Tomorrow came and went with no sign of Emmett. Then the next day he was a no show, and the following day the same thing. Edward eventually joined Angela and I at our lunch table, and we were all becoming fast friends. Every once and a while I would catch him staring at me in a way that would make my cheeks flush and my heart race. As the days wore on, I found I was losing my resolve to stick up to Emmett.

Three days turned into three weeks before I would see him again. It was a Friday afternoon in early April, and per usual there was a thick bed of clouds hanging low over Forks. I left after Bio, a mild ankle sprain giving me the perfect excuse to miss Gym. Edward had a Spanish exam that day, so I walked out to the parking lot alone, grateful for the silence of the afternoon. I'd had enough of being pestered by Jess about Prom and whether or not Edward was going to ask me. I actually had no intention of attending, whether he asked me or not. Dancing is detrimental to the hopelessly uncoordinated such as myself.

I reached my truck and flung my bag up onto the hood. I opened it up and shoved my hand in, rummaging around for my keys.

"Dammit," I sighed. Unable to find them, I stuck my head into my bag to look. "It might help if I put them in the same place every time…A-HA!!" I pulled out my keys with a triumphant shout.

"Bella," A deep, unfamiliar voice interrupted my victory. I let out a startled yip and dropped my keys on the ground. I bent to pick them up and frowned while crouched. I really wished I'd had my pepper spray. What if it was some kind of psycho trying to kill me?

Get a grip, Bella. I told myself, then turned around to see who had the nerve to sneak up on me. I came eye to chest with Emmett Cullen.

"Emmett…" I looked up. "Wait a minute, we've never actually met. How do you know my name?"

"How do you know mine?" he smirked. Crap. He was almost as hot as his brother.

"Well, you're kind of hard to miss," I chuckled nervously. Now where did I leave that resolve I had built up? Right…I dropped it with my keys. "You still didn't answer me, though." I finished.

"Don't be dense, Bella," he shook his head.

"Hey!"

"I didn't mean it like that! I meant it's a small town. Word gets out quick," he growled.

As soon as the words left his mouth my resolve jumped right back into my hand with the truck keys.

"What's the problem, Emmett?" I asked, my voice suddenly bold.

"Oh, no problem, really," he waved his hand nonchalantly in the air. "I just wanted to talk."

"Talk?" I sputtered "You drive by my house one day and scare the holy hell out of me, and then the next day you glower at me from across the cafeteria. All the while I'm sitting here wondering what the hell I did to offend," I took a deep breath, " And you wanted to talk?!"

"Yep," he answered , folding his arms across his massive chest and leaning on my truck.

"So speak," I mimicked his gesture and waved my hand in the air, beckoning him to continue.

"What brought you here, Bella?" he asked, "To Forks, I mean." he added when I raised an eyebrow. I paused…I couldn't tell him. If I told him he'd tell his brother. And that was the last thing I wanted Edward to know.

Flashback

I stood in the bathroom and stared at my haggard reflection in the mirror. Three months had passed since Isaac's death, and the pain still tore at me. I couldn't take it anymore. I ran my hands over my face. My cheeks were hollowed out and I had dark, almost bruise-like circles under my eyes. I was barely sleeping at night, the events of my brother's passing haunting me every time I tried. I tucked limp strands of hair behind my ear and sighed. It was now or never.

I sunk my hands, palms up, into the sink of icy water. I submerged them up to my wrists and stopped. The water was painfully cold, but I had to numb all feeling. I took my right hand out and reached into my back pocket. I pulled out my mother's letter opener and held it in front of me. I flipped it over and over in my hand, watching as the fluorescent light gleamed off the plated gold. I finally turned it so I could grip the handle. Now or never…

I closed my eyes and dug the sharp end deep into the skin of my left wrist. I dragged it in a vertical direction up my arm, then lifted the letter opener out of the water. A cold chill drifted down my spine as blood oozed forth from the jagged wound. I stared at the letter opener again. It's once shimmering surface was now stained a brilliant crimson. I gulped, then shifted the weapon to my left hand and submerged the right wrist. Pain coursed down my left arm and my hand shook. I took another deep breath and sliced in a similar pattern on the other wrist.

I dropped the letter opener on the floor and it clinked harmlessly on the tile. I gazed back up at the mirror. My reflection stared back at me, calm for the moment. The image changed in a flash as another wave of pain wracked my small frame. My face twisted in agony and I could barely muffle the moan that escaped my lips. I lifted my hands from the icy red pool in the sink until they were at eye level. Blood flowed freely from the wounds and traveled in little rivers down my arms. My vision blurred and I crashed to my knees on the floor.

"Isaac! " I cried out in anguish, my head now bowed to my chest. In a moment that felt like an eternity, my mother Renee burst through the door.

"Isabella! No!" She shouted and fell to her knees on the floor next to me. "It's going to be okay! You're going to be okay!" she held my shaking form in her arms. "Phil!! Call 911!"

The last thing I saw were the tears streaking my mother's face and my step father hovering in the door way, frantically calling for an ambulance.

End

"Hey!" Emmett shouted and snapped his fingers in front of my face. "You going to answer me or what?"

"I missed my Dad, that's why," I replied quickly, shaking off the vivid memory. He pursed his lips.

"I don't believe you," he said gruffly.

"Believe whatever you want, Emmett," I went to grab my bag and he shoved a hand on top of it to stop me.

"Let go," I demanded and gave my bag a yank. It didn't budge. What was he made of, lead or something?

"Not until I get some answers," he replied. "You were a thousand miles away just now. Where did you go?"

"No where!" I shouted. "Now leave me alone, I want to go home." I reached for my bag again.

"I don't think so, Sugar," he pulled my bag across the hood of the truck, just out of my reach. "Not until you tell me the truth."

"The truth?!" I asked, incredulous. "What makes you think I'm lying?"

"Let's say, for argument's sake, that I just know," he smirked again. "Now tell me why you're here."

"Let's say, for argument's sake," I threw his words back in his face, "That I don't give a damn what you think you know. Give me my bag, Emmett." I demanded, doing my best to be intimidating.

"Not until you tell me what's going on, Bella," he emphasized my name through his teeth, and it was all I could do not to shrink back in fear. Damn but he was scary.

"What does it matter?!" I threw my hands in the air.

"So you are hiding something!" he leaned in toward me, his face now level with mine.

"I'm not hiding anything!" I responded, going nose to nose with him instead of following my instinct and hiding under my truck. "I moved here because I missed my Dad. Why is it so important to you?" He narrowed his eyes and stepped back.

"Because I don't want my brother around someone who is going to hurt him with her lies," he said in a dangerously low voice.

"If Edward wants to be my friend, there is nothing you can say or do to stop him!" I spat. "And I am not lying!" I made the crucial mistake of breaking eye contact. He immediately caught on.

"Bull." he growled. "The truth. Now."

"I'm not lying," I mumbled angrily.

"Bull!" he repeated. "Tell me why you're here, Isabella!" He grabbed my arm and I immediately wrenched it free.

"None of your Goddamn business!" I snarled and made to slap him. Before I could blink he had caught my hand mid swing. We both stared for a moment at our clasped hands before I snatched mine free of his.

"I don't trust you," he stated, his tone suddenly subdued.

"Feeling's mutual," I snapped.

"You'd do well to stay away from my brother," he warned.

"Piss off," I growled and grabbed my bag.

I whipped the driver's side door open and threw my bag in. I clambered into the seat and brought the truck roaring to life. Emmett came around and closed the door before I could slam it. He folded his arms on the open window and leaned in. I scooted back and gulped as he stared deeply into my eyes.

"I can promise you this," he said quietly. "If you don't keep your distance, it won't end well."

"You can keep your promises," I spat, then closed the gap so my face was a mere inch from his. I glared fiercely back at him. "Now get the hell out of my truck."

He casually stepped back and allowed me to peel out of my parking space. I glanced briefly up in my rear view at the exit to the lot and saw him standing there, arms folded and scowling. I sneered, knowing full well that he couldn't see it, then screeched out of the lot and down the road.

I was glad Charlie wasn't home when I ripped into the driveway. I really didn't feel like explaining my anger. He was fully aware of what had gone on in Arizona, and it was actually his suggestion that I come to live with him. Shortly after my suicide attempt, I began drinking to try and drown my pain. I spent almost every weekend for over nine months emptying Phil's liquor cabinet in the solitude of my room. My mother discovered my drinking habit upon coming home early from one of Phil's baseball games to find me passed out on my bedroom floor. She forced me into therapy. A year and a laundry list of medications later, I was still blaming myself for Isaac's death. I couldn't get past the guilt. Finally at a loss, Renee called Charlie. After a lengthy conversation, they decided that the best thing for me would be to move away. Charlie figured that the further away from the pain I was, the better chance I would have of a complete recovery. I had jumped at the chance, and almost immediately started to feel better. Up until an hour ago things were going great. Now it was all I could not to drive to the nearest airport and jump on the next plane out. Instead I just leapt out of the truck and stormed into the house. Emmett Cullen was going to make my life miserable so long as I was any where near his brother. He had one hell of a nerve to interfere in my life! How dare he?!

"Jack-Ass!" I screamed to no one and stomped my foot. Now I was really glad Charlie wasn't home. He hated it when I cursed.

I hung my coat up next to the door and dropped my bag. I scrubbed my face with my hands and sighed, deciding then that I would leave the whole headache that was Emmett for another day. I walked into the kitchen and began to pull out what I needed to make dinner for Charlie and myself. I had just finished breading some chicken and was about to throw it in the frying pan when my cell phone began to chime from my bag back in the hall. I wiped my hands on a towel, shut off the stove and dashed for my phone. I snatched it from the front pocket, checked the display and frowned. I didn't recognize the number. I flipped open the phone and answered the call.

"Hello?"

Silence.

"Hello?" I hated repeating myself.

Still no response. That's it. I was no mood for pranks.

"Look, asshole, you have exactly three seconds to answer or I'm hanging up. One…Two…"

"Hi Bella," a rich, velvety voice finally greeted me.

"Oh…um…shit…" Open mouth, insert foot. It was Edward.

"Sorry, I got a little…you know…nervous," he stammered.

"Nervous?" Why would he be nervous? "About what?"

"Umm…well…." he paused. This was very unlike Edward. He always knew what to say and when to say it. I smiled.

"Edward Cullen are you at a loss for words?" I giggled.

"Well, sort of," he laughed. "This just didn't exactly work out the way I had planned."

"What didn't?" I queried.

"Bella I need to ask you something," he said finally.

"Oh jeez," I sighed, "If this is about Prom, Edward, I'm going to tell you the same thing I've told everyone else. I'm a walking disaster as is, and if you expect me to dance…"

"It's not that," he cut me off.

"Then stop being cryptic," I demanded. "Out with it, Cullen."

"Alright, fine," I could almost see the smirk grace his perfect face. "Bella I want to take you out on a date."

"How's it feel to want?" I joked.

"I'm serious," he said firmly.

"You mean…" I trailed off.

"Yes, ma'am, the whole deal." He stated. "I pick you up, meet your Dad, take you out for dinner and maybe a romantic stroll, and drop you off before curfew."

Oh boy.

This was real.

The excruciatingly gorgeous Edward Cullen was asking the painfully plain Bella Swan out on a date.

Now it was my turn to remain silent.

"You still there?" he asked after a minute.

"Yeah…yeah I'm here," I answered.

"So…"

"So what?" my mind went completely blank. What had he just asked me?

"You never cease to amaze me," he laughed at my short term memory loss. "Isabella Swan, it would bring me great pleasure if you would join me for a lovely evening out"

"I…um…" I took a deep breath.

"So? Will you?" he almost sounded anxious.

"Sure. Sure, I'd love to." I answered finally.

"Great!" He exclaimed. "I'll pick you up tomorrow at Six p.m."

"That sounds good," was all I could manage. I could barely breathe.

"Bella?"

"Yeah?"

"I'll see you tomorrow," he said softly. "Have a wonderful evening."

"Okay," I squeaked, "You too."

I closed my phone and stared at it in my hand. Wow. Tomorrow night I was going out with Edward. I placed my phone back into my bag and let my hand linger there for a moment. I smiled to myself and sighed. This was going to be fun. I headed back to kitchen to finish dinner, my heart fluttering and my head swimming.