Trampoline

By: HammondGirl

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Standing at the counter looking at the catalog, Bella sneaks a glance out of the corner of her eye to take in her father's expression. His moustache twitches as he mutters under his breath, "Can't believe she wants a friggin' trampoline for her seventeenth birthday. Who asks for a trampoline?"

She tries to hide the smile forming on her lips as she turns the page, but she doesn't have to try for long. Mrs. Newton's heels clack all the way from the back of the store up to the counter. "Have you picked out a model yet, dear?" she asks the birthday girl. Bella points down to the large, rectangular gymnastics-grade trampoline and Mrs. Newton quirks her eyebrow at Bella's father.

Charlie, the local Police Chief, wrinkles his moustache again. "She's turning seventeen, not seven, as she not-so-nicely informed me this morning," he says, retrieving his wallet from his back pocket. "When should we expect it to be in?" he asks as Mrs. Newton hands his credit card back to him. She smiles sweetly at the father-daughter duo and assures the two of them that it will be in before Bella's birthday next weekend.

When Charlie agreed to purchase a trampoline and allow Bella to host her very first boy and girl sleepover party, she knew it was true: Miracles do happen. But for Bella Swan, it was a rare occurrence. Then again, mysterious things have been happening around the small, lazy town of Forks lately, and Charlie has been working more often.

Saturday afternoon, Charlie calls up to Bella, where she sits perched at her upstairs window watching a large delivery van pull into the driveway. "Trampoline's here, Bells." She bounds down the stairs at the sound of his voice, excited that it will be ready soon.

An hour later, Bella goes outside and rolls up onto the tightly stretched material, soaking up the smell of what can only be described as trampoline. It reminds her of her childhood when she briefly took gymnastics, shortly after she gave up on ballet. She hops up on her feet and bounces a few times, letting out a girlish giggle as she jumps higher and higher.

Charlie watches from the back porch and she catches the smile he's trying to hide from her. "Come on, Dad," she yells at him in between bounces. As he trots across the yard, Bella smiles in her small victory. She can't wait to see Charlie up and jumping on her trampoline, and she really can't wait to double bounce him and see him go flying through the air.

Halfway to where Bella waits in excitement for her father to join her, Charlie frowns and fishes his cell phone from his jeans pocket. He looks up apologetically at his daughter, then turns and walks back toward the house. She stops bouncing and watches him retreat, then sits down on the trampoline. She knows that look; he has gotten an important call and has to go in to work. Even though she was looking forward to the possibility of him being absent from the planned festivities of the evening, she knows that something bad has happened. Charlie refuses to discuss Police business with her, and though she knows whatever that is happening around Forks is bothering him, she doesn't know how to comfort her father – a first for her.

Bella spots something shiny glinting in the sun from the corner of her eye, and she turns to find her best friend Alice's sporty car pulling into the driveway behind her rusty old pickup truck. The party has officially begun. Bella stands up and begins jumping again as Alice runs up to her. "Oh my gosh, Bella, I can't believe it's actually here! We're going to have so much fun tonight!" her small friend exclaims as she climbs up.

Charlie pushes open the screen door on the back porch a few minutes later in full uniform, and by then, several party-goers have shown up and the local pizzeria is already cooking up the two dozen pies Emmett Cullen has ordered. Charlie looks dejected when he sees Emmett, knowing that his brother Edward – whom Bella has recently begun dating – isn't far behind him. It's not that either of the Cullen boys are the cause of any of Charlie's recent troubles; far from it in fact. But the thought of his little girl dating already makes Charlie uneasy. He still sees Bella as a seven year-old missing her two front teeth, no matter how many birthdays he celebrates with her.

"I have to go to work, kiddo," he says as he walks over to where she and several of her friends are milling around her new trampoline. "No getting any funny ideas now," he says as he looks around the growing crowd. "Guess who responds if one of the neighbors decides that the noise level is getting out of hand?"

A few of her guests giggle and Bella blushes. "We're not going to do anything crazy or illegal, Dad," she says as she kisses him on the cheek.

He makes a small harrumph sound before trotting off to the driveway, but reappears a few moments later. "Who drives the big silver Jeep? You're blocking my cruiser, and unless you move it, you're getting a ticket." Emmett trots off toward the driveway at an easy gait, but soon breaks into a run when he sees that Police Chief Swan's expression is serious.

After Charlie leaves, Edward shows up just behind the pizza delivery man. For a few hours, the party is in full swing and everyone has a good time with Bella's trampoline. Around midnight, the few people staying over, Edward included, decide to retreat indoors for a while to play a few games. As soon as the fun of Rock Band and truth or dare wears off, her guests pair off into smaller groups. Bella realizes that she hasn't spent any time alone with Edward on her birthday. While she has her chance, she pulls on his arm and Edward follows her back out to the trampoline.

"So, what do you think of my present?" Bella asks him as she hops up onto it. He follows her and stands in the middle of the tightly woven nylon. She bounces a few times, trying to coax him into jumping along with her, but Edward remains still. She jumps harder, and in the gleam of the moonlight she catches where Edward's eyes are trained as she bounces up and down.

After the awkwardness of the moment passes, she lies down in the middle of the trampoline, and he joins her. He looks over at her face, and she whispers, "Kiss me." Edward moves toward her in slow-motion, and Bella watches his face as it nears hers. When their lips meet, she closes her eyes and breathes him in until she hears a rustle from the trees lining separating her backyard from the woods. "What was that?" she asks, breaking apart from Edward.

"I don't know," he replies, sitting up. "Hello?" he calls out. "Anyone out there?"

They both peer out into the darkness, but they don't hear any other noise for several minutes. Bella lies back down, and when Edward leans over her to kiss her once again, she forgets all about the noise in the woods and relishes in the feel of his lips on hers.

A rustle in the trees closer to them disrupts their kiss once more and is followed by an eerie silence. Bella turns her head to look behind her at the same moment Edward does, and her breath catches in fright.

A/N: Nina! I hope you have a fuckawesome birthday & I promise not to bug the shit out of you in line (or lick your face) the next time we meet! ;)

Kisses from PFach,

HammondGirl