AN: I do not own Twilight. Any characters, places, events, etc. belong to Stephenie Meyer.

Chapter 19

The first thing I did when I woke up was ask my mother about the smell. What could the smell possibly have been? When I sniffed around after Josh left, nothing smelt bad.

"Good Morning, dear. Did you sleep well?" My mother spoke in a cheery tone as she read a magazine.

"Yes, I did. But…last night, I heard you and Rosalie say something smelt bad?"

"Oh. Well…you shouldn't worry about that Elizabeth. It's nothing. It was probably just something strong in the forest…" They did have strong noses and all, so it was a fairly believable excuse.

But I knew she was lying.

"Okay then. I'm just going to eat breakfast and get ready, then."

After everything was done, Alice drove me to school and informed me that there would be an experience of worry and happiness, simultaneously, in my near future. When I asked her if it would be life-changing, she shook her head and chuckled.

When I got out of the car and Alice left the parking lot, I headed to my locker and put everything away, like a normal school day.

"Hey, Elizabeth. May I call you Liz?" I shut my locker door and found Jeffery Newton standing behind it.

"No. What do you need?" I began to wonder if it was possible to put a picture of him next to the word 'pest' in the dictionary.

"I realize that I was being a bit of a jerk a few days ago." He grinned widely.

"A bit?"

"Anyway, I was wondering if you'd like to accompany me to Port Angeles this afternoon. Maybe we could see a movie or…something more adventurous." He chuckled slyly. What a sick disgusting pig!

"Sorry. My afternoon is full. And so are all of my afternoons as long as you're in my life. Jeffery, I really am sorry, but I have a boyfriend. Check back with me, oh let's see….never. You're a disgusting person." I didn't know how harsh I was being, but I had to tell him like it was.

"Ah, I see. Well…since you're going to be booked…I should do this now while he isn't here."

"What are you talking ab-" Then he pulled me into him, grabbing my butt and forced his tongue into my mouth. His other hand slid up my shirt and began squeezing my breast.

But before I could pull away myself, someone else ripped Jeffery Newton off of me.

"DON'T YOU TOUCH HER AGAIN, YOU SICK BASTARD!" Josh began punching Jeffery and kicked him to the ground. "IF YOU EVER HURT HER AGAIN, I WILL KILL YOU! DO YOU HEAR ME?!" Josh got down on the ground with Jeffery and punched him in the face again. "I SAID DO YOU HEAR ME?!"

"Y-Y-Y-Y-Yes. I-I hear you…just let me go, man!"

"HEY! What's going on over here?" Coach Clapp walked by and saw Josh beating the crap out of Newton. "Mr. Black, get off of him!" Coach Clapp ran over and pulled Josh off of Newton. Josh looked genuinely angry, like he was ready to kill. Another teacher, who saw the whole sexual-assault thing, ran over to me and asked if I was all right.

"Uhm…I don't know…I want to know if Josh is all right…"

"Oh, don't worry about him now. Let's get you to the nurse so you can lie down."

I could hardly believe what had just happened. I had never seen Josh become so angry, it even scared me a bit. I wasn't worried about the fact that I had been assaulted.

"Well…can Josh come and see me?" I hoped she would say yes.

"As soon as he receives the punishment for beating up Mr. Newton."

"Okay…" We were at the nurse's office by now. The teacher told me to lie down while she spoke to the nurse about what happened. When I lied down, I pulled the small blanket over my body and closed my eyes.

It didn't feel good to be touched like that without intention. I don't think it would feel good to be touched like that at all. I thought about Josh, about how he had protected me. He wouldn't have beat up Newton if it was some other girl. He beat him up for me. Newton deserved it anyway.

I didn't even realize I had fallen asleep until I heard someone whispering my name and I felt someone poke me.

"Elizabeth? Wake up, love." I opened my eyes and saw Josh smiling down at me.

"Are you okay, Josh?" I immediately sat up and gazed into his eyes. He began to chuckle softly.

"You're worried about me being okay? Elizabeth, please. I'm fine. Are you okay?"

"Well…I feel better that you're okay…but I don't really want to be at school anymore. I want to go somewhere with you."

"Okay, love. I'll see what I can do. I'm suspended from school for a couple of days anyway. Newton got suspended longer, thank goodness." He got up and went into the office, explaining that I wanted to leave. They allowed my release and then Josh carried me outside.

"I can walk, Josh." He set me down and gently brushed my hair with his fingers.

"So…where do you want to go, Liz?" I loved when he called me Liz.

"Can we go to our meadow? I'll carry you." I smiled shyly as I patted my back.

"Of course." He hesitated to get on my back, just like he had last time, and then we were off to our meadow. When we got there, we lay down in the grass together. I laid my head against his chest and held his hand. We didn't have to have a conversation to enjoy being in each other's company. It was enough to just be together.

"Liz, I'm sorry."

"Sorry? For what?"

"For letting him do that to you. If only I had arrived at school earlier…" He was blaming this on himself?!
"Josh, no. It wasn't your fault. Don't blame it on yourself."

"But-"

"No." I shifted my position so our faces were next to each other and then I brought my lips to his. We hadn't kissed all day after all, and it felt nice to be kissed by the one I loved.

"Elizabeth," He said between kisses, "You have no idea how good this feels. I mean, after imprinting…I feel even more drawn to you."

"Oh. Well, lucky me then." I chuckled softly and continued to kiss him.

Nothing feels better than kissing the one you love.

(Yay! I hope you all liked that chapter! I know I enjoyed writing it. Isn't Newton such a pig?

SEND ME YOUR IDEAS, YOU GUYS!!!! What do you think should happen? Even if I don't use your ideas, they give me little hints for what I should do next!)