Disclaimer: I do not own the Twilight series or any of the characters, unfortunately. I do own my plot deviations and OCs, though, so yay!

I woke bright and early at seven o'clock in the morning.

I went through my morning personal hygiene routine, chose comfortable clothes for the day and then skipped down to the kitchen, whistling merrily as I mulled over my choices for breakfast.

Option one: only slightly healthy cereal. Option two: very healthy eggs. Option three: absolutely unhealthy hash browns. Option four: sugary and also unhealthy toaster pastries.

Hm, no brainer for me, I'll make hash browns and pastries with a tall glass of orange juice. A little healthy to balance out my unhealthy.

I was halfway through breakfast when a familiar and very unwelcome bronze head came into view.

I immediately lost my appetite.

"I don't remember inviting you." I snarled, glaring at him.

"Now, love, don't be that way. I know that we had a minor disagreement yesterday, but we can mend it." Edward said, he knelt and drew a small black jewelry box from a pocket.

"Edward-" I was cut off abruptly, much to my displeasure. He had the annoying habit of doing that.

"Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?" He asked, opening the box to reveal a 24karat diamond ring nestled in black velvet, then turned his golden eyes onto me, the depths becoming more enigmatic.

I threw my porcelain plate at his head, fury driving my movements as I realized what he was doing. The manipulative, conniving son of a-"YOU TRIED TO GLAMOR ME INTO ACCEPTING YOUR MARRIAGE PROPOSAL?!" I shrieked.

"No, love, I would never-" Edward began, his eyes wide and 'innocent'.

"Don't lie to me! You have tried to glamor me multiple times since we met, but you kicked it up a notch after Volterra. You tried to glamor me into not talking to Mike last week! The new kid Aaron was earlier this week!"

"That isn't true, love. I was merely suggesting that you not risk giving them the wrong impression."

"How would I have given them the wrong impression? I had a school project with Mike and Aaron was lost!"

Edward was stonily silent, his eyes unreadable.

"Exactly! That there, the stony silence, is another problem! You drop this crap on me, but when I have a valid counter argument, you clam up!" I seethed, frustrated and pissed. "It's bullshit, and I'm sick of it!"

Nothing. No change of expression. Not even a twitch of his eye.

That's it!

"Get out! Get out of my house! I never want to see you again you slimy little blood sucking leech!" I growled, seething at the audacity of this . . . . creature!

Edward's eyes hardened as the gold leaked out and black took its place. My heart quickened, I had a feeling I know what would come next. Flashbacks from my encounter with James played briefly, seeming to taunt me for my stupidity. He growled, his lips twisting and his hands balling into fists. He crouched, preparing to lunge at me.

I backed away, knowing from previous experience that it was futile to attempt escape but my survival instincts screamed at me to flee. I turned and ran from the kitchen, making a break for the stairs.

I screamed in surprise when a sound similar to boulders smashing together came from behind me and something crashed into the wall. I, to my questionable sanity, spun to investigate.

My eyes widened in shock, Emmett and Jasper had Edward in what could be described as a full body lock. Is that the right term? I'd have to ask Charlie sometime.

I shook my head, get it together Swan your vampire ex boyfriend just tried to kill you. He actually tried to kill me, after everything. I almost died.

"Bella!" A familiar southern drawl yanked me from my head.

I blinked, turning toward the source of the voice.

Emmett and Jasper were watching me, golden eyes concerned. There were white spots on their pants and shirts, a small bit of dry wall was caught in Emmett's curls.

Edward was being held still, his black eyes boring into me. Suddenly, his eyes grew cloudy and his body slumped forward as little as his captors hold would allow.

"That really just happened, right?" I hugged myself, my breathing and heart slow to return to normal. "He tried to kill me, he was going to kill me. That really happened, I would have died."

"Bella, take some breaths for me." Jasper murmured, closer now, but still touching Edward.

Calm invaded my body, pushing away the surreal feeling that had permeated my body since the attack.

"I never thought he'd attack me. I forgot for a moment, what he was capable of, I just started yelling at him." I drew in a breath, glancing around the house to survey the damage.

There was a large hole, big enough for two people, in the wall above the sixth stair. Dry wall dust covered the stairs, the floor, the three vampires huddled at the bottom of the stairs and a spattering of it painted my back. How did I explain that to Charlie?

"We can help with Charlie, if you need us to," Jasper offered, his tone gentle.

"What would we say?" I asked, clearing my throat once I heard how rough it sounded. "I can't say someone broke in, he'd process the place for forensic evidence. How would I explain the results? 'Oh, they're vampires, dad. They don't have fingerprints, but they sure do look human, huh?' Not exactly going to win over his trust."

Emmett's eyebrows furrowed, his forehead scrunching. "What if we say we were meeting Edward here, but he bailed? He left and you offered us to stay since we came for a mass study session. Jazz and I were horsing around, I went through the wall by accident."

I chewed my lip. "I don't know, Em, I don't want you to get in trouble for helping me."

I didn't see him move, he was there after a single blink of an eye. He lifted my chin, his gentle topaz orbs stared me down.

"Hey, Belly Bean, we won't get in trouble. We'll be fine, promise." The giant bear of a man kissed my forehead and returned to help Jasper haul Edward out.

Not five seconds later, the first notes of 'Hey Soul Sister' blared through the quiet of the house. I hurried to answer, swiping the screen of my cell and pressing the little green phone icon.

"Hello?"

"Bella! Oh, thank goodness-I'm so glad they got there in time! Are you okay?" Alice's worried voice touched my ears.

"I'm fine, Alice. Jasper has him sedated, they left just a moment ago." I sighed, the calm fading and exhaustion settling in its place. I just wanted to take a nap, forget the past hour or so happened.

"Go ahead, Bella, I'll talk to you tomorrow. I'm so happy you're okay." She hung up shortly after. Bless that girl for knowing I wanted to lay down, made it quicker to end the conversation so I could. No suffering through small talk while I waited for a good time to tastefully drop the hint.

I flopped face down on my bed, not bothering to untuck the blankets or cover up. I burrowed my face into my pillows and let myself drift, the rest of this mess could wait until later.

After my nap, I picked up the shards of porcelain and pieces of the wall. I decided to just vacuum up the soggy cereal and change bags once I finished with the small dry wall bits on the stairs.

I set the dishes I hadn't thrown at the vampire in the sink to wash with lunch dishes. I would probably make a sandwich for myself soon, so it wouldn't be long.

My thoughts redirected, Edward's attack as well as his idea of 'mending things' was still fresh in my mind. I'd be dead if Jasper and Emmett hadn't interfered, the notion was a sobering one.

I lifted my chin and drew my shoulders back, standing straight and tall. I would not let Edward Cullen do this to me, I was stronger than that. I am Isabella Swan, granddaughter of Marie Swan and daughter of Charlie Swan. No vampire male would make me less than that, not even that slimy worm.

I pushed the thought of that poor excuse of a man from my mind, focusing instead on my next move. I was single now, but I didn't want to stop seeing the Cullens just because Edward was a manilpulative, controlling, self centered ass. I also knew I didn't want to date just yet.

I would spend time with my vampire family and Charlie. I would also use my spare time to try to figure out what I wanted to do with my life.

My steps to the fridge faltered, my graduation was tomorrow. We had rehearsal later today, I completely forgot.

Ah, crap.

I made myself a simple ham sandwich, wanting to eat and get upstairs to find my dress to lay out for tomorrow.

I had made it upstairs and the dress laid out nicely on my desk, ready to be worn. I spun, intending to head downstairs to wash up, when I caught sight of the computer.

I suppressed the urge to smack myself in the forehead.

I was supposed to email my mother! Ah, double crap.

My shoulders slumped as I sat in front of the computer, waiting for the ancient beast to power up. Once it had, I opened the browser to access my email.

I scrolled through my history, realizing that I hadn't erased it in quite a while. I also had done more browsing than I thought between emails to my mother and homework related research.

My hand stilled when I caught sight of a familiar web page, my eyes fixed on the screen.

I looked over my shoulder to double check that I had closed my bedroom door.

I held my breath and clicked the link, my teeth worrying my lip. I glanced around my room, making sure no vampires were hanging around. When I was certain they weren't, I began rereading script I had last laid eyes on almost a year ago.

By the time I reached the end of the page, my mind was made up.