Against All Odds

Chapter 10:

The following week had passed by smoothly, Edward and I spent every moment we had together, something I had longed for. Edward's attitude had changed drastically since our arrival to the beach house. No longer were we fighting, jumping down each other's throats, but enjoy the company of the other. He had become more protective over me, but that was to be expected, right? At times it had proven to get under my skin; how I felt restricted from doing anything without him interfering and feeling he needed to save my life. Even when I'd become my clumsy old self he'd come running to help me before I could cause permanent damage, as if he knew I was about to hurt myself.

But on the other hand he never ceased to amaze me, and at the same time I was blessed to be in his presence. His perfect figure, not a blemish or a flaw to be found on his body stuck out dramatically to my pale complexion and thin build. He was a masterpiece while I was a blank canvas. I had begun to notice a lot about Edward since our vacation had started. Like the way his eyes would change colors, whenever he was angry the golden brown would dissolve away to be replaced by pitch black that left him to look intimidating. Or no matter how much effort he put into a rigorous activity he never showed signs of exhaustion, his breathing never changed, and there was never a drop of sweat to be found on his body. And the last thing that I could find no explanation for was the sound of a low growl the escaped his mouth the evening Tyler had interfered, he didn't sound human.

My hand had finally healed back to its normal working self. Alice had brought it upon herself to make me over once again for an evening out on the town. I groaned as I once again glowered at the beautiful stranger in the mirror. She was wearing dark washed skinny jeans paired with black suede heels and a loose fitted purple blouse. It was much better than wearing a dress that cut off my air supply, I thought to myself trying to look at the bright side. Edward was patiently waiting in the living room with Jasper and Jacob; once we were all set we headed out to a seafood restaurant where we all enjoyed the cool night air on a patio overlooking the ocean. I had left our table to head inside to the bar to pick up two strawberry banana smoothies for Edward and I while we waited for our meals. I sat at the bar taking in the nautical theme of the restaurant, my eyes fell upon a gangling looking man sitting at the far end of the bar, he had a pale complexion with blonde hair that was cut short and slicked back, he was staring at me with suspicious eyes. I quickly repositioned myself on the bar stool keeping my back to the man, I always seems to attract trouble and that's exactly what he looked like; trouble.

I felt an ice cold hand run over my neck settling on my shoulder as I abruptly turned around to find the man hovering over me, his eyes scanning my face.

"Can I help you?" I spoke in a demanding tone. He only laughed taking a stand of my hair into his hands and breathing in deeply.

"You smell delectable," He sighed taking the bar stool next to me. I grew very impatient for my drinks to be ready, peering over the bar table looking to see what was taking so long. The man watched my every movement, never missing a beat. He made me feel uneasy the way his eyes watched over me. I had finally had enough when I hopped off the stool to make my escape. Only to be caught by his hand wrapping around my wrist, glaring up at him I noticed his eyes were blood red, his touch was as cold as Edward's. I snatched my wrist away from him, hoping to make a quick escape before Edward came looking for me. The last thing I wanted was for his temper to flare and his protective side to lash out on this stranger. I thought too soon, as I turned away from the man bumping right into Edward. I rubbed my hand over my forehead; he was like running into a brick wall. Edward's arm grasped mine, pulling me gently aside, never taking his eyes off the man. A low growl escaped both their lips, and I stood there dumb-founded. They stood motionless, staring each other down with intense eyes. After a few moments Edward wrapped his arm around my waist leading me out of the restaurant.

"I had the situation under control," I mumbled, pulling away from his touch.

"It sure looked like it," Edward snapped, I was taken aback by his attitude towards me, and was harshly reminded of our former relationship towards each other. I tried to keep my emotions under control, afraid to spark a fight that I so dreaded.

"Edward, I'm not a child I can fend for myself. I know you care about me and want to keep me protected, but it's really starting to get out of hand," I spoke setting my lips in a firm line and crossing my arms over my chest, trying to guard my heart from the breaking that was sure to happen.

"You seem to always attract bad news Bella, if it's not injuring yourself it's someone trying to injure you. If you don't want my help any more than so be it!" Edward growled, his voice rising.

I flinched away from his outburst. He turned his back on me, stalking off towards the parking lot. My eyes began to swell up with tears as I watched him jump inside his jeep, the engine roaring to life, and then speeding out of the parking lot. I slumped down onto a nearby bench and let the tears flow. Nothing was ever easy, or simple. I could thank myself for once again ruining probably my last chance with him. As the tears subsided, I began to feel better, but not in the way I wanted. I resented him for always watching over me. His protective side had become such a nuisance in my mind, I felt restricted with him since the Tyler incident and I hated that. How I wished we could go back in time and start over, I would have warned Edward that evening and none of this would have ever happened.

Chapter 11:

Edward kept his distance from me after that evening, and every time I tried to make amends he would always push me away. Jacob became my crutch when things between Edward and I began falling apart, and I found myself spending more of my time with him. His cheerful attitude and carefree sense about everything really lifted my spirits.

It was a beautiful summer afternoon; a slight breeze was blowing, masking the heat that created drops of perspiration on your body when you stepped outside the comfort of the air condition. The group and I were packing for a day out on the public beach. I was never a big fan of the sun, which explained my pale complexion; I packed a small beach bag with two books, a towel, sunscreen, and my iPod. Preparing myself to have an escape from joining in on anything Edward would be involved in. Alice, Kristen, and I settled ourselves down on the hot sand as the boys went off to play Football near the water. I sat in a beach chair applying liberal amounts of sun screen while Alice and Kristen were sprawling out on beach towels ready to soak up the sun. Just as I was settling down with a book in my hands Jacob came running towards me, hovering over me. I peeked up at him shielding my eyes from the sun with my arms.

"What do you want Jake?" I asked in a light hearted tone, he just smirked at me as he took the book from my hand tossing it in the sand. He grabbed me up with one arm tossing me over his shoulders.

"You better put me down right now, Jacob Black or else!" I yelled playfully, squirming under his grip.

"Or else what?" He questioned me.

I watched as water rushed up over his legs, and I quickly wrapped my arms around his waist, preparing myself to be thrown into the ocean. Jacob unhinged my arms from around him as he brought me around to face him, giving me a quick smile before he dunked me into the ocean; I grabbed him around the knees bringing him down with me. As we rough housed in the water I caught a glimpse of Edward still playing Football with Jasper. I was instantly hypnotized by the way his muscles moved, how graceful he was and at the same time so masculine. Quickly shaking myself out of the trance I stood up, ringing the water from my hair as I splashed Jacob with salt water and headed back up onto the beach.

The sand burned my feet; I could feel the skin sizzling against the sand that was heated from the sun as I took off into a run for my beach chair. I was blindsided, thrown off my balance as something hard hit me around my ribs, losing my balance I fell down into the sand clenching my sides with my arms. The bright sun had shown intense down on me as I turned my face into the hot sand to escape it. I was quickly relieved when a shadow cast down on me, turning over onto my back I looked up to find a guy hovering over me. He was gorgeous, with a masculine build; he wore a military hair cut cropped short. He reached his hand out helping me up onto my feet.

"I am so sorry, are you alright?" He asked apologetically striking me with pearly white teeth, and a smile that would send any girl into a frenzy of giggles.

"I'm fine, it's okay," I stumbled over my words trying to keep from looking like an idiot. His eyes fell upon my side, reaching out to touch it. I stepped back away from his touch as his ice cold hands gently laid themselves around my waist. Why was every guy that touched me as cold as ice?

"I hurt you, I'm really sorry," he apologized again; I looked down at my side to find it already bruising up; great! As I looked up to return to his golden brown eyes I was sidetracked by Edward. He was standing; frozen in the ocean, giving me a death glare along with the guy I stood in front of. Shaking my head away from Edward's gaze I looked back up at the guy standing before me.

"I'm fine, promise, nothing a little ice can't fix." He wasn't buying it and I could tell.

"Let me buy you dinner," He spoke; his voice sang to me like beautiful music, I was instantly drawn to him; addicted.

"You don't have to go through all that trouble," I responded quickly, he placed his index finger against my lips, cutting off my words.

"Yes I do, I just almost killed you with this football," He gestured to the ball lying at our feet.

"At least let me buy you a drink then, or some ice for your side." He was desperately trying to make up for what had just happened; I gave him a warm smile, my eyes again falling on Edward who now had his hands drawn into tight fist at his side, anger raging through his gaze.

"I'll take that drink," I answered, returning my gaze to those mesmerizing brown eyes. He held out his hand, and I placed mine in his palm as he shook it.

"I'm Will." I lost my words as I found myself getting lost in his eyes, he was more beautiful than humanely possible, the way the sun glistened again his blonde hair, and his eyes sparkled. I wanted to slap myself across the face for gawking, but I decided against it, as I shook myself back into reality.

"I'm Isabella, but please, call me Bella or I'll have to hit you with the football," I joked.