Hello my ladies (and gentlemen, of course)!

I'm back in business and I've got my inspiration machine pumping at full ball!

I want to thank you all once again for your amazing reviewing efforts. You guys make me smile. And if you can, everyone needs to check out one particularly epic review that was written for the last chapter, I believe. AWESOME! I laughed so hard. You own me, you really do.

ANYHOO! Expect another chapter within the next 12 hours!

Excited? I am!

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing except Chrissy, Nat, Jace and EMMA!


EPOV

I helped Bella off my bike, amused by the way she desperately tried to smooth her dress down over her knees in the process. She must have noticed something in my expression because she looked up at me and laughed with embarrassment.

"Turn around," she demanded, taking hold of my shoulders and turning me. I chuckled and concentrated on the gravel under my feet, scuffing at it while I heard the rustling of Bella demounting the bike. In true Bella fashion, she simultaneously dropped my helmet and tripped, falling onto my back. I reached behind me and steadied her. "Thanks," she sighed, straightening up as I turned back around to face her.

She held my helmet out apologetically, sweeping some dirt off the side of it and shrugging out of the leather jacket I'd given her. I wasn't surprised when Esme joined us, taking my jacket and folding it over her arm.

"Bella, where are your friends?" she asked, looking genuinely concerned. I glanced at her questioningly, not fully understanding the worry tainting her features. She was with me, what was there to worry about?

"They're behind us," she smiled, smoothing her hair down. "There wasn't enough room in the car so Edward gave me a ride back."

"They'll be here any minute, mom."

"Mom?" I nodded at Bella, seeing realisation dawn on her face. I wondered just how much realisation there was there. "Your family, like… runs this town," she said, a familiar tone of wonder in her voice, her eyes wide and awestruck.

"Not quite, dear," Esme tittered, patting her arm before bustling back inside.

"Come on," I said to Bella, placing a hand on her waist and guiding her over to the front porch. "We'll wait for them." She followed me without hesitation and we sat on the bench side-by-side. She was still too small for her feet to touch the deck, and she swung them lightly just like she used to.

"So you and Emmett are brothers?" she asked. I had been watching her feet so intently that I hadn't noticed that she was looking right at me. We spent the next few minutes talking. Well, I talked and she listened intently as I explained my relationships with everyone she'd met so far. She smiled and nodded and giggled and all the while she swung her little legs back and forth, her hands pressed against the bench at her sides.

Headlights swung in and lit up the areas of the porch not already illuminated by the light peeking through the window. She sighed lightly, looking down at her feet again. I pushed myself up off the bench and held a hand out to her. Although she didn't really need any help standing, she took my offer and let me tug her towards me.

"You're crazy!" Chrissy called, her voice laced with adoration and amusement. Bella grinned at me before spinning around and heading over to her friends. I followed at a slower pace, shoving my hands in my pockets and concentrating on my steps – she was just so breathtakingly beautiful.

Nat stepped out of the car, hands on hips and frowning disapprovingly.

"Are you out of your mind?" she scolded. Bella simply giggled. "Oh it is so not funny and you are so not my friend!"

"I am too," she argued, rolling her eyes. "Relax, Natalie Joy."

"Oh don't even start that with me Isabella Marie!"

"It's Bella!"

Natalie ignored her protest, turning her glare to me. "I don't care if you have a death wish, but don't ever take off like that with my friend ever again!"

"I'd never hurt Bella," I assured her with a sincerity that had her glare faltering for just one second. The others filed past us, leaving me alone with Natalie and Bella. I saw Chrissy wink at Bella as she stumbled by. I jumped slightly when she slapped my ass and whirled around to find her grinning at me while she headed up the steps.

"Hands off the merchandise, you!" Bella growled playfully. She blew me a kiss. One of Jason's friends mouthed an apology at me, ushering her inside while whispering in her ear. She giggled and hopped onto his back just before the door shut behind them.

"Well, you can go home now," Natalie informed me, crossing her arms. "We're all need to get some rest. Come on, Bella," she said, taking Bella by the arm and leading her away. I couldn't leave it like this – even though I was sure I'd see her at least once more. I just didn't want to take any chances.

"Wait," I pleaded, taking Bella's hand. "I'm going down to the beach tomorrow with some friends. Would you like to come, too?"

"Yes," she responded just as Natalie told me no.

"Bella! We're working on the film tomorrow!"

"I know but I don't really have to be there, right? I mean, having two girls to run around and make sandwiches and coffee is enough for the one day," she justified, looking adorably pleading. "Besides, a day at the beach is totally what I need after everything…" she added softly, turning her face away from me so I wouldn't hear. I wondered what she meant by that, especially when Natalie's face softened and she nodded.

"Okay, bumhead. Just…" she trailed off, sighing and glancing at me warily. "Take my cell, okay?"

"Of course, I was gonna ask for it anyway," she smiled. "Don't tell Renee."

"Why would I tell her?"

"Just don't!"

"Okay!

"I'll meet you inside," she said meaningfully, nudging her towards the front of the house. Natalie rolled her eyes and waved goodbye, trudging inside but not shutting the door behind her. Bella turned to me and blushed. "Sorry."

"Your friends care about you a lot," I commented, feeling grateful that she had such loyal girls looking out for her. Natalie certainly seemed to have Bella's best interests at heart.

"Yeah, they're great," she smiled, watching Natalie ascend the staircase, glancing over her shoulder every now and then to check on Bella. "I'd better go in. Thanks for the ride," she said, reaching up on the tips of her toes to press the tiniest kiss on my cheek. My skin burned where she'd touched me and I was left breathless as she walked away.

"Bella!" I called when I had my voice again. She spun on her heel. "I'll be here when you wake up." It was my old promise to her – part of our nightly ritual. She didn't seem to remember.

"I wake up pretty early," she warned.

"You're on holidays," I reminded her. "Sleep in."

"See you tomorrow, Edward," she smirked, shaking her head a little.

"Goodnight, Bella."

***

BPOV

When the sun began to pierce through the curtains in my all-too-familiar room, I decided it as a decent enough time to rise. I hadn't slept very well at all, despite being extraordinarily comfortable in the bed I had been given to sleep in. It was just another one of those things about Forks that seemed to suit me perfectly. The room, the people, the bed… Edward. I sighed as I thought of the man who'd been haunting me ever since I laid my head down on the pillow.

As I had drifted off, my mind filled itself with fluttering images of Edward and I. He carried me into the inn from the forest and wrapped me in a robe. He laughed as we sat in a bathtub and I covered myself with bubbles. He pretended not to see me hiding behind a curtain as I giggled at his false efforts to find me. We laid in a different bed that my mind recognised as his and he held me close, pressing his lips to my hair. He knelt in front of me, his hands framing my face as I cried about something – his eyes full of worry and anger. He kissed me in the foyer of the inn, his lips fervent and adoring. He tied my hair back affectionately as I laid on top of him in a fluffy pink robe. We sat out in the backyard and he lazed against a tree playing guitar while I watched the sky, picking shapes in the clouds. I sat beside him on a piano stool, resting my head on his shoulder as he guided my fingers over the smooth keys. There were dozens upon dozens of images of us eating gummi bears together, swapping favourites and teasing each other with them. We were so carefree and light-hearted. So happy to be near each other. So in love.

Then despair filled my heart. A gunshot rang out and a blurred image of Edward hitting the ground, bleeding from the chest as my mother sped the two of us down the driveway of the inn. I screamed for him – a guttural cry that echoed in my mind now, even hours after I had dreamt it.

I swallowed hard and pushed the nightmare to the back of my mind, where it would hopefully dissolve during the course of the day ahead. I was going to see him again, and soon. The thought of spending an entire day with Edward put a spring in my already usually lively step – so much so that I actually found myself skipping downstairs and into the kitchen without a second thought. Several heads snapped up, a mop of unruly bronze hair among them. He hadn't been kidding when he said he'd be here when I woke up.

I was suddenly very aware that I was wearing my ridiculously childish Mickey Mouse shorts and that my hair was impossibly wild after a horrid night's sleep. I reached up and quickly knotted it on top of my head, trying to look casual about it.

"Morning," I croaked blearily, taking a seat at the breakfast table. I didn't feel at all uncomfortable joining what looked to be a family meal – I was just welcomed into it as though they'd been waiting for me all along. Esme slid over a glass of mango juice while Emmett piled pancakes onto a plate for me. "Do you all live here?" I asked, halting Jacob with the butter until Rosalie had poured syrup on top.

"No, but we like to have breakfast together," Jasper smiled, scraping half an omelette onto the space next to my pancakes.

"I'm intruding," I frowned, my comfort disappearing.

"Not at all," Esme assured me kindly.

"We're more than happy to have you here, Bella," Rosalie said. For some reason, because she said it, I felt instantly better. Her acceptance mattered more to me than anyone else's. I didn't know why – by all rights I should have been fighting for Edward's acceptance, but he was right at home with me. He winked as he slipped me a bag of red gummi bears under the table. Jacob, on my other side, nudged me and subtlety showed me the green pack he had hiding in his pocket. I grinned at him. I could see myself making new friends here, fast. Maybe even more than that… I thought as I stole a glance over at Edward. He looked so at ease with his family, smiling as he bit down on a strawberry.

"So what are everyone's plans?" Esme asked, daintily dabbing at her mouth with a napkin.

"I need to help down at the hospital today if that's alright," Jasper said quietly. I pretended not to notice that the other people at the table fell silent. The tension grew quickly, swelling and forming a giant pink elephant in the room. I had a feeling the elephant was wearing Mickey Mouse shorts.

"Is that absolutely necessary?" Edward asked, his tone acidic. I concentrated hard on cutting my pancakes into perfect squares.

"Yes, they said it was urgent."

"I think everything at the hospital is fine," Alice argued. "But if it'll make them happy to have Jasper's personal reassurances…" she trailed off and that seemed to be the end of the matter because Emmett piped up.

"Rose and I are gonna help clean up this place today, ma."

"Thank you, dear."

"No problem."

"I've gotta look after the bar – make sure it's ready for tonight," Jacob mumbled, his mouth full of muffin.

"Wait, how are you related again?" I asked, only just realising then that he hadn't been part of Edward's family description the night before – but he seemed to hang around like he was family.

"He's out pet dog," Emmett grinned, throwing him a scrap of bacon. Jacob shrugged and ate it despite the insult.

"He's been a very close friend of the family ever since he was born," Esme corrected, slapping Emmett lightly. "I need to do some paperwork, please excuse me." She got up from the table then, leaving us to chatter mindlessly while we finished our breakfast.

"I need to get going to the hospital," Jasper mumbled after checking his cell. Edward shook his head slightly and opened his mouth to say something but Alice spoke first.

"Bella, what are you wearing to the beach today?" she asked a little too loudly, not letting me answer before dragging me upstairs and into my room to style me for my day out.

***

EPOV

Fucking Renee. Fucking Renee and her fucking meddling.

Ever since the morning of Bella's emancipation, she'd been on the phone to Cystemaco trying to figure out ways to keep her under close watch without suspicion. Then, upon hearing of her trip to Forks, Cystemaco had been on the phone to Jasper directly.

Jasper didn't like dealing with James and Victoria. They were cold and uncaring towards Bella. They didn't give a fuck about her welfare – only about the welfare and reputation of their company.

Cystemaco explained that the particular technology required to modify Bella's memory, like her creation, was only just out of the experimental stages. She was, once again, one of the first people for it to work on. They decided that she needed to be kept under strict observation for at least a few years to ascertain the full effects of the long-term memory modification. They also believed that Renee was the best person to look after her during the time of her observation, and trusted that Jasper would work on getting her home as soon as possible. She was finally her own person and they wanted to rip her freedom away just as quickly as she'd gained it.

What they didn't know was that Jasper wasn't going to fall for their bribes like he had last time. He was no longer under the influence of Carlisle and we could all see that he wanted Bella back here with us – at her real home. But for the sake of his own safety, he left today to meet with them and discuss certain strategies to make sure she doesn't remember anything and to make sure she gets back to Phoenix as soon as possible.

Bella returned from the car with the extra towel we'd packed. Having dropped hers in the ocean while we were searching for shells in the tide pools, she'd insisted on going to get the spare herself – all the while apologizing. Every negative thought or feeling fled far away as she glided through the sand. The wind blew her hair back, her skirt gathering around her legs as she pushed her sunglasses up on her nose – they were too big for her but she still looked perfect – and the sun glinted red and purple hues off her long dark curls. I helped her smooth the new towel down, holding it while she knelt and pressed down on the more stubborn corners.

"Where are the rest of your friends?" she asked curiously, and I knew then that I was caught out in my lie from the previous night. There were no other friends; I'd just wanted Natalie to feel more at ease with our trip. She caught my guilty look and giggled. The bubbles and chimes swirled around us in the light breeze. I let them fill me up. "I would have come anyway," she admitted. "I'm pretty adept at sneaking out. I have a really strict mom."

"Why is she so strict?" I asked, wanting to find out everything I could about the time we'd been away from each other – everything about what she'd been told her past was.

"She's just very protective," Bella shrugged. "I had a really violent past, and when Renee and Charlie adopted me they swore they'd make sure I stayed far away from anything that could put me in danger again. Then one day just after they adopted me, Charlie got shot and the car we were in crashed. He was a cop," she added, sighing. "I have a kind of… amnesia thing," she told me in a whisper. "The only things in my memory are things that have happened in the past four years."

"They adopted you when you were seventeen?" I asked, trying to poke a hole in her story – trying to make her see that it didn't make any sense for anyone to adopt a seventeen year old.

"It was a weird kind of adoption," she shrugged, frowning. "Renee told me that when I was born, the hospital didn't know who my parents were."

"How does that work? I mean, your mother at least had to be pretty conclusive…"

"I have no idea. There was a mix-up, I think. And no one came forward to claim me. It was a busy time. So I never knew my real parents. I was handed over to James and Victoria – they run the adoption agency." She paused to pop a gummi bear into her mouth and I'm glad that she didn't notice me cringe when she said those names that I despised so much. "And they sent me out to a family… I don't remember them. But Renee said that the dad in that family used to hit me and keep me hidden from everyone. I was a prisoner for a long time. Renee and Charlie got me out," she smiled, reaching for two more gummi bears. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. She was talking about her time with us like it was a nightmare! "The other family members were, like… devastated. Because they didn't know how badly the dad treated me until it was too late and James and Victoria had already stepped in. Renee said I was really close with them," she frowned, clearly trying to remember. My anger for Renee lessened a little with the new knowledge I'd been given.

"Do you remember who they are?" I asked, knowing the answer already.

"Nope," she replied, popping the 'p' and reaching over. She took my arm and lined up a red and yellow gummi bear with my tattoo. "Aww they love each other!" she cooed, making ridiculous kissing noises. "That is the cutest tattoo I've ever seen on a guy."

"How many tattoos have you seen on guys?" I asked, horrified by the prospective answer. It was hard – even painful – to imagine her in such close proximity to any other guy.

"I've seen heaps!" she chirped, leaning back on her elbows and soaking up the sun. "Guys in Phoenix and pretty much constantly walking around shirtless in the summer. It's kind of disgusting," she chuckled. I sighed, relieved until she went on. "My old boyfriend had four tattoos."

"Old boyfriend?" I asked, my jaw taut. This wasn't the kind of thing I wanted to hear from her, but at the same time I wanted to know everything about this guy.

"Jealous?" she asked playfully, quirking an eyebrow just the way I'd taught her to. I scowled at her and she giggled. "He was a total jerk. We only dated for, like… two weeks. It was a few months ago. Two weeks of my life I'll never get back," she sighed dramatically.

"Why did you break up?"

"I told you. He was a total jerk."

"Well what constitutes being a total jerk?" I asked. "I need to know these things, so I know what to avoid."

"Are you thinking about being my boyfriend?" she teased, pushing her sunglasses up on top of her head so I could see her eyes – they danced and sparkled with amusement, and there was the tiniest glint of hope that I prayed I wasn't just imagining. "I don't think you need to worry about anything like that, Edward," she assured me, skilfully dodging the answer to my question. I wasn't going to give up.

"Well, I wanna know anyway. Just in case."

"I'll tell you another time," she skirted, standing and pushing her skirt down her legs. I nearly died at the sight of her in her little black bikini. "Come for a swim," she demanded, holding her hand out for me.

"The water's freezing," I warned. She rolled her eyes.

"Chicken."

"I'm not chicken."

"I think you are."

"Well I'm telling you that I'm not."

"Prove it," she said with that same determination in her eyes as the night she'd asked me to kiss her. This time, though, there was a hint of mischievousness. With an exaggerated sigh, I pulled my shirt over my head and stood. A gasp sounded and when I looked down at Bella she was staring at my scar. The skin was ugly; pulled and pinched together – warping the spot between my hipbone and ribs. "What happened to you?" she breathed, stepping forwards and tracing the scar with genuine concern. She was the only person in the whole world who could touch my scar without me caring, and her fingers felt so good on the marred flesh – it tingled and my entire body flushed with both relief and excitement. I was home with her hands on me, and I'd been waiting so long…

"I was shot," I told her. "About four years ago," I added, knowing that it was too much information – knowing I could be killed for what I had just told her. I didn't care. I wanted her to know – I wanted her to remember everything we'd had and to want everything we could be. She tore her eyes from my abdomen and tried to read my face. I knew she was trying to figure out what it all meant. Please remember… I begged silently.

"How did you get shot?" she asked, her fingertips still running gently across the wound.

"I was trying to protect someone."

"Your sister?" she asked. I wasn't expecting that. I shook my head. "Jason said your family had another sister once," she explained.

"She wasn't a sister," I said quickly, thinking that if she did learn some of the truth then her having the impression that she was my sister was definitely a bad idea. "We took her in because she needed help. There were some people that were after her…" I trailed off, wanting to say so much more, but not knowing where to start or how to explain everything she was missing.

"And they caught up to you all?"

"Something like that."

She considered me for a moment, looking back down and noticing the second tattoo – the tribute to her. "She died." It was more a statement than a question. I shook my head, too thick with emotion to talk. Everything she knew and didn't know was right here in front of her – I needed so badly for her to put the pieces together but it seemed like she wasn't going to do it any time soon.

So until then, I would win her over like any normal guy.

"We gonna go for a swim or are we gonna compare battle scars?" I asked her, reaching under her chin and tilting her head up so she'd look at me. She smiled and took my free hand, leading me down to the icy water.

Part Two is on it's way! Expect some fluff… maybe the teensiest but of smuttiness… maybe… Leave a review! Lemme know what you think!