CH. 20

"Aww...Embry, darling. Of course I missed you! But, no. Actually" I went and sat next to Emmett, placing an arm around his shoulder "I cam to live with my brother. Emmett, and my dad, Charlie Swan." I looked at them, waiting for a reaction.

"Damn! I knew it! When Jacob introduced us I knew you looked familiar. I can't believe he didn't tell me you were the Chief's daughter."

"Wait! Jacob. Oh my GOD!! He knew. He must have. That means Uncle Billy did too! Why didn't anyone tell me, or Charlie?!" I let out an angry frustrated scream. "Where does Black live? I think I need to talk with him."
"Now come on B. I know Jacob's an ass of epic proportions, but Billy had to have had a reason to not tell anyone."
"Whatever Quil. Isn't Billy Charlie's friend? I saw pictures of him at the house. I didn't really recognize them at first, but now I do! He's known me since I was 2! Or...maybe Billy did tell Charlie, but he didn't care?" I started to get tears in my eyes thinking Charlie didn't really want me. Emmett pulled me into his lap.

"He may have been upset about your tattoos, but he loves you. If he'd known where you were, you can bet he would have found you. We even tried after he got the first letter, but Aunt Cat wouldn't tell us where you were. He wanted to find you." I took a deep breath.

"Ugh. I hate this. You know what? I'm gonna go swim." I took off my shirt and looked down at the bandage covering my stitches. I slowly peeled it from my skin, revealing a healing pink scar. "Hey Quil...little help? In my bag?" He dug around until he found the yellow glass bottle.

"Liquid bandage. Seems like everytime I see you I've got to put his stuff on so we can swim! Last time it was your shoulder now it's your side. Come on, lay down. What happened anyway?" I went and layed down on the log while he unscrewed the cap and dabbed some of the stinging liquid over the wound.

"Damn! That stings..."

"Sorry, but you didn't answer my question." I mumbled a response. "What?"

"Phil." That's all I had to say, he understood.

"Oh..."

"Hey. How's Claire? You can tell me everything I've missed while I wait for this stuff to dry!" He proceeded to tell me all about his girl friend. She's 16, and they've been dating for 2 1/2 years now. He's happy.

I reached down, and felt that it was dry so I bolted up, quickly removed my shorts and ran into the water, ignoring the chuckles from behind me. I heard a splash next to me and looked over to see the beautiful bronze haired god standing next to me with water dripping down his perfect chest.

"So, are you still mad at me or something? I'm sorry I didn't let you come with me, I just needed to be alone. I found the guys maybe 5 minutes before you all got here. Before that I was walking around listening to music. I didn't plan it. Please, don't hate me?"

"No, I could never-I'm sorry, I just. UGH! I was-" he mumbled something at the end.

"What?"

"Jealous.Okay? I. Was. Jealous. That those other guys were making you feel better, and you wouldn't let me help. I wasn't mad at you, I could never be angry with you. I was jealous of Quil. Ugh.." I had to laugh at that.

"You...were..jealous? Of Quil? Seriously? The guy's practically married to Claire! We're just friends Edward. I've never had a boyfriend. Before I came here, no one ever interested me like that. But I've got a bunch of guy friends, and if you plan on being jealous and angry every time I hang out with them, we might have some problems...Why were you jealous anyway? We're friends, it's not like you like me or anything...right?" I asked, trying not to sound too hopeful. I mean, come on! Edward Cullen-Greek god! Couldn't possibly like me.

"Are you insane? I DO! Like you...a lot. Like a lot, a lot. More than I should for someone I just met a couple days ago." He looked down at the water.

"I like you too Edward" I whispered, knowing he'd hear me. "A lot, a lot too." I looked down, hoping to hide my blush when a finger lifted my chin. Edward had come closer to me, and was now gazing into my eyes.

"Your blush is beautiful Isabella." I cringed a bit at the use of my full name.

"Bella, please. Just Bella."

"Bella" my name rolled off his tongue. "It means beautiful in Italian. Suits you." I playfully slapped his hand away, stuck my tongue out at him and ran off down the beach, laughing the whole time. He caught up with me in no time, picking me up gently and swinging me around before pausing suddenly. "Your stitches are okay to get wet now, right?" He asked with an evil glint in his eyes.

"Yes, Edwa-NO!!" I was cut off when he flung me into the water. "Edward Cullen I am gonna get you!" He popped up in front of me laughing. He abruptly stopped, and grabbed my hand.

"We should get back to Emmett now." He wasn't looking at me.

"What-why?" I followed his gaze to see none other than Jacob Black, the bastard, heading towards our group.