Hey! I'm back quite a bit quicker this time - spent a couple of days playing round with the format here and extending some of my ideas of what I think would have happened naturally and still existing in Stephanie Meyer's brilliant world. Credit to her for Twilight, Bella, the wolves, the cullens and the entire set-up - the storyline here is mostly of my creation although, of course, I'm tying it in to New Moon at points so I'm not claiming those bits! As always, please read and review with your thoughts - it makes me write faster! Thanks for reading in advance and I hope you enjoy!

This chapter is a little different; you'll see!

If I could just see you,
Everything will be alright,
If I see you,
The storminess will turn to light

My heart ceased to beat for a few seconds and I tried to pull away from Jake in an attempt to see if he'd come back, if he'd come back to me. We heard a harsh laugh and I whipped my head around to the noise. Standing about fifteen foot away stood Victoria, her arms crossed and her fiery-red hair blowing in the wind. She smiled cruelly and Jacob pushed me, protectively, behind him as she spoke.

"A little careless Isabella, don't you think? I watched you there, canoodling with your new lover in front of the world. Why, you didn't think you'd be seen? You know the funny thing is I was just planning to leave this god-awful place and to trace the Cullen's but as my luck would have it you were just waiting here for me, weren't you, little human." She smirked and Jacob growled at her, his voice deeper than I'd ever heard it before.

"Leave now, Vampire." He spat out the word and she began to laugh again.

"You really do keep bad company Isabella. I do wonder why your lover left you here alone. Maybe he found your company tiring but I shouldn't worry, I'll soon take care of that"

She stepped towards us and Jacob launched at her, too quickly turning into a wolf in the process that my eyes couldn't follow. She dodged him swiftly and her face was a mask of shock for a moment until she returned to her evil smile. "I wondered where that god-awful smell was coming from. Bad company indeed Isabella…bit of a lover of the supernatural are we?" she cackled and ran at Jacob, jumping over him as he ran towards her. Jacob doubled back and ran at her again, growling loudly as they made contact. They scratched at each other and then they both defensively pulled away, glaring. I stood vulnerable and motionless, I wanted to run but I couldn't leave him. I couldn't help either; I lacked the claws and the speed that they both were now using as weapons. Jacob swiftly launched for Victoria's head and she again dodged to the side, managing to land a blow on his right shoulder blade. He went down for a second but quickly righted himself and continued his attack without much pause. They fought for a few minutes, neither faster than the other but Jake had the disadvantage of me to watch at his back and it was beginning to show as Victoria gradually managed to break through Jacob's defence and he was bleeding heavily from his right flank. I searched the ground for anything I could use as a weapon but there was nothing more than a few twigs and stones. I slowly and gradually moved to a crouch as they were occupied with each other and grabbed the nearest and largest rock I could lay my hands on. I wasn't sure exactly what use it would be, but having it there in my palm made me feel a little less vulnerable, if only slightly. There was truly nowhere for me to run to, we were too far from the road, my truck was missing its engine and the beach in front of me was a vast open space lacking places to hide. I just hoped and prayed that Jacob would make it through.

They circled each other, Jake never letting me be fully exposed to Victoria. Suddenly Victoria swung at Jacob and caught his back legs bringing him momentarily to the ground. She was grinning in my face before I could blink and I instinctively tried to move away but before I had even stepped backwards she had her hand wrapped around my upper arm, nails digging into my skin, and began dragging me away. The ground was pulled away from my feet and I screamed, beating against the arm that held me with my free hand, the rock in my fingers. She laughed and pulled my fingers apart with no effort, pain shot through the joints in my hand and the rock fell. I looked up into her deep crimson eyes and she was grinning at me again but before I had time to try and speak Jacob was there, jumping over my head and directly onto Victoria, who dragged her nails through my arm with the force of Jake's attack and threw me to the ground. My head met the floor and it all went blurry. I could hear Jacob snarling and Victoria returning with growls of her own. I couldn't see who was winning and the noises I heard didn't amount to a clear picture. Intense pain shot through my arm and I tried to move, to get up but without much pause my arm was grabbed and I was again dragged, my feet kicking the ground in a helpless attempt to stop her taking me away. I heard the distinctive female laugh of Victoria. My heart sank, I couldn't hear Jake anymore.

Everything didn't make sense, my head was too slow to clear and when I opened my eyes everything was too bright. I was still being hauled away by my upper left arm which I half-noted was causing me lots of pain. Victoria abruptly stopped moving me and swore. I was dropped to the ground again and I faintly could feel that I was on a cold surface. I screwed my eyes up tight, willing the pain in my arm and in my head to go away. I felt sick and my limbs felt heavy. I just wanted to sleep but warm arms began to feel their way around my head and were gently tapping my face. Sleep was calling me, my head was throbbing and I could hear my name being called. I opened my eyes, irritated, and as I adjusted to the bright light of day I managed to decode a familiar face above me. Not for the first time I was looking up at Sam Uley who began to smile broadly and ask me questions that just didn't register. He stopped speaking, feeling my forehead and my left upper arm quickly and gently.

"How is your head feeling? Does it hurt anywhere else?" he asked, concerned. I grimaced as the pain got stronger, my head clearing from its stupor.

"It hurts" I realised and tried to place my hands to my temples but they were slow to respond.

"Where?" He calmly responded.

"My arms...head…everywhere." I groaned.

"Can you move your legs for me?" He asked and I did, following his instructions, he looked relieved. "What about your hands?" My right arm ached but I managed to wave it at him. My left hand was fairly numb and I barely managed to move it at all. "Okay, Bella I'm going to lift you up – were going to take you to the hospital quick to get you checked out. Just relax and don't worry, it'll be alright".

I felt his arms move under my back and legs and I was slowly brought up into the air. "You okay?" Sam asked and I nodded, wincing against the pain.

"Where's Jake? What…what happened?" I asked quickly, suddenly remembering what had occurred last.

"Jacob will be okay, a little bruised but he'll live. Victoria fled as soon as we arrived, I'm sorry we were too late to stop this happening." He tried to keep me awake and I fought the tiredness for a while, responding to his questions with one-word answers. I felt fairly weak and my left arm was heavy, I turned my head to it and saw that I had a makeshift bandage made of an old T-Shirt tied around it tightly, down my arms and across Sam's bare chest there was blood. I wasn't wearing my jacket any longer and I ought to have been cold but luckily being in Sam's presence was enough to keep me warm. My eyelids felt like they lacked the strength to open and I didn't feel like fighting the tiredness any longer.

And I will walk on water

And you will catch me if I fall

And I will look up into your eyes,

And everything will be alright.

No matter how hard I fought it she dominated my every thought. I deserved the pain. It was better for her this way. I only brought trouble into her life and I could not forget she wasn't condemned like me, she had the chance of life that I didn't. I couldn't ruin her human existence by my presence any more than I wanted to take her mortality away from her.

At first I had kept away, I ran away from my family. Nothing mattered anymore. I followed Victoria for weeks, tracking her movements across several states. It was ironic really, hunting her down in the same way her lover had tracked mine. I had intended that the distance and the chase would act as a barrier to my feelings but it was completely unsuccessful. The whole time my mind constantly wandered, memories of my Bella were unearthed and repeated again and again in my head. It hurt; such a human emotion. I blocked out my life for a while, I didn't speak to my family for weeks but it didn't stop Alice calling me daily, she didn't get the message that no response meant that I didn't want to talk. She could see where I was if she wanted to. I eventually lost track of Victoria near Southern California and I contemplated what I should do. My family were staying with the Denali's and the wolves were in Forks. I wanted to return, to ensure that she was happy and safe but going back was a dangerous move, I didn't know if I could leave were I to see her again. I heard rumours that Victoria had headed to Brazil and like a fool I followed. The trail ran to an end. Remembering it now, my actions over the next few months were a blur. I spent weeks hiding in a basement of a large family homestead listening to the arguments and celebrations of daily life above. The hours ran into each other and I couldn't detect whether it was day or night. I didn't care - my life was meaningless. I wanted the earth to swallow my pitiful being, I had failed in the small task I'd set myself and the one thing that made me want to be 'alive' on this earth was the only thing that I could not have.

I spoke to Alice for the first time in months from the roof of a small church in Columbia. She begged me to return to Alaska to be with my family but I said that I couldn't. The conversation was short and Alice wasn't her normal irritatingly-chirpy self. I wanted to ask about Bella, to ask if she could see how she was but I couldn't find the words and Alice didn't offer the information. We had an arrangement, Bella was to be given her human existence back and we were to leave her alone. Alice had eventually agreed, she wouldn't inform me of how she was and she said she'd stop looking. Things had begun to change anyway; I was moving north, back to the states that were more familiar to me. My short-term plan was to head to Alaska, to regroup with my family and trace where Victoria was hiding out. From there I imagined that I would be able to cope, over time my thoughts of her would fade and we'd keep on living the way we had, matriculating and moving in a never ending cycle. I had made it to Oregon, debating whether or not I should visit Forks, when I got a call from Alice. It was the third call that day and despite her normal persistence, it was unusual for her to try more than twice.

"You're heading home" Alice said, an unusual, clipped tone to her voice.

"You know that. Is that why you called? What's happened?" I asked, concerned.

"I can't hide it from you Edward, I know we had a deal but I'm sorry, I care about her too-"

"What's happened to her, Alice?" I jumped, interrupting her. I slowed down the rental car that I was driving to nearly the normal human regulations – I didn't know what I was about to hear and I didn't care about the arrangement that we'd made, just Bella.

"She's hurt, I think, I don't know Edward, it keeps going black and most of what I can see is blurry – it doesn't make any sense." My sister's visions were rarely less than clear, perhaps a little complicated at times, but never 'blurry'. I panicked. For the first time in what felt like forever, feelings that I had pathetically blocked about her came flooding straight back. It felt natural to feel for her, to care about her every move and I knew that I couldn't hold it back any longer.

"What is 'hurt'? How hurt?" I adjusted the car I had rented in California so that the direction was well and truly towards forks. She was like the magnetic north of my internal compass, I had decided - I was going back to her and nothing could stop me.

"I don't know, I couldn't see that part. I don't know how I missed it, I saw her in the hospital with Charlie, and she wasn't awake. She…it didn't look good, Edward." I swore audibly and increased the speed. "It doesn't make sense, I can't even see how she got there. You're going back" she said, unquestionably, "is that wise Edward?"

"I have to go, I can't fight it. I can't do this to myself anymore, hiding it. I have to see her." I admitted.

"I'll be there as soon as I can, make sure she's okay Edward."

The call ended and I sped towards the rainy town of Forks. I should never have left, she was always going to have got into trouble – it was in her nature. Before this moment, racing towards my love, I had not fully realised just how much of an incomplete life I had lived for so long. I was so ignorant before I met her, she had changed everything. She was my purpose for being and I had to protect her, even if I couldn't stay near her, even if it wasn't safe or if she was to reject me now, I committed myself to defending her forever, I would live in the shadows to do it if I had to. At the forefront of my mind was her safety. Everything else could be dealt with later, we had time for that, but she really needed to be okay. It became my mantra, I made deals aloud with God's I didn't even know if I believed in, but it had to work; she needed to be okay, she had to be okay. All of the issues, problems and the reason that I left were forgotten, abandoned when I heard Alice speak her name. Later I would figure it all out. First, I was going to save my Bella.

So what do you think? Edward always said in NM that he would have come back eventually anyway, right? Just, is he going to stay? Please review if you can - its food for my thoughts and for my writing so more reviews = fast chapter updates. You're looking at one, possibly two, more - depends how extensive the next part is going to turn out :D Thanks! Calico xo