Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

My entry into the Halloween Edition of A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words contest, which won judge's pick from 2brown-eyes. Hope you enjoy this little one shot.

The Prank

"Shit!" Bella hissed when she tripped again.

It was dark and blurry. She'd lost her glasses with a crunch just after she'd managed to call Rosalie to ask her when she'd get to the cemetery.

"God, Bella, we're not coming. Did you seriously think we'd ever let you into our group? Get real!"

The line had disconnected and within minutes the screen went dark, her battery now dead.

Bella had no idea how she'd get out of there before daybreak, but the last thing she wanted was to spend all night surrounded by tombs.

Everything felt and sounded sinister because she couldn't see an inch away from her face.

A loud crunching sound in the distance caught Bella's attention, as did the snapping of a large twig up above her.

She tried to escape whoever had found her, but when she turned and attempted to flee, she ran head first into a nearby headstone. The rustling noises grew louder as her vision went black.

The next thing Bella knew, she was too warm. She tried to move but something was holding her down. With a scream, she struggled against the restraint and whatever vehicle she was in lurched to a stop.

"Bella, relax. You're safe."

She knew that voice. She'd dreamt of it. But there was no way it was really there.

"Bella, it's Edward. Edward Platt. If you'll calm down, we're almost at your house."

She felt the car pull back onto the road and tried to relax into the seat.

"How do you know where I live?" she questioned.

"You're Bella Swan. Everyone knows where Chief Swan lives."

"I didn't think you knew who I was," she muttered.

"You were big news when you showed up last year. I remember the drama when Mac started to flirt with you during one of his 'off again' periods with Rosalie."

"Don't remind me. That's why she did this."

"She did this because she's a bitch. Anything or anyone that draws focus from her is a threat to her queen bee status. Next year will be a rude awakening for her."

Bella was shocked by his little speech.

"She's my step sister, there's no blood there."

"Oh, right," Isabella said, feeling dumb.

"We're here," Edward told her.

She heard him turn off the engine and the door open and close. For a brief moment, she was gripped with fear that he'd leave her there, but Edward wasn't like his step sister. Her door opened a minute later and she felt his hands brush against her hip when he undid the seatbelt. He helped her out of the car and led her up the stairs into her house.

"Where's your house key?"

Bella dug into her pocket and handed him the keyring.

The door was unlocked and helped her up the stairs and into her bedroom. She was thankful it was clean, because she'd have been mortified otherwise. Edward left her standing in the middle of the room and returned quickly with the spare glasses that were sitting on her dresser.

She looked at him, caught by how beautiful he was. His deep green eyes were focused on her, something hidden in their gaze.

"Thank you, Edward. I really appreciate your help. Though I don't know how you knew."

"Rosalie and her friends had a GoPro set up in one of the trees and they were watching in the living room. I grabbed it before I helped you. Now I have the SD card, and I've already texted Carlisle to let him know what his little girl was up to tonight."

"Great, now she's going to be on an even bigger warpath after Dr. Cullen punishes her."

"Leave Rosalie to me."

"Okay. Well, I'm going to get cleaned up. Thanks again for coming to my rescue."

"Anytime."

Bella listened as Edward left, and then went to shower. She scrubbed off the dirt and blood, mindful of the cut at her hairline, before washing her hair. She carefully climbed out of the shower and put her glasses back on before she toweled off and changed into a tank top and shorts. She went downstairs to lock up, but a muttered curse had her heart racing all over again.

"Edward, what are you still doing here?"

"When I talked to Carlisle, he mentioned you could have a concussion. Since the chief is working tonight, I wanted to at least make sure you were okay. I found some movie marathons and was kinda hoping you'd let me stay and hang out."

"Look, Edward, I appreciate that you saw Rosalie being a bitch and came to my rescue, but I'll be fine. I don't need your charity."

"Bella, this isn't charity. I like you."

"I'm calling bullshit," she countered, her arms crossing over her chest.

"Fuck, it's sexy even when you're angry."

"Come on, Edward."

"Come on, what? You showed up here last spring looking like a goddamn wet dream, but before I could ask you out, Mac showed interest. I still didn't know where I was going to school, so I didn't want to start something and then bail in six months. But I'm in Seattle now, and rumor has it, you're planning to go to school there in the fall, so I don't feel like a dick making my move. What do you say? Wanna watch a scary movie?"

Bella smirked and switched off the light as she walked to the couch. This might be her only chance to cuddle up beside him. "What's on?"

Bella had never wanted to watch Paranormal Activity, but she didn't mind when she had her head buried into Edward's shoulder twenty minutes into the movie. Or when, twenty minutes after that, he had her pulled over his lap so she straddled him as they made out.

This was not how she thought she'd be spending Halloween night, but she would never complain about the prank that led to her beginning with Edward.