Author's Chapter Notes:

AHH! I'M SO FRIDGIN' EVIL!

"Isabella Marie Swan! Get in the cruiser now!"

"Why on earth are you with Edward Masen?" Charlie barked. His face became a lovely shade of purple. "I told you that he was bad news, Bella. Bad news."

I opened my mouth to say something, but he barreled on. "And you stayed at his house! Don't think I'm that naïve, Bella. I was a teenager once."

But you obviously remember nothing about it, I thought bitterly. You also don't remember that I hate when people use my middle name. At least he tried to be a good, protecting father. He had the protecting part down pat.

"Dad, could you please listen? Just give me a moment to state my case," I said calmly, holding my palms out in a sign of peace. "Nothing happened last night. You know that I am not the type of girl who would do that, and neither is Edward. He is a gentleman, thank you very much. We got to his house, he played beautifully on his piano, we watched movie, and then we went to sleep. When we woke up, I made crepes, and then we played around in the backyard. As you saw a few minutes ago, we took a walk."

"Oh," he said quietly. "Well, I still think he's bad news." His tone softened. "He could hurt you, Bella."

Edward pulled me into his chest. "I would never do that," Edward promised. He leaned into my ear and whispered, "I love you too much. You know that." I took a moment to swoon, but turned to Charlie after a minute.

"When we get home, you and I are going to have a long talk, alright?" I asked firmly.

He sighed. "Fine. Get in the car, then."

"But what about Edward?"

He sighed again. "If it makes you happy, walk with him back to the house," Charlie grumbled. "Just don't take long in getting back home."

"Thank you, oh loving father," I laughed.

"Whatever," he muttered, and drove off.

I turned to Edward. "What was it you wanted to tell me?"

He tapped his chin jokingly. "Loving you, or something crazy like that."

"Edward . . ."

His beautiful laughed sounded, making me weak at the knees. "I was telling you why I love you. I was going to tell you that I love you for simply finding it in yourself to love me. Do you remember our first day together?" I nodded. "You told me you loved me, even though we hadn't even spoken since before the crash."

"I still cherish that memory," I said. "It's beautiful, you know. Not just the meadow, but you. You looked so happy."

"Do I not look happy now?" His brow furrowed. "Because I certainly am."

"I know, but it seemed as if there was . . . nothing between us."

"Oh. Alright."

"Is there anything between us?"

He sighed. "No, Bella. Nothing is between us."

--

"Okay. What exactly do you want to talk about?" Charlie asked, sitting down on the old couch.

Might as well not beat around the bush. "Why don't you like Edward?"

He sighed heavily. "It's complicated." His fingers played with the material on one of the pillows nervously. "But to be blunt, I don't want to see you hurt, Bella. I know that you . . . love him, but that doesn't mean that it might not end."

I bit back the yell that grew in my throat. Would Edward really do that to me? Surely he wouldn't, knowing how much it would hurt me. "He would never do that." I hope, at least.

"Yes, but, it still scares me. Any day, he could walk out the door. I don't want to see my little girl hurt like that. You know how much you mean to me."

"Yes, dad, but I know"- Do I? - "for a fact that Edward wouldn't do that. Contrary to what you have come to believe, he is actually a decent guy. He's kind, gets top grades, is obviously good-looking . . ."

Charlie waved his hands in front of his face. "Ugh, gross. I don't need to hear that."

I laughed. "So are you now on good terms with Edward?"

Once again, he heaved a sigh. "I suppose . . ."

I launched myself at him, putting my arms around his neck in a choking embrace. "Thank you, Dad! You know I love you, right?"

"Yes, Bella, I know." After I had released him, he shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "But there's something else I'd like to talk about."

"Okay," I chirped, happy that my father was finally at peace with Edward. "Shoot."

"Well, uh, your relationship seems to be very serious with Edward," he began nervously. "And you are getting older, whether I like it or not, so that means more responsibilities. A lot more. You have to be responsible when you're in a relationship like this, and I wanted to make sure that you two are, um, you know, protecting yourselves . . ."

"Wait - are you trying to have a . . . sex talk with me? Ugh." I recoiled, and I'm sure my face showed how disgusted I was. "Dad, you have to know that we haven't . . . we didn't . . .ugh. We haven't done that. At all."

Charlie smiled a bit, looking highly relieved. "Oh. Okay. That's it. But if you do-"

"We won't," I interrupted.

"I just don't want you hurt, Bella."

"I get it, Dad. Can I go now?"

"Yes," he permitted.

I walked up to my room, a bittersweet feeling in my mouth. On one side, I was overjoyed that Charlie had come to peace with the fact that I loved Edward. On the other, he was thinking that we were . . . ugh. I shuddered again.

Edward would never let that happen. He was a gentleman, and even if he did want it, he wouldn't push me into something I wasn't ready for.

I decided to call one of the few friends I had. It wasn't that I was a pariah of some sort, but I didn't feel the need to get attached to people. Other than Edward, Tyler Crowley and Angela Weber were my closest friends. Even though I loved him more than anyone would ever be able to comprehend, I needed time to be with another girl like Angela, just to know that she would be there for me.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Angela. This is Bella," I said.

"Oh. Hey, Bella," she replied. "What's up?"

"We haven't done much of anything in a while. We could catch a movie in Port Angeles, or something," I suggested. "I'm fine with whatever you prefer."

"How about the movie and then dinner? I hear there's some good sea food. Sound good?"

"Yeah," I agreed. "If it isn't too much trouble, would you pick me up. My truck isn't exactly the epitome of perfection."

She laughed. "That's fine. I'll be there in 15 minutes."

"Bye, Ang."

"Bye, Bella."

I grabbed the purse I rarely used, and headed down the stairs. When I told Charlie about my plans, he replied, "That's great, Bells." He smiled brightly, obviously happy that I was having fun with someone other than Edward.

When Angela arrived, we hugged lightly. "So, what's bringing on the socialism all the sudden?"

I shrugged. "I needed to spend some time with a friend."

She smiled.

Throughout our whole ride, there was silence. It wasn't awkward, but more comforting than anything. Neither of us were what you would call particularly verbose. The quiet was broken after a few minutes.

"So, how are things going with Edward?" Angela asked.

"Fine." I couldn't help the smile that crept across my lips.

"Looks like it's going more than fine," she laughed. "He was always a sweet guy. I think he's good for you, Bella. He'll take care of you. But I think we all knew that."

"We? Who is we?"

She looked over at the fields, as if thinking she said something wrong. "Mike, Tyler, Ben, and even Jessica and Lauren. After your first day, Mike told me he had a thing for you, but that he knew he'd never stand a chance by the way you and Edward looked at each other. Jessica told me she was mad because Edward liked you so much." She laughed. "And Lauren . . . well, Lauren wasn't happy about it, either.

"And I guess I knew you two would be together; if not soon, then eventually. You fit so perfectly together."

I blushed. "I'm glad you think so. It took me forever to convince my father that I really do love him."

"After losing your mother, I doubt he's willing to accept the possibility of you getting hurt," Angela said.

"He pretty much said that. Did your parents take much convincing of them to let you see Ben?" I asked.

"Not at all. They knew his grades were flawless, and they decided that mine were good enough to be able to earn the right to spend time with him."

"Lucky," I muttered.

She laughed. "I guess I am."

For the rest of the ride, a comforting silence surrounded us. When we finally arrived, we took a moment to decide what movie to see.

"How about the one with the woman who falls in love with a man, but he's forced to join the war?" Angela suggested.

"Anything but horror," I said. If I was going to watch anything mildly frightening, I would need Edward's neck to bury my face in. He would have to put his arm protectively around my shoulders, just like they do in mediocre romance novels.

I didn't take guts very well, you could say.

After paying for our tickets, we got a large tub of popcorn (with extra butter, as requested by Angela) and headed into the dark room. For the remaining fifteen minutes until the movie started, we chatted quietly. Angela told me about where she was thinking about going to college, and hoping that Ben would choose the same. I told her about my college choices.

Then she asked when I decided.

"Well, I . . . uh . . ." I sputtered. "Last night, I kind of, uh, slept at Edward's house."

She raised an eyebrow. "No, no," I said. "Nothing of that sort happened, even if we did sleep in the same bed, deliberately against my father's will. In fact, he didn't want me there at all, nor did he know I was there at all. But anyway, we were lying in bed this morning, and said that we should wake up like this more often. Angela, don't look at me like that." I wagged a finger at her faux-appall. "I said that that might not happen until college, so he asked me where I was thinking of going. I told Edward that I hadn't decided, so I asked him. He said somewhere in Chicago, since he grew up there. He suggested DePaul. If I can get a decently sized scholarship, I should be able to scrape through."

"I still am having trouble believing that you did that," Angela giggled, which was very unlike her.

"Did what?" someone asked. When I turned to see who had spoken, I saw Mike Newton, sitting in the seat beside me.

"Hey, Bella," he greeted me. "What's shakin'?"

"Hi, Mike," I replied. I couldn't be that harsh to the guy. I mean, it wasn't even his fault. It was probably a silly bet where he had been told to try and kiss me. And when he wasn't doing that, he wasn't so bad.

"Where's Jess?" Angela asked.

He looked at his hands for a moment. "We broke up."

There was sympathetic noise heard from both Angela and I.

"Yeah, but I think it was time. She'll be better with someone else," he said.

At that time, the movie previews began to play. As dark set into the room, Mike scooted closer to me. His proximity made me highly uncomfortable, but I thought it would be rude to say so.

As the movie went on, I gradually relaxed. Mike took this as a sign that I was alright with him being so close. He began the classic "why-don't-I-take-a-stretch-oh-look-your-shoulder" move that I had seen in so many movies and TV shows before. Why he laid his arm across my shoulders, I shrugged it off. This seemed to upset him.

"I'm going to the bathroom," I whispered to Angela. She nodded, still looking at the screen.

After I emerged from the bathroom, I was greeted by a smiling Mike.

"Hey," I murmured, walking past him, but his hand formed a vise-like grip on my arm.

"What's with you?" he asked.

"What?"

"You're being so cold," he accused.

"How, Mike?" I asked.

"When I was trying to keep you warm in there and be friendly, you pushed me away!"

"Mike, that was a more than friendly gesture," I grumbled.

"What if I want to be more than friendly?" he challenged.

I was starting to get terribly annoyed. "Then I suggest you find some self-control." I'm sure the grimace I bore was taking up my whole face. "Because quite frankly, I don't want you as more than a friend, Mike."

"Too bad," he muttered. In a swift movement, he crushed his lips to mine.

I've been kissed many times. Granted, every kiss was given to me by the same person. Never the less, I knew what a kiss should be like. No matter what kind of passion one feels, it should always be soft and beautiful. The sort of touch that every person seems to dream of sharing with another. Edward knew how to kiss someone. His lips were always moving harmoniously with mine, sending shivers creeping up and down my spine. He knew I loved that.

Mike, however, seemed to think differently.

He forced my mouth open with his lips, running his hands across my torso. I pushed against him in a desperate attempt to get his filthy hands off of my body. "Feisty," he growled against my lips. He had obviously taken my shoving against his chest as a sign of desire.

He moved his eager lips to my neck. I blinked at my surroundings. Instead of being a few feet from the bathroom, Mike had obviously moved us while we were fighting. I was now standing at the end of the hallway, far away from anyone.

No one was here to save me this time.

Chapter End Notes:

I know, I know! It's cliffalicious. :)