Hey everyone

Hey everyone! Thanks for your reviews. As I said, I really don't know London (yet) so my apologies if something went terribly wrong…

Yeah… here is chapter five, as promised. I don't think I'll update too soon after this one. It might take over a week or so.

Disclaimer: I keep forgetting this thing… don't hold it against me, my head forgets trivial things… Here goes – I don't own Twilight (except for the copy in my bookshelf.)

Chapter 5 – The Channel

EPOV

If yesterday had been drizzly and chilly, today was perfect. A bright, warm morning sun rose over London, drying the moist streets from last night's rain. We had checked out of our bed and breakfast and taken a train from London Victoria to Dover Priory. Emmett and Rosalie were naturally there so see us off.

"Now you kids be good on the ferry. No reaching over the banister. And don't throw anything over board. You see, if you do that, you will not get it back." Emmett said with his most patronizing tone.

"Nice one, Emmett. Speaking from experience?" I shot back while lifting my backpack to the train. "If I remember correctly, you were the one to flood the Caribbean ocean with stray footballs, snack papers and even your iPod when we last went on a cruise."

"Pfft, that was ages ago", Emmett replied with a dismissive wave of his hand.

"It was last year", I said from the side of my mouth to Bella standing next to me. She giggled quietly and hid behind a curtain of her hair to conceal her amusement from my brother.

The train was about to board so after quick hugs and pats on the back, Alice, Jasper, Bella and I climbed on the train and shouted our goodbyes to Rosalie and Emmett, who promised to meet us as soon as Rosalie was done with her arrangements.

We walked along the small aisle, trying to find some available seats. The time on our Interrail tickets had begun this morning, so this would be our first ride using them. Alice shouted out a cry of happiness as she pointed at the empty table on the train cart, and quickly ran over there, throwing her backpack on the seats so they wouldn't get taken. The rest of us were a bit more civilized in our walking.

"Alice, I can't believe you forced me into wearing a dress for a travel day!" Bella snapped at Alice in a slightly frustrated tone as she tried to settle herself in the chair, smoothing the hem of her tan sundress (A/N: she can't always wear blue… lol), which reached her knees.

"Well, I can't believe I let you wander around London in a pair of dodgy sneakers, so there you have it! Think of it as a form of payback. Besides, the weather craves for some skin exposure."

Bella huffed, but seemed to except her being stuck in the dress. She started rummaging through her backpack and took out a brand new paperback. I cocked my head to the side to read the title.

"Bill Bryson?"

She noticed the amazement in my voice. "I know, it's not really a book I normally read, but come on. Have you read any of his books? They're hilarious. And I figured it would be appropriate since we're travelling in Europe."

"So what do you normally read?" I asked her while taking the book from her hands to examine it.

"I love the classics. Anything by Bronte or Austen and I'm sold. I've read all of them more times than I can count." I watched Bella's face light up and her eyes sparkle when she started telling about the books she preferred. Reading must be like an extreme addiction to her.

"…My absolute favourite is Pride and Prejudice. I read it dutifully once a month. It really doesn't get boring."

"What are you going to do this month? It's kind of a pain to drag tons of books around."

Bella's reaction made me wonder. She suddenly turned sharply to glare at Alice, who on the other hand was persistently staring out of the window. "Well, I intended to drag it along but someone needed more space for her clothes, and accidentally removed it from my backpack."

Alice turned to look at Bella, pulling her face into a persuasive pout. "Bella, I said I was terribly sorry. Are you still mad at me?"

Bella flashed a wide grin at Alice. "Nah, not really. I just hate to think not being able to read it when I want."

Alice hugged Bella fiercely and they were totally okay after that. I looked at Jasper, raising my eyebrows. He chuckled at the two. "Alice and Bella never really fight, they're really good friends. So they occasionally make a huge deal of inconsequential things just so they can bicker and then make up. Trust me, I've heard them make an argument over much less than that."

I laughed at Jaspers answer and continued to chat with him about varsity football, mechanics and other things that might be considered 'guy stuff'. Since the girls were busy with reading – one with Bill Bryson, the other with the latest Elle – we continued our chat with Jasper until we were in Dover. I hadn't talked to Jasper that much before. I somehow had gotten the impression that he didn't want to be in the middle of a group discussion. But when I talked to him, I saw how much we had in common.

"Jasper's a really great character." I commented to Bella when we headed towards the harbour where the ferry to Calais left.

Bella smiled fondly. "He really is. We first got to know him when he moved to Forks from Austin. That was in eighth grade. Alice was supposed to tutor him, help him find his way around our tiny school. Well, Alice got impatient when Jasper didn't show up in time and when he did, Alice just walked up to him and said, 'You kept me waiting a long time'. Jasper, who has always been ever the gentleman, apologized politely. After that they were pretty much inseparable and they started going out when Jasper had been in Forks for about a fortnight."

"That's a lovely story."

"Yeah. Alice said to me later, that she knew from the first moment that they were meant to be. She just waited for a few days for Jasper to realize it as well."

I was still thinking about the story when we walked onboard the ferry. Alice and Jasper were incredibly lucky to find each other just like that, as it seemed to me. I wanted to believe that it would be that easy to find your other half, but years of going out with dim-witted, shallow girls had taught me not to believe in such luck. If there had been sensible, down-to-earth girls in our high school, I had missed them for sure. Emmett finding Rosalie had given me a certain amount of hope as well. If he found the girl, then maybe I would too. Who knows, she could be just around the corner…"

"Edward, where are you?" A laughing voice sounded from right next to me. Bella looked at me with an amused expression on her face. Apparently I had been thinking for longer than I thought.

"Are you planning on standing in the middle of the lobby for the hour and a half we have to spend on this boat? My back sure couldn't take it."

I rolled my eyes at her teasing and followed her to a group of armchairs where Alice and Jasper were sitting. I shook the backpack off of me and sighed contentedly as the heavy weight was no longer pressing my muscles. We sat down until the boat left the dock. Alice got seasick almost immediately after we started to cross The Channel – or Le Manche as the French called it. She curled up against Jasper and closed her eyes, while Jasper tried to make her feel comfortable. Fortunately she fell asleep pretty soon, so she wouldn't have to put up with motion sickness.

Meanwhile, Bella and I decided to head on the deck, since it was warm and sunny outside.

It wasn't terribly crowded outside – I suspected that other passengers had gone to enjoy the impressive selection of amusements on board. The deck was shining in the bright sunlight. We sat on one of the benches to watch the ocean view. The famous white cliffs were visible in one direction, on the other side the only thing you could see was open water. We had a small competition going on who would first see France, but in the mean time we talked about other things.

"Earlier…" Bella began a new subject. "Last night actually, you mentioned that you didn't see everything in London you wanted to. I was wondering what you missed."

"Hmm. Well, first of all, I think that we could have seen a museum, like Victoria&Albert. But I figured since we were there with Emmett, it might be foolish to the point of insanity to go to a place where you're supposed to behave."

Bella laughed at my comment. "I doubt that Alice would have been any better. The museum gift shop holds little to interest her greatly."

"True. What did you miss from our tour?"

"Besides museums? I think I would have liked to see a play at West End. Or a musical. Than it would have been incredible to visit Stratford-upon-Avon. I just adore Shakespeare. When we get back, I absolutely want to see some of those things."

"Maybe we can ditch the others one day and spend a really nerdy, touristy day in London." I winked at Bella. She smiled in response to approve of my plan.

Suddenly she jumped from the bench and pointed at the horizon. "There it is! There's France!"

Unfortunately she hadn't considered the wind that had picked up once we reached open sea. A gusty breeze caught her dress and set the hem flying up. It revealed her smooth legs before Bella frantically pushed the hem down and kept it there with her hands, sitting down carefully. A shockingly red colour invaded her cheeks, making her look even more flustered.

I felt sorry for her, because she seemed so embarrassed. I really didn't think of it as a bad thing, the legs I had seen were nothing to be ashamed of, but I could imagine how mortifying such a predicament could feel like. I decided to spare her from the embarrassment and ignore the whole thing, though I had an extremely hard time to hide my laughter. "It seems like you won our challenge. We still have about twenty minutes before we reach Calais. Do you want to go inside to check on Alice?" I kept my tone light to ease her situation.

Bella cleared her throat and stood up cautiously. We walked inside and found Alice and Jasper still in the same position we had left them in. We talked with Jasper quietly until he woke Alice up five minutes before arriving. People were already starting to gather to the exit, pushing each other in the tight crowd. We didn't really want to cram in there, since we had time to leave the boat so we calmly put our backpacks on and stood a bit further away.

When I helped Bella put her backpack on, she turned to face me with a serious expression. "Edward, I want to thank you."

"Why?" I smiled confusedly.

"For not laughing when… well, earlier, on the deck. It would have been really uncomfortable for me if you had, but you were really... Anyway, thank you for understanding."

"Bella, I wouldn't even imagine making you feel uncomfortable. I am happy that I was able to ease your embarrassment."

She smiled at me and looked me deep in the eyes. Before Bella started to walk towards the doorway that had cleared up from hasty tourists, she squeezed my hand and smiled one more time. Suddenly I felt that I had caught a glimpse of what could be waiting around the corner.

That was Edward for you. It didn't come as naturally as BPOV; I really had to think at some point to make it right. If you had something bothering you, though, feel free to mention it.

Now, I know for a fact that more that four people read this story, so I would appreciate reviews. How about if we try to reach the 25 marker this time…? (Not too difficult, I hope)

Also for those of you who have visited Paris, What should I make Edward, Bella and the guys see? If you haven't visited France, you can write requests as well, I'm not discriminating.

Until next time,

Isabella-