Growing Up

Of course like everyone else I don't own any characters you may recognize from Stephanie Meyers' Twilight Series.

EPOV

My family was helping to keep an eye on Bella over the past few weeks. I still hadn't been able to go myself yet. I allowed my family to do my job for me, I was miserable; they were all pitching in and taking shifts so she was never alone. Beating myself up daily with thoughts of how juvenile I was acting, nearly compelled me to go myself. Then the fear of seeing Bella in his arms again would torment and paralyze me. Everyone kept me aware of Bella's safety and only gave the information necessary to ease my mind.

So far she was safe, nothing threatening or menacing was happening. From what I saw in their thoughts, she was happy. Her classes brought her a great deal of joy, the friends she'd made were better than any she had ever had in Forks. All of this information encouraged me to realize that I'd made the right decision. If only I could get over the possessive feeling that overwhelmed me whenever I thought about the kiss I witnessed.

Alice came to my room and sat beside me on the couch. 'Edward, are you ever going to check on Bella yourself. If you can't I understand, but then we need to let destiny take its course because we can't watch her for the rest of her life,' she sighed.

"Are you tired of watching out for your best friend already Alice." I spat the words at her, I wanted her to hurt as badly as I did.

"That's not fair. You know I love Bella, but Edward we're watching over her safety for you. Everything we're doing is to keep her safe for you. If you aren't going to convince her that you belong together, then I have to ask why are we doing this?" Her response tore my heart open. What was I doing, did I want her to be mine, of course I did, but she moved on. There was no room for me any longer.

Staring at the ceiling I replied, "You are right Alice. I need to help Bella the only way I can and that's protecting her. Let me change and I'll go to her." I stood up preparing to leave.

"Will you approach her Edward," she said with concern.

"No, I'll just watch and protect her." My face was a mask hiding the pain this caused me. But I knew I had to do this, it wasn't fair to burden my family with my responsibility. Maybe seeing her again happy and content would help me to move on.

Alice left my room and I quickly dressed. Finding Jasper downstairs I asked, "She should be at her work correct?"

He nodded, "Emmett is there. Are you sure you want to go? Your emotions are raging Edward."

Sitting down beside him I said, "Yes it's time. I wanted this for her Jasper, but selfishly I wanted her to want me more. Now I see I was right all along, Bella wasn't prepared to give it all up for me. It would have been disastrous had I changed her."

"You don't know that. Listen to me, Edward; sometimes you actually act like a 17 year old. That girl loved you with all her heart; I'm the one person in this house that can tell you that…because I felt her emotions for you. You're the one who threw it all away; you threw her love back at her like it was worthless and walked away for a year. Did you really expect her to wait for you to come strolling back in her life? She doesn't even know where you are right now, so grow up." He scowled at me, "Phew that felt good…it was a long time coming and now that I've said it to you I feel better. Sorry, but you needed to hear that." He looked over at me again.

Standing, clenching my fists I looked at him and nodded my head. "I'll call later."

While I drove to downtown Burlington I thought about everything Jasper had said. He was correct, this was entirely my fault and I had to do something to change it. My head was spinning with protecting Bella, wondering what she would do if I did approach her, wondering if I should approach her… If I weren't a vampire my head would be killing me!

Pulling up to a parking spot next to Emmett's, I quickly exited to find him. He was sitting at a restaurant close to the store. "What are you doing out here?"

"I can't really go into the bookstore now, can I? I decided to sit here and watch all the customers come and go. You don't really expect her to be abducted from her work place? He said sarcastically. "Hey, what made you decide to come?" he asked without losing the sarcasm in his tone.

"It was time I took responsibility for myself." I said quietly.

He put a hand on my shoulder as he stood. "Edward this has to be tough on you. But if you ask me you should take out this guy she's with. Knock him around, grab her and let her know how you feel. She's Bella, she'll come around once you explain." He was shaking his head as he said this. Everything with Emmett was so simple, just grab her and explain.

Shaking my head as well, "It's never that easy Emmett, but thanks. You can head home; I'll be with her today. I'll call if anything happens."

"Okay, Edward if you want I'll keep that guy busy while you talk to her. I know she loves you still, you should think about it." He patted me on the shoulder as he turned to leave.

Hiding in the shadows I moved closer to the store so I could hear anything being said inside. It was another beautiful day and it wouldn't be good if I were spotted shining like a diamond. Fortunately this side of the street was in the shade so there was no problem standing here. Thinking about everything that had happened in the past few weeks, I knew that something had to change, this wasn't fair to my family or me. I needed to make up my mind about Bella.

Getting impatient and wanting to see her again, I peeked in the window; she was in front of the counter, holding a book. She looked so beautiful, even though I couldn't see her face, just knowing it was her made me smile. Then I heard someone approaching, I ducked back into the shadows, 'I can't wait till she sees the day I have planned. I know she'll like lunch, it's the ride I'm worried about.' He opened the door to the bookstore and I realized it was him, her boyfriend…I continued to listen.

"Are you ready to go gorgeous?" Bella, what's wrong?" 'What's wrong, she looks so sad and what else…scared' he thought. Having to see what he was seeing I rushed to the window in time to see her face, he was right she was scared and sad. What was wrong, no one was in the store other than the owner. Had I missed something…

Just then she kissed him and I heard her say, "I'm fine now, let me get my things." My fists balled and my stomach clenched. This was going to be a challenging day. Especially since he apparently had plans for the two of them. I was going to have to learn to deal with this jealousy and quickly…Bella's safety, that's what I needed to focus on.

"Bella, you scared me. Are you sure you're okay? Your face, I don't know how to describe it…you looked scared and sad all at the same time. Is this what scared you?" he asked her. Peeking into the window again to see what he was talking about, I saw him holding a book. It looked like I was going to have to see what the book was in order to tell if that was the cause.

She was facing the window but not looking at the window, she was too busy looking at him. She was so gorgeous, the sweater she had on did wonders for her coloring. It hugged her shape nicely and I heard his thoughts, 'she's wearing that sweater again. She looks so enticing in it, I could just grab her and start kissing and never stop' I felt a growl building inside me. Leave your hands off her you swine.

"Ian I'm fine, you startled me when you came in, that's all. John, I'm heading out." They were coming out; I had to get out of here quickly. I ducked into the alley down a couple of stores from the bookstore.

When I saw them leave, I decided to head into the store and find out what the book was perhaps it had some answers. I kept my mind open for any stray thoughts I might hear from her boyfriend. I heard other people but one that seemed rather close, 'she's mine; you'll see…you'll all see. It won't be long now, treat me like a piece of garbage, I'll show both of you'. Looking around I tried to see who was thinking this; it could have been anyone on the street. There was no way to match up the tenor of the thought. I went into the store to see about the book.

When I entered, her boss wasn't too happy to see me so soon. He did a good job of masking it though, "Hi, back so soon. You couldn't have read all the books yet," he said chuckling. His thoughts were a little stronger, 'I'm glad Bella's gone, this guy is trouble; there's something not right about him.'

I decided to dazzle him, putting on my best predator smile I said, "No, I thought I might have left my glasses here." He shrugged and said, "I haven't seen any, let me look under here" as he checked under the counter I stole a glance at the book. 'Blood Read: The Vampire as Metaphor in Contemporary Culture', that explains Bella's look. "Nope, not here. Sorry." He said shrugging his shoulders. "Thank you for checking, I've been retracing my steps for a couple of days. I'll keep looking then." I said smiling my winning smile and walked out.

Waiting for a moment on the street I scanned the minds of everyone, checking on Bella's whereabouts. I began walking in the direction they had headed when I started hearing more thoughts similar to the last disturbing ones. 'Stop it; get your hands off her, she's mine. I'm going to show you, you'll see. She belongs to me, when I show her, she'll see we belong together.' I looked around trying to determine who the individual was having these disturbing thoughts.

As disturbing as the thoughts were, I needed to find Bella. Moving at a fast pace, I quickly found them. They were standing off to the side of the street and Bella was pointing at something ahead. I was finally close enough to hear her voice, "Look, there they are". Apparently the plans for the afternoon were a picnic with another couple. Great, now I had to find a spot close enough to hear everything yet stay out of the sun. Quickly scanning the park I saw a grove of trees not far from their blanket. I moved at vampire speed and ducked into the trees.

I heard Bella as she greeted her other friends, "Hey you two. What's for lunch…I'm so hungry." Quickly followed by his thoughts, 'she's so cute when she's excited. I can't wait to show her what I bought for her lunch'. This had to stop, I needed to block his thoughts or I'd go crazy. Tucking back further into the tree line, I decided to just keep an eye out while they had their picnic. Scanning the park to see if any of the grounds looked like the property from Alice's vision, I determined this wouldn't be where it happened. It would be safe to block their thoughts without compromising her safety.

Continuing to watch them, I paid particular attention to Bella watching her features and mannerisms. She had changed over the year, but it was a good change. Her face had become thinner, but it suited her. It made her eyes seem larger somehow, the chocolate brown pools that I loved to look into just one year ago. Getting lost in her face, her smiles, her laughter, I hadn't realized they were getting up. Staying put until I could see where they headed, I opened my mind again to scan his thoughts, 'Swings, who knew she could be such a little girl'.

Looking in the direction they headed I saw another grove of trees closer to the swings, so I took off dodging any sun rays on the way. This was not as easy as it sounded, I'd have to really thank my family later. Bella could find the most peculiar places to enjoy life as a human!

He was pushing her on the swing and she really seemed to enjoy it, her beauty was staggering. I watched as her hair lifted when she swung forward, I could hear her laughter as she yelled to him to push her harder. No Bella, that's high enough. You could get hurt; in fact he should slow her down. What's wrong with him, why is he pushing her harder! Doesn't he see she could get hurt? I felt my growl growing in my chest, did this boy have no common sense.

Finally! He had stopped pushing her to heights she had no right being, but Bella had no common sense either, she kept pumping her tiny legs getting additional lift. In a moment I was going to run out at vampire speed and stop her if she didn't knock it off…the growls continued. As I stood in the trees watching, the swing started swaying out of control. What was wrong with her boyfriend? Why wasn't he doing something, couldn't he see this was getting out of control? She was going to fall…oh good grief, it happened in a split second. She was on the ground; I felt my feet moving and had to do everything to control myself from jumping out in the sunlight.

He ran to her side and I heard her laughing. She was laughing, what was wrong with her, had she hit her head…"How on earth could you fall off a child's swing? Are you hurt?" He laughed as well, I felt my anger growing, this was not funny. They were taking unnecessary risks, she could have been hurt and they were laughing. Then I heard her ask for a kiss, my anger melted as I felt my stomach clench. Looking away, I gave them their moment.

They would be leaving soon; his excitement was growing as he thought about his surprise. 'If she liked the swings, she's gonna love tonight.' What could he have planned that could compare to her joy on the swings, I didn't condone anything that would risk her life the way he had today.

This was silly, swings…children play on swings and nothing happens. My overprotective behavior was out of control, but I rationalized, couldn't he see that she was a klutz and swings to Bella were tantamount to playing out in traffic. It was just a matter of time before her unfortunate klutziness caught up with her.

Following them from a safe distance, I saw Bella's home for the first time. It was very nice I could see why she was happy here. They entered the house as I ran around the back to see the house from every vantage point. I was going to have to check all the entrances to make sure I could get in later. There was a deck with a sliding glass door that would allow me access. Good, I was set for later this evening.

Soon I heard the thoughts again, 'you think you're so cool, look at you with the other jerk laughing and acting like the world is yours. You'll see, you can't treat me like this…' WHO WAS THE OWNER OF THESE THOUGHTS!

I needed to identify this creep and take care of him; he was distracting me all day…all day? Wait how was that possible? I'd been hearing these thoughts all day, which meant this guy was on the same path as me all day. No, this wasn't right; this couldn't have anything to do with Bella, could it? I had to find the person with these thoughts.

I quickly looked around trying to find the source of the thoughts; no one was on the deck. I jumped up on it and peered into the window, there was only one boy in the room. He had red hair and was scowling at the doorway. This had to be the source, I heard his thoughts again, 'good go, enjoy your evening because it'll be your last. I'll see to that. That stupid smile will be off your face by tomorrow afternoon.' This boy was seriously ill, I had to call my family and let them know I'd found the person behind Bella's attack.

Pulling out my phone, I heard voices, "Let's go." 'God she looks great no matter what she wears' Bella's boyfriend again. 'Roxanne is going to be out of her mind when she finds out where we're going' that must be the other boy. 'I wonder where he's taking me, it can't be dancing, not when they specifically said warm clothes.' This was probably the girl with them.

Heading out to the front of the house, I caught sight of them up the street. Tucking my phone back into my pocket I caught up just as the crowds on the street started getting heavier. Keeping my breathing steady so I could keep Bella's scent close, I walked through the crowds. Then I heard what all the excitement was for, I looked into the park and realized it was hot air balloons. Scanning the thoughts again I heard him, 'she's happy, happier than I've ever seen her. I was right this is going to be great.'

Great...What? They weren't possibly thinking of taking Bella in a hot air balloon! These humans just had no idea what they were doing, Bella in a hot air balloon. I had to call Alice; pulling out my phone while following them I dialed her. "Alice, have you had any visions of Bella?" I asked anxiously.

"No, why? What's wrong has something happened?" she replied nervously.

"Try and see her future, see if something goes wrong besides the vision you've already seen." My voice raising as I followed them, they were heading towards the ticket counter. I didn't know how I would stop this from happening but I had to do something.

"Edward, I don't see the other vision at all anymore. But you should know, Bella's going to get hurt. I see her in a hospital bed; I'm not sure what's wrong with her though. You should stay as close as possible to her." She was talking very quickly now.

"Alice I won't be able to save her, you need to figure out why she's in the hospital." I spat into the phone.

"What do you mean you can't save her? What's going on Edward? Damn, I need to get closer to her so I can get stronger visions of her."

"He's taking her on a hot air balloon!" I hissed into the phone.

"What, doesn't he know who he's dating? Bella can't climb steps and he's taking her up in the air in a basket! You have to stop it Edward, she's going to get hurt and I don't know how extensive the damage is. All I see is her lying in a hospital bed." She was anxious now; I could almost see her pacing her room.

"The problem is worse Alice, if she takes off in the balloon I'm going to lose her. I'll have to get close to the ground crew and follow them. I'm going to need you to meet me, we'll take two cars just in case they veer off course." I was speaking in vampire speed now as my mind raced with all the possibilities.

"Alice, there's one other thing, I found the source of the guy who attacks her, but we won't worry about him tonight. As long as the vision is gone, she's safe for now." I have to go, they're taking off." I hung up the phone and put it in my pocket.

Scanning the crew's mind, I heard the course they were headed. I just needed to follow them to their car so I could identify it before getting mine. They headed towards the far end of the field where all the trucks with trailers had been stowed for quick exits. I saw the crew get into a Chevy truck with a trailer that had a frog painted on three sides. It matched the balloon Bella and her friends had taken off in. Good this would be easy enough to spot on the road.

Running at vampire speed to my car, I jumped in, dialed Alice and gave her the course headings to find us. I gunned the car and quickly caught up with the ground crew. It was nearly impossible to follow them they were going so slow, I wanted to ram into the back of the trailer to get them to speed up. Scanning the sky, I found the balloon and it looked like everything was going well so far. No one was falling from the basket…thank god! I was going to kill Bella when I saw her, how could she even think of doing this. Sometimes, I think she really has a death wish, going down that alley in Port Angeles, going to face James on her own…associating with a family of vampires. Honestly, the girl had no concept of reality when it came to her safety.

Looking in my rearview mirror I saw Alice's Porsche head up on the rear of my car. My cell phone started vibrating, "Yes Alice." I said as I answered.

"Edward, you're going to need to stay calm. I looked again for her future, there's going to be a lot of blood." She said nervously.

"Okay, I wasn't planning on getting close, actually I don't have a plan at all…so thanks for warning me. Let's just follow and see what happens, maybe we can stop it before it gets to that." I said hopefully before hanging up.

I noticed that the balloon was coming down in altitude it would be over soon. The ground crew's truck picked up speed and headed into an open field to wait for their arrival. Alice and I drove a little further up the road to park, we would run back to watch the descent.

The whole time we were running back to the field we watched the sky, spotting the balloon coming down. It looked like it was coming too fast to land smoothly. This wasn't going to be good. We made it to the tree line of the field, but we were pretty far away so we couldn't get close enough to assist with the landing. This was going to happen and all we could do was stand and watch. My fists were balled and I was pacing, the anxiety building inside me. How could they have considered doing this, of all the stupid things.

"Edward, calm down. We can't do anything, this is what has to happen." She said sadly.

The balloon didn't land; it crashed to the ground. We watched from the tree line, after checking to make sure no one would see us we headed closer to the site. As we approached, I heard Bella's scream, it stopped me in my tracks paralyzing me. Alice stopped by my side, we both watched as the ground crew struggled to get the party untangled. I stepped closer slowly, I had to see what had happened to Bella but the balloon covered them.

Soon the crew had removed the balloon and I was able to see better, but I still couldn't see Bella. I heard her scream again and my stomach clenched from her scream, I started moving forward again, but Alice held me back. 'No Edward, we can't go to her, we have to wait here.'

It was killing me to wait; I ran my hands through my hair when I heard her scream louder than the last two. Not caring who saw me, I needed to get to Bella's side. Taking off at vampire speed, I was approximately 10 feet away when the wind picked up and the scent of her blood hit me. My whole body instantly went into predator mode, I crouched and growled preparing to satisfy my thirst, when I felt someone collide with me and knock me off balance.

Growling I struggled to get free, "Edward, stop now. You need to get control of yourself or you'll kill her." She hissed directly in my ear. "Remember Bella, the love of your life, push back the desire now! We have to get out of here before anyone sees us."

Feeling myself gain control again, I shook my head, "Fine, get off me. We'll stay here and listen to find out where they take her. But if she screams again, you won't be able to stop me, nothing will."

"I wouldn't have stopped you, except you weren't going to Bella as her love, you were going to drain her. If you think I'm going to let you kill her, you are mistaken Edward. I'll do everything within my power to stop you!" she whispered firmly.

We sat listening while they tried to get Bella free. She had passed out, whether from the pain or the smell of blood I didn't know. They were able to free her as an ambulance pulled up; they were taking her to Fletcher Allen Health Care, Carlisle's place of employment.

Running back to our cars as soon as we heard where they were headed, Alice called Carlisle. She quickly told him what had happened, he would be there to assist with Bella's treatment. Asking to speak with me, she handed me her phone, "Do you want Bella to know we're in town son?"

"No, please just check on her and let me know if she's okay. I don't want her to find out until I tell her myself. This isn't how she should find out." I replied.

"Fine, I'll be here when they bring her in. If she's awake I'll keep out of sight, if she's still out I'll help anyway I can. Call you later with an update." I hung up Alice's phone handing it back to her.

'That was the right choice Edward, you're finally thinking this through properly,' she had a smile on her face, the first I'd seen in weeks.

"I know you've already seen my plan, just let me work it out. It's not all up to me now, Bella has a role in this too." I said as I opened the door of my Volvo and climbed in. Bella had no idea that I was in town but she would soon find out. She had a choice to make; I'd already made mine.