I promise this one will start to pick up soon.

Chapter Four

I startled myself awake. The last thing I remembered before unconsciousness took me over, was that I was in Edward's shiny, sliver, Volvo. As we cruised along the highway, on our way to his house. I must have fallen asleep, because now I was laying on a long off-white shaded couch. I heard low, whispering voices on my left and right. They weren't familiar, so I knew that it wasn't Jacob.

"Bella?" the voice was soft, and motherly. It must have been Edward's mother. What did he say her name was.

"Uh huh," I mumbled, my head had started to throb again, and I was concentrating on trying to will it away.

"Are you feeling well?" she asked, and I knew that she was really asking, was I going to hurl.

"Just a slight throb in my head," I mumbled. My eyes were still closed. I could feel the light on my closed lids though, and knew that, that amount of light would be killer—literally, to my already throbbing head.

"Would you like me to shut the shades for you dear?" I heard her ask.

"That would be nice," I tried to smile, at least I thought it was a smile.

I heard her whispering to someone else, and suddenly the whole room was dark. I felt my headache dull quite considerably. I forced my lids open, and tried to take in as much of the room as was possible from the position I was laying in.

"Would you like to sit up? Carlisle did say it was okay if you wanted to sit up," I heard her soft motherly tone made me feel all safe and gooey.

"Yeah, I can do it," I said, but grimaced as a shooting pain shot through my body. "Or not."

I felt two sets of arms around me quickly, helping in the sitting position.

"They've been waiting for you to wake, dear," Edward's mother said, and I finally was able to take in her apparence.

She wasn't really tall, but not necessarily short either. About my height of 5'4. She had long flowing—almost caramel colored hair. Her green eyes were brilliant, and reminded me of Edward's eyes. Her face was round, but fit her perfectly. She was thinner than I imagined. Her smile was kind, and I knew that even if they hadn't told her about my Jacob problem, she wouldn't' have turned me down. She was too kind, and sweet of a lady. Quite the motherly figure.

"Hi Bella! I'm Alice," I heard a soft—almost wind chime sounding voice come from my left. I looked in the direction of the sound, and got caught of guard. The face did not fit the voice. Alice, was quite petite, in fact, she was at least a good 4 or 5 inches shorter than I was. She had short, spiky black hair, that stuck out in every position. Her eyes were a warm brown, a tad darker than mine. Her smile was friendly, and I knew we'd be good friends.

I smiled politely at Alice, "Hello Alice."

"It's so nice to finally meet you. Edward is very fond of you---" Alice stopped mid-sentence, when her eyes met, what I thought was Edward's mother's. "This is Rosalie, but you can call her Rose."

Alice pointed the woman sitting to my right. I turned in the direction, and almost wish I hadn't. Rosalie had to be the most beautiful woman in the world. Her beauty hurt what little pride I had left. Her hair was blond, the lightest it could be before it was considered white. It was long, and fell about waist high. Her eyes were a stunning hazel color. While her skin was quite pale, it went with her look so well.

"Hello Bella," Rosalie smiled at me. I felt intimidated by her beauty.

"Hi Rosalie," I forced the words out, and unfortunately for me, she frowned. Could she see that I was uncomfortable?

"Please, call me Rose," she explained, as the smile reappeared.

"Sorry," I blushed, although I wasn't positive you could tell under all the bruising.

"You don't have to talk to us about anything that makes you uncomfortable. I would like to explain to you how this is going to work though—if you don't mind," Edward's mother said me.

I smiled poiletly, I would have shook my head, but I was certain that would have been a bad move.

"Edward is usually gone until at least six every night. Sometimes later though, depending on what he's working on at the moment. Carlisle doesn't usually get home till at least ten, even though his shifts end at six. Emmett works third shift, so he usually sleeps during the morning hours. Me, Alice, and Rose will be here round the clock. If one of us has to leave, we will not leave you without at least two of us here. Please note that these are just safety precautions. Carlisle, Edward, and Chief Swan, all set these up--"

"Oh, please. Don't go through all that trouble for me," I sighed before continuing. "I really hate to impose on all of you like this. Me and Jason can get a hotel room, really. I'm not worth all this trouble, I promise."

"Oh Bella, honey," Edward's mother's hands flew up like I had just committed a cardinal sin. She sat in between Rosalie and me, and part of me was thankful for that. "Don't ever say things like that. Of course your worth it. Besides, it's no trouble at all. How would we feel if you went off on your own, and something happened to you?"

When she put it that way—I shuddered at the thought. Jacob cornering me in an alleyway—or worse. What he would do to me. That was all it took. I started to sob. The pain that racked through my body was nearly unbearable, but I couldn't stop the sobs from wracking through my broken and bruised body.

"Esme—do something," I heard Rosalie say, and it clicked that Esme was Edward's mother's name.

"Oh, dear. Bella, sweetheart," she said, as she pulled me into her arms, trying to not hurt any part of me. She patted my back, as I cried on her shoulder. For the first time in quite sometime, I felt like I belonged. Like I had a home. It felt nice, and the sheer joy that came from that feeling made me cry even more.

"We won't let him near you Bella, I swear. He'll have to go through all of us first. Even if he did—Edward and Emmett would make sure he never touched you again," even though Alice's words were meant to soothe me, they only made me more frightened. Not for myself, I knew Edward wouldn't let harm come to me—or Jason. More so for Edward. Jacob wasn't a small man. Jacob was a towering 6'7, and his arms made it seem like he was a bodybuilder. Even though it had been a few years since he worked out last.

"That's what I'm afraid of," I whispered.

Special Shout-Out Thanks To:

HayleyHoo

Evenstarsinger

For the kind reviews.