Chapter Seventeen – (Invitations)

BPOV

My dreams were filled with memories of my mother, which eventually morphed into dreams of Edward. I know I talk in my sleep so I hope I didn't mumble anything too embarrassing. I yawn as I open my eyes. I look over at Edward's radio clock— it's 9:30AM. I look up at Edward and see that he's still asleep. I've never seen anything so beautiful. He begins to stir, his lips turning up into a smile.

"I can feel you staring at me."

"Sorry," I apologize through a quiet laugh.

His left eye opens as his right stays closed. He wraps his arms around me, rolls onto his back and pulls me on top of him. I wrap my arms around his neck and hold him close to me.

"How did you sleep?" he asks as he tucks a strand of hair behind my ear.

"Great. What about you?"

"Amazingly," he replies with a smirk on his face. I blush before burying my face into his chest. He cups my face in his hands, forcing me to look at him.

"Don't hide from me."

"Why not?" I ask, my voice laced with amusement.

He rolls his eyes before leaning down and pressing his lips to mine. My lips automatically turn up into a smile before I begin to kiss him back. Both of our hands find their way into each other's hair. Edwards's arms travel down my back. He grabs the back of my thighs and pulls my body up closer to him. I end up with a leg on each side of his hips, crouching over him making it easier for us to make out. His hands travel back to my hair, placing all of it to one side before sitting up and crossing his legs as I continue to straddle him. He breaks the kiss and moves to my neck, sucking on it lightly before placing kisses along my collar bone. My head automatically turns to the side, giving him easier access. His hands travel down my back and cup my ass. I freeze at the contact for a few seconds causing him to pull his hands away abruptly and leaning away from me to look me in the eyes.

"Too much?" he asks. His voice is husky. I think about what he's asking and realize I didn't actually mind, I was just shocked. I shake my head at him slowly before smiling softly to myself.

"No. I was just surprised," I say in a quiet voice.

His mouth turns up into that crooked smile that always takes my breath away. I keep my eyes on his as his hands travel back down to my ass and he squeezes. I bit my bottom lip and I feel my cheeks burn into a blush. He releases one of my bottom cheeks, bringing his fingers to my lips and lightly pulling my bottom lip out from teeth's death grip. A giggle escapes my lips before I place my hands on either side of his face, and lean down to capture his mouth with mine. We pick up from where we left off.

Someone barges into Edward's room, making the door bang into the wall with a loud thump. I literally fall off of Edward from fear and shock of being caught. I look over at the door and notice that the culprit is Emmett, as usual. I feel my cheeks flush. Edward wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me back into his lap with a scowl on his face.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" Emmett questions in an amused tone. Edward groans and runs his hand over his face.

"For fuck sake, Emmett. Haven't you ever heard of knocking?" Edwards yells at him. Emmett rolls his eyes before looking at me, his lips turning into a smirk.

"Chill out, Eddie."

"No, I won't chill out! This is my fucking room you have no right to just barge in here! If it was the other way around and I barged into your room while Rosalie was in there, you'd be blowing my head off too!"

"True," Emmett agrees.

I feel Edward's hands ball into fists in my lap and feel his chest rising and falling quite fast as he begins to get worked up. I place my hands over his lacing them together. I twist around in his lap and look into his eyes before leaning down and whispering, "Calm down, baby. It's alright." in his ear. I feel the tension leave his body almost straight away as he plants a kiss on my cheek. I smile softly at him. He smiles back.

I turn back to Emmett with an annoyed look on my face. He looks taken aback for a second before he composes himself and smirks at me again.

"What would you like, Emmett?" I ask him.

"Just wanted to come say hi and see what you guys were doing today, but I've clearly interrupted something."

"Yes. Well, like Edward said. You could have knocked before barging in here."

"Easy there, Tiger. I just need to talk to him about something for a second."

"Oh, okay. Well, I'll just um, go get dressed then," I mumble embarrassed.

Edward tightens his hold on me. I turn around and quickly kiss him on the lips before climbing out of his lap and going into the bathroom. I hear their muffled voices as I get changed. I think I hear my name mentioned a few times but I can't be sure. I poke my head around the bathroom door once I hear Edward's bedroom door close. Edward is sitting at the foot of his bed with no shirt on, and his hands in his hair. I walk out of the bathroom and go sit by him on the bed. He looks up at me and smiles as he feels the bed shift under my weight.

"Hey," he greets me.

"Hey, are you okay?" I ask him concerned.

"Yeah I'm fine. Emmett just came up to talk to me about Thanksgiving next weekend. He, uh, asked if I was gonna invite you or not since now we're official or whatever."

This takes me by surprise. I completely forgot about Thanksgiving coming up which is honestly not like me at all considering that's when my Mom abandoned me and I'm constantly thinking about that day.

"Okay…" I say, waiting for him to elaborate.

"So, uh, do you want to come to Thanksgiving dinner next weekend?" he asks me.

"Oh, I mean. If Charlie doesn't want me home. Then yeah, sure."

"Does he ever want you home?" he asks, annoyance clear in his voice.

"I don't know," I say quietly before adding, "What's that supposed to mean anyway?"

"Well no offence, Bella, but he's an asshole and he hit you, so you shouldn't even be doing shit for him on Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is about spending time with the people you love and sharing what you're thankful for. I don't see you being thankful to him for much, do you?" he asks.

I have to admit he makes a good point and I don't blame him for feeling that way either, but Thanksgiving hasn't been like that for me for a very long time. It's just a holiday filled with bad memories to me now, and I can't tell Edward that. Thanksgiving is obviously something important for him and his family.

I sigh before moving back onto the bed and pulling my legs up, wrapping my arms around them. Edward turns around and looks at me with wonder and concern clear in his eyes, me want to tell him all of my secrets and deepest fears, but he never makes me talk about it if I don't want to.

"Yeah, I know. Thanksgiving hasn't felt like that for me for a long time though," I reply with sadness beginning to form in my voice.

"What? Why?" he asks, moving closer to me and taking his hand in mine.

"Because of my Mom," I say quietly. He places his hand on my cheek. I lean into the touch before looking into his eyes. I've told him little bits of my life that have happened, so he knows I won't elaborate about why my mom left and he never pushes me too either. It's like he gets me without me even having to tell him anything. I change the subject back to Charlie.

"I hate living there with him, I do. But I don't have anywhere else to go. I just have to put up with it for a few more years." I feel my eyes sting before a tear slips down my cheek. Edward sighs before leaning over and kissing it away, getting a small smile out of me.

"No father should ever treat his daughter that way, Bella. It's just wrong," he says in a concerned voice. I move closer to him. He wraps his arms around me as I lean into his chest.

"He's not my father. I don't know how many times I have to tell you that," I reply.

"Yeah. Sorry, I just hate the way he treats you. Especially since I found out he was the one who put that bruise on your face," he says as he strokes the place where there is only now a light bruise.

"Anyway, let's not let that asshole ruin our day. Let's go get some breakfast," he adds as he begins to carry me off the bed with him.

"Okay," I say through a laugh. Steadying myself as we stand.

I take another glance at his clock— 11:30. We make our way downstairs into the kitchen. Edward goes to the cupboard and grabs out two bowls before going to another cupboard and pulls out a cereal called Coco Pops. When he gets the milk out of the fridge and comes to sit next to me, I quirk my brow at him before looking at the cereal. He gives me a confused look before shock covers his features as realization sinks in.

"Don't tell me you've never had Coco Pops before?" he asks emphatically.

I purse my lips and bite my bottom lip before shaking my head.

"Oh my god. You're kidding!" he says through a chuckle. I narrow my eyes at him before replying.

"Afraid not."

"Don't worry, you're going to love it. It's like a party in your mouth," he replies before pulling the bowl closer to him, pouring the cereal and then the milk into the bowl as well. I roll my eyes at him.

"I'm not incompetent, you know. I can do that myself," I inform him. He chuckles before pushing my bowl over to me. Looking at me expectantly, he keeps his eyes on me as I pull the bowl closer to me and take my first mouth full. He was right— it's like a party in your mouth. The chocolate on the cereal melts in your mouth. It also makes the milk into a chocolate kind of milk, giving it more flavor. And the cereal is crunchy which is always a plus.

"Well?" he asks. My lips form up into a smile. I look up at him to see that he's looking at me expectantly again.

"Like a party in your mouth," I quote him. His expression turns into amusement before he smiles and leans over and kisses me lightly on the lips.

He pulls away and says "Told ya," before he begins to eat his breakfast.

Once we finished breakfast, we went into the lounge room, snuggling on the couch together. We're eventually joined by Jasper and Alice.

"Hey, guys!" Alice greets us enthusiastically as she enters the room. I smile at her before looking over at Jasper. He's smirking at Edward. I look to Edward. He's narrowing his eyes at Jasper. Emmett has clearly shared with Jasper what he walked in on.

"Hey, Alice," I reply.

"What are you going to get up to today? Do you want to hang out with us?" she asks. Edward chuckles by my side.

"Yeah, okay. Actually do you wanna hang out with just us?" I ask her.

"Okay!" she replies excitedly. I look at Edward and smile at him softly.

"Is that alright?" I ask him quietly.

"Of course it's okay, baby. Go have some girl time." He leans in and kisses me on the lips.

Alice takes her hand in mine and pulls me off the couch, leading me out the back door. Their backyard is huge; it's so wide and spaced out. There's a huge pool to one side of the yard with a waterfall and rock decoration theme around it. A hammock hanging in between two trees, a barbeque in one corner, a table on the pavement and a picnic table down towards the back of the yard. Alice and I walk to the picnic table and sit cross legged facing each other on top of it. She grins at me and I know I'm about to be interrogated.

"So how was your night?" she asks.

"Yeah, it was good. Felt a bit different sleeping with someone else though."

"You slept in the same bed as me when you stayed over last time,"

"Yeah, but that was different. We are, weren't um," I go quiet, unable to finish the sentence.

"Spooning?" she asks.

"Uh. Yeah," I reply with a blush running into my cheeks.

"Emmett told me what he walked in on this morning. You're clearly becoming more comfortable with Edward," she states.

"Yeah, well. Emmett needs to learn to knock for one," I reply in an annoyed voice. She laughs before grinning at me. I shake my head at her and roll my eyes.

"But yeah. I guess I've become more comfortable. I don't know how to explain it, Alice. Every time I'm with him, I just don't seem to care about anything else. He makes me feel so alive and happy. I've never felt like this before. I love this feeling, but it scares me so much sometimes,"

She looks at me closely before taking her hands in mine.

"Why are you scared?" she asks quietly. When I look into her eyes, I know I can confide in her. She's always been there when I've needed her.

"Because every day I'm with him I can feel my walls coming down, and every time he looks at me with that glimmer in his eyes it makes my heart race. I know I sound like a love sick child, but it's honestly like he's bought me back to life or something. You saw me when you first moved here. I isolated myself from everybody and avoided you as much as I could – "

"I know, Bella. And I don't want to pry but do you mind if I ask why you did that? Why would you isolate yourself from everybody like that?" she asks cutting me off.

"You already know that my mom left. And you know I don't like talking about her. I don't know. It just really affected me, as it would. I wouldn't talk to Jess so she ended up giving up on trying to reach me. She wasn't like you. You kept on persisting to befriend me. And when I began to get to know Edward, I knew I was done for. He told me to give you a chance and by that time I'd already decided to give in to you."

"Well I'm glad you did." She leans on her knees and embraces me in a tight hug. I hug her back and breathe a sigh of relief.

"But that doesn't explain why you're scared of your feelings," she adds.

"I'm scared because I've never experiences these feelings before and I have a hard time trusting people,"

"But you don't have to worry about Edward hurting you. He would never do that," she insists.

"I know, Ali. That's not what I mean. My life always felt so dark and as though I had the weight of the world on my shoulders, but now it's so carefree and I actually feel happy again. I haven't felt happiness in a long time. I'm scared of losing this feeling," I confess. I look up at Alice and see that she has tears falling down her face. Shock overcomes me causing me to move closer to her, taking her hands in mine.

"What's wrong?" I ask her concerned. She shakes her head before smiling and wiping her tears away.

"I just hate that you've gone through this. You deserve to be happy. You're my best friend, Bella. I want you to be happy, not scared," she says through a cracked voice. Tears pool in my eyes and fall down my face before I envelop her in a hug. We cry together for a few minutes before getting our act together.

"Thank you."

"For what?" she asks.

"For everything," I reply.

She smiles at me softly before squeezing my hand and climbing off the table before saying, "We should probably get back inside."

'Yeah," I agree. I climb off the table before walking over to Alice. She wraps her arm around me as we walk back to the house.

When Alice and I go back inside, she and Jasper leave to go out for dinner at Port Angeles. I didn't notice how long we were out there talking for. It ended up being 2:00 PM by the time we got back to the house.

I walk over to Edward sitting on the couch. I place my hand on his knees and lean down. He graces me with a smile before I place my lips to his. He sits up; wrapping his arms around my waist and pulls me onto his lap. I straddle him, wrapping my arms around his neck. He pulls away and pushes my hair to one side again. Planting soft kisses along my jaw traveling down to my neck.

"You're so beautiful," he mumbles against my skin.

I lean my head back and bite my bottom lip. How can one touch by him make me feel so alive? He always says sweet things like that to me as well. He's always saying that I'm beautiful. He told me that I'm nothing like the other girls that have shown interest in him— the ones that pack on the makeup. He said I don't need makeup to make myself look beautiful because I have a natural beauty. This is great in my case considering I never wear makeup unless it's absolutely necessary.

Like I said to Alice earlier, Edward makes me feel things I've never felt before. Whenever I'm with anybody else, it sometimes gets so hard to be myself, but I feel so different whenever I'm with him. When we're together, we don't even have to talk to feel content. Sometimes we just stay up in his room while he plays with my hair and plants kisses on my head and cheeks. We simply just be, like we are now. I have never had a boyfriend before. So let me tell you, Edward is doing a pretty amazing job if he's making me feel all the things that I feel for him.

We stop making out. I slide down into his side and cuddle up next to him. I take a glance at the clock and see that it's now 2:30 PM. I sigh and close my eyes.

"I need to get home."

"No you don't," he says tightening his hold on me. I giggle lightly before taking his hand in mine.

"Yes, I do," I reply quietly.

"I know," he says through a sigh. He looks down, catching me gazing up at him. He smiles at me before leaning down and kissing me softly on the lips. I close my eyes and smile against his lips. He pulls away and gets off the couch, dragging me off with him. He walks me out to my truck, opening the door for me. Edward smacks me on my ass when I turn around to climb into my truck causing me to turn around sharply and smack him on the arm.

"Are you done?" I scold him.

"Don't act like you don't like it," he says. Eyes filled with amusement and something else I can't describe. I roll my eyes at him, causing him to smirk at me. I walk towards him and stand on my tip toes to peck him lightly on the lips before leaning around and grabbing him on the ass. He jumps and begins to laugh.

"How do you like that?" I ask him before walking away and climbing into my truck.

"You're such a tease," he jokes.

"You bring it out in me, babe." He laughs before shaking his head and running his hand through his hair.

"Okay, I seriously have to go now," I tell him. He smirks at me.

"Bye, gorgeous." I smile at him before he walks up to the front door. I wave to him as I begin to drive away.

When I got home I cooked dinner, leaving a note for Charlie telling him there's a plate in the fridge for him. I eat dinner and do some homework before having a shower. My thoughts are running a hundred miles an hour about my conversations with Edward and Alice today. It felt good to talk to somebody and telling them how I've been feeling.

Alice is the most amazing friend I've ever had. Talking about my mom was hard, but it helped a little bit. Thinking about my mom has made me remember the letter I found that she wrote to Charlie. I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since I got home.

I walk over to my desk and rummage through my draws until I find it. I sit down at my desk and read it about ten times. I still can't believe she wrote to Charlie and hasn't bothered to even write to me. I notice the return address on it.

A million emotions travel through me at that moment. Fear, hope, excitement. I decide to write a reply. But what am i even meant to say in it? And what do i really know? The address could have changed; she may not even live at this address anymore. Determined to hear from her to get some answers that I deserve, I write the letter anyway.

Hello, I'm writing this letter to Renee Swan.
I don't know if this is still her address because the letter she wrote to my father has been under his bed for over a year.
This is her daughter, Bella.
I just wanted to write to her, and see if she's even still alive.
So if this is still your address, Mom. Please reply.
Our address is still the same. We haven't moved.

Bella,

I read over the letter a few times before I find an envelope and place it inside, writing the address on the front. I feel the tears in my eyes and wipe at my eyes before they can begin to fall. I go to the bathroom and wash my face before going back into my room and crawling into bed.

I fall asleep with my thoughts filled of my mother.

Hey, everyone. Sorry it's a day late. Both my Beta (jenndur) and i have been super busy this week. Yesterday I was volunteering at the after school program called OOSH from 2:30pm - 6:00pm then had Soccer training from 6:30pm - 8:30pm. I was exhausted by the time i got home. And today i am so bloody sore from training! But it's worth it, bring on the fitness!

So anyway, a bit more intimate interaction between Bella and Edward. And Bella can't get the letter from her mother out of head and decides to write a reply to her. Hope you enjoyed the chapter, reviews make me extremely happy! xx

natalee-x

Also, i have updated chapter 13 'Party' and posted the links of the outfits Bella, Alice and Rosalie's wore to Jazz and Rose's party, so you can go check that out if you want :)