A/N Here it is!

Alice's POV

"What exactly is the matter with you?" Edward fumed. "Are you purely and utterly incapable of doing the minimum amount of action necessary to accomplish the most basic of tasks?!"

It had been this way since we had found Bella. I did have a vision… about two minutes too late. She knew how the visions worked and therefore she was able to delay them.

I felt horrid. Bella was still recovering in Carlisle's study. The entire family had rushed home after I called them. It was easy enough to locate her. What wasn't so easy was facing Edward's rage once Bella was stabilized.

At first, he refused to say one word to me. Then, about twenty minutes ago he began talking. Now, he wouldn't stop.

So we were all gathered in the living room having to deal with Edward's anger. I knew I deserved it to an extent so I made no move to convince him to stop.

"Edward," Esme cautioned from the sofa, "you know Alice's visions are flawed and uncertain at best. There would have been no way to know-"

"She was supposed to keep an eye on her!" Edward yelled. He turned back to me, eyes black with fury. Any human may have fainted at the sight. "Is it that impossible for you to tear your attention away from clothes for a few hours? You claim to care about her nearly as much as I do and yet you continue to put her in harm's way! Did you learn nothing the first time?"

My eyes blazed. I remembered what happened the first time when I trusted Bella with the cell phone situation; however we had all agreed to put it all behind us.

"Edward, stop this nonsense!" Jasper said.

I placed a hand on his arm before standing up to face Edward.

"Edward, I hate to say this but the truth is that this is the aftermath of your choice. You can lay blame on anyone in this room and you probably would, but that doesn't negate the fact that none if this would be happening had you not been acting selfishly to begin with. I am sorry for what's happened. I made a mistake. I blame myself for this incident and I will most definitely be making it up to Bella. Now, I suggest you settle down because Bella will be up in a moment."

I sat back down but my eyes never left his. I could tell he still had a lot to say, but he decided against it. Instead, he just stormed to Carlisle's study to be with Bella.

I felt guilty as hell; Jasper and Edward both knew this. I could never trust myself with Bella again. Neither would Edward.

Bella's POV

I woke up to hard and cold amber eyes gazing down at me.

"I'm alive?" I squeaked, sitting up.

I was in a gurney in Carlisle's study; what else was new?

"With nothing more than a sprained ankle and bruised skull to show for it," Edward finished for me sternly. "I cannot decide whether you are the luckiest person to walk the face of the earth or the unluckiest."

I cracked a smile at him. "Probably both."

We stared at each other for a long moment and for the first time in a long time, I genuinely felt like I was back to being myself again; madly in love with Edward and completely accident-prone.

That came to abrupt end when he spoke.

"Do you have the slightest idea how idiotic, moronic and irresponsible your little act of vengeance was?" he seethed from the chair beside me. "Not to mention immature and horrendously thought-out?"

I didn't feel threatened by his words or expression as I expected I might be. In fact I was… in awe. I let myself focus on his face. It was just as glorious as I remembered it being. His perfect lips seemed to tremble with each word he spoke. There was a flicker of something familiar in his cold eyes as he spoke, making them feel… homely. Lovely.

"I mean, really, Bella?" he continued. "You have no idea what might have happened! You cannot convince me that you are really that stupid!" He blanched at my loving expression as he callously yelled at me. "And, the worst part is that you just sit there, staring at me with those eyes…" he trailed off, his voice softening. "Those eyes that could bring stone statues to their knees…" His entire expression morphed before my eyes into one of… tenderness. "It is impossible to remain angry when you look at me like that."

I gulped. "I get that you're mad. I would be too," I admit. "I'm… sorry about your car…"

And I meant it. I wished I'd never done what I did. It was everything he said it was and more. I had a bad habit of only seeing things when it was too late to repair anything.

His brow furrowed. "You think… I'm upset… about my car?" His softly spoken words conflicted with the fire building in his eyes. "I couldn't give a damn about the car, Bella! I'm upset that I might have lost you! If all you wanted was to destroy the car you could have just set the goddamn thing on fire! I would have handed you the match!"

I was… confused. Could he really care about me that much?

"Bella," he finally sighed, grabbing my hands and leaning in towards me. I was immediately overwhelmed by his scent and had to really concentrate to hear his words. "There are no words in this or any other language that could begin to explain how intensely I love you. I don't care about these last seven years. I don't care about the last twenty-four hours! I care about you."

I find myself unconsciously shaking my head, rejecting those words as he spoke them.

"It's not true," I whisper, mostly to myself. "It can't be true. Don't believe it."

"Bella," he interrupted my anxious thoughts, "you are everything to me. Had you died I would have followed soon after. I cannot live a life without you." He stopped to brush hair away from my face. "And I cannot force you to feel the same way. But I needed to say it. I need you to know how much you mean to me. Even if it does nothing else but convinces you to stop wrecking cars."

He offered me a small, crooked smile.

Before I could control my action, my lips found their way, once again, to his own. This kiss was different that the other we had already shared. It was more urgent. We were desperately clinging to one another.

I breathed him in as our lips moved smoothly against one another.

It was then that I realized the truth of it all.

I could not exist peacefully without Edward Cullen.

Here, in a gurney with a cast on my foot and stitches in my head surrounded by florescent lights and the smell of disinfectant, I was at peace in his cold embrace.

I had been searching for peace for far too long and having it right in front of me opened my eyes.

Edward Cullen was my peace.

One Week Later

Bella's POV

It had been at least a week since Edward and I had gotten back together. It was blissful and indulgent and, for once, there was no drama.

However, I always knew it couldn't last very long. We had achieved such a delicate balance and a small part of me always worried that it wouldn't take very much to break it to pieces, as it always seemed to.

I had been on the medication ever since I recovered from my most recent near-death experience. My hair was back to brown and so were my eyes. My exotic look was forever gone. I was worried.

Every night, as I fell asleep in Edward's arms, I found myself wondering if this was a good thing. I was back to boring-Bella, for the most part. What if they left again? The excitement was over; everything would go back to as normal as could be. What if that was the reason they had left in the first place?

I knew I would never completely go back to who I was before it all; I had experienced too much, changed as a person beyond reversal. Was this acceptable to Edward?

Of course, Alice and Edward managed to patch things up. After my revelation, Edward found it extremely hard to keep Alice in the doghouse. As awful as it sounds, had I not faced death for the thousandth time I may not have realized how much I needed Edward.

For that, he appeared to be grateful.

I was currently sitting on the living room floor in front of Emmett, Jasper and Alice. Now that I wasn't a criminally insane person that needed to be examined and watched constantly, everything seemed to relax and thaw out. The three of them enjoyed hearing stories from my escapades.

It started out innocently enough. They wanted to hear about college and old friends and my parents. They were not so pleased to hear that I hadn't spoken to Charlie or Renee in at least three years. Truth was that until I actually said it, I hadn't realized so much time had passed.

Then, I began telling them stories from my time with the Joker. That entertained Emmett more than he's like to admit. It was as though my life were a movie.

It did help me some, though. It was actually quite therapeutic to get it all off my chest. Retelling my stories brought me a sense of peace. I was finally admitting it everything to people I knew would never judge me. It helped me accept it and it reminded me that it did, in fact, happen. As normal as things were becoming these days, it would be quite easy for me to convince myself that it was all a dream.

"Go on…" Emmett probed.

I was currently telling them about how the Joker and I robbed a major gang ring in Chicago, the night I was caught.

I jumped back into the conversation with as much enthusiasm as I could muster for his benefit.

"Anyway, I was by his side the whole time. Then, the cops showed up. I had just shot the sister of the main guy, Boxy, and we heard the sirens. We ran. I just about managed to shoot down about five guys before we figured out we were cornered…" I winced as I remembered the scene. "The Joker turned to me and kissed me as hard as he could before saying: 'Sorry, doll, I'll be back for you.' He shot me in the arm before shooting a rope at the ceiling and getting away."

I looked down. Every time I remembered my time with the Joker, I felt more and more ashamed at how stupid I was. Edward walked in just then.

"I think that's enough reminiscing for one day," he said politely before taking my hand and lifting me to my feet. "Come with me."

I smiled at the three disappointed vampires before following Edward to his room. Ever since our reunion he wasted no time in moving my bed into his room upstairs. I certainly wasn't complaining. I only wished we were doing more on the bed… but that was still a topic to be discussed.

I jumped onto the bed and looked up at him.

"What can I do for you?" I asked.

He smiled and sat down beside me.

"I was hoping you'd ask," he said, taking one of my hands in his. "I want to do this thing right…" he mused.

I raised a brow. "Wanna clue me in anytime soon?"

He chuckled. It seemed he appreciated my new-found extroversion.

"Bella… I'd like to have a date with you. A real date. Instead of listening to war stories until you're nearly in tears."

I was about to counter that last remark but he placed a finger over my lips.

"Hear me out?" he suggested. "I know it feels like everything is back to normal, and I like that. Love it, actually. I would, however, be keen to actually feel more like your… boyfriend."

I sighed. He was so much more than my boyfriend at this point. I didn't think there was even a word for what we were.

"What exactly do you mean, Edward?" I asked. Then, a thought hit me. I lifted myself to my knees and placed both arms over his shoulders. "If you want to feel closer, I may have something in mind…"

I trailed off and started kissing his neck. I heard an exasperated chuckle before he gently pushed be away.

"I was thinking more along the lines of a dinner," he said, looking into my eyes. "You could eat… I could pretend to eat… we could become reacquainted. I want to have a proper date with you, Bella. And I would really like you to say yes."

I sighed. "That doesn't sound terrible," I admitted.

His eyes gleamed. "Excellent."

Just then there was a knock on his door. A minute later, Alice strolled into the room and grabbed both of my hands.

"We have to go shopping!" she squeaked.

"Alice," Edward warned from beside me.

She rolled her eyes. "Relax! Rosalie and Esme will join us. We'll make it a spa day."

While Edward fully forgave Alice, he wasn't yet quite keen on leaving me alone with her. I thought it was ridiculous but he felt it was justified and she made no move to change his mind.

"Please, Bella?"

I decided to give in quickly. It would happen either way, so I figured when it comes to Alice, it's easier to just save time and say yes right off the bat.

"Sure, Alice."

She yelped, then pulled me up and out of the room.

"We'll get your hair done, get you a nice dress, a mani-pedi, some makeup…"

She droned on and on as she pulled me down the stairs.

In truth, I couldn't blame her excitement. I felt like a teenager again and could barely contain my own.

A/N The drama portion of the story is now nearing an end. Let me know what you think about this chapter!