The Spotlight is On!

38

Disclaimer: I don't own anything Twilight.

Song used: "Falling Stars" by David Archuleta

Previously...

"Carlisle, let them have a break, they've been working hard enough," Esme tried, but he ignored her.

"Be in the studio in 5," he said, leaving the lounge.

I looked up and saw an angry vein throbbing in his forehead. He shut his eyes tightly, and before I could get up, he left the room, slamming the door behind him.

The whole lounge was silent as we uncomfortably listened to Edward and Carlisle's muffled yells through the walls. With each yell from Edward, I felt worse about my birthday. Usually, I enjoyed my birthday every year but not this time. I wished the rest of the day could pass already just so Edward and Carlisle wouldn't have to fight anymore.

After about twenty minutes, Edward came back in with red eyes, showing that he'd been crying a bit. He sat next to me, and I held his hand. He squeezed it tightly.

"Is everything alright?" Kate asked softly.

"We have to be in the studio at 5 PM," Edward spoke hoarsely, rubbing his eyes with the back of the hand that wasn't in mine. It was now 2 PM, so we still had 3 hours to ourselves.

I laid my head on his shoulder. "I'm so sorry; I wish my birthday didn't even come today. Now you and your dad are fighting over it."

"No, it's not your fault; we would have fought even if it wasn't your birthday," Edward said, rubbing my hand. "It's just something we always do."

"Do you guys fight a lot?" Seth asked.

"No, not every day, but mostly it's in the studio or it's about my career as a whole."

"Why, though? Does he not approve of you?" Kate asked.

"No, he just wanted me to be more like him, but I never wanted to. He's only my manager because Mom asked him to." Edward gestured to Esme.

Esme sighed. "Yeah, I thought that, maybe if he worked with you, you two could come to some sort of understanding, but..."

"Have you ever considered becoming Edward's manager full-time?" Alice asked.

Esme and Edward exchanged a nervous glance.

"We haven't really discussed that yet," Esme concluded.

"Well, one thing we should discuss is how we're going to celebrate Bella's birthday!" Emmett added cheerily.

And with that, everyone cracked a smile. Emmett was able to make anyone laugh, no matter how awkward or sad the situation was.

"What are we going to do for three hours," I asked, giggling.

"Let's hang out around the city. You haven't really seen the city, have you?" Kate asked me.

I shook my head. "No, not really."

"Well, let's go then!" Emmett announced, standing up. "Seattle is pretty cool, too."

I looked up at Edward to see if he was up to go. He nodded to me, his eyes a bit happier than before. I smiled and stood up. Still holding hands, he and I, along with everyone else, left the studio to take a tour of the city.

We spent the next three hours seeing the Space Needle, the Original Starbucks, that just made Emmett and Alice even more hyper than they already were, and the Experience Music Project. That last one was really interesting because it discussed the history of music and showed a lot of information about old-school rock and roll.