Hey :)

I'm back, and feeling well. Or better. Or whatever. As good as you're gonna feel when you had a foot-long incision on your back...
Anyways, sorry for the wait, again. But I promise, I'll get going a lot faster now that this whole ordeal is over (hopefully)

Please enjoy :)

(P.S.- This chapter picks up from where I left off on the last chapter, so if you don't remember what's going on, which is understandable, check out the last chapter)

Inhaling deeply, I cooled my head. Carlisle had silently stepped forward, and extended his hands towards me, resting on my shoulder.

"Edward, all of us are just…worried about you," Carlisle began, his wise, dark golden eyes serious. I waited for him to go on. "You're blaming this whole mess on yourself. Bella is just like family to all of us-" he shot a warning glance at Rosalie,"- but you have to realize that she has much to blame, as well. You all do. Jacob Black has part in this too, remember. You made that agreement earlier." He shook his head sadly, golden hair flopping into his eyes. "You must think about these things before you decide."

I listened halfheartedly. I already had hard most of it, except for the fact that Carlisle was wrong on many accounts. I was the one to blame. But I didn't feel like bringing up an argument over something that no side would agree on.

"What are you getting at?" I asked, realizing that he must have some lead on his sermon.

Carlisle sighed tiredly, looking around our family carefully before continuing. "You know that we love Bella, Edward. So very much. She is our daughter now, more or less." I narrowed my eyes, immediately suspicious of his persuading tone. He faltered for a moment, taking in my expression. After a moment, he went on.

"But we're not sure… that she's doing much good for you now. That perhaps it would be best if you went your separate ways." Carlisle cut off my furious words that were forming on my lips. "Now, wait before you jump to conclusions, Edward! Just think of yourself for a moment, here, at least this one t-"

"Have you completely lost it? Do you have any inkling of a memory, of what happened to the both of us when I left her?!" I threw up my hands, daring him to deny it. Carlisle dropped his hand that was on my shoulder. I had officially snapped, words lashing out like venom. "It would be like that all over again! And if you really do care for my sanity, I suggest you keep your ridiculous fantasies to yourself, because right now, that little fantasy of yours would do more harm than damage!!"

Carlisle's peaceful expression hardened over, and Esme looked on worriedly, wringing her hands. The rest of my family watched on in complete disbelief. Never in my whole existence had I blown up at Carlisle like that. No one had.

"Edward, I have every intention to help you, but when you put up your defenses like that, it makes it a lot harder to facilitate," Carlisle said in a low tone, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "And right now, you are your worst enemy."

"What does that mean?!"

"It means that, and I didn't think I would say this, but it is your attitude that is driving people away," Carlisle interjected, shaking his head when I went to interrupt. "Not so fast. You have changed, and it's not for the better. You're not like you used to be. Now, you seem… more aggressive."

Ah. It was true. I had made a promise to myself that in order to win Bella back, I would in fact change my persona, wishing to imitate Jacob's aggressiveness. But I didn't see why everyone was making such a big fuss out of it.

"What do you propose I do about that?"

Bella P.O.V.

"Dammit!" I yelped, drawing my hand back hastily and examining the damage. I was usually uncoordinated, but when I had things on my mind, I was absolutely lethal, to myself and anyone and anything around me.

There was a knock on the door, and Charlie's voice came from the hallway.

"Bells? You allright in there?"

I sighed heavily, wincing to myself. "Yep, I'm fine. Just stapled my finger to the paper." I'd had worse.

There was what sounded like a muffled chuckle coming from the door. I glared at nothing in particular; he really shouldn't find his daughter's lack of coordination a laughing matter, especially when it involved pain on my part. "Well, I'm off to work. Do you want me to pick up anything on my way home?"

"No, thank you." Gingerly, I pulled the little silver staple out of my finger, my stomach churning uneasily as a little drop of blood appeared at the tip of my finger.

A pause. "All right. See you later."

"Bye."

After I heard his footsteps fade, and the front door slam shut, I got up to hunt around for a band-aid. We had to have a box around here somewhere... I slammed cupboards, rummaging around, and finally found a little Rite-Aid box of antibacterial strips. Those would have to do.

When I was finally back in my room, re-stapling my essay with more caution than necessary, I heard a car pull up. It wasn't Charlie; the engine was much too quiet. I jumped up from my chair, knocking it over in the process, and stumbled over to the window, throwing open the sheer curtains.

A beautiful yellow Porsche was smoothly coming to the halt, right behind my truck.

What the heck was Alice here for? The last time I had seen her, we had had a major blowup. Was she here to yell at me some more?

I wrenched open my door, and pounded down the stairs. Throwing open the front door, I made my way over to her car, slowing my pace as my nerves got the better of me. There was music playing, and she looked calm enough, so I peered around the front of her car, waiting anxiously for her to get out. Instead, she rolled down her window, sticking her spiky-haired head out. Her expression was neither angry nor particularly happy, so I figured that I was safe for the moment.

"Get in the car, Bella. I'm kidnapping you for the day." She patted the luxurious leather seat beside her.

I raised my eyebrows incredulously. Hadn't we had this conversation already? I started to calculate my chances of escaping.

She seemed to get the gist, and her eyes narrowed menacingly. "Don't make me drag you."

I let out a gusty sigh. What was the point of fighting with a vampire? They always got their way.

"Alice... I thought we agreed that you weren't allowed to kidnap me."

A hint of a smile crossed her elfin face, and it seemed like our fight was over. "I'm breaking the rules. Edward said it was okay."

Edward would have hell to pay later, I was sure. "I'll get my purse."

"So, any particular reason for this spontaneous shopping spree?" I asked, watching Alice expertly thumb through a rack of jeans. She pursed her pink lips, and selected a pair of dark-wash skinny jeans, holding them up to my body.

"Later, later," she murmured, sounding distracted. Her slender brows puckered as she thought of something, but I decided not to comment. I decided to switch to a seemingly easier topic.

"Alice... we have so much," I said, looking down at the numerous articles of clothes dangling from her skinny but iron-strong arms. She was silent for a long moment, turning to a rack behind her and choosing a gorgeous ivory v-neck. Finally, slinging it over her arm along with the jeans, she looked up at me with her wide eyes, her expression careful.

"I guess I can tell you... the gist of it." She sighed, and shrugged some clothes off of her shoulders, handing them to me. "Here. We can walk while we talk."

I slung them over my arm, and followed Alice out of the endless isles, and into the main section of the designer store. Alice made a beeline to the jewelry section, and I followed wordlessly, waiting for her broach. I noticed that she was walking slowly, for her, and it made me nervous.

"Alice?"

"Okay, Bella. I figured since we both know how I feel about your fashion-" I grimaced "- I would need to supply you before I... go." She looked up at me apologetically. I frowned, not comprehending.

"Okaaaaayy..." I said, confused. "But that doesn't explain why you're stocking me up on all these clothes if you're just going on a hunting trip."

Alice bit her full bottom lip, like she didn't want to say something. "You know what? I'm not gonna tell you."

I groaned in frustration as she pretended to lock her lips. "Allllliiiccce," I whined. "That's not fair. I don't understand."

She change her expression, taking on a firm end-of-story expression. "I've decided that now's no the time. I don't want to spoil the shopping trip."

I snorted. "Because I'm already having such a ball."

She glared at me, and I sensibly shut up, putting a smile on my face before she ripped my head off. Literally.

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