Hey all you spider monkeys!

I'm terribly sorry for the long wait. I've just been so busy. I'm just so darn popular! Tee hee. I'm going to try to update more often than I am now. Pinky swear.

I've been getting questions about a chapter in Edward's POV. Honestly, I'm not sure. I'm sure if I wrote it, it wouldn't be that good. When I started this story, I was intending to keep it like Twilight, and stick to Bella's POV. However, if I get some inspiration I may write a couple Edward POV's.

So…I have this theory. I predict that on August 2, 2008 Twilight FanFiction will shut down because all it's loyal writers will be too busy reading with something a little more important that will help us with our sanity…Muahaha!

I forgot my disclaimer in my last chapter. I hope no one sues me…Anywho, I do not own anything that would make you say "OMC!! THAT'S JUST LIKE TWILIGHT!"

Chapter 7: Oxygen

Bella – POV

I could feel the butterflies in my stomach fluttering all around. I felt so light and fluffy at this moment. I simply wanted to climb to my rooftop and scream a joyous squeal. Okay, now I may be over exaggerating. I would never do that when I am in my right mind.

It took so much power in me to be able to do what I did tonight. I was very well surprised with myself. I broke out of my shyness and showed him the Bella that is hiding inside me.

Could it really be a date? No, it could not. He did not even know anything about me. Why would he find me intriguing enough to want to see me outside his job? I am just plain old Bella. There is nothing special about me, from what I can tell anyways. But maybe there is something about me that he finds to be worth time of day.

My thoughts were scrambling all around the words he spoke earlier "…So do you want to meet me here at six? We could maybe just go for a walk or something…" I replayed that sentence repeatedly in my head.

However, the more I thought about it, the more vague it began to sound. "…a walk or something…" Could that possibly be the equivalent of a date? No, a date would be a night out to dinner or the movies. Maybe he could have been nervous. But what would he be nervous of? I do not look that intimidating, do I?

I sat before my keyboard. I set my fingers to the keys and randomly played. After a while, it started coming together. I pulled out my notebook with blank music sheet paper and wrote down the notes. He will hold the inspiration for my new song.

A few hours have gone by. I created a wonderful little melody. Every note fit his persona perfectly. Well, the personality of him that I have seen so far. The song was nowhere near finished but I had a nice start to it.

I searched my mind for the right words to suit the music…until I heard the phone ring.

I sighed and reluctantly trudged my way into the kitchen to retrieve the phone.

"Hello?" I asked, annoyed at the disturbance in my songwriting time.

"Miss Swan! I suggest you cut back that attitude when conversing with your boss!" Alice said in a mock angry tone.

I let out a small laugh. "Sorry Alice, I was in the middle of-"

"I wasn't finished!" She interrupted. "Bella, I need you to come by my house pronto. I having some stylists coming over tomorrow to help re-decorate my living room and bedroom and my house is a huge mess, and I know I wont be able to clean it by myself, because I know I will get sidetracked or the shopping network might be on the television and I might see a ring or a bracelet, or a necklace, or a brooch, or a hat that I might like then I wont be able to concentrate…" She continued on with every word being spilled out faster and faster than the one before. It was impossible for me to keep up.

"Alice!" I called out into the phone. She was silent almost immediately. "I'll be over in fifteen minutes. Just calm down, take a deep breath, drink a glass of water, and just chill out. Everything will be fine. It is not the end of the world." I said in my most soothing voice.

"You are my angel, Bella." Alice said whilst following my advice and taking deep breaths.

"Okay good. I'll see you soon."

"Bye Bella." Alice said before hanging up.

I smiled as I moved to hang up the phone. Wait a second…I forgot to tell her about Edward and how he saved me and everything.

"Alice wait! I want to tell you something!" I shouted into the phone. But it was too late, she had already hung up. I suppose she will have to wait for later to hear the story.

It was hard to remember where Alice exactly lived. I dug through my kitchen trying to find the napkin with her dry cleaning information on it. Once it was found, I ran out of my building as quickly as possible and hailed down a cab.

Arriving at her complex, I asked the front desk clerk for Alice's apartment number. I knocked on Alice's door and within five short seconds the door was thrown open to reveal an extremely stressed out Alice.

"Oh thank god! There is so much to do in so little time!" She grabbed my arm and dragged me into her apartment.

It was astounding. The room was fairly large. Possibly almost bigger than my entire studio apartment. Some of the walls were painted an aquamarine type of color with dark blue moldings, as the other half of the walls was painted an off-white color. It gave the room some balance. There were several paintings on the walls, mostly landscapes of the ocean, beaches, and waterfalls. The hardwood floors were dark, which gave it a rich and elegant look. A long dark blue couch was set in front of a large balcony window with a smaller window on each side of it. The sun was beginning to go down and it shined through the window creating a beautiful glow in the room.

The center of the floor was carpeted with a fluffy white carpet. Although, you could hardly see it. There were piles upon piles of clothes. The coffee table was stacked with magazines, mail, and old newspapers. The radio was on to z100 and music was filling the air.

"Gee, Alice. I think your closet was trying to tell you 'I'm too full! No more! No more!'." I smirked.

"Very funny." She sneered. "So, let's get to business." A sly smile appeared on her face.

"Alright, where do we start?" I asked walking toward the mess in her living room.

"I want you to start with the coffee table." She began. "All the newspapers can be thrown out. And I want you to put the mail into two separate piles; opened and unopened. Then after that, take the magazines and throw out all the ones from last year. But put this year's in that basket over there under the end table." She pointed to the basket. I nodded. "And I will be going through these clothes…hey, maybe you can take some home!" her grin grew.

"Alice, I'm sure you have given me enough clothes as it is." I clarified as I sat down on her couch and gathered up all the newspapers.

"Nonsense!" She began to go through one of the many piles of clothes. She held up one shirt. It was a plain red v-neck tank top. "I'm sure Latte Boy would love to see you in this." She said. I snickered. I wonder how I could tell her about his name. I wanted to make this fun.

"So what have you been up to lately?" Alice asked.

"Oh, just some songwriting, I went down to Starbucks, saw Emmett, almost got hit by a van, but saved by Latte Boy whose real name is Edward, a little more songwriting, fed Stew-"

"WHAT?!" She screamed as she jumped up.

I just sat there and stared at her. "Yes?" I said innocently.

"Tell. Me. Everything." She demanded, as she sat down next to me.

I told her about how my short attention span and I were almost run over, and how Edward pulled me out of the street. Of course, she squealed whenever his name was said. Then, I told her about how he made me a new latte and refused to accept my money.

"That is so sweet of him!" She gushed.

"Then today-" I started.

"You saw him today too?!"

"Shush." I commanded. "Anyway, today, I went there and completed all of the RSVP's and he was there and he gave me another coffee, and he sort of asked me to join him in a walk in the park or something…"

"HE ASKED YOU OUT?!" She screamed in my ear.

"You know, I'm not even sure it's a real date…" I said while rubbing my ear.

"What were his exact words?"

"He said he wanted to get together after his shift, and he said he wanted to get to know me better…and he said that we could go for a walk or something." I said. I can still hear his wonderful voice in my head.

"Bella, that has to be a date!" She squealed. "Okay, so when is this date taking place?"

"Tomorrow, I'm meeting him at Starbucks at six, because that's when he gets off." I stated.

"Oh, I'm going to have to do you're hair and make up." She said while flipping her short hair.

"Alice…" I groaned.

"I don't think so missy." She shook her pointer finger in my face. "When you signed up for this job, you also signed up to be my personal Barbie doll." She grinned mischievously.

I groaned again.

Her hazel eyes landed on the clock above the television. "Gosh! Even with help I get side tracked!" She said as she ran over to her pile of clothes again. I chuckled and continued my job at the coffee table.

I lost track of time, but I finished. I glanced over at Alice. She was still going through the pile of clothes. It was taking her a while because she kept running into the bathroom and changing into an outfit that she would model for herself in front of a mirror. Only too see if she really liked it or not.

"I think I'm done over here." I said.

"Oh goody!" She exclaimed. "Uhm, it would be great if you can go into my room and start folding the clothes on my bed. I'll be in there once I'm done with this pile."

"Alright."

Alice's room was more amazing than her living room. The walls were painted a deep maroon color. The floors were still the same dark wood as the living room. She had a large king sized canopy bed in the middle. On it lay a white fluffy comforter with many pillows surrounding it. The pillows were different shades of maroon, white and pink. Also on the bed, there was a giant pile of clothes. I figured that these were the ones I would be folding. All the furniture was mahogany. On each side of the dresser were beautiful porcelain vases containing red, pink, and white roses. Why would Alice want to redecorate this?

I got straight to work.

Soon Alice joined me, we folded the rest together, and soon we found ourselves placing them neatly into her dresser.

"I was wondering why you are redecorating. I think your place looks perfect the way it is." I said, as I closed the last drawer.

"I'm kind of getting bored of the beach theme in the living room and then these colors are getting old. I was thinking in the living room, they could make a modern theme with lots of shapes and all that weird looking furniture. And in here I want a sort of blue and green theme. I want to brighten up this room." She smiled.

"As long as you are happy." I stated.

"Jeez, it's almost midnight!" She said in disbelief. "You better go home and get some rest. Remember, you have a date tomorrow!"

"Alice, I'm still not sure if what he meant means da-"

She cut me off. "It is, trust me."

Arriving home, I crashed onto my bed and immediately fell into a deep sleep.

Awakening to the rays of sunshine in my room for the second day in a row was very nice. I was just hoping this routine would not stop.

I let out a big yawn and turned to face my alarm clock. 12:54pm. Wow, I slept pretty late.

After showering and getting dressed it was only a little after two in the afternoon. Now would be a good time for some work.

I sat down in front of my keyboard with my notebook and began to play the melody from the night before.

I pushed everything aside and only focused my thoughts on Edward. He was my inspiration.

"I came apart inside a world made of angry people - I found a boy who was like a dream - With his dazzling smile.- He was sunshine - I fell over my feet - Like bricks underwater - How am I supposed to tell you how I feel? - I need oxygen…" The words flowed out as I quickly sprawled them down in my notebook.

Those words were my exact feelings. Whenever I looked his way, all of the oxygen in my lungs disappears and it is hard to breathe.

Once again, I was rudely interrupted by the telephone. I was so close to throwing it out the window or smashing it with a hammer.

"Hello?" I asked in a mock happy voice.

"Bella? It's Alice, I'm sorry but I won't be able to come over to do your hair and make up." She sounded sad. "The stylists are taking longer than expected."

"It's alright Alice…" I tried my best to sound sad, as well.

"Of course it is for you." I can almost see her smirking. "Well, if you want my advice, you better start getting ready now…it's almost five."

"Okay Alice…bye." I said.

Was it almost five already? Wow, time sure flies when you have the creative juices flowing.

I ran into the other room and freshened up. I brushed my hair and put on nicer clothes. The clock said 5:47 when I finally left.

I did not want to arrive too early, or too late…or even at exactly six o'clock, so I took my time getting there. One step at a time.

I opened the double glass doors and was greeted by the refreshing smell of Starbucks coffee and muffins.

At the counter stood the girl from last night. She looked at me and smiled…or was that a smirk?

Before I had a chance to confront this girl with a confused look, Edward came out from the back. His hair was still the same messy style. He was wearing a dark blue button down shirt and dark jeans. He caught a glimpse at me and smiled. He was like a god.

"Ready to go?" He asked as he smoothly approached me.

I smiled up at him. "Yeah." I said shakily.

He tilted his head toward the door as he began to walk out of the coffee shop. I followed him like a little puppy.

"So, where are we going?"

"I know this spot in central park, my dad used to take me there when I was a kid, it's really pretty and very peaceful." He smiled down at me. And I smiled back.

We walked down Sixth Avenue until we reached the park. He led me through a small path. We stopped when we reached the pond and sat down on the grass. It was so pretty. The way the colors of the setting sun reflected on the calm water.

"It's beautiful." I breathed.

"I thought so too." He agreed. "I grew up in Somers, but my dad worked as a lawyer here in the city. Some days when I did not have school, he would bring me with him to work. The office part was boring, but afterwards he would always take me to get some ice cream and take me to the zoo. Before we left we would always stop by here and feed the ducks." He paused. "For my seventh birthday my parents got me a remote control boat so I can play with it here."

I could not help but hear the hurt in his voice. Almost like it was hard to talk about these memories. I wanted to ask if anything happened to his parents but I held my tongue.

I am sure he noticed this by the way he was looking at me. It looked like he was almost trying to read my mind.

"…they died when I was twelve…" He was hesitant. "But my father's cousin, Esme, and her husband, Carlisle, adopted me. They were like my second parents. I am so grateful for them." He looked down. "What about you? Are you a natural born New Yorker?" He asked.

"No…" I blushed. "I was born in a little town called Forks, Washington. My mom and my dad split up when I was just a baby, so my mom took me down to Phoenix and we lived there. But for my last two years in high school I lived with my dad in Forks." I explained.

"Oh, that's interesting. What made you come to New York?" He questioned.

"Everyone always talked about how it was the greatest place in the world. I wanted a chance to experience it." I said, simply.

"Yeah, this place is great. I can't see myself anywhere else." He smiled crookedly. "You said you worked for Alice Brandon…How is that?"

"Alice is such a wonderful person. Although, she is a little too energetic for my taste, but I feel like I have known her since forever." I paused. "I'm also a songwriter." I blurted out.

"Songwriter? I'm in a band myself." He stated. "Well, it's just a thing me and a couple friends do for fun. We're not serious or anything."

"What do you play?" I suddenly found myself being more comfortable around him. All this time I have been scared to look at him, when really he was a very easy person to talk to.

"I play piano…well, keyboards, in the band's case." He smiled. "I always wanted to learn guitar, but when I tried it was too hard." He smiled sheepishly.

"Same thing with me!" I said a little too excitedly.

He chuckled. "Maybe we could help each other out sometime." He offered.

"I'd like that." I smiled.

The moment was perfect. We were sitting close to each other. He looked me in the eyes and smiled. I wanted was to just crash my lips onto his, but I resisted. I wanted to stay right here forever.

Although, someone else had other plans.

"Edward?" We both looked up at the voice. It was a tall strawberry blonde girl. She had an excessive amount of eyeliner on. But other than that she was perfect. Her eyes were an icy blue and her lip-gloss was very shiny. She stared at Edward with a smug smile. He stood up, and then helped me up as well.

"Edward! I have been looking for you all over this city." She whined.

"I told you I'd be out." He said to her. "I was going to meet you later."

"There has been a change of plans." She said. Then her eyes locked on me as she looked me over with a disapproving look. "So you are the girl he saved from that van. Aren't you a lucky one?" She said. Her voice was on the edge of snotty. "Well, aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?" She said to Edward.

Edward looked at me with an apologetic look. "Bella, this is Tanya. Tanya, this is Bella." He said. "Tanya is my girlfriend."

And once again, all the oxygen was gone.

DUN, DUN, DUN! How's THAT for a twist. Please do not kill me. You can bet your cute little booty's that Bella is going to fight for Edward.

Oh, by the way, the song Bella is writing is actually "Oxygen" by Colbie Caillat. I think the lyrics are very well for this story. But I changed the lyrics just a teeny bit so they'd fit better.

And thank you very much to those who reviewed. However, I have almost 100 alerts so I know that most of you hate me so much that you will not review. That hurts. It actually makes me cry…

Reviews give me the motivation to continue. I really do wanteveryone's honest opinion of this story. It helps when I write.

Pretty please review…you may get faster updates. (Hint, hint)