Disclaimer

Twilight and all affiliated characters are the property of Stephanie Meyer. I do not own any of the aforementioned characters except Beth and the plot of this story (that is, should it stray from the original Twilight). This story is for entertainment only and is not part of the official storyline. I am not in any way, shape, or form benefiting financially from the publishing of this story on this site and am very grateful for Mrs. Meyer's creation. Besides, if I did own Twilight, I doubt I'd be vomiting my guts out right now.

"What are you guys doing here?" Beth called out, grinning from ear to ear as Jessica's old white Toyota pulled up to the Swan house. From behind her, she heard Bella call out from inside the house, 'who are you talking about?' before the screen door opened and her sister appeared.

"Oh my god.. Jess?"

"Angela?"

"That's my name, don't wear it out!" Angie called out, popping out of her side of the car, a semi-transparent container in her hand as Jess took the keys out of the ignition.

Then the scent of gooey, chocolatey goodness wafted to their noses. Bella's eyes went wide and she zeroed in on what Beth had seen.

"Oo," she practically vibrated in place, "what is that?"

"Brownies," Jess responded, arms thrown up and out as she reached out to Beth for a hug. "For you and Bella, but mostly you."

"Ouch," Bella commented in faux hurt, placing a hand on her chest, but it was clear to everyone there that she wasn't offended by being too preoccupied with trying to pry the container open. Angela rolled her eyes before setting it on the trunk and popping it open herself. Tongue sticking out the side of her mouth, Bella dug in wholeheartedly, pulling out a brownie in each hand, one going directly into her mouth as she danced slightly in place and moaned at the taste of it.

"We noticed that you've been feeling kind of down lately, so Angie and I teamed up after school to make them."

Hugging the girl, Beth squeezed her friend tightly before letting go. Behind them, the door swung open again and Charlie walked out in his signature plaid shirt and jeans, leaning against a bannister.

"Hey, girls." He waved.

"Hi, Chief," The girls echoed, smiling.

Charlie whistled then, walking down, "Wow, are those brownies?"

"Yep," Beth responded and watched as he saddled right up to Bella and promptly stole her extra brownie- the girl complaining through her bite, chocolate crumbs decorating the side of her mouth.

"Dad," she grumbled, but walked over to the container for another. And she managed to knick one more before Angie slapped her lightly on her wrist and then covered the container to bring it over to Beth. And finally, the girl whom they were made for got to taste one. And Beth had to admit, they were good. Very. Good.

She groaned, leaning against the taller brunette as she giggled at her expression, "You are angels sent by the highest order,"

Beside them, Jess laughed, "We were also thinking that we could have a sleepover this weekend in preparation for the dance?" At that, she turned to Charlie with a hopeful expression, Angela mirroring it but slightly more nervous. Even Bella stopped chewing.

Charlie, upon seeing the attention directed to him and three sets of doe eyes looking up at him, lowered the brownie he'd been in the process of biting into and said,"I'll tell you what, bring some more brownies like these and you can come over whenever you want."

And with that, he walked over to Beth, who like her sister, was gorging herself on the chocolate pastry to steal one more. The girl gave chase as the police officer managed to steal three more squares before running out of reach of his daughter, Beth giving chase with the still open container in her hand.

"Come back here, old man!" Well, that was what she was supposed to say, only it came out much more garbled with the half a brownie she had in her mouth. The girls behind them laughed at the scene, giggling uncontrollably when Beth jumped onto her dad's back rugby style and managed to retrieve two of the three.

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆

The sleepover went off without a hitch, Bella and Beth's beds being put together in Bella's bigger room was just enough to fit the four girls. The night went off without a hitch- Well, if you don't count Jessica and her unconscious kicking in her sleep- and the girls most definitely had fun, staying up late to braid each other's hair with ribbons and doing nails. It was exactly the type of sleepover that Beth nor Bella had never experienced but was all the more fun.

And the day of the dance? Well, it took them all six hours to get ready in time, Bella hugging Beth for her help in getting her all dolled up in her blue halter dress with a deep(ish) neckline. Jessica had even managed to coerce her sister into wearing something that wasn't converse. The dancing thing, though? Yeah, she'd leave it up to Angela to get her sister to agree to that, uncoordinated as she was. It was only when she'd walked them down to Jess' car again, that the taller brunette asked her if she was sure that she hadn't wanted to attend.

"I'm so sure," Beth assured her, smiling lightly. "I just want to make some tea and curl up to read,"

"You sound like my grandma," Jessica snorted.

Bella laughed loudly, "You have no idea."

"Shut up!" Beth pointed a finger at her sister, a light glare in her eyes serving as a promise of great pain if she spilled a word about her odd hobbies she'd developed (as far as Bella knew) from a young age.

When they'd finally left, Beth sat out on the porch for a while, breath visible in front of her mouth each time she exhaled. Above her, the stars twinkled amongst the inky blackness of the sky. A soft breeze brushing over her, she looked down the street as the headlights from an incoming car illuminated the road. Thinking it would be her dad coming back from work, she stood and walked down the porch steps.

But much to her surprise, it wasn't a police car. No. Instead, it was a familiar Silver Volvo.

Beth would be lying if she said her heart didn't skip a beat once the car turned into her driveway.

Walking up to the passengers side, the window rolled down and a smirking Penny boy looked back at her. It was at that moment Beth knew that if she wanted him to or not, this guy was fast becoming someone who could mess up her life. She didn't know if she liked that thought or not.

"Hi," Edward greeted her warmly, subconsciously leaning over the space between the passenger's seat and the console.

"Hey," she spoke quietly, leaning against the door, the stillness of the night creating a nice atmosphere.

"Do you want to go for a drive?" he asked hopefully.

Beth sighed, looking down the road, "that's probably not such a good idea."

"Why not?"

"My dad is supposed to be home soon and I have to make dinner for the both of us, you know?" She explained, shrugging her shoulders. Edward seemed disappointed for a second,

"I can hop in if that's okay with you?" she offered, not knowing how well Charlie would take to seeing Edward Cullen on the living room sofa in the middle of the night.

Nodding, he reached over to open the door, and Beth climbed in. He turned on the heating, after seeing that she was cold.

"What were you doing, sitting out there alone anyway?"

Beth inhaled deeply, "I was only out there for like, two minutes. I was helping Jess, Angela and Bella get ready for the dance and they literally just left."

Edward made a noise of acknowledgement, "So why didn't you go?"

"I didn't feel like dancing tonight," she shrugged again, "what about you? Why didn't you go?"

"I didn't have anyone to go with." He answered quietly, putting his hands into his hoodie pockets, a lock of bronze hair falling to his forehead. Beth knew he was lying. It was hard to believe the most sought after male of Forks High didn't have anyone to go to a school dance with. At her look, he corrected his statement, "Nobody I wanted to go with, was going to the dance."

Beth swallowed, not knowing what to say to that nor sure if she liked what he was implying or the way he was looking at her. Looking outside, she attempted to direct the conversation away from the topic of the dance.

"So, what do you do for fun in this place anyways?"

"Nope," Edward laughed, "I'm still asking the questions."

Beth shot him a look, turning her body to face the pale boy, "And when did we decide this?"

But Edward's shoulders were still shaking slightly and he refused to answer, instead asking her what her favorite color was.

"Blue, not light. But dark, navy blue."

"Favorite Gem?"

"Probably Amethyst."

"What's the one thing you see yourself doing in the next ten years?"

"I see myself wrapping up a degree in university."

"Why ten years? And what degree?"

Beth sighed deeply, a smile tugging at her lips,"I don't know what degree yet and if I did know, I'd want to be able to pay my own tuition instead of taking out a student loan or getting financial aid that I'd spend the next thirty years of my life paying off. So I'd work and save up enough for a few years and then-" she shrugged once more, "go."

Edward frowned slightly, eyebrows crinkling, "And if money wasn't a problem?"

Beth quirked a brow, "Money's always a problem," But acquiesced just the same,"If money wasn't a problem, then in ten years I'd see myself traveling around the world, having fun."

"Has anyone ever told you that you sound as though you're years beyond your age?"

Beth laughed, "Yeah, you're not the first person to say that."

"I find you odd," Edward admitted, "Normally, people see themselves settling down and starting a family in ten years. But not you."

"Not me," she agreed. And although she was smiling, she felt more upset than she'd let on. She didn't know if she could bear the thought of having kids again. Losing her child in her past life nearly killed her, she had no idea if she'd be prepared to put herself in such a position again. But she couldn't very well tell Ed that. So instead, she settled with,

"Kids are overrated."

Before he could respond, as Beth knew he couldn't possibly resist seeing his chagrined expression, she interrupted him sheepishly,

"Do you still want to hang out next weekend?"

Edward blinked in surprise, not anticipating that she would offer to spend more time with him.

"..yes,"

"Okay," she allowed, "What did you have in mind?"

Edward smiled hesitantly, unsure of what he was feeling as he couldn't remember feeling this way before, "How do you feel about going on a hike?"

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The sound of the music inside the school shook Bella to her core. But nothing had shaken her more than what had just transpired. Her lips still felt foreign to her, her fingers coming up to cover her mouth as though to hide the evidence of what she just- Holy Shit!

Her mind still tried to process the fact that she'd just lost her first kiss in such an .. odd way. She didn't mind who it had been, but that did not curb her surprise.. for one thought kept circling through her mind:

Angela Webber had just kissed her.