"Outside." Keith spat and tensed his bulging arm muscles.

"Edward, please no. Nothing happened." I whispered quiet enough for only him to hear. Great, I'm in Arizona for a few hours and I've already made enemies, or…judging by the way he was eyeing me, at the very least a problem.

"You're not worth it." Edward hissed and,with what I could see was a great amount of effort, turned and took my hand, I exhaled harshly and we left. He took me to a place where I could see my mom, who was now sipping a Slurpee and looking around for me.

"Who was that?" Edward's voice was harsh and strained. I cringed, realizing what could have just happened.

"I don't know, Keith?" I replied trying to lighten the mood a little. Obviously it was a stupid idea.

"What! Don't joke! He could've hurt you!" He was near yelling and people were turning their heads to gape.

"Edward." I whispered and stroked his cheek, I had to calm him down and fast. His eyes were getting darker and darker by the second. Leaning towards him I felt him stiffen, and I gave him a quick kiss, which seemed to ease the tension. Goosebumps ran down my arms.

"Bella, do you know him?" he asked, his now topaz eyes, looking into mine.

"Not anymore than you. By the way, how did you get here so fast?" He narrowed his eyes a little and smiled.

"Bella I can run fast, remember?" He had an impish grin on.

"But five minutes is still faster than normal, even for you." I argued.

"I sprinted. You sounded like you were in trouble," his grin faded, "which you were." He added this almost too quietly for me to hear.

"Tonight I want to hear what he was thinking. But I have to go now." Then I got on my toes and gave him a kiss. I began to walk away and could feel Edward staring at me, so I put a slight bounce in my steps, and almost fell flat on my face. I turned and saw him giving me the biggest, and most loving, grin ever. I gave up on the bounce.

"Hey Mom." I greeted her as I slowly walked up, still red in the face. "Sorry, I was kind of embarrassed, plus I got lost." I said almost revealing the whole truth. She smiled and tossed the empty Slurpee in a trashcan.

"Well that's okay, I got the munchies and grabbed a Slurpee. Now let's go home." And with that we left the mall and I stole a final glance at Edward who was still standing there exactly as I'd left him.

Leaving Edward alone in the mall with – shiver – Keith made me a little uncomfortable but I couldn't do anything. I just prayed that Keith had left, or Edward.

Renee and Phil had a Honda; which was comfortable and roomy enough for all of our bags. We rode home and chatted the whole way, it was amazing how much you had to catch up on when you were gone. Then my mom started asking about Edward.

"So how is your boyfriend?" she asked cautiously.

"He's fine, he actually got me this cell phone." I said holding it for her inspection.

"Are you two still being…safe?"

"Huh?"

"You aren't being careless." She replied cryptically. Now this conversation would have confused even Edward, and he can read her mind, so I decided to get right to the point.

"What do you mean, Mom?"

"Uh…you two seem close. So I was making sure that you two are being safe." She emphasized the last word and what she was saying hit me, hard. I felt like a piano had just been dropped on my chest, because just then I forgot how to breathe.

"No!" I choked and saw her eyes widen and her face flush.

"Bel–"

"No! We haven't had the need to worry about being safe yet." I clarified and felt my face turn an all-new shade of red.

"Ok. Well you know I have to check these things, you're both teenagers and, well, he's a boy, Bella." Oh God. I could feel a mother-daughter lecture coming on now. "You don't know the things that run through their minds and heaven knows that this is your first boyfriend, or at least serious one. We don't need you to get hurt."

"Who 'we'?" I asked.

"All of us." Boy, did she know how to confuse me. I found myself wondering just how long this ride was, and then I remembered that it was at least twenty minutes. I felt that piano drop again.

"Besides you shouldn't get too attached, he's a," she paused searching for the right word, "funny boy. You should see just–" I cut her off with a harsh yell.

"What! Not get too attached!" Suddenly I was yelling and waving my arms. "Mom, I can't believe that you'd say that." The piano on my chest was soon followed by an elephant, or two.

"Well honey," then she broke off as we turned onto out street. "Let's talk later. No need to be mad now." My anger was fading slowly but I was still pouting.

"Come on, Bella!" her face was excited now.

She waited for me at the door and I gave her a quizzical look. Who understands Mom's anymore? I opened the door and was nearly knocked over by a loud screech coming from the living room.

"Bella!" was all I heard and then I took a step backwards and heard a wave of laughter. Finally, my senses came back and I saw a small crowd of people in my living room. My eyes swept over Phil, and some old friends from school. They were holding a banner that said "Welcome home Bella!" I gave a smile and stepped in.

"Mom?" She was beaming at my surprised reaction. After greeting Phil, my friends and I sat down and began talking.

"I'm surprised you guys came to see me." I said and looked them over; they had changed.

"Bella-boo! We missed you!" said Tiffanie and then the gang giggled at her rhyme. Tiffanie had this obsession with nicknames; mine was Bella-boo. Tiffanie was short and had long red hair, green eyes and freckles covering her body.

"Yeah, how could we miss seeing you?" said Brandy, she was the most changed of them all. She was now more beautiful then I could ever remember. She had black hair and deeply tanned skin, plus a body like a model. She couldn't challenge Rosalie, but she was still beautiful. The others didn't seem as close to her as before, but we had once been extremely close.

'Tell us about your new life!" shouted Meg, she was still as plain as ever, but beneath her boring appearance she was the most fun person I've ever met – aside from Alice.

Before they could all begin hounding me with their questions I heard a knock at the door and saw my mom open it to reveal, none other than Edward. I jumped up, why was he here? But I saw my mom smile and point my way.

He was wearing a black long sleeve shirt, jeans, and a baseball cap that covered his face from the sun. All the girls followed my gaze and then sat silently gaping at the strangely dressed god who had just walked in. He walked in, removed the hat and gave us all a perfect smile.

I was frozen in my seat. He was here for my party? Even with mom talking about how we shouldn't be attached?

Brandy was the first of us to recover. "Hi." She stepped towards him, "My name is Brandy." I hadn't seen her for a while but I could guess by the way she was staring at him, that this was her flirting.

Edward, who could read her mind, quickly stopped her flirting. "Hello," he tried not to be alluring, it didn't work, "I'm Edward, Bella's boyfriend." Brandy was visibly crestfallen.

Edward looked at my expectantly. "Huh?" was all I could come up with.

"Introductions…" he reminded me.

"Of course. Edward meet, Tiffanie" I pointed and she gave a tiny wave.

"Meg," she broke her trance, jumped up and held out a hand for Edward to shake. He seemed to like her immediately.

"Jessa," I pointed to a short, slightly chubby girl with thick black hair and amazing blue eyes. Jessa, true to her personality, gave a quick smile and didn't talk. She was introverted, but very nice.

"And you already met Brandy." She gave a wide smile. Obviously she had recovered from his rejection very well.

"Can I sit down or would I be interrupting?" he asked and all the girls shook their heads so hard I thought it was a miracle they didn't fly off. He gave me a quick kiss on the cheek, and sat down. Everyone quickly followed suit. I sat in front of him and leaned back so he was supporting me.

It was a fun night, we all went through our questions and proceeded to talk about normal things. It amazed me to see how much being with Edward had torn me away from my old life. I didn't watch the same television shows that I used to, I had lost contact from a normal teenage life. They talked about the latest O.C. and Gilmore Girls while I nodded along. I felt normal in a strangely detached way.

Later Phil came in with pizza and soda and everyone got up to eat. We had formed out own small groups: Edward, Meg, and Tiffanie, and Jessa, Brandy, and me.

The night was fine until I was reminded that I had to call Charlie tonight. I ran to my room and quickly checked in with him on my cell phone. Mom was on our phone chatting with a friend.

On my way out I hear Brandy's voice, "So, how do you like Arizona?" I knew she was talking to Edward, her voice had a seductive tone.

"Not as much as Forks." I could hear the tension in his voice.

"Really?" her voice was dropping.

"I have to find Bella." He was trying to back away. I turned the corner and three things happened very fast.

First, my jaw dropped when I saw how Brandy had backed him against a wall and was way too close to him.

Second, Edward turned his head and locked eyes with me, I could see the hurt and shock in his as he registered the hurt in mine.

Third, and worst, Brandy instantly stepped closer and kissed him. On the lips.

AN: R&R! Hopefully the next chapter will be up soon!