Chapter Two

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or the characters.

When I woke up, later that morning, all I wanted was to go back to sleep, but I knew it would be useless to try. Tears slid down my cheeks as I sat up; I didn't bother wiping them away.

I was startled by the sweet voice I knew so well in the corner, where Jacob stood not too long ago.

"Bella? Bella, what's wrong…" he sounded anxious. I was both ecstatic and horrified to see him back so soon. My tears flowed faster, I wiped them away, and I forced myself to look untroubled.

"Nothing, just a bad dream." My voice was weak and breathy. Edward threw a skeptical look at me, then came forward and sat on the edge of my bed.

"You didn't talk..." he said slowly.

"Huh, odd." I replied nervously. I turned away from him to hide my agony.

"What was it about?" he asked in a soft, quiet tone.

"You, your family, and Jacob Black." I answered semi-honestly, how I wished it was only a dream.

"Oh." He reached forward and scooped my long hair behind my ear. I looked up at him. I was sure the look on his face was meant to be reassuring.

What did I want to do with my limited time with him? The answer shocked me; I was glad it was a Saturday.

"Edward, can we paint today?"

"What?" he sounded surprised, but his expression never changed.

"Painting. You know, paint brush, canvas…"

"Sure, but may I ask why?" he still sounded a bit surprised.

"Good question," I commented thoughtfully. "You know, I'm not exactly sure. Just sounds like something I want to do." He must have seen the tortured look in my eyes. He pulled me into his arms and whispered

"Bella, what's bothering you? Why won't you tell me?"

"Edward, there's nothing wrong, I'm fine." I smiled but a tear escaped my eyes. He didn't say anything else, but I knew I would be questioned later. I looked at the clock to see how much time was left in the day; it read 11:26 am. I got on my toes and kissed him lightly. It brought on a wave of new tears.

"Bella?" His voiced sounded concerned and pained.

"I need to get ready." I sighed; I didn't want to leave his embrace.

"Go ahead, I'll get the stuff we need for painting, and meet you at my house." His voice still sounded sad.

I nodded.

I got ready quickly, leaving my hair down. I walked down the stairs, grabbed a protein bar for breakfast, and headed toward my truck.

It was raining lightly as I stepped inside the cab. I began crying again. I had to be more convincing, Edward knew something was wrong. He had to believe me when I told him to leave; if the any of the Cullens where killed because of my inability to lie, I could never forgive myself. I would get through today, and I would do my best to enjoy it. I promised myself not to think about it until tomorrow. Then I pulled out of the drive way.

Twenty minutes later I arrived at his house; I knocked on the white doors. They opened, and Edward pulled me inside. "Since when do you knock?" he asked.

Since I started feeling like a traitor, who caused your evacuation… or death… I thought bitterly to myself. No! I won't think about it yet!

I didn't give him an answer out loud.

We walked into a room, that I didn't recognize; but that was probably because of the off-white tarps that covered everything. Against the west wall, there where dozens of canvases lined up, and in the corner there where about twenty buckets of paint, each a different color. I gasped.

"Oh, I didn't mean anything this…extravagant!" I scolded him. "How did you get all this here in an hour and a half?!"

"Magic!" he teased. "Come on, let's get started."

"Started on what?" I asked.

"Painting…" he laughed.

"I meant, what do we paint?!"

"Hey this was your idea not mine, you tell me." I thought for a minute.

"Trees? Water? Flowers? What do you think?"

"Sounds like you want to paint landscape."

"Sure." I said. He handed me a brush, and picked one up for himself.

"I'm warning you now," he said "I can't paint." I laughed, but it didn't sound happy to me.

"You can do everything!" I shot at him, but I was hopeful.

"Everything but paint! Watch I'll do my best and you'll see." He turned and got started. I looked at the colors of paint. What should I paint? After a while, I decided on the forest that surrounded Forks. I picked a shade of green I liked and began.

On hour later, I finished and stepped back t look at what I painted. Ugh! It was horrible! I groaned.

"You finished?" Edward asked me. I nodded. "Are you?"

"I've been finished for a long time, I gave up. It's fun to watch you paint. You zone out and get all serious!" he said.

"You're done? Let me see!" I demanded.

"Only if you let me see yours."

"But mine's ugly!" I complained.

"And mine's worse!"

"I have a hard time believing that!"

"Come on, we'll show each other. You first."

"No way." I insisted.

"Then you can't see mine." He said firmly.

"Fine," I said giving in "don't laugh." I said turning it around. His expression was shocked. Was it that bad?

"Bella, this only took you an hour? This is amazing! How did you do that? It's gorgeous!"

"Quit being nice! It ugly!" I was slightly frustrated.

"I'm not! I swear! This is one of the best landscape paintings I've ever seen! It's amazing! There's no way I'm showing you mine, now." I looked at my painting again, I guess it wasn't that bad, but he was clearly being overly complimentary to make me feel less bad about my painting next to his amazing work of art.

"No! You have to show me! You said you would!" I whined.

"Yeah, but that was before I knew you where a world-class painter!"

"Knock it off and show me!" I demanded. He hesitated, then shyly picked up his canvas and showed me.

It was the ugliest painting I've ever seen. It looked like a kindergartener painted it. The flower was a blob of red and yellow and the stem looked like a green stick. Yet, it was somehow the most beautiful thing. I laughed.

"Hey! I warned you I was horrible! Stop laughing!" he complained.

"No, it's very cute Edward…" He looked at me skeptically.

"Well, you know, it's so ugly it's cute!" I continued. I walked over to the trash can and dropped my painting inside.

"You can't through that away!"

"Why?" I asked surprised. "I don't want it."

"I do! Bella, do you even know how talented you are?" I rolled my eyes. He picked it up out of the garbage and held it in his hands studying it. Finally he said "You've got the one thing you better at than me, right here." I laughed at that. Then a thought struck me.

"If you're taking my painting, can I have yours?" He raised an eyebrow.

"You seriously want it?"

"Of course!" I said, nodding my head.

"Here then." He said passing me the canvas. I took it, satisfied.

"Hello you two!" a musical voice exclaimed from the doorway. I turned to see Alice gliding toward us. "I saw this painting exchange! Yours is very good, Bella! May I see it Edward?"

"Hi Alice." I said, tears filling my eyes. What if this was the last time I saw her? I had forgotten about what I was going to do, until she came in the room.

Edward passed her the painting, and I wiped away my tear before any one could see. She looked at the picture for a long time then put it down and said, "It's even more amazing in person."

I blushed. Alice picked up a paint brush dipped it in blue then walked toward me.

"Hmm." She said "you haven't gotten into a paint fight yet. We'll fix that." And she flicked the blue paint in my face. I quickly go her back with my green, but it hit Edward too. He flung red at me. And before you know it paint was flying everywhere. Good thing I wore an old tee shirt, and cheap jeans.

The rest of the day passed quickly. It was one of the best days of my life.

And it ended with me asleep in Edward's arms, and his painting hanging on my wall.

Okay, that's chapter 2, let me know what you think! In other words, REVIEW!