A/N: And cue the hormones ;-)

(Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight and its characters.)

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Crimson

Bella

I leaned forward on my elbows, so that I could hear Jessica Stanley whisper about how cute she thought Edward Cullen was and how she was going to kiss him at the eighth grade spring dance.

Ew.

Edward Cullen was my best friend, practically my brother and to hear her talk about him like that was just. . .ew.

I frowned and leaned away from her.

"Come on Bella, you guys are practically family. I need your help," she pouted.

"My help? What could I possibly do to help you?" I looked over my shoulder at the group of boys on the other side of the cafeteria. Edward sat in the middle of group laughing.

"You know, put in a good word for me- tell him that you think I'm nice and pretty and that he should totally kiss me,"

I turned my attention back to her. "Are you serious?" I asked. "You really like him?" I couldn't believe a girl thought about Edward that way. I guess he was kind of cute. Not that I ever thought about him like that or anything. I looked over my shoulder again and this time he stared directly at me.

I quickly turned away.

"Oh my god, he's on his way over here," Jessica squealed.

"Who?" I turned just in time to see Edward.

"Hey Bella, hey Jessica," Edward sat next to me and took a Dorito from my bag.

"Hi Edward," Jessica sounded like she was out of breath.

"So. . . what are the two of you up to?" he asked.

Jessica blushed and twirled her hair around her fingers.

Edward picked up the chips and finished off the bag.

"Hey, didn't you already eat lunch?" I shoved him. I was really annoyed that he ate the rest of my chips.

"Hey Bella, I um, I'm going to go to the library and return a book- remember that thing we talked about? Maybe you might mention it to Edward?" Jessica gathered her empty tray and eyed me. I stared up at her totally confused until she puckered her lips at me and nodded slightly at Edward as he checked my tray for scraps.

"Oh yeah, okay- yeah," I said as she left us alone.

"So ,why was Jessica Stanley acting weirder than usual?" he asked after Jessica left.

"Hmm- well, she wants to kiss you," I said just as he took a sip of my soda.

He started coughing and sputtering.

"Wha- huh- what? Did she say that?" he asked wide-eyed.

"Um, yeah- I'm supposed to tell you she's nice and pretty and that you should totally kiss her," I giggled.

He smiled and the tips of his ears turned red.

"Oh my god, you totally want to kiss her!" I accused.

"Ssh! Will you be quiet! Every boy in our class wants to kiss Jessica Stanley," he said it like it was no big deal.

"What? Really- why?" I frowned.

"I'll give you two reasons," he grinned and he placed his hands in front of his chest.

My mouth dropped open. I couldn't believe Edward was talking about Jessica Stanley's breasts. I crossed my arms over my flat chest and stared at him.

"What? You asked," he smirked at me.

"You are so- just- ugh," I picked up my tray and stood.

"What? Why are you- hey there's something on your pants," I felt his hand brush against the back of my thigh.

"What?" I turned and looked at him over my shoulder. I stared down the back of my pink Bongo jeans but couldn't see anything. "Ha ha," I laughed dryly. He always tried to play stupid tricks on me.

"I'm serious. It's red- did you sit in something?" he frowned as he inspected my seat.

I could suddenly feel a trickle down there. . .Oh. My. God. Kill me now. I sat back down and stared at him as my heart beat out of control inside my chest.

"What's wrong?" he asked concerned as he leaned closer to me.

I opened my mouth and felt tears prick at my eyes. "I need to borrow your shirt," I cried. Edward always wore a long sleeved plaid shirt with a white t-shirt underneath.

"For what? Why are you acting so weird? Are you crying?" his mouth fell open.

I wiped away my tears. I was completely mortified but I needed his help. "Edward, I think I just got my period. I don't want to walk across the cafeteria with blood on my pants. Can I please borrow your shirt?" I held my head down and let my hair fall in my face.

He gasped. "Are you okay? Does it hurt? You should go to the nurse and call your mom or something," he was full on panicked.

I closed my eyes and sighed. "I just need your shirt, so that I can go to the bathroom,"

"Oh- yeah- okay," he removed the shirt and gave it to me just as Mike Newton walked over.

"Cullen we're going outside, you coming? Hey Bella. Whoa? What's up?" Mike asked as he looked back and forth from Edward to me.

"Nothing. Bella's not feeling too good and she's a little cold, so I gave her my shirt. I'm going to go outside- you gonna be okay?" he asked.

I nodded my head and waited until he and Mike left the cafeteria before I tied his shirt around my waist and hurried to the girl's restroom. It was official, I was riding the crimson wave.

The rest of the day was pretty exhausting. It started with my mother crying hysterically for almost an hour. She went on and on about how her baby had become a woman and when my father interrupted us to see what was wrong, he looked like someone told him I had two months to live. Under normal circumstances I probably would have been embarrassed but the fact that Edward Cullen had been there when I got my period was clearly a sign the universe already hated me.

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Flesh

Edward

"Damn bro, check out Bella. I didn't know she was hiding all that junk in her trunk," Tyler Crowley whistled lowly.

"I know I've been trying to hit that for the past month," Mike Newton chimed in.

My head whipped around and I followed their line of vision totally confused. Bella stood on the other side of the yard talking to Angela Weber. Angela wore a one-piece swimsuit and a pair of shorts but Bella on the other hand wore a white two piece. An itty bitty two piece with her legs and arms and ass and breast all just on display.

She had to know those pigs would talk about her.

"I just want to reach out and-," Before Crowley opened his mouth again I pushed him. Hard. He stumbled over one of the lawn chairs and fell to the ground.

"Dude! What was that for?" he yelled.

"Don't talk about Bella like that-she's like my sister for Christ sakes,"

I was pissed. I looked over at her again and she and Angela stared in our direction. I stomped over to her.

"Not that I'm complaining but why did you knock Crowley on his ass?" she laughed.

I grabbed her by the elbow and pulled her inside the house.

"Ow!" she complained but I ignored her.

"Don't you have something else you can wear?" I frowned.

"What? Is there something wrong with this swimsuit?" she stared down at herself alarmed.

I hadn't meant to make her feel insecure but there was no way she could go back out there wearing that poor excuse for a swimsuit. I stared at her for a second longer than necessary and felt like such a pervert when I felt a boner coming on.

"It's like too small or something," I growled.

She placed her hands on her slender hips. I wondered what the skin on her hip bones felt like.

"It is not. Did Crowley say something about my swimsuit?" she narrowed her eyes.

I sighed. "Him and Newton are saying foul shit about you. Bella, you don't want to be one of those girls who people think are slutty-," I started.

She frowned. "What? People think I'm slutty? Why- what did those lying bastards say about me?" she shrieked. She was pissed and her chest was heaving. I wondered what the skin along the tops of her breasts felt like. I shifted from one foot to another and hoped my dick would stop stiffening.

"It's just the way you're dressed- come on I mean-,"

"Hello, it's a pool party! What do you expect me to wear?" she scowled.

"The outfit Angela is wearing is cool. Come on Bella just- cover up your- something. Leave a little something to the imagination," I pleaded. Or I'm going to have to commit a murder.

"So, this isn't really about my swimsuit, it's about you being overprotective?" she smirked.

"Whatever,"

"What did Mike say?" she asked genuinely curious.

Oh hell no.

"He was going off about Jessica Stanley again. I think he has some massive crush on her," I lied.

Her face fell. "Too bad she has a massive crush on you," she muttered.

I didn't have time for the high school soap opera.

"You got some shorts or something?" I asked hopefully.

She rolled her eyes.

"Yes dad," she pushed past me and headed back outside. I watched her through the glass patio doors as she walked over to the chairs near Angela and pulled on her denim shorts.

She threw her hands up silently asking if her choice was okay. I gave her a thumb up. I looked over at Beavis and Butthead and they both looked really disappointed. Assholes.

I mean there were certain girls we talked about like that but not Bella. She was off limits. Not because she wasn't pretty. She was beautiful. Or because her body wasn't banging because it was- the past three years she had gone from a flat chested thirteen year old to a pretty well developed sixteen year old. All the guys were noticing her and I wouldn't be able to hold them off much longer. And by the sound of it Bella didn't want me to hold them off.

But she deserved better- these were just some high school jokers, I didn't want her to mess up her reputation behind any of them. They didn't respect her. A few of them still had their V cards and just wanted some willing girl to help them with that problem.

I was lucky to have gotten that shit over with last summer. My older brother Emmett, dated this girl named Rosalie who had a cousin named Tanya and well, long story short- an abandoned boathouse on the Fourth of July was where I lost my virginity.

As far as I knew Bella was still a virgin. I planned to cock block her at every turn until she at least graduated high school and went off to college. Hopefully the prospects would be better there and not like the vermin in our hometown. So, I made it my mission to make sure both her reputation and her hymen remained intact.

End Notes: Hmm. . .who are you really protecting her from, Edward? Thanks for reading and reviewing!