A/N: This is the first installment of my Hyde series. Every story takes a single trait from one character and twists it to the negative extreme. Each story will be three chapters long. Enjoy and be prepared for wildly OOC behavior.

This first chapter is okay, but later on it gets really dark. If that is not your bag, then turn back or consider yourself warned. R&R if you so desire.

I do not own Twilight, I just play with the characters.

EDWARD

I met Bella our junior year of high school and we started dating towards the end of the school year. I feel in love with her the first moment I saw her. She is smart and beautiful and sassy and as clumsy as the day is long. The only hitch is her so-called best friend. His name is Jacob Black. I call him 'the mongrel' though, because he is always following my Bella around like a dog. Even thinking about it makes me sneer.

"Something wrong Edward?" Bella asks, her angel voice weighted with concern.

"No, everything is fine," I tell her, telling a little lie.

"Don't be that way. Are you thinking about Jake? I told you that he and I are just friends and that is all we will ever be," she pouts. It's like she can read my mind sometimes.

"I know that you feel that way, but the mongrel does not," I respond as I focus on the road again.

"Edward, I have talked with Jake about it and he does feel the same way. He does have a girlfriend, you know," Bella defends him. She stopped trying to get me to use his real name awhile ago.

"A girlfriend that we have no one we know has ever even seen and who does not have a name," I point out.

"He told me that her name was Nessie," she argues.

"What is her last name? I want to Google her," I firmly state.

"He didn't say and I didn't ask," Bella hedges. I know that he wouldn't tell her, even though I am pretty sure she did ask.

We sit in silence for awhile. I know that Bella feels that I am overly concerned about this situation, but I'm not. He is always hanging around. More than once I have spied him sitting in his Rabbit across the street from her house. I don't want to alarm her with this, though. I did talk to Charlie about it. He has seen the mongrel hanging around their house, trying to stay out of sight. Charlie talked to the mongrel's dad too and they have tried, on several occasions, to talk some sense into him. The fact remains that he is still always hanging around Bella, even on our dates. The mongrel is following us now, but he is hanging back some. Bella doesn't even notice him at all. She thinks that I am jealous of that?

"I'm sorry, Edward," Bella quietly says.

"Me too, Bella," I say to make peace with her.

"I just don't understand why Jake upsets you so much," she sighs.

"Not everyone is as good as you think they are," I hedge this time. There is no way that I will tell her the whole truth.

"Not everyone is as awful as you think they are," my Bella counters. This is as far as the conversation goes. We have had it many times.

Sighing, I park the car. I'm taking Bella to that great Italian place in Port Angeles to celebrate our six month anniversary. This is where we went on our first date and where we celebrated every month that we have been together. Bella loves this place and that is what makes it really special. I open her door and help her out of my Volvo like the gentleman that my mother raised me to be. Bella slips her hand into mine and leans against me a little as we walk to the door.

The hostess happens to be the same one that seated us, and hit on me, on our first date. Bella likes to make sure that she knows that I am taken, so she reaches up to give me a chaste kiss on the cheek. I surprise them both by giving her a sound kiss on her perfect, soft mouth. Bella wobbles a little as we walk to our favorite booth. To tell you the truth, my vision is a little out of focus too.

"I was not expecting that," Bella says after we place our orders.

"Clearly," I chuckle.

"Why the big show of affection?" she asks me that like she suspects something, which she should this time.

"I do love you and tonight is special," I tell her the truth, just not the entire truth. The mongrel was watching us through the window in the door.

"I love you too," she says as she smiles at me.

The conversation is light all through our meal. I keep touching her hand or her arm all through our meal too. She loves these little expressions of love. I do as well, but something else motivates me this evening. The mongrel is sitting a couple of tables away, out of Bella's line of sight, with his face stuck in a menu.

"Did you do the reading?" Bella asks me.

"For our Literature class?" I answer her with my own question.

"Yes, the last act of Romeo and Juliet," Bella responds through a sudden fit of giggles.

"I read it, but I just don't like the fact that they feel the need to kill each other because they think that the other would want that," I tell her.

"They kill themselves because they can't live without each other. I think that it is tragically sweet that they demonstrate their love that way," she informs me.

"Whatever you say, Bella," I smile at her. I wonder if the mongrel is paying attention, it certainly looks like it.

We pass a couple of friends talking about writing a series together as we head out of the restaurant. All the way to Bella's house, she gushes about our date. I'm glad that she enjoyed it so much. About half way there, I tell her to look in the glove compartment. She opens the jewelry box to find a charm bracelet with a charm for every month that we have been dating. My favorite is a diamond in the shape of a heart. Bella is so busy admiring the gift that she doesn't notice the pair of headlights that follows us, turn for turn, until we get to her street.

Bella drags me all the way to the door in her rush. I give her a kiss. She tells me that I have to wait in the living room so that she can give me my gift. Charlie walks into the room as Bella heads up the stairs to her room. Our greetings are congenial. At one time, I think that Charlie would have rather seen Bella dating the mongrel. That makes sense as he is the son of Charlie's best friend. That idea has completely lost its appeal now. The persistence, bordering on obsessive behavior, has us both on edge about him. I tell Charlie about tonight and he assures me that he will keep an eye out for the mongrel hanging around. At that moment, Bella trips a little on the stairs. She hands me that book of sheet music I have been wanting. Because Charlie is watching, I give Bella a chaste kiss on her cheek and go home.

My phone rings as I get to my room. Bella and I always talk right before we go to sleep. She told me that she liked the last thing she hears at night to be my voice. I feel the same way about her voice.

"Miss me already?" I tease her.

"You say that like you don't miss me already," she says, not missing a beat in the banter.

"Of course I miss you already," I assure her.

"I miss you too…" she trails off.

"Everything alright?" I ask her.

"Yeah, it just feels like someone is watching me," Bella explains. When will the mongrel learn about boundaries?

"Want me to come back over?" worry gives my tone a bit of an edge.

"No, no. Charlie is the Chief of Police, after all. Besides, I'm sure I am just imagining it," she tries to play off her concern.

"Maybe you should ask Charlie to look around the house," I suggest.

"He is already doing that," Bella tells me. I hear a familiar sound.

"Are you opening your window? I think you should sleep with it closed and locked tonight," I insist.

"Everything will be fine, Edward. Good night. I love you," my Bella sweetly says.

"Sweet dreams, my angel. I love you too," I respond. We hang up and I drift gently into sleep.

Someone is shaking me out of my slumber. I slightly open on tired eye and see that it is my father. A glance at the clock tells me that it is early in the morning. That catches my attention and I sit up quickly.

"I'm sorry, Edward. Charlie just called. We went to check on Bella and she was gone without a trace."