A/N: Enjoy!

And m0t0b33, you are a kick-ass beta, sis. Love ya. :*

Chapter-3: A Spark of Fire

Every day she comes to the set right on time, we work and then she leaves. She doesn't talk to anyone else aside from what is absolutely necessary.

About a week after our first shoot, I hear Lauren Mallory whisper to one of the extras, Mike Newton, "I think she's mute… outside of work." Her eyes lay on Isabella as she adds, "You can't work with Edward Cullen and not speak to him! That's just… blasphemous!"

Newton scoffs at her words. "He's not all that special. As for her…" He stops to tilt his head toward Isabella. "I can think of a way to make her speak."

He smiles as he says the words. Inwardly, I cringe at the way his eyes follow Isabella. What is he planning to do?

"Lunch break, people! We resume in half an hour," Peter, our director, addresses the team at large, as the bright lights shut off.

"I think I pulled my dick in that last kick." I snort at the statement as Jasper Whitlock, my friend and cast mate, groans and takes a seat next to me.

He sees the smile on my face and glares at me. "Dude, I'm serious. This is the last time I'm gonna do an action movie. From now on, it's gonna be sunshine and rainbows for the Jazzman."

"What?" I ask, unable to stop a snort from escaping me. "What's sunshine and rainbows?"

He rolls his eyes like I'm the ridiculous one and explains, "Romance movies and shit, Ed. Honestly, I don't even know how the fuck we became friends."

I open my mouth to retort back when the sound of loud guffaws reaches us.

"Come on, Ms. Isa, don't be shy." Hearing those words make my head turn to find the source. What I see makes my blood boil.

Isabella stands at the far end of the room with her back pressed against a wall as Newton looms over her, his stupid face leering at her.

"What the hell is happening there?" I shout as I start making my way toward them.

Newton's head turns to look at me, and Isabella seems to seize the opportunity as she shoves against his chest and starts getting away from him.

I reach them just as he's reaching for her again, probably trying to stop her from leaving. Grabbing hold of his shoulder, I stop him. "Oh no, you don't!" I say and raise my arm to land a punch to his sorry face.

But before I can do that, a hand lands on my face instead.

Shock, complete and utter shock, and a burning sensation on my face is all I can fathom for a moment. And then I hear her voice. "I told you to leave me alone. Why can't you people just let me be?"

As I lift my head to look at her face, all flushed pink and angry, she gasps and lets her shoulders fall. "Shit! I'm… sorry," she whispers before running away from me.

I turn around to see Jasper shake Newton by the collar of his shirt as he drags him to Royce. I nod with satisfaction that that asshole will be out of our hair now.

I see the way people look at me and whisper behind their hands, and make a shocked face.

"Oh! We're back at high school? I didn't know adults do the whole finger-pointing and whispering shit nowadays," I say loudly, making them either blush and walk away or crack smiles. "Let me know when you're done with Exhibit A so I can go and find out if Exhibit B is okay." A round of laughter follows my teasing and then the crowd disperses, leaving me free to go after Isabella.

I find her at the door to my dressing room, with her head leaning back against the door and breathing hard.

Moving closer, I notice that teardrops have made their ways out of her closed eyes as she stands there.

I go to stand next to her and say in a light tone, "I admit, Isabella Swan, you can slap pretty hard."

I watch as her eyes pop open, her breathing stops and slowly she turns her head to find me next to her.

Her mouth opens slightly, but nothing comes out. After waiting for a moment, I offer her a smile. "Hi," I say.

The sound of my voice makes her start breathing again. She keeps her eyes on my face and says nothing.

So I decide to continue. "So I'm Edward Cullen," I say with a smile, pointing toward my chest. "I guess you know that already, but since you haven't said a word to me this long week we've been working together, I figured that I might as well introduce myself."

She lowers her eyes and moves her lips, and in a barely audible voice, she says, "I know who you are."

Hoping to make her smile, I reply with a gasp. "You do?" I ask with wide-eyes. "Shh… don't tell anyone that I'm a vampire."

The joke doesn't work. She frowns at me instead of laughing.

I hold my hands up in surrender. "I was just joking. I'm not Dracula. So don't go Buffy on my ass."

Still nothing.

Finally she lowers her eyes from my face and says in a quiet voice, "I'm really sorry for slapping you. It wasn't meant for you."

I smile at her. "Thank you for the clarification," I tell her. "I do have to punish you for that though."

When her mouth drops open at my words, I chuckle. "You have to accept my horrible company as a friend for the length of our shooting this movie."

Her face darkens and she shakes her head slowly. "I'm here to work. I don't need friends."

My smile falters at that, but I shake her rejection off and hold one of my business cards out to her.

"What's that?" she asks, eying the piece of paper suspiciously.

"Something that won't bite you, and funnily enough, it has my number on it… if you feel like you need a friend."

She starts shaking her head again, but I push the card toward her a little more. With a sigh, she finally takes it.

"Thank you," I say.

She's already backing away from me as she responds. "I'm sorry."

And then, she's gone.

"She's lonely," I tell Jasper as we get ready to leave for the day.

He snorts and says, "Or you're just horny for the new girl."

I don't even bother to respond to him because in my mind, I know that I've seen a loneliness in Isabella Swan's eyes, and something inside me wants to take that away from her.

Question is, will she let me?

A/N: Hope you're all having fun, guys.

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Check out the story WitchyVampireGirl wrote for me, Convergence. Here's the link. Read and leave her some love. :)

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Ann