Chapter 9

Bella POV

As Bella walked to her first class of the day she could see the telltale signs of fall coming. Two weeks had passed since she had the call with her parents telling them about Edward. Whenever they talked now Bella could hear the slight worry in their voices - especially her mom's - of whether or not she was rushing her relationship with Edward. They knew better than to bring up their doubts so their conversations were mainly about school and what was going on back home in Forks.

Life with Edward, though, couldn't be more perfect if she tried. They attempted to spend all their free time together during the week and Friday and Saturday nights they stayed over at either her place or his. Now that she got spoiled with waking up wrapped in his arms she never got great sleep during the week when she was away from him.

They were still in the honeymoon phase of their relationship where they could hardly keep their hands to themselves. Alice and Jasper made it a point during the weekend to stay at the opposite apartment as Bella and Edward. Alice told Bella that she wouldn't be able to last another night hearing her best friend moan from the bedroom right next to her. Bella tried to stay quiet but it was kind of hard when her boyfriend was a certified sex god and he knew just what buttons to press to get her screaming his name for the entire apartment building to hear.

She felt her phone vibrate in her back pocket and pulled it out with a smile on her face.

Coffee shop at lunch? :) -Edward

Of course, can't wait, I love you -Bella

I love you, too -Edward

She would never get tired of hearing those words come from her sexy boyfriend. The way they rolled right off of his tongue heated her insides each time. She wished that this feeling would never go away.

Her good feeling managed to stay with her all the way to lunch and when she saw Edward waiting for her at a table in the corner of the shop with her usual coffee order in front of her empty seat she felt the familiar butterflies arrive in her stomach.

"Hey, baby, how were your morning classes?" Edward asked her after he pulled out her chair and gave her a chaste kiss on the cheek.

"Good, turned in my paper and then got assigned a different one. I swear it's like you knock one assignment down and then two more grow in its place," Bella told him. A month into senior year and she was already feeling like she was drowning in paper. Edward tried to help her study a couple days during the week but she made it a point that he needed to get his homework done or nearly finished before he could help her with her own. She didn't want him to ever get behind on his schoolwork just because he was helping her.

"I know what you mean but remember that I'm here whenever you need me," he reminded her.

"I know." She leaned across the table and enjoyed the feeling of his lips on hers for a second before she had to pull away. She needed to remind herself that they were in a public place and she wasn't able to strip him of his clothes and toss him on the table. She'd never felt this way with any of her exes before, it was like she was incapable of being in the same room as him for more than a few seconds before she was touching him.

"So, my mom keeps hounding me for your phone number. She claims that she just wants to ask you about Thanksgiving dinner but I know that she just wants to analyze you before," Edward told her.

"You can give it to her," she said.

"Are you sure? Because I'm not joking when I say that she is going to call you at any time throughout the day and ask you a million questions. She may even give your number to my sister who would do the same thing," Edward warned her.

"I'm sure. It might be nice to get all the formalities out now instead of waiting until the holiday. It will probably make it less awkward and I would be all for that." Bella had thought about this a lot ever since Edward had told her about telling his parents and how happy his mom was. This wasn't the first time that she had asked Edward for Bella's phone number but she didn't see any harm in getting the rough parts over with so she wouldn't be so nervous when she got to his house next month.

"Alright, I'll wait till after classes to give it to her, though. I know the minute she sees the text that she is going to call you and I want to give you a little time to change your mind before that happens," Edward told her.

"I'll be looking forward to it," Bella said. She had never met a boyfriend's parents before so this was all new for her, she felt her nerves build up but just looking into Edward's eyes calmed her down and made her forget why she was ever anxious in the first place.

"Bella?" She heard her name called from across the restaurant. She froze when she recognized the voice and she could see Edward analyzing her reaction and then narrowing his eyes at their intruder.

Right when she turned around she was met with Jacob who was striding towards her like he owned the little coffee shop they were in. She was reminded of their early days together and she tried to figure out if he was always this cocky or if he just hid it when he was around her. She saw his eyes drift towards Edward and narrow when he took him in and how they were holding hands across the table.

"Baby, I've missed you," Jacob said when he arrived at their table. He didn't waste a second before leaning down and wrapping his arms around her and squeezing her tightly. Bella didn't return the gesture, instead she sat there still as a stone until Edward spoke up.

"Excuse me, but who are you?" She could hear the strength it was taking for him to not get up and yank Jacob off of her.

Jacob pulled away, if she didn't know him so well she would think that he was smiling politely at Edward but she could see the tightness in his eyes that had made her nervous towards the end of their relationship.

"I'm Jacob Black, Bella and I dated last year. It broke my heart when we ended things but I was hoping a summer away would get us back on track but I see that you've already moved on," he said the last part jokingly to Bella. She saw the recognition in Edward's eyes when Jacob said his name. Bella had told Edward about her relationship with Jacob that lasted the majority of her Junior year. She'd even told him how she was beginning to feel uncomfortable with his possessiveness and that when she broke it off with him that he didn't take it well - he would call her nonstop and attempt to visit her at her apartment.

She saw Edward's eyes narrow and she knew that he didn't forget a single thing that she had told him. She didn't want him to start anything so she quickly introduced him to Jacob - the sooner she could get Jacob out of the picture the better.

"This is my boyfriend, Edward Cullen," she motioned to Edward with her hand. The two of them just nodded their heads at each other and then Jacob looked back to Bella. He gave her a smile that sent chills down her spine and then placed his hand on the back of her chair, it was just barely far enough away from her back that it wasn't touching her.

"I hope to see you around, Bella," he sneered at her. She just stared him down to try to show him that she wasn't scared of him - which wasn't true at all - and finally he got up and, with one last glance at Edward, left the coffee shop.

"Okay, I don't like that guy at all," Edward told her the second the door closed behind Jacob.

"He gives me the creeps, I honestly have no idea what I saw in him before," she said. Edward reached over and placed his hand on top of hers that was lying on the table. She hadn't even noticed that her body was shaking so bad that their coffees were sloshing over the edge.

"Shh, he's gone, he'll never come near you again," Edward told her. He began to rub the back of her hand with his thumb, it took just a few seconds but she felt her heart rate lowering and her body calming down.

"Thanks," she whispered when she felt normal again.

"Of course. Bella, you need to tell me if he tries to talk to you again, I did not get a good feeling from him," he told her.

She nodded her head in agreement and then took a deep breath. She didn't want to believe that Jacob would ever be a threat to her or Edward but the look he gave her made her second guess herself. She was starting to think that she didn't know him at all.

~LCA~

Edward POV

Edward made sure to keep an eye out for Jacob after their little run in at the coffee shop. He saw him a few times around campus but he was always surrounded by other guys but when he saw Edward he made sure to give him a head nod before turning away. Edward wasn't sure if it was his paranoia or something else but he got a boulder in his gut whenever he saw that guy.

When Bella had told him about her past relationship and how freaked out she got by the end he made it his mission to never see that look in her eyes again but when she saw her ex in that shop he knew, without a doubt, that she was scared of him. In the month that he had been dating Bella he never knew her not to speak her mind and tell everyone just what she was thinking with no filters - it was one thing that he loved about her - but when she saw Jacob something in her just shut down and he saw a ghost of the girl he loved.

He was glad that he was able to calm her down but after that he tried to make sure that she was never alone when she was on campus. He walked her to all of her classes but when Bella heard that he was late to more than one class because of his detour for her she had to sit him down at her apartment.

"He isn't going to do anything to me, Edward. You're just hurting yourself by trying to protect me, I promised you that I would tell you if he approached me and I will but I need you to promise me something in return," she told him.

"What?" He asked her hesitatingly, he had a feeling that he wasn't going to like whatever she asked of him.

"I need you to focus on school and less on Jacob. He just gets off on freaking me out, he's harmless," she said. He could see doubt in her eyes and knew that she didn't believe herself but he agreed anyways. If Jacob came near Bella again he would make sure that he was put in his place.

Edward did have to talk to one more person before he could put this Jacob thing in the back of his mind for now. About a week after their run in with him he stopped Alice outside of her last class of the day.

"Edward?" She was shocked to see him but he didn't have too much time before he had to get to the newspaper so he motioned to a bench that was seated a little ways away from the group of students that were leaving the building. "I need to talk to you about something."

"Okay, what is it?"

"Did Bella tell you about our little encounter with Jacob last week?" He asked her.

"Yeah, why?"

"After they broke up, did you ever get the feeling that he might try to do something?"

"Once, about two weeks after she broke up with him, he came to our apartment and demanded to be let inside. When we refused him he banged on the door for so long that we ended up having to call Campus Security. Nothing happened to him, that I know of, but he left her alone after that. It was scary but after like four months with no contact I was hoping that he had moved onto another girl."

"He didn't seem finished with Bella when we were at that coffee shop. I'm worried for her but she made me promise that I would stop taking her to all of her classes. I made her swear that she would tell me if she ran into him again but I need you to do something for me," he told Alice. She nodded his head so he continued, "If she tells you anything about him coming up to talk to her or following her around the campus I need you to tell me. I have a feeling that she is going to try to hide it from me so I don't worry but I have to know."

"Of course."

The agreement with Alice only lessened his worry by a small amount but he followed through with his promise not to take Bella to all of her classes. He ended up taking her to a few of them when he didn't have to worry about being late, he could tell that she didn't like it but she accepted it.

~LCA~

A couple weeks passed by with no sighting of Jacob so Edward felt the tension in his shoulders lessening. He knew that they weren't in the clear but maybe Jacob would find another girl to set his sights on.

It was the beginning of November now and Edward was looking forward to their trip to Chicago and then to Forks at the end of the month. They would get the week of Thanksgiving and the week after off from school and then return for finals before being released for three weeks and then returning the second week in January for the Spring semester.

Edward didn't think that he would be able to be away from Bella during the breaks so he was really hoping that the meetings with their parents ended well. His mom was already in love with Bella from what she said in her weekly phone calls with Edward. Bella had told him that Esme had called her right away - like he thought she would - and now they texted each other everyday and talked on the phone once a week, also. Even his dad had chatted with Bella already so he knew that the meeting with them was going to go great but Bella's parents, he wasn't too sure about that.

Edward had a lot on his mind as he was getting ready to go to bed. He was just glad that it was the weekend mainly because that meant that he would have Bella in his bed for two days straight.

"I could get used to this look," Bella told him when she entered the bathroom. Edward had just finished showering so he was in just a towel and brushing his teeth.

"Yeah, I could get used to you in my bed," Edward replied. They had already spent almost every weekend together for over two months now so you would think that Edward would be used to her presence by now but every morning that he woke up next to her he couldn't believe his luck.

After they finished brushing their teeth he tackled her to the bed and they got lost in each other while they ravished each other's bodies. After that they passed out so tightly wrapped around each other that they didn't know where one ended and the other began.

Edward was brought out of his restful sleep by a phone ringing next to him. It took him a couple moments to get his bearings and to remember where he was and who was next to him.

"What is that?" Bella groaned. She buried her head deeper into his chest and pulled the blanket up so it was covering her ears, he laughed to himself before reaching over and grabbing his phone. He noticed that it was three in the morning so it gave him pause when he realized that no one in their right mind would be up this early on a Saturday morning.

He looked at the caller ID and when he saw that it was his mom he froze for a second. He did the quick math, it was five in the morning in Chicago. He just had to pray to himself that his mom needed his help with something that couldn't wait till their weekly phone call that night.

"Hello?" He asked when he finally picked up the phone. It was quiet on the line for a couple of seconds before he heard sniffling. His body froze when he recognized his mom's voice. "Mom? What's wrong?" Bella heard the urgency in his voice so she sat up straight, he sat up with her and ran his hands through his hair while he waited for a reply.

"Son?" His dad asked.

"Dad? What's going on? Where's Mom?" Edward was frantic now. He knew in his gut that something was wrong.

"She's going to be fine. I sat her down with a cup of tea, I don't think she'd be able to talk to you coherently right now."

"What's happening?" Edward repeated. He was growing more and more annoyed as his dad kept talking and none of his questions were being properly answered.

"It's Rosalie. She was in a severe car accident; when the doctor's called us she was just being led into surgery."

A/N: Review! We got a little more insight into Jacob and then the beginning of the incident with Rosalie.

Who's excited for MIDNIGHT SUN?! August 4th can't come quick enough.