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Bella POV

I don't know how long I sat there and cried in Edward's arms for, but I do know that I never wanted him to let go of me. I sobbed so hard that my body actually began to ache. I wasn't used to being this vulnerable around people. Jake and Rachel were really the only people who had seen me cry, and those times were either because I injured myself, or because of some emotional meltdown of mine. I didn't really know why I sat there and let my shield down, but whatever the reason, I couldn't stop. Finally, I managed to get ahold of myself.

" Sorry, I didn't mean to ruin your shirt." I sniffled. He glanced down at his soaked t-shirt, and shrugged.

" Its no big deal. I bet Alice will just use it as an excuse to buy me another shirt anyway." He said vaguely. His mind seemed to be elsewhere, and he seemed distant. I sighed and looked in the dressing room mirror. My hair was ruffled, my lips were swollen and chapped, my eyes were rimmed with red, and my cheeks were tear stained. I took out a ponytail holder from my borrowed purse, and put my hair up in a neat ponytail. I then turned to Edward, who had been watching me intently.

" Do you mind waiting outside? I have to get changed into my regular clothes." I said in a husky voice. He nodded, and left the room. As soon as he left, I stripped out of the pink and black dress that Alice had thrown at me earlier. I slid back into my original outfit, and popped a piece of gum in my mouth. I took out a tissue, and blew my nose.

Once I put on some chapstick for my chapped lips, I grabbed my bag, ready to leave. I looked in the mirror one last time before opening to door and stepping out. Edward was sitting on the floor with a look of sadness on his face. When I approached him, he looked up at me through his dark lashes. His eyes did that smoldering thing that drove me mad. I was momentarily dazzled by his beauty, and didn't speak.

" You look better." He said. I nodded, and held my hand out for him to take. He smiled faintly and grabbed my hand. Once he had hoisted himself off of the floor, he let go of my hand. I tried to ignore the feeling I got when he let go of my hand.

" Well we should probably get back to the others. The must be worried." I said in a quiet voice. He nodded and followed me out of the dressing hallway, and into the main part of the store. Once we looked around, we saw Alice, Rachel, and Rosalie throwing piles of clothing at Carlisle, Esme, Jasper and Emmett. They were all oblivious.

" Rachel! Are you done yet? We have been in here for over three hours!" I hissed at her as we neared them. Rachel turned to face me and arched an eyebrow.

" Well excuse me if I want to look good for Embry tonight. He is taking me out to that new restaurant La Tua Cante its going to be so romantic! He even hired a limo to take us! Isn't that so sweet?! Anyway, I have to look fabulous for him. So shut your trap." Rachel huffed. She held up a slinky black dress in one hand, and a white dress with a pink bow in the other. " What do you think Alice? Is it too slutty? Or do you think I should be more modest in this pink and white dress?" Rachel asked. Alice stood frozen where she stood. I turned and noticed that Edward's whole family was frozen. They all looked shocked for some reason. I grew anxious.

" What? What happened?" I asked Edward in a low voice. The didn't move. Rachel looked puzzled.

" What, is this some kind of weird vampire thing or something? Why are you guys all frozen?" Rachel questioned. I looked at Edward again.

" Edward Anthony Masen Cullen. If you don't tell me whats wrong right now, I'm going to leave this store and drag Rachel with me. " I hissed at him. I hated the fact that they were keeping secrets from me. My comment snapped Edward out of his trance.

" You're not mad that she is cheating on you?" He asked in a shocked voice. I frowned.

" Who is cheating on me?" I asked. I was clueless. All eyes turned to me.

" Rachel of course. She is going out tonight with a man.Aren't you mad about that?" He asked, bewildered. I stared at him like he was crazy.

" Um, duh. Rachel is going out with Embry. I knew that. And what do you mean cheating on me? I know that their dating." I was completely lost. Why did it matter that Rachel and Embry were going out tonight? Edward widened his eyes.

" But Rachel is your girlfriend! Don't you care that she is fooling around with some guy?!" Edward asked me. This time I was the one looking shocked. He thought me and Rachel were dating ?!

" What are you talking about?! I'm not a lesbian!" I yelled at him. Everyone turned to glare at Emmett. He smiled sheepishly. Rachel burst out laughing.

" Me... Bella... lesbians...! Ha...ha...ha..ha! Can't...breathe!" Rachel gasped as she clutched her sides from laughing. She dropped all of her shopping bags on the floor and and continued to laugh. I rolled my eyes.

" I don't think its funny, Rachel. I don't know why you are laughing." I said sourly. Rachel laughed even harder. Edward turned back to me and grinned.

" So that means your single?" He asked. He was strangely hopeful. I narrowed my eyes in suspicion and shook my head no. His shoulders dropped and his face faltered.

" No, I have a boyfriend. Why?" I asked him. He looked up at me, and I almost gasped at how agonized his eyes were.

" Who is your boyfriend?" He asked me. Before I could answer, Alice skipped to my side and sniffed my shoulder. She recoiled in disgust. Her eyes suddenly widened in horror.

" Bella, please tell me that you aren't dating him. No! You can't! Its too dangerous!" She gasped. Edward must have read her thoughts, because he suddenly stepped in front of me with his eyes flashing in an anger I had never seen before.

" WHAT?! YOU'RE DATING A FUCKING WEREWOLF?! Bella do you have any idea how dangerous that is?! He could attack you at any moment! And of all the people to date, you had to choose JACOB BLACK. I can't believe that you would be so stupid like that! What are you thinking?!" He exploded. I cringed away from him. Jasper came up from behind Edward, and put a had on his shoulder, trying to calm him.

" Edward, just let it go. Its not a big deal. Just calm down before you do something you regret." Jasper said in a soothing voice. Edward shook his hand off and gave him a death glare. He pointed a finger at me and continued to rant.

" I leave you for a few years, and my only request is that you stay safe, and your idea of staying safe is dating a werewolf?! Really Bella, sometimes I think that you are suicidal." He said while his face contorted in anger. I could feel my own anger starting to flare. How dare he scream at me like this!

" Oh, so you wanna play this game, eh? Well two can play that! Maybe if you hadn't fucking left in the first place, I wouldn't have gone to Jacob! After all, the werewolves were the only ones there to protect me from Laurent and Victoria! And last time I checked, you weren't winning any awards for the Safest Thing on the Planet!" I yelled back at him.

I can't remember how many times I practiced those lines, all these years I've been waiting for him to come back so that I can scream in his face for what he did. But now that I was actually doing it, I felt strangely guilty. People were starting to stare at us, and I got the feeling that the clerk was on the verge of calling security. Not that they would be able to get passed Emmett anyway... I turned back to the Cullen's and Rachel. I lowered my voice.

" Now if you would follow me, then we can discuss this properly." I hissed. I yanked Rachel's dress from her hands and approached the register. The clerk had long blond hair that was artificially dyed. She had acne, and an overbite. She blushed when I came to the counter.

" Might as well pay for this thing while we're here." I said quietly as I scratched my signature across the check. The woman took the check gratefully. I glanced down at her name tag. It read ' Sandy Beach'. I smirked at her. What a weird name. Sandy smirked back.

" Miss, It seems that this you and your friends are disturbing the customers." She said in a scratchy voice. I rolled my eyes.

" Yeah, erm, sorry about that. If we messed anything up, just call this number and I'll pay for it." I said as I grabbed the bag. On my way out I made sure to scribble down Alice's number. The least she could do was pay for the destruction. I sighed and handed Rachel the bag, then walked out onto the busy Manhattan sidewalk, and towards the subway station. The Cullen's all followed curiously. After we arrived at my stop, me and Rachel got off, and motioned for everyone to follow us. My cell phone vibrated suddenly. The caller ID read ' Jake'.

" Hey, Jake. Whats up?" I answered as we came to a halt at me and Rachel's apartment. I unlocked the door and let everybody inside. I heard a release of breath on the other end. I was more than surprised when Jake spoke.

" Jesus Christ, Bella! Do you have any idea how worried I was about you?! You have been gone for over 4 hours! Give me one good reason why I should call the police." He yelled into the phone angrily. I held the phone away from my ear, and looked at it in shock. Jake had never been one to yell at me. Rachel gave me a sympathetic pat on the back, and the Cullen's looked at me curiously. I got back on the phone.

" Well, first of all, I don't think the police would appreciate you filing a missing persons search, if i'm in my apartment with Rachel and few friends." I said icily. I didn't like how this was going.

" God dammit Bella! What the hell was I supposed to think?! My girlfriend goes to meet a stranger a cafe all by herself, with her friend, and then disappears for over 3 hours! Look, I'm only freaking out because I love you so much, and I would... I don't think I would be able to live if I lost you." Jake's voice grew softer when he said the last sentence. I felt my face soften at his words. Now that I thought about it, it would be pretty traumatizing for Jacob to be all alone like that. Rachel rolled her eyes, and mouthed " Softy" to me. I glared at her before speaking.

" I know, and I'm sorry Jake. I didn't mean to scare you like that. Its just that I met up with a few.. erm, old friends that hadn't seen in a long time. And I sort of lost track of time. Listen, I gotta go, but I'll see you tonight." I said in a quietly. I heard Jake sigh.

" Alright, but as long as you promise me that you are safe, and that you will come home to me. I love you." He said softly.

" Bye." I said. When I hung up I noticed everyone was staring at me. I furrowed my brow. " What? Why is everybody staring at me?" I asked. No one answered. They all just stared. I heard a gasp come from Rachel. I turned around and froze. I found myself come face to face, with deep brown eyes that seemed to be flashing in anger and betrayal. I would recognize those eyes anywhere. I couldn't speak, or move. All I felt was just a numbing fear trickle into my blood.

" So this is your idea of 'old friends'?!" Jake said furiously. I took a step back. This wasn't good. Suddenly Edward was standing in front of me blocking me from Jacob. I heard Edward growl.

" Stay away from her! She doesn't have to abide by all of your rules. You aren't her father." Edward hissed. Jacob tensed as he saw Emmett and Jasper advance forward. Embry burst through the door then, and immediately tensed in a fighting position as he saw the situation. Rachel retreated to his side and placed a hand on his shoulder. He didn't move.

" Please... Stop. Don't fight." I managed to choke out. But it was too late, Jake had already lunged at Edward.

So now the Cullen's know about Jake and Bella! And the battle begins... I'm so pumped for the Twilight movie to come out, I'm literally bouncing like Alice! haha! I've already promised about 13 people I would see it with them. Lets just say that the cinema is going to need popcorn reinforcements... By the way, I have new pictures of Bella, Edward and the gang on my profile, so you should check it out.

REVIEW ME LOVES!!

xoxo

kenza