Hey there boys and girls (and Chihuahuas), readers of all ages. Here is another installment (perchance the last) of this tale, but more of that later. First we shall have some as custom randomness (parenthesis).

…who loves tea? I do! I quite enjoy hot tea in a mug. I've no idea why, but it's quite nummy! In fact, I'm drinkin some right now while my sister tells me the sound of the phone ringing I hear is nonexistent. Methinks she is lying… T.T

Anywho! Back to the part of the perchance. Well, I'm quite sorry to say, but then again not so sorry to say, that I'm finding it harder and harder to complete this fic. I think it's because I'm getting annoyed with the crazed twilight hysteria-

Note: THIS IS HALLIE WHO HAS STOLEN THE KEYBOARD First of all, I did not steal it. She willingly handed it to me (or something like that). Second I was on the phone when she heard it "ring", so she is slowly rocketing into the ABYSS that is insanity. BUT it's hard to go somewhere where you've set up a permanent residence. :P She's getting to me.

Note: I, the correct writer for this story, have finally returned myself to mine post as author. I shall deal with Hallie by forcing her to drink tea! BAHAHAHA! DOES IT MATTER THAT SHE, IN FACT, LIKES TEA?! NO!

- so yeah, this is either the last or second to last chapter. It all really depends on how this chapter ends…

Chapter 17

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Edward's POV

In a surprisingly short amount of time, things went from bad to worse.

First, Erika wasn't speaking to me at all. Neither was Alice or Kira most of the time, and Zoe had joined in on Erika's oath of total silence. She had pretty much shut me out of her life, and I couldn't really blame her.

Then Alice angrily informed me that Erika could control whether any of our gifts worked on her, based off of the fact Erika could erase herself from Alice's visions. Which basically meant that if I got her too angry, she could become completely untraceable.

To just complicate things further, two nomads had contacted Carlisle and were going to visit, maybe permanently. They were brother and sister, Darien and Adrienne.

Alice stalked past my car and into her Porsche, dragging Jasper along with her. It was almost time to leave for school, and she wasn't happy with me. So she was firmly driving herself. Emmett and Rose still sat in the backseat of my car, though, and THEY weren't harboring many grudges. Sort of.

I sighed as I pulled into the parking lot, looking around but not really knowing what to look for. Kira's car had been smashed up, so I had no idea who was driving in what.

I searched through the thoughts in the parking lot and zeroed in on Kira's, who was happy Demetri had gotten her a new blue Honda civic hybrid, and this time it had a pair of complementary purple fuzzy dice on the rearview mirror. I looked up just in time to see Erika get out of the car, slinging her messenger bag over her shoulder. She hadn't spoken to me in a week and a half. It was driving me nuts.

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At lunch, I tried to ignore the fact she was ignoring me and talk to Emmett, but it didn't work out very well, seeing as we both knew I was listening to every word she said. Right then, she was talking to that idiot Sam.

"So… I was wondering…" he asked quietly, sounding nervous. "Um, do you think you'd like to do something tonight, me and you?" I immediately turned my head in their direction and forced down a growl. I'd known he'd been considering asking her out since everyone had decided we weren't dating, but I never thought he'd actually get up the nerve to ask.

Erika looked up at him and paused for a moment, not even glancing at me. "Yeah, sure." she nodded. "That'd be cool."

Sam grinned slightly, looking relieved. "Dinner at eight?"

Her facial didn't change even though she must have realized she wouldn't be eating. "Mkay."

I stood and stalked away from the table and out the cafeteria to my car. When I got home, the nomads were already there, talking to Carlisle in the living room.

Carlisle looked over at me as I came in. "Oh, this is Edward. Edward, this is Adrienne and Darien, they're considering staying with us." Please smile. Please. Smile.

I forced a friendly smile. "Nice to meet you." Their thoughts seemed pleasant enough, and they looked around our physical age. They both nodded and said hi back, both of their accents were Irish. They both also had bright red hair, and black eyes. From their thoughts I could tell they hadn't hunted since they'd been reborn, which was a couple of months. It was rather impressive.

I headed up the stairs as I heard Carlisle begin telling them about our alternate form of eating.

The others came home soon, around two. Emmett walked by with a 'that was subtle' look, and the others followed. What surprised me though, was that Erika was walking behind Alice, purposefully not looking at me.

Carlisle stood, smiling slightly. "And this is the rest f our family: Alice and Jasper, Emmett and Rosalie, and Erika, who still lives with her human parents, but is still a part of us as well." His look added 'I hope' and she nodded with a small grin. She had made it clear that she held no grudge with the rest of my family, just me.

Erika and Alice began walking up to Alice's room, and I quickly followed. "What're you doing here?" I asked Erika, as Alice shot me a look.

"We have an English project, we're partners." Erika replied in a monotone, still looking ahead. Alice reached her room and shut her door once they were inside of it, leaving me in the hall.

"Look Erika, I just want to talk to you." I said at the door.

"If you break down my door, Erika and I will promptly burn you with it." Alice called out at me.

I sighed and went back downstairs. Darien was the only one in the living room, his sister having gone hunting with Carlisle first. I sat down and stared at the wall.

He cleared his throat awkwardly, trying to start up a conversation. "So… I gathered from the way the intro went that most of you are already paired up…" I tried to look like I cared what he was talking about. "But the blond one… Erika? She seemed unattached. Is she? Because she is hot."

I glanced over at him before storming out of the house, not really knowing where I was going.

Somehow, completely and utterly by chance, I accidentally happened to find the restaurant Sam was taking Erika by inadvertently reading his thoughts. Then I found myself, out of the blue, at that restaurant, having unintentionally driven there. And by total coincidence, it was around 8:15.

But like I said, it was some weird fluke I even ended up there.

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Erika's POV

Sam picked me up at seven forty-five. I wasn't extremely enthusiastic, but I'd always been good at lying, so I kept up a happy façade. If he'd been playing extremely close attention, he might have noticed, but he was too happy I suppose. That made me feel guilty. I knew the only reason I was coming was to get my mind off of other things. Other people. Other person.

"I'm really glad you said yes." Sam said with a shy smile. "I didn't really think you would." Ah, great. More of the tripping of the guilt.

"Yeah, me too." I replied, feeling awful but managing a smile.

"So, what're you going to order?"

"Erm…" Drat. I hadn't thought of that. "…Soup?" I said, it sounding more like a question.

"Are you sure?" he raised an eyebrow at my tone.

"…Yes?"

"Okay then." Sam nodded. "So, have you heard about-"

"Sam? Erika? What a coincidence, are you eating here too?"

Oh. Frickin. No.

Edward was standing at the side of our table, a look of fake shock on his annoyingly perfect face.

"Yes." Sam said tightly, glancing from me to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.

"What're you doing here?" I asked through my teeth.

"Oh, just finished eating. Have you ordered yet?" Edward asked pleasantly, sitting down tensely in the seat next to Sam.

"Yes, actually." Sam said, looking mildly confused.

"What did you get?" Edward asked me with a smirk.

"Soup." I replied bluntly. "I was thinking about getting pork, but I've been seeing so many pigs lately I thought it may go against my new morals."

He ignored my comment and grinned at me. "Really? I thought you said something about soup being unappealing to you."

"Leave me alone before I disembowel you." I thought at him with a glare.

He smirked again at me in an obvious no. I kicked him under the table, hard. There was a large smashing sound and he winced slightly.

"What was that?" Sam asked, looking up.

"Must be construction outside." I replied innocently. Darn it. I'd dented the toe of my converse.

I quickly snatched my fork in a blur and feigned annoyance- which wasn't too hard, considering. "Drat. I dropped my fork. One moment." I dove under the table cloth. "Get down here, Cullen."

"I'll help you look. Their silverware is… um… hard to spot." Edward said loudly, and he suddenly was across from me under the table.

"Since when did I invite you on my date?"

"Since when have you called me Cullen?" Edward countered in a voice low and quiet enough for only me to hear.

"Since you won't answer to stupid." I retorted mentally in an agitated tone. "What are you doing here, besides trying to drive me mad?"

"I needed to talk to you, and you're bent on not letting me."

"I wonder why?" I said dryly.

He sighed. "Look, I know you're upset and that you have every right to be. But you have to understand, I didn't do it to hurt you. I never would."

"So you accidentally hurt me. Well that certainly makes me feel better." I snorted.

A pained look crossed his face. "You saw a part of my past I hoped you would never have to see. For so long I lived in my past, and seeing just a part of it startled me into forgetting the present. I'm so very sorry. What can I say to make you realize that?"

I stared at him for a moment before grabbing my fork and sitting up back in my chair. He sighed and followed.

"Well, I really should be going." he said quietly, standing up. "See you both at school."

And You-Know-Who left me to finish my date with Sam, who was still baffled and wondering what he'd missed.

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Alice's POV

Once again I found myself having one of those moments when you feel like you're sitting in a room full of people who, at the moment, are engaged in idiocy.

Edward was sulking (again) which was becoming a normal look for him lately, Rosalie was flipping pages of a magazine and gloating (probably comparing herself to the celebrities again), and Emmett…well…

First, let me put in something. When you become immortal, most of the time you end up becoming more than a little obsessed about something or another. For Carlisle, it's medicine and doctoring. For Edward, it's music and making an idiot of himself romantically. Rosalie's obsessed with her looks, I have a bit of a problem with shopping (according to the others, but I digress), and Jasper has his… issues… with being mildly violent and splurging on game shows and old westerns (which I blatantly refuse to watch). But Emmett has two: cars and… video games.

He'd played almost every one in existence, and on pretty much every system. At the moment, he was conquering the Wii. For the last day or to, he'd been freaking out over his newest one, Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. I had to admit, it was a pretty interesting game, and I'd even called dibs on it next. But he had a tendency to go over the top…

He suddenly leapt into the air, his mighty remote and nunchuk waving in triumph. "Yes! YES! ONLY THE PURE OF HEART CAN WIELD THE MASTER SWORD! AH-HA-HA-HA-HAA! Now I can vanquish the dark dominion of evil that plagues Hyrule!"

I looked up from my book and shook my head as Emmett continued cackling over his victory.

"You know, you're still going to have to have to save Ilia anyway." I commented.

Emmett's grin became a pout. "But I don't wanna. The second time I met her she took away my horse. And her eyes are too far apart."

"Don't worry, you're not even half way through yet." Erika said from the door, smiling slightly. I grinned and Edward's head shot up.

She cleared her throat. "Edward… can I talk to you?" He nodded quickly and stood, following her outside.

The second the door shut, Rosalie and I looked at each other before bolting and pressing our faces against the glass doors' blinds, concentrating on listening.

"Take that, you stupid goblin! And that! I am Link, Chosen Hero, Master of the Ocarina, owner of the Hero's Bow, Master Sword, Clawshot, AND tasteful Iron boots! You shall be smited! SMITED!" Emmett shrieked at the screen.

"Shut up!" Rosalie hissed. "They're making up!"

"They are?" Emmett's eyes widened and he ran over, slamming his face into the door, nearly squishing me.

"Hey, move!" I protested.

"Shh, Alice! I can't hear!"

"You're crushing me!"

"Both of you shut it!"

"Aw, they're hugging!" Emmett suddenly beamed.

"Awww…" we all three said in unison.

"Eh-hem." we all turned to face Carlisle, who was shaking his head. "Shouldn't you give them their privacy?"

"But they were about to kiss." Emmett whined.

"It's times like this when I worry about your masculinity." Erika said from the now-opened door behind us.

"It happens to me all of the time." I replied, noticing how Edward's arm was still around her and that they were both smiling.

_________________________________________________________________so

Edward's POV

She brushed her lips against my cheek and told me she loved me for the first time as she shifted to step out of my car and into her driveway.

"Thank you." I whispered quietly, and for a moment I didn't think she heard me until she looked confused.

"For what?"

I thought about an answer to that, one that wouldn't be too corny or cliché. But I couldn't think of one. So instead I kissed her again, this time on her lips.

When we pulled away she smiled in understanding and nodded. "Anytime." I watched her walk into her house and shut the door before driving off, smiling myself.

THE END

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If everything's in bold, I do apologize. My computer's unhappy again, methinks…

So, I believe, dear readers, our tale has come to a close. I hope it was fulfilling and not too sappy. And, yes, I really mean the end this time. Please continue to review anyway, as I will always take your opinions to heart.

Still, any fan art will be squealed over, and it would make me ever so happy.

But before we go and I sign off on this story for the last time, let me put in some hopefully un-tacky propaganda:

1. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE read my new Avatar the Last Airbender fic, The Spirit of the Sun! PRETTY PLEASE! And review on it! I hope to also have my Teen Titans fic out there soon.

And 2. GO SEE ALICE IN WONDERLAND, AS IT IS AWESOME!

Until we meet again, dear readers,

~Chloe Knightshade