*A/N: Sorry for the wait. I've been busy and lazy. Feel free to throw things at me.
Thank you for the feedback and reviews. There are no words to describe how good I feel when you guys review and add me as an alert.
I kind of want your opinions. I was thinking about the way I want the story to end and i was wondering if I should end it at the Prom and have an epilogue or end it at graduation and maybe have an epilogue. Tell me please because I really want your opinions.
Thanks to my awesome Beta in the hallway with jeans who managed to put up with my laziness.
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ENJOY
Just as they had promised Alice, Jasper, Emmett and Rose came back in the morning to help me get home. Charlie had to rush off earlier because of a supposed 'animal' attack on campers in the further west and he needed to go check it out. I told him it was fine and to not worry about me but with Charlie that was impossible.
I cringed as Rose helped me off the bed and into the wheelchair that the kind nurses had brought out for me.
"Do I have to use this thing?" I asked disdainfully, giving it my best look of disgust.
"You'll only be in it so we can take you to the car." replied Rose.
I waved to all the nurses as Rose wheeled me towards the parking lot, everyone else trailing behind. The ones I knew from previous experiences called out 'See ya later Bella' or 'Get better.'
Jasper and Emmett helped me into the car while Alice went to take the wheelchair back.I stared silently out the window as Emmett sped home. I contemplated my predicament, and I was just itching to pick up my guitar and finish my song. We pulled up into the Cullen's garage and Emmett helped me out of the car again. I stumbled a little at first without the wheelchair but once I had my balance, my leg didn't hurt as much.
Carlisle had insisted I use crutches for two weeks. I wholeheartedly refused and managed to win my argument by pointing out the fact that they would probably do me more harm than good. With my luck, I would trip over them and end up breaking something.
I leaned on Emmett heavily as we made our way across the front yard of the two houses and up my porch where Jasper stretched up to reach the spare key atop the ledge of the doorframe. They lead me to the kitchen where I took a seat on the closest stool.
"Emmett, can you pass me that bag of potatoes?" I asked, pointing towards the bottom of the open food pantry. "I need to get dinner started for Charlie."
Emmett walked to the other side of the Kitchen Island I was resting my head on and crossed his arms, scowling down at me.
"Do you honestly think we're going to let you cook dinner in your condition?" He moved to block me as I tried to get up.
"But I need to get Charlie's dinner." I whined childishly.
"You and Charlie are coming over for dinner tonight." Emmett announced still not moving out of my way.
"But I don't want to be a hassle." I said, feeling guilty that Esme would have to cook extra.
"No hassle." explained Emmett shaking his head vigorously, "Jazz and Rosie are coming too."
"You're coming Bella, no buts!" shouted Alice from the living room.
I sighed in defeat. "Do you mind if I just hang around your house till dinner time then? I don't feel like being here by myself."
"Bella, you practically live at our house anyway." Emmett laughed, smiling and ducking his head as I reached out and tried to hit him.
"Hey! I resent that." I exclaimed, poking my tongue out and walking slowly towards the stairs.
"Where you going? Aren't you coming to our house?" boomed Emmett, still standing in the kitchen.
"I need to get changed. These clothes don't fit well." Charlie, not being in my closet since I was 10, had grabbed a pair of old jeans and a shirt for me to wear from the hospital that hadn't been worn since I was 15. To say they were tight was a serious understatement.
"Can I help?" called Alice from the couch, her and Jasper had plopped themselves down after helping me.
"No Alice." I called behind my back, taking the stairs one at a time and wincing slightly as my tight jeans scraped against the bandage.
It took me longer than I expected to get ready, every time I tried to take my jeans off it would hurt so bad that I would have to sit down until the pain subsided. After an hour, I finally managed to put on my more comfortable jeans and to appease Alice a floaty light blue chiffon top. I pulled my hair into a messy bun, I couldn't really be bothered to do more than that.
I walked back down the stairs, surprised to see everyone sitting in the exact same spots as when I had gone to get changed. Emmett however had migrated to the recliner and was currently engrossed in the football.
"About time Bella. You were up there for ages. I was just going to come up to see if you were still alive." Alice laughed, looking me up and down and giving me an approving nod. Thank God. I was not in the mood for Bella Barbie today.
"Leave the cripple alone." I pouted, crossing my arms.
"Can we go now?" whined Emmett, his eyes not leaving the TV, "I'm in the mood for a game of pool."
"Okay, let me just grab my keys." I walked toward the kitchen and grabbed my keys of the bench. As I made my way back, I miscalculated the distance between my foot and the coffee table. I would've fallen flat on my face if I hadn't been held by a strong set of arms.
"Thanks Emmett." I mumbled, annoyed at my lack of equilibrium.
"No problem Bells. Eddie wouldn't like you taking another trip to the hospital." I rolled my eyes, and stalked towards the front door.
"He is NOT my keeper." I huffed, agitated at what Emmett was implying. I could take care of myself. Mostly.
"Uh-huh." Rose snorted, giving me a funny look. I scowled and stalked out of the door, letting the others follow behind me. I slowed down a little as we were crossing the front yard and fell into step with Alice and Jasper.
"Emmett was only kidding." Jasper chuckled. I was still wearing my angry face.
"I know. But I'm hoping if he thinks I'm upset he'll let me win." I smirked. Emmett had a weakness when it came to me, I was his second little sis, and when I was devious, I could get him to do anything I wanted.
"Very smart." Jasper smiled knowingly.
As we stepped into the Cullen house, I only had the chance to close the door behind me when I was engulfed in a very tight hug. When I noticed who it was, I hugged back just as fiercely. She pulled back and appraised me with a worried expression.
"Bella, you look too thin." Esme said crossly, "Has Charlie been feeding you?"
"Esme, you know I'm the one who cooks for Charlie." I laughed, as loving as Esme was; she had a tendency to say exactly what was on her mind. A trait Alice had picked up as well.
Esme pulled me into another hug. "Don't do that to me again." She sniffled against my shoulder. "I was worried sick when Carlisle called me."
She released me and pointed her finger at me. "No more sport for you missy." She scowled.
"Yes, Mum." I replied giving her a kiss on the cheek.
She beamed at that. She really was a mum to me.
"Come on Bella," Alice commanded pulling heavily on my arm, "We have to talk."
I gulped and grimaced. I knew what was coming. Intervention time.
She led me to her room and sat me down on one of her beanbags. Alice's room was definitely one of my favourites in the Cullen house. It had a sort of modern, gothic touch to it. Medieval but highly stylish. My favourite aspect of the bedroom was a huge picture frame in the centre of the wall above her bed filled with hundreds of pictures of the six of us.
Rose came and sat on her bed while Alice took the chair from under the desk and sat in between us.
"Spill." demanded Alice, glaring threateningly at me.
"About what?" I squeaked.
"Flowers." She said.
I took a deep breath and told them everything that had happened after everyone had left.
"Jacob, really?" pouted Alice, "I was hoping they'd be from Edward."
"Alice, why would Edward bring me flowers?" I questioned, "And plus, Edward knows my favourite flower."
"I know." She pouted.
"There's nothing wrong with Jacob, he's nice." I reminded her.
"I know but it wouldn't hurt to get that shaggy mane of his chopped. He looks like a dog." She insisted.
"It's perfect!" Rose urged, grinning evilly, "We can use Jacob to make Edward jealous."
"I don't know," I said, shaking my head, "I feel kind of bad. I don't want to hurt his feelings or anything."
"Bella...."
"Yes?"
"Do you like Edward?"
"Yes." I whispered.
"Really like Edward?" Rose asked.
"Yes!" I shrieked, blushing profusely.
"Then we need to do something about it." She concluded, her mind made up.
Just as I was about to respond, a knock on the door interrupted our planning and a head popped in.
"You girls ready to get smashed?"
"Emmett!" Esme scolded from downstairs.
"I didn't mean it like that Mum, honest." Emmett protested, retreating from the doorway and making his way down the stairs to apologize to Esme.
We chuckled and stretched, Rose and Alice checking their reflection in the mirror before walking out of the door. I couldn't be bothered to see what I looked like. I didn't think my reflection had miraculously changed in the last hour or so.
We joined Jasper and Emmett down in the den where the pool table and huge plasma screen TV were situated. This room had been the place where many of our sleepovers had been held, so many memories.
Emmett set the game up and handed everyone their cue sticks. Something felt wrong, out of place.
"Where's Edward?" I asked, looking around the big room in case I missed him.
Emmett shrugged, "He said he had some things he had to take care of."
I shook my head. I did not want to know where he was. I had a sneaking suspicion Tanya had something to do with it.
As if on cue, we heard a loud 'Edward!' from the kitchen. Esme was known for her exuberance. Like mother like daughter.
"Why don't we go see if little Eddie wants to play?" Emmett suggested, leaning his cue stick on the frame of the pool table. We followed suit and trudged back up the stairs to say hello to Edward.
To my surprise and disgust, Edward was not alone. Standing next to him, arms wrapped tightly around his waist was none other than Tanya Denali.
Joy.
I could see Esme making small talk with Tanya, as Edward was unsuccessfully trying to escape Tanya's grasp. Tanya was not exactly Esme's favourite person. When Edward had first started dating Tanya, Esme had confided in me that there was something about Tanya that rubbed her the wrong way. I totally agreed.
I tried to plaster a smile on my face as Edward finally managed to extract himself from Tanya's clingy arms and made his way over to the five of us.
"How's your leg Bella?" He asked.
"Fine." I replied, not missing the death glares both Rose and Emmett were shooting Tanya.
"You drowsy from the pain killers?"
"Not as much." I smiled, smugness radiating off me as I saw the look Tanya was giving me. She was not in the good books with Edward at all, that much was clear.
"You kids go play." Esme interrupted us, motioning with her hands for us to move, "Dinner will be ready in a couple of hours."
We made our way back down to the pool table and picked up our cue sticks from where we had left them. We didn't bother asking Tanya if she wanted to play, from previous experience she always claimed she didn't want to intrude. In Tanya words, she wanted to check out her boyfriends butt every time he leaned over to line up a shot. I rolled my eyes inwardly.
We played a few rounds and I surprisingly managed to win one, even with Tanya 'accidentally' bumping into me a few times.
After Rose won for the third time we decided to call it quits, instead opting to sit around the TV and watch a movie. Alice picked 'Prom Night' and we made ourselves comfortable. Tanya was sitting on the couch with the guys and Rose. Alice and I snuggled with the big pillows on the floor. As the opening credits rolled, Alice and Rose began whispering and sneaking glances at me and Edward which immediately began to put me on edge. I wondered what they had planned.
Alice cleared her throat and gestured for me to lean forward so she could whisper something in my ear.
"Play along." She whispered cryptically.
I shot her a confused look and she put her fingers to her lips. Her and Rose started giggling and she gestured for me to do the same. I leaned closer to them and pushed my glasses up to the bridge of my nose as we continued to giggle.
"What are you girls giggling about?" complained Emmett, "I'm trying to watch the movie."
"Oh nothing." Rose replied, smirking.
"Well now I can't watch the movie. You've got me interested." pouted Emmett.
"Oh," Alice said offhandedly, "Just discussing what Bella should wear for her date with Jacob."
"WHAT?" The three boys yelled in unison.
"If he touches you, I'm gonna kill him." growled Emmett, cracking his knuckles.
"Same here." agreed Jasper, nodding his head.
Edward was just sitting there, a shocked expression frozen on his face.
"Is he ok?" I asked Emmett, shooting Edward a worried glance.
"Eddie? You in there?" Emmett asked, punching him in the shoulder, causing Edward to snap out of his trance.
"Black? You can't be serious?" He scoffed, thinking I was joking.
"100 percent serious." I said.
"Jacob Black? Surely there's someone else?" He pleaded. There was. But how was he to know that? I narrowed my eyes.
"Are you trying to tell me who I can date, Edward Anthony Cullen?" I asked, peeved that he was so surprised. Am I that much of a guy repellent?
"No..." He stammered, trying to correct himself.
"How'd you manage that?" scoffed Tanya, "What did you do? Pay him?"
That stung.
"Bite me Tanya." I glared, rolling my eyes and turning back towards the screen.
I looked over at Rose and Alice and they silently nodded their heads. Phase 1-make Edward jealous, complete. My ego was a bit bruised in the process though.
I knew Tanya would pay though, I didn't know how or when but I would get her back. And that was a promise.
After that outburst, everyone remained silent and we continued watching the movie.
A short time after, Esme called us up for dinner.
Charlie and Carlisle had arrived from work and were sitting on the couch in the living room, glued to the sports channel.
"Hey Bells, feeling better?" Inquired Charlie, as I leaned down to give him a peck on the cheek.
"Yeah, it's not hurting as much." Which was true, worrying about what Edward has said had caused me to completely forget about my leg.
I leaned over to give Carlisle a hug as well. "Take two Tylenol before you go to bed Bella." He instructed, "It's going to hurt a whole lot more tomorrow."
"Great" I replied sarcastically.
"Everyone, dinners on the table." called Esme from the dining room. It was unbelievable how big the Cullen's house was. The Cullen's were loaded but they didn't flaunt it. Their cars and clothes were the only thing that alerted others of their wealth, they took it in stride.
"This looks delicious Esme." Charlie said as everyone sat down and begun to eat.
"So Bella," Carlisle said, "Do you have any idea of what you want to do in college?"
Yes, I did. But Charlie didn't approve. He thought there was much better careers out there than becoming a writer, but ever since I was a little girl, curled up under the covers my nose buried in a book, I wanted to become a novelist.
"Not too sure about that." I replied, Edward and I exchanging glances when I said it. He knew what Charlie was like. I had told Edward everything. We had it all organised before we started high school. The six of us would go to Dartmouth and study different fields. Alice would major in Fashion and design, Emmett wasn't quite sure but he had a good idea it would be something to do with sports, Jasper would major in psychology (he was always in touch with other people's feelings and emotions), Rose would major in Arts (she wanted to become a mechanic and an interior designer and was determined to do both), Edward would do science and pre-med and I would do English literature and maybe teaching. I had been saving since I was 12 but luckily, mum's side were quite wealthy and since mum didn't have any other family when she died most of her fortune was left to me, which I could touch when I turned 18 in September.
Carlisle nodded and turned to Tanya, asking her the same question too be polite.
"I would like to be a model," She said, flipping her hair, "My mum always told me I have natural beauty that can't be replaced."
On my right side Rose was silently laughing, trying to remain unnoticed while Edward had his head in his hands, probably in embarrassment. Even Carlisle and Esme were trying to keep their humour at bay, to be polite.
"I don't understand why Edward would want to be a doctor." Tanya continued snidely.
"Oh. No offense Dr Cullen." Tanya added, smiling in a way thatwas suppose to be charming, but only made her features twist in an ugly way.
"I've always thought Edward would make an excellent lawyer." She smiled again looking at Edward adoringly.
Blech. Someone get me a bucket. I felt nauseated just watching her.
"Eddie's always so verbal." She said patting his arm. I choked on the food that I was currently chewing. I wasn't the only one who caught her double meaning. Both Rose and Alice were looking at Tanya in disgust, Jasper was shifting from side to side looking really uncomfortable and Emmett looked as if he wanted to laugh and rudely bite back at the same time.
My eyes burned as I tried to stop the coughing fit, the blush rising to my cheeks as everyone turned to look at me. Alice was smirking, trying to hold back her laughter as she patted me on the back as hard as she could.
If looks could kill was an understatement to the glares Rose was shooting Tanya while Edward had his attention towards me. As the coughing calmed down I made a slight movement with my head, code to Rose and Alice to get the hell out of here.
I excused myself, claiming to need a glass of water and rushed out of my chair and up the stairs to Alice's room. A short time later I was joined by Alice and Rose who upon shutting the door burst into fits of giggles. They're laughing was contagious and I joined in, laughing so hard there was tears in our eyes.
Tanya could try her hardest at denying it, but what the three of us overheard recently from eavesdropping on the boys was that Tanya wouldn't be getting "any" anytime soon.
Charlie and I stayed for dessert, and I offered, to no avail, to help Esme do the washing up.
"Nonsense," She insisted shaking her head, "That's what a dishwasher's for."
I looked at my watch and noticed the time. It was getting late and my leg was beginning to hurt again.
I said my goodbyes to everyone, giving a curt nod to Tanya when Alice pulled me aside.
"Dad, you go. I'll be there in a minute." I advised Charlie. He nodded and kissed Esme on the cheek and shook Carlisle's hand in thanks.
"Bye Chief Swan" hollered Emmett, Charlie had a soft spot for all the Cullen kid's, and Emmett truly liked him. Emmett also confided into me that it was helpful to be friendly with the police, especially if you were the type to get into trouble like Emmett was.
Alice pulled me into the corner. "Talk to Jacob and make a date as soon as possible. We need to get this date over and done with so we can start phase 2."
"Phase two." I squeaked.
"Phase two." she repeated.
I gave everyone a hug and said my goodbyes.
"I'll walk you to your door Bella." Insisted Edward, ignoring the looks Tanya was giving him.
"Umm...OK." I replied.
We walked out the door and down the porch steps in silence.
" I'm really sorry about what I said earlier Bella." He said, "I hope you'll forgive me."
I was at a loss for words."
"Uhh...Sure."
"Good, I couldn't have my favourite girl angry at me, could I?"
I smiled inwardly at that. Tanya wasn't his favourite girl. I was.
We reached my porch, and he leaned over to kiss my cheek, causing my stomach to flutter and my pulse to quicken.
"By the way," he whispered before he left. "That colour looks lovely on you." He smiled his crooked grin and walked back towards his house.
I opened my door and walked into the house. Closing the door I leaned against it, breathing rapidly and inwardly squealing.
I was too far gone. Too late to turn back now.
*A/N: Sorry if this chapters a bit off. I'm not one hundred percent happy with it. I'm not sure why though. Maybe I'm just being picky. This is kinda a filler. Sorry guess i promise chapter seven will be huge! And drama filled.
Can we maybe get the reviews to 85? It might make me get the chapter up sooner. *hint *hint
Xx Lana