Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns all things Twilight.

As always, many thanks to my amazing beta SabLuvsLogan

Chapter 6

Bella's first week at Forks High came and went and during Friday's biology hour, Bella sat next to Edward with a smile on her face, awaiting the weekend.

"You look happy. I like it when you smile," Edward whispered to her.

Bella smiled even wider. "I did it. I made it through the week and I didn't have to come get you. I'm very happy. And...I...I also like it when you smile," she said shyly.

Edward watched as a perfect pink blush coloured her face and he smiled back at her. That smile quickly fell as Mike Newton sauntered up, effectively ruining the moment.

Abiding by Bella's wishes, Edward had had a brief conversation with Jessica Stanley in which he mentioned the fact that he was still single and therefore not in a relationship with Bella. The news spread as quickly as he had imagined but he soon came to regret his decision. Now that the entire senior class knew that Bella was single, Edward watched as guy after guy approached her to introduce themselves. Mike Newton however was the worst because now that he knew she was single, he was not backing down.

"Hey Bella!" he exclaimed, coming way too close for comfort.

"Hi Mike," she responded with a small smile.

"So you're coming to my party tonight, right?"

Bella looked at Edward to make sure they were indeed going.

"Yeah, we'll be there, Mike," Edward responded for her.

"Awesome! See you then, Bella!"

Mike walked away to sit at his own desk and Edward exhaled. "Man, he's annoying."

Bella chuckled, pulling out her books and getting ready for the lesson.

Later that night, Edward rang Bella's doorbell wearing a pair of jeans and a plain blue button down shirt. Bella smiled at him, taking in how good he looked now compared to the clothes she had been used to seeing him in. She briefly noticed his newfound muscles that he'd acquired since joining the gym three weeks prior.

"Well hello Mr Muscles," she said, grabbing his biceps.

Edward grinned and flexed for her. "You like these, eh?" he said.

Bella couldn't resist laughing at the sight. "That gym is really paying off isn't it? You'll be batting off girls all night now."

"HA! No, I'll be batting off all the guys that are hell bent over you," he said, poking her nose.

Bella smiled and rolled her eyes.

Charlie was at work so they both climbed the stairs, heading into the upstairs bathroom. Edward grabbed a book and settled himself into the corner of the washroom, facing the door, as Bella quickly undressed and hopped in the shower. After showering, she wrapped a towel around herself and headed into her bedroom.

"So what should I wear tonight?" she asked.

"Um...clothes?" Edward answered.

"You're such a boy! What do the girls usually wear?"

"Um...clothes?"

"Edward! I don't want to be under dressed or over dressed!" she exclaimed.

"I don't know, Bella. Jessica Stanley will probably be wearing a shirt that shows a shit ton of cleavage and a really short skirt that shows her wonderfully disgusting stumpy legs. Alice and Rosalie will probably be wearing prom dresses and the other girls will be dressed normally."

"Hmm...Should I wear a skirt then?" she asked, looking through her closet.

Edward immediately thought back to all the guys that would be at the party. Eric...Tyler...Mike. He didn't want any of them to see her in a skirt.

"No. Don't wear a skirt. Just wear some jeans and a shirt," he said, matter-of-factly.

Bella nodded and when Edward left her bedroom to give her some privacy, she slipped on a pair of jeans with a plain black t-shirt.

"How's this?" she asked, stepping into the hallway and giving him a twirl.

Edward watched as she spun before him and smiled because she wasn't showing any inappropriate skin that would rile the boys at the party. Then he realized that the shirt she was wearing was a little tighter than what he had been use to and her curves were on full display. He decided it was alright since he wasn't planning on leaving her side at any point throughout the night.

"That's perfect," he said, smiling.

Bella grinned and went into the bathroom to finish getting ready. She dried her hair and tied it in a loose bun at the nape of her neck before applying a light layer of mascara.

When she was ready, they hopped into Edward's Volvo and headed toward Mike's for the party. When they arrived, Edward searched for parking, noticing the street was filled with recognizable cars. When he found a spot, he quickly parked and rounded the car to open the door for Bella. She thanked him and they both walked toward the right house on the street.

"Here we go," Edward said, taking in a big breath and placing his hand on Bella's lower back, leading her through the front door.

As soon as she stepped over the massive amounts of shoes, she knew this party would be a disaster. Jackets were thrown haphazardly over every piece of furniture. There was mud and water and beer and wrappers and chips all over the floor and the music was blaring so loud she couldn't even tell what song was playing.

Bella felt Edward's hand on the small of her back and realized that nothing else mattered. As she began to take the place in, wondering if she recognized anyone from school, Mike Newton rounded the corner.

"BELLA!" he yelled, obviously having had too much to drink.

Bella cowered back into Edward as she felt herself tense with the unwanted surprise.

"Hi Mike," she said with a small wave.

"I'm so glad you could make it. Do you want a tour?"

Edward slowly moved his hand from Bella's back to wrap around her waist as his grip tightened and he pulled her close. Mike noticed and decided to back down, waiting for a chance to get her when she was alone.

"Sorry Edward. You guys have fun. There's beer in the kitchen and there's food like everywhere so enjoy. Let me know if you need anything."

The last part was directed toward Bella but she missed the wink he gave her. Edward however did not and he promised himself he wouldn't leave her side, not even for a second. He didn't know why Mike suddenly had an unhealthy obsession for Bella but he didn't like it and he wasn't going to let Mike find out just how sweet and warm Bella truly was.

The thought of Mike Newton with his arm around Bella made Edward shiver. When Bella turned to look up at him, she smiled and he noticed a slight glow in her eyes that he'd never seen before. He realized then that the light layer of mascara she had put on made her eyes sparkle and he loved it. Her beautiful long eyelashes were fluttering and when she turned her head to look forward, he caught a quick whiff of her hair which smelled like strawberries. He didn't know why but he loved the scent more than any other smell and he told himself that he needed to hold her in this position more often.

"Your hair smells nice today," he said.

When she turned her head to smile up at him he smiled back and led her toward the kitchen.

The kitchen counters were filled with half eaten bags of chips and dip and the small island in the center was filled with bottles of differing sizes. When Bella looked up she noticed Emmett, Rosalie, Jasper, and Alice in the corner drinking and laughing. She pointed them out to Edward and they approached them.

The four friends noticed Edward's firm hold on Bella but elected not to say anything.

"Hey guys!" Alice chirped.

"We were wondering when you were going to show," yelled Emmett.

"Jesus, Emmett. How many times do we have to tell you! You may not be able to hear your own voice but we fucking can!" said Jasper, clasping his ears and looking annoyed.

Bella giggled and waved hello.

"What do you guys want to drink?" asked Rosalie.

"I'm gonna have a beer but where is it? I just see fucking bottles everywhere," Edward said, craning his neck, searching for beer.

"It's in the fridge," Emmet said, pointing in the wrong direction.

"How much has he had to drink?" Edward said, laughing.

"Way too fucking much," said Rosalie, sounding angry.

Bella laughed again and watched as Edward walked to the fridge to grab himself a beer.

"What about you, Bella? Do you want anything?" Rosalie asked.

"Umm...Do they have anything non-alcoholic?" Bella said, shyly.

"I'm pretty sure they have water or coke or something," Jasper said, looking around.

"Yeah, water's fine," Bella said, shrugging her shoulders.

Rosalie went to grab an unused plastic cup but when she opened the fridge she realized there was no water.

"They don't have any bottled water in here, is tap water okay?"

"No!" Bella and Edward both responded loudly.

Rosalie immediately froze and just stared at them both.

Bella caught herself and recovered quickly. "Sorry, Rosalie. I'll just have a coke."

Rosalie nodded and got Bella her drink while Edward returned to her side, fastening his arm back around her waist. Bella breathed a sigh of relief until Jessica came to talk to Edward.

"Hi Edward," she purred.

Jessica was wearing a low cut pink tank top with a short black skirt and her hair was left down in big curls. Bella and Edward shared a sly smile and they both laughed at Edward's earlier description since he had gotten it spot on. Edward thought she looked ridiculous but he said hello out of politeness.

"Hi Jessica. How are you?"

"I'm great! I'm so glad you came! You look really good," she said while sliding her hand down his chest.

"Thank you," he said, averting his gaze down to Bella.

"Do you want to dance?" she asked excitedly.

"Um...no not right now. Sorry."

"Okay...later then?" she asked, pushing her breasts into his arm.

Edward half nodded while she sauntered away, wiggling her hips. Rosalie laughed while Alice's face scrunched up in disgust.

"Good God she is gross," Alice said.

"And so persistent. I thought she was over you, Edward. She was all over Mike at the last party," Rosalie said.

"Yeah cause Edward wasn't there. Also, Mike isn't paying any attention to her because he's too busy looking for you, Bella," Emmett said with a wink.

Bella rolled her eyes and Edward tightened his grip on her waist.

As the night wore on, the four friends mingled and joked while Bella watched as girl after girl approached Edward asking him to dance with them. After continuously turning them down, she finally begged him to go join them.

"Edward, please go dance with them. One dance and you'll make them all happy," Bella said.

"Bella, I don't want to dance with them. It's torturous spending even a second with them. Plus they're all drunk and they're going to be all grabby. And, more importantly, I don't want to leave you alone."

"I'll be fine, Edward. I'll hang out here with these guys. Just give them one dance and they won't bother you anymore."

Edward was reluctant but when Bella looked up at him with her big brown eyes, muttering, "Please, Edward? For me?" he decided to go.

"One song. I'll be back in two minutes, okay?" Edward said, hugging her.

Bella chuckled. "I don't need you that badly, Edward."

Edward smiled and walked toward Jessica and Lauren who were dancing sloppily with each other.

As Edward joined his classmates on the dance floor, he constantly kept looking up, making sure Bella was okay. Bella kept watching him, smiling and laughing but her smile quickly fell when Jessica went to wrap her arms around his neck. Bella watched from a distance as Jessica sidled up to Edward, running her hands over his entire body and Bella suddenly hated the fact that she told Edward to go dance. Bella was eyeballing Jessica and her disgusting low cut top and her big curls. Not being able to watch any longer, she quickly turned her head away from the pair.

Edward was not enjoying Jessica's hands all over him but when he overheard Bella's name being tossed around in a conversation between Tyler Crowley and Eric Yorkie, his mind wandered, paying more attention to what they were saying about the girl he had sworn to protect. He walked away from Jessica, leaving her standing there with an annoyed look on her face. He stealthily walked closer to where the two boys were standing so he could hear what they were saying.

"Bella Swan man...she's so fucking hot. Have you seen her tonight? That tight black t-shirt. Mmm," Tyler said.

"I know. If only Edward would step away from her for like a second I could go talk to her," Eric said.

"Mike said he's going to show her on a 'tour'," Tyler said, laughing.

"Fucking Mike. He doesn't stand a chance. But fuck is she ever hot. Those eyes and that ass," Eric said.

Edward was fuming as he suddenly wanted to beat both Tyler and Eric to smithereens. What he failed to notice however, was Mike Newton slowly making his way over to Bella, convincing her to follow him on a tour of the house. As Bella agreed, she followed him around until he eventually led her upstairs toward the bedrooms.

"I really like the colour of the walls," she said, as she walked up the stairs.

"Yeah. Green is my mom's favourite color. I kind of hate it," he said.

"Green is my favourite color too," she said shyly, thinking of Edward's eyes.

The thought of Edward reminded her that she probably should have let him know she was with Mike but then she figured Jessica would be keeping him busy for a little longer.

"Well, this is my parents room, this is the bathroom," Mike said as he pointed to various doors. "And, this is my bedroom."

Mike opened the door, leading her in but as soon as she stepped foot into his bedroom, she'd known she'd made a mistake. Mike slowly closed the door then, dimming the lights.

"I'm going to go back downstairs, Mike," Bella said, trying to make her way past him.

Mike gently stopped her. "What's the rush, Bella? There's so much noise down there. Here's a quiet place we could talk."

"Edward's going to want to know where I am. I have to go back down." Bella once again made a move to leave the room but Mike pulled her back, forcing her to sit down on her bed.

"I thought you two weren't dating?" Mike asked.

"Well, we're not but he still likes to know where I am," Bella said.

"That sounds annoying. You can't do anything without making sure Edward says it's okay?"

"No, it's not like that," Bella said. She huffed then in annoyance, not wanting to explain to Mike Newton her situation with Edward.

"Alright, you're right. I'm sorry. But I really like you, Bella. You're really pretty and I want to get to know you better," Mike said, slowly leaning toward her.

Meanwhile downstairs, Edward walked around eagerly searching for Bella. Rose and Alice had no idea where she'd gone and as Edward moved around the first floor, checking all bathrooms and even searching outside, he couldn't find her. When he spotted Emmett and Jasper, they told him the last place they saw her was in the kitchen, talking to Mike.

Edward felt the worry escalate to a whole new level and as soon as his eyes made contact with the stair case leading upstairs, he ran. He bolted up the stairs, taking them two at a time, throwing open every door he passed by. When there was no sign of Bella, he began to panic. When Edward looked up, he spotted the door at the end of the hallway and when he approached it, he heard the commotion inside.

"Mike, let go of me, I'm going back downstairs," Bella cried from within.

The second Edward heard her voice, he whipped the door open. What he walked in on made his whole body freeze. Bella and Mike were both sitting on the bed in the room, Mike leaning over Bella's body, his hand gripping her thigh. The second Edward's eyes connected with Mike's hand, he sprung into action.

Charging at Mike, Edward grabbed him off Bella, forced him into the hallway, swiftly punching him square in the jaw. Not taking the time to scream at Mike, Edward ran back into the room noticing Bella breathing heavily in the same spot. He immediately slammed the door shut, locking it, and lifting her from the bed to move into an empty corner of the room. The second he had her situated, he pushed his body against hers, cornering her and whispering in her ear that everything was going to be okay.

Bella was suddenly surrounded with Edward's scent. She could feel him and hear him and suddenly nothing else mattered. She wrapped her arms tightly around his chest and buried her face in his neck, inhaling his perfect smell and letting herself relax.

:::

June 8th...June 8th... June 8th...

Neither Bella nor Edward had any idea how the current date ended up being Monday, June 8th. They both tried to think back to the last time they saw their families, not understanding how that much time could have passed by. Bella knew the exact date she had been kidnapped. It was May 5th. Neither of them understood how it had been over a month.

Time passed by slowly and unexcitedly. Bella had been accustomed to kidnappings in movies and TV shows where the kidnaper would sit by the victim's side day in and day out, watching every move they made. This was completely different. She didn't understand how he could just leave them sitting there all day long.

He never wanted anything from them. He merely wanted them in his house. Bella had her measly food, her water, she had bi-weekly showers while supervised by Edward, but never anything else. Part of her felt like she had it easy but another part felt like she had it worse. She didn't know what he wanted from her. She didn't know why he took her, why he tied her to his basement floor, why he kept her there barely fed and barely cleansed.

As they both sat in silence, side by side, staring at the newspaper in front of them, their minds were working on overdrive.

The headline read: Doctor Cullen Wired with Worry as Chief Swan Attempts the Un-Attemptable

The article went on to describe that Doctor Carlisle Cullen's son, Edward Cullen, had gone missing on the night of April 25th after staying at school late one night. Teachers had recalled saying goodbye to Edward but that was the last time he had been seen by anyone. The article also stated that Chief Swan was doing everything he could to find the boy but he currently has his own misfortune to worry over - the alleged kidnapping of his daughter, Isabella Swan, over in Phoenix, Arizona.

Bella and Edward had been staring at both the date and the article for what felt like hours. As they read the article over a dozen times, Bella furrowed her brows in confusion.

"You're from Forks?" Bella asked suddenly.

"You're from Arizona?" Edward countered back.

Bella had assumed this whole time that Edward was from Phoenix while Edward had assumed she was from Forks.

"You're Carlisle's son?" Bella asked, dumbfounded.

"You're the Chiefs daughter?" Edward retaliated.

"This is unbelievable," Bella cried. "So...then...where are we? Phoenix or Forks?"

"We're definitely in Forks. This is the Forks daily paper...so...we have to be..."

"How did I get here?" Bella said worriedly. "I was in Phoenix, on my way to school and he...took me...but how did he get me all the way back here? He couldn't have taken a plane with my body!"

A flicker of remembrance flashed in front of Edward's eyes as he remembered the days leading up to Bella's kidnapping.

"What's wrong?" Bella asked, noticing his sudden change in facial expression.

"He drove," Edward said, suddenly remembering. "He was gone for like a week and a half making preparations and stuff. I had been tied like you are now and he knew I would die if he left me alone, tied up for over a week, so he let me free. He told me where the food was, where the laundry was, and he kept me down here. Remember, I told you that he told me he was going to get you. He told me that I would have a friend but I had no idea he was going all the way to Arizona to get you."

"Oh my God," Bella whispered, feeling the tears falling down her cheeks. "How was I unconscious that whole time? I only remember being in the subway, and then waking up here. Wait a minute...you said you couldn't remember how long you'd been here for. It says here you went missing the night of April 25th, you don't remember how?"

"No," Edward said quietly. "I don't remember anything. I don't even remember being at school late. I've only been here a week and a half longer than you. It...it felt like so much longer. That week was...God...it was horrible. I don't remember the last time I cried but Bella...that week...I cried every day. Bella...I hate that I have to say this...but...I'm actually happy you're here with me. How sick is that?"

The tears were still streaming down Bella's face but she understood what he was telling her because she felt the same way. She knew the situation would be a million times worse if they weren't facing it together. She knew if she had been alone the past month she would have felt twice as scared. Edward brought a soothing presence to their situation.

"Edward, I know what you mean. If I were here alone...God...I...I don't even want to think about it."

Edward nodded slowly as they both sat in silence, staring at the paper in front of them.

"Bella, maybe this is a good thing. They put it in the paper which means people will be looking for us now. Everyone is aware and I mean, Forks is a small town, everyone knows my dad and Chief Swan...which, by the way, I can't believe is your dad. You must really look like your mom, cause you got none of the chief."

"Edward, they're looking for you! They think I'm in Phoenix! They'll never put two and two together!"

"Bella, calm down. Even so, when they find me, they find you!"

"But what if my dad is only searching in Phoenix? He's too preoccupied with my disappearance that he's not focussing enough on yours! What a disaster! I can't believe we're actually in Forks!"

"What does this mean though?" Edward wondered.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, why us? Why me from Forks and you from Arizona? Our kidnappings were clearly planned which means he purposely wanted the two of us," Edward said, his eyes moving across the room trying to find an answer to his many questions.

"Maybe something with our dads... since they're both from Forks?"

"Maybe...I can see him having some issues with your dad," Edward said.

When Bella frowned at him he continued.

"I mean, he's the chief of police you know? I'm sure there are a whole bunch of people that have, at one point or another, hated him. But my dad is a surgeon. Not many people have anything bad to say about Carlisle - especially no one from Forks. But actually, Chief Swan is pretty praised too. So that means – "

"He's not from Forks," Bella said, finishing Edward's sentence.

Edward sighed, looking up at Bella. The worry clouded over Bella's features as she brought her knees up to her chest, attempting to cradle herself. When Edward saw her fear, he slowly inched closer to her, wrapping his arm around her shoulder.

"If he's not from Forks then we can't be sure we're even in Forks right now," Bella whispered.

Thank you again to everyone who is reading. I really hope you liked this chapter.

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