Bella's POV

May, 2001

The past two years of my life have been the best I could have imagined. Edward and I had become a couple and spent as much time together as possible. We were joined by our friends Jessica, Laurent, and others from school on outings to the bowling alley, movies and group dinners. Edward and I had plenty of time to ourselves, and exploring our new relationship was exciting. We loved each other, we made each other happy. I couldn't believe that he was actually my boyfriend. I had always been drawn to Edward, but now to tell him that I loved him, to spend as much time with him as I could, was amazing. It felt right, and I saw a future with Edward. I saw him and I being together forever.

I continued to work at the deli throughout high school, and my housework duties continued, but I didn't agonize over them as I had once done. My father was withdrawn, quiet, and rarely spoke more than a few sentences at a time to Rosalie or myself. He had always been quiet but since the incident with Nadine and her departure, he had been more reserved. I got to the point that I figured if something dire needed to be done around the house when I wasn't there, either him or Rosalie could figure it out.

The months after my abortion were difficult. It took me awhile to even say the word abortion. However, I knew I had made the right choice. Burdening Charlie with raising my sister and myself along with his grandchild was not something that I envisioned going well.

Edward was supportive of the whole ordeal. He asked me several times in the weeks afterward if I wanted to talk about it. I really didn't, I just more or less wanted to be comforted. So he would hold me as I silently let my thoughts take me over, with no sense of time. He didn't pressure me to feel like I needed to speak or entertain him in anyway, and I loved him all the more for that.

Edward ended up taking a job for a mechanic at the bowling alley. It fit, since he was there so much anyway. Emmett was at the bowling alley with him most days now and Edward was showing him the ropes. Rosalie always wanted me to take her to the bowling alley when she knew that Emmett would be there. She had a huge crush on him but begged me not to tell him or Edward. I kept her secret although Edward had told me about how Emmett went to greater lengths to pay attention to how he looked when he knew he was going somewhere that Rosalie would be. We knew these two had a puppy love going on, but they danced around it and didn't act on it.

Our senior trip was an overnight camping trip for a weekend out at La Push. It had been a few years since I had been to La Push and the weather was supposed to be phenomenal for this time of year, so I was really excited about the trip. However, it came to the point where we found out that due to budget cuts, the school couldn't get together the funds to sponsor the trip. They also couldn't get enough chaperones to commit to the trip for an entire weekend. Roughly half the senior class was already 18 so legally we didn't need chaperones. This became a huge topic at school, with students protesting at lunch time and rallies being held to champion the resources for the trip. Slogans were formed like "Class of 2001 – The ONLY Forks Graduating Class to NOT get a Senior Trip".

The final rally involved the parents. It seemed a pretty even split with parents supporting the kids going on the trip alone without chaperones, but the school made it clear that if that happened, they would not sponsor the trip in anyway. Mike Newton's mom stood up and said: "You already aren't sponsoring it, due to the budget cuts. You might as well go ahead and let us reserve the campground and each kid can be responsible for his or her supplies. The school doesn't have to do anything at all, but these kids will get a Senior Trip."

This ultimately ended up being the solution, and Edward and I each told our parents that we were going on the school trip. Since it was with a bunch of classmates, and there were still signs up all over town protesting the school's lack of support, both of our parents knew the situation and didn't ask a lot of questions. This included the fact that they didn't ask if it would ultimately be chaperoned, and we didn't volunteer the information.

Newton's Outfitters Store saw the most business that month than it had in the past year combined. Every senior at Forks High was in there purchasing tents, sleeping bags, coolers, hiking boots, etc. They were issuing rainchecks for certain items and placing more orders for merchandise. Mrs. Newton was ecstatic and said that it must have been her declaration in the last rally that helped make all of this possible.

Edward and I planned our trip carefully. We planned to stay together in the same tent, and that made me a little nervous. However, there was no one I'd rather share a tent with. I had slept in front of Edward before and I had seen him doze off as well, but this would be sleeping an entire night next to each other.

Edward and I split the cost of an air mattress. I don't have a problem with sleeping outdoors, but there was no way I was going to sleep on the hard ground. I found an old tent of Charlie's and set it up in our backyard one evening so that I could make sure it had all of the parts and didn't have any holes. I also found a dusty old sleeping bag, which I washed, and then subsequently ruined, in the dryer. So back to Newton's Outfitters for a new one.

The agreement was that each person would be responsible for their own food for the trip. Since Edward and I were considering ourselves one entity, we went ahead and packed one large cooler of food and drinks for the two of us. Some hiking boots, clothes, and books rounded out our possessions. We packed up Edward's small grey car with our gear and headed out to La Push on Friday afternoon of the camping weekend.

By the time we got out to the campground, there were many other students already there, some with tents set up, and others just arriving. We decided to set up our tent first, and once that was up, we laid out our air mattress and sleeping bags and arranged our duffel bags on the sides of the tent.

The tent wasn't large, but it was tall enough for both of us to lay out our sleeping bags and we could both stand up in it. As we tossed the last of our belongings into the tent, I couldn't help but look at Edward. He was looking around at our possessions, seeming pleased with getting everything set up. He noticed me looking at him and raised an eyebrow at me.

I couldn't speak at that moment, I looked at him, and thought about spending the night with him, alone. With no chaperones. I loved Edward, and I was ready to take our relationship to the next level. We hadn't exactly had conversations about having sex, so I wasn't sure where Edward stood on the issue. A few times, I had wanted to ask him flat out if he wanted to have sex with me, but I felt silly saying the words, and truthfully, I was a little afraid of his answer.

Would Edward want me in that way knowing that I had been raped?

I shuddered at the thought, and it caused Edward to have concern for me.

"Bella, please. What's going through your head?" He asked, clearly worried about me.

"It's nothing, Edward," I told him, averting my eyes.

He didn't exactly believe me, and jumped to his own conclusions.

"Bella, if you'll feel uncomfortable spending the night with me, you don't have to. We can swap tents with someone else. A guy can spend the night in here with me and you could spend the night with Jessica or something."

"That's not what I'm worried about, Edward. Besides, Jessica is staying with Laurent, remember?" They had more than taken their relationship to that level last year.

"I'm just saying, this isn't set in stone. Just because our stuff is all laid out doesn't mean we actually have to stay in here together. I don't want to push you into anything you don't want to do."

"Edward, I am thinking about spending the night with you in here, but the reason I am thinking about it is not because it makes me uncomfortable. Quite the opposite, actually," I finished quietly.

Both of his eyebrows shot up this time, and he didn't press me further. I would have elaborated, but I didn't know how to express the words.

I didn't know how to tell him that I wanted him.

Oh, I knew that a large part of this feeling was the fact that I was eighteen years old and hormones were probably raging through my body. But mostly, I just wanted Edward. He had grown more and more handsome these past two years. His coppery hair was wavy and he constantly ran his fingers through it. His green eyes were piercing, his lean muscles tightened up the more he performed his mechanical duties at the bowling alley and he had also taken to running lately, keeping his physique in top shape.

I knew my body had changed as well. I had quit growing in height around the eighth grade, so 5'2" was probably going to be it for me. However my breasts had become shapelier and my hips wider and I was thankful that my waist stayed slim.

And while I knew Edward cared for me, and told me he loved me all the time, I couldn't help but wonder if he found me attractive. Attractive enough to want to give himself to me that way.

I knew that Edward was a virgin, and that made me secretly happy in a way. I might get to be his first.

If he wanted me.

"Yo, Edward! You guys all set up in there?" came Laurent's booming voice.

"Yeah, man! How about you?" Edward replied as he stepped out of the tent.

I lost any hope of continuing our conversation then. I followed Edward out of the tent and went to go find Jessica.

It was a few hours before I saw Edward again. The guys trekked down to the lake and had been casting fishing poles. They didn't catch much so the few fish they bothered to cook were gone quickly. I took out two turkey burger patties from our cooler and grilled those on one of the barbeque pits. Edward came up to me as I was flipping the patties.

"Hey love – what have you got going on?" He asked as he flopped down on the picnic bench and grabbed a handful of barbeque chips.

"I am grilling these turkey burgers for us. Do you want tomatoes on yours?"

"Please. I'll grab it from the cooler."

We finished preparing our meal then sat together on the bench to eat it. Edward told me about the fishing expedition. I told him that we girls mostly sat around and talked about boys. He laughed when I told him Jessica's story about how Laurent drooled in his sleep.

Just then, I saw a loud truck with rap music vibrating out of the windows. Edward turned around and followed my gaze and we saw James Smith get out of the cab.

"Well ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, it appears that this party needs to get started! We don't have a no chaperone weekend for nothing!" yelled James.