CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE

BELLA POV

Over the next few days I was bored out of my mind thanks to my sprained wrist. Emily and Kim refused to let me work, telling me to relax and let it heal instead, but that only made me restless. Jake had asked me to stay on the res while he was at work, and although I tried to keep myself busy at the house, it didn't take long for me to discover that I could still drive with my bandaged wrist.

In the morning I would clean up a little at home, then head to the diner for a while. The girls wouldn't let me help out in any way, so I usually just went for a chat with them and to play with Sammy and Josh. At lunchtime I would go home and cook for Jake, Quil and Embry, even though he kept telling me to stop. Quil was the only one who didn't protest every time I walked into the garage with a bag full of food for them. Next I would head to Charlie's to clean and sometimes cook his dinner so that he would only have to heat it up when he got home from work, then I would head back to La Push to make dinner for Jake and I.

The only problem with my new daily routine was that Edward Cullen seemed to be keeping track of it. Either that, or I was experiencing the weirdest coincidences ever. He jogged past Charlie's house at the exact time that I arrived every day, stopping and speaking to me for a few minutes as he passed. Every time I went to the store, he was there. The petrol station in town? He was there. I even went all the way to Port Angeles the day after my injury to buy some new books, and who should be browsing the fiction section? Yeah that's right, Edward Cullen.

He was always polite when we spoke, but there was still that thing about him that I couldn't put my finger on; the thing that unsettled me, as if it wasn't creepy enough that he always seemed to know where I was! The only place I hadn't bumped into him was on the res; he obviously had some serious issues with the place.

A few days after my accident when I was leaving Charlie's after doing some cleaning, Edward pulled up at the end of the drive in his silver Volvo. Luckily for him I was in a good mood, so I was polite when he came striding up the drive towards me.

"Hello Bella, I was hoping to catch you here."

"Hi Edward. I was just about to leave actually, I need to check on things at work." My usual lie, but he never seemed to see through it.

"I won't keep you, I just wanted to bring you this." He told me, handing me a square package which was neatly wrapped in 'happy birthday' gift wrap. "A little bird told me that it was your birthday soon, and I wanted to give you this. I noticed your truck here earlier so I thought it best to bring it you now, in case I don't see you again before your birthday."

"Oh…wow. You didn't have to do that." I said, astonished that he had bothered to get me a gift. We had only spoken several times in passing since he had taken me to the hospital, and I hadn't exactly been friendly most of the times I had seen him. "It's not actually my birthday for a couple of weeks..."

"I know, but I think we will be leaving town soon." He replied with a crooked smile. He really was handsome, but after all these weeks I still could not figure out what it was that made me want to avoid him.

"Well, thank you Edward. That's very nice of you." I felt bad for trying to brush him off, so decided I could make conversation with him for a few minutes. "How are your family?"

"They are well, thank you. I believe you know my sister, Alice? She talks about you a lot."

I struggled to keep the frown from my face when he told me that. I had gathered that the small girl who spoke to me about my truck had been Edward's sister, but that was the only contact I had with her. What could she possibly say about me after our short conversation? I quickly regained my polite composure, meaning to end our talk as quickly as possible so I could leave.

"We met yeah, she seems nice." If a little creepy.

"She will be very happy to hear that you think well of her."

I smiled and took another step towards my truck, but he matched it and continued to speak.

"I was wondering if you would like to come to my house for dinner? That way you can meet the rest of my family, and I know Carlisle and Alice would both be very happy to see you again."

I couldn't hide the shock from my face this time, my mouth dropping open a little before I could control it. "I don't know about that, I actually have plans on Tuesdays." The thought of bailing on movie night and leaving Jake and Paul to have to eat Rachel's cooking almost made me laugh, but I didn't think that would help me look honest.

"Then how about tomorrow?"

"I babysit my friends' baby on Wednesday evenings."

"Okay… Thursday?"

"That's my date night with my husband." I emphasised the last word in the hope that he would get the message, but he didn't seem to even acknowledge the word. "I actually don't think my husband would be too pleased about me having dinner with another man, he can be pretty protective." I laughed, attempting to make a joke of the situation but Edward didn't appear to be joining me.

"What your husband doesn't know won't hurt him."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked, a little too aggressively.

"Marriage isn't absolute Bella. There are some things that are much more everlasting than marriage, maybe you should consider that."

"What?" I asked, shaking my head. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"I know you don't, but it is a shame. If only our paths had crossed sooner, things would have been very different."

The anger that rose inside me gave me a confidence boost. Old Bella would have just ignored his words and got in the truck, but new Bella wanted an explanation. "If that means what I think it means, then you're sadly mistaken. I'm very happy with my husband, he is my perfect match."

"I disagree."

"With what?"

"I do not think he is your perfect match. I would actually say that he is dangerous for you Bella, if only you could see that."

I was stunned for a second; did Edward somehow know the tribe's secret? No, it was impossible. "And why would you think that? You've never even met Jacob."

"Yes I have, which is why I know he is dangerous for you to be around. I would take you far away from that place right now if I wasn't aware of the repercussions it would have on my family. The only reason I have let you go on living as you are is because I know you would not like to leave Charlie."

"The only reason you have let me? Who the hell do you think you are?" I yelled at him, causing him to visibly flinch. I no longer cared; he had made me beyond angry.

"There is no need to curse, Isabella."

I couldn't even manage to get any words out to respond to him, so I stormed angrily to my truck without another word. I only looked back when I had reversed off of the drive, and saw him still standing there beside his car.

"Stupid… weird looking… creep!" I finally managed to stammer when I was almost in La Push and had gained enough control of myself to be able to speak again. I was so mad that I made the decision to go straight to the garage, so that I could let out my pent up aggression to Jake, Embry and Quil. Parking up outside, I jumped out of the cab and slammed the door shut behind me, only pausing to grab the present so I could smash whatever it was with one of Jake's power tools. I pulled the garage door open a little too aggressively, causing it to bounce off the wall and create a bang that echoed throughout the room.

Instantly the heads of Jake and his two best friends appeared from under three different cars, taken aback by my loud entrance. "Bells?" Jake called as he realised it was me.

"Jeez Bella, get out the wrong side of the bed this morning?" Quil joked.

"I didn't think you had the strength to open that door alone, never mind nearly pull it off it's hinges!" Embry laughed, wiping his hands on a cloth as all three of them made their way towards me. Embry was closest, so it was him who reacted first. One second he was coming towards me with a surprised grin on his face, the next he was growling at me and his whole body was shaking.

Then came Quil, who too was shaking from head to toe. He was facing me with a deadly stare, looking so intimidating that I wouldn't have even known it was him if I hadn't seen his expression change first hand.

Finally Jake came towards me, turning completely serious as he circled me. His hands were shaking, but he seemed more in control than the other two. I was about to speak up and tell them they were all seriously freaking me out, but Jake finally broke the tense silence.

"Bella, where have you been? Who have you been with?" he asked in a cold, angry voice.

"I was at Charlie's, then this idiot boy was outside when I left…" I answered timidly, all but forgetting how angry I had felt a minute before.

"What boy, Bells?"

"He's called Edward. I think his surname is Cullen-"

I was about to tell him exactly what I thought of Edward Cullen, but I was interrupted by a loud, menacing growl that somehow came from Quil. He seemed to be shaking even more violently as he ran past me out of the door, I assumed to phase.

"They said they'd fucking stay away!" Embry roared, and all I could do was look on in shock. I had never seen any of the guys this angry, and it was seriously scary.

"Did he hurt you, Bella?" Jake asked, shaking more than he had been before as he looked me over.

"What? No! No, he was just really irritating. And I've got a feeling he knows about the pack."

"No shit." Embry said, snorting humourlessly. He still looked tense, but Jake visibly relaxed a little when he knew I wasn't harmed.

"Okay Bells, what exactly happened?"

I proceeded to tell them both all about my chance encounters with Edward, pausing every now and again when Embry's shaking and growls got particularly violent. I felt much more comfortable when I realised the hostility wasn't aimed at me, but I still had no idea why they had reacted so strangely.

"How did you know I had been with someone anyway? And why are you all so angry?"

"Bells… do you remember what I told you about vampires?"

"Yeah." I answered, wondering why he would mention vampires at that moment.

"I told you about the family of vampires, that lived in Forks but moved away before you came here? The family we have the treaty with?"

"Yeah, the Cullens…" as soon as I had said the words, all the pieces fit themselves together in my mind. "Edward is a…"

"Yeah Bells." Jake nodded. "He's a bloodsucker."

"A bloodsucker who's pushed his luck once too often." Embry corrected. "We need to tell Sam about this."

"Yeah, we should call him." He agreed, finally closing the distance between us and kissing me briefly, before turning his nose up. "Did he touch you? 'Cause something on you seriously stinks of leech."

It was only then that I remembered the gift Edward had given me, which I had stuffed into the back pocket of my jeans. "He gave me this." I told him, pulling out the package. "I don't know what it is, should I open it?"

"Yeah, let's see if it's anything we can get him for." Embry said, curiously peering at the present but not coming any closer to it. "You better do it though Bella, I don't think I can handle the stench."

I carefully tore the paper, scared of what could be waiting for me inside. When I had finally got it open, I was relieved to find it was pretty normal.

"It's a CD." I told them, waving it in the air. "A homemade one, but there's nothing written on it."

"We should play it, see if there's some threat on there or something."

I nodded and walked over to the office where there was a CD player. Popping it in and pressing play, we were all surprised by the sound that hit out ears.

"What's this shit?" Quil asked as he rejoined us, seeming calmer than before.

"Piano." Jake replied with a shrug.

"Do you think it's Cullen playing?" Embry asked, looking at me.

"Wouldn't surprise me." I responded, skipping through the tracks to find that they were all pieces of piano music. Edward's voice even introduced each track, and the last piece on the CD made all three boys begin to growl again.

"This is a song I wrote for you, Bella." Edward's voice drifted through the speakers. "I call it Bella's Lullaby. I hope that listening to this before you go to sleep will allow you to feel close to me, even though I cannot be with you while you are living in La Push."

"Right that's it." Jake announced in the angriest voice I had ever heard. Turning to me, his voice softened temporarily while he spoke to me. "Bells, we have to go take care of this. I'll see you at home in an hour." He kissed me quickly, before turning to Embry and Quil. "Guys, let's go. There's no way Cullen's getting away before I've seen to him."

"Wait!" I shouted as the three of them made their way out of the office. Jake was the only one to pause and look back at me. "Do you really think I'm going to sit and wait for you while you confront him? It's me he's been stalking!"

"Bells-" he began with a pleading look on his face, but I was having none of it.

"No, Jake. I'm coming with you."