Stephenie Meyer still owns all things Twilight.

I didn't have much time to think about Edward and his note. Or how bad Thursday had gone. I had a flight early Saturday morning, so I came home straight after school to begin packing. It had been a while since I had seen my mom or Phil. Not since last Summer.

I pulled my large purple suitcase out from under my bed and haphazardly threw in the only warm weather clothes I had left. A measly four tank tops and a couple pairs of skirts. Hopefully, my mom would have clothes I could borrow. Or she would insist on a shopping trip. Although the latter was probably imminent. She was having way too much fun shopping in the maternity section.

Charlie had taken tonight and tomorrow off from work so he could drive me to Seattle tomorrow morning. I knew that if I wouldn't cook, he would end up eating out every night, so I had made a quick stop at the Thriftway to buy ingredients for lasagna and chicken casserole so he would at least have one decent meal a day.

With the chicken caserole already in the oven and the lasagna ready to be baked, I went upstairs and switched on my laptop.

A chat box popped up as soon as I logged into gmail.

JessicaGoneWild: Hey bb!

PhnxGrl00: Hey Jess... why are you home?

JessicaGoneWild: Ugh. Grounded. Parents r so lame!!!!! Failed math test.

PhnxGrl00: That sucks.

JessicaGoneWild: I know! I might be able to hang out during SB. Seattle?

PhnxGrl00: Can't. Going to Jacksonville to visit my mom and step dad.

JessicaGoneWild: : ( Jealous! Hot weather n hotter boys!

PhnxGrl00: Oh yeahh. Wooo partay.

JessicaGoneWild: hey maybe this time you'll come back with a tan? lol

PhnxGrl00: Maybe.

JessicaGoneWild: moms bitching. g2g. bring me back a souvenir and hot guy pics, k?

PhnxGrl00: Sure Jess. ttyl.

JessicaGoneWild has logged off

I sighed, shaking my head at my conversation with Jessica. Part of me wanted to tell her about the baby and how I was sort of scared about how my life would be impacted from it.

I was aching to tell someone. Rosalie would listen to me, but she's the kind of person that would tell me to just suck it up and roll with the punches. I wasn't like that. I tended to wallow.

Going downstairs, I heard the dinging of the oven timer going off. Charlie was sitting on his recliner, eyes glued to the television.

"Um, dad? How long has the timer been going off?" I glanced at the clock over the television, but couldn't remember when I had put the chicken casserole in the oven.

"Huh?" Charlie looked up at me, blinking. "Oh, a minute or two."

"Okay..." I trailed off, wondering why Charlie hadn't called me down or taken the food out of the oven himself.

"Sorry, Bells. Just got a little caught up watching TV." Charlie chuckled, stretching his legs out in front of him. "Dinner's ready?"

"No. This is for when I'm away. Can you just order a pizza, maybe?"

"Sure, Bella. Combination okay?"

"Yeah, dad. Whatever you want." I went into the kitchen and turned the timer off, taking out the casserole out of the oven and putting in the lasagna.

I didn't know if I was being stupid or not, but the fact that Charlie didn't even get up to turn off the timer worried me and I felt a pang of guilt at the thought of leaving him for a week.

Lately, I had felt many pangs of guilt.

***

I woke up at five am the next morning to Charlie nudging me, holding out a cup of coffee.

"Come on, Bells. We have to get going in an hour. Flights in 5 hours. Your mother will have my head if you miss your flight."

I took the cup of coffee from him and took a long drink of the steaming hot liquid. Charlie retreated from my room and I got out of bed, stretching.

The hot water of the shower helped me to wake up and when I got out of the shower, I wrapped a towel around me and padded back to my bedroom.

I took one long, last look at my still warm bed, before getting dressed. I had set out a pair of yoga pants, a t-shirt and a sweatshirt, wanting to be as comfy as possible on the long flight.

Making sure that my iPod and a book were in my carry on, I dragged my suitcase downstairs and wheeled it to the door, coffee mug in hand.

Charlie was standing in the kitchen, pouring the remaining coffee from the carafe into a travel mug.

"Ready?"

"Yup," I responded after emptying my cup.

"Here," Charlie stuck out his arm, holding something wrapped in paper towel in front of me. "It's a bagel and cream cheese. Breakfast on the go."

The simple gesture caused a wave of emotion to wash over me and before I knew it, I leaped forward and wrapped Charlie in a hug. "Thanks, dad."

He was taken back by my action and froze, before awkwardly patting my back.

***

The drive to Seattle passed in silence, except for the sound of the radio playing softly in the background. The gentle rocking of the car began to lull me to sleep, but I fought against it, wanting instead to sleep on the plane, if need be.

"Are you sure you don't want me to park and see you off?" Charlie asked as we neared the airport.

"It's okay, dad. I've flown by myself before. I know what to do," I told him, smiling slightly.

He exited the freeway and drove along the maze, trying to find the domestic flights terminal.

Pulling over in the drop off zone, he turned off the car and got out.

"Here you go," Charlie said, pulling the suitcase out of the trunk.

I thanked him, pulling the handle of the suitcase up. "I'll call."

"Sure, sure. Have a good time, Bells."

"Well, bye." I threw the strap of my carry on across my body and turned, walking into the building.

I went through security and then found where my plane was departing. I still had a long time to wait until the plane was supposed to board. If it was on time.

***

Thankfully, I was able to sleep on the plane, even though there were two screaming babies on the flight. Screaming babies....

I texted my mom to let her know that my flight had landed. We already made plans to meet by the baggage claim.

"Oh, my baby!" My moms voice sounded out, louder than all those around. I cringed a little, hoping she wasn't making a scene.

My mom looked different from when I had last seen her. She was wearing a sundress and actually looked like she was glowing. When she enveloped me in a hug, I could feel a small, hard bump pushing into my stomach.

It made everything more real.

"Hey, kiddo." Phil greeted me, wrapping me in a one armed hug as he took the suitcase from me.

We stopped at a restaurant on the way to the hotel they were living at. During the drive there, I made a quick call to Charlie, letting him know everything went good.

The week passed much as I suspected. My mom dragged me out to a bunch of baby and maternity stores. She wasn't sure if she wanted to know the sex of the baby, so she justified shopping for him/her already, buying everything in gender neutral colors.

We also went to Phil's practices and my mom would eagerly cheer him on whenever he did something good.

Renee even manage to drag me to the beach one day. She wore a bikini, flaunting her tan skin and slight bump. I, on the other hand wore a one piece with a cover up. And SPF 50.

There were other changes I noticed in her too. We always had to make sure that there was a bathroom nearby and Phil would often be sent out to pick up whatever craving my mother had. Or she burst into tears.

It was the last full day of spring break that I would be in Jacksonville and my mom and I were at brunch together. Phil had been banned from it, Renee stating that it was strictly girl time.

"Bella. You've been moping around here for the past week." Renee stated, looking up from her eggs benedict.

She cut me off as soon as I opened my mouth to speak. "Don't. I know you, Bella. You're my baby girl. Is this still about that boy?"

I sighed, knowing that I couldn't escape this conversation. Especially not with her right across from me.

"I just feel bad, mom. I mean, I apologized! I did what I should have done! I even brought him soup and tea when I thought he was sick. I don't think I have to say or do anything more." I threw my fork down, leaning back into the chair.

"Bella, did you even hear yourself just then? It was all about you. I think what you need to do is take his feelings more into consideration. You were the new kid once. Even though you didn't have any real issues making friends, you have to sympathize or have some inkling of what it would be like."

Wow. When did my mom get all...motherly?

"You're right," I sighed. "I just don't know what to do."

"Just make sure you use protection. I'm too young for any grandbabies and baby Dwyer is too young to be an aunt."

I blushed. "Mom! It's not even like that for me. And even if it was, I'm pretty sure he hates me."

"I'm just saying, Bella."

"I'm going to miss you. I can't believe I go back tomorrow."

"Bella, I know that I haven't brought it up during your trip, but Phil and I would love you to move back in with us."

I shook my head. "Mom, please? I know you want me too. It's just, it's a big decision for me. What if I move back and I end up wanting to go to college in Washington? Or if you guys decide you want to move or Phil's job requires him to move?"

"Bella, we'll just take things as they come."

"I don't know. I feel like I have someplace more...constant in Forks. But, can we just change the subject? Please? It's my last day here," I pleaded.

"Okay, honey. Let's just go back to the hotel. I need a quick nap."

While my mom was napping and Phil was out with a couple of friends from the team, I called Charlie. I hadn't checked in with him since Wednesday, when I went to the beach.

"Hey, dad," I greeted Charlie when he picked up on the second ring.

"Hey, Bells... I was beginning to think you had forgotten about your old man." I knew Charlie meant the comment to be joking, but I felt that part of him actually felt that way.

"Of course not. You know mom, she's been on the go constantly. Dragging me along."

He laughed, "Don't I know it."

"So yeah, I was just calling to check in. Let you know that I should arrive on time back to Seattle."

"That's good. Oh, before I forget, Bella. There's been a boy calling for you."

"A boy," I repeated. What boy would call my house?

"Yeah, phone's been ringing quite more frequently than usual. Whenever I picked up, the line would go dead."

"That's weird. Probably some bored kids, prank calling."

"Well, The calls were getting kind of frequent, so I looked into it. It was the Cullen residence."

Cullen residence? Edward.

"Oh?" I questioned, trying to sound uninterested.

"I thought it might be Dr. Cullen needing something, so I called back. His wife, Esme answered and she said neither her or her husband tried calling."

"That's weird. Maybe the phone company was wrong?" I lied. I felt my heart start to speed up. Was Edward calling my house? Did he want to talk to me? Didn't I tell him that I was leaving for spring break?

"Bells, you're seventeen now. I may not like it, but I can put up with it."

My forehead scrunched in confusion. "You aren't making sense. Put up with what?"

"The Cullen boy, if he's your boyfriend. I just wish you would have told me before."

"What?!" I yelled. Edward, my boyfriend? No way. "He's not my boyfriend, dad. He's just a boy. From school. We're lab partners. And I helped him catch up. I went to dinner at his house. Remember? He probably just had some question about school."

More lies. I thought I was going to stop lying?

"I don't know if he knows that, Bella. Boy's got it bad. I didn't even call your mother that much when I was trying to get her to go out with me."

By now, my heart was full on pounding.

"Dad..."

"In any case, Mrs. Cullen said she'd have a talk with the boy. He hasn't called since yesterday."

"Oh," I responded, slightly disappointed. "Well, that's good."

"Just do me a favor, Bella. Throw the kid a bone or let him down easily. From what I've heard, the Cullen's are really good people."

This surprised me. I would have thought that Charlie, despite who the boy was, would lock me away in my bedroom at the thought of his little girl dating.

***

After a tearful goodbye at the airport and a long flight home, I was glad to be back in Washington.

My mother had been nearly inconsolable at the airport, but Phil told me it was mostly due to hormones and I shouldn't feel guilty about leaving, as my mother clung to me, sobbing.

In return for letting go of me, I promised I would call and email her more often.

On the flight home, I couldn't help but feel somewhat relieved to be going back to Forks. Yes, I missed my mom and Phil, but spending the last week in Jacksonville showed me just how much my mother had changed in my absence and I didn't feel like I exactly belonged. But I didn't really want to think about that. Not just yet.

Charlie couldn't hide that he was at least a little happy to have me back and thanked me for the food I had cooked, saying that it was a lifesaver.

Monday at lunch, I sat with Jessica, Lauren and Rose.

Much to Jessica's dismay, she had been grounded the entire week and instead of partying or out with Mike, she was helping her mother with her catering business.

Lauren had gone with her parents on a five day cruise in Mexico. She came back sun kissed and with a new belly button ring.

Rosalie's parents had been busy at work all week, so she had spent spring break in Seattle with Emmett. His school was still in session, so she had hung out with Alice during the day and Emmett after his classes. Apparently, her and Alice had become close friends, which was weird for Rose. She had lived in Forks all her life, yet still only had acquaintances out of our immediate group.

Edward wasn't in the cafeteria at lunch, not like I expected him to be. He also wasn't in biology, which was weird because I had seen his Volvo in the parking lot this morning. Not like I was purposely looking, or anything.

Thankfully, Charlie hadn't brought up Edward or the frequent phone calls again. I didn't call him yesterday because, well, I didn't have a legitimate reason.

When I woke up Tuesday morning, I resolved that today I would try to talk to Edward at lunch. I mean, he clearly wanted to talk to me if he was calling so much, right? He didn't seem the type that liked to spend his free time prank calling the Chiefs house.

"Hey, Jess, I'm going to go to the bathroom, I'll just meet you in the cafeteria." I told Jessica, stopping in front of the bathroom door.

"Are you sure? I can just like, wait for you."

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. I never really understood the whole, 'girls going to the bathroom in groups' thing.

"No, It's totally fine. I'll just... I'll see you later." Jessica just shrugged and continued to make her way to the cafeteria.

Keeping up pretenses, I did go into the bathroom and splashed some cool water on my face in an attempt to liven me up a little bit.

With my head held high, I walked out of the bathroom and headed towards the library.

I wandered through the library, debating whether or not I truly wanted to find Edward, when I spotted him. In the corner of the library Edward sat at a circular table, joined by Ben, Angela, Victoria and James. I took a deep breath and walked over.

"You came. You didn't show up yesterday," Victoria's voice was slightly accusatory, but mostly just stating a fact as I walked up next to her at the table.

"Um, yeah. Can I sit here?" I asked, gesturing to the empty seat between Angela and Edward.

"Go ahead, Angela said, smiling.

When I sat down, I noticed Edward visibly stiffen next to me from my periphery.

That wasn't good. Whatever.

The group wasn't the most talkative. There was some conversation between all of us, but then the two couples went into their little couple bubbles and I pulled out my math homework. Besides me, Edward was scribbling furiously and illegibly in a notebook.

I chickened out and didn't say anything. Plus, I didn't want to have an audience.

***

If the girls, especially Jessica, were suspicious of me missing lunch at all, they didn't show it. I bumped into them in the hallway between lunch and fifth period and we made plans to go out to dinner that night.

In Biology, Edward made no acknowledgment of me, except for the visible change in rigidness of his posture when I plopped myself down in my seat next to him.

When a student from Mrs. Paugh's class next door came in to borrow the projector, the class broke out into chatter as Mr. Banner helped move it.

"What are you doing after school?" I asked, turning to Edward. I figured now was as good a time as any. We didn't necessarily have an audience this time around.

"I was just going home," Edward answered, fidgeting with the pen in his hand. "Why?"

"Do you think we could like, go someplace? You could pick me up at my house," I internally cringed. Picking me up at my house seemed too date like. No boy had ever picked me up from my house. "Or, we could just meet at the park, if you'd like."

"Um, sure, yeah. What time?" Edward didn't need to ask what park. Besides the state park, there was only one park in town, Tilicum park.

"About four? I'll be by the swings."

"Sounds good." Edwards cheeks tinged pink and I couldn't help but feel mine warming as well. Mr. Banner returned just then, before Edward could ask why I wanted to meet with him, much to my relief.

We didn't talk throughout the rest of biology.

Rose sent a text to Lauren, Jessica and me, letting us know to meet at her house at six-thirty. That left two and a half hours to meet with Edward.

I went home to find Charlie with a beer in one hand, sitting in his recliner, watching the Mariners.

"Hey, dad. I'm just stopping by. I'm going out with the girls, I won't be back too late. There's still some leftover hamburger patties in the fridge," I said, taking off my coat.

"Sure, Bella. Have fun," Charlie was so wrapped up in his game, I doubt he even heard a word I said.

After a quick freshening up, I dashed back downstairs, stopping by the kitchen to get Charlie another beer.

"Here, dad," I said, setting it down next to him.

"Thanks, kid," Charlie called after me, over his shoulder.

***

I was a bit early to the park, by a bit, I mean fifteen minutes. I got out of my car, having parked it on the opposite side of the park and wiped my clammy hands on the side of my jeans. I was a bit nervous.

I wasn't really aware of what I was going to say.

My nervousness increased when I saw that Edward was already at the swings, swaying lightly back and forth.

"Hey," I greeted him, taking a seat on the swing next to him.

"Hi," Edward responded, holding out a can of coke to me. He had one too, sitting in the sand next to him.

"Thanks. You're here early," I commented.

"You are too. I just stopped by the gas station and picked up a couple drinks...I didn't bother going home first."

"Oh." Such a conversationalist, I chided myself.

"Also, I wasn't sure if you were going to show. I came early and debated whether or not I should just go home."

Edwards admittance surprised me. "Why wouldn't I show? I was the one that asked you here."

He looked down, kicking at the sand. "I mean, maybe it was a joke, or something."

"I wouldn't do that to you," I told him, honestly.

"People do a lot of things that they didn't think they would. Or that other people wouldn't think they would do."

"I suppose," I said, shrugging.

"So, why did you want me here today, then?"

I sighed, deciding not to bring up his calling. I didn't want to embarrass him, in case he thought I didn't know. "I wanted to apologize. Like, really apologize. I'm sorry, Edward. Like really, really sorry. I said something mean and stupid and I should never have disrespected you or your parents like that. But honestly, I've never, ever said anything bad about you before. It was just unfortunate that you had to be right there, the one time I did say something."

"I wish you hadn't said anything at all, Bella. I mean, you've been nice to me. You were nice to my parents and understanding when the whole dinner was a borderline disaster. I thought that we were...friends or something like friends."

"I'm sorry! Rose just, completely caught me off guard and I didn't know what to say. I just, I don't want you mad at me."

"I'm not mad, Bella. Well, that's a lie, I am. But it's hard to explain. I doesn't matter. Nevermind." Edward said, tugging at his hair.

"Hey," I stopped him, putting my hand on his forearm. "Tell me."

"It's just, even in Chicago I didn't really have friends. I've never had like, real, real friends. Or someone to even just listen to me."

I nodded, silently urging him to go on.

"I thought that maybe I'd made a friend, for once in my life."

"Oh," I responded, feeling the guilt creeping in even further. "I am really sorry, Edward."

Edward shook his head, "I'm not even sure why I'm telling you this now."

"I won't tell anyone, Edward. And I promise I won't say anything bad about you or your family. I felt horrible, I feel horrible for what I said."

"Okay. I want to believe you."

We were silent for a couple minutes after that and I noticed the rain started softly drizzling.

"I should get going," Edward said, looking at his watch. "Mom wants me to stop by the Thriftway for groceries."

Edward picked up his can and took mine from me, disposing of them in the recycling bins.

"Thanks, for coming today and everything," I said.

"No problem. Thanks for...being open with me, I guess."

I turned to walk away to my car, the opposite direction Edward was going in.

"Hey, Bella?" Edward called after me.

"Yeah?" I responded, turning.

"I'll see you at lunch tomorrow?" Edwards cheeks were once again a faint pink, but I couldn't tell if it was due to the chilled air or not.

"Yeah, see you at lunch."

I couldn't help the smile that stayed on my face as I walked back to the car.

Hope you liked it! If you feel inclined, leave a review. Also, I'm considering in participating in the Fandom Gives Back. I would do the first come first serve, where you would buy me and I'd write you (almost) anything you'd like. What I'd like to know is if anyone would actually buy me! So, leave me a review or PM, letting me know if you would. Or you can always tweet me (at)HappyMess