A/N: Hey, sorry! (grovels at your surprisingly pleasant smelling feet) This past week as been a bit crazy, and I kinda had a bit of writers block, but all is good now!

I put up an Epov outtake, so if you haven't had a chance to read it there is a link in my profile.

Thanks to all my reviewers/alerters in no particular order: CallieC., ginnypooh24, Kaelen, twicrack83, MelsieGirl, Daywatcher, opheliatodd, MyaSarae, JustAThinker, twifan82, tex812, MarchHare5, jetstreamRose, leahlover1208!!!! If I forgot anyone I heart you too!

Thanks to MsWDarcy the best beta ever!

Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns all (since when do fanfiction writers claim ownership anyway?!) I just play.

Warning: Potential for adult material and violence. If you have triggers etc. you have been warned.

Chapter Six: Clearance

Crap.

"Uh, Hi Dr. Cullen. I didn't expect to see you here." Great, just flipping great. I pushed my hair out of my face nervously.

Dr. Cullen was by far the hottest dad/doctor I'd ever met. Definitely a dilf. He had crazy blond hair reminiscent of his son's tussled bed head, but his smile was like his daughter's.

And he had the body of a twenty-two year old tri-althete, which I'm sure his wife greatly appreciated. I am so checking out my friend's dad. Eww.

He smiled gently at me and went to wash his hands in the examining room sink. "Dr. Matthew's got called away, and I was the only one available to cover. If you feel uncomfortable it would be fine if you came back at another time. But remember that anything you share is confidential."

I wish. "No, I have to bring a doctor's excuse by tomorrow, or I'll have to participate in gym on Monday."

His eyebrows rose. "Why do you need an excuse out of gym?"

I closed my eyes, scrunching up my face. I could do this. I would not puke, or pass out. I took a deep breath, pushing away the nausea and bracing myself—just like pulling off a band aid.

"I'm really clumsy—like fatally." I pushed out a gush of air. "And I'm pregnant."

He reached out to me like he would give me a hug. I pulled back, wrapping my arms around myself.

He must have remembered, because he pulled back too.

"My dear, I'm so sorry." I shook my head. Why was he apologizing it wasn't his fault. It was mine.

But it was almost a relief to tell someone, anyone.

"Do you know how far along you are?"

"A little over three months."

"I'd like to do a pregnancy test, just to check." I nodded. He needs proof to give me a note. And he probably just wants to make sure I'm not a pathological liar.

He waited while I peed on a test in the bathroom down the hall. There was no point hoping. I took every different variety of test at the end of June, right after I missed my period. Did you know there are ten different kinds of pregnancy tests in one Walgreens alone? I took all of them. And they all said the same thing.

While we waited on the test Dr. Cullen led me back to the examining room.

We sat awkwardly listening to the elevator music playing in the office—waiting for the test to be done is always the longest part.

Dr. Cullen continued to fill in his chart, but kept looking at me. He must think I'm a slut. Yep, he thinks I'm a slut.

"Bella, can you give me anymore information about your condition." I scrunched my nose at his word choice. He made it sound like I had a disease.

"You don't actually have traveling issues." He already thinks badly of me—I'm a liar—but I couldn't think of what to say that wouldn't leave me catatonic.

I shrugged. Still the memory tried to slip through. I shut my eyes, and covered my face with my hands, trying not to hyperventilate.

"It's okay Bella, you don't have to say anything." I could hear his pity.

I breathed slowly, in through my mouth, out through my nose. He waited while I calmed down. I looked at his face.

"The test is positive." I nodded. I knew.

"I assume you are keeping the fetus?" I nodded. Baby—not a fetus.

"I'll write the note. Are you taking care of yourself, Bella?" He began to scribble on his chart, but periodically looked up into my eyes. His eyes were much like his son's. Deep, caring, and knowing.

"I'm taking prenatal vitamins everyday." I pulled the ones I had with me out of my purse. He carefully took them from me, inspected them, and then handed them back.

"Those are fine." He wrote something else down, then set his chart on the counter near the sink

"Bella, does anyone else know about your pregnancy?" He sat in the chair across from me.

"My mom knows, and my doctor at home."

"What about you Dad?"

I shook my head. "Charlie doesn't know yet. I don't know how to tell him without him freaking out and shipping me back to my mom's."

He clasped his hands together. "Bella, you need to tell Charlie. He'd want to know. And you'll have to tell him eventually."

I held my breath, then let it out. "I'll tell Charlie, as soon as I know I can stay. I couldn't live with mom anymore, she doesn't get why I want to keep the baby. Charlie might not understand either…"

He went to clap a hand on my knee, but pulled back at the last moment. I still flinched. "Charlie will understand. And I wish you'd consider telling my daughter. Alice can be a real friend, and you're going to need one of those."

I nodded. I had made this decision, and I was going to stick by it. But I also wanted to be a normal teenage girl for a little while longer. I knew it couldn't be long.

He handed me a note that excused me from PE. I thanked him, and followed him out of the room to see Alice chatting with the nurses.

"Daddy!" She ran to him and gave him a huge hug. He grunted, and ruffled her hair.

"Rabbit, how was your shopping trip." He smiled knowingly.

"Oo! You know me!—I didn't know you'd be here today!" He laughed. She realized that he had been the doctor that saw me, and looked over at me catching my eyes.

I smiled, and waved my note.

"Everything's good with Bella?" she asked her dad.

His smile weakened a bit, but he didn't give me away. "Everything's fine."

I was dead asleep the next morning when I awoke to a squeal and someone bouncing on my bed. I have never woken so quickly in my entire life.

I rolled out of bed, toppling to the floor, arms braced in front of me preparing for an attack. I'm sure glad I didn't own a gun, or keep one with me while I slept—because there would have been bloodshed.

"Time to get up sleepy head!" Alice was jumping—jumping—on my bed, like it was a trampoline. I looked at my clock on my nightstand; it read 5:07 am—as in five o'clock in the freaking morning—why on earth is Alice here?

She went directly to my closet and began going through my new and old clothes. I headed to the bathroom letting Alice do her thing. It'd be a losing battle to stop her. And it was way too early to create coherent words.

I was in and out of the shower, and drying my hair in less than twelve minutes. I'm a disgrace to my gender.

Reentering my bedroom Alice had set out one of my new sundresses, my new wedges, and some bangles she must have brought with her, because I left all my jewelry at home.

She was nowhere to be seen. It was like I had my very own magical elves, or a fairy godmother—except I'm sure Cinderella and the shoemaker were more grateful than I was. I wanted to wear my hoodie today, be comfortable. I let myself pout momentarily, and then put on the Alice-approved ensemble.

I exited my room once more only to find Alice, Emmett, and Charlie eating breakfast in the kitchen. Once again—at FIVE am. I stood in the doorway and stared.

"About time you were up!" Emmett boomed before he shoveled another bite of Cap'n Crunch in his mouth. I swear he was using a serving spoon.

Alice jumped up and bounced over to me. She grabbed my hand and made me twirl. "You look perfect." She said with a self satisfied smug smile.

I laughed. "You deserve all the credit. Left to my own devices I would wear jeans and a hoodie."

Emmett shook the cereal box at me, getting my attention. "Bellasaurous, Eat! We got to get going!"

I grabbed the box from his hand, and went to the cupboard to pull out another bowl. "What's the rush? School doesn't start for over three hours. Why are you here? And I'm still a bit fuzzy as to why I'm awake." I was still dealing with the fact that they had woken me up at the crack of dawn. No wonder Charlie was still here.

Alice giggled, and Emmett rolled his eyes. "You'll see!"

I had almost forgotten about Charlie, watching the whole exchange between me and my new friends. He got up quietly and rinsed his bowl out in the sink before placing it in the dishwasher. I watched him lean up against the counter, thoughtfully crossing his arms, while I ate my breakfast with the encouragement of Emmett. It is rather annoying to have this much attention this early in the morning.

Emmett finished what I could only imagine to be his fourth bowl of cereal. Put that on the list. And stood up to put it away. My dad leaned in quietly saying something too low for me to hear. They then walked out of the room, Emmett with a wink and Charlie with a tense smile, leaving Alice and me alone

I looked at Alice in confusion. "What's that all about?"

"I dunno. I was gonna ask you." She shrugged and finished her breakfast.

Turning back to my cereal, I asked. "So, what's the occasion?" Alice grinned like an evil pixie and shook her head no. "Aw, come on you gotta give me a hint at least!"

She crossed her arms over her chest, and scrunched her nose at me, refusing to speak. I took the last bite of the captain, and threw my bowl in the dishwasher. I wondered how long she could hold the silence. I watched her struggle internally.

"It's tradition!" That didn't last long. "And I'm not to say any more!" She emphasized her declaration with a stomp of her foot. I gave her a cheesy grin, glad that I got something out of her. Recognizing my victory, she rolled her eyes and grabbed my hand, pulling me out of the room.

We walked in on Charlie and Emmett's conversation. Their heads were bent together. I had never seen a more serious expression on Emmett's face. I knew that Dad wasn't revealing my secret—he didn't know anything! But it made me worried, that look on both of their faces. What made it worse, was when they noticed us, they both looked at me…with sympathy? Alice looked back and forth between the men and me, obviously confused. That made two of us.

Emmett nodded decisively at Charlie, then his face broke into a smile, shedding the seriousness like a skin. He rubbed his hands together. "You ready?"

I nodded, as Alice jumped up and down giddily, clapping in excitement. "Let me grab my backpack, and we can go."

Reentering the living room, Charlie still stood there slightly less tense, but still concerned.

"Dad?"

"Have good time Bells. But give me a call for any reason." He pursed his lips to insinuate his point. "Any reason." Huh. What was up with him?

I smiled. "Okay dad. Thanks." His business done, he turned to get ready for work.

We jumped into Emmett's jeep, Alice literally buzzing with excitement. Emmett was back to his usual fun-loving self, all seriousness put aside, but I hadn't forgotten. I wanted to know what they discussed.

"So, what were you and my dad talking about back there?" I raised my eyebrows.

He chuckled. "Nothing to worry your pretty little head over, Bella-bean. He's just making sure I look out for his little girl."

I shook my head in amusement. Alice harrumphed in the back seat. "Why didn't he talk to me? I look out for Bella too!"

"Of course you do squirt. I name you my second-in-command for the 'watch out for Bella' program." His dimple began to show.

Alice exhaled, "Yes!" complimenting it with a gallant fist shake.

I rolled my eyes, and talked to myself. "You guys are weird. And in league with my dad. Heaven forbid."

They laughed, and I couldn't help but join in. They didn't know I was secretly grateful—for the distraction.

We pulled into a parking lot at the base of the beautiful Camelback Mountain. Camelback Mountain is a rusty red mountain in the southern landscape of Phoenix. I had only seen it from a distance; up close it was even more beautiful. Many people expect mountains to be green or blue with snowy white tips; this organic russet rock was more appealing than the cold distance of northern peaks.

"It's beautiful." I sighed. "What are we doing here?" I checked my watch we still had over two hours before school began. I didn't want to be late, it was still only my first week. I'd have plenty of time later to ruin everyone's first impression of me.

Alice skipped giddily to the base of the trail. "We're hiking to the top!"

Emmett pulled out a pair of tennis shoes he must have got from my dad. "Here put these on, I can't believe Ali put you in those death traps knowing we were going to hike."

I quickly obeyed, but voiced my concern. "Are we going to be able to make it to the top, and back before school?"

He grinned. "Yea, it's no problem, we do it all the time."

I looked at him and Alice incredulously. I had to make friends with the only people who like to hike to the top of a mountain before they go to school.

"Like I said it's tradition!"

"Pray tell, why is this tradition?" We began up the hill—mountain—I hoped it didn't get any steeper. No such luck.

Alice glanced over at Emmett, letting him continue. He smiled, caught in memory. "When we were little, before my mom died, she'd wake us up at five am on the first Friday of the first week of school. She'd get Alice and Edward up too, and later we added Rosalie and Jasper. We'd all hike up to the top of the mountain." He flashed me his signature grin. "You'll have to wait till the top to find out the rest."

I felt honored to be apart of their tradition. "Hey, this isn't the first Friday, of the first week of school!"

Alice giggled. "Yea, we already did this once, this year, but you missed out! We couldn't let that happen."

I tripped on a rock. No, we couldn't let that happen.

Emmett reached out to catch my fall, but pulled back at the last moment. I was glad, better a scraped hand than head. From then on he took the lead, and let Alice walk at my side.

About half way up the mountain I had to sit down and put my head between my knees. I felt like I was going to puke. Too early for this much physical exertion. Emmett and Alice—who weren't even breathing hard—laughed at me.

"Come on Bella! This isn't that bad!" Ugh. Says the energizer bunny and the incredible hulk.

Alice pulled me to my feet, and forced me onward. I had hoped they were going to give up, and let me walk back down, but whatever was at the top must be good.

It took us thirty-five minutes. It was worth it.

The view was magnificent. I'd never seen anything like it in all my seventeen years. The mountain sparkled ruby dirt, and the sun glinted off the city providing a sight worth painting.

At the top we found Jasper, Rosalie, and Edward reclining on an old blanket eating breakfast. They had a spread of fruit, bagels and cream cheese, and juice. Even though it seemed like we just ate cereal at my kitchen table, my nausea was gone and I was famished.

Rosalie picked at her perfectly manicured finger nails. "You finally made it. We thought we'd have to leave before you got here."

Ali rolled her eyes. "We had to convince Charlie." I raised my brows, this was news to me. "He went all super-dad protective on her."

Emmett chuckled. "Yea, he didn't want her overexerted." He used air quotes around 'overexerted.' My eyes widened in surprise.

"She did fine. Mostly."

"Thanks. You're so supportive." I replied sarcastically.

Charlie, Charlie… we were going to have to have a talk.

I bid everyone a good morning.

Jasper nodded his hello before throwing a grape in the air to catch in his mouth. He missed. Edward and I chuckled.

We caught each other eyes. The spark was still there—but it still surprised me.

"Hey."

"Hey." He offered me a place on the blanket next to him. I took it. He didn't have to offer twice.

"So tradition, huh?" He smiled a lopsided smirk. I turned my attention to the leader of our illustrious expedition. "Okay Emmett, give it up. What's the best part?"

Mischeviously, he smiled. "This." And then he yelled at the top of his lungs into the void between the mountain and the sky.

Alice joined him, followed by Jasper, Edward, and even Rosalie. I looked at them in shock and awe. Edward leaned over and nudged me with his elbow.

What the heck. I closed my eyes and gave in.

I yelled. And I let it go. All of it. All my pain, worries—Fear. The past, present, and future. I yelled, and released it all.

I was free.

I lifted my arms into the air, as an errant wind swept into my face silencing my sound. I could feel a smile threatening to break open my face. I opened my eyes to find Edward's searching mine. I couldn't place the look—I had never seen it before, but it was wonderful. It made me feel beautiful.

He smirked. "Feel good?"

"Yeah. Wow." I was speechless.

"I know such a rush. If you like this, I should take you to the plateaus near Sedona. It makes you feel like you're flying." He grinned like a little boy.

"That would be awesome."

We all sat down, passing around the fruit and bagels. They began bantering back and forth. I blocked it out enjoying a soak in the sun. This was so worth it.

"Hey sunshine, it's time to go." Edward's hand was hovering directly over my face, centimeters from touching. I smiled languidly.

"Aw, do I have to go?" I stretched my arms above my head.

He chuckled. "Come on sunshine, can't have you skipping—yet." He winked.

I winked back and stood up, finding that everything had been packed up by the pros. We headed down the mountain, where everyone found out just how clumsy I really am. Oh gosh, just think when I'm the size of a whale, I'll never walk straight. I rolled my eyes—this time at myself.

We made it to school on time. I slid into my AP Lit class just as the bell rang. Angela smiled brightly at me and passed me a note, as soon as I sat down.

Bella! I have a date with Eric this weekend! He's this really sweet guy in my economics class.

I shot her a huge smile. I was so glad for her. It was about time a nice boy recognized her worth, and she could get past this Ben jerk.

I didn't get time to write back because the teacher called the class to attention with a pop quiz. They were her favorite, but if you have them everyday they aren't so pop anymore.

At the end of class I finally got the dish about Eric while we walked to building four for math. Using her hands to elaborate, Angela explained. "So yesterday in econ, Eric came up and asked if I was going to the party on Saturday. I said I didn't know, then he finally asked if we could grab something to eat and go together!" She eeked out the end, barely understandable. She was having an Alice moment.

"I'm so happy for you! You have to tell me all about it." I quickly wrote down my number on her notebook. "Call me after the date and you can tell me everything that happens, kay?" I'm so gonna live vicariously.

She beamed at me in her happiness. "Oh this is so exciting. He's so nice and sweet. He doesn't have jerk friends." Nodding towards the douche group that took up their usual spot between first and second periods. We had taken to walking far enough away to avoid any catcalling. Ang was beginning to pick up on my phobias too—or she just really hated them too.

We arrived at my calc class, and Angela was still gushing. I bid her goodbye, and she basically skipped off to her class. I couldn't keep the smile from my face—at least someone was getting a happy ending. They are so rare.

The rest of the morning went quickly—everyone was happy it was Friday. I made my daily vomit run to the bathroom during government. At least I was predictable. I dealt with the glares from the skank-brigade, who by now must think I'm a bulimic. I really wanted to tell them off, but I was in too good a mood from this morning.

At lunch Rose and Alice were a buzz with planning the Hale pool party (I had forgotten), and news of the other party on Saturday. I set my tray down. They were debating if the other party was crouching into their plans.

"Bella, are you going to come?" Ack.

I shook my head. "Parties aren't really my scene."

The music loud and blaringly indecipherable. The flashing colors, of moving bodies. The groping, touching, grabbing of innumerable hands.

I shook my head to clear the cobwebs.

"Aw come on Bella!" Alice turned on full puppy dog mode.

"Nah-uh, I'm not going. You have fun—how bout have enough for both of us."

The sour taste of stale beer. The smell of puke and disinfectant. The swirl of smoke, hovering, never allowing anything to be clearly seen.

"Bella, it's your first weekend here. You should come." Rosalie's voice chimed in, confident.

"No. I'm sorry guys but I said no." I pushed my chair back, scraping the metal against the floor. I looked into four sets of confused eyes.

I couldn't deal with this.

A ceiling fan, whirling around, around, around, around. The wall sharp against my hands. The world, as if it were on a tilt-a-whirl. Some freaking merry-go-round for the insane. Hands. Pulling, tugging, everywhere.

I rushed out of the cafeteria. Pushing past several, not noticing, unseeing.

I found my way down the hall and outside, breathing in the warm air. Trying to settle my breathing, I sank to the ground wrapping my arms around my tummy and placing my head between my knees for the second time today—only this time I was going to pass out.

In my hurry I didn't notice anyone following me

Reviews are better than eating Cap'n Crunch with a serving spoon!

Recs:

Witness Protection by twicrack83. So good, The Edward and Bella are absolutely delicious. Summary: Rebel Bella has been shipped around the U.S. for years to different foster homes after being placed in the Witness Protection Program. What will happen when she is placed with uptight Edward and his family? AU/AH/OOC/adult language and lemons ensue! In progress.

Breaking the Silence by SparklingTwilight. This story kept me up to 3 am earlier this week. It's a year old and complete, but such a good read! Summary: Bella has suffered in silence for 5 years. What happens when EsmexCarlisle become her foster parents, and a perky pixie moves in next door & tries to break her out of her shell? AH ExB, Canon cpls. Rated M for future chapters. Please R&R

Please Review!