End of Chapter 16

"I think I love you, Bella Swan," I whispered.

"Mmmm," she mumbled in her sleep and pulled herself closer to me.

I sighed, and extracated myself from her. I pulled my throw down off the back of my couch, and laid it over her.

"Good night, angel," I whispered as I kissed her cheek and turned out the light. I walked over, turned off my stereo, and climbed into my bed. Just as I was starting to drift off to sleep, I thought I heard a soft 'Good night, Edward' from across the room.

Chapter 17: Blame It on My Youth (BPOV)

Where am I? I thought as I stirred in the spot where I was thinking. I sat up and looked around the room. Then it clicked, and the previous night came flooding back to me. I must have fallen asleep while Edward was reading to me, because I was in Edward's room. I was on Edward's couch, and sleeping, not five feet from me in his bed, was Edward. I squinted my eyes, and brought his alarm clock into focus. 4 AM. Then other Cullens popped into my head, Esme and Carlisle. This was innocent, but I was not sure they would feel the same, and I KNOW Charlie would throw a fit if he knew I spent the night in a boy's room.

I laid the blanket that Edward must have draped over me back onto the back of the couch. I stood up and looked over at Edward's sleeping form. He was laying on his stomach with his arms hugging his pillow to his body. His bronze hair was in even more disarray as when he was awake. His face looked so peaceful. I took a moment to study his face. He really was very handsome. Classically so. His lips were pursed out in sleep, and for a moment my mind wondered if they were as soft as they looked. I shook my head. Edward was my friend. This was all of Rosalie and Alice's teasing messing with my mind. I gave one last smile to my sleeping friend, and headed back down to Alice's room.

In the morning, it was 10 o'clock before all of the teenagers in the house roused themselves and gathered in the kitchen for breakfast. Esme had made us all pancakes. Alice, Emmett, and I were all sitting at the island chatting and eating, when Edward came into the room.

"Good morning, sleepy," Esme said ruffling his hair and kissing his cheek.

"Morning, mother," he said kissing her cheek back.

"Hey there, Clark Kent," Emmett said. "Never saw him in his alter ego before, have you, Bella?"

"I like the glasses," I shrugged and gave Edward a smile. He didn't return it, though, just turned away to get a plate. Weird.

"Bella, can you call your dad and let him know I will be over to get him in an hour?" Emmett asked.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you!" I said. "Sue said she can pick him up on her way over. I do need to call him to make sure he takes his morning pills."

"Sweet!" Emmett said.

"That is very nice of her," Esme said with a knowing smile. I returned it.

Emmett got up then, and put his plate in the sink, and headed upstairs. Edward took his spot at the island. Alice got up next, and told Bella she was going take her shower now, so Bella could when she was done eating and talking to her dad. She also deposited her plate and headed out of the room.

"I think I am going to get ready for the day as well," Esme said. "Edward, be a dear, and do the dishes when you are done."

He sighed and nodded.

"I'll help," I offered.

"That is sweet of you, Bella," Esme said, "but you are a guest."

She left the room then.

"Guest or not," I turned to Edward. "I'll help with the dishes."

"You don't have to do that," he said, his eyes not leaving his plate.

"I want to," I said. "After you read to me last night, I can at least return the favor."

Edward sighed then, and pushed his plate of half-eaten food away.

"What's wrong?" I asked putting my hand on his arm. He sighed, lowering his head, and putting his hand on top of mine.

"Nothing is wrong, Bella," he said sounding defeated. "Go make your phone call. I'll take care of the dishes."

He squeezed my hand before standing up, and gathering our plates. He put them in the sink, and started the water, not turning back around. I took that as a sign the conversation was over, and quietly left the room. What was wrong with Edward this morning? Maybe he just wasn't a morning person. I shook it off and headed to Alice's room. I called Charlie. He snapped at me telling me that he remembered his pills, his voice playful and not hurtful, so he must be feeling OK this morning. I sighed with relief at that. I told him I would see him in a little while and hung up.

I got myself showered and dressed, and made my way back downstairs. I heard a lot of talking and clanging coming from the kitchen. I walked in to find Esme, Alice, and Rosalie all busy at work making food. I pushed back my sleeves and settled in next to Alice cleaning and cutting up celery. By the time 11:30 rolled around, we were setting out the buffet of food at the kitchen table. The boys had cleared out the chairs, so everyone could easily maneuver around the table.

Just then the doorbell rang, and I heard Carlisle answer the door. This was followed by the sound of my father's voice and Sue's. Their voices were accompanied by the voices of two other people. I hurried around the corner to see my dad and meet Sue's kids. Leah was a beautiful girl. She had golden, russet skin and long shiny black hair. Seth was a lanky teenage boy with the biggest and most genuine smile I had ever seen. They both turned and smiled at me when my dad noticed me and waved.

"Hi, dad," I said giving him a hug. "How are you feeling?"

"Feel great, kid," he said. "How was your Saturday?"

"Great," I said. "Alice spoiled me."

"I bet she did," he said with a smile.

"Bella, we brought some desserts," Sue was saying now. "Where should we put them?"

"Follow me," I said, and she and Leah followed me.

As I showed them into the dining room to the table, I heard the boys introducing themselves and the TV turn on. It wouldn't take them all long to settle in.

"Bella?" Leah said. "I don't know if you remember me. We did play a bit when we were kids and you visited your dad."

"Of course I do," I said honestly. "You were always so confident. I always admired that."

"You mean I was a bitch to everyone!" She laughed.

"Is someone talking about me?" Rosalie said as she came into the room with a smirk.

"No," Leah laughed again. "Me, actually."

"Then I think we are going to be friends," Rosalie said shaking Leah's hand.

"Rosalie, Leah. Leah, Rosalie," I introduced.

"Ladies," Esme said then, "shall we get our food before we call in the boys?"

We all nodded and filled our plates while grabbing our drinks and headed out into the living room. As soon as the guys saw us and what we were holding, all we saw were blurs. Carlisle hung back with Charlie, and to that I smiled. Soon we were all gathered around the television, laughing and yelling. No one would take my bets this week. I expected as much. What I didn't expect was that every time I looked around the room and caught Edward's eye, he would immediately drop my gaze. How did we go from curled up together last night where his feet were sitting now to this avoidance? What happened after I fell asleep?

"What did you do to that boy?" Leah asked nodding her head in the direction of Edward and speaking quietly so only I could hear.

"I have no idea," I said. "We were great last night. We had fun. Then when he read to me..."

"He READ to you?" Leah asked with her eyes lighting up. I blushed.

"Yeah," I said even quieter now. "I couldn't sleep, so I went to his room to borrow a book. Alice doesn't have anything other than Cosmo in her room to read. He was still awake, so we talked a bit, and he was reading a book for class, and we were in the same point in the book, so he read to me. I fell asleep at some point, and woke up this morning wrapped in a blanket on the couch in his room."

"And where was he?" Leah asked, the big sister in her dripping from her voice.

"Asleep on his bed," I said.

"Hm," she huffed and now blatantly stared at Edward. He must of felt her staring, because he turned then. She narrowed her eyes, and he looked away.

"Don't say anything, OK?" I asked. "I don't know if he is mad because I left before he got up this morning, or because I fell asleep after asking him to read. I don't know. Things just seem different this morning."

"Oh...I think they are...for him, anyways," she said smirking.

"What is that supposed to mean?" I asked.

"I think you should ask him," Leah said suddenly becoming very interested in what she was eating again.

At half-time, everyone went for seconds, and talked and mingled. The Clearwaters were an easy fit into this dynamic. Seth fell in easy with Emmett, Jasper, and Edward. Leah and Rosalie were already acting like old pals. From what I could tell, Esme and Sue were already aquatinted as they started talking about their next gardening club meeting. I started getting a sneaking suspicion that Sue cleaning for us was Esme's idea and not Carlisle's. As I was looking around at my new extended family, I saw Edward head down the hallway to the music room. I took this as my chance to talk to him, and quickly followed.

He sat down at the piano, and slowly started playing a modern jazzy number. What I didn't expect was for him to start quietly singing along with it. It was slow, and almost sad. I stood quietly in the shadows of the doorway, afraid if I went in he would stop, and I didn't want him to.

"If you were on my mind all night and day, blame it on my youth," he sang softly.

Was he singing about me? Each word was like listening to a secret confessional. I wanted to leave him to his private moment, but I couldn't tear myself away from this beautiful song that was tearing at my heart, and this friend who was bleeding his soul out through his voice and fingers. I felt my chest constrict and my eyes begin to tear up a bit. Eventually, the song came to a close. I gasped in a breath at the last chord, and Edward's head snapped in my direction. His own eyes locked on mine.

"That was beautiful, Edward," I said wiping my eyes with the backs of my hands. "What was it?"

"Jamie Cullum," he said lowering his eyes back to the keys. "Blame It on My Youth."

I walked over to him then, and sat down next to him on the bench. I reached out and put my hand on top of one of his that were resting on his legs.

"Why are you avoiding me?" I asked in a hushed voice.

"I'm not avoiding you," Edward answered in the same hushed voice.

"You are," I said. "Are you mad at me for invading your space last night? I didn't mean to..."

"Bella, I loved having you there last night. I loved talking to you and reading to you," he ran his free hand through his hair.

"Then why the cold shoulder today?" I asked lowing my eyes.

"I'm just trying to work out something in my mind," he said. "I'm sorry if it has made me reclusive."

"It's OK," I said squeezing his hand. "I was just worried about you. Worried that I did something."

"Bella," he said like he was wanted to tell me what he was thinking, but then thought better of it. I could see the struggle behind his eyes.

"You don't have to tell me," I said. "I am here, though, whenever you need to talk."

He wrapped his arms around me then and pulled me tight. I hugged him back conveying how important he was becoming to me. He kissed me on top of my head, and pulled me up off the bench.

"Let's get back to the game," he said. "And Sue's desserts before Emmett eats them all."

The rest of the afternoon was a bit more relaxed than the first half. Edward was no longer shying away from me, and we fell back into our easy rapport. After the game was over, I loaded myself and my bag into the Clearwater car, and we all received hugs and good-byes from the entire Cullen and Hale crew. We all decided that this should be a regular occurrence, and the Cullens happily agreed to host every Sunday, except the third Sunday of the month when Esme hosted her Garden Club meeting, then it would be at our house. I told my friends I would see them in school tomorrow, and then we pulled away and were headed back home.

When we got back to the house, Sue popped the trunk, and I ran around to get my bag.

"Leah," I said, "it was great seeing you again."

"I think we may be seeing each other more frequently in the future," she said nodding towards the front seat where Charlie and Sue were staring just a little too long at each other saying their good-byes. She laughed and gave me a one armed hug before opening the front door of the car.

"Come on, dad," I said. "Let's let the Clearwaters get to the rest of their Sunday. We've held them hostage long enough."

"Willing hostages," Sue said with a laugh.

"It was great seeing you again, Seth," I said.

"You too, Bella!" Seth called from the back seat cheerfully. "We'll see you next Sunday!"

Once we were inside and settled, I knew I needed to tell my dad about my plans for Thanksgiving.

"Dad," I started. "I talked to mom yesterday. She still wants me to come for Thanksgiving. Is that OK?"

"Of course it is, honey," he said. "I bet she is missing you something awful. She's never been away from you for this long."

"Yeah," I said. "I miss her too. I hate to leave you all alone for Thanksgiving, though."

"I won't be," Charlie said then with a bit of a blush. "Sue invited me to join them for Thanksgiving. Well, she invited us, but since you will be in Wyoming."

"That's great, dad!" I said enthusiastically. "I really like Sue. Leah and Seth, too."

"They are good people," he said smiling.

"Well, I think I am going to go upstairs and work on my homework," I said getting up. "Can I get you anything before I head up?"

"Nope," he said, "I'm good."

I bent over and kissed him on his head, and bounded up the stairs. I sat down at my desk and looked through my list of things to do. I had finished everything on my list yesterday when I was home, except for my reading for English. I picked up Tom Sawyer, and flopped back onto my bed. I slowly ran my hand over the cover of my book and a smile spread over my face as I thought of last night. I flipped through the pages trying to find the point I remembered before falling asleep. I snuggled into my mattress trying to find the same warm and security I had felt in Edward's arms. I eventually found the last thing I remembered, and started reading, but it was Edward's voice I heard in my head.

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A/N: Thanks to everyone who continues to read and review this story! I can't believe how faithfully you all follow! So much so, that answering all of your reviews is taking forever, which I LOVE. But, to help stem some of my reviewing, and to give me more time to write the next chapter, which I am guessing you would prefer, I have started a thread over on Twilighted for this story.

http://www(dot)twilighted(dot)net/forum/viewtopic(dot)php?f=44&t=3905&hilit=Diseased

Swing over and leave comments/questions/etc. Or let me know what you would like to see there!

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