After going through a handful of unsuccessful figure skating partners, Bella Swan is on the verge of giving up her skating career. When her coach pairs her up with Edward Cullen, she decides to give her gold medal dreams one last shot.

A/N (Author's Note): ALL HUMAN.

*IMPORTANT*: I will be posting pictures that correspond with some chapters, so if you see text followed by a bold (number), that indicates that there will be a link to the picture on my profile.

I hope the pictures give you a better sense of all the skating positions... so please check em out!

Hey guys, here's a little timeline:

The Olympics will be occurring in February 2010.

Currently, it is June 2009 (coincidence that it matches with now.) Now we're going to forward to December, 2009.

------FAST FORWARD-----

Chapter 41: Panic Mode

Six months later. (Dec. 2009)

EPOV:

"I'm so excited! You won't believe how excited I am. I am so, so, sooooo excited!" Alice squealed, emphasizing all the so's.

I sighed.

"How did you know about this again?"

"I can see the future. Duh," Alice rolled her eyes like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

I had ordered Bella's engagement ring today.

Yep. That's right—Edward Cullen was ready to settle down. Sure, Bella and I hadn't known each other for long, but the past year with her had been like flying. I didn't think life could get any better.

I loved Bella and I was pretty sure she loved me. I wasn't going to see anyone else and I sure as hell hoped she wasn't either, so why not just make it official earlier?

I wanted everyone to know she was mine.

The only down part was in the beginning when we revealed 'us' to Emmett. I can now say that I've been to hell and back. He made me sign another few dozen documents swearing not to hurt Bella. It was done in a tiny room with a wooden chair in the center, lighted by a flashlight. Emmett and Jasper paced back and forth for the good part of the afternoon listing everything they'd do to me if I broke Bella's heart.

Not likely.

I didn't even want to begin to imagine his reaction to my proposal.

Nevertheless, this morning, after Bella had left to meet Rosalie for brunch, I'd decided to do something about my decision and called Leah, an old family friend back in Chicago who was a private jeweler.

She picked up on the first ring.

"Hey hon. Nice to finally hear from you," Leah's familiarly sarcastic voice rang through the phone.

"Leah," I breathed. "I need a favor."

"Of course, kid only calls for a favor," Leah garbled practically inaudibly.

After about a half hour of begging and bribing, I finally convinced her to design the ring.

"Please, Leah. I know you rarely design or make any more jewelry, but let's face it. You're the best in the business," I pleaded.

It was true. Leah had an enormous amount of talent for working with jewelry, but she loathed it, claiming that working with all the tiny pieces gave her headaches.

She had managed her own private jewelry business for quite some time, but after orders started backing up and the stress became too much, she left her work to become a publicist.

"Alright, kid. I'll send you a few sketches in the next couple of weeks and we'll talk then," Leah acquiesced. "It seems that Forks has done you well. If it weren't for all that smooth talkin' I wouldn't have believed I was talking to the same kid that banged a different one every night."

I snorted. "Not every night."

She chuckled. "Close enough. Treat her well, seems like you have an awful lot on the line."

"I will, Leah. Thanks so much."

Less than a minute later, the doorbell rang, signifying that someone was at my door.

It was Alice.

"OH MY GOD, I can't believe you're going to propose!" her high pitched voice pierced through the air. Wincing, I backed a good five steps away from her, still trying to get my ears to stop ringing.

What the hell? How did she…

"What the fuck are you talking about?" I managed.

"I saw it, silly!"

"Saw what?"

"The proposal!"

"The Proposal, as in the movie?" I asked.

"No, you idiot. You proposing to Bella!" she hopped up and down excitedly.

"It hasn't even happened yet!" I shot back, stunned.

"No," Alice shook her head cutely. "I had a vision of it happening! Like the future!"

I stood there, utterly bewildered.

"There's no such thing as—"

"Psychics? Fortune tellers? Oh please," Alice fanned herself. "Although I do admit that we're starting to go extinct."

"I don't believe you." I crossed my arms over my chest.

"You're loss," she shrugged.

She pushed passed me and settled onto my couch comfortably. Like a dog, I trailed behind her in a mist of confusion.

"I think you should go with the second or third sketch. I mean, the first one is nice, but I don't think it's very Bella-like, you know? But you know how Bella is and…"

"Alice," I stopped her. "Again, what the fuck are you talking about?"

She stared at me like I was an incompetent fool.

"The sketches that Leah's going to send for the engagement ring design, duh," she replied.

I rolled my eyes and slapped my forehead. "Of course," I said sarcastically. "How did I not realize that earlier?"

She stuck her tongue out at me.

Her expression softened and became thoughtful. "I'm glad it's you rather than anyone else. You're exactly what Bella needs."

I nodded, beginning to calm down from Alice's surprise visit. "Thanks. That means a lot."

"I'm serious; I was really worried about Bella until you came along." She rubbed her eyes, as if just thinking about it made her weary.

"Yeah," I muttered quietly.

"So Alice," I hinted slyly.

Her eyes narrowed, already smelling that I was about to ask for something.

"Since you're a psychic and all, could you tell me what she'll—"

"Nope," she popped the end of the word. "I can't tell you whether she's going to say yes or not, but what I can tell you is that she's a fool if she doesn't."

"Why?" I whined like a little kid.

"It's just not how it works."

"Psychic! Pah! What a scam," I grumbled.

"It's not," she said seriously. "I'll prove it to you. Bella will walk through this door in four… three… two… one…"

I whipped my head towards the door, and sure enough, the door knob rattled and Bella entered with a bag of take out in her hands and sopping wet clothes. Her hair was shiny from the raindrops, sprawled wildly across her face.

She shook the excess rain off herself while I laughed.

"I told you to bring an umbrella," I chirped.

She glared at me. "Well it wasn't raining when I headed out so it's not my—hey, Alice?"

Her rich brown eyes scanned the room and locked on Alice's petite figure.

"What are you doing here?"

"I was just heading out," Alice sang. "You kiddies have a good time."

"What? No, you can stay if you—"

"I'll talk to you later, Bella!" Alice slipped out the door.

Bella turned to me. "What was that all about?"

"Alice just came by to… talk…about our costumes," I lied lamely.

"Oh," she frowned. "What for?"

"Nothing you should concern your pretty little head about," I smiled sweetly.

She laughed and stood on her tiptoes to peck me on the lips.

"You're probably right."

Of course I was.

"How was your brunch with Rose?"

I stared at her; something was off about the image. She was wearing an oversized white hoodie that I didn't recall having.

"Whose jacket is that?"

She turned her back to fix a few flowers that were drooping on the table. On the back was the word 'Black' in giant capital letters.

"What? Oh, and I ran into Jacob—you remember him—in the parking lot."

"Black? Like your old…" I trailed off, making a face. "I thought he moved."

"Yeah, but he's been up here more often since his dad is having health issues."

"Oh." I tried to keep my calm, but my insides were fuming. "Why are you wearing his jacket?"

"I was cold and wet and he offered it to me," she replied nonchalantly.

"You could have brought my jacket with you…" I grumbled.

"Quit being a baby," she sighed. There was a split second a silence before she spoke up again. "He asked me out to dinner." What. The. Hell? I opened my mouth to protest but she was too quick for me. "He didn't really know we're dating."

"What did you say?" I held back the urge to snarl.

"I rejected him very politely and told him about you. Then, I kindly invited him to dinner here tonight." She looked at me closely. "Oh stop being so sensitive wipe that frown off your face; it was the right thing to do. He hasn't had a homemade meal in an awful long while."

I continued to pout. I had an aversion to Bella interacting with other men in general, especially ones that had ties to her skating past that I wasn't a part of.

"Aww, you're being all possessive," she cooed and ran her hands through my hair.

I growled. "For good reason too. I mean, seriously, this guy has a history with you… And I don't like that you're wearing his jacket. By the way, take it off. It's dripping with rainwater and going to ruin the wood floor."

She scoffed and to make a point, pulled the damn jacket tighter around her. "Be nice. I'm going to go upstairs and change."

"By all means, go change," I mumbled.

She reached one of the huge sleeves up and rung some of the water out of her hair. As she put her arms back down, I swore I saw her sniff his jacket.

What. The. Hell?

"Did you just smell his jacket?"

She blinked. "What?"

"You just sniffed his jacket!" I cried.

"What are you talking about? I didn't sniff his—"

"You didn't even notice that you did!" I cut off her indignant defense.

She threw her hands up in the air and sighed with annoyance. "I am going upstairs and I will speak to you later when you are being reasonable."

I rested on the couch, tapping my fingers impatiently on the side table. I'd never spoken to Jacob but I already despised him.

How could she just smell his jacket like that? It probably had his scent all over it.

It's almost like an unspoken male code, but after a certain age we become very sensitive about how girls perceive or smell. Well, I guess some guys don't really ever 'catch onto' this 'unspoken male code' so sucks for them since they have B.O. forever… But that's beside the point. Point is that in a way, we guys kind of mark our dominance by smell.

Sounds like the craziest shit ever, but it is serious stuff.

One girl once told me that I smelled like peppermint with a dash of cinnamon—probably the best ego-booster ever.

Did she like Jacob's scent? Even more important, did she like Jacob's smell more than mine?

Aw, hell nah.

I contemplated this for a few more frustrated minutes.

Suddenly, a loud crash sounded from upstairs. It sounded like glass.

My heart rate spiked.

Bella.

I jumped out of my seat and sprinted up the stairs to the bathroom where a light as on.

Bella sat on the floor with her hands encasing her legs and her head buried in her knees. On the counter was one of Esme's glass soap dispensers, toppled over and broken. The shards were scattered everywhere, but luckily none were on the ground.

Alarmed, I shouted, "Bella!"

Her sobs grew more pronounced.

"Bella," I whispered. "Bella," I said again, this time more panicked.

She looked up at me with glassy eyes and tear stained cheeks.

"What happened? Are you okay? What was the noise I heard?" I fired questions off, terrified.

"Edward," her voice was dry. "I just realized…"

"What?" I pleaded.

"I just realized that I…" Pause. This was killing me. "That I… I'm two days late for my period," she wailed.

I froze, shocked.

"Fuck," I exhaled.

Could she possibly be…? With my…? But what about…?

She started crying again. Quickly, I recomposed myself.

"It's only two days," I tried. "You're probably just a little late this month."

"No, you don't understand. My period is always on time. I'm never late!"

"Okay, okay." I crouched down and rubbed circles on her back, trying my best at soothing her. "Y-you stay here and calm down. I'll go to the pharmacy to get you some pregnancy tests."

She closed her eyes.

Gently, I picked her up off the floor and walked into the bedroom to lay her on the mattress.

"I'm going to head out, okay?"

She nodded.

"Do you want anything—a glass of water or something?" I offered.

She shook her head.

"Okay," I nodded quietly.

I grabbed my jacket and my keys and made my way towards my door. Right before I reached the door knob, I paused and turned back around.

"Listen, no matter what happens I'll be here to support you," I said in hopefully a tough, sincere voice, yet my insides were in full panic mode.

Quickly, I hustled to my Volvo and sped off to the nearest drug store.

I could barely concentrate on the road, too many thoughts were swirling in my head at once.

How could this happen?

We always used a condom. I was the master at putting them on.

She told me she was on a pill.

Shouldn't this give us 99.9% immunity against pregnancy? Fuck, what if we were the 0.1% that experienced the freak accident?

Shit, it's not like we could still skate if she was preggers. All the hard work. It would add up to nothing. I knew it was Bella's dream to win Olympic gold. Our chance was in a mere three months.

What if she fucking hated me for getting her pregnant?

It would be all my fault. I'd be the one ruining her dream. I'd be the one hurting her—something I swore never to do.

Cursing under my breath, I slammed the car door and speed walked the aisles of the store, trying to find the pregnancy tests.

A-ha! Finally, I found them. There were so many brands and types, I wasn't sure what to choose.

Too edgy to look through them all and compare them, I grabbed at least 15 kinds and threw them into the basket and went to the check out stand.

The cashier was a middle aged woman with tired eyes. Her eyes widened and she tsked her tongue as I threw all the merchandize onto her stand.

"Ma'am," I addressed her through gritted teeth. "Will you stop your gawking and fucking ring me up?"

She closed her mouth and scanned everything in a blur. That was more like it.

I doubled the speed limit on the drive home and somehow, I arrived back at my front door.

Taking a breath, I took the keys out of my car engine and opened the car door.

My insides were in full panic mode, but I pushed it aside for the moment being.

The least I could do was be strong for her.

A/N:

A review would be greatly appreciated.

Okay, I know you guys are probably all like WTF; what the hell are you doing girl? Jacob? Bella's preggers? Can't you just get on with it? Bear with me.

REVIEW for any CLARIFICATIONS, SUGGESTIONS, or MISTAKES

Thanks.