A/N - Okay guys I know it took awhile to put up this chapter and I'm really sorry I know I promised earlier but I have been really busy.

To make it up to you I will post at least 2 chapters next week – just so you will forgive me. And at least one of those is from EPOV for those who enjoy them, more Edwella time and more drama.

:) Sorry hope you will forgive me. :) Update will be soon!!!

This isn't a very exciting chapter. - Its more of a foundation chap and the editing might not be too great, as some of you know my wonderful beta (angelnlove52 - check out her story Stand Still) is away, so I had to edit myself lol :S

Please review --- more reviews = faster update. ----thanks to everyone who already has, it means alot :)

Oh and on another note thanks for VampPixyJAK for highlighting an important point. - It is never OK to take out your frustrations whether it be verbally or physically on a child or a woman or anyone for that matter. Its not OK - its really rather unacceptable and disgusting. - And I cant tell you just yet whether or not Laurent will be taught a lesson you will have to wait and see/read ;) Hopefully everything will work out :)

9. Necessary Distractions

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I thanked my lucky stars that Charlie had gotten up early to go fishing with Billy. I was thankful because my eyes were red and puffy, the result of a previous day and long night filled with tears and drama. Luckily my face showed no bruising or marking from where James had struck me so I wouldn't have to lie about what had happened. Nonetheless I looked worse for wear – like utter crap really. I groaned internally and thought about returning to bed to hide from the world under my covers; unfortunately if Charlie came home to find me moping around I would never hear the end of it. Of how he was being a 'bad father' and he should be 'spending more time' with me. Fishing was something that he and Billy had been doing almost every Saturday of late, which has meant that I am starting to run out of new ways to cook fish and spent most of my weekends alone which Charlie was feeling guilty for and which wasn't so bad at first but now I was finding it hard to occupy myself.

If Charlie was here to see my puffy blotchy face, I know what he would have assumed, that Jake and I had yet another argument. The truth is, I haven't spoken to Jake in weeks and I was under no doubt that I would hear all about that when Charlie got home from his trip. 'You too need to sort out your differences." – "you are making the poor boy suffer,' he would say. 'You used to be joined at the hip.' Then he would fold his arms across his chest and huff, telling me that I should forgive him and that 'being petty is unattractive Bella.'

Thinking about Jake made me feel even more alone than I already was. On the weekends James would usually go and visit his mum upstate, which meant that I would go down to La Push to hang with Jake and sometimes that rest of the Quileute gang, just as I had been doing for years. Jake is –was my best friend and had been ever since I can remember, just as Charlie and his dad Billy had been. Yes Jess was my closest girl-friend, but Jake had been the one I would turn to, the one I told everything and whose shoulder I leaned on when times got tough. He was my big brother for all intensive purposes, even though he was younger than me by almost 2 years.

Usually Jake would spend the weekend working on the Rabbit – an old car he was restoring. But lately we had been working on a couple of older motorcycles we had saved from the tip. After a lot of hard work, blood and sweat we had got them working again – well Jake had, I had mostly watched and even more recently Jake had been teaching me to ride them, it was something we kept hidden from both our Dads. But it had been a while since I had been down on the Res, it made me sad. If Jake and I were still on good terms I would have someone to talk about Jess with, someone who would let me cry and would understand – god how I missed him and the other Quileute boys. I missed sitting in his lean-to shed and drinking warm fizzy from cans he seemed to have an endless supply of in a plastic bag he kept stashed somewhere. I missed his warm smile and his throaty chuckle – he was my Jake and my sun that managed to brighten any cloudy day. I missed going down to the beach listening to Quileute legends while the boys stuffed their faces with marshmallows and sausages, teasing one another about girls until someone pushed Paul too far and we would have to call it a night.

The great thing about Jake was that James seemed to share no animosity towards our friendship. He seemed to understand that it was a sisterly/brotherly love we shared and nothing more. After all we had grown up together; our Dads were best friends and when my mother left, Billy spent a lot of time at ours, drinking himself into a stupor or 'consoling' Charlie as he called it. Usually that meant Billy would crash on the couch and Jake and I would top and tail in my small single bed. Jake was able to relate to the pain I felt as he had lost his mother too. Even though she had died unlike Renee, who left of her own accord and he was much younger so he didn't remember his mum so much, it was something that connected us and meant we understood one another better than anyone else did, even our own flesh and blood.

But it had been weeks since we had spoken and even longer since we had seen one another. What I couldn't tell Charlie was that Jake and I had had a falling out over James. I don't know if it was because Jake was jealous of the fact that I was spending less time with him and more with James or because he genuinely didn't like him, Jake couldn't give me a straight answer as to why he believed I shouldn't date him anymore. It was above frustrating that my best friend couldn't approve of my boyfriend. It was even more annoying that James believed that there was a different reason behind Jakes disapproving and it was one that I thought was stupid. James seems to think that Jake was purely jealous not of the time I was spending with James, but of our relationship. James believed that seeing me date him had made Jake realise that he had feelings for me.

It was stupid, Jake and I did not share those feelings and although I hadn't told James how, I knew that for a fact. At Jess's 15th birthday party Jake and I shared a kiss, it was a dare that neither one of us wanted to do it but it happened. Jess was the one who issued the dare and did so because at the time she believed that there had to be more to our closeness then just mutual friendship. Neither of us was one to turn down a dare, so it happened and it was beyond horrible. Afterwards once we had finished rolling around on the ground squealing in horror, wiping our mouths on our sleeves and spitting in disgust, Jake told me how it was like kissing his sister or worse still, kissing Quil or Embry. I told him I had to agree, especially with the kissing Quil and Embry bit, which then had us both rolling around on the floor again this time in a fit of hysterics.

So James got it wrong it wasn't because Jake wanted to be with me, it was something else. At the beginning of our relationship Jake had been fine with me and James dating but after awhile he started acting weird, distancing himself from me whenever I was with James. Jake told me he didn't think James was good enough for me, he said that there was something about him he didn't like. I would have understood had Jake been able to give me a single reason for why he felt that way but he couldn't. It made me furious. Jake continued to pressure me to break it off with James. It started to become a weekly argument until I finally told him where to go. I had had enough. If Jake couldn't mind his own business and just spend time with me without bringing it up, I told him I wasn't going to come down to La Push anymore. I didn't mean it but his nonchalant response hurt, as if he didn't care whether we hung out anymore.

"Jake you are not my brother and you are definitely not my father so cut it out and it doesn't matter, no one gets to say who I can and can't date!" I screamed at him.

"I'm your friend Bella, I'm just telling you how I feel, and I am entitled to that much." He huffed kicking the dirt floor of the garage, looking a little hurt.

"Noted Jake, now let it go. I like him ok!?"

"Whatever Bella, I can see what I say doesn't matter to you anymore." He stormed from his garage and following his lead I left too.

That was the last time we had seen one another. I tried to call him and apoligize but after I gave my ultimatum Jake wouldn't take my calls and finally I stopped trying. He was being childish and if he wasn't going to put in the effort neither was I. It hurt though, that he didn't care enough about our friendship to put things aside and although I know the old saying "mates before dates" I failed to think of it as my fault. It wasn't as if I had abandoned our friendship, we still spent almost the same amount of time together, I just now had a boyfriend. This was bound to happen to one of us someday, Jake was just going to have to get over it. I could date who I wanted and if he wasn't able to give me a solid reason as to why he didn't like James it was going to stay that way.

I missed him though, especially now. I groaned internally as I made my way downstairs. How to fill the day? I thought. I desperately needed a distraction so I wouldn't think about yesterday's troubles and how my world seemed to be falling apart. Just a day of fun... by myself, I thought miserably. No James, no Jake, no Charlie and no Jess or Mike.

Mike had text me late last night to say he was going to spend the day with Jess, something about getting her to talk to him and her mother and trying to convince her to lay charges of which she had no intention of doing. I could understand her reasons because even though I would love to see Laurent get his just deserves, with no witnesses and not forgetting the fact that he was jumping at any chance to discredit her, I have the feeling that it would cause Jess even more trouble. She was afraid of what everyone would think, of her mother and of Laurent. She wanted to get past it but I couldn't see how she could with Laurent around. Mike was optimistic that since there wasn't much of the school year left that Jess could miss the rest and wait until Laurent moves off to college. I didn't share his optimism. People were going to start asking questions, she would get behind at school and there was no way her mother or the school were going to let her do that unless she gave them a reason, which meant telling them something.

But I promised I wouldn't think about any of that today and I pushed it from the my mind as I searched the kitchen for breakfast before settling on some frozen pop tarts I found in the freezer. As I waited for them to cook I picked up my old copy of Wuthering Heights opening it to a random page as I often did and began to read.

"...treachery and violence are spears pointed at both ends; they wound those who resort to them worse than their enemies." - Arghh bad idea, my books aren't going to be enough of a distraction today.

As if sensing my desperation the phone rang and I leap for it with optimism. "Hello, Swan residence," – don't I sound all proper, I laughed to myself.

"Hey Bell's I was ringing to see if ya had any plans today," I had to look at the phone to check the caller id before I realised the voice belonged to Rosalie.

"Hey Rose," I chirped as I stuffed half a pop tart into my mouth. "Nope, no plans, did ya have something in mind?"

"Eww Bella! Don't talk with your mouth full," she squealed in disgust. "I was just wondering if you wanted to come round for a girlie day of chocolate and movies?" I swallowed my mouthful before I answered.

"You had me at chocolate," I laughed.

"K come round soon," she laughed in return. Following her orders I wolfed down the rest of my 'nutritious' meal and headed upstairs to shower and change into something more comfortable for movie watching and chocolate eating, my mood immediately lifting.

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As I made my way up the Hale's driveway I tried to remember the last time I had been here. I could call Rose a friend and I did like her it's just that we seemed to move in different circles, she didn't come to the boys after game parties, not that I blame her. I wouldn't go to them either if I had a choice but as they were held at James's flat I sort of felt obligated. So the only time Rose and I really hung out was if Emmett and James did something together which wasn't often. The Hales had a nice home and they definitely had taste. The gardens were vast and neatly pruned, much nicer that the well worn, small mud drive and lawn at Charlie's house.

As I parked my old rusted Chevy I noticed how it looked out of place next to Rosalie's new red coupe and Jaspers flashy black sedan. I had no idea what makeor model they were but I knew they were expensive as I often saw some of the other guys ogling them in jealously. It was then that I realized that there were two other cars in the drive that didn't belong to the Hales. One I recognised as Emmett's big obnoxious jeep and the other was the silver Volvo that I had caught a ride home in on Thursday night, my stomach dropped. Rosalie had said a girlie day hadn't she? There was no way I was dressed appropriately to be around boys, especially not a certain boy with bronze coloured hair and green eyes, my subconscious taunted. I contemplated whether or not to get out of the car when I realized that there was no way they wouldn't have heard me make my way up the long gravel drive in my ridiculously loud truck.

I groaned and mentally cursed Rosalie. I tried to fix the mess that was my hair in the mirror quickly before I hoped out of the cab slamming the door hard behind me. I stomped my way up to the door and before I could knock, it opened. There Rosalie stood in all her beauty and definitely not dressed in a way that suggested she planned to spend that day on the couch stuffing her face. I mentally cursed her again.

"Alice said she saw you arrive...she thinks she's psychic," Rose giggled mockingly. I relaxed quickly as I realised that Alice was here and that was why the Volvo was parked in the drive.

"I never said psychic," called a high pitched voice from the vicinity of the Hales lounge. Rosalie rolled her eyes before ushering me in and closing the door behind me.

"I thought since Alice was new to town I would invite her round, didn't realise she was such a little weirdo," Rosalie teased in a voice loud enough for Alice to hear.

"I did see her coming," squealed Alice who skipped into the room causing us to double over in laughter at the sight of her. Alice who was tiny was glowering at both of us daring us to contradict her, it was more funny than menacing at all – it was hard to take her tiny pixie like frame as a serious threat.

"More like you heard her loud old truck on the gravel drive like the rest of us," laughed a voice from behind. Immediately I felt my stomach muscles contract as I turned to see Edward leaning against the hallway wall. He looked gorgeous as always, dressed in dark wash jeans and a black shirt, he wore his crooked grin and I felt my face warm under his gaze. In his hand he was holding a duffle bag from which I could see contained baseball gear. Alice groaned storming from the room but not before throwing what I guessed was meant to be a menacing glare in Edwards's direction. Rose and Edward erupted in a fit of laughter while I remained silent wishing I was wearing anything but my ugly loose fitting jeans and blue tank top. Edward noticed my silence.

"Hey," he nodded in my direction.

"Hi," I mumbled looking at my feet. I could feel the heat in my face and it was embarrassing, I hated how he had that effect on me. Stupid Rosalie, I thought. "So what are you guys doing here?" I asked as I motioned to Jasper and Emmett who were coming down the stairs. "I thought we were having a girlie day," I accused glaring at Rosalie.

"We are," she quickly shot back. "Edward just dropped off Alice and he and the boys are heading out to get in some ball practice." Edward nodded towards the bag in his hands confirming Rose's explanation.

"That we are," he smiled staring at me again. He must be wondering why I'm dressed like a bum.

"You girls are welcome to join us if you want," Emmett offered. "It could be some fun." He chuckled – probably imagining Rosalie trying to play ball without getting dirty or ruining her hairdo and the thought of clumsy me trying to play any sport at all.

"Uh I don't think that's wise," I hedged as he doubled over in laughter confirming my suspicions. "Plus I was promised chocolate," I glanced at Rosalie for some help.

"Nope definitely a girlie day today," she hurriedly agreed obviously not keen on playing either. I shot a glance at Edward and noticed relief clear in his expression and I felt a little sick.

Didn't he want to be around me? I thought before I brushed it off, why was I being so self-absorbed? Before I could start to feel sorry for myself or guilty for caring about how Edward felt about me, Rosalie grabbed me by the arm dragging me towards the lounge.

"Bye boys," she shouted over her shoulder.

"He wait," called Emmett. "Where's my goodbye kiss?" He stomped into the lounge and was followed by Edward and Jasper who were laughing. He glared at the boys which caused them to stop almost at once. "You're just jealous," he growled before turning back in Rosalie's direction making loud kissing noises with his lips.

"Oh for goodness sakes," she laughed rolling her eyes but turning red in the process as she leaned in to kiss Emmett. Not to be put out Emmett grabbed her by the waist and pulled her into his massive bear grip over exaggerating the kiss which caused the boys to groan in disgust and Rose to struggle in embarrassment. I caught Edward looking at me as they kissed and I turned to look out the window my face growing hot again, ahhh why does he do that to me?

"See ya girlies," Emmett boomed.

"Bye boys," we called in unison.

"Enjoy the movie and don't eat too much chocolate," Edward warned, winking in my direction. I closed my eyes willing myself not to blush.

"See you later Alice," Jasper mumbled shyly which caught my attention. Rosalie and I spun to look at Alice who had turned beetroot red.

"By Jasper," she whispered looking at the floor. This caused Rosalie fall to the floor in a fit of laughter and I couldn't help myself but follow her lead. Jasper almost ran from the room, clearly horrified.

"Ohhh Alice," Rosalie moaned in between giggles. "Alice, Alice, I love you Alice," she teased as she imitated her brother.

"Shut it," Alice cried, mortified. "Stop!" she squealed as she pounced on Rosalie who was now pretending to make out with herself. They rolled on the floor in a mock scuffle before Alice couldn't help but join in on the laughter.

"Okay, okay," Rosalie panted, getting to her feet. "Popcorn, chocolate and movie?" she asked.

"Yes please," Alice and I answered.

Rose put on the BBC version of Pride and Prejudice much to my enjoyment, it was one of my favourite movies. She dragged in blankets and pillows along with the promised chocolate and popcorn and complimentary juice and cider as we settled in to watch the five hour long series. This was turning out to be just the distraction I needed.

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EPOV

I just couldn't seem to get her out of my head. Everything about her made me want her more. The way she blushed when she caught me staring at her and how she glared at Rosalie when she thought that we boys were going to crash the girls' day in. She was so unbelievably gorgeous when she was mad. I groaned internally when I thought of the way her warm body smelled when she was in my arms yesterday and how she fit so perfectly in them.

The thought of everything that had happened between us in just the short two days I had known her had kept me up most of last night. I had never felt this way about a girl. No girl had ever been in every single one of my subconscious and conscious thoughts as Isabella Swan seemed to be. I was starting to wonder if I was going a bit insane.

To make matters worse I thought I had given myself away earlier when I had asked Alice if Bella was going to be joining her and Rose today. Alice had given me a weird look before she confirmed that Rose had invited Bella, I was ecstatic. The mere thought of getting to see her today bought a smile to my face. Alice looked somewhat confused at my reaction which I hurriedly tried to cover up, before she ran off to her room to get ready.

I was so wrapped up in my thoughts of Bella that I almost missed how nervous Alice seemed to be about going over to the Hales. Part of it I put down to being excited about making friends but when I asked what had gotten into her she blushed before almost yelling at me to mind my own business, that made me think that perhaps her attitude had something to do with Jasper Hale. I was happy for her, like me no one had caught her eye until now, but I was a little envious because at least she had a chance. Not only was the girl of my dreams taken but I if she weren't I would have a lot of competition, Bella was smart, beautiful and kind and I was already aware that many thought the same - and I had only been in Forks for just over three days.

Suddenly I was brought back into the realty as Emmett's Jeep jolted over the rough uneven terrain, he hooted in satisfaction.

"So Edward...any girls at school caught your attention yet?" Jasper egged turning around in the passenger seat to face me. I had to look out the window so that when I answered it would appear that I was telling the truth.

"Uh, no not yet," I answered. Jasper smirked at my reaction clearly seeing through the lie.

"Oh come on man spill, who is she?" he pressured.

"I bet its Tanya," Emmett grinned in the rear view mirror. I knew who Tanya was, I had bumped into her yesterday after I left Bella in the cafeteria - I shook my head at the thought of what had happened to Bella when I left and I cursed myself internally for not being there. Tanya was a typical high-school cheerleader; I admit she was rather good looking with strawberry blonde hair and blue eyes but her shameless flirting was a bit of a turn off.

"Yea I met her," I admitted. "Nice legs," keeping on this path was better than them finding out the truth.

"Course she does," Emmett commented. "She's Rose's cousin." Emmett was obviously quite proud of that fact that he had a remarkably attractive girlfriend. But to be honest I preferred brunettes and a certain one in particular, one with chocolate brown eyes and rose coloured cheeks - Stop! I mentally cursed.

"That makes her my cousin too," Jazz chided. "So she gets her legs from me." He laughed rolling up his track pants to flaunt his legs in Emmett's face. Em growled pushing Jasper's leg away but then chuckled at the joke.

"Anyway so how about it?" Emmett continued. I shook my head.

"I don't know," I shrugged. "I guess Tanya's good looking but she's not my type," I answered truthfully.

"What is your type then?" Jazz riled, raising an eyebrow. "Taken?" I mentally blanched at his comment – how could he possibly know? Was I that transparent?

"- what?" I stuttered. Jazz turned to face me again.

"Oh come on man, I could totally feel a vibe back there, you have a thing for Bella don't you?" I couldn't believe what I was hearing, Jazz was so direct I couldn't think fast enough to cover up shock and guilt that was bound to be written all over my face.

"Uh no... I mean she's good looking," I shrugged.

Good looking was an understatement she was breathtaking, not to mention selfless, smart and amazing – I am turning into such a sap.

"But as you said she's taken," I added but Jazz wasn't buying it.

"Bro you couldn't stop looking at her," he accused.

"Jazz come on. How could you possibly have noticed Edward watching Bella when you were so busy trying to hunt out his little sister," Emmett countered. Jasper turned red and looked out the window, this time guilt and embarrassment was written all over his face.

So it isn't just Alice who has a crush, Jasper feels the same...This I could use as ammunition, I thought smiling to myself and glad to have the subject off Bella and me for a minute so I could regain my composure.

"Anyways," Emmett continued. "Bella is taken and James is a pretty good guy." I couldn't help but snort at Emmett's evaluation which caused him to be the one to raise his eyebrow. "I know what you think Edward but yesterday was an overreaction. James isn't usually like that." I rolled my eyes.

"He isn't the overly jealous type who doesn't care if he hurts his own girlfriend when he exacts his title to her?" I questioned.

"No, actually he usually isn't that quick to anger," he defended. "How would you feel if the situation was reversed?" he countered. Emmett was right. I had thought about this yesterday, if Bella were mine and how I wished that she were; I guess I would want to rip out the throat of any male who touched her, especially if they thought about her as much as I did.

"It doesn't matter," I shook my head. "If the situation were reversed I would never have hurt her like he did."

Jasper groaned. "Give it a rest! It was an accident. We get it, you like her but nothing can happen because she is with James and if you want to keep your head you will leave her alone," he growled.

"I don't like her," I lied – well not entirely, 'Like' couldn't begin to describe how I already felt about Bella.

"Good," Emmett stated. "End of story. Now let's forget about girls...single or not," he looked pointedly at Jazz who caught my eye, turned red again and then looked back out the window. "This is starting to turn into a girlie gossip session. Let's go flex some male ego and play ball." He pulled the car into a spot, putting it in park and jumped from the cab.

Good, I thought. I need a distraction from thinking about Bella Swan and her ass of a boyfriend.

I was rather enthused about playing today and when Emmett had suggested earlier that the girls come too and they had declined, I was relieved. I could hardly keep my hands off Bella back at the house, when she blushed or crinkled up her face in mock anger I wanted to hold her, stroke her cheek with my hand to see if it felt as warm as it looked. It was bad enough that I couldn't keep my eyes off her, every facial expression, every movement, even how she held her hands when she spoke, had me mesmerised. Her baggy pants made her look cute and rather fragile which made me want to hold her in my arms even more and the blue tank top she was wearing offset the colour of her skin perfectly, she was simply stunning - I sighed. I really need this distraction otherwise I am going to lose it, I thought. There is no way I would be able to control myself if she were here.

"Let's play some ball," I said overly enthused at the thought of having my mind back, even if only for a moment.

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A/N – K let me know what you think (review) and I promise a speedier update. :)