Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or the songs I make reference to. If I did own Twilight, this story would be sold in stores everywhere with less grammar/spelling mistakes and I'd be rich… Damn :(
So no I know I should of treated you better
But me and you were meant to last forever
So let me in, give me another chance
To really be your man
Cause when the roof caved in and the truth came out
I just didn´t know what to do
But when I become a star we´ll be living so large
Mmmm whatcha say
Ooh that you only meant well?
Well of course you did
Mmmm whatcha say
Mmmm that it´s all for the best?
Because it is
Mmmm whatcha say
Ooh that you only meant well?
Well of course you did
Mmmm whatcha say
Whatcha say
wha- wha- wha- wha- what did you say?
How could I live with myself
Knowing that I let our love go
And ooh when I do with one chance
I just gotta let you know
I know what I did wasn´t clever
But me and you we´re meant to be together
Whatcha Say by Jason Derulo
A/N: This song is perfect for both Edward and Bella. The chorus is Bella's POV and the verses belong to Edward.
I want to apologize that this chapter is so late. If you want to know why, here's the excuse (if you don't, then skip to the next paragraph): I ended up getting a permanent job at the same school, in the same grade and started Monday (the 2nd). I ended up being bombarded with lessons, grades, papers, classroom designs, etc. Let's just say I was severely overwhelmed. But I have gotten to a point where I can update.
I have written another chapter since the last update, but it won't happen for a while… I had a great idea and had to write it down, it will probably come here in about three chapters or so… after the reunion :)
Thank you to all of you that has commented, reviewed, and added me or my story to your favorites. I love you all!!! You're the reason I try to update often, I promise I'll try to be better!
Shout outs: DementedEvilPixie, EmeraldStar73, and Content1! I love these girls and their stories. I'm so behind on reading their stories right now, but I fully intend to catch up soon when I have more time. Show some love and read their stories!!! They're awesome :)
Read, Review, and Comment/Question if you have them!
~kmwhyte
EPOV (Edward)
It had been five hours, twenty three minutes, and eighteen seconds of complete shopping torture.
We had all been forced to go shopping for our formal attire together; all seven of us.
Now, as much as I love spending time with my daughter, and Bella, this was not my idea of the way to do that. I swear this is some sort of punishment; concocted by my annoyingly hyper pixie sister. She's scheming… but I'm not sure to what point…
Her thoughts were completely focused on the wardrobe selection. Jasper, Emmett, and I would be dressed to the nines in Armani. That was the easy part; the girls on the other hand… That was a whole other story. I was not envious of them.
I knew that Renesmee was enjoying herself. Not only had Bella allowed our daughter to pick out her outfit, but Rose had also eagerly agreed to the idea. Unfortunately for her, now she was regretting that promise.
Rosalie and Bella had become very close over the past few weeks; not best friends, but definitely allies. This was not a comfort to me since Rosalie was barely speaking to me and would glare anytime I entered a room. I had the feeling that she was starting to influence Bella in avoiding me.
Just my luck…
During Renesmee birthday, Bella had softened. Not to the extent that I would have liked, but still we were working on becoming friends. It was at least a direction that I favored.
Rose and Bella came out in their forty-third dress selection, each. Renesmee and Alice sat on a round couch in front of several mirrors in deep thought as they appraised both of the selections.
After several minutes, Renesmee spoke up. "I don't think so… it's not right…" she confessed, clearly enjoying the power.
"Nope, not right." Alice agreed, smiling proudly at Renesmee.
Bella turned to return to the dressing room in a huff, but Renesmee spoke again. "Mom, can you take in that rack with you, I bet one of those will work." Bella gawked at Renesmee, but she had already turned to talk to Alice about what worked and what was downright unfashionable.
"I bet I'm going to ground her after all of this…" Bella seethed as she pulled the rack containing probably fifty dresses behind her.
Jasper, Emmett, and I were lined against the wall directly behind Renesmee and Alice, barely understanding why we were being forced to stay for the girls' fittings.
We had been talking all morning, but at this point we were shunned into silence. Alice had had enough of our comments and I quote, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all… and if you do, expect to feel my wrath." Emmett was up for the challenge, until he saw Renesmee shake her head in agreement with her dictating aunt.
Emmett had come to fear Renesmee. He hadn't revealed why, but it was obvious that something had happened during the concert that made him more than a little fearful.
So, here we stood, quiet and still as statues.
"I'm going to ground her for eternity; she is driving me up the damn wall…" Bella hissed from the fitting room. Alice and Renesmee were too involved in their conversation to hear, but the boys were all ears.
"I never thought anyone would be worse to shop with more than Alice, but your daughter? Good God, I was wrong." Rosalie growled.
"I swear if I hadn't agreed to this, I would be running right now. I knew I'd regret this."
"Then why did you agree; you at least knew what you were getting into, I didn't." Rosalie pouted while Emmett began shaking with laughter next to me. "She has no idea what our precious niece is capable of, this is only the beginning."
"Ugh, I don't know… I should've said no, but this was all she wanted. I don't know, I suppose it could be worse, but I am losing my temper here." She had calmed some, but calm or not, I was beginning to fear for my daughter if she didn't agree on a dress in the next twenty minutes.
"What could be worse than this?"
"… Um…" she paused and her voiced lowered significantly. The silence forced me to listen to Rosalie's thoughts to hear her response. "It's a formal dance, Rosalie… and everyone will have a date, including Renesmee, except for Edward and myself. I didn't want her getting any ideas. This, at least, distracts her."
Wow, she really didn't want us being together. I looked to Jasper and Emmett, who were both silently counting the seconds until we would be released.
"Bella, do you really not want to be with Edward anymore… honestly?" Rose wasn't as quiet and both Jasper and Emmett looked to watch my face; either I'd be overjoyed or completely devastated. They were still sure of the love that we had shared, but they doubted Bella's ability to be honest with Rosalie about the topic.
Bella was silent, so I decided to tune into Rose's mind once again; a habit I loathed that was forming. Bella had just slipped a beautiful blue one shoulder dress on that flowed down her form to the floor. She appeared to be floating; she was a goddess. She smoothed her hands down the material, taking a good look at herself before shaking her head 'no.'
"I kind of figured that; you're not that good of an actress, Bella. Why are you being so stubborn? Just go with him to the dance." Rosalie said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world; she was bored of the topic.
I held my breath waiting for her response, for her reasoning. I would dance with her forever, if she'd let me. Preferably in that dress.
"Because… I'm terrified, Rose. It's not just me anymore." She sighed, turning back to Rosalie.
"Renesmee is a big girl, Bella. You need to go after what you want; come on, he'll never leave you."
"He did once." She turned to face the mirror again, looking into her tearful eyes. I knew the tears would never fall, as did she, but it was heartbreaking to know that I caused them. "I can't help it; I just feel like he'll do it again if something goes wrong." Rosalie walked the two steps over to Bella and pulled her into a hug. I was as shocked as Bella.
From Rosalie's thoughts, it hadn't been the first hug, but apparently it was more sincere and genuine. It wasn't her thanking Bella, or being grateful to Bella; no, it was her comforting Bella. She wanted her to trust; to trust herself; her own feelings. She wanted Bella to be happy and to feel wanted, just as Rosalie always wanted.
Rosalie was near sobs at that moment. She was actually very choked up. Bella had everything Rose had wanted; a child, a man to love, and a family; but her life wasn't perfect. She kept me at arm's length, never letting herself be vulnerable with me, and felt out of place in the family. Rosalie couldn't take it; she felt for Bella.
"You deserve to be happy, Bella. And you'd be happy if you just let yourself be with him." Rosalie whispered in Bella's ear and then abruptly left the embrace and came out for Alice and Renesmee's criticism.
"I like it, it's perfect." Alice gushed as she walked around Rose twice, looking appraisingly at her sister.
"I love the cut, but maybe the color is… I don't know, I'm not convinced." Alice nodded at Renesmee's opinion and ran out of the room to speak to the sales woman that had the good sense to hide from this area for the last two and a half hours.
Bella came out in the beautiful blue dress Rosalie had unknowingly shown me in her mind. She looked gorgeous, and I ached to tell her so. She slumped against the wall, holding her left arm across her stomach, waiting for Renesmee to speak her mind. It was obvious she expected to return to the dressing room to try on yet another dress.
"Oh my god, she's so pretty. Oh, it's prefect; it looks similar, but even more elegant. Mom looks stunning." Renesmee thought; her smile growing ever so slightly so not to reveal her decision. "What do you think, Dad?"
I looked at her in question. "Oh come on, does she look beautiful or not?" I looked to the ceiling and then down again; adopting my visual cues that Alice and I had used so often to communicate. "I thought as much."
"That's the one, Mom. Go change, and now shoes!" Renesmee squealed at the last two words; not letting Bella know how much she liked the dress.
Both she and Alice are scheming… hmmm. I decided it was in my best interest to stay out of it until I had more facts, so I let the thought drift away.
***
Seven hours, fourteen minutes, and eleven seconds.
The time was stretching on and the weariness of the group was ever-increasing. If it had just been Alice, this day would have ended hours ago, but no one wanted to disappoint Renesmee.
The shoes were purchased. I hadn't imagined all the possible options. I was actually feeling relief for Bella that she would not be feeling the pain of her stiletto heels during the formal.
Alice insisted that Jasper, Emmett, and Rosalie were needed to help finalize the remaining arrangements for the formal.
"Me? Why?" Emmett whined, clearly his resistance was futile, but his petulance was ever present.
"Uncle Emmett, I wish you would stop complaining. It's close to being over, but only if you stop distracting us from the task at hand." Renesmee looked into Emmett's eyes while holding a hand to his cheek. His eyes grew large at what she showed him. Apparently, she had dirt that she was holding over his head until the formal was over. She didn't reveal the evidence; knowing full well that I was watching. But she lightly smacked his cheek after the images had passed. "Thank you, Uncle Em." She smiled sweetly, looking all too innocent. I couldn't fight my smile.
Emmett walked behind Alice in the opposite direction with Rosalie and Jasper both walking behind him, asking "what the hell that was all about." He only shook his head while still staring at the floor.
I looked to Bella, as Renesmee giggled at the rest of the family heading off to arrange god knows what, and saw her concern. "Renesmee, what did you do your uncle?" she asked, sounding extremely motherly, while I fought another smile.
"Nothing," she smirked, but wouldn't meet our eyes. "Come on, I'm hungry; I saw some ice cream in the food court."
Bella and I followed Renesmee; before I had a chance to pull out my wallet; Bella gave Renesmee a folded twenty dollar bill. "Get us all something, honey."
Renesmee skipped off, looking completely innocent, calling back to us, "Get a table."
"She's an evil mastermind," I said to no one in particular.
"Tell me about it…" Bella agreed. She followed me as I found a round booth, half hidden by a short wall that served as the booth's back rest. No one was seated in the area, which would make it considerably easier to hide the fact that we would not be eating the ice cream.
I paused looking to see if Renesmee had ordered yet, but I couldn't see her. Here's my chance, tell her… something. "Bella, the dress she picked out looked lovely on you."
"Thank you, Edward." Her answer was dry, monotone. She was trying not to appear emotionally affected by my compliment. If she was still human, her blush or heartbeat would have given her away, I'm sure. But without them, I wouldn't have been so sure if not for the fact that she admitted to Rosalie that she still she wanted to be with me.
"Are you looking forward to the formal?" I asked, hoping to ease her into the conversation.
"Somewhat." She wasn't mean, but still cold. Hoping that I would remain quiet until Renesmee came back to join our table and undoubtedly occupy the conversation.
"Bella…" I couldn't say what I wanted to. Bella, I want to be with you, more than anything and I know you want that too. I heard you! Please, give me another chance; I'll spend forever making it up to you, please? Just stop this hot and cold shit, please? Bella, be with me, now and forever. Go to formal with me, marry me, spend forever in my arms; I'll protect you from everything! I could go on and on telling her how much I wanted her and how much she was frustrating me to no end with her avoidance and, then sudden, alliance.
"Oh for the love of god," she seethed as she rose from her seat. I looked up; ready to defend myself and speak my mind when I noticed it was not me that she was angry with. Over on the other side of the food court sat Renesmee, with David Sanders… the boy wanting to date my daughter.
They sat there laughing, eating their ice cream, completely oblivious to Bella and me staring; waiting for a reason to intervene. "What is he thinking?" Bella asked; no doubt hoping that it was propane so she could scare him out of his mind.
"She's so beautiful when she smiles. I am so lucky she didn't have a date yet; every guy in school wanted to go with her. But she said yes to me… damn, I'm lucky. She's perfect." He smiled as he swept a fallen curl from her forehead, tucking it behind her ear; much like I used to do with Bella. I looked to Bella, and she stared in confusion.
"Well…" she hissed.
"He thinks he's lucky to be with her; he thinks she's beautiful." I frowned at the statement; this was the second time we had spied on him, hoping that he would reveal ulterior motives that were worthy of physical harm; delivered from either of us.
"Damn," Bella breathed as she reclaimed her seat.
"Yeah." I agreed. How can you seek out revenge on the boy dating your daughter, when his intentions are pure? I was still searching for an answer; one that would hopefully come sooner than later.