Hey.

This is a short author's note because I don't have a lot of time.

Chapter is dedicated to my best friends Katie and Iona because I love them so much.

The song is: Pain by Three Days Grace. I love TDG, please listen to all their songs.

Chapter 22

I wasn't looking forward to facing the mirror in the end but what I saw shocked me. I realised that I hadn't actually looked in a mirror for over seven months. My hair was longer and wilder, but Alice and Rose had tamed it. It was scraped back into a high ponytail. My cheekbones had become more angular because of my low intake of food. My eyes seemed to have changed into a really chocolaty brown rather than a dull one. Rose had made my eyes shine a little more. They'd made me suffer eyeliner, mascara, eye shadow and god only knows what else. I had a reasonably thick layer of foundation on, to hide my blushes. I hadn't been subjected to lipstick or lip gloss to my overall thrill. I was wearing a three quarter length white top with light blue spots on it and a ruffled black skirt. (A/N: Pictures on profile). It was simple but cute, Rose had told me. I felt stupid wearing my walking casts but I had to keep them on even with the larger casts underneath. They were so itchy. I wanted to get rid of them now. Then I had an ingenious plan…

'Hey Rose?' I called out; she stuck her head out of the bathroom and cocked an eyebrow at me. I smiled.

'Could you do me a favour?' I asked battering my eyelashes. She gave me a look and slunk out of the bathroom to sit beside me on the bed.

'I suppose so…wait it depends because I'm not gonna undo your ponytail or wipe off your make-up because Edward will just love it!' she said. I shook my head.

'You know you're tools in Alice's wardrobe underneath the loose floorboard?' I said quietly. She nodded.

'Could you get me them and help me take off these casts, oh please, Rosie, please! I'm begging you!' I pleaded. She gave me a look.

'What's in it for me?' she demanded, I was thrilled she was even thinking about it.

'Unlimited makeovers for a month?' I suggested. She stared off into space for a second, and then nodded. Rose walked over to Alice's wardrobe and climbed in. She reappeared moments later carrying a rather large tool kit. I bent down to undo my walking braces as she opened her kit and pulled out a rather large chisel and hammer.

'I don't want this to hurt you, I'm sorry if I do, Bella,' she apologised in advance. I grinned at her.

I lay back on the bed and gripped onto the bed covers in case it did hurt. Rose hacked away at the casts. It was very gratifying to see the little bits of plaster flying away. A couple of times the pressure worsened and made my leg sting but apart from that it didn't hurt…much. Rose broke my left leg's cast in half and looked at my leg.

'There's a nice collection of cuts, bruises and scars here, Bells,' she commented speculatively. I groaned and Alice ran out of the bathroom. She gave us a very dirty look when she saw what we were doing.

'Do you want to help, Alice?' I asked. She grinned and grabbed the hammer from Rose.

Alice had very kindly allowed me to wear a pair of comfy flats, now that my casts were off and 'my legs could breathe' as Rose had put it. I had begged her to let me wear jeans because of my large collection of ugly purply yellow bruises and cuts I was currently supporting even seven months after my ordeal. Begrudgingly she had agreed. Alice had given me a couple of support bandages for my legs as I hated wearing my walking braces. Edward and Jasper would be furious with all of us for taking my casts off. Rose had presented me with a pair of crutches she'd managed to wrangle from the medical department on campus.

While Rose and Alice finished getting ready, I practiced using my new crutches. Just as I was getting the hang of it, Rose came out of the bathroom wearing a red and black corset top and extremely tight black jeans and a pair of black leather heels. She looked like a model on a photo shoot. Her hair was slick straight and shining even in the dull light of Alice's room. Alice then turned away from admiring herself in the mirror. She was wearing a denim mini skirt and a black vest top with silver diamantes in a spider web pattern. She had black kitten heels on her feet. They both looked fabulous. Alice had spiked her hair up at different random angles. They came over to me. I held up the empty box of chocolates. Rose sighed; she knew full well I had a rather large soft spot for chocolate. She threw the box into the bin and pulled me to my feet. I grabbed my crutches and black bag. I slung it over my shoulder. Rose opened the door and walked out. Alice and I followed. Alice locked the door behind us.

'Bella!' a voice from behind us shouted. I spun around as quickly as you could with crutches. Kim hugged me tightly.

'I heard about it. Oh God, are you ok? I was so worried. First Jess, then Emily, then like everyone, then you. I would have visited but you know my mom, Helen kept me at home because of it all,' she babbled as she pulled away. Kim's mom, Helen, was my dad's cousin.

'I'm ok. Rose and Alice hacked my casts off just now because we're going out,' I told her. Kim smiled.

'Emily and Leah are in my room with Claire, I better go,' Kim sighed. I gave her one last hug.

'Bye. See you soon,' I said. She walked back to her room and entered it.

'C'mon guys. The boys are waiting. You may want to be very good, nice and kind to them, oh and loving because they'll be angry about taking off Bella's casts,' Rose urged us. Alice bit her lip and giggled.

'Pah. You can have more fun this way, oh and since you're 21 you can finally drink!' Alice laughed.

We stood nervously outside the boy's building, Rose put Emmett's card into the system. I raised an eyebrow at her.

'I swiped it because he'd only lose it!' she said matter-of-factly.

We filed in and said hi to Alec, Tyler, Marcus and Eric who were engrossed in a Halo tournament in the games room. It was a silly idea to disturb them because then we may have accidentally on purpose made Tyler lose.

Because I wasn't too good with stairs yet on my crutches, we took the elevator, which to our surprise was actually working for once. We got out at the third floor; we'd made a secret plan to annoy the boys. Alice and I stood around the corner from Emmett's room as Rose walked over and knocked on the door. Edward opened it far too quickly to seem calm and not worried.

'Where's Bella?' he asked just as quickly. 'And Alice?' Rose shrugged.

'Coming. They're just coming,' Rose brushed off, trying to get into the room. Jasper had come to the door and blocked her path.

'What?!' Edward said breathing deeply as he tried to remain calm. Jasper however unleashed his fury and laid into Rosalie verbally.

'You made Alice carry Bella all the way over here!? You may be stupid Rose but you're not freaking thick!' he shouted.

'Rosalie Lillian Hale, when I get my hands on you…' Alice shouted for effect, trying to sound out of breath. We both giggled quietly.

'Rose, you idiot!' Edward roared at her. Emmett came to the door as well.

'Rosie, honey, that wasn't very clever, now was it?' he said calmly. Rose shook her head and bit her lip. Our cue to move. Alice skipped down the corridor and I remained hidden. Jasper embraced her warmly, and then checked her for damage.

'Are you ok?' he asked, softly touching her cheek. Alice smiled brightly.

'Never better!' she laughed and then ran past a shaking furious Edward into Emmett's room.

'Where the hell is Bella?' he bellowed. I giggled and went around the corner towards them.

'Hey guys,' I said cheerily. Edward looked relieved, then he looked me up and down, and he grew angry. He grabbed Rose by her arm into Emmett's room and slammed the door shut. Jasper, Emmett and I were all still standing in the corridor. We could hear enraged shouting from inside. Jasper's brotherly side took over suddenly.

'Isabella, taking your casts off was a stupid, dangerous, careless thing to do!' he said calmly with a touch of underlying anger.

'Psh. It's done now and I'm happy that they are gone,' I retorted. Jasper shook his head. Emmett walked over and gave me a bear hug.

'I'd do the same thing…only with my bare hands,' he joked in my ear. I smiled happily.

'That's just plain irresponsible, Em,' Jasper said angrily. I looked around Emmett's huge bulk to see Jasper, arms folded across his chest, leaning against the wall beside Emmett's door; I gave him a sharp look.

'How did ya pay her?' Emmett whispered knowingly. I groaned and pulled my self over to Jasper.

'A month of makeovers, no complaints,' I moaned. I knocked on Emmett's door and opened it.

Edward was pacing around the room with his back to me. Alice and Rose were sitting on the bed, trying to look sorry without laughing. Edward pinched the bridge of his nose to calm himself.

'What were you idiots thinking?' he demanded. Alice spotted me.

'Hey Bells,' she said and launched herself over to me and gave me a quick hug. Edward groaned in desperation but smiled as he walked over. Alice stepped aside giving me a knowing look. Edward wrapped his arms around me tightly. Alice and Rose took my crutches away and my knees gave way. Edward's arms tightened around me. He kissed the top of my head and then laid his head there. Then he leant down and kissed my lips.

'Taking the casts off wasn't very clever, no?' he whispered, I loved the way his lips moved against mine. I got momentarily distracted. He pulled away and looked at me pointedly. I blinked and tried to remember the question.

'No,' I finally remembered. 'But it's a hell of a lot more comfortable.' I was silent for a moment. I could feel his despair, I must have really shocked and hurt him. I bit my lip.

'I'm sorry, Edward,' I whispered. He kissed my lips again, then grabbed my crutches and helped me out of Emmett's room. Alice and Rosalie grinned at me and took their boyfriend's arms.

'Time to go dancing!' Alice shouted punching the air with her fist.

Please review.

Luv ya

Beth 'Feeling Low' Cullen

xx