Greetings, everyone. This is… not one of my favorite chapters. Please excuse any errors; I wrote this on a school laptop and it's… pretty outdated. If I don't update for any extended length of time (over a week), check my profile. I'll more than likely have something up there.
Thank you for putting up with (a) my horrible errors, (b) my crunched schedule, and (c) my rambling!
irishphoenix615

Bella spent the rest of the weekend with Alice, dissecting every second of Homecoming. Jasper, of course, had been exceptionally debonair the entire time. According to Alice, he hadn't let her go the entire night, always kissing and touching her.

"And this morning," she jabbered on, hardly able to stay still, "he made me breakfast in bed! Can you believe it?! Bells, he's so sweet."

It took Bella every single ounce of self-control not to launch across the room and strangle her new best friend. She was absolutely thrilled for Alice, but she really wasn't in the mood to hear about a love-filled relationship when she felt so shitty about her own relationship with Edward.

Homecoming had been a dream for Bella. Edward had been with her all night, always hugging and kissing and complimenting. She had been sure that, by the end of the night, Alice's prophecy would've come true. She was wrong. They'd made it back to the house, watched some silly romantic comedy (it had been Alice's choice), and fallen asleep in front of the huge television in the Cullens' living room.

Morning had come and gone. Not even a peep out of Edward. Bella had sulked around until Alice had hurtled herself through the door to announce her good news. She was still sulking, of course, but now she at least had to pretend to be excited.

Until, of course, there was a loud boom from down the hall, in Edward's room.

"Oh no," Alice whispered, golden eyes locking on Bella and widening. "I told him to let it go!"

"What?" Bella asked, already hurrying down to Edward's room. Alice just sighed, hot on her heels, and shook her head. Bella flung open Edward's door and gasped at what she saw.

Jasper had Edward pinned against the wall, one hand placed against his chest, holding him in place, and the other closed around his throat. Bella felt a sharp jab in the gut; she was across the room and trying to pull her brother off of Edward in half a second.

"Jasper Swan!" she screamed, tearing at his shoulders. He just shrugged her off, fury written all over his face. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?! Get off of him! What did he do to you?!"

"Fuck off, Isabella," he said coldly, still staring into Edward's eyes with hatred. "Stay out of this. This is-"

"Absolutely ridiculous!" Bella yelled, slapping him in the cheek. He whirled, keeping the hand on Edward's throat. "He's turning blue, Jasper! Get your hands off him!"

"Jasper," Alice whispered quietly, making him jump slightly. "Jazz, what is this about?"

Jasper was breathing heavily, his grip slightly slackened on the other boy's throat. "I told him to stay away from her. He's my best fucking friend; how could he try to hook up with my sister?" His eyes once again returned to Edward's face, which was beginning to return to its normal coloring. "I know what guys like him want. He's not getting it from my sister."

"Jazz," Edward whispered, his voice strained. His face flamed as he locked eyes with Bella. She sincerely hoped that her eyes were reflecting everyone ounce of hatred she was feeling. Douchebag. Of course that's all he wants! Why didn't I see it before?! There was absolutely no way a perfect guy like him could every possibly want anything else from a silly little love-struck girl like me. Stupid, stupid, stupid! "You know me better than that. You know that I never bother with a girl, never bother taking her out and trying to show her a good time, if I just want sex." Edward cleared his throat and gently walked out of Jasper's grasp. He gently loped over to stand in front of Bella; she could see her brother clench and unclench his fists several times. "I tried to keep this to myself… I knew you'd be upset. But even Alice began to see that I was falling for her. I've always liked her, ever since I moved here, but, out of loyalty to you, I just kept quiet. But now I know."

"Edward," Jasper growled, clearly not liking his friend's close proximity to his sister.

"Let me finish, Jazz," he chastised, reaching out to take Bella's hand. "Jasper, I love your sister. I was able to play it off as just polite, older-brother-like love. Up until last night. Last night was… absolutely perfect. Bella," he whispered, golden honey colliding with Godiva chocolate. "Bella, I know that I probably fucked things up by just letting you go after last night. But I was scared. I was scared you'd laugh in my face. I was scared that your brother would go postal and kill one or both of us. But mostly, I was scared of most was that someone as utterly perfect as you would never be interested in someone like me."

"That's ridiculous," Bella whispered back, blushing furiously. "You have our roles mixed up, Edward."

"You're insane, Bells," he chuckled. Bella risked a glance over his shoulder, catching sight of Alice's enormous grin and Jasper's clenched jaw. She noticed that her brother was beginning to relax, but that could've been because Alice was massaging his shoulders. "Bella, will you be with me?"

It was so quiet that she nearly missed it. She had to do a double take, to observe his flaming cheeks and nervous eyes, to even believe it. "Of course," she choked out. Edward's embarrassed gaze turned into one of utter elation as he took her into his arms.

"That's enough," Jasper snapped from behind them. Bella couldn't see him (her head was buried in Edward's chest) but she heard the unmistakable smack of skin on cloth. She giggled, knowing that Alice had just smacked him.


One thing Bella could always count on was how gossipy high school girls were. Edward and Bella hadn't had to do anything but walk into the school building holding hands for the news that they were exclusive to be spread around the school by noon. She had never been paid nearly as much attention in her entire life as she had that day. Girls were glaring at her, and boys were staring at her curiously.

"Well, Swan, I guess you really found your man." Bella nearly jumped out of her skin. She whirled around, catching her gym uniform on the bleachers, and came face-to-face with Jacob Black. His grin was dripping with malice. "I hope you're happy."

"Bella!" a tinkling voice called behind her. She watched Jacob's face change from haughtily angry to unimaginably shocked as Renesmee danced up. "You still need a partner?" she asked; bravely, Bella thought. She nodded, happy to be spared from Jacob.

"Hey, Nes, this is Jacob Black. Jacob, this is Renesmee Hale."

Bella never would've predicted what happened as soon as she stepped out from between them. Their eyes locked. Jacob's mouth hung open and Renesmee's cheeks flamed.

That must've been what Edward and I looked like at the dance, she thought gleefully. In those two seconds, she formed a basic plan in her head. This should be fun, she grinned, imagining several different ways to get her locker partner and her undeniably annoying acquaintance to fall for each other. And actually do something about it.

I really hate this chapter. But it's sadly the best edition I have. I swear they'll never be like this again. But I wanted to update, and didn't have time to rewrite it. Again, written on a school laptop, so it's bound to be junky.
Thank you for putting up with me.
-irishphoenix615

Thanks to my reviewers:
Blue-Eyed Chica: Alice is a favorite of mine. Thanks for the review!
hoobastank22: Haha, it'll all work out. Thanks for the review!
Vi0lentSerenity: She really can be. But that's why we all love her. Thanks for the review!
ShelbieJames: Haha, if you think it's necessary, I'll rewrite it just for you. Thanks for the review.
BelleDuJour: There's nothing wrong with being obsessed with Twilight. I would know. =) Thanks for the review.
Petaloutha: All in good time. Thanks for the review!