Okay, so one of the fastest updates in a while. Don't get used to it though, sorry. School is too wild. Well, I don't own, and review please.

The next week marked mine and Edward's birthday. We hadn't received any more weird phone calls, luckily, but we were being careful. We were awakened by our parents in the living room, where we'd fallen asleep hanging out together, bored from not having anyone else over.

"Happy birthday, baby boy," Mom said softly, brushing Edward's messy hair from his eyes. "Happy birthday, baby girl." She put a hand on my cheek.

I smiled sleepily at her. "Hi, Mommy. Hi, Daddy."

Daddy picked me up while Mom supported Edward and they took us to the kitchen, where a big breakfast was set up and several wrapped boxes and gift bags sat. We ate our breakfast first, then attacked the gifts. Edward got a guitar and a book of piano music with a notebook specifically lined for musical bars. I got a sewing machine (which my mother gave me strict orders not to use until she showed me how to use it) and a $50 gift card to a hobby store to buy fabrics and such. Our maternal grandparents sent us each $100 and a tin of my grandma's homemade oatmeal cookies, and our paternal grandparents sent us some heirloom jewelry (cufflinks and war medals for Edward, a locket and some rings for me).

The real fun started when the others got there. Jasper got me a gift card for my favorite store (I guess he figured it was easier to let me get my own gift) and Edward a video game (one of the musical ones), Bella and Rose got me a pink dress and matching kitten heels together, Emmett got Edward a new watch (not the boring kind, the kind that has timers and time zones and is set with the atomic clock), and Bella got Edward a new CD (again with the classical music freaks. Rosalie ended up getting Edward a nice shirt that was a pretty green that matched his eyes, and they went to his room so she could see how it looked on him. Emmett insisted his gift for me was 'dumb' so we had to go to my room to save him embarrassment.

"What's so dumb about it?" I laughed, letting him drag me up the stairs by my arm, a gift bag in his hand.

"It's stupid," he said, blushing.

We got to my room and sat on my bed, then he pulled out a black velvet jewelry box. I opened it and found a pretty gold charm bracelet. "Aw, Teddy Bear, it's beautiful…"

It had a few charms already on it, but there was plenty of room for more. There was a teddy bear charm, a fairy charm, a tiny claw foot tub charm (how he'd found one, I had no idea), and a half heart that said 'BEST FOR'. When I looked at it, he pulled his keys out of his pocket and showed me the other half of the heart. It finished the 'BEST FRIENDS FOREVER' and fit to mine perfectly.

I leaned over and kissed him tenderly. "I love it. Put it on me?"

He smiled as he clasped it to my right wrist. "I have to confess, part of the reason I got it is because from now on, in gift giving incidences, if I'm unsure, I can just get you a new charm."

I smiled back, wrinkling my nose. "Hey, you can never go wrong with jewelry of any sort. I have to confess that I'd have been fine with a Ringpop."

He started laughing, then pulled something else out of the gift bag. It was a blue raspberry Ringpop. "How well do I know you?"

I grinned and kissed him again, then took the candy.

Everyone stayed at our house that night. Sunday afternoon, Emmett and I hung out in my room, playing around with my 20 Questions game sphere, getting annoyed every time it guessed out most hare-brained ideas. Even when we played stupid things like everything and nothing, it guessed correctly. As the evening went on, Emmett grew sullen.

"What's wrong, Teddy Bear?" I asked him gently, brushing his dark curls around, feeling for the bare place that was growing back way too slowly for my liking.

"Nothing, nothing," he said, pouting a little bit, leaning against the side of my bed. "I just don't want to leave. I want to stay with you."

I grinned a little wistfully, settling closer to him. "Well, you can always call me if you have trouble sleeping."

He smiled a little. "Really?"

"Of course, you goof."

"Good," he said, kissing me softly.

We didn't have a lot of time after that little impromptu kissing time. We managed to beat the game finally, then all too soon, Charlie and Renee and Vicky and Jamie were downstairs, waiting for their children. After another quick kiss, we were running downstairs, racing. I managed to beat him, his genetics from Charlie shining through a bit as he tripped down the last three steps.

After a quick goodbye to everyone, the night was pretty much over. I went to bed early, my phone on the pillow next to my head. As I expected I got a call about one.

"Alice?" Emmett's voice was sad, scared, childlike.

"Emmett, are you okay?" I asked softly.

"Fine, I guess. I can't sleep, though," he said, avoiding the problem I knew was at hand.

"Why not?"

He let out a shaky sigh. "Mom and Dad have been fighting again."

I waited silently for more.

"They've been waiting until they think we're asleep, then they get into these bizarre arguments at odd hours."

I sighed. "Do you need anything? Do I need to get Daddy?"

"Nah, but could you talk to me for a little while, get my mind off of it?" he asked.

"Of course, sweety," I said in a voice not unlike my mother's concerned voice. I wasn't used to being a run-to for condolence, or using a term of endearment like 'sweety.'

"I thought they didn't have to fight anymore," he said softly. "I thought they'd stopped that."

"Maybe they have, maybe they aren't really fighting," I said, trying to convince him, as well as myself.

"Don't even kid, Al," he said bitterly. "They're just like they were. I hate it."

"I'm sorry, Em. I wish I was there," I said whole heartedly.

"You and me both. I need sleep, and I'm surely not getting any."

I tried to talk him to sleep for a little while, just talking randomly. Finally, he yawned hugely and said he thought he could sleep. I said goodnight and went to sleep myself, my heart aching for the boy so close to it.

Christmas passed with a tiny bit of tension in the air. We all had our separate Christmases, then the day after was spent together.

"Alice," Emmett said, waking me up suddenly. He was sitting on the edge of my bed, smiling down at me.

"I'm sleeping, Emmett," I mumbled, smiling lazily up at him.

He leaned down and kissed me softly. "Are you sleeping now?"

"Are you gonna kiss me again?" I asked, smirking.

He kissed me again, taking me by the waist and pulling me up. I leaned back on my elbow, keeping him close to me, kissing him fiercely. A light cough came from the door.

"Present time," Bella said, biting her lip to refrain from laughter.

I pouted, but got up nevertheless. Hey, presents are presents, even if they cut into make-out time. I ended up getting new outfits, some books, and a few CDs. Emmett -again- insisted his gift was lame and had to be opened in private, so we went to my room to exchange gifts.

We got to my room and sat on my floor, switching boxes. I'd constructed a photo album with every single picture of us together I could find and fit into the book. Baby pictures of us with playing or napping with the others, a few from Sunday school with us fighting with crayons instead of coloring, several from grade school and junior high of us in various situations (my favorite being when we were little daredevils and balancing on the monkey bars at the playground), and a few from high school -most being of us before we got together, but with one or two (or six) of us when we were fused at the lips (I, for the life of me, couldn't remember who'd made those).

"Pixie Princess, I love it!" he said, grinning widely. "Open yours already."

I giggled and ripped into the paper, revealing a gorgeous little jewelry box. "Aw, Teddy Bear…"

"I made it in wood shop. The teacher helped me out some. Open the box."

I grinned and lifted the lid, finding a Ringpop. "Em-"

"And the little drawers," he urged.

In the top drawer was a pair of tiny silver hoop earrings.

"Bella helped me out. It goes with the outfit she and Rose got you. Go on and open the next one now."

In the second drawer was a charm of a sewing machine (where he found these strange little things was beyond me). In the third was a miniscule photo frame. I lifted it and saw a picture of the two of us kissing in his room (I assumed Renee had relented and given it up to him).

"I guess great minds think alike," he said, motioning to my album. "Turn over the bottom drawer."

I obeyed, wondering what else he could have planned. There was an inscription of our anniversary, and a few little words. Those words.

I love you

I knew there would be a point that I had to say them if I really cared as much about Emmett as I knew I did. It wasn't as if I didn't love him, but saying it was something totally different. If I said it, he could hurt me.

I lifted my eyes to him, speaking no words, then leaned forward and pressed my mouth to his. He seemed to take that well, pushing our gifts out of the way and pulling me against him. Our kiss was getting pretty intense, but was interrupted by the next thing we heard.

"Dammit, Renee! Why can't you just enjoy it?" Charlie asked angrily, seemingly right outside my door.

"Because you keep harassing me!" she hissed. "Stop keeping me under surveillance!"

"I'm your husband! You're my wife! You call me making sure you're okay harassing you? I just want to make you happy."

"Some way you show it," she hissed venomously, her voice growing fainter as they passed. "I just want freedom! Don't you get it?"

"Renee, I love you. I want you to be happy," he begged, his voice nearly inaudible.

We didn't hear anything else, because they had apparently been looking for a quiet place to argue. Emmett said nothing, but instead kissed me urgently. He pulled me as close as he could, our chests pressing together (for once I was thankful that my chest greatly resembled a ten-year-old's) and his arms holding me tightly. His lips were unyielding against mine, and when he finally let me go, he hugged me tightly, burying his face in my neck, breathing hard.

I didn't question him, but I knew things were going to be hard for all the Swans. And boy was I right.

The night before school got back in, Emmett called me late.

"Alice, they're really shouting…" he said in a fearful whisper.

I felt so bad for my boyfriend. "I'm sorry, sweety…"

"Will you-" he hesitated. "Will you talk to me until I fall asleep?"

"Of course, but do I need to send someone?"

"No, no… It's stupid. I'm just being a wimp…"

"Just tell me if you change your mind."

I talked to him for thirty minutes, until I heard light snoring.

At school, we were all a little extra tired. I found out through the grapevine that Bella had called Edward and Jasper on three-way, looking for condolence in her best guy friend and her boyfriend, and Emmett had texted Rosalie for an hour before working up the nerve to call me.

Before I went to sleep that night, when Daddy was checking in on me, he said, "If you get any calls tonight, you can get me or your mother, if you need to."

"I know Daddy," I said, hugging him and kissing his cheek. "I love you."

"I love you, sweetheart." He gave me a last kiss on the forehead, then left my room, turning my light out for me.

When Bella texted me that she couldn't sleep, I called her and talked her to sleep, much like Edward would do for me on those insomniatic nights. When Jasper caught me by the arm the next day, we made a plan. The next time we got a call, a parent would be told. We all needed sleep, and the Swans needed more than just that.

A/N: So, the next chapter will be very depressing and dramatic. Stay tuned!

~Sidney