What if it takes your breath?

When you can hardly breathe

What if it makes you ask how you could let it all go

What if what I want makes you sad at me

Is it all my fault? Then let me fix it please

Cause you know that I'm always all for you

What if; Safetysuit

It was ten minutes before the party was about to start, and Bella was walking frantically around Alice's living room.

"Why did we even bother to set this up? I know no one's going to come. They'll blow me off, saying something to the effect of 'Well, it's just Bella, I mean…."

Alice clamped her hand over Bella's mouth, effectively stopping her rant before it got too out of control. She knew whenever Bella got started on these long expressions of her worries, it could last for well over five minutes.

"Your friends love you. They will all be here. It's not even six o'clock yet. Take a deep breath, and get a glass of water, too."

Bella did as she was told, her hands shaking as she held her cup under the sink, pouring water into it. She took a large gulp of it, making her feel a little better. When the doorbell rang, it made her jump, water sloshing out of her cup. She took a few more deep breaths before walking into the main hallway where the front door was.

Alice had opened the door for her, revealing Emmett and Rosalie, who were carrying two gift boxes.

"Rosalie!" Bella shouted, a huge smile on her face. Rose handed Emmett her box before giving Bella a hug.

"It's been too long!" She said. "College is so boring without you guys there!"

Bella agreed, turning to hug Emmett. He had set the gifts down on the side table before hugging her.

"Happy Birthday, Bells." His massive arms were crushing her, but she didn't mind.

"Please tell me that whatever you got me is perfectly PG-13. My dad would not appreciate porn being brought into the house." She teased him, remembering their conversation earlier at lunch.

"Damn. I guess I'll have to return it." He said, rolling his eyes. They laughed, because sometimes Emmett was just a huge goof-ball.

Alice led them into the living room, as the doorbell rang again.

"I'll get it!" She said, rushing to the door. "I bet its Jasper!" She mumbled excitedly.

Bella sat down on the floor next to Emmett and Rosalie, unsure of what to say to start conversation.

"So what's the plan for tonight, birthday girl?" Emmett asked, putting his hand on his girlfriend's knee. Rose smiled up at him, and then looked at Bella.

She didn't really know what Alice was planning, so she told them exactly that.

"You know Alice, it's whatever she had planned to do."

After Bella had said this, Alice walked in the room, grasping Jasper's arm. He wished her happy birthday before sitting down with Alice. They had made a circle by the way the group was sitting, and they began talking about anything and everything.

It was nice to have everyone together again, but Bella couldn't help but be unsatisfied. She wanted to ask Emmett if Edward was coming, because she couldn't think of anything else she would have rather had then for him to be there with her. There was no way of easily slipping the question into conversation, without hinting at her attraction to him.

They decided to play twister, because it was a favorite game of the group. They always played it whenever they had parties. Bella opted to be the spinner for the first tournament so that she could be as injury-free as possible.

Emmett got out the first round against Rosalie, which he complained about. He claimed it "wasn't fair that he got distracted-her chest was right in his face!". He took a seat next to Bella, as he watched Rosalie compete against Alice.

Bella figured that if any time was a proper time to ask Emmett about Edward, this was it. After announcing that the spinner landed on left foot blue, she turned to Emmett and smiled.

"Do you know if uhm, Edward is busy tonight?" She asked, her voice wavering.

"Does Bella have a little crush?" He teased her. He poked in her the ribs like she was a little kid.

"I was just curious to see if he was coming to the party, that's all. I didn't want him to feel left out." She said, proud of her exceptional lying skills; especially because it was very spur-of-the-moment.

Bella spun the spinner as he answered her.

"I told him about it, but I'm not sure if he's coming. He's probably in the library reading some nerdy book, or getting off on music in his room." He laughed after he said this, which ended any further questioning on Bella's part.

After Jasper was deemed twister champion, Mrs. Brandon came in the room and told us that the pizza was ready. Bella was surprised how fast the time was going, and realized that she felt comfortable around her friends still. It was turning out to be a good birthday.

"This pizza is the best pizza in the world. I think I'm going to take this upstairs and…"

"Emmett!" Rosalie said, smacking him on the back of the head. "Not appropriate talk at dinner." She scolded him, making them laugh. Sometimes it seemed she was more his mother than his girlfriend, but Bella would never doubt how much Rosalie really loved him.

Bella ate her pizza in silence, mainly because it was so delicious. She tried to shy her mind away from thoughts of anything outside of the room and her party, but that wasn't working out too well for her. After her second slice of pizza, and Emmett's eighth, they were done eating.

Alice's mother brought out a nice cake and set it in front of Bella. It was circular, and had "Happy 18th Bella!" on it in yellow gel. There were also flowers on the cake, no doubt a request from Alice. Mrs. Brandon had also put nineteen yellow candles on the cake, and was lighting them, too.

"Nineteen candles! You're old as dirt!" Emmett said.

"Not really," She replied, "The nineteenth candle is for good luck. I'm not too old yet."

"You don't worry about your age until you turn thirty, dear; life's better that way." Mrs. Brandon laughed, lighting the last candle.

"On the count of three." Alice said. "One, two, three!"

They started singing Happy birthday to Bella, and it was funny to her that she could distinguish every person's voice. Alice's was a light soprano tone, which almost sounded like bells. Jasper was more of a tenor, and had a sweet voice. Emmett was baritone, and slightly off pitch, but it made her smile anyway. Rosalie had a loud alto voice, though it was high for an alto.

When they finished their song, Bella thanked them.

I hope that things fall into place for me this year. She wished.

In one breath, she blew out all of her candles. Everyone clapped for her, which made her blush.

Mrs. Brandon dished her out the first piece of cake, and then gave everyone else a piece.

It was delicious white almond cake, which practically melted in her mouth. When she was halfway done with it, the doorbell rang. Her stomach got jittery, because her brain had pounded out the thought that maybe it was Edward throughout her whole body. She was disappointed when she heard the sound of Alice's father.

"I found this young fellow outside, he claimed to be here for the party, albeit a little late." Mr. Brandon said, walking into the kitchen.

Her heart was pounding so hard, as if trying to break through the skin and jump out at Edward.

Edward.

He had walked in behind Alice's father, waving nervously at the group.

"Happy Birthday, Bella." He said, his voice smooth, hiding his nerves completely. "It looks like I came at a good time I guess." He chuckled anxiously, pulling a chair out and sitting down across from her.

"Thank you for coming." She said, her smile almost blinding.

Mrs. Brandon had set a piece of cake down in front of him, and he thanked her for it before addressing Bella.

"There's nothing that could have kept me from this." He winked at her, before taking a bite of cake.

Bella smiled into her lap, trying to hide the effect his words had on her. When she managed to look up, Alice was looking at her too with a knowing smile on her face.

"Would you like to open gifts now?" Alice asked her, once everyone was finished with their cake.

Bella groaned, as she usually did when anyone talked about gifts. She was very awkward about accepting things from others.

"I'll take that as a yes." Rosalie said, smiling as she got up from the table. Emmett went with her to help her carry the gifts in from the side table at the front door.

"You don't like getting gifts?" Edward asked her, his brows scrunched on his forehead. He looked confused.

"Not at all. I've always been weird about getting gifts. I don't like it when people spend money on me."

"Even for your birthday?" He asked.

"Especially for my birthday. I don't get older by choice, so it's not an accomplishment or anything good that I've done. Why should I get gifts for just being alive?" She asked, the argument she made every time someone asked her about her opinion on birthdays.

"You're a very interesting person, Bella. You never say what I expect you to." He told her, smiling brilliantly. She blushed, and turned her head to see Rosalie and Emmett walking into the room with presents in their hands.

"Open mine first!" Alice said cheerfully, grabbing a package from Emmett's stack.

Bella did as she was told, being careful with the box. She smiled when she opened it to see a large set of ten frames, connected, with pictures filled of her, Alice, and sometimes Emmett and Rosalie.

"You can hang it up in your bedroom, and take it with you when it comes time for college. By then we might be able to add different pictures to it. These were just a few of the ones I have." Alice explained.

She absolutely loved it. It didn't look like it was a million dollars, and it was beautiful. She loved how sentimental the gift was. She couldn't wait to hang it up in her room.

"This is amazing!" She said, giving Alice a hug. "I love it, thank you!"

"I bet you do, I mean just look how handsome my face is. If you ever need money, you could sell my picture for hundreds of thousands of dollars!" Emmett said, admiring the pictures.

"How can he talk when his head is six inches up his ass?" Edward asked. Everyone laughed, especially after Emmett threw the nearest object at Edward, which was a napkin. It missed, horribly.

"I'm sorry your jealous of my beautiful face, Edward." Emmett said, crossing his arms on his chest and looking towards the window.

"Why would Edward be jealous of your face?" Bella asked, and then clamped her hand over her mouth. She let out a nervous giggle when she realized what she said.

"There's a compliment somewhere in there, I know it." Edward said, looking at her. "Thank you."

"That's cute, Bella. Now open my gift!" Rosalie said, thrusting a red wrapped box at her.

The next half hour was spent opening gifts, all of which were pleasing to her. They were simple, like a pretty necklace, or a twenty five dollar gift card to the bookstore, but they were all exactly what she wanted. She noticed that Edward didn't get her a gift, and wondered if maybe he didn't want her to get the wrong impression by getting her a gift.

They were all headed into the living room to watch a movie, when Edward pulled Bella aside.

"I noticed that Alice has a wonderful back porch, would you like to join me on it for a few minutes?" He asked her, his hand warm on her arm.

She looked at him, and then back to where the group was walking, trying to figure out if it was okay to leave them.

"I'm not taking you away forever." He said. Her mind thought something else from that statement, making her a little sad.

"Okay." She whispered. He led her through the kitchen and out the back door to a lounge chair on the porch.

It was then, in the dim light from the porch lamps that she drank in Edward's appearance. He was wearing dark jeans, which were snug but not tight, with a white shirt underneath his grey pea coat. His hair was a disheveled mess, but that was when those coppery locks looked best. She couldn't help but be drawn to the firm square line of his jaw. His face was so heart wrenchingly beautiful.

"I wanted to give you your gift in private, because I didn't want the others to make jokes at me about it." He told her, reaching into the pocket of his coat.

He pulled out a small, gold wrapped box, and handed it to her. She hesitated a moment, only to catch her breath, before she carefully unwrapped the gift.

She opened the white box to find a gorgeous silver heart necklace, with a very intricate flower designed onto it in green and light pink. There was tiny, single diamond at the tip of the flower.

He coughed, suddenly nervous about his choice in gift before explaining himself.

"When I saw this, I knew I wanted to give it to you. It's selfish of me to say so, but it's there, close to your heart, as a constant reminder of me. If you don't want it…"

"Of course I want it, Edward. It's stunning!" She exclaimed, taking it out of the box. "Would you mind putting it on for me?"

He took the necklace gingerly out of her hand, motioning for her to turn around. She did so, sweeping her hair in a bun so that he could clasp the necklace together without getting her hair caught. When he finished, she turned back around to face him. The necklace shown in the light, and she couldn't help but look at it and smile.

"Did I tell you how breathtaking you look tonight?" He asked her, sweeping a lock of hair behind her ear. When she blushed, he ran his hand across her cheek.

"No, but thank you. You really shouldn't feel obligated to say those things to me, though. I don't mind." She told him, uncomfortable with accepting his compliments.

He shook his head at her.

"I don't feel obligated at all. I only feel obligated to tell you what I'm thinking, and that happened to be on my mind all night." He told her, moving his hand down to hold hers.

His hand felt warm, and solid, which pleased her to no end.

"You're quite the charmer. I don't think you should waste it on me, though. Save it for all your girls." She said.

She didn't know if he was telling her those things because it was something he felt he should do since he's her friend, or if he really meant it when he said those things. Those were things you would tell someone you are interested in.

Don't even get your hopes up.

He moved his face in, slowly, so that he was only inches away from hers.

"What if you're the only girl I want to say those things to?" He asked, a smirk growing on his face.

She didn't know what to say. She couldn't contain her mouth though, from spewing out words.

"What if I want to be the only girl that you say those things to?" She replied, feeling satisfied in her response. She couldn't let him know how hard it was to form words around him when he was this close to her. She wasn't uncomfortable in the traditional sense of the word. She was uncomfortable because she all she could think about was his lips on hers.

"Then I will gladly say them to you. But right now doesn't seem to be the proper moment to do so. I think right now would be the time to do things with our mouths that don't consist of talking." He told her, bringing the hand that wasn't holding hers to cup her cheek.

Her heart was running a marathon as he tilted his head, and leaned further into her. He gently touched his lips to hers, his mouth closed but amazing underneath hers. He went to pull away, so as just to leave a bare trace of his lips, but she had other ideas. Bella threaded her hands through his hair, and tugged his face towards hers. His lips were soft, and felt wonderful to her. She opened her mouth, and met his tongue in a passionate manner. He tasted like cinnamon, and her birthday cake, and an indescribable taste that could only be named 'Edward'.

She pulled her head back after she had run completely out of air; a vital essential she was starting to hate as of this moment.

"Wow." Edward said; a broad smile on his face. "That was not what I was expecting. I was going for more of a 'sweet, gentle peck.'"

She smiled too, unable to stop it from spreading across her face.

"It's like that song. Oh how does it go? 'Take an inch and I'll give you a mile'." She told him.

He chuckled, and squeezed her hand.

"Do you always quote songs after you kiss?" He asked her.

"I guess I do. I've never kissed anyone else before." She replied, looking down at their hands.

When she decided to look up at him, he had a look of shock on his face.

"That can't be possible. You're too gorgeous, too witty, to not have been kissed before."

"Well, I've just been kissed so… problem solved." She said, feeling embarrassed.

"Is it strange that I'm glad to be the only guy who has kissed you?" He asked her, running his left hand up and down her arm in an oddly intimate gesture.

"Getting possessive already, Cullen? We haven't even gone on a date yet!" She told him.

She could have hit herself in the head, repeatedly, with a cinder block. She felt bad about putting him on the spot like that, and immediately tried to correct herself.

"I'm so sorry, Edward. I didn't mean to assume anything. I mean, I know it's just a kiss, and please, don't feel like you have to take me on a date or anything. I shouldn't have assumed that when you kiss someone it's…"

Edward kissed Bella in order to shut her up.

"Don't be ridiculous, we're just going to have to change the fact that we haven't gone on a date yet. Tell me you're not busy tomorrow." He said, planting kisses on her cheek.

She laughed internally, as if anything she had to do would be better than going on a date with Edward Cullen.

"Well, my laundry does need to be done, and my room, psh, that is such a mess." She said, teasing him.

He chuckled against her cheek, his breath fanning across her face.

"You're killing my ego. I just asked you on a date, and you turned me down." He told her, shaking his head slightly.

She moved her hand to his cheek, rubbing the stubble that was starting to form.

"I would never turn you down." She replied seriously. He moved his head up so that they were eye to eye now.

His green orbs were smoldering, and yet, she couldn't dare to think about looking away.

"Good. I'm counting on that."

AN:

Hello anyone that is reading this.

Thank you all, all of you who review. For your support. It means so much to me, thank you!

I hope you liked the chapter.

I'm still upset about the lack of interest I'm getting in this story.

My other story had close to a thousand reviews, and of course I'm not expecting that, but not very many people are even putting this story as a favorite, or a story alert.

Guys, hello? Are you out there?

I don't even mind if you story alert this, and not review, I'm just asking for some interest in this story, I'm working extremely hard on it, and I believe it's going to be my best one yet.

I can't believe I have three chapters out in one week. School starts in like a week and a half, so the progress might slow then, but I'll still update atleast once a week.

I love writing these chapters, what can i say? LOVE EDWARD 3

It was funny, I was watching Goblet of Fire today while i was on the elliptical, and every time Cedric Diggory came on I screamed. haha. EDWARD!

Love you guys,

Jess