The idea for this story came to me when I was listening to the songs "Boy's Don't Matter" by LoveSick Radio and "Face Down" by The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. I could turn this into a multiple-chapter story, but only if I get good reviews.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters, except for Pete. I made him up.

Cover up with makeup in the mirror

Tell yourself it's never gonna happen again

You cry alone and then he swears he loves you

Do you feel like a man when you push her around?

Do you feel better now, as she falls to the ground?

Well I'll tell you, my friend one day this world's going to end

As your lies crumble down, a new life she has found

I see the way you go and say you're right again

Say you're right again

HEED MY LECTURE

Face down in the dirt she said, "This doesn't hurt."

She said, "I've finally had enough!" - Face Down by The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus

As he drove me home in his dark car, the tension between us was tangible - and ice cold. He knew what he did, and if he thought I was just going to let him by with it he was crazy. I got shudders as I recalled.

We where at a party with his loud and obnoxious friends, and they where getting drunk and high faster than I've seen anyone do before.

"Hey, Pete! Jake's getting restless, how about getting your pretty little lady friend over there to entertain him for a few hours!" Embry shouted at Jake from about fifteen feet across the beach.

I laughed at Embry. He was just joking around, I could tell by the way he smiled and wiggled his eyebrows at me.

I was slightly intoxicated, so I answered without thinking, "Yeah! I need to practice before I try to entertain Pete!" As soon as I looked at the expression on Pete's face and remembered what I had said, I froze.

Pete kept his face in a carefully composed and joking mask when he answered me, only because the others around the fire where watching us. "Hmmm . . . Well I guess I should just let you entertain me now, huh?"

"Um, yeah." I knew what was coming next. I tried to keep my voice from shaking, but everyone could tell.

"She's probably just a little nervous." He laughed, and at the same time tightened his grip painfully on my arm.

"Yeah, that's it." I was so scared that I had to fight the tears back with everything in me

Everyone watched us as we went in the direction of his truck. Emily even gave me a thumbs-up. Once we where out of sight of the rest of the people, all hell broke lose on his face.

"What the hell do you think you are pulling? Telling my friend that you want to SLEEP with someone BESIDES me! Huh? TELL ME, BELLA! TELL ME!"

By now I was crying hysterically, but not loud enough that someone else would hear. That would only make things worse. "I-I was-n't try-ing to - "

My sentence was interrupted by his hand coming across my face. Hard.

"Don't talk back to me! Who do you think you are?"

"I'm so-or - " He struck me again.

"Would you SHUT UP! GOD!" I couldn't take it anymore. He had crossed the line, as he had so many times, so often. And I just couldn't take it anymore.

My hand flew up and landed a sound blow to his cheek. The 'crack!' his face made at the contact was extremely satisfying. "You don't EVER hit me! Got it! EVER! And let me tell you one thing, you kill me for this and I will haunt you until the day you die and make sure you rot in hell." I was still on my don't-mess-with-Bella-'cause-she's-mad-as-hell high and without thinking I turned my back to him and stalked away.

When I sat back down in the circle around the fire, everyone was staring at me. "What?"

Embry was the first to speak, "Go Bella!" After he broke the silence, everyone else unfroze, too.

"Well," I said solemnly, "he needed to be put in his place." I ran the previous scene over in my head with satisfaction. Until I realized what I had just done to my abusive boyfriend, whom I would have to ride home with.

He came over after a while, and he looked like he was just fine. But I had seen that face enough times to tell that something was there, and no one but me could see.

The rest of the evening was fine and went just like that. And I couldn't help but to feel strong because, for the first time ever, I let him know what Bella was really like.

He was the first to speak. "You will never act like that again, Bella. Do you understand?" His calmness somehow made him even more threatening.

"You don't tell me what to do. I'm not your slave, and I'm not going to put up with this. Not ever again." The words slid off my tongue before I could think, they just felt so right being said.

"And what would 'this' be?" The calm was starting to mix with a little anger.

"You beating me. I'm not like this, and from now on, I'm going to be who I really am. You hit me, I hit you back. Just like tonight."

"You will not!" He was in a rage now.

I looked him straight in the eye, "Watch me."

He was quiet now, thinking. He looked straight ahead when he spoke, "Well, . . . I love you, and love means sacrifice. I'll make a special sacrifice to keep you. If your going to be like that, than I love you to death, baby. And I mean that."

I froze as his words sank in, one by one. I knew what I had to do, and I knew that it was going to be one of the most dangerous things I have ever done in my life, but I was still going to do it.

I stayed silent the rest of the ride, and when he stopped at my house, I said it. "It's over." I whispered.

"What's over?" Either he was in denial, or he was one of the stupidest people in the world.

"Us, this relationship. It's over, I'm breaking up with you. Don't come near me anymore. Don't talk to me, don't look at me, don't think about me. It's over, Pete." I finally looked at him, and braced myself for what I knew was coming next.

But he surprised me, "Please, don't say that, baby. I know I've been a jerk lately, but we can work it out, I can get help. Just, please, don't leave me."

He had said that a thousand times before, it never happens. "A - You've said that before. B - I'm not you're baby, never have been, never will be. So don't call me that again. Ever. C - You haven't just been a jerk lately, it's all the time. Since we met, even. D - We can't work it out. Because I don't want to, all I want is you away from me. Get the picture? E - You should get help, but not just the kind your thinking about. You need mental help, that's what you need. F - I am leaving you. It's over. I'm done. I don't love you, I never have. Get away from me. Now. Don't talk about me, don't look at me, don't think about me. I'm so done with this, Pete, so done." I was staring him down the whole time I was talking, but inside, I was shaking.

"Come on, Bella - " I cut him off.

"Isabella, only my friends get to call me 'Bella'." The hard mask was still in place on my face.

"Just let me give you a kiss, it'll make everything all better."

"We broke up. So, no, you can not kiss me. And even if we hadn't, I wouldn't want our first kiss to be like this." I was still shaking inside, violently.

"Isabella, now." He was being firm, about to get physical, I could tell.

I did the one thing that came to mind. "NO! I HATE YOU, SO MUCH! STAY AWAY FROM ME!" I shrieked at the top of my lungs as I flung myself out of the car, slammed the door in his face, and began racing to the house as fast as I could through the freezing early March weather.

"Isabella, you're mine! You can't just run away from me! Get back here, you belong to me!" He screamed at me as he chased me across the lawn.

"NO!" I just kept screaming at him. 'No' to all the things he was saying. 'No' to every degrading thing he'd ever told me about myself. 'No' to all the times he hit me. 'No' to him. 'No' to every bruse, to every tear, every sleepless night, every cut, every lie, every denial, and all the things I'd done that had only hurt me and everyone around me. 'No' to everything. Everything.

Unbelievably, I ran into the house and slammed the door behind me before he could even touch me. With trembling fingers, I fumbled with the lock. I had just finished with the deadbolt when he started pounding on the door. I let out a bloodcurdling scream at the first hit on the door, until I realized he couldn't get in. Sobbing, I put my back up against the wall to the right of the door and slid down to the ground, trying to still my franticly beating heart and to still my trembling body. Someone touched my shoulder, lightly. I jumped at the touch and screamed "Don't hurt me, please!" My eyes perfectly round. Until I realized the hand had been my dad.

"Bells, you alright?" He took in my expression. "What happened?" He looked angry now.

Suddenly, the pounding which had stopped started up again. Along with my name mixed with a long stream of profanities.

"Pete." I whispered feebly. He looked at the two probably black bruises on my face, listened to the pounding and cursing on the other side of the door, and immediately understood.

He got up, grabbed his gun which was hanging up on his gun belt, opened the door and stepped outside. I herd hushed shouts from both men on the other side of the door, and covered my ears with my hands. I wanted to go upstairs, but I didn't think my shaking legs would be very stable. My balance was off on a good day, I couldn't even imagine how it would be now. A few moments later, Charlie came back inside. Once again, I jumped ten feet in the air when he touched my shoulder to tell me he was back.

"Bells." I looked up. "Why don't you just go on up to bed, we'll talk about what needs to be done in the morning." His face was gentle, careful. It made me sick to know I was the reason he was on eggshells around me, that my obedient silence was the reason.

"Thanks, dad." He helped me stand up, and gave me an awkward two-armed hug. He told me he loved me before he let me go, and I almost started bawling right there. I don't think I'd ever heard those words spoken more sincerely, and right then, there was nothing I needed more.

I drug myself upstairs and got ready for bed. I climbed under the covers and wrapped them around me tightly. My dad knew, he was going to take care of it. For the first time in far too long, I actually went to bed feeling safe.

So, what do you think?

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