AN: I know, I know, and I am very sorry! Yes it has been about 4 months since the last update BUT I do have plenty of good excuses! Not interested?...Ok well, how about I make it up to you with this chapter. Also, I have the next two (yes TWO!) chapters already written! How amazing am I? Still mad?

I hurried upstairs when I got home, and pulled out my cell phone. I hesitated before dialling, unsure of my decision. I wanted a vacation and I wanted to see Renee, but was leaving Forks really such a good idea? Or was I more afraid to leave behind Jacob and Edward? Calling my mother would mean the inevitable – she would fuss, she would fawn and she would convince me that Florida was the place I needed to be. How exactly does a daughter tell her mother, 'sorry but I just couldn't possible leave the vampires and werewolves alone for a weekend to fend for themselves'?

Sighing, I scrolled through my contacts until I found Renee and hit the call button. It nearly rang out and just as I was about to give up, my mom answered, her voice soft and breathy as always.

"Hey Mom, it's me," I said, my voice cracking.

"Bella! You've called at the right time, Phil and I got back from Orlando just this minute. How have all your graduation parties been?"

"Yeah, not bad I guess." I faltered. I could barely remember the graduation parties after everything else that had happened. "Happy to be back in Florida?"

"Well, I never like to speak ill of Forks…"

I snorted, but she pressed on.

"…but I don't know how you stand it there, honey. I think I'd go crazy if I were you. Although," her voice was sly now and I thought I could see what was coming, "the eye candy has greatly improved since my day! That Jacob certainly isn't bad to look at."

"He's not just there for decoration," I said hotly, flopping down on my bed and gazing up at the cracked ceiling. I noticed it could use another paint of coat. "Anyway, I think you did enough looking for the both of us during your visit."

I could picture Renee brushing the comment away with a bat of her hand, and she pressed on, "So when are you coming to see us? I don't want the beach house going to waste this summer; you kids could use some fun! And Phil's been looking at boats lately – imagine the fun we could have, spending the day floating down the river on the boat, or out on the ocean!" She sounded so excited at the idea I couldn't bare to let her down.

"Actually, I was calling to see if you'd be up for a visitor of two. I mean," I hurried, intent on making sure she knew it would not be a long trip, "I'll need to be back in Forks fairly soon. I have to start looking for an internship."

"Of course, of course," gushed Renee, already breathless with excitement. "Even just a couple of days would be fantastic, when are you arriving?"

The sun had begun to set by the time I finally hung up the phone, and based on the charred smells wafting up from the kitchen, Charlie was home.

"Have a good day?" he asked, as I ambled into the kitchen. He was standing over a saucepan, stirring occasionally and looking rather pleased with himself. "Susan gave me a recipe for spaghetti bolognese."

"I can see that," I replied, gazing over his shoulder. "What happened, the supermarket ran out of jars of pasta sauce?"

"Her and the kids are coming round for dinner tonight. I thought I'd make something special."

"No offense Dad, but all you're making is a mess." I took the wooden spoon from his hand and tried to separate the burnt onion from the meat. "And did you have to invite her kids? Leah and I don't exactly get on."

"Go easy on her, Bella. That girl has had a rough time of it."

I blushed, feeling embarrassed about my unsympathetic attitude. After all, she'd lost her boyfriend to Emily, and then her dad had died of a heart attack. She had a right to be a little bit snippy. I opened a can of tinned tomatoes and threw them into the pan, stirring the sauce grumpily.

The evening was an unusual affair, with much joke-cracking by Seth, resentful looks from Leah, and Sue who seemed to mother Charlie nearly as much as I did. Even though their stay didn't last much longer than a few hours, I felt it was an age before I could finally excuse myself to my bedroom.

There I found a large grinning surprise waiting for me, already spread-eagled on my too-small bed.

"Hi there sleeping beauty," I laughed, closing the door and hurrying over to him. "You look slightly more human after a good day's rest."

"Feel it too," he commented, pulling me into a tight hug. "Well, as human as I can be anyway. How was dinner?"

I shrugged, too intent on kissing every inch of his face I could reach to respond.

"Woah, slow down there, cowgirl…"

"Wolf-girl," I corrected him, letting my kisses trail down his neck.

He laughed, "Ok then, wolf-girl…" he pulled me hard into him and then in a split second had me pinned. "My girl…"

"Definitely your girl," I whispered, biting my bottom lip and grinning up at him.

"Damn, Bella, you're getting sexier by the second." He sighed and sat up, freeing my arms. "But unfortunately I can hear Charlie coming upstairs. I'd better hide in the closet."

The hem of his jeans had only just disappeared out of sight when Charlie stuck his head round the door. "You alright, Bells? Dinner wasn't too bad was it?"

"No, Dad, it was really good. The Clearwater's are nice." I grinned at him. "Sue especially."

He blushed a little and scratched his head. "Yea well, I'm just trying to help out as much as I can now that Harry's gone."

I nodded. "You can tell she really appreciates it, Dad. And I think Seth and Leah do too," I added honestly. As much as Leah didn't seem to like me, she had been very courteous to Charlie. And Seth seemed to positively worship the ground he walked on.

"Well, if you're gone next year…" he began, looking forlorn.

"I don't have any plans to leave Forks," I told him again, truthfully. "I like it here – it's my home."

Charlie nodded, then heaved a great sigh and hiked his jeans up. "Alright Kiddo, sleep tight."

"'Night Dad."

ooo

I could feel the sun's heat stinging on my bare skin and knew the sensible thing to do would be to re-apply the sunblock laying on the floor by my lounge chair. Instead, I readjusted my sunglasses and pulled my hat lower over my forehead. I'd forgotten how much I loved the sun.

"Bella," my mom called, her voice sing-songing as she approached. Lazily I opened one eye and smiled as she sauntered towards me, her sarong hanging from her hips, two large pineapple-adorned glasses in her hands. "Virgin pina coladas!" she declared as she handed one to me. "Unless you'd like a little rum?" she winked.

"No, thanks I'm good," I half laughed, sucking on the straw. It wasn't bad either…the chilled pineapple was a world away from the warm sodas I had got used to at home. I smiled to myself, wondering at what point Forks, and not Renee, had become my home.

"Ah well, only a few more years 'til you're 21. And speaking of virgin…"

"Nice segway, Mom," I muttered sarcastically, taking another long drink before finally frowning up at her. "You actually made these cocktails just so you could use that line, didn't you?"

Renee laughed. "My middle-aged daughter," she mused. "But seriously, it's probably something we should talk about. You do have a boyfriend after all and I can't imagine Charlie has talked to you much about it."

"You're going to give me the sex talk, Mom? Really?"

She had the decency to look a little embarrassed. "Well, yes ok I know I might not be the best person to talk to you about all of this, but I am your mother and it's important you have someone you can discuss your sex life with."

"This is mortifying," I replied, not meeting her eyes as I gazed down at the drink. However I was relieved that it was Renee and not Charlie who was attempting to discuss this with me. "And I don't have a sex life. Still a virgin. Like the drinks."

"Ah, well…" she looked a little guilty and continued, "I may have added a little rum…" She took a sip of her own drink and frowned at me reproachfully. "But honey, why on earth would you still be a virgin? Have you seen your boyfriend? He's a bit of a hunk, Bella. And you're clearly nuts about each other."

I shook my head at her. "You're nuts, Mom. Your job isn't to convince me to lose my virginity."

She looked puzzled for a moment then nodded. "You're right – sorry, honey. I suppose I just wanted to say, when you do decide the time is right, there are some condoms in the top drawer in the bathroom."

"Gross, Mom," I groaned, wishing I could plug my fingers into my ears and drown her out. "I'm not listening anymore."

"Ok, ok. I just thought we should talk about this before Jake arrives this evening."

I raised an eyebrow at her casual nickname for my boyfriend. "'Jake'? Since when has he been Jake?"

She just laughed, her face lighting up to look 10 years younger and I could see the woman my dad had fallen so madly in love with all those years ago. "Oh Bella, you need to chill!" She pinched my nose lightly and thrust my drink back into my hand before wandering back into the house.

I sighed and pushed my sunglasses back up my nose. My mom could be batty at times but her question had got me thinking…why hadn't I lost my virginity? Bad circumstances I suppose but if I was to be honest, there had been time… Maybe Jacob had changed his mind. I shook my head and smiled. He'd imprinted on me. I was his imprint, and so he'd give me anything I wanted. Very rarely did I let myself think like this - I didn't like to be too over-confident in our relationship because the last time someone had left me I'd gone to pieces. I wanted to be strong enough to not let that happen again.

Groaning, I sat up and reached for the sunblock. Yet again, I was over-analysing the situation. I'd only been gone for Jacob for a week and I'd spoken to him twice on the phone so why did I suddenly feel so unsure about him? It was ridiculous.

Later in the afternoon, after Phil had left to pick up Jacob from the airport, the doorbell echoed loudly in the entrance.

"Bella, can you grab that?" Renee called. She was busy making herself up in the bathroom and I had to laugh at her vanity. It hadn't been a joke, she really did have a crush on Jake. I flipped on the light switch as I walked through the entrance hall towards the front door, half-hoping that it would be Phil and Jacob back from the airport, although realistically I knew they would be another half an hour at least.

I could see a dark outline standing in the setting shadows through the twisted glass of the front door and my heart dropped as this figure was clearly too short to be Jacob. Twisting the key in the lock, I opened the door and let out an audible gasp when I saw who was standing on the doorstep.

"Edward!"

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