Who's ready for chapter eight? Huh? Before I begin, I just want to thank all the readers and reviewers again! I appreciate you guys so much! Alright, enough of my blab that you don't really care about. I mean you all just care about this chapter right? So here it is! :)

I tried to process the words that the man in front of me had just said. I began to realize that I was just standing there and should probably respond to him. First, I would have to find the strength to speak. And that strength was not coming easily at all.

"Hi." I barely managed to squeak that single word out. I received an odd look from Edward and a smile from...him.

Edward walked away, shaking his head. He must be trying to understand why I was acting so strange. If he only knew.

I re-focused my attention on him, rather than Edward. I still felt weak to my stomach and I was sure I would collapse at any moment's notice. This was impossible. At least i thought it was.

"How have you been Bella?"

His eyes were still the same piercing shade of ice blue.

"I've been good." My voice was very shaky and quiet. I wrapped my arms around my torso. I was suddenly very self conscious without my robe on. I felt too exposed.

"I haven't seen you in a long time. You've turned into quite the woman."

His eyes began roaming up and down my body. I was going to puke.

The only major differences about him that I noticed was his height, him now being much taller, more muscular, and his hair was now cropped into a spiky style, rather than the long pony-tail I once knew.

But overall, James hadn't changed a bit. He was just even more intimidating and frightening with his added height and new found muscles.

I didn't know how he had found out I was in Washington, let alone where I worked. He must have done some serious tracking. The rumors were true, he never had stopped searching for me.

I had a million thoughts running through my head. I needed to get out of here. Leave the state, maybe even the country. He was obviously here for a reason. This wasn't an accident that he happened to be here.

Forcing myself to unfreeze, I slowly made my way to my dressing room and prayed that he didn't follow me. As soon as I entered it, I shut the door and locked it. I sat down on the floor and put my head in my hands.

This is one of the most terrifying things I have had to conquer in many years, and I could feel all my insecurities bubbling up inside of me. The timid, awkward, and defenseless Bella was making her way back to the surface. I had buried her away and now she was returning.

How long I sat there, I am unsure of. The knock on my door did return me to reality however.

"Bella, we don't have all the time in the world. Let's get moving!"

Edward sounded irritated, but I didn't care.

I stood up reluctantly and put my robe on securely before exiting my dressing room. I made my way out to the studio and took in my surrounings. Pierre was polishing a camera lens, Edward was yelling at some dude at the computers, and James was standing in the darkest corner of the room staring directly at me.

I shivered under his gaze and continued to inch forward at snail speed. My eyes shifted back to James and I was digusted by the way his white boxer briefs clashed against his pale skin. For living in Phoenix all his life, he never had been tan. Of course I don't have any room to talk, but whatever.

I stopped walking once I was directly in front of the camera and centered against the back drop. I was positive that I was not going to make it through this series of photos. James had never seen me in this little amount of clothing, not even a bikini, and he certainly never had touched me in this little amount of clothing.

The thought of his hands on me made me want to run screaming and to never look back. I knew I couldn't do that for two reasons. One being, people would think I was insane and have me locked up in a mental institution. The second reason being, it didn't matter where I went, James would apparently always find me. That though absolutely scared the living shit and piss out of me.

"Okay people! Let's get this show on the road! Bella, I need you to stand off center a little to the left. James face her, but be on the opposite side."

Edward's authoritative voice boomed throughout the room. James casually walked up to me and shot a smirk down at me. I cringed as his eyes never left me.

"What does the boss want the photos to look like?" James asked looking towards Edward.

"It says here that he wants there to be lots of chemistry and almost a look of..sexual desire." Edward choked out the last two words and gripped his clipboard tightly. I could almost swear that he was jealous.

"We can do that. Can't we Bella?" James's hand brushed down my arm and I took a baby step back from him. If I couldn't handle him touching my arm, this was going to be even more difficult than I imagined.

"Bella, you need to take your damn robe off so we can start! Come on, we are on a time limit here."

I was going to kill Edward as soon as I felt a little more stable. I shrugged out of my robe and tossed it off to the side.

"Alright! Here we go! We have to get three hundred frames for this one so let us begin!" Pierre's happy voice sounded.

James wrapped one arm around my waist and puled my body against his. I put my hands on his chest because I wanted to push him away instead of getting any closer to him. His eyes locked with mine and he sent me another smirk.

I heard the camera click and saw a flash, indicating Pierre taking the first picture. I tried to make my face express the emotions that Aro was wanting this shoot to have, but I was struggling to get that look to come across.

James basically lead us from pose to pose. He did the moving for both of us. Each time, his hands moved either lower towards my no no square, or higher towards the girls.

After what felt like a million photos, he moved to stand behind me. He put his hands on the sides of my legs and bent down to place a kiss on my exposed neck. I shivered out of fear rather than pleasure, but I thik he misread it, because he gently bit my neck. I'm pretty sure that a puked a little in my mouth when he did that.

I wanted to puke, cry, faint, scream, and run, all at the same time. The problem was, I couldn't do any of those things. I was literally trapped.

"Stop! Stop! Bella, you look like you are disgusted and freaked out. That's not even close to what Aro wants. Take a quick break to re-group and then we will try to start it again."

I loved Edward for this moment. Quickly putting my robe on, I ran in the direction of my dressing room. It was only when I closed the door and collapsed on the couch that I felt the tears running down my face.

I was sobbing hysterically and gasping for air so loudly that I barely heard the knock on my door.

"Go away!"

My message was not clear enough, because the door creaked open and there stood Edward. His eyes finally reached me as he took in my appearance on the couch. I was sitting with my knees pulled up to my chin and my arms were wrapped tightly around this. Tears and make-up were more than likely staining me cheeks and I was still sobbing.

He quietly shut the door and locked it before he sat down next the me. He placed his arm around my shoulders and pulled me into his side. His comfort only proved to make me feel even more defenseless and I began crying heavier than I had been previous to Edward's arrival.

I gripped onto his black t-shirt and crawled into his lap. He held me and tried to get me to soften my sobs by shushing me. Edward was a comforting person. He didn't ask many questions and let you talk if and when you were ready.

His hands rubbed up and down my back just like the first time he held me as I cried. My sobs continued to grow louder and louder. He tried to calm me, but I was so far beyond controlling at this point. The weak Bella was back, and she was much harder to contain than the confident Bella.

"Bella, shh. Try to breathe slower. Gasping isn't going to help you calm down."

I attempted to breathe slower and found it wasn't too hard to do. My breathing evened out I bit and I was now silently crying against Edward's chest. I sniffed, didn;t want to get snot on pretty boy's shirt after all. He might not be as nice if I did that.

"That's better. Do you want to talk about what's wrong?"

"I.. I don't know."

"Don't feel pressured. I'll listen when you're ready. That is, if you want to talk about it."

"Him, and, me, why, how, too much." I spit out at a rather fast pace.

"Bella, if you are gonna talk, could you please try to make sense so I can understand and help you.?"

"It's him."

"Who's him?"

"The guy I'm modeling with."

"The model? What did he do?"

I looked up at him and our eyes locked. He looked so concerned and I felt safe for an instant.

"I know him."

"Who is he?"

"He's...James."

"What?"

"It's him."

"I thought he had an effing pony-tail!"

"He did, when I knew him. I guess he cut his hair."

"What is that bastard doing here?"

"He found me. The rumors were right. He didn't stop looking for me."

"But how did he find you?"

"I have no clue. The one thing I do know is, if I leave, he will always be able to find me. No matter where I go."

"Why is he here now though?"

"He either wants me back, or wants pay back."

"What would you guess it would be?"

"I'm beting that he will try to force me back into a relationship with him and then he will get his pay back through that."

I broke out in sobs again, realizing how much danger I was currently in. I brushed the diganoal line that was permantely etched into the skin of my right arm. Edward noticed my movement and reached for my arm. He brushed the scar himself and then met my gaze. He knew what it was. Our topic of conversation was enough to tell him.

My hand instinctively shot to my upper left thigh, where my more visible line of a scar was. This also didn't go unseen by Edward.

"Why is the one on your leg more visible than the one on your arm Bella?"

"He dug the knife deeper into my leg than my arm, so it left a bigger and more visible scar."

Edward swallowed hard and his eyes had a flash of anger shoot through them.

"Why I haven't I noticed them before?"

"I try to keep them covered with make-up as much as possible if I know one of them will be visible with what I'm wearing."

"You shouldn't have to do that?"

"What makes you say that?"

"You should never of had to have been in the situation you were in when you got them."

Something about that statement bubbled up my emotions and I began my crying, again.

Several minutes passed before I calmed down and started silently crying once more.

"Bella, I'm going to call off the photo shoot for today. I'll talk to Aro, get James fired from any future business here, and get the rest of the shoot rescheduled."

"You would do that for me?"

I met his gaze and was overwhelmed by the kindness in them.

"I will and I would do a lot more than that for you too. Which is why I will be staying with you for a few days so you feel safer with someone there with you."

"Thank you. Thank you so much Edward."

I wrapped my arms around his neck, hugged him, and squeezed my eyes shut.

EPOV

I left Bella to get changed so I could take her home. I felt so guilty for everything that happened. I should have inquired about him a little more before we started, and then I could have put two and two together.

As I reappeared in the studio, I caught some glances from various workers and a glare from James. He must of seen where I went off to. Bella was right about him. He was a very good looking dude, but he reeked of asshole and bastard qualities. I wanted to kill this guy for hurting her. Not just in the past, but today as well.

I can't believe I allowed the douche to touch her! I was already mad enough about another guy being all over her in front of me, but the fact that he is who he is, that just makes me ten million times more pissed off.

I stopped in front of the camera setup and whistled.

"Everybody! We are gonna be done for today. Bella isn't feeling well. Great job today! Enjoy the rest of the day off."

I turned and walked back to Bella's dressing room. I lightly knocked on the door.

"It's open Edward."

Her voice was still very soft and weak sounding. I gently opened the door and stepped inside.

"Are you almost ready to go?"

"Yup. Just let me get my purse."

"I want to make sure James has left before we go. I don't want him to follow us and find out where you live."

"That would be a good idea."

"I thought so. Is your car here? Do we have to drive seperately?"

"No, I don't have my car today. It's getting a check-up. Rosalie gave me a lift to work today."

"That works out well."

"Yeah."

"Come on."

We walked out of the dressing room to find the studio was empty, besides Pierre.

"Everyone else gone?"

"I believe so Edward."

"James too?"

"Yeah, he was the first to leave."

"Thanks Pierre."

"Oh of course."

I kept my hand on the small of her back to make sure she stayed by my side. I didn't want to lose her. I was relieved when we got to the parking lot and my car came into view. I unlocked it and opened the passenger door for Bella. She got in and closed the door very delicately. I moved to the driver's side and got in. I started the engine and began the drive back to her apartment.

We scoped out the area before we exited my car. I made sure to grab my duffel bag that I had stashed in my car with some extra clothes so I could hit the gym later. Guess they would serve a different purpose though.

Upon entering her apartment, Bella spoke.

"Thanks for doing this Edward. You don't have to do this you know."

"You're welcome. And yes, I do have to do this, or I wouldn't sleep at night."

"Well, I am very grateful that you are willing to do this."

"It's no big deal. Besides you aren't too bad or difficult to put up with."

Bella laughed as she flopped down on the couch. I plopped down next to her and turned to face her.

This girl was like my form of oxygen. It was just so much easier to breathe when she was around me. I loved it.

I leaned forward and kissed her on the top of the head.

How did I do? Thanks for reading and reviewing! I would love to hear your thoughts. I'm sorry if there are a lot of errors in this chapter, I didn't have time to do a proper check.