A/N: On to part two. Thanks again to Ronnie, Meg, and May for giving this a once-over for me. Any mistakes are mine.

Also thanks to everyone who has reviewed, favorited, and/or followed. This isn't an easy thing to do—putting a piece of yourself out there—so thanks for being supportive and providing useful feedback for the most part. As always, if not your thing, no hard feelings—tons of awesome stories out there to read.

I don't own Twilight or its characters; we all know who does.

~NT~

Chapter 2: Magnet for Losers

Through much of her undergrad, Bella had dated Alec, his preppy good looks and charming personality winning her over when they had met at freshman orientation. Their relationship fizzled out when she saw he was more interested in his fraternity brothers than spending time with her, and that included their time between the sheets as was the case when she found him and Demetri in his bed, making out. She was more hurt that he felt he couldn't tell her he was questioning his sexuality and wanted to take a break, so he resorted to sneaking around and cheating on her.

Then there was Jared who she dated senior year. Surprisingly, they made it through the whole year together, only to have things blow up in their face at their graduation party where Bella found him having a threesome with her roommate, Claire, and her boyfriend, Quil. Things started to settle in her mind that this hadn't been a one-time incident when she reflected on the number of times Jared had been in their apartment while she was in class. He always played it off as wanting to wait for her so he could surprise her. Turns out, he had done just that.

Bella took a little bit of a break after she graduated with her bachelor's in literature, choosing to focus on her new job at the publishing house. It was there that she met Alice, who introduced Bella to her older brother, Edward. Bella felt an immediate attraction to him—with his classic good looks, his sparkling jade-colored eyes, bronze hair that was in a constant state of bedhead, sharp jawline, and perfectly symmetric and pouty lips, he was the thing of fantasies.

Unfortunately, the night he joined Bella and Alice for happy hour drinks at the bar down the street from their office, Edward had a strawberry blond bombshell on his arm. Turned out, Edward was making someone else's dreams come true. Bella wasn't the jealous type, which was odd given her track record of having prior boyfriends cheat on her, but she spent the evening seething every time Tanya laughed at something Edward said, or when she would place her manicured hand on his forearm, stroking it with a seductive smile on her lips. Edward and Tanya stayed for a few rounds of drinks, begging off early, citing dinner plans.

Alice appraised Bella's despondent mood, but she held her tongue as she sipped her drink. Soon Bella was faking a yawn and bidding her friend goodbye, claiming that she had an early morning ahead of her so she needed to catch some Zs. Alice hugged her goodbye, whispering "It's just not time yet." Her cryptic words gave Bella pause, but she brushed them off as she donned her light jacket and headed out of the bar. As she was turning the corner to make her way to the subway, she slammed into a hard body. She stumbled but was steadied by a firm grip on her shoulders.

"Sorry about that. Are you all right?"

Bella looked up and captured the gaze of a tall man with dirty blond hair, tied back at the nape of his neck, and simmering sapphire eyes. He gave her a weary smile, looking apologetic for almost knocking her on her ass.

"Yeah. I'm fine. I should have been paying more attention. Thanks for setting me right," she said.

"My pleasure …" He stalled as he didn't know what name to address her by.

"Bella," she supplied.

"Though I wish it were under better circumstances, it's nice to meet you, Bella. I'm James." His smile grew from a hesitant one to a wide toothy grin.

"Well, I really should get going." Bella glanced down at the time on her phone.

"Oh okay." James's smile fell.

Bella waved over her shoulder and started to walk away.

Footfalls followed after her, along with a shouted, "Hey, Bella, wait up a sec, would ya?"

James fell in step with her and she slowed to a stop.

"I know this is probably really strange, but would you maybe want to get something to eat? My dinner plans fell through, and it's still early, so I'm going to go out on a limb and assume you haven't eaten yet." He took in her bewildered expression, halting his yammering. "Or maybe not. Sorry to bother you." He turned to go back the way he had just run from, when Bella placed her hand on his forearm.

"That has got to be the oddest way anyone has ever asked me out, but you're right, I haven't eaten, so sure."

That one dinner soon turned into meeting for coffee after work twice that week. Before long, dinner dates and coffee dates became the norm. There was something holding Bella back from turning their casual dating into anything more. She was still gunshy after her failed college relationships, so she was content with some simple companionship. James seemed okay with it at first; always smiling and giving her light touches as he left their dates with chaste kisses on the cheek or a short hug. His behavior started to become erratic as the frequency of his texts kicked up. He'd say odd things like compliment what she had worn that day to work, even though they hadn't gone out.

So it wasn't before long that like all things that seem too good to be true, Bella's would-be savior turned out to be a stalker with an obsessive personality and extreme jealous streak. There started to be threatening notes left on her car, bouquets of black roses resting on her doorstep, late-night phone calls with nothing but deep breathing punctuated by strangled moans. Locks and phone numbers were changed, but it did nothing to deter James's fixation on her.

She had met up with Edward and Alice after work one day and shared how scared she was becoming by all the happenings. Edward had comforted her, and when it was time to head home, he offered to drop her off. As they were walking down the hallway, she saw James propped up against her door, his legs askew, with a bottle of whiskey in one hand and a switchblade in the other. He used his thumb to flick open and close the knife, the clicking echoing down the dimly lit passage. Bella froze in her spot as her wide, frightened eyes met his dull menacing glare.

"So this is why all I get are limp hugs and the constant brush off. Too busy spreading your legs for Mr. Pretty Boy over there." He slurred his words as he clamored to his feet, the liquor sloshing in the bottle as he did. "Should have figured. Bitches like you are all the same." He staggered in her direction, the knife in his hand swaying as he ambled down the hall.

Edward put a protective arm in front of her chest, shoving her behind his back. "Bella, go get in the car and call the cops," he whispered.

"No, let's go together." Bella tugged on his sleeve, trying to pull him with her.

"It's okay. I'll wait here until the police arrive. Please, just go."

Bella reluctantly complied, taking the steps two at a time as she dialed 911. The dispatcher kept her on the line as she radioed in to the officers. As opposed to heading down to the parking garage as Edward had asked, she stood in the stairwell, her breath leaving her in hurried puffs, her heart beating rapidly. She strained her ear and picked up fragments of Edward and James's conversation.

"I bet she's a lousy lay. It's always the buttoned-up type, the teases, that can't deliver when it comes time to get down and dirty. She is fucking hot though; I'll give her that. Not sure what she sees in you. Far too pretty for a dude."

Bella peered around the corner and saw that James had not made much progress down the hall; instead he was slumped over on his side. Edward stood with his arms crossed over his puffed-out chest, his stare hard.

"Shut the fuck up." Edward seethed as he spit the words down at James.

"Pieces of shit like you are what give men as a whole a bad name. Was it you that was calling her and jacking off into the phone like a dirty fucking pervert? Can't get anyone to love you so you have to settle for self-love, but that's not enough to get you off, you need to use fear to make it happen. You're sick." The disgust on Edward's face soon turned into a satisfied smirk as he continued to lay into James. "I hope when the police come they lock your ass up for a long time."

He walked over until he was practically on top of James. "You better not even think about coming near Bella again. Do you hear me? If you so much as dare to breathe the same air as her, I will end you." Edward crouched down and spit his vicious words in James's face. It was at that moment that Bella noticed Edward had kicked the knife away from James and James's right eye was starting to swell, with blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.

Two officers rushed up the stairs beside her, calling out to Edward and James. Once Bella and Edward had given their statements, James was taken into custody and Bella was given information on how she could file a restraining order.

Bella thanked the officers, her body trembling from all that had transpired. Edward rubbed his hands up and down her upper arms. "Do you want to stay at my place? Or I can take you over to Alice's—I'm sure she wouldn't mind."

"Could we go to yours please?" Bella asked, her voice shaky.

"Of course."

That was the first night, of what would become many, that Bella would pour her heartache out onto his plush couch with bottles of beers and takeout. She would cry over how she was a magnet for losers, how she was unlucky in love, that she probably was better off single.

~NT~

Thanks for reading.