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EPOV

The only sound was the muted thud of my shoes on the wet gravel. I'd always loved running, except when I'd been forced to do so. Now that I was running of my own volition, I was back to loving it. It was the only time I felt free. The cold morning fog felt particularly good this morning. There wasn't a single sound except my breathing which kept in time with my stride.

It was supposed to be a way to work out anger issues- I didn't think I had any, but the court disagreed. So the lawyer told them I'd be getting my life together. It wasn't like it was a dysfunctional mess before, but they wanted to make sure that there wouldn't be another incident like the last time. I hadn't ever been in a fight before that night, but when they saw the pictures of the other guy's face- well it had been decided that I had anger issues. That I was a violent teenager who needed to rehabilitate myself before I became a physically violent adult. Even though I had no regrets about that night, I strived to be the best son possible to make up for the hell I'd put my parents through. To be the perfect son. The perfect student. Perfect and nothing less.

A daily run.

Piano lessons.

Therapy.

A psychiatrist.

A 4.0 GPA and near perfect SATs.

And other small ways that I'd become a better, more perfect person.

I didn't really think I needed to be a better person, but I did it all anyway. In return, my record would be expunged and sealed. No one outside of Forks would ever know. I wouldn't spend my entire adulthood explaining away a first degree aggravated assault and battery charges I'd earned at 15. Of course, my parents had hired the best lawyer money could buy. Because they didn't try me as an adult, I'd gotten off with community service in the end, mostly because the guy I'd beaten had been convicted and the judge had allowed my lawyers to bring up the events leading up to that night. Even though it would legally be like that night had never happened, the memory of that night would never leave my head.

The way Emmett and I had gotten a call from a panicked Rosalie. We had stayed in that night, apparently she'd gone out to Warren's party.

How we raced over there because the way she spoke didn't sit right with Emmett or I, we swung by and picked up Jasper on the way.

Rosalie stumbling out of the house. Her clothes torn and blood caked in between her thighs. Her skirt on backwards.

"Warren," she slurred, black tears running down her face.

She didn't really need to explain more than that, we'd seen enough.

We put her in the car. Then I heard Warren's distinctive voice coming from the side of the house. Maybe it was distinctive because of what I knew in my bones he had done.

There were only flashes after that. Wo knows maybe that was an indication of an anger problem? All I knew is he had hurt someone I considered a sister, someone I'd known my entire life. He had made the mistake of being alone when all three of us approached him. It wasn't a fair fight, but it hadn't been with Rosalie either. He was a varsity senior, Rose was a wide-eyed sophomore who'd been drugged.

I saw red and threw the first punch.

Emmett and Jasper followed.

Someone screamed that they were calling the cops. I was the closest to the house, I knew that with the pitch black night they'd only see me.

Me pushing Emmett and Jasper away, they'd made varsity as sophomores themselves. I knew something like this would ruin their academic and athletic career. I told them to take Rose to the hospital.

They conceded.

More flashes.

I was being put in handcuffs by Chief Swan himself.

Watching and smiling that Warren was being taken away on a stretcher.

Chief Swan putting me in a holding cell. He sat with me for a little, he confided that he didn't completely disagree with what I'd done. He'd gotten the call from the hospital that Rosalie and her parents were pressing charges against Warren. He said I should have just called the cops. I shouldn't have beat him half to death.

"What would you have done?" Was my only response.

I couldn't be sure, but I swore I heard him say, "I'd have killed him."

I shook the memory of that night away. My therapist told me I needed to make peace with what I'd done. That I could admonish what I'd done while still condemning Warren. But I never really regretted what I'd done, I said I did for the sake of appearance, but I didn't. Not really. He ruined Rosalie's life. The damage he'd caused was so extensive that she'd most likely never have kids. And he went to jail, not long enough in my opinion, but it was more than most got. I didn't care I'd gotten kicked off the track team or the football team. I didn't care that people were scared of me or thought I was the loner guy slash ticking time bomb.

No, I didn't regret what I'd done.

I relished in the fact that I'd given him a fraction of the pain he'd caused Rose.

I wondered what Bella would think about what had happened that night. Would she listen to my side? Or would she get a glimpse of that photo of Warren's bashed in face and be scared of me like everyone else was? I almost laughed because she was giving me a run for my money. I didn't really understand why, but everyone was scared of her. They were scared of different. And I had a sneaking suspicion that there was a whole lot lying beneath the show that Bella put on for everyone. Last night was a good example of that. The flashes of the storm of her emotions I saw all night. The way she'd kissed me at the end of the night after pulling away from me earlier in the day.

I knew my dad would be suspicious if I didn't get up for my run like I normally did, so I go up even though I wanted nothing more than to sleep another 3 hours to make up for how late I came in last night. I reached the end of my trail and looked at the horizon. Today I could barely see anything with the dense fog, but some mornings I swore the horizon was limitless. Vast and unending. It was always where I ended my run.

I knew I'd have to get back quickly, all of the moisture on the ground was going to freeze and I'd have to be extra careful driving today.

It was 7:45 when we pulled into the school parking lot. I didn't pay much attention to what anyone was saying, I was focused on finding Bella this morning. It was almost pathetic how ridiculously eager I was to see her again.

I saw her loud pickup truck enter the school and the smile on my face grew tenfold.

"Does that smile have anything to do with where you were last night?"

I looked up to my older brother, who had a mischievous smirk on his face.

"It's none of your business, Emmett."

"On the contrary, I covered for you while you were doing God knows what with God knows who. Though I have a pretty good guess about who you were with."

"Can I get the third-degree later?" I pleaded silently. I'd also let him know that his cover for me last night sucked.

"Make sure you use protection!" Emmett shouted when I was a few yards away. My head whipped around and I flipped him off. I really hoped Bella didn't hear that.

It didn't take me long to find where Bella had parked. When my eyes found her, she was staring at the ground looking incredibly emotional at something on the ground.

"Everything okay, Bella?"

Her head snapped up and I immediately noticed her glassy eyes. She cleared her throat and nodded. The emotion almost completely went away. "Yeah, Char- My dad, he got me some new tires. That's all."

"And that made you sad?" I asked, still very confused.

"What? No!" She shook her head. "I'm just not used to people taking care of me is all."

I was honestly shocked she'd even offered that tidbit of information. She was opening up to me. I had that warm, fluttering feeling again. I decided I liked it. I took a chance and leaned down and kissed her. Another win for me, she didn't pull away. She leaned in like and responded with equal intensity. This had to be my favorite thing to do ever.

I pulled away once I was breathless. "Hi," I breathed out with what I'm sure was a goofy looking grin on my face

"Hi," Bella laughed.

I was so lost in our little bubble that I almost didn't hear the sickening sound of a car skidding on ice. I looked and my eyes widened at the car barreling towards us and Bella's truck. Without thinking I grabbed Bella's arm and yanked her out of the path of destruction, I used all of my strength to pull her away. We fell back from amount of force I used, we both landed on the pavement only a foot away from where the van was skidding. The black van crashed right into the driver's side of Bella's truck where we had both been standing seconds ago.

I felt the buzz of adrenaline all over my body. You know they type you get when you narrowly avoid getting hit by a car when crossing the street, well that times a hundred. I didn't know what to feel. I wanted to laugh. To cry. To cheer. I'd just saved Bella and narrowly avoided certain death myself. I felt like one of those moms that lifted a car off of their trapped kid.

I looked over at Bella, my mind still racing and I could see that she didn't know what to feel either. We were still on the cold, wet floor when the shouting and crowding began.

Great.

We learned a lot about Edward's past. We'll learn about Bella's very soon. See you guys soon!