"Let's not forget that the little emotions are the great captains of our lives and we obey them without realizing it."

~Vincent Van Gogh

CHAPTER 17: Conceding

BELLA CULLEN

"I have to say, I'm quite enthusiastic to hear this batch's performance. How about you guys?"

No one responded with anything but murmurs. Only Mr. Goodshow knew who would be performing today. He handed out our schedules in secret, and even so, the order of performances was a mystery to us.

"Of course you are." He murmured, offering the class a kind smile.

almost didn't pass off as a teacher in Forks High. For one, he was very, very lenient. There was no such thing as formality or rules in his classroom. As long as we made a good performance, he would give us some slack. Alice was jubilant. What she wasn't so ecstatic about though, was his fashion sense.

Mr. Goodshow wasn't old— he was maybe in his late 20's or early 30's. Alice swore he could have been good looking, not that it would matter to her, if only he dressed to impress. His hair was raven black, and was almost always messy, with streaks of purple in it. This caused him disapproving looks from the rest of the faculty and I couldn't blame them. I mean, what kind of teacher dyed their hair with such an eye-catching color?

He always wore plaid to school in a variety of colors, whether in pants, shirts, vests, caps, or choice in footwear. Not that there was anything wrong about plaid, but didn't he have any other article of clothing back at home? And he always wore this strange ring on his right middle finger. The huge black stone would shimmer as it caught light from the bulb. It caused me goosebumps sometimes but still, he was the nicest, least boring teacher we ever had.

"I really wish you would let me hear the song."

I was playing with Edward's fingers, a small, content smile playing on my lips while we sat on the floor. There were no tables and chairs in this class, instead, a huge mat covered the floor and instruments were scattered in every corner of the room.

"That wouldn't be fair," I murmured, "Where's the surprise in that?"

"I suppose your right," He sighed into my neck and I had to fight the shiver that went through my spine. His grip around my waist tightened as he pulled me closer to him. I relaxed my back against his chest.

"I know."

His chuckle reverberated through his chest and I felt each vibration on my back. I almost groaned at the sensation that caused.

It was getting harder to keep myself in check lately.

On the one hand, his scent still appealed to me and I needed to hunt even more than usual just to be sure that I could be in control. Every wrong blow of the wind made his scent drift to me and the venom would pool in my mouth as I tried not to imagine what his magnificent, tantalizing blood would taste like.

On the other hand, new, foreign hungers came to me, strengthening as each day with Edward passed by. Simple contact just didn't seem enough anymore. I still loved being in Edward's arms, adored walking beside him with his hand in mine, and flushed as he gave me light, tender kisses on my cheek, on my neck, every part of my face. But I wanted to feel his soft, perfect lips on the one place he didn't dare touch with it— my own. Just thinking about it made me tingle all over.

Not that Edward hadn't tried to kiss me.

He did once, actually, after we had gone to Port Angeles and we were saying goodbye— waiting for Alice and Rosalie (I was shocked that she agreed) to pick me up. We were leaning into each other, and the wind blew towards me. I quickly twisted my head away as the venom flowed, and I felt Edward smile against my cheek. He saw that my eyes had darkened as he looked back at me and simply smiled, I knew that he somehow understood perfectly what that meant.

But that wasn't the issue here. As much pissed I was at myself that I didn't allow him to give me a proper kiss yet, I was slightly thankful at the same time. I didn't know if I had that much control just yet. Being this close to him already took a lot of effort and I didn't even want to imagine what horrid, unspeakable things I could do to him if he was anywhere that close to my mouth. My lips. My teeth… My venom-coated teeth.

How much longer did I need to deny myself though?

And just now, with his warm breath fanning against the cold skin of my neck, he was driving me crazy! And he doesn't even know it.

I sighed.

"What is it?" he asked in concern.

I looked back up at him and gave him a small smile. "Nothing, really," Nothing that he needed to know.

He frowned but let it go. I swear, sometimes, he could read me too well.

"So, who's going to go first?"

I turned back to Mr. Goodshow, wondering who will be the first to perform. He pulled out a box and started to shake it. Oh, he was going to pull out names randomly. This would be interesting… even Alice wouldn't know who would go until he called their name. I glanced at Alice and saw that she must be having the same thoughts because she was frowning.

"Ah, Lauren Mallory."

I felt Edward stiffen the same time as I did. We both didn't like that she was in this elective. I swear, she could have been Edward's stalker— following his every move, pestering him all the time. I really should do something about that. But what?

Lauren stood up and signaled that she was ready. The music blasted from the speakers and she started to move with the beat. No, the most appropriate thing to say was that she tried to move with the beat. And I would have laughed out loud as I recognized what she started to sing, if I didn't recoil from how her voice sounded. If I thought her speaking voice was bad… well, let's just say I've developed a sudden appreciation on how her speaking voice sounded. I felt Edward cringe behind me and a small smile made its way to my lips. At least I wasn't the only one that was bothered.

As Lauren continued to sing, I surveyed the room. The expressions each face held was amusing. I would have loved to photograph their shocked or blank faces. Alice's face was the best though, no competition. She had her nose scrunched up in distaste.

"I'm the best damn thing that your eyes have ever seen."

Lauren winked, trying to be sexy I suppose, and Alice's mouth dropped. It took everything I had not to burst out laughing. I nudged Alice, and she finally snapped out of it. I've never seen anything shock a vampire like that before.

"Well, Lauren," Mr. Goodshow took longer than Alice to compose himself, "that was certainly… something."

Lauren beamed, looking all smug and proud, "I know, right?"

I coughed, trying to hide my laughter, as did several people in the room.

"Right, well," shoved his hand into the box, pulling another piece of paper.

By the end of the period, 7 people had performed and the rest of the class left the room chattering happily to themselves. Edward tugged on my hand and I stopped to face him.

"I'll meet you at the parking lot. I need to get something from my locker."

I nodded and kissed him on his cheek, earning looks from passers-by— glares from females. I sighed as I watched him walk away. Seriously, what was I going to do with all these females? It was like they were queued behind me, waiting in line.

"If looks could kill, Bella," Alice giggled beside me as I glared at all of the girls staring after Edward.

"Then Forks would experience a female shortage," I muttered.

Alice was about to reply but suddenly, she stiffened and I instantly opened her mind to me. My eyes narrowed and my fists clenched. Oh god. Not now. As soon as the vision was over, Alice pulled me, walking as fast as she could without being too fast. "Come on."

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

EDWARD MASEN

I saw Bella standing near her car, her family surrounding her. I started my way towards her when Alice caught my eye. Her eyes narrowed, as if warning me to stay put. I stopped abruptly, rooted to the spot, earning a few stares from passers-by.

What was going on?

I inclined my head to get a better view, and that was when I noticed someone else with them. I inched to the left to get a better profile.

From where I stood now, I could see that there was nothing exceptional about the person's appearance. He was blonde, so blonde that his hair almost looked like wisps of fine white thread. His skin was as pale as the rest of the Cullens and Hales and he was fairly tall. His build wasn't like Emmett's but he certainly wasn't thin to the extreme— like I said, fairly average.

But that didn't stop the red haze that covered my sight when I saw how he looked at my Bella.

I recognized that look from all the boys back in Phoenix whenever the royals sashayed past them. I recognized that look from Mike and Tyler when their respective others passed by them. It was too familiar and I despised seeing it in that blond man's eyes right now.

The pure, sheer lust was so apparent, so provocative, only a blind man couldn't possibly see it. And I hated that, hated that he looked at Bella in that kind of light. There was so much more to Bella than just her unbelievable beauty. Her radiance came from her heart, not just her body. It took all that I could not to race through the parking lot and shield Bella from his offending stare.

And then he did something that darkened my vision completely.

He touched her. No, not simply touched her. His finger traced Bella's nose and came to a rest at her lips. Bella flinched away from his hand.

The emotions that went through me were staggering. It was nothing like the righteous anger that spurned so rapidly when Conner attacked Rosalie. No, it was far from that.

My jaw clenched as loathe and resentment coursed through my entire body, making it numb to any other emotion. I stiffened, suddenly aware that my entire being was focused on this despicable man who had the nerve to look at my Bella in such a disrespectful way and then touch her in any way. My blood was boiling, prickling under my skin, threatening to erupt. I could almost taste the anger in my mouth. I was so sure that my eyes were visibly red with fury or black with hate, almost poisoning with their intense glare. In the back of my mind, I slightly wondered what these mixed emotions really were. They were so heavy, making my chest contract with nothing but raw negativity, raw emotion, and I wanted nothing more than to put an end to the pathetic excuse of a man that was standing, staring hungrily at my beautiful angel.

My fingers ran angrily through my hair and I sighed in frustration. I wanted to do something, anything to get Bella away from that hateful blond. Why did Alice want me to stay put? Hell, why did I even oblige to stay put in the first place?

I started to make my way towards Bella, ignoring Alice's frantic glares, just to see the blond get in a black Mercedes and drive away.

"What happened?" I was shaking, quivering with anger, my arms crossed and my fists clenched at either side of me, earning shocked and surprised looks from the Cullens but I didn't care. All I wanted was to know that Bella was safe and untouched.

"I told you to stay," Alice frowned. I ignored her, my eyes completely focused on Bella.

"Who was that?" I demanded, "What did he want from you?"

"Who was who?"

My eyes narrowed, "The blond guy who just drove away in the black Mercedes," I all but growled in frustration.

"Oh, that," Bella's face betrayed how confused she was at my behavior, but she answered nevertheless, "He's an old family friend. It was nothing." She shrugged.

"It didn't seem like nothing," I didn't want it to seem like I was being overprotective, but I was still infuriated with that despicable man and I knew I wasn't going to calm down any time soon.

"Edward, what's gotten into you?"

My fingers ran through my hair again. I've never been more furious in my life— I felt like I was about to explode.

"Believe me, if I knew I would gladly tell you," this time I definitely growled, the tension in my tone was undeniable.

I heard Jasper cough beside me, hiding his laughter, saw Alice press her lips into a thin line, fighting the urge to smile. I saw Emmett raise his eyebrows and I even thought that I saw Rosalie's lips twitch into a quick smile. All the while, Bella grew even more confused than ever.

"Look, if this is about Damien—"

"Damien?" Venom coated my tone as I snarled out the scum's name. Despicable.

"The blond guy? He has a name, you know."

"That thing doesn't deserve to have one," I glowered.

Emmett's booming laugh didn't distract me as it usually would have. Jasper's chuckle didn't surprise me as it once would have. My anger was such that I didn't feel anything else but this loathing for… for… Damien.

"Seriously, what is your problem?" Bella's tone turned into one of annoyance and that caused my irritation to impossibly grow even further.

"Why don't you ask Damien?"

"What? Why are you dragging him into this?"

"Did you even care about how that obnoxious guy looked at you?" I was almost yelling, bringing outside attention to our little group, but control was but a thing of the past now.

Bella's eyes flashed with contempt, "Oh? And how did he look at me?"

"Are you seriously asking me that?" I laughed in disbelief. "Don't tell me you didn't notice at all?"

I was aware that we were fighting— our first genuine fight— and in front of her family too. But they, right now, looked wickedly amused, so I wasn't bothered too much. I was also aware that our little argument could be heard by everyone who passed by and I didn't have enough sensibility in me to even care.

"What exactly are you implying?"

"I just don't want Damien," I growled his name, "getting within a mile radius of you."

"Well that's quite impossible because he's staying at our house."

If I had the ability to go aflame, the whole town would be smothered in the inferno.

I heard something snap and no, it wasn't my sanity. Bella's eyes widened, both with amusement and concern as she eyed the broken aviators in my hand. I didn't really care, I had hundreds of those back in Phoenix, all in perfect condition.

"You should have spared the aviators, Edward," it was Alice that was the first to speak, flinching as she mourned for the demise of the aviators.

"Edward, ca-" Bella's hand reached for my arm, but I twisted away from it and made to walk away, cutting off what she was about to say.

"I'm going home."

I felt their stares follow me as I walked away from them, my steps never faltering in speed. I knew it was irrational for me to get mad at Bella— it wasn't her fault that she was so damn appealing. But couldn't she really see how much desirable she was to the male population? Didn't she care at all how they looked at her? And what those stares do to my already chaotic, out of control emotions? But I couldn't really blame her, and I didn't, really. I had no right to. More so, I had no reason to. Because I knew that who I was really mad at, who I was blaming was myself— for losing control as I did, for biting Bella's head off and for possibly… hurting her feelings. I flinched at that thought.

"Edward, wait."

Reflex reaction. My pace slowed down, unintentionally. She was beside me in a span of a heartbeat, Rosalie in tow, and Alice and Jasper behind them.

"Edward," her voice was desperate. What caused Bella pain, hurt me. And it hurt even more, knowing that I caused that.

I turned around, my eyes downcast, and sighed. "I'm sorry. That was very rude of me."

"You must have had your reasons. Did I do something wrong?"

The irritation made its way back. "You're absurd." Of course she would blame herself. "You didn't do anything wrong Bella. It was all me, really. I'm sorry."

I could see that Bella was at a loss for words, eyeing me with concern. She never saw me like this before and truth be told, I don't think I've ever acted like this before, at all.

"I don't… I just don't understand."

"Join the party," I muttered under my breath.

I noticed Bella's eyes flicker to Alice, then to Rosalie and finally to Jasper and recognition flashed through her face. The concern in her expression slowly slipped away as amusement replaced it. This sparked my irritation more. How could she be even slightly amused at a time like this?

"Edward," she started off hesitantly, "Are you jealous?"

"What?" I was protective, naturally. But jealous?

I've read how jealousy affected a person in numerous different books, seen it portrayed by different actors on-screen, but never have I felt it for myself before. If this was jealousy, then I seriously undermined the strength and brutality of it— the abruptness of it, the force, the unexpected timing of its arrival. How could one emotion be so powerful that it almost puts an end to all reason?

"You're jealous? Is that it?"

"That's not what I'm trying to get across."

"Then what exactly do you want to get across?" she sighed, but she was smiling now.

"I just don't like seeing anyone look at you like the way he does. It's impertinent and uncouth."

"So you are jealous."

I sighed, partly irritated and slightly uncomfortable, "Why do you keep pushing that?"

"Just tell me, are you jealous?"

"I'm not!" I threw my hands up in frustration, contemplating that, "I don't know. Maybe."

Then Bella surprised me as she simply smiled, her eyes turning gentle, cooling the heat in my head, "Edward, you know I only have eyes for you."

"That's not…" I sighed, greatly uncomfortable at the direction our conversation was heading. The boiling in my blood turned into a mere simmering, "You didn't have to tell me that."

Bella laughed, her musical tone effectively calming me, "I know… but I felt you needed some reminding."

She took my hand in hers, her cold touch calming me as efficiently as her musical laughter. My eyes snapped to look at hers and I slowly melted under her smoldering gaze. Moments passed by and Bella's fingers continued to stroke the back of my hand gently, soothingly. I was vaguely aware on how her siblings made their way back to her car, trying to subtly give us some privacy. My shoulders dropped, the tension gone.

I sighed and bent my head down in shame. "You're right. I am jealous… but I shouldn't have acted like that. That was uncalled for."

Bella laughed, "It was entertaining. I didn't know how amusing it would be to see you so jealous. I… sort of liked it."

"Well, I'm glad my discomfort brings one of us enjoyment," I muttered, feeling my face heat up once again, this time with embarrassment, not with anger.

She tugged me to her and giggled, sending a tingling sensation down my body. I was utterly distracted. "Do you want me to apologize?"

"You don't have to."

"Hmm."

Bella tangled her fingers through my hair and bent my head towards her. My heart stuttered as her eyes smoldered into mine, alight with golden fire. Her lips, barely touching my heated skin, glided from my jaw to my cheek then back again. I drew a ragged breath, completely forgetting what had just happened. I wanted to touch her, to bring her closer to me but she held my hands in hers in an iron grasp— this was torture. Then she completely surprised me by nibbling on the spot just below by ear, and I was so sure my body was burning, throbbing… well, a certain part was. I had to stop myself from groaning out loud and at the same time, I had to stop Bella from getting too near my lower body, even if what I wanted was the complete opposite. Then she whispered, her sweet, cold breath fanning my ears, causing me to shiver.

"Are you sure?"

I gulped, unable to make any other sound than a soft moan as she continued her pattern— neck, jaw, cheek, then back.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" I felt her smile against my skin.

Unconsciously, my hands twisted in her grasp, wanting to be freed. I needed to hold her if I didn't want to spontaneously combust. Finally, Bella let go of my hands. She bit softly on the skin on my neck and I felt myself snap.

I pushed her against her car, growling. My mind dimly registered how her eyes widened at the sound. I didn't care about my little predicament anymore. Two can play this game.

I mimicked her earlier actions, letting my lips brush against her skin. I wanted to bite her neck, leave marks there to make it known that she was mine, but I knew how hard her skin was. Biting wouldn't do anything, so I did something I never thought I would in public, much more in a school parking lot— I licked Bella's neck, sucking as I went down on her shoulder.

Her hands tangled again on my hair as she pulled me closer, my hands on her hips pulling them against my own. She gasped, probably feeling me, and tugged on my hair harder. Damn, if only she knew what she was doing to me. I growled against her skin as I nibbled on it, causing her to moan in return.

I smiled smugly. Revenge was sweet.

My lips traced her jaw, stopping only at the side of her lips. If I jerked my head to the side, my lips would finally be touching hers. She was the one who was breathing heavily now.

"You have nothing to apologize for," I whispered.

She shivered.

Then abruptly, I drew back and chuckled, slightly breathless, but still smug. I put a respectable distance between us but kept our fingers entwined. Bella's eyes were still glazed as she looked at me and I couldn't help but grin broadly.

Then she blinked and her brow furrowed, "That wasn't fair."

"You started it," I shrugged.

"Still isn't fair," she muttered.

She tried her best to glare at me, but her lips kept twitching so I knew that she wasn't really angry. Her lips. I started to think, as I've done days ago, how it would feel as they moved against mine.

My eyes darted to Bella's and I was surprised at how close we suddenly were again. Something was pulling me forward. My body detached itself from my brain and I found that my hands were moving against Bella's hips. I started to pull her closer as her fingers made their way to my hair again. She pulled me down to her, making our noses touch. Her scent was growing stronger and stronger and my head started to spin out of control. In the length of a heartbeat, everything around us seemed to come to a halt.

And, at last, her lips met mine.

A/N: I know, I know. I've been gone for a looooong time and I will eternally thank you guys for your patience and all that. So, I gave you a long chapter to make up for not updating for quite a while. At present, this is the longest chapter in this story.:D

So, what did you think? I need your reviews people. Yes, need and not want. So welcome me back by showering me with your reviews.^_^