Authors Note: Yep I know it took me forever to update. RL has been hectic lately. All our daughters have birthdays back to back and someone decided to murder our dog and we have been looking for a house to buy so yeah. Life has been hectic. But I will try to update more often.

Before anyone ask yes this is a Bella/Paul story. I promise. The next chapter will be all Paul and Bella at the bonfire. I just needed to introduce this new character in this chapter because he will be a main character in this story.

Chapter 8: Meeting the neighbors.

BPOV

"You have exactly two seconds to tell me who the hell you are and what the hell your doing here." I said in a chillingly calm voice as I cocked the gun back making it ready to fire at a moments notice.

"Do you always treat your new neighbors this way?" Asked the man without turning around as he raised his arms as a signal of surrender.

I must have been taken back by his statement for the next thing I knew almost as if it happened in a instant the man had turned around and swiped the gun from my hands. And was now walking down the porch steps behind me as if it never happened.

But his speed was not the only thing that confused me. But what I swore I heard him whisper in my ear as he passed by me on the porch. I could of swore I heard him say "First lesson pup. Never let your guard down." But I must have been hearing things because as I turned around he had already made it down the porch steps and was walking down our driveway towards the garage which I assumed he was putting the gun back where it belonged.

I was shocked to say the least. The speed he demonstrated right then rivaled a vampires speed. But there was no way he was a vampire. First thing was it was bright and sunny today and he wasn't sparkling like a freaking disco ball. And second of all he doesn't have freakishly colored eyes. In fact he has the most amazing sparkling icy blue eyes instead. So I just chalked up his speed to him being really fast or I am just really slow.

But when the shock wore off. Anger washed over me like a tidal wave. How dare he come to my house and sneak around like a peeping tom and then when I confront him he takes my only means of protection.

So I raced my way down the porch steps and down the driveway and stepped right up to the mystery man looked him straight in face and yelled "Who in hell do you think you are?!" as I snatched my gun back from his arms.

My anger didn't phase him in the least. In fact he had a smug smile on his face as he answered back. "I don't think I know who I am. I KNOW who I am. Names Leo." And he held out his hand as if offering a handshake. I shook his hand reluctantly not sure if I should trust him just yet.

"And you are?" Asked Leo when I didn't tell him my name in return. "Or should I just keep referring to you as the beautiful angel that lives across the street from me?" He joked as he cracked a small smile which made me smile in return.

"My name is Bella. Bella Swan." I told him as I slung my shotgun onto my shoulder so if it happen to go off it would shoot directly into the air not harming anyone.

"A beautiful name for a beautiful lady" He said and then broke the slowly increasingly tense silence with the same question he asked earlier. "You never did answer my question Do you always greet your neighbors like that?" He said teasing me.

"Only the perverted peeping tom kind of neighbors." I answered back teasing him right back.

It was then that we reached the garage and as I put Charlies shotgun back in its proper place. Leo started to explain himself.

"I wasn't being a perverted peeping tom as you so call it. I was checking to see if anyone was home. I knocked on the door but no one answered so I wanst sure if you could hear me in the back of the house." He explained.

"Well if that's the truth. I am sorry I pulled a gun on you. I guess I am just a little jumpy today." I explained.

"Apology accepted. The real reason I came over today was to see if I could borrow a hammer. I was hired by The Muffs to fix up their house across the street their even allowing me to stay there rent free while I do it." He explained.

That's when everything clicked. I remembered seeing a U Haul truck in the driveway a couple of days ago. The Muffs were the owners of the house that they were trying to rent out but has been empty for six months. They must of hired him to fix it up so it will attract new renters. I thought to myself.

When Leo explained about the reason he came over I just reached over to the wall of the garage the held all the tools and handed Leo one of the many hammers we had.

"Return it whenever you want. Charlie rarely uses the tools. As you can see." I said as I wiped off a ton of dust off the hammer I justed handed Leo.

"I can see." Replied Leo with a slight laugh.

"Well if you don't have anything else to do. Do you want to come and see what I am doing?" He asked.

"Sure." I answered him as I started to walk back up the driveway towards the neighbors house.

As we walked in a comfortable silence I was finally able to get a good look at him. He had short pitch black hair that was a little messy but messy in a good way, He had the most beautiful icy blue eyes, His skin was surprisingly tan. And a real tan not the fake kind that you spray on or go to a tanning booth to get. He actually had really tan skin the kind that people get when they spend a lot of time outdoors get.

He looked to be six feet tall which I thought was tall but then again with my small stature everything seems tall to me. He seemed to be muscular but I couldn't be for sure because all I had to go off of was his muscular arms for he wore a black as night t shirt and pants and a pair of sneakers. Nothing fancy but he did say he was working so I wasn't expecting a button down shirt and slacks or anything. But I did notice the belt he had on. It had black skulls with red eyes on it and he also wore a chain bracelet. They were stylish and unique which I always admire.

Judging by his appearance, attire and personality he seemed as though he was the type of person who didn't care what so ever about what other people thought of him. Which made me like him even more. I don't like "fake" people. Who are never themselves and only care about what other people think of them . It is always the unique people who make a impact in this world.

When we made our way across the street and I first caught a glimpse of the house. I knew that Leo had his work cut out for him. The house was a total disaster. Half the shingles on the roof was missing along with numerous too many to count holes in the roof. The paint on the house was chipped off everywhere and the once white house now looked like a dull brown color with all the caked on mud and dust and dirt it accumulated over the years of neglect.

Every window in the house was broken either from neglect or vandalism. The yard was starting to look like the amazon. It was so tall I swear I could hide a car in it. I didn't know grass could grow this tall. The garage was just as bad if not worse condition then the house.

And if I didn't think it could get any worse we stepped inside the house. OMG! If I didn't know any better I would of swore I was transported back to the 70's. There was a ugly shag carpet everywhere in every room. Not to mention all this ugly wallpaper in every room. And don't even get me started on the mirror that hung on the walls. Even the appliances in the kitchen were from the 70's. I mean the appliances looked so old that a microwave would look high tech in this kitchen and I was surprised you didn't have to hand pump the water into the kitchen.

"So what do you think?" Asked Leo after he got done giving me a tour of the house.

"Do you want the truth?" I asked half smiling.

"Yeah its pretty bad huh? The owner want me to remodel the whole house and that is fine with me. I can fix and build anything. The only problem is that my sense of style sucks. I mean I am a man. Interrier design is not really my thing." He said looking defeated as he looked around the room we were in.

"Well if you want my advice. I say rip up all the shag carpeting and if it is hard wood underneath just mop and wax it. Its cheaper and hard wood is beautiful. Also I would take down all the wallpaper and paint the walls either a neutral color such as white or stick with dark rich earth tones." I suggested trying to help him out.

"Wow you have a gift there. See I would of never thought of using the hard wood flooring underneath the carpet. Do you mind helping me with the interior designing of this house. It would be a big help." He asked and how could I say no to a face like that.

"Of course. I would love to help." I said giving him a small smile.

Helping Leo out would be a nice change of pace from my usual routine of school, cook, clean and sleep. Plus Leo and I could even become friends and what I really needed right now was a friend.

The next twenty minutes was spent going around the house telling Leo what should be changed so if I wanst home or at school he could go ahead and work at what needed to be changed. But when we came to the kitchen I told him to just gut it. I mean the kitchen was a lost cause it would have to be rebuilt from the ground up.

When I finally got done telling him everything that needed to be remolded inside we went outside again. Which I was grateful since I was becoming claustrophobic again and twenty minutes was about all I could stand being inside.

"So what are you working on right now?" I asked as we walked around the house.

"I was going to start patching up the holes on the roof. Thats what I needed to borrow the hammer for." He explained.

"Well my afternoon is free till seven so if you want some help. I'm available." I said but as my luck is just as I got done saying that I tripped over a rock that was hidden in the grass and started to feel myself fall. When I closed my eyes and braced myself which what I assumed what was going to be a hard land . I felt a pair of hot, strong muscular arms wrap themselves around my waist stopping me from hitting the ground and probably breaking a bone or two.

I opened my eyes to see Leo arms tightly wrapped around my waist. Lifting me up onto my feet once again.

"Are you okay?" He asked with his eyes full of worry.

"Yeah. Thanks to you." I answered him.

"Well I can use all the help I can get but for your safety lets find something easy for you to do and hopefully something that doesn't require a lot of hand eye coordination." He requested trying to hide the laughter in his voice.

"Now whats so funny?" I asked crossing my arms across my chest as he starting walking away.

"Well for someone who last name is swan you sure aren't as graceful as one." He answered busting out laughing.

"Yeah Yeah laugh it all lets make fun of the uncoordinated girl." I joked smirking as I followed Leo.

Twenty minutes later I found myself with a paint brush in my hand re painting the house a nice Grey color as Leo was right above me on the roof patching up the holes.

Leo insisted that I paint the house instead of helping him on the roof he told me he thought it would be safer if my feet stayed on the ground and said that painting was easy so I cant mess that up.

So as we worked we talked to pass the time and to get to know each other since we are now neighbors.

"So Leo tell me what brought you here?" I asked curious as to why anyone in the world would choose to live here of all places.

"A bus brought me here." Leo answered laughing at his own lame joke.

"No but seriously. A tragic event happened in my life that caused me to be all alone in this world so now I just travel from place to place trying to find my place in this world." He answered in such as sad voice that made my heart ache from all the sadness and loinlessness he must feel.

I couldn't imagine having no one. No family. No friends. No one to rely on. No one to confide in. No one at all. Just all by yourself. Alone.

"Well enough about me. What about you? Are you still in school?" He asked trying to change the subject.

"Yeah I'm a senior. What about you are you still in high school or attend college online or something?" I asked no sure if he taking online courses while he traveled.

"No I'm not in school. I got my high school diploma when I was sixteen. That was three years ago." He answered.

"If you graduated at sixteen. You must be really bright. Not many can people can pull that off." I replied surprised that he could cram four years of classes into two years.

"I was only able to do that because I home schooled myself. I attended school until I was a freshman. But then I took a chemistry test and the teacher failed me because I didn't show my work on the test but when I told my teacher I didn't show my work because I did it in my head. My teacher said he couldn't do it in his head so I must be cheating. So I dropped out and home schooled myself." Leo explained.

"So your teacher failed you because you were smarter then him." I stated more then questioned.

"Pretty much. But it all worked out for the better because to me school was hell with florescent lighting." He joked.

We were both laughing at the truth behind the joke when we heard a gunshot ring though the area. That silenced our laughing right away. It was very unusual for anyone to be shooting this close to town. Especially when it wasn't hunting season yet.

That was when we heard another gun shot ring though the air. This time I was able to pinpoint where the sound was coming from. It was coming from the forest behind my house. The same part of the forest where I got lost in a couple of days ago.

When I realized this. I dropped the paint brush and grabbed my cell phone. And started to walk towards the forest where I heard the gunshot come from.

"Where the hell are you going?" Asked Leo when he grabbed my arm stopping me from going any farther.

"The gunshot came from the forest and this part of the forest is my families property. I have a responsibility to find out what is going on on our property." I explained.

"Fine but I am coming with you. And you are staying behind me I don't know what we are going to be walking into out here." Leo said as he grabbed his own cell phone and reached into his 4x4 black truck and pulled what seemed to be a colt revolver out from its case and tuck into the waist band of his jeans for protection.

"Out of all the girls in the world. I had to be friends with the one girl who runs towards danger." grumbled Leo as he took the lead as we walked into the forest.

We walked for about 15 minutes until we heard the voice of two men. When we heard them talking amongst themselves. Leo turned towards me and held a finger to his lips and then pointed towards a large tree. That was a signal to be silent and to hide behind the tree until we assessed the situation. To see if these men were dangerous and what they were doing.

"I haven't found the tracks yet. But I know they have got to be around here somewhere. The papers said the girl was attacked by a large wolf." Said a older guff sounding voice.

"You sure it wasn't just a regular wolf that attacked her?" Asked younger voice.

"Normal wolves don't attack humans. They are more scared of humans then we are afraid of them. Also wolves travel in packs. This one was acting alone." The guff older voice answered.

Just then another gun shot went off expectantly.

"Gosh darn it Max. Knock that off. Silver bullets aren't cheap." Scolded the older voice.

"Deal with it Victor. After that windigo attack earlier this week I am not taking any chances. If it moves . I am going to shoot it." The younger voice snapped back.

" That would be fine if you weren't shooting at leaves blowing in the wind!" the older voice that I recognized as Victor snapped back as I heard what sounded like him grabbing the gun away from him.

After the gun was taken out of Max's jumpy hands. I thought this would be the perfect time to approach the men.

"Do you mind telling me what you are doing here?" I asked as I stepped out from behind a tree and approached them trying to make it seem as though I just walked in and wasn't listening to their conversation.

The older one which I assumed was Victor raised his gun at pointed at me in surprise. As soon as Victor pointed his gun at me. As fast as lighting Leo was in front of me protecting me from the guns aim.

"Whats it to you?" Asked Victor lowing his gun when he realized we meant no harm.

"Well as owner of the land. I have a right to know what you are doing on my property." I responded crossing my arms across my chest while stepping up to stand beside Leo.

"We are hunters. We are looking for animal tracks." Victor answered nonchalantly.

"And what exactly do you hunt?" I asked.

"A variety of things." Answered Max for the first time.

"Really because as I recall it isn't hunting season yet. So that would make you poachers. And since I don't take kindly to trespassers or poachers I suggest you get the hell off my land!" I yelled feeling pretty brave.

"And how are you going to make us?" Asked Victor.

I just held up my cell phone and responded by saying "Who do you want me to call first the police or the game warden?"

"Fine were leaving. But this isn't over." Said Victor as him and Max headed toward the out skirts of the forest.

"I swear you are going to be the death of me." Joked Leo as we headed back home ourselves.

"Yeah but you love me all the same." I joked right back as I walked up beside and gave him a sideways hug as we walked.

"Yeah I guess that is true." He said right back as he gave me a hug right back.

When our houses came into view. I saw Charlie cruiser was already parked in the driveway. That was when it dawned on me. The bonfire! I checked the time on my cell phone and noticed I only had a hour to get ready. And here I was covered in Grey specks of paint on my skin and hair from painting and I was more then likely covered in sweat and dirt from walking in the forest. Just great!

"I'm sorry Leo but I have got to go. I promised to go with Charlie to the bonfire tonight. But rain check okay?" I asked apologetic.

"Sure thing Bella." Said Leo with a smile on his face. Letting me know he wasn't offended or disappointed or anything like that.

As I ran back to house to get ready. I saw the full moon had already rose high in the sky and for some reason I had the feeling that tonight would be the night my whole life changed.

Authors Note: What do you think? I hope it was worth the wait and I will try to update more often. The next chapter will be all about Bella and Paul and the bonfire not to mention something BIG will happen. So please review! The more reviews I get the more motivation I get to write the next chapter. So please please review!