Edward POV

"WAKE UP! SANTA CAME!" Alice screamed as she jumped onto my bed. My eyes flew open, and I looked over at the clock.

"Alice!" I groaned. "It's 7:30! Can't we sleep a bit?"

"No!" She shrieked, like my words were a crime. "The sky's awake. So I'm awake!"

"Isn't that a line from Frozen?" I questioned.

"Yep, Ana says it." She said with a giggle. "Besides, everyone else is awake!"

"SANTAAAAA!" we heard a deep voice yell. We looked over at my door and saw a flash of Emmett run past. We both laughed at our idiot older brother and I climbed out of bed.

"Good. Come ON!" she yelled, grabbing my hand and dragging me to the living room. Mom and Dad were sitting on the couch, both with bags under their eyes, coffee in their hands, and smiles on their lips. Emmett then was sitting on the floor next to the tree, bouncing up and down. Alice joined him and I sat down on one of the chairs.

"Merry Christmas Honey." My mom said. I smiled at her.

"Merry Christmas Mom and Dad."

"Okay, first present!" Alice announced. She pulled one out from under the tree and read the tag. "Emmett, this is for you."

"OH YAY!" Emmett cheered. We all laughed as he tore it open, finding a few xbox games. "Sweeeeeeeet."

"Okay." Alice giggled, grabbing another. "Oh, me!" she said smiling. She unwrapped it to find new boots, to which she gently touched. "These are the new Steve Maddens! Just what I wanted OH MY GOD!" she cheered.

"Boots. Boooooooring. Next!" Emmett said, grabbing the next gift. "Edward." He said, tossing me a small box. I opened it, finding a new tuner.

"Oh cool, for my piano." I smiled at my parents. The rest of the morning went the same way, until each of us had opened everything.

"I love it all thank you guys so much!" Alice said, running towards mom and dad and jumping on top of them.

"We're glad you like everything. We love our gifts too." My dad said smiling.

"Okay, clean this all up and get ready. I told Charlie and Renee to come over early, I don't want them to be alone." Mom said, standing up and walking to the kitchen. We all began to throw all the ripped up paper away and carry our stuff to our rooms. I put everything away where I wanted it, then grabbed a towel and hopped in the shower. My head was literally spinning. It was a nice morning. For the first time since Bella has been gone, I was genuinely happy. It felt normal, like nothing had happened and nothing was wrong. It wasn't until my mom mentioned Charlie and Renee that I remembered. It was sad. We were all going to be here, together, enjoying our holiday. But Bella, who knows where she was, or what her day would consist of. The thought killed me, and I had to force myself to leave the hot shower. I towel dried my hair, trying to thing of anything else, and went back into my room. I laughed to see clothes laid out on my bed, but I changed into them anyway, and left my room to the sound of laughter in the living room. When I walked in I saw not only were Charlie and Renee here, but so were Rose, Jasper, and their parents.

"And so he finally emerges from his cave." Rosalie said upon sight of me. I was greeted with a chorus of 'Hellos' and 'Merry Christmas'.

"Hi everyone. Merry Christmas." I said, joining Rose and Emmett on one of the couches. The group of us sat there and talked, exchanging stories and trying to distract ourselves from the pain of the first Christmas without her. Finally, I couldn't take another moment, and I left the main area and went back to my room for a breather. I sat on my bed once I got there, and picked up the picture from my bedside table. It was a lovely picture of Bella and I as we left for our first date. Alice had snapped the picture without us knowing. The photo was of me smiling at Bella, in awe of her beauty. She then, being Bella, was blushing and looking at her feet. I smiled, as I did every time i thought about that night. Just then though, a knock sounded on my door. I looked up.

"Come in." I said, placing the picture back. The door opened to reveal Renee. She smiled a small grin, and came over and sat next to me on my bed, grabbing my hand and holding it.

"Oh Edward." She said. I looked at her. "I just wanted to say thank you."

"Thank you for what?" I asked, confused.

"Thank you for loving Bella." She said, her eyes watering. "It's been a rough year, losing her. And I know that you are right up there with Charlie and I. We loved her more than anything, and we're not giving up until we get her back again. And I wanted to say thank you because I know you are thinking the exact same way."

"Yeah." I nodded, completely agreeing with her.

"Oh I remember when you guys were little." She said, then she laughed. "There was one day when your mom had to take Emmett to an appointment or something and so she dropped you and Alice off at our house. You guys were, oh I don't know, maybe about 4 or 5? I was cleaning and you were playing in the living room and you guys were being so obnoxious that I couldn't take it so I made you all sit down at the table and I gave you each a popsicle to shut you up. Heaven knows why I thought giving you sugar was a good idea." she laughed again, and I laughed with her. "Anyway, Alice took a lick of her popsicle and didn't like the flavor or something I don't know, so Bella switched with her. So they switched and everything was fine, until Bella being Bella dropped hers. She was all upset, and you just handed your popsicle to her. You didn't ask for another, you just wanted her to be happy. It was the cutest thing. I knew then that you two had a special bond. And me, being a hopeless romantic, hoped that maybe someday you would love her. And it happened. I'm just sorry it was cut so short."

"Yeah, me too." I said. I remembered the story she had told. I had always thought Bella was the most beautiful thing in the world. I had always loved her. Even then.

"We will find her. I don't know when. I don't know how. But we're not giving up." She whispered. I squeezed her hand as tears fell, and I tried not to cry. I loved Renee, she was like a second mother to me, and I hated to see her upset. But I understood her pain. The two of us just sat there, and I let her cry. Finally after many tears she was able to wipe them away and stand up with a smile.

"I have something for you." She said, handing me a small box she pulled from her pocket. I looked at her in confusion, but opened it. Inside I saw a small charm of angel wings. I immediately recognized it as the necklace Bella always wore.

"Thank you." I said, smiling.

"She wore it all the time and it was so dirty, so we were having the metal cleaned when it happened. I picked it up afterwards and it hurt to look at so its just been sitting on her dresser. I figured someone ought to find use with it. I put it on a longer chain though, more mainly." she said with a wink. I stood any hugged her and she left my room. I gently picked up the necklace and put it around my neck. As I felt it hanging from me, I felt something else as well. That was exactly the moment I knew that we were going to get Bella back. She was going to come home.

Bella POV

"Edward." I said with a smile, as I fell into his arms. It was Christmas, and my parents and I had just arrived at the Cullen's house as we did every year. I said hello to everyone, please where I was wrapped in his arms.

"I have a present for you Bella." Edward said, handing me a small box. I opened it up to see a beautiful pair of pearl earrings. They were breathtaking.

"I love them, thank you." I said, smiling and looking up into his gorgeous green eyes, I saw two blue ones. James.

"Merry Christmas gorgeous." He said with a cruel smile, as he crushed his lips to mine and the Cullen house disappeared.

I sat up straight in bed, waking up from my dream. From my nightmare. I looked around the room. I was alone, meaning James was already awake. I was thankful for this as it gave me alone time to collect my thoughts. It was Christmas today. I wondered what was going on back home. I hoped that everyone would still gather together like always and have a good time. I didn't want their holiday to be ruined with thoughts of me. I sighed, as I knew it would be, especially for Edward, and climbed out of bed. I slowly walked over to the window and my breath caught in my throat. There was a perfect layer of crystal white snow, not touched yet. It was beautiful, and curiously peaceful, even though I was where I was. I smiled at the beauty of the world, happy to know that even in this hellhole beauty still existed somewhere out there. It was a happy thought. I quickly got ready, dressing nicely and brushing through my hair, and finally I emerged from the bedroom James and I shared. I walked out into the living room to find James and Laurent sitting on the couch, watching some basketball game. They both looked up at me.

"Claire." James said with a smile, patting the seat next to him. I walked around Laurent to sit next to James, where he lazily draped his arm across my shoulders. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas." I squeaked out. He seemed to be in a very good mood, something for which i was wary. He turned back to the game and we sat there in silence till the end. Finally, once it finished, James turned to me again.

"I have your present." James said. I gulped, presents weren't good, cause I knew he would want something in return. However, he handed me a small box. It wasn't wrapped, and I didn't expect it to be. I was shaking, as this was all to similar to the nightmare that woke me. I opened to box and gasped. Instead of pearl earrings, there was a diamond ring. I looked up at James.

"Um..?"

"Claire." he smiled, taking my hand. "Be my wife." I stared at him. I couldn't believe this was happening. This was the moment in life that every girl was waiting for, even me. It was supposed to be special, as it would come from a man you couldn't live without, something James was not. It was supposed to be romantic, sweet words said that made you fall even more in love, but James' proposal sounded like an order. It was supposed to be Edward. Even though I knew all these things, I also knew that I had no choice in what my answer would be.

"Yeah." I whispered. He smiled, but it wasn't happy. It was more the smile of a man that won a terrific prize. He pulled me to him and crushed his lips to mine in a splendid kiss. As he kissed me however, it finally hit me that I would be stuck here forever, and this thought killed whatever spirit I had left in me.

A/n: HEY LOVES! sorry this chapter is short but it actually was just Christmas so as you can imagine I've been busy. Anyway I hope you enjoyed it and I promise to update soon. I have a lot of plans for this story to continue and I cannot wait for you all to read them! love you all and HAPPY HOLLA DAYZ! review please and thank you!(:

~Rosalie3