A/N: Twilight is Meyer's. No copyright infringement intended.

Thanks for reading, and for reviewing.

EPOV

I owed Emmett and Rosalie. I wasn't sure what yet. But I owed them something. Flat tires, maybe. That would irk Rosalie. And Emmett's tires cost a fortune for that monster Jeep of his. They deserved at least that much for this.

Emmett had stopped by an hour ago. School had started half an hour ago. But because of them, I was still in my room, still thinking about what to "do about" Bella.

I just couldn't get her out of my head. Before Rosalie had butted in, I had been happy just to know her name. After Rosalie had butted in, I had realized exactly how ridiculous I was being. But I couldn't stop thinking about her.

And Emmett's challenge kept rolling around in my head. Could I stay away from her? If it was best for her. If it was what she wanted.

But how was I supposed to know that? She'd seemed to want to talk to me…. She'd seemed to flirt in her own way….

Ugh. And now I was back to that. I growled at myself and pulled my pillow over my face. But I just couldn't figure her out. If she wasn't flirting, I felt like a jerk for thinking she was. Arrogant, like I really was the Edward Cullen everyone thought I was. The guy who believed girls all automatically wanted him. But if she was flirting and I missed it…

I didn't want to miss it.

I pulled the pillow away from my face to glance at the clock on my bedside table. Middle of first period. Rosalie would be commenting on how I still wasn't doing anything. And she would be right. But I still didn't know what to do. All I knew was that I had to get out of the house before I drove myself completely insane.

I grabbed my keys and headed for the door.

BPOV

When the bell rang to end first period, I stuck Romeo and Juliet in my notebook and tucked away my latest sketch of Mike Newton covered with horns. Alice would crack up when she saw it. "Horny Mike" would be her new favorite joke. Jake's amusement at the sketch would be even more entertaining if he ever caught sight of it.

As the classroom emptied, I remained in my seat and watched the door. Mike wandered past, and I snickered to myself. I wasn't getting cornered by him today.

After giving him adequate time to move on, I picked up my notebook and trailed the last of my classmates out of the room. I headed for my locker, still scanning the hall.

Still pathetic.

I turned the corner to pass the front door of the school and suddenly someone was directly in front of me. I took a quick step back to keep from running into him and muttered, "Sorry."

"Bella."

My eyes grew wide. "Edward?" I exclaimed.

He was standing in the corner by the doors, close to the wall. A baseball cap covered his bronze hair, and sunglasses concealed his green eyes. But his lips were curved into that uneven smile that I knew, and I could feel the strange energy of his presence even across the short distance. It was unmistakably him.

"What are you doing here?" I demanded. Even though my insides were dancing because he was.

He didn't remove his sunglasses, but I could see his sheepish look. "I came to rescue you."

"From calculus?" I paused and considered that. "Although I really wouldn't mind." Edward grinned. I clarified, "So you're asking me to skip? With you?"

"Yes."

I commented, "You know, this would be the second time I skipped because of you."

"The first time wasn't my fault," Edward reminded me.

"True," I conceded. I thought quickly. I wanted to go. And I thought I could pull it off. "All right. My sisters pass me on the way to their next class. Let them see me, then I'll meet you outside."

Edward's grin was wide then. "I'll be waiting."

"Okay." I watched him duck out the door and jog across the parking lot. Then I shook myself and hurried to my locker. I grabbed my calculus book and darted back down the hall.

Lauren almost knocked me over.

As I picked up my books from the floor, I ignored her snide comments and Jessica's sneers. Anything they said didn't matter. Because the second they disappeared around the corner, I was heading out the door.

To meet Edward Cullen.

EPOV

I was meeting Bella Swan.

I wasn't sure exactly what had happened. I had gotten in the car with the intention of just driving around Port Angeles. But somehow I'd ended up in Forks. In the parking lot of Forks High School. At the far edge of the lot to try to stay hidden in my too-recognizable Volvo. Staring at Bella's truck and debating whether to go in after her.

Then, when the bell had rung inside the school, I'd gone in. I couldn't help it. Just like I couldn't stand not coming to Forks. She just pulled me to her. And when I'd walked through the doors, I'd felt her electricity getting closer. So I'd stood in the corner and waited for her. Then there she was.

And she'd said yes. She was skipping class to be with me.

I wondered if she actually would show up.

I leaned back against the hood of my car with my arms crossed over my chest and stared at the doors of the school. It was lame to stare. Like I was desperate. But I couldn't look anywhere else.

Students streamed in and out of the doors. None of them glanced my way. And none of them was Bella.

When the bell rang to begin second period, I kept staring. Even when everything went completely still and quiet.

For several moments, nothing happened. I felt myself starting to give up. Then, suddenly, the front door eased open and a small figure slipped through.

Bella.

I felt like I was going to explode. My smile was so wide it hurt my face. I pushed off the hood of my car to stand straight to meet her, and my insides were doing that familiar happy dance. Everything in me was vibrating. And I liked it.

She scanned the parking lot quickly and noticed me almost immediately. Her face broke into a smile that sent my happy dance into overdrive. Beautiful. She was so beautiful when she smiled. And she was smiling at me. As she crossed the lot, I worked to control myself. I wanted to look at least somewhat sane when she got to me.

As she approached, I quickly took in her appearance. She was wearing her normal attire. Brown boots, jeans, brown hoodie over what looked like a burgundy T-shirt. I couldn't make out the words on the shirt, or much of the shirt at all, under the jacket. Her long, dark hair was down in a soft wave over her shoulders. Again, I felt that incredibly strong urge to touch it. I clenched my fist instead and hoped she wouldn't notice.

Her scent reached me first. Strawberries and freesia. Then the electricity hit me, a low hum across the distance. She slowed a few feet from me and looked a little uncertain. "Hey," she said.

I was determined not to grin like an idiot. So I smiled crookedly at her, not letting the grin get too big. "Hey," I replied.

Her wide chocolate eyes lowered to my fist. Damn if she didn't notice everything. I worked to open my fingers and relax my hand. She looked up at my face again. She looked… concerned? Her arms wrapped tightly around the books she carried and she clutched them to her chest. She was nervous. But the concern in her eyes wasn't for her.

It was for me.

I pulled in a deep breath and let it out quickly. This girl was different. She noticed everything, and it worked on her. I forced myself to relax. I remembered my sunglasses and tugged them off so she could see my eyes when I asked, "Do you mind if I drive?"

The concern gave way to nerves. Her eyes flicked toward my car behind me. "Sure, that's okay."

I smiled. "You have veto power," I assured her. "Any time you want to come back here, you just tell me."

She seemed a little comforted by that promise. Her arms loosened slightly around her books. "Okay. So um… Where are we going?"

I reached behind me to pop open the passenger door. "You'll see," I told her as I motioned her into the car.

For a second she hesitated, and I worried she would refuse. Then she stepped past me and slid into the car. I closed the door behind her and allowed myself a huge smile as I rounded the back of the car to get in. When I was behind the wheel, I was composed again.

And my entire car already smelled like freesia and strawberries.

The scent almost cost me my composure. But Bella's nerves caught my attention. She was messing with the books in her lap. "Do you want me to put that in the backseat?"

"Um, sure." She handed me her notebook and calculus book. I fought a grin. She really was taking calculus? She was smart. I twisted to put her things in the back and tossed my baseball cap on the seat beside them. When I turned back around, she looked quickly away from my hair and shifted anxiously in her seat. Her boots squeaked on the floor, and her cheeks flushed.

God, I loved that blush.

I started the car and pulled out of the lot. "Feel free to change any of the settings," I offered. I motioned toward the console. "If you're cold. Or anything."

"Thanks." She made no move toward the heater. I hoped she really was warm enough and wasn't just being self-conscious.

We fell silent as I headed toward Port Angeles. She gazed out the window into the mist. Finally she said, "Sorry it took so long for me to come outside. The principal was right next to the door."

"Oh." I tried to be casual. "That's okay."

She peeked at me from the corner of her eye. I could see the hint of a smirk, and I knew that my casual wasn't working. But before either of us could comment, my cell phone rang. I glanced at the caller ID and tried not to groan. "Hey, Carlisle."

Bella looked interested at the name, but she turned her face toward the window to allow as much privacy as she could. Not that I cared if she listened. Carlisle knew that I wasn't in school. He wouldn't be calling me otherwise. But he didn't care. He never did. I rarely skipped – never really had any reason to before – so the occasional disappearance didn't alarm him. As long as I didn't cause trouble.

"Edward, I left a few papers in the trunk of your car."

I frowned. "My trunk? When did you have paperwork in my trunk?" Then my face cleared. "Oh. Right." We'd switched cars last week so I could avoid being swarmed when I drove to an away game. "You need them now?" I asked, glancing over at Bella.

"It would be beneficial, yes."

I bit back a sigh. "Okay. I'll be there in a few minutes."

"Thank you."

I hung up and dropped my phone into the cup holder. "Sorry."

Bella looked over at me. "That was your dad?"

"That was Carlisle, yes." I realized that I was talking like him, and I gave the steering wheel an irritated squeeze. When I glanced at Bella, she was watching me. "I'm sorry, Bella. I have to stop at the hospital for a minute."

She shrugged. "It's okay. Anything's better than calculus."

I chuckled. "Yeah, I guess." Although I'd rather be doing almost anything than heading for the hospital. Especially with Bella along.

Bella fiddled with the wolf charm on her bracelet. She seemed to know that I didn't feel like saying much. I felt bad. I'd kidnapped her, after all. And now I wasn't even talking to her. Damn Carlisle. I watched from the corner of my eye as she twisted the charm between her fingers. I wanted, badly, to reach over and stop her nervous motions. To take her hand in mine.

I felt my fist balling up again. Carefully, I opened my fingers. And pushed harder on the accelerator.

When I parked in the visitor lot at the hospital a few minutes later, I turned to Bella. "Do you want to come in, or would you rather wait here?"

"I'll come in, if you don't mind," she replied.

Of course she would. I jumped out and hurried around the car to open her door for her. She looked a little surprised when I swung it open only an instant before she opened it for herself. Didn't she expect me to be a gentleman? Hadn't she ever been treated like a lady? I wanted to tell her to get used to it, because I always would treat her that way. But I didn't want to say anything to freak her out, so I kept my mouth shut. "Um… Thanks," she mumbled as she stepped out next to me.

"Welcome." I closed the door behind her and moved to the trunk. She trailed me to the bumper and stood back to wait. I dug out a binder of paperwork and closed the trunk again. Then I motioned her toward the hospital.

Bella fell into step beside me easily. We walked through the main door together and she hung back a little when I stepped up to the reception desk. I could feel the soothing hum of her electricity behind me when the receptionist smiled up at me. "Hello, Edward."

"Hi, Carmen. Is Carlisle around?"

The woman's dark eyes turned sympathetic, and I knew immediately what she was going to say. "He's on the third floor."

I tried not to react. I didn't want Bella to see me react. But I felt the color draining out of my face at the thought of the third floor. My throat tightened. My pulse started to speed. A flash of heat shot through me. Damn Carlisle to hell. He knew that I was coming to meet him. What was he doing on that floor?

Level. Dammit. Bella was watching. I shifted my weight but tried to make it look less nervous than it was by leaning against the counter. When I spoke, my voice was a little raspy, but controlled. Decent enough. "He's expecting me. Can you page him for me? I'll just wait for him down here."

Carmen nodded. "Sure, honey. I'll let him know you're here." She shot an interested glance past me, toward where Bella was standing. The woman was nosy. She'd known me since Carlisle had adopted me two years ago, and she'd only seen me with one other girl. I cringed at that memory, and at the comparison that I knew she was drawing right then. But I knew from the expression on her face that she liked the look of Bella a lot more than she'd liked Tanya. That much, at least, gave me a moment of amusement. And a strange sense of relief.

When Carmen turned her attention to paging Carlisle, I braced myself and turned, hoping Bella hadn't noticed my reaction.

Of course, she had.

Was there anything this girl didn't see?

I'd had almost this exact same experience with Tanya, and she hadn't caught the change in my behavior with the mention of the third floor. She'd been too busy fixing her hair to notice me. But Bella's wide brown eyes were intent on me. She'd more than noticed. She'd freaking catalogued.

I turned my back on her to wait for Carlisle. Suddenly I didn't want to look at her anymore. And I definitely didn't want to see her looking at me.

BPOV

Something severely bothered Edward about the third floor.

I'd been excited about meeting him at the school, but when I'd seen him standing there waiting for me, I'd suddenly been extremely nervous about being alone with him. But he'd been understanding, even sweet, and I'd felt comfortable enough to get in his car. I'd even begun to relax a little as he drove.

Then Carlisle had called, and Edward had begun to tense up. At first I'd thought it was due to his father's catching him skipping school, but he hadn't been flustered when he'd spoken to his father, and Carlisle hadn't seemed at all interested in his son's delinquency. He'd simply asked Edward to bring him some papers.

It was the hospital.

I'd realized that almost immediately. Edward didn't want to go to the hospital, and it wasn't just because I was with him. He had an aversion to it. I could see it in the way his walk faltered on the way into the building, the way his eyes skipped around the lobby when he made it inside. The receptionist, Carmen, knew him, but he didn't spare her any formalities.

And when she mentioned the third floor, Edward all but had a panic attack.

He tried to cover it. When he shifted his weight, he leaned into the desk like he was being casual. But his face was pale, and he looked a little sick. And his voice rasped when he told Carmen we'd wait for Carlisle where we were.

He looked back at me then, and he noticed that I'd seen his reaction. Something in his eyes changed. Hardened. And he turned his back on me.

I wished I had waited in the car.

I looked away from him only to notice Carmen's gaze right before she pretended to be absorbed in the work on her computer screen. The woman was nosy, I could tell, and she definitely was interested in the girl Edward had dragged in. For the first time in a long time, I suddenly wished I was dressed differently. Better. More like Alice wanted me to dress. Then I frowned at myself. I was comfortable in my hoodie and jeans, and it's not like Edward cared, anyway. At least, not now.

I glanced back at him. He still had his back to me, his shoulders hunched defensively. I tried to ignore his stance and focus on his clothing. I took in his dark blue jeans and slate blue button-up shirt and remembered his white shirt from the day before. I wondered if he always dressed this nicely. His hair was mussed from the baseball cap he'd been wearing earlier, and I felt a strange urge to smooth it for him, to complete the image. Although the tousled look added a little something to his generally tidy appearance….

His head lifted, and I quickly looked away. He turned toward the tall, handsome blond man who was heading toward him.

Carlisle walked right to Edward and accepted the papers he handed him. He said something quietly to his son, who brushed him off agitatedly. The response seemed to hurt Carlisle, and he took a small step back and mumbled what looked like an apology. Edward shook his head and muttered something back. Carlisle hesitated, then he suddenly turned his head and looked directly at me.

I pulled back a little in surprise, then shifted my weight nervously. I wasn't really sure what to do. My eyes moved involuntarily to Edward, but he was frowning darkly at his dad. When I glanced back at Carlisle, he still was gazing at me, but he didn't seem angry, at least. He looked kind of… pleased? His eyes were bright on me, and he looked like he was starting to smile when Edward suddenly snapped something and he turned back to his son.

This was just… I should have stayed in the car. Or at school.

I glanced toward Carmen, and she looked like she didn't know whether to watch Carlisle and Edward or me while she pretended to be invested in her work. I frowned a little at her, and she focused on her computer screen. As Edward and Carlisle discussed things further, I moved to the window behind me and gazed out at the parking lot, trying not to eavesdrop.

A second later, Edward was at my side. "Let's go," he said shortly.

I glanced up at him. His face was almost frighteningly dark. I looked over my shoulder to see Carlisle gazing sadly after him and Carmen's wide eyes flicking back and forth between the doctor and us. Edward muttered something roughly and moved next to me to get my attention, and I turned back to him. He was all but glaring at me. I ducked my head and started toward the door. He was right beside me as we stepped outside.

His gait was stiff the entire way to the car. There was something almost violent about him now, a pent-up energy that swirled around him in aggressive agitation. I instinctively kept a small space between us as we walked through the parking lot. If he noticed, he didn't seem to mind.

As we walked, I debated my veto power. If he was this angry, he probably didn't want me around anyway. And honestly… he kind of scared me a little right now. That look in his eyes… I moved a little farther away.

When we got to his car, I expected him just to get in. But he followed me to my side and opened my door for me. I'd never known a guy to act like such a gentleman. Ever. Maybe Charlie, once in a while. But Edward hadn't let me open a door yet. Even when he'd had to race around the car to open my door before I got out, and now when he was so upset. Something in him saw me as a lady, and he responded instinctively as a gentleman. Naturally, and clearly without thinking about it – because he was too distracted to be thinking anything through right now.

It was a little awkward to have him treat me that way, because I definitely didn't feel like I deserved it – I didn't feel like a "lady" – and I wasn't used to being treated that way, so I didn't know exactly how to respond. But I did know that it felt… nice to have him react that way toward me.

So as he held the door for me, I looked up to thank him for the gesture, and maybe suggest that he take me back to Forks so I wouldn't be a bother to him. And I froze.

His eyes were on me. But they weren't the frightening eyes from before. They had changed. His face was still a tumult of emotion, but his eyes were intense on my face. And they were practically begging me to stay.

He wanted me with him.

I swallowed hard and looked away, then back into his eyes. And I got in the car without a word.