a/n: I know, I know. I should have updated this ages ago. But I've just been really really busy. Forgive me? Please review!

Into the Wild

Chapter Eight: Sunny Blue Skies

Bella awoke with a start as her body jerked itself into consciousness. And then she noticed two things. The first of which was the stiffness in her lower back. The second was the fact her pillow was moving.

"Ughh," she stretched her legs out with a groan.

"Good morning to you, too," a voice that was clouded with sleep answered back.

"Edward?" Bella rubbed her eyes and tilted her head to look at him. The morning sun was absolutely blinding, so the girl shut her eyes again. She cursed silently to herself.

"Sleep well, Princess?" Edward teased. Bella forced herself to sit up and stretched her sore back.

"It wasn't the sleeping. That was nice. It was the waking up part that sucked." She shivered in the coolness of the morning and Edward wrapped the sleeping bag around her shoulders as he sat up.

"How about we start a fire?"

Bella yawned with eyes shut tight and nodded, "I'll start breakfast. Will you get me some more wood, please?"

He planted a kiss on her forehead. He stretched as he stood up.

"What do you plan on cooking?" He cast a weary glance over his shoulder.

She pulled the sleeping bag tighter around her. She breathed in his lingering scent.

"Pancakes."

Visibly relieved, he headed past the trees. Bella stood on her wobbly legs and moved towards the car where the cooler was being stored. She grabbed the bag with the paper plates and plastic silverware. She had just taken the pancake mix from the cooler when she heard the zipper open from one of the tents.

"Morning, Bella Bear," Someone reached over her shoulder and took a water bottle. Bella picked up the nearby cast iron pan and glared at the new arrival.

"Emmett Freaking Cullen!"

He gave her a grin and offered her a water bottle as well. Bella rolled her eyes and hurried over to the fire pit. The night's events surfaced fully in her mind. She dropped the sleeping bag off her shoulder and punched the bulky boy in his muscular arm, "When did you get back? We were up all night! We were worried sick!"

"Ouch! Bella!" Emmett groaned. Bella hit him again, "Ow! I'm sorry! It was late! We got lost!" She gave him one final punch and turned back to the fire pit. She put the pan on the pit and lit the bit of wood that was left to warm it up. By the time she had started the first batch of pancakes, Alice crawled out of her tent.

"Emmett! You guys made it back okay!"

Emmett gave Alice a small wave as Edward dropped an armful of wood on the ground next to his girlfriend.

"Lucky him. After the scare you gave the girls last night you're lucky you're not walking back home today."

Bella eyed her boyfriend, "Now there's the idea of the century."

"Hey!" Emmett protested with a grown. Edward sighed and picked up his discarded sleeping bag from the ground at Bella's feet.

"I'm going to start loading the car."

"I wanted to go swimming in the lake before we left," Bella spoke up, "And I mean real swimming. Not fall-out-of-a-boat swimming."

Edward shrugged, "Alright. I'll leave out your bathing suit and your cover up, but I'm taking down the tent. Call me when breakfast is ready?"

She gave him a smile, "Thank you, honey."

"You two act more and more like a married couple ever day," Jasper yawned as he sank down next to Alice. He placed a sleepy kiss on her cheek. Alice yawned in return and nodded hello.

"I have fire at my disposal, Jasper," Bella said with a glare.

He chuckled, "Just saying."

Emmett stretched, "Guess I'll wake Rosie up."

He used Jasper's shoulder to help him up and headed towards his tent. He glanced over at Edward, who was currently folding up a second sleeping bag.

"You, my friend, are whipped and feeling guilty."

Edward looked up as he zipped Bella's duffle.

"It was funny for an hour, Emmett. Maybe even two hours. Then Bella started to panic and she wanted to call the park rangers. I thought at any second she'd burst into tears. She thought you two were dead, Em." Edward turned his back on his friend and pulled the first tent stake from the ground. Emmett felt a moment of remorse, but it was quickly shoved to the back of his mind. Turning on his heel, he entered his tent.

Rosalie was curled up on her side, hair pulled back out of her face. She was wearing one of Emmett's white tank tops. He grinned at the sight and crawled up next to her under the pile of sleeping bags.

"Rosie, wake up, baby" he whispered. He wrapped a muscular arm around her waist. She groaned and rolled over to snuggle into his chest.

"Way too early, babe," she murmured.

"Breakfast is almost ready." She nuzzled her face against his shoulder.

"Stay in here; nice and cozy." He grinned and pressed a kiss right behind her ear. She squealed and used her fists to push away from him.

"Don't!" she whined. He did it again, and this time she brought her knees in to push him away harder but he held tight.

"Up," he said sternly.

"Fine." Another groan and she sat up. She rubbed her eyes with one hand. The other intertwined with Emmett's.

"I'm up, ok?"

"Mhmm. We're eating and then going swimming."

"Swimming? Ugh!" He pulled her against him.

"Don't blame me, it was your partner in crime's suggestion."

"Dead. I'll kill her. Bury her deep." She kicked at the sleeping bag that still covered her legs. Pulling a hoodie over her head, she allowed Emmett to drag her in her sleepy haze from the comfort of the tent into the warm morning sun.

Piles and piles of pancakes, an hour an a half, and an outfit change to bathing suits later, Alice was toe to toe, well toe to shoreline if you want to be specific, with the lake.

"Wait, guys? Aren't you suppose to wait an hour before swimming?"

There was that, and the fact that the water was about four degrees. Edward and Emmett exchanged glances as they dropped their towels on the dock. Less than a second later, they had seized Alice up off the sandy-rocky shore by her waist and legs.

"Guys, put her down!" Jasper yelled as he ran to his girlfriend's rescue.

"Down?" Emmett echoed. An evil glint flashed in his eyes. Alice squealed and kicked her feet, half laughing half screaming.

"Seriously you guys!" she flailed her arms. Edward side-stepped Jasper trying to pull the girl away from them and then the duo hurled Alice into the shoulder-deep water just off shore. She screamed after she surfaced. Her teeth were chattering.

"Ed-dward! Em-mett!" The short girl splashed them on the shoreline.

"Would you behave, children?" Bella joked. She dropped her towel next to the boys. Edward locked eyes with her.

"Hey, sweetpea," he sang out.

"No. Edward? No!"

He ran up to the dock as she started backing away. "Don't you dare!" He grabbed her around the waist and forced both of them into the water. Rose merely shook her head and sat down on the dock to tan.

"Touch me, Emmett, and it will be your last time," she warned dryly. The muscular boy slunk away from her, his attempts thwarted. As Bella spluttered to the surface, she let out a stream of curses and pushed at Edward's hands, all the while trying to get her sopping hair away from her face. He simply laughed and kicked his feet to keep them above the water.

"Come in, Jasper," Alice laughed. She splashed him before falling backwards into the water, causing a small 'plunk' noise. The blonde boy gave her an exasperated sigh before indulging her and wading into the shallow water. "Catch me if you can!" And she swam like a fish for the deep water. Huffing, Jasper swam after her.

"Cannon ball!" Emmett ran the short distance to the end of the dock and jumped over where Bella was still laughing, struggling against Edward, and splashed into the water. A wave washed over the couple and Bella managed to escape Jasper. When Emmett surfaced, Bella forced him under by the shoulders and front-flipped over him.

"Bella!" he spluttered. Edward laughed and leaned back to float on the surface.

"Hey!" Bella's scream rang out a little louder than earlier.

"Emmett! Give that back right now!" Her arms are wrapped around her chest; absent was the bikini top.

"Come get it," Emmett challenged. He dove past Jasper and Alice in the middle of the lake.

"Emmett!" Red faced with anger she tried to swim, only to snap back to cover her when Emmett smirked. "Consider your life over!" Rose peaked open one eye and chalked it up to payback before going back to tanning. Alice gasped and choked on her laugh as Jasper finally caught up and caught his girlfriend around the waist.

"Give it back, Emmett," Edward demanded. He casually swam over to the group. Emmett dangled the bikini by a string.

"She was fine with being topless yesterday," he insisted in a teasing manor.

"I hope you're fine with never having children because you're this close!" Bella barked though gritted teeth. Emmett laughed sheepishly and dropped the bikini top on the water to take off towards the shore. Bella snatched it up and dunked herself to put it on underwater.

"Hey!" Alice yelled as she splashed Edward, "No peeking!"

The boy turned his eyes to the sunny blue skies.

A hot summer, a cool lake, and six very good friends. Boredom was the problem and camping was the solution. And now they'd go home; back to the mundane day in and day out of Forks life. Summer would always be there, waiting in June, waiting anywhere where there was sunshine and good times and the friends that would last a life time.

There would always their adventures into the wild.

That's all, folks! Hope you enjoyed my little Twilight story! Please show you're love by leaving a review! Thanks!