A/N: I'm not Stephenie Meyer. I'm still Hannah. And when I said family emergency, I didn't mean anyone was hurt. My mom moved out yesterday because she got a job transfer, (she's letting me stay here to finish high school) and she needed help moving things because she just had surgery. So thank you all for your concern. Sorry I made it sound worse than it was. Yes, everyone is fine.
When Bella and I first walked into the cafeteria, Emmett looked like he was ready to pounce on me. He looked from my hand to Bella's face and suddenly all of the rude stares were starting to make sense.
I was appalled that people would think I would actually hit Bella. I was also confused as to why they thought she would still be walking with me to every class if I had. Though, I'm sure that more than just one person believes that I tried to kill someone at my last school.
"What did you do to her?!" Emmett asked looking at me furiously. I assured him that I did nothing, when Bella stepped in and told him, and Alice the whole story about Jacob.
I felt bad for my Bella. I knew she didn't want to have to explain to everyone. She was ashamed, I don't know why, but she was.
I also felt angry having to listen to it again. Not angry because I'd heard it too much, but angry at that mongrel. Every time she had to tell it, she looked like she might cry. I hated seeing her like that.
I took her hand under the table hoping it would make her feel better. She gave me a weak smile, so I knew it worked.
The bell rang, and we walked off to Biology class. I let go of her hand, because I wasn't sure if she would be comfortable with displaying affection of any sort in front of everyone.
As soon as we lost contact she frowned a little, I don't think I was meant to see it. She was so adorable, and not to mention beautiful.
We took our seats and Tyler walked over. He looked at Bella and opened his mouth to say something. "Not today Tyler! Leave her alone." I growled, glaring at him. He walked away after giving Bella a suggestive wink.
"I can't stand him. Thanks Edward." She giggled.
"I don't like the way he looks at you." I told her honestly, hoping she wouldn't think I was some sort of jealous freak. We weren't even together yet.
"He looks at every girl like that." She told me and she sounded like she was trying to comfort me. I didn't agree with her. He looked at Bella especially. I couldn't blame him.
I was about to argue with her, but the Biology teacher walked in.
"Okay everyone. Today we're going to finish the video. I want all of you to have started your ecosystems by Friday." He told us simply before walking to the outdated video cassette player.
"Do you think they'll ever get a DVD player in here?" Bella asked me as she silently laughed.
"I don't think so." I smiled at her, which made her blush.
The teacher turned off the lights and turned the video on. I decided I would take Bella's hand again. I missed it, and no one could see.
As soon as I touched her hand she scooted a little closer to me, and smiled at me. Every time she did that it made my heart melt.
We sat like that in comfortable silence as we watched the video until the bell rang. I quickly grabbed her bag before she could argue, and led her out the door.
"Are you going to insist on carrying my things every single day?" She asked slightly annoyed, while batting her eyelashes at me.
"Yep." I answered shortly, and gave her a grin.
Too soon we were already at the locker room, and it was time to let her go for the next hour. I was disappointed.
"I'll meet you out here and we'll go to the store right after school. Is that okay?" I asked her, even though I knew it would be.
"Yeah. That will be fine. I'll see you in an hour." She looked just as disappointed as I was, which was encouraging.
She walked into the locker room without another word, and I stalked off to my seventh period class.
It went by too slowly. I just wanted to be with Bella again. I was excited about taking her to the store today. Even getting plants and fish sounded fun because she would be with me.
I like her so much, and I know she likes me too. I'm afraid if she knew how much I liked her it would scare her off though. I wouldn't blame her if she were trying to stay away from relationships right now.
Slowly but surely the clock struck 3:15 and I could finally go get her from class.
I practically ran to the locker room where she was standing outside twiddling her thumbs. Her back was faced towards me. I walked up and lightly grabbed her shoulder, which made her jump and shriek, much like she had at the mailbox.
"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to scare you." I said, feeling like an idiot.
"Oh. It's okay. You could have said something before you grabbed me though." She gasped while smiling.
"I will next time. I pinky swear." I held out my pinky to show I was serious, and she took it.
"We need to get to the pet store they close in half an hour." She stated, while turning our held pinkies so that she could lace all of her fingers with mine. Which surprised me.
We got to my Volvo, and I opened her door for her. I reluctantly let go of her hand and skipped on over to the drivers side.
I started the car, and headed to the highway. I drove quickly so that we would get there on time.
We arrived at the pet store, and I let her out of my car. I gently grabbed onto her hand again and led us inside the store.
She immediately went to the goldfish. "Edward what about this one? He's so cute!" She squealed while making a fishy face to the tank. I chuckled. She was so adorable when she was excited.
"You want a goldfish? Think of something a little more original Bella." I teased.
I walked over to the beta fish and saw a dark blue one that I liked. It was my favorite color.
"What about these?" I asked signaling for her to come over.
"What about both?" She retorted.
"We can't get both. These are fighter fish. My beta fish would kill your gold fish in thirty seconds. He's bad ass." I explained to her. She frowned.
"Why would you let him kill my fishy?" She pouted. She obviously wanted that fish very bad.
"I'm not going to let anyone kill your fish. I really think that we should get the beta fish though.They have a longer life span, and we have a better chance of passing the assignment if our fish doesn't die." I reasoned with her.
"Okay fine." She smiled, and picked up the cup with the blue fish. "He's kind of cute too, I guess. I get to name him though." I thought it was a fair compromise.
"You can name him." I told her and her face lit up like a Christmas tree. I couldn't believe how easy it was to make her happy. She was truly amazing.
We paid for the fish and went on our way to the nearest department store to buy seeds. She just stared at the fish the whole way there.
"What are you thinking about so hard?" I asked her, chuckling.
"I don't know if I should name him Brutus, or squishy." She said, completely serious, and I started laughing.
"I personally vote that you name him Brutus, but I said you can name him so have at it." I was still laughing at her dilemma. She never ceased to surprise me.
"Fine. Then Brutus it is. I figure it's a good name since he would kill his best friend. That is, if you would have let him have one." She scowled at me jokingly.
We were in and out of the department store in about fifteen minutes. The seeds were in plain view, and we didn't have a hard time picking them out since Bella didn't necessarily think any of them were 'cute'.
We got back to her house around 4:45. I led her inside, and we began building our ecosystem out of empty two liter bottles, as we were told.
We put the fish in the bottom one, and the plants in the top one. We recorded the Ph balance of the water, and planted the seeds, measuring how much water we put into the soil.
"What now?" she sighed.
"I think we have to wait a few days before anything exciting happens." I said to her, even though she knew that already.
"So." She started as we plopped down on the couch. "Yesterday before….you know…everything happened…you said that you had some place you wanted to take me?" She asked nervously, like I would have changed my mind.
"I do." I answered simply. "The weather should be nice on Friday, I was thinking we could go there while Alice and Jasper are out, since I'm sure Alice is staying at your house." I finished.
"Well, where exactly are we going?" She said, truly curious. She had to know I wouldn't give in that easily.
"It's going to be a surprise, but you'll like it, I promise." At least I hoped she liked it.
"Edward!" she whined. "I hate surprises, just ask Alice." I knew she would be difficult about this, but I wasn't budging.
"Bella. It's Wednesday. You just have to wait two more days, it won't kill you." I assured her.
"Fine. But if it does I want you to feel bad." She began shaking her finger in my face like I was a puppy who had just eaten the couch.
"I promise if you die I will feel bad." I chuckled, even though it was the truth.
"There is something you should know though." She said as she looked down.
"What's that?" I asked truly curious. I was certain she was going to say she wasn't ready to date.
"Before you take me anywhere, my dad wants to talk to you." She said embarrassed. "That's what he was talking to me about last night after our hug goodbye. It's not that he doesn't like you. He just is a little wearier of what's going on in my life after what just happened. He feels guilty that he didn't notice." By the end of her sentence she was whispering.
"That's fine Bella. I don't mind talking to your Dad. I expected to anyway. I understand that he's worried about you dating. It's perfectly understandable." I stated.
"So. We are dating?" She asked me. Obviously she had the same questions I did.
"I like you a lot Bella. I want to date you, but I understand if you're not ready. I'll always be your friend, if nothing else." I said, hoping that she wouldn't comply, and that she would want to be more.
"I like you too." She smiled. "I'm not going to lie, it does make me nervous to be with someone again, but I trust you. I know you would never hurt me like Jacob has, because even when he was nice, it was never like this." She hand motioned pointing to me, and then her.
I wrapped my arm around her. "No. I wouldn't ever hurt you, or let anyone else hurt you. I promise." I was telling the naked truth. I would never let anything happen to her. Even if she somehow hated me, or even if she treated me terribly. I would never ever let anyone hurt her.
"Thanks." She mumbled, smiling as she gently placed her head on my chest.
I heard the cruiser pull up. "Your dad is home." I whispered in her ear before letting her go.
"Hey Bella I'm home! Who's car is that?" he shouted.
"It's Edward's. We're in here. We got a fish!!" She yelled back, still excited about our science project.
Charlie walked in. "Hello Edward." He smiled at me. "How is the science project going?" He asked both of us, but what he really wanted to ask was 'what are you doing while alone with my daughter?'
"We don't know yet dad. We have to wait until the plants start growing." Bella told him, completely oblivious to the deeper meaning to his question.
"Well, that makes sense. Edward, why don't you stay for dinner?" He asked me, and I was happy to accept.
"Sure that sounds great." I responded. I was supposed to eat dinner over here yesterday, before everything happened.
"Is pizza alright? I'm not much of a cook." He looked at me nervously. I was sure Bella did all of the cooking over here, especially after eating her pancakes this morning, which were delicious.
"Sure. I love pizza." Which was true, after all, I was from Chicago.
"I can cook something, Dad." Bella cut in, out of courtesy.
"No Bells. I don't want you moving around a whole lot for a couple of day, you've got to be pretty sore." He said with a look of sadness on his face.
"Okay. But I feel fine." She grumbled.
He ordered the pizza, and half an hour later, we sat down at the table together to eat it.
"So how do you like Forks so far?" He asked me. I knew this was probably the easiest question I would be asked tonight.
"I like it a lot more than I thought I would. I met some cool people here." I glanced over at Bella, unintentionally.
"Yeah, and how about your brother, does he like it here?" I wasn't even aware that he knew about Jasper.
"Yeah. He is just a happy person, he could make it anywhere." I smiled as I thought about how truly amazing my whole family was.
"Well that's good." He answered shortly.
"Actually. Charlie, I was wondering. Would it be alright for me to take Bella out this Friday?" Bella stiffened and dropped her piece of pizza back onto her plate.
"Where do you want to take her?" he asked me. Oh crap. I can't say in front of Bella.
"I'll tell you, but Bella can't be here. I'm torturing her by making it a surprise." I nudged her, and she glared at me.
"Well. I guess as long as it's some place safe, and she's back at a reasonable time I don't see why not." He said sounding a little more stern than usual.
He sat up straight, and made himself larger, a tactic that I was sure he had picked up as a police officer.
"I trust you will be taking good care of her though." He stated sounding intimidating.
"Dad!" Bella shouted.
"I won't let anything happen to her, I promise." I told him and he shrank back down to his normal size.
Bella hadn't said a word. I knew she was embarrassed.
"Bella, why don't you clear the table while I talk to Edward a little bit more about this Friday?" He looked at her.
"Dad, please don't do this." She whined. I felt kind of bad for her, but I didn't mind talking to Charlie. He just wanted to make sure Bella was in good hands.
"Bella. Don't worry." I chuckled at her. She got up and began clearing the table while Charlie led me to the living room. He sat in the recliner, and I sat on the couch.
"Where exactly are you taking Bella on Friday?" He asked, and I glanced around to make sure she couldn't hear.
"Well, when I first moved here I got bored so I went hiking in the woods and I found this really pretty meadow about a half a mile in. I was thinking since the sun should actually be out on Friday I could take her for a picnic." I told him, hoping he wouldn't have too many reservations about the woods.
"I suppose that will be okay. You are sure you know the way though? You don't know how many people I go searching for in those woods….." he trailed off.
"Yes sir. I know the way exactly. And my cell phone gets reception in there." I assured him. I hoped he would approve of me taking Bella to the meadow. I want her to see it.
"Also I'd like to talk to you about one last thing." He took a deep breath, and I listened. "Being a police officer, I know all about your record for assault back in Chicago."
Shit. I truly hoped he would never know about that. "Yes sir. I got into a fight with a boy at school who was pushing my brother around. I understand now, that it was a lapse of judgment on my part." I stated. Hoping he would get off the subject soon. The last thing I wanted was for him to think I was violent, even though he'd seen what I did to Jacob yesterday.
"I know son, I read your statement. I just want to make sure that my daughter is going to be safe with you. I don't want any trouble from you in this town. That will only hurt Bella." He already knew she was my weakness.
"Yes sir. I made a bad decision, and I understand that. I want you to know that I would never hurt Bella." I said for what seemed the umpteenth time.
"I know. After what you did for her yesterday, I respect you a lot Edward." He said to my relief. "I need to thank you for that. Jake is a big guy, and he could have hurt her very badly….. very easily if you hadn't shown up." He looked sad again.
"I know. I would never let something like that happen to her. Quite frankly, I feel like an idiot for leaving her here with him. I thought I would get here sooner." I tried to explain to him. I was about to apologize, but he cut me off.
"Don't blame yourself. You did all that you could. I just want to let you know that I am happy with you dating my daughter as long as you remain respectful, and don't get into trouble with the law." He told me as if he was my father, and not the one of the girl I wanted to be with.
"Yes sir." I stated simply. I know he told me to call him Charlie, but this conversation seemed to formal for that.
"Well then, that's all." He stood up, and so did I. He shook my hand, and I headed into the kitchen.
"Bella." I spoke getting her attention.
"Hmm?" She answered with a smile.
"It's getting late. I'm going to go home. We're on for Friday though." I gave her a grin. I was truly excited about our first date.
"Really?!" she asked excited. "That's great. I hope I can get my dad to tell me where you're taking me."
"Not a chance, Bells." He appeared in the doorway.
"Here. I'll walk you to your car so you can drive all the way home." She giggled and we were out the door.
"Thanks for staying for dinner today, I know my Dad's talks aren't fun." She was still embarrassed.
"It's fine. I like your Dad, Bella." It was true, I did.
She smiled at me and began to shiver. "Well. You should get inside it's cold." I said and gave her a hug, which lasted a little too long. I didn't want to let go of her though.
"I'll see you in the morning." She said, still shivering a little bit.
"Do you want me to drive you again?" I asked.
"Do you want me to make you breakfast again?" she asked back.
"I do, actually." I chuckled.
"Then I'll see you at seven thirty." She stated, giving me a kiss on the cheek, making me feel weak.
"Goodnight Bella." I whispered to her.
"Goodnight." She smiled breathtakingly, and make her way back inside.
A/N: oooo. Edward and Bella's first date coming up! I might post a little late tomorrow because I have to run a lot of errands in the morning with my best friend. But I will post, I swear. Have a lovely day.