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 5

Bella and I had spent the entire night talking in soft whispers. I had let her lead the conversation and soon found myself working to keep up with her. She changed topics as much as Alice shopped! But I was mesmerized with my beautiful wife and I listened to every single word that tumbled from her gorgeous lips.

"Let's look alive, people," Rose called from outside our tent. "Alice says the storm will only be in the area for the next hour!"

"What is she talking about?" Bella asked, lying in my arms and looking up at me.

"I don't know, love. Let's go find out," I replied.

We got out of the sleeping bag and walked outside, holding hands. Rose was dressed in jean shorts and a black bikini top. Alice was bouncing around next to her in a deep purple bikini. They're clothing didn't give me any hints as to what they were up to and they were both blocking me. Emmett and Jasper soon crawled out of their own tents and joined us.

"What's going on?" Bella asked.

"Alice found out yesterday that a storm was going to be passing through this morning. We decided it was the perfect opportunity to play football. We'll play men against ladies and the teams will be the shirts and the skins. We, of course, will be the shirts, since we need to protect our delicate skin. If you boys win, we might let you remove them! So! Ladies, grab a t-shirt from your man. Men, find some shorts and lose the shirts! Bella, just put on a bikini and Edward's shirt. We'll probably get tackled into the water at some point. We'll all meet up on the opposite side of the lake," Rose instructed.

We all went back to our tents to dress appropriately for Rose's chosen activity. I plopped down on the sleeping bag, watching Bella shuffle through her clothes.

"What do you think, honey? The sea-foam green bikini or the black one-piece?" Bella asked, holding them up for my inspection.

"The bikini," I said, pointing at it.

"Okay. I just need a shirt then."

I watched Bella change into her bikini, mentally checking through the clothing I'd brought for myself. I smiled wickedly. I knew just the shirt for her! I dug down to the bottom of my bag.

"And just what is that look for, Edward Cullen?" Bella asked. She had her hands on her hips and a smile on her lips.

"You'll see," I chuckled. I found the shirt, pulled it out, and tossed it to her.

She caught it and held it out to see. She snorted and peeked at me over the shirt. I just kept smiling. She pounced on me, landing in my lap, and started laughing. I kissed her cheek, happy to have gotten her in such a good mood.

"I can't believe you not only have one of these, but had it in your bag!" Her eyes were soft, loving, and tender as she gazed at me. "I'm so very happy, Edward."

I wrapped her up in my arms, pressing her against my chest. She sobbed quietly as she clung to me. I hummed her lullaby softly to help her calm down. I was proud of her for letting her feelings out. She'd been bottling them up for far too long.

She sniffled once more before lifting her head and giving me a glorious smile. "I still can't believe you have this shirt."

"I had a feeling you would like it, love," I said, moving a strand of her soft, brown hair behind her ear.

"I love it, Edward," she snickered as she slipped the shirt over her head. It was a white shirt with red lettering…'Property of Forks High Phys. Ed'. She leaned her head against my chest again.

"Would you like to talk about anything?" I whispered to her.

"We owe Charlie so much because if he hadn't let me move in with him…I miss him, Edward."

"I know, love. I hate that you gave up so much to be with me."

"But you'll always be worth it, Edward. Promise me you'll never forget that."

"How about I promise to remember you think I'm worth it?"

"I can settle for that," she chuckled.

"Then, I promise you, I will remember."

Bella seemed satisfied with that and leaned over to grab her brush and a ponytail holder. "Do the honors?" she asked, holding the items out to me.

I flipped her around in my lap, and took the brush and holder from her. I started brushing the tangles from her hair.

"Can you explain football to me while you brush my hair?" she asked.

"We aren't going to be playing regular football, love. This will just be for fun. Rose, Alice, and you will toss the football back and forth to each other while we try to tackle whoever has the ball at that moment. We'll do the same thing when it's our turn."

"So I might get to tackle you?" she asked, excitement ringing in her voice.

"Yes, love," I chuckled. "Or Emmett or Jasper, depending on who has the ball." I wrapped her hair up, managing a fairly nice looking ponytail. "All done!" I said, giving her the brush back.

She turned her head and kissed my cheek. "You're too good to me."

"Never!" I said, pressing my lips to hers. I gave her a long, sweet kiss.

She pulled away and smiled. "You better change so we can go."

I jumped up. I took off my shirt and tossed it next to my bag. I pulled my jeans off and folded them once before dropping them on top of the sleeping bag. I pulled out my blue swim trunks. I quickly slipped out of my boxers and into my trunks.

I pulled Bella to her feet and we headed out of the tent. We walked slowly around the lake, enjoying our last few minutes alone together. Rose was now wearing Emmett's gray Halo t-shirt. Alice wore a t-shirt she'd obviously purchased for herself. It was also gray and had black writing that read 'I Love My Southern Gentleman'.

Jasper didn't own any short sleeve shirts as far as I knew. Alice had tried to get him to wear some a decade ago, but he'd always been self-conscious about his scars. He was only going without a shirt right now because it was just the six of us. If we'd gone to a water park, he would have worn a long sleeve water shirt.

"Any rules?" Jasper asked Rose.

"A few," she replied. "Stay in the area, and don't use your vampire speed. That tree is our goal line," she said, pointing to one about 50 yards away. She turned and pointed in the opposition direction. "That rock is yours." It looked to be the same distance away as the tree.

"Why can't we use our speed?" Emmett whined.

"Because this is meant to be fun, not a competition," Rose explained.

"Yeah!" Alice cried, clapping her hands and bouncing up and down. "We get the ball first."

"What makes you think so?" Jasper asked, pulling her to him by her waist.

"Because I saw Rose was going to do 'rock, paper, scissors' with Emmett. He'll pick rock like he always does and she'll pick paper, knowing what he'll pick. I'm just cutting out the middle man," Alice informed him.

"Yeah, I would have picked rock," Emmett chuckled.

"Try not to tackle us into the water," Rose said. "I'd like my hair to stay dry."

"We make no such promises," Emmett replied, winking at her.

"Whatever," Rose said, rolling her eyes at her husband. "Get over here with us, Bella, so we can start this game."

Bella gave me a quick kiss on the cheek and then joined our sisters.

'First chance I get, she's going in!' Emmett

'Wonder if I should hit Emmett with a little fear to get him to leave Rose alone?' Jasper

'He better not put me in the water right away.' Rose

'Poor Emmett! Rose is going to hurt him the second he does that to her.' Alice

I chuckled, shaking my head. I walked over to my brother and whispered to him. "Emmett, leave Rose alone. Alice just saw what would happen and it doesn't end well."

"How bad?" he asked, still considering following through on his plan.

"You get your major changed to that course you don't want," I told him.

"Fine," he muttered, kicking up dirt with his bare foot.

"I'll be quarterback. Alice, you hike the ball for me," Rose said.

"Why me?" Alice pouted.

"Because Bella's never played before," Rose explained.

"Oh, yeah!" Alice giggled.

Bella shook her head, smiling at our pixie sister.

"You boys ready?" Rose asked.

"Anytime you are!" Emmett replied.

"On three, Alice," Rose told her. "One. Two. Three. Hike!"

Alice tossed the ball to Rose then and took off running.

"Run, Bella! Follow Alice!" Rose commanded.

Bella jumped, her brown eyes growing wide. She gave a shy smile and ran after Alice. Emmett was already barreling toward Rose. He crashed into his wife, taking her down to the ground with ease. But he was too late and the ball was already airborne. Alice caught it and attempted to run. Jasper was nearby, though. He scooped her up bridal style, and they fell to the ground together, with him keeping her from getting dirty.

I laughed as I helped them both up. "Jasper, you're the only man I know who's a gentleman in the middle of a football game!"

"That's why I love my Jazzy so!" Alice chirped, kissing his cheek.

Rose and Emmett walked over, getting into position at the new starting line. The girls took a moment to huddle up. They kept their voices very low, making it impossible for us to make out what they were saying. They broke apart and lined up.

"On three, again," Rose told Alice. "One. Two. Three. Hike!"

Rose caught the ball from Alice. Rose stepped back, getting ready to toss the ball to Alice as she ran. Just before Rose threw the ball, she turned and gently tossed it to Bella. I smiled and started running, heading straight for my wife. She was heading toward Alice, oblivious of my position. I launched myself at her, already smiling at how easily I'd managed to tackle her. My smile quickly faded as I realized she had ducked at the last second and I was overshooting her position. I quickly leaned forward, flipping myself, and landed on my back. I laid there, chuckling, and listening to our siblings' laughter. Bella appeared above me, smirking at me.

"Thought you had me, didn't you?"

"Obviously," I laughed. "Otherwise, I would not be on the ground."

"You were too fast for your own good," Emmett boomed, pulling me up on my feet. "Nice move there, Picky."

"Thank you, Em!" Bella said. She turned and walked off toward our sisters, making her little hips sway more than usual.

I shook my head and chuckled at my wife.

"She's something else, Edward. I think the training is boosting her confidence," Emmett said, as we walked toward everyone else.

"I think you're right," I replied.

Emmett patted me hard in the middle of my back, knocking me slightly off balance. I pushed on his shoulder, forcing him to stumble sideways. We looked at each other and laughed.

"I really do like the Bella-improved version of you!" Emmett chuckled.

"Now if we can only get Rose to reign you in a little," I said, grinning at him.

"Yeah! Like that's going to happen," Emmett laughed.

We continued to play for the next half hour, until Alice saw the storm had moved away. Even though we were running at a human pace, our tackles had our full strength behind them. The girls ended up winning with two touchdowns to our one. As part of their prize for winning, we sent them away, telling them to go for a swim, while we cleaned up the mess. We'd left quite a few craters in the area from all of the tackling. We kicked the dirt around, filling in all of the holes.

After we were done, we joined the girls and spent most of the day swimming and playing around. Our brothers and I raced back and forth across the lake for awhile. They got annoyed after I won for the twelfth time in a row.

As the three of us made our way over to the girls, we could already hear Alice scheming. "I know what we can do now!" Alice sang, as she bounced around on a rock that was sticking out of the water.

"What?" Bella asked.

"We can have a diving competition," Alice replied.

"There's nowhere to dive from, Alice," Rose pointed out.

"Yes, there is," Alice giggled, pointing at Emmett, Jasper, and myself. "We have three super hot, rock-solid, diving platforms right there! Their shoulders are the perfect width!"

"You guys go ahead," Bella told them. "I'm going to go read my book for a little while." She turned and took off at vampire speed, swimming toward the tents.

"Edward, you need to go after her," Alice told me. "I didn't mean to upset her."

"What are you talking about?" I asked. I turned to look at Bella, expecting to see her near our tent. "Where did she go?"

"She ran into the woods. I've upset her. I shouldn't have suggested diving," Alice said softly.

"Of course," I muttered, sighing deeply. "It's not your fault, Alice. I didn't think of it, either. Can you see where she went?"

Jasper held onto Alice as she checked Bella's future for me. Alice opened her eyes and gave me a sad smile. She'd blocked me from her vision and I had the feeling that Bella was more distraught than Alice was letting on.

Alice pointed toward the right. "She's about a mile in, sitting in a tree. Tell her I'm sorry."

"Alice, you know Bella's not going to blame you, so just relax and have fun. I'll go get her and we'll be back soon enough," I said, already heading off to find my wife.

I ran through the trees, pushing myself to go as fast as I ever had. I needed to get to her before she got herself too worked up. I shook my head slightly, wondering how I could have missed her being so upset. Either I hadn't been paying enough attention, or she'd gotten better at making her face blank. I had a feeling it was the first part…Especially since I'd been thinking of what my brothers and I had planned for tonight.

I caught her scent on the cool fall breeze and adjusted my course. I found her sitting on a thick branch, halfway up a tree, watching her feet dangle.

"You can come up if you want," she whispered, barely loud enough for even my ears to pick up.

I scaled the tree and sat down next to her, taking her into my arms. I held her tightly, resting my head against hers. I wanted her to talk to me about this, but I didn't her to think I was being overprotective. I would let her decide to tell to me when she was ready, no matter how hard it was for me.

We sat in silence for a long time, just watching the clouds pass above and a few animals below. It was late afternoon before she spoke.

"So I should probably just go ahead and do it and get it over with. Maybe then I would get over it."

"Can you be a little more specific about what 'it' is exactly?" I asked. I playfully tapped her nose with my finger, getting her to crack a small smile. "Especially since I have managed to sit here quietly without going insane."

She chuckled at my comment. "Yeah, sorry about that. I know it drives you crazy when I'm quiet."

I moved my head so she could see I was smiling her favorite crooked grin. "Only a little."

She smiled back, but it quickly faded. "I should've just played the game and taken the dive. I can't let my memories affect me every time we go swimming. Especially since I like swimming."

"You were fine yesterday when Emmett threw us."

"Only because you were holding me and because I was so mad at him. But without those distractions, I'm left with my fear."

"What is it that you fear, Bella?"

"Drowning. I know I can't drown. I know that in my head. But…I can't convince myself I won't feel that dragging, weighted down sensation; and the burning in my lungs from the lack of air, and the suffocating feeling from swallowing so much water. Edward, I know I got out of the water, but I can't remember how anymore. I just remember hearing you, the sinking feeling, and knowing I'd never see you again."

"Bella, I…"

"Edward," she said, in a forbidding tone. "If you are about to apologize, I suggest you shut the hell up. It's the last thing I want or need to hear."

"Have I told you how irresistible you are when you're angry, love?" I chuckled, trying to lighten her mood.

She glared at me. I sighed and became serious again.

"Before you interrupted me, I was going to say that I understand how not remembering how you survived would make you afraid. I also think you have the right idea about facing your fear."

"So no apology?" she asked, giving me a small smile.

"Not until after I'd said those things," I chuckled. I looked her in the eyes, sighing a little. "I'm telling you this because Alice asked me to, but it would be really great if you wouldn't feel guilty about this...Alice wanted you to know she's sorry."

"This has nothing to do with her."

"I know. That's what I told her."

She sighed. "We made a lot of mistakes, trying to protect each other separately, didn't we?"

"Yes, we did. And we are left with the consequences everyday. I just wish I was able to bear the brunt of them, instead of you."

"It's nice to know you really would do that for me, if you could. But you can't, so I guess we'll both have to settle for just talking things over together. You know, if you hang out with me long enough, you'll rack up enough hours to qualify as a shrink."

I laughed as I wrapped an arm around her waist and kissed her temple. "Isabella, you are absurd, but I love you for it."

"I love you, too, Edward." She pulled away slightly and looked up at me, smiling with genuine happiness. "Want to go diving with me?"

"I thought you'd never ask!" I chuckled.