A/N- Well, a lot of you seem to be a little annoyed with Edward. Hopefully this chapter will convince you otherwise; yes, a whole chappie in EPOV ;D Oh and the return of the chapter playlist! This will be a song I'm loving at the moment and I'll find a quote from the song that is fairly relevant to the chapter :D

Chapter Playlist- My Hero by Paramore (Foo Fighters Cover): "There goes my hero. Watch him as he goes. There goes my hero; he's ordinary."

Previously… (BPOV)

I watched him, still unable to speak, and swayed a little on my weak knees.

"Where do you live?" he asked. He held one of my elbows in his hand and took my free hand with his other so that I wouldn't fall.

I stuttered out the name of the hotel and he nodded solemnly, turning to lead the way. But then, he looked back down at me, and flashed the most dazzling grin I had seen in my whole life. One side of his mouth pulled up crookedly, revealing some perfectly white teeth and his green eyes sparkled. "I'm Edward Cullen, by the way."

Victim of a Teenage Nobody

Chapter 2- A Connection, A Cousin and A Challenge

Edward POV

She shook in my arms, trembling like a leaf caught in the breeze, as I towed her gently through the streets toward the hotel. My brain was still refusing to comprehend that this was real. From the moment that I had met her eyes, I knew who she was, but there was no way on Earth that I'd walk into her, that I would save her life. That just didn't happen to people like me. How many times had I dreamt of meeting Isabella Swan? How many times had I lay awake at night imagining what I would say to her? Never had this situation ever come into my head. Probably because Bella Swan wouldn't come around these parts. But here she was, clear as day. Why was she here? Didn't she know that this part of LA was dangerous? She should really have been more sensible than that. She was more sensible than…

Careful Edward, I stopped myself. It wasn't safe to think things like that. I didn't know her. Just because I owned all of her CDs and spent my entire life daydreaming about her didn't mean that I knew her. There was no way that you could get to know someone through listening to lyrics they sang, but probably didn't write. And there was no way that my stupid, boyish daydreams of her would do her justice. Even now, as fear prevented her from uttering a single syllable, I knew that she was a better person than I had ever imagined.

I looked down at her as I continued to walk to see her staring at my face, as though she were memorising it in the little light available. Blood rushed up to colour her cheeks and she looked away. I tucked her closer into my side.

Eventually, she got fed up with the silence. "Um… Edward?" Her voice was as beautiful as it was when she was singing.

"Mm?" I said, to let her know that I heard. In all honesty, I was just surprised that she had remembered my name.

"Thank you," she muttered, sounding way too calm.

Her relaxed tone worried me. "Are you okay? You're not going into shock?"

She frowned. "Should I be?"

I was amazed; she wasn't frightened? "Yes," I replied after a minute. Then I decided that she probably didn't know the extent of the danger she had been in. Well, I wasn't about to tell her.

"I don't think I am…" she mused. "Are you okay?"

That threw me completely. "What?" I asked. "Why wouldn't I be okay?"

She wiggled the hand that was inside mine and I released it automatically, instantly regretting taking it in the first place. If she hadn't been in shock, I shouldn't have held her like that. She'd think I was after something. I knew that I should remove the hand that had drifted from her elbow to her waist as well, but I couldn't pull it away; I wanted to make the most of these unreal seconds.

But she didn't take her hand away completely. She just took my hand and stroked my knuckles gently. "You're bleeding," she whispered.

I shrugged. "It's no big deal."

She dabbed at my injured hand again, this time taking it carefully between her own tiny hands and turning it over and over, as though she were analysing it. If it were possible for hands to blush, mine would have been bright red. As it were, it was not possible for hands to blush so they remained the same.

We were nearly at the hotel now, and the curiosity I had felt earlier about why she was here was rekindled. I decided to ask her before I chickened out. "Why were you so far away from the hotel anyway?"

She blushed, but didn't answer.

"Sorry," I apologised instantly. I cursed internally at myself. Of course the question was too personal. What was wrong with small talk? Even some crap about the weather would have been better than that!

"Don't apologise," she said hastily. "I don't mind. I…" The blush darkened her cheeks again and the second's pause made me more curious; almost painfully so. "I got lost," she finally admitted.

I didn't laugh as she expected me to. Instead I responded with another too-nosy question. "Where were you headed?"

She laughed though and the sound was beautiful, like pealing bells. "Back to the hotel. Believe it or not, I actually walked right past it."

I laughed with her, still unable to believe that this was actually real.

"I had just been to coffee with a friend and then I was just thinking and I just… forgot to stop walking I guess," she said.

I smiled, but then the lights of the hotel appeared as we rounded the corner and my earlier worries came back. "Are you sure you don't feel nauseous?"

She rolled her eyes. "Not one bit." It sounded like the truth…

"No pain or panic? You're not hungry?"

"Honestly, Edward" – a thrill went through me when she spoke my name as though we had been friends forever – "I'm fine."

My brow furrowed. "But… any normal person would go into shock after an ordeal like that."

She grinned beatifically at me. "Well, I'm not any normal person."

I laughed and shook my head in disbelief, taking my hand back from hers to run it through my hair and regretting it instantly. I felt the loss of her warm hands, sad now that our skin was no longer touching… Inwardly I chastised myself for being that obsessed that quickly. I was just walking the girl home, for crying out loud! Then I'd never see her ever again, so I should be grateful just to get this with Bella Swan. Not many people could say that they'd saved her life. "You can say that again."

She reached for the hand that I still held at her waist, steering her, then and gently let it go before smiling at me. "My cousin's a bit… overprotective," she explained.

That confused me. She lived with her cousin? Why? Was she single then? Dammit, Edward, don't think things like that!

"Okay," I said feebly.

Neither of us spoke as the lift went up to floor six, where I presumed her room was. I didn't ask if she wanted me to come with her, and she didn't comment. I was glad about that; I wanted to see her back to her house and make sure she ate or drank something. I was a bit uncertain about leaving her when she could break down at any moment. It was bizarre how protective I was over her already. Probably because I had already had to save her. That was laughable; she had saved me in so many ways. The moment our eyes had met, I felt a connection between us, a spark. And it still hadn't gone.

The lift pinged as the door open and we stepped out, Bella careful to leave a few feet between our bodies. Because of her overprotective cousin? Or because I was freaking her out by following her home? I hoped that it was the first; she did seem very calm considering that she was a famous singer and I was a fan following her home. For all she knew, I could be a stalker. Or a member of the paparazzi. No, I had saved her life so surely I got some credit for that? A good reputation?

Suddenly, as I thought that, I remembered James' words from earlier. "You'll be getting your new assignment tomorrow, Edward. Your first assignment will be important. You better not screw it up." And I had promised him that I wouldn't. But I had to admit that I had my doubts; the things that James did were very rarely good…

I was distracted by Bella suddenly halting beside me and knocking on a door. If she lived here, why did she have to knock?

The door was opened almost instantly and a tall, well-muscled, dark-haired man opened the door and immediately pulled Bella into a bear hug. "Where have you been?" he demanded angrily.

"I'm fine, I was out and…" Bella started to explain, but then the man caught sight of me.

His eyes narrowed. "Who are you?" Bear-dude bent and hissed in Bella's ear. "You know our dating rule, Bella!"

"Relax, Em," she sighed. She gestured to me hesitantly. "Um… this is Edward. He… well, he saved my life." Hmm. Maybe she did know the extent of the danger she had been in. Why wasn't she panicking?

If this 'Em' guy (though I was starting to refer to him as bear-man in my head) looked worried before, he was now having a full-blown panic attack. "What?!"

"Calm down," Bella said far-too-calmly. "Go inside and we'll explain."

I stayed silent as the brown-eyed beauty managed to persuade the man to let me inside. Eventually, I followed the two of them through the hotel room that was more like an apartment. Actually, just the toilet was probably bigger than my apartment. But that was something I should have expected; she was a world-famous singer.

The living area was bigger than my whole apartment, three large cream sofas taking up most of the space in front of a huge plasma screen TV. And this was only a four star hotel?

Suddenly Bella tripped and, automatically, I reached out and caught her, holding her steady, before she could hit the ground, or even get close. Fast reflexes. But then bear-man happened to look over his shoulder. His eyes zeroed in on my hand on her waist – far too close to her ass – and my other hand gripping her wrist, and he was abruptly seething again.

"Explain," bear-man growled after Bella had managed to persuade him that ripping my balls off and force-feeding them to me would not be a good idea. Bella and I had somehow ended up sat on one of the cream sofas, miraculously just a few feet apart, and bear-man paced furiously in front of us. I had gathered that his real name was Emmett but I thought that bear-man suited him better. His huge frame and dark curly hair didn't scream 'Emmett' at me. No, definitely bear-man.

Bella shifted nervously and cleared her throat. "Well, um… I went for a coffee and Jake was there and we got talking and…"

That was the complete wrong thing to say. "Jake?" Bear-man stopped pacing and looked at her. "Jacob Black?" He shook his head. "Jesus, Bella, you said you weren't going to see him anymore! What, do you want the media to splash this story everywhere? Do you want your target audience to get jealous and stop buying your music?"

Bella frowned. "No, of course I don't. I didn't even know he was going to be there. I walked into him – and spilt coffee on him – and we just had coffee together. We're just friends, Em, you know that."

"Yes, but they don't, do they?" I gathered that by 'they', he meant the media.

"Well, who cares what they think?" Bella grumbled, but her tone was a little defeated. "I shouldn't have to stop seeing my friend because of them."

"I never said you had to stop seeing him…" bear-man started, towering over her.

Bella's face flamed angrily. "Yes you did!" she exclaimed, jumping to her feet. Of course, bear-man still towered over her, but her fists were balled and I could see that she wasn't all the shy, pretty little girl I had presumed that she was. Underneath it all, she was feisty. Feisty and strong. "You said exactly that! Emmett, I'm not a child! I can see who I want to see! You're not my Dad and you can't…"

"Woah, woah, woah!" a tinkling voice interrupted Bella's rant. All three of us looked up to see a stunning blonde come through from an adjoining room. She was obviously ready to go to bed as she was only wearing a thin satin dressing gown – wide open - over a figure-hugging bright pink camisole and matching boy-shorts. She really was some good eye-candy, but, with Bella here, her stunning beauty paled in comparison.

"What is going on here?" the blonde asked. And then she caught sight of me. "Who are you?" she demanded, tugging her dressing gown shut.

Her question seemed to remind both bear-man and Bella that I was here. Bella flushed a bright red, which I was coming to realise that was a common reaction in her. Bear-man, meanwhile, narrowed his eyes at me. "Yes, who are you?"

I stood too, noting that everyone else was and it was probably rude to sit on someone else's sofa while everyone else was stood. "My name is Edward Cullen," I said, feeling extremely awkward. "Bella got… lost and I… found her." Well, that really couldn't have sounded stupider. I looked desperately at the beautiful girl in question to back me up.

"What he's trying to say is that I went the wrong way on my way home and these… men…" She hesitated and I could hear the fear in her tone. So she did definitely know how much danger she had been in. Why wasn't she in shock?

The silent room was tense now.

Bella looked at me, her gorgeous brown eyes already full of trust for me, even though she had only just met me. I felt my stomach flip and I knew there and then that I was falling. Just looking in her eyes had me smitten, crushing on her high-school-girl-style.

"These men came up to me and…"

"They were all over her." I heard myself say, though I hadn't given myself conscious permission to speak. Even I could hear the disgust and slightly protective edge to my tone. "They were disgusting perverts and they were all over her. I couldn't just walk past." I gritted my teeth, but didn't look away from her beautiful face.

"Bella?" the blonde gasped, looking to her for confirmation.

Bella merely nodded and the other girl came and sat beside her, taking her in her arms. I felt strangely protective, like I should be doing that. I shook that thought out of my head; I didn't even know the girl, she wouldn't want a stranger's arms round her tiny little body.

Bear-man wasn't satisfied. "So what did you do? Wave your magic wand and they disappeared? Or did you want some of her as well?" He glared at me. "I know your type. You just want the fame or the sex, it's never about the girl. Well, I've got news for you." He came and bent over me. "You're not getting either."

I didn't say anything, just stared right back at him.

"Emmett," Bella groaned, seemingly embarrassed, "it's not like that. Edward didn't even know who I was." I didn't fail to notice the way her voice twisted bitterly when she acknowledged that she was special. "He would have done it for anyone, wouldn't you Edward?"

"Yeah," I said, truthfully. No girl deserved that to happen to them.

"So what did he do? Pull a face at them and they ran away?" Emmett's voice was mocking.

"He punched them," Bella said bluntly.

Emmett looked at me then, looking me up and down as though appraising me. I watched him with a raised eyebrow, perhaps cockily. As he took in my facial expression, his eyes narrowed speculatively. "You got some good muscles then… what was it? Culling?"

"Cullen," I corrected. "And yeah, I can protect myself, if that's what you mean?"

"Hmm." His tone turned thoughtful. "Stand up, Cullen."

I stood and stepped forward.

Bear-man circled me, looking me up and down. Standing, I was almost as tall as him, but not as big as him. "Fair dos, Cullen," he said as he got back to my front again. "Got a job?"

I shrugged. I had a sort-of job that I was neither inclined nor allowed to tell him about so he could make what he wanted of my shrug.

"And you're good at protecting people?" Another deluded question and another shrug.

Bella seemed to understand what he was getting at more than me. "No, Emmett," she moaned, catching on. "Don't do that. How many times do I have to tell you?"

"How would you feel about a job as a bodyguard? No qualifications necessary, I just need you to prove that you're worthy," he offered.

I raised my eyebrow at him. "How?" I worked hard to put the right amount of antagonism in my tone, but inside I was worrying already. I had a job. What would James say if I took another? Would it interfere with the first ever assignment I was getting tomorrow?

"Emmett, please," Bella whined, getting to her feet and coming between us. She looked me in the eye and said, "Edward, don't listen to him. He's being stupid. Thanks for tonight and everything, but I really don't need a bodyguard."

I ignored her. "How would I prove that I was worthy?"

Emmett smirked. "Hit me."

I grinned; this was something I wouldn't say no to even if I had no intention of taking his job. I wasn't sure whether I intended to or not yet. On the one hand, there was James and that shit, but on the other, I wasn't stupid and I realised that by being Bella's bodyguard, I'd get to spend time with her and that was shockingly appealing.

"Edward…" Bella's voice wasn't calm anymore. I brushed her aside, thinking that she was worried for bear-man – I wouldn't hurt him… well, not that much – so I was surprised when she snapped, "Do you want a black eye then? I'm just trying to protect you, you moron. You do me a favour, I do you one in return, you know?"

I looked at her, shocked, for a moment and then I regained my composure and said, "Thanks for your concern, but I think I'll be okay." And, with that, I pulled off my jacket and shoved it at her. She hugged it to her chest, worry for me wild in her eyes. And that just made me more determined to prove her wrong.

I flexed my biceps and shot a crooked grin at bear-man.

"Bring it," he said cockily.

So I did. I stepped in front of Bella protectively and remembered the way he had towered over her earlier. I imagined that he wanted to hurt her and my jaw clenched. My fist shot out and connected with bear-man's jaw, pushing him backwards. He stumbled, but righted himself, anger and humiliation written over his face. He came back ready to fight now and threw a not-so-subtle right-hook at me. I blocked it neatly, catching his wrist in my hand. He fought against me, trying to pull his wrist away but I held strong and twisted his arm round, pulling him so that his back was to me, his arm twisted half up his back. He grunted and I smirked. "Am I worthy?" I asked sarcastically, releasing him.

He turned and looked at me disdainfully, despite his recent defeat. "You'll do," he said. "Report back here tomorrow at eleven am and I'll speak with you then. I'll be watching you though, Culling. I will be watching you."

I didn't bother to correct him. "See you tomorrow then," I said, grabbing my jacket back out of Bella's arms. "I'll show myself out." And, with that, I turned and headed for the door I had come in from.

I heard furious hissing from behind me and then there were footsteps after me. I walked quicker.

"Edward?" her voice came after me and I hesitated before carrying on walking.

"Edward!" she repeated, slightly louder this time. "Edward, wait."

I turned back and faced her. "What?"

She went red. "Um… just… don't take the job if…" She sighed and then continued speaking, though, this time, with conviction. "I don't need protecting," she said stubbornly. "I mean, thanks for tonight and everything, but it's really unnecessary. It's not like there're people plotting to kill me or anything, and besides, I can protect myself…"

I just had to test her theory. I bent down and knocked her legs out from under her, catching her as she fell before raising an eyebrow at her, meeting her shocked eyes. "You can protect yourself, huh?"

She glared at me. "That's not fair. But, yes, I can protect myself perfectly well, thank you very much for your concern."

I chuckled lightly as I set her back up on her feet. "You better watch your back, Isabella." I lowered my voice. "You never know what – or who – is waiting round the corner." And then I walked off, back to my crummy little flat… and reality, where bear-men did not offer you a job protecting your crush and said crush didn't know you existed…

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See guys? Edward is actually nice and still sexy as hell, he's just… got a dodgy job? Well, I guess you'll just have to wait and see what happens and why the prologue is like it is later on…

And, as you may have gathered, no Edward and Emmett will not get on throughout this story. I know that's a bit unusual, but they're both competing for Bella's affections in the end. Not in the same way but, as Bella said before, Emmett is very protective over her and doesn't want her to get hurt. And Edward doesn't look very trustworthy in Em's eyes, so… instant dislike.

Sorry that I haven't updated in ages but, as those of you who read THWTLAL will know, my laptop is broken and has been taken away by Toshiba to be fixed :'( It's STILL not back but I'm hoping that it will be soon and, in the meantime, my Dad's laptop will suffice ;)

As of Monday, though, I will be on holiday (nowhere interesting- a couple of hours away here in the always-sunny – yeah right – UK). I'm not sure whether I'll have internet there but, if I do, I will try to update both this and THWTLAL on Tuesday because (drumroll) Tuesday is my 16th birthday and I want to update on my birthday. I have no idea why, I just do :D

Also, I've made Bella a singer in this fic, right? Well, because I'm really not good at song lyrics, I'm going to use songs that have already been sung with lyrics that seem to fit how the story's moving at the time. Who sings them, how old or new they are, whether I like them, whether you like them… all of that is completely irrelevant, I will choose songs purely for the lyrics. And I will post links to a version of each song I use on my profile so you can listen to it if you want to.

So… I'll estimate about a week till the next update, but it I have no wi-fi, it won't be until after I get back from holidays.

Hope you liked the chapter!

PLEASE REVIEW!!!

Thanks

Steph