A/N: As many of you know, the reason this chapter is so far behind schedule is because of a major mistake by my best friend. In a drunken night of awesomeness, he accidently deleted the entire chapter and I had to start from scratch. Needless to say, he's in the doghouse, lol.

Thanks a million for the reviews, my lovelies. I'm thrilled that you all love the way I brought Rosalie into the story. I'm so proud of the way her character is turning out.

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

~*~Dangerous Encounters~*~

Bella

I was anxious all night, tossing and turning in my sleep, worrying about what was going to happen the next day with Edward. He told me to trust him and I did to get me off the hook, but I didn't think he cared much about his own well being and that concerned me. I couldn't understand it. Why did I matter to him more than he mattered to himself?

My brain was on overload trying to process everything. It was impossible for him to love me the way I loved him, but if I put forth every memory I had of mine and Edward's relationship, I could clearly point out how he could love me back, at least in some capacity. Before summer, there was no doubt in my mind that my feelings for him were all one-sided, but I couldn't honestly say that now.

It started with the gift he got me for my birthday. It could have been a gift for just a friend, but it felt like more. And then he held me in his arms for the first time. It was only for a moment, but it felt right and looking back I thought that maybe the look in Edward's eyes could have been because he wanted me, too.

There were also little things that if I analyzed closely enough, I could see a hint of the way that Edward may have felt. I brushed off all of the frowns when I talked about guys that I knew and relieved sighs when I said I wasn't interested in any of them as figments of my imagination, but what if they weren't? What if he truly did want something more?

My head was starting to hurt from contemplation and lack of sleep. I rolled over to look at the clock and groaned. It was five in the morning and I had gotten maybe and hour's worth of actual sleep. After another half hour of pretending to rest, I figured that showering and eating breakfast would be a better use of my time.

Forty-five minutes later I was full and completely dressed with nothing to do but think. I grabbed my backpack and keys and headed to school. It was deserted of course, being so early in the morning, so I hopped out of my truck and headed toward Edward's classroom. I sat down in front of his door and opened up some homework hoping to take my mind off of everything, but I was fooling myself.

I got two problems into my Trig homework when my thoughts started to wander. He came looking for me when I ran like an idiot into the forest and hurt myself, which a teacher would do, but a teacher wouldn't be crying while he held me, saying things like he thought he'd lost me. He came after me a second time, right into the girls bathroom and told me he would deal with things.

He held my face in his hands and made me promise not to give up on my dreams. There had to be something more there. A teacher or even just a friend would never be that interested in my future. And when he stroked my cheek, I almost melted. Why would he do something like that? I slammed closed my book and got up to stretch muttering to myself. Thinking got me nowhere.

I looked at my watch and realized that only a few minutes had passed since I sat down. I was in for a long morning. I didn't want to think anymore, but there wasn't much else for me to do and even if there were, I didn't have enough energy to do anything, so I settled for resting my forehead against the cool surface of the door with my hand resting automatically on the knob.

I turned the doorknob unconsciously knowing that it would be locked and eyed it with confusion when it turned. Inside, Edward was slumped over is desk marking papers and when he looked up at me he beamed. I loved seeing Edward smile, but I was still a little confused. Edward, seeing the questions in my eyes, walked over to me and answered right on cue.

"I took care of Lauren. She won't bother you anymore." I bit my lip and narrowed my eyes, noticing that he only mentioned my name. He laughed. "Or me. We're both in the clear."

"Why are you here so early?"

Something crossed Edward's face as he stared into my eyes, but he turned away and spouted off some ridiculous excuse. In a moment of bravery I reached for him. I don't know what possessed me to do it, but I did and Edward froze at the contact of our skin.

"Please, don't turn away from me again. Tell me what you're thinking." Edward turned then and I could see the pain and fear building in his eyes. "You can tell me anything."

"I…I can't, Bella. You don't know what you're asking of me." He shook his head to tell me not to push, but I could see how badly he wanted me to know.

"I need to know, Edward. Please."

I took a step closer so that there were only inches between our bodies. I didn't know where my sudden bravado was coming from, but I was starting to like it and Edward didn't pull away. We stayed locked in silence for several minutes before Edward's hand came up to rest on my cheek. I wanted to relish in his touch, but I didn't dare close my eyes for fear that the moment would end.

"Bella, I…I wanted…I just…When you…" I put my hand over his mouth finding everything I needed to know in his eyes and not wanting him to struggle anymore. I stepped even closer, slowly as I traced his lips with my fingers.

"I need you, Edward."

At my whispered request, Edward closed the space between us and placed his soft lips on mine as he moved his hand that was once on my cheek lightly over my shoulder and down my arm. I moved my own hands to his chest and slowly trailed them to wrap around his neck as we kissed in sensual bliss, using our tongues to tell each other how we felt.

Second by second our kisses become more urgent and our breathing became heavy. Edward tightened his grip on my waist and pushed me toward the wall moving his lips from mine and using them to tease my neck along with his tongue. A soft moan escaped me when Edward found the spot just above my collar bone and Edward growled against my skin as he ground his hips into mine.

I gasped at the feeling of Edward hard against me which caused him to move back. He was trying to catch his breath while fighting for words and shear fear filled his eyes.

"Bella… I'm so sorry! Please…"

I didn't let him finish his pleas for forgiveness as I attacked his lips with my own, pulling him to my as hard as I could. He tried to resist, but gave in after a second and fought me for dominance. He pulled my leg up around his waist and I wrapped the other willingly, letting him hold me against the wall as he thrust against me.

He moved once more to my neck and jaw and I moaned a little louder, letting his name fall from my lips. At that, Edward moved with more fervor and slid his hand under the waistband of my pants and underwear. I screamed at the feeling of Edward fingers circling my most private spot and felt my stomach start to tighten.

"God, Bella, I love you." I could only kiss him and scream his name in response as I felt my entire body contract with my orgasm. Then the door flew open and standing there behind the principal and Mrs. Cope were Jessica and Lauren with the most malicious grins on their faces. I dropped my legs from around Edward's waist and he set me on the ground.

"What the hell is going on here, Mr. Cullen?" Principal Farmer was fuming mad. I tried to speak, but Edward beat me to it.

"It's my fault. I took advantage of Ms. Swan when she looked to me for guidance. I take full responsibility for my actions." I stared at Edward incredulously. Why was he doing this? Teaching was all he had and he was giving it up for me?

"No! Stop this! You can't do this!" I turned to Principal Farmer with terror and determination. "This is all on me. I seduced Mr. Cullen and then blackmailed him. If you want to punish someone, punish me." The principal looked at me then with a pitying eye.

"Don't worry, Ms. Swan, you're in safe hands now. You don't have to be afraid anymore. We'll take care of this. Mrs. Cope, call the police, please."

"No! What are you doing? He didn't do anything!" But it seemed as if no one could hear me, so I turned to Lauren. Jessica had the good sense to look ashamed. "I will kill you! Do you hear me? I will kill you for what you did to him!"

I felt someone grab my shoulder and shook it off. I didn't want to be placated, but the hand was back and shaking me. "Bella!" I turned to Edward. "Wake up!"

I couldn't make sense of his words. I was awake. I was trying to defend him and no one would listen to me. "What?" I asked stupidly.

"Wake up." I opened my eyes then and Edward was kneeling beside me in front of the door to his classroom, holding me by the shoulders and looking very worried. "Are you awake now?"

"I…I was sleeping," I stated redundantly. Edward chuckled.

"Yeah, I figured as much." Edward helped me up and turned to unlock to door. "What on earth were you dreaming about?"

I had been picking up my binder and books, but at Edward's question, I remembered my sleep talking habit and everything fell to the floor in a series of loud bangs. Edward eyed me questioningly, but I said nothing as I my dream came back to me at full force and my cheeks started burning a brilliant red.

"Bella? Are you okay?" Edward was growing steadily more worried. I tried to talk, but nothing came out of my open mouth. "Bella, what's the matter?"

"What did you hear?" I barely got the words out through my clenched teeth and forced breathing. Edward's anxious expression gave way to confusion for a split second before he smiled his crooked grin that I loved so much, but he didn't say anything and I let out my breath in a huff. He laughed at that.

"Well," he paused as he bent down to help me with my things, "I was walking down the hall and I heard you scream my name. I swear, I've never ran so fast in my life. You need to stop scaring me or I'll be grey before I turn thirty."

He smiled at me and I laughed half-heartedly. If he only knew why I was actually screaming his name. It had been a while since Edward had pleasured me in my dreams, but never had my subconscious lover told me those three little words. I was still recovering from the emotion shock of it all and waiting for Edward to continue in what he overheard, but he said nothing.

We walked into the class room and he glanced sideways at me, a smirk still playing at his lips. He was having far too much fun drawing out my suspense and I was still slightly mortified that I let out something that I shouldn't have.

"So, is that it?" I asked impatiently. Edward laughed lightly, but then furrowed his brow.

"Well, no. You said that he didn't do anything. And, uh…well, you were rather convincing when you were threatening…who were you threatening?" I laughed a little hysterically at having to reveal myself. I could have lied, but Edward would have known and forced it out of me anyway.

"Lauren," I mumbled self-consciously. I wasn't sure how okay Edward would be with me protecting him in my dream. This situation wasn't exactly covered in our conversation about boundaries, but one side of his mouth twisted up into my favorite smile as he sighed.

"I thought I told you, you don't have to worry about that. I said I'd take care of it." I crossed my arms and just stared at Edward, but he didn't seem to have the slightest clue as to why I was looking at him so skeptically.

"You did, but I'm not really worried about myself. So, did you take care of it for both of us or just me?"

Edward opened his mouth to reply, but closed it again without a word. The confusion written on his face about how I knew he was willing to go down for me was blatant and I would have laughed if I hadn't been so worried about him actually considering the prospect. There was no way I could tell him that I knew of his thoughts because I suspected his feelings for me so I answered his puzzlement with more or less half truths.

"You forget, Mr. Cullen, I know you better than you know yourself sometimes. You put a ton of things before your own needs, student welfare being one of them. So, I ask again, both of us or just me? I'm not letting you throw yourself under a bus for me." Edward rolled his eyes at that point and sat behind his desk, pulling papers out of his bag.

"Both of us," he replied dryly. He started to say something about what was going to happen that morning, but changed his mind. "How would you stop me, exactly? I mean, if I did want to throw myself under a bus for you?"

"I would…"

I paused as I realized that there really was nothing I could do to keep Edward out of trouble. He was the authority figure and it didn't matter who might have started our imaginary fling, he would be at fault. I pressed my lips together and narrowed my eyes at the smirk on his face.

"If you go down, I go down. All the more reason to save yourself, yes?" I smiled triumphantly as his own smile vanished and he looked at me, exasperated.

"Well, there's no need to worry now, is there?" he said with a sigh. "I told you I would take care of things and I have. I already put an urgent request into the principal and he should call us down to his office sometime during class. Lauren, too." He must have seen the fear in my eyes because he quickly continued. "I'll do all the talking."

I nodded, but I was not looking forward to this. I knew that it was necessary, but Lauren was vindictive and playing the part of tattle tale was bound to rile her up. I just hoped that whatever Edward had planned was enough to keep her off my back. It looked like Edward wanted to say more, but the warning bell rang and I took my seat waiting for the class to fill up.

Every minute that passed felt like hours upon hours and I could feel the eyes of every student in the class boring into me as I tried to focus on the lecture. Edward seemed perfectly calm as he talked to us about comparisons in literature and what writing styles worked more effectively in whichever genre. I was actually a little annoyed that he could be so relaxed while I was freaking out.

I chanced a look around the classroom and shook my head at my absurdity. No one was staring at me and I scolded myself for being so paranoid. But then I got to Lauren and I regretted my decision to look up from my notes. She was whispering to the girl next to her and both were making no effort to hide there gaze.

My chest tightened and I no longer cared about the wrath of Lauren. I was more ready than ever for this meeting, whatever it might entail, because I cared too much about Edward to have him hurt by my silly infatuation. At least, I thought I didn't care, but my nerves went into overdrive when Mrs. Cope walked into the room with another teacher and spoke to Edward.

He nodded his head a few times and set down the piece of chalk he had been using to write with. "Bella and Lauren, will you both please come with me?"

The entire class burst out into not so quiet whispers as Lauren and I followed Edward out of the classroom. I could see Lauren's confused glare out of the corner of my eye, but I avoided looking straight at her fearing she would turn me to stone like the evil Medusa.

Maybe that was a bit of an over exaggeration, but I did need all the courage I could muster if I didn't want to look like the nervous mess I actually was and one look at Lauren would have made me sick to my stomach. Edward needed me to be strong and so I would be. For him.

Finally, after the longest walk I'd ever taken to the front office, we were led to sit in front of the Principal's desk where three chairs awaited us along with Principal Farmer. The man was hardnosed and hypocritical and he looked like a walrus with his pudgy face and bristly mustache. Though I'd only really talked to him a total of four times, I knew plenty about him from Charlie and Edward and I didn't like him.

"Mr. Cullen, you asked to see me this morning?" he asked, trying to be menacing. It would have annoyed me if I hadn't been as on edge as I was.

"Yes, yesterday Ms. Swan came to me worried because she overheard some very inappropriate rumors from Ms. Mallory." Edward started off calm, but I could hear the strain grow in his voice with each word. "They were of a sexual nature involving myself with Ms. Swan and I'm very upset about this. I have never done anything to elicit such lies and if it is not resolved my lawyer is already putting forth a lawsuit for slander against Ms. Mallory and the school."

"The school? I assure you Mr. Cullen that the school is not at fault here." I almost wanted to laugh that the hardness to Principal Farmer's tone was now completely gone.

"The school has not done anything, you're right. But if the school continues to do nothing regarding Ms. Mallory then I will be forced to include it in my claim. My lawyer has no doubt that I will win."

I was in complete shock as was Lauren. I'd never known her to keep quiet before, but she was just staring blankly at Edward as if she didn't understand what she was hearing. Heck, I didn't understand what I was hearing. Edward was so confident in his words and mannerisms that I knew he wasn't acting and it awed me.

I had never seen him so avid before. Of course he showed passion when speaking in class and during our conversations once upon a time, but now he had a different kind of liveliness about him. He should have been as nervous as I was, but it was as if some weight had been lifted from his shoulders instead of placed there. I was so enamored by him that Lauren's outburst made me jump a few inches out of my chair.

"This is ridiculous! I said no such thing!"

She was staring straight at me as if daring me to contradict her. Edward told me that I didn't have to talk and true to his word, when the principal tried to question me he interrupted. I appreciated Edward trying to defend me, but somewhere between my admiration of him and my anger at Lauren, my fear left me with nothing but determination. I may not have liked confrontation very much, but I was not going to be intimidated by the likes of Lauren Mallory.

"I was in the stall when Lauren and Jessica walked into the bathroom." Edward looked confused by my interruption, but I could also see the corner of his mouth threatening to twist into a smile. "Lauren told her that I was having sex with Mr. Cullen not only to keep my job as Editor in Chief of the Literary Magazine, but also for an A in AP Lang. I'm sure if you check my work you'll see that I earned both my grade and my position by merit."

Lauren looked like a fish out of water with her mouth opening in closing in shock. She had always made snide little comments toward me that I ignored because they weren't worth my time, but it was clear now that she thought I was scared of her. My sudden confidence confused her and I was more than tempted to laugh at her expression.

"You…" she started, trying to think of something to say. "I…"

"That will be quite enough, Ms. Mallory. Mr. Cullen, we will get this taken care of immediately. You and Ms. Swan may head back to class."

Edward and I made it around the corner of the building before the laughter I had been trying to hold back, erupted from my lungs. Edward just stood there looking amused as I tried to catch my breath.

"Did you see her face?" I let out another giggle and sighed. "You were really great in there. Your lawyer must be really good, huh?" Edward smiled at me with a twinkle in his eye. He debated with himself only momentarily before this time deciding to let me inside his head.

"I did it, Bella. I called her." I knew exactly who he was talking about and the light bounce to his step all morning finally made since. "She told me what to do today and we're going to try and work things out."

I couldn't help the tears that welled up in my eyes. I wanted so badly to hug him and congratulate him, but after the scare we had gone through, even the conversation we were having was a risk. It was too personal, but I had been trying to get Edward to talk to his sister ever since he told me about her and I was happy that he dropped our restrictions just for those few moments to tell me his news.

"Don't cry," he said softly.

I could see him clench his hand shut and I knew that he wanted to wipe away my tears. If I had seen that a few weeks earlier I would have thought nothing about it, but my mind was becoming clearer and I just knew that Edward felt something, too. I closed my eyes and smiled. The moment was bittersweet.

On the one hand, he had feelings for me. How deep those feelings were, I didn't know, but they were there, just under the surface. We had a connection and it wasn't one sided. The bitterness seeped in when I remembered that we couldn't act on anything we felt for each other and I was still left with only my fantasies.

I sighed opening my eyes, smiling to show Edward that I was fine. He gave me a nervous smile in return and I laughed. It was the same kind of smile I had seen on Jasper when Alice cried over the Jimmy Choo's he bought her for her birthday. Men just didn't know what to do with happy crying girls.

The bell rang while I was telling him how excited I was for him and I had to half-run back to his classroom in order to pick up my books and make it to my class in time. Luckily I was able to get there without seriously injuring anyone but myself. I was still recovering and running through crowded hallways didn't exactly help my condition.

I took my seat next to Mike, sore and a little upset that I had to leave Edward so abruptly. I wasn't really in the mood for his overfriendliness, but when he didn't greet me right away I found it more than a little odd. I looked over at him and he turned his head quickly so as not to meet my gaze. Great, the rumor was beginning to circulate.

Gossip was like a wildfire; once it spread it was a little hard to control. I just hoped that we caught this wildfire in time. Unfortunately, as I moved from Trigonometry to AP Government, it seemed like I was getting more and more looks from the other students. By the time lunch rolled around, I could even pick up my name from the whispered conversations around me.

I made my way quickly through the line and sat down at my usual table, not even wanting to eat anymore. It wasn't five minutes later that Alice plopped down beside me in a very un-Alice-like manner and when I looked at her she was staring straight ahead in full pout mode.

"I miss my best friend," she said, still not looking at me.

"Alice, what are you talking about? I'm right here?" She looked at me then and I could see the hurt in her eyes though she was trying hard to hide it.

"Then tell me why I had to hear from every single student in this school except you that Lauren Mallory got suspended because you heard her spreading a rumor about you sleeping with Mr. Cullen, so he took you both down to the principal's office demanding clean up duty and that Lauren's getting sued for slander?" she asked all on one breath.

I stared at Alice a few moments before the hilarity of the situation caught up with me and I started giggling at her reprimand. I had been worried all morning that the damage Lauren had caused was irreparable, but all of the looks and whispers had been for my actions against her not for any false relations with a teacher. When I looked back up at Alice, her lips were pressed into a line and she was glaring at me.

I laid my head on her shoulder with a heavy sigh. "You know I didn't mean to keep this from you. I'm really sorry. I didn't even know what was going to happen till this morning."

Slowly, I felt her arms drop from being crossed over her chest and I smiled. She could never stay mad at me for long. "Alright, Bella, I forgive you, but it's going to cost you." I sighed knowing this was coming and looked at her expectantly. "I get to pack your suitcase."

I scrunched up my face realizing that I was going to have absolutely no comfy clothes this weekend, but agreed. I really did feel bad for not calling Alice. At least I knew that I would look good when we went out. So what if I wasn't dressing up for a guy? That didn't mean I didn't want to look good for myself.

I couldn't help but wish that Edward would be there this weekend to see me all dressed up. It was a stupid wish and I shook my head to get rid of the notion.

"You're not telling me something," Alice said, breaking me out of my thoughts. I looked around to make sure that no one was within earshot. Jasper was still in line for food.

"I kind of figured something out this morning." The look in her eyes urged me to continue. "I, uh, had this dream, about Romeo and me and, well, it was after a long night of heavy thinking and, um…" I stuttered over my words helplessly, "well, now that I think about it, it just sounds stupid."

"Oh, come off it, Bella, and just tell me!" Alice was bubbling with excitement and I could tell that she already knew what I was going to say.

"I've never had a dream with us that was so vivid, nor one were he tells me that he loves me. I know that it's just a dream, but I think maybe it was telling me something that I already knew. I just…I think he might feel something, too." I smiled shyly at my admission. Thinking something and saying it out loud was a big difference.

Alice squealed as Jasper got to the table and he looked at her, amused. "Am I missing something?"

"Bella's letting me pack her suitcase!" I had to hand it to Alice. It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't what she was so happy about.

We spent the rest of lunch talking about inconsequential things, but Alice would give me a look every few minutes to 'talk' with me about Edward. She obviously wanted as many details as possible, but it wasn't going to happen in front of her boyfriend. I had to laugh at Alice's bouncing legs while she waited impatiently to get me alone.

Unfortunately for her, she wasn't able to do that for almost a week and she nearly tackled me when I let her in my house the next Wednesday. I swear I'd never know where Alice's absorbent amounts of energy came from. She flitted across my room packing what she would deem my 'acceptable clothes' while I filled her in on everything Edward for hours and she never once got tired.

But as excitable as Alice was, something about her excitement for the Seattle trip was off. I tried to ask her about it, but she just shrugged it off and ignored the question. I decided I'd drop it for the time being, but I knew that there was something she wasn't telling me. I figured I'd just have to wait until we got there to find out what it was.

Thursday went really well. By that time the buzz about what Lauren did had died down and I could pretty much walk down the hallway without someone stopping me to either get details or congratulate me on sticking it to her. I really didn't like all the attention I was getting and I was glad when it was over. Well, almost over.

Lauren would be back on Friday after her suspension ended and I wasn't too thrilled to have to see her again. At least I only had to put up with her for AP Lang. I always hated that LitMag didn't meet on Fridays, but with Lauren back in the picture, I was ecstatic to be starting my weekend early.

I wish my good Thursday could have carried over another day, but luck was not on my side. Lauren glared at me all through class and it wouldn't have gotten to me so badly except that Edward was gone and I was a little bummed not to be able to talk to him one more time before the weekend. So, when Lauren caught up to me just before lunch I groaned aloud in frustration. Why couldn't she just leave me alone?

"Looks like Mr. Cullen's not here to protect his little girlfriend today, is he?" I sighed and tried to push past her, but she wouldn't have that and grabbed my arm. "I don't think so, Bella. You're not getting away with this."

"What did I ever do to you, Lauren?" I asked her exasperated. She glared even harder if it were possible.

"You moved here." I sighed. It was such a generic response. I tried to pull my arm away from her, but she was holding on tightly. I wasn't a violent person, but in that second I could really see myself pounding Lauren's head against the lockers. Repeatedly.

"Oh, Lauren, how could you?" I turned as much as I could in Lauren's grasp to see Alice skipping up. She was wearing a sickly sweet smile and her voice was like honey and danger all at once. I loved Alice, but she was scary sometimes. "I told you if you never wanted those pictures to get out that you shouldn't do anything to provoke me. You're provoking me, Lauren."

I was shocked to feel the hand around my arm loosen and turned to see and a terrified looking Lauren. I almost felt bad for her, seeing her look so vulnerable like that, but then I remembered why Alice had to threaten her and all sympathy vanished. Lauren backed away shaking her head and apologizing, until she hit the wall and turned to storm off.

"Pictures?" I asked Alice with a raised eyebrow. She smiled deviously.

"Lauren had a little too much to drink at a party one night and started making out with this really hot guy. I got several pictures of her and it turns out this hot guy was actually a very masculine looking girl." I couldn't help the laugh that exploded from me at that moment. The picture in my head was priceless.

"Oh, Alice," I smiled as I hugged my terrifying best friend.

"I know. That's why you love me."

The rest of the day went by horribly slow. Alice, Jasper and I were leaving right after school and it seemed like just because I wanted school to get done faster, the minutes passed by at the rate of a snails crawl. It was torture.

Finally, as I was learning the proper uses for el and la in the Spanish language, the bell rang and I couldn't walk fast enough to get to Jasper's car. I was so ready to just be getting away from everything and I had to remember to thank Alice and apologize for complaining so much.

By three-thirty we were on the road and having a blast. Alice turned on Aqua and Jasper just shook his head as we rocked out to Barbie Girl, singing as loud as we could just to get on his nerves. It was all in good fun though. He even got us back when he faked the car stalling. Alice was mad for all of five minutes before she forgave him.

We got to the hotel by six-forty-five and only had enough time to drop off our bags and freshen up a bit before heading to some fancy restaurant that Alice made reservations at. It was a really nice restaurant and the food was really good. I would have had a lot of fun had the waiter not treated us as if we were lower than the dirt on the bottom of his shoe.

Jasper and I tried to calm Alice down, but there was no reasoning with her. She was furious. "I don't care if I'm only seventeen! I'm a customer here and I demand to be treated with respect."

At that, Alice got up and stormed to the front of the restaurant to give the manager what for. It wasn't two minutes later that the manager called the waiter over and led them both through a door that I assumed was his office. Jasper and I had to struggle to keep our laughter down. Alice was better than any entertainment source I'd ever known.

I waited a few minutes for Alice to come back, but with the rich meal and the stuffy atmosphere I really needed to get up and stretch, so I excused myself to the restrooms. They were located near the front where Alice had stomped off to originally, but as soon as I turned the corner I froze. Never in a million years did I expect Edward to show up at the same restaurant on the same night in Seattle of all places.

I should have been thrilled to see him. In fact, I was until he turned to the strawberry blonde next to him and brushed her cheek with his thumb. I could feel the tears fighting there way forward, but I willed them away. This wasn't happening. It couldn't be happening. I was so sure that he had feelings for me, but I had based my discovery on a touch that he had just shared with another woman.

I turned on my heel and near ran into the lounge. I was still fighting off tears and I wasn't ready to face Jasper or Alice yet. I was in a secluded little corner when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned expecting to see one of my friends, maybe hoping to see Edward, but instead I was met with an unfamiliar face and steel grey eyes.

"I saw you run off back there. Are you okay?" he asked.

The words were nice enough, but paired with the way he trailed his hand down the length of my arm, I became very uncomfortable. He wasn't an unattractive man, but he had to have been close to double my age and the way he looked at me made me feel like I was some sort of prize as opposed to an actual human being. It didn't faze him that I didn't answer and he continued to stroke my arm as he spoke.

"It's very nice to meet you. My name is James." I tried to get my legs to listen to my mind and walk away, but something in this man made me very afraid and he smiled like he knew it. "May I have your name?"

"Bella, there you are. I've been looking all over for you," I heard a voice say, but I didn't look up until I felt an arm around my shoulders. James had dropped his hand immediately and I looked up to see Jasper staring daggers at him. "Are you ready to go?"

I nodded and Jasper must have felt it because he didn't take his eyes off of my pursuer until we left the lounge. We got outside and he stopped me and turned me to him. "Are you okay, Bella?"

I laughed a little nervously. Was I okay? I didn't feel okay. The vibes I got from that man were more than enough to shake me up and if you add seeing Edward with that woman on top of it all, I was definitely not okay.

"I'm fine," I replied. Jasper obviously didn't believe me, but decided to drop it as Alice came running out of the restaurant.

"Bella, did something happen?" Alice always knew.

"I'm fine, I promise. Did you let the manager have it?" I asked to get the topic off of myself.

"Of course I did. Can you believe he tried to give me a free dinner some other time? I almost flipped my lid. I mean did he really think he could pacify me like that? Besides, we're only in Seattle for one more night and we're going to La Tua Cantante tomorrow. No, I got the waiter fired and tonight's dinner was taken care of."

I laughed at Alice's little rant. I might not have been the happiest person in the world at that moment, but she did make me feel a little better. That is until we got to the hotel and she made me spill everything while Jasper was in the shower. Changing the subject with her never works. She always remembers.

After an exhausting vent session and another Alice rant about Edward screwing everything up again - I asked Alice about hat she meant and she again ignored my questions - I was finally able to get some sleep. Unfortunately, it wasn't a very restful sleep. All night I had dreams of Edward with that woman and James touching my arm.

I was exhausted in the morning and not looking forward to Alice's day of shopping and fun, but she was, so I drank the Starbucks she bought me and put on a smile. It really wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. We hit all of the major stores that Alice wanted to shop, but it was a comfortable day, more or less. I even enjoyed the pedicure that Alice insisted I have and I was starting to really look forward to going to the club.

My fashionable friend had me dressed in a designer dress that accentuated my curves and my hair, pulled back from my face with a ribbon, fell in curls down my bare back. I felt sexy, but double guessed myself when I saw the look Alice's face.

"Does my make-up look funny?" I asked checking the mirror. It was so weird for me to act like such a girl, but if I was going to do something, I always did it fully. I wanted to look good.

"No, you look hot. That's not it." She had a look of deep concentration and I had to wave my hand in front of her face to get her attention. "Huh? Oh, sorry. Hey, Bella, do you really want to go tonight, because we can do something else?"

"Alice, I'm already dressed up! Come on, let's go," I smiled. She was acting really weird, but then again, Alice always acted weird.

We got to the club around nine-thirty and Alice stuck by my side like glue. When we danced, which wasn't often, it was all three of us and when we weren't dancing, we were all hanging out at our table. Alice was never one to make me feel like a third wheel, but this was ridiculous. She didn't spend one minute with just Jasper.

After a rather active dancing round I decided to grab myself a drink and Alice tried to follow me again.

"Alice! Spend some time with your boyfriend! I'm just going to be at the bar. You can see me from here, okay?" Alice bit her lip, but nodded. I knew that she was just worried about me, but I was feeling a lot better after the day we had.

I took a while for the bartender to get to me, but he did eventually and I ordered my Coke. I was on my way back to Alice when somebody bumped into me, spilling their own drink on my arm and a little on my brand new designer dress. Alice was going to kill me.

"I'm so sorry," the man said taking a napkin and wiping my arm.

I looked up as soon as I heard the voice. Was this why Alice was acting so strange? I back away from James as soon as I realized who he was, but he just laughed and walked away. Maybe Jasper scared him a little, I thought. I was just glad that he left me alone.

I looked over to the dance floor to see Alice staring at me and I waved at her to let her know that I was fine and for her to keep dancing. It really wasn't fair for her to spend all of her time with me when I could tell that she wanted to dance with her boyfriend. She looked contemplative for a minute, but after another wave from me, she gave in and had a little fun.

I started to walk to the bathroom to take car of my dress, drinking my drink and feeling a little lightheaded. By the time I got there I had downed almost half of my Coke and the lightheadedness had turned into a full on dizzy spell. I set my drink on a shelf near the door and tried to sit on the chair that was there, but I missed completely. The last thing I remembered was a pair of arms grabbing me around the waist before unconsciousness took me.

A/N: I know a lot of you wanted the whole bump and grind thing to go on and, believe me, I was right there with you. Unfortunately, it wasn't in the cards for this story. I hope you don't hate me for what did happen.

I told some of you about my fantasy of banging Lauren's head against the lockers and thought I'd add it in there for good measure. So did you like how I took care of Lauren? Sorry, no beat downs. It just wasn't in character.

Lastly, thanks for reading. I really appreciate all the people who take the time to read my story. It means the world to me.