Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns. I have nothing to do with the original Twilight. This plot however, is mine. Edward . . . . is not :(

13th October 2009

Edward

"Bella, none of these clues make any sense."

"Yes, they do. You just have to think about it."

"Of course, why didn't I think of that?"

"Stop being sarcastic. Come on, ask me something else."

I rolled my eyes at the stupidity we had been reduced to. We had both being going mad for the last three hours, since the power had been knocked out by the storm that was currently raging around us. Neither of us could go anywhere considering the end of the driveway was flooded. One bad thing about living on the slight incline we did.

My dad was having to spend the night at the hospital, when he should have been coming home. He didn't want to risk anything happening to him, which I was grateful for. I couldn't bear to think of anything happening to my dad just because we wanted him at home.

"Um . . . am I in the Government?" I asked and she shook her head.

"No." I rolled my eyes, expecting that answer already.

This is what we had been reduced to. For the last half an hour we had been sitting in the living room with only candles and my old nightlight that my mom had managed to fish out of somewhere – honestly, I was surprised it still worked – for light. For the last half an hour we had been playing the incredible game of . . . wait for it . . . "Who Am I?"

Currently it was one all.

The first round I had been Lee Evans, some British comedian I had only heard of in passing and Bella had been Gethin Jones, a Welsh presenter on some show my mom liked to watch from Britain. I had gotten the answer to mine first and Bella had won this round.

"What are you kids up to?" My mom asked, walking into the room and perching herself on the arm of the sofa I was sat on.

"We are playing a riveting game of Who Am I?" I grinned up at her as she ran her fingers through my hair. "It's one all at the moment."

"Who won this one?" She asked, her eyes flicking between the two of us.

"I did." Bella raised her hand slightly and my mom laughed.

"Who were you?"

"Anatole Kuragin." She smirked, loving the fact that she'd guessed who she was before I could.

"Who?"

"See!" I gestured to my mom. "That is supposed to be the normal reaction when you hear that name." My mom looked down at me confused. "He's a character from 'War and Peace'."

"Oh." She nodded slowly, understanding my love of classic literature. Hell, I had read the book in its original Russian. Beat that, Bella! "And you were?"

"I don't know." I looked up at her, shrugging. "And I have a severe lack of clues to help me."

"Well, what clues do you have?"

"Well," I thought about it for a moment. "I am male, which is good to know. I am also human, which is also a good thing to know. I am . . . under the age of fifty but over the age of twenty-five. I am slightly famous but not very. And I also know that I am not an actor, a singer, a musician, a playwright, an author, a television presenter or news reader, an athlete of any kind, a historical figure, a gardener," she raised her eyebrows at me at that one, "I'm grasping at straws here, leave me alone. I'm also not a director, a producer, a sound technician, a choreographer, a designer, a make-up artist, a hair-stylist, a costume designer or a politician." I looked back up at her. "I need help."

"You'll figure it out." She chuckled getting up and making her way back out of the room.

"Lot of help you were." I grumbled causing the two of them to laugh. "Do I have a profession?" She nodded, grinning evilly and biting her lip.

"Yes, you do."

"Wahay, I finally got a yes." I ran a hand through my hair, thinking about this for a moment longer.

"Do you give up?" She giggled, obviously loving this.

"No!" I shot back. I was not going to give this little girl the satisfaction of me giving up. Not going to happen. Had to go with a different route of questions. Wasn't going to let her get the best of me. Even if it was at some daft game. "Am I married?"

"Yes." She nodded once, still grinning.

"Okay . . . is my wife famous?"

She thought about it for a moment before shaking her head. "No."

"Alright then, gets rid of that notion." I mumbled, biting my lip. "Do I . . . have any children?"

"One." She held up a single finger, smirking at me still. "A son."

"Narrows it down when I don't even have a profession." I rolled my eyes as she let out another giggle. I let my eyes wander as I thought about the clues she had given me. Which were seriously lacking. I had to admit, the girl was good at this game. My eyes landed on the television magazine where someone – probably my mother – had circled an episode of House. Why she wanted to watch a medical drama when we had enough of that in our own home was beyond me. "Am I a doctor?"

"Yes!" Bella threw her hands up the air, laughing as she sat there, shaking her head at me. "Finally!"

I sat there weighing up the clues I now had. Right: I was male, between twenty-five and fifty, a semi-famous doctor, married with a son.

"Bella?" She looked up at me, her expression trying to be innocent. "Am I my dad?"

"Yay!" She squealed, giggling like a maniac, clapping her hands like I had seen Alice do when excited about something. I rolled my eyes, trying not to laugh at her ridiculous behaviour.

"How do you work out that my dad is 'semi-famous' anyway?" Who the fuck knew what that meant?

"Well, if you mentioned him to some random person on the street, they probably wouldn't have a clue who he was, right?" I nodded, still confused as to where her warped little mind was taking this. "But if you mention him to another doctor, and practically any doctor in the country mind you, they'll have heard of him, right?"

"Most likely." I shrugged, shaking my head.

"God, who would have thought you were a genius?" She rolled her eyes at a logic only she understood. "He might not be famous to everyone but in the medical field, he is therefore giving him the 'semi-famous' title."

"I can kind of see your logic." I ran a hand through my hair, shaking my head.

"Really?" She grinned at me.

"No." I shook my head and her smile turned into a playful scowl. So I didn't get how she thought. Is that a crime?

"Something tells me you got it, huh?" My mom re-entered the room, a smirk on her face. "Who were you?"

"Dad." She chuckled lightly, shaking her head. "Figures, huh?" She nodded, rubbing my shoulder gently. "Any word from Dad?"

"He's staying at the hospital until the rain lets up." She sighed, sitting down on one of the seats.

I looked out of the window, watching the rain and still wondering what in the hell possessed my parents to move back here.

It had been just over six weeks since we moved back and things were just the same as they had been when I'd first arrived. The only difference was that it seemed I was actually getting to know Bella Swan for who she really was. Not just the bitchy Queen Bee everyone else saw at school.

When she climbed into my car at the end of the school day, it was as though she transformed into someone else completely. The heels would come off and she would slip on the flats that she had taken to hiding underneath the passenger seat before clamping her tongue bar in between her teeth and flicking on the radio.

Everyone else saw the bitchy side to her, though it seemed she was making less and less of an appearance lately. Over the last month or so, the only time I had really seen that side of Bella come out was when she was dealing with Jacob, Emmett or Tanya and her little minions aka Lauren and Jessica. I couldn't say that I was sad to see the bitch in her go. Because what she was replaced with was a hell of a lot better.

When she walked through the door at the end of the day, she didn't care what anyone thought. Her hair would go up in a bun or a ponytail, the tight outfits she wore to school would come off and the sweats and loose t-shirts she owned would be straight on. She didn't care about anyone thinking she was a bookworm – considering I had caught her reading 'Wuthering Heights' and 'Pride and Prejudice' god knows how many times. She was eager to help my mom in the kitchen, though she seemed to hang back when her own mother was around. Maybe there was something there that I wasn't really seeing before now. It was none of my business so I didn't really look into it.

When she walked through the door, the things that seemed important when in school seemed to melt away leaving me with the girl that loved eating raw cookie dough and playing endless rounds of 'Who Am I?'

Alice and Jasper had broken away from that group, along with Bella. The two of them were light and carefree, not seeming to really give a shit about the politics that happened within those walls. They had only been involved with that group because Bella and Alice had been friends for years and when Jasper moved from Texas a few years ago, he started dating Alice and they just stayed where they were.

That didn't seem to be right for the two of them anymore.

Normally, I think I would have been pissed that the three of them had invaded my little spot on the bench outside, but somewhere inside it meant a lot that they were at least trying to make up for what they'd done to me. It was going to take a hell of a lot more though.

Bella was really going above and beyond to prove herself. After the initial tongue piercing – which I was still amazed that she'd kept, by the way – she had had it out with Jacob and Emmett and the others, trying to find out why they were still behaving like children, and that was just comical. True, I didn't need Bella to fight my battles, but watching two huge assholes like Jacob and Emmett get their asses handed to them by a girl that probably doesn't even weigh one ten soaking wet was just hilarious.

The whole situation being back here was just weird and if I didn't know better I'd say something had been put into my food each day.

The thing that really made me feel like I was in the Twilight Zone was when Rosalie came up and apologised to me.

That was just weird.

*~* Two weeks previous *~*

"Edward?" I turned as I walked out of class to see Rosalie standing there, biting her lip, looking slightly worried as she looked at me. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

"O-kay." I stopped, wondering what the hell was going on.

"Alone, somewhere." I get it , she doesn't want to be seen with the former geek. "I know what you're thinking and it's not that." She shook her head, smiling at me apologetically. What the hell was going on here?

We made our way outside towards the benches that sat just outside the main entrance to the school. We had a few minutes before everyone started filing out of the door, considering I had finished the class assignment early and either Rose had a free last thing or was skipping. Either or really.

"What's going on?" I stood there, crossing my arms over my chest as she took a deep breath.

"I just wanted to say . . . I'm sorry." She looked up at me, her bright blue eyes glistening with tears. "I know that it doesn't make up for anything but I . . . I had to let you know that I am. For everything. I . . . I wish I could say that it was just because we were stupid kids that didn't really know any better but . . . I can't."

"Then why?" I shook my head slightly, wanting to know what it was that I'd done to deserve those years of torment from people that were supposed to be my peers. People that were supposed to try and be there for me in some way. Instead I got exiled for a reason I didn't even know. "Why did you do it?"

"I guess . . . I guess it was something to do with . . . control, I guess." She sniffed, searching through her bag for a tissue. She found a small pack, pulling one out and wiping the tears away from her eyes. "I know you think that I'm the Ice Bitch, right? Well, I wasn't always. I used to be nice. I used to be friendly to people but after . . ."

"You don't have to tell me." I said quickly, instantly knowing that whatever it was she was going to say was deeply personal and painful for her. I was essentially a stranger and she didn't have to tell me anything. "I just want to know why me?"

"Because you didn't fight back." She whispered, looking up at me, the unshed tears that had been glistening in her eyes, spilling over and running down her cheeks.

"Did you know that I had to have eight months of physio on my hand?" She sniffed, shaking her head quickly. "It's still not right. Did that figure into your little 'control' thing?"

"I'm sorry." She whispered, looking down at the ground. "I didn't want anyone to get physically hurt."

"So just mentally and emotionally was okay, then?"

"No, of course not!" She looked up at me, alarmed, shaking her head.

"What did you think would happen?" I asked her, not wanting a proper answer. I think she realised that because nothing came out. "Did you really think you could do everything you did and I'd be fine? You fucked me up, completely. I spent five years being made to feel like I was nothing better than the shit on someone's shoe and you expected, what? That that wouldn't affect me at all? 'I'm sorry' isn't good enough. That's what I've said to Bella, Alice and Jasper and they've actually seen what they did was wrong. Now there are some people in your group that can fuck the hell off. Your boyfriend for one. Words don't mean anything, Rosalie. It's actions that count."

I turned away from her hoping that she'd taken what I'd said to heart. She had to realise that she couldn't treat people the way she did. And I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to know what made her change like she'd implied she had.

*~* Present Day *~*

I couldn't help but feel slightly guilty over how I'd spoken to Rosalie. My mom had always told me to treat women with respect and I hadn't done that with Rosalie. I hadn't treated her how I had been brought up and I knew my mother would be ashamed of how I'd spoken to her.

But someone had to bring her back down to earth and that someone might as well be me. Hell, no one else was going to do it.

The next few days had been strange to say the least. Rosalie would smile at me whenever I saw her in the hallways at school, sometimes giving me a small wave and a small 'hi' to go with it. I could see that Emmett wasn't happy about her giving me any kind of attention at all, but who really cared about what that oaf wanted. She wanted to do something, he shouldn't try and stop her.

Oh, well, just another day in the life of a teenager, I guess. Nothing's ever simple.

14th October 2009

"Thank God it's Saturday." Bella moaned, stretching out over the kitchen island, her back curling like that of a cat after a long sleep. If there was one thing I'd learned about Bella Swan it was that she hated school. More than anything else in the world. Well, maybe not as much as she was hating Jacob at the moment but you get the idea.

I wondered if I would ever find out what happened between the two of them.

Something happened on her birthday, I knew that much. It seemed that since then they hadn't spoken to each other.

Not for his lack of trying though.

I was half expecting him to turn up at my house again.

"Alice called," she stated simply, settling onto one of the stools across from me. "Wanted to know if you wanted to meet up."

"Just me?" I smirked at her and she rolled her eyes. "You want to?" She shrugged, looking like she did yet not wanting to say it. "You don't have to have permission from me, you know?"

"Well, considering I don't have my truck with me, I kinda need your help." She bit down on her lip, making me chuckle lightly.

"Edward," my mom called coming round the corner, smiling when she saw me. "Are you two heading out today?"

"Apparently so." I shrugged and she breathed a sigh. "Why?"

"Because, if you would be so kind, could you drop off some lunch for your father. You know how I hate when he lives off nothing but hospital food." I nodded, knowing exactly which one was for my father. It was always in the dark blue Tupperware tub. "Thank you, sweetheart."

"We might as well head out now, then." I pushed myself away from the island, having finished my breakfast.

Ten minutes later the two of us were in the car and heading down the driveway. I had been expecting an enormous block of water to keep us in and was mildly surprised – and relieved - when I saw that it wasn't as bad as I was expecting. I eased the Audi through it, not wanting to take any chances before turning out onto the main road.

It only took us a few minutes to get to the hospital and I parked up close to the entrance.

"You coming in or do you want to wait out here?" I asked, turning to face Bella as I grabbed the bag containing my father's lunch.

"Well, considering there's a creepy man looking over this way, I'm going to say I'm coming with you." She smiled at me and I glanced over her shoulder, indeed seeing the 'creepy man' she had mentioned.

"He'd better stay the fuck away from my car." I mumbled and Bella laughed as she got out of the car. Now that I was seeing him clearly, it was clear that he had in fact been eyeing up the car. As soon as Bella got out however, his eyes diverted, watching her as she met me around the front of the car. I switched sides with her so that I was blocking his view of her, not looking back at him.

Walking in, I mentioned the guy in the parking lot quickly and quietly to security who nodded at me and thanked me for the warning. Hopefully they'd do something about him before he did something or hurt someone.

Pretty fucking ridiculous, don't you think?

"Hey, Chelsea." I walked up to the main desk and the receptionist smiled at me, leaning on her hand. "Is my dad around?"

"He's in his office." She smiled at Bella who waved sheepishly back. "You want me to page him?"

"Nah, I've just got some lunch for him." She laughed, shaking her head. "You know what my mom's like."

"Look who's the golden child of the hospital." Bella giggled, following me to the stairwell. She didn't ask why we were taking the stairs as opposed to the elevator. I knew she remembered what I'd told her about the enclosed spaces.

"They love my dad, so by default they have to be nice to me." I shrugged and she shook her head.

"You know . . . I don't even understand how your parents can stand to look at me." Her voice was sad as we walked up the stories towards my dad's office. "If I were them, I would hate me and make sure that I never set foot in their house again. I don't understand why they don't."

"Because they don't know what happened." I said softly and she stopped behind me. I walked up a couple of steps before stopping and turning to face her.

"What do you mean they don't know?" She looked completely bewildered standing there. "Edward, what did you mean, they don't know?"

"They don't know." I shrugged, not really understanding why she was upset by this. I mean, you would have thought that she would be happy to know that my parents didn't know. But no, she's all confused and upset. "I never told them."

She walked up the few steps, stopping on the same one I was on before looking down at my hand. "But what about-" She brushed the backs of my fingers where the scars laced my skin. I jerked my hand away from her, shaking my head. "What did you tell them about that?"

"That I caught it in a door." It wasn't exactly the truth but it wasn't exactly a lie either. I was just omitting the fact that it was because of a third party it happened to get slammed in a door. "They had no reason not to believe me. I'd never come home with anything like that before, so they didn't question it."

"You should have told them the truth." She sighed, a voice a mere whisper.

"And what . . . gotten the shit kicked out of me for being a grass?" I shook my head, chuckling slightly. "You can't deny it. If I'd told someone what had really happened, Emmett and Jacob would have killed me." She couldn't argue with me and she knew it.

"I just feel so bad." She whispered, drawing in a shaky breath. She looked up at me, her eyes watering slightly. "I want to help you."

"What?" Huh?

"You told me how you hate enclosed spaces." Of course she remembered that. "I want to help you get over that."

"Bella, I-"

"I know that I might not be the best person to do that, but . . . I want to at least try." She sniffed, wiping her eyes. "I mean, it's not fair that you have to suffer for the rest of your life because of something we did."

"You didn't do that." I told her but she shook her head, not believing me. "You didn't."

"But it was me that caused the events leading up to it." She shot back and I shook my head. "If I hadn't said to Emmett that I was bored and . . ."

"Did you say to Emmett 'let's shove Edward in the locker'?" I held her gaze as she stood there. "Did you . . ." I stopped as someone walked through the door above us, walking past us. They gave us a confused look, eyeing Bella and myself as they passed. Great, who knew what was going through their mind? "Did you say to him 'I wonder what'll happen if you slam it closed on his fingers'? Did you?" She shook her head, not saying anything. "Exactly. All you said, by your own admission, just then was that you were bored. It was Emmett that came up with the idea of doing that to me. Not you."

"Why are you defending me?"

"Because even though, yes, you did a lot of fucked up shit to me, that particular incident wasn't your fault." I reasoned and she looked away from me. It was clear that she wasn't going to let this one go. She felt bad, I got it, but that wasn't going to change anything.

"I still want to help you, though." She sighed and I ran a hand through my hair, taking a deep breath. Her eyes were determined and I could see that she wasn't going to give up. "Even if it's just so that you can go into your closet at home. It'll still be something. I hate that you can't even go in there because you're afraid."

How emasculating was that?

Having someone point out that you're afraid of something so stupid.

What a fucked up situation.

We were silent again as someone else walked past us, giving us the same look as before.

"Can we just . . . not talk about this here?" I looked up and down, not wanting anyone else to take us by surprise. "Let's just give this to my father and meet the other two."

She nodded silently, following me to the floor that held my father's office. I walked down an extremely long hallway, stopping at a door that essentially looked like all the others in this place. I knocked on the door, waiting for an answer but not getting one. I knocked again, slightly louder, frowning at Bella when she raised an eyebrow.

Carefully, I gripped the door handle, knowing that because it was unlocked, my father was inside. Maybe he was engrossed in something as usual, not hearing the door. Looking around the office I saw that it was dark and chuckled. I looked over towards the leather couch he had against one wall to see him curled up, an arm flung over his eyes.

I walked over to him, settling the box on the ground and shaking him gently. "Dad. Dad." He grumbled something and Bella giggled quietly.

"Maybe we should just leave him." She suggested, her voice no more than a whisper.

"No." I shook my head, knowing my dad would be pissed if we did. Not with us, but with himself for falling asleep in the first place. "Dad, wake up." I shook him harder and he startled awake. He blinked up at me a couple of time before shaking his head. "You fell asleep."

"Oh, right." He sat up, running a hand down his face. "What time is it?"

"It is eleven twenty-two." I told him, glancing at my watch. "Which means that you probably haven't eaten in a while and are just in time to have some of the lunch mom made for you." I handed it to him, grinning as he chuckled. He ruffled my hair, shoving me to the side lightly before opening the box, practically salivating over what was inside. "We'll leave you to it."

"Hello Bella." My dad waved at her and she giggled, waving back. It was a pretty fucking funny sight. My dad the esteemed doctor, sitting on his couch devouring my mother's home cooked lunch. Yup, classy bugger, my dad.

"I think they want to be alone." I mock whispered to Bella and she nodded. "Bye dad. You are coming home tonight, right?" He nodded, giving me a thumbs up and I had to laugh. I held up a finger signalling Bella to wait for a moment while I discreetly took out my iPhone and snapped a picture. "Run."

We made our way out of the room quickly before heading back down the stairs. I couldn't stop laughing all the way down the stairs and I was sure that most of the hospital staff and patients thought that we belonged in the psychiatric ward rather than going out the main entrance.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket as I felt it vibrating, seeing I had a text message from my father. "Uh-oh, I think I'm in trouble."

"What does it say?" She asked and I showed her the message.

Don't expect to survive the night.

Dad

We were both still laughing as we climbed into my Audi. "Where are Alice and Jasper meeting us?" I asked Bella as she calmed down slightly.

"Um, the diner next to the park." She let out a few more chuckles as I pulled out of the parking lot and sped the minute's drive to the diner. I parked outside next to Alice's Porsche and we made our way inside.

"Hey, guys." Alice practically bounced in her seat as we approached. "You two look amused. What have you been up to?"

I looked at Bella who glanced straight back and in that moment we decided to keep what had happened in my father's office to ourselves. Who else needed to know that the highly thought of Dr. Carlisle Cullen was nothing more than a man who turns into a sucker for his wife's home cooking?

"Nothing." I shrugged, taking off my jacket.

"That's mean." She whined and I stared her down, shaking my head. She was not getting any information from me and from the way Bella was watching her as well, she was clammed shut too.

We sat and talked for a couple of hours, ordering about three drinks before we actually focused on the menu. The girls had to go to the bathroom twice before the food had even arrived and I was reminded to always let Bella sit on the outside.

"You and Bella seem to be doing okay." Jasper looked at me, taking a gulp of his drink.

"Taking it day by day." I shrugged, playing with the bottle cap that was on the table.

"Still don't really trust her, do you?" I could sense that it wasn't really a question but an understanding.

"Would you?" I fired back and he shook his head.

"I don't know." He shrugged, looking out the window for a moment. "But what I do know is that Ali's over the moon that you haven't kicked the three of us to the curb yet. And I say 'yet' because she's convinced you're going to see that having any amount of faith in us is a waste of time and give up on us."

"Got one thing to say to that." His eyebrows raised at my comment. "Don't give me reason to give up on you."

"Fair point." His serious expression turned into a grin as he looked behind me. All I could think of was that the girls were on their way back and the slight conversation we'd just shared was over for now.

Before I knew it Bella had plopped back down into the seat next to me, giggling as if someone had just told her the funniest joke in the world or a thirty year old man had come in proclaiming that he still believed in Santa.

"Going to let us in on the joke?" Jasper asked, looking between the two of them.

They looked at each other for a split second before bursting into giggles again. Alice picked up her drinking, sucking on her straw before looking between the two of us. "You know those weird phone calls Tanya's been getting?" I shrugged, shaking my head, before remembering Bella mentioning something about Tanya receiving calls from unknown numbers for the past week or so. We both nodded and she giggled again. "Alright, well we know where they're coming from."

"Where?" Jasper asked, sounding a little too eager if you ask me.

"You know that little corridor bit before you get to the different doors for the male and female restrooms?" Bella looked between the two of us and we nodded. "It's written in huge writing on the wall. It looks like someone's tried to scrub it off, but it hasn't worked."

"And it's her real number?" I couldn't help but laugh. The two of them nodded, grinning widely. "Do you know who it was?"

"I recognise the writing but I can't remember where from?" Alice sounded frustrated at the thought and I had to laugh.

"Well, the skank is finally getting the attention she's always wanted." Jasper chuckled, taking another gulp of his drink.

"Yeah, but I don't think she wanted it from most of the guys that come in here." I laughed and he nodded.

The four of us were still laughing as our food was brought to us and every so often Bella and I would share a glance, remembering my dad stuffing my mom's cooking into his mouth and laugh. Alice and Jasper had no idea what we were laughing at but clearly remembered the writing on the wall.

Today was turning out to be a pretty amusing day.

"Hey, why don't we go and sit in the park?" Alice suggested as we walked out of the diner. "I mean, it's actually quite sunny. Might as well enjoy it."

I couldn't argue with that and the park was only a few metres away from the diner we were at.

The sun was actually quite warm as we walked towards the children's play area. Yeah, we were seventeen and eighteen year olds, but who really gave a fuck. Alice and Bella were small enough to fit onto their rides and Jasper and I were amused enough watching the two of them argue over who was going to go on the slide first.

If I didn't know better, I'd say they were stoned. Or at least pissed.

I had to say, it was funny as fuck watching the two of them try and swing higher than the other on the swing-set, especially considering they were the swings designed for toddlers and had those barriers and shit, which meant the girls had to stand up in them.

Or at least it was until something barrelled into me, knocking me to the ground.

At first I thought that it must have been Emmett or even Jacob, but if it had been I most likely would have been crushed on impact. Even though it had been a split second or so, I could tell that the person that had tackled me was of a similar height and build to me, weight in the same range. It also helped that I could see the crop of blonde hair I knew to belong to one asshat from Chicago.

He'd managed to wind his arm around my neck in a headlock and was now grinding his fist into my head. "Say it, Eddie! Come on, say it!"

Like fuck I was giving in.

I rammed my elbow into his ribs, winding him and grabbed the arm that had been looped around my neck, securing it over my shoulder, before executing a perfect Ippon seoi nage. At least he remembered to break his fall, landing on the ground with a thud.

"James, you asshole." I panted, laughing to myself as he grinned up at me. "How many times do I have to kick your ass?"

"Always once more." He laughed as I helped him up. "You forgot didn't you?"

"Honestly?" I nodded, not really feeling bad about it. If he'd been that fussed he would have called or at least texted me. "Yeah. How the fuck did you know where I was, anyway?"

"Friend Pin." He held up his phone, grinning at me, his blue eyes sparkling with the mischief that was always present.

"You fucking pinned me?" I rolled my eyes, laughing at the ridiculousness of the situation. "You know you could have just called and said, 'meet me here' you fucktard."

"I don't know this fucking place, do I?" He shot back, rolling his eyes. "Besides, if I'd done that, it would have been a goddamn surprise, would it? Huh?"

"You are seriously fucked in the head." I stated matter of factly.

"I know." He nodded, grinning at me again. He laughed and I couldn't help but join in. He pulled me to him and we spent a moment or two in the obvious 'man-hug' telling each other we missed the other one without making it seem too pussy-like.

"Where are the others?" I asked, wondering where the rest of the gang was. Normally, there was no separating the lot of them.

"Back in Seattle." He sounded slightly glum. "Seeing as it was our first day here, teach only let one of us escape." I snorted at his use of the word escape. What that meant is he used all of his motherfucking charm and confused the poor bitch into letting him go. I knew his game plan.

"Edward?" I heard Alice's worried voice and it snapped me back to reality. "Edward, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Alice." I nodded to James for him to follow me back to where the others were standing. I hadn't realized we'd travelled so far away from them. "Guys, this is James, my best friend from Chicago." He gave them a small wave and a smirk. "James, this is Jasper, Alice and Bella."

He looked at me with a raised eyebrow and I knew what was going through his mind. "Bella?" He mouthed, his mouth just so they couldn't see, yet I could.

"I know." I cut him off before he could make any actual noise. "Fuck the hell off." I turned to look at him. "Seriously."

"I'm just saying . . ." He held up his hands in an exaggerated shrug using the singsong voice that always got on my fucking nerves.

"Well, don't." I replied in the same tone.

"Are you sure-"

"Fuck off!" I mock glared at him. "Seriously. More to it than that."

"If you say so."

"I do!"

"Fine, then."

"Shut up."

"Is anyone else here lost?" I heard Bella ask, a small smile playing on her lips as she watched the interaction between James and myself.

"I've been lost since 'fuck the hell off'." Jasper admitted chuckling. I shrugged back, making James laugh.

"When do you think the others will be freed?" I asked James, wanting to know when I could see my old friends.

"Um, probably not until next week." He shrugged, shaking his head. "Teach wasn't that happy about letting me go, but I convinced her."

"Which one was it?"

"Jafar." I cringed, remembering that particular teacher. She was weird.

"'Jafar'?" Jasper sounded confused and the two of us laughed.

"One of our teachers in Chicago is Jeffers and she looked exactly like Jafar from Aladdin." I explained and they all nodded in understanding.

"So, got anywhere good to go in this place?" James clapped his hands together, rubbing them in anticipation. All I could do was laugh and shake my head. "There's gotta be somewhere." He whined and I shook my head again. "Well, then, we'll have to find somewhere, won't we?"

I laughed, shaking my head at his optimism and I realised how much I had actually missed him.

Damn, it was good to have him around.

Now all I had to do was wait for the others to show up because where one was, the others will surely follow.

And I couldn't wait.

. . . . . .

Ippon seoi nage: One Arm Shoulder Throw.