I do not own Twilight and sadly, I never will. All rights go to SM.
I dedicate this chapter to my lovely reviewers who give me strength to update. Thank you reviewers!
BPOV
I woke up to the sound of…chirping. Very loud, very annoying, and very different from my usual wake up call. Normally, I would start my day by waking up to the honking of cars from the city life. But here I am, laying in bed with a pillow covering my face as I desperately tried to tune out the deafening sound of birds.
Please, make it stop! I just want to go back to sleep! It's six in the morning for Pete's sake! I screamed into the pillow before I jumped out of bed and ran towards the glass doors that led to the porch. Slipping on my flip flops, I slid open the door and stomped outside. Angered, I looked around for the source of the noise. My head turned in all directions but my attempts were unsuccessful. The birds were well hidden within the trees. How the birds managed to make so much noise was beyond me.
Grumbling, I walked inside and flopped back down on my bed. Closing my eyes, I tried to pull myself back into a dream induced sleep. Luck was not on my side. Finally, I gave up trying to sleep and began to start my day. I slipped on a bathrobe I had brought with me as I made my way towards the kitchen. Instinctively, I walked towards the coffee maker sitting on the counter. I reached for a cabinet and proceeded to find the coffee grounds. Searching high and low, I could not find them anywhere.
This was turning out to be a horrible morning. First the damn birds. Now I don't have my morning coffee to start my day.
Reasoning with myself, I made a mental note to put coffee grounds as the first item on my list of things to buy when I went shopping with Edward today.
Obviously, I had no food to eat in my cabin so I took a long warm shower to help me relax. The hot water instantly washed my agitation away as I succumbed to the heat of the water.
Stepping out of the shower, I twisted my hair into a towel and wrapped another cloth around my body. My feet squeaked as I walked towards my room. Zipping open my luggage, I debated on what to wear. I bit my bottom lip as I studied my option. I could either wear a dark blue shirt with shorts, or a grey tank. Deciding on the less revealing, I snatched the blue short sleeve shirt and shorts and headed back into the bathroom.
Once I was all ready, I sat at the kitchen table and turned on my laptop. Being out in the middle of nowhere only slowed down my already dead computer as it searched to find a signal. Eventually, I was able to open my email account. Two new messages appeared in my account. I clicked on the first one.
Hello Honey! It's your mother. I just wanted to check up on you and to make sure you got down there safely. Please call me soon so I know you're alive. Things aren't the same without you here. If you get homesick, don't hesitate to jump on a plane and fly back to me. I'll be waiting for you to come back.
Love,
Your Mother.
P.S. Phil says hello too.
I rolled my eyes at my mother's attempt to get me back home. To end her worrying, I decided to type a quick email back to her.
Mother, please stop worrying about me. I'll be home before you know it. I got here safely and I'll probably call you later when I go into town and actually get reception. But until then, I need you to take deep breaths and relax. I love you,
Bella
Sending the message, I went back to my mail and opened the other new message. It was from Angela.
Hey Bella, it's your boss. Just checking in to make sure everything is okay down there. Call me or email me back when you have the chance. Everyone misses you up here.
--Angela
I smiled at the sincerity of my friend.
Hey Angela,
Thanks for checking up on me. Everything is great. The next door neighbors have taken me under their wings. Georgia is nice so far, thank you for pushing me to come down here. I owe you.
--Bella
Exiting out of my email, I shut off my laptop and checked the time. Nine. Only one more hour until I went over to their house.
------
Standing at the front door of their house, I couldn't bring myself to push the doorbell.
I really shouldn't be causing trouble for them. After all, they probably came her for a family vacation and I'm stopping them from enjoying it together. But if I don't find a store, I'll have nothing to eat for the next few weeks. Unless I go searching for the stores myself. But that could lead to me becoming lost. And I certainly do not know my way around this state. Maybe--
My thoughts were interrupted as the front door opened. I snapped my head up.
"Good morning Bella! I thought you would never knock so I took the liberty of opening it myself. Come on in." Alice hopped out of the way.
"Sorry, I was just thinking to myself." I apologized as I slid past her and into their house.
"We all get lost in our thoughts every once in a while. No big deal. Personally, I thought you were trying to think of a way to back out of this…arrangement." She looked at me curiously as the others came in to the room.
"Not a chance. You guys are my keys to survival for the next few weeks." I smiled. "Hello Esme, Carlisle, Emmett, Edward, Jasper, Rosalie."
Everyone responded as Esme came over to me and looped her arm through mine. "You must be starving. We made breakfast and coffee for you. I hope that's all right."
"That sounds perfect." Everyone followed us into the kitchen. As soon as I looked around me, I could have sworn my jaw had dropped. Every appliance in the room was stainless steel with granite counter tops. One wall was completely made out of glass that showed a view of the lake off in the distance. When my eyes landed on the coffee maker, I immediately departed from Esme's arms and ran over to my favorite household appliance. My arms wrapped around the metal as I breathed in the smell of coffee grounds. "Home sweet home." I sighed as I heard laughs from around me.
I turned to look at everyone staring at me. Blushing, I tried to explain myself. "I'm sorry, it's just that I haven't had decent coffee in almost two days. As you can see, I value my daily cup of coffee."
"Then you should fit into this family just fine. We know what it's like to go a day without that drink. It's hell." Rosalie said as she walked to a cupboard and pulled out a mug. "Help yourself." She said as she handed me the cup.
I did not hesitate.
In a matter of minutes, I had a plate full of eggs, ham, bacon, toast, and a steaming hot cup of coffee in front of me.
"This is all delicious. Thank you guys so much." I said in between bites. Edward, Alice, Rosalie, and Esme were the only people left in the room. The other men had wandered off.
"You should thank Edward. He made breakfast this morning." Esme said as she winked at Edward.
"Well thank you, Edward. I'm pretty sure you just saved me from starving to death." We all laughed as Edward leaned closer to me.
"Glad I could help." He grinned and I could have sworn my heart stopped beating. I looked away as the blood rose to my cheeks. Alice, Rosalie, and Esme must have snuck off because it was just Edward and I in the kitchen. I finished off my food before I hopped off the chair and brought my silverware over to the sink.
Edward didn't say anything as we cleared the table.
"So, when did you want to go into town." I said to get the conversation going.
"We should probably go after we finish this. It might take us a while to get there and I want to be back before we eat. You can stay for dinner if you'd like."
"I'll probably eat at my cabin this time." Edward's lips curled into a frown; my heart tightened at the thought of offending him. "But thanks for your offer. Next time, you guys will come over to my cabin and I will cook you something." I clarified. His face broke out into a grin as he wiped his hands and started to head for the door.
"I'll hold you to that."
"You should." We smiled at each other before he escorted me out of the house and towards a silver Volvo sitting in the driveway.
"Nice car, I assume it's yours?"
"You assume correctly. Come on, I'll take you into town." He opened my door for me as I slid into the car.
Leather interior, of course.
He slid into the driver's seat and pulled out of the steep driveway expertly.
His hand reached in my direction. My heart faltered, surely he wouldn't try to hold my hand?
But my question was answered as he turned on his CD player. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding and listened to the music fill the car.
"Clair de Lune is great." I said, attempting conversation.
"You know Debussy?" He shot a sideway glance at me as his lips twitched into a small grin.
"Of course. When I lived with my mother, I practically grew up in the classical music era."
"And what did you listen to with your dad?" His words rang in the air as I sucked in a breath.
"My mom left my dad when I was little. She took me with her and I never heard from my dad since." Why was I telling him this? We just met yesterday and here I was spilling my secrets to this stranger. Was he a stranger? Maybe, maybe not. I couldn't ignore the feeling that there was a connection between us.
He sucked in a breath as he ran a hand through his bronze hair. "I'm sorry."
I shrugged and then I realized he wouldn't have seen the motion. "It's fine. I've spent my whole life without him and I turned out fine-- I think."
He suppressed a smile due to the seriousness of the conversation. "I think so too." We drove for a while as we listened to the music.
"Let's play a game." I said before I could take the words back.
"A game." He repeated.
"Yes, a game. What's wrong with games?"
"Nothing's wrong with them. You just took me by surprise. What game?"
"How about… 20 questions. We'll just go back and forth asking each other questions to get to know each other." I blushed at the last part.
Edward sat up straighter in his seat. "All right. Bring it on. I'm ready."
I laugh at his silliness. "Okay, favorite color?"
"Favorite color? Come on. That is an overused question that doesn't even matter."
"It matters to me." I pouted. "What is your favorite color?" He turned his head towards me and looked me in the eyes.
"Brown." He said before he focused his attention back to driving. I caught a glimpse of a slight blush on his cheeks that caused me to blush also.
"Hmmm, interesting."
"What's interesting?" He asked.
"Nothing, it's your turn. Ask me a question."
"I just did. What is so interesting Bella. And don't tell me nothing. Because if we are going to play this game, then we need to at least be honest so it doesn't become boring."
Sighing, I put my thoughts into words. "It's just, brown isn't exactly a color that would be associated as a favorite. Usually, it's blue,, orange, green, pink… do you understand what I'm saying? Or am I just babbling."
"A little bit of both. Just because brown isn't a very popular color doesn't mean it can't be a favorite color. However, I don't mind when you babble." He smiled at me causing me to blush once again. "You're turn."
We spent the rest of the drive asking each other questions. I didn't even notice when we arrived at the store until Edward shut off the engine.
"You go in first, I'll be right behind you. I have to call my manager first."
"Okay, see you in a few." I said as I got out of the car and walked into the store. I grabbed a cart and began to search my way through the isles as I grabbed anything I thought I needed."
EPOV
I sat in the car as I pulled out my phone and dialed Aro's number. My mind stayed on Bella as the phone rang.
"Hello Edward. How is your vacation going?" Aro asked.
"Quite well, Aro. Thank you for asking."
"Have you decided about the concerts?"
"I have. I guess I'll go on the tour. Just promise me that these will be the only big concerts I will have to play. After this, I want to go back to playing behind the scenes. You know how I hate the attention."
"But Edward, this could make you famous! With the music you play, you won't be able to go back to being a nobody. People will love you. You'll be huge!"
"Aro, I don't care. You know I value your opinion above all others but trust me on this one. After this tour, I want to go back to playing at small places. I don't care if I'll have to create a fake name, I only want to play for fun. You should be lucky I agreed to the tour in the first place." I reasoned.
"You win, you win. I was only thinking the best for you, Edward. Now, I'll send you the details of the tour dates over email."
"Thank you, Aro. You're a good manager."
"It's what I aim to be. Bye, Edward."
"Bye." I said as I hung up. I sat in silence as I thought about what I just agreed to. A tour. Running my hands through my hair, I took in a deep breath before I went to find Bella.
BPOV
"Geez, did you buy the whole store?" A voice behind me said as the box of macaroni I was looking at dropped out of my hands. I whirled around with my hand over my heart as I saw Edward laughing hysterically.
"Shit! You scared the hell out of me." I smacked him playfully. I tried to form a smile but I was still in shock. "Don't you know not to sneak up behind someone? You almost gave me a heart attack."
"I'm sorry. It's just… do you need this much food?" He gestured to my cart almost filled up with all different types of food.
"Of course I do. After all, if I'm going to cook for your family, I need to buy a lot of food. Especially for Emmett. Have you seen how much he eats?" I gave Edward a smile as he nodded in agreement.
"I suppose so. Do you need another cart?" He asked.
"Definitely. Can you go get me one?" I batted my eyelashes as I pointed over towards the carts.
"I was just kidding, Bella."
"I'm not." He shook his head before he went to go grab another cart. We continued to shop for food until we were finally done.
I pushed my cart towards the cash out register as Edward tailed behind me. I began to put my food onto the counter so they could ring the items up. "Just place the food behind mine." I said as I turned towards him.
However, Edward wasn't there.
"Edward?" My voice rose in panic.
"Right here. I'm checking out in the next lane over." His head appeared over the rows of candy.
"But that's my food."
"Your point is." His head disappeared behind the candy.
"My point is that I need to pay for my food." I said impatiently.
"I'll cover this cart since you bought so much." He answered back.
"Edward, let me pay for my food, I have the money." I peered over the candy towards him. He was just about to swipe his card.
"Edward, drop that credit card this minute." I said in the sternest voice I could muster.
He looked up innocently at me. "All right." He swiped the card through and quickly signed his name. Fuming, I quickly paid for my food as well and started to push the cart towards his car.
"Wait, Bella!"
I continued to walk until I reached the silver Volvo.
"Just unlock the car, Edward." He did as I said and I popped open the trunk. I grabbed the flimsy bags and practically threw the items into the car. I left the trunk open so he could put the other food in. I returned the cart and walked past Edward without a word. He quickly put his food I into the trunk as well and returned the cart. I opened the passenger door and climbed in with Edward right behind me. He sat in the front seat with the keys in his hands.
"We are not going anywhere until you forgive me."
"Edward, just start the car."
"Not until you forgive me. I know it was wrong for me to pay for your food, although most people wouldn't mind saving the money. But I only did it because I was taught to be a gentleman. So you can blame my mother for my action."
I tried to hold back the smile that threatened to take over my face.
"Fine, I forgive you. But next time, I'm paying. You can count on that."
"Good. You ready to go home?"
"Definitely."
A/N: Long chapter. I hope it was worth the wait.
It was my birthday yesterday and reviews would be a great present. Please review.
Love,
Kristi