Thanks to everyone who has reviewed. It's a wonderful thing to see those messages pop up! For those of you who have asked about an Edward POV, I have decided that he does need to have his say. It's always good to hear what's in his head - almost as good as staring into his eyes! ;) So, I promise that will come soon. Meanwhile, enjoy!

Chapter 6

When Alice and I returned from the ladies' room we all got our coats on and walked out to the parking lot. Alice quickly made an excuse to pull Ben back into the restaurant, saying that she forgot her cell phone back at the table, and that was my cue to talk to Mike. It was cold outside, but awkward conversations always made me feel as though someone had turned up the heat to ninety degrees.

"Um, Mike, I need to talk to you," I said.

"Yeah, sure. What's up, beautiful?" he asked as he put an arm around my shoulder. I turned to face him so that his arm fell away and thought here goes nothing.

"Please don't take this the wrong way, but I don't think we should date each other anymore." Mike lost his goofy grin at that point and blinked a couple of times, processing what I was saying to him.

"Uh, okay, so what would be the right way to take that?" he asked, confused by my sudden turnaround.

"It's just that even though we've all had a good time being together, I haven't really felt more than a friendship connection between you and me, and I don't think it's fair to you, or even to Ben and Alice, to start something that I know I can't finish. I'm sorry."

"I see," he said, and the look on his face darkened by the moment. "And do you think it's fair to mercilessly flirt with me and let me take you out, and then not be willing to give anything back in return?" Now I was confused. He was upset about the money?

"Mike, I'm happy to pay for my own meal, and I didn't mean to mislead you earlier. I was wrong, and I really am sorry."

"Mislead me? I think you were doing more than that, Bella. You were practically telling me to take your clothes off the moment we came to pick the two of you up! And now I'm supposed to just accept that you only see me as a friend? I don't think so." He was staring me down, and suddenly he looked smug, as if a brilliant, yet deviant, idea had occurred to him. "Unless, that is, you're talking about friends with benefits. Maybe you'd rather have that kind of friendship?" With that he moved closer and slipped one hand inside my coat and around my waist and the other one around the back of my neck, and tried to kiss me.

"Get off, Mike!" I said loudly, pushing his hands away.

"Don't tell me this isn't something you wanted, Bella. I'm more than happy to oblige, but you need to stop fucking around with me. It isn't nice." He continued his advances, and I looked over to the restaurant entrance to see if Alice had come out yet. No sign of her, though. I pushed Mike away again and started walking quickly toward the restaurant when I felt a searing pain at the back of my skull. I stopped short because Mike had grabbed a fistful of my hair and was pulling me back to him. Again, he grabbed me around the waist with his other hand and began giving me his interpretation of how tonight would continue. Somewhere behind us I heard a car door close, and I hoped that someone would walk by and distract Mike long enough for me to get away from him.

With his mouth at my ear he said, "Listen to me, Bella. I don't really care if you want to be friends or not. Right now I am so pissed off that if I never see you again after tonight, then that will suit me fine. But you are not going to embarrass me in front of anyone, do you understand that?" I couldn't do anything at that point but stare at the side wall of the restaurant with wide eyes, feeling the fear rise in me as he continued.

"Since you are obviously good at acting, then I expect you to be a good little actress and just pretend that you're enjoying the rest of our evening together. And if you relax a little, who knows? You might even really enjoy yourself." Mike's tongue found the side of my face while his fist still clutched my hair, and again I tried to look around to the entrance in hopes of seeing Alice, or even Ben. They weren't there, but I was completely stunned by who was.

Edward was running at superhuman speed across the parking lot towards us. He reached us just as Mike turned my head and tried to force his tongue in my mouth. In a matter of seconds Edward had reached out and grabbed the collar of Mike's jacket, pulling him away from me and sending him to the ground.

"What the fu-?" Mike started to yell, but then recognition came over his face. "You? What do you think you're doing, man?" Mike demanded. I had never seen Edward's eyes as black with fury as they were at that moment. The look on his face made me feel a little scared for Mike, as vile a creature as he was.

"Get out of here now," Edward seethed, "before I rip your head off. And if you ever so much as look at Bella again, I will personally see to it that your life span is cut short."

Mike got up slowly, apparently debating whether or not to take Edward seriously, and decided that it was in his best interest to do so. He looked at me and shook his head in disbelief, and I just glared at him, putting as much venom in my stare as possible. He turned and jogged back to Ben's car, looking back a few times to make sure he wasn't being followed. We watched him climb into the car, and it looked as though he locked himself in.

"Bella," Edward said, turning to me, "are you alright?" His eyes were scanning my face and hair, looking for any sign of trauma.

"Yes, I'm fine," I said, although that wasn't entirely true. My head hurt like hell where Mike had pulled my hair, and I still wasn't over the shock of everything that had taken place. As I slowly regained my senses I looked up at Edward and asked him, "What are you doing here?" Edward looked a bit guilty and pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger, seemingly trying to decide how to best explain himself. He sighed then, apparently deciding that the truth was his only option.

"I followed you here," he said quietly.

"What? Why would you do that?" I asked incredulously, but the voices behind us interrupted before he could answer.

"Hey guys, should we head back…?" Alice's voice trailed off as she realized that it was not Mike standing next to me. Ben looked completely confused, and looked towards his car, where a very pissed off Mike was sulking.

"Okay, what's going on?" Alice asked, looking at both Edward and I. I wasn't sure what to say in front of Ben, so I kept my answers a little vague.

"Mike didn't react too well to our talk, and things got a little out of control. The next thing I knew, Edward was here and Mike is now sitting in Ben's car." I gave Alice a knowing look that told her I would expand on things later, and she immediately took the hint. Ben just started shaking his head, and I thought I saw a grimace on his face before he spoke. I was surprised to hear what he had to say, though.

"I'm sorry for whatever Mike did or said, Bella. He really can be a good guy sometimes, and a great friend, but he has to learn that he's not the center of the universe when it comes to women. Are you okay?" he asked, genuinely concerned.

"Yeah Ben, I'm fine, thanks. I'd just rather not be around him," I said.

"I can drive you back to Alice's house, so you don't have to be in the car with him. If you want me to, that is," Edward said. I nodded my head, thankful that I could avoid any more unpleasantness with Mike tonight. I also had several questions for my knight in shining armor, which could lead to unpleasantness on his part, depending on his answers.

Ben turned to Alice then. "I'd still like to spend more time together if that's okay with you, Alice. How about we dump Casanova off and then I drive you back to your house?" he asked, sounding unsure of what Alice's reaction would be.

"That'd be fine," she said, "I'd like that." And she smiled at Ben reassuringly.

Alice stepped over to me and gave me a hug, then whispered, "I'll see you back at my house. Be careful." I knew it wasn't my physical safety she was referring to. I just nodded my head and followed Edward back to his car. Once we were settled into his Volvo, we pulled out of the parking lot and onto the main road towards Forks. I wasn't sure how to start our conversation, but I had many questions burning a hole in my brain, so I just started at the beginning.

"I'm not sure whether to be angry at you or grateful," I started, trying to sort out which feeling should take priority.

"Well, you could just thank me and get over it," he said with a sheepish grin.

"Thank you," I said quickly, realizing that I hadn't said that before.

"But you're still angry," he stated.

"Yes. I mean, sort of. I think I'm more curious, actually. Why exactly did you follow us?" I asked. Edward let out a deep sigh and looked over at me for a moment before starting his explanation.

"When I left Emmett, I really just wanted to keep a safe distance from you in case anything strange happened. I didn't like the feeling I had when we met those guys. More from that jerk Mike than Alice's date, though. He was looking at you like you were something to eat, and I just didn't feel like you were safe with him."

"And it's your job now to make sure I'm safe?" I said, a little harshly.

"I feel…very protective of you," he said softly. "I'm sorry if I overstepped a boundary, but I don't regret showing up." He said this with such determination that I felt a tug at my heart.

"Oh," I said softly, abandoning all harshness. "Well, I guess I don't regret you showing up, either. But I was very surprised, to say the least."

"I imagined you would be if I had to show myself," he replied with a slight smirk.

"'Well, but not so much because of what happened. When Alice and I left, I assumed you would have gone out with Tanya tonight, since you didn't see her last night." I could feel the heat rising up my neck and face as I wondered what kind of boundaries I was now crossing, and whether I really wanted to go there. In the back of my mind I couldn't help but think of the concert and the wonderful time I spent with Edward last night, and how so much could happen in just twenty-four hours.

"Um, no, I'm not seeing her tonight," he said. The way he said it, though, sounded strange to me. Should I ask him why? I thought. No. Something told me that wasn't a subject I needed to hear about right now.

Neither of us knew what to say, it seemed, and we rode in silence for a few minutes. When the monotonous hum of the engine seemed too much, we both reached for the radio's power button. Our hands brushed against each other for the briefest second, and I mumbled "Sorry," as I took my hand away. Edward just looked at me with his hypnotic eyes for a moment and turned on the radio. The song playing was by Kings of Leon, and I couldn't help but raise my eyebrows at the call letters on the lighted display, not lost to the irony. Edward gave a soft chuckle and reached over the console just enough to take my hand and lace our fingers together.

We didn't say much after that, nothing significant anyway, and I was thankful for the chance to collect my thoughts. I was adjusting to the feeling that my universe had somehow shifted tonight, and that my relationship with Edward had taken an entirely new direction. Now I was eager to find out what direction that was, exactly. But that would be a conversation for another day.

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