Note to the people - This story is set right after New Moon, so Jacob and Bella aren't talking and Edward Cullen is not exactly Charlie's favorite person right now. This is my first fanfic so please R&R. And play nice!
Disclaimer - Stephenie Meyer owns these fabulous characters. Wish I did...but sadly, I don't.
Chapter One
BPOV
"Ugh!" I groaned as Edward and I stepped out of the school. A thin layer of white frost covered the parking lot, while more white flakes fell heavily from the sky. "Snow," I sighed.
"Oh Bella," Edward chuckled, "I would think that after living in Forks for a year you would be used to snow."
"Never," I grumbled. I could never get used to the snow. It was cold, wet, and for me, potentially life-threatening. All in all, in was best for me to just avoid it whenever possible. I hoped that it wouldn't be a big storm, however as I looked up at the rapidly darkening sky, I knew a light snowfall was out of the question.
"Are you coming?" Edward called out, breaking me out of my trance. He was already half way to his silver Volvo. I hadn't even realized that I wasn't moving.
Here goes, I thought. I sighed and stepped out into the snow. By the time I reached Edward's Volvo, he and Alice were already strapped in and ready to go. I attempted to slide gracefully into the front seat, but my clumsy nature took over and I slipped on a patch of ice. I braced myself for the impact with the hard, cold ground, but it never came. Instead I found myself in the hard, cold arms of Alice Cullen.
"I saw it coming," she explained smiling.
"Thanks," I mumbled as she set me back on my feet. I felt my face getting hot and heard Edward laugh as I climbed carefully into the car.
"Are we done laughing at Bella?" I snapped angrily.
"I'm sorry love." He put on his best puppy dog face as he spoke. "I guess it's easy to see why you of all people would dislike the snow. Do you forgive me?"
After pretending to think about for a few seconds I sighed, defeated.
"Of course," I said.
How could I not when his eyes golden eyes smoldered like that? Actually, today his eyes were closer to black than the usual topaz he and his "vegetarian" family sported. He was thirsty, and tomorrow he would be leaving with his brothers Jasper and Emmett to go hunting. Two days without Edward for me was like two days without oxygen or food. I sighed sadly. It was going to be a long two days. He leaned over and gave me a light kiss on my cheek. Light as it was, it still made my cheeks flush and my heart pound irregularly. Edward laughed quietly as he leaned back into his seat and swiftly pulled out of the parking lot.
After a few minutes in silence I asked, "Well aren't you disappointed about the snow?"
"No...why?" he questioned.
"Well you're going hunting tomorrow aren't you? Doesn't this kind of ruin your trip?"
"Of course not!" Edward said grinning. "It just makes it more fun...you know, adds a bit a challenge. Of course, it's still not much of a challenge, but it does make things a bit more exciting."
I rolled my eyes and looked out the window, pretending to be mad. I occasionally glanced up at the rearview mirror during our drive only to find Alice fidgeting excitedly in her seat and grinning mischievously. I looked to the left of me and found Edward looking very annoyed and slightly wary. I sighed sadly. I was always the only one who never new what was going on.
We arrived at the Cullen mansion and stopped in front of the house to drop Alice off. She sprinted out of the car, an action that would have left me flat on my face, and danced up to the front door so swiftly that she barley made footprints in the snow covered ground. Before entering however, she turned around and waved enthusiastically at us.
"Have fun tonight!" she said mischievously and before I even had time to register what she had said, Alice had disappeared inside the house. I turned to Edward with a confused look on my face and found him looking slightly scared.
"What was that about?" I asked as we began to drive away. I wondered if I even wanted to know.
"I actually don't know," Edward replied, annoyed. " Alice has been reciting the alphabet in every language she knows in her head for the past thirty minutes. And she knows a lot. She was trying to hide something from me, something she finds highly amusing. Knowing Alice, it's most likely something extremely unpleasant on our parts."
Scenes of shopping and oh-so-fun makeovers flashed through my mind and I shuddered. I didn't think I could live through snow and a shopping spree all at once. The thought alone made my insides squirm, so I tried not to think about it as we pulled up into my driveway. Surprisingly, Charlie's police cruiser was there too, and covered in a thin layer of snow.
"That's strange," I muttered, half to myself. "Why is Charlie home so early?"
Charlie had obviously been standing near the window waiting for my return because he was out of the house and starting towards Edward Volvo before I had even taken off my seat belt. I motioned to him to get back into the house. It was cold outside and I didn't want Charlie to get sick. He turned and went back inside as I got out of the car and trudged through the cold snow and into my warm house. Edward was in right behind me, snowflakes glistening on his slightly disheveled hair. I could only imagine how my own rat's nest looked compared to his gorgeous locks. Charlie pulled me into a hug before I had my coat off.
"Oh Bella!" he exclaimed. "I'm so glad you're safe!"
"I was driving home from school Dad," I replied. "No danger there."
"Have you seen the roads? They're covered in ice! Given your last experience with cars and icy roads, I was worried sick!"
I cringed as he mentioned one of my earlier near death experiences and replied, "I'm fine Dad. Edward's a really good driver."
"I'm sure he is," he said, a bit grudgingly as he was forced to acknowledge Edward's presence. "I hope I can always count on you to bring her home safely Edward."
"You can count on it sir," Edward replied, smiling. I smiled too. It was thanks to Edward that it made it home safely, but not completely unharmed, from Phoenix last year.
Charlie went back to ignoring Edward as he turned to face me. "There's a real storm out there Bells," he said. "The weathermen are calling for at least eight inches of snow."
Great, I thought, but I saw Edward grin widely beside me. He must have been thinking of all the fun he and his brothers could have in eight inches of snow.
"It's a good things you just did the grocery shopping Bella," Charlie continued. "We might be stuck in the house for a while. Speaking of which," he said once again turning to Edward, this time a bit more willingly than before, "shouldn't you be getting home soon Edward? You don't want to wait for the roads to get to bad." Charlie sounded way too hopeful for it to thought of as polite concern for Edward's safety.
"Don't worry sir," he replied, perfectly polite as usual. "The roads aren't that bad. And besides, I don't think Bella want me to leave just yet." He smiled at me and my heart just about melted.
"And like I said, Dad," I reminded him, "Edward is a really good driver. I don't think he would get into any trouble on those treacherous roads."
Charlie mumbled something unintelligible and stalked off to watch TV. I decided to ignore his inhospitable behavior and start on dinner. As Edward followed me into the kitchen, I chanced a quick look out the window, and was surprised that I could barely see the world outside through all the snow. I smirked to myself. Maybe if the storm got bad enough, Charlie would be forced to let Edward stay the night. Not that Edward wouldn't be able to brave a snow storm, but Charlie didn't need to know that. I brushed off the idea. Charlie would throw Edward out of the house at 9:30 sharp even if there was a war raging out there.
I worked in silence for a few minutes preparing ingredients, and wondering if soup would be an appropriate dinner considering the weather outside. Edward just sat quietly watching me, but that was just the way I liked it. Suddenly, Edward stiffened and turned towards the front door.
"Edward..." I began, but he was at my side in an instant.
"It's him," he growled.
I didn't need to ask who "him" was. My heart sped up and my stomach clenched unpleasantly. I knew this couldn't be good. Edward placed a protective arm around my shoulder as a loud knock sounded from the font door.
"Bells!" Charlie yelled from the couch. "Can you get that?"
Any other time I would have been thoroughly annoyed by Charlie's laziness, but right now, I felt too nervous to be annoyed. I walked slowly up to the front door, Edward's hand never leaving mine, and opened it as yet another knock sounded. The door swung open widely in a gust of wind and snow, and standing in a white T-shirt and his signature cut off jeans was Jacob Black.