A/N: Hello everyone! This is my first fanfic on . I hope you like it!

BPOV

"Alice!" I screamed, tears streaming down my face as I threw my arms around my best friend. After a quick hug, she pushed me away to look at me.

"Bells? What's wrong? What happened?" the concern in her voice was almost overwhelming.

"I- I don't know. H-he j-just….came over and- wh- when he saw me, he just got so mad. He h-hit me, A-Alice." I sobbed.

A low growl rumbled through her chest. It was menacing, full of hatred, anger, and a murderous intent. It was protective.

A car door slammed and I hid behind Alice. She reached behind her back and placed her hand on my arm.

"Bells, go upstairs. To my room." she ordered. I nodded and darted away up the stairs, not wanting to see Edward. As soon as I shut the door to Alice's room, I pressed my ear to the crack at the edge. Through this, I could hear every word of their argument.

APOV

My vision was tinted red. It took every ounce of control not to rip my brother apart as soon as he walked in the door.

"Where is she, Alice?" he hissed.

The rage grew inside me, "Don't you fucking talk to me like that, Edward. You aren't going to go anywhere near her!"

His jaw clenched with fury, "You fucking bitch. How dare you deny me the right to see my fiancee? You have no right!"

That's when I snapped.

"You have no right to hit her, Edward! Do you know what could have happened? You could have killed her, you ass! What in the hell would possess you to do that? What in the hell did she do to you? I'll tell you, nothing!"

A sudden wave of calm washed over me and I realized that Jasper is home.

"What's goin' on in here?" he asked calmly as he stepped up next to me.

"Edward," I spat his name, "lost his temper and beat Bella."

Now, instead of calm, waves of anger rolled over us. Jasper's eyes had turned pitch black with rage.

"You IDIOT!" he screamed, "You ASS! What did she do to you, Edward, that could possibly justify you nearly taking her life? All she does is give and give and give to you and how do you repay her? By beating her? I should rip you apart right now! You do not deserve to live!"

I'd never seen Jasper this upset before. I didn't even know he was this attached to Bella. I thought he just put up with her because he had to.

Luckily, Carlisle rushed into the room to diffuse the situation before it escalated out of hand.

"Jasper," he ordered calmly, "Go check on Bella. I'll be up there in a little while."

He nodded, clearly upset about not getting a chance to rip Edward apart, and ran upstairs. Carlisle turned to us, his eyes a darker shade of gold.

JPOV

I knocked on the door, fighting my rage. What my brother did was inexcusable. No matter what had occurred, it is never okay to hit a girl, especially one that you plan on marrying. Sometimes I wonder if Edward is just plain stupid, but then I realize that he's just an ass.

When nobody answered, I opened the door a crack and slipped in.

"Bella?" I asked, forcing the rage out of my voice. It was harder than it seems once I saw her. Curled up in a little ball on Alice's bed, arms wrapped around her legs, face buried in the little cave it had made.

"Bella?" I repeated, reaching out to lightly touch her shoulder. I feared she was dead when she just fell open at my touch, then I noticed the slight movements of her chest. She was just sleeping. I don't know how she could, though, with Edward in the house.

My hands made their way to the hem of her shirt and began raising it up. Don't get me wrong, I was simply checking on the wounds that I knew would be there. Bella, clearly, thought I was trying something and bolted up. She screamed and jumped back. I reached my arm out to grab her wrist to stop her.

That was the first injury I saw. There were finger-shaped, red marks on her wrist. They were already beginning to turn a horrible-looking purple/blue color.

"Bella," I said, my voice surprisingly soothing and calm, "It's alright. Carlisle sent me up here to check on your injuries."

She relaxed quite a bit and allowed me to continue. Soon, her shirt was over her head and she was laying there in her bra and jeans. The sight before me was worse than I had seen on her wrist. Her entire torso was covered in different colored bruises. Some were purple, some blue, some were still red. What shocked me even more than that, were the yellowing ones.

The rage boiled up again as the realization hit me.

"Bella?" I began through gritted teeth, "How long has Edward been hitting you?"

She looked up at me through sad, chocolate-brown eyes. It held me in place and made me lose my focus for a moment. I could get lost forever in her eyes. No, Jazz! Focus!

"Bella? Please, darlin' I need to know…" I hate to be cocky, but nobody can resist my southern drawl when I let it out.

She sighed and started to talk. Her voice was broken as she spoke, "He's hit me once or twice before. Twice, yes…that was it. Once when he caught me sneaking out to see Jacob… then another time just recently when I had gone out with Angela, Rose, Alice, and Jessica without telling him."

I remembered that trip. Alice and Rose had left with Bella and her human friends to go stay in Seattle for a weekend. I could have sworn Emmett and I told Edward that she was going. Whatever the case, he should never have hit her.

"Bella…" I said, my voice soothing again. Thank God Bella was oblivious to the murderous intent behind it. I helped her get her shirt back on. Tears were streaming down her cheeks and she threw herself at me, locking her arms around my neck. It shocked me that it was so easy for me to control myself. I was so worried for her, I guess the concern overlapped the bloodlust.

"Bella…" I whispered, stroking her hair gently, "Edward will never do this to you again. I swear it."

We sat there for a few minutes, just embracing. Bella eventually calmed down enough to back away a few inches to look at me.

"Thank you, Jasper," she breathed, and I wanted so badly to close that small gap between us and press my lips to hers. Someday, I will…just not today. Today, I needed to be a comforter, a friend.

She let go of me completely when Carlisle and Alice walked in. Carlisle smiled and made his way over to us, Alice hot on his heels.

"Are you alright, Bella?" he asked, placing one hand on her forehead. She nodded and smiled at me, then looked up at Carlisle again.

"I'm alright, Carlisle. Jasper's been incredibly helpful these past few minutes. I couldn't ask for a better friend." she smiled. I returned her grin. Friend would do for now.

A/N: Well, there's chapter 1 for ya. Like it? Love it? Hate it? Please, any reviews will do!