I'm going to say it again, and again and probably after that too. People who favourited, put this on alert and especially reviewed, I'd happily turn into Jake or Edward and hug (kiss?) you silly. Thank you! I think most of you think Edward's a bit of an ass right now, I hope this redeems him a little bit in this chapter. Reviews when you're done?

Chapter Four: Shut Up and Listen

Bella

I pried my eyes open, memories from the last couple of minutes flooding back. It took me a few seconds to get my bearings. I blinked, realizing that I was lying with my head in Edward's lap; his beautiful, concerned face was all I could see.

"Bella, thank God. I'm so, so sorry. Are you dizzy? Disoriented?" Edward's hands gently caressed my face, searching for new injuries.

Jake's head pushed its way into my line of sight. "Bella? You're okay. Are you okay?"

Before I could answer either of them, Seth appeared two centimeters from my nose, having shoved his face between mine and Edward's. I went cross-eyed just trying to look at him. "You right?" His hot breath washed over my face and I barely resisted screwing up my nose in distaste.

I needed space. "Okay, everyone move. Out of my way." I pushed Seth back and scrambled up from Edward's lap. I ignored the wave of dizziness, sure it would pass. "I'm completely fine. No need to worry. I've had worse." Jake winced at the last part.

I was sick of this. I needed to toughen the hell up and explain so they wouldn't start fighting again. I took a deep breath and took charge. "Edward, I need to talk to you. Jake, stay right where you are. Seth, go away." I yanked open the car door and signaled for Edward to get in.

I strode around to the other side, determined to get this over with as quickly as possible. Once I was settled in the seat, my mind went blank. Where the hell did I start? Edward sat silently, staring straight ahead, waiting for me to speak.

"Okay, it wasn't what it looked like." I cringed; I couldn't have picked a worse, more clichéd line to start with. Edward looked like he was about to jump out of the car without even hearing me out. I causally brushed my hand over the lock button and accidentally locked us both in before hurrying on. "On Saturday night, on the way to the restaurant, the car broke down."

He nodded, his face frustratingly blank.

"I went to call you, but my cell died. So I decided to walk."

I could tell he was forcing himself to hold back from lecturing me about such a stupid decision. I just wished he would give me a clue as to how he was feeling, something that would let me know if he believed me or not because the more I thought about it, the more ridiculous my story sounded.

"I got lost and I was trying to find a pay phone. Then…" I took a shaky breath. Edward tensed. "Then, a man, he was drunk or high, maybe both, started talking to me, but I didn't listen. So he—" I clenched my fists, not anticipating how hard it would be to relive that night. "He beat me up."

Edward growled. I didn't look at him, I couldn't see anything but the man's face. Where my memory failed, my imagination filled in details, resulting in a terror of a man. I could feel his punches all over again. Gritting my teeth, fighting off the memories, I continued. "Jacob didn't hurt me. He saved me, Edward. I told him not to take me to the hospital, I begged him. He listened. He took me to his house and let me stay the night. He slept in a chair." For some of the night anyway. "I was confused and I wasn't thinking straight. I should have called you as soon as I got the chance. The next morning, when I saw my reflection… I just, I didn't want you to see me like that. So I called Alice, but she called you then you were there and I just freaked out and I couldn't tell you and things got way out of hand and I'm just so sorry." I finished completely out of breath.

He still wouldn't look at me, I still couldn't tell what he was thinking.

"Edward? Please say something."

He unlocked the car, his jaw tight, threw open the door and slammed it shut behind him.

I sagged against the seat. If he didn't believe me then I would let him go. I swallowed, trying to clear the lump in my throat. Stupid fucking lump.

Edward stalked toward Jacob, who stood up straighter, narrowing his eyes and changing his stance slightly so he was in a better position to defend himself. Oh shit, they couldn't fight again. Warily, I got out of the car and approached them. No one said anything. They were locked in some intense stare-off. Cue the eye rolling. Slowly, Edward extended his arm, holding out his hand. Jacob relaxed slightly, and shook it firmly. They continued trying to stare each other down and attempting to crush each other's fingers. Neither winced. I figured it was time to break the testosterone stand-off. I cleared my throat.

Edward withdrew his hand first and Jake smirked, seeming to think he had just one some kind of war.

"Thank you for what you did. For helping her when I should have." No one could doubt the sincerity in Edward's voice. He turned to me. "Bella, I would say sorry a million times over, more if you wanted, if I thought that would make you forgive me for being such a fucking ass. But I know you, and I know it's going to take more than that. I trust you. I believe you. I believed you on Sunday, I believe you now. But when I saw you in his bed I freaked out. I couldn't think. The second I left his apartment I wanted to turn around but I had a feeling that would have made things worse. I've wanted to talk to you, but I figured you wouldn't want to talk to me. When I got the call about your car I thought that this would give me the opportunity, a reason, to talk to you." He shook his head. "I imagined this going better."

I wanted to rush to his side, to kiss him, make it better. I wanted to tell him I forgave him too, because I did. He hadn't done anything that I couldn't forgive. This was just a massive, huge, gigantic, fucked-up misunderstanding. I opened my mouth to tell him so. Except that wasn't what came out. "Edward, I…I can't come home just yet." What?

Edward closed his eyes and took a few slow breaths. When he opened them, his face was blank but he couldn't hide what was in his eyes. I could tell that he wanted to ask who I was staying with, when I was coming home, if I still loved him, if he was forgiven, but he didn't. And I was grateful, because I wasn't sure of the answers myself.

"Okay." He moved tantalizingly close to me. I couldn't tear my eyes from his. "Bella, I love you. And I'm sorry. I'm sorry a million times over. I will do anything to fix this. Take as much time as you need." His lips brushed my forehead and he walked away without looking back.

I lent against the car, wanting nothing more than to crawl into bed and sleep.

Jake approached me cautiously. "Are you okay?"

I forced a smile. "Yeah. No. Maybe. I don't know. I'm just tired."

He handed me the car keys wordlessly.

"Jake, I'm really sorry about what happened today. I didn't mean for you to get caught up in all this."

"I'm sure you didn't mean to get caught up in it either, Bella. It's no one's fault. And I think we've used up our 'sorry' quota for the year. So enough of that. You have nothing to be sorry for."

"Thanks, Jake."

He smiled. "No worries, Bells. You right to drive home? That was quite a bang to the head."

"I'm fine. Just tired." I handed him my cell. "Here, put your number in." I could have found it in Rose's or Alice's phones but I'd rather him know I had it. He gave me his to do the same. "I'll be calling you soon," I warned him. "I haven't forgotten that I need to thank you properly."

A slow smile spread over his face, showing his perfect, white teeth. "Drive safe, Bells."

xxx

Jake

Why had I let her drive away without suggesting multiple times that she stay with me? Oh, because I was going for the I'm-definitely-not-stalking-you angle. Even though I really, really, really wanted to stalk her. Holy shit. What had I just said? I was losing it.

"You love her, don't you?" Seth appeared from wherever he had been hiding in order to eavesdrop.

"Of course I don't, Seth. I haven't even known her a week." Did I? Was I in love with Bella? Oh shit.

"So? What about the whole love at first sight stuff?"

"Maybe I don't believe in that."

"Maybe you just have to meet the right person to make you believe. And you just let her drive away."

I sighed, resigned. "Seth, she's practically engaged. How can I compete with him? The rock that he bought her was the size of a fucking planet."

Seth was quiet a moment as he turned that over in his head. Evidently, he came to the conclusion that the rock was not, in fact, the size of a planet, and didn't ask me anything more about it. What he came out with was worse. "She's not engaged. He hasn't even asked her yet. He just told her that he was going to ask her. I think you should beat him. Get in first."

I froze. "Seth, what exactly are you trying to suggest?"

"Ask her to marry you," he said casually, not seeing the panic that that statement roused.

"Seth, I can't just ask her to marry me! You can't just ask someone to marry you on the basis of 'getting in first!'" Can you? Should I actually propose?

He shrugged. "Sure you can. Just go up to her and be like, wanna marry me?"

"Who's marrying who?" Quil shouted. Embry and Quil had finally turned up for work. I sighed with relief. Maybe they would have advice that wasn't just 'propose'.

"I told you there was something going on between them!" Quil smirked, elbowing Embry. "Ever since Seth moved into his building I've been saying something was up!"

Embry looked between Seth and I, eyes wide. "Jake, you're actually— you're marrying Seth?"

I literally ran as far as I could, within the confines of the garage, away from Seth. "No. No, no. Fuck no."

Relief was obvious on Embry's face. Quil however, looked slightly disappointed. I didn't want to think about what that meant.

Seth explained what had happened the last few days. Quil and Embry looked even more shocked than they did when they thought I was marrying Seth. What the fuck, since when did people think I was gay?

"Well at least that explains why he's been so fucking weird the last few days." Quil smirked. "Jake, man you need to get laid."

I glared daggers.

Embry interrupted before I could retaliate. "I don't get how this relates to the proposal stuff."

I gritted my teeth. "Seth suggested that I propose to Bella before Edward gets another chance."

The two of them just stared, dumbstruck, while Seth nodded enthusiastically.

After a long, shocked silence, they both burst out laughing.

"Jake, man, no way can—" Quil couldn't continue, overcome by laughter.

Embry picked up where he left off. "No way can you propose. Love or not, you don't know her!"

Quil nodded vehemently, leaning against the garage wall for support. "I can't believe you're even listening to Seth! That's ridiculous! You know he was dropped repeatedly on his head as a baby."

"Yeah," Embry agreed, "because we were the ones dropping him."

I smothered a smile. Seth frowned.

"Seth, man, get out of here. You're done for the day anyway." Quil smacked him on the back, shoving him towards the exit.

As Seth left, blinking stupidly, Quil and Embry were practically rolling around on the floor.

"Poor kid," Embry gasped.

I crossed my arms and waited impatiently for them to get a grip.

"Sorry, man." Quil managed to get out, trying to pull himself together.

I didn't bother waiting any longer. "What do you think I should do?"

"Did you actually consider proposing? Even for just a second?" Embry asked.

I nodded stiffly.

Quil and Embry shared a look, as if suddenly realizing this was more serious than they thought. They sobered up pretty fucking quick after that.

"Whatever you do, don't propose. That would just freak her out. And it would be stupid. You hardly even know each other."

I nodded, accepting Embry's advice.

"You have to do something big that's not a proposal. You haven't even told her you like her, have you? Which means whatever you do has to let her know that too. Other than that, I've got nothing." Quil shrugged apologetically.

I ran my fingers through my hair in frustration. "That's all you've got? Come on, Quil. You must have done something romantic for Claire!"

He looked slightly guilty. "I've never had to. It's always just worked with us, y'know?"

"Okay, well I'm out of here. I'll think of something." I tried to convince myself as much as them. "And if I don't, I there's only one more person I can ask."

Quil grinned evilly. "Say hi to Leah for me."

xxx

Bella

I hadn't seen or spoken to Edward since Wednesday. It was weird thinking that if the stupid car hadn't broken down exactly a week ago, I could be engaged. A week ago, I would have said yes. But if Edward asked me now, even though I wasn't the slightest bit angry, I wasn't sure what my answer would be. There was something that made me feel weird about saying yes.

I stared at the phone. I was home alone at Rose's after I had insisted that they all go out. I couldn't help but wonder if Edward had gone with them. I didn't feel comfortable going out in the dark just yet. The only problem was, I didn't feel comfortable staying home alone in the dark either. Why was I so pathetic? Nothing was going to get me in Rose's expensive apartment. It was about as secure as you could get.

That's it. I was calling him. I had a perfectly good excuse. I had to thank him. Even if it was simple. I dialed quickly, not giving myself a chance to back out.

"Hello?" I could hardly hear him over the drunken laughter and pounding music.

It was Saturday night. Of course he was out. I was so stupid. "Jake, hi, it's Bella."

"Bella, how are you? Is everything okay?"

"Everything's fine. I was just wondering if you wanted to come over. But it sounds like you're busy, so don't worry about it."

The music dulled and was replaced with traffic noises. "No, I'm not busy at all. What did you have in mind?"

I hesitated. I didn't want to take him away from his friends.

"Bella? Are you there?"

"Yeah, I'm here, sorry." What the hell, if he didn't want to talk to me he wouldn't have answered the phone and if that was a mistake he could have said he was busy. "Well if you're sure, I was thinking maybe I could thank you over a movie marathon?" I chewed on my lip.

"Sure," he answered immediately. "What's your address? I'll pick up dinner on the way."

"Isn't it a little late for dinner?" I grinned my head off because he couldn't see.

"It's never too late for take away Chinese."

I laughed and gave him Rose's address. He said he'd be knocking on my door in around half an hour. I hung up. My heart was going way faster than it should have after just one phone call. Jake was coming over. I looked down at myself. Shit.

I dashed into my room and threw on some make-up. I examined my skin critically in the mirror. The bruises were fading more each day, though it would still be another week or so before they disappeared completely. I was getting pretty good at covering them though. I sprayed my favorite perfume on my wrists and neck and put it down. I paused, picked it up again and quickly sprayed some between my cleavage. Blushing, I threw on jeans and a cute cardi. Maybe I was too dressed up? I shook my head and told myself I didn't care what Jacob thought of my clothes.

The apartment was a mess. We'd been having sleepovers all week. This meant scattered items of clothing everywhere, lollies, chips and chocolate across the floor and down the sides of the couch and random lip glosses and other make-up items in strange places… like the kitchen sink.

I located the vacuum cleaner and sucked everything up. Well mostly everything. The doorbell rung and I cursed again. I gathered a pile of Alice's dirty underwear from under the coffee table and shoved it in the first place I could think of. The dishwasher.

I opened the door to a grinning Jake and greeted him breathlessly. Butterflies danced in my stomach. I was nervous. I hadn't felt these kind of nerves since my first few dates with Edward. Uh oh. What did that mean?

Jake didn't give me much time to ponder it. "I didn't know what you wanted, so I pretty much got a bit of everything." He held up the two full bags of food.

I grinned and started to hand him bowls, plates and cups.

"Okay, Bells, I think that's enough."

"Fine, fine." I might have been just a tad too enthusiastic.

We set our feast out on the coffee table and argued about who had to pick the movie after failing at choosing one together.

"As the host," I told Jake sternly, "I'm responsible for the entertainment."

"As the guest, I'm more important and should get to pick."

"Fine," I relented. "You can pick the first one, I'll pick the second."

I lent back on the couch while Jake sorted through Rose's huge DVD collection, satisfied with my decision. I used the opportunity to scoff as much food as I could while he wasn't looking. I may or may not have also admired his ass.

He picked some gory horror movie. I felt like throwing up when the bad guy slit open some random guy's stomach and slowly pulled out his intestines. I kept it in though. No point wasting the greasy calories. To punish him, I chose what had to be the most romantic movie in existence. Actually, romantic wasn't the right word. Corny, sappy, ridiculous or awkward would have worked better. I barely kept a straight face as Jake squirmed uncomfortably through it. He lasted fifteen minutes before pausing the horrible kissing scene and suggesting loudly that it was time for dessert.

I left Jake on the couch and rifled through the unfamiliar kitchen cupboards until I found two large mugs which I filled with vanilla ice-cream, Milo and Rose's secret stash of M&Ms. When I returned, Jake groaned in appreciation. He even tipped an imaginary hat. I reached for the remote and stared at the screen.

"Jake, I don't think that's where I paused it." In fact I knew that wasn't where I paused it. It was more than an hour ahead of where we had been. Sneaky bugger.

"Dunno what you're talking about," Jake managed to say with a mouthful of food.

I raised my eyebrows and he looked back innocently, ice-cream smeared across his face. I laughed and wiped it off. His tongue darted out and licked my fingers.

"No point wasting it." He shrugged. Was it my imagination or was he going slightly red? He changed the subject. "How come you put your ice-cream in cups?"

"Because I'm smart. This way, your hands don't freeze off holding the bowl."

He grinned at me. "You're so weird."

I feigned offence. "You're so…" Hot. Amazing. Kissable. Sexy. Holy crap where had that come from? Stupid brain. Damage control, Bella. Quick, think of something.

I plopped down on the couch, pretending to think, accidentally on purpose hitting the skip forward button on the remote.

"Oh no," he grinned. "You've lost the place. I was really enjoying that movie, too. Guess there's nothing we can do about that. Onto the next one."

"Don't worry, we can watch it all over again if you want," I said sweetly, fluttering my eyelashes.

He hurried to change the movie.

I don't remember at what point I fell asleep. It seemed like the very next second I was being gently shaken awake by Rose. I lifted my head from where it had been resting on Jake's shoulder. He was snoring quietly. I couldn't help but think that this was the second time I had woken up with him. The end credits were playing softly in the background.

"Is he going to be staying?" Rose whispered. "Do you want me to get him a blanket?"

I smiled, glad that I had her as a best friend. Most others would have demanded to know why I was asleep on the couch with a guy who wasn't Edward. Rose took it in her stride. She tended to live by the 'do whatever you want' rule.

I shook my head. I didn't think any of us wanted to deal with the awkward morning after.

"Okay then, I'll leave you to it. Night, Bella."

I murmured goodnight in reply and watched her tip-toe to the bathroom.

I put the DVD away. I didn't really want to wake Jake up and kick him out. Thankfully, I didn't have to. I turned around and he was already sitting up, stretching.

"Good movie, that. I could tell just how into it you were when you fell asleep immediately," he yawned, picking up the dishes.

I scoffed. "You fell asleep too, remember."

"Yeah, but only when I got bored watching you sleep. You talk, you know."

I blushed. I didn't even bother asking what I had said. I had learnt with Edward that the less embarrassing scenario was the one where I didn't know what I had said. I followed Jake into the kitchen. Too late, I remembered what was in the dishwasher. He opened it and stared. I peeked over his shoulder and giggled.

"The good news is, it isn't mine," I whispered into his ear, turning my head so that I could see his face. I decided I really liked it when he blushed.

He laughed softly, placing the dishes on the bench. "I think I'll let you put these away."

"I think that's a good idea."

He turned to me. "I hope we can do this again,"

"Me too, Jake."

He moved forward and wrapped me up in a big, warm hug, holding me just a little bit longer, just a little bit tighter, than he should have. It wasn't long or tight enough. "Sweet dreams, Bella."

Review and let me know what you think! What did you like/didn't like? Is this heading where you thought it was? Cause it's turning out a bit different than I originally thought. Also, who do you think or want Bella to choose? And does everyone still hate Edward? So many questions. Okay, I'll stop. The fact that you're reading means so much. Thank you!