A/N: So, after re-writing this chapter three times, it's finally done. I'm not completely satisfied with it, but it is what it is.

EPOV

I'd been extremely upset and a bit distraught that Bella had seen James' car near the diner. It caused all sorts of what-if scenarios to run through my head, and I feared that he was going to do something to her to get back at me. I certainly wouldn't put it past him.

However, by the time Friday had rolled around, James had gone M.I.A. His parents had told Charlie that James was out of town visiting relatives, but none of us bought it. Seemed a bit too convenient, plus James' car was gone as well. But, I had I felt a bit of relief when I realized James wasn't in school. Not that that stopped his friend, Alec, from trying to make my life miserable. Thankfully, the Swans guarded me well.

"Edward! Don't you need to leave if you're picking up Bella?" Esme called through my door.

Crap! Looking at the clock, I realized she was right.

I'd begged Bella to let me pick her up and take her home on Fridays. I'd wanted to do it everyday, but she told me no. Bella said it was stupid of me to waste gas when she was perfectly capable of carpooling with her siblings. We'd finally compromised. I was allowed to get her on Fridays and only Fridays unless I was willing to trade-off carpooling with the others. I was fine with that, so it was decided that we'd sit down over the weekend and figure out a carpooling schedule that way everyone saved a bit of gas.

While money wasn't an object for me, something I was still slightly uncomfortable about, the Swan kids worked hard for their money. I hoped that Bella wasn't going to spend a lot of money on me for our date. I had nothing against her paying, well … okay, it bothered me slightly, but I didn't want her to go broke paying for a nice dinner. She worked too hard for her money, dealing with bitchy teenage girls and cranky old men. I mean, it wasn't like she hadn't taken me out before, but I really didn't want her to go overboard with the spending.

After the quickest shower known to man, I threw on a pair of faded jeans, a t-shirt, and a hoodie. I shoved my feet into my shoes, said goodbye to Esme and Carlisle, and ran out the door. Two minutes later, I ran back in to grab my backpack and wallet. I had no idea why I was so scattered brained.

I pulled into the Swan's drive, got out, and rang their doorbell. I was greeted by Renee, handed some strange muffin looking thing, and then hugged and kissed by Bella.

Once in my car, I looked at the muffin thing in my hand.

"Is it safe to eat?" I asked before backing out of the drive.

"Uh …" Bella trailed off.

Feeling slightly brave, I brought the muffin to my mouth and took a small bite. Immediately, I wished that I hadn't. It was positively disgusting.

Stopped at a red light, I spit what bits were still in my mouth into a napkin while Bella giggled beside me.

"That was horrible!"

"Yeah, Mom attempted to make an orange, egg, and bacon muffin."

A look of horror crossed my face. No wonder it had tasted so foul.

"Word to the wise, Edward. Don't eat whatever my mother gives you," she said with a grin.

"How in the world have you managed to survive?" I asked.

"Dad, and takeout. Lots and lots of takeout."

I shook my head. Although, before Esme had moved in with us, Carlisle and I had eaten a lot of takeout as well. My mom, on the other hand, was a fantastic cook. I really missed her cooking, especially her lasagna. Oh, man, she made the world's best lasagna.

"What are you thinking about?" Bella asked, pulling me out of my memories.

"My mom's lasagna."

"How is your mom?" she asked.

I shrugged. "I haven't heard from her in forever. I sent her an email after you agreed to be my girl, but I haven't heard back. I've left a few voicemails as well, but I guess she's busy," I told her.

Bella frowned. "How can she be too busy to respond to her son?"

"I don't know," I said as I pulled into the school parking lot.

The day dragged by as Fridays tended to do. I felt as if the day would never end, and when it finally did, I grabbed Bella and practically dragged her out the door. I needed some one on one time with my girl.

We'd hung out a few times during the week once she got off work, but we were always surrounded by either her family or mine. But tonight, we would finally have some us time. Sort of.

I pulled into the Swan's drive, and got out, opening Bella's door. I walked with her hand in hand up to the door and gave her a kiss goodbye.

"You're not going to come in?" she asked, a frown forming on her face.

I ran a finger down her cheek. "I've got a big date to get ready for, or did you forget?"

She gave me a beautiful smile. "I haven't forgotten, but do you really need two and half hours to get ready?"

I shrugged. "Maybe."

"Fine. I'll see you at six, and you'd better be ready," she warned, before leaning up on tiptoes and giving me a gentle kiss.

"See you in a bit," I told her.

I got home and saw that Esme's car was in the drive. Somedays she worked at her office in Port Angeles, but more often than not, she tended to work from the home office. I didn't mind. It was kind of nice having someone there when I got home.

"How was school?" Esme asked as I walked into the living room and flopped down on the couch.

"Pretty good."

"Any plans for the evening?"

"Got a hot date with Bella," I said with a grin.

I was going to say more, but at that moment my phone rang. I pulled it out and saw that it was my mom. I excused myself, grabbed my bag, and answered my phone on my way to my room.

"Hi, Mom!"

"Edward! I'm so sorry, I haven't gotten back to you! I was busy traveling with Eleazar."

"It's okay," I lied.

"So tell me about this Bella girl you're dating."

I spent the next thirty minutes telling Mom about Bella and her family.

"Well, she sounds like a lovely girl."

"She is," I said.

Mom was busy telling me about her travels with Eleazar when Esme knocked on my door.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Edward. I'll come back," she said in a whisper.

"Who was that?" Mom asked, having apparently heard Esme.

"Esme, Dad's fiance."

"What?!" Mom screeched causing me to pull the phone away from my ear.

"Uh … dad's getting married sometime," I said, not understanding why Mom was so upset. It wasn't like she hadn't moved on.

"Hmph. Well, he'd better watch himself. She's probably a gold digger."

"Mom!" I yelled into the phone. "Esme's not like that at all. She owns a very successful interior design business."

"I see," she said in a cold voice.

I had no idea what she saw, so I didn't say anything.

"Well, if she thinks she can replace me as your mother, she's wrong."

I stared at my phone. It was like my mother had been taken over by an alien.

"Mom, she would never do that. That's not the kind of person Esme is. It's not like Dad thinks that Eleazar is going to replace him as my father."

"I can't deal with this right now. I have to go," Mom said before hanging up.

I was completely floored and at a loss as to what had just happened.

"Everything okay?" Esme asked from the doorway.

"I have no idea," I told her.

She came in and sat on the edge of my bed. "Did you want to talk about it?"

"Moms's upset that Carlisle's engaged to you and getting married. I guess she's afraid that you're going to replace her. I don't really understand it. I mean, they've been divorced forever, and she's remarried anyway."

Esme was quiet for a moment as she thought about what I'd said.

"It sounds like she's scared that you'll forget about her."

I let out a harsh laugh. "She's the one who's forgotten about me. She's been too busy traveling with Eleazar to call or email me."

"You're going to visit her for Christmas, correct?" Esme asked.

I nodded, although I was thinking about not going.

"I think that you need to sit down with your mom and tell her how you're feeling. It's best to talk these things out before they fester and blow up."

She was right. I leaned over and gave Esme a hug, which I think surprised her. She hugged me back before murmuring that she would never try and take my mother's place.

"I know that," I assured her.

"Now, don't you have a date to get ready for?" she asked, as she pulled away.

After Esme left my room, I hopped in the shower, then got dressed. I threw on a nice pair of dark jeans, a long sleeved button down shirt and a sweater. I wasted about ten minutes attempting to fix my hair before giving up. There was no point. It was going to do what it wanted.

I slipped my feet into a nice pair of loafers and deemed myself ready.

I headed downstairs and asked Esme if I passed inspection. I remembered the last time I had gotten ready for a date with Bella, Esme had made me change.

"You look lovely," she told me.

I made a face. What guy wanted to look lovely?

Realizing that I still had about an hour before Bella showed up, I sat down and picked up the book that I'd been re-reading, The Hobbit. It was one of my favorite books, and I quickly lost myself in Bilbo's adventures.

At six on the dot, the doorbell rang, and I ran to answer it. I threw the door open and found Bella on the porch holding out a bouquet of flowers for me. Laughter bubbled out of my throat as I took the flowers from her and let her in.

"I figured I'd make this a proper date by bringing you flowers," she told me before I leaned down to kiss her.

She returned my kiss, but we were interrupted by Esme.

"Oh, what beautiful flowers," she said, taking the bouquet from my hands. "Let's put these in some water."

"I can't believe you brought me flowers," I told Bella with a grin.

She returned the grin. "Where's your dress?"

"Ha, ha. So, where are you taking me?"

She gave me a brilliant smile. "You'll find out eventually. Esme, I'll have him home by midnight."

Esme laughed and shooed us out the door.

We walked out to her truck, and I couldn't contain my laughter as she held my door open for me. She closed it, then walked to the driver's side and climbed in. I'd never admit it to her, but I was terrified of riding in her truck. I didn't think the thing had ever been new, and it made all kinds of strange noises as she drove.

I was pretty quiet as we started our drive, and Bella noticed right away.

"You seem a bit off tonight," she commented as we pulled onto the road heading toward Port Angeles.

"My mom called me earlier."

"Did it not go well?" she asked, glancing over at me.

"It was fine at first. I told her all about you, and she seemed pleased that I'd found such a great girl," I told her, reaching out to take her hand. She put her tiny one in mine and gave my hand a squeeze. "Then Esme knocked on the door not realizing I was still on the phone. Mom heard her and asked who it was and I told her that it was Carlisle's fiance. That did not go over well at all. She got all pissy and accused Esme of being a gold digger!"

Bella gave my hand a gentle squeeze.

"I set her straight on that, and then she went off on how Esme better not think she could replace her as my mother. Then she hung up. It was—it was very strange. Esme said that Mom is probably scared that she's going to lose me or something."

"Esme's probably right."

"Yeah, anyway … I don't want to talk about it anymore. I don't want to put a damper on our evening. So, where are we going again?"

Bella snickered. "Nice try, Cullen. You'll just have to wait and see."

"Are we going to the arcade again?"

"No, but the family wants to go on Sunday if you want to come with?"

"Of course. Like I'd say no to spending the day with my girl."

I watched as we drove through Port Angeles, wondering where she was taking me. Not that I really cared. All that mattered was that I was spending time with her.

A little over an hour later, we passed a sign welcoming us to Olympia. I turned to look at her. I'd had no idea we were going so far away.

Minutes later we pulled into the parking lot of a Japanese restaurant.

"Come on," she said as she climbed out.

I got out and took her hand, walking inside. It was one of those restaurants where you sat at a large table with a bunch of other people, and a chef prepared your food right there in front of you.

"Is this okay?" she asked, worrying her bottom lip.

I pulled her lip away from her teeth and told her it was perfect.

"I've never been to one of these restaurants before. This is cool."

We were soon seated at a table with an older couple, and a pair of twin guys who looked to be in their twenties. The twins were seated across from us ,but I didn't like the looks they were giving Bella.

I wrapped my arm around her shoulders, while we looked over a menu, effectively marking my territory.

"What looks good?" I asked her, playing with a strand of her hair that had escaped the fancy bun she'd put it in.

"I'm not sure. I'm leaning toward the hibachi steak dinner. What about you?"

"Uh ..." I said, trying not to wince at the prices. Each meal was roughly eighteen bucks. I hated that she was about to shell out so much money when she worked so hard for it, but I also knew better than to argue with her.

"The hibachi salmon looks pretty good. I'll go with that."

We placed our order and made small talk with the elderly couple sitting near us. Soon, the chef began to do all kinds of crazy tricks as he began cooking. He was flipping his spatula, tossing ingredients in the air, and putting on heck of a show. It was pretty freaking cool, and the food was pretty fantastic.

We shared bits of our food, and I could hear the guys across from us making snide comments. I did my best to ignore them. After all, I was the one on date with a hot girl.

After dinner, Bella paid the bill, and we headed out to her truck.

"Do you think your dad would let you stay a bit later? I didn't calculate on dinner taking so long."

I pulled out my phone and gave Carlisle a call. He told me it was fine as long as I wasn't out past two.

"Awesome. There's this really cool black light mini-golf place that I wanted to go to."

"Sweet!" I told her. I was a horrible golfer, but it was mini-golf so who cared.

We spent the next hour and half playing black light golf at a place called Shankz. It was possibly the coolest mini-golf course I'd ever played on. It was all indoors and we were give 3D glasses.

"That was awesome!" Bella said, throwing her arms around me as we left.

"It was. We'll have to do this again," I said, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

"We totally should. I'd suggest bringing the family, but Emmett isn't allowed to play mini-golf. Dad has banned him from it," she told me as we got in the truck and started the drive home.

A quick glance at the clock told me it was after eleven, so we'd get home a little after one.

"Do I dare ask why Emmett isn't allowed to play golf?"

Bella let out a laugh. "A few years ago, we went on vacation to Myrtle Beach in South Carolina. They have tons of mini-golf courses so Dad decided we'd all go. It was going well until Emmett got a little too enthusiastic and began hitting the ball super hard. He drowned like ten balls, hit someone in the back of the head, and almost broke the windmill on one of the holes. He got escorted off the premises and was told never to come back."

I roared with laughter. That was so Emmett. He was definitely an over the top kind of guy.

"Since then, Dad has banned him from playing mini-golf until he's moved out of the house."

A little after one, we pulled into my drive. Bella got out, walked around the truck, and opened my door. She was too cute. Then, she walked me to the door where she planted a long, hard kiss on my lips before telling me goodnight.

"Will I see you tomorrow?" I asked, holding on to her, not quite ready to let her go.

"Sure. I'm free all day. Give me a call when you get up."

I watched as she got in the truck and pulled out of the driveway. Once she was out of sight, I headed inside where I found Esme and Carlisle sitting on the couch watching a movie.

"Hey, son. Did you have a good time?" Carlisle asked.

"Of course. I always have a good time when I'm with Bella," I told them as I sat down in the recliner.

"Esme said that your talked to your mother today," he casually commented.

I nodded before looking at Esme. She shook her head slightly, indicating that she hadn't told Dad about Mom's freakout.

"How is she?" he asked.

"Freaking out," I said.

Carlisle looked confused, so I explained the whole situation to him. He thought Esme had it right, that Mom was probably just afraid that she was going to be replaced.

Letting out a yawn, I said goodnight to them and headed upstairs. I was asleep as soon as my head hit my pillow.

"Let's go, Cullen! I need to kick your ass in Donkey Kong!" Emmett hollered from the Swan's Suburban.

"Hold on, dude!" I hollered back, as I made sure that I had my keys and wallet.

I shouted out a goodbye to Carlisle and Esme, before closing the door and climbing into the Suburban where I found myself squished in the backseat between Bella (which I didn't mind) and Emmett. Alice, Jasper, and Rose were in the seat in front of us with Charlie driving and Renee in the passenger seat. I was surprised to see her going to tell the truth. I just didn't picture her as the video game type.

"Mom takes her Kindle and reads the whole time, although once in a while she'll play pinball with one of us," Bella told me quietly.

An hour later, I was in an epic battle with Jasper on the air hockey table. It was one game I was fairly decent at. There was a lot of trash talking going on, and it wasn't until Renee scolded me for my language that I realized that I was becoming a part of their family.

"Ooo. You got in trouble! Now, you know you're family," Jasper hooted out.

I rolled my eyes at him, but I was secretly pleased that Bella's family had accepted me.

"Did you kick his butt?" Bella asked, wrapping her arms around my waist.

"I did," I said, turning around to face her.

"Good. He deserves it. He always wins whenever we play against him," she said before pressing a chaste kiss to my lips.

I wasn't a huge fan of PDA, especially with her parents in attendance, but I couldn't resist kissing her back.

"You're going to get me shot," I murmured against her lips.

She pulled back laughing. "Dad doesn't have his gun with him. You're safe."

"For now. If I get shot, I'm blaming you," I told her, digging my fingers into her ribs and tickling her.

She squealed then ran off.

I'd had been a truly great day with the Swans, and once again, I was jealous of how wonderful their family was. I knew from Bella that her parents argued once in a while and that money could be tight, but they were a fantastic family.

I was completely tuckered out by the time we got back to Forks, and the last thing I wanted to deal with was a phone call from my mother. She'd called me several times while we were out, and I'd finally answered her call, telling her I'd have to call her back.

"See you all tomorrow," I said as I climbed out of the Suburban. "Thanks for taking me with you."

"Of course," Renee said.

"Want to carpool with us tomorrow?" Jasper asked, sticking his head out the window.

"Sure," I said. "We can take my car on Tuesday then."

Waving goodbye, I went inside, said hi to Carlisle, and went up to my room. I kicked off my shoes and lay down on my bed.

I stared at my phone for several minutes before I called Mom back.

"Well, it's about time," she snapped when she answered the phone.

My finger hovered over the end call button, and I was so very tempted to press it.

"I told you I'd call you when I got back. I just got home," I said through gritted teeth, not understanding why she was being so rude.

"Where you with her?"

I knew immediately who she was asking about. "I told you earlier that I was with Bella and her family. Why does it matter if I was out with Esme and Dad?"

I heard an intake of breath from her end when I said Esme's name.

"When's your Christmas break?" Mom asked, ignoring my question.

I got up and looked at my calendar and told her when it was. She told me to have Carlisle buy me a ticket and that she and Eleazar would meet me at the Jacksonville airport. I thought it was a bit rude of her to make Carlisle buy my ticket when she was the one that wanted to see me, but I kept my mouth shut.

"So, when is Carlisle getting married?" Mom asked.

"I don't know. Why? Are you planning on coming to the wedding?" I asked in a snarky voice.

"There's no need to be rude, Edward. I raised you better than that. Maybe sending you to leave with Carlisle was a bad idea. You seemed to have lost your manners, and you seem to be awfully attached to that Bella girl. You're too young to be in a serious relationship. It will only end badly," she warned.

I had no idea what had gotten into my mother, but I was done with it. She was ruining the good day that I'd had.

"I gotta go," I said and quickly ended the call.

I tossed my phone on my desk and stomped down the stairs. I was freaking pissed.

"Everything okay?" Carlisle asked me.

"No. I need to clear my head. I'm heading out for a bit," I told him, grabbing my keys and leaving before he could say anything else.

I drove around for a while before I parked near a hiking trail that was a few miles from the house. I headed down the muddy trail that obviously hadn't been maintained and came to a stop when I saw a huge tree had fallen across the path.

I didn't feel like crawling over it, so I turned around to head back and that was when I spotted it through the trees. It looked like a small clearing. Leaving the safety of the path, I walked over fallen branches and wild brush until I stepped into the clearing. It was a small meadow with a brook along the far edge. It was so peaceful and beautiful.

Despite the fact that the grass was damp from an earlier rainfall, I sat down and let the peacefulness take over me. I had no idea how long I sat there but it must have been a while. It was only when the rain began to fall that I decided to head back home.

It had grown considerably darker while I was in the meadow, and I went to grab my phone to use as a flashlight when I realized that I didn't have it on me. It was sitting on my desk.

"Crap!" I muttered as I slipped and got my pants muddy.

I finally made it back to my car and winced when I saw the time. I'd been gone for three hours. It hadn't seemed that long.

I pulled into the drive and was greeted at the door by a furious Carlisle. I'd never seen him really mad before, and I hadn't really wanted to.

"Where the hell have you been?!" he shouted. "We were worried sick about you! You took off not telling me where you were going, you didn't answer your phone, and you've been gone for hours!"

I hung my head as I mumbled an apology. "I'm sorry. I left my phone here and didn't realize it until I was on my way back."

Carlisle ran a hand through his hair. "Give me your keys," he said.

Reluctantly, I handed them over.

"No car for a week. Either Esme or I will give you a ride to school and pick you up," I was informed.

"Actually, the Swans were going to give me a ride tomorrow," I said.

"Fine, but you're expected to come straight home. No hanging out with them or Bella for a week."

My mouth fell open and started to argue but was quickly shut down.

"Don't argue with me. I don't know what got into you this evening, but you don't get to just take off in your car whenever you want and not tell one of us where you're going. What if you'd gotten hurt, Edward? We'd have no way of knowing," Carlisle told me, and I knew he was right.

After being lectured for a while, I was sent upstairs, and I trudged up them, picking up my phone once I was in my room.

There were twelve missed calls. Five from Carlisle, five from Esme, and two from Bella, not to mention the numerous text messages I'd received.

I texted Bella back telling her I was fine, and I'd explain tomorrow.

Eventually, I drifted off to sleep, but it was restless. I kept having dreams that I was trapped in the meadow with no way to get out and no way to call for help.

Around three, I gave up trying to sleep. I headed downstairs and grabbed my book and curled up to read. As I was reading, my mind kept drifting to what Carlisle had said. I was actually surprised I only got the car taken away for a week, although being grounded totally sucked. I didn't know how I was going to go a week without being with Bella. All I could was hope that the week went by quickly.

a/n: Meh. That's how I felt about this chapter even after the rewrites. Although, there was some good info in here. As always, let me know what you thought.