Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight. Dayum.

I looked back at Bella, she looked ill.

I frowned, leaning down to her eye level.

"Hey, are you okay?" I asked soothingly.

Well, I tried to get my voice to sound soothing. She looked freaked out.

Maybe I was acting a little too scary.

Fine, I would change that. I tried to put on a non-threatening expression.

My eyes started to cross. I shook my head. "Come on." She murmured, then started off to the library.

I followed suit. We chose the far corner, next to the classic novels, away from the chatting juniors.

I pulled a seat out for her, she didn't seem to notice, so I just sat down myself. I crossed my arms and watched Bella.

She was staring at her hands, her face seemed troubled. I took a chance. A stupid one, but that didn't stop me. After all, I was an idiot.

Why stop now? I reached over and pulled her chin up with my finger. "Bella. I'm sorry if I scared you." This must have been funny.

Her lips trembled, she clamped them together. A few giggles escaped her lips. I frowned. Ouch, wound to the ego. Ha, serves you right, you cocky douche bag.

The voice in my head told me. "I'm sorry," she apologised, shaking her head.

"No, it's not that you scared me." She reassured me. "I'm not afraid of you."

I smiled again, for the second time. Bella's entire face lit up again, like I had given her the best gift in the world.

Her eyes glistened happily. I felt an intense urge to take her face in my hands. But, I couldn't, obviously. But, missing this? I would wait for Bella, I resolved. I would wait for whatever length of time. She was worth it, she was worth everything. My hands would carry her, I wouldn't let her go.

I sighed, completely absorbed. Bella had a hold on me, one she was completely unaware of.

It was kind of unfair.

I half-smiled at myself.

She had a hold.

She had the power to break me, she beared all the love that was left in me.

***

Another week. Another week of raging silently on the inside whenever Mike would look at Bella.

You didn't have to be a freaking psychologist to interpret the expression on his face.

I was standing by my locker, subconsciously watching Bella from the corner of my eye.

She would walk up to me in a moment and we would walk into lunch together.

Mike had stopped in front of her, leaning his arm against her locker, blocking her exit. Going with the assumption, that he would like to keep hold of all his limbs, he should move out of the way. I bit my lip, considering my next move. My mind was warring.

Did I want to go over there to help Bella out of a situation with a boy she and I both loathed? Yes, definitely. But, did I want to do it because I was so insanely jealous? Maybe. I sighed. And, did I want to go over there, take Bella away and kick Mike Newton in the teeth because I harboured a tonne of feelings for the girl he was hitting on?

Yes. But, I mean, I had heard that violence never solved anything—cough, cough, bullshit, cough. I guess there was an element of truth behind it, but that saying didn't mention how fun violence was when you inflicted it upon someone like Mike. My feet were moving before I knew it. Well, thats decided then.

I stopped beside Bella, she seemed to sense me, surely I wasn't the only one who could feel the electricity surge around us?

She turned and handed me a thankful smile. I smiled back. In a smooth, nonchalant gesture, shocking all three of us, I wrapped my hand around Bella's.

She looked up at me, wide eyes sparkling with what I hoped was pleasure and not abhorrence. I took it as a good sign when she squeezed my fingers. Her small hand was lost in mine. I pulled her away from Mike, walking hand-in-hand toward the cafeteria where we would sit together, like every day, away from Newton. I grinned.

I felt the current through the skin where we touched. It was sizzling, I had to check to make sure our fingers weren't glowing.

I reluctantly let her hand go when we sat down, I infinitesimally scooted my chair closer as I was pulling it into the table. She caught me, but didn't say anything, just looked down bashfully. I wanted to roll my eyes. But I chuckled. "Well, that was fun." I said, smugly. She looked up through her eyelashes.

I stared intently, wondering if I was being inappropriate. My breathing caught. God, she was dangerous. Somehow, she knew just how to drive me crazy. She smiled up at me. "Definitely." She grinned.

I gathered that Bella and her father were relatively close. Charlie, his name was, had lived here with her mother when Bella was born. Her mother, Renee, had left her father when she was a baby, flying across the country to Phoenix, Arizona. She vaguely mentioned how she used to visit every Summer and one Christmas.

She tip-toed around the details, and I knew why. She went on to tell me about her life in the Valley of the Sun. She wasn't popular, she never had a boyfriend, she had a select few friends. That was the way she liked it. She saw herself as ordinary, as insignificant. If only she knew how significant she really was.

"So, how come?" I asked, averting my eyes. "How come what? How come I've never had a boyfriend?" I nodded, trying to look uninterested. She sighed.

"Well," she leaned forward over the table, playing with her apple. "I just never found what I was looking for." She glanced up at me. I frowned.

"So people asked you out then?" I clarified. Of course they would, she was a knockout. She shook her head.

"Nope." She grinned. My mouth was hanging open. "Oh," I murmured, feeling awkward.

"You ever been to a prom?" I asked, biting my apple. She shook her head vigorously. I already knew the answer to this one.

"I told you before, I can't dance. It would be dangerous for me to attend. Someone could get hurt." She said, thoughtfully.

I smirked. "Have you?" she asked, perking an eyebrow. "Once," I shook my head, shuddering. I laughed once, sinking into memories.

"It wasn't that bad, but my Mum—" I stopped short. "Uh, it was alright." I concluded lamely. She seemed to notice my reluctance and decided not to push it further. I was shocked she had never been asked out on a date. "Wait, Mike asked you out on a date." I reminded her, she scowled. "Well, no-one asked me out in Phoenix."

She explained. I nodded slowly. I could see how someone might be intimidated at the thought of asking her. What if she didn't say yes? I cringed at that. I tried practicing my natural gift of observing. I asked her a question and tried to see if I could siphon out her reaction. I was not able to get anything. Her mind was impenetrable.

I wanted to scream. Her mental silence was so rare. Usually people were so shallow, wearing their emotions on their sleeves.

And if not, then you could read it in their eyes. And I was eerily accurate most of the time. But with Bella, it was impossible. I sighed, yet another reason why I was so involved. She presented something I had wished for. Someone who I couldn't tell what they were thinking, it may be frustrating, but it was also unpredictable, so captivating.

Peaceful, even. I took relish in the peace, rather than stew in the fact that I couldn't decode her thoughts.

"Oh my god!" Bella cried out.

"What? What?" I asked, jumpy. "Oh, crap," she muttered, putting her head in her hands. I glanced around, ready to pummel Newton if thats what was upsetting her.

"I forgot my painting. Crap! It's at home." "Oh," I said, relieved. "Well, we can go get it." I suggested. She looked back up at me, shaking her head regretfully. "We can't leave now, we'll get caught and be in more trouble. Mrs. Kyle asked me to have it today.

She's gonna be so pissed." Bella groaned. I bit my lip. "We could always skip...?" I formed the sentence into a question. She bit her lip and frowned at me, considering. "No, we can't. We shouldn't..." I raised my eyebrows. Her face looked calculating. "Okay." She said finally, easily. I blinked.

"Okay." I agreed.

***

We waited until everyone had left the cafeteria.

Peeking out the doors, the halls were empty.

That was when we made our break.

We slinked down the empty hallways, the lights dim.

I had skipped before, many times before back home. It was easy, I had gotten used to it.

It didn't at all hold the excitement it used to after doing it so often. But now, with Bella, I felt like a giddy school kid, ditching class for the first time.

We snickered quietly as we ducked under the windows on the classroom doors. We slid on the floor, carefully manoeuvring out of view, keeping to the shadows until we reached Bella's locker. Mine was a bit further down. She stopped at hers and slowly, carefully opened it.

We both looked at each other when the metal squeaked, her face flushed pink. I put a hand over my mouth, she did the same, trying not to laugh. She grabbed her jacket and shrugged it on, slinging her bag over her shoulder while stealing glances around. I grabbed my jacket, put it on and reached for my book bag. She was walking toward me then, her hands in their pockets. "Hurry up!" she whispered. "We—" she broke off at the sound of footsteps.

Her eyes widened. "Fuck," she muttered.

That almost made me fall over with laughter.

Instead of giggling at profanities, I swiftly grabbed Bella around the waist and pulled her into the janitor's closet that was situated a few feet away from my locker. It was cramped, I'll admit. My breath was brushing against her, rustling her brown waves of hair.

Our bodies were pressed against one another. I could feel my heart beat rattling through my chest.

That probably wasn't healthy. Her face was so closed to mine. We held our breaths as the footsteps came closer. We could see a shadow through the gap under the door. I tensed, squeezing Bella. My arms were all the way around her, and she wasn't objecting.

Of course she's not objecting, retard. You're in a storage closet. There's no room for her to object.

Oh. I was staring at her face, her eyes were fixed on the door.

I could feel her hitched breathing against me, I could almost feel her heart beat through our clothes.

She was so warm. She smelled so beautiful.

Standing here, not being able to do anything about it. It was excruciating. The footsteps retreated. We let out a sigh of relief. I hadn't realised Bella's hands were on my arms until she removed them, letting them slide down my forearms to my hands then they dropped to her sides. I hesitantly unwound my arms from her waist and dropped them to my sides.

"Well," she said, sounding like she was out of breath.

"That was a close one, wasn't it?" she squeaked.

I laughed glumly.

"Yes." I agreed.

"It definitely was."

HAHA. I admit here, that if something like that happened to me, a teacher coming around the corner when you were supposed to be in class and a girl like Bella says "Fuck." I would definitely blow our cover by laughing my ass off right there. Fuck skipping, detention was worth it *giggles*. Oh, and how do you like the tension? Mmm. saucy. Fuck, Edward is so gorgeous. Ahem *straightens shirt* anyway. Tell me what you think. 3 Love.