Hi everyone! Welcome back :) I hope you're enjoying this story so far. We're finally getting to the good parts! Remember to leave a review :)

Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight, not me.

EPOV

I was confused.

As I watched Bella basically run to her truck, I couldn't shake the eerie feeling that was dwelling inside me.

She and I had a great night together. We laughed and got to know each other. I was starting to believe we could actually be friends, which I still believe, but then she went back to the girl I've known for years. The one that was always scared and upset and hiding from the world.

Why was she so damn afraid of her father? I mean, we all hate getting yelled at by our parents, but this was a reaction I had never seen before. She visibly started shaking, her small, fragile form was somehow able to make my huge bed vibrate uncontrollably. Her voice cracked as if she was trying to stop herself from sobbing. And I – for some reason – hated every fucking second of it.

I couldn't help but be worried and bothered by this. I made my way back upstairs so I could lay down and try to get it off my mind, but there was no use.

Was there a reason Bella was so terrified of her father?

Okay, maybe I was getting a little out of hand. Maybe he is just strict. I mean, of course he is, he's the chief of police.

Still, strict wouldn't cause a reaction like that.

I groaned in exasperation and sat up in my bed, running my hands through my hair. I needed to get this off my mind.

I grabbed my keys off my dresser and headed downstairs.

"Where are you going, dear?" Mom asked from the couch, all snuggled up against Dad.

"I'm, uh, going to get a few things from the store. I'll be back soon."

"Okay, don't be out too late, you have school tomorrow."

I quickly made my way to the garage and got into my Volvo. I drove to my destination, the abandoned road nobody knew about on the other side of the woods, and pulled the blunt I had rolled out of my bag from the glove compartment. It was either here or the meadow, but it was too dark to walk through the woods.

As I was about to light the blunt, I received a text message from Jessica Stanley.

Hey : ) what's up? Are you free tonight?

I didn't even bother opening it. Another bimbo. I had no interest.

I couldn't help but think of her whenever I inhaled the scent of a pineapple flavored blunt wrap. Those were her favorite. I was instantly flooded with memories of us smoking multiple blunts in her backyard while her parents worked, seeing who could get the highest. We were always getting into dumb trouble… before she fucking destroyed me. I almost punched my window in agitation. I willed my nerves to calm down, so I figured now would be the best time to light the fucker.

I took a few hits and coughed like a chain-smoker, but I didn't mind. I knew I would be high in a matter of minutes, which I was.

I felt much more relaxed, which allowed me to see the situation from a more realistic point of view.

There was no need to worry about Bella. I mean, if something serious was going on, she would have told somebody. Right? Yes, she would have. Bella's smart. She is just a good girl and doesn't want to get yelled at by her father.

Also, there was no need to worry about myself. I need to shake this mood that I've been in lately. I haven't exactly been taking it out on anyone. My family doesn't truly know the extent of the pain I felt, but I think they have some sort of idea. It's the worst when I'm alone, which is mostly on the weekends. Carlisle and Esme always go on dates on the weekends. Alice and Jasper have their alone time, as well as Emmett and Rosalie. I mean, sure, we all hangout as a group, but it's those times when I ask somebody to spend time with me, and they can't because of their relationship. That's what irritates me. Because I knew what it was like to have somebody, but she fucked it up.

I know I'm being a whiny teenager, but it's how I fucking felt. I felt as if something was wrong with me because I can't seem to attract normal girls. If I couldn't now, would I ever? Would I ever find the one? I was sick of all the pathetic, fake girls showing interest in me. Why couldn't someone deep and smart like me?

But, when I was high, I realized that I was silly for thinking this way. I was 18, I had all the time in the world to find somebody to spend my life with. I had my whole future ahead of me.

Feeling lonely sure as hell does suck, but thank God that weed makes me forget my troubles for a few hours. I turned up the music in my car and completely zoned out, feeling okay again.

I woke up the next morning tired as hell. Not physically tired, because I slept great. I was emotionally tired from the nightmare I had.

I was walking through the forest, looking for something. I don't know what I was looking for, though. I ended up finding a little girl covered in blood. She was about 8 or 9. She had long, dark hair that was knotted up around mud and sticks. Her face was soaked in tears.

"Please, help me," she whispered in the most agonized, painful voice. My heart ached for her. I just had to help her.

I reached down to pick her up into my arms, but before I could, she was gone. I looked up and a few yards away stood a black figure with a big knife. He was coming towards me, but I woke up panting for air before he could do any harm.

I had no idea what the nightmare meant, but I blamed the weed. No more smoking before bed.

School was boring as hell. The only thing I was looking forward to was Mike Newton's party tonight. His parents went away on business one weekend every month, and he always threw a party that pretty much lasted the whole weekend. I wasn't much of a party animal, but it was something to do in this boring town. Something to get my mind off things.

"Are we gonna sit with Bella again today?" Alice asked excitedly as the five of us walked to lunch.

"I don't care, Alice," I answered. I was planning on sitting with Bella, though, but I didn't know they wanted to sit with her again. I had asked them to come with me so Bella would feel as if she had more people there for her than just me. I felt a sense of… protectiveness towards her ever since I witnessed Tanya make fun of her.

"I'm gonna invite her to the party tonight!" Alice squealed, clapping her hands loudly. I swear that pixie got excited over the dumbest shit sometimes.

After we got our food, we made our way to Bella's empty table again. She was looking down in her lap, a tired, empty written on her face. I didn't like it. I wanted her to be smiling like she was last night when she told me stories of her childhood.

"Hey, Bella, can we sit with you again?" I asked nicely upon approaching her. She smiled, though it wasn't a real one, and nodded. I inhaled her beautiful scent as I sat next to her. She smelled like flowers and strawberries. It was intoxicating.

"So, Bella, Mike Newton's parents are going out of town for the weekend and he's throwing a party. Do you want to come?" Jasper asked.

Her big, brown eyes grew wide and she blushed that same blush again. It was adorable when she did that.

Adorable?

"Oh, I have to, uh, go to my Grandma's. Remember?" The other day when she was asked to go shopping with Rosalie and Alice on Saturday, I believed her story about visiting her Grandma.

Now, not so much.

I sent the others a warning glance, telling them not to push her. I don't think they understood Bella the way I did, or the way I was trying to. They didn't see what I saw so far. She didn't like to be around people. It made her nervous for some reason. She seemed to be somewhat okay around my friends though, but not anyone else. I could see that just by noticing her expressions in the hallway when she was surrounded by everyone. I had been paying close attention to her the past few days. She didn't trust anyone. She felt as though everyone was out to get her.

Alice noticed my expression, because she gave up.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot. Well, if you get home early or something, here's my number," my sister wrote her number on a napkin and handed it graciously towards Bella. She smiled and put it in that damn notebook she's always scribbling in.

"Oh, and Bella, why haven't you worn the clothes I gave you yet?" Alice asked in playful anger.

Bella blushed a deep red color that looked beautiful on her pale skin. I don't think she saw herself clearly.

"I just, um, haven't gotten the, uh, chance to yet. I will soon, though, Alice." Alice nodded in victory.

Just like that, the couples were caught up in their own little worlds again. Alice was showing Jasper pictures of outfit choices she was considering for the party on her phone. People made such a big deal out of things like this in Forks, because nothing like this ever happens. When there's an opportunity to get dressed up, all the girls sure as hell took it.

Emmett and Rosalie were talking about cars. That was one thing about Rosalie nobody expected. On the outside, she seemed like she wouldn't know a single thing about cars except what the steering wheel was for. But, she knew a fuck ton. Probably more than me. Emmett thought it was the hottest thing in the world.

I found myself grinning, knowing I usually would be annoyed or brooding in these moments when I was left alone, but I had Bella to talk to today.

I still spent some parts of the day thinking of what happened last night. I just couldn't help it. Bella's reaction to her father's phone call bugged me in so many ways. I wish I had another fucking blunt.

Maybe if I asked her about her night, I could figure out if it was bad or not. I would study her face. If her expressions were bad, then her night was bad.

"So, how was your night after you left my house?"

She fiddled her thumbs in her lap, something I've noticed she does quite often.

"Um, it-it was fine," she murmured.

She wasn't looking at me. I couldn't judge her expressions when she wasn't looking at me.

I got a hold of reality in that second. Why did I care so much? Why did the outcome of her night matter to me? It's her life, not mine. None of this is my business. I need to butt the fuck out. I barely knew her. None of this should phase me.

"That's good. So, do you want to come over again on Sunday to work on the project?"

"Yeah, Sunday sounds good."

"Okay, how about earlier in the day. Let's say around 2:00?"

"Um, well, I-I would, uh, much rather prefer our usual time, if you don't mind. I'm not sure when I'll be getting home from my Grandma's," she mumbled nervously. I nodded in understanding.

"That's fine, whatever works for you," I assured.

"Thanks."

It was silent between us then, Bella seemed to be thinking hard about something, and I wanted to know what it was. I don't know why I suddenly became so nosy, especially towards Bella. She was a mystery though, and, again, I wanted to solve her.

Again, it wasn't my business, though. I found myself wondering why I grew so intrigued with this random girl so quickly.

"What are you thinking?" I blurted out before I even realized that I had asked, mentally slapping myself. I was being so rude and blunt with her. That was unlike me.

"Um, I don't know, just random stuff. Why…um… why do you ask?"

I sighed. Well, I couldn't just ignore it now. I dug myself into this hole. She deserved an answer for my nosy behavior.

"It just seems like you're upset over something."

"What makes you say that?" She pressed, staring thoughtfully into my eyes. I never noticed how truly beautiful her eyes were. They were like two pools of chocolate that you wanna just dive into and never get out of.

"Um, well, I'm not sure, you just keep looking into your lap and you don't look, uh, happy, I guess," I muttered pathetically. She probably thought I was such a creep. I was scared for her reaction.

But, she just smiled a small smile and blushed, again. Why was she happy that I was creeping on her?

"It's nothing, Edward. I'm just stressed. I have…um… a lot of school work and I'm trying to, uh, figure out when to do it all." She stumbled over her words and couldn't look me in the eye. I had a feeling she was lying. What was really bothering her?

I need to stop worrying so much about Bella. She had her own life and she would live it as she pleased.

I had to tell myself to stop bugging her and wondering about her life, but I wasn't sure if I could. It's just that she was so different from everyone else. Why was she different? What caused it? I know these questions would haunt me until I found out.

The music from inside Mike's house was loud even though I was still parking my car on his street. He was lucky as hell that his neighbors didn't live close enough to hear it. The party would get busted for sure.

I ended up driving Emmett, Rosalie, Alice, and Jasper to the party in my car. Mike always suggested to car pool as much as possible. Too many cars could be suspicious. That was useless though, practically every student of Forks High was here.

I still couldn't believe Emmett refused to drive his Hummer here, all five of us would fit so much better in that. He said he didn't trust people when they were drunk, though. What did he think was gonna happen? Someone would come outside with a Louisville Slugger and smash his car? I chuckled under my breath.

"What'd you guys tell your parents?" Jasper asked as we all got out of my Volvo.

"Edward said he was sleeping at Emmett's, I said I was sleeping at Rose's. What about you guys?" Alice inquired.

"Edward's," Emmett answered.

"Emmett's," Jasper.

"Alice's," Rosalie.

"Wow, guys, we better hope our parents don't all talk about this," Emmett laughed as we entered the house.

People were already drunk, and it reeked of weed. Mindless rap music blared throughout the house, bouncing off the walls. I hated today's rap, but I would have to deal with it. Nobody my age wanted to party to old school hip hop or alternative or rock and roll. Whatever. Random strobe lights danced on the walls, almost giving me a fucking headache.

"Cullen! Hey!" Ben Cheney was basically slurring his words as he patted my back.

"What's up, Ben?"

"Dude, you're going to love what I'm about to tell you! We have jungle juice instead of beer! Before the party, Mike and I dumped 4 big-ass bottles of vodka and a shit ton of Gatorade and juice into this huge bin! This bin is so big I bet we could shove Alice into it!"

"I don't think we're going to be shoving Alice into anything, Ben," Jasper grunted and wrapped his arm protectively around Alice's waist, kissing her forehead tenderly. Did I mention that I love Jasper?

"Well, go check it out, it's in the kitchen," he yelled before being pulled towards the dancing area by some slutty sophomore with way too much makeup on her face. I couldn't stifle my laugh.

We pushed through the crowd and, after what felt like ten years, finally made it into the kitchen.

"Wow, I probably could fit into that bin!" Alice exasperated as Rosalie retrieved plastic cups and handed them to us.

"I'm not getting you out if you climb in there when you're drunk!" Emmett teased.

We all helped ourselves to the jungle juice. It wasn't too bad. I watched as my friends danced around the dance floor with their significant other. They seemed to be getting drunker by the minute. I was taking it slow, though. Not really in the mood to get shitfaced.

"Hey, Edward," I heard a female voice say near my ear, her fingertips grazing down my back. I turned and was face to face with Lauren Mallory.

You guessed it. Another bimbo.

"Hello, Lauren," I greeted politely, but wasn't really interested in talking with her at all.

"Are you having a good time?"

"Yeah, the party's fun."

"I'm pretty drunk," she giggled and slapped my chest flirtatiously. I just nodded and took a sip of my drink.

"I heard you and Tanya broke up after you told her off at lunch," she said.

I literally groaned out loud at the petty high school drama. "Her and I were never dating in the first place."

Her eyes grew wide in shock as if this was the most surprising news she's ever heard. "Really? But I heard that she said you two were serious."

"No, she's just psychotic."

Lauren giggled obnoxiously and slapped my chest again. "Well, Lauren, I'm gonna go find someone."

"Okay, look around for me later," she winked before waltzing away, her shorts so short her ass cheeks were hanging out. Seriously, how did guys my age lust after girls like that?

Because they were easy as fuck.

Who am I to talk, though? I've fucked girls like her.

I ended up getting a bit drunker than I had originally intended. I thought two cups wouldn't do much to me, but they sure as hell did.

Everything seemed to be moving and I found myself in a funny mood. I literally was laughing at everything and anything. I haven't felt that way in a long time. I knew it was obviously the alcohol, though. The feelings would come back when I was sober again.

As I sat on the couch and smoked a blunt with Demetri and Eric – two guys on the baseball team – I randomly found myself thinking of Bella. And pitying her.

It sort of hit me that she never got to experience this. She had no friends, beside me, if that's what we even were. She wasn't able to live a normal teenage life. She never got to get drunk at a shady house party, or sneak out to meet friends to smoke weed in a forest, or break curfew and get grounded for two weeks.

Bella was a great girl, though, and I had no idea why she was such an outcast.

I wanted her to experience this, though. She deserved it. I found myself walking outside and sitting on the porch, whipping out my phone and calling her before I realized what I was doing. The cool October air felt great against my sweaty skin. I smiled widely before pressing call next to Bella's name.

Alcohol did strange things to a person.

"Edward?" She sounded completely shocked that I was calling. It felt nice to hear her voice.

"Bella, hey!" I was definitely slurring my words.

"Is something wrong? It's almost midnight," she reminded me. I laughed like a mad man, though I knew it wasn't actually funny.

"Nothing's wrong. I just wanted to know how you're doing."

"I'm fine?" She said it like it was a question.

"How's your Grandma?"

"She's, uh, she's good. I'm glad I'm spending time with her."

"Bella, you're such a nice person," I said quietly, kind of to myself, kind of to her.

She giggled, the sound forcing chills to run throughout my body. In a good way. "Edward, you're drunk."

"So?"

"So you have no idea what you're talking about, and you most likely won't remember this in the morning."

"Of course I'll remember it! This phone call is probably the best part of the night so far," I admitted before mentally slapping myself. Why was I being so strange? Why was I so damn happy to talk to her? I blamed the alcohol and the weed.

She stayed silent for a couple seconds before asking "what kind of party are you at if talking to me is the best part of the night?"

I laughed loudly, my voice echoing off the trees that surrounded Mike's yard.

"I don't think you see yourself the way I do. You're a much more interesting person than you think you are."

"I haven't said anything remotely interesting during this whole conversation."

"Well, shit," I chuckled. Her soft laugh on the other end of the phone made me smile automatically.

"Edward, I have to go, um, make sure my Gram took her meds for the night. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Why can't I talk to you before then?" I whined. Seriously, what the fuck was wrong with me?

Maybe it's that Bella is someone to talk to since I've been feeling so lonely. I mean, I could talk to anyone essentially, but anyone that wants to talk to me is either a hot head football player or a slutty cheerleader. Bella had substance. I enjoyed talking to her. She took the loneliness away.

Maybe wondering about her life isn't so bad. It's because I've found a good friend.

"You, um, wanna talk before then?" She was speaking so quietly. I knew she was blushing even though I couldn't see her.

"Yeah, you're my friend! You can text me whenever if you want."

"O-okay. Well, I have to go now. Goodnight, Edward. Be safe tonight."

She hung up before I could say goodnight back.