Disclaimer: I do not own anything Twilight. Stephanie Myers does.

The much anticipated second chapter. Lots of things going on in my life that prevented me from updating sooner. But I have found a second wind so they'll be updated weekly. (Maybe sooner!)

Still dedicated to mblueyez7. She supplies stories for my addiction.

Chapter Two

EPOV

I just wanted to get home as fast as possible. Today had been one of the most gruesome days at the track ever. I didn't even want to think about it right now. I just wanted to spend quality time with a hot shower and watch the new episode of MythBusters. That was my plan on how I was going to start my long needed vacation. Two weeks of heavenly bliss by myself. No phone calls. No cocky ass jockeys. No stubborn-as-a-mule horses. Just sweet alone time with my TV and my beer. Just thinking about it put me instantly in a slightly better mood.

I was about to start planning what I might do tomorrow, when I noticed the flashing red lights in front of me. Someone had their hazard lights on and it looked like they weren't moving. I live in a small town, so when I didn't recognize the car in front of me, I became a little wary. It meant it belonged to someone from out of town. I know it's cliche, but that did sometimes mean trouble.

I thought of just passing them up. Only for a second though. My aunt would kill me if she found out I had passed by someone who might need help. I could hear her as clear as day. "Where's that southern hospitality that I taught you?" I sighed to myself. My shower would have to be put on hold for the moment.

I slowed down behind the truck and came to a stop. Who would be driving something as old as my grandmother? It must have been a farmer I didn't know. No one that didn't farm would willingly drive something like that.

I left my lights on because it was starting to get dark. I opened the door to my Volvo and got out. I left my car running also. I always felt glad that I lived somewhere quiet that I could safely leave my car running and unlocked and not have to worry about it being stolen. So glad I moved back home. I closed the door and started walking forward. I still hadn't seen any movement inside.

I reached the side of the driver's door and leaned down to ask if they were alright, when the door came crashing into my nose.

"Holy shit!" I brought my hands up to my nose. I could feel the throbbing under my fingers.

"Oh my gosh. I'm so sorry. I wasn't paying attention. Did I hurt you?" Her voice sounded a little shaky. It also sounded like music from the heavens. Music from the heavens. Did I get hit that hard in the face? I backed up a little to give me some space from her when that thought popped into my head.

"Yeah. Just give me a minute to recover."

I had moved my hands down a little bit so that I could see who had just slammed a truck door in my face when my breathing stopped for a second.

Wow.

Standing in front of me was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. She had a white button down shirt on that was rolled up to her elbows, stretched nicely over her breasts, and a black vest over it that was left open. The shirt fit around her curves but wasn't so tight that she looked like the Hulk ready to burst free. She was wearing a pair of jeans that hugged every curve of her legs, which were long and lean. I glanced further down and she had on a pair of black converse on. Gotta love a girl that owns a pair of converse.

I looked up into deep brown eyes that definitely made me stop breathing. I could get lost in them. But there was something hiding there. A sadness that was visible through her worried features on her face, which were beautiful if I hadn't mentioned it already.

"Fuck. You're bleeding," I heard her curse. "I didn't know I hit you that hard."

It wasn't until she actually said the words that I felt the blood in my hands. Well damn. If I hadn't been staring at her like a freak, I would have probably noticed that to. I moved my hands from my hands. There was a fair amount of blood coating my fingers.

"Holy fuck. Pleas tell me I didn't break..."

She didn't finish her sentence. I saw her face go pale a little. She was just staring at me. I felt her retreat back towards her truck. I must have looked like shit. I noticed there was blood on my shirt too. I looked at her a little worriedly. I hope she wasn't going to faint. That's the last thing I need right now.

"No it's not broken," I called out to her. "Just give me a second."

I brought my hands back up towards my face and started to walk back to my car. I could feel her eyes on me as I opened my car door and pulled out a towel. It was then that I heard some movement to the side of my car. I glanced towards the sound, straining my ears to hear what had rustled in the sugar cane. I was still wiping at my nose when I glanced at the woman in front of me.

God. She is stunning.

She was staring at me also. I couldn't really read her face though. I saw the worry, but there was something else. She started walking towards my car, and I was immobilized by her eyes. I definitely could get lost in her eyes and not have a problem with ever being found again.

"Are you alright? You didn't freak out by the blood, did you?" I asked her. She didn't answer me right away. She was still staring. I heard the muffled noise again in the sugar cane. Please let it be a raccoon. I wasn't sure if she had heard the noise, because she snapped out of staring at my bloody face.

"I'm sorry. What did you say?"

"I asked if you were alright. You looked a little pale when I moved my hands and you saw the blood."

She looked at me strangely, and I saw the hint of anger in her eyes. But immediately was gone and I'm pretty sure I just imagined it.

"No, no. I'm fine. The blood doesn't bother me. I guess I wasn't even expecting it to be there. I didn't know I hit you that hard with my door. Are you sure you're OK?" she pleaded with me. She could be some psychopath, but if she kept looking at me like that, I wasn't going to even worry about it. I smiled a little to myself. I was definitely losing it.

"Yeah. I'm fine. Nothing a little ice and Tylenol won't cure."

She still had a worried expression on her face, but when I heard the rustling noise, I stopped paying attention. It was then I saw the two reflective eyes staring straight at me. Got damn foxes. She hadn't noticed it yet, which was a good thing. Usually foxes are shy creatures, but since this was just staring at us and waiting. I was pretty sure at this point it was rabid. I needed to do something about it immediately before it caused some serious danger. I didn't want anyone to get hurt, especially her.

Not taking my eyes off of it, I opened the door of my car and grabbed my rifle. I was glad I had thought to put it in here when I was leaving the track today. It probably was about to save our lives.

I heard the woman gasp at me. "Wha..."

"Don't move," I said raising the gun. "And whatever you do," I paused for a second, "don't scream." I probably only had one shot to get this right. If she made any movements, she would end up right in my line of sight. I knew I was probably scaring the crap out of her, but the rabid animal behind her was more important.

I was a little surprised when she obeyed me. It didn't look like she was breathing. I steadied my gun, took a breath, exhaled a little and fired. There was a short cry and the animal fell on the spot. I lowered my gun, defeated. I loved animals and it pained me to see when one was taken over by something it couldn't control.

I heard the sharp intake of a breath and looked over. I had completely forgotten that this woman was even standing here. The look on her face, however, made my heart stop. She looked as if all the joy and happiness had evaporated, as if she were only the shell of a human being. Someone just standing in place, completely hollowed out. But what came out of her mouth completely threw me off my wagon.

"Are you done yet, or is there anything else you want to blow the brains out?"

"I...um. No." I sounded like a complete ass. How was I supposed to respond to that? I saw her turn around and look down at the fox. She just stared at it. I wanted to know what she was thinking. Was it scaring her? Did I scare her? Guess it was time I stopped drooling all over myself and open my mouth and say something.

"OK. How about we take a minute and breath, shall we?"

She glanced back up at me and it looked like she was back to how she was before. The hollowness was gone. I had a sudden urge to walk up to her and just hold her. Well maybe I was the only one who needed to take a breather.

I leaned back into my car and put the gun on the floor. I needed to do something about the fox, but I had to make sure this woman was alright first. It was at this point I suddenly came the realization that I didn't know her name. I shot a rabid animal behind her back, and I don't even know her first name.

"My name's Edward," I blurted out. Smooth.

"I, oh, I mean my name's Bella. Well my whole name is Isabella, but most people just call me Bella for short." She was blushing. I didn't know why she was blushing, but it was the hottest thing I've seen so far. She was still looking worried, though. I wanted it to go away. I wanted to hold her gently and tell her everything was alright. I also think I was slightly losing my mind.

"Bella," I said gently, "we have to do something about the fox. I'm pretty sure it was infected with rabies." I was trying to put it as calmly as possible. If she wasn't from around here, which I'm pretty sure she wasn't, she probably wouldn't understand that farmers around the area needed their livestock protected against this infection. The last thing anyone wants around here is an outbreak. And plus, people in general usually freak out when they hear the word rabies.

"Oh." That was all she said.

"Well, um, I just have to make a phone call. My cousin is a vet, so she'll know how best to handle this. I'm sorry I freaked you out earlier. I wasn't really thinking about how I looked." Probably like some deranged mass murderer.

"It's OK. I did hit you in the face with a car door."

"Believe me, I've had worse. Getting hit in the chest by horse was definitely on my top 10 pain list." I wanted to take some of the worry from her, but her face didn't change at all. "Look. How about you get back in your truck since it's just about dark. I'll make that phone call to my cousin. Then I'll get around to asking you why you stopped on the side of the road."

"Wow. I guess we haven't gotten around to that, have we?" I wasn't sure if I was supposed to answer the question, though. She turned around and walked back to her truck before I could open my mouth and say anything.

As I watched her, I wasn't sure what to make of her. I was pretty sure she wasn't from around here. I hadn't noticed it before, but she didn't have the country drawl like most people around her did. She was a big mystery that I wanted to unravel. And as a plus, her ass looked really good in the jeans. When she got to her truck, she paused and looked up at me. All I could do was stare as she blushed again and gave me a halfhearted smile. I was pretty sure I was grinning like an idiot at this point. She opened her door and got in.

I immediately felt alone. I wanted her back, standing in front of me. Maybe I had a concussion from being slammed in the face, because that was just stupid. I've just met the girl.

I opened my door and sat down on my seat. I grabbed my phone and searched for Rosalie's number. I hope she wasn't busy. I couldn't leave the animal on the side of the road, but I also wasn't sure if it was even infected with rabies.

I quickly dialed her number. She answered on the second ring.

"Hello."

"Rose. It's Edward. I have a situation that I need you to help me with."

I heard her sigh, "You know what. I'm a vet. Not your ho police. I'm tired of pretending to be your baby mama so you can get out of dates. Why do you even pick those types..." Great. I asked her to do it one time and she was never going to forget it.

"Rose that's not even it and that was a one time thing."

"Whatever Edward."

"I'm serious. She was...nevermind. I have another type of problem. I shot a fox on the side of the road. I think it was infected with rabies but I'm not sure. I just need you to get over here quick. There's a woman that was stranded on the side of the road also. If it is infected, I need to get her..."

"I'm on my way," she said and hung up. Well, one problem solved. One more to go.

I got out of my car and started walking towards Bella's truck. I avoided all eye contact with the dead animal on the side of the road. I really hope it wasn't infected. I would feel bad about shooting it if it wasn't but around here, rabies was a scary thought. Too many people around here lived in rural areas and animals were just apart of their life. If there is an outbreak, it is only a matter of time before it reaches the general population. Please let that not happen.

I got to side of her truck noticing she hadn't closed the truck door. Maybe she wasn't as scared as I thought if she just left it wide open like that. I walked up and leaned over, "Well, let's get down to business." Then I looked up into her face.

She just sat there. Staring. I could tell she wasn't here anymore. She didn't even move when I spoke. Nothing. It was like she left and just forgot to bring her body with her. Her mind was completely gone. I was more scared right now than I've ever been.

"Bella." It came out as a whisper. I wasn't sure what to do. I reached out my hand, the tips of my fingers lightly brushing over her shoulder. "Bella, come back."

As soon as my fingers connected with her, it felt like a spark shot through, all the way up my arm to the rest of my body. Bella jerked her head towards me. She looked at me, and I felt like crying. She looked so lost and alone. And I did the first thing I could think of.

I reached in and grabbed her by her arms, pulling her out of the truck. She stood up, holding on to my jacket, and I wrapped my arms around her. She stiffened for a bit, only for a second, and then I felt her let go. Her body leaned in to me, her head resting on my chest, and she started to sob. I laid my cheek on her heard and just held her while she cried. And it all felt right. She felt right. Leaning against me, holding on to me. Like this is what it was always supposed to be like.

She was still sobbing and I was in the moment. I just kept holding on to her, and she held on to me. So I wasn't think much when the words, "I promise I won't leave you," came rushing from my mouth. Thanks to my word vomit, I felt her stiffen and push away from me. I let her go even though I really, really didn't want to.

She looked up at me, and where ever she had been before, she definitely wasn't there now. She looked at me with that same sadness though. She stepped back until she was against her truck. It was if she was trying to run away, but her truck was stopping her.

She sat down on her seat and took a breath in and out. I was hoping she was calming down a little. However, what she said next, I wasn't altogether prepared for.

"She said the same thing to me too Edward. That was right before she shot herself in the head. So how about you not make promises you can't keep. I've already been let down before, thank you."

Bella has some issues (obviously). But Edward's from the south. No one can resist the south.

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*I bid you adieu. *