I fell asleep with Edward by my side that night. I felt safe, content, and in love. I pushed back all thoughts of James' and the chaos that revolved around him. Edward was here, and that was all that mattered.

I awoke to the ringing of my cell phone. Alice insisted I had an actual song for a ring tone, so "When I Grow Up" by the Pussycat Dolls was playing at eight in the morning. You can say that I wasn't in the best mood when I answered the phone.

"Hello?" I asked groggily. I hadn't even bothered to look at the caller I.D.

"Hey, Bells. You ready to get your stuff today?" the voice on the other line said. It didn't take me very long to realize it was Emmet.

"Hey, Em. Yeah, I guess. I'm bringing Edward, too." Emmet knew that I was talking to someone, but he didn't know that Edward and I were dating. I was kind of scared for his reaction.

"Edward? Is that the guy you've been hanging out with?" he questioned.

"Yeah. We're . . . um . . . Kind of dating." I whispered the last part, hoping that he wouldn't hear it.

"Are you shitting me? You just got dumped by James and you're already jumping into another relationship?!" His voice was angry, which was somewhat understandable. He was worried about me, and I couldn't be mad at him for that.

"I know it sounds bad, but he's different, Me. You just have to see for yourself. You'll like him, I promise." I had no doubt in my mind that Emmet and Edward would get along. But, I knew that it might take a while for them to become friends, just because Emmet would be making sure that Edward wasn't going to hurt me like James did.

"If you say so, Bells. But, if he hurts you I'm going to kick his ass."

"Yeah, I know. I'll meet you there at twelve, okay?" I asked.

"That sounds good. See you later."

I plopped back down on my bed, but I couldn't sleep. I had too many thoughts running through my mind. I wasn't particularly happy about having to go see James again, and I was worrying about Emmet's behavior towards Edward. I was hoping he would be a little civil.

"Morning, love," Edward whispered. The sound of his voice startled me, which caused me to jump. I instantly blushed in embarrassment.

"Good morning," I answered. "How did you sleep?"

"Wonderfully," he replied. He sat up slowly and turned to face me. Half of his body was covering mine and my breathing was speeding up at an embarrassing rate.

"Well, that's good," I managed to reply.

"Mmm…" was the last thing he said before his lips crashed to mine in a very sweet kiss. When he pulled away he had a huge grin on his face. He looked so beautiful when he smiled like that. I, on the other hand, probably looked completely goofy with the smile that was spread across my face.

"Are you coming with me today?" I questioned. He had told me that he was, but I just wanted to make sure.

"Of course. I overheard your conversation with your brother. I take it he's not particularly happy that you and I are dating?"

"He has nothing against you personally. He just worries about me. He doesn't want me to go through what I went through with James again."

Edward gently placed his hand on my cheek and a very serious look struck his face.

"Bella," he said, "I will never do to you what he did. I love you."

"I love you too, Edward." I lightly placed a kiss on his cheeks and pulled away. Even the simplest of kisses made me weak in the knees, and if I was going to get ready to face what was ahead of me, I needed to be all there.

I got off the bed and grabbed some jeans and a tank top before going in the bathroom to change. When I came out, Edward was in a different shirt and jeans.

"I brought some clothes with me yesterday," he said before I had time to question him.

"Oh, I see. Are you planning on staying longer?" I asked. I really hoped that he would say yes. I felt so safe and content having Edward at my house.

"If you'd like," he replied with a hopeful look on his face. Even if I didn't want him to stay, there was no way I could deny his expression.

"Duh," I answered sarcastically.

Edward laughed and grabbed my hand lightly. "Well that's good. Now, we better get going," he said. I took a deep breath and let him lead me to his car.

The drive was silent, but not awkward. I was silently hoping that James wouldn't be there, and that my brother would act politely as he could manage towards Edward.

When we finally pulled up at James' house my brother was on the sidewalk arguing with James. Great.

"Look, man. She doesn't want anything to do with you, so just let us get her stuff and then we'll leave," Emmet said fiercely. I was surprised that James hadn't given in already. He was always scared of Emmet when we were dating.

"She will come back to me, which is why you can't take her stuff!" James retaliated.

"James," I said timidly, "I'm not coming back to you. Just please let me get my stuff and then we'll leave you alone." I felt Edward place his hand on my lower back, and another on my side, pulling me closer to him.

"Don't you love me anymore, Bella? After all we shared? I know I screwed up, but you can't say that you don't love me anymore."

I wasn't sure how to answer him. A part of me still cared for him, only because we were together for so long, and we shared so much. But, now I had Edward.

"James, just let me get my things," I replied.

"No!" he yelled. Edward took a step in front of me just as Emmet took a step towards James.

"I've wanted to kick your ass ever since my sister started dating you. That's a lot of built up anger, man. I suggest you move before I take it all out on you now." Emmet's eyes became dark and I could see him clenching his fists and jaw.

"This isn't over, Bella. I hope you know that. You will regret leaving me," James said as he stormed to his car and drove away. I didn't know what to make of his threat. I wished that I could say that nothing was going to happen, but I wasn't sure. James was not the person that he was when we started dating. He turned into someone malicious and hateful. Who knew what he was capable of now?

"Well, uh . . . let's get my stuff," I said shyly.

I didn't have a lot of items, so it didn't take long to get them all. The only things I was bringing to Alice's were my pictures, books, and clothes. Everything else James' could do as he please with. I just wanted out of his house.

"Bella, are you going to be okay?" Emmet asked. I hadn't talked the whole time we were gathering my things, so I knew that he could tell that something was the matter.

"Yeah. So, how do you like Edward?" I asked.

"He's pretty cool. You were off in la-la land when we were talking so I guess you didn't notice. We got along pretty well," he answered. A smile broke across my face as I stood on my toes to wrap my arms around his neck.

"Thank you," I whispered.

"Of course, Bella," he replied just as Edward walked into the room. I let go of Emmet and made my way over to Edward.

"You ready to go?" he asked.

"Yeah," I replied.

We said our goodbye's to Emmet and got in Edward's car and drove away. We made small talk on the way home, but we didn't talk about the threats James had made. He knew that I didn't want to talk about it, but I also knew that sooner or later I was going to have to.

When we got home I noticed Alice wasn't there. She hadn't been home a lot lately, ever since she started seeing her mystery man. She was going to have to introduce him soon.

I walked up to the front door and noticed a note taped on it. It had my name written on the back so I pulled it off and read it.

Bella,

You shouldn't have left. You have caused me more pain than any man should deserve. Now, you are going to feel it too.

James

I dropped the note immediately, and I could feel the tears brim my eyes. His threats were not false. He actually had the intentions of hurting me, or my loved ones.

Edward picked up the note and read it to himself. I could feel the anger radiating off of him as he pulled me into his arms.

"It's going to be okay, Bella. I won't let him hurt you," he said. I wanted to believe him, but I just couldn't.

James had a plan to hurt me, and he wasn't going to stop until he succeeded.