Sorry for the long wait... between work and remodeling our home, it took me longer than I expected to get this chapter out. I hope you like it!

Chapter 7: Sometimes We Wait For A Reason

Edward

Hell.

I was in hell. Everyone was talking about me. Everyone was out to get me. Everyone wanted to hurt me. The hated voice in my head kept telling me over and over again.

I had been thrown into hell to burn forever under their scrutiny. Their hated stares.

Then it happened. I thought it would finally be the one small thing to completely break me, that one last piece of the puzzle to unravel all of the single threads holding my mind together.

She touched me. She held my hand.

She brought me back from hell.

It felt … good.

It felt right. Natural. Warm. Exciting.

I couldn't stop looking at her hand in mine. Her fingers were long and slender, her nails short, and she had a freckle on her left hand. I traced her hand lightly with mine. It was the single most satisfying feeling I had ever experienced. I was calm, but excited. I felt like my heart should be beating right out of my chest and my breathing should be erratic. But I was still calm.

I looked at her hand. Bella's hand. My hand.

Our hands.

I smiled and looked up at her. I saw concern in her eyes. She was worried about me. She should never have to worry about me. It seemed wrong. It didn't fit the way I felt. The only person who should be concerned is me, for her safety. I know what James is capable of and I know how persistent Victoria can be.

I started to feel the anger boiling under my skin. Anger that they could hurt Bella. That anyone would want to hurt her. I felt my face grow hot, my heartbeat kicked up a few notches and my breathing came quicker. I clenched my teeth and growled.

"Where are they?"

"Don't worry about them, Edward. They won't do anything to you. You're safe, away from the cafeteria," said Bella quietly.

"You will never be safe as long as you are with me. They will keep coming after you, because we both have something that they want. Us. James wants you and Victoria wants me. They want to hurt us. I won't let them hurt you Bella. I won't. As long as I can do something about it, I won't let them hurt you." I looked into her brown eyes that showed concern, mixed with caution. She wasn't sure if I was in my right mind yet. I didn't blame her. I looked to the others hoping to find support in my vow to protect her.

"Victoria is vicious and vindictive. James has assaulted girls before. It's not a new game for them and they don't seem to get bored with it," said Jasper. "Edward is right. They want both of you. You've become their prey in their hunt for fun. The only way to end it is to become the hunter. We all know only to well that there's no evidence of any kind right now. We need to stop him before it gets to be too much. He would have posted bail by now if you had pressed charges against him yesterday. And that would just have fueled the fire more." Jasper looked at Emmett who was rolling his eyes at Rosalie.

"Jasper, our future Profiler," he laughed. "But he's right. We need to figure out how to protect both of you, and I think the best way to do that is to go on the offensive."

"I don't want Bella to get hurt. I think you should take a few days off of school. Maybe you can visit your mom for a long weekend," I said quietly.

"No. I'm staying here and dealing with the problem. I'm part of this. There is no reason why I have to be the only one to run. Besides, who will hold your hand?" she said with a kind smile. I stroked the back of her hand with my thumb. It felt good.

"Fine, but promise me you will be careful. I do not want to see you get hurt. Nothing matters anymore. I need you to be safe for my sanity, if not yours," I said with a crooked smile.

"Don't worry, I like my hide intact," she still smiling back at me.

"Ugh! I'm choking on all the syrupy sweetness here!" joked Emmett, grabbing his throat and pretending to choke. Alice punched his arm laughing. Rosalie rolled her eyes.

We all decided to go back to class and meet in front of the gym after school. If we're in a group, they may decide to leave us alone for now. And I didn't want to leave Bella alone if at all possible.

Bella and I walked to Anatomy class hand in hand. I knew everyone was staring at us. I knew that everyone was talking about us. About me. But when I was with her, it didn't matter. Nothing mattered but her now.

Bella

James and Victoria were obviously dangerous people. That didn't explain Edward's sudden interesting in keeping me safe.

I saw it in his eyes. He was worried. He really would do anything to keep me safe. I squeezed his hand as we walked to class and smiled up at him. In my room at night, sitting across from each other, I forget how tall he really is.

We walked hand in hand to our lab table. We sat down and pulled our hands away just long enough to get out our notepads to take notes. I knew I really didn't need to bother because Edward would know everything about today's subject and I wasn't going to pay much attention to it anyway. I was enjoying the feel of Edward's hand in mine. It was warm and firm. Strong. Edward didn't have the appearance of being strong, emotionally or physically. But holding his hand betrayed that appearance of weakness. He always covered up in layers of clothes, hiding his body from view. I wondered what he looked like under all those layers.

I quickly turned away, feeling my face grow hot. I was starting to think of Edward in a completely non-friendly way and I didn't know how he would react to that. I wanted to reach up and touch his face. I wanted to hold him close to me, to feel his body pressed against mine.

I reveled in the feel of his hand in mine during class. He rubbed the back of my hand with his thumb, stopping every once in a while on the freckle I had just under my thumb and index finger. I wanted to look at him, to see what he was thinking, to see if he was still really all right with holding my hand.

I peered up at him again hoping my face wasn't still red. He was staring at our hands, his breathing a little heavier than usual. I didn't know if he was panicking or excited. I opened my mouth to ask if he was OK, but stopped when he looked at me.

He looked hungry. He looked like he wanted more.

I gave him a small smile before turning away, wanting to give him more. It's been almost two months since that fateful first day, and this is the first time I thought of him as anything other than an annoying, self-centered ass or a friend. I didn't know if it was because of his protectiveness or because we were touching, really touching, for the first time.

I didn't care. I never felt like this with anyone before and I wanted it to last forever.

When the bell rang, we didn't stop touching even as we reluctantly pulled our hands apart. He put his foot under mine as we put our books away. As soon as we were packed, he grabbed hold of my hand again and helped me up. We walked out of class hand in hand, not looking at each other.

I briefly wondered if he felt the warmth between us as he walked me to the gym. I looked up at him before we let our hands drop. His green eyes burned with an intensity that I was close to matching. He was stunning. Before I could say or do anything, he abruptly turned around and left. I walked into the locker room still feeling the warmth of his hand in mine. I endured gym class a little easier today.

Victoria was not in class.

After class, I changed in the locker room as quick as possible. I knew Edward would meet me there and I couldn't wait to see him. My heart was racing as I raced out the door. I didn't know what to expect. Was he upset? Did he have an episode while I was gone? A million thoughts went through my mind while I rushed. I finally made it to the door and saw him leaning up against the doorframe. He immediately reached for my hand.

I smiled. He was fine.

Emmett cleared his throat and chuckled. I didn't notice him standing behind Edward and smiled shyly up at him. As soon as the others arrived we all walked to Edward and Rosalie's cars. Emmett and Alice got in the car with Edward and me while Rosalie and Jasper drove behind us. They wanted to make sure that no one was in the house. Apparently being the chief's daughter didn't mean anything to James.

I opened the front door and stood back as Emmett and Jasper ran through the house checking to make sure it was empty. Edward stayed by my side holding my hand as Alice practically glowed next to us.

"All clear," Emmett and Jasper said as they came out the front door. Emmett winked at me as he bounded down the four steps from my porch.

Alice grabbed me in a surprisingly strong hug before turning around and floating to Rose's car.

Edward and I were alone for the first time all afternoon. I looked up at him as they drove away and pulled him inside the house with me. I closed the door behind him and stood there. I didn't know what else to do, where to go. I've never been in the house alone with a boy that I felt anything other than friendship for.

I decided to go to the kitchen and start dinner for Charlie. I was to worried of doing something to make Edward uncomfortable. We walked hand in hand to the kitchen where I gently pushed him into a chair. I went to the refrigerator and started pulling out everything to make enchiladas. At least I can feed him without worrying too much.

We didn't talk. He sat there watching me with interest as I moved around the kitchen cooking. When I finished cooking, I put a plate in front of him and served him. I was too nervous to eat so I just watched him.

He started off poking at it like it might crawl off of his plate. I resisted the urge to laugh by opting to get him a glass of water while he took his first bite. I didn't make it spicy, not know if he could handle it or not. After his first bite, he started to really eat it. I smiled to myself.

He ate in silence and when he was done, I cleaned up and set it all up for Charlie to eat. He will see the missing portion and think that I ate already. We gathered up our bags and headed to my room. Charlie never bothered me once I was in my room unless it was something really important.

We haven't spoken to each other since we left lunch. I locked my bedroom door just in case Charlie got a crazy idea to come in. I sat on the edge of my bed and Edward stood by the door. He looked at the rocking chair and then looked at me. He took his normal seat on the chair to my disappointment.

"Bella," came his sweet, musical voice. I looked up at him trying to hide my disappointment from him. I know this is hard for him, but I wanted to be as close to him as I could. "Bella, I don't know what I'm supposed to do. I don't know what we are. I don't know what you want. I've never done this before," he said flipping his hand between us.

I looked away from him. I needed to think without seeing his green eyes searching mine. What did I want? What was I prepared to get into? How far did I want it to go?

After a minute I turned to look at him and saw pain in his eyes. He took my silence as rejection. I walked over to him, knelt down in front of him and took his hand in both of mine. I looked into his pain filled green eyes.

"I have spent most of my life fighting for something I could never have. My sister, my parents, my life; it's all prepared me for you. I know it will be difficult for of us, but I also know that if we want it, we can make it work. We can make us work. I'm perfectly fine going at any pace you want. I'm not going anywhere, Edward, unless you are by my side."

The smile he gave me lit up the grey skies of Forks and suddenly nothing else mattered. There was nothing in the world but him. I was abruptly swept off of my feet and landed on his lap where he had me in a tight hug. My own smile felt like it would tear my face in half.

We sat this way for most of the night. We listened to Charlie call me when he came home. I told him that dinner was done and that I had a lot of studying to do, all from Edward's lap.

We would look at each other; he touched me whenever he felt the urge to. He touched my hands, my arms, my neck, my cheek, my lips, my hair. I tried to not push it to far but I couldn't resist my urge to touch his face. I looked into his eyes as I raised my hand to his cheek. Before I touched him, I smiled, giving him time to say no. He sat there patiently so I placed my hand on his cheek ever so lightly. He gently pushed into my hand, rubbing his cheek against it, his eyes closed. It was surprisingly smooth and warm. I ran my thumb along his jaw line and chin. I lightly caressed his lips, his firm, warm lips. I licked my lips wanting more but again not wanting to push it.

He took my hand in his and slowly leaned in towards me. I held my breath, afraid to move, afraid I was dreaming. He hesitated just millimeters from my lips, his breathing erratic and shallow. His eyes were closed, mine wide open.

He moved in closer, our lips barely touching. It was like being kissed by a feather. I let out my breath and closed my eyes as I pressed a little closer to him.

He didn't move. Not at first. When I leaned in, he froze. And so did I. I thought about pulling back, but afraid that it might make him freak out more. Then, he grabbed my neck and pulled me closer. He kissed me with such fervent passion; his lips pressed hard against mine. Just as I thought I would faint from the lack of air, I felt his tongue lightly brush against my lips before he pulled back, putting his forehead against mine.

"Wow," Edward breathed. "That was totally worth waiting for."

I smiled at him and put my head in his shoulder, trying to slow my own breathing. I fell asleep in my bed that night, wrapped up in Edward's arms.

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