Here we go with some Edward POV….

My small studio apartment is dark, and cold, and honestly it reeks of depression; well, depression and the dishes that I'm not really into touching. Another day. Blinds closed. No television. No company. Just me, my bookshelf, my guitar, and my pathetic life. I've been sitting on the couch for what feels like days, turning page after yellowed page of my various tomes.

I threw my current book to the dirty cushion next to me and leaned back. The phone in my back pocket began vibrating, and I reached around to dig it out of my faded jeans pocket. 'Esme Cullen,' it flashed. I hit ignore. Mom means well, but I've already listened to the last eight messages she's left me in the last couple weeks so it's pretty easy to predict what she wants to say:

"Edward… it's mom. Your father and I would love for you to stop over one of these nights for dinner. We miss you so much. Don't make us miss the presence of our only, precious child. Love you. Talk to you soon…. and please call. "

I'd call her back later; I'm busy right now. Actually, I hadn't been busy in months; I was just an asshole who couldn't even call their perfect parents back. A sigh erupted from my chest and I was used to the sound. It was the sound of getting disgusted by myself. I knew I wouldn't call her back. I knew I would get up from the couch, possibly shower, devour yesterday's leftover Thai take-out, and head down to Hopvine, the pub I always found myself at. I wouldn't talk to anyone… I never did. I couldn't remember the last time I talked to friends; I just hadn't felt like it, and by the time I finally reached out to them, they didn't feel like it.

Alone…Pathetic. What every 24 year-old dreams to be. Yep… it's the fucking dream life.

I kept my hands shoved down in my pockets, pulled my leather jacket's hood up, lowered my head and walked through the Seattle streets. I wanted to be at my final destination; I wanted to sit in my usual bar stool, drink my usual Heineken, and ignore the usual women. I never got why I got the attention in the first place, it's not like I gave off a very friendly vibe. My vibe was more along the lines of 'stop talking and fuck off,' but hey, maybe I was fooling people finally.

Finally, I took my hand from my pocket and pushed thru the glass doors of the pub. I shed my jacket in favor of my cooler plaid, said hey to Seth the bartender and took a seat. Thank god for Seth, he knew my usual. It was only seconds before I had my beer and a side drink of Scotch in front of me, without having to lift my head and mutter a word.

After downing the first few, I finally made my way to the back bathroom, but not without interference.

"Edwardddddd. What a surprise." A drunken, slurry, and barely dressed Lauren stepped into my path.

Lauren was forward, she always had been. She took her pointer finger and ran it down my chest, edging closer and closer to my pants line.

"What do you say that we get out of here and make the night a little more exciting, like old times." Lauren was looking at me with the dumbest drunk look on her face; clearly trying to be sexy, but looking more like a deranged troll. My particularly vile mood was perfect for my run-in with her, and I took advantage of just how much I could play with her mind.

I looked up from her finger that was still traveling downward, slightly parted my lips, lifted my hand and brushed her blonde hair behind her ear. I leaned my head down to whisper to her and I knew she eating up every second of it.

"Lauren, babe, there is nothing else … that I could find to be less exciting… then having to deal with you… just to have a lousy fuck." I said it slow, with purpose and with a cunning, evil edge to my voice.

Lauren and I were once something, but I didn't know to this day what the fuck that something was. Whatever it was, it wasn't anything now, at least not anything but an annoying encounter once in awhile.

I stepped out of the bathroom in just enough time to see Lauren rushing through the door with her two slut friends by her side. Thank god I had my bar back; I didn't like having to answer to anyone around here, least of all her.

But as I was returning to my seat, I knew that wasn't true. I couldn't stand the douche now across the bar even more than I couldn't stand Lauren. I didn't know his name, I didn't know his deal, but I knew his game. Every weekend he was here, different girl every time. At first I was kind of impressed; he got the girl every time. He always walked out with the girl looking ready for heat and I had no idea how he did it. Until I watched. Sometimes the girl would turn her back to talk to someone, sometimes she'd bend down to grab her phone from a purse, and sometimes, on nights like this, he'd get lucky and there'd be no need for his sly maneuvers when the girl went to the bathroom. He was sneaky, he always got that little white pill in her drink in a matter of seconds; it disgusted me.

Tonight, his victim's back was to me. She looked like his typical pick; thin frame, barely-there outfit, big hair. It wasn't until she stood up to walk towards the bathroom that I realized she was different. This girl … was beautiful. Her chestnut hair flowed down her shoulders resting just under her small, perfectly curved breasts. As she walked, she looked uneasy, like she had no idea what she was doing, like she was playing a part; awkward for sure, but mind-blowing perfect at the same time. I scanned down her long, lean, shapely legs in moments, and took my eyes up to her face. It was radiant; I couldn't remember seeing eyes like that before, but they were eyes that I instantly treasured.

I'd seen an attractive woman before, but not like this. Not in a way that I didn't have the words to describe. This was a beauty I hadn't experience before; it was natural, it was penetrating. Instantly, this was a woman I wanted to protect, to know, to let into my darkness, even though I knew I wouldn't stand a chance and that even if I did, I'd never take her down in my sinking ship.

By the time she returned to sit at her bar stool to drink her beer, I was done salivating over her, the douche was done slipping his pill, and I was furious. My anger took me up slowly from my stool, slowly towards the spot across the bar and slowly behind the cunning monster. Without a thought, I took his head and slammed it straight into the wooden bar in front of him.

His nose was clearly broken, his date was clearly shocked, and I had the attention of the entire bar. I loved when he asked me what my problem was; it gave me the opportunity to rip this fucker apart in front of everyone, and that's exactly what I did.

After the encounter, the beauty ran from the bar, but I couldn't let her go. My heart stung knowing that she was vulnerable, that she was in danger, and I couldn't stop myself from following her.

I spoke to her like I knew I probably would, but didn't want to, like a heartless asshole. How would she trust me to take care of her when I sounded like a serial killer? My harsh words seemed to knock her to the ground, and I continued speaking like stone when I asked for her phone. I would get her to safety, whether she liked it or not. She wouldn't even be awake much longer. I carefully helped, more like lifted, her small frame from the ground and set her down to sit on the curb while I snagged her phone from her small purse, or clutch, or whatever the fuck it was. Just as I turned to look back to her, her eyes began to close and her sagging head fell the final inch to rest on her knees. She was out, and I had no idea where to take her, whom to call.

First instinct told me to just hit send and see where it took me; one short ring and a peppy voice answered.

"Bella! How was it? Was he perfect? You're in love aren't you? Wait…why are you calling me so soon?" The voice was speaking a mile a minute, I could hardly decipher what she was saying, but clearly, she was a friend and she was waiting up for the call. Just what I was trying to find.

"Uh hi. Look, this will sound strange, but I was at the bar where your friend was with her date and uh, he slipped something into her drink, there was an altercation, and now she's passed out on the curb. I know it's crazy, but I can just throw her into a cab with me and take her to you?"

I was trying to sound less scary over the phone than I had been to the woman beside me, but it was probably pointless. How do you make a conversation like this one sound like anything other than a horror movie?

The voice went off a mile a minute again… asking questions, demanding answers. I told her as soothingly as I could what had happened, where we were exactly, and somehow, gained her trust. We were only three blocks from the apartment the two friends shared together, and seeing that she had no other choice, the friend gave me the address. Not wanting to get my hands over a woman who would probably already be terrified in the morning, I called a cab, waited a few minutes for it to arrive, and loaded the beauty into the car. We reached her apartment in seconds and I flung the measly few bucks up at the driver as I lifted the woman from the car.

Immediately, a small pixie like figure in a pink bathrobe was at my side.

"Oh my god. Oh my god. Bella! Is she going to be okay? When will she wake up?"

My first thought was that I was correct in the nickname I gave the woman; Bella did mean beautiful, so I was spot-on calling her a beauty. My next thought was to answer her alarmed friends questions.

"She's uh, fine I think. If she got slipped something, it's just like she's passed out from drinking. She'll wake up, with a headache I'm sure, but she'll wake up."

The pixie and I stood there staring at each other for a few moments, her looking at me curiously, me looking at her dumbfounded, holding Bella in my arms.

"Can you bring her upstairs to our apartment for me? I'm Alice by the way, just follow me."

I followed Alice as she turned to walk through the doors, and took the elevator up to floor three with her. We walked a few feet down a narrow hall, through her apartment door, and into what I assumed was Bella's bedroom. The entire trip up I was terrified of jostling her slight body in any way; I guarded her head around corners and was exhausting my strength trying to hold her out from my body. It felt wrong to hold her against me, I didn't know why.

I used the same care to place her on the bed and turned to Alice.

"You should, uh, put her on her side and prop her up with a pillow. Keep her safe from throwing up and all that."

Alice started to stare with her curious look again, and I shifted uncomfortably, placing my hands in my pockets.

"Thank you…so much. She's so lucky; we're so lucky, that you were there to take care of her. She's my best friend and you saved her. I mean, can I get you anything, do you want anything? I can get you some money for the cab and for a ride home and…"

I halted her gracious speech before she could finish, I didn't want to be praised for anything; someone like me didn't deserve it in any situation. "No, no that's okay. I'm just gonna head home, it was nothing, anyone would do it. Uh, maybe you could just do one thing? Just, uh, let me know in the morning if she wakes up all right? I mean if something happens, the bar should know and everything."

I used the bar as a flimsy excuse, because I knew that I had to know that she was okay. I mentally asked myself what the fuck was going on with my brain, but programmed my number into Alice's phone after she handed it to me anyways.

Alice walked to me to the door, took back her phone and glanced down at it.

"Edward Cullen? Thank you again. Bella was really, very lucky. I'll be sure to call you tomorrow."

And with the final statement from Alice, I walked through the door, into the elevator and towards the door. I didn't know where this sudden kindness from me had come from, and I couldn't explain the draw I had to Bella. All I knew is that after everything that had happened tonight, I hit the night air with a smile on my face, for the first time since I could remember.

Thanks for reading… I'm having a lot of fun with it, which explains the quick update. Not sure when the next one will be…but definitely not three months from now.

Questions, comments, concerns? – Hit the review button and be the first :)