A/N: Glad to see no-one hated me too much after the last chapter!

I've decided that writing chapters upon chapters of basically the same thing would be monotonous so I skipped a couple of weeks in the last chapter and we're moving into October in this one (keep in mind that the faster the pace, the sooner most of you get what you want).

Remember, 14th August, go to The Twilight Awards (link's on my profile and some of the last chapters) to vote for this story.

Thanks to:

Xx EdwardLova xX

sovoyita (yay 'awesomeness' has returned)

kariepaige08

nicole036

Superhinata

Shining Eclipse

Aimee (lol STRAD/Clingfilm Fairy)

Luvntwilight

Lauren Indie

bloodredeclipse

TwilightLover15

ericca.xx

TwilightNerd

Shedemon01

lgr42293

waterdemon09

Sorry for not posting sooner, I had this written and ready three days ago and I sent it twice to Shining Eclipse, my new beta, but I never got it back so now I think my msn account is screwed up or she just hasn't gotten it yet…

Oct 8th

Bella Swan

Everyday since the first appointment, I always thought over what Carlisle had told me.

He explained to me about PTSD. How it affected people who have been in certain situations. How it could affect my daily life before all treatment was complete. When I could return to school…

I learnt that my earlier decision to not speak was actually caused by the disorder. Apparently it happened to many people who have suffered abuse or been in traumatic situations.

My treatment would kick off with sensory and stimuli treatments to help cure, or ease off, the threat of epileptic seizures. I was told that I wasn't suffering from epilepsy itself but I was prone to similar seizures.

After that treatment I would have to go in for some eye sensory treatment and counselling. Group therapy would follow once I was comfortable in social situations.

I knew that in my head I sounded blunt, serious and professional. I couldn't match emotions to events anymore. I knew that I should be upset about having this disorder, or at least relieved to know what was going on with me, but I felt numb, again.

Days would pass when I would barely crack a smile, laughter was rare. I hadn't cried since the day I woke up from the seizure. I tried talking to Carlisle about it and he told me that I would eventually 'feel' again in time, it had something to do with my brain excepting and processing what I had learned.

The only emotion I could feel was worry. I worried over the fact that I may not return to normal. I worried that I was being a burden. I worried that Charlie might hate me. I worried that Edward…

I couldn't understand what was happening with Edward. My every thought seemed to return to him in some way. When we were together the atmosphere was different, not uncomfortable but more awkward than before. I felt strange when I was around him. I was constantly worrying about my appearance and how I acted. I've never felt this way before in my life.

He seems to have changed around me since… I don't even know what to call it, since the thing almost happened. I always notice him staring at me. He always lets his hand linger on mine when he touches me, not that I mind, but I have noticed this more recently.

Unfortunately Charlie picked up on a lot of this also. My bedroom door has to be open at all times when we're upstairs. Edward has to stay in the sitting room downstairs while I'm changing or getting ready in the bathroom. Rules have been set in place that have never existed before. Edward is now referred to as 'that boy'.

Getting ready for my return to the Cullen's house, I smiled to myself when Charlie came upstairs on the pretence of checking my closet for a missing pair of socks. He made this a regular habit, making sure that Edward hadn't climbed through my window and was hiding in my room. I felt sorry for Edward, he had to make as much noise as possible downstairs to prove that he wasn't anywhere near me.

I was going back to the Cullen's house because I was starting the last stage of the sensory and stimuli treatments and Carlisle wanted me to try handling crowded situations again. We had planned to start off with going to the local diner and then, if I was okay with that, Edward and Alice were going to bring me up to Port Angeles to do some shopping.

I was against the shopping part but I was desperate to get back to normal life as soon as possible.

Charlie grumbled as he left my room, Edward had appeared in the doorway and proved that he was in fact downstairs and not hiding in the closet.

"You ready to go?" he asked, sitting on the edge of my bed.

I zipped my duffel bag and grabbed a small purse. "Yes."

We walked downstairs, and after saying goodbye to Charlie, I felt a little relieved to be away from his controlling attitude. Carlisle and Esme were so much more relaxed and trusting than Charlie, as proven by Emmett almost every weekday at four in the morning when he comes home from Rosalie's house and wakes everyone up.

"I'm so sorry about Charlie, I don't know why he's acting like this now," I said to Edward and he started the car.

"It's fine, he has every right to be concerned about you," he laughed.

The drive was quiet after that. We arrived at Edward's house quickly, mainly because if his reckless speed.

"It's good to have you here again, Bella," Esme gushed as we walked into the kitchen.

Alice was perched on a stool, engrossed in another fashion magazine. I avoided her gaze when she looked up at me, her eyes measuring me out for some dress or top. Emmett was sprawled on a couch in the sitting room, a can of soda in one hand and a giant bag of chips in the other.

"Woo! Touchdown!" he boomed as whoever was playing scored. The soda spilled in a large arc onto the carpet as he jumped up.

"Emmett! Look at the mess you made!" Esme scolded, running over to dab the puddle before it stained the carpet.

Edward laughed at his brother's display. I giggled meekly, knowing that I couldn't handle Emmett's annoyance as well as Edward.

"It's not my fault, the Coke wanted to party and the can was trying to smother it's freedom," he jumped onto the couch, the hand with the chips over his heart and the can held above his head, "We have to fight the can power, man!"

Edward burst into near hysterics. Even Alice was laughing. Esme smiled but her expression turned back to annoyance. "If you get any crushed chips or soda on my couch, I swear, I will take away your Jeep."

Emmett fell from his Brave-heart speech stance. "Not Gina. Anything but taking away my Gina," he cried.

Edward fell over laughing and Alice had trouble breathing.

"Gina?" she asked.

He looked at us as if we had asked the most stupid question ever thought of. With a huff, he hopped off the couch and stalked past us.

"I'll be in my room if anyone cares," he said, throwing his head back dramatically.

I laughed, he looked like a diva. Alice returned to her magazine and pouted.

"I'm the drama queen in this family and he's stealing my thunder," she whined, "Bella, help me get back my crown?" She had on her trademark puppy eyes. Thankfully Edward intervened.

"Sorry Alice, she has treatments all this week and then we have to take her to the diner next week and then to Port Angeles the week after," he told her, grabbing my hand and leading me from the kitchen.

I mouthed a thank you to him on our way upstairs. He seemed to be the only person capable of escaping Alice.

It was almost six o'clock now and the sun had begun to set, bathing the rooms in the back of the house a reddish colour. Edward's golden themed room combined with the setting sun created a shade close to the colour of his hair.

I smiled slightly when I squinted my eyes and the top of his head disappeared into the back wall.

"What are you smiling over?" Edward asked, slumping onto his bed.

I shrugged and climbed up beside him. "Nothing."

He turned around so he was lying on his back and stared up at the ceiling.

"It had to be something to have you grinning like that," he replied.

I could see the corners of his mouth lifting up and knew he was smirking. I lay back beside him.

"Yeah? And since when did you gain Access All Areas to my head?"

He turned and I was literally blown away by the sight of him in the light streaming through the window. I shook my head and realised he was saying something to me.

"…always had it. Bella?"

I snapped out of my daze before I started drooling.

"Sorry, what were you saying?"

Edward's faced went a little pink and he muttered, "nothing". He ran his hand through his hair, something he always did when he was debating something, and let out a deep breath.

"What are you thinking about?" I asked quietly.

"I… nothing," he replied.

Edward Cullen

"I… nothing."

What was I meant to say? I knew how she was looking at me. I looked at her exactly the same way. I wasn't an idiot, I picked up the signs before.

I couldn't exactly say 'I really like you and I know you like me.' I never regretted saying that I liked her before but considering what had happened, I could have picked a better time to do it. I was going to wait this time and let her be the one to say it.

Alice had been pestering me for the past couple of weeks. She wanted to push Bella into a relationship with me. I was not going to force Bella into something she didn't want, but Alice was determined to make us a couple before the Halloween dance.

"All you have to do is ask her out or even kiss her."

The pixie sat on the table, her hands in her lap and her legs crossed neatly.

"It's not like I'm asking you to marry her, Edward, although an ivory gown would look wonderful on her…"

I cringed at that memory. We were only seventeen and already my sister had our future planned out for us. I wouldn't be surprised if she had found a house for Emmett and Rose and a pension scheme for Dad.

I risked a glance at Bella. She mirrored me, lying on her back with one hand behind her head. I stared openly at the sight of her drenched in the evening glow, the light making he brown hair glint with gold and red. I quickly turned away when she glanced over at me. I was always stupid enough to get caught.

"What were you staring at?" she asked playfully, rolling onto her stomach and propping herself up on her elbows.

I decided to break the tense atmosphere Emmett-style. "You have a little something right here." I reached over and grabbed her waist, pulling her down. Sitting on my knees, I commenced tickling her.

"Edward!… Stop-stop it!" Bella laughed.

I had to chuckle at her. When we were little she used to always love this kind of thing, even though she pretended to be annoyed afterwards. Now, it was still the same.

She laughed and tried to roll away from me. I gripped her waist to keep her from getting too far and continued to tickle her. I felt something being wrapped around my waist and I realised she was trying to pull me off of her with her legs.

"What the hell is going on here?!"

I stopped tickling Bella and looked at the door. Emmett and Alice stood there giggling. Emmett had a look of mock disgust on his face.

"I expect this from me and Rose not Golden Boy and Bella," he struggled to talk with his shoulders shaking from laughter, "I'm ashamed, you could have at least told me what was going on. There's no need to hide things from me- Ow!"

Mom had come up behind him and smacked him hard across the head.

"What's going on… Oh," she smiled when she looked at us.

I looked down and realised I was still on top of Bella, her legs locked around my waist. Crap this did look bad.

"We'll leave you two alone," Alice giggled, closing the door behind her.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do," Emmett shouted. That list was very short to say the least.

I quickly rolled off Bella. Everything was quiet for a moment. I looked at her and noticed she was struggling to contain her laughter. One look at me caused us both to burst into hysterics.

"That was…awkward," she said blushing.

I felt the heat creep onto my face as well. "Um, yeah."

Everything went silent after that. I kept glancing at Bella, only to notice her looking away from me or staring at me as well.

I wondered when this was going to end or change. For the past couple of weeks we usually played this game, I would stare at her and catch her staring at me and vice versa.

"Movie time!" Emmett boomed from downstairs.

I got up off the bed and walked over to Bella's side before she had even turned over. I offered her my hand and she took it. I always liked how her hand fit in easily with mine.

We walked downstairs and were greeted by two pairs of overly curious eyes. Alice and Emmett stared at us intently as we sat down while Rose sat sipping an iced tea.

"Damn it, even their hair hasn't been messed up," Emmett muttered.

Rose choked on her drink. "Emmett!"

He looked at Alice. "Does this mean we're wrong or they're just really good at cleaning themselves up?"

Rose hit him over the head. "It means you have very sickening thoughts. This is Edward and Bella we're talking about," she spat at him, sending us an apologetic glance.

Alice looked disappointed. The doorbell rang and she jumped up. We all knew it had to be Jasper, she never answered the door to anyone but him. She walked back into the room with him in tow and put in the movie.

I wrapped my arm around Bella's shoulders, something I always done on a movie night. She settled into my side and, sure enough, was fast asleep before the first scene was finished.

Oct 9th

Bella Swan (Sorry for changing so much)

I was dragged reluctantly from an extremely deep sleep.

"Come on you two, get up already!"

Alice had not only graciously alerted us to her presence by yelling in our ears, but by also jumping repeatedly on the bed.

I cracked open an eye and was greeted with the sight of Edward hidden under several pillows. Alice was bouncing merrily at the end of the bed. Closing my eye again, I snuggled deeper under the sheets, silently chanting the mantra, "If I can't see you, you can't see me."

Alice's course changed slightly as she moved over to Edward's side of the bed. He groaned at first before bolting upright.

"Alice! You just crushed my leg!"

I mumbled at the sight of light seeping from the opening in the sheets above my head. Pulling the sheets firmly out of Edward's grasp, I made myself a comfortable, hidden den.

"You have to get ready soon because Bella's appointment's at ten," Alice chirped, finally giving up and jumping off the bed.

After the door closed, I relinquished the sheets and popped my head out. "What time is it now?" I asked yawning.

Edward grabbed the alarm clock beside the bed. "It's… no!" He hopped off the bed and darted into the bathroom.

I looked at the clock. It was half nine. Groaning loudly, I got out of the warm bed and made my way down to Alice's room to get ready.

She had taken the liberty of stocking her closet with numerous outfits for me. I barely used half of the stuff, choosing things that I would wear grudgingly or would be able to cover up with a large sweatshirt. It was definitely easier this way than being dragged shopping with Alice.

I was ready to leave after ten minutes and waited for Edward in the garage. He appeared from the door with a bagel stuffed in his mouth, trying to put his arms through a jacket.

"Do'h yuh dah lawf," he said through the bagel in his teeth. His hair was sticking up at all angles from his head, a sign of haphazard towel drying.

Once in the car, he started chewing his breakfast quickly and started up the engine. I was grateful for his speed today, we had less than ten minutes to do a twenty minute drive. We arrived at the hospital eight minutes after we left.

"If we didn't get stuck behind that truck then we would have gotten here five minutes earlier," Edward muttered as we walked to Carlisle's office.

Carlisle, thankfully, agreed to oversee all of my treatments and counselling. Today was my last sensory treatment. After this, the threat of seizures that were caused by stimuli would be minimal or non-existent. I was relieved that once we were finished here, I could dump my sunglasses. Wearing shades in a town were cloud cover is constant is like sticking a neon sign over your head, everyone stares.

The session today was longer than the others, lasting almost three hours.

"How do you feel?" Edward asked as we walked back outside.

"A bit drowsy and my eyes are a little sore," I replied. After being subjected to the numerous tests, I was glad that this part of my treatment was over. Now all I had left were some counselling sessions. Unfortunately I was told that the counselling part was the longest and the sessions could carry on for two months or four years. It all depended on the person and their past.

I pushed all thought of counselling to the back of my mind, determined to focus on the good points of today.

Carlisle told me that as soon as I was okay with crowded areas, I could return to school. Edward wasn't too happy about that. He told me he didn't want to go back to classes but I felt that he had another reason.

"But why though? I mean, you like school. You enjoy most of your classes."

He shrugged. We were sitting in the sitting room, watching Jasper and Emmett fight in some epic battle on their X-Box.

"I feel like school… isn't important anymore. I mean, I don't feel challenged in any way. I get A's in every class but I don't put in any effort. It's too easy, I need something more difficult."

Emmett dropped his controller.

"You think school is easy?" he asked.

Jasper punched the air in victory after slicing Emmett's character into pieces. Edward shrugged again. Emmett stared at him.

"I'm failing just about everything except for Gym, well I get have a C average in Chem.…" he grumbled.

Jasper snickered. "That's because you gave Ms Davis a Valentine's card back in your Freshman year."

"It was a prank okay, and some idiot wrote my name in it after I put it in her desk," Emmett mumbled, "Well, Eddie, if you think school's easy now, wait until you two go back."

Edward cringed at Emmett's name for him.

"What's happening when we go back?" I asked.

"Preparations for the Halloween dance," Alice sang as she waltzed into the room. She hopped onto Jasper's lap and stared at me, "We have to go dress shopping for you."

I shook my head. Alice glared.

"We. Are. Going. Dress. Shopping," she said menacingly.

My battle was a losing one but I was determined to fight until the end.

"But I can't go out yet."

Alice smirked. "Remember we're planning to go up to Port Angeles in two weeks?"

I was struck down. I only had one more excuse left.

"I don't have a date."

Alice stared at me. "Edward will take you. It's not like he's going to ask someone else and he's probably too embarrassed to ask you himself."

Emmett and Jasper chuckled.

"Look at him! He's blushing more than Bella!" Emmett shouted.

I looked over and saw that Edward was indeed bright red. He avoided everyone's gaze and looked intently at the floor. I was feeling extremely sorry for him.

"You don't have to take me if you don't want to," I mumbled.

He face turned a couple of shades darker. "No, I wanted to ask you but…" he mumbled.

"Alice got there first?" I laughed.

He nodded, smiling a little but not looking up.

"Come on Bella. I have to show you this dress that I spotted the other day in my magazine." Alice grabbed me and pulled me upstairs. We had recently found out that Alice, Edward, Emmett and Jasper could touch me safely. We hadn't yet tried Rosalie, Esme or Carlisle.

I heard Emmett roaring with laughter as we walked upstairs.

"Aw! Eddie's got a crush on Bella!"

A/N: Vote tomorrow!!

Now do you want Bella to go back to school next or shopping with Alice? Keep in mind that I have good ideas for both options but one you would probably enjoy more than the other… And no, there will be no repeat of the Port Angeles scene in Twilight if you pick the second option.