Thanks again Fire1!

Thank you everyone for your reviews on the last chapter! I am so glad everyone is enjoying the story so far! I haven't had time to respond to them yet.

Sorry I am late again… But I did finish up Edward's chapter for WSI!

Since this chapter is so close to the weekend, I wont be updating the next chapter until next Sunday. I promise to have it ready for the regular update day!

If you haven't read Drotuno's story 'Even In Death' you should check it out! It's fantastic so far! Tell her I sent you over!

Shall we?

~~NoT~~

Edward POV:

The car held no spoken words, yet it was filled with voices. All of our minds centered on my return to school, and Isabella Swan. The biggest question on our minds: how could a human be so comfortable around us?

Hell, she was more than comfortable, it would seem that she preferred our company to other humans. It was blatantly abnormal.

Alice's vision had showed us all, standing around Bella's truck. It was an atrocious thing. It was old, and rusty and loud. Bella herself wasn't present in the vision, though we weren't quite sure why Bella could not be seen. We had surmised that she was in fact there, going by our behavior and body language. I was hoping that Alice was right, that she could see around Bella, just not Bella herself. We would soon find out, as I was just pulling into the parking lot to the school.

I spotted her truck near the edge of the lot, and felt a spurt of joy flow through me. I squashed it down quickly though, before Jasper could pick up on it. I noticed that she was still sitting in her truck. She was unusually still, with her head resting on the headrest. The others noticed as well.

"She's in a deep meditative state; completely calm. I must say it's quite nice. It is unusual though. It takes most humans almost a lifetime to master it, and she's what, seventeen maybe eighteen?" Jasper informed us, he was smug about it too. He liked being the only one of us who could use their gift on her.

"Are you sure about that Jazz? Listen to her heart, it's almost three times as fast as a human's ought to be." I pointed out sorely, my dislike for not having access to her thoughts leaking through my tone.

"You know Eddie, now that you bring it up… every time I've encountered her, her heart has been like that. I don't think it is anything unusual for her." Emmett stated thoughtfully.

His thoughtful statement made the rest of them scan over every time they had picked up the sound of her heart. Unfortunately, the fact that I couldn't pick up on her thoughts, then resisting the call of her blood on that first day, meant that I missed her heart rate all together.

I brooded on this as I maneuvered the car through the traffic in the lot and pulled into the space on her right side.

"Her heart has always been like that when I see her too. It is beating too fast even for someone who is having an adrenaline rush. With Jasper saying she is calm right now… I think her heart may always run that fast. What…" Rosalie hissed out suddenly, interrupted the question she had been about to voice. Only one thing was on her mind now. Tyler. Tyler, and her longing to kill him.

"Baby? What's wrong?" Emmett whispered to her.

"Pervert boy is down the street." Rose's voice was filled with hatred.

I stiffened at her words, and as Jasper picked up on Bella's emotions. As I followed along through his mind, her emotions went from tranquil with a hint of amusement, to panicked and undecided. I noticed that her heartbeat did not change with her panic; it stayed the same even as Tyler pulled up next to her.

'Oh yes! She's still in her truck! God, look at her body. Damn, what I wouldn't give to bend her over and pound that pussy right now.'

As Tyler's thoughts went from his disgusting words, to vulgar images of him taking Bella and violating her right outside her truck, rage and disgust flowed through me like a wrecking ball.

Every instinct inside me screamed for his death. This was harder to watch then when I had to watch the other children visualize themselves with either my other family members or myself.

Sensing my rage, Jasper sent a torrent of calm my way.

'What's going on Edward?' Jasper asked me silently as to not cause the rest of the family to worry.

"Tyler's mind." I hissed out at him as I got out of the car. The rest of the family got out as well.

On the other side of Bella's truck, Tyler shut the engine off to his van. I heard Bella curse as all her books poured out of her bag, then she was shoving them back in as fast as possible, as she was tumbling out of her truck. I winced, but she regained her balance.

I kept watch on Bella as she made her way to the front of her truck. She stopped for a split second and took a deep breath. Jasper noted that this breath seemed to calm her for that second.

Then, all of a sudden Tyler was right behind her reaching out. She didn't know! I was moving then. Moving to stop what I knew he was trying to do, but I was just an instant too late. He reached out and grabbed her arm, and in that moment I wanted nothing more than to rip his arm from his body and throw it far away from her.

I was right behind her when she screamed and yanked her arm from his grasp. Centrifugal force caused her foot to slide out from under her, sending her flying backwards… right into me.

Before she could hurt herself by slamming into my granite skin, I grabbed her by her waist and left hand. When our hands met a sharp electric shock leapt between our fingers, and ran from our joined hands throughout my whole body.

Everything in the world around me suddenly seemed unimportant; the only thing that mattered was this current running through me, and Bella in my arms. Her blood was no longer tempting me, which I thought was strange. Her scent and mine combined smelled perfect. I could smell it for the rest of forever and would never tire of it. She felt so right in my arms that I could not help the purr that reverberated from my chest.

I wanted her closer to me, and my body acted without my permission. I pulled her closer without thinking about it, and curved myself around her creating a comforting cavity just for her. She would be safe from dirty child-minds if she were with me.

Could she feel this too? I wondered to myself, then as if somehow she had read my mind, and in answer to my unspoken question she relaxed into my body.

It was then that I noticed that she felt different than other humans. She was soft, of course, but her skin was firmer. It was somewhat like mine, but not quite as hard. Her temperature was also higher then it should be, similar to her heartbeat. As I held her hand in mine, it felt like her body was cooling. Or perhaps my body was warming up, almost as if our bodies were trying to match in temperature.

Now that she was no longer bleeding, her scent was different. She was no longer tempting to me, though she still smelled heavenly. 'So, this is what my siblings meant when they said she did not smell tempting to them?'

I was ripped from my thoughts when Tyler's mind interrupted my musings of Bella.

'Fucking Cullen's! They're all a bunch of cock blockers. Let go of her! She's mine… even if she doesn't know it yet.' My purring suddenly turned into a growl upon hearing his vile mind.

I finally registered that my siblings were talking to each other, and also trying to speak to me through their thoughts. However, I couldn't comprehend what they were trying to tell me. All I could think about was how I was going to keep that scumbag away from Bella.

"Hey B-Bella, sorry for grabbing you and making you trip. Are you okay?" 'Now get the hell away from Cullen!'

Tyler's goal was to get Bella's attention away from me, and onto him, and getting my death glare off of him.

"Yup!" Alice said in a loud excited voice. I looked over at her, but all I heard in her thoughts was 'vision'.

I knew this was going to be a lot different than any of us were expecting, because she was now concentrating on mentally reorganizing her wardrobe by design, fabric, and color. She was trying to hide something from me. She walked past us to stand in front of Tyler. I noticed that her eyes were glowing with amusement.

"I would say that she's more then fine, considering that you gave her a good excuse to snuggle with her boyfriend in front of everyone." Oh my god! What the hell was she doing?

Being called Bella's boyfriend made me feel odd, in a good way, and it wasn't uncomfortable at all. What is going on with me? How will Bella take this? Will she be okay with it? I'd been a total ass to her last week in biology; did she even want to see me anymore? What if I had offended her?

'Let me handle this Edward. It will help in keeping him away if people know you're dating, or at the very least think you're dating.' Alice warned me in her thoughts. How could she think that Bella would be okay telling everyone that we were dating?

The rest of my family's thoughts were also trying to understand why Alice would claim that the two of us were dating. Rose was at war. It was risky to have a human so close. This would provide us with an excuse as to why the reclusive Cullen's were interacting with her. However it was her belief that by 'dating' me Tyler would get scared and stay away from Bella, and that was enough for her to not stop Alice.

Emmett could only see the humor in all of this. He was planning how to tell our parents to create the maximum effect. 'Eddie is no longer a single man mom!' were his exact thoughts, even if it was just for show. I had a feeling that I was never going to hear the end of his jokes about it.

Jasper, being the militant that he is, was beaming proudly at his wife for her brilliant strategic move. Carlisle asked us to befriend her, due to the differences about her, though they were small. And now, I would have to get to know her if people were to believe that we were in fact involved. That was his line of reasoning anyway.

However, his military mind could see the potential for danger in this plan as well. Just as I would need to get to know her, she would need to get to know me. Letting a human get to know any of us was risking them finding out our secret. He believed in the family's ability to blend in, and Alice was never wrong.

"Alice," Bella's soft voice whispered. It was so low that no humans voice could even drop that low, and no human's ears have a hope of picking it up. My body froze in shock at her whisper. "Thanks for saving me from Mr. Creep, but what the hell are you doing? Don't just offer up your brother like that!"

'How could she be doing this?' I thought to myself

My sibling's voices screamed in my mind. 'Edward, I think she may know we can hear her and Tyler cant. Do you think she can hear us too?' Jasper asked, being the first to recover from the shock.

"Sorry, it's… I… it's just that…"

'Edward she's scared! Do something! I think she knows she shouldn't have spoken that low.' Jasper was at it again, I was thankful that at least one of us could use our talents on Bella. I was about to ask him what I should do, but I stopped myself. Could she hear us? I had to know.

Dropping my voice as low as I could get I whispered to her. "You don't need to apologize for anything Bella. I would be honored to help. I don't mind if people think we are dating, as long as you are okay with it." She relaxed instantly, and I knew she heard me.

Only two seconds had passed since Alice had made her announcement to a shocked and appalled Tyler, who was now trying to figure out when this could have happened without his knowledge. I could see in his mind that he had not just been peeping into her window at night. He was downright stalking her. Driving by her house, looking to see if she was at home, and when her truck was not at home he would drive around town looking for it.

"What? When? How? He was out all last week. When did you two have time to start dating?" Tyler asked, looking at my Bella. She flinched at the anger in his voice. How dare he speak to her like that! If she hadn't been in my arms, I would have killed him right then and there. The idiot did not remember that I was here on Monday.

Well, if he wanted answers, I would give him some! Bella should not have to speak to this idiot.

"I was here last Monday, and Bella and I are lab partners in biology. I fell ill while in class, and Bella thoughtfully took notes for me while I was out. She asked Alice to give them to me." My voice was filled ire, letting this boy know I wanted nothing more then to remove him from Bella's line of sight.

"I didn't see you two talking." Tyler's accusation flew from his mouth, and he glanced between Alice and Bella with mingled curiosity, loathing, and lust. I could see that he was not buying the story of Bella and I together.

"Ugh, Edward! I told you to let me handle this! Keep your mouth shut dear brother."

Alice looked right at the psycho with an award-winning smile and her voice was sugar sweet. She began to tell everyone just how Bella and I began our relationship.

"Mom and I ran into Bella when she was looking for some new curtains for her room at the hardware store." She began, and I couldn't help the amused smile that was growing on my face. I could see in Tyler's mind that he had seen Bella's truck at the hardware store, but he didn't know why she had gone in.

He had wanted to go in too, but his parents had insisted on his help cleaning out the attic. Leaving him no choice but to get home.

"We all got to talking and I just knew we would be best friends. When she asked if I would give Edward the notes, I asked if she wanted to come over and hang out. That way she could just give them to him herself. It was so adorable when I came in with Bella and Edward was finally feeling a little better so he was down stairs in his pajamas. They ended up talking the whole afternoon."

I watched as Alice began playing the made up scene in her mind. She brought Bella home and I was sitting downstairs, half lying on the couch in the living room with only pajama pants on. Pajama pants? I don't own any pajamas! We don't even sleep!

Alice imagined Bella shyly making her way over to the couch, almost stumbling a few times while I sat up and looked back at her. Bella's beautiful eyes filled with concern when her soft wind chime voice asked if I was feeling any better. Then Alice showed herself coming and sitting at the other end of the couch from me, leaving Bella a seat between us.

Her mental Bella sat silently, letting Alice fill me in on how she and mom met her and then her asking them to give me the notes. Bella fumbled through her bag at the mention of them and then handed them to me with a small-embarrassed smile on her breathtakingly beautiful face. A smile just for me.

Alice had me thank Bella for the notes; reminding me I had yet to do that. I engaged Bella in conversation, both of us forgetting Alice is there with us. Alice had no real dialogue for this little movie, as she has not spoken to Bella much, but she assumed there would be some talk of music.

"I was actually rather miffed, because Bella was supposed to be there hanging out with me. But poor Edward looked like a lost puppy after Bella went to leave, and I just knew that they were meant to be together, so I talked him into going after her." She showed me Bella leaving to go home, and I looked like someone had smashed my grand piano. She looked over at me then.

'Edward, you like her. There's no use hiding it. Just let yourself be happy, and go ask her out.' Her mind went back to her dialogue then, not knowing how I would go about asking Bella out.

"When he finally came back in, he looked like the happiest person in the world. He was practically worshipping me for bringing his new girlfriend over."

After Alice was done spinning her tall-tale, I stood there wishing this could have been how Bella and I actually met. It was sweet, and nice, and not blood thirsty.

I was hoping Bella could remember Alice's entire story, as she would have to recount it soon. It wasn't just Tyler who had heard it. The queen of gossip, Jessica had seen me holding Bella and stopped two cars down and heard a good portion of the story as well.

Tyler had yet to understand his presence was unwanted. He was looking on as I held Bella in my arms, going slowly mad with desire and jealously. His mind was replacing me with himself, and then he drifted to undressing her and running his hand up her shirt, then down her legs. This child was distorting my reasoning. I was furious. The monster in me screamed for me to kill him.

My siblings made their way over to us then, since Tyler still hadn't left, they were hoping to intimidate him into leaving on his own. Jasper was the last to pass by, and as he did he filled Tyler with pure terror, wiping away any trace of his lust, resulting in Tyler running off in a panic.

Emmett was laughing, breaking the tension. 'Oh man Eddie, I hope he wets himself' he thought to me through his laughter.

Bella slowly pulled herself from my arms, and the electric current faded. My body felt curiously empty without coursing through me. As she pulled away, she lifted her heart shaped face and big doe eyes to mine, trapping my eyes with hers. It made up for the loss of the current, and I mean that.

I still couldn't read her mind, but through her eyes I could see a glimpse of her soul. They were telling me she was grateful and apologetic.

"Thank you for doing that Edward." I could see in her eyes how much she truly meant that.

"I don't know if Rose and Jasper told you what Tyler has been doing?"

'Like we could keep it from you even if we had wanted to." Rose's sarcastic mental voice added.

I could suddenly see a shadow pass threw her eyes just as Jasper called out to me.

'She's feeling very bad and embarrassed about something bro. Comfort her!'

Before I had time to speculate on the cause of her feelings she went on."Oh, and I am sorry about falling into you." What? She hadn't fallen on me at all! I had just prevented her from falling. What a silly girl.

She had to see there was no need for her remorseful feelings. She pulled her eyes from mine to look at the rest of the group, and gave them a smile that could soften the hardest of criminals. "Hi everyone!"

Being the selfish vampire that I am, I cast around for something to bring her eyes back to mine.

"I'm happy to help, and honestly this will help me out in the long run as well." The selfish part of me rejoiced when she turned her eyes back to mine. "There are a few girls in school that I've been trying to avoid myself." Honestly, that was true, but I had just wanted to lessen her guilt about what Alice had done.

I could see just from the small time I have been with her that she was always looking out for others, so if I wasn't just doing it for her, then it might just lessen her guilt about it.

I had no ide if admitting that Rose and Jasper had informed me of Tyler's behavior would be a good thing or not since I couldn't 'see' what she wanted to hear. However, I found that I didn't want to lie to her either.

"Rose and Jasper did indeed tell the rest of us about Tyler's nightly visits." I admitted with a sad sigh. Trying to spin it in a way that would keep her from losing her trust she had in them.

"They were upset and worried for you, and we always discuss what is on our minds in our family. No secrets, it's one of our rules, and we wont judge one another. Sorry if you didn't want them to tell."

I couldn't tell her what I wanted to say though. 'It's impossible to keep secrets in our family, because the eldest brother is a mind reader.'

She gave me one of her amazing smiles and I could see that she understood.

"No, that's fine. I understand. If that's how your family works, then that's how it works."

'Oh man! I want to know what is going on in her head! Does she still trust us? But I know I cant ask Jasper because she would hear me.' Emmett whined in his thoughts. I however could tell from Jasper's thoughts that she still somehow did trust us. But with her eyes still on me, I couldn't risk nodding at him.

Classes were going to start soon, and if we were going to play the part of being a couple, then we should start now by walking to class together.

"I'm glad then, may I walk you to your first class? If we are going to be telling people that we are dating, then we should get to know each other a little better."

She smiled at me and nodded a 'yes', and then suddenly she had questions in her eyes. I begged again for the ability to read her mind. But before she could say anything Alice rushed to her and pulled her into a hug, then kissed her on the cheek. Alice's mind was strangely blank, obviously hiding something from me.

"Bella, I'm just thrilled that this has all been worked out! I knew you and Edward would hit if off once he were feeling better. So, you'll sit with us at lunch won't you?" Alice demanded, she wasn't even asking. Then before Bella could answer she grabbed Jasper's hand and pulled him to the school.

"We'll see you two in lunch then." Rose added with a small friendly smile. "Come on Em." She added.

"Take good care of my kitten Edward." Emmett said with a rather wicked grin on his face. I knew this was a continuation of his 'pet' joke.

And with that, Bella and I were left alone in the parking lot.