A/N: I'm sorry this is so late. RL got in the way, but I promise to post tomorrow as well. Thanks so much for all the reviews! We've got a couple of chapters left and then I'll start posting another story not long after.
EPOV
"Whoohoo! Spring break, baby!" Emmett hollered down the hall as he ran toward the doors.
"Emmett Swan! As long as you're in this building, the rules still apply," Mrs. Shapiro warned him.
It was hilarious watching as he deflated at her chastising before he walked as quickly as he could toward the school doors.
"I swear, he's just an overgrown child," Bella said as we followed Emmett outside. She'd gotten her cast off the week before, and she was glad to be free of it and the crutches.
"I think you're right, sweet girl," I said, chuckling before I pressed a kiss to the top of her head.
"Are you ready for camping Swan style?" Emmett hollered at me as I walked Bella toward my car.
"Not really," I honestly answered. I'd never really been camping before. Not in tents. Carlisle's idea of roughing it was to rent a fancy cabin in the woods, and my mother… well, she didn't camp at all.
The Swans went camping every spring break, and I'd been invited along. It wasn't like I'd had any plans. Mom had tried to get me to visit her in Florida, but I'd politely declined. So when Bella had asked me if I wanted to camp with them, I'd agreed.
"You'll love it," Bella assured me as we pulled into my driveway.
"I'm not so sure about that. I'm not a big outdoorsy person. Hell, I hate bugs," I admitted quietly.
Bella let out a snicker. "You'll do fine."
We spent the afternoon curled up on my bed, watching movies until Bella needed to head home. Her parents were picking me up at three in the morning, so that we could begin the six hour trip into Canada. It was a good thing that my passport was up to date. From what Bella had told me, we'd be camping at a place called Golden Swan National Park. They'd be going there every spring break for years, and all week I had been told about the beauty of the place.
A little after six, I dropped Bella off at her house before heading home, packing, and trying to go to sleep. I tossed and turned most of the night, finally falling asleep a few hours before my alarm went off.
By two forty-five, I was ready with my bags by the door. Carlisle and Esme had gotten up as well to say goodbye and wish me luck.
"Don't get eaten by a bear," Carlisle said with a grin on his face.
"Well, darn. There go my plans," I replied sarcastically.
At three on the dot, Charlie pulled into the drive in a rented van, and I hugged and said goodbye to my folks before heading outside. Charlie greeted me with a smile, tossed my bags in the back of the van, and told me to get in.
I climbed into the middle seat next to Bella and was soon cuddled up next to her. At some point, I must have dozed off because Bella woke me up about three hours into the trip.
"Bathroom and snack break," she said.
Opening the door, I climbed out and stretched. My shirt road up a bit, and I noticed Bella staring at me. Grinning at her, I tugged my shirt down, threw and arm around her shoulders, and we walked inside.
After a much needed bathroom break, I found the Swans standing in line at the fast food joint that was inside the gas station. With a breakfast burrito and cup of orange juice in hand, I followed them back to the van and climbed in.
I dozed off and on for the last part of our trip until we reached the border. We all had to show the guards passports and answer questions. Fun times, but eventually we were cleared and on we went. It wasn't long after the border that we pulled onto a road that welcomed us to the Golden Swan National Park.
After checking in with the park rangers, Charlie continued down a road and before long we were pulling into a grassy area surrounded by woods.
"Okay, gang. Out you go. Let's get these tents set up!" he said with way too much enthusiasm.
Grumbling and groaning, the six of us began to unload the van. Emmett, Jasper, and I were to share one tent with the girls in another, and then Charlie and Renee in a smaller tent. It seemed to take forever, but the three of us guys finally got our tent set up. I was secretly hoping that it would be like that tent from Harry Potter; the kind equipped with bunk beds and a kitchen. Sadly, it wasn't.
"Guys, come grab your sleeping bags and pillows," Renee called out after I took a quick tour of the tent. It was one of those three person tents and was roomy enough until Emmett got in it. Add in Jasper, and it felt a bit crowded, but I'd make do.
Walking out of the tent, I took the sleeping bag from Renee and the pillow she handed me. I headed back into the tent and set up in a corner. Emmett threw his sleeping bag and duffle bag down across from me, and Jasper on the other side of him.
Once everyone's tents were set up, Charlie and Renee asked Bella and I to go fill up some water jugs from the water pump while Rose, Emmett, Jasper and Alice gathered up wood for a fire.
Bella seemed to know where she was going so I tagged along behind her. We walked quite a ways before we came to a water pump standing alone next to the dirt path that we'd followed.
"This thing is a bitch to use," she said with a scowl as she set the jug down and began to move the handle of the pump. It took a few minutes before water finally began to flow from the pump, and in no time we had the jugs filled up.
"So, this might be a dumb question, but where are the bathrooms and showers?" I asked, afraid that I wasn't going to like the answer.
Bella let out a laugh. "Didn't anyone tell you? We're roughing it, babe. The woods are your toilet, but Mom's got a solar shower that we can use. She'll string up a shower curtain between a couple of trees, and then hang the solar shower from a branch."
I must have looked horrified because Bella had to stop and set her jug of water down while she roared with laughter.
"You're joking, right?" I begged.
She shook her head before picking up her jug. "Nope. It's a week of us and mother nature. We have a battery operated radio and a satellite phone for emergencies, but we're cut off out here for the most part. No indoor toilets or showers. No electricity."
I was starting to regret agreeing to this, but it was too late to do anything about it. I was at the mercy of mother nature for a week.
"Up and at 'em, kids! We've got a hike to get started!" Renee hollered, and I rolled over in my sleeping bag with a groan.
My body was sore from the two mile hike we'd done the day before, and today's plans included a five mile hike around some lake. Flopping over in my sleeping bag, I let out a heavy sigh and began to get dressed.
Once I was dressed, I crawled out of the tent and made a beeline for the coffee that was sitting on a grate over the fire. I poured a cup and downed it, despite how hot it was.
"Today's hike will take about four and a half hours, maybe longer. So, grab your backpacks and add your water and snacks. If you want, go put a swimsuit on. It might be warm enough to swim in the lake," Charlie said.
I watched as the Swans enthusiastically gathered their stuff and discussed the impending hike. I didn't understand how they could be so freaking excited about it. I'd known that they were outdoorsy people, but I'd had no idea that they were crazy outdoorsy people.
"Ready, gang?" Charlie asked, and I wanted to say no. I wanted to beg to stay behind and guard the camp, but I knew it wouldn't happen.
With a reluctant nod, I took the walking stick that was handed to me, and followed them down a trail near our camp. Seeing as how early it was, there wasn't a lot of talking going on, and I was having a hard time keeping my eyes open.
The first hour of the hike was spent stepping over fallen branches and swatting the bugs that were beginning to come out. If I was honest, I wasn't really enjoying myself. All that changed thirty minutes later.
The dense forest opened up, and the trail led us down a hill toward a beautiful lake.
"Welcome to Golden Lake, Edward," Charlie said, grinning at my reaction.
It was breathtaking. Bright blue water surrounded by fields of flowers and wildlife. It was one of the most picturesque settings I'd ever seen. I grabbed my camera out of my bag and snapped picture after picture. Eventually, I put my camera away, and we began the trek down the path toward the lake.
The path was a bit steep, and I stumbled more than once, grateful that someone was always there to catch me before I fell on my face. Half a mile later, we were parallel with the lake. I wanted a closer look, but I wasn't sure if I was allowed to walk through the wildflowers.
"Go for it," Charlie said.
Walking carefully through the knee high flowers and grass, I made my way to the lake's edge. It wasn't a huge lake, but it was teeming with life. Cranes and birds of all sorts flittered around the edge, the air alive with their songs. Frogs hopped around and croaked, and I could easily spend the rest of my day right there.
"Gorgeous, isn't it?" Bella asked from behind me.
"It's amazing. Words can't describe it," I told her with a grin, my disdain for hiking completely forgotten for the moment.
Renee suggested that we hike a while longer and eat lunch on the other side of the lake where there was a small clearing with some rocks. I couldn't see it from where I stood, but I was game. We got back on the trail, and I was in a much better mood as we rounded the lake.
A little halfway to our destination, Charlie stopped us all and pointed out the deer that were partially concealed in the flowers. Out came the camera once again. Bella teased me about how much of a city boy I was, and I couldn't argue with her. I'd never spent so much time in nature before.
Before long, we were all seated on flat rocks that jutted out of the grass and ate our peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Bella informed me that it was the one thing Renee could make without screwing it up. I kept my mouth shut, but I figured that Renee could mess it up if she tried hard enough.
Lunch done, we sat around to give our stomachs' time to digest, then we decided to go for a swim. I grimaced as the mud squished between my toes as I followed Jasper and Emmett into the lake. The water was colder than I'd anticipated, and I let out a gasp.
"Come on, Eddie! Jump in and get it over with!" Emmett yelled right before he jumped in, splashing Jasper and I.
The rest of the week ended up being pretty fantastic, and I was even able to spend some alone time with Bella. We'd taken a walk in the dark, not too far from the campsite but far enough away that we could make out without interruption.
By the time were were packing up our stuff to head home, I was almost sad to go. Not horribly sad, I did miss the comforts of home after all, but a bit sad. I'd come to terms with mother nature and found that I didn't mind her so much.
After spring break, time seemed to fly by. Looking back, I couldn't have told you where it went. All I knew was that prom was in a two weeks, and graduation was two weeks after that. And I swore prom was all anyone was talking about. Especially, Rose and Alice. They spent every lunch hour talking about it. I'd kind of hoped that we could do a Swan/Cullen prom thing, but Alice and Rose had shot my idea down. Rose and Emmett were graduating and wanted to attend their last prom together. Alice had told me that she wasn't about to miss her first prom, so I was left wondering if I should even bother to ask Bella. I knew how she felt about school dances.
I'd been contemplating asking her, but Bella had become slightly distant over the past week and whenever I asked her if something was wrong, she'd say nothing and that she was fine. I finally decided to forgo asking her to prom, knowing that she wouldn't say yes.
"I'm surprised that you haven't asked me to prom yet," Bella commented later in the week as we worked on a lab in biology.
"I figured you wouldn't want to go, so I decided against asking," I told her, catching a flicker of something in her eye.
"Oh," she said quietly. "I guess that's understandable given how I felt about the Valentine's dance."
I set down the slide that I had picked up and looked at her. "Did you want to go?"
She shrugged before muttering, "not really." The rest of class was spent in silence, and I couldn't figure out what had just happened. Was she upset that I hadn't asked her? Was I supposed to have asked her regardless of how she felt about it? I was left confused and a bit upset as she walked out of class without me. Seriously, what the hell had just happened?
I caught up with her as she made for her locker, and I reached out and grasped her arm.
"What's going on?" I asked.
"Nothing," she said cooly as she shut her locker and told me she'd see me later.
I ran a hand through my hair as I watched her walk away. I was confused as all hell, and truth be told, I was getting a bit pissed.
"Yo, Ed! You okay?" Emmett asked me.
"I think Bella's mad at me, although I'm not sure why," I confessed.
Rose came up beside Emmett and smacked me on the back of the head.
"What the hell, Rose?"
"Really, Edward? Really? You can't think of any reason she'd be mad at you?" she scoffed, scorn in her voice.
"It's because I didn't ask her to prom, right?"
Emmett's eyebrows rose up before he shook his head at me. "Dude! You fucked up, man. You've gotta ask your girl to prom."
I glared at him. He wasn't helping. "Why would I ask her when I know that she's going to say no? Do you all not remember the last time I tried to ask her to a dance?"
Rose looked at me like I was an idiot, and I was beginning to feel like one. "It's not just that you didn't ask her to prom, Cullen. Think real hard and perhaps it'll come to you."
I watched them leave even more confused then I had been. What else I had I supposedly done wrong?
At home that night, I spent an hour ranting and raving to Carlisle about how confusing women were.
"You have no idea, son. It gets worse."
That was not what I wanted to hear. "So, how do I fix this?"
Carlisle had no advice for me, and Esme's advice was to talk to Bella. That was kind of hard to do since she was ignoring my texts, emails, and calls. Finally, I decided the only way to get her to talk to me was to show up at the diner.
I drove to the diner and made sure to get a seat in Bella's section. She heaved a sigh when she saw me.
"What can I get you?" she asked, not looking at me.
"A chocolate milkshake and for us to talk."
Ten minutes later, I had my shake, and Bella sat down across from me, fiddling with the silverware on the table. I hadn't planned on having our talk in public where we could be overheard, but screw it.
I took a breath before speaking. "I'm sorry for not asking you to prom. I assumed that you wouldn't want to go, so that was why I didn't ask. I didn't realize how important prom was to you."
Silence met my apology and after forever, she finally spoke.
"It's not just about prom, Edward," she said.
My brow furrowed, and I found myself getting a bit annoyed with her. "Well, what the hell is it about then? Because for the life of me, I have no idea what I did wrong."
Her head snapped up, and she finally looked at me. "Forget it, Edward. Just forget it."
I was taken back by her anger. "You never once mentioned that you wanted to go to prom, Bella. You never joined in on any of the millions of conversations your sisters have had about it, so how was I supposed to know that you wanted to go?"
"You didn't even ask!" she hissed.
"Why would I, when I knew that it was going to end in rejection?"
"I can't do this. I have to get back to work," she said, standing up and walking away.
I sat there stunned for a few minutes before paying for my shake and leaving. I drove home in a daze. I didn't understand Bella's line of reasoning or her thinking. Why would she want me to ask her to a dance that she didn't want to go to?
There was an awkwardness amongst myself and Bella for the rest of the week. Bella and Rose weren't speaking to me, Alice shot me sympathetic looks, and the Emmett and Jasper were clueless as to how to help me. It got the point where I couldn't take the silent treatment anymore. I loved Bella, but we couldn't go on like this. Maybe we needed a break, so with my heart breaking I decided that maybe a separation would do us good.
I pulled Bella aside Friday afternoon in the parking lot and asked to speak with her. Of course, I got no response, but she got into the Volvo and waited for me to speak.
I stared at the dashboard, gathering my thoughts before I began to speak.
"I get that your mad at me, but I think that you're being unreasonable. I get that your pissed that I didn't ask you to prom, but I'm pissed that you're pissed at me for not asking you to a dance you wouldn't even go to. As for the other crime that I've supposedly committed … I'd like to know what I did that is cause for the silent treatment, because I gotta tell you, it's petty and childish."
I stopped talking, giving her a chance to say something, anything, but all I got was silence. I nodded as I stared down at my hands. I took another breath as I prepared myself for the pain and heartbreak that were about to happen.
"I love you, Bella, but I can't do this anymore. I think that we need a break from each other. Not forever, but for a while."
She didn't say a word, she didn't even look at me. She just opened the door and got out. I watched as she walked over to Emmett's jeep and climbed in. Not once did she look back at me. So, I guess that was that.
I drove home slowly, having to pull off the road at one point because the tears were clouding my eyes, making it impossible to drive. It took several minutes before I regained my composure and made it home.
"There you are, Edward. Are you okay?" Esme asked as I walked in.
I shook my head, knowing that if I spoke the tears would fall.
"What happened?"
I broke down and I told her everything. I told her how I was angry at Bella for being angry with me and over something so trivial and stupid. I told her about the silent treatment and how I couldn't take it anymore.
"I think a break will be good for the two of you. Although, I think that there's something else going on with Bella."
I shrugged. I couldn't even begin to fathom what had caused Bella to start acting so strangely. I knew that Bella was still going to therapy, but she only went once a month now, and we'd all be relieved when we'd been told that there wouldn't be a trial. James' attorney had convinced him to plead guilty, pretty much telling him that he didn't have a shot at winning with a jury trial. He'd been sentenced to twenty-five years with a chance of parole in fifteen.
I figured once Bella and I broke up, that Emmett and Jasper would no longer be my friends, so I was relieved when they came over the next day to hang out. I'd apologized for breaking up with Bella and was surprised to hear that Jasper and Alice had broken up at one point.
"These things happen. If it's meant to be, it'll work out. Give her some time," Jasper told me.
Emmett nodded. "Something's going on with her, but she won't tell us. She's been off for a few weeks."
I spent the rest of my weekend wallowing and alternating between being sad and being angry. I also wasn't looking forward to school on Monday. Forks was a small town, and I was fairly sure if people didn't already know that we'd broken up, they would by the end of Monday.
As I pulled my Volvo into the lot, I noticed a group of girls giggling and huddling near the entrance of the school. Ignoring them, I grabbed my bag and walked past them, intent on getting to my locker.
I could hear their footsteps behind me, and it only served to piss me off. It didn't matter that I was technically single. My heart would always belong to Bella, and I hoped that after she figured things out, we'd get back together. Maybe that was stupid and wishful thinking on my part, but it was how I felt. She was it for me. There would never be anyone else.
"Ask him," one of the freshman girls whispered.
Sighing, I turned to look at them. "Don't bother. I'm not interested," I told them, not feeling bad at all when their faces fell.
It was the same the rest of the day. One girl after another approached me, and I turned them all down. Rumors were running wild around the halls, but I ignored them all. None of them were close to the truth.
At lunch I grabbed a slice of pizza and a soda and stopped halfway to our table. It was no longer our table. It was their table, and it saddened me. I have no doubt that Emmett, Jasper, and Alice wouldn't object to me sitting with them, but it would make things awkward. Turning around, I headed out the door and found a picnic table near some trees. I sat there eating my lunch by myself and feeling a bit like an outcast.
"Mind if we join you?" Alice asked, and I saw her and Jasper standing there.
I gestured for them to take a seat. "Are you sure Bella won't get mad at you for eating with me?"
Alice shook her head. "You're our friend regardless if you're dating Bella or not. That's not going to change. It might make things a bit awkward, but so what."
The three of us ate quietly until I couldn't help myself. I had to know. "Alice? What else has Bella so upset? She and Rose mentioned that I'd done something else besides not ask Bella to prom, but I have no idea what they're talking about."
Alice gave me a sad look. "I don't know, Edward, but I'll do my best to find out. If she won't talk to me about it, I'll ask Rose."
I nodded my thanks. "I love her. I always will, but I refuse to be punished for something I didn't do."
"I understand, Edward. I do. I'll let you know what I find out," she said, dropping a kiss on my head as she walked by and threw away her trash.
The week passed by painfully slow, and I had to force myself to go to school each day. I would pass Bella in the hallway and not once did she look at me. What had me more worried was the fact that she didn't seem upset at all that we were no longer together.
Friday afternoon, Alice caught up with me and dragged me into an empty classroom. Shutting the door, she turned to face me and she looked furious. She began pacing around the room, muttering to herself about idiots and stupid people.
"Alice? Did you find anything out?"
She let out a harsh laugh. "I found out that my sisters are idiots."
"Uh ––" I began to say before being interrupted.
"For some reason, Bella thinks that you're still in love with Tanya, and when you broke up with her, it just proved she was right."
"Huh?" I asked, incredibly confused. "I was never in love with Tanya. Bella knows that, or at least I thought she did."
"Have you spoken to Tanya recently?"
I shook my head. "No. The last time I talked to Tanya was when she came up and you all met her. Irina and I email once in a while, but I swear to you, I haven't been in contact with Tanya at all. I don't know where Bella would have gotten that idea."
"That's what I told her and Rose. I told them there was no way you were in love with Tanya when it was so obvious that you're in love with Bella. I'll get to the bottom of this, Edward. Just hang in there."
I nodded, extremely and incredibly grateful that I had Alice looking out for me.
I'd just gotten into my car after school let out when my phone rang. Imagine my surprise when I saw that it was Irina.
"Irina. This is a surprise. How are you?"
She let out a sigh. "I'm fine, but I'm afraid that Tanya's going to try and make your life hell. I was using her laptop earlier and noticed that she'd left her email up. I went to close it when I noticed an email draft from Tanya to Bella."
"What? How is that even possible? Tanya doesn't have Bella's email address."
"I think she must have gotten it from my email address book. Bella and I have emailed a couple of times," she told me with an apology in her voice. "I looked through the rest of Tanya's emails and she's sent several emails to Bella over the past week and a half. And, Edward? They aren't nice emails. They're filled with lies. Tanya claims that the two of you have rekindled your relationship and that you can't wait until summer so that you can be with her."
"You've got to be fucking kidding me," I growled.
"I wish I was," she said with a sigh.
I pinched the bridge of my nose as I explained that Bella and I had broken up, and that I'd been the one to break up with her because she'd been distant and cold.
"Her sister, Alice, told me that Bella thought I was in love with Tanya. Why the hell would Tanya do this?"
"I don't know. She's been talking about you a lot lately, and I mean a lot. I thought she'd moved on, but I guess not. I'll talk to Mom and Dad. You need to talk to Bella and clear things up."
Later that night, I talked to both Carlisle and Esme. They had been great for the past week, listening to me as I dealt with the breakup and Bella in general. I told them how Alice had found out that Bella thought I was in love with Tanya.
"Why in the world would Bella think that?" Esme asked.
"Apparently, Tanya has been emailing Bella telling her lies. Irina called me this afternoon to warn me that she'd found an email from Tanya to Bella."
Esme scowled as she listened to what I was saying. "Someone needs to put Tanya in her place. Although, why Bella would believe anything that nasty girl has to say is beyond me."
I ran a hand over my face. "I don't know why she'd believe her either. Irina says I need to talk to Bella and explain what's going on."
Before going to bed that night, I sent Alice a text telling her what I'd learned and that I needed to talk to Bella. She agreed and told me to meet her at the park at nine the next morning. She'd make sure Bella was there. I hoped that Bella would listen to me, and I hoped that Bella would explain to me why she believed Tanya's lies.
A/n: Now before you get angry and throw things at me, just remember that I love a happy ending. I just like to make my characters work for it. You know this by now. I will admit that I was tearing up a bit as I wrote the last part of this, but it had to be done. There is a method to my madness.