A/N: Sorry about the wait, people. All I can say is that life happened. It has an annoying habit of trying to prevent me from writing.

If you sent me a review for the last two chapters and I have not responded yet, I'm sorry. I promise I will when I have time to sit down and do it. I'd just like to thank all of you for taking the time to read and review my story. It's amazing to me that so many people actually like my story. It is impossible to say how much I appreciate all of you. You all make my day!

On with the chapter. :D

"You guys realize that doing my hair and make-up is pointless, because I'm going to go to bed as soon as I get home, right?" I asked while my two beauticians named Alice and Rosalie worked on my hair and make-up, respectively.

"Stop moving," Rose ordered. "Otherwise something will smudge and I'll have to start over."

I grudgingly obeyed. I knew if they said they would start over, that nothing would stop them, and I wanted this to be over as soon as possible.

4 hours of work later, they forced me in the lacy number and outfit of Alice's choosing, and then released me into the house. I carefully made my way downstairs and stood behind Mark. I leaned forward and used the top of his head as an arm rest.

"Are you ready to escape?" I asked.

"I don't want to escape," Mark answered without looking up.

"I do," I said, "before Alice and Rose decide that they need to fix something that they did wrong."

"What did we do wrong?" Rose asked.

"Nothing," I quickly assured her. "I'm just saying I want to leave before you two decide that you maybe didn't do something right."

"It's nice," Jasper complimented me. Everyone else looked then.

My chocolate brown hair was shiny and in loose curls which framed my face. My make-up was perfect, of course. The shirt was a dark blue, not quite navy blue, but dark like that, and was a halter top. The pants were tight enough that they hugged my curves nicely, but didn't look like they were painted on. The halter top had small sequins sewn on, and it shimmered whenever I moved. All in all, it was a stunning combination, and with Rose and Alice as my beauticians, I looked like a model. Well, as close to a model as I was ever going to look.

Mark looked like his eyes were about to pop out of his head. Edward looked stunned. Emmett looked like he wanted to compliment me, but fear of his wife's wrath kept him back. Carlisle even looked impressed. Esme grinned at me.

"That… that… that's still Bella, right?" Mark asked.

"Yes," I answered impatiently.

"You look… wow. It's just… just wow." He said, clearly at a loss for words.

"It's not that nice," I protested.

"Can you two come get Bella ready for school each morning?" Mark asked Alice and Rose. They laughed, but said no.

"Let's go," I prompted. Mark groaned and stood up.

"We'll pick you up tomorrow to go shopping," Alice informed me.

"You mean this torture wasn't in place of the torture called shopping?"

"8:00 AM tomorrow," Rose warned me. "We're bringing the guys."

"I suppose I'll see you then," I answered. Mark and I picked up our stuff and headed for the door. Rose and Alice followed us.

"What's THAT?" Rose asked when she saw our car, which had arrived by tow truck a couple of hours earlier. She had been too preoccupied torturing me to hear the truck pull in.

"Our car…" I answered tentatively.

"It's staying here. I'll work on it and have it looking and working better in a few days," she promised.

"Oh, Rose, would you?" I asked. "We would owe you big time if you did that."

"Nonsense," she responded. "It's a challenging project. I haven't had one of those in a while."

"You can take the spare car," Carlisle offered. "It's out in the garage."

"Thanks," Mark said. "What kind is it?"

"It's the only car, well, vehicle, we have that Bella likes to drive," Alice answered. "It's her old truck, with a few minor adjustments so it works better."

"You call a new engine a minor adjustment?" I asked.

"At least it can go faster than 45 now," Rose pointed out.

"Thanks," Mark said, cutting off the reply I was about to give Rose. I glared at him, and he grinned.

"I still haven't forgiven you for holding me captive," I huffed and started out towards the garage.

We got everything loaded in the truck and I drove home. We said hello to Charlie and took our stuff up to my room. It was a little more cramped with the bigger bed, but it was okay for our short visits. I took a shower first while Mark talked with Charlie, and then Mark took a shower while I took Charlie duty. My dad and I caught up on what had happened in the past semester, and then Mark and I went to bed.

"I never would have guessed that Rose likes fixing cars," Mark commented once we were both under the covers.

"She seems too perfect and beautiful for that, doesn't she?" I asked.

"Girls who look like that typically don't like to get their hands dirty," Mark agreed. "I can't imagine her with greasy hands and dirty clothes after rolling around on the ground under a car for a little while."

"That family is always full of surprises," I said. "They never cease to amaze me."

"Are you okay with Edward being back?" Mark asked.

I didn't answer at first. He knew that I was thinking and didn't push me. Instead he took my hand and started tracing circles in my palm.

"That tickles," I complained, but he merely smiled.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked, referring to Edward once again.

"I'm not sure how I feel," I admitted. "I never stopped loving him. I know that's not fair to you-"

"We both agreed to get married to give our parents the illusion that we have moved on," Mark interrupted me. "I am not offended to hear that you still love him."

"Sometimes I wonder if you want more in our relationship," I said quietly.

Mark put his arm under me and pulled me closer to him. "Sometimes I do. But I know that what you're going through is so much worse than what I went through. I know that time will heal you, if you want it to. Or it may not. You don't seem to be getting better very quickly. But every once and a while," he lightly kissed my ear, and it sent a shiver down my spine, "I see a little bit of happiness. I see a little bit of hope. And I just have to keep hoping that you'll get better. I will understand if you want to leave me for him. I might do the same to you if Alicia wanted me back. But I want us to stay friends, if that's possible."

"Oh, Mark," I sighed, and turned onto my side so I could bury my face in his shoulder and put an arm around him. "You're so wonderful. What did I do to deserve having you in my life?"

"You gave this shy student a chance to talk with someone who understands him," Mark answered. He stroked my hair and planted a kiss on top of my head. "You were more of a godsend to me than I was to you."

"I was contemplating suicide," I whispered. "But Alice knows me so well that she seemed to know what I was planning before I even got very far with planning it. She was the first reason why I didn't kill myself. The second reason is you. We needed each other more than we could admit out loud, and I could tell."

"But we're both a little better now," Mark said. "Well, I'm a lot better. It just took some time, and seeing that it wasn't the end of the world."

"Edward tried to kiss me today," I said.

"And how did that go?" Mark asked.

"I said, 'Eww! I'm married!' and went back in the house."

"So that's what you were screaming about," Mark said thoughtfully.

"Yes, that was it," I answered.

"You know, I'm no expert, but I'm willing to bet that most girls wouldn't say the word 'eww' immediately following a kiss from Edward," Mark mused.

"You're right, they wouldn't," I admitted. "But he needs to learn that he can't just come back after all this time and try to kiss a married woman."

"Do they really have a stray dog?" Mark asked skeptically. "I noticed that the growling always came from Edward's direction."

"Edward has a temper problem," I giggled. "They may have a stray dog, but I'm pretty sure what you were hearing was Edward."

"They aren't normal, are they?" Mark asked. I shifted uncomfortably.

"Not really," I admitted.

"They scare me," Mark admitted. "I'm not sure why."

"No one ever is," I told him. "They just seem to scare people."

"You know their secret, don't you?" he asked.

"What secret?" I asked, playing stupid.

"How they're so different," Mark responded.

"I don't even know that one," I informed him. "I don't think there's some specific reason."

"You don't want to talk about it, do you?" Mark asked.

"There's nothing to talk about," I insisted.

"By the way, am I still dead meat?" Mark asked teasingly. He softly ran his lips up and down my neck, and I shivered once again.

"Yes," I whispered. "You're still ground beef."

"I thought I was dead meat," Mark reminded me as he tenderly kissed the inside of my wrists.

"Ground beef is still a… a form of… of… dead meat," I said, pausing every few words as he distracted me with the kisses, which were now trailing up my arms from the inside of my wrists to the crook of my elbow.

"I'm not really dead meat, am I?" Mark asked innocently.

"Yes," I answered, unable to say any more.

"Do you like this?" Mark asked in between kisses.

"Mmm hmmm," I answered, unable to find words.

"Are you still wearing the lacy thing Alice gave you?" Mark teased me.

"Mark!" I exclaimed, breaking out the power of his distraction. "Get on your side of the bed!"

"But-" he protested.

"But nothing!" I retorted. " Get on your side of the bed and stay there!"

"Bel-la!" He whined.

"I'll go sleep on the couch, mister, I'm serious," I threatened.

"Fine," he grumbled. "I was only joking."

"And I'm a vampire. Go to sleep."

"You expect me to be able to sleep after that announcement?" Mark asked sarcastically.

"Mark," I said warningly.

"Yes, My Lady Dracula. I'm going to sleep now."

A/N: OK, I think that's a little longer than the others. Once again, I'm sorry I took so long to update, and I'll try to respond to the reviews sometime in the near future, I promise.

Until the next chapter,

Addie