Bella's POV:

I got through the rest of the day without a hitch, and unfortunately, without the vaguest idea as to how I was going to break it off with Jacob. The idea of doing it through his voice mail, was sounding pretty enticing, but the thought of being so callous made me push the idea out of my head. No, I had to do it right. I had to make him understand my side. Even though he was an asshole, I at least owed him that.

I sat through my classes in a zombie-like daze, cogitating the best way to say it, and exactly what I was wanting to say. I didn't want to piss him off, but wanted him know, without a doubt, the reasons for my decision.

There were three things I knew for certain:

1. He was a suck-ass boyfriend.

2. He was a conceded douche.

3. My distaste for him was irrevocable.

I sat in English, my last class of the day, listening to the tick-tock of the clock, biting my thumb nail anxiously. The skin around it had become tender and I could taste a small hint of blood as my teeth ripped it to the quick. I couldn't stop. My nerves were wound tight. I could feel the beginnings of a cramp threatening my right calf, as my knees bounced relentlessly underneath my desk, hitting the gum riddled wood.

"This is it, no turning back," I thought to myself, nearly jumping out of my skin as the bell sounded, signaling the unavoidable.

I walked out of class and down the hall to my locker, taking my time, trying to build up the courage to complete my dreaded mission.

As I approached it, I saw Rosalie standing there waiting for me, a disturbing scowl marring her flawless face.

For someone so beautiful, her temper could make her equally ugly.

I thought about bypassing my locker, and Rosalie, but immediately thought better of it. Rosalie was a force to be reckon with when she wasn't angry, and to piss her off intentionally was something that you didn't do willing.

As I approached her, I gave her a small smile, a peace offering to smooth over whatever I had done to cause such fury. She wasn't having it, and before I could utter a word, she spat out, "Are you crazy?"

I looked at her, confused, wondering what the hell she could be talking about.

"Why is everybody asking me that question today?" I asked, frustrated.

Moving to stand directly in front of me, Rosalie lowered her voice, darting her eyes around the hall, and hissed out, "Alice told me about your little plan after school. What the hell are you thinking?"

I rolled my eyes, huffing out my irritancy for my so-called, trust-worthy, best friend. Why did Alice have to tell her?

Rosalie was a friend of mine, but had the same mentality as the other cheer-bitches. She was a member of the hierarchy in school and knew what this would do to my reputation and, since we were friends, her reputation.

"Bella, you know that if you do this, your reputation will be at stake. Jacob will see to it that you are cut off from the rest of the group as a social leper. You'll be back in your bedroom with your book collection and no life. Is that what you really want?"

The thought of sitting in my room enjoying a good book without the interruption of someone trying to feel me up, made me smile, until I realized what she was saying.

"What are you trying to tell me, Rose? You won't be my friend if I do this?" I asked, hurt by her admission.

Rosalie looked down at her hands, playing with the gold bracelet that Emmett gave her for their 5 year anniversary.

"I have a good thing going on here, Bella. I'm captain of the squad and girlfriend to one of the star football players. If I'm implicated in your decision, it's not just you that will be affected." She looked up with apologizing eyes. "I'm sorry, but I think you're making a big mistake."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. She was seriously ending our friendship over... what? The fact that I didn't want to date a dick that saw me as nothing other than tits and ass.

I simply rolled my eyes and walked off holding back the tears that were building. I was mentally kicking my own ass.

Why didn't I do this sooner, before everything got so screwed up and I had so much to lose?

I resumed my steps towards the back door, like a mad woman on a mission. There was nothing that was going to stop me now, not even the threat of losing Rose. If she was serious about ending our friendship because of him, I didn't need her. She was essentially choosing him over me, and that realization only spurred me on. He had such a hold over everyone in that school and I was bound and determined to make sure he never had that kind of hold over me again.

Reaching the edge of the woods, I took in a deep breath, trying to rid the shaking in my legs and the lump in my throat.

I can do this. I have to do this.

As soon as I realized I was frozen in my place, unable to move forward, my panic struck. I tried taking a step forward, but glancing around at the isolation of the thick forest, my legs wouldn't move and I could feel myself holding my breath. I was suddenly... scared.

I closed my eyes and forced myself to think about all the times he laughed at me, and belittled me; all the times he made me feel as though I was just a piece of meat.

That thought was all it took. I suddenly had a surge of courage rush through me and was able to take a step forward. Just as my foot moved in front of me, I heard Jacob's voice swoon my name deep inside the dense forest.

"Beeeeelllllllaaaaa," he called, making the hair on the back of my neck rise along with the bile in my throat.

Still, I progressed forward, and after several minutes, approached the line of trees that surrounded the meadow. Cautiously, I stepped inside the clearing, darting my eyes to the center where Jacob would have been waiting. But, he was no where in sight. My only companion being the wildflowers and tall grass that colored the large meadow. Just as I was about to turn around, I felt arms circling my waist and something hard poking me in my back. I jumped, gasping for breath, and was spun around quickly in my spot. As soon I looked up, Jacob attacked my lips with his own and began pushing me backwards forcefully.

This can't happen, I don't want this to happen.

I had to stop his advances before it got to far, and he got out of hand. I was finally able to wedge my arms between us and press my hands against his chest, effectively pushing him off and away from me. I was sure that he let me, considering that when I had tried this before, I wasn't able to move him in the slightest.

"God Jacob! Is that all I'm good for?... Jesus!" I yelled with annoyance.

He never gave me a chance to say a word when I was with him. I was beginning to think that maybe he had trouble speaking English and that was why he hated dialogue. Or, maybe he was just too damn stupid to talk.

"Don't play innocent with me, Bella. We both know you want it. I've been watching you all day taunting me with that sexy ass."

He started walking toward me, looking at me with heavy eyes and an evil grin.

I backed away, holding up my hands in front of me. "I came here to talk, Jacob. Please just let me talk. I've got some things to say to you."

He stopped in his tracks looking agitated by my interruption. "Talk, talk, talk. That's all you ever want to do. I wish you liked to put out as much as you liked to talk. I'd really see some action then."

He scanned his eyes down my body while biting his lip and shifting himself.

I turned with my back facing him, playing with my hands, trying to find my voice.

"I've been thinking a lot lately... about us, and I, I don't think things are working out." I inhaled deeply, closing my eyes, waiting for him to speak.

Without warning, he turned me around roughly, and with a low voice, asked, "What are you saying, Bella." A strange look glazed his eyes.

I was taken back a step, surprised by the darkness in their depth, seeing his anger combined with his lust.

I quickly changed my strategy, feeling his rage bore into me.

"You and I are just two totally different people. I'm quiet, antisocial, and don't enjoy being in the spotlight. You're... not. You enjoy being watched and followed like an idol. I just don't think I'm good for you, I'm not what you need. I will only hold you back."

And there it was, everything I wanted to say, but edited and sugar-coated. The speech I had planned to make would have been a little more explicit and a lot less.. nice.

Opening my eyes, I couldn't stop the shiver that ripped through me. He was wearing an evil smile, and with a cocky tone, he asked, "Are you breaking up with me?"

He started stalking towards me, his smile contorting into a scowl. I backed away from him as he pursued me like a predator would his prey, that angry lustful look still glazing his eyes. Just as I was about to turn and run, I tripped on a root that was erupting from the ground, and landed hard on my back. In seconds he was on top of me, laying all of his weight on me, pinning me in my spot beneath him.

"You little bitch!" he spat at me, his hands and lips assaulting my body with anger and derision.

"I don't think you want to do that, Bella. I'll make your life a living hell and it will be as though you never existed." Laughing into my neck he added, "You can't imagine the cruel rumors that can be spread to ruin someone's reputation."

His words hurt, but not as much as his crushing body and angry hands. I was terrified. I never dreamed he would be like this. What did he care if he didn't have me? It wasn't like he ever made an effort to make me feel like anything other than his play thing.

That's when I felt it, him fighting for control over my body. It was like a light came on in my head. I realized what I had been missing, and why he was so upset. To him, he wasn't losing his girlfriend, he was losing his property. He felt I was his, in every sense of the word. He owned me and wasn't about to give me up.

In horror, I screamed, "Jacob, get off of me! please! You're hurting me!... Oh God, Help!"

Edward's POV:

After school, Jasper and I, met at my car for some much needed lovin' with our girl, Mary Jane. This was a daily ritual we found necessary to get our heads on straight after having them force-fed unnecessary information that would never be used in the real world.

Like knowing the date of Napoleon's death would help me get a job, anymore than knowing the answer to (6 tan 2 x - 2) (2 tan 2 x - 6) = 0 would help me wipe my ass.

Passing the joint between us, we sat in comfortable silence, watching the number of the cars in the parking lot begin to dwindle.

As I looked around, I noticed Alice's little yellow Porsche, still sitting in 'Ft Knox', and all alone.

I still remember the first day she drove it to school. She actually had the nerve to complain to everyone in Biology that she had specifically asked her parents for a Tempest Blue Aston Martin V12 Vanquish... not a fucking flimsy-ass Porsche." Fucking rich bitches make me sick.

"That's you're girlfriend's car," I said, waving my hand in the direction of the obnoxious car.

Jasper's eyes widened. "You're fuckin' kidding me?" he said, taking a hit from the joint while trying to keep it from escaping his mouth."You're right, she is completely out of my league," he coughed out, along with the offending smoke.

We laughed hard at his comment, until we saw Alice step out and walk around to the back of the school.

What was she doing? The only thing that was back there was the practice field and some scary ass woods.

Jasper and I looked at each other, confused by what we saw. The corners of Jasper's mouth quickly turned up into a wicked grin, as he raised his eyebrows, revealing himself for the little devil he really was.

"Let's follow her."

I narrowed my eyes at him, suspicious of what he had in mind. "I don't know, man. There ain't shit back there but a football field and some fucking trees. The only reason I can think of, that she would be going back there after everybody was gone, would be to hook up with someone... like a dude. Then we'd catch her fucking some guy and you'll start crying and I'll have to baby your ass for the rest of the night, while you eat ice cream and watch some chick flick."

"Ha ha." He pretended to laugh. "Or... we would catch her making out with some chick, like your girl Bella, and we could make it a fuck-tastic foursome."

I laughed at the idiocy of his thoughts, and rolled my eyes, as we stepped out of my car.

"I can't believe we're doing this," I admitted over the sound of the car doors, groaning with the friction of rust on rust.

Before I knew it, Jasper was in front of me, hunched over in a stalking position, his hands grasped together using his fingers as a make-shift gun. I don't know if it was Jasper or my own mind, but I could vaguely hear the tune of Mission Impossible being hummed from somewhere around me.

God, we were high.

I followed his lead, pressing my back against the brick of the building, holding my own gun and waiting for him to signal that the coast was clear. As we rounded the corner, we saw that in fact the practice field was empty and there was no sign of Alice. Jasper, holding his imaginary pistol in his right hand, used his left to signal toward the tree line that encompassed the woods.

There was Alice, crossing the threshold, disappearing inside its vastness.

Jasper rubbed his hands together, saying, "I'm going in, but I'll have to break out my night vision goggles to follow her trail. Stay with me, Edward. There will be no man left behind."

To my surprise, and to his delusions, he formed goggles around his eyes with his fingers. We both peered through the thickness and just before we took a step forward, we began hearing desperate screams.

Dropping our goggles, I mean hands, we immediately took off through the woods, hurdling over brush and fallen trees. Finally, breaking through to a clearing in the woods, we saw where the scream was coming from. There, clutched onto Jacob's back like a spider monkey, was Alice. She was yelling and screaming, "Let go her her! You're hurting her!" trying to pull him off of Bella, who was shaking with fear.

Without haste, Jasper ran to Alice, lifting her off Jacob's back and ripping him off of Bella. Jacob landed on his back and immediately got to his knees to lunge at her again. With inhuman speed, I jerked her up and cradled her in my arms, shielding her from his wrath. She was trembling uncontrollably, throwing her arms around my neck and burying her face in my chest. If it weren't for the circumstances that we found ourselves in, I would have thought this was heaven. But, our heaven wouldn't allow such monsters as Jacob Black to enter through its gates.

Jacob got up slowly and let out a low chuckle. "Is he the reason you're breaking up with me?"

She hugged me tighter and buried her face deeper inside my chest, her body tensing and shaking. She cried harder and all I wanted to do was to take her as far away from him as I could. But, as I turned to leave, he laughed louder, throwing his hand in her direction, directing his words toward me.

"Go ahead, you can have the frigid bitch. But don't think you're gonna get anything out of her, I've been trying for six god damn months."

With that, Jasper, who had been looking down at Alice to assess that she was alright, looked up at Jacob from under his eyebrows and growled loudly. The inhuman sound that ripped from his chest, and the evil look that he held, made Jacob turn and take off through the forest. Once he left the meadow we heard him yell, "Remember what I said, Bella!" with venom in his voice.

Our journey back to the lot was silent, except for Bella's continued sobs. We walked to Alice's car and when I started to set her down on her feet, her arms tightened around me, refusing to let me go. Whatever she wanted, I was willing to hold her like this forever if she would let me. I hugged her closer and sat us on the the curb, rocking her gently, and running my hand through her hair.

Alice walked over to us and reached out to Bella. "Bella, let me help you," she almost begged, eyeing me curiously.

Bella's body tensed, and I shot my eyes to Alice as if to say "back the fuck off." I'm sure I looked like a caveman at that point, hovering over her protectively, daring anyone to make her move. But I didn't care. She had been through enough and I wasn't ready to let her go.

"Bella?" Alice asked, confused by her reaction.

There was no movement, other than the relentless tremors that had been shooting through her since I picked her up. Alice took the hint and walked back to her car.

As I rocked the sweet angel in my arms, I noticed Jasper and Alice talking inside her car and looking in my direction. I didn't care what they were saying. I was having my own internal dialogue about the many ways I'd like to kill Jacob Black. I could see the bruises already appearing on Bella's arms, and the marks on her neck from his lips and teeth were almost too much for me to take. I was physically ill at the thought that he could do something like this to her and had to fight the urge to gently kiss the bruises away.

After a few minutes, Bella's convulsions ceased and she was finally able to raise her head. When she looked up at me, my heart ached at the sight of her red swollen eyes.

"Thank you," she said. "I don't know what would have happened if..." Her voice broke, as she lost herself in thought.

Alice and Jasper emerged from the car and walked over to us. They had obviously been in deep conversion about Bella and I, and I was acutely aware of the wary look that Jasper was giving me.

"Bella, honey, are you okay?" Alice asked with concern.

"I, I think so, just st-still a little shaken," Bella stuttered, trying to look relaxed and failing miserably.

She looked back up at me and noticed her arms still tightly wrapped around my neck and I couldn't stop the small smile that broke on my face as she blushed a gorgeous shade of red. All too soon, she pulled away and stood up from my lap. My chest and legs felt ice cold and lifeless as her warmth left me.

"Come on, Let's get you home," Alice said, holding her hand out to her, narrowing her eyes at me.

Don't take it. Stay with me. I couldn't stop the thought from going through my mind, even though I knew it was just wishful thinking.

As Alice held her hand and led her to the car, Bella looked back at me with a look of...regret?

What would she be regretting? If anyone was regretful, it was me, for letting her go.

All I could do was watch, as she slid into the car and rode away with my heart in her hands.

Jasper sat down beside me and let out a loud breath. "There goes my buzz."

His hands moved through his hair as he turned to me and asked, "You alright, man?"

I simply shook my head and stood to my feet.

Of all the times I had dreamed of holding her like that, I never thought it would have been under these circumstances.

At that moment, I made it my mission to watch over her and never let him touch her again.