Two: Evade

Friday, February 25th
5:15 p.m.

Edward Cullen was very smart and remembered most everything. But when one is trying to approach a woman for the first time, she doesn't see them from across the room and notice their mind.

Luckily, Tanya Denali already knew him, sort of. They worked in the same department, anyway. And he'd been putting this off long enough. If he was honest with himself, he was putting it off because he didn't really want to date Tanya specifically, but his sister's boyfriend said he needed to "get out there." And Tanya was pretty and always nice to him when he came in to use the copier. She ended up doing it for him more often than not. He was a scientist, or he would be some day, but he couldn't work that machine to save his life.

"So," he half whispered to himself in the hallway, "I heard you like…Thai food…well, as it happens, so do I…," he tucked some lank hair behind his ear. His sister was begging him to let her cut it, but he was holding out because he thought her pouty face was kind of funny. He'd give in eventually, just not that day. "Hey, Tanya," he started again, "you eat – dinner, right?" He sighed. "Hi, Tanya -,"

"Hey, Edward."

He startled. "Oh - yeah, hi."

Tanya faced him outside the department office, key in hand. "I was just locking up for the day, do you…need something?"

"Huh? Oh, no I…no, I don't need anything. Just thinking…I like to think…out here."

She smiled in this little amused way. "Well, it's Friday, don't think too hard. See you next week, Edward."

He smiled back and might have said goodbye, but he wasn't sure.

Outside, the sun shone brightly despite the fact that it was February. That's the one thing he liked about living in California, all the sunshine. He'd moved there from Chicago to get his Ph.D. just that summer at the begging of his aforementioned sister. She said it was great and that he'd love it and never want to live anywhere else. She wasn't exactly correct.

The people were different there, everything was different. He still didn't really know anyone outside of the lab he worked in, and there were so many freeways…

He shook his head as he crossed the big university campus, no time to be down in the dumps. It wasn't that bad.

There weren't too many people hanging around that afternoon, not with a Friday night to look forward to. Edward walked slowly, going over calculations from his latest experimental trial. If things kept going the way they were, they'd be ready for human trials soon.

He saw her when he crossed into a more crowded quad area. There were a few groups talking here and there, in no particular hurry. A couple sat on the huge lawn; the girl was stretched out on her back, the guy rested his chin on her bent knee. A few people Edward recognized from a neighboring lab were having a loud conversation about which bar to start with though it wasn't even dark yet. Someone else was chattering on a cell phone.

And one determined looking girl strode across the grass in a way that made it impossible for Edward not to notice her.

In fact, she was all he was paying attention to, not to mention walking straight toward him. He debated it, perhaps she was only going to the building he was standing near, but when it became clear she wasn't, he froze. Women didn't approach him ever, for anything. Edward had no precedent for this so he stood dumbly watching, thinking to himself – just don't be an idiot, she probably needs directions or something. By the time his thoughts quieted, she was only a few feet away.

She glanced over her shoulder, but at what, Edward couldn't determine. She muttered an expletive under her breath and then grabbed the front of his t-shirt. "Please," she said.

"Wh-,"

"Just, please."

And then she swung them around faster than he could react, if he'd wanted to, and kissed him.

He braced his hands on the brick to keep from falling into her, his mind reeling, his mouth willing, but still. He'd seen this in a movie once, or a television show or something, but he couldn't remember the title. It had been a distraction, or a way to hide, or…

This girl, woman, was kissing him. She smelled good and her lips were soft and, if he dared remove his hands from the wall to touch her, he was pretty sure the rest of her was soft too.

She didn't open her mouth, just pressed her lips against his, but then he started kissing her back and she did. Edward never considered himself particularly gifted in any physical respect, but with this stranger it was all instinct. A soft, short kiss and then a deeper one, she tasted good.

He didn't know why, or what was going on, but she'd said please so desperately. After a few seconds, or minutes maybe, she loosened her hands from his shirt. He was sure it was stretched and would never be the same.

She pulled back, leaving his parted lips tasting only the afternoon air. When Edward opened his eyes, she was looking around him.

"Wow," she breathed.

He looked at her, one side of his mouth pulling upward. "Yeah."

"I can't freaking believe that worked."

"What?"

She kept talking, but he was pretty sure it was to herself. "I saw it in a movie once, what was it called?" She noticed him again, "thanks."

He stepped back, scratching a spot above his eyebrow, all his awkwardness returning. "Yeah, you're – welcome."

She started moving away and it was like those dreams you have where you can't move, or are stuck in sand or something, he couldn't go after her. He opened his mouth, but her back was already turned.

Edward looked at the wall she'd just been pressed against, then down at his feet, and then his feet were moving and he felt like a fool, but nothing like this had ever happened to him before. "Wait," he called out. He rushed to catch up; his strides were much longer than hers and it didn't take long.

She didn't slow down, pause, or even look at him.

"Hey, um…," nothing intelligent came to mind. "What just happened?"

"Nothing happened."

His toe caught on something in the grass and he corrected before he toppled over completely. "Then what was that?" He jerked his hand back toward the building behind them, but she wasn't looking at him to see it.

"It was nothing."

"You kissed me."

She stopped abruptly, her face stern. "Would you keep your voice down?"

"Sorry," more quietly, he said, "you kissed me."

She started walking again, only slightly slower than before. "I needed help and you were right there, that's all."

They were out of the quad now, moving toward the edge of campus. "What…what kind of help made you approach a complete stranger for that?"

"The kind that doesn't need to be discussed, now I need to go…alone," she added.

Edward kept pace with her, much to her annoyance. "Can I get your name, at least?"

"No."

"But -,"

She looked out toward a parking lot, searching for a second before she turned on him. "Look, thanks for the help and everything, but that needs to be it. Sorry if I messed with your head or something, but we can't hang out, okay?" She asked, taking a step back.

"Are you in some kind of trouble?"

She smiled without humor and tilted her head back to look at the sky for a long silent moment. He thought she was going to say something else when she looked at him again, but she just shook her head. "I'm fine."

He snorted. "Even I know that's always a lie."

"If I tell you my name, will you leave me alone?"

He grinned, still not understanding that there could possibly be any real danger. All he knew was that he felt something and that he didn't want to let her go just yet. "Probably not."

She said yes to the offer of food for three reasons: he was paying, she was starving, and she was leaving California that night so none of this would matter in the morning. She figured at best, she'd be a story he told his friends some night over beers. Plus, he was one of the good ones, she knew because she could pick the bad ones out from a mile away these days.

Her name was Bella, at least, that's the name she gave him. They sat at a back table at a deli in Brentwood while Edward talked about his research in traumatic brain injury. He talked about it for a long time; long enough to figure out that she was only listening to avoid having to talk about herself.

"So," he started, ending short a story about simulating injury with plastic explosives, "can I ask you a question?"

"You can ask."

It didn't mean she would answer, he figured as much. "Are you in trouble with the – the law or something?"

She did that humorless smile that she was really good at and said, "Or something."

He tucked some hair behind his ears unnecessarily, one of several nervous tics. "What does that mean?"

Bella looked at him for a long time, but made no readable expression. "My ex is…," she shrugged, not finishing.

"Did he – hurt you?" He felt protective of the strange girl that had just fallen into his life.

The way he said it made her want to smile, like it was the worst thing he could imagine. "Not exactly." She sighed when it was clear he was going to keep asking questions. "Just saw something I shouldn't have."

She looked over his shoulder, toward the glass front doors. She did that constantly, he noticed. She was nervous, sort of twitchy.

"And he's what? After you? You should go to the police. That's stalking, isn't it? California has really good stalking laws, all the celebrities and everything. They can protect you, you should go -,"

Bella waved her hand a little. "It'll be fine, and it's not under California's jurisdiction anyway. It was in -,"

He waited for her to continue, but she didn't. "Will you think about it?"

"I have, thought about it, I mean."

"And?"

She shook her head. "There are more powerful things out there than the police."

"But -,"

Bella stood, her statement reaffirming what she already knew. It was time to go. "Look, thanks for the – everything, but I have somewhere I need to be." Away, she thought. She'd been in L.A. for more than a week already, longer than anywhere else.

"But…you didn't finish your food," he looked at her plate which was, in fact, empty. "Oh."

"Thanks for dinner," she nodded, choosing not to say goodbye.

She was out the door before he could blink.

He thought about it, weighing whatever danger she might represent with the sort of newness and fascination he felt around her. She was exciting. She was a puzzle.

After tossing down some money, Edward left to find her.

On the sidewalk, he looked to his right, but there was only a string of storefronts and nowhere for her to hide. He suspected that's what she was doing. On his left, a few stores down, was a narrow alley opening. He went that way.

At the entrance was a dumpster for the sushi place next door. His eyes watered and he held his breath against the foul smell.

When his vision cleared, he turned to keep searching and found himself staring straight down the barrel of a gun.


Author's Note: Thanks to my pre-readers and everyone reading now :)

With the cliffhangers, you know, sometimes I can't help myself.