A/N: i own nothing. but teagan, damien, and bella's real parents. :::sigh::: life isn't fair. so sorry about the slow update. i've been busy. but now that it's summer soon, more time to write. enjoy.

Chapter 10:With a Little Help from my Friends

This whole charade went on for 2 weeks. I ignored Damien and plastered on a totally fake "everything's fine" face. Edward was persistent in his never-ending quest of finding out what Damien took from me. His failed attempts at guessing included a best friend, money, jewelry, etc. I only ever gave him one clue: "It was precious. And I can't ever get it back." That sure left him hanging. He was going over that one for days. We had been at school when he approached me again. Unfortunately for me, he had Gym with us that day. They combined 2nd and 5th period gym classes because Coach Clapp was out. We had Mr. Varner. Ew. We had one thing in common: We both hated the other. We were playing dodge ball, and of course, I ended up on Edward's team. Jasper, Rose, and Kate (who's usually in 5th period Gym) were on the other team. The moment we spilt, Edward grabbed me and pulled me to the side behind the bleachers, where no one could see us.

"What?" I hissed. I crossed my arms and tapped my foot impatiently.

"Will you tell me already? I'm tired of these games." He looked annoyed at my tapping foot.

"I told you to ask Damien. You obviously didn't." I continued to tap my foot.

"I did ask-Will you please stop tapping your foot at me?!" He half-yelled half-whispered. I stopped and looked him in the eye. I'd never heard him raise his voice before. "I did ask him. He said it was nothing. He didn't take anything."

"Well, that's another flat out lie because he took everything from me. My pride, my courage, my first real time after-" I immediately cursed me and my big mouth. He just stood there gaping at me confused. I went to walk away. He lightly took my arm and pulled me back. I leaned against the wall as he leaned in.

"Tell me." he said.

"Why?" Tears were forming in my eyes.

"Because I care." He said and planted the lightest kiss on my lips. I immediately pulled away and ran back out to my team. I avoided Edward at all costs. Afterward, I grabbed Rosalie and ran into the locker room. I got to my locker and almost broke the lock getting it open.

"Are you ok?" Rose asked.

"No. Why is Edward doing this? Why does he care so much?" I continued to ramble on. Rose clamped her hand over my mouth.

"Will you shut up? There's one answer to all of your questions: He cares, and he likes you. Simple as that." she said and closed her locker. I stared at her with my mouth open. "What? Everyone but you gets that. Now hurry up, or we'll be late for next class."

"You go on ahead. I'll be fine. I don't feel like going to French class today." I said. She nodded and left. I finished packing my books and closed my locker. Lauren, Jessica, and Katie approached me. I grunted in frustration.

"What do you want?"

Lauren smiled a truly evil malicious smile. "Bella, Bella. I couldn't help, but overhear your boy troubles." I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah. And? They're none of your business so back off and leave me alone." I went to walk away, but her snotty little self cleared her voice, making it perfectly clear that she wasn't done with me.

"I don't think you understand. So, let me make this clearer for you. Back off of Edward. He's mine, and everyone in this school gets that except for you."

I snickered. "Yeah. Everyone gets that you're a slut who just wants to get in his pants and nothing more. Believe me, Edward wants nothing to do with you after what you did for him and Tanya. So you might want to be the one who backs off. Got that?" I had gotten up in her face and scared the shit out of her. I smirked.

"Got that through your head now?" I asked sarcastically. She flared her nostrils. "Oh, little Tanorexic, don't go flaring your nostrils at me."

I left the locker room and went back into the gym. I thought about the whole situation with Edward and what Rosalie had said. I found myself wondering into the woods behind the school. I walked until I found myself in a clearing. I put my stuff down and lay back on the grass. I stared up at the clouds going by. I had so many thoughts going through my head. Why did Edward care? Did he really like me? Should I tell him what Damien did? What if he hates me if do? Why do I care? I was suddenly pulled out of my thoughts when I felt another presence in the clearing. I shot up into a crouched position and scanned the area.

"A look what we have here," a voice came from behind me. I turned and a half-growl half-hiss erupted from within me. Two men stood about 20 feet from me. One had a dark olive tone. The other was very pale and had blonde hair. The olive-toned one spoke.

"So sorry if we startled you. My name is Laurent." I eased up a little bit and stood up straight.

"I'm James," said the blonde. Laurent was about 3 inches or so taller than me. James towered over my 5'5 body at about 6'3. "And what would your name be?"

"Bella," I said. James was staring at me. I felt a little uncomfortable with him around. I'd have to watch out for him.

"So, Bella. Do you live around here with your coven? Or are you a nomad, like us?" Laurent asked.

"I live in Forks with my family. Well, my extended family. Sort of." I answered. In the distance, I heard the faint ring of the school bell. I picked up my bag. "I have to go. It's lunch time, and my friends will be wondering where I am." I started to walk away.

"You go to school?" James asked.

"Yes."

"With humans?" Laurent asked.

"Yes. I don't feed off of humans. I'm a 'vegetarian,' "I said. The blonde one, James, looked at Laurent with wide eyes. Laurent said something about "part of the family from a couple of years ago." I rolled my eyes and took off sprinting through the forest. I made it to the cafeteria just as everyone sat down. I walked over to the table and sat down in the only open seat in between Edward and Tanya.

"Bells, where were you? You weren't in French," Irina said. Everyone looked at me. Rosalie gave me a "are you going to tell them?" look.

"I needed some time on my own to think about some things, " I glanced at Edward. He caught my look. "I strolled through the forest and found a meadow. I chilled there for a period."

"Ok, do you need to talk or anything?" asked Kate.

"No, I'm fine," I said. Everyone nodded and resumed their previous conversations. "I ran into two other vampires in the meadow." All of their heads turned.

"What?" Jasper said. It was one of the few times he ever spoke.

"Yeah. I was lying there looking up at the sky, and they came out of nowhere. They introduced themselves, and had a polite conversation with me."

"What did they look like?" Emmett asked.

"One had olive-toned skin and dark hair. The other one was blonde and very pale."

"What were their names?" Alice asked.

"Laurent and James," I said casually. Everyone's eyes went wide. Tanya, Kate, and Irina looked a little worried, but it didn't faze them too much.

"What did you just say?" Edward said. He grabbed my arms and turned me so I faced him.

"Their names were Laurent and James. Why?" I looked around at them all, confused as hell.

"James and Laurent came around here a few years ago and started some trouble," Edward informed me. I looked at Tanya. She shrugged her shoulders.

"We only got bits and pieces of the story," she said.

Alice sighed and spoke up. "I'll explain everything to you later, Bella. We can't talk here." The bell sounded then. I got up and headed to English. Kate and Edward walked me. They had an extra free that day since they had gym first period and not fifth. I was walking into the room when Edward pulled me aside.

"What did Laurent and James say to you?" he asked.

"I'll tell you guys everything later. Right now, I have an English test. So, I'll meet you guys in the parking lot later." I pushed away from him and walked into class. I sat down in between Alice and Irina. The three of us finished first and sat there until the end of class. Art, Trig, and European History passed by uneventfully. We got a project for history that I planned on finishing that night after we got the whole Laurent and James issue cleared up. When the final bell rang, I walked to my locker only to find Damien there. He was in a very heated conversation with Irina. Rose stood there tapping her stiletto heel, probably waiting to get her share in the conversation. I immediately put up my shield around Rose and myself. I had mastered two people. Three was still a struggle. Besides, Damien knew not to mess with Irina. I walked calmly to my locker and ignored Damien.

"Will you please just let me talk to her?" Damien demanded of the two of them. "Alone?"

Irina scoffed. "Yea, ok. After what you did to her the last time you two were alone, I don't think so." Rose looked to me for an answer. She still didn't know what had happened. In fact, only Tanya, Kate, Irina, Carmen, and Eleazar knew about my life with the Volturi. They knew about Damien, Marcus, and Teagan. Teagan. Out of all my friends, or I should say family, I missed her the most. I really wished she could come and visit. Damien finally noticed my presence and turned around.

"We need to talk." He paused when I said nothing. "Alone."

"No." I answered simply.

"Bella, I'm not about to do anything rash." He was actually being serious. I thought so anyway. "Please."

I was persistent as ever. "No; and don't ask me again because the answer is and will always be no. Until you tell him." Rose looked at me confused. Irina gave her the "you'll find out soon enough" gesture. I slammed my locker closed and walked out to my car. Alice had climbed into the bed and sat down. Kate was going to get in, bur Edward touched her arm and whispered something in her ear. She smiled slyly and skipped over to Rose's obnoxious red convertible.

Edward climbed into my truck and closed the door. He looked at me, waiting for me fire up my truck. I looked at him expecting something. He just shrugged. I rolled my eyes and started the truck. I pulled out of the parking lot and followed Rose home. Damien took Jasper and Emmett in Edward's car and followed behind. Irina, Tanya, and Kate had hopped into Rose's car. Edward turned to me about halfway home.

"Will you tell me now?" He asked.

"No. You and Damien are like the same person. Always asking when you already know what the answer is going to be." I kept my eyes on the road.

"Bella, please. Maybe if you opened up a little bit, you'd have less to worry about."

I sighed. "I wouldn't be opening up a little bit. I'd be unleashing about 68 years of hate and loathing." I paused. "And I don't think that Damien would come out in one piece. Or alive." He sighed.

"You two bicker and fight so much. What happened with you two?" We had finally reached the house. I slammed on the brakes, and my truck lurched to a stop, sending Alice flying into the cab. She jumped out and crossed her arms. She started tapping her heel impatiently. I rolled my eyes and got out of the truck. I stalked into the house slightly annoyed that both Edward and Damien wouldn't drop their never-ending campaigns. As soon as I got into the house, the both of them called me.

"Bella!" They both advanced on me. I half-screamed half-grunted in frustration. I grabbed Damien's arm and flew upstairs, not paying any attention to Edward. I threw him into my room and closed the door.

"What? What do you want?" I demanded.

"A) You to calm down. B) We need to figure this whole situation with Edward."

"I've told you a thousand times to tell him. The only reason I haven't told him is for the sake of your petty little friendship. It's for his sake."

He looked at me with new light. "You love him."

I froze and hesitated. That pause told him everything. "I-I do not. And you know that. Remember, all those trust issues that I have problems with. Problems that you caused." I smiled sarcastically.

"Bella, I've told you a thousand times that I'm sorry. I don't know what I was thinking."

"You didn't know what you were thinking!? But you knew what you were doing!"

"Bella, I'm sorry! If I could take it back I would." His voice was sincere. Was he being true? Or was he using his power on me? From all the flaring emotions, my hair had gone purple and my eyes had been going through random colors. Freckles dotted my skin then disappeared.

"Take it back! You can't take something like that back, asshole!" I attempted to take a calming breath. "You raped me. I don't care how long ago it was and what we've all been through. You raped me. It was my first real time after that soldier raped me. I imagined my first time to be magical. With the man that I loved. But no. It was behind a fucking scummy building with a disgusting soldier who raped me and spat on me. You knew all of this and everything that I went through before that and you still did it."

"Bella, I'm sorry. I don't know how many times I have to tell you that in order for you to forgive me."

"You wouldn't understand because you weren't the one who was taken advantage of. You're not the one with trust issues. You're not the one lying about what's wrong when everyone asks if you're ok." I could feel tears fighting their way out. The floor creaked by the door just then. Damien and I turned. Edward was standing there. His eyes were wide. I turned away.

"What the hell is going on?"

"Edward, how long have you been standing there?" I asked without looking at him.

"Long enough to hear what I needed to hear."