A/N: So I hope everyone liked the first chapter. If you did please remember the 3 R's of fanfiction. Read, review and recommend. I'd really appreciate it : ) Also I hate it when stories only have one chapter so that's why I'm posting this. Maybe if I get A LOT of good reviews I'll be able to churn out another one soon.

Bella

I was dreaming. You want to know how I knew? I was five years old and with my mother. It was the last time I ever remembered her doing something nice for me. We were sitting on the swing set in our backyard and she reached over and softly caressed my face.

"My Bella baby…" She said softly. Her eyes drifted behind me, where a small patch of wild flowers grew. She smiled and reached behind, plucking a purple one from the ground and sticking it behind my ear. I laughed and reached for it, pulling it from my hair and bringing it to my nose, inhaling deeply. It was the most perfect day I've ever had with her.

After that my relationship with my mother went to shit. Some days I wonder if that last day with her is even real. It becomes more distant and cloudy every moment. All of my other memories are filled with screaming, yelling, endless fights. Reprimands from her and her asshole of a husband Phil.

When I was fifteen she kicked me out of the house for the first time. I think that was when she found out Phil had been sneaking into my room at night, but she'd never admit it. At first he would just lie down next to me and softly run his fingers down my cheek as I tried to sleep. But it got worse.

I fought him off at first, screaming and crying, telling him no. But he wouldn't stop. I told myself I'd never let him…you know. It became one of my biggest fears that I would wake up in the middle of the night and he'd be on top of me, and I'd be unable to stop it. So I did everything I could to avoid it.

I started sneaking out at night. And to be honest the people who are out at that time aren't the best kinds of people. I got into things I shouldn't have gotten into. Charlie got involved when I got arrested for underage drinking. I couldn't tell him why. I was so embarrassed and the last person I wanted to talk about it with was my dad.

He petitioned the court for sole custody and my mom didn't put up much of a fight. Her and Phil still live in Phoenix but I haven't gotten a damn Christmas or Birthday card since I moved here. It's been two years and I can't seem to let my old life go. It was like my safety net. And even thought I knew I had nothing to fear here, it was still hard.

The last night in the house, Phil tried to sneak in one last time. And I knew exactly what he wanted to do. I pulled the covers close to my head as I heard the door handle turn, praying that my lock would hold. It didn't. He burst in and started towards my bed. I jumped up in a panic, whipping around, looking for anything that I could use to protect myself. I spotted my tennis racket that I'd never used before and grabbed it, swinging at Phil's head. It knocked him out cold, thank God. I packed up the rest of my stuff that night and took an earlier flight to Seattle. I wasn't staying in that Hell house one more minute.

Sure Charlie and I had our differences. I was a pain in the ass and I knew that. But he loved me and I loved him and we had this silent understanding of that.

I rolled over in my bed, trying to shake all the bad thoughts away. I had nights like these sometimes. Where I just couldn't get away from them, from him. I had to remind myself that I was hundreds of miles away almost everyday.

I finally gave up any chance of sleeping in and stumbled out of bed. The sun was just starting to come up; I could see the red tint through my curtains. I made my way to the window and pulled them aside, hoping to see most of the sunrise. And I did. It was beautiful. The orange glow started as a sliver across the grass and eventually crawled inch by inch across the entire yard.

Something caught my eye. To the right. I opened my window and peeked my head out to get a better look. I gasped when I saw Edward emerge from the small patch of woods towards the back of the property. His grey shirt was absolutely soaked with sweat. Not that I planned on doing anything about it, but he was gorgeous. Like Grade A, top choice, movie star meat. There was something mysterious about him, like he had some deep dark secret to tell.

He slowed his run to a jog and stopped in front of his door, wiping at his forehead. His shoulders were heaving up and down as he bent over and put his hands on his knees trying to catch his breath. He finally walked in his house, closing the door behind him.

I decided to go and make myself some breakfast, I'd been craving scrambled eggs since three this morning.

Just as I turned, Edward stepped in front of his window. I turned my eyes back towards him, tilting my head to the side. My mouth dropped open when he lifted his shirt over his head. The muscles in his back rose with each movement, creating shadows along the planes of his skin.

"Oh my God…" I whispered to myself, biting down on my bottom lip and resting my elbows on the windowsill. My knees nearly buckled when he reached for the top of his sweatpants.

I should look away, I told myself. I should look away, this isn't right. And then he pulled them down.

"This is so right…" I smiled a little to myself. When he turned to face me I felt my breath hitch in my throat. "So Edward Cullen….that's what you're working with. Impressive." His stomach was the definition of perfect. I could see the bulges of his abs from all the way up here. They culminated down to the hard "V" that led down to his… My lips quivered.

I swear to God it was almost like he heard me because his eyes shot up right at me. They widened as he yanked at the curtains and I fell to the ground in panic. He saw me. I'm officially a Peeping Tom. Shit.

"Bella?"

"Gah!" My hands flew up as I screamed in surprise.

"What the hell are you doing on the floor?"

"I…." I looked down at the carpet, searching for some excuse other than I was ogling my naked bodyguard. A small flickering caught my eye. "I dropped my earring?" I picked up the tiny earring, the one I'd been looking for for weeks, and held it up to Charlie.

"Oh. Okay I'm going to work. I'll be back for dinner."

"What do you want tonight?"

"Whatever honey. Your choice." He smiled and turned to leave.

Dinner was kind of me and my dad's thing. He wasn't much of a cook and it was something I actually enjoyed doing. He wasn't always home for dinner…actually he was rarely ever home for dinner. But Monday nights were our nights. He was always home. And I always made something special.

I started downstairs, pulling my hair into a ponytail as I went. Alice and Jasper were coming over later, so I had to keep myself occupied until then. After I made myself breakfast I trudged back upstairs, took one look at the mountain of laundry accumulating in my closet and decided today was laundry day. It took me five trips to get it all down to the laundry room in the basement. I was thankful for once that my Dad had the crazy idea of buying two washers. At the time I thought he was absolutely insane. Why the hell does anyone need two washers? He's the Police Commissioner, not the maid at the Hilton. I opened the first washer and put as many clothes as I could get in there. When I went to open the second one, I was surprised to see some sopping wet clothes already in there. There was no way in hell Charlie would do his own laundry. He always left it for the cleaning lady on Thursdays.

I reached in and pulled out the first article I could grasp. It was a pair of boxer-briefs, definitely not Charlie's. Or I prayed that they weren't because a daughter holding onto their father's underwear was wrong on so many levels.

Someone cleared their throat behind me and I spun around, dropping them onto the floor. Edward bent down and picked them up before transferring the rest of his clothes to the dryer.

"Sorry…" I mumbled. I couldn't tell if he was pissed or felt as completely awkward as I did about earlier. I was going to go with the latter.

"No harm done." He slammed the dryer shut and left the room without another word.

I finished my laundry in silence. Edward came in a little later to get his out of the dryer, but he didn't say much to me. Was this as awkward as I thought it was? Did he feel it too? Because I felt so uncomfortable that I wanted to rush upstairs and hide in my room.

I sighed a breath of relief when I heard the door upstairs open. Jasper and Alice must be here. I picked up my hamper and started upstairs.

"Bells?" Jazz shouted up the stairs. My guess was Alice was already up in my room.

"I'm here Jasper." I huffed and made my way around the corner. He took in my distress and quickly walked over to grab my hamper. "Thanks." I smiled and we continued upstairs. Alice was sitting on my window ledge smoking.

"Alice…" Jasper scolded. He hated that she smoked. Too be honest so did I. I did a little Mary Jane every now and then but no cigarettes for me.

Jasper set my hamper down by my closet and went over to take the cigarette out of Alice's fingers. He threw it to the patio below.

"Baby. You promised me you'd try." He bent down and kissed her cheek.

"I know. I'm sorry." She laced her fingers with his and gave him an apologetic smile.

I flopped down on my bed and tried to shake Edward from my thoughts. I had enough problems getting his body out of my mind but now he's acting all weird. I can't deal with this shit.

"I'm going to go make a sandwich. Do you guys want anything?" Jasper started towards the hallway. Alice and I both shook our heads.

I walked over and gave her a hug. She was my best friend and I haven't seen her a couple of days. We weren't used to that. She was either with Jasper or with me, most of the time both of us. She hugged me back and felt her laugh a little against me. And then she gasped.

"Al?" I pulled back to make sure she was okay. Her eyes were on fire as she stared outside. I turned my head and sighed. Edward.

"Who is that?" She pointed out to Edward's form, which was walking out towards the flower gardens.

"My new bodyguard."

"He can guard my body any day."

I slapped her playfully. "You're taken."

"True. But you aren't." She smiled. "Speaking of that. I thought you were going to stop this whole…thing you have with Jake."

"Why should I? It's fun and I have no reason to stop."

"That is reason enough for me." She tilted her head towards Edward, who disappeared behind the trees.

"Even if my dad wasn't his boss, I don't think that'd be happening."

"You don't think he's cute?"

"No he's gorgeous. I just don't think he'd be interested. And plus he's been avoiding me all day."

"Why?"

I blushed a little. "I kind of saw him…naked this morning."

Her eyes widened and she grinned. "Excellent."

"It was an accident. And he saw me and probably thinks I'm some kind of pervert or something. He'll probably never talk to me again. He looked so embarrassed."

"Well not like he has anything to be embarrassed about…but maybe you should return the favor?" She kinked an eyebrow.

"How so?"

"Well you can obviously see his room from here, which means he can see yours too. Give him a little show later. I'm sure he'll get over his embarrassment quick."

Jasper appeared again with a plate and a glass of juice.

"So what are we talking about?"

"Bella banging her bodyguard…" Alice giggled.

"Did you really?" Jasper froze. "Isn't he…like…old?"

"Old News Jazz. Geezer quit a couple nights ago. I've got me a new babysitter."

"You better not. Charlie will shit and die." He took a big bite of his sandwich.

"What Charlie doesn't know won't hurt him…" Alice snickered. She really could be a diabolical little thing when she wanted to. And you'd never expect it. She was the most innocent looking person I've ever seen.

"Anyway moving on…" I laughed and tried to change the subject, but my eyes floated momentarily to the window wondering what he was doing out there. He seemed a little too content by himself, a sadness about him. And I was determined to find out what that was.

Edward

I started down the path that ran along the edge of the woods, kicking some rocks along the dirt thinking about this morning. I felt the blood rush to my face just thinking about it. It was so early, I never thought anyone would be up. Not that leaving your curtains open while you walk around naked was ever a good idea, but it wasn't something that struck me as important at that hour.

I'd just gone for my morning run. It was nice to have a change. The paths in these woods were so different than the ones I was used to. I even stumbled across a deer drinking from a small creek. I smiled to myself as I returned to my house, feeling exhausted and alive at the same time. I bent over, resting my hands on my knees trying to catch my breath. I could feel my lungs filling completely with each breath and the twitching of my muscles. That was the sign of a good workout. Maybe tomorrow I'd try and break in the weight room in the main house. It didn't look like it got much use.

I stepped inside and started the shower. I walked over to my dresser and pulled out some clothes for the day before starting over towards the couch. I sat down and undid my tennis shoes. As I walked over to set them by the door I pulled my shirt over my head and threw it over towards my bed. Without another thought I grabbed at my sweatpants and pulled them down, throwing them over with my shirt. I suddenly became quite conscious of the sun shining down on my body and had the overwhelming feeling that I was being watched. I spun around and nearly had a heart attack when I saw. Bella's eyes widened with shock before she disappeared from sight. I grabbed desperately for the curtains and pulled them shut.

"Dammit…" I whispered to myself, trying to steady my breathing. Flashing the boss's daughter was probably not a good thing for a new job. I promised myself that I'd be a little more conscious from now on. Hopefully it wouldn't be weird when I saw her again.

It was weird. So damn terrible. I thought doing my laundry would be a good way to avoid her, at least for the day. I hadn't had a chance to do it before I left. And then I come in to find her holding a pair of my boxers. I tried to shake it off like it was nothing and get out of there as soon as possible. When I got back to my place I had nothing to do but sit there. And all I could think about was her. I sat down and ran my fingers through my hair. This was brutal. I'd been through a lot in my life, but this mind thing going on with her was unbearable. I got up and walked out the door, deciding to go for a walk to clear my head.

I glanced briefly up at her window and saw a small, dark haired girl sitting at the window. I didn't recognize her and thought maybe I should go check on Bella, but then I saw Bella walk over and hug her so I assumed everything was okay.

The path finally broke away to a small clearing. Purple wildflowers lined the edge and tall grass filled the inside. I found a tall tree by the edge and sat down, leaning my head back against the trunk. My fingers instinctively drifted up my arm and to the chains dangling around my neck. One for Demetri. One for Felix. One for me. They were the only things I really had left of them. My fingers brushed over their names engraved in the metal. My eyes felt wet, stinging as the tears slid down my face. I felt like a coward for crying. I was supposed to be strong. That's what a solider was supposed to be. Never show emotion. Never intimidated, never afraid. But in that moment I was intimidated, and I was afraid all because of that girl back at the house. I've only known her for two days and she's already got me coming undone at the seams.

I got up and started back to the house, picking a random flower along the way and running it through my fingers. I looked at my guesthouse and bypassed it for the main house. I should probably apologize to Bella. I think she was as embarrassed as I was this morning and I don't think I helped the situation today.

The house was quiet, and for a moment I thought no one was home. And then I heard the soft humming coming from the kitchen. I slowly peeked my head around the corner. Bella was standing at the stovetop, swaying her hips and singing lightly to herself. I quickly turned away and started up the stairs, almost tiptoeing so I didn't make any noise. There were three doors, all white down the hallway. I approached the one with a "B" painted in black on the front, deciding it must be Bella's, and stuck the wildflower around her door handle. I smiled and started back downstairs.

"What are you doing?"

I froze. Bella stood at the bottom of the stairs with her hands on her hips.

"Uhhh…"

She groaned and pulled her phone out of her pocket. I didn't even hear it ring, but I was thankful that it did. I had no idea what I was going to say.

"Hey Dad…" She sighed and walked back into the kitchen. I followed her and sat down in one of the chairs.

"Yeah I'm just finishing it now, when will you be home?" She listened for a moment and then her face fell. Her eyes darted my way. "Oh. Okay…" She closed her eyes tight and shook her head. "No it's fine...I said it's fine!" She took the phone down from her ear and put it back in her pocket. She glared at me for a moment before going back to whatever she was cooking.

"God! Can't he just make the effort one night a week? One night!" She threw down the spoon she was holding. The red sauce splattered across the counter. She picked it back up and started back at her work before she glanced at me. "Sorry."

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah." She shrugged. "No. It's our dinner night. Every Monday I make dinner and we sit down and eat. Like a real family. And he blew me off again." She looked down at the pot. "Now I have all this food. What the hell am I going to do with it?"

I smiled and cleared my throat. "Well if you need….you know someone to eat your delicious smelling food…I guess I could do it. I mean it's going to be tough, but if someone has to do it, I'll volunteer myself."

She tried to fight a smile, but a small smirk formed on her lips. She reached over and grabbed a couple of plates and glasses.

"It's spaghetti. I hope that's okay?" She started loading one of the plates with noodles.

"Sounds perfect." I smiled as she poured some steaming sauce over the noodles and placed the plate in front of me.

"Oh! Fork." She spun around and pulled a fork from the drawer. "Here. Do you want some wine?"

I cocked an eyebrow.

"Oh come on you know I drink. Get over it." She grabbed a bottle of wine and uncorked it.

"Fine. Just a little bit though." I started digging in. It was delicious. You wouldn't be able to tell by looking at her, but this girl was an amazing cook. "This is really good. Really…really good."

"Thanks." She grabbed a plate and sat down next to me. We ate in silence, the comfortable feeling we'd felt before slowly dissipating. The weird feeling from earlier was creeping in slowly but surely.

I set my fork down on my clean plate and took the last sip of my wine. Do I just get up and leave? Stay and wait until she says something? I glanced over at her. She was pushing her food around on her plate.

"So…" I sat back and placed my hands over my stomach. I don't think I've ever eaten so much in my life.

"Edward I'm sorry."

"About what?" I turned my body towards hers.

"About this morning." I stopped when I realized what she was talking about.

"Oh. It's okay. That was my fault not yours. I should be apologizing after subjecting you to that torture." I laughed to try and lighten the mood.

"It wasn't that torturous. If it makes you feel any better I can take my shirt off right now to ease your embarrassment." She laughed and then stopped abruptly, like she'd caught herself saying too much. I felt the blush rise into my cheeks. She cleared her throat. "So what's your story Edward?"

I got up and rinsed my plate before putting it in the dishwasher. She followed close behind me, brushing softly across my arm as she passed. I looked at her as I felt her skin touch mine. Was that really possible? That…spark that they always talk about when you meet someone special. If I believed in it I could have sworn I just felt it.

She quickly set her dishes down and made her way back to the counter, pouring herself another glass of wine and pulling herself up on the counter. She smiled and patted the spot next to her.

"Come on. I won't bite." She joked.

I smiled and sauntered over, effortlessly pulling myself up to sit beside her. She looked at me expectantly.

"Well?" She edged.

"Um… I grew up in Forks. I was adopted when I was younger by the Cullens…"

"Wait your parents are the Cullens? Isn't he some bigwig Doctor up at the hospital?"

"Yeah."

"Huh." She took a long sip of her wine.

"I have an older brother who still lives here and I just now moved back."

"And where were you before just now?" She smiled, but I felt my chest start to tighten.

I looked down at my hands, trying to avoid it. "Elsewhere."

When I looked back up at her, her mouth was in a hard line, her forehead wrinkled in confusion. She didn't press the issue further.

"Well I think I'm going to go to bed. Goodnight Edward."

"Goodnight. And thank you. For dinner. And I'm sorry again, about this morning. It won't happen again."

"No problem." She drank the rest of her wine and started upstairs.

I made my way back to the guesthouse and changed into my sweats and a t-shirt, making sure I was far enough away from the open window. I yawned and walked slowly over to the window to close the curtains, but my hands froze on the fabric. My eyes instantly went to Bella's window. Her curtains were open, the light from her room shining down onto the grass below. I blinked a few times as she moved directly in front of the window, I could swear her eyes stared directly into mine. And then she reached for the top button on her shirt.

"Oh God…" I whispered. I shook my head adamantly, hoping she would get the message that this wasn't necessary and definitely not appropriate. She just smiled bigger and started for the next button.

Close the curtain Edward. Just. Close. The curtain. But my hand wouldn't move. And I wasn't even paying attention to her fingers as they moved quickly down the front of her shirt. My eyes stayed in constant contact with hers. They were teasing me more than her body ever could. I looked down and sighed as she started to pull the shirt off her shoulders. When I looked back up she was laughing, probably at how mortified I was right now, with her shirt still on.

She gave a smile and wave before leaving the window and turning out her light. I closed my curtains and got into bed, wondering how in the hell this was ever going to end well. I should quit. Tomorrow. This was crossing a line that should not be crossed. The worst part was that I think I liked it.