Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight; it is the property of Stephenie Meyer. The original characters and plot are mine. I am in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Thanks to my lovely Beta Biddy429!!!

Chapter 11

My Hero

I woke up in my own comfortable bed and made sure I didn't move too much. It was a dull ache, not the pain it had been yesterday, but sore all the same and I didn't want to push my luck and hurt myself any further. Charlie and I made a deal, he'd help me in and out of bed, same with the stairs and I could go back to school. I felt it was a bit unreasonable but I caved when Charlie looked really worried.

Instead of getting up I thought about what I would wear today. I looked at the floor by my bed I noticed a pair of skinny jeans was close by. I'm not what you would call a tidy person! Deciding to be bad and yet not too bad I managed to snatch them and wiggled into them. Not too hard while lying down, but what else would I wear something that I could just slip on over the wrappings for my ribs? Green!, yeah the green t-shirt I got before we left Jacksonville would be perfect. It's a deep green and Charlie said it looked really good on me. Looking out the window I thought of my grey vest to go with it, and my UG boots.

After another few moments of boredom lying there in my bed I picked out a bracelet and my heart necklace to go along with my outfit. I was putting loads of thought into my outfit that I would not normally do but it seemed to pass the time until Charlie knocked on my door and helped me out of bed. He was really unhappy about me changing my pants without him, until I looked at him like he was nuts. I said to him "Jeez Charlie, I need some independence!" Then we laughed and I finished getting dressed.

It didn't look like it was going to rain but I double checked with Charlie and grabbed my grey vest with the little bit of fur lining instead of my coat. All in all I looked more put together then I did on most days. Maybe this whole picking out my clothes first thing would catch on. Probably not, but for now I was going to look put together.

I got to school a good 20 minutes early and found both Erik and Ange waiting for me. Charlie told me that until I had healed enough to drive myself he was going to do the honours. They looked at each other and the cruiser obviously realising only now that I wasn't able to drive. Laughing they both walked over to the car and chatted with me as I waved bye to Charlie Erik grabbing my bag for me and we walked into the school.

"Hey guys, do you mind if I go to my locker and put that thing in there" I said and they laughed at my reference to my bag. "What? It totally is a thing" I answered to their laughter and achieved my goal of making them laugh harder. I managed to suppress the giggles.

"Okay, let's go put that thing away" Erik said as we stopped in front of my locker. Quickly I opened it and he threw it inside and I made a face and petted the bag and they were laughing really hard. My smile was huge but still I managed to suppress my laughter, no need to hurt myself. Taking my purse out I put my meds and pens and pencils in it.

We sat in the cafeteria talking about what I was and wasn't allowed to do until it was five minutes before the first bell rang and we parted, Erik and I walking slowly towards English. Gladly taking my spot Erik spoke to Mr. Kelsing about how I injured myself and was going to either be early or a little late to my classes for a while so as to avoid the hurry and get bumped.

"Ms. Dwyer? I will need a note from your doctor in order for the tardies not to go into your record" He said shooing Erik away from the desk. I looked through my book and pulled out a note from Charlie and handed it to him as he approached my desk.

"Sorry this is all I have today, I'll get Car... Dr. Cullen to write me a note at my next appointment I have one with him on Monday". I said and he frowned at me. It was then that I realised that I had forgotten to take my painkillers so I got Erik to get my purse from the floor and hunted through it. Pulling out the prescription bottle of pills and my water I took out my two and went to put the container away. Mr. Kelsing's reached out his hand and stopped me, I looked up at him as he took the bottle from my hand. I just sat there totally amazed!

"Excuse me! That is my personal property" I stated and reached to grab the bottle back as my face contorted in pain, I tried to breathe past it. The movement only caused me more pain and discomfort and in doing so I dropped the pills I had been holding in my hand. Erik looked at me concerned reaching was on the list of don'ts.

"Don't be so dramatic Ms. Dwyer" Mr. Kelsing said coldly and successfully grabbed the bottle from my hand. I didn't fight him as I was still trying to breathe. Erik on the other hand stood up, as bold as brass, and took the bottle from Mr Kelsing then stared down at him. Erik was taller than Mr Kelsing and did not have much trouble doing this.

Erik came into his own at that point, his protective side to the fore, "Are you really that stupid man! Jesus! She is doubled over in pain and you act like she stubbed her toe. She has broken ribs, come on Bella" he said helping me to my feet and stuffing my meds back into my purse. "We're going to talk to Mrs. Levington" he finished scowling at Mr. Kelsing who now looked shocked and totally amazed!

"Your nuts" I sniggered, leaning on him as we made our way to the office.

"Hey you guys okay?" a smooth voice called from behind us and Erik turned to look at the source. It was Edward Cullen and he was jogging towards us.

"Yeah, we're fine thanks, she just needs to catch her breath and I'm going to talk to Mrs. Levington about student rights" Erik responded angrily.

"No... need to... get yourself in... trouble Erik" I said gasping through the pain. He rolled his eyes and Edward chuckled but moved forward to help support my weight by taking my other arm. "Thanks I just really... need to sit down" They nodded and walked me into the office and I sat gingerly down on one the chairs.

"Bella have you taken anything for the pain" Edward asked as he sat next to me, Erik looked between the two of us and went to the desk to ask to see the principal. I nodded and pointed at my purse, he picked it up and said "your pain meds are in here?" I could not speak for the pain but nodded to him. He then asked "do you mind if I........?" Obviously was asking my permission to look in my purse to get my pain meds out, what a weird guy he was, nice and gentleman like but still weird! I nodded again; I was beginning to feel like a nodding dog by now! "Percocet?"

"Pretty strong stuff, how many?" he asked and I nodded holding up two fingers. "When?" he asked again and I tried to think and held up four fingers. "Hours?" he asked and I nodded my head. "Time to take more?" I nodded feeling rather like a mime. He rose and walked over to the water fountain and got me some chilled water to take with my meds but I was still controlling my breathing trying to lessen the pain by keeping it steady and not too quick. He opened the bottle and tipped two pills out into my hand, I popped them into my mouth and he very kindly raised the cup to my lips and held it while I took a few sips of the lovely cool water. I then breathed "thanks" to him. He just sat beside me quietly.

"Miss? Are you alright?" a female voice called over Edward and I looked up at a youngish woman and tried to smile. The pain was beginning to fade.

"Yeah I'm feeling a little better, I just moved the wrong way when Mr. Kelsing took my medication from me and I tried to grab it back" I answered my voice steady and calm. She looked confused and appalled.

"Did he know that you needed it?" she asked trying to make the situation less extreme. I nodded.

"Yeah I needed to take two because woke up during the night and had to take two because of the pain so I needed to take more as soon as I got to class but he didn't seem to believe me that I have broken ribs that are very painful." I answered blushing realising that she would do something about my accusation.

"mmm, I see, well Ms Dwyer that's really very inappropriate and it will be dealt with" she said formally and I realised she had to be the principal as I saw Erik smiling behind her. Well dang I went and ratted on Mr. Kelsing. Somehow I doubt this would bother me too much. "I think you should get to class now Ms Dwyer, and you too Mr Yorkie and Mr Cullen and be assured that this matter will be dealt with immediately, good day!" and she inclined her heat towards us and walked away. I smiled at her retreating figure and felt quite smug, I looked towards Edward who was already helping me to my feet.

Looking at him I realised that he seemed genuinely concerned about me!. How odd, last week he hated me. Maybe his father told him about me and now he feels sorry for me, I hope not!. That wouldn't be anything new but I hoped that he didn't know about well, what Carlisle knew. No I know Carlisle wouldn't break my trust like that; if Edward knew anything it was just that I was hurt. Edward had chosen to change his attitude towards me, now to figure out why and for how long. The three of us walked back down the hall and we stopped outside the class that Erik and I were due to attend and I begin to wonder how bad my English grade is going to be considering Mr Kelsing's new opinion of me, I might even fail!

Erik had opened the door and was waiting for me to walk through it into the classroom. He looked at Edward and smiled his thanks for helping me. I looked at Edward and my eyes met with his "Thank you for helping me Edward", I could feel the blush creeping up into my face then and I noticed that his eyes were no longer black with hate but they were now a beautiful topaz colour. I wondered then if I had only imagined them to be black! Slowly I turned and headed into my class and took my seat completely unfazed by Mr. Kelsing's glare. Yup, I was definitely going to fail English, though I wondered how he would do it creditably.

Everyone's eyes darted from Mr Kelsing and myself who had yet to restart his lecture. He was certainly not impressed at my so called "tardiness" and no doubt seriously unimpressed by the fact that two students had just interrupted his lecture! I had my book and pen ready whenever he should decide to start however. Erik was getting angrier and angrier and I could tell that if something didn't happen soon he was was going to pop. I could almost taste the tension building in the classroom and then suddenly the door opened and the principal walked in. She really didn't look like a principal; she looked really nice, more like a favourite auntie!

"Mr Kelsing I need to speak with you at once please" She said her voice flat and full of authority. It was quite shocking to hear her address a colleague like that and it was at that moment that I realised that although she may look like a nice person she would brook absolutely no nonsense from any of her staff or students alike, she was professional to the core and carried with her an unmistakeable air of authority. He must had known that it was something to do with me because he glared at me before he stalked out of the class.

The Principal turned to the class before departing and said "This period will be independent study until I find a replacement English teacher for you therefore I am trusting you all to behave and study quietly" then she turned and followed Mr Kelsing out of the room. Quite a few pupils turned to stare at me whilst she was saying this, obviously they knew that I had gotten Mr Kelsing into some sort of trouble, I blushed and ducked my head.

"Wow" I said once the door closed, Erik smiled at me saying

"He deserved it Bella and I really hope they fire him and not just remove him from this class" Erik said plotting evilly. I just shook my head at him.

"Hey there, tell us what happened?" the blond girl behind me asked, all you could hear in the classroom then was a lot of mumbling, most of the students were agreeing that they wanted to know the full story, so me being me, decided to enlighten them all!

I settled myself comfortably and then I began my story, "Well, I came to class early to tell Mr. Kelsing that I had an accident and broken a couple of ribs and because of this I would possibly be either early or late to class, to avoid getting hurt. I also wanted him to know that the discomfort and pain could possibly slow me down a bit so to bear with me for a while. He didn't seem to believe me for some reason and then when I took the bottle of painkillers from my bag so that I could take two he took them from me. Me being me, I stupidly reached to grab it back. He took the bottle back of me but I had already hurt myself at that point and Erik stood up to him on my behalf" I told the class.

Everyone was staring at Erik and the class erupted in "way to go Erik" about at least a dozen times. I did not relish being centre of attention but when I looked at Erik's face it was positively glowing – he was never the centre of attention and was clearly in his element!

****

As Erik walked me to my second period I began thinking about Edward and his sudden kindness. I found it quite hard to understand and couldn't put the two "sides" of him together, the one that hated me instantly and the one that was sweet and worried about me. Maybe the boy was bipolar and having an off day or perhaps missed his meds that day and hadn't realised it until he returned home, somehow I didn't think that would be the case however! Maybe he was just plain moody and the next time I seen him he would be that horrible mean guy I met that first day! I wondered if I could be friends with a boy that I didn't understand and whose first impression was pure blinding hatred? I would just have to wait and see.

I had no answers to these questions and as I sat down in Math after parting with Erik at the door. Mr Letson took the news much better than Mr. Kelsing but in all honesty it really did not matter how Mr Letson would have reacted, anything at all would have been better than Mr Kelsing. He just wished me well and hoped that I recovered soon. He also said that if I needed to leave the room or was in any pain or discomfort just to let him know as he was not having any of his students feeling unwell during class. He certainly did not ask for any doctor's letters or anything, what a difference between two teachers, virtually night and day!

"Hi Bella" Alice called as she walked into the class, "I heard about the whole thing with Mr. Kelsing, that sucks!" She said taking her seat next to me. I smiled and nodded my head in agreement.

"Yeah, he really had no reason to go off on me like he did, but who knows what's going on with him. Maybe he is going through a rough patch in his own life but he shouldn't really bring that into work if he is! I'm just sorry he didn't handle things better" I answered thinking about how some things go from bad to worse depending on how you react "a doctors letter, I wasn't about to refuse, he just didnt give' me much chance!" I rambled and she nodded.

"I totally agree with you Bella, he could have dealt with it all much better, it is such a shame" Alice answered and I smiled it was nice to not have to convince people to see things the way I did.

"At least some good came of it, Erik is a hero and has been getting some well earned recognition and pats on the back from people" I commented and we giggled together. Relaxing a little into my chair I smiled, pleased that I could do this without any pain for a change!

Our attention was called back to the class work and Mr. Letson had given us an assignment to work on, when I noticed what it was I rolled my eyes, quadratic equations was something I learned a long time ago. I opened my book and there in front of me was a note from Alice!

Boring! I smiled and nodded my agreement and wrote back quickly. Tell me about it. I did these ages ago! She chuckled silently and we passed notes back and forth about our favourite and not so favourite subjects until the bell rang. I was glad that Alice and I seemed to get along as I was a bit worried that it might have been awkward because of Edward. Well, I thought to myself he apparently doesn't hate me so I guess he wouldn't get between us being school buddies.

"Hey you need a hand with your books?" Alice asked.

"Well it is on the list of things I'm not allowed to do. So if you really don't mind?" I said contemplating just carrying them myself. Before I could do anything more Alice had scooped them up and laughed at the pout on my face as we walked to the door. As we reached the door Jasper was standing a little to the left and reached to take the books from Alice.

"Since I am actually in her class and don't have to go the other way why don't I take these?" he said and I smiled as Alice frowned but nodded. Just then the perfect idea for a picture of them came into my head.

"Oh!" I squeaked and turned to Alice. "I have to draw a picture of you two as Alice in Wonderland and the White Rabbit, or maybe the Mad Hatter! Oh, it would be so cute!" I said and Alice smiled happily whilst Jasper cringed!!!

"I agree!" she said before kissing Jasper and parting ways.

"You two are really perfect together" I said to Jasper as we walked along and nodded in agreement "She must be a lively force when she gets going" I said thinking about her bouncing in her seat during class and just now.

"That she most definitely is." He agreed as we walked into class.

"No killing me Ange! I am not carrying a thing see!" I exclaimed holding my hands out as she smiled and shook her head.

"What am I going to do with you Bella?" she asked and I shrugged taking my seat.

"Thanks for helping me out Jasper" I said smiling as I sat down next to him. "Now I need to get to work on paying back your kindness with crazy acid trip pictures of you and your girl!" I said as shook his head at me. I took notes in class the same way I had done before and Jasper smiled every time I scribbled something just as before but this time I didn't manage to finish the picture.

"Okay, okay, I admit it! I am a history nerd okay!" I said to him as the bell rang. He shook his head before leaving class as I packed up. Angela stood in front of my desk and waited for me to finish arranging my stuff. "Perfect, now I can throw it in my locker." I said as she picked it up and we walked out of the room.

Once we got to the cafeteria we sat down at the table just down from the Cullen's, I noticed that Erik was nowhere to be found. I wondered where he was until I noticed the large group gathered around the table in the far left corner. Jessica, Lauren, Mike and his group crowded the table. I smiled at the thought of him getting the attention he deserved. Erik is a nice guy and I knew he was enjoying being my hero for a while. Angela followed my eyes and giggled.

"At least he didn't suck us into that mess" she said and I nodded my agreement with a mouth full of tuna sandwich. We chuckled over what other heroic tales he might be spinning before finally clearing the table to get to Biology and avoiding the rush.

I felt someone touch my arm gently and turned slightly to see who it was, and I was quite surprised to say the least, "May I walk with you to class?" Edward said from behind me and all I could do was stare up into his eyes and try to remember to speak!

"S....sure" I said as I stood and looked around quickly for Angela, when I spotted her she smiled and waved me ahead. Edward picked up my books and we exited the cafeteria.

"How are your ribs?" he asked and I proceeded to trip over my own feet but he caught me before I could meet the ground.

"Oh, thanks, sorry, and my ribs are fine... though I really ought to learn how to walk again" I muttered blushing a deep red. I was never this uncoordinated not since I took ballet, gymnastics and stuff. So much for growing out of the ability to actually trip over nothing, well it wasn't as bad as it used to be!

"That might be a good idea to avoid further injury" He replied smiling at me. His eyes were light and at ease. It was so hard to place the black eyes on his face now. I wondered what it was that had changed him so drastically.