A/N:

Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns the plot and characters of Twilight, not to mention all the money it makes. I make nothing but fanfiction.

I wanna say one thing before I spew forth my brain vomit. (There's a pretty picture for you.) So much curiosity abounds on why Bella is psychotically bitchy, epically speaking. It's a very love/hate relationship with her, where she's like my pet. I love her, but I hate that she pisses all over my rug. (Hey look at that, another pretty picture.) Meaning she isn't perfect, and she's endearingly human to me in a way that SM's Edward Cullen clearly is not (yummy). So my Bella is fucked-up, but she's no vampire. She's just a girl in my story, so I want you all to remember that while you read.

I'm going to shut up now. Really.

Chapter 7 – Blood Type aka "Bella Faints at the Sight of Blood"

We actually walked together to Biology from the cafeteria, conversing and everything, and I wondered if my giddiness – that's right, fucking giddiness – was showing. Lauren glared at us when we came in, but I pointedly ignored her as Bella and I took our seats, still in mid-discussion about plans for Seattle.

"Why is Mallory giving me more of the stink eye than usual?" she suddenly asked, and I rolled my eyes. Inside, I was elated she'd asked. It gave me a chance to flaunt my desirability, though being desired by Lauren wasn't exactly my proudest achievement.

"She tried inviting me to the beach earlier today, and when I excused myself due to prior engagements, she assumed it had something to do with you."

Bella raised her eyebrows. "With me?"

I leaned in and whispered conspiratorially, "Apparently, she thinks you and I are something of an item."

For a moment, I thought she was going to kill me - or Lauren - and my heart tried to abandon ship and escape through my throat. I was about to lose my precarious grip on it and launch the organ, bloody and still beating, at Bella's face when she suddenly grinned, looking at the back of Lauren's head. My heart reluctantly resumed position, and my breathing calmed. Really, this whole fear thing had to stop.

As though sensing her gaze, Lauren turned in her seat to glare at Bella and me, and Bella shot her a smile. She turned to me then, and so achingly deliberately, Bella leaned in towards my face. We already had our heads huddled together, and I was suddenly aware of just how close we were. She was coming closer, and her gaze was locked on my lips, and I nearly had an aneurism. My heart was climbing back up my throat - was she going to kiss me? I was suddenly intoxicated with the closeness, the smell and the presence of Bella. Our lips only an inch apart, she dropped her head ever so slightly and brushed her lips against my jaw.

I prayed that if there were a God, Bella wouldn't notice my body's immediate reaction. My eyes slid shut, and I bit my lip to suppress a groan of delight. My arms burst out in goose bumps, and my Confederate State raised its flag. Fuck me if her lips didn't feel so damn good on my neck, I was hard in a second.

I barely registered the strangled cry of indignation that came from Lauren as Bella leaned back, running her fingers lingeringly over my lips. I kissed them unthinkingly, gripping her hand in mine, and gazing at her from under my lashes, I pressed her fingers to my lips again and again. Her hand was so small, her fingertips so soft. I wondered how they would feel on my face, in my hair, on my arms or linked through my own fingers even. My heart raced with the thought of any of those things being possible. I forgot the rest of the room.

"I guess Mallory really had a thing for you," she whispered quietly, and I took a moment to remember what she was talking about.

Oh fuck. Oh fucking fuckity fuck fuck.

The awareness and self-consciousness struck like an anvil in those old Roadrunner cartoons. I released her hand and swallowed audibly, turning in my seat to best hide my bulging cock from her view. Scrubbing my fingers through my hair I attempted a smile, and Bella smiled back as Banner called the class to order. Lauren was glaring at us, but at Bella especially, as though she were wondering where she could find a horse head for her bed. But I felt a surge of affection for her, this vile creature that had unwittingly caused Bella to pretend, however briefly, that she wanted me. Because I had to remind myself, it was pretend. Bella had been trying to get a rise out of Lauren. It wasn't her fault I had lost myself –Jesus Christ I was losing myself a lot around her – lost myself in the feel of her lips or her fingers.

As Banner began passing out lab supplies, I heard Bella groan. Alarmed, I turned to her. Her face was pale, paler even than usual, and her eyes were wide with… fear? Her hand flew to cover her mouth as she eyed Mike Newton in horror. Puzzled, I looked over to where Newton was frowning at his finger, a droplet of blood visible on the tip. Oh. Blood typing. Banner was waving the indicator card over his head, with Mike Newton's blood already on it. Bella groaned again and placed her head on the table's surface. "Bella?" I placed my hands on her back and searched for her neck. Did she have a fever? Her neck was covered in sweat. Oh God! What was wrong with her?!

All thoughts of having her want me fled in the face of my concern. The fucking irony. Hadn't I just spent the first part of my lunch hour assuring Jasper and Emmet I would take care of her? And here she was, sick or dying or something, and I had no idea why or how to stop it.

"Bella? Are you all right?" I looked up at Banner with alarm in my eyes. He was frowning at Bella, concerned, but somewhat annoyed. I hated him.

"I already know my blood type, Mr. Banner," she offered weakly, and her voice was so small and unlike her that I groaned, too. It was agony, not knowing what was wrong with her.

"Are you feeling faint?" he asked her, his face all annoyance now and no concern. I fucking loathed him.

"Yes, sir," she mumbled, and I grit my teeth. Bella Swan? Faint? The blood? No way.

"Mr. Cullen, why don't you take Bella to the nurse's office, if you please." I looked up at him with my mouth hanging open in shock.

I loved this man.

He was saying something else, but I'd stopped listening, instead scooping Bella into my arms and carrying her out the door at a brisk walk. She gripped my shirt and groaned against me. She felt so good against my chest, and I was so relieved…

"Put me down," she whimpered unconvincingly, and I laughed.

"No way. I'm supposed to take you to the nurse, and I will." It wasn't lost on me the way her body fit perfectly in my arms. It wasn't lost on me at all.

"Please, just put me down for a little bit," she whimpered again, and it was so unlike her to ask so nicely, I couldn't help but comply. Like she was made of glass and lace, I placed her so she was sitting on the edge of the walk, and she leaned over and lay down on her side. I squatted on the ground beside her.

"Bella?" I asked, moving her hair away from her face. She looked so pale, so green, but she was still so beautiful. Her eyes shut, her lips slightly parted as she panted, her hair clinging to her forehead where she was sweating lightly, her hand almost completely obscured by the sleeve of my jacket cupping her cheek. Had I really told Jasper I didn't think she was perfect incarnate? I was a dumb ass. She was absolutely perfect, and my whole body struggled to reach out and take her. My brain barely won out. "Bella, can you hear me?"

"Go to hell," she mumbled, covering her face with her hands. Fucking adorable. "I hate you."

I laughed, seeing her impoliteness for what it was. Embarrassment. "You look like shit," I offered, and my body roared against the lie.

She groaned and peeked from between her fingers. Her Bambi brown eyes looking at me like that, and my jacket and her smell and those million other things compounded together, and I was undone. I leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her temple, stroking her hair again.

"Want me to take you home?" My voice was gravelly with the desire I was battling against.

She moved her hands away from her face, and I realized that in leaning in to kiss her I was practically half on top of her. I watched her throat as she swallowed, and she bit her lip, and I wondered if she was torturing me on purpose. Our faces were inches apart again. No Lauren to torment here. Just us. And she was looking at me like that... I could feel her breath against my cheek. It smelled like cigarettes, pot, cheap scotch and something else. Something distinctly Bella.

She wasn't answering me, and I wondered if I'd actually asked her if she wanted me to take her home or if I had just thought it. As I wondered, I realized the double meaning that could have been found in the question. Had she heard it, too? Had I just unwittingly asked her to bed? And more importantly, was she actually considering it?

"Bella?!"

I looked up to see Jasper come running across the grass, his eyes locked on her, his face contorted in worry and fear I had never thought possible to see on him before. I sat up and away from her, cursing him inwardly.

"Bella, are you okay?" He came to a halt on his knees beside her, and she started to sit up. "What's wrong with her?" He turned to glare at me, and the hatred in his eyes struck me mute for a moment.

"I felt faint in biology class. I'm fine, Jazz." He continued to glare at me, and she reached out unexpectedly and grabbed his face with both her hands, turning his head to face her before smiling sweetly at him. "I'm fine, I promise."

His face softened considerably, and he suddenly looked… tired. My chest ached. What was wrong with me? His hands reached up to cover hers, and he sighed. "Come on, I'll take you home."

Her gaze darted to me then, and she bit her lip again. I swallowed. Something was wrong. I didn't like it at all. She turned back to Jasper and nodded, letting him help her to her feet. "Edward?" Jasper stiffened and looked at me with that hatred in his eyes. Bella eyed us nervously. She saw it there, too. She knew why it was there. "Can you please get my things from the class?"

I nodded to her, trying and failing to reassure her with a smile. Jasper was already walking her to the parking lot, his arm around her waist as she leaned her head against his shoulder. I had thought she felt perfect in my arms, but as I watched them walk away, I realized they looked perfect together. The position looked natural between the two of them, easy and real. They fit. I hated that.

I walked back to Biology class and hastily explained to Banner that I was taking Bella home. He nodded in understanding and offered a smile and best wishes for her hasty recovery. They were both insincere, but I was too frustrated to care. Lauren glared at me as I picked up my bag and Bella's, but I ignored her. As I walked towards Jasper's Cadillac, I saw red on the edges of my vision. I couldn't properly explain it, but I was angry at him for ruining our moment, angry at him for hating me so fiercely. Before this mess with her, I had liked Jasper quite a bit. His friendship had been easy, not forced at all the way friendships in a new town often seemed to be. I had thought of him as a guy I would always get along with and always like hanging out with. Now I loathed him. Just as well, he loathed me, too. Because of Bella.

I saw her sitting in the passenger side of his car, with him leaning against the doorframe talking to her. He had one hand on her face, and she was looking up at him with softness in her eyes. He looked tired, again. I felt no sympathy, instead coming up with the vilest reasons for his being in the parking lot to begin with instead of class where he should have been. He must have been selling crack to school children or something. Surely. When he saw me, he moved away from her, his hand lingering on her face. He was walking towards me, looking stern and unfriendly.

I brushed past him as he stopped a distance from the car with his hand outstretched for Bella's bag, instead placing it in the backseat of his car behind her. He was glaring at me again, but I ignored him and leaned into the doorframe the way he had done to talk to her. "Are you feeling all right?"

She smiled and nodded at me, and I saw with relief there was color in her cheeks again. "I feel a lot better. And it was almost worth it being sick so I could miss gym last period."

I chuckled. "Well, you look less horrible than you did earlier, so I guess you're being honest."

She rolled her eyes at me, and I chuckled again. "Thanks, Edward." She was nothing like she'd been last week. She was funny, fragile, spunky. She was nice to me. She invited me to Seattle. Maybe she had been sick or something, I thought suddenly. She had been cranky. Some external force had been troubling her, bothering her so she was surly to me. Because the Bella that she was now was amazing in every way. The way she had felt against me, the sight of her in my jacket. The scent of her breath and how close our faces had been. The touch of her lips against my jaw line, and the touch of mine against her fingertips. Perfect. In every way she was perfect. This was no inner pussy talk, this was just statement of fact at this point.

"You're very welcome, Bella." Placing another kiss on her temple, I walked away to my car, waving at her over my shoulder as Jasper stomped to the driver's seat and talked furiously at her. She didn't seem to be paying any attention to him, instead looking out of her window with that bored half smile that had made my blood boil a hundred and seven years ago. They were screeching out of the parking lot before I even got to my car, and I shook my head in distaste. Something was up, and I'd no sooner completed the thought before I spotted confirmation of it.

Alice sat on my hood, her legs dangling almost a foot above the ground, her hands twirling around themselves in her lap. "Hey, Alice," I offered with a smile, my spidey senses tingling with nerves. Something was definitely up.

She smiled weakly at me, not really meeting my eyes. "Hey, Edward. Mind if I hitch a ride home with you?"

I scratched the back of my neck. So Alice and I weren't exactly close, but still. Awkwardness was totally uncalled for in this situation. Wasn't it? "I don't mind at all. Get in."

She smiled in gratitude, a little more genuine this time, before bouncing into the passenger seat with an echo of her usual energy. I turned down the stereo, unsure if Alice would appreciate Alexisonfire. "Oh, don't!" I turned to her, alarmed. She blushed and looked at her lap again. "I just like this song."

Okay. So she did appreciate Alexisonfire. Didn't see that one coming. "Where do you live?"

She murmured directions to her house, shyly avoiding my eyes the whole way, and I was unsettled. When I tried to start a conversation, she turned up the stereo and sang along, seeming to invent perfect harmonies to George Pettit's choruses. She hardly spoke at all, and her whole body remained rigid the whole way there. Maybe the pod people got her.

"Alice, hold on a minute," I ventured, placing a hand on her shoulder as she made to get out of the car. She jumped at the contact, looking at me with wide cornered eyes. "Can I talk to you for just a second?"

She laughed nervously, shrugging my hand off, and I self-consciously put it on the steering wheel and cleared my throat. Start somewhere safe…

"So how come you needed a ride home?"

So much for starting safe. She looked away quickly, and I heard her voice crack slightly. "Jasper was supposed to take me home. He drove me to school, so…"

The shitfaced fucker. He ditched her to fuck up my moment with Bella? So not cool. I watched her form her thoughts, fight a silent battle, chew her lip mercilessly, and my heart went out to her. She'd been so overwhelmingly nice to me that first day, overwhelming being the key term, but nice being up there, too. I liked Alice, quite a bit if I let myself admit as much, and I was angry at Jasper for making her sad, because he had made her sad today. I saw it in every little inconsistent nuance of her demeanor now. "I hope Bella feels better," I mumbled lamely. She nodded but didn't turn around to look at me. "Bella is…"

She turned to face me now and… what was that in her eyes?

I swallowed. "Bella is… nice, right?" She raised her eyebrows at me and I cleared my throat and tried again. "I mean… she's okay under all the bullshit and stuff, isn't she? Is she…?"

"Worth it?" I was embarrassed by her word choice, but her eyes held a hint of humor in them. I nodded wordlessly, cracking a small smile, and she sighed and smiled back before looking sadly at her hands. "Bella isn't perfect. Not by a long shot. She's kind of… been through a lot."

"A lot like how?" My curiosity was eating me alive.

"Well," she shifted in her seat and turned to face me, and her eyes were serious and heavy. I waited with baited breath, because Alice was getting herself ready to talk, and it was going to be epic. "Her mom walked out on them when she was a kid, right? So it was just Bella and Charlie for her whole life. Her mom was kind of flaky, I guess, some kind of free spirit or something, so she was always bailing on Bella. There was this one Christmas where she forgot to pick her up from the airport, and Charlie had to fly out to Phoenix and bring her back home, and she was like ten! So her mom gets married two years ago, right, and Bella flies out finally to meet the stepfather, who is some minor league baseball loser that's like half Renee's age, and the bastard comes on to her! So she freaks out and tells her mom, and her mom doesn't believe her, accuses her of trying to hurt her in revenge for all the times she wasn't there, turns around and tries to make it out like Bella was the one seducing him or something, and Bella got on a plane to Seattle and just... disappeared for a while. Rose went out to get her, and she was just all messed up, and they were gone for a month, and Emmett doesn't talk about it. Then Jacob Black was there and all this shit happened… the point is, Edward, it's fucked up. Everything, it's always been so fucked up for her. Nothing has ever come easy to Bella. It's like… everything hurts." She wrapped her skinny arms around herself and shuddered, and I sat stunned and watched her. This wasn't like Lauren's gossip. This wasn't malicious or spiteful. I'd thought once that Bella Swan had everything her way, but the way Alice told it, nothing ever went her way. "Bella's been through a lot," she repeated weakly, and her voice shook. "She just needs someone to stick around, you know?"

I nodded slowly, but I wasn't sure I understood. Maybe I did. A little more. A little better. I knew more about Bella, so it was a start, right? So did it explain her? All her psychotic manias and the raving lunacy? Not so much. I probably had more questions now than ever. But maybe it explained the bitch part of her. The part that went out to hurt people. The part that wasn't sorry. Carlisle's warnings had been plentiful when I was fourteen. All that talk about how bullies were only afraid of being bullied. Was Bella afraid?

"You won't tell anyone I said anything, will you?" Alice's eyes were pleading, and her lip shook ever so slightly. I knew I couldn't say no, and I couldn't ask her to tell me more. "I just thought you should know. You should know what you're getting yourself into." She sounded like she was trying to convince herself more than she was trying to convince me, but I nodded all the same. She nodded back, forcing another weak smile. "Okay. Thanks, Edward. For the ride. And for keeping a secret." She almost fell over herself getting out of the car, probably rushing before I had the chance to stop her again, and I watched her run to her front door without really seeing much. My mind was somewhere else.

I don't remember driving to my house, but I remember thinking about her again. Getting out of my car, I took the stairs two at a time and barricaded myself in my room. I played Brand New - loud - and stretched onto my bed to go over the events of the day again, lingering over the memories of her. I frowned as my thoughts turned to Jasper then, his interruption and the look on his face, his antagonism towards me and his fierce possessiveness of Bella. Alice had looked almost heartbroken. Her revelations had painted parts of Bella I had never imagined could exist before, and the picture of her shifted and changed and was unrecognizable. I had no idea what to make of it. And suddenly, just like that, I remembered why Emmett's words at lunch had been so familiar.

Back in Chicago, I had briefly dated a girl named Wendy Duncan. Wendy Duncan's older brother, Jared, had been the captain of the baseball team. He had heard about my dating his sister and come up to me one day – out of the blue – to give me 'the talk'. His face had been set in a resigned expression, knowing he couldn't prevent me from dating her, but also the fierce warning that if I hurt her, he'd be all over my ass.

That's how Emmett had looked at lunch when he'd asked me to be careful. That was how Rosalie had looked when she'd told me to watch it.

I realized with a start that they had been giving me their reluctant blessings to date their friend.

And Jasper had very firmly refused to give me any such thing.

With newfound annoyance and anger, I picked up my cell phone and scrolled to Carlisle's number. He answered after seven rings. Count them, seven. His own son. I could have been dying. "Edward, is this important?" No polite hellos for this man. Oh no.

"Esme Platt invited us to dinner tomorrow night. Are you free?"

Suddenly, Carlisle was asking someone to please give him a minute. There was the sound of a door closing, and then, quieter. "Esme invited us to dinner? The both of us? Where? When?"

I ground my teeth. "At her house. She said to be there at six, and that you already know where it is." I paused. "Do you?"

"Yes, I know where it is," Carlisle admitted reluctantly. Really. Nasty.

"Should I let them know to expect us?"

Carlisle cleared his throat nervously. Ick. "Yes, Edward. Go ahead and let them know we'd love to be there."

"Got it," I growled, hanging up on him without waiting to say "bye." Seriously, of all the women Carlisle could have had, and there had been quite a few ready to throw themselves at him after Mom died, he had to choose Rosalie's mother? He was handsome - even I didn't hate him enough not to notice that. He was a doctor, and more successful than most other doctors his age. His status as a widower raising his only son all alone also played him up. Women loved that shit. Esme very obviously got into it, too. But this time, Carlisle was eating it up. He'd never expressed interest in a woman before, and there had been a time, when I was younger, when I had wished he would. I'd eventually given up on the notion that he'd ever find someone, and now this.

I dialed Rosalie's number, reluctant to have this conversation. She answered in a tone that told me she felt the same.

"My dad says we'd love to join you and your mother for dinner tomorrow night."

She cursed, sighing. "I figured as much. Listen I hate to ask, but I kinda don't want to have this conversation with Esme, and I certainly won't ask your father but…" she cursed again. "Does he do this often? Like, date all the time? I mean, is he going to screw with Esme and dump her? Because if that's the kind of guy he is, you know, let's get it out in the open now."

I groaned. "Rosalie, Carlisle hasn't expressed interest in a woman since my mom died. Not once. He isn't playing Esme."

"Oh." She sounded relieved. "I'm… sorry. I didn't know your mom died. I thought-"

"Don't worry about it," I interrupted her, and she sighed again. "What about your mom? Is she gonna play my dad?" I felt like a parent looking after my child, rather than a child talking about his parent.

Rosalie barked a laugh. "Usually, I'd say hell yeah, but she's never invited a guy over to the house before. That and she's never gone after a guy with a kid. You know, baggage. I mean, I won't say she's been virginal since having me, but… this seems different."

I appreciated her honesty. "Thanks. I'll remember that."

"Right." The silence was awkward. "So I guess I'll see you tomorrow night."

"Yeah. See you then."

I hung up, groaning to myself. That had been a painful conversation to have. If Carlisle and Esme hit it off, there'd be more of this? Or would they leave Rosalie and me out of it? A horrific thought struck me. What if they ended up getting married? Rosalie and I would be step-siblings? I groaned again.

I wasn't looking forward to this at all, but at least it was taking my mind off Bella.