After the Tanya 'misunderstanding', as we both referred to it, Edward called me every time that he would be late. He also went as far as recording his part of the performance on a CD so that he wouldn't be needed for the extra rehearsals that she was trying to get him to agree to.

I was still a little apprehensive, I knew that Edward loved me, but I still had to wonder if he would eventually change his mind. Tanya was very beautiful and I was…not. Tanya was around him everyday at school and again, I was…not.

He did, however, come home to me every night and had stopped sleeping on the couch or at his piano. He always made it up to bed, and I would awake in the morning to find his arms wrapped around me.

Finals for me were over and now I was on winter break until after the first of the year. Edward didn't have finals per se, but he had to be ready to perform in the Winter Showcase and he had to turn in a copy of his composition so far to his teacher. He was supposed to get it back before the break so that he would be able to make changes and continue to work on it over the holidays. His last day of classes was today, and the showcase was next weekend.

I was in the downstairs bathroom where the washer and dryer were sorting out laundry when I heard the front door slam shut and a string of curses flowing from Edward's mouth.

I dropped what I was doing and headed out of the bathroom just in time to see Edward throw a stack of papers across the living room. He was pissed.

"Who the fuck does he think he is?" He growled. "Fucking prick."

"Who are you talking about?" I questioned. "Your teacher?"

"Yes my teacher." He sneered. "Look at this." He reached down and picked up one of the papers that was now littering the floor and thrust it in my direction.

I looked at the paper in my hands and even though I couldn't make heads or tails out of the music, I could see all of the revisions and marks left on the paper with a red pen.

"Are all of the pages like this?" I asked.

"Some are worse then others, but yeah."

I started to pick up all of the sheets of music when he stopped me. "Leave it, apparently its shit."

"Edward it is not 'shit'. It is your hard work, and if it means anything to you, I love it. Plus I know it comes from here." I said poking him in the chest where his heart would be.

He smiled at me with frustrated eyes and started to pick up the mess he made on the floor.

"I don't even know why I wanted to come to this school." He mumbled.

I gaped at him. "Edward Anthony are you feeling sorry for yourself because this isn't easy for you? If it wasn't a challenge there would be no reason to be here. You are supposed to be learning. Not breezing through it like you do in normal school." I scolded him. "Get over yourself, you are not that awesome."

He snapped his head around to face me. "But you admit that I am a little awesome?"

"A little." I held my thumb and forefinger about an inch apart. "Now go and wash your own clothes your Awesomeness while I start dinner."

I woke up feeling groggy and I stretched out and found that I was alone in the bed. I looked at the clock on the nightstand and it told me that it was almost eleven. Edward's parents were coming in today for the Winter Showcase and were going to stay through the holidays.

"Ed-ward!" I called. "Where are you?" I heard him bounding up the stairs probably taking two at a time.

I smiled when I saw him. He was still only in his boxers and his hair was standing on end. He walked over to me and sat on the edge of the bed. "It's 'bout time you woke up, lazy."

"You're mean." I pouted. "I was going to ask you to get back in here with me, but now I've changed my mind." I said pulling up the covers to my neck and rolling to face away from him. "Mmm…so warm."

"Miss Bella." He said crawling over me to get to his side of the bed and lying down. "What am I going to do with you?"

"Freeze, because I'm not letting you in here."

"Just so you know. My parents will be here in about an hour. So if you want to have your hair look like a haystack and still be in your PJs then by all means stay wrapped up in here. I'm taking a shower." He jumped up and stood on the bed and walked over me and landed with a thud on the floor and went into the bathroom and closed the door.

Fifteen minutes later Edward walked out of the bathroom and headed into the closet to put on some clothes.

I had just finished drying my hair when I heard the doorbell ring. I set down my brush and ran downstairs. Edward was already at the door opening it. I was squealing in delight when I saw not only Edward's parents, but Alice, Jasper, Rose and Emmett in the doorway.

Alice ran to me and we crashed into a hug. "I've missed you so much!"

Alice finally released me so that I could properly greet out other guests. Emmett gave me a bone crushing hug and did the same to Edward. "You know you missed me little bro!" He exclaimed wrapping his arm around Edward's shoulders.

Everyone was staying for the holidays. Alice, Jasper, Rose and Emmett were going to stay with us and Edward's parents were staying at a nearby hotel.

Carlisle and Esme headed to their hotel to check in, and the others freshened up from their trip at our place. We were going to have a quick bite to eat before heading over to Edward's school for the Showcase.

Edward had to leave the loft and be at the school early to prepare and the rest of us headed over so that we were about an hour early. The entrance was decorated for the holidays and so were the halls and the stage.

We mingled with the other guests and chatted amongst ourselves. I felt a little uncomfortable when I noticed Tanya's family which included Victoria, standing around the refreshment counter talking with other student's families.

Rose and Alice both noticed the sudden drop in my mood. "Are you feeling Ok Bella?" Rose asked. "All of a sudden you look ill."

"Thanks Rose. I'm fine, really." I told her but I still felt uneasy. Emmett noticed our conversation and looked over to where my attention was focused.

"What the Hell!? What is she doing here?" He almost shouted.

"Calm down Emmett. Her sister Tanya goes here."

Before he could respond to me a guy with blonde hair that was past his shoulders and was tied back in a ponytail walked up and put an arm around Victoria. I swear I heard Emmett growl.

I turned to look at him and saw that his face was bright red with anger. "What's wrong with you?" Rose asked him with a confused look on her face. "Did you eat something bad?"

"Victoria and James are here." He spat. "Does Edward know about this?" He asked me.

"Well, he knows that Tanya is her sister. We saw them together at the student orientation at the beginning of the year. I've never seen that guy before though."

"I don't like this." He said only to himself. "Not at all." For the rest of the time that we had to wait, Emmett kept a watchful eye on the couple that paid no attention to us.

We all headed into the auditorium and sat as close to the stage as we could get. The lights dimmed and the show started.

We saw a couple of scenes and monologues from the Drama people, and we saw a couple of different types of dances from the Dance group that included Jazz, Tap, and Ballet. There was a musical theatre number and then an orchestra was set up and they played two long songs.

Then I got to see what we came for. My handsome Edward in a black suit sit at a piano and play the song that I knew by heart because I had heard it a thousand times, only this time there were subtle changes in it and it was more beautiful than ever.

I didn't know that he was playing a solo piece tonight. I thought that it was only going to be him and Tanya and the song that they had to perform. I looked at the program and searched the schedule. I got to his name and it read: Edward Cullen playing his own composition: "Bella's Lullaby".

I gasped and covered my mouth with one hand. I had tears threatening to spill from my eyes when Esme patted my leg. "What's wrong dear?" She whispered. I held the program up and pointed to the entry. She smiled warmly at me and took my hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.

There was applause when he was finished and he stood to bow. He sat back down and started another song. Tanya waltzed out in a flowing gown with a microphone and started singing. Her voice was beautiful, she was beautiful, but when she started touching Edward's back and shoulders while she sang I could only see red. The only comforting thing was that Edward's calm face turned into a scowl for a split second before he composed himself and had a blank emotionless look for the rest of the performance.

After a couple more songs from different performers and another pianist, the show was over. The audience stood and cheered while all of the students came out to the stage and bowed. Emmett stood and started whistling and hollering before Rose smacked the back of his head and he continued to just clap.

We headed out into a large studio where they had set up tables and chairs for the holiday party that was to follow the Showcase.

I excused myself to the restroom and locked myself into a stall. I heard the restroom doors open and close a few times and women coming and going. I finished, straightened my clothes and reached for the door lock, but I stopped.

"Tanya was fantastic tonight, wasn't she Mom?"

"Yes beautiful." The door opened and closed again. Someone else had entered.

"Here you both are. I've been looking for you." Tanya's voice crooned.

"I'm going to head back out to your father and James." Her mother said.

"Wait for me Vicky. Ok?" I heard a stall door close and lock.

"So I could see sparks flowing between you and Edward Cullen. How's that going by the way?"

"It would be great if he would leave that mousy girlfriend of his. I wanted to rip her hair out when she walked in on us the other day."

"Well you could somehow get it in her head that he isn't faithful. It's not that hard to manipulate people, I should know."

Tanya laughed and came out of the stall. "Vicky you are horrible! You know that he probably still believes that you slept with him."

"I know. After that night he was always hinting for me to tell him what happened. Unfortunately he was way more wasted than I thought." She laughed again. "I did get a good look at the goods though, and let me tell you Tanya you won't be disappointed."

So Edward and Victoria never slept together. This was good news. I heard the restroom doors open and close again and I knew that they had left. I unlocked my stall and went to wash my hands. Alice and Rose walked in just as I was drying my hands off.

"Geez, Bella we thought you fell in." Alice giggled. "We decided to check on you."

I went on to tell them of the Tanya problem and what I had heard in the restroom. I didn't tell them about Edward and Victoria. That was private between Edward and me. I knew that he was uncomfortable with that subject and I would tell him what I heard later.

"The nerve of her!" Rose grumbled. "You do know not to let her get to you, right?"

"I know, but it's hard. I'm not you Rose. I can hardly stand up for myself. She intimidates me." It was true; I would be kidding myself if I thought that I could compete with her in the looks or talent department.

"Bella." Alice said holding both of my arms. "Edward loves you. I see the way he looks at you. Tanya is no competition."

"You need to let this Tanya know that Edward is your man." Rose forcefully told me. "We are going to put her in her place. Tonight."

Rose went on to tell me what I needed to do, and Alice agreed with everything she was saying. I was a little unsure of this plan, but I was willing to try with their help.

I smiled at her and both girls flanked me linking their arms with mine and we walked out of the restroom.

I felt a little better with my girls with me, and I felt even better when I saw Edward. I walked up to him and gave him a big hug. "You were wonderful tonight, and I loved my lullaby." I smiled brightly at him.

"Thank you Bella, you're my inspiration. I love you." With just those three words my confidence skyrocketed.

I saw Tanya standing with some of the girls from the other day next to the dance floor. There was holiday music playing and I grabbed Edward's hand and headed out to dance. I made sure that we were in her sights before I stopped and put my arms around his neck.

Rose and Alice saw us and Rose winked at me. I scanned my eyes across Tanya and her friends and noticed that she was watching.

Edward and I started swaying to the slow music. He had put one hand on the small of my back and the other was holding my hand. My free hand was over his shoulder and my fingers were playing with the hair on the back of his neck.

I let go of his hand and placed it on his cheek and pulled his face down to mine. His hand went around to my back and he pulled me closer. I tilted my head as our lips met. I traced my tongue across his lips and he responded my accepting my tongue into his mouth.

We were still on the edge of the dance floor and I cracked an eye to see if Tanya was still watching. She was still talking to her friends but every few seconds she would glance in our direction and scowl.

Alice and Rose walked up next to them and started a 'friendly' conversation with Tanya expressing how much they liked her performance.

"You have a beautiful voice." Rose commented.

"Thank you." Tanya replied. "Who are you here with?"

"Actually were here supporting your accompanist, Edward Cullen." Alice explained. "We came all the way from Washington to show our support and spend the holidays with him and his girlfriend Bella."

"How nice." Tanya said glancing at us again.

"We are staying with them in their home." Rose giggled. "I just hope we can get some sleep while we are here."

"Yeah, those two are very active, if you know what I mean?" Alice told her wiggling her eyebrows.

"I'm sure I don't." Tanya sneered.

"That just means that they have a lot of sex." Rose whispered leaning closer to Tanya.

Tanya glared at Rose for a second and stalked off pushing one of her friends into another.

I saw Rose and Alice do a small fist bump before they headed back to the family.

Carlisle hailed a couple of cabs for us and we headed back to the loft. Carlisle and Esme said goodnight and left in one of the cabs to their hotel.

The six of us went inside and prepared for bed. Rose and Emmett were taking the guest room again because Emmett declared that it was his room to begin with. Alice and Jasper were taking the sofa bed, and Edward and I headed to our room.

The lights were out and everyone was settled in for the night. Edward and I were cuddled up close and I told him what I overheard in the bathroom. He was shocked but was relieved at the same time.

"So that's why you couldn't keep your hands off of me. You were trying to mark your territory again?" He chuckled.

"That's not the only reason. You are irresistible you know?" I said as I kissed his lips briefly.

"I know." He confirmed. I shoved his shoulder. "But so are you."

I giggled and he started kissing along my jaw and up to my ear.

"Will you two girls shut it up there? Some of us are trying to sleep!" Emmett yelled from downstairs and it only made us laugh harder.