well, ladies, do I look presentable?" Rose asked, striding through our door sporting a strapless purple dress. It was mid thigh as was ours, with some type of shimmery fabric on the bottom half. She could pull it off, and did so well. I admired women like her and Alice, people who could wear stuff like that and not feel self conscious.

I scoffed. "Do you even have to ask?"

"Duh." She retorted, twirling in a little circle for Alice and me to further admire her. I rolled my eyes. Rosalie will be Rosalie.

Just then there was a knock at Alice's door, and Rosalie, who was closest at the time, opened it.

"Girls, your Prince Charmings are here." Mom squealed from the doorway.

"'Kay." Alice answered, searching for her shoes.

"Oh, look at my girls!" Mom gushed. "Hold on, let me get camera." And with that she fled to her and Dad's room to retrieve her camera.

"Oh, brother." I proclaimed, flopping onto the bed.

"Oh, hush." Alice chided, sticking her arm out and handing me a pair of heels. "Take these shoes and put them on."

I eyed the shoes she'd handed me. Black high heels. I should've known. Quickly, I slid them on my feet, not complaining; I'd done enough of that for us all today.

"Alrighty! Let's get this show on the road." Mom exclaimed, coming back; camera in hand.

"Wait! We have to do our make up!" Alice suddenly shouted, pulling me into the bathroom.

"Hurry up!" Mom warned, backing out the door. "Until then, I'll go entertain the boys."

I groaned, thowing my head back. There's no telling what my mother could do to them while we weren't around.

"Ok, Bella. We're gonna keep it light." Alice reassured me. "Just some blush, eyeliner, eye shadow, and lip gloss."

Thank the Lord. I didn't feel like having my face painted this evening. I gave her a grateful smile, and sat on the closed toilet lid.

After she was done, she went on to her own face, and Rose and I waited on her bed. She'd done her own make up while Alice was doing mine.

"So, Bella, are you ready for this triple date?" Rose asked me.

She'd known that I'd been a little hesitant in going on these triple dates that we have, and though girls always stared at Edward when we went out, it was different when we had an audience. I'd always marked my territory; showed that he was taken, and Emmett always found a way to make fun of me. Not only about that, but he'd make fun of how uncomfortable I looked in those dresses that Alice would force me into. I'd always try to make some witty comment back, but, of course, it was lost in the howling laughter and subtle chuckles of my peers. It infuriated me, so you could imagine why I was reluctant to go on this date.

"Honestly, I'd rather go on a date alone. I mean, I know Edward and I have been official for almost 2 years now, but I can never get over the feeling that he's actually mine, you know? Plus, I really don't have an itching to be teased by Emmett tonigh." I answered, staring at the rug that covered Alice's floor.

"Yeah, I understand. I was like that with Emmett, still am, but it's nice to go out with your sisters every once in a while," She offered, putting her hand on my shoulder. "And don't worry about Emmett, I've got him under control." She added as an after thought.

"Thanks, Rose. I think I'll strangle him tonight if he so much as peeps a joke about me." I joked, hugging my sister.

"Hey! Don't strangle my man. He may be annoying and boisterous and unmanageable and outrageous and irritating, but I love him." She laughed, hugging me back.

"Oh, I bet." I muttered. I had no clue how she could love that man, but, hey, if he made her happy, who am I to argue?

"Hey, am I missing out on a perfect sisterly moment?" Alice whined, suddenly appearing beside us.

"No, you weren't. Now, let's go." I rushed, standing up, straightening my clothes, and striding for the door. Alice and a sisterly moment just didn't mix. She'd have us all stuck in her room doing some kind of bonding exercise that requires us to vent our feelings and confess things like we were in an Alcoholics Anonymous group. We were already late, and no telling what our Mom was doing to our poor boyfriends. I was almost out the door when I didn't feel anybody following me, so I turned around to see that they were still where they were a minute ago.

"Well?" I questioned, quirking an eyebrow. "Are you just gonna sit there?"

They just shook their heads, and rose from the spots they were occupying, and followed me out to our boys.

Look, I know that this was not my best chapter. I just wanted to get this one out. The next one will be better and will include their date! Excited? I am! LOL.

Honestly, I will try to update more often.

Leave me some love, please!

~ TTP