Here's chapter eight, delivered in under thirty minutes or it's FREE! Well, it already is anyway, so enjoy! :)

I'm proud to admit that I'm a dork.

Disclaimer: TWILIGHT ISN'T MINE.

Bella P.O.V.

I heard Alice come in, but didn't acknowledge her. She didn't try to get my attention, either. It was better that way.

I had been hoping that Jasper would try to get in, but he didn't. I couldn't help the feeling of betrayal I had towards Jasper, since he was with Edward and was kinda aiding him in finding me; capturing me, even. It wasn't his fault, though; I hadn't actually told him the name of the cocky bastard, after all. But I was still hurt, and thinking about it made me clench my teeth together in disgust.

I held back the tears that wanted to flow out. It was a stupid reason to cry, so I refused to.

Behind me, Alice started humming in her musical voice. It bounced around the small, confined space. It sounded nice, though I would never admit that to her. It was relaxing too, and I'm sure that was what she was aiming for, because I was as tense as I ever had been. I was ready to lash out at the first person to try and talk to me.

The pipe's smell got easier to tolerate the longer I stayed in it, so I was finding little reason to want to leave. I felt safe, for once. Edward wasn't staring at me, like he had been when he was stuck. Honestly, he had freaked me out quite a bit while he was chasing me and when he was trying to keep coming in after me. The man had some persistence, I would give him that. He was still an asshole, though.

Alice's humming was starting to make me sleepy. I felt my eyes drooping.

I thought about my grandparents. I really didn't want to face them. Then I wondered, for a panicked moment, if Alice had called them and told them about me running away.

I doubt it, I thought. If she had, then they would have told my parents, and Dad probably would have driven all the way up from Tucson just to yell at me.

It was quiet for a long time. After a while, I even felt like the boys had left, gone somewhere. I finally decided to speak.

"Alice," my voice was still dry, crackly. "I'm still mad about the hair cut."

She didn't say anything, but stopped humming.

"I just don't like being pressured into stuff." I excused lamely. Then I got quiet, because I wasn't comfortable saying anything else to her.

She scooted over next to me, and patted my arm. "I understand, Bella."

That was all there was to say.

"Yo, Bella! Are you done whining?" Emmett's loud, booming voice suddenly shouted, amplified by the pipe, and Alice and I turned to glare at him. I had to squint against the bright sunlight. "Alice, gimme the car keys! I wanna go home!" He griped, but moved away from the pipe.

She smiled and looked at me. "Why don't we go to my house? You can take a shower there so your grandparents don't have to see." She looked down at my legs. Oops. I had sliced them open when I fell off the fence, in several places. My realization of this made them burn more. "No pressure, though." She added quietly.

I smirked, but it went away at once. "I'm gonna stay in here for a while."

She looked at me like I was crazy – and at this point I was starting to think that I was, too. But I didn't want to go back to that house. Ever. If my family wanted me to go back, they would have to drag me there, clawing and screaming the whole way.

"Okay. But I can't just leave you alone," she responded quietly.

Someone moved in front of the pipe again, but this time it was Jasper. My mouth clamped shut in anger. "No worries. I'll look after her."

Alice blinked at him. Then she sighed, smiling at me hesitantly. "Bye, Bella." She left quietly, sliding through the bars. I swear I thought I saw her checking Jasper out as she passed him, but she was out of my sight before I could be sure.

Jasper sat down outside the hole, like he had before, but this time he wasn't gentle or sweet. He had obviously run out of patience. "Get your ass over here. Now."

His voice was authoritative and made me bristle. "No way; why don't you get your ass over here?"

He shook his head. "This is ridiculous, Bells. I don't exactly understand what your line of thinking is, but it's stupid."

One of the few problems I had with Jasper was that he was extremely honest sometimes, to the point of being an asshole. I kept my rude comments to myself, though, because I really didn't want to fight with him, of all people.

"How did you get here?" I asked.

"Tyler gave me a ride."

Huh. So Tyler had actually come through for once. "But then why are you dirty?" I turned around as I wondered about this.

I could barely see him smiling. My eyes were having a hard time adjusting.

"Well," he started, sounding amused, "we were about twenty minutes from the house, going along this dirt road, right? And get this, Tyler swerved because he didn't want to hit this damn jack rabbit he saw in the road."

I laughed and scooted a tiny amount towards the opening.

"So then we crashed into a saguaro cactus; his mom's car is destroyed. I bolted, because he called her and I didn't want to be around when she got there." He shook his head again. "He says I owe him, apparently, but I won't get into that now.

"I walked to your house, from where I remembered you told me it was. On the way, though, I tripped and fell down into this ditch. There were some big rocks down there. They scraped my clothes up pretty bad, but I just felt like an idiot."

I inched forward again, intrigued by his story.

"Oh, and when I finally got to your grandparents' house, this crazy shit runs me over with his car."

My eyes widened, my mouth gaping. I didn't know what to say to that.

"I did not run you over!" I heard Edward's voice from far off.

Jasper chuckled. "Okay, so he didn't run me over, but he hit me. I've got this giant bruise on my stomach to prove it, too," he announced, almost proudly. He turned to the side and lifted his shirt, so I could see the colossal purple and black bruise that almost covered his whole abdomen.

"Holy shit!" I yelled, finally closing the distance between us so I could see it closer. "Edward did that?"

"In his defense, he didn't even see me."

"'In his defense,' my ass," I muttered.

He grinned. "I forgave him, though, and I promised him not to press charges. And anyway, he helped me find you, so we're even."

Speechless once again, I sighed. I'm no good with mushy stuff, and the things he was saying definitely counted as mushy.

"So are you going to live in there or what?"

Suddenly a smile spread across my face, and I answered, "No. I might need some help getting out, though." I stood up, and my knees cracked as I did. I bit my lip; I hated that sound.

I turned sideways and was halfway through the bars when Jasper grabbed my arm.

"I really did miss you," he said, smiling slightly.

"I missed you too." I replied.

He helped me wiggle out, and then we sat down again, side by side.

We were quiet, for a while, and I knew Jasper was keeping his mouth shut to let me think. I was pretty sure he was going to help me out with whatever I decided to do.

I have the greatest friend in the world, I thought. I probably wouldn't tell him that, though. But it was true.

I curled up into a ball, wrapping my arms around my legs and letting the sun warm me. The concrete had been surprisingly cold, despite the ninety degree weather.

What am I going to do? It's not like I can really run away from all this. I could try, but I would probably starve and die of a stroke in some random location in Phoenix. Not fun. And Jasper… what about him? His mom will be sooo pissed off.

I looked over at Jasper, and that's when I realized he was watching me, his eyes speculating.

"Where did Edward and those other two go?" He asked suddenly, taking me off guard.

I shrugged, taking a quick glance around the retention basin. "I don't know," I muttered, my brow creasing. I had this suspicious feeling crawling over my skin at the realization that they were gone, but I just shrugged again. There wasn't much I could do about it anyway.

"That girl with them was pretty hot," he added.

I was so shocked that I turned my head really fast to look back at him, smacking it against an iron bar in the process. "Ow! Shit!" I shouted, covering my face with my hand. My forehead was pulsing like it had its own heartbeat, each throb filled with pain.

Jasper snickered, and I glared at him, though he just grinned. "She is hot, Bells. Why didn't you tell me there was a sexy girl right next door to you?"

Putting my face back in my hands, I mumbled, "You are so gross."

"I'm a man."

"Case in point." Thinking about men and their grossness, I suddenly looked up at him again. "Oh, Jasper, remember why I asked you to come?"

He raised his eyebrows. "Wow. I'd forgotten about that." He scratched the back of his head with his hand, stretching his legs out before him. "Yeah, I remember. I got distracted when a certain someone decided to take off, though." He narrowed his eyes at me, and I smiled innocently in response.

"Yeah. I wanted you to threat the asshole so he would leave me alone."

He smiled, turning to face me a little. "So? Tell me the guy's name."

"Oh, you've met him already. It's Edward."

Edward P.O.V.

I got this chill up my spine, the kind that makes me feel like someone is talking about me. I tapped my fingers on the steering wheel in irritation, glancing over at Alice in the passenger seat. She had her cell glued to her ear and was talking non-stop.

We'd left Emmett at the retention basin with the two love birds. Or at least I thought they were, but Alice had shook her head at me when I made a joke out of it. Like she could tell just by looking at them or something. Either way, we were on our way home, and I was pretty sure it was to do some snitching.

Alice looked small and innocent, but she never let anyone go unpunished if they deserved it. And Bella Swan, according to my sister, needed a kick in the pants.

"Oh, no problem, Mrs. Swan," Alice gushed sweetly. "My brother is watching over them. They are staying right where they are. We'll be there in a few minutes to take you there."

This seemed like a low blow, even to me. Bella was annoying, sure. But I felt like a rat tattling to her Grandma and Grandpa.

I sighed and kept driving, though. Alice also sighed, and ended the call, leaning back against the seat. We sat in silence until we reached our house, where Bella's grandparents were standing in the driveway. I'd been doing yard work for Mrs. S since as long as I can remember living there, and I had never seen her looking so angry. Her face was so red that she looked like she was ready to burst into flames.

I got out of the car and smiled politely, holding my hand out for them both to shake. I felt like this was formal; probably because I also felt like I was bringing Bella her executioners, but thatpart didn't really bother me. I wondered who would show up at her funeral.

Mr. S shook my hand right away, and he was smiling almost cheerfully. Weird. However, his wife didn't even look at my outstretched hand. I suddenly got the impression that she wasn't in the mood to do anything but rip her granddaughter's throat out.

Time for Bella Swan to meet her maker, I thought as the two of them piled into the back seat. Alice started chatting with them about the recent decline in temperature. In Arizona during the summer, the heat is a constant topic, and any influx of it is discussed until it changes again.

I looked at the temperature reading on the small screen next to the radio in my car. It was a whopping 102 degrees Fahrenheit. I felt bad for Jasper, but little pity for Bella, since it was her own fault she was sitting out in this desert.

Jasper was one strange guy. I remembered the whole time while we were looking for Bella, he had just kept insisting that she wouldn't be at the mall or the movie theater, where I thought she would be. Truthfully, that's where I would've gone, since both places have air conditioning. But as he kept saying:

"Bella is too stubborn to go to those places. She would think it was a weakness to go somewhere like that."

I just thought she was crazy, but either way, that only made it easier to find her. When we had circled around nearly the whole city, Jasper finally pointed me in the direction of the place where he thought she would be.

"We've already been down that way," I had insisted.

He had coolly responded to this with, "Just go left, already."

When we got back around to that same park, I felt like I had found the fucking Holy Grail, since we had been searching for so long. There was Bella, sitting in a relaxed position on the bench, her hair ratty and her black t-shirt soaked with sweat stains. I saw her before Jasper did, and I called out her name furiously. She turned her head around swiftly, saw my car, and took off like a bullet from a gun.

I definitely hadn't expected that. But then again, I could never guess what Bella had up her sleeve next.

I slammed my car door after hopping out and locked it, taking off after her. It was actually quite embarrassing, running after her through the suburban neighborhood. Families gathered outside their white-picket-fence houses gaped at us as we steamrolled through their streets. I don't think she even noticed the people watching us, though; she seemed hell-bent on getting away from me.

There were several things that I picked up on while I was running after her. One, she could run pretty damn fast, compared to other girls I'd met. Two, Jasper was actually kinda slow; he would never have caught up to her if I wasn't there to pick up the slack. Three, she was too stubborn for her own good; I saw that when she was forcing herself through the iron bars of the drainage pipe. And four, the sheer look of terror on her face the one time she looked back at me made me falter in my running.

What? I'm not completely heartless.

Though maybe I was, because when we finally made it back to the retention basin, I had to hide my smirk as her grandparents got out of the car and she glared at me with such fury it could have melted the glass.

I got out of the car and watched as Bella seemed to be debating whether to run again or not, but by the time we reached the pipe, she couldn't have gotten two inches without me catching her. This was a fact that she knew, so she stood up and crossed her arms. Jasper stood next to her, his gaze flitting from me to Alice, and he didn't look happy either.

"Hey, Peter." Bella greeted calmly.

I was confused for a second, but then her Grandpa's eye twitched, and I realized she was talking to him.

"Isabella-" he began, but she cut him off.

"I don't want to hear it! Just send me to boarding school, or home, or wherever you were planning on shipping me to." She waved her arms around wildly, daring him to speak. Was it just me, or did I see a hint of watering in her eyes? "I've been here long enough, don't you think?"

"You better stop talking to me like that, young lady," he said, "Especially in front of your friends."

She laughed, harshly, and I must have imagined the tears, because any hinting of them was gone. "Friends? The only friend I have here is Jasper!" She shouted, and pointed angrily at me and Alice. "Those people next to you aren't my friends! They never will be, either!"

As they continued fighting, I saw Emmett emerge from his hiding spot at the top of the slope of the basin, his expression sheepish. From his face, I could tell that the argument was echoing around the basin. I suddenly didn't want to be there. I had no reason to watch as Bella got reamed by her grandparents. I just wanted to get her back for getting me stuck.

But I stood where I was, because while Alice would take responsibility for tattling, I would want my sister to stand by me in the same situation.

"-your father will certainly be hearing about this!"

"Go ahead! Tell him; he already thinks I'm a failure!"

"Now see here, he's only doing what's best for you-"

"And that includes you two because-?"

"We were going to set you right, but you're just being-"

Until that point, Mrs. Swan had stayed quiet, like I imagined her doing through many arguments. But then her face was livid again, and she practically screamed, "ENOUGH! SHUT THE HELL UP, BOTH OF YOU!"

Bella and her grandpa instantly got quiet, gaping at the old woman.

She smiled, which was intimidating in its own way. "Thank you. Now, we are going to deal with this like adults, in our own home. Bella, get in the car. Jasper, I don't even know how you got here, but please, come with us." Her smile grew wider, and I saw Jasper take a small step away from her. "You can shower at our house and call your mother."

When she turned to look at me and Alice, I shuddered slightly. This wasn't the nice old lady who baked cookies for us after doing yard work. This was some kind of demon.

"Thank you both, and your brother," she glanced up at Emmett in his hiding place like she knew he'd been there the whole time, and he ducked down slightly. "I really appreciate this. Bella could have been hurt very badly."

Bella started to object, but Mrs. S silenced her with one glare.

My God, she's Satan incarnate, I thought, moving away from the old woman.

"Okay, now that we're all settled here, let's get in the car."

"Lorraine-"

"Not another damn word, Pete." She hissed.

We all filed silently to the car, and since my poor baby only seats five people, we found a dilemma. I toyed around with the idea of putting Bella in the trunk, but decided that mentioning something like that would only piss her grandma off.

In the end, Emmett was driving, I was paired up with Jasper, as was Bella and Alice. Mr. Swan was sitting in the passenger seat with his wife sitting in the back between us four. I have to say, it wasn't one of my more dignifying experiences.

Jasper was stretching the seatbelt so far that he was barely sitting on my lap, shoving himself as far away as possible. "So," he started, "is that a pistol in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?"

Bella instantly cracked up, and I realized that it was the first time I'd ever heard her laugh before. I swear she snorted. One look from her grandma, though, and she huffed, looking back out the window. I think she was trying to ignore the fact that Alice was sitting on her lap, looking quite comfortable for someone who had just ratted Bella out.

"Shut up, Jasper," I muttered, pushing him against the back of Emmett's chair. He made a hilarious "Oof!" sound. He twisted around, completely off of me now, kneeling so that his head didn't hit the ceiling.

"Oh, now it's on, Cullen!" He yelled, shoving his shoulder into my stomach, hard.

Damn, that hurt."Freaking blondie!" I pushed him back towards Emmett's seat, but then my brother pulled to the side of the road and leaned his chair back so that he was crushing me and Jasper together.

"Emmett, cut it out!" I yelled. I took swipes at his curly brown hair, but couldn't find purchase on it. He laughed so loudly that it rang in my ears.

I would have thought that Bella's grandparents would have said something about our monkeying around, but they just watched us like we were puppies wrestling eachother or something.

Alice was giggling, and Jasper and I said at the same time, "It's not funny!"

Okay, so if I wasn't the one being crushed into a man sandwich, it would've been pretty funny. But as it turns out, it was me, so I made Emmett put his seat back up, and he resumed driving, chuckling to himself.

"Truce?" Jasper asked, laughing.

"Sure," I sighed, just happy to be able to breathe again.

The ride back to the cul-de-sac was pretty much harmless, except for the definite ominous feeling in the air. I looked over at Bella, suddenly wanting to see what her face looked like, see if any of this situation had gotten to her. For a second, I couldn't see her, because she was still facing the window. But then I looked at her reflection and saw that she was smiling slightly.

Bella P.O.V.

After getting back to the house with my grandma and grandpa, I watched mutely as Edward, Alice, and Emmett cheerfully made their way back home. Of course, they would feel like they had done some good deed by bringing me back here, but it was nothing of the sort.

I walked through the doorway and imagined it as a guillotine, waiting to sever my head from my body as soon as I walked in.

Grandma sent Jasper upstairs to take a shower, and had me take a seat on the couch, with Grandpa right next to me. It seemed like there was a lecture coming for the both of us.

"Are you thirsty, dear?" Grandma asked me.

I shook my head, because while yes, I was extremely thirsty, having a glass of water wouldn't make this situation any better. Grandma looked at me like she didn't believe me, but sat down in Grandpa's usual armchair, crossing one leg over the other.

"Now that we're not showcasing our arguments to anyone but ourselves, please," she gestured to us with her hand, almost sarcastically, "continue with the yelling."

When neither of us had anything to say, she sighed.

"Peter, just tell her what's on your mind."

Grandpa bristled at this for some reason. "What's on my mind?" He turned to me. "You're a little disrespectful brat, that's what's on my mind!"

Before I could give him a retort, Grandma hissed, "Can you do it without being ridiculous? No screaming, no hand gestures, just talk to her."

He blinked at me. "Isabella," he began calmly, "why are you such a disrespectful brat?"

What a dick! I was fuming. "Look here, Peter-!"

Grandma suddenly smacked me with a rolled up newspaper, like I was a dog or something. I recoiled from it; not because it hurt, but because it scared the crap out of me, just all of a sudden.

"Shit, Grandma!" I protested.

She smiled. "Just talk with him. If you just talk for once, maybe you two will actually get somewhere."

I looked back at my Grandfather. He was possibly the only person who had ever treated me so badly in my entire family. Sure, my parents yelled at me, but they never called me so many names. Even my cousins, aunts, and uncles just put up with my behavior like it was some phase I was going through. Like I would soon grow out of it.

But not him. Grandpa didn't deal with bull shit like that. Just like me.

That moment was one of those rare times when I was able to think a little more maturely. I looked at my grandpa and saw where I got some of my no-nonsense behavior. He didn't let anyone push him around, except maybe his wife, but that was understandable. He called me on my shortcomings, and didn't let me get away with anything, even looking at him funny. There were times when he deserved to be slapped, like that exact moment, but instead I did something I had rarely gotten the courage to do.

"I'm sorry," I said, even surprising myself a little. He looked so taken aback that I thought he might have a heart attack. "Grandpa, I'm sorry. I know I make you put up with a lot. But you and Dad haven't even tried to listen to me at all! When he found Jasper and me-"

"Bella," he said, eyes suddenly tired, weary. "I know. You don't have to tell me yet, if you're not ready. I don't know what you and that blondie were doing that night; I've only heard it from your father. But I just wanted to hear you say you're sorry. Right now, you don't have to give me anymore than that."

I felt my throat close up, and my tear ducts were ready to burst. But I refrained, again, because it was not time for me to show them my tears just yet. I don't know why or how I knew, but I knew that crying was only for special occasions, at least to me.

And I'm not good with mushy stuff; I've said it before. But hugging my grandparents was the next thing I did, and it felt easy and natural. Warm, too.

But then Grandma broke the short moment of bliss as she said:

"You're grounded for running away, though."

There you have it! Oh, and don't try any of what you've read in here at home. Please! I especially don't recommend the doubling up while driving.

Asta-la-bye-bye!