APOV

I was in the middle of reading a book that I'd read a hundred times before when I noticed that the sun had come up. I set it down on the nightstand and looked at Bella. She was still asleep and the house was completely silent. I hadn't had a christmas in years and I was uncontainably excited. I stared at Bella, who was sleeping next to me, her arms were wrapped around me and our legs were tangled together. I moved closer to her and breathed in the smell of her hair, I loved the way she smelled. I kissed the top of her head lightly trying not to wake her. "Mmmm." She wiggled a little, nuzzling her face in my chest. I just smiled.

I heard Charlie and Sue stirring in the room down the hall and wondered for a moment if we shouldn't move away from each other. Bella squirmed again and she slipped a hand under my shirt and started drawing circles on my lower back. "Goodmorning." She whispered.

"Goodmorning, merry Christmas." I whispered back.

"How long have you been awake?" She moved back a little so she could see my face. Her close proximity was starting to affect me and I wanted so badly to kiss her.

"Just for a few minutes." We got quiet as Charlie and Sue walked passed the door and down the stairs.

"You wanna go open presents don't you?" She asked and I couldn't help giggle that escaped. "Let's go." She started to get up, but the loss of contact left me feeling alone. I grabbed her arm and pulled her back down to me, kissing her slowly and softly, she bit at my lip and I shuddered. "Are you trying to start something?" She asked pulling away. I ran my hand up her thigh and she closed her eyes, letting out a ragged breath.

"From the looks of it, I already did. Let's go downstairs and open presents." I rolled out of bed and went to get dressed, smirking at the groan of frustration she let out. I decided that I was going to make it my goal to have her so sexually frustrated by the end of the day, that she dragged me into bed. I opened my bag and pulled out some clothes for the day.

"You're not supposed to get dressed on Christmas morning. Open presents, eat breakfast, and then get dressed." Bella explained and took my hand, leading me out of the room. When we walked into the living room, Charlie and Sue were sitting on the couch drinking hot cocoa.

"Hey, they're finally up." Bella dropped my hand.

We opened presents and Sue made breakfast while Bella and I sat on the couch drinking hot cocoa. Bella was looking at me with an odd look in her eyes. Then she pulled a box out from under the couch. It was a small white box with green ribbon. She took my hand that she was holding and placed the box in my palm.

"Bella, you didn't have to get me another present." I said modestly, we had exchanged gifts last night before bed. I'd gotten her a pair of converse, which she was super excited to get. She'd gotten me an ipod and loaded it with music that she wanted me to listen to. I'd spent a good portion of the night listening to it. I couldn't imagine what else she would get me, I knew I was hard to shop for. "I didn't get you anything else." I couldn't believe I didn't even think to get her something special.

"It's okay, it's something that I already had." She was blushing and I couldn't help but wonder what it was. I pulled the ribbon loose and lifted the lid on the box and my heart swelled. There was a necklace with a small locket on it, it was open, and inside was a picture of me and Bella from the first time she stayed the night. We were hugging each other with these huge grins on our faces. We'd stayed up all night watching movies and playing games that I was way too old for. But I'd had a blast and would do it again any day if it were with Bella.

"Oh my gosh, I love it!" I exclaimed, hugging her.

"I got that locket shortly after we met and I put the picture in it a week after we took that picture. I've had it ever since." She explained.

"Bella, can I ask you a question?" I'd had a lot of friends over the years, but I'd never kept a picture of them in a locket before or anywhere else special for that matter. Picture frames and photo albums were where I usually kept pictures of my friends. She nodded, but she looked worried. "How long have you had feelings for me?"

"Honestly, I don't know." She answered quietly. "What about you?"

"I'm not sure either, when I saw that we were going to be best friends, though, there was no sign of this happening. I never saw it coming." Charlie walked in the room at that moment.

"Breakfast is ready." He said happily. I looked at Bella and she still looked really worried about something. We both got up off the couch and joined them for breakfast.

It was much later in the day, and we had left Bella's house to go spend some time with my family. We told Charlie we were going to a party with some friends. Bella was quiet the whole drive and it was starting to get to me. I pulled up in front of the house and put the car in park. I turned to face Bella and she looked at me for a moment before speaking. "I've liked you for a long time, I just thought it was a phase. You know, when people experiment and stuff. But it's never really gone away. Then I thought I was in love with Edward. But that night he came back, I couldn't even look at him. All I could think about and all I could say...I just wanted you. I honestly think that if you hadn't shown up that night, I would have..." There were tears in her eyes and I felt my heart breaking for her.

"Don't talk like that Bella. Look, we will talk about this more later. But I want you to focus on the fact that things are so much better now. I'm not going anywhere, I'm not going to break your heart." She nodded and wiped away the tears that were threatening to spill over. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. When she assurred me she was calm, we got out of the car and grabbed the presents from the back seat.

Christmas with my family was great. I wondered why we didn't do it more often. Emmett and Edward played his new game for hours, Bella steered clear of Edward though. She got him a sweater for christmas that I'm sure he'll never wear, and she was probably counting on that. Carlisle got a fancy pen and Esme got a necklace. Rosalie loved her new outfit, which was surprising because we got it at a department store where things didn't cost two hundred dollars an outfit. We didn't tell Rosalie that, though. Bella and I walked through the woods after presents were opened, we needed some time to talk. "So, where do we go from here?" She asked, because we both knew that my family wasn't going to stick around for long.

"We make a plan. I can stay with you and Charlie till we graduate, or I can come back and visit from time to time. Although, months or even weeks apart sounds like a horrible idea. Edward won't be staying and Jasper is already gone. Esme and Carlisle have no good way to explain that, so they have to go back to Alaska. My question is, do you want me to move in?" Bella took my hand, lacing her fingers between mine.

"Do you even have to ask?" She smiled and I was so glad to see her happy again. I had to remind myself to keep her happy, cause I couldn't handle Bella sad.

"What about Charlie? He has to agree, and then we have to hide the fact that I'm a vampire from him."

"We can hide it, easier than you know. He's hardly ever at home these days. And with the wedding coming up, he'll be busier than ever. And he'll agree in a heartbeat, he loves you. I'll talk to him and we'll work something out." She was so excited, I really hoped that Charlie would agree. I knew he was concerned about Edward showing back up. If I stayed, then in his mind, that made the chances of Edward showing up higher.

"Alright, we'll try it." She squealed and I thanked god that I never had to be a teenager again. We walked back to the house to tell everyone bye, before heading back to Bella's house. Bella managed to give Edward a hug, but I could tell that it hurt them both to be that close to each other. For a moment, I wondered if Bella and I would last, or if I was just a phase. Elena must have seen the doubt in my eyes, because she gave me a quizical look as we were walking to the car. I just smiled at her and we headed back home. Home...I liked the sound of that. Maybe Charlie would say yes, maybe I'd get to spend my life with Bella. Maybe, just maybe, I'd get eternity with Bella. But that is a whole other issue in and of itself. I started the car and turned to Bella.

"Merry Christmas Bella."

"Merry Christmas Alice."

AN: I lost the notebook I was writing this in and lost all motivation to work on it. My friends finally talked me into finishing it, so here's a short update. More to come soon.