Disclaimer: I do not own these characters or the universe S Meyer created. There may (or may not) be strong language or subjects in this chapter...

AN: You guys did not like the last chapter. Im sorry it was boring; eh, it was transitional. I hardly got any feedback, but I honestly dont mind it too much. Im writing this story no matter what but you dont have to read it. And I'll NEVER demand reviews. I wont read a story usually if the author demands reviews. True Fact. So I don't expect you to review either unless you want to tell me you hate Edward. ;)

Pick Me Up
Chapter 5

"Watch out for the hammers… Don't get hit by the fire ball… Bowser's about to jump on you."

"Dad! Stop it!" I yelled loudly as I maneuvered my little Luigi through obstacles.

"Hey Bella, come on," Rosalie's voice filled the room. It was customary for her and Jasper to just let them selves in whenever they wanted.

"Hurry up and grab your ipod. We're going to be late," she jingled her keys above me as leaned against the sofa.

"Late for what?" I asked my eyes never leaving the TV screen.

"The movie," she said as my hands dropped the controller and I watched Bowser kill me with a hammer.

"What movie?" I knitted my eyes at her.

"That zombie movie we were going to see last week," she told me.

"Wait, the one in theaters?" Dad asked pressing Start, pausing the game.

"Si Carlitos," she smiled at him.

"Is it okay if I go? I'll come home right away if my head starts to hurt," I said finding myself begging. I had been a little disappointed last week when we didn't go.

"Who's all going to be there?"

"Me, Jasper, Alice Brandon, and some other kids from school," Rose told him. I watched his eyebrow raise and his mustache twitch as he thought it over; my brain itching to open his mind.

"Alright," he nodded unpausing the game.

"Really, I can go?" I asked just to make sure.

"Yep."

"Come on let's go," Rose pulled lightly on my hair.

"Okay okay," I glared at her pulling on my shoes. "What time do I have to be home?" I asked curiously.

"Whenever is fine," he mumbled as his Mario swiftly defeated Bowser, winning the game.

"You just told her she didn't have a curfew," Rose repeated to him as he turned off the game and wrapped up the controllers.

"Yes, shouldn't you be running off before I change my mind?" he smirked.

"Alright come on Bells. I think yall've been playing way too much Nintendo," she laughed heading out the door.

"Bye Dad," I yelled following her as Dad yelled for us to be careful.

"Thanks for taking for-freaking-ever," Jasper grumbled laying down in the backseat.

"Sorry I was playing Nintendo with Dad," I told him as Rose pulled out of my driveway and down our street.

"Duck Hunt?"

"Super Mario Brothers… and he said that I didn't have a curfew, isn't that strange?" I said still puzzled. "Even when we go out sometimes, he tells me to be back before 10:30…"

"It's because you have no life Bells," Jasper replied nonchalantly.

"Say it again moron, I don't think you were harsh enough," Rose scolded him.

"No it's okay. It's jut strange," I continued still confused.

"Maybe he's got a hot date with Sue," Rose suggested.

"Maybe… should I even be going to this? Alice didn't invite me; she never said anything about it at lunch."

"Like I would go without you," she scoffed. "Plus you were invited last week, remember?"

"And Alice texted me an hour ago about going and she was shocked when I told her you didn't have a cell phone," Jasper told me. I didn't have a cell phone because I didn't need one. I didn't need to call anyone ever and Rosalie and Jasper both had one if we were hanging out somewhere like Port Angeles. Plus if I was in Forks, I could probably walk up to any house and ask to borrow their phone.

We arrived at the movie theater in Port Angeles an hour later, and it was much smaller than I remembered, but there were long lines of people standing in front of the building. It was easy enough to tune them out as we made our way to the ticket booth. Jasper bought our tickets as Rose and I stood off to the side waiting for the others to show up. I was anxious, a little nervous and a little excited. I wasn't too sure what to expect; I couldn't remember anything other than blacking out when I was five.

"Rose, do you know what kind of car Edward drives?"

"Yeah, a 1992 Volvo 240," she nodded quickly. "Why?"

"Just wondering… is it a classic car?"

"No," she scoffed laughing. "No it's not, why?"

"I just remember him being really upset about it last week," I said trying to be nonchalant.

"I would be too if it was my car," she shrugged.

"Hey guys," Emmett appeared next to me with a huge smile on his face. "Sorry, we got stuck waiting on Alice," he pointed to where she stood with Jasper in line.

"It's okay; we haven't been waiting long," I told him as Rose shuffled her feet inching closer to me.

"Excuse me," a deep voice startled me. Turning around I found an older guy looking directly at Rose. This wasn't an unusual occurrence – a guy hitting on Rosalie, but the fact that the guy was wearing a leather jumpsuit and had a scruffy beard was a little odd. "Do you have a Band-Aid? Because-"

"Oh, I do," I interrupted him pulling out the one that I carried around in my pocket with my spare cash. Emmett barked out a laugh, and Rose bit her lip.

"Well," the guy cleared his throat. "I fell falling for you."

"I'm sorry; I'm here with my friends," Rose told him nicely and turned away from him, but the guy didn't leave.

"Hey, I can do better; she cut me off! Can I at least get your number?" he begged placing his hand on her shoulder. Before Rose even flinched from his touch, Emmett had already stepped forward and gripped the guy's shoulder hard ripping his hand off her.

"Hey friend, she said she wasn't interested. How about you go find someone your own age and learn a new line while you're at it?" Emmett backed the guy off. The guy tugged away spouting a few words and walked towards the parking lot rubbing his shoulder.

"What's going on?" Alice asked as she and Jasper finally joined us.

"Oh some guy kept trying to bum a smoke off us; he wouldn't go away," Emmett lied. Confused and a little embarrassed, I exchanged glances with Rose who just shrugged at me. He'd done it to keep the attention off of her, so she wouldn't feel uncomfortable... It seems to be that Emmett is an anomaly like Jasper... just not mine.

"Alright come on; the movie's about to start," Alice said smiling brightly as Jasper held the door open for her.

"Let me get Ed real quick," Emmett disappeared into the large group of people. My eyes followed his large form in the crowd and they easily spotted the head of beautiful hair. Edward stood next to Lauren near a group of kids from school and gave Emmett a helpless look when he noticed him. I looked away quickly when his green eyes met mine, and Rose nudged me to go inside.

I stood in awe in front of the large colorful menu board. They had everything you could ever want and more... Popcorn, candy, nachos, pretzels, ice cream, hotdogs.

"Hotdogs? They have hot dogs?" I asked amazed.

"Yeah do you want one?" Rose asked laughing at me.

"No I'm okay… holy crow! Do you get the large popcorn? I bet you do," I pointed at the model popcorn bags. Rosalie Hale could eat popcorn like no other person on this Earth. I asked Jasper once if it was normal to eat that much quantity at that rate and his answer was a definite no. Also sharing was impossible; I swear she growled at me once for trying to take a handful from her bowl. After Rose bought her medium sized popcorn, we waited in another line for a guy to rip our ticket stubs.

"Hello," the smooth voice sounded from behind me. I didn't need to turn around or see Rose's surprised expression to know who it was. I basically had his voice memorized in my head.

"Hi," I said turning around to face Edward.

"How was your day?" he asked as we moved forward slowly.

"Since I saw you five hours ago? Good. I played some Nintendo with my dad," I tried making conversation.

"Oh you have a Wii?" he asked curiously.

"Um no… we still have the original Nintendo," I blushed. Besides the flat screen on our living room wall, my ipod, and my laptop, we were very technologically-handicapped.

"Oh really? Do you have the zappers too?" he asked forming a gun gesture with one hand. I was surprised he even knew that they were. Jasper still called them "orange guns" even though Dad corrected him every time.

"Yeah my dad treats them like crown jewels," I joked earning a crooked smile from him.

"Because they are," he agreed laughing.

"Hey, line's moving," Rose tugged on my hood ending my conversation with Edward.

As soon as the guy handed back my ticket, Rose pulled me into another line, and I was surprised that to see that Edward wasn't behind me anymore.

"Your boyfriend already went in the theater," she said.

"Who?" I asked confused.

"And since when have you been so friendly with him?"

"Oh are you talking about Edward?" I looked up at her.

"Who else would I be talking about? Did he even apologize to you for everything?"

"Yes, he did after you scared the crap out of him. Are you sure you want to take your popcorn in here?" I asked her realizing we were in line for the restroom.

"Wait what do you mean I scared him?" she asked pulling us out of line.

"I saw you guys talking in the hall earlier right after lunch. You know he probably thinks that I asked you to yell at him or something," I covered my face with my hands. It was so aggravating not knowing what he was thinking.

"Is that what he told you? That I verbally attacked him?" she asked appalled.

"No, he didn't have to," I told her.

"Oh no ma'am," she snapped. "Bella, he was the one that to came to me."

"What?"

"He was asking if you were okay. I mean you've been like an empty shell of yourself all week. It's understandable since you told me about your meadow and the Masen house, but still... and today when he asked me what he should do to fix it, I told him to be nice and apologize and then leave you the hell alone. Obviously, he didn't listen to the last part," Rose finished her rant as I mentally started my own.

Now I was even more confused. Why hadn't he told me this earlier? Why was he being so friendly, and why hasn't he left me alone like Rose suggested? I wouldn't have minded if he didn't want to be friends... much.

"Come on, the movie's starting," Rose walked down the hall where Emmett and Edward stood. From the way that Edward shrank back, I could tell that Rose had glared at him as he opened the door for us.

It was pitch black except for the giant screen of light, and I had to clutch onto Rose's arm as we stumbled toward the front. Emmett passed us and walked up some stairs pointing to where Jasper and Alice had saved us seats. Rose plopped down next to Jasper, and I found myself in my seat leaning awkwardly towards her and away from Edward.

Thirty minutes later, my back and neck were stiff, and my head was buzzing. I tried to concentrating on the screen, but the movie was just nonsense. A virus attacking the whole planet turning everyone into zombies except for a handful of people who had special powers? Yeah right. One guy could fly, another could predict the future, and there was one that could even read minds. I found it totally unrealistic and ridiculous. I think I laughed a couple of times.

Suddenly Alice was standing in front of me trying to scoot by mumbling something about the bathroom. Going to the restroom was a great idea. I needed the excuse to get away from movie and to stretch. I decided as soon as Alice got back I was going to go.

No no don't go in there...

That's so fake. Their special effects suck balls...

Oh my... I can't believe she's doing...

Ew! Ew! Gross. I did not need that. I did not need this. I was getting of there. People can do the strangest things when no one was watching. Unfortunately I was usually hearing it.

"I'm going to the bathroom," I whispered to Rose so she wouldn't worry. Even though I wasn't probably going to come back in here, I didn't want to ruin it for everyone. I carefully moved across Edward not wanting to bump into him, but somehow I landed in Emmett's lap. He helped me up quickly and I finally managed to get out of there and into the hallway. I found a bench and sat myself down. Objective: Bella going to the movies equaled failure… I leaned my head back against the wall and closed my eyes trying to relax.

Efff my life! When will this movie end?!

Little Alice Brandon sure has filled out nicely…

My eyes flew open as I turned looking for Alice. The hallways were mostly empty, but I could see a tall, creepy guy leaning against the wall in a small, dark corner. I wouldn't have noticed Alice if it weren't for the small pair of metallic silver shoes that she liked to wear. Part of me got angry thinking how Alice could be off in a dark corner when she was practically on a date with Jasper, and the other part of me realized that Alice didn't hide in dark corners. Unfortunately I knew from the guy perspective that Alice loved PDA anywhere and everywhere.

"Hey Alice," I yelled, my feet moving on their own accord toward them.

"Bella?!" Her voice squeaked.

"Alice is busy. Come back later," Creeper called waving me off. He hadn't even turned around to look at me.

"Alright," I said in a pitchy tone. Turning on my heel, I hurried back into the dark theater. If Creeper hadn't been so large, I would have tried to do something. I basically tore through my row stepping on people's toes and kicking their shins. "Jasper!" I called causing ten people to shush me at once. I apologized to the people I trampled over before as Jasper followed me out into the hall. "Creeper's got Alice cornered," I panted to him.

"What?" he asked confused, but as we turned the corner I didn't need to repeat anything. Jasper took in the scene and acted quickly. "Excuse me, sir?" he asked in an authoritative tone pacing towards them. Creeper backed off fast holding his hands out revealing a very small Alice. Before he realized what was happening, Jasper punched Creeper knocking him into the wall.

"What the hell?" he shouted sounding nasally cupping his bloody nose.

"Ever touch her like that or even come near her again, I'll end you," Jasper threatened as a real security guard approached us.

We got kicked out. The police wasn't involved, but we weren't allowed to return to the theater ever again. Though I would have liked to see Dad's face when he picked me up from the Port Angeles police station; I could guarantee there would be curfew from then on. I wonder if they would have even charged me or whatever if they knew I was Charlie Swan's daughter… probably not.

"Oh my god oh my god oh my god!" Alice screeched as we sat outside on the curb.

"Are you alright Alice?" Jasper asked her as he squeezed her in his arms.

"Are you kidding me?! Are you alright? You just punched someone for me! You gave Matt Flenderson bloody nose! Oh is your hand alright?" she babbled as I tuned them out.

Matt Flenderson… I knew he looked familiar; he'd graduated from Forks High two years ago. I remembered he had a few … interesting thoughts, and I learned many things from him during my freshman year. Things that made me never want to see an apple pie ever again. But Alice always hung out with the older kids; even as a freshman she dated a few sophomores and last year she dated a senior. It was probably why she was hanging out with us now. All her friends had graduated and gone off to college or at least gotten out of Forks. But I hope for Jasper's sake that she really likes him; because I know how he feels and I doubt that she could ever feel that way about him.

"There you guys are! Why are you even out here?" Rose called from behind us with Edward and Emmett following her. "There's still thirty minutes left in the movie!"

"Jasper got us kicked out," I muttered rubbing my forehead.

"What?! What did you do?! What – what the hell happened to your hand?!" she yelled startled by the sight of his knuckles.

"Jasper kicked Matt Flenderson's ass!" Alice piped up retelling her story.

A pale hand appeared in front of my face clutching something for me to take. The hand dropped two extra strength aspirin in my open hand, and I eagerly swallowed them.

"You know you probably shouldn't be taking drugs from strangers," a velvet chuckle filled the air around me.

"Thanks, but you're not a stranger. We're... friends. Right?" I said finally turning to look up at him.

"Yeah were friends," he gave me that same half-smile and held out his hand to pull me up. This time I reveled in the silence when I took it.

"I mean I don't even know how Bella saw me or even to look for me, but she did!" Alice's voice squealed as we returned to our group.

"Hey it's only 8:30. You guys want to come back to our house for a little while?" Emmett suggested as everyone started to agree... except for Rose and me.

"Bella has a 10 o'clock curfew," Rose lied.

"Yeah my dad's kind of strict," I tried.

"Well, you'll have ten minutes to at least meet my parents. My mom really wants to meet my friends," he said with a pleading look.

"Yeah and I'm sure my dad could call your dad so you don't get into trouble if you're late," Edward told me reassuringly.

Please please Bella, pretty please?... Emmett continued to beg.

"Alright," I surrendered. I didn't put up a big fight because it seemed like it was going to happen eventually. Me going into Tilde's house...

An hour later, Rose and I sat parked in her car in the Cullen's driveway. It looked almost the same as it did ten years ago... though it was dark out. I suppose anything would look the same in the dark after ten years.

"We don't have to go in... I could just drive away," she said.

"I know. Let's just get it over with," I groaned getting out of her car.

"We should go get some ice cream after this," Rose tried to cheer me up. "You know, a little pick me up?"

"Sure," I nodded. My dad was a psychic. He didn't give me a curfew because he'd foreseen this whole situation and knew I'd be home before 10:30.

"Hey guys, come on in," Emmett greeted us before we even reached the porch.

"Thanks for inviting us," Rosalie mumbled showing off her Southern manners as we walked into the house.

The hairs on the back of my neck stood straight up, and chills ran up and down my body. There was some new pieces of furniture and picture frames, but it was almost exactly the same as it had been ten years prior. Same blue oriental rug. Same mahogany coffee tables. Same green vase that had been broken and glued back together a thousand times. EVEN some of the pictures - including family portraits - were the same in the hallway leading to the kitchen. Maybe the Cullens thought they were pretty or antique. Maybe they were just leaving them up on the wall until they bought something new to replace them. Whatever it was… the Cullens were fucked up.

My eyes found Edward immediately leaning against the counter next to Dr. Cullen. I had to add Leaning and Crossing his Arms Edward to the list. Alice was nursing Jasper at the kitchen table with a bag of ice and light kisses.

"Dad this is Rosalie Hale and-" Emmett started.

"Bella Swan," Dr. Cullen smiled at us kindly.

"Hello Dr. Cullen," Rose smiled brightly and stuck out her small hand as I backed up against the wall.

"My mom was taking a shower; she'll be down in a minute," Emmett said as I zoned out.

The kitchen was worse than the living room. Same table. Same aloe plant by the sink. I wondered if the cabinets and drawers were organized the same way too. I did feel better when I saw the same notches in the door frame across the room. They ranged from three to four and half feet from the floor marked with the date and my initials IMS by every single one. The appliances were new except for the mint green kitchen-aid mixer on the counter. That was still the same. Something too familiar caught my eye on the refrigerator. Finger paintings. My finger paintings. Ones that I painted with Tilde on stormy days. They were haphazardly hung one on top of the other with magnets. I didn't understand why they were there and not in a box in the attic or even in the garbage. I felt like I was going to be sick.

"Are you okay?" Edward asked with a worried expression. Add Worried Edward to the list.

"No," I shook my head.

"I think I should take her home now."

I was out the door and into the night rain in no time. The fresh air seemed to help, but thinking about what just happened and everything I saw made my stomach turn over.

"Bells?"

The furniture. The photos. The finger paintings. The house.

"Oh Bella…"

I was dry heaving in the bushes, unsure of how I got there, but thankful for the darkness. It seemed like I was crouched down there forever; but when I finally stopped I felt a hand on my back moving in soothing circles, and I realized I was crying.

"Forget strawberry… we're going to need the double fudge brownie," Rose smiled sadly.

AN: Wow… I have no idea what I just did. I don't even know where half of this chapter came from, but you should know guys that we are now the USS Enterprise moving on into the great unknown because I don't have anything planned anymore… I should get on that.

Also don't worry about Alice. Nothing really happened to her. Creeper just got too close with intentions...

Charlie is NOT psychic. He just has super powers just like all parents do… don't freak out about it.

I once played Bowser in a video for my AP Lit class… it was quite good esp. the special effects. Luigi died and we had to burn his body. He was killed by one of those hammer turtles.

Google: NES
Original Nintendo! Oh boy. I wish we hadn't gotten rid of ours, but we still play on our Super Nintendo.

Sorry for all the nonsense aka Author Notes. I have all these things to say and no one to tell! ... except you guys.

THANKS FOR READING!!