DISCLAIMER: The characters do not belong to me…they are all the creation of the wonderful Stephenie Meyer.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: The guys plan a weekend camping trip with the girls.

Camping 3

"Dude! Can we please use our vampire speed? Please!" Emmett whined. "Rose is looking so…"

"Stop right there," I growled. "Don't finish that statement with your mouth or your mind. This part is for Bella. We are going to set up these tents like any human would."

"Why? She's not human anymore!" Emmett seemed to have realized some of his error because he immediately stopped talking and took a step away from me. 'Didn't mean it like that.'

"Then how did you mean it?" I hissed.

"I guess I just don't understand why you care if we do this like humans," Emmett said.

"Jasper…" I pleaded, closing my eyes and pinching the bridge of my nose.

My brother would know how to explain it. He and I had been having a lot of conversations about Bella lately. The emotions coming from her in the last few weeks had been especially strong and scattered. She was ecstatic one moment and then filled with longing in the next. Jasper and I didn't think she was even aware of how strong her feelings had been or why she'd been feeling that way. We were only guessing, but we thought it had to do with the major human holidays that were coming up and the fact that she would not be able to have any contact with her parents this year. Add that to the trauma of her having to decide the fate of a human…

"Emmett, Bella's going through a tough time right now. Do you know what yesterday was for the humans?" Jasper didn't wait for Emmett to reply. "It was Thanksgiving, Emmett. That was a big holiday for Bella and her human family. And this year, she couldn't even call them because she pretended to die so she could be with us."

"That makes sense…but I still don't understand the human aspect," Emmett admitted.

"It's not about it being human, it's about it being normal," I told him. "A normal camping trip has tents and sleeping bags and ghost stories. She's been feeling overwhelmed lately with everything going on around her and with her own internal struggles. I wanted to do something simple that she would really enjoy. No stress, no responsibility, and nothing to make her feel like there is a huge difference between her old life and her new life. Does that make sense?"

"Yeah, when you put it that way," Emmett replied. "Human speed it is!" He picked up another tent stake and we all started working on the tents again.

A short time later, Jasper hissed. Emmett and I looked up at him. Jasper was shaking his head and staring at the ground.

"Jasper, what's wrong?" I asked him. His thoughts weren't making any sense.

"Alice…She's doing it on purpose. She's giving off too much innocence for it to be real."

"What are you talking about?" Emmett asked.

"She pretty much did a strip tease to get her sundress off," Jasper said, shaking his head.

I looked over to the girls. Alice and Rose were standing in a few feet of water, splashing each other. Bella was sitting on a rock, taking off her sandals.

"Jasper, they're just playing around. I don't think they're trying to pull anything. You really need to get your mind out of the gutter. You're sounding more like Emmett than ever," I told him. "You've got one more peg left. Just get it in and then we can go and join them."

I walked over to the Jeep and grabbed the sleeping bag that was for Bella and me. I also grabbed our clothing. Our tent was the only one finished since our brothers kept getting distracted. I headed back to the tents and went into the one I was sharing with Bella. I spread the sleeping bag out and put the clothes in the far corner. I heard Bella's laugh and smiled, walking out of the tent to see what had tickled her.

Alice and Rose were splashing water at Bella, trying to get her to join them.

"Come on, Bella!" Alice said. "The water's nice!"

"Don't make us come and get you," Rose warned with a smile.

"Okay, okay!" Bella giggled.

She stood up and grabbed the bottom of her tank top. It slowly came up, revealing the soft white skin of her belly. I watched, mesmerized as the shirt traveled further up, unearthing her dark blue bikini top. It was the swimsuit I had gotten her for our trip to Canada…My favorite one. She pulled the shirt over her head and shook her hair away from her face.

A low growl escaped me and I quickly shook my head. I'd just scolded Emmett and Jasper for the same thing. I walked over to Jasper's tent to see if he needed help with anything.

"Still think they aren't up to anything?" Jasper smirked, feeling the emotions coming off of me.

"Yes. Bella wasn't doing anything she doesn't normally do," I said.

Jasper continued to stare at me.

"Do you want some help?" I asked, trying to ignore his incredulous look. He completely believed the girls were up to something.

"Would you mind getting the stuff for Alice and me out of the Jeep?" he asked.

"No problem," I replied and jogged over to the Jeep.

Emmett was there, pulling out the stuff for Rose and him. "Is Jazz done yet?"

"Nearly," I said. "I'm going to take his stuff to him now. Then we can go down to the water with the girls."

"Finally!" Emmett said, teasingly punching me in the shoulder.

I rolled my eyes at him as I pushed him away from the Jeep. He laughed and walked off with his bags under his arms. I looked into the back of the Jeep and silently cursed under my breath. I would never understand why our sister needed seven pieces of luggage for a three day camping trip.

I managed to balance everything and get the Jeep door closed. I made it to Jasper's tent without dropping anything. Emmett grabbed a few bags and Jasper took the rest. I looked toward the water to check on the girls. They were standing waist deep in the water, giggling and whispering to each other. My brothers came over and stood next to me.

Emmett tossed his arms around our shoulders. "We are three of the luckiest men in the world, boys. Those women are our wives and for some crazy reason, they love the hell out of us."

"This was a good idea, Edward," Jasper said.

"I just wanted to cheer Bella up. Esme suggested camping, and Emmett and you came up with the details," I told him.

"Yeah, but you were the one to point out that we've all been spending less and less time with our wives," Emmett said. "It's a good thing one of us is paying attention to keep the rest of us out of trouble."

"Oh, boys!" Alice called.

The three of us looked up to see our wives smiling and waving at us.

"Are you guys ever going to join us?" she asked.

"That depends!" Emmett yelled. "Are you ladies going to show your appreciation and thanks for us setting up camp?"

"It depends!" Rose yelled back.

"On what?" Jasper asked.

"On how quickly you can strip down to your trunks and get in this water!" Rose replied.

"Boys, you heard the lady," Emmett chuckled. "Get a move on!" He was already halfway undressed using his speed.

Jasper and I quickly took off our stuff, leaving it on the ground in front of the tents. The three of us raced down to the water and scooped up our wives.

Bella laughed as I swung her around. "Edward!"

"Did you miss me, love?" I asked, kissing her cheek as her giggles continued.

"I always miss you, silly vampire," she giggled, hugging me tightly by my neck.

I put my arms under her legs and held her bridal style.

"What are you doing?" she laughed.

I gave her a mischievous smile, and then turned and dove under the water with her in my arms. When I brought us up to the surface, we were in the middle of the lake. Bella was still clinging to my neck and she started laughing all over again.

"That was fun!" she chuckled.

"Not too scary for you?" I asked, grinning at her.

"Maybe just a little," she said, letting her voice drop into that seductive tone I loved. "You could always kiss me. You never know, it might just help ease my fears."

I raised my eyebrows at her playful banter. "Well, I guess we'll never know until we try," I told her.

"Guess not," she smiled, bringing her head closer to mine.

I started lowering my head toward hers with every intention of 'easing her fears', but our brothers made sure it didn't happen. As I leaned in to kiss my beautiful wife, Jasper landed on my head, courtesy of Emmett having thrown him. I let go of Bella so she wouldn't be dragged down with us. Jasper and I wrestled all the way down to the bottom of the lake, both of us grinning like fools. We felt the water ripple and looked up to see Emmett plummeting toward us in the cannon ball position. Jasper and I grabbed a hold of him and slammed him into the lake bottom, creating a nice little crater. We swam toward the surface, leaving Emmett behind.

I broke through the water first, taking a deep breath and shaking my hair out. Jasper popped up next to me, doing the same thing. We looked at each other and grinned again.

"Where's my husband?" Rose asked.

"We left him at the bottom," Jasper chuckled.

"He should be up any minute now," I added.

"The bottom? Of what?" Bella asked, as she swam toward me.

I met her halfway and pulled her into my arms again. "The bottom of the lake."

"Oh, how far down is that?"

I shrugged. "Want to see it?" I asked, feeling excited to show her something new.

"Is there anything I need to do?"

"Get on my back and take a breath and make sure to hold it. I'll do the rest."

She climbed on, wrapping her legs tightly around my waist. Her arms went around my neck and I put one of my hands over her wrists to hold her to me. She took a deep breath and held it. I took my own and then dove under the water. We didn't need that breath, but it made it easier to stop breathing if you had fresh air in your lungs.

It hardly took any time to get to the bottom. I pulled Bella from my back and set her feet on the lake bottom. I wanted her to know what it felt like. She moved her feet, letting the sediment squish between her toes. She gave me a thumbs-up, making me want to laugh.

I took her in my arms and kicked up, letting us rise slowly. She got to see a few fish running away from us. We popped out of the water and she took a big breath while pushing her hair away from her face.

"Did you like it?" I asked.

She smiled at me. "That was amazing, Edward. It's so much squishier than sand. And did you see those fish?"

"So you're enjoying your surprise then?" I asked, moving a lock of her silky, brown hair behind her ear.

"Yes. Thank you, Edward. I know our sisters appreciate it, too."

"Is that what the three of you were whispering about?"

"No. We were actually whispering about you and your amazing level of self control."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked.

"Well, when Rose got out of her clothes, Emmett looked like he was going to tackle her. When Alice took off her dress and Jasper saw her, he seemed like he was having a heart-attack. But when I took of my shirt, you didn't even react."

"My sweet, beautiful, clueless Bella," I laughed. "Believe me! I reacted! And I was over there telling our brothers that our wives weren't up to anything devilish."

"You boys were taking too long. We wanted to give you a reason to hurry up and get back to us."

"There is always a reason to hurry back to you, my love."

"Quit hogging Picky and get over here!" Emmett called to us from across the lake.

We swam over to our siblings. I put Bella up on the rock next to Rose and Alice. The sun came out and its rays found Bella's skin, making it sparkle. I ran my finger over her arm. She looked down at me and smiled.

"Your face is all sparkly," she giggled.

"So is your beautiful body, love."

She lifted her hand and turned it over. "I'm still not used to seeing this and knowing it's my skin and not yours."

"You will," Alice chirped. "The only draw back to being a vampire is we can never tan. I think I'd like to tan every once in a while, though."

"You could always try one of those spray-on tans," Bella told her.

"I wouldn't want to deal with the trouble of getting it off," Alice sighed.

"Alice, we could put you next to the most beautifully tanned person in the world and you would still be more gorgeous than her," Jasper said.

"Oh, Jazzy! You say the sweetest things," Alice cried. She slipped back into the water and wrapped herself around him, giving him a kiss.

"Bella, want to play a game?" Emmett asked.

I checked his thoughts and snorted when I saw what he wanted to play. I didn't think she'd go for it, but you could never tell with my wife.

"What kind of game?" she asked, warily. Smart woman, that wife of mine!

"It's called 'Toss the Picky' and it involves me finding out how far I can throw you across the lake," Emmett explained.

"I'm not a pebble!" Bella cried.

"Just one time!" Emmett begged. "It'll be fun!"

Bella jumped into the water and clung to me. "No!"

"Suit yourself," Emmett shrugged.

I knew he wouldn't give up that easily. I tried to find out his plan, but he was singing that damn song from the burger commercial.

"Edward, I don't want to play that game," Bella whispered into my ear.

"It's okay, love. You don't have to. I'll make sure Emmett leaves you alone."

While I had been soothing my wife, my brother had been sneaking up behind us. He picked me up, thereby picking up Bella, and tossed us both across the lake. Her scream filled the air until we hit the water and sank beneath it. I kept a tight hold on her so she wouldn't completely panic. I turned us over and headed toward the surface. I was going to kill my brother, just as soon as I made sure my wife was okay.

We came up and Bella spit out the water she had accidentally swallowed when screaming. Rose, Alice, and Jasper were yelling at Emmett.

I pushed Bella's hair away from her face. "Are you okay?"

"Edward, take me over there, right now." She was furious. Her eyes darkened, the same as they had on the day she'd punched me. Her lips were set in a thin white line.

I swam her over to our siblings who were all standing on the shore as they continued to yell at Emmett. Once we were on land, Bella pulled away from my arms and stalked toward our brother. Emmett stepped away from our yelling siblings and walked toward Bella, looking ready to apologize.

Bella never faltered in her step or looked hesitant. She walked right up to Emmett and slugged him in the jaw. "When I say I don't want to play, I mean it!" she roared.

I ran over to her, grabbed her into my arms, and took her into the forest at vampire speed. I wanted to do much worse to my brother, knowing I wouldn't regret it…But Bella would. I found a fallen log and sat down, placing her on my lap and keeping her from moving.

"Let me go, Edward Cullen! I'm not done being mad at him yet!" she snapped.

"Bella, I know you aren't done being mad, but if I would have left you there, you would've done something you would've regretted. You're too angry right now."

"You don't know how I feel!" she hissed.

"Neither do you," I said softly. I hoped my calm would rub off on her.

She crossed her arms and jutted out her chin, but didn't speak.

I rubbed circles against her back, hoping to ease some of her fury. "Emmett was wrong for what he did."

"You think?" she snapped. "You're probably just mad because you weren't the one who got to hit him."

I chuckled and kissed her head. "I was contemplating ripping his arms off. But, Bella, that's just how I am when it comes to you. You're not normally the one to hit first and talk second."

"I hit Jake!" she growled.

"Yes, you certainly did. But this is a bit different."

"Don't see how," she muttered.

"Love, please try to listen to me. Emmett shouldn't have done that. But you know he would never harm you, and you know when he gets an idea in his head, he can't always stop himself from acting on it."

Her shoulders sagged and I knew I was getting through to her.

"Emmett loves you, Bella. You are his little sister in every possible way. Remember how he stepped in front of you in Alaska to protect you from Jane? He was ready to take her on right there in living room for just hissing at you. Would you really have wanted to stay there and say something that would hurt his feelings?"

"No," she whispered. She wrapped her arms around me and started sobbing against my shoulder. "I'm sorry. I don't know why I got so mad."

"I know, love. Your feelings have been very intense lately, haven't they?"

"Yeah," she sniffled.

"Jasper noticed and mentioned it to me. He wasn't sure how to ask you about it and he didn't want to embarrass you, so he came to me."

"That was nice of him."

"You're his little sister, too."

"I know. But I don't know why I've been so emotional."

"I think I know why, love."

"Why?"

"I think you're upset about the holidays this year. I think you're sad you won't be seeing or talking to your parents and friends."

"But I accepted that I can't. We made me die for them."

"Accepting it in your mind isn't always the same as letting it go in your heart, Bella. I don't think you've let yourself grieve yet."

"But why would I be grieving? No one really died."

"But you have left them behind forever, love. That's nearly the same as them dying."

She was quiet for a few minutes. When she looked up at me, I could see in her soft, golden eyes that I'd gotten through to her. "So how do I do that?"

"Jasper suggested you should let yourself think about them, and whatever emotion you feel, you should let it out, don't hold it in. If you want to cry, then cry. I know it won't be the same without the tears running down your beautiful cheeks, but it should still make your heart feel lighter. If you want to laugh then toss your head back and let it out. And just know I am here for you, holding you, loving you, and I'm willing to do whatever is necessary to help you through this."

"Okay," she said after awhile. "But for now, I think we should go back to camp. I owe our brother an apology."

"He owes you one, too, love."

"I already saw it in his eyes before I slugged him," she giggled. But when she looked at me, all traces of humor were gone. "Do you think he's going to be very mad at me?"

"I think he'll understand and let it slide," I chuckled, kissing her forehead. "And if he doesn't, then it's my turn to hit him."

Bella's golden eyes widened with surprise.

"Kidding, love," I chuckled. I stood up with her. "Now, let's get your beautiful, sparkling body back to camp."

She smiled. "Only if you come with me."

"I'll always go with you, Bella. To the ends of the Earth. After all, I can't be expected to live without my heart and soul."