Hello, Everyone, I know it's been a while, life has been crazy busy. I apologize for not replying to your reviews, but I want you to know I loved them all! Time got away from me and I figured you'd rather have the next chapter than a reply.

Thank you to my partner in crime, My-Bella, for always making sure all those dang commas go where they are supposed to, and for helping me keep my sanity when the plot bunnies get out of control. I couldn't do this without you.

Disclaimer: Obviously, I don't own Twilight or any of its characters. I just like to play with their lives every once in a while.

We used to be the life of the party
We used to be the ones that they wished they were
But now it's like they don't know how to act
Maybe they're like me and they want us back
It's like there's always an empty space
Those memories that nobody can erase
Of how bright we burned
Well now it hurts, but it's true
When they think of me, they think of you

Think of You, Chris Young and Cassadee Pope

*Edward*

I'd puttered around most of the morning finding things to do to prolong my trip up to the house. I'd cleaned up around the loft, thrown in a load of laundry, unpacked my gear, and I'd cleaned up the mess left from the cooler last night.

For the record, rotting leftover food on the ground was not a pleasant way to start the day.

Once I'd procrastinated long enough, I figured I may as well get it over with. Aunt Mae wouldn't be happy until I had made an appearance up at the house, and I knew better than to think otherwise.

Sure, I had called to let everyone know that I was okay while out on the chase. I also knew they were aware of the fact I was home, especially since Bella had come down with a basket of food last night. A basket that I'd be willing to bet that my aunt had a hand in putting together for her. But despite those things, I knew Aunt Mae wouldn't be completely one hundred percent satisfied until she saw with her own eyes that I had truly made it home in one piece. With everything her and my uncle had done for me, it was the least I could do for her.

My problem was I knew Bella was up there, which meant there was a good chance I'd run into her. It wasn't so much that she was there, but more of what she'd said. After lying awake most of the night, mulling over her words, I had to admit I was a little ashamed of myself. She'd been right when she'd said I'd never stopped to consider how her leaving had affected her. I'd behaved like a selfish ass. Then to find the picture she'd left on my truck…well I was still trying to wrap my head around the fact Bella had kept the picture of us all this time.

Arriving at the house, I walked into the kitchen where Aunt Mae was standing at the stove scrambling some eggs.

"Oh, good morning," she said, removing the skillet from the stove and scooping the eggs onto a plate. She sat it down on the counter and came across the kitchen to hug me. After releasing me, she said, "I was wondering how long it'd be before you came up here. Are you hungry?"

"No thanks I already ate. And I know you worry about me when I'm out on a chase, Aunt Mae, but I know what I'm doing," I replied.

"That may be, but it doesn't stop me from worrying," she insisted. "We were all very worried for you," she added, as she quickly glanced over at Bella, who was sitting at the table eating a bowl of cereal.

"I'm sure you were."

"Edward…"

She didn't say more. I knew what she was getting at, and maybe all of them were worried for me, but I wasn't ready to think about that yet. Instead I gave her the same kind of response.

"Aunt Mae…"

"Bella, could you please excuse us for a minute. My nephew is being pig-headed and I'd like to have a word with him."

Bella looked back and forth between us quickly before she responded. "Oh, uh, sure." She then placed her bowl in the sink and headed outside. As soon as Aunt Mae heard Bella call Dottie she turned back around to me.

"What did I—?"

She held her hand up, immediately cutting me off.

"You're still angry with her."

I was quiet for a few moments as I thought about how to explain it to her. "I'm not angry."

"Yes, you are."

I sighed in agreement and nodded. However, she was only partially right, "It's more than just being angry," I told her.

"Talk to me. What's eating you up inside?" she asked, pulling me over to the barstool at the counter and grabbing a can of Mountain Dew out of the fridge and setting it in front of me. She knew what my choice source of caffeine was in the morning since I'd never really cared for coffee. "And don't tell me nothing," she ordered, "I know better."

"How? How do you always know?"

"Edward, you may be my nephew biologically, but you've been my son for several years now." She paused and her voice then softened but took on a slightly more serious tone. "I know you still love her. You've never stopped loving her, and quite frankly, I don't think you ever will. However, I also know you're still holding on to the past with the force of one of those storms you chase after."

I started to argue, but I knew there was no point. She knew me too well. So, I gave up and told her what was on my mind. If anyone could help me find some perspective, it was Aunt Mae. "You're right. I am still angry. But I'm not sure if it's at her anymore. There's so much more. I don't know what to do with all I've learned since she came back. And then there's what happened last night."

"Edward Anthony Cullen, you better not have—"

It was my turn to cut her off before she was jumping to crazy conclusions.

"Woah, woah, woah, Aunt Mae. Don't go there. That, that didn't happen," I was half chuckling, that she'd even think Bella and me would have—"

Don't go there, Cullen.

She watched my reaction, most likely making sure I was telling the truth. Once she was sure, she said, "I know you and Bella are adults and your se— ah extracurricular actives are your business. But I also know how drawn you and Bella have always been to one another, even before you were romantically involved."

"Really?" I asked.

"Yes. You two are like magnets. When you and Alice would come to visit in the summers, there was always a silent connection between you and Bella. Like an invisible rope or force field that kept you connected in some way. You always looked out for her, and she was just as happy to hang out with you as much as she was with Alice. I wasn't surprised at all when your relationship became more. And despite the fact that I know you both still love each other, I'd hate to see you guys do something you might physically want now, but that you aren't emotionally ready for. I don't want either of you to have any regrets."

"What makes you so sure about how we both still feel, and that we will end up together, because I don't understand any of it right now. Even if," I let out a long sigh as I raked my hand through my hair. "Even if I stood here and admitted I still love her, which I am not, but if I did, I still wouldn't have the same faith that you have in it, in us.

"We had so many plans, had dreams of the life we wanted to build together. College, kids, jobs, all of it. Then she just walked away. And yes, I know now what Charlie did. That's part of what I'm pissed off at now. I can't for the life of me understand how a father could do that to his child. She was only seventeen, Aunt Mae. Seventeen."

"You're right. She was just a baby and what Charlie did…well there's no excuse for that. Not even in his own grief should he have laid the guilt and the responsibility on her like he did. Most of all he should not have sought out to hurt her and take you from her like he did. Maybe it was the booze, we are likely to never know what set him on that path."

"I know you're right about that. But why didn't she tell me what was going on? How can I reconcile the fact she was supposed to love and trust me, but couldn't trust me enough to tell me? Didn't have enough faith in us? And because of that, even if I wanted to, how do I trust her again?"

"Oh, honey. I believe that Charlie probably played on the guilt Bella already had over her mother's death. He took advantage of how she was already feeling responsible. I am sure that in her head she believed him and thought that by leaving she was saving you, setting you free of the horrible images he filled her head with. She believed the lies."

I nodded, accepting what she was saying. It made sense, Bella was always one to put those she loved and cared about before herself. So, if in her head, Charlie had made her believe that somehow leaving me was what was best for me, then she'd do it, thinking it was the ultimate act of love. But would she do it again?

You're getting way ahead of yourself, Cullen. You can't even admit your feelings for her yet.

"As far as trusting her again. Time. You are going to have to give it time and get to know her again. Know each other." She wrapped her arms around me and hugged me again. "She made a mistake, Edward. Everyone makes mistakes. What's important is that we learn from them. I believe she has. You've built up this wall around your heart to protect yourself when you were only seventeen yourself, and now you've got to let it go. If you want to learn to trust her again, you are going to have to let her in. Give her a chance. It's the only way you will ever know for sure if there is anything left between the two of you. Because in the end you only have one other choice and I don't really believe it's a real option for either of you."

"What other choice?" I asked her, completely clueless as to what she meant.

"You either get to know her again and move forward, start fresh and rebuild a new relationship, or you accept what's happened now that you have the answers you've been needing all these years, and you walk away. You could be friends and go on with your lives and find someone else to share it with.

Could I do that? Could I move on now that I knew why Bella had left? Could I find someone else to love and see her do the same?

I think you already know the answer to that one, Cullen.

"I don't think I can do that. I'm not ready to just jump back into anything with her, but I don't think I can walk away either. Is that wrong? Crazy?"

"No. Of course it isn't, honey." She gave my hand a squeeze of reassurance. "You both still have to work things out. You still need time. But it will work out. You will see. The fact that you can't just walk away says so much about what you really want. What your heart wants."

"You make it sound so easy, Aunt Mae, and after last night, I am not so sure Bella would want a second chance with me. I've been a bit of an ass to her and I've probably ruined things before I've even laid the past to rest.

"Well if you two didn't…ah…get intimate, then what happened? Did you fight again?"

Again, I was amazed at how my aunt just seemed to know things.

"Have you been talking to Bella? Did she say something to you about it?"

"No, not really. Maybe you should tell me," she suggested.

I scrubbed my hand over my face trying to make sense of what she'd said. "Wait, you're confusing me. What does not really mean? If Bella told you it's okay," I assured her. "I can talk to someone else, I don't want to put you in the middle of the two of us."

"Why would I be in the middle?"

"Well because you are probably on Bella's side and since she told you first, I will just talk to Jasper or Emmett. It's okay. Really. I am the one who messed up this time. But in my defense, I didn't mean to hurt her feelings. I just didn't get it, I'd never considered how things affected her."

"Let's backtrack for a minute and why don't you tell me what you did. All I meant was I heard Bella mumbling something about an insensitive and selfish ass last night when she came in. I assumed it may have had something to do with you but couldn't be sure. You just go on and fill me in."

I told her about how I'd been an ass and had never thought about Bella's side of things until last night. That all this time I'd only seen my side of things. Even after I'd found out why Bella left and I understood how Charlie pushed her to it, I still only looked at how I felt and what it'd done to me.

"Like I said, I've been an ass."

"Oh, honey. You've been in an impossible situation. You and Bella both have. Bella was consumed by the grief of losing her mother and the horrible weight that Charlie put on her. It's a wonder she was even able to pull herself together to leave. Most would have fallen apart and would have been crushed by that kind of pressure. She was so consumed the only way out she could see was to run as far as she could, as fast as she could. And then there is you, my dear. You were left behind with all the reminders of what once was and that made it incredibly difficult for you to see beyond your own pain. It was a no-win situation. If you ask me, what's important now is that the two of you have begun to clear the air, to talk things out and you both see how you were both affected. It's not an easy thing to do, and it may be awkward at first. But I think it's the first step in the two of you getting back to being friends again. And then…well then after that who knows."

"Okay." Maybe I should have had more to say, but my head was full of so many thoughts. I had a lot to sort through. I was glad I had a week before I was out on my next chase.

Stepping outside I found Bella playing with my dog. I watched as Bella picked up a stick and tossed it across the yard, sending Dottie racing after it, and bringing it back for Bella to do it again. It was easy to see how quickly Dottie was bonding with Bella and Bella with Dottie. If only things with Bella and myself could be that easy, but I wasn't sure even if we did bury the past, if things would ever be that easy between us again.

I whistled and Dottie came running. "Come on, girl, time to head home."

"Thanks for playing with her," I told Bella, not really knowing what else to say, considering she probably suspected I'd been talking about her to my aunt.

"No problem, she's a great dog. We became good friends while you were gone and kept each other company," she replied.

"She seems to like you. She doesn't normally warm up to strangers so easily."

"Well I am happy to help out with her any time," Bella said.

"Good to know. Well I'll talk to ya later," I said with a wave.

"Later." She waved back and headed back up to the house.

Dottie fell into step beside me as I turned to head down the driveway to the barn. For the most part she stayed right next to me, but a couple of times she'd paused and looked back up at the house as if she was expecting Bella to come with us.

Not likely, I thought to myself, even as I wondered if it would ever happen.

*Bella*

Back inside I went to find my brother, while trying to push thoughts of Edward out of my mind.

"Have you seen Emmett?" I asked Mae when I found her in the living room.

"I think he's upstairs. Something I can help you with?"

Pausing by the bottom of the stairs I turned and answered, "I was hoping he'd go over to our old house with me. I'd like to take a look around and see what needs to be done to fix it up a bit."

"Oh," she replied sounding a bit disappointed. "I imagine it would need a little TLC before it could be sold."

"Oh," I replied back to her, now understanding why she'd sounded disappointed just now. "I was, uh, actually hoping to give it a face lift to wash away some of the bad memories so I could hopefully fill it with some new."

She got up off the couch and came over, taking my hand into one of hers while her other hand rested on my shoulder, like she was gluing me to this spot.

"Does that mean what I think it means?" she asked, a wishful smile creeping across her face.

"If you're asking if I've decided to stay, then yes, it means what you think it means," I told her, a wide grin taking over my face seeing the joy on hers.

"Oh sweetheart," she says getting choked up as she pulled me into a hug. "You won't regret this, I just know you won't."

"I wish I could have your confidence, but I am going to try real hard to make things work here."

Just as we were pulling apart, Emmett came bounding down the stairs. "Hey, let me in on this hug fest," he demanded and wrapped his python like arms around both Mae and me.

"You're gonna squeeze us to death, Em. Let go," I wheezed out.

"Oops, sorry." He released us and then asked, "So, what are we hugging it out over?"

"Bella has a bit of news," Mae replied.

"What's up, Baby Bird?"

"Well I was hoping you'd go over to our old house and take a look around with me to see what needs to be done so I can live there."

"Really?" he asked. "You're staying?"

"Yeah, I am."

"Holy shit!" he exclaimed. He then picked me up and spun me around like I was a rag doll.

"If she gets sick, Emmett Charles Swan, you are cleaning it up."

Mae's threat was enough for Emmett to stop so fast he nearly dropped me.

"You want to go now?" Emmett asked.

"Sure, if you can."

"Do you mind if I come along, Bella?" Mae wanted to know.

"Not at all," I told her, knowing she had a background in interior design.

"Let me run upstairs and grab my keys and let Rose know. I'll meet you out by the truck."

"Okay," I said, off to get my purse before heading out to his truck.

"I'm meeting Carlisle for lunch and I need to run to the store afterwards, so let Emmett know I am going to drive myself." Mae said. "Here, take this so you can make a list." She then handed me a pad of paper and a pen before going to get her things to leave.

You've got her meeting Carlisle for lunch further in

"I don't even know where to begin," I said to Mae as we walked around my childhood home.

"Well what would you want in a home for yourself? Mae asked.

"Not sure. Maybe different paint colors for the walls," I said.

"Well that's an easy fix," Emmett added.

"That," I said, while pointing my finger towards the kitchen. "That I don't want. How hard would it be to totally redo the kitchen?"

"Well that depends," Mae explained. "If you leave the plumbing, electrical outlets and so on in the same place then it's a lot less expensive. Then you are simply ripping out the old and replacing it with new. But if you want to completely change the layout of the room, that could get a bit costly."

I looked around the kitchen and tried to picture things as I'd want them. I was good with the layout for the most part. There was only one real change I'd want to make.

"If we left everything as is, location wise, how hard would it be to put a window over the sink? I'd like to look outside while washing the dishes and such. Plus, it would bring in some natural light. That's always a good thing, right?"

"That shouldn't be too difficult or expensive since the sink is already on an outside wall," Mae replied.

"I don't have any clue on anything else, other than I'd like a second bathroom if possible."

"Shouldn't be to hard to work one in. Again, it would depend on plumbing location and so on," Emmett replied.

I nodded in understanding.

Glancing at her watch, a frown formed on Mae's face. "I am so sorry, sweetie," she said as she reached out and grabbed my hand, giving it a squeeze, and holding on to it. "I really need to be going, it's time for my lunch with Carlisle. I promised to meet him over on the far side of town and time has just gotten away from me this morning."

"No worries, I totally understand. Say hi to Carlisle for me," I told her, giving her hand a squeeze back.

Smiling she said, "I will, sweetie, and I promise we aren't done talking about this. There really is so much you can do to make it your own, and of course you know I would love to help." She looked over to Emmett and then back to me, "Why don't you keep looking around with Emmett, write down what you want to do, and what needs to be fixed and we'll discuss it at dinner. Rose may even have some ideas. You know how she always loves to rearrange furniture and things, and being that she can't move anything heavy right now, I am sure she'd love to give her input. I swear when she was younger her room never stayed in the same placement for more than a few months at a time."

"Sounds good, I'd love to have Rose's opinion," I told her. She hugged us both and then left.

Not even five minutes later, Rose called Emmett asking her to come help him with Emma since she wasn't feeling well. He promised me he'd be back as soon as he got Emma down for a nap, that it shouldn't be more than an hour or so.

"Ok," I told him, but really, I was dreading being there alone. With everything looking almost exactly as it had when I'd left four years ago, it was still hard to see it all, to see where I might want to make changes. All I could see was my past.

Will a makeover really be enough for you to live here?

I took a deep breath. "It's a free house, Bella, you can make it your own," I told myself.

Sighing I made my way upstairs. I didn't know what to feel when I looked in my old bedroom. It was still the same as it was the day I'd left. The bed was still bare, I'd stripped it down, and my grandmother's rocking chair still sat in the corner. It was the one piece of furniture I'd wished I could have taken with me. Otherwise nothing had changed, all that remained was the furniture, I'd taken all the personal stuff I'd wanted with me to Miami and had tossed the rest in the trash, determined to not leave anything for Charlie to keep either. That is, other than the one thing I'd left hanging in the closet to let Charlie know I wanted no part of him anymore.

Walking across the room I opened the closet door. There it was, still hanging right where I'd left it. It made me wonder if he'd even seen his old police department t-shirt that had once been a favorite sleep shirt of mine. I had wanted him to know that I was leaving him behind. He'd wanted me gone and I'd left.

I was just about to grab the shirt to toss in the trash when I heard a car pull up outside. Certain it was Emmett coming back to get me I took off down the stairs, having had enough time on memory lane for one day. I was going so fast that when my foot caught on the last step, I began preparing myself to go flying across the floor. However, I was caught by a pair of strong arms.

I was helped to stand and as soon as I got my balance I turned around to thank my brother.

"Thank goodness you came back when you did, Emmett." I bent to pick up my purse I'd dropped and that's when I saw the shoes of my rescuer. Shoes I'd seen earlier this morning and they weren't my brother's.

"Edward?"

"Looks like I got here just in time," he declared with a smirk as his eyes remained fixed on me.

I felt my face begin to heat under his gaze.

"Uh, yeah. Thanks," I mumbled.

"Emmett asked me to come and get you," Edward supplied.

"Oh, is everything ok with Rose?"

"Yeah, I ran into him as he pulled up to the house. I was on my way to ask him if he wanted to go truck shopping with me, but he said he had to help Rose."

"So, he sent you to get me?" I asked.

"Sorta."

"What's that mean?"

"Well he said he'd left you here and couldn't go, and I offered to come get you if he loaned me his truck."

"That was nice. Thank you."

"What are you doing here anyways?" he asked.

"Didn't Emmett tell you?"

Given how Emmett kept insisting Edward still had feelings for me, I'd have thought Emmett would've been shouting the fact I was staying as loud as he could.

"Tell me what?"

"I don't want to keep you, so why don't I tell you on the way back to the house?"

Having Edward there was stirring up even more memories that were hard to face.

He nodded and turned to leave. I followed behind him and thanked him as he held the door open for me.

Once we were in the truck Edward turned and asked, "Have you had lunch yet?"

"No."

"Do you have to go right back to the house?"

"No, I guess not."

"Me either, wanna head into town and grab a bite to eat with me?"

"Are you sure?"

"I wouldn't ask if I wasn't."

That damn smirk of his was back. As my heart started skipping in my chest, I wanted to kick myself for the effect he still had on me.

This is what you want, don't fight it.

"Alright, let's go."

Edward and I had barely sat down in the diner when Alice and Jasper walked through the door.

"Hey ya'll," Jasper said as they approached our table.

"Hey," Edward replied as he stood and gave his sister a hug and kiss on the cheek.

"Oh, just look at you two, I'm so happy to see you out together," Alice practically squealed as she sat down next to me and gave me a big hug. "I just knew you guys would work things out."

"We're just having lunch, Alice," I told her.

"For now," she muttered. If I hadn't seen the slight change in Edward's facial expression, I wouldn't have known he'd heard her.

"Stop it," I hissed at her.

She at least looked sorry. However, her remorse didn't last long as she changed the way she was going about trying to pry info out of the two of us.

"So just what are the two of you doing out together then?" she asked.

"Alice, darlin'," Jasper drawled at her, "Let them be."

"I'm sorry, I'm just curious, ya know," she returned shrugging her shoulders trying to act as if it wasn't still killing her to not really know what was going on.

I decided to take pity on her. "Actually, I have some news."

"Well spill it," Alice insisted just as a waitress came to take our order.

While waiting my turn to give my order, I noticed the waitress barely took her eyes off of Edward. She kept rubbing against his arm and leaning down close to him, like she was trying to shove her chest in his face. When she placed her hand on his arm and practically started pawing at him, Jasper made a point to ask Alice if she was ready to order rather loudly in order to get the waitress's attention and when that didn't work, Edward stood and scooted his chair over closer to Jasper. While it was wrong of her to do so, if I were being honest, the fact she was shamelessly trying to get his attention didn't really surprise me. Edward had always been and still was a very attractive man, women noticed him. But it did surprise me a bit that he practically flinched at her attention. Wondering about his reaction, my mind started to get the better of me, and caused me to wonder about his love life over the past four years.

"Bella," Alice called.

"Huh?"

"It's your turn," she replied with a questioning look on her face.

"Oh, sorry."

I gave the waitress my order and was barely finished before Alice was once again pouncing.

"So, what's this news you have?" If she were a pot of water she'd be boiling over with the amount of excitement she was emanating.

"Huh?"

"Earth to Bella." Alice gave me a light shove on the shoulder to get my attention.

I couldn't quit thinking about if Edward had someone in his life.

"Oh, sorry. I've uh…I've decided to stay." I didn't know why sitting there saying it out loud in front of Edward made me nervous.

Yes you do!

"For how long, the rest of the summer? A few weeks?" she pushed for more.

"A while," I replied.

"A while? What does that mean?"

"Long enough to renovate my and Em's old house and move in. Of course, I need to find a job before any of that can begin," I supplied before taking a drink of water from the glass the waitress had brought when taking our orders.

"That's…that's a long while," Alice said softly. I could tell she was realizing the implications of what it meant.

"Yeah it is," I added.

"What sort of work are you looking for, Bella?" Jasper asked, jumping into the conversation.

I explained to him how I had what amounted to basically a degree in meteorology and structural engineering. That I not only studied the weather, but it's effects on buildings too. I then told him about the internship I was supposed to be in, that was studying how to make buildings and homes safer during severe weather.

He looked very intrigued. "You know there are a few openings in Norman at The National Weather Service."

"Really?"

"Yes. I'll see if I can get some more information for you and I'll let you know," he offered.

"That'd be great. Thank you."

"No problem."

The four of us settled into two separate conversations as our food arrived and we ate. Jasper and Edward talked about Edward's latest chase and some new tech that Jasper was working on, while Alice and I chatted about the house and what ideas I might have for the things I wanted to change.

I tried to stay focused on the questions Alice was asking me and hearing the ideas she had, but my mind kept wandering off to other things. Like the look I caught Edward giving me every so often. One that was as if he were silently asking me, "are you really doing this?"

Things like Edward's love life were also a huge distraction.

Had there been anyone?

Was there anyone now?

Did he want there to be?

I fought to push it out of my mind, knowing it really wasn't any of my business, but it kept flowing to the surface. What did that mean?

Somehow, I managed to eat even though my thoughts were a mess. Alice had excused herself to go to the restroom and Jasper was asking Edward about the type of truck he was looking to get, when the waitress showed up and asked if we wanted any desert. Problem was, she was pawing all over Edward again and I could see it was beginning to really piss him off by the tense set of his jaw, and the twitch that radiated along his jaw muscle.

Before I even realized what I was doing, I reached over and grabbed Edward's hand.

"Honey, I have a craving for some chocolate. Wanna share a shake with me?"

At first his hand was stiff in mine, causing me to start to pull away. However, as my hand began to barely move away from his, he wrapped his around it and held my hand in place.

"If chocolate is what you want, Kitten, then chocolate is what you'll get," he responded, his eyes locked on mine with such an intensity it sent chills down my spine.

Without looking away, he told the waitress that we'd like a chocolate shake.

I was stunned when she said, "Two chocolate shakes and how about you?" I barely saw her nod to Jasper out of the corner of my eye. It was impossible to look away from Edward.

Not giving Jasper a chance to reply, Edward spoke up again, finally breaking the trance he'd had me in and looking up at the waitress with a glare that sent daggers shooting from his eyes.

"That's just one shake and two straws, we'd like to share it."

"Oh, uh, okay," she replied, tripping over her own tongue as she finally took notice of Edward's and my hands still entwined. "I'll have that in a sec," she huffed, flipping her hair over her shoulder as she spun and practically stomped off.

"What did I miss?" Alice asked, as she sat back down.

"Oh, nothing," I told her.

"Sure doesn't look like nothing. She was fit to be tied when she stormed off. And doesn't look like nothing here either," she added looking back and forth between Edward and me and then down to our hands.

I wasn't sure if it was because the waitress was gone, or if it was because Alice had pointed it out, but Edward quickly released my hand.

"It was nothing, Allie, we were just messing with her," Edward tried to explain to his sister.

Jasper covered his mouth and coughed while muttering bullshit.

The waitress returned with our shake and practically slammed it down on the table. Once she walked away, Edward scooted the glass over towards me. Giving me a soft look, with emotion filling his eyes, he offered it up to me. "No sense letting perfectly good chocolate go to waste."

"Thanks," I whispered not being sure I could actually drink it with the way my stomach was churning from all the emotions running thought me.

Instead I just played with the straw, swirling it around in the glass, lost in my own little world until Alice spoke up.

"So what are you guys doing the rest of the afternoon?"

"Well I need to find a new truck. Emmett was supposed to go, but Rose isn't feeling well today so he's got his hands full with Emma," Edward explained.

This afternoon had been full of too many emotional ups and downs and was really beginning to feel like I needed some time to myself to digest it all.

"I have a suggestion," I piped in.

"What's that?" Jasper asked.

"Well if Alice is okay with running me home, Jasper you could go with Edward," I suggested, hoping everyone agreed before what I was feeling became too much.

Alice's gaze caught mine and I hoped she could read the pleading look I was giving her.

I felt a big weight lift off me when she did. "I don't mind at all. Bella and I can talk paint colors and furniture layouts."

"I guess that settles that," Jasper declared. "Let's go get you a truck, bro." He stood, clapped Edward on the shoulder and then moved around to give Alice a kiss goodbye. "I'll see ya at home, darlin'."

"I, uh, guess I'll see ya around, Bella," Edward said, almost as if he was nervous, his hand tugging on his hair.

"Yeah, see ya around. And thanks for lunch," I told him, finding it hard to look right at him.

"Let's go, Bella," Alice insisted, grabbing my hand and pulling me along. "Maybe we could even stop by the house if you want."

"Uh, maybe?" I mumbled, letting her tug me along.

I was suddenly wondering if sitting there feeling overwhelmed from all that had happened this afternoon, was worse than giving in to Alice…I didn't know. Thinking about living in my old house again, even with a new look, Edward asking me to lunch, and then acting out the way I had, my mind was too much of a jumbled mess in that moment to figure it out. But what I did know is it felt as if things were shifting between Edward and me. Whether it was good or bad, I wasn't sure, only time would tell.

Hmmm, seems Bella may have gotten just a little jealous there. I hope you all enjoyed it. I can't wait to see what you thought.

Thanks for reading,

~EA