AN: So this is the beginning of Bella's story I hope you like it. Thanks for the reviews! Their addicting, keep them coming. So I know you want the chapters longer, how many words are they normally? This one felt long to me (thats what she said, ha ha.....Sorry, I'm tired) So anyways enjoy! Oh, and and to answer some questions: I promise this is going somewhere & in a few chapters I will get in the rest of the Cullen's opinions on Bella.

xoxo

I don't own Twilight ~ but I love it!

BPV

Story time

I was living in Phoenix with my mom and her husband Phil, he is a minor league baseball player so he travels a lot and my mom traveled with him so it left me home alone quite a bit. It was the beginning of spring break of my junior year and they were going to be away so I thought it would be a better time than any to get a job. I had been planning on getting one so I could put a little bit of money towards my non-existent college fund.

I winded up getting hired at a little out of the way restaurant as a waitress. It wasn't a huge place but it had an adjoining bar so that brought in a lot of business, especially on the weekends. It was Saturday night and it was my second night on the job, it was only 10:00 and I was supposed to be closing that night but I was already dead tired. Two more hours I kept repeating that mantra in my head and then I could go home, get off my sore feet, and snuggle up and read Wuthering Heights till I fell asleep.

A obnoxious cat call followed by whistles broke me from my thoughts, it was a table of four highly inebriated gentlemen that had taken up my table for the greater part of the night trying to get my attention.

"Hey baaaby, ow about anotherer round of drinks for meee and my friends hur…….," he slurred.

I turned around, put on my best fake smile, nodded yes, and then turned to head towards the bar - even though I knew the manager was going to cut them off - when the man closest to me roughly grabbed my ass.

- I was interrupted from my not so happy journey down memory lane with a low, vibrating growl. I looked up and saw it was coming from Edward, he was gripping the arms of the chair like he was holding on for dear life. Carlisle shot him a look and he visibly relaxed. I heard Alice snicker and Emmett cough something my vampire hearing didn't even quite catch. Carlisle interrupted my confusion, "Please continue Bella."-

I tried to push Edwards odd behavior from my mind and trudged on.

I whirled around to smack his hand away but abruptly came to a stop when I hit something solid. It was a man, probably in his early twenties, he was tall and thin but solid, I could see the muscles in his arms contracting under his fitted black long sleeve shirt. As my eyes glided from his bicep down towards his hand I realized he had caught the inebriated man's hand in his fist. By the look on the drunken mans face I could tell his hand was being squeezed as he was sliding off the booth onto his knees in agony. A crowd stared on as the drunken man whimpered in pain.

A deep voice that was velvety but sinister all at once threatened the drunken man. "If you value the use of your hands I highly suggest you keep them to yourself, I don't want to see your face in here again, is that understood?"

When the man didn't respond fast enough he squeezed tighter and the man screamed out in pain. I couldn't take it anymore, I reached out and put my hand on my saviors arm pleading with him to stop. As soon as my hand made contact with his arm his head snapped in my direction and we made eye contact for the first time.

He was gorgeous. He had a chiseled face with strong features, he was pale with dark brown short messy hair, and the most beautiful topaz eyes I had ever seen. For that moment he was all I could see, everyone else around us disappeared into the background.

I'm not sure how long we stayed like that, it felt like hours until my bosses voice broke me out of my trance. "What the hell is going on here?" Mark demanded.

"This man was harassing the new waitress sir." my savior had finally released the mans hand.

The man was escorted out after being told to not come back and the crowd dispersed. I scanned the room looking for my savior to thank him but he was gone. My heart dropped. I didn't see him leave.

When I was closing up later I asked the chatty bartender Bethany if she knew who he was. "Oh. That's right you haven't met him yet, that's Avery the other bartender, he only works nights. He was probably in just picking up his check. He's an ok guy, quiet, and pretty damn sexy, but of coarse he's not interested in anyone around here, he always keeps to himself. He's back on tomorrow night though so you should see him.

"Oh!" was all I could muster. I was too excited thinking about the fact that I get to see him again.

******

The next night I was actually excited about going into work, I messed with my hair and straightened out my clothes, and then growled in the mirror in frustration……it was a lost cause! I had never fussed over myself before at least for not someone else's benefit, I was confused, I wasn't sure why this man who I haven't even properly met yet had me in such a tail spin.

I clocked in and made my way into the bar, it was still early so the place was still pretty deserted. I stopped in my tracks when I saw him. He was behind the bar drying off a glass, how could such a mundane task be so sexy? He looked up at me and caught me starring at him. I blushed and my eyes quickly found my feet, I took a deep breath and mustered up all the courage I could and forced my feet to move forward.

I stopped at the bar in front of him. "Hi. I just wanted to thank you for last night, I really appreciate it. I tried giving him a smile but when I met his eyes I felt my blush deepen and my heart rate pick up tremendously."

He let out a low chuckle and slightly shook his head back and forth. " Don't mention it." He said in a low voice. He shifted his gaze off to the side looking like he was in deep thought about something so I took it as my cue to leave. But before I could take my first step he turned back my way, "You're names Bella, right?"

"Ummm, yes." Wow that sounded articulate, way to go Bella. "And your Avery?"

He shook his head yes and then we stood in uncomfortable silence before he thankfully put an end to it. "Well it's very nice to meet you Bella," he paused like he was trying to decide something, 'be careful ok, the later it gets the rougher the crowd becomes in here sometimes."

"Kay." I smiled and stumbled away to tend to my table that was just seated.

**********

The night continued like any other night except for my heightened interest on the goings on at the bar. I'd go over to the bar and put in my drink orders and give him my best smile but that's where it ended, no smile in return, no small talk, just business. That put a damper on my night but my spirits lifted a little when I kept feeling eyes on me and I had been quick enough to catch him starring at me a few times.

It wasn't until later on when I was tending to a table of boys from my high school that I felt the heat of his stare again, I turned around to look at him and we locked eyes. He was starring directly at me and he didn't make any move to look away like I assumed he would, I had to break the contact because my heart was about to combust from my chest from the heat spreading throughout my body from his intense glare.

I had just finished helping close up for the night and I went to retrieve my jacket from behind the bar, Avery pulled it out of the cubby before I could reach for it.

"Thanks." I said reaching for it. But instead of handing it to me he circled around me slowly and helped me slide my arms through. The close contact took my breath away and even though he didn't come in direct contact with my skin wherever his hand skimmed over a heat trail followed. He lightly took my hair and pulled it out from inside my jacket and I thought my knees were going to buckle as I heard him take a deep breath.

I would have hit the floor if he wasn't holding me by my elbows when he leaned in from behind and I felt his cool breath on my ear, "Bella, let me walk you out to your car, its late." He let out a low chuckle when all I could do was shake my head yes.

He walked me out to my car and we winded up standing there for over an hour. He asked me question after question and I told him whatever he wanted to know to just keep him standing there talking to me. I was taken aback how he hung on my every word as I answered the most random questions, and that's how our relationship was for the next few weeks. We'd have small talk at work, he'd stare, I'd smile and blush like an idiot, he'd walk me to my car and continue on his question tirade. We'd hardly ever talk about him and we definitely never touched like on that first night much to my dismay. He'd keep his distance but I'd notice him staring at my hand or a stray piece of hair that had escaped from behind my ear and his hand would rise slightly but he'd decide otherwise and drop it back down. I could never tell what he was thinking, he always wore this mask of determination and the smile that I had grown to love didn't escape his beautiful mouth nearly enough.

He was all I could think about, class couldn't go by quick enough and I couldn't wait to get to work. The days that I was off were hard on me, I felt empty, but as soon as I would return to work my spirits would lift. Even in my blissed out state I knew this wasn't healthy but I was too far gone to do anything about it now. Renee and Phil were thankfully hardly ever home so I didn't have to deal with any questions about my new odd behavior. I was in love and I would take whatever he gave me at this point. Little did I know that that night at work everything would change.