Disclaimer: I own nothing, characters belong to Stephenie Meyers.

Chapter 2

B POV

"Where's Emily?" Mike asked giving me a dirty smile, his white t-shirt already had a red stain on it, someone's blood no doubt.

"Safe. Safe from you and your advances. Leave, Mike, now." I despised Mike Newton with every fiber of my being. He had degraded me in a way no woman should ever be degraded. I had been an object to him, he had done what he wanted to me and threw me away.

"Bella," he tsked, "You're no fun. What happened to you?"

"You happened to me." I thought bitterly. Mike looked me up and down before walking out, muttering unkind things about me. When he was gone, I turned to the outsiders, they stuck out like a sore thumb.

"Thanks," the woman mumbled wearing a pale pink came dress with a tan leader jacket hugging her body tightly. Her blonde hair was beginning to come out of the bun it had been secured in. She glanced at the man beside her, he was dressed in a black suit with a tie, he looked so amazing in it. His eyes, his eyes were what took my breath away, they were so green and so familiar. How was that possible?

Shaking off the effect his eyes had on me, I turned my attention to the woman. "Are you two lost?"

The woman scoffed and looked at the man before looking back at me. "Hardly! This guy drove us here for no reason. Edward, let's go!" She grabbed his hand and pulled him out, saying they would get what they needed someone else.

Shaking my head, I grabbed a gallon of milk, a snickers bar, and some bread before going up to the counter to pay. Seth, 17-year-old Seth, was working the counter. Seth was such a bright, sweet boy, he deserved more than what Forks was giving him. Granted Forks wasn't a bad town, just the part we lived in.

"Hello, Miss Bella!" I always smiled when he called me 'Miss. Bella', I had told him numerous times to call me 'Bella', but he continued his way. He picked up the Snickers bar and smiled, "this for Emily?"

"How did you know?" I laughed. "How is Leah?"

"She's good, she appreciates you getting her that job. I appreciate it too, ever since our dad had his accident it's been tough." Leah was Seth's 25-year-old sister, she worked as a baby sitter, getting a job wherever she could. "Oh! She told me to tell you that she'll be at your house at 5 tonight."

"Great!" I said and watched as he put the milk in, the last item. "How much do I owe you?"

"7.39," Seth said and took my 10 from my hand. It was the last 10 I had for the week, we would have to last on bread until Monday; it wouldn't be the first time. Seth must have known what I was thinking, "Ya know, I can talk to my boss and see if he's hiring? I know I would like some help."

"Thanks, but I don't know if I can take care of Emily and swing two jobs." I grabbed the bags off the counter and walked out the door. I scanned the area around me to make sure Mike Newton was out of sight, I didn't have the energy to put up with him right now. My eyes landed on a black Lincoln still sitting in the parking lot. It didn't belong here, it stuck out as much as its owner had. I was jealous of the owner, I was jealous that he could drive away from this part of town. I was jealous that Emily would never get that option from me. Shaking my head, shaking away the jealousy, I pulled the grocery bag up so it rested more on my shoulder and began my mile walk home.

My name's Bella Swan, I am alone, I have no one in this world that I can truly depend on. Yes, I have a couple of good friends, I trust them to watch my daughter while I'm working or while I'm getting groceries. However, I have no parents, I haven't had parents since I was 10 and I had been perfectly fine raising myself for 5 years. However, when I was 15, well Mike happened. I thought he had cared for me, I thought he wanted to take care of me, I was young and I was naïve. At 16, I became responsible for someone else, for this tiny little baby and everything changed. I remember breaking down crying because I was overwhelmed with feelings, how could I take care of this baby if I hadn't even been able to protect myself? Somehow, for the past 3 years, I had done just fine at taking care of Emily. I had to break down, I had to admit that I needed help from my neighbor and his family. I guess, they were the closest thing I had to a family.

-0-0-0-0-

"Momma!" I was tired from the walk, but the sound of Emily's voice always brought a smile to my face. Just as I closed the door, the little girl came running around the corner with her brown curls bouncing with every step.

"Hey, sweets," I said touching her head and walking around her. Jacob was on the couch engrossed with a coloring page. "Whatcha got there buddy?"

"Hey, Bells, I didn't even hear you come in!" Jake remarked getting up quickly and shutting the book. I couldn't help but smile at his embarrassment. "Uh… She really wanted me to finish this coloring page, it's Sofia the first, you know how it's all the rage with these kids!"

"Yeah," I said unconvinced, Jake was just a big kid himself. I plopped down on the couch next to him, Emily quickly followed my lead and wedged herself in between us. "Thanks for watching her, Leah's going to come tonight and watch her for my shift."

"Oh, really?" I quickly noticed his mood brighten when I mentioned Leah's name. "I mean, I can watch her, it's fine."

"Jake," I began, rubbing my daughter's arm while giving Jake a look, "do you have feelings for Leah?"

Jake scoffed, "What? That's insane! Leah…. Leah's stubborn, she's opinionated, I'm surprised you let Emily around her."

"I let her around you," I fired back getting up to put the items away. Finding the Snickers bar, I smiled as I thought about how happy Emily would be when she saw this. Though, at this moment, it was a little melted so I put it in the fridge and would ask Leah to give it to her. "Ya know, if you have feelings for Leah, you should go for it. I mean, she won't be around much longer."

"What?"

"She's moving to Cali, she's smart and is getting far away from Forks," I said feeling the jealousy come back up.

Jake obviously heard the resentment in my voice, I heard him get off the couch and come behind me. "Bella, you can leave too. You can leave and start somewhere new."

"I can't!" I cried as I turned around. "Don't you see that? Mike won't let me leave, he wants to keep me close. You know who his dad is and what he can do. As long as Mike is here, I can't leave."

"Bells," Jake said softly and pulled me into his arms, sobbing. Okay, so there was one person I could count on: Jacob Black.

E POV

The party was winding down by the time we arrived back, I had driven slowly and simply thought about her. That wasn't how I was hoping to meet her, that wasn't how I had planned on it going. I was stupid and hadn't even introduced myself, I mean what could I have said? Hey, remember that boy that gave you an ice cream cone when you were little? No? Okay, never mind then.

"Aren't you coming in?" Tanya asked staring through the passenger side window, we must have been parked outside the house for at least five minutes. "Alice and your mom are probably already mad we were gone for so long."

"I'll go inside in a minute."

"Edward, where are you right now?" She knew me so well, but she didn't know me at all. With a sigh, she got back in the car and turned to me. "Back at the store? With that girl? I saw the way you looked at her. It's how…"

I knew what she was going to say, it's how she looked at me, I felt bad for her and often wished that I could feel something for her. It would be simple, being with Tanya would be simple, but it wouldn't be right. "Tanya…"

"How do you know her?"

"I don't… Not really." She gave me a look to continue, "When I was 8, I saw this little girl sitting on a park bench. My mom was paying for the ice cream that I had been eating, I walked away and went to sit with her. Without a moment's thought, I gave her my ice cream and she devoured it. She couldn't have been older than five at the time. She has to be 18 or 19 now, and…"

"That was her? That was that little girl?" Tanya said finishing my thoughts, I simply nodded. "Ed… she's from a different world completely. Did you not see how that part of town looks?"

Before I could say anything, an angry Rose began banging on my car window. "Get inside! Mom's been worried sick about you!"

"We're coming," I mumbled getting out of the car. "Calm down."

"Where have you been? You've been gone for 45 minutes!" Rose yelled slapping me over the head.

"It was my fault!" Tanya quickly said. "I asked to go to a different store, so we went to the store on the other side of the hospital."

"Seriously?"

"Tanya," I began but Tanya shook her head.

"Let's get inside," Rose said a little calmer. "I'm just glad you're safe. We were about to send a search party out."

Walking inside, I saw how worried everyone had been. I had been stupid to drive so far away, I hadn't thought before doing it. Mom quickly threw her arms around me, her eyes were puffy and red indicating that I had made her cry. Alice was next, mumbling that I was an idiot and then quickly saying I had ruined her party. I'm not sure if she was mad at that or a little grateful. This… This was what I meant, all these people had been so worried about me. Who was worried about Bella?