Hey, guys! So, here's Edward's POV! Yay! Enjoy :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight

Edward's POV

I walked into the house to find Alice pacing back and forth. She had her cell phone to her ear and looked really worried. I grabbed the towel that I had left on the couch and started drying myself off. I was soaking wet from the rain, but I didn't really care.

"Where have you been?" she asked when she saw me.

"Running," I told her as I turned my mp3 player off and took the headphones out of my ear.

"It's raining."

"So, what? It's always raining in Forks."

"Since when do you run in the middle of the day?"

"Since when do you care?"

"Ugh!" she stomped her foot. "I don't have time for this! Have you talked to Bella?"

I scoffed. Hearing her name only made my heart ache, but I ignored it. If I let Alice know how hurt I really was, she was going to lecture me about my feelings until I agree to talk to Bella and straighten this out. "What makes you think I talked to her?"

"I don't know, I just figured she might have called you. She was supposed to be here like twenty minutes ago and now she won't answer her phone. I'm really getting worried."

Horrible thoughts started going through my mind and I tried to push them out as quickly as they came. Maybe she had called while I was gone. I ran to the kitchen and grabbed my phone from where I'd left it on the counter. I sighed in relief when I saw that I had missed a call from her just fifteen minutes ago.

"So?" Alice urged from behind me.

"She probably just got held up somewhere."

"Did she leave a voicemail?"

I nodded. "Yeah, let me check it." I called my voicemail and waited for it to play the message back.

Edward! He's here- James, I mean- he's trying to kill me!

I dropped my phone before I could hear anymore and rushed to the front door. Oh, no. No, no, no! Alice said she wasn't picking up her phone. Did that mean...? No, it couldn't. She was alive and breathing. She had to be.

"Edward!" Alice was calling as she hurried to catch up. "What's going on?"

"He's there," I told her as I got into the driver's seat of my car. Her eyes widened and she jumped in the passenger seat as I drove off. Once we were on the road, I pressed down on the gas as far as it would go. A few cars honked at me, but I didn't care. I had more important things to worry about. Alice held up my cell phone and turned the screen on.

"Why the heck did you bring that thing?" I asked.

"I want to hear the voicemail for myself," she said as she pushed some buttons. "Maybe we'll get some sort of clue as to whether or not she's...you know..." She couldn't bring herself to say the word and I didn't even want to think about it.

"I'm going to kill that bastard when I get my hands on him," I told her as I passed a slow car.

"I'll help." I was sure Emmett and Jasper would say the same when they found out about what's been going on. Looks like James messed with the wrong girl. It wasn't fair for me to get so mad at her at lunch. I shouldn't have expected her to love me back and even if she did, it wasn't right to tell her that when she already had so much to worry about. I'm not sure when I had started loving her as more than a friend, but I had always had a crush on her. I still remember the day we met clearly.

"Hey! Look at me, Edward!" Emmett called to me while we were playing on the playground before school. He was standing up on top of one end on the teeter totter while a little boy struggled to keep the other end down and Emmett in the air. "I can fly!" He jumped down from about two feet in the air and fell face first into the gravel. He lifted his head, his mouth full of pebbles, and grinned.

"That was so much fun!" he called as he ran back to where I was standing.

"Okay, Emmett," I said impatiently. "It's time for the monkey bars!" We raced each other to where the monkey bars were. Along the way, we stepped through the sandbox where Alice and some of her friends were playing.

"Hey!" Alice called after us. "You guys ruined my sand castle! I'm gonna tell Mommy when we get home!"

"Sorry, Alice!" I called back, knowing she wasn't lying about that. Emmett and I skidded to a stop next to the monkey bars.

"I call first!" he said.

"No fair! You just had your turn!" We both started climbing the ladder and kept pushing the other one off.

"Nuh uh! I got my turn at flying, not playing on the monkey bars!" I pushed him off and started up again.

"Well, I didn't get to fly!"

"That's not my fault!"

"Look at her hair!" I heard a girl say from over by the swings. "And ugh! Look at that face! She's completely hideous!" I looked over there to see Lauren and her posse laughing at a girl who was sitting on the swing. She was looking down, like she'd been crying. She had long, wavy brown hair and a blue sundress on. I didn't think she was hideous. In fact, I thought she was the prettiest girl I'd ever seen. I didn't really notice when Emmett pushed me off of the ladder and onto the ground. I just kept staring at the girl.

"Now, get off the swing!" Lauren yelled and pushed the girl off. Everyone laughed and Jessica seemed to notice the girl's outfit for the first time.

"Who would ever wear that?" Jessica pointed to the girl's dress.

"Ha ha, I won!" I barely heard Emmett say as he finished going across the monkey bars.

"I know how we can make it look better," Mike said as he grinned and picked up a pile of mud. He threw it at the girl, striking her in the middle of her dress and they all laughed.

"Um, Edward?" Emmett was saying next to me. He waved a hand in front of my face.

"Huh?" I asked, not turning away from the scene at the swings.

"Whatcha looking at?" he asked and I pointed to the swing set. The girl was crying.

"Stop it! My daddy gave this to me!" They laughed at her some more and I couldn't take it any more. I stood up and walked over to where they stood.

"What do you want, Cullen?" Mike asked.

"Leave her alone!" I called, sounding as tough as a seven year old could. Newton had always gotten on my nerves. Now, I would hate him even more if he didn't back off.

"Whatcha gonna do?" Mike asked sarcastically. "Call my mom?" Everyone else laughed at his joke.

"I'm serious. Back off, Newton."

"Make me," Mike said, balling his fists. I shrugged.

"You asked for it." No one at school knew, but my parents had taught Emmett, Alice, and I a few lessons in self defense. I pulled my fist back and flung it straight for Newton's nose. I heard a cracking noise and he screamed, grabbing his bloody nose. Mike, terrified now, ran away, followed by about ten other kids. I grinned and turned to the girl.

"You need some help?" I asked, offering my hand. She looked up at me gratefully and took my hand. I pulled her up and she dusted off her dress, ignoring the mud stain for the time being.

"Thanks," she said. "Do they always pick on kids like that?"

I nodded. "All the time. But I doubt they'll be bothering you again," I grinned at her and she grinned back. It was the prettiest smile I had ever seen.

"I'm Edward, by the way." I said, offering my hand again.

"Bella," she replied, shaking my hand.

"That's a pretty name," I said out loud by accident. I blushed and she giggled. It wasn't the way giggles from girls like Lauren sounded, all high pitched and annoying. Hers was different some how.

"Well, thank you for saving me, Edward. You're the only kid who's been nice to me all morning."

"Not a problem. You can hang out with me and my cousin Emmett, if you want. He can be kind of annoying sometimes, but he's cool." She smiled at me.

"I'd like that." I saw her glance down at the mud stain on her dress.

"Come on. There's a sink in Ms. Sherman's classroom. What grade are you in?"

"First."

"Great! Me too! So we're in the same class then."

She smiled, obviously happy about this. "Okay."

I offered her my left hand and she took it.

"You want to run?" I asked with a huge grin on my face and she nodded. Together, we ran for our classroom. And at that moment, even though I'd just met Bella, I knew it was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

"Oh, my God," Alice's outburst brought me back to the present and I sped up. "He's sick." If anything had happened to her, I'd never forgive myself. I should have told Charlie when I had the chance. I should have had my cell phone with me or at least made sure Charlie was staying home. By now, it could already be too late.

After what seemed like hours, we pulled up at the Swan residence. I got out of the car without even bothering to take out the key or shut the door behind me. When I got to the front door, it was locked. My heart raced and I dug through my pocket frantically as I searched for my key. I put it in the door when I found it and turned the knob, but it wouldn't budge.

"What the...?" I mumbled as I started to push the door open. Something was blocking it and it wouldn't open more than an inch or two. I didn't have time for this.

"Edward, look." Alice pointed up to Bella's bedroom window. It was broken. Why was it broken? I turned back to the window beside the door and punched it. The glass shattered and some of it cut my hand, but I didn't care. I had to get upstairs as soon as possible. I felt around the inside of the window until I was able to unlock it and opened it up. Alice followed me inside and we both rushed up the stairs. One of her shoes was on a step about halfway up and I tried not to think about how it had gotten there. Bella's bedroom door was wide open, but she was nowhere to be seen.

"Oh, God." Alice put her hand over her mouth at the scene before us. The window was broken, as we had seen from outside, but there was also a broken vase on the floor. Flowers, water, and glass were everywhere and I think I even saw some blood. A baseball bat was lying by the window and I felt sick to my stomach.

"Bella?" I called out uncertainly as I searched the other rooms. Please be here, I thought. If he had taken her somewhere, chances were I'd never get to her in time.

"Edward," Alice said as I was searching Charlie's room. "Come here." I followed her to Bella's bathroom. The light was on and I could hear a strange noise inside.

"Bella?" I called again as we walked in. I let out a sigh of relief when I saw her sitting in front of the toilet throwing up. Sure, she was puking her guts out, but she was breathing. She looked relieved to see us, but another emotion that I couldn't describe was there as well.

"Edward," she said. "Alice. I'm glad you're here."

"Are you okay?" Alice asked as she stepped forward. "I called you like twenty times! And then that voicemail you left on Edward's phone- I get chills just thinking about it."

"Sorry," she said as she wiped her mouth. "Do I have puke in my hair?"

"No," I said as I stepped forward and started to pull her up. She yelped when I grabbed her arm and I stepped back. She held it to her chest in an awkward position and I knew something had to be wrong with it.

"We need to get you to the hospital," I told her. I offered my hand and she took it with her uninjured arm. "Is anything else bothering you?"

"My ankle." I looked down and realized she was keeping her weight off of her right foot. "My ribs kind of hurt, too."

"Where's James now?" Alice asked. Bella flinched at his name and I took her good hand in mine.

"I pushed him out the window."

"What?" I asked in surprise. "How did you do that?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Bella," Alice said slowly. "James wasn't on the ground when we got here."

"What? That's impossible! He- he's dead! He has to be! He was there just a few minutes ago!"

Alice shook her head. "He's gone."

Bella shook her head frantically as tears rolled down her cheeks. "No, no. He can't be alive. He's going to kill me! He-he tried to..." She broke off into a fit of sobs and I held her to my chest, careful not to touch her injured arm.

"It's okay," I told her as I rubbed her back. "You're safe now. I'm not going to let him hurt you." I took a step back and realized how much she was trembling. She was really terrified.

"Come on," I told her as I lifted her into my arms. "We need to get you to a doctor." She stayed quiet as I carried her downstairs. Alice grabbed her other tennis shoe on the way down and I saw the huge stack of boxes in front of the door. James's work.

"Hold on a second," I said as I set her down on the last step of the stairs. Alice sat down next to her and tried to calm her down a bit. I walked over to the stack of boxes and started moving them over a few feet. They were all heavy and I opened one up out of curiosity. Inside, there were four huge weights. James was trying to lock Bella inside and it looks like he succeeded. He was a sick man. I hurried to move the rest of the boxes out of the way and carried Bella out to the car.

"I can walk, you know," she said when we were on her porch. The rain had only gotten harder and it looked like a storm was coming in.

I shook my head. "You're hurt and you don't exactly have the best balance. I don't think it's a good idea to let you run out there in the pouring rain.

"Edward," she whined as she tried to get down. "Set me down." I ignored her as I hurried out to my Volvo. Alice opened the back door for me and I set Bella down.

"I'll drive," she said.

"Thanks," I told her as I slid into the backseat. Alice drove over the speed limit and passed every car that got in our way. Honestly, I was kind of afraid that we'd have an accident, but I didn't say anything. Bella stared out her window the whole time and didn't say anything. She was acting so weird and it scared me. Then again, she was almost killed by a monster that she once called her boyfriend. I'm pretty sure that gave her the right to act strange.

Alice pulled up to the curb at the hospital and I got out, planning on carrying Bella again, but she was already limping out. She started to slip on the wet sidewalk and I caught her before she fell.

"Be careful," I told her. I heard Alice drive away to find a parking spot and turned back to the front door. I put my arm around Bella's waist and helped her into the hospital waiting room. I started for the front desk, but she pulled me back.

"Don't tell them what happened," she said. "Tell them I fell out of a tree or something."

I shook my head. "I'm not going to make that mistake again. It's time to stop protecting him, Bella." She sighed, but said nothing more as I helped her over to the front desk. The receptionist must have been new because I didn't recognize her. She was staring at her computer screen and completely ignored us.

"Hey," I said to get her attention. She looked up with an irritated look on her face. "I need to see Dr. Carlisle Cullen."

"He's busy. Can I take a message?"

"This is really important. Can you just tell him to come out?"

"Are you bleeding to death?"

"What kind of a question is that?"

"Look, kid, Dr. Cullen is busy. I can get you in with another doctor if you want to make an appointment."

"This is an emergency. My best friend-" I gestured to Bella.

"She's wet," she commented.

"Yes, she's wet. It's raining outside! But she's also hurt. I think she broke her arm."

"That doesn't change the fact that Dr. Cullen is busy. Dr. Boman has an opening in about two hours and I'm sure he'll be happy to help you."

I pinched the bridge of my nose in frustration. This was just too much to deal with in one day. "Listen, lady, my best friend almost got killed by her boyfriend less than an hour ago. If you don't let me in there to see my dad, I'll make sure you don't have a job by tomorrow morning."

Her eyes widened in surprise. "You're Dr. Cullen's son?"

"Yes, I am. Will you please get him for me?"

"Well, um, he's in the middle of a surgery right now, but I can get you in with another doctor until he's out."

"That will have to do." She made a phone call and started leading us back to a room.

"I'm so sorry," she said as she walked us there. "I had no idea! Please don't tell your dad about this."

"Hey," Alice popped up behind me. "What did I miss?"

"Dad's busy," I told her. "We're getting another doctor until he's done." She nodded as we walked into a room.

"Go ahead and sit down. The doctor will be in momentarily." The receptionist left and the three of us stayed in our awkward silence. Bella got up on the counter and stayed there for a minute. She lifted up her shirt slightly to examine it and my eyes widened at the bruises I saw. There were definitely more than when she showed me a few days ago. My hands turned to fists and I was ready to punch something. Again.

"I'm going to go get some food," I lied as I left the room. I couldn't be in there any longer. I was going to find James.

So, what do you guys think? Only 7 more reviews til the 100th reviewer, who will win the contest!

And also, I would like to give a shout out to a very important person in my life whose birthday just happens to be today. Happy Birthday to my bff Hannah (aka kittyallstars)! :D Hope it's as awesome as you are!