Chapter 9- Fun Times on First "Dates"

He got us a booth, having refused when the waitress offered the table. I didn't know you could do that.

"What would you like to drink?"

"Do you have fruit punch?"

"Yes, ma'am. One fruit punch coming right up. And for you, sir?" I didn't like the way she addressed him. Apparently he didn't either.

"Make that two." He responded curtly. "Nothing for me."

Of course. He couldn't eat.

"Alright. And to order?"

I picked the first item on the list. It had mushrooms in it. I lived for mushrooms. Especially on pizza.

"I'll have the mushroom ravioli, please?"

"Alright. Isn't there anything I can get you?" I noticed the fake-charm she oozed into anything and fought the urge to roll my eyes. He's not into you, lady! It made me wonder who he was into.

"The lady's food." He muttered.

"Of course." She stammered. "That'll be right out."

I snickered when she went back to the kitchen with that dopey confused look on her face. I could practically see the thoughts screaming in her head.

Why doesn't he want me?!

I felt bad for him.

"Is it hard being that pretty?" I blurted out. He quirked an eyebrow and it took me a second to realize what I'd just said.

"Well, I mean, everyone always tries to get your affections and you're always so cold to them. I was just wondering if that ever got tiring."

"It does," He confessed. "But I'll do it for as long as it takes."

"Who are you waiting for?" I wondered softly.

"The right person." I hadn't known I said that aloud.

"Sorry, I tend to speak my mind."

"It happens." He offered.

"How did you find me?"

"It's complicated."

"Make it not complicated. Were you following me?"

"Yes." He admitted.

"Why?"

"I… this is going to sound very stalker-like. Please don't pepper-spray me and leave."

"I'll try."

"I overheard Jessica talking to Angela on the way to my class and they were thinking about inviting you to Port Angeles. Call it intuition or something but I had a feeling that something bad was going to happen so when they mentioned the time I figured I could just make sure you were okay, that nothing bad happened to you."

"Well, it's nice but you could have just called."

"Fair point." He conceded.

"I guess it's a good thing you decided to show up. I thought I was a goner for sure." I shivered.

"You're taking this remarkably well."

"Considering what could have happened? I think I've been through worse."

Edward's head snapped up and he narrowed his eyes.

"Why would you say that? Do you know what they could have done?!"

"I'm not stupid, Edward. It didn't happen. Thank you for being there. Can we stop talking about it?!"

"Of course." He nodded. "You should eat." He tacked on as an afterthought, motioning to the hot plate before me.

I narrowed my eyes and dug in. Edward smiled crookedly and I almost rolled my eyes.

"Stalker." I mumbled through my food.

"I'm not sorry."

"Just make sure this doesn't become a thing. I'm glad you were here but I can take care of myself."

"What would you have done if I wasn't there?"

"Knocked them out and ran."

Edward looked at me skeptically. I rolled my eyes.

"Looks can be deceiving, Edward Cullen. I would think you of all people would know that." I got the satisfaction of seeing his eyes widen a fraction.

"What makes you think that?"

"Dangerous territory, Cullen." I warned. "Just know that I would have been able to do it." It doesn't matter if it's one or five; I usually have a back-up plan.

That was one of the things Jason and Leah always taught me.

"Stop gaping, Edward. It's not nice."

The ride home was silent. Edward didn't offer any answers and I didn't ask any questions… until I couldn't take it anymore.

"Jason's gonna hate you." I muttered to myself.

"Who's Jason?" He sounded jealous, I noticed.

"He's a good friend of mine."

"Then why isn't he here?"

"He can't be."

"Or he doesn't want to be?"

"You shut up about Jason! He's all I've ever known and you have no right to just barge in and act like you're superman, so shut up! And slow down! I don't care if you like going 100 miles an hour but I can't! I can't do it so slow the fuck down before I make you!" I snarled. I don't know what came over me, but it got Edward to slow down. Considerably.
"Thank you." I hissed.

He just looked stricken and for a second, I wondered what was going through his head.

"What's on your mind?" I asked.

"I was about to ask you the same question."

"Jason is… everything to me. You're not allowed to talk about him. And don't bother asking Dr. Cullen either."

"I wouldn't dream of it."

Liar. He was curious, I could tell. Whatever. I didn't need him and his holier-than-thou attitude.

"What happened?"

"He got there in time, that's for sure." Carlisle announced.

"How do you know?"

"Classified, Edward. You know better than to try and pester my patients."

"Oh. Well she mentioned some guy and how she always had a back-up plan and could have handled them herself." Edward snorted.

"You're saying that like its impossible." Rosalie growled.

"A group of extremely intoxicated human men crowded around her and by the time I got to them she was running for her life. I know you'd like to think that anyone can get out of that alive but she's human, Rosalie. And what's more is that she's young. A hell of a lot younger than you were. It just couldn't be done."

"Then why did she say that she had a plan? She wouldn't lie." Alice mused.

"Things don't always work out the way we think they will."

"He has a point." Emmett mused. "I'm not saying that she's weak but she's not Supergirl."

I asked Charlie to schedule an appointment with Dr. Cullen and he agreed. I think he saw through my flimsy reasons because he promised he'd find Leah for me.

"I take it you know what happened yesterday?" I asked when we got settled in. Carlisle nodded.

"Is that what you want this to be about?"

"Sort of."

"Care to elaborate?"

"I don't want Edward to think that I'm weak."

"I'm sure he doesn't. He was probably just worried. He tends to overreact in certain situations."

"Yeah well it's kind of annoying. Is there an off switch for that?"

"Sadly, no." He chuckled. "We've learned to deal with it in our own ways."

"He's… no offence, Doc, but he's kinda… arrogant?"

Carlisle pondered that. She was spot-on, but she didn't need to know that.

"He could be seen as that. He likes to be fully informed about everything and you're a wild card to him. He'll warm up to you eventually."

I glared at his desk and fought the urge to roll my eyes. That's when I noticed the picture.

"Can I see Esme someday?" I blurted out. The way he spoke of her… it reminded me of how Jason talked about Leah. She was strong, independent, and not afraid to put the man in his place. She was awesome, and I had a feeling that if she ever met my mother, they would have a blast.

Carlisle looked surprised, but it melted into a laugh.

"What's so funny?!" I scowled.

"It's nothing bad, you just looked so excited… I'll talk to her. Esme would probably love for you to come over."

"She has to meet my mom."

"Who, Leah?"

"Yeah. They'd get on like a house on fire."

"That… might be difficult."

"You know where Leah is, don't you?" It wasn't a question, but he nodded.

"She lives on the Quilete reservation with her adopted parents and brother. The Quiletes don't necessarily like us."

"But she's not Quilete. Sure she doesn't like others like you but if she knows you're not like them then she'll be just fine."

"You should ask her before you do anything rash, Bella."

"Okay." I sulked. I knew he was right, but I really wanted Mom to meet Esme. Esme sounded pretty cool.

"Would you be okay with meeting my family for real?" Edward asked one day. It was a few weeks after the car incident and the failed shopping trip. Angela and Ben now avoided Jessica and her friends like the plague and Jessica found more things to taunt me about. Half of which weren't even true.

I had told Edward that I knew what he and his family were and he'd panicked like no one's business. He was so scared… I knew then that I would at least have to tell Dr. Cullen (who had been pratically begging me to drop all formalities and call him by his name. I didn't for fear of buttering it.) about Jason, if not everyone. There was also the problem with finding my mom. I told Carlisle about Leah a bit before the accident so he understood, but I wasn't so sure about the others. These shifters didn't sound so nice either, and I didn't want anyone to get in trouble. I would figure something out somehow.

"Do they want to meet me for real?"

"They're fine with it, now that they know that you know."

"Okay then. When can I come over?"

"How about this weekend?"

"Dad's going fishing this weekend and he said he'd take me to La Push."

"Why are you going there?!" He spat out the last word like it was acid burning on his tongue. We'd have to work on that.

"I'm looking for someone."

"Who?"

"I don't even know if they're in La Push but Renee told me they moved to Washington so I figured why not start there."

"The Quiletes live in La Push."

That explained the open hostilitity. Carlisle had mentioned that the wolves shared no love for his family, and I guess the sentiment was returned.

"They can't hurt me. They're supposed to protect humans." Even if I wasn't exactly human, I was hoping Leah was there and I would try not to get in trouble.

"They'd recognize that we're around you and they wouldn't care. You're not safe there, Bella."

"My friend can keep me safe. And I can take care of myself. I'm not scared."

"Still…"

"I could come by when I've found my friend and tell you how it went. That way I can meet your family for real and I can prove that I'm okay. Then you have to meet Charlie for real."

"Sure?"

"We have to shake on it."

Edward wrapped his hand around mine and I nodded.

"Don't do anything stupid please? I promise I'll be okay. And if I'm not you can say I told you so."

"Let's hope I don't have to."

Someone asked for a longer chapter and I agreed so I revamped the last one and added this one on for good measure. Hope you enjoy it, Harry Albus Potter Dumbledore! Review please!