A/N: Yay I'm back…no I haven't given up, and I never will… I just haven't had a lot of time to write… but now I'm back and 'Love On Ice' is next! Woohoo!

Enjoy the chapter…hope you like it!

Edward POV (Big surprise…isnt it?")

Alice and I were hanging out in Bella's house a Wednesday after school, we had absolutely no homework and Esme had some of her friends over at our house. Bella had, oh so kindly, invited us over for lunch, something that had become a three times a week tradition. We would simply hang out, eat and do our homework before Alice and I headed back to our house. Bella was happy to have someone to keep her company and to cook for, Esme was happy to have some free time, but mostly to see her son and daughter make such a great friend. Charlie was ecstatic; he would come into his house only to find the three of us talking about something completely irrelevant and laughing about it. He would join us while he had dinner or he would simply sit and watch us ramble on about some teacher at school or a new movie that was coming out.

But I believe that if there's anyone who's happy about this arrangement, that's me. I love spending time with Bella, she never ceases to amaze me, and just when I think I know what's coming next she says something completely different to what I had been expecting. She has been living in Forks for almost a month now and by this time she's completely at ease with the gang. They love her and she loves them back, the girls, my sister especially, won't stop gushing about how cool Bella is and how they should go shopping soon.

It seemed that everything had worked out for the best, now that Bella is here, not only did I make a new amazing friend, but I regained my best friend. Mark visits every weekend and he and I hang out just like in the old times… only now Bella is there with us. I feel very protective of her, and even when she's with Mark I can't help but feel the need to snatch her right from his arms, it's almost like I'm jealous. But I can't be jealous; they are my best friend, and his girlfriend.

"Edward…? Aren't you hungry at all?" Bella's voice asked. That was enough to pull me out of my reverie. I quickly focused back on my sister and friend and then on my plate, still full of food. I smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, I am." I said, quickly as I reached for my fork and prepared to eat.

"We lost you there for a while." Bella noted as I stabbed a piece of lasagna, taking the chunk of food to my mouth. I nodded, aggravated that I had been lost in my thoughts for so long. My sister smiled as she continued to eat. I tasted the lasagna and it was heavenly.

"This is great Bella." I noted as I pointed to the lasagna with my fork. Bella blushed and mumbled her thanks, just then someone knocked on the door. I tried to get up to answer the door but Bella beat me there. She smiled at me before heading to the front door.

"Who is it?" She asked, trying to peek through the eyehole in the door. The truth is it was out of her reach, even standing in her tip toes.

"Me. Starving. Must. Eat. Now!" Someone said from the other side of the door. I had never heard that voice before but apparently Bella had because her whole face lighted up at the sound.

"Emmett?" She asked, disbelieving, desperately trying to peek through the eyehole.

"No. Emmett… But. Starving. Creature." The same robotic voice said. Bella immediately reached for the door knob and opened the door, throwing herself in the stranger's arms.

"Oh! Emmett. I've missed you so much!" She squealed happily while she wrapped her arms around his neck and he wrapped his in her waist, lifting her up. She pulled back and kissed his cheek for a long while, finally pulling away with a loud 'muack' sound. They smiled at each other while he pulled a strand of hair out of her face and placed it behind her ear. She kept smiling and he kept her off of the ground. By this time I was so confused I couldn't even move.

"Me. Too. Now. Please. Feed. Me" He finally said, in the same robotic voice he had been using, separating the syllables.

"Asshole…" Bella said, pushing herself off of his embrace and playfully smacking his chest. "Come on in, we're just having dinner…" She said, taking his hand and pulling him towards the kitchen.

"." The guy said, still separating the syllables. As he walked over to me I noticed for the first time how big he was. He was at least 8 inches taller than me and he looked like a weight lifter.

"Shut up!" Bella said before they reached me and I pondered briefly the idea that Bella shouldn't piss this guy off… "Emmett this is Edward, he's Mark's Anthony." She said gesturing to me.

"Mark Anthony?" He asked her, smiling at how it sounded.

"No Emmett… Mark'S Anthony" She said, emphasizing the possession.

"Mark's what?" Emmett asked her, confused.

"Anthony…remember? His best friend?" She remarked.

"Bella, sweety, I don't remember half of what Mark says… besides I've seen him, what? Three times? Come on I barely know the guy and you expect me to know who his 'Anthony' means?!" Emmett said calmly. Bella frowned slightly before talking.

"You're right…but still Mark talks about Anthony-Edward- a lot, you ought to remember something…" She pressed while Emmett just shook his head.

"Nothing at all…" He admitted. Bella scowled full force before sighing.

"Edward this is Emmett, my best friend." She said happily once again. I smiled and we shook hands, well he shook mine because mine went limp once I saw his muscles flex. I faintly heard Alice chuckling behind me.

"Am I hallucinating or does it really smell like lasagna." Emmett said once he let go of my hand. Bella laughed and nodded. "Is it real-authentic Bella Swan's lasagna? Or is it some crappy processed lasagna wanna-be."

"It's authentic." Bella conceded, already walking into the kitchen and grabbing a plate for Emmett.

"Well, in that case fill my plate to the brim…" He said, taking a seat by my side in the kitchens table. Bella laughed lightly and filled his plate up.

"There you go…" She said as she placed the plate of food in front of him. Emmett's eyes lighted up, he looked like a kid who had just been handed a big chocolate bar.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you." He said, never taking his eyes off of the lasagna and quickly digging into it. Bella sat back down and introduced him to Alice, they exchanged greetings but he wouldn't take his eyes off of the plate. I peeked at Bella and found her looking adoringly at Emmett, almost like a mom looks at her child, she couldn't wipe that smile from her face. We continued eating and Emmett even asked for seconds.

"God I don't think I could eat anything more." Emmett said, leaning back into his chair and rubbing his belly. Bella laughed as she took the dishes away. "Maybe some authentic Bella Swan's minty white chocolate brownies could change my mind." He hinted and Bella's face dropped.

"I'm sorry sweetheart, there's no white chocolate here, but next time you come visit I promise I'll make some white chocolate brownies…" She said, obviously sorry she couldn't give her friend what he wanted.

"Oh…okay… don't forget the mint though… that's what makes them the best." He did sound like a child.

"I promise I wont." She vowed, her smile renewed in her face.

"And next time I come…would you make pizza-pasta?" He asked, going all doe eyed. Bella looked at him and nodded.

"Sure I will, just call me a day before you come so I have time, ok?"

"Done." Emmett said, rising from his chair, walking towards Bella and kissing her hair. "It feels like an eternity since I last saw you, I swear to god nothing is the same without you…" He said sweetly.

"I know honey… and I miss you too, I really do… but Forks is nice and I get to see Mark much more often." She said, biting her lip. As soon as the last word was out of her mouth Emmett huffed.

"I know… but… Rose and I…lets just say that you stopped lots of our fights with your serenity or I don't know…. The point is we've been fighting a whole lot more since you left…" He finished sadly, Bella turning to face him with a sympathetic smile on her face. I took that as mine and Alice's cue to give them some privacy. I walked to my sister and nodded towards the living room. She followed me out of the kitchen but we never made it to the living room since she immediately pulled me aside and motioned for me to stay quiet. I strained my ears and heard Bella talk.

"Its not easy to be away from your best friend…I had never been away from her for this long…she's probably as freaked out as I am. Its not you, it's her, it's me… it's everything that has changed."Bella reasoned with Emmett and although I couldn't see her face I could tell from her voice that she misses her best friend.

"You should come back to Seattle…"Emmett suggested softly.

"I'm going next week to visit."

"Going to visit? You used to visit this place and live in Seattle! …you always said you hated this god forsaken little town…and now you're all up for the boring town of Forks?!" He asked her loudly enough for me to not strain my ears any longer. It was no news to me that Bella hates this town, it's everything she is not, it's boring, cloudy, rainy, dull, and of course unexciting.

"Forks is my home now darling…" She pleaded him to understand. I wanted to go in there and stop Emmett from hurting Bella anymore. "I've been seeing Mark a lot more."

"Yeah I know, I'm sorry…it's just I've missed you too much… I didn't mean it like that…" He said softly. I heard Bella sigh and then a long silence followed.

"You know what? Why don't the two of you and the whole bunch come visit in two weeks, I'll make white chocolate brownies and a lot of pizza pasta… You can even stay for the night and I'll make special muffins for breakfast…" Bella offered in a small voice. I could tell she was trying to sooth Emmett.

"That sounds nice, I'll let them know " He said, equally sad, but somewhat cheered up with this new plan. "People here seem nice."

"Yeah, they are. Especially Edward and Alice, maybe I'll invite the whole gang to the reunion, that way you can get to know each other." Bella threw in.

"I would like that, so you like it here?" He asked, defeated.

"I'm more like okay here, you know things with Mark are going real smooth" She offered.

"Yeah, real smooth, I bet you haven't said 'I love you' yet." Emmett said so softly I could barely hear it, after that there was nothing but silence for a minute or so. I wasn't able to hear anything more because my sister grabbed my arm and pulled me towards the living room. I was so curious as to the answer Bella would give Emmet that I tried to resist, but then my common sense kicked in and I let Alice drag me.

She sat down on the couch and I sat next to her. I noticed her face was full of excitement but that her expression reflected calm, she was trying to hide it. I sat there looking at the empty space in front of my face, thinking about what had just been said. Bella's silence signaled the fact that Mark hadn't tell her he loves her and she obviously hadn't say it either. This was huge they have been dating for almost five months now and they've agreed to be boyfriend and girlfriend, why wouldn't they tell each other 'I love you'? Maybe they think it's too soon for that, or maybe they just don't feel it yet. Either way Bella's silence had been somehow comforting.

I was pulled out of this train of thought by Alice's voice. "Yeah, I think Seth is going to pop up the question to Marie real soon." She said. I stared at her, confused while she urged me with her eyes to follow her lead. I noticed Bella was coming out of the kitchen along with Emmett.

"I think so too, they've been flirting for more that a year…" I said too quickly, something that made my sister roll her eyes.

"Exactly- Oh hey you guys! Wanna watch some TV?" Alice asked them.

"Oh actually I should be heading back it's a three hour drive, and it's a school night." Emmett said, looking sadly at Bella. "Sweety, I'll come for you Friday night, okay?" He said softly and Bella nodded. "See you later guys!" Emmett said, waving towards us, already heading to the door. I waved back as did Alice. Finally Emmett opened the door and turned to look at Bella before engulfing her in a hug, Bella yelped, surprised and laughed.

"See you Friday honey." She yelled since he was already halfway towards the driveway where I noticed a black car parked. He got into the car and left. Bella came inside, a big smile on her face, and sat down next to me. There were a few moments in which nothing but the soft sound of the TV filled the room.

"I fancy some chips, I'm going to the store." My sister announced suddenly, making Bella and I jump. She took the car keys and before anyone could utter a word she was gone.

"Wow." Bella said once Alice was gone. "That was quick." She noted, pointing to the door.

"That was crazy." I corrected, smiling at her.

"That was Alice." She remarked and I laughed freely. That's what I like most about her, she is so clever and sweet. "Edward I want to ask you a favor…" She ventured.

"Anything." I found myself saying, even before I thought about it.

"First of all I want you to know its okay to say no…" She pondered and I nodded for her to proceed. "Well I was wondering, since you know, I'm going to Seattle this weekend…maybe you…could…keep Mark busy?" She stuttered

"Isn't he going with you?"

"Um…no…its just that, I don't know…I want to spend all my time with my friends…and I would feel guilty leaving Mark on the out… plus you haven't gotten a lot of friends time… so I thought… yeah." She finished lamely. I laughed lightly and nodded.

"Its okay, I think I can manage." I said happily, I could totally use this favor, Mark and I need some macho time. "Actually it'll be nice, don't you worry about it…"

"Aha…" She said nervously and I instantly knew there was something else to it.

"Okay spill it." I told her and she sighed before explaining.

"Well I was hoping you could do some activities…" She trailed off.

"Which would include…?" I trailed off just as she had done.

"Um…guy stuff…you know… playing sports, videogames, drinking…and…ah…bonding with Charlie." She said the catchy part quickly. I frowned slightly, although I got along great with Charlie I also didn't want to be the mediator between Bella's father and her boyfriend. Unfortunately during our little talk we had positioned ourselves so we were looking straight at each other. While I looked into her brown eyes, pleading me to help her, I couldn't deny.

"Why again do you want us to bond with Charlie?" I asked her lamely, trying not to look into her eyes. She had won though and she knew it.

"It's just that Charlie isn't very fond of Mark…but he likes you plenty much…so I figured it would work if you helped them bond… you are the perfect mediator, even better than me…" She explained while she looked me in the eye and I instantly knew I was screwed. I barely moved my head yes and I heard Bella squeal before I felt her arms around me.

"Thank you so much…I promise I'll make it up to you…" She said into our embrace. I brought my arms up to hug her and relished on the feeling of Bella in my arms. Too soon for my liking she let go and smiled at me before standing up and walking towards the kitchen, leaving me with a feeling of loss, as if there was something missing. Even when she came back a minute later and sat down beside I wanted to wrap my arm around her, to feel her close. I immediately tried to concentrate on something else, anything really. I found myself grabbing the control and changing channels without really listening to anything. After a minute or so of senseless channel switching Bella reached for the remote, grapping her hand around mine, effectively stopping me.

The moment our hands connected I was engulfed into a sea of feelings, from excitement, happiness, sorrow, regret but the strongest of these was a complete feeling or rightness, like her hand belonged with mine. Bella immediately took her hand away from mine, staring at my hand, still holding the remote, she then raised her eyes to mine and I could see in her beautiful brown eyes a troubled look. We stared at each other; it wasn't awkward at all, more like we were trying to read each other's thoughts. Just then Alice burst into the door, not even bothering to knock. That's funny I never heard the car in the driveway.

"Hey, Edward? Esme called, we should get going… she wants our help with something." She said sheepishly from the doorway. Thankful for the change in atmosphere I got up from the couch and mumbled something around the lines of 'well if Esme needs it' before we both said our goodbyes and headed out.

******

I stood inside Bella's house while she talked with Alice about the party she wanted to throw for Bella's Seattle's friends at our house. Well Bella listened while Alice went on and on about how great it sounded at what a great idea it was. Alice meanwhile was going to make Bella stay the night at our house Friday, so she would be able to arrange everything before everyone arrived. I was practically wallpaper, with how much I was participating in this conversation.

A while later, Emmett arrived and after a few moments of small talk he left with Bella for the weekend she was going to spend in Seattle. Alice and I went back to our house and at approximately 11pm Mark arrived. I immediately cheered up.

"Anthony, I heard we're having a macho weekend." He noted and I laughed at his stupidity. Alice had left for a sleepover at Vanessa's place, so it was the perfect time for some man time. Since we were both tired from the week we decided to call it a night pretty early after barely catching up with a couple of beers. Saturday morning we woke up, changed and had Esme's pancake's breakfast before playing videogames for at least two hours straight. It was all going so well, but there was something in the back of my mind. Bond with Charlie. That's so much simpler when it's just me bonding with Charlie…

The real problem here is how should I drop the bomb on Mark… I can't just say 'Hey we should go hang out with your father in law'. I needed a plan so I decided I would ask Jake to help me, he's a great friend with Charlie so I would pretend we're going to help Jake… which is partly true… only that Jake needs help at Charlie's.

"You've got to be kidding me Anthony…" Mark said exasperatedly from the passenger seat as I took my seatbelt off and reached for the handle.

"I should, but I'm not." I said and I opened the door and looked at him. "Come on, grow a pair and let's help Jake." I said innocently. Mark growled but took his seatbelt off.

"You know as well as I do that Charlie hates me." He noted. And it was partly true, or at least it looked like it. Charlie was perfectly friendly with everyone but Mark. I chuckled lightly at my best friend before getting out of the car.

"He doesn't hate you; you just need to know each other better." I said cockily before I closed the door and watched Mark do the same. "Come on, for Bella."

Mark sighed and nodded. "For Bella." He allowed and then walked with me to the door. I walked inside, since the door was open, and looked for Charlie. I heard some noise on the laundry room and headed that way with Mark on tower. Once I entered the laundry room I found Jake under the washing machine, doing what appeared to be some mechanic job. Charlie was simply sitting on the floor drinking what appeared to be coke, he noticed me and stood up immediately.

"I'm sorry Charlie, but the door was open and I just walked in." I said sheepishly. It was useless though because Charlie was already smiling.

"Don't worry about it, you're welcome here anytime. I love having you over." He said sincerely making a smile creep up to my cheeks. "I thought you were going to spend some time with Marvin."

I choked back a laugh and moved aside so Mark could be in Charlie's range of view. His eyes traveled past me and to Mark who looked very self conscious.

"Oh, I see you're here too Marvin." Charlie said without a tinge of emotion in his voice. Mark quickly walked towards him and they shook hands.

"Actually. it's Mark, Charlie." He corrected, trying to be polite.

"And its sir, Marvin." Charlie retorted. Jake laughed and hit his head with the washing machine. I started laughing harder while still trying to stifle my giggles.

"Sorry sir." Mark said sheepishly. And that was pretty much their only conversation during the entire evening. I tried the whole time to include Mark on the conversation but he wasn't a lot of help. And the fact that Mark is so open minded while Charlie is a bit conservative wasn't of much help. We had dinner and talked for a bit, with Jake and me doing most of the talking. Finally at seven I had given up and Mark and I were about to head out. Mark said his goodbyes, happy to make it out of there alive and quickly walked to the car. I was saying good bye to Charlie when he pulled me back into the kitchen.

"Edward, I appreciate your doing this for my daughter, but it just won't work…" He said in a light tone. To say I was confused would be an understatement. "To be completely honest I do like Mark, but if I act like I do… well you know…"He trailed off. So he did like Mark. Hmm that means I spent my whole day here for absolutely nothing. I nodded my acknowledgement to Charlie before saying goodbye once again and turning around. "Oh, and, Edward?" He stopped me mid-step; I turned to look at him and cocked my head to the side so he would proceed. "This stays in this room." He ordered and I nodded seriously, finally able to leave this behind me.

A/N: Hey you guys! I know probably half of you hate me right now…and believe me when I say, I hate myself as well. Well lets just say life has been really hectic, what with going back to school and my new training schedule, it all leaves me with an average of 5% free time which I usually use for my German classes or something else. Well I hope you can forgive me and I'll try to find time to update!

Also, I've decided that I want to know a couple of extra things about English, so I'll ask a couple questions and you can answer them in a review or pm if you feel like it.

* How exactly does college work? And why the hell do I keep reading stuff about college and then Med school or Law school… what's the freaking difference and for example, do you have to do college and after that apply for med school…I just don't get it.

If anyone can answer my question it would be very much appreciated plus I would answer any of their questions…

As always review and tell me what you think.

This chapter's 'MUST-READ-FAN-FIC' suggestion is
'Going for the gold' by tamelaine
(I don't give a damn if its M rated… there's only one scene and its not graphic… plus its one of the greatest twilight fanfics I've read so far)

Follow the arrow, Click and REVIEW!
I
I
I
V