Disclaimer: [sorry, I didn't put this in Ch 1] I don't own Twilight; trust me, if I did, I wouldn't have stopped at Breaking Dawn. I would play with the Cullens for…forever. : -)

[Chapter Two]

I took a deep breath and took a seat at the kitchen table. Here it comes again, I thought to myself. I looked up at him, his eyes piercing me.

"Bella," he said as he ran his hand through his hair. "How long have you been seeing Alice without telling me?"

I looked down at the table, concentrating on my hands. "A while."

"And exactly how long is 'a while' Bella?" He asked me in an accusing tone.

I looked up, guilt written all over my face. "Edward, listen—I never did it to hurt you—"

He looked at me and asked plainly and slowly, "How long?"

"I don't know—it started a few months after you wouldn't let your family come over. Edward, you have to know that I don't feel like you are keeping me here, I swear!" Tears started building up in my eyes. "I don't hold you responsible at all for what happened three years ago! I promised you I would never leave your side and I haven't! I only to go to the store to get things that we need…but it's hard. It was hard not being able to see them—they are my, no, they are our family! I miss being around people who are happy, who weren't sitting around feeling sorry for themselves, who actually want to live!"

"Is that what you think—that I want to die?! Bella, if that were true I would have killed myself years ago!" I could see his fist clenching at my accusation.

"I get that you don't want to go visit them; I even understand that you're scared to leave the house. But, Edward, why can't they come here? Why can't they call? You won't take Esme's calls, of all people—she is your Mother!"

"You don't understand…" he trailed as he looked anywhere but at my face, ashamed of how he was behaving.

"Then make me understand!" I felt my anger building up in me.

"It's not easy, living like this," he waved at his wheelchair. "I feel…incomplete. I feel like I'll never be the guy I was before this. I'm not enough anymore. So if I can't be enough, why be anything at all? I don't want them seeing me like this, having to deal with me being this way. Of course I love my family and I miss them—but I don't want to put them through this! Alice is right," he sighed as he pulled at his hair, looking down at his lap.

I looked over at him. "Alice was right about what?"

He sighed. "I am holding you back. I know, I never told you that you couldn't go see them or be with them, but she was right. I know you're too kind to leave me by myself—you just want to be here to help me. And I knew that, so I never told you to get away for a while. Because, Bella, you're all I have left. I have pushed everyone else away. I feel so horrible for not pushing you to spend time with them more."

I shook my head. "No, Edward, it's not your fault. Look, we have to figure something out here. You're miserable—I can see it. And the family is miserable. There's got to be something…" I hoped he would come up with the same solution I had, although I doubted he would be that willing.

He pinched the bridge of his nose, frustrated with where this was all heading. "I don't know if I'm up for all that, if they can forgive me. Maybe you should just take some time and go spend a week with my parents or something. It'll give you a chance to relax and enjoy their company."

"Who would help you? You can't stay by yourself for a week! What if something were to happen?" I started to panic—was he crazy?

"We can have someone from the facility stay with me for a week," he said as if he had solved the problem simply.

"Oh, no way! Absolutely not, Edward! I am not leaving you in the hands of a…"

"Highly-trained professional?" he questioned, a smile beginning to form on his face; he thought he had won.

"That is beside the point and you know it!"

"Then what do you want, Bella? You want change, and I am giving you an option."

I shook my head. "How about this? I'll give you two options, and you pick one. You probably won't like either of them, but these are your choices."

He thought for a second, and then looked up at me. "Will it make you happy?"

I nodded, knowing he couldn't deny me anything that I wanted.

"Let's hear them," he sighed, knowing he had lost the battle.

"Okay, option one: we invite your parents over to stay for a few days, WITH a family dinner that includes Emmett, Rosalie, Jasper and Alice." I looked over at his facial expression, which was tense. "OR, option two…" I trailed off, drawing in suspense.

"What could be worse than option one?" He mumbled.

I smiled. "Emmett stays with you for the week while I go stay with Carlisle and Esme."

He looked up at me. "Are you CRAZY? You would leave me in the hands of Emmett Cullen?! Do you know what could happen to me?"

I nodded. "Pick."

"You did this on purpose! You're trying to corner me into letting my family come over, knowing damn well that I would NEVER let Emmett be my caretaker for a WEEK. A whole week, Bella?" He realized then exactly what I was doing. "You know, I don't give you enough credit."

I crossed my arms across my chest smugly. "Well, what's it going to be, Edward? The whole family and a sleepover with your parents, or seven days of Emmett?"

He thought for a second, before grabbing the wheels of his chair. "Neither."

My smug look felt like it was slapped off my face. "Excuse me?"

"I said 'neither.' Look, Bella, I know you want things to get better. Both of those options make me want to wheel myself over a cliff! I'm sorry, but I just can't…not right now." He wheeled himself out of the room and to his room, where I heard him slam the door shut and curse. My head slumped down on the table, resting on my arms. This hadn't turned out like I had hoped it would at all. As the tears started to fall, I let them. At that moment, I was so angry with Edward, and with myself, that Alice's words came crashing back on me.

"But if things don't change soon, it's going to get worse."

I must have fallen asleep after my crying fit at the table. I looked up at the microwave clock: 4:30 p.m. Seven hours until this horrible day, which had started out so great, was over.

*************************

It had been two months since Alice's 'surprise' visit to the house, and Edward and mine's argument about change. Alice was right, things had gotten worse. Edward and I had barely spoken since that day, and neither of us had apologized. We were both too stubborn to admit we were out of line, although this time I didn't believe I was. Sure, I had tried to corner Edward, when I should have taken him up on his offer to go stay with Carlisle and Esme, but the change wasn't supposed to be about just me, it was supposed to be about us.

However, since then, I had been more outgoing with leaving the house to see Alice. I still hadn't seen the other family members, not wanting to push my luck. But one time when I was meeting Alice for brunch, Rosalie 'happened' to be at the same restaurant, which only made me happier then I'd been in a long time. That night at dinner, Edward had made some snide comment about me being in a good mood. But I didn't care, I was too happy to be concerned. I was still angry with him.

So, it was now September, and Edward seemed like he was coming close to calling a truce on our argument. He'd left me a note by the coffee pot that morning that simply said

I'm trying. I promise.

I decided to cut him a little slack after that. It was now a Wednesday again, and I was making waffles for Edward in order to show him that I was willing to try again. I didn't hear him come in the kitchen and was humming some silly song when I heard him chuckle. Startled, I spun around and in the process, flung some waffle batter across his face.

We both looked at each other for a second and began laughing. We must have looked pretty stupid, but the situation had to have looked funny from the outside.

"Edward, you scared me! I didn't hear you come in. How long were you standing there?" I said, my hand on my leg, trying to catch my breath. When I had calmed down, I tossed him a hand towel to wipe his face.

"Long enough," he said as a small smile crept on his face again. He wheeled over to the table as I set a plate in front of him.

I sat, eating silently, nervous to break the somewhat good mood we had going on.

If it hadn't have been so quiet, I would almost have missed Edward calling my name. "Bella?"

I dropped my fork and looked at him. "Yes, Edward?"

"Well, your birthday is coming up. I was wondering what you wanted?"

"You know I never like it when you give me gifts," I said softly, pushing a piece of waffle around my plate.

"I know, I just thought it would be easier this year if you told me something you wanted."

"I don't want—" a light bulb went off in my head. "---actually…no…it's too much…" I trailed off, suggestively.

Edward's eyes lit up at the possibility I wanted something expensive. "No, Bella, nothing is too much for you. Please, tell me."

I jumped as he put his hand on my forearm, stilling my arm from building a zen garden out of my waffles. I looked over at him, meeting his eyes with uncertainty. "Are you sure?"

"Name it—anything you want. Name it and it's yours. It's the least I can do."

I looked down nervously, taking a deep breath before meeting his gaze again. "I want to have dinner with your family…at your parents' house." I held my breath waiting for his answer.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him run his hand through his hair, an obvious sign of frustration.

"You did say anything…" I tested, batting my eyelashes at him.

"I'll think about it."

My jaw must have dropped all the way through the floor when I heard that. Wait, had I really heard that? I looked up. "Edward, do you mean it?"

"I said I would think about it. That doesn't mean go call Alice and have her start planning or anything, Bella. I really am trying here."

I smiled and kissed his forehead. "That's all I can ask for. Thank you."

****************************

I turned to reach over and shut off my alarm clock that kept beeping, but when I did, I realized that I wasn't in my bed. I sat up, pushing my hair off my face. Why was I on the couch? I pushed the blanket off me, staring at it as if it were an alien. I don't remember putting this over me. I looked at my watch—8:55 a.m. I took a deep breath before calling out, "Edward?"

About a minute later I heard him come into the room. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, of course I'm—what happened last night?" I was so confused.

He ran his hand through his hair, sighing heavily. "Well, I'm not exactly sure. All I know is I came out into the kitchen to get some water before I went to bed, and I saw you asleep on the couch. I put a blanket over you so you wouldn't freeze. I would have put you to bed but…" he trailed off sadly, his eyes looking up at me.

I knew exactly what he couldn't say, you know I'm paralyzed, Bella, so I couldn't be a real man and carry my wife upstairs, put her to bed, and crawl in next to her. I tried to shake off the sadness and gave him a small smile. "Thank you. Are you hungry?"

"No," he replied. "I already had breakfast. But you might want to take a shower."

"And why is that?" I asked, amused by his boldness.

He looked out the glass patio door and then back at me. "Because Alice will be here soon and you know what happens when you aren't ready when she gets here."

I swear my jaw dropped to the floor. "A-A-Alice is coming?" I felt my body tensing, preparing for a fight.

He nodded. "I want you to go out and have some fun. I know shopping with Alice isn't exactly your favorite thing to do, but it'll get you out of this house. I'll be fine, I promise, Bella. Jasper's going to hang out with me while you're gone."

I felt like I was going to have a heart attack. My lungs felt like they were working overtime and my throat wasn't letting me take in any fresh air. "J-J-Jasper?"

He laughed a little. "I see you've picked up a stutter in your old age. Now go on, before she gets here. You're stinking up the living room," he chuckled.

I was too stunned to think. I walked by him, and leaned over, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek and squeezed his hand in a silent thank you. I hurried towards the stairs, excited about spending time with Alice, and happy that Edward had agreed to let Jasper visit.

"Bella?" he called to me.

I turned around, wondering if he was okay. "Yes?"

He smiled a smile that I hadn't seen in years. "Happy Birthday."

*****************************

"So, what you're telling me is, it was EDWARD'S idea?" I asked, sitting in the chair while Alice attempted to make something out of nothing with my hair.

She nodded excitedly, dancing from one foot to the other. "Yes, Bella! Isn't that great? What a great birthday present! And a gift for me and Jasper, too! Believe me, I was as shocked as you were when I got the phone call two days ago…" she pulled a little tighter on my hair, securing a loose strand in place with a bobby pin.

"Two days ago? You mean, not only is he letting Jasper come over so we can go shopping, but he planned it? I don't believe it. Tell me more!"

Alice stopped fussing with my hair and turned the chair so I was facing her, applying a light dusting of make-up to my face. "Well, Jasper and I were…"

I held up my hands. "Not all that, Alice. Just the Edward part," I said as I blushed.

She giggled at me. "What I was going to say, before pervert Bella interrupted, was that Jasper and I were talking while I wrapped your birthday present when the phone rang. I almost died of shock when I saw it was Edward's cell phone. I picked up and immediately asked if you were alright, since him and I hadn't spoken since that last time I came over."

I nodded, encouraging her to continue.

"He said of course you were fine and that I always was a worrier. He said he wanted to do something nice for you for your birthday, and he knew he had been quite a jerk to me in our last encounter, so he thought he could make it up to the both of us by letting us spend the day together. And then, get this Bella, he even apologized for keeping Jasper out of his life, and said that he would like it very much if Jasper came and hung out while we spent the day together!" She giggled excitedly. Alice had been waiting a long time for Edward to come around on the Jasper front.

I knew that Edward had missed Jasper like crazy. The only real reason he kept pushing him away was because he wanted to keep everyone out, and Edward also knew that Jasper was the most sensible of all the family, and might talk him into changing his mind about rehabilitation. And Edward wasn't willing to try again.

I smiled to myself, very proud of Edward. "That's great, Alice, it really is."

She put some lip gloss across my lips and then spun me back around to the mirror. "Bella, you look great! You really needed a major makeover!" She giggled, teasing me.

I stared at my reflection in the mirror. I could hardly recognize myself. It had been years since I had gotten this dolled up. I turned to the side to take a profile look.

"And you've still got a great butt!' Alice said as she gave me a side pat and ran out of the room. "Come on, Bella! We don't want to be late! The mall's going to open soon and we HAVE to be the first ones in the door!"

I sighed, but smiled at my reflection once more. I leaned down and grabbed my purse, throwing my cell phone in the bag as well. Today felt great—now I just had to go down and say goodbye to Edward.

I started down the stairs when I heard Jasper and Edward whispering softly in the living room. I tried to stay quiet and eavesdrop, but being the clumsy person I am, I tripped on the second to last step and ended up grabbing onto the railing for support. Edward and Jasper whipped their heads around to see me.

"Bells, are you okay?" Jasper asked, standing up to head over to me.

I waved my hand as I tried to hide my embarrassment. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." I stood up and straightened myself out. Alice had dressed me in a knee-length skirt that was navy blue with a white pleating, a white button-down collared shirt, and white ballet flats. As I stood there trying to will my blush away, I looked over at Edward. He was sitting in his wheelchair, his eyes fixed on me.

"Wow, Bella," was all he could get out as his eyes roamed my outfit.

"Is it too much?" I asked nervously, now more self-conscious than ever.

He shook his head, snapping himself out of his trance. "Of course not! You look wonderful."

I walked over to him, kissing him lightly on the forehead. "You boys have fun, okay? And no mischief while Alice and I are gone. Charlie's number is on the fridge, Jasper, and I'll have my cell phone on me at all times in case—"

"In case of an emergency, Edward's naptime is at 3 and make sure you change his diaper first," Edward mocked me, a mischievous look in his eye.

I threw my hands up. "Okay, okay. Forget I even said anything. I'll see you two later," I replied as I walked out the door behind Alice, who was already making a run for her car. "Alice, it's okay, we will make it to the mall. And in the spirit of Edward's good mood, I'll even let you pick out ONE outfit for me!"

She turned around, a huge grin on her face. "That's great, Bella! But I have something better in mind than one outfit." She dug through her purse and finally produced a small plastic rectangle. "Edward gave me his credit card…and full permission to torture you however I like."

I groaned. Note to self: push Edward down a very steep hill later.

***********************

Four horrendous hours later, Alice had promised we could leave the mall. My feet were killing me and I couldn't wait to sit down in the car. Dragging what felt like a million bags of "must haves" as declared by Alice, I smiled as I saw the yellow Porsche pulling up through valet parking.

"So I was thinking," Alice started as she helped me put the bags in the trunk, "since Jasper and Edward never spend time together, we could go back to my place and hang out for a little while and give them some more time."

I nodded. "I think that's a great idea! Let's call Rosalie, too! I miss her so much! Do you think she'd come over?"

Alice thought for a second. "Well, I don't think she knows about Jasper being allowed over to your house. I think she might be upset for Emmett, and maybe even with us for not calling her to go shopping."

My heart fell. "Oh, okay, maybe another time." I felt defeat wash over me as I realized we were already back at Alice and Jasper's house. How fast did she drive?

Alice smiled back at me. "Definitely! We wouldn't want to make Emmett upset that he didn't get to hang with the boys, too."

As soon as we got inside I collapsed on the couch, throwing my feet over the arm. My thoughts drifted back to Edward and I wondered if he was okay. I weighed my options: if I tried to call him, Alice would take my phone away. I heard her rustling upstairs, most likely putting away her new shoes. I whipped out my phone and sent Edward a quick text: Everything going well?

It seemed like hours before my little phone vibrated, alerting me to a text message: Yes, mom ;)

I chuckled to myself, sliding the phone back into my purse. Alice was just coming back down the stairs. "Don't get too comfortable, missy. It's shower time for you!"

"What? Alice, why? What is going on?"

"It's your birthday, Bella! We have to dress you up before you go home!"

"But, why?" I was so confused.

"So that Edward can see what we bought for him today, silly!" She held up a rather large shopping bag from a store I didn't even remember going in. She grabbed me by my arm and pulled me up, pushing me towards the bathroom. "Not another peep, Bella. Go."

I quickly showered, washing my hair with Alice's fancy shampoo and conditioner. I wrapped myself in a towel and walked into her bedroom where her vanity was set up. I immediately took my seat in the chair, no longer energetic enough to argue.

She placed her cool hand across my forehead. "Bella, are you alright?"

I nodded. "Yes, why?"

"Well, you never willingly give in to my makeovers! I thought Hell must have frozen over!"

I laughed. "I'm too tired to argue with you right now. Just do me up, Alice!"

I sat in that chair for who knows how long, but when I was done, Alice was helping me wiggle into the outfit she'd picked out. As soon as I turned and looked in the mirror, I gasped again: I was beautiful. "Oh, Alice, thank you," I choked out.

She had picked out a high waist black skirt that stopped right under my chest, and a midnight blue silk button down shirt with cap sleeves. Sleek patent leather pumps accented the ensemble.

She clapped her hands, smiling and bouncing at the same time. "Oh, Edward's going to fall out of his chair when he sees you in this!"

For the first time in years, I pictured Edward grinning like an idiot, getting up out of his wheelchair, and walking over to me. A single tear rolled down my cheek.

"Bella, honey, don't cry, please. I'm sorry."

I shook my head. "No, Alice, it's alright. It wasn't your fault. Let's go home."

**********************

My stomach began to turn in knots as we pulled into the driveway of mine and Edward's house. I was hoping he was alright, and that he wouldn't fall out of his chair, as Alice had earlier predicted. That would not be good.

We walked up the sidewalk to the house, Alice babbling on about some new Chanel dress that was coming out next season. I slid the key in the door and opened it just a crack. It was awfully dark. "Edward? Jasper?" I called out, anxious to see what they had been up to since I had left.

Jasper came around the corner, startling me. I let out a small gasp. "Oh, Jasper, you scared me!" I said, clutching my hand over my chest.

He smiled. "Sorry, Bells. I didn't want to make a lot of noise. Edward fell asleep."

I nodded, understanding then why he had snuck up on me. He ran his hand behind his neck, rubbing it softly. At that point, Alice came in, smiling at Jasper. "Jazz!"

He smiled sheepishly at her and kissed her softly. "Hello, dear."

Not wanting to interrupt their private moment and desperately wanting to see Edward, I made my way towards the living room. I slipped off my heels, not wanting to make a clicking noise against the hardwood floors. I flicked on the light switch and screamed when I saw the scene in front of me.

I could feel someone come up behind me, whispering softly. "Happy Birthday, Bella."

*******************

A/N: Hey guys! I figure by the time you've read a second chapter, it'd be okay for me to write you a little note. Sorry for another cliff-hanger, but they just seem to write themselves in! In case you haven't noticed, this story is entirely in Bella's point of view, and will be for the rest of it. I hope you're getting into it! I promise it's going to get more interesting as it goes on, even though its not going to be a super-long story (this is my first one, I have to work my way up!). I'm not going to beg for reviews or hold out until I reach a certain number, but just keep in mind that if you don't tell me what is or isn't working, I can't make it better for you. : ) Happy reading, twilighters!