SORRY IT HAS TAKEN SO LONG!!!! I had marching band up until recently and then…blegh. All downhill from there. Not very fun actually, but anyway, here it is Chapter 2. Enjoy!


I wondered what he meant when he said his last words. So far, Robin had been nothing of the ordinary. Everything about him was hard to decipher--what he would say next, whether he was vegetarian or not, what he meant by the riddles he spoke in. It confused me to some extent, but I knew with time, patience, and practice he would be as easy to read as the rest of the babbling teens. I was secretly hoping this "time" I mentioned would come rather quickly.

The next two classes I spent staring idly at the ceiling and counting the ceiling tiles. Yes, I had counted them before, but there wasn't anything else to do to keep my mind off what he said. What could he mean by "Affection is a coal that must be cooled; else, suffered, it will set the heart on fire"? Obviously not the literal text. The quote seemed oddly familiar, but I could not pin point where from. In due time, I would become bored with such trivialities and find out the truth. This was a mere obstacle I found myself addicted to like the nicotine in a cigarette--it started small but grew every time I began to think about it.

As I sauntered out of the classroom, a block of air rushed to greet me. I could no longer feel what temperature the air held, but it still provided a sense of freedom from a class I had been to numerous other times. Bella's sweet scent called out to me from where she would be waiting for me to take her to her next class. Her inviting call making my step unconsciously pick up to a faster pace. However, when I turned the corner to greet her, he was there. I can't explain why it appalled me so that they would be standing together (with Bella doing most of the conversing as usual), but I obeyed my instincts and quickly picked up my gait to a faster walk to meet up with her.

"Hello love." I stated in the most seductive way I could think of. Of course, she would have looked anyway, but now jealousy was eating away at me, consuming me more with every second I gave it. Her fawn colored eyes greeted me in a warm way as she turned to look at me in her delicately passionate way of hers and a broad smile pressed against her peach lips.

"Hello," she said in a cheery tone as she wrapped her fingers around mine, "Guess what? Rob and I have English together. So now I have two people to help me." Bella paused for a second swaying her head around to meet my face. "Edward, are you alright? You seem…off today." I shook my head and smiled back in the half-grin she enjoyed to reassure her.

"No, I'm fine. I'm glad you found someone else to help you. If I had to tell you one more time about Of Mice and Men I don't think I could handle it." I joked although it wasn't to lighten the situation. Robin raised a brow from under his pile of ebon hair and then placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Must I remind you of things constantly? Lovers' hours are long, but seemingly short." With a sigh, he wrapped my arm around Bella's shoulders and then pushed me forward with an expectant look. "So go already. You don't have much time left together after all." The last statement he made sent a shock of rage shiver down me. I knew I wasn't going to bite Bella and that she would eventually die, but that was seventy-so years away. What did he mean by his quotation? Was it mockery perhaps?

"I get it. You don't like Robin. Such a shame he really is nice." Bella stated squeezing my waist tighter as we walked out into the downpour that constantly occupied Forks. She was right about that. In fact, I hated him. There was no reasonable explanation and I felt much like a whiny little brat, but there was no way to describe my ill intentions toward him. It felt like the hatred that all vampires are programmed with at "birth" against the werewolves, but entirely different. The way he always spoke in riddles and kept his eyes hidden made him suspicious, but perhaps I was over exaggerating.

"Yeah I guess so." I said pulling the door open for her. After she (rather clumsily) climbed in, Alice joined us quietly. "Well where to? You must be hungry my dear." I asked Bella as I started the Volvo with a flick of the wrist. The car roared to life soon leveling off at a droning tone when I pulled out of the parking lot and onto the street.

Bella sat thoughtfully for a second before replying, "I think something along the lines of pizza would be great. Sadly, I can't eat a pizza by myself and you two don't eat so…"She let her sentence trail off knowing we understood what she meant. I looked back toward Alice who smiled merrily toward Bella.

"Don't worry, we'll just order you a personal pan." Within minutes, we were at Hideaway Pizza. Bella seemed famished, her skin was an even paler color than usual and her eyes seemed somewhat distracted. As I walked her to a booth, Alice went up to order her pizza and let us converse in privacy. I wished whole-heartedly that I could read her mind and figure out what was going on with Robin. They seemed to be getting along fine so it made me wonder what they talked about in class. For sure, I would be listening in to tomorrow's class.

"So, how was your day?" I started in idly folding my arms on the table covered with the polyurethane covered magazine clip outs and other paraphernalia. Bella glanced up from her comic she was reading intently and shrugged.

"The usual. Teachers are boring; class is difficult, Jessica ogling over Mike. It's all the same." A smile once again spread across her lips as she pretended not to notice that the waiter checked her out momentarily. I'm sure she thought it was a one-way road, that everyone always was looking at how supposedly beautiful I was all the time, but in all actuality people looked at her too. Then again, she was the epiphany of an angel. Who wouldn't look at her?

Alice returned with a pizza in hand and a cold Coke for Bella to drink. She then took her place beside me, casually resting her arms in the same manner. "Bon A petit!" She stated sliding the pepperoni pizza across the table to her. "I think we should probably go out tonight too. It's been awhile and Robin and Jasper are going so we could just make it one big trip. Don't you think that would be wise Edward?" The moment his name was brought up, I decided I would wait another day. I needed to go hunting, but this was a more personal and foolish matter in which I had to please myself. I shook my head politely and turned my eyes onto Alice.

"No, not tonight. Feel free to go, but I have business to attend to." Alice didn't question any further and conversation seemed to cease after that moment. The rest of the meal was spent in a cold silence. An impasse of sorts seemed to have been drawn and above all an understanding of my own hatred of this Boy Wonder. I would indeed go hunting tonight, just on my own. There was no need for my family to accompany me.

We left the pizzeria and dropped Bella back off at her house. After she stumbled out, I quickly drove home and came back to her house for a brief discussion. "Bella," I started in coming in from her window, "I'm going to go out tonight so make sure to lock your windows, doors, everything ok? I don't want you to get hurt." Bella looked at me sweetly getting up to clasp herself around my frigid chest.

"Don't worry. I'll be safe. I promise." With a smile, she stood on her tiptoes to reach my lips. "I'll be as safe as one can be."

"And this safety you speak of, it does exist with you around?"

"Of course." I couldn't help smiling. She was the apple of my eye, the light at the end of my tunnel. I loved her so much, but then again, so did danger. If I weren't watching out for her, she would go off and get in some sort of mess. I was sure of it. In fact, I was planning myself for whatever adversity, taking the precautions into my own hands.

As I slipped out the window, I watched as Bella fastened it behind me. Blowing me a kiss good night, I stalked off into the forest to begin my hunting. I had prepared her well for the night. Everything was in place, all windows, doors, trucks locked, security system on…everything. My sudden bout of paranoia seemed misplaced, but with a walking trouble magnet for a girlfriend one must take certain precautions. After all, there were things in the forest far worse than myself.

As I sprinted from Bella's into the countryside, I ran the checklist of precautions once again. I had prepared her so well, yet I neglected to prepare myself for the worst.


DUN DUN DUN!!!! Sorry, I couldn't help myself...hehe.